Chapter 6: The Hunt for Vengeance

20th March 2017, Pacific coastline, Oregon

Somewhere south of Portland

The orange light of the campfire was reflected by Chloe's wet cheeks while she was staring at the flames. She missed that carefree life she had for over half a year. She missed Mikey, Grace and Stacy. But who she missed over everything else was Steph. Since the day it happened, Chloe had shed so many tears; had cried hours several times a day. Yesterday she'd read in a newspaper that Stephanie Gingrich's funeral was today. Knowing that she couldn't be there to say one last goodbye had driven her over the edge.

Feeling entirely numb inside, Chloe had walked to this very beach and collapsed on the spot, crying and yelling all her emotional pain out for hours. This was now way over ten hours ago.

After she'd made a fire to have at least a bit warmth over the night, the bluenette had just sat down and stared into the flames like they could give her an answer how to live with this pain.

Another wave of deep sorrow rushed through her body and made the young girl sob again.

'Chloe!' a female voice suddenly chimed, letting the punk-girl jump up and looked around in panic.

"Wh-who's there?"

'Calm down, Chloe!'

"Wh-whoever this is, stop fucking 'round with me and come out!" she kept on yelling, another sob emerging from her mouth.

'There's nobody else here, Chloe. Please, sit down and I will explain everything.'

"The fucking hell I will! Come out you piece of shit!"

Suddenly, everything went dark and as Chloe opened her eyes again, she was sitting by the fire once more. Entirely confused and feeling a bit dizzy, the bluenette scanned her surroundings, but nobody else was there and the voice was gone. "What the fuck?" she mumbled, brushing with her hand over her face as she sighed. "Just a fucking dream."

'I'm sorry, Chloe. But I had to take over for a short moment to calm you down.' chimed the voice again, and once again, Chloe was startled and jumped up. 'Chloe, please, before you start to yell again, let me explain. Nobody's here, we're alone. The voice you're hearing – my voice – comes from inside of you.'

Immediately, Chloe jumped up again and just stood there, her breathing heavy and her sight still wandering over the surrounding beach. The slight chilly wind was brushing over her face while the waves crushed against the coast. She buried her face in her hands and shook her head frantically. "This can't be! This can't fucking be! First this fucked up shit in Portland and now I'm hearing voices. I can't take this anymore!"

'Chloe,'

"No! This can't be."

'Chloe,'

"Go away! Go away! Go away!"

'Chloe, listen to me.'

"Go AWAY!"

Silence.

It was like the whole world went mute. Only slowly the sounds of nature returned. Her shallow breathing normalized with every draft of air, but her legs failed her. Chloe fell on her knees as exhaustion took over.

"Who are you?" she spoke with a shivering voice, hoping that nobody would answer. But sadly, it was a false hope.

'My name is Juno'ka, former head scientist and commander of the first Neph'arim Empire as well as first council of God-Empress Amun'shek II during the period of the second empire.'

Chloe would've loved nothing more than to freak out. Being on the run and followed by merciless killers, who murdered the love of her life was one thing, but hearing voices put the whole thing into a new dimension of fucked-up shit that she could only face with cynicism and a scoff. "Wow, that…sounds kinda fancy. But what the fucking hell are you doing in my head?"

'I don't know. But based on the facts at hand I'd say someone merged our – as you would call it – DNA.'

"You sure? Sounds more to me like I went hella bonkers and you're just some schizophrenic figment of my imagination. And since I'm all alone and bored, let's chat a little."

'Chloe,'

"Hi Juno, I'm Chloe Elizabeth Price, recently homeless and on the run from some fucking murderous asshats. I turned eighteen a few days back, before all my hope and love was killed and my life turned into another big pile of shit. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I started to hear voices in my head? But except from that I'm hella normal. Your turn!"

'Chloe,'

"C'mon, don't be shy! Just open up a bit and tell me something about you. I always wanted an imaginary friend."

'Chloe, I know it's a lot to cope for you, but…'

"Dude, it's hella unfriendly not to return a gesture of trust. I opened up to you, now it's your turn!"

'As you wish. I'm Juno'ka, former…'

"You already said that."

'It's rude to interrupt someone mid-sentence!'

"Smartass!"

'As I said, I'm Juno'ka. At the time I was still alive I had been 5,234 Neph'arim-standard-years old. In Earth-years this should be approximately 6,000 years.'

"Wait! 6,000 freakin' years?! Dude, you're more insane than I am! And what the freakin' hell is a Neph…Neph-uh-fuckamajimmy?!"

'Neph-a-rim.'

"Yeah, that one."

'The Neph'arim were a proud race, whose empire once spread across almost the entire galaxy. Sadly, wars, mistrust, treason and discord drove us into extinction. At the time I died our entire fleet had been destroyed and the Galactic Alliance was about to clean planet after planet from my people. The few survivors were on the run…like you are now.'

"Okayokayokay, whoawhoawhoa, back up there! Other planets? Galactic Alliance? Across the Galaxy?! Where am I, Star Wars?!"

'Chloe, what I'm telling you here is the truth and deep inside you know it. You always reached for the stars; were fascinated by them; wanted to visit them.'

Thinking about Juno'ka's words, Chloe realized that there was truth in them. She remembered how often she snuck out of the orphanage to climb up the emergency ladder and watch the clear night sky from the roof of the building. How often she dreamt to travel the universe. How she never felt home anywhere. Once, Chloe had even talked with Steph about this and she'd told her that she was very special and unique. Now, Chloe knew what Steph probably meant with these words.

The world began to spin around Chloe as nausea and dizziness overwhelmed her. "D-does this mean th-that you are really an…fuck…you're an alien?" she asked, already afraid of the answer.

