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"So, what're you going to do after school?" Michelle asks curiously. She wants to go party, but knowing her best friend, Lucy will just stay home.
"I would, but-" Lucy starts, and Michelle rolls her eyes. Lucy notes the yeah-right look on the other girl's face. "I would, but tonight's been declared official family night. So fun. Oh well, some bonding won't be bad for us."
"Please? Just for an hour?" Michelle pleads desperately, knowing that her parents won't let her go out alone.
"I don't know..." Lucy says, wanting to go.
"Just call the rents and ask, k?" Michelle says, happy she won the little spat.
"Fine, but it better be worth this." Lucy warns, knowing that she'll have a great time.
After begging for five minutes, Lucy finally got permission to go. The girls drove around town, flirting shamelessly with some hot guys they found for hours, just hanging out by the lake.
"I should get going." Lucy says, sad that she has to leave. Michelle nods, knowing that Lucy really does have to leave.
The boy she was talking to, John, jumping at the chance to be alone with Lucy, who he's liked for a while. "I'll drive you home." he says, trying to be nonchalant.
"You sure, John? It's really not a big deal if you don't want to-my house is like ten minutes away if you walk." she says, not wanting to impose.
"Yeah, totally fine. I'm on curfew, too." he smiles.
Michelle gives Lucy a quick hug and then John helps her onto his motorcycle. They race off, Lucy giggling, her arms wrapped tightly around him. ~This is fun!~
But she stops smiling when they pull onto her road. "Stop!" she yells over the bike's roar, and the bike skids to a stop. She jumps off, scanning the crowd in front of the house for her family. When she doesn't see them, she starts running to her house, which is half on fire, the other half already incinerated, which is just now being controlled by the fire hoses.
A fireman grabs her around the waist, holding her back from running into the house. "No crossing the line, miss." ~Oh, god, are they ok? What if they didn't get out? No, positive thoughts, Lucy. Of course they made it out. But what if they didn't? Oh, god~
"Are they ok? Oh god, are they still in there?" she asks, her face ghastly pale.
"Oh, Lucy, I didn't realize it was you. The police would like to talk to you, and they can conta"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE POLICE! WHERE IS MY FAMILY, DAMMIT?!!?!" Lucy screams, hysterical, sobs wracking her body.
"Luce, you better go talk with the medics or the police. They know everything. I'm just putting out the fire." he says sincerely, his pity for the girl great. She nods, and he walks her over to the police cars, more scared than she's ever been in her life. John's presence is comforting, but not enough.
"This is the other daughter, Chief. She wants to know about her family." he says, giving the chief a look.
"Why don't we go someplace quieter?" he asks, steering the dazed Lucy away from the sirens, motioning for John to come along. He puts his arm around Lucy protectively, wanting to keep her from any gruesome details.
"Lucy, you family...they didn't make it." the chief says, wringing his hat in his hands. Lucy's breaths are shallow, and her eyes are unfocused. "They...they were killed before the fire." She pales even moreso, if that's possible, leaning on John for support.
"Why?" she asks, her voice barely audible. The chief pulls a yellowed, somewhat burnt piece of paper.
"This was found on your lawn. It's addressed to you, Miss Sandeman." he says, and hands her the letter. She pulls the envelope open, still in shock that all of this is happening, and reads it through the tears that just won't stop.
`````````````````````````````````````````LETTER
Dear, dear Mutant,
I'm sorry we missed you. I were looking so forward to meeting you, in person, that is.
It was a pleasure meeting your family, though. They were very hospitable. I only hope that you are as nice as they were. It's a shame that they had to be taken care of... no need to fret, though, mutant, I'm sure that you'll be seeing them soon. I left you a picture to remember them by.
I look forward to our next meeting.
````````````````````````````````````````
She picks up a picture that fell onto the brown grass and examines it. ~Oh, my god.~ Unfocused eyes stare at her, and the bodies of her family lie on the ground, soaked in blood.
Lucy looks up from the picture, blinks, and falls to the ground in a dead faint. Ames White watches from a distance, knowing that her time will come...soon enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TC medical center
"Max, stop pacing, she'll be fine." Alec says from the uncomfortable waiting room chair. ~We've been waiting for about an hour, and there still hasn't been any news on the girl. I hope she makes it...we need some new faces in TC~
"Well, I'm just worried, about her. What could have scared her so bad? God, Alec, how could we not know of any more units? I thought we had them all accounted for." Max says, her emotion nearly tearing down the tough-girl front that she'd built up. She drops into a chair, exhausted.
"Max, how could we have possibly known? Manticore probably had at least one unit not recorded, just in case another would get out. For insurance- you know, government's big on covering up its mistakes, so they'd probably have a backup unit. We've done everything in our power, and look at how far TC's come." he says, giving her a hug.
It's true. TC, once the makeshift shelter for genetic outcasts, is now a busy community. Transgenics, are now being accepted as human beings, and have opened up a large marketplace and artshop for the public, who adore transgenic art. Life's getting better for the genetically enhanced, that's for sure. Max sighs, knowing that Alec's right.
"Thanks, Alec, you're so sweet." Alec had become yery responsible over the past year, taking care of all the transgenics-he's her rock. She hugs him tighter.
"Don't forget smart, funny, extremely, incredibly good looking, and ladies magnet." he says, giving her the patented Alec smirk.
"I won't, along with arrogant, egotistical, annoying little-"
"Excuse me." says Sandy, an X5 who's the head doctor on staff. Alec and Max look up guiltily, Max blushing and Alec smirking. "The girl you brought in will be fine. The knife missed major arteries and organs, but cut pretty deep. The gashes on her head and face will heal fairly quickly, but this has been a lot to handle for her. She'll need rest, and a lot of it." she finishes.
"How long?" Alec says, concerned for the girl, who he somehow feels attached to.
"I don't know, but a while longer than it would take if it were any of us got injured like that." Sandy says, looking at the two in front of her.
"Why?" asks Max, worried, "Is she sick?"
"No," Sandy assures her, "but you need to ask her where she's from and about her unit. You can go in now, if you want. She's stable, but no mind games, you two." Sandy says, pretending to scold them. They grin and walk in, leaving Sandy in the hallway, glad that she didn't tell the girl's secret...not yet, at least. ~It's better if she tells them herself.~
They walk into Lucy's room , hands laced through each other's. Max smiles at how comfortable she is around him. ~I might even like him. Ok, I do like him...~ Max thinks, smiling a little. They both are oblivious to what this girl can do, not even expecting what's coming next.