Chapter 10

Diana Bailey sat in shock at home on her couch, her lips parted in awe at what her father had just revealed to her. "A mutant...? But, how?"

"I've had telepathy since I was fourteen years old. If it hadn't been for a school specializing in mutants in New York, I wouldn't have been able to control it. I think that your gymnastics may be due to your genes." He moved to embrace his daughter, but was surprised when she pulled away from him.

"I'm not a freak! I'm normal!" All of this was crippling to an eleven-year-old, and her first step was to deny it. "And you...You've hidden it from us for all these years! How could you, Daddy? How could you be one of them?"

"Excuse me, but you're one of 'them' too. I've known it since you were a child. You've never fallen once. That's unnatural, Dee. You know how many kids fall off their bikes and skin their knees, or how many trip and skin their elbows? You never fell. Even when presented with the hardest of challenges in gymnastics, you always kept your balance. Of course, there's nothing wrong with being a mutant, Diana. You need to learn to accept it and to embrace it. Your mother and I need you right now." He put a hand on her knee, but she brushed it away immediately, shaking her head.

"No, Daddy. I'm not like you! I'm not a mutant! I can't be one, and I'll never be one!" She stood and immediately ran up the stairs, tears streaming down her face. David rubbed his forehead, picking up the phone and dialing the number to the hospital to check on his wife.

Realizing that Cassie had lied to them, Eve and Kei were determined to find out what had happened to their friend. Kat rolled her eyes and placed her palm in front of her in the air. "Whatever. I don't have time to look around for that Devil-worshipper anyways. I found some new friends to hang out with." A mischievous glint in her eye twinkled before she left the dorm.

"I smell something." Eve spoke loudly, as if Kat were still in the room.

"What is it?" Kei asked, slightly curious.

"I smell a snob." They both giggled lightly before following her out to search for Cassandra.

They didn't have to wait long to find her, as they were coming from opposing directions in the hallway when they found her. As they stopped, so did she, like a deer in headlights, her cheeks seeming to lightly tinge with pink.

"Where were you? You said you'd be in our room reading, but when we got there, you weren't in there." Kei spoke first out of concern of her roommate, whose emotions were now brimming with more energy than any normal human's, and she noticed Eve lightly sniff the air.

"What? Do I need a babysitter or something? I never said I'd be in my room. I just said I was going to read a book." Something about Cassie's scent seemed suspicious, but her attitude was cooler than ever.

"Where's your book then?" Eve immediately asked, sharper in her senses and primal mind than Kei was.

"Duh. I was reading in the library. I didn't find anything really interesting, so I came back early. But that was before I knew that there was a neighborhood watch out on me." Cassie lightly rolled her eyes, but she toned down her attitude a bit. "Thanks anyways for being worried about me, though. It's a nice change from that bitch walking around here and proclaiming herself Princess of the Homo Superior race."

Both Kei and Eve relaxing a bit, they nodded in agreement. Kei, however, still curious about Cassie, decided to ask her a question as they proceeded to their dorm. "What are your powers? Eve and I were talking about ours earlier."

"I don't want to talk about it." Receiving suspicious glances from both of them, she continued. "I mean, they're not pleasant. You'll find out if we're ever in battle together."

Breaking the silence that followed, Kei spoke up again. "Battle? I don't think I could do much, unless they want me to feel someone to death."

"I'm sure they'll find a use for you, and if you're an empath, maybe you can sense others nearby since you can sense feelings, right?" Eve responded, always trying to find positive aspects in things.

"But why would they need that? You could just smell them."

"I'm not that advanced, and what happens if I catch a cold or if we're in water?"

"Great. I'll be useful for undersea exploring and sickness. Sounds exciting." Kei's tone dropped a few octaves, sounding disappointed.

"I hear that sometimes you get an additional ability later in life." This time it was Cassie who had spoken, her rich brown eyes clouded in mystery.

"I'm already 15, I already have my period, and went through puberty and back again." Kei smiled a little, brightening despite her comment.

"I heard that this guy who works here recently altered his powers, and he has to be in his late twenties, early thirties." Eve responded once more.

"You seem to know more about this place than I do." Cassie observed, flipping her raven tresses over her shoulder.

"Well, I sorta read up on it on the plane trip here."

"Reading about this place? Damn, what a boring roommate." Kat appeared behind them, all of them halting to turn and look at her. "Miss Frost wanted me to deliver the news. One of the new girls is here."