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by Lora Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ · Campfire Creative · Appendix · Fantasy · #1151271
In a world where magic is scoffed at and disbelieved, how do magi survive?
[Introduction]
This is a story about ordinary people who can do magic. A character profile will not be necessary, simply introduce your character and relevant information. *This Campfire is not closed. Plot twists are to be expected*

Intro:
A magi is an ordinary person, who exhibits a small number of special abilities to an extraordinary extent. There are those called witches who are not as powerful but just as skilled, also regular people, vampires, and other abnormalities including the fey. The plot should loosely follow something about how these people are surviving in the world that the authors themselves live in. I'll step in as moderator if you get too powerful or flamboyant or whatever.
-Don't get too graphic
-Don't kill characters without the authors permission
-Remember there are things like the government, religion, and social groups in the real world and you're going to have to deal with those things!

Powers:
Pyro (produces fire, remember that your characters are not flame-resistant!)
Weather Witch
Telepath
Channeler (a magi who can channell others abilities, to a lesser extent than the original weilder of the power.)
Psi manipulation, psi energy...
Aqua Kinetic
Basic Kinetic
*if you think of more, or know of more that doesn't mean it's not allowed in the story, I just got tired of listing*

**As moderator I am bringing in a new rule: you must write within three days of the story coming to you and then you will be skipped. I'm impatient.**

Characters:
Sam(channeler)
Vive(pyro)
Emmy(electrokinetic)
Hanna(pyro)
Lynna(healer, new breed)
Mike(kinetic)
Taylor(water kinetic)
Justin(channeler, telepath)
Kalena(oracle)
Sam sat at her desk and stared at the confusing math problem before her. It was the last of fifty that was due tomorrow yet Sam couldn't twist her mind around the problem. Sam's little sister was singing church hymns in the hallway outside with an annoying high-pitched soprano voice that was as toneless as it was tuneless. Sam decided against doing the math problem now, maybe before class tomorrow someone could show her how to do it. Sighing heavily Sam put away her books and flipped on her stereo, loud. With a feeling of satisfaction, Sam heard Marj stop singing. She flung herself onto her bed and closed her eyes.

The doorknob rattled and then there was a loud banging on the door. It sounded almost as though the door was ready to splinter. Breathless to save the last shred of privacy she had, Sam rushed to the door, she unlocked and opened the door quickly. Her father was on the other side and he was mad.

"Sam! How many times have I told you not to lock your door?! Besides, what were you doing in there that needed the door shut in the first place?"

"Dad, I was changing so I could go out with my friends tonight." Sam was on the defensive already, at least her dad wasn't the physical type.

"It's a school night, you aren't going anywhere, why don't you do your homework?"

"I just finished, and Mom said I could go out if I did."

"Well its family night, why don't you go clean kitchen?"

"It's clean, Marjie cleaned it earlier." A clap of thunder sounded outside the house.

"You're not going out and that is final, clean your room or the bathroom or paint the house but you're not going out with those hooligan friends of yours. They don't have the standards you do, Sam. They aren't Mormon like us. Deal."

Sam went back into her room, her dad was right here friends weren't Mormon, they weren't even Christian, but he was wrong about their standards, dead wrong.


Vive gazed up at the far window on the right. The light was on, which meant that Samantha was in her room. He had been waiting for her for over an hour already and was getting very impatient. Vive looked up at saw that it was dark now; it must have been 9:30. He checked his watch to confirm. If she didn’t walk out that door in five minutes time, he was going to climb the tree outside her window and barge in.

Five minutes had passed. He strolled over and climbed the tree. There was a thick branch that reached toward her window; it was strong enough to hold his weight, he knew, as he had done this many times before. He paused before he hoisted himself up onto the branch he needed to be on, wondering if she could be changing, decided he didn’t mind if that were the case, and pulled himself up.
She was lying on her bed, listening to her music that blared from the stereo. He gazed at her for a moment, watching as she bobbed her head to the music. He smiled in amusement and caught her eye by a simple wave. Her expression was priceless; she looked as though she wanted to beat him up.
Vive pulled out his cell-phone and called her. He watched as she got up, turned down her music before picking up the phone.

“I’ve been standing out here for awhile now,” was the first thing he said when he heard her answer.

She made her way to the window to see him, speaking into her phone. “My dad said I’m not allowed out.”

“Serious?” he replied. “No problem, then. I’ll hang out with you right here, I’ve got nowhere to be.”