'If this word means that I'm not human and wasn't born on this planet, then you're correct.'

"A-and you said that someone merged our DNA?"

'Probably, yes.'

"Okay…" she said with a heavy voice, fighting to hold down her last meal, "I-I think I'm gonna lay down a bit."

'Chloe?'

Before Chloe could answer Juno'ka everything went dark and she fell, head first, in the sand as she lost her conscious.

5th September 2017, Arcadia Bay, Oregon

'They killed her. They fucking killed my Max.' chimed Chloe's voice through her head, accompanied by pure sorrow.

"I know. I'm so sorry, Chloe!" answered Juno'ka, who was now in control over Chloe's body while she was floating high above the town, watching how the unknown killers were loading Max's body into a black van. "I need to end this…tonight."

'Juno, what…'

"Chloe, I want you to retreat into the deepest depths of your subconscious and stay there until I give you the control over your body back."

For a moment there was silence until Chloe spoke again.

'You gonna kill them, aren't you?'

"Enough innocent died by their hands. It is time to put this to a final end. Death is the only language they speak, so death will be the answer they'll receive. Besides, I gave them my word as a Neph'arim that I'd kill them, and a Neph'arim will always be bound to his word."

'Juno, just one thing…no innocent, okay.'

"You have my word, Chloe."

Then Chloe was gone, only Juno'ka remained, ready for the hunt.

She witnessed how the masked men embarked the vehicle, which drove off right away, and three other men stayed. Juno'ka decided to follow the van in order to find out where it came from.

She focused on manipulating the air around her and followed the vehicle by flying above it, always trying to stay out of sight. It was almost too easy and just as this thought hit the bluenette's mind, she saw how the air in front of the vehicle started to shimmer. From one moment to another the black van was gone. Vanished into thin air.

Quickly, Juno'ka nosedived and came to a halt right at the spot where the vehicle had disappeared. She closed her eyes and scanned the entire location for anything unusual and she found it: subspace particles.

"Subspace-technology…interesting." she said and instantly knew that Max's killers escaped without leaving a trace to follow, so that there was only one possibility left. "Pity, looks like I have to do it the old-fashioned way."

She gazed down the street towards Max's house. Three other men stayed, probably to secure the area and to clean up their mess. Three persons who could give her the much needed information.

Juno'ka approached the Caulfield's house. The door was closed and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. But she knew better. There was no need to be subtle anymore. Scanning the movement of air molecules inside the house the bluenette knew the exact location of her opponents.

With a loud crack the wooden door was ripped out of its hinges, hitting the guy who had been standing watch so hard that he was dead in an instant. Before the two other men were even able to react, Juno'ka had already lifted them into the air, their limbs stretched out and useless.

She approached the closest soldier, literally feeling the fear he radiated. "You know what I am and saw what I can do. Now tell me, where are they bringing her?" As she'd already experienced at the other encounters, these men seemed to have the explicit order to stay quiet, but she also knew that some convincing arguments could make them talk quite easily. "If you can't answer me this question, then how about a simpler one? What happens to a human body at bottom of the Mariana Trench?"

Seeing in the soldier's eyes that he didn't understand the use of this question, Juno'ka just shifted her gaze to the other man, letting the asked one follow her glare, and from one moment to the other his companion was squeezed into a thin sheet, his blood sprinkling everything except the bluenette who was protecting herself with a shield of tight compressed air molecules.

"You were saying?" she asked, her blue-glowing eyes now fixed on the last alive man once more.

His eyes were watery while his whole body trembled and a puddle of urine was forming under him. As Juno'ka leaned in he blurted his answer out in panic. "I don't know! I don't know, okay! I swear! We get contacted, then someone picks us up, brings us to a complex in the middle of nowhere and then we're deployed via some subspace-portal-shit to a local makeshift base of operation. That's all I know. Please!"

He began to sob out of fear for his life, but Juno'ka felt no pity for him. "Where's your makeshift base of operation?" she asked and received an answer. Nobody heard his screams outside the sonic-proof field that was surrounding the house as the bluenette relieved the soldier from his misery.

21st March 2017, Pacific coastline, Oregon

A small Motel near Lincoln City

Chloe opened her eyes and sat up with a start. The first thing she realized was that she wasn't at the beach anymore, but in a slight shabby room. From its interior Chloe guessed that it belonged to a Motel or maybe even a small hotel.

"Fuuuck!" she said with a big sigh, brushing with her hand over her face, asking herself once more if this unbelievable stuff about aliens had been nothing more than a freaky nightmare. As she unwrapped herself from the blanket which was covering her body she realized that she was naked. Chloe knew that she'd never ever sleep naked, except she had sex and fell asleep right after it. But since lacking a girlfriend, Chloe knew that something was wrong.

'I'm glad you're finally awake,' chimed Juno'ka's voice in her head out of a sudden, making the young girl to get up with a start and fall out of bed with a shriek.

"Goddammitfuckingshit, stop scaring the shit outta me!" Chloe yelled, stood up and rubbed her butt where she'd landed on.

'I'm sorry! I was under the false assumption that you already got used to my presence.'

"Obviously not! So, where the fuck am I and why the freakin' hell am I butt-naked?!"

'You are in an etablissement that is commonly known as a Motel near a settlement called Lincoln City. I had to get you to a warm and safe place as soon as I realized that heavy rain was coming. Sadly, I found this place not in time and we got pretty drenched. To prevent hypothermia, I had to strip off your clothes and tug you in a blanked in order to preserve your body heat.'

"Wouldn't have a hot bath, or shower done the same?"

