*Brief but to the point.*
"Remember to breathe, Mari. You're not breathing," Mollie sighed.
"I am so!" I groaned. "If I wasn't breathing I would have passed out."
Mollie had decided that the first part of mastering my powers was mastering my emotions and we would do that through meditation and yoga. Unfortunately, I was crap at both. Meditation was impossible because I became aware of every itch on my body and every noise around me. Yoga was alright at certain times. I liked the basic stretches. But she currently had me doing something called Sun Salutation which involved moving through a bunch of poses and trying to maintain a breathing pattern. This was…difficult to say the least.
"Concentrate on your breathing," Mollie ordered calmly, as she did the same thing as me but gracefully and serenely. "Breathe in through this motion." She paused to breathe. "Then out through this motion." She blew out like she was blowing a delicate bubble out whereas I blew out and sounded a little like a horse.
I fell backward and sat on the ground. "I can't do this. It isn't working. I'm broken." I scowled, like a pouty child. I was being immature, I'll admit, and I didn't care.
Mollie finished going through the last few motions then smiled down at me. She looked radiant. It was awful. I was sweating like a pig and she was…glistening. My brown ponytail had fallen to the side and much of the hair had spilled out while her blonde ponytail was still tight with a few stylish strays. My shirt had pit stains and her clothes looked fresh and clean. It was totally unfair having someone so gorgeous as a yoga partner. She made me feel hideous. "You're not broken," she giggled. "You're just not used to focusing on your breathing. It's only been a few days. You'll get it." She offered me her hand and I allowed her to help me up. "Alright, let's try…warrior position two."
I brightened a little. It was the only one I did well. I grounded myself then slid one foot to the side, completely turned out and in a lunge. I pulled my ribs in, tucked my butt under and widened my shoulders before lightly bringing my arms up. I gazed softly past my finger tips and breathed. Erol had given me a way to do this. I chanted in my head "I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar," from the movie Serenity. It kept my gaze soft, my body sturdy and allowed my mind to flow. I don't know why but it did. I stared past my fingertips, thinking Wash's chant over and over, and began to feel my mind ease into a meditative trance.
"Mari!" Connor shouted.
"What?" I screamed. "You broke my damn concentration!"
Connor eyed me, confused. "Umm…okay. Sorry, but you've gotta see this."
I ran into the house to find everyone gathered around the tv watching the evening news. A woman stared very seriously into the camera. "-no evidence has pointed toward a specific suspect but that has not stopped others from voicing their theories on who is behind the murder of so many former scientists."
They cut to a scene in which the same reporter was sitting next to a larger, nervous looking man. The text beneath him labeled him as Dr. William Harris, former scientist. "It has to be vamp supporters who are upset by the travesties done to so many innocent vampyres and humans. I mean, can you blame them? The things they went through…"
"So, you believe your fellow scientists may deserve what is happening to them?" the reporter asked, making the man look even more nervous.
"I…I honestly couldn't say. Perhaps we do deserve it."
They cut to an angry and uptight woman. Gabrielle Fineman, lawyer/activist. "It is clearly some uptight conservatives who blame the scientists for the release of the vampyres. The republicans and Christians would have us repress those different from their belief of what normal is. It sickens me that this kind of violence and segregation is thriving in our country. Sickens me."
They then cut to a shot of Sergeant Dale McQueen, the sergeant we'd had problems with back in Georgia, standing next to Detective Monica Handler. "It was vampyres, pure and simple," the sergeant sighed. "They're a big criminal nuisance, if nothing else. It was only a matter of time before the blood suckers sought out revenge. They're not like us. Unstable. And they don't really value human life. They drink blood. Case in point."
Monica rolled her eyes. "That isn't how they are and you know it!"
"Do you have an opinion on who did this?" the reporter asked, as the camera man shifted focus to only her.
"I…no, I don't have an opinion. I don't know if it was vampyres or humans. It could have been anybody with any kind of agenda. Profiling will not help us catch the actual killer, or killers. It will just lead to witch hunts which never end well. I mean, for all we know the gov…" Monica paused, wide eyed. She was suddenly aware that she was on television and became not only nervous but aware of the accusation she was about to voice and its repercussions. "It…it could be anyone. We won't know until we find actual evidence and not just…fear of what we don't understand."
They returned to the news room to a shot of the reporter. "Of course, police and federal agents across the nation are looking into leads but, as of yet, have come up dry. The only consolation is that many scientists, previously reported as missing, have been in contact with their loved ones and the agents assigned to relocate them. They all say they are fine and have sought refuge with an unnamed pro-vampyre rights group."
All of us turned to the sullen scientists who had made their opinions of us known. "Well, it's true. We're here of our own accord. You guys haven't done anything wrong," one of the woman said, begrudgingly.
I shook my head at the tv. This was completely unfair. Some random guys, completely unaffiliated with vampyres, were going around killing scientists and vamps were still getting blamed. This was bad. Very, very bad.