She laughed. “Go home, Vive. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night, Samantha,” he said, and she hung up. Vive was about the only person who called her Samantha, instead of the shortened version of it. It was more feminine and suited her, in his opinion. He sat there for a while longer, decided to have a smoke. Samantha knew, of course, but didn’t seem to care that he was still there. The window next to hers lit up, and he looked over. That was his cue to leave. His sister didn’t like him much.

Sam smiled again, as she opened her window to watch Vive leave he was annoying and yet, then the phone rang again. Sam rushed to the phone before anyone else could answer.

"You shouldn't anger your father Sam." Sam growled, why couldn't it have been Vive again?

"And you need to learn to stay out of peoples heads teacher dear. What do you need? You know I can't leave."

"Just checking up on you, that's what a good teacher does. Have you been doing the exercises I assigned you?"

"Of course, and I think I found someone, he was at school today, she was this new kid, I think. I'm not always as perceptive as I could be, and the school isn't small. She's a pyro, pretty strong too, but under a lot of stress."

"I'll take care of it, I think I may know who you're talking about. Anything else you needed to say?"

"Do you think it would be alright if I channelled my math teacher?" Sam could almost hear Justin sit up on the side of the phone.

"Is he a magi?"

"No, but I can't get this precalc stuff at all! I've been channelling his knowledge already, only a little like that drip on a faucet you can't quite turn off. I guess when I'm a full Magi I'll be able to turn off the channelling. Anyway I figured since I'm already channelling him, I could a little more," Sam held her breath. Justin had been her teacher, magically speaking, for seven years now and she knew he was way darker than she was but still, you never know.

"Sure, go ahead, just don't do anything permanent. And check to make sure he isn't a magi. Your sister says hi, by the way." Sam smiled, she could hear her older sister over the line saying just that in the background noise.

"Tell Kalena I said hi, listen I hear dad coming I should hit the sack, school tommorrow!"


Vive wasn’t tired yet, so he decided to walk around a bit. He came to a bridge and sat on the balustrade, his feet hanging over the edge. There was no one about and it was quiet. He didn’t know how long he sat there for, just contemplating over some stuff. Vive checked his watch and saw that an hour and a half had passed. He left the area and headed off to meet some friends who were also nocturnal.

Vive woke up at 5 in the morning on his friend’s living room floor. He rolled over, wondering how he had fallen off the couch. He practically lived together with his friend and his family. His parents didn’t seem to mind him. Vive made his way up the stairs, had a refreshing shower, put on some clean clothes, had a quick breakfast and was out the door before 6:30. He remembered his homework that he had forgotten to that night, and stopped somewhere with a bench to do it. It was rushed, half-assed done, but at least it was finished.

He stretched in the morning light, embracing the slight chill in the air on his skin. Vive was on his way to school. A small group of girls walked by giggling, trying to catch his attention and he only glanced over and gave a quick smile. He was more interested in getting to school on time, as to prevent detentions with his homeroom teacher who just loved to give him tedious chores to do so his teacher wouldn’t have to do them.

Someone punched him lightly on this back, and he turned around with a confused what-the… expression. It was Samantha.
Tiny desks. I am plagued by tiny desks. I'm not huge, but I've got a nice Viking-woman thing going on here. And I have had to squeeze my long-limbed, wide shouldered self into this itsy bitsy little dwarf of a desk. I can sit sideways and trip people walking down the row with my gargantuan combat boots. Or I can sit forward, and dig my knees into the back of the girl in front of me. Sitting sideways would be my preference, except the top of the desk is too small to hold a diagonally-situated notebook, and flat out is NOT big enough to hold a laptop. Thusly, this post, which would have been inconspicuously posted to LJ during class, was instead posted remotely... with my mind.

Why, do you ask, am I using --- or as Justin always says, abusing (yes Justin, I know I know!) --- my electrokinetic powers? There are many reasons. The primary one is boredom. GOOD GOD, IS THIS CLASS DULL! It's called Magic, Witchcraft, and Healing. Or it is Witchcraft, Magic, and Healing? Or Healing, Magic, and Witchcraft? Or... does it even matter?

Anyway, the class sucks. And what's REALLY miserable is I chose it myself. Yeah yeah, it's an anthropology course and I'm an anthropology major, but it isn't required or anything. I just thought it would be interesting. Ha... boy was I wrong.

So, at this very moment the professor is busily cramming large amounts of information down our throats, in the most PAINFUL possible way. One minute, it's like he's trying to give a standup comedy routine. The next, it's like he's reciting right out of the textbook. Then, just when your eyes are starting to glaze over, he starts going off on random tangents that have no relation WHATSOEVER to anything else he’d spoken about. (I remember him telling us about being chased by a dog when he was young, and how this apparently was the result of owners who feared their dogs and thus let them run free... WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! *bangs head on desk*)


.............................

