Chapter 13

Alex flew for nearly an hour before deciding on the field where he let off steam earlier. He dove in and jumped off the metal letting it fall to the carpet of grass. He relaxed and sat down. He let himself fall back as he closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. He let the sun warm his face and enjoyed the smell of the grass. He opened his eyes and watched the clouds roll by.

There was rustling from the edge of the forest and Alex quickly sat up into a crouch as he panned the tree line.

Then they stepped out into the open. They were led by a guy that was about the same age as Alex. However, he was far more muscular than Alex and his red hair and red eyes told his secret. Several others followed him out of the trees. Alex counted six.

Alex stayed low holding his ground. It's a band a mutants. He thought. Did they see me earlier??

"Hi." The red head said.

Alex stared from underneath his hair. He was on their turf.

"My name's Collin. We saw you earlier today. Are you alright?" He said smoothly.

Damn. Alex blinked. "Yea." He answered plainly. His eyes darted from one person to another. Making sure they stayed put.

"Don't worry about them. We're not going to hurt you."

Collin was standing nearly 50 feet away with the others scattered out to his sides. Alex raised his head and shook the hair from his eyes. Then he stood up defensively never taking his eyes off of the group.

"That's better." Said Collin in his uncannily smooth voice. He took a step forward.

Alex moved back and let out a small growl.

Collin raised his hands in peace. "I'm sorry. Where are you from? You're very defensive to be from around here."

Alex scowled. He knew better to trust them right away. "Where are you from?"

Collin smiled at the accent. "I was born in Washington D.C. and I moved here when I was five." He said watching Alex closely. "Everyone else has lived here most of there lives except for Adam. He's our newest member." He motioned to the others.

"Hm. I just moved from Australia." Alex said shortly. "I'll leave, if you like." Alex looked around the field hoping they would let him leave peacefully.

"No. No. Stay. Calm down. We can all talk. It's not very often that we get a new mutant around here. And I would like to know some stuff about your unique power." Said Collin.

"I can't very well calm down when I have six mutant strangers standing around me. How do I know you won't attack me?"

"Oh I'm sorry." Said Collin. "I've been rude. Let me introduce my friends... This is Gale. She can control the weather." Collin smiled as he pointed to her.

Gale was tall with dark black hair that was cropped short under her chin. Her eyes were a beautiful green and framed by a pair of rectangle dark rimmed glasses. She stood as if radiating pride at what she was.

"And this is Anima. She can become invisible." Anima wasted no time to show off her talent. She quickly vanished and appeared in front of Alex who looked at her, unenthused, with his piercing blue eyes. Anima sulked and let her blonde hair fall into her face and went to join the others.

"My friend teleports. I'm used to people coming out of no where." Said Alex calmly. "Continue."

"Right. Well, this" He motioned to his left. "Is Robyn. He manipulates air currents which allows him to fly and has extremely good vision."

Robyn was a bronze shade of tan. His hair shimmered black with the tips shining a dark blue. His shirt was unbuttoned revealing a scar running across his perfectly muscled stomach. He smiled at Alex and Alex nodded back.

"This is Mike. He can morph and change into any kind of animal."

Mike morphed into a white tiger in little less than a second. He relaxed and lay down as if he was more comfortable in that form. More at home.

"And this... Is Adam. He controls any type of earth."

Alex looked at Adam. His eyes were glazed over with a grayish shade of blue with his pupils showing slightly from under it. His feet were bare and he stood very alert of his surroundings. His brown hair hung half way down his face and was carefully swept to one side.

Alex gazed at him in wonder. Can he see?

"And I, of course, am Collin. I can make and control fire and I heal myself."

"You heal yourself?" Asked Alex tearing his gaze from Adam.

"Yes. It takes nearly seconds for an open gash to be as good as new."

"That's amazing."

"Now, now. Enough about us. Tell us about your power." Collin said cheerfully. Everyone moved closer to Alex and stood in front of him.

Alex instinctively took a step back. "I control electricity..." A spark shot from his hair unwillingly. He sighed and looked over their heads. Adam stepped forward. Their eyes locked but only Alex knew that.

"You're not the only one who has trouble with their power." Said Adam his eyes drifted down to the ground which confirmed Alex's suspicions. "Every one of us has, at one point."

Alex didn't answer. He just continued to look at Adam's eyes.

Adam smiled. "No I can't see. I see through the vibrations in the ground. I'm the one who told them you landed here."

"Oh... That's ace... It seems more of an advantage than a disadvantage." He smiled back.

"Yea." Said Adam.

"Well I'm going to be on my way. I bet Angela is worried about me..." Said Alex as he magnetized the metal he threw earlier. He stepped up on it and looked over the eyes that were intently watching him.

"Come back tomorrow around the same time." Said Collin.

"I'll come around 3:30." Replied Alex as he flew away back towards his house.

Tardy, Tardy. I'm Sorry guys. My computer fried last week and I have been unable to write at all. Which bothered me as much as it bothered you. The good new is, however, that my computer is back and I have an idea for a new story that I plan to post sometime next week. First I have to get all the kinks ironed out of it. Never to fear my loves, ha ha, I will still continue this story until it's awesome ending.

So, enjoy chapter 13 of Affliction.