'In a state of hypothermia it is unwise to expose your human body to an environment of high temperatures. Using your own body heat is the most efficient way to heat it up again.'

"You're such a smartass, you know that?" Chloe said and made her way to the bathroom.

'And you are very rude to someone who tries to give you a well meant advice.'

"Touché!"

The bluenette turned on the hot water of the shower and stepped under the stream, sighing as the liquid hit her body. Since she'd left Portland, Chloe hadn't had the chance to take a shower. She took a handful of the free liquid soap and began to wash her scruffy hair. As she washed out the foam, she gazed at a shining blue streak, fumbling it with her fingers.

"Why did my hair turn blue?"

'The Divine Energy that runs through your body changed its color, Chloe.'

"Divine Energy?" Chloe scoffed, "Were your people some sort of religious fanatic alien nutjobs?"

'Though you're right that this name has a theistic origin, the Neph'arim of my time didn't believe in any deities anymore. The Divine Energy had been discovered by my race in the early stages of their colonization of other planets. Back in said time, we discovered the remnants of a long extinct race that we only called the Ti'hak, the First Ones. They predated the Neph'arim by at least two million years.'

"Whoa, that's pretty fucking old! And you still found stuff from them? Shouldn't it be…I don't know…already rusted away 'n' shit?"

'We found the ruins on a moon that was drifting through the emptiness of space. Probably its former solar system had faded or it was thrown out of its orbit by a catastrophic event. But the fact is, that on this moon had been no activities whatsoever. No atmosphere and solar radiation means no corrosion. No tectonic activities and weather means no geologically influence such as sedimentation or earthquakes. These ruins had been perfectly preserved for so many years, yet we were fortunate that the moon hadn't collided with another object.'

"Juno," Chloe said as she turned off the water and left the shower, drying off her body with a towel, "Are you even aware that you still haven't answered my question?"

'Be patient, Chloe, I'm…'

"History's so hella boring, just cut the crap and get to the point!"

A moment of silence occurred and Chloe already began to ask herself if Juno'ka was pouting, until she continued to speak.

'As you wish. 150,000 years of history from an ancient alien race are actually really boring, so why bother you with it?'

"Are you sulking?"

'If you mean with sulking, that I'm very tired of your rude boldness and would love to retreat and leave you alone, then yes, I'm indeed sulking. The discovery of the Devine Energy marked the most important event in the history of the Neph'arim. It made us who we actually were.'

"Ugh! Okay, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to insult your race…people…whatever…aliens." Chloe answered Juno, feeling a bit guiltier as the apology sounded cheaper than she meant. She left the bathroom, took some fresh clothes from her backpack and started to dress. "So, uhm, tell me something about this Divine Energy and why the hell it dyed my hair blue."

'The Divine Energy represents the existence of our universe itself. It controls time, matter and, to most races unknown, life. A Neph'arim can't interact with every spectrum of the Energy. It's either matter or life or time, each represented by the basic colors blue, yellow and red.'

"So, it's like color-coded and you're able to influence matter."

'That's correct, and somehow this interaction changed the Neph'arim's hair DNA and let it posses the specific basic color or a mixture, depending how strong an aspect had been developed.'

"But why only up here and not…well…" she looked inside her panties and fumbled with some of her pubic hair, "…down there?"

'You are half human, Chloe.'

"And you had bluish hair everywhere?"

'That's a very intimate question.'

"Dude, you already saw me naked and probably even watched when I had sex."

'No, I only emerged when you had strong feelings.'

"Like love and excitement during sex? Stop shitting me, Juno!"

Once more a moment of silence occurred, but this time it was simply awkward.

'I tried to be absent during such…events. Can we change the topic back to the Divine Energy, please?'

A wide, mischievous smirk formed on Chloe's lips as she heard the embarrassment that swung with Juno'ka's voice. Though it wasn't probably the best idea to mock an already pissed alien, Chloe followed her nature and did it anyway.

"Did I just embarrass an alien?"

Out of nowhere an intensive wave of pure lust flooded throughout Chloe's body, making her gasp, moan and almost losing her balance. If she wouldn't have held on to a table nearby, the bluenette would've hit the ground.

"Holy shit! What the fuck was that?! I-I almost came on the spot!"

'We Neph'arim were very passionate lovers. Love, lust, yearning…if you live as long as I did, you develop a whole new understanding of such feelings; learn to control and intensify them. But you are very young, Chloe. Your feelings are nothing more than hormonal induced reactions of urge.'

"Thanks for the flowers, Miss Oh-I'm-living-my-feelings. And you call me blunt and rude."

'I think we're even then."

"If you say so," Chloe sighed, rolling with her eyes annoyingly. "Damn," she then mutters, reaching down her panties once more only to realize that they were entirely sticky, "Now I need a new set of panties."

While the young girl was getting dressed her mind wandered. The whole conversation about love and sex had reminded her of Steph. Had reminded her that her love had died just a few days ago. Several tears ran down her face as she was mourning the loss of her girlfriend once more. Burying her face in her hands, Chloe sat down onto the bed and began to sob.

'I'm sorry about your loss, Chloe! I know how much she meant to you. How much she meant to…us. It's my entire fault. They were certainly after me and…'

"Stop it!" Chloe said quietly with a weak voice, "It's not your fault! You didn't kill her. But you killed them. Avenged her. And I'm so grateful for that!"

'Revenge isn't a noble path, Chloe! What I did, I did only for protecting you. It was necessary, yet not justified. Taking a life is never the right choice.'

"Said the alien who shredded them into bits and pieces without hesitation," the bluenette scoffed dryly.

'If you're participating in numerous wars throughout thousands of years and are responsible for the death of millions you see the fading of life with some kind of pragmatism.'