I am now sitting in the Student Center *cough*cafeteria*cough*, watching students walk past. So far, I have counted 155 people, 52 of which are either talking on their cell phones or have iPods growing out of their ears. I find it amusing how many groups I’ve seen where EVERY SINGLE PERSON is tuning the others out with some form of technology.

Not that I'm any different. I'm presently turning poeple out with my laptop (I AM using it like it's "supposed" to be used this time, thank you very much!) and my iPod.

Next up (in a little over an hour) is my Indians of the Southwest class. The teacher for that class is awesome. She’s a tell-it-like-it-is, slightly bitchy woman. Last week the class was dead silent when I came in; I think they’re terrified of her. I love it. She works at a correctional facility. She’s Austrian and apparently dropped out of school in 8th grade. After being run over by a bus, she decided to become a U.S. History teacher, which she says she knows nothing about. “But I can fake it.” She then went on to explain that we didn’t have to come to class if we didn’t want to, because attendance is only 10 percent of the grade. She said we could show up only to turn things in, and STILL get an A if we did well on our other work. If we didn’t feel like doing our work, she advised us to just fake it. “Half of your academic career is faking it.” However, she also informed us that plagiarizing would not be tolerated. “I know some of you are thinking, ‘Oh great, I’ll just copy so-and-so’s paper and then I won’t have to come to class OR do my work!’ Well, get that idea out of your head. I will SQUASH that idea with a big fat F."

I think this teacher and I are going to get along... :P

And did you pay attention to that, Justin, you bastard?! College ISN'T going to take up all my time after all. I CAN PRACTICE WITH YOU INSTEAD OF GOING TO CLASS!!! Yay!
(Alright here goes, basically the votes I got for where to place the story were all on opposite sides of the country, so as moderator I get to pick, so it's university town, moderate size, temperate climate, middle of the United States, any questions I have e-mail for a reason!)

Sam looked up from the text message to look into the face of her science teacher. Mr. Lobman was the worst teacher she could possibly have gotten for anatomy. The look he was giving her told her everything she needed to know, without him actually saying anything. Sam pushed the delete button on the text from Justin and handed it to Mr. Lobman.

"What was so important that you took your phone out in class?" Vive was the only thing that made this class worthwhile as far as Sam was concerned. He had managed to pick her for a lab partner and they were both going through the over-simple intro lab.

"I can't hang out with you today after school. I've gotta go by the university library for my mom, she's sick again." Mr. Lobman passed close behind them and coughed ominously. The two stayed quiet throughout the rest of class, but Vive was quick to tag after her after class. Anatomy was the next-to last class for both of them and Sam wished it was the last.

"Why? Why can't you hang out this time? That couldn't have been your mom, I'll shoot myself if she knows how to text." Crap, Sam started to think furiously; of course Mom wouldn't have been able to send anything electronically! Justin had asked her to meet one of his other students today so they could practice together. He had also said he would be unavailable today and she hoped fervantly that he was going to track down that pyro, she had seemed pretty confused. Sam sympathized with the unknown girl.

"My brother sent it for her; I'll have to walk home to get my bike so I guess you could walk home with me." That would make sense, now she just had to make it through Band class. At least it was Jazz band.

"Alright, I guess I could buy that. How long is it gonna take, we could hang out tonight, it's Fri."

"Fine, I'll call you when I'm done if its not too late, I still have that midnight curfew." Now Sam just had to get to Justin's house and meet this Emma that Justin wanted her to practice with.

Vive mopped the second floor of the building. He was missing spots because he was deep in thought about school related business. His eyes gazed over at a picture on the wall, and he stopped what he was doing to examine it. It had obviously been painted; the texture on the sheet from the brush gave it away. In the picture, there was a windmill atop a hill, and it was night. Whoever painted it made the grass look flattened from passing winds. Once the interest in it had passed, he sunk into his thoughts again, his eyes still on the painting but not really seeing it.
He tried not to let it bother him, but he felt out-casted that everyone in his family had some sort of ability, and his hadn’t developed. Vive sometimes even had his doubts, that maybe he didn’t have one. In a way, he was a little bitter about it all, but the bitterness appeared to have grown somewhat lately. And there was no way in hell he would ever admit any of this to anyone who poked his or her nose into his business.

