AN: Oct 23? That was your last Faige fix? Holy Mother of Divine Shite! I am so sorry! I should make a twitter account or something to give you guys a place to yell at me for being such a neglectful twat... Anyways, I did make up for it a bit with a double length chapter! :) Forgive me? *pouty face* In other news, at work yesterday I was bombarded with another idea. Bad brain! I'm already neglecting my current stories and you're making me write another one? On the plus side, HFF should be wrapping up in less than 10 chapters, so I'll have more time for the others...
Enough rambling. A quick shout out to Soupy, I heart you. You make me feel like a rockstar.
And another shout out, just because I know she's reading this... I love you, baby.
Effy
I wake up to find Katie cuddled into me and I'm elated. That is until I remember why she's there. She held me last night while I cried because my whole world has been turned upside down. Yesterday I found out that I have powers; well, I don't have powers. My baby has powers, the baby I had no idea existed because I don't remember the conception. I don't remember anything that goes on when I'm with Cook, and now I know why. He's been using me a as a puppet. All that lost time, that's what I've been doing: Whatever Cook wants. What has he made me do? How many times have I slept with him? I'll never know. And I'll never get any of it back. Tears start to well in my eyes again and I move closer to Katie, finding some comfort in her sleeping form as I try to think of something positive enough to make my life a little better. But the only comfort I can find is Katie.
There is a rustling noise in the room followed by a soft thud and someone mumbling.
"Oh that's just bloody brilliant," the voice complains, quietly, "Three people in one room and they put me with lezzers." My eyebrows furrow when it clicks in my head. I know that voice, "Probably kick me out of the room so they can make monkey on my bed…" Yeah, that's definitely her. My head pops up from behind Katie and sure enough, there she is.
"Panda?" I exclaim, not believing what I'm looking at. Panda, my dozy best friend from middle school, is a Faige! I'm actually speechless.
"Effy?" she says, scrunching up her eyes as if she can't see me. "What are you doin' here?" Me? She told me her Mum was sending her to a Catholic boarding school!
"I could ask you the same." I say, raising my eyebrow and she looks sheepish.
"Mum said I wasn't allowed to tell you," she explains, "said you might want me to play tricks with my powers." My eyebrow raises more. Isn't that lovely?
"And what are your powers?" I ask and Pandora smiles. Suddenly she's gone. What the hell? A second later there is a knock on the door. I hesitantly get out of bed, half expecting Panda to reappear and scare the shit out of me. But when I open the door, she's on the other side, grinning and waving like a loon. I can't help but laugh.
"Ooo, wait! Close the door!" She demands and reaches out to fulfil the action for me, still on the other side. I hear a noise and look down to see something oozing from under the door. I step back. Soon the ooze rises and, poof, it's Panda.
"That's disturbing." I say and Panda giggles.
"I know! Isn't it bril?" she shrieks and the sound causes Katie to stir. She moves around a bit and then opens one eye, pushing up to lean on her elbows.
"You two know each other, then?" she says in a sleep soaked voice that gives me shivers. I push the feeling away and nod.
"This is my best mate, Panda, from middle school." I tell her and she sits up, opening her other eye.
"Here?" she says, smiling. "Small world." And I nod in agreement.
"I'm Katie." She says, holding out a hand for Panda to shake, but she doesn't. She just stares at Katie as if there are two of her. The penny drops and I wait for the punch line.
"You're Emily!" Panda insists and Katie slaps her forehead with her palm. Hah, there it is.
"Right. Shit. Sorry. No." she rambles, but seems to catch herself. "I'm Katie. Emily's my sister." Pandora continues to stare at Katie with her eyes scrunched up and I think she may protest again. But she doesn't get the chance as there's another knock on the door. I open it to find Emily and Naomi in their pyjamas with small smiles on their faces. Katie smiles and gestures to Emily as if to say "see?"
"Shouldn't you get dressed before roaming the corridors?" Katie asks her sister, somehow managing to appear both amused and appalled simultaneously.
"Twins!" Panda shouts, randomly, and everyone's eyebrows shoot up. Everyone's but mind, of course. Oh, how I've missed her.
"Yeah, Panda, they're twins." I tell her, "Like in 'Parent Trap', remember?" Panda's eyes light up.
"So you were orphans and you were adopted and your new pops is super rich and…"
"Wrong movie, Panda." Emily interrupts her with a bright smile, "but yes, we're twins." She turns to me, "Do you two know each other?" she asks, picking up on the familiarity. I nod.
"Best mates in middle school." I explain and she smiles.
"Safe." Naomi comments, a smile of her own on her face.
"Well, we just came to check on you two," she says, nodding to me and Katie, "make sure you were ok, what with your lives changing overnight. Especially Effy." She flashes me a sympathetic smile.