"MILLIONS!? Y-you mean that you killed millions?! What the fuck, dude?!"

'Responsible, Chloe! Responsible! As a Commander of the Empire I had an entire fleet under my command. Two million Neph'arim in arms. Your planetary warfare's nothing compared to an intergalactic one. The loss of life during a battle could reach billions.'

Chloe stayed silent for a while in need to process this information. Like the extensions and wonders of the universe, those amounts of dead were too much for a human brain to imagine, especially for an eighteen years old girl. "Billions…" she whispered, "That's so fucked up! How can you live on like this and talk about it like it's a walk in the park?"

'I dedicated hundreds of years studying the mysteries of life and death and came to the conclusion that death isn't the end. How you die doesn't matter. Your life-energy flows back into the stream of the Divine Energy. That's how the universe works.'

"But nonetheless the individual is still gone. Especially when you rip them apart! That's just hella cruel!"

'No, it's simply a different view of morality. Jefferson didn't deserve to die quick and peacefully. He deserved to suffer for all the pain he'd caused. Sometimes, cruelty is quite useful and necessary as a psychologically factor! His violent death shall be a warning for everyone who wants to follow his footsteps!'

"That's just a fucking sick point of view!"

'Chloe, your race still has the luxury to hold on to such moral aspects. But the universe is an unforgivable place that houses countless different races with different point of views. Strict morality easily becomes a weakness if your opponent doesn't respect them. You need to show them that you're willing to be merciless if necessary; that you're stronger; that you're godlike.'

This time, Chloe didn't reply anything. What she just heard was simply too much for her. New tears emerged from the corners of her eyes and dripped onto the carpeted floor.

'Chloe, I know it's hard to understand, but…'

"Just shut up!" the young bluenette spoke quietly with a trembling tone, covering her ears tightly to silence Juno'ka's voice.

'There's no use in denying the truth or to lie to you. I did what I did and I am what I am.'

"Yes," Chloe shouted in anger as she jumped up, "You're a fucking mass murdering psycho-alien with a freakin' god-complex! That's what you are!"

'Chloe…'

"Thanks to you I had to leave everything behind. Stacy, Mikey, Grace…S-Steph. For the first time of my life I had a real family. And thanks to you I'm alone again!"

'And I thought you don't hold me responsible for that.'

"I lied, okay, 'cause I thought you were actually nice and didn't deserve a guilt trip. But you're just as sick as Jefferson and those other fuckers!"

'That's not true, Chloe!' Juno blurted back, agitation chiming with her voice, 'They hurt others for pleasure, I did not! I only did it because it was…'

"Necessary?" Chloe scoffed, shaking her head, "Yeah, right…just keep on shitting yourself, Juno. You know what? Fuck off! Leave me alone! Get out of my fucking head! I don't wanna talk to you ever again!"

Silence occurred for another moment until Juno'ka's voice chimed for one last time.

'Very well.'

Then, she was gone.

5th September 2017, Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Arcadia Bay harbor

The metal roof of the abandoned warehouse cracked open like the top of a tuna can, and Juno'ka floated through the new formed entrance. Softly, she landed in the middle of the vast room, immediately scanning the entire area. Though it was pitch black inside, she didn't need any light to see, hence to her ability to sense any form of matter.

Except of some old wooden crates and some scrap, the entire building was empty. Marks in the dust that covered everything in this old construction, plus the remnant particles of advanced technology and the subspace told Juno'ka right away that something big went down here. But whoever these men were, they were professionals and had already disappeared through subspace without leaving a clue, like the ones who shot Max.

It was unnerving and Juno'ka had to gulp down her anger. She knew that agitation clouded the mind and that was something she couldn't afford right now, therefore the bluenette focused on finding even the tiniest trace that would bring her another step closer to those men who had hurt Chloe once more.

But no matter how hard she tried, there was nothing that could give her a hint. Now even more enraged, Juno'ka pushed a crate so hard against a close-by steel bar that it shattered into a thousand pieces. As she was about to focus on another one, her glowing blue eyes suddenly fixed on the label. She bobbed her head slightly as her lips formed a wry smirk upon reading two words: Prescott Foundation.

24th March 2017, Pacific coastline, Oregon

50 Miles south of Lincoln City

Heavy breathing and soft moans accompanied by the rustling of the fabric of Chloe's sleeping bag chimed through the small tent. The young girl's eyes were closed and her mind entirely focused on the treatment she was giving her private parts.

Despite everything she's been through; despite her losses, Chloe was still a teenager with – how Juno'ka called it – hormonal induced reactions of urges.

Mostly, the need for intimacy emerged when Chloe was still half asleep and her mind didn't work on a full level. But the problem was that with every minute she was awake her thoughts became more complex and wandered until they eventually caught a negative memory and let her lust turn into sadness and frustration.

Soon, her moans changed into quiet sobs, which got more and more frequent as seconds passed until Chloe curled up, wrapping her arms around herself while her crying intensified.

'Chloe?' Juno'ka's voice chimed soft and cautiously inside her head.

"Go away! Leave me alone!" the bluenette whimpered between her sobs, but nonetheless Juno kept on talking.

'Chloe, I understand that you don't want to talk with me anymore, but there's something we need to talk about.'

"Can't you stupid cunt see that I'm not in the fucking mood to talk to you?" she yelled with deep anger. Until, suddenly, all her sadness and agitation abated. Immediately her crying stopped as a wave of comfort and warmth flushed through her entire body. It felt like someone had given her the warmest hug she'd ever received.

'Do you feel better now?'