Vive left work at around 8 at night in a brood that had accumulated over the hours. He revved his ninja kawasaki motorbike and pulled out onto the road, speeding passed all the cars. He had a feeling that he would not be hearing from Samantha tonight, not that he was in any mood to, so instead he made his way into the city to play billiards with some friends. Vive slowed down for the red light and stopped. He took out his phone, switched it off, tucked it away and waited furthermore for the light to turn green.

Vive parked his bike outside the Pool Hall and walked inside. He grasped hands in greeting with his closest friends when he reached them. His closest friend (the one who let him basically live at his house) was there too. His name was Jude.

“Hey man,” Jude said when they both stood aside to watch a game that had just started. “I thought you said you weren’t coming. What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Vive said. Jude looked like he didn’t believe him but said nothing. Instead, he handed him a cigarette. “Anyway,” he began to mimic the quote on the cigarette deck, attempting to humor him. “Have a Peter Jackson’s Black.”

Vive gave a small amused smile, put it in his mouth and lit it, sitting on a stool near-by.

“Whatever it is, forget about it, Vive. ‘Cause in about,” Jade checked his watch, “2 hours, my mum would have finished cooking that stew of hers.”

Vive grinned. Jude’s mother made the best damn stew in the world.

What am I doing here? Hanna asked herself again. It was getting dark, and she was half-way across town. There was no point in checking her watch, it broke in her backpack after a bad episode a few months ago. There'd barely been time to dampen the rag in the girl's bathroom, much less rescue the watch from being crushed beneath all her books.

She forced herself to uncurl her fists and examine her palms. "O-h shit," she hissed. The skin was still raw, and it hurt, HURT to pull the skin apart and stretch her fingers. The burns were manageable, though. It was the actual fire, and being seen that struck her cold, and sent her dodging the other students to the lavatory. After that there was only to wet the towel she kept with her, and apply it roughly to her hands.

Hanna choked down a quick gasp of pain, and continued walking. There, a bench. Upon it, she set her backpack and carefully unzipped the front pocket. Pulling out the lotion supposedly chock-full of aloe she very carefully unscrewed the top and dumped a large dollop over each hand.

Rubbing it in carefully, she leaned back against the bench and closed her eyes. Why today? She closed her eyes tighter, as though to force out the memory. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god-"

Hanna was just leaving her last period. Her phone had given a tuneless little note, and she pulled it out.

"You can do more than spontaneously combust.

Justin"

She paled. Who could- and then her eyes widened as she sensed the beginning of dark heat redden her hands. She felt shock, a sickening, weightless sensation as a long, snaky flame slid from her palm over arm in scarlet glory.

People can see me, PEOPLE CAN SEE ME, kept jolting through her head as she banged her arm against a wall, sliding against it as she ran. Slamming through the door, she crouched over, hiding her arm, to the back of the courtyard, where the pot-heads would linger. But it was empty now, and she collapsed against the brick, waiting for the fire to extinguish.

The school was a good one, well-known for its test scores, less for its bigotry against people-people "Like me," Hanna whispered, ashamed and angry. It was over now, and her uniform was streaked with dirt and the one arm had a long burn mark.

Forget about the movie with the girls, or lingering to talk with James Kuleyn before the weekend. She had to leave, now.

And so she found herself dropped at the station in the part of the city she didn't know, and the sky was definitely dark. So were the streets for that matter. The only lights were those surrounding the Pool Hall, as the sign displayed, and the bar snuggled next to it, almost an after-thought.

Picking her backpack gingerly from the bench, she felt for the twenty she had for the movie. Good, still there. "What's wrong with me?" she asked herself quietly, bitterly. Only then, did she think of the text-message. "And who the hell is Justin?"

She waited, for a moment, as if expecting an answer, before walking into the circle of light under the Pool Hall sign.
A Non-Existent User
I sat there highlighting the map to my new school. 'Lynna,' I thought to myself, 'this year you are not going to be the strange new girl with pointed ears.'

I looked around the room I was in, my room I guess now. There was a book lying open on the floor titled 'THE ANCIENT ART OF CHANBERRA: BECOMING A SKILLED FIGHTER AND SWORDSMASTER', underneath that was a book called 'HEALING FOR THE MAGICALLLY GIFTED'. There was a short cape draped across a chair, for some reason I could never go anywhere without one even though they aren't really in style right now. I laughed out loud, 'yup I'm completely normal.'

I went back to the map, it was my parents idea to send me to a 'special' school. I don't see why, I'm good at anything I try to do, well I'm good at anything I'm not trying to do. I'm not even sure what the special part means, are they all magi like me or what?