"Oh yeah, Eff!" Panda barks, "I forgot to ask, when did you find out you were all super?" And there's the reminder, again; that my life has changed forever, but not like theirs has. It's not because I'm special; I'm just an ordinary girl with an extraordinary problem. You can actually taste the tension in the room.
"I'm not." I inform my friend, "I'm pregnant. It's Faige, not me."
"Pregnant?" Pandora asks, "You're gonna have a super baby? Since when?" I can hear the excitement in her voice and it hurts. I wish this was what her blessed, innocent mind assumes it is. But I'm not that lucky.
"About a month ago, apparently." I tell her and she's about to open her mouth to reply, "But, can we talk about it later?" I ask and she closes her mouth.
"Sure thing, Eff!" she muses, "I can make you a cake to celebrate!" I wonder if I'll ever be happy about this thing inside of me; If I'll ever love it. What if I hate it like I hate Cook?
I look up at my best friend and she's beaming at me. So often I wish I were like her. Like how, no matter what, the good in a situation will be the only view she sees, never the bad, no matter how dire it looks to everyone else. Everyone has always seen Panda and I as an unusual pair. They always congratulated me, the queen bee, for being nice to a 'useless loser' like Panda. Everyone thinks she looks up to me, and maybe she does. But I admire her so much more for being what I've never been, and never can be: effortlessly happy. I smile at her.
"Sure, Panda."
XXXXXXXXXX
Before long, Naomi, Emily, and Panda have all gone to their classes and Katie and I are supposed to wait here for someone named Harriet. So we've spent the last half hour unpacking our bags and chatting about our new life as 'circus freaks' as Katie puts it. I'm about to point out for the millionth time that I'm technically not a 'circus freak' when there's a knock on the door. I ask Katie to answer it as my hands are full and we're soon faced with who I assume to be Harriet.
"Good morning, girls!" she says, "It's a pleasure to meet you, both. Especially you, Miss Stonem, as I've never had a student like you before; though I do wish it were under different circumstances." I chuckle dryly.
"I don't think anyone wishes that more than I do." I tell her and she nods.
"No, probably not." She says as she sits on the edge of Katie's bed. "So, to business!" she pulls two files from the briefcase she's carrying and holds them in her lap. "You are both unusual cases, though with Miss Fitch I believe it is simply late blooming, so after a short introduction," she addresses Katie, directly, "You may start classes tomorrow." Her attention is transferred back to me, "You, however, Elizabeth," I cringe at her use of my full name, "You are something entirely different. I don't have the slightest idea what to expect from you. So unfortunately, we will have to pull our punches and hope for the best. For now, we will treat you like a standard student. You will receive the same introduction as Kathryn, here." Katie reacts almost exactly as I did at the use of her name. I smile. "and you will start classes tomorrow. You will also attend a special session with a dear friend of mine, Angee, this evening and she will instruct you further. Now if you girls will follow me, we can make this quick and easy, for you." She stands up and we follow her out of the room and back to the gymnasium where we were last night.
"Now I understand, Kathryn, that your abilities are quite similar to those of our Miss Campbell, in the sense that it's effects are… unpleasant." She says, after pausing, seemingly searching for the right word. "Is that correct?" Katie nods and Harriet returns the gesture. "We're going to do demonstrations. Now, usually any defensive abilities are performed on the staff member conducting the introduction. Unfortunately, in Miss Campbell's case, your sister was the 'victim' as Doug, who oversaw her demonstration, was too much of a coward to take it, himself. The annoyance on Harriet's face is obvious, and Katie seems to share the sentiment. "Since I'm doing the introduction, I would usually be your 'victim', so to speak, but I had a much better idea. Doug will be arriving in a moment to assist you with your demonstration." She smiles wickedly and turns her attention to me. "In the meantime, Elizabeth, I understand you are quite unfamiliar with your child's abilities, but if you could attempt to show me something, it would assist me in better serving your needs."
That's exactly how she's making me feel: Special needs. Like this is the initial meeting for my Individual Education Program. Is there such a thing as Faige Special Ed? I guess there is, now. I stand up and try to remember what Kieran told me. Imagine I'm the wind. It still sounds bloody ridiculous, but it works; so that's what I do. I walk over to the water fountain on the wall and push the button. The water flows out and I do just as I did yesterday; only today, I decide to kick it up a notch. I close my eyes and imagine a blizzard. Snow and Ice is all that I can see for miles. I begin to blow and suddenly there's a biting wind, the kind that stings your skin and makes you go numb, the kind that can even draw blood if you're not careful. That wind is me; I'm standing on the top of a mountain sending gusts of fury like old Father Winter.
I stop and open my eyes and what I see is nothing short of a shock. The water from the fountain is frozen in mid-air, that much was my goal. But along with it, the rest of the fountain and about four metres of the floor and wall around it have a thick layer of ice clung to them. I stare, wide-eyed and slack-jawed for a long moment before turning around to see Harriet beaming at me.