Shaking off her first surprise, Chloe sat up, staring straight ahead in confusion. "Wh-what the…How did you…?"

'As I said, we Neph'arim were able to control our feelings. Right now I gave all my comfort to sooth your emotional pain. I never wanted you to get hurt and I'm really sorry for everything I've caused!'

"Well…uhm…gee, thanks…I guess."

'You are a very kind-hearted, yet rebellious person, Chloe. In my entire previous life I only met one being who was very similar and I loved her dearly.'

"Her?" Chloe spoke in surprise, "Lemme get this…well…straight, you were female, right?"

'That's correct.'

"And your love was also a female?"

'Yes.'

"Huh, alien-lesbians. Who would've guessed?!"

'Relationships between same genders weren't something unusual for my race. The ability to interact with the Devine Energy granted us great power and immortality, but it also robbed as of the possibility to reproduce.'

"Wait! You mean your race had been sterilized and you weren't able to receive any kids?"

'Not quite, but your chances to receive a child were 1 to 1,000,000 and not dependent anymore on sexual intercourse, because impregnation was only possible by bonding the life-energy. But it was too difficult, exhausting and a success not given. Many children died right after birth, because they were too weak to live on their own. And many Neph'arim died because of trying too hard. It was a tragedy. The power that was the peak of our evolution would also become our downfall.'

"And had you…y'know, any kids?"

'Sadly, no. I tried it once, but it almost cost me my life and I decided to dedicate my existence rather in researching the Divine Energy and the development of new technologies then in reproduction. It was a hard choice, but eventually the right one.'

"Okay, bottom-line: you Neph'arim-guys were pretty fucked, and with great power comes great bullshit…or whatever."

'You could say it that way, yes. And this brings me to the reason I wanted to talk with you in the first place: your powers.'

"MY powers?! You're the one who ripped those fuckers apart, not me!"

'Chloe, the ability to interact with the Divine Energy is linked with your DNA and I used your body to canalize it. The power rests inside of you. You simply don't know how to access or use it and this is very dangerous!'

"Why? Do you fear I might accidently rip someone's dick off, or what?"

'No, I fear more that you might kill thousands of innocent in a blink of an eye. Chloe, as far as I experienced, you have the capability to destroy an entire city in merely seconds. If you don't learn to control your powers, they could cause a serious amount of death and destruction.'

"Okay, death and destruction's so not down my alley. So, when do we start?"

'Right now! I already set up a field around the premise to shield off the sound and emerging energy waves from the outside world while you were asleep, or would you prefer to finish your needs first?"

"Dude, talking about death, destruction and the baby problems of an alien race is such a cockblocker, you can't even imagine."

'Well, if you want I can bring you back into mood and…'

"Blech! Dude, I just decided to talk with you again, so keep your…your alien-mind out of my sex-life!"

'Very well!'

Chloe opened her sleeping back and a shiver ran through her as the cold air hit her scarcely dressed body. Quickly, she put on her jeans and a jacket and left the tent. With a deep inhale she enjoyed the fresh and salty morning air. Then she took out a cigarette and lit it.

'You know that the inhale of these dried leafs is toxic for your race, right?'

With a wry, rebellious smirk the bluenette took another draft and flicked the half-smoked cig away. "Yeah, but it kinda keeps me sane…for a while at least. But don't worry, I'm gonna quit someday…maybe."

'Good to hear. Now focus!'

"What, no boring history or theory lesson?"

'No. Now close your eyes and focus on your surroundings. Try to feel the matter around you.'

Chloe did what she was told and closed her eyes, trying to focus on her surroundings. At first, there was nothing. Only darkness and the sounds of nature. But then she felt something. Heat began to emerge from deep within her body. It felt strange and overwhelming, yet familiar and comforting. An undefined shape appeared in her sight, but it was too indistinct so that Chloe tried even harder until the tree stump in front of her exploded, sending dirt, bits and pieces flying around the area in high speed. Chloe took cover by hitting the ground, protecting her head with her arms.

Normally, the bluenette girl would've been pierced and severely wounded by the splinters, but as she opened her eyes and looked around, the deadly shrapnel were floating above her while her tent as well as the surrounding area had been entirely devastated.

"Holy! Fucking! Shit! D-did I do that?"

'You superheated the air inside the stump, boiling up the liquid inside into a supercritical mass, which caused an abrupt release of gas under the given environment. Luckily, you also put up a force field around you by instinct.'

"Dammit! I-I didn't want to…to do that. I…"

'You simply tried to focus, yes! And that is the reason why you need to learn how to control your powers.'

"Guess you're right, then." The splinters and dirt above her now rained down on her harmlessly as she got up. "You could've warned me, though!"

'I thought telling you about the destruction of an entire city made this point pretty clear.'

With a big sigh Chloe looked around and eyed the remnants of her stuff. "Ugh, I hope some of my stuff has survived, 'cause I don't have the money to buy everything new."

'Don't worry, Chloe. We're close to our destination. I feel something that…draws me there. Just head some more miles south. Money shouldn't be a problem, trust me! Just focus on controlling your powers!'

5th September 2017, Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Prescott residence

A warm, cozy fire burned and crackled in the fireplace, giving the mostly with dark wooden elements decorated living room of the Prescott residence an almost relaxing atmosphere.

But Sean Prescott wasn't relaxed. For an hour now he tried to ignore that a murderous alien with superpowers was running free through his town, by sitting in an armchair and reading the financial part of the newspaper. Right after he'd returned home, he gave the Board his report, and they weren't happy how this whole thing went down. One dead civilian and zero captured aliens. He blamed Sanders for this mess, because if it where for him, Sean would've just sent a team of hitmen and simply killed this bitch right on the spot.

