Sasha had been born into a very unfortunate family. According to her records, her mother had her at sixteen years of age and her father was nowhere to be found. Therefore, there was no money coming in to support her and she was given up to the adoption agency. At two years of age, her first foster family took her in. Sasha did not stay with them long to even commit them to memory. They were said to be a middle-aged sterile couple who wanted a child to see how it felt to be parents. By some miracle, the woman was suddenly pregnant and they gave Sasha up.
Her second foster family was on a farm house with many other adopted children. She was free to do as she wished and no one ever told her no. She didn't even go to school because she had never heard of such a thing. She was there for seven years until eventually Child Protective Services took her away for being in an improper environment and not being in school. Sasha later learned the term to properly describe the family, which was "redneck."
Her third family, and present family was the Coolidges. They too, like her earlier family, were sterile and wanted a child. They've committed to Sasha more, compared to her previous families. Because of all the moving about and different families, she began to get rather emotional upon arrival in the Coolidge household so they sought out psychological help and books to prepare them for what was to come. They knew of Sasha's personality disorder and coped with it the best they could, but no one could interest Sasha more than Aunt Beatrice and her puzzles.
Now that was all going to go away and she would be sent to another foster family, Providence. They would probably put her in an assimilation chamber and finish her off before she mutated. Or they would perform horrible experiments on her to harness her power. Sasha squeezed her pillow and wished for it all to go away. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door and she rushed to unlock it and open it. There stood her parents.
"Sweetie, we need to talk," Marie said calmly. Sasha sat down at the end of her bed and her parents pulled up some seats.
"We know you're an evo. The signs are all true. It's only a matter of time before you turn out like the others –" Marie cut off, unable to say anymore.
"We talked to an agent at Providence," her father started and Sasha's eyes flashed, "They said they can keep you from mutating."
"They won't keep me from mutating! They'll kill me before I can! Van Kleiss told me so!" Sasha snapped.
"Who's Van Kleiss?" her father asked her.
"The man I met at the playground. He followed us here," Sasha blurted out. Her parents were rather surprised and afraid.
"You shouldn't trust that man! Providence can help you," her mother urged.
"Sasha, they are really nice people and they take in kids like you all the time," Dalton assured her. "A chaperone is coming tonight to take a look and if you are indeed an evo, they'll be taking you back to headquarters. You'll get a room of your own, great food, exercise, everything a girl needs," he smiled. Sasha stood up abruptly.
"I'm tired of being passed around like a hat! I've been through three foster families! I do not want to go anywhere else where I won't be loved! And don't tell me you love me because you don't, you're passing me on to someone else," Sasha said angrily.
"They said once you're cured you can come back and live with us!" Marie began to cry.
"I won't be alive to come back to you!" Sasha yelled and ran out the door. She didn't want to argue anymore. She didn't want to be there when the chaperone came. She didn't want to be taken somewhere else, to befriend someone else, only to go somewhere else again. She wanted to find Van Kleiss.
She ran out the back door and through the garden. Tears filled her eyes as she ran. She just wanted to run now. Run from everything. She reached the end of the garden and down the slope to the beach. Her pace slowed as she jogged through the sand. She saw a cliff to her right. It was a lonely, remote cliff, an excellent place to stop and think. She climbed up the hill to the top of the cliff and sat down by the edge.
Sasha whimpered while she wiped her face with her sleeves, trying to dry the tears. Van Kleiss was the last person she could depend on. If he didn't show her a world of love, then there was no other world for her. She wanted a real family that would struggle with her problems so that they could keep her. She wanted a real family that understood her.
"Van Kleiss, where are you?" she muttered looking around with tearfilled eyes. All of a sudden, a red portal opened up before her at the very edge of the cliff. Sasha was astonished as she stared at its swirling mass. She was suddenly pushed in by something behind her and she fell through, landing on hard, dry ground.
Sasha sat up and rubbed her eyes to get the dirt out. Did she fall off the cliff? She looked around and saw that everything was in shades of browns and reds. It was quite depressing. The trees were bare and dead looking, and the sky was blood red. Sasha could feel the humidity in the air, as if a storm was coming. There was no sun. This seemed like an angry world, wherever she was. In front of her, the trees began to arch and twist, parting down the middle to make a path for a figure in the distance. As it came closer, the outline became more clear and Sasha recognized it to be Van Kleiss. A smile spread across her face as he came closer. She couldn't have been more happy to see him. He came into the clearing and returned the smile. Little red poppies grew under his feet where he walked and vines wrapped around the trees as he passed, producing beautiful purple blooms.
"Welcome to my kingdom, Sasha," he welcomed her as he walked up to help her up.
"This place is your's?" she asked as she took his hand and stood up.
"Yes. It's the Kingdom of Abysus, a haven for EVOs," he told her.
"Do you make those flowers?" Sasha pointed at the poppies under their feet.
Van Kleiss smiled, "Yes. It's quite simple really. Why don't you try?"
Sasha let go of his hand and grabbed her sleeves nervously. "Okay," she muttered and concentrated on the ground. She thought of pretty flowers as she closed her eyes. She thought of buttercups, with their bright yellow color and simple shapes. She opened her eyes and saw withered flowers at her feet beside the poppies. She was very sad.
"Don't worry. It takes time," he reassured her. "Come, I will show you your new home," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders. Sasha's heart skipped a beat.
"My new home?" she repeated and looked into the distance beyond the trees to see a towering stone citadel. A wave of excitement and relief swept over her. Finally, she had somewhere to call home!