"Well, that's quite a bit more than a small baggie of water!" she states and just then the door opens to reveal a very confused looking man. "Ahh! Doug!" Harriet says and Katie's head snaps to him. "I'm sure you've heard of our new arrivals. This young lady is Miss Kathryn Fitch, Emily Fitch's twin sister. I've called you here to assist with her demonstration." Doug's eyes widen comically.
"No! I'm totally against that. Totally and fully…"
"Do you want to have a career after your assessment with me, next week?" Harriet interrupts him and he calms down immediately, like a well trained puppy.
"Right." He says and forces a smile to Katie, "Happy to help."
Katie steps forward and smiles, sweetly, at Doug. She extends her hand for him to take and he does, reluctantly. There is discomfort in his features but I know Katie has not attacked him yet, he's not in nearly enough pain. I look down and see that she has his hand in a vice grip.
"So you oversaw the introductions for Naomi and my sister. She's got some talent doesn't she? Emily, I mean. If you think some measly clouds are impressive, you should see what she does with my grandfather's lake." Katie is still shaking his hand and his discomfort is clearly increasing.
"Yes," he says, sounding like he's struggling to speak. "Naomi's quite a fright, though." Katie's eyes flash, her nostrils flare, and I know he's said the wrong thing.
"Right." She says, simply and she lets go of his hand. A second later he's on his knees, bent over like he's going to be sick. His back arches downward and he screams a scream that can only mean pain. He's on his back, now, twisting his body into unnatural positions. I tear my eyes from him and look at Katie's face. She's smirking. I don't know what's going on inside her head. I know she's angry because he made Naomi hurt Emily. But Emily's ok, right?
So why is she enjoying this? This isn't right. Something is very, very wrong. I get to my feet and walk over to Katie.
"Hey." I try, quietly, "Emily's ok. She's not hurt. He may be a chicken shit but he's had enough. You shouldn't be enjoying this. This isn't you!" He screams again.
"You don't know anything!" she shouts over him with gritted teeth, addressing me. Her words confuse me. "You don't know she's been through because of him!" she adds and that's when I finally understand. She knows what Emily's worst fear is, what she saw. It must be horrible to elicit this kind of reaction. I reach out and take her hand. Her body stiffens slightly, but she doesn't look away from him. She holds him in her snare.
"You're right." I tell her, "But this isn't you." She finally lets him go and turns to glare at me. By the look on her face, I expect pain, but it doesn't come. She's holding back; her eyes flick down to my torso and back up and it tells me her reasoning. Some of the fire leaves her eyes, but she continues to glare.
"How do you know?" she snaps and without my permission, my eyes fill with tears.
"Because you saved me." I choke out. The rest of her fury vanishes in an instant and her eyes fill with tears as well. She lurches forward and wraps her arms around me.
"I'm so sorry, Effy!" she sobs, "I promise I'll never let him near you again. I never should have let him the last time." Is she seriously blaming herself for this? She's only known me for a week. How could she have known?
"Don't be ridiculous, Katie." I tell her, "He fooled you, just like everybody else." She shakes her head, violently.
"He didn't!" she insists, "I knew something was wrong and I didn't figure it out in time…"
"It wouldn't have made a difference!" I interrupt her, "The first time was before we met, and probably plenty of other times, too. The damage was already done. But I'm ok, yeah?"
"But he… he…" she can't even say the word, and I don't blame her. I haven't tried to say it yet, myself. I just nod.
"And he'll get his." I tell her, and it's a promise.
XXXXXXXXXX
I'm sitting in a small office with posters on the wall that say 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' and 'It's not where you're going, it's how you get there.'; there's even a whole wall dedicated to Yoda quotes. I roll my eyes, revelling in the fact that a school full of superheroes can still manage to be cliché. Just as I'm considering drawing a moustache on the little green alien a woman enters the room. She smiles and holds out her hand for me to take.
"Angel, Angee for short." She says and I smile.
"Elizabeth," I say, "Effy for short." Her smile widens, "But seriously," I add, "Call me Effy." She lets out a small chuckle.
"I had every intention." She says and suddenly her smile fades. "The reason I've brought you here, Effy, is that there's something you need to see. But first I need to ask you a few questions. Now, I'm a binding Faige. That means I have all sorts of spectacular abilities, but above all, I can bind another Faige's powers, as well as read their minds, which is why you were sent to me. Your situation is anything but simple, Effy. And I want you to know that I don't enjoy intruding on people's minds and I won't enjoy doing it to you, but it's necessary. Furthermore, I even less enjoy taking away a student's abilities, but that too, may be necessary." I'm confused. She has to read my mind? And she may have to bind my powers? Well… it's powers. Why do I feel like I'm being punished?
"Why?" I ask, hoping she understands that I'm referring to why I'm being treated like I've done something wrong. She frowns.