He took a glass filled with Scotch from the small table right beside the chair and emptied it with one big sip.

"Dad, can I borrow your Bentley?" chimed Nathan's voice as he came down the stairs.

"You're grounded, Nathan!" his father answered plainly, not even shifting his gaze from the paper.

"But Da-ad, my friends are throwing a party and…"

"I don't care!" Sean now spoke angrily, threw the paper aside stood up and walked towards his, "You brought shame upon our family-name again! Do you even know how much it cost me to contain the damage you've caused? How much people I had to pay to keep them silent?"

Taken aback by his father's rage, Nathan, now intimidated, took a few steps back. "B-but Dad, it wasn't my fault. This stupid cunt provoked me."

"And you let yourself get provoked. Now go and do for once something useful!" For once, Sean Prescott was glad that his up-to-no-good son had messed up again. Because he knew what threat was walking around out there, and just imagining what could happen to his son out there almost let him show weakness.

Nathan was about to leave as it suddenly knocked at the door. Both, father and son gazed at each other, asking themselves who would visit at this time at night.

The answer followed as the heavy wooden door began to constantly crack and crumbled into sharp pieces, which where whirling wildly in a sphere of deadly splinters. This ball of potential projectiles slowly floated aside and made way for Juno'ka who stepped slowly through the doorframe.

"Th-that's her, Dad! That bitch attacked me without a reason!" Nathan said in panic, taking cover behind his father, who glimpsed at him angrily.

"You idiot, why haven't you told me?" and then he gazed with some fear at the girl with the blue glowing hair and eyes. "I-it was a mistake to use your powers. Now they'll track you and hunt you down!"

Unimpressed by this pathetic excuse for a threat, Juno'ka bobbed her head slightly to one side and lifted Nathan and Sean Prescott in the air, letting them dangling there like a bunch of puppets with cut strings. "A field of Divine Energy charged particles surrounds this town, so tracking me should be close to impossible for your crude sensors. Still, I won't be here for long, because you already answered my first question."

The sphere of wooden splinters following her, Juno'ka approached Sean Prescott with slow steps, letting her index finger brush over the head of an expensive, ugly statue, whose head fell off immediately like it had been cut by an incredible sharp blade. As she'd reached her target, the bluenette stopped and glanced at him deeply. "Where did they bring her?"

Out of nowhere a shot chimed, but the bullet that was meant for her, had stopped long before reaching the girl's body. She turned her head and saw Mrs. Prescott, a slender woman with blonde hair, standing in the kitchen door, gun in her hand. The projectile flew back to its source with high-speed and destroyed the gun. Metal shrapnel cut deep into Mrs. Prescott's hand as she went down with a scream, holding her bleeding hand.

"MOM!" Nathan yelled as he saw his mother in pain and to his surprise the invisible grip around his body vanished.

"You should help your mother," Juno'ka said with a soft voice, gazing at the boy, "But don't try anything ill-considered," then shifted her gaze to Sean again, "And you were about to tell me the location of your base of origin."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't challenge me, you cheap excuse for a living being! You know who I am, so…" she leaned in closer, her eyes piercing daggers, "…tell me now or I'll take your family apart…limb by limb."

She saw the fear in his eyes. The fear of loss. Maybe people like him never cared about others, but when it came to their families most of them faltered eventually.

"I-I don't know where it is! I was there when I joined them, but they brought me to that base with some teleportation device. That's it, I swear!"

A first wave of desperation rushed through her body, but abated as fast as it appeared as a thought hit Juno'ka's mind. So far, his statement matched with what she'd witnessed and heard from the soldier: a secret base in the middle of nowhere, location unknown and only accessible via subspace transportation. But she felt that Sean Prescott still hadn't told her everything. She could see it in his eyes and feel the increase of his blood pressure. Individuals like him were always the same, even across the universe. They always had a backup plan.

Her gaze fell on Nathan, who was, once more, lifted into the air and floated towards her, screaming and lashing out with his limbs. "Would you swear it on your son's life?"

Though she'd never planned to kill Nathan, threatening to do so could be a very promising way to get what Juno'ka wanted and she wouldn't be disappointed. The last bit of arrogance vanished from Sean Prescott's face as his son's arm got stretched until his shoulder was being dislocated and he screamed in agony.

"My phone!" he suddenly yelled in panic, "The coordinates are on my phone! I took them as leverage if they'd try to double-cross me."

While the phone floated towards Juno'ka, Sean and Nathan Prescott hit the ground. Thanks to her powers she was able to control and influence every piece of technology without needing an input device. A wide, satisfactory grin appeared on her face as she'd finally found what she'd been looking for: the secret location of their base.

Now the sphere of wooden splinters flew into the middle of the room and exploded, destroying everything, except of Juno'ka and the Prescott family, who were all covered by a shield.

"Thank you for your cooperation," said the bluenette and headed for the door, stopping one last time, "Let's hope we never meet us again, because next time I won't put a shield around you and your family." Then she gazed at him deeply with her threatening blue glowing eyes. "And you know that I hold on to my promises!"

Then, she was gone, heading for her final destination on her hunt for vengeance!

30th April 2017, Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Downtown

'What a hickhole!' thought Chloe as she was leaning against a wall close to a local coffee shop where she'd bought a cup of coffee five minutes ago. She scanned the town, which she'd arrived last night, while gulping down the last sip of the brown liquid. 'What was the name of this dump again?'

'(Juno'ka) Arcadia Bay.'

'And your…senses guided us here?'

'(Juno'ka) Yes! And I feel that whatever is drawing us here is getting stronger.'

