She woke up in her own bed. She was home, she could hear her mum making breakfast and the news from the telly. The sky was grey outside her window, but it was still bright.
She wished that she could imagine that last night was a dream, but she still felt the fire under her skin. It was there, and it was not going away.
She sighed and got up, hoping she could at least pretend that everything was alright. Her mum would freak when she heard about this.
She looked at herself in the mirror. There was no change. Nothing whatsoever, no stamp in her forehead, nothing.
She remembered a month ago, when there had been a poll in the newspaper wether or not irregulars should have to be marked, so the general public would know who they where.
She had thought it was a good idea. Now she wondered how she had ever thought so.
Just as she walked downstairs, the doorbell rang.
"Gwenny! Sweetheart could you get that?"
She sighed, not really feeling up to facing anyone today, least of all some pushy salesman, and stomped over to the door.
"Yes?"
"Good morning, Gwen!"
She stared. Seeing that bright smile so early in the day completely threw her off her balance.
"This is my principal, Yvonne Hartman. We're here to talk to your parents. Can we come in?"
Jack didn't really wait for an answer, just walked past her, followed by a tall, slim woman in black with gorgeous blond hair.
"Gwen? Who is it?"
She didn't have time to answer before the woman, taking the lead and practically shoving Jack back, waltzed into the kitchen to grab her mothers hands and shake them ecclesiastically.
"Good morning Mrs. Cooper! May I call you Mary? Mary, I am Yvonne Hartman from Torchwood Cardiff, and I am here to collect your daughter."
"What? My Gwen? My daughter is no irregular! Get out, right now!"
"Now now, Mary, no need to become hysterical..."
"No child of mine is going anywhere near that house! Get out!"
The slim womans smile dropped a few degrees, her spine straightening out, making her even taller.
"Mrs. Cooper. I am the principal of the Torchwood institution here in Cardiff, and as such I do not need your permission to do anything. Gwen here is an irregular, so by the law, she must be trained at Torchwood until she is deemed safe enough to be released. You can accept this, or we will simply take her by force. Your choice."
Gwen had never felt so sorry for her mother before. Having an irregular in the family was equal to becoming social outcasts, at best.
"My Gwen is not one of you freaks!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid she is."
Gwen sat down on one of the chairs. It didn't feel real, it was too much too fast. She just wanted to crawl back into bed and pretend it was all a bad dream.
Her mother looked at her, and even though she'd been sure this was as bad as it could get, that look made it all the worse.
For seventeen years she had been a good girl. Sure, she could've studied harder and acted nicer, but she had stayed out of trouble and gotten into the school of her first choice. She had not been knocked up, taken any drugs and her parents even liked her boyfriend.
Still, her mother glared at her and there was just one question in those eyes.
How could you do this to me?
She coward into her chair, squishing her eyes shut. Her entire world was falling apart, and there was nothing she could do.
"So... What is it? All of you have some freakish deformity. What is hers?"
It hurt, to hear your own mother speak of you like that, it made her want to cry. Still, what had she been expecting? To be understood? That the people around her would accept her? Yeah right.
Then suddenly, there was a big strong hand on her shoulder and Jack's voice rang through the room.
"Your daughter has a beautiful and amazing gift! It's one of the most powerful ones I've ever seen. She is a Pyrokinesis."
"A what?"
"She makes fire. It is truly amazing!"
Most of her wanted to beat him up for trying to make this alright. It wasn't, it was horrible, but a small part was incredibly flattered that he had called her cursed gift beautiful.
Mary Cooper did not share that thought. She practically fell down on a chair, as if they had told her Gwen had been murdered in broad daylight.
The tall woman, Yvonne, took a step back and said in a soft but professional tone.
"It is amazing, and practically unique. Very few irregulars have such raw power, and none to the extent that your daughter does. We have to take her in, not just for your safety but for her own. She is uncontrolled and dangerous, she must be properly trained."
Mary hid her face in her hands, slumping together like the weight of the world was crashing down on her.
"Fine... Just take her... Just go..."
That's when Gwen realised what she should have known years ago.
Irregulars are outcasts. They have no family, and now that she was one of them, no one would ever love her again.
[Look at me, posting five chapters in one day! Comment? And I know this story is a bit slow, but trust me, you'll need it in the long run. Cause this long run is LONG!]