"What I need to show you, well, it's not good, Effy." She explains.
"You'll understand when you see it, it's just, well, let's just get this over with, yeah?" I'm really uncomfortable, but I give her a small nod, anyway. She returns it with a weak smile.
"Your tests show that you are slightly over a month along in your pregnancy. Would you mind telling me how you met this 'Cook' boy?" she asks and I nod.
"I met him at a club. He bought me a drink, tried to chat me up; I wasn't interested. I blew him off and went to dance by myself. I kept the drink, cos, you know, free booze. The last thing I remember is someone coming behind me trying to cop a feel. I woke up the next morning on my front lawn. Figured he drugged me. Not exactly the case, it turns out." She nods but her eyebrow is furrowed.
"But you hung out with Cook on occasion, even after you believed her drugged you?" I nod
"Yeah, I have no idea why. I didn't even like the tosser. I guess I just thought, maybe if I gave him a little attention, it might satisfy his craving and he would lay off a bit. It was only supposed to be here and there; just a spliff or a quick hello. As far as I knew that's all it was. But the more black-outs I had, the more freaked out I got. It didn't add up, you know?" Angee nod's her understanding.
"It must have been very confusing for you. I can't imagine losing all that time and not knowing what was happening." I nod.
"I live kind of hard, you know? At first it wasn't all that weird; it just seemed like a few rough nights. But then it started happening at college, in the middle of the day. I didn't know what was wrong with me. It was scary." More nods. She sighs.
"Where do you usually see Cook?" she asks.
"At college, at a club now and then, and he's got this cottage We would go there and have a spliff from time to time. That's it that I know of." I tell her.
She gives me a look like she's sizing me up before turning around the laptop on her desk so that it's facing me. She gets up and walks around, standing behind me. She clicks her mouse and video begins to play. It's a news video. I'm not really listening to the words because my eyes are drawn immediately to the forms of me and Cook in the crowd. There is a body on the ground and we are standing next to it, smiling. Then the bodies start dropping like flies, one right after the other. I focus in on myself and notice that I'm blowing on something; then I look at Cook and see that he seems to be tossing something in my direction, like a Frisbee, though there is nothing there. After I blow a body drops. My stomach tightens painfully as I watch and I think I might be sick. He made me kill people. I killed people. A lot of people. I close my eyes and shake my head, violently, trying to un-see it; willing myself to believe it's not true. But it's doesn't work. The images swirl around in my head: A body falling to the ground; me standing over it, laughing; Cook beaming at me with pride. I feel hands on the sides of my head and the images vanish.
I feel a slight chill and it serves to calm me a little bit more, enough to open my eyes. When I do I nearly fall from my chair. The entire room is frozen, ice clinging to every surface. It doesn't even look an office anymore but like the inside of an old ice-box, 100 times the size. I can see my breath in front of me. I look around for Angee and find her still behind me with her arms crossed over her chest, shivering. I start to apologize but she takes my hand and pulls me into another room that's not so cold.
"I thought that might happen," she says, "And by confirming my suspicions, you've made up my mind. I'll need to bind your abilities. I wish I didn't have to, but you've been through the wringer, Effy. Our abilities are tied to our emotions. Severe stress of any kind can cause a Faige to lose control. Though your abilities aren't yours, exactly, it works the same way. If an expecting mother becomes stressed, the baby, too, will be stressed. And a baby has no control to begin with. Faige abilities usually don't present themselves until the adolescent years. To have a foetus with abilities at all, let alone of that strength," she points in the direction of the room we just left, "is not only unheard of, it's frightening. If you have a bad dream, Effy, you could wake up to find your roommates frozen to death. I could even kill you." I nod my understanding, but a thought occurs to me. How can I go to a Faige school if I don't have any powers?
"Then what?" I ask, "Will I have to go home?"
"Of course not!" Angee says immediately, "You're safe, here. And I've still got a plan for you. I've got a special course for specific students. Everyone's powers are emotion based and when emotions become a problem they're sent to me. I'm basically a Faige psychologist. To be honest, it's hardly a course at all, too much fun for that. I usually end up with a few kids within the first week, the troubled lot, you know, but it looks like you're my first."
I consider this a moment. I have to admit it doesn't sound half bad. I mean, If I'm being honest I am an emotional wreck right now, and Angee gives me a good vibe.
"Yeah, ok." I agree and with a small smile, she starts the process of making me normal again.
AN: Ok, I know I took Effy's powers away, but does anyone want to see Effy wake cuddled up to the cold, dead corpse of the lovely Katie Fitch? Hmm? I didn't think so.
Next up for an update: Chosen. I PROMISE I will update all three stories at least one more time within the month of January. And I will not post my new story until I fulfill that promise. *cross my heart*
Anyways. Much lovin and hippy huggin. See you next time. :)