'Great,' Chloe replied internally, 'I just hope it's not your faible for fucked up shitholes at the bum of the world.'

'(Juno'ka) No.'

Chloe pushed herself from the wall, crushing the paper cup in her hands. 'Well, that was our last money. And now?'

'(Juno'ka) Search for a device that holds your currency.'

'Searching for an ATM. Yes, ma'am!'

Though she'd asked some people where to find the next ATM, most of them didn't even answer or murmured some rude words because of her attire, letting Chloe hate this town even more.

'Great, only because I don't look like the cute, little town girl they treat me like shit. Ugh, I hate this fucking dumphole!'

'(Juno'ka) Don't give up, Chloe! Humans seem to be very judgmental, yet you already found people who like you the way you are.'

'Yeah, and one quarter of them is dead and I'll never see the other three quarter ever again. Thanks for the heads-up!'

'(Juno'ka) I'm sorry, Chloe. It wasn't my intention to bring back bad memories.'

For a moment Chloe stopped walking and sighed deeply, fighting down an upcoming wave of grief. 'It's…It's okay, Juno. I know you didn't mean it like that. Let's just focus on finding a fucking ATM.'

It took her another fifteen minutes until Chloe had finally found the wanted cash mashine. 'Okay, found one. What now?'

'(Juno'ka) Give me access to your powers.'

A warm feeling emerged from deep within her body as Chloe felt how it was flooded by the Divine Energy and a moment later the machine in front of her spit out two thousand dollars.

"Dude!" Chloe accidently yelled out as she saw the amount of money, "H-how…?"

'(Juno'ka) Most of your electronic devices are connected via a worldwide network, based on a simple binary system. Influencing it wasn't that hard. Oddly enough, you humans seem to like imaginary data currency, so I just took the freedom to hypothetically create this money. Based on the prices I witnessed so far, this money should last for some time.'

'Oookay…so, you just hacked the Internet and created this money out of the blue?'

'(Juno'ka) Yes.'

'Badass!' commented Chloe, stuffed the money into her jacket and moved on, 'So, what's the plan?'

'(Juno'ka) We need to find the origin of what drew us here, because if it attracted us, then it is possible that it will attract our enemy, too.'

'Okay, but I need some food, a shower and a bed first, or else I'm gonna pout on you.'

After Chloe had found a grocery store and bought us much food as she could carry, she tried to find a hotel, asking a few people again. She wasn't very far from the searched hotel as suddenly Juno'ka's voice screamed in her head.

'(Juno'ka) Chloe stop! The source…it's near!'

"What?! Where?!" Chloe blurted out and spun around, letting all the people around look at her. And then, she saw her.

She was in the middle of a bunch of girls, cutely laughing, maybe about a joke or something funny. Her brown, chin-long hair framed her beautiful, freckled face. The girl wasn't tall, maybe a bit under average height, and skinny, wearing casual, kind of geeky clothes.

"Holy fuck!" the bluenette whiffed, her body filled with hormones right away.

'(Juno'ka) Chloe, I understand that you urge for closeness, but we have to find that source!'

'Dammit, Juno,' Chloe yelled back internally with agitation, 'For once I wanna forget about this shit and just live!' Her mood now gone and the cute girl out of sight, Chloe put her hands in her pockets and continued her way to the hotel with angry steps.

'(Juno'ka) Chloe, I…'

'Just drop it, Juno!'

'(Juno'ka) Very well.'

She saw her freckled face every time she closed her eyes. She wanted to see this cute laughing again. She wanted to meet her; wanted to talk with her; wanted to find out who she was.

After she'd spent the last month in the woods, learning to control her powers, this hot shower was more than soothing. It not only washed away the dirt, it was also way better than washing yourself in some cold creeks, and it gave her some time to think; to let her mind wander. But every time this cute, unknown girl popped up in her mind, making her feel a yearning deep inside. A yearning she'd suppressed for a month now. With every passing second this need built up more and more, growing into a big, hurtful knot that needed to be undone.

With a soft moan, Chloe let her hand slide over her body deep down between her legs, but as soon as she'd started to massage her sex, a big wave of negative emotions destroyed her mood again. The yearning was gone, but the almost painful knot remained.

She wanted to scream; wanted to cry; wanted nothing more than to make the people who did this to her make suffer. But she was tired of giving in to those feelings and this annoying knot. She wanted to be a bit normal again. Maybe she couldn't overcome this complicated situation all by herself, but with a little help. Help, she got offered before.

"Juno?" Chloe asked loudly. Now that they weren't in public anymore, she was finally able to speak with the Neph'arim inside of her like a real person, making her feel less alone and way less insane.

'Yes, Chloe?'

"Y-you told me once that…uhm…th-that you could help me with my urges."

'Indeed I did.'

"I…I-I wanna take this offer. But…but only under one condition!"

'Name it.'

"I…I want it to be romantic, slow. And…uh…I…I don't know if it's even possible, but I wanna meet you!"

After a moment of silence, Juno'ka answered. 'Very well. Get comfortable and I'll guide you.'

"Okay." The bluenette answered shyly, turned off the water and left the shower. Quickly, she dried off her wet body and then, naked as she was, laid down on the bed.

She felt nervous. Her hands were clammy and shaking a bit. She felt like before her first time. "Okay, I'm comfortable…kinda. What now?"

'Close your eyes and follow my voice.'

Taking one last deep breath, Chloe closed her eyes and focused. At first everything was dark, but then, like someone used a light switch, everything around her was painted in a white light.

Chloe was now standing in the middle of this vast white room, still entirely naked, spinning around to scan the area as she suddenly spotted the blurry silhouette of a humanoid being, which became clearer the closer it came until Chloe saw her for the first time: Juno'ka.

She was very tall and slim, but also muscular, and her entire body covered with blueish glowing tribal-like tattoos. Her hair was cobalt-blue and short cut, and her face had some similarities with Chloe's, yet it was a bit more angular.

Being confronted with, in her eyes, such a majestic, perfect woman, all Chloe was able to do, as Juno'ka was standing right in front of her, was to gulp and lower her gaze.

Softly, Juno'ka touched Chloe's chin and made her to look into her deep-blue glistening eyes, greeting her with a warm smile.

"Y-you're so beautiful!" whispered Chloe, almost unable to speak.

"You are very beautiful, too, Chloe! Are you sure that you want to do this?"

Everything Chloe could muster was a shy nodding, before Juno'ka softly gave the young girl a kiss. At first unable to move, Chloe didn't reply the kisses, but soon all those worries; all those doubts; the fear and every other negative feeling was flushed away and made her to return those signs of affection eagerly.

"Can I…can I touch you?" the young bluenette asked cautiously, earning another warm smile by Juno'ka.

"Of course!" she answered, took Chloe's hand softly and guided it over her body. It felt soft and every time her finger ran over one of those tattoos their tips tingled slightly. Now entirely in the mood to do more, the young girl even began to touch the alien woman's perfect breasts on her own and would've touched other regions, too, if Juno'ka wouldn't have stopped her. "My pleasures are irrelevant, Chloe," she mentioned softly, and cautiously laid Chloe on a bed that hadn't been there before, "You can continue touching me for your pleasure, if you want, but…"

"No!" she gasped, "I-I want us both…uh, having pleasures!"

Looking puzzled at the girl with in unbelief, Juno'ka immediately regained her countenance. "As you wish!"

Now both wrapped their arms around each other, entangled in a lustful dance.

Since the incident in Portland, Chloe hadn't felt that alive. She almost had forgotten how it felt to touch someone; how it felt to be touched. It felt so incredible that, soon, the knot inside her belly finally was untied with tightly closed eyes and a loud and intense moan.

It took the young girl's mind some minutes to regain full consciousness again. She sensed that her whole trembling body was sweaty and that her heart raced. Slowly, she opened her eyes. The white room was gone as well as Juno'ka, which sent a slight wave of disappointment through her body. She took her hand from between her legs and glanced at the wetness it was covered with.

"Damn, that was hella intense!"

'(Juno'ka) I'm glad you enjoyed it!'

"And did you…y'know?"

'Since we share the same feelings be rest assured that I'm very satisfied!'

For some time Chloe just laid there, gazing at the ceiling and caught in deep thoughts about her future. She would've loved to smoke a cigarette right now, but since she was too lazy and way too exhausted to get up, she just suppressed her addiction and let it drop.

'You think about HER, do you?'

"I thought you could read my mind. So, why do you ask?" Chloe scoffed.

'I only share your thoughts if you grant me access to them.'

"Well, I guess I wanna keep this to myself, then. But…"

'You want me to find out some details about her.'

She took another deep inhale to overcome her shyness once more, giving her an additional slight blush to her still reddened face. "Yeah…but only her name and which school she goes to."

Once more, Divine Energy flooded her body as Juno'ka used her power to find out the wanted information.

'Her name is Maxine Caulfield, but she prefers to be called Max, and she's a student at a local education facility called Blackwell Academy.'

"Max, huh? Cute name; fits her." Chloe said and as a plan popped up in her mind, she grinned sheepishly, "Say, Juno, can you make me a student at Blackwell?"

'Of course! With or without financial aid?'

Her grin grew even wider, "Just guess!"

3rd September 2017, Arcadia Bay, Oregon

Blackwell Academy

Loud music, chiming from her phone, ripped Chloe out of her deep slumber, letting her groan. Aimlessly she tried to find the source of this noise on her nightstand and finally found it a minute later. But instead of getting up, Chloe turned around in order to fall asleep again.

'Chloe, get up!'

"Fuck off, Juno! It's Sunday," was Chloe's mumbled reply.

'But you're going to be late for the tour!'

Being reminded that she had planned to finally meet Max Caulfield on that tour, Chloe literally jumped out of bed. In a fast pace she grabbed her shower supplies from a cardboard box, not even wasting a second that her new dorm room still looked like a mess.

After a quick shower she returned to her room, ignoring everyone on the way. She put on some her clothes she'd pulled out randomly from another box. Thanks to Juno'ka, ordering needed stuff from the Internet had been easy without leaving any traces.

The bluenette was about to leave her room, as Juno'ka's voice let her stop.

'Chloe, the source is still close by. Please, be cautious!'

Instead of a reply or a simple comment, Chloe stood still, not moving. "Juno," she spoke quietly, "There's something I need to tell you. I…I wanted to do it earlier, but I always chickened out." She took a big inhale and sighed deeply. "I want you to retreat into my subconscious again and stay there. I…I know it sucks and it's a dick move after everything, but I finally wanna live a normal life again. I wanna be a normal teenage student with fucking normal teenage puberty problems. No powers. No aliens. No fucked up shit. I'm sorry that I haven't told you before, but…"

'It's alright, Chloe! I'm not mad at you. This body belongs to you and I'm merely a guest. A lost soul which you granted shelter. I have no right to demand an everlasting equal position. Go! Live your life! Find happiness! And if you need me, I'll be there for you!'

A tear rolled down Chloe's cheek as she felt one last warming hug before Juno'ka retreated in the depths of her conscious. She felt guilty and dirty for doing this, and she swore to herself to make it up to her one day.

With a last sniff she opened the door and left, ready to finally face her future.