Anyway, I can do lots of stuff, people say I'm a new breed of magi. I can predict the weather, play with fire a little, heal, and I'm telepathic. It's just sometimes when I'm trying to heal I'll suddenly know it's gonna rain next thursday, which isn't very helpful.

I sighed, grabbed my cape and went outside. I like walking, it's very strange. I can just walk and walk forever. Today, right now I needed to walk, it's still early, so I should have plenty of time. I hate moving it's so frustrating, so I walk

I must have walked for hours until I finally realized where I was. I had ended up in the city somewhere. there were no lights around me except from a pool hall down the street, so I walked up to it. there was a bike parked out front but I couldn't see much else because of modern advertising. I hate neon signs. I stepped inside. there were only a few people there, some playing cards. I wonder if I could join...
Emmy reached beneath the bed table and pulled her skateboard out from under a pile of textbooks and assorted loose pieces of paper. Eventually she'd need to clean her dorm room, but not right now. Right now, she had to go to her meeting with Justin.

Luckily, his place was just down the street from the university campus and only a few blocks away from the dorms. It was just close enough to make taking a bus a dumb idea, and just far enough to make walking a chore. But her skateboard was a more than adequate way to get where the needed to go.

She rolled to a stop by one of the lights and stepped off, one foot resting on the board, while she waited for the light to change. She could, of course, have tweaked the light herself to make it change, but in this area all the lights were so carefully timed that she feared the consequences of messing with this one.

Eventually, her turn arrived, and she lazily began making her way across the street, wondering who else would be meeting with Justin today.
Mike Walked down the street. This Universty was great, a pain to get to from Ny, but still good. The streets were clean, the people were nice, no drug pedalers walking next to cops, perfect.He looked like any avarge kid in college. Basic black-grey jeans grey shirt and his Most sacraded of bandans. HIs hair hung down to the sides of his head covering the bandana but for the front, which rested a perfectly foleded embelm of a Eye. His head phones were On his ears but turned down low so he could hear allmost anything.What came out of the Headphones isnt what most would think, nomraly they would think punk-rocker, heavey-metalist, which in all was true, Mike liked Rock, But what came out was beauty that only a human voice can bring not steal chords or eletric sounds. O NO what came out was Mary Volvogan Oprea Goddes. Just as he rounded the corner of the shoe department, she let out one of her Legdenay high saprano wails. Logan smiled and then...... Ran flat smack into a Girl on a skateboard. He fell back, she stayed on her feet. The board rolled to the curb slowly. The girl was Frightend " OMG" she said and Helped mike up " Are you ok,..." She stared him down, then held her hand " Names Emmy" mIke took it " Mike, or just call me Ridge," She nodded. The skate board went into the street, Emmey Yelled " NOOOOO" Just as a semi came to run it over, since it was a hill Impact was Inament " NOOOO" she yelled agin. And then a funny thing happend, it rolled back to the curb. Up...a hill, Emmy Ran over and picked it up before it could roll away. She turned to say somethign to Ridge but He had Put back on his head Phones and walked away. She stared " What..." was all she could say
Sam sat Indian style on Justin's back porch and felt the energy streams as they wound around her. More than halfway into a deep meditation she didn't hear the doorbell ring. There had been a shift not too long ago in the streams, as though someone had used an ability. She was fast on the track and it felt very similar to that of a kinetic magi. A pounding at the door startled Sam out of her meditation and she stood up very quickly. The rippling night-gown like dress flew behind her as she ran to the front door. It was probably the magi that Justin had told her about. Emma, the electrokinetic was powerful, skillful and strong enough that Justin wouldn't be her teacher for much longer.

"Hello?" A tall blonde girl with a skateboard tucked under her arm. Sam, short as she was and wearing a dress designed to soothe her while she meditated was swiftly thinking this was a meeting between a modern day Viking and a time traveling Greek. Sam calmed herself and channeled the energy around her again, this was a magi and more she was electrokinetic of a vast potential. At least as strong as Sam, this must be Emma. "Oh! I'm sorry, you must be Emma. Justin had something else to do so he left me instead. I'm Sam, a channeler like Justin."

"Hi, Sam. I'm Emma, of course, nice dress." huh, she means that, as much as she tries to sound sarcastic she means that. Sam realized she was still channeling and cut it off. She knew they were going to get along fine, but she wasn't as manipulative as Justin.

"Come on in, are you comfortable in your clothes? We're going to be sitting for a long time." Emma nodded and walked in, laying the skateboard against the wall as she did. That's odd, there was a slight residue of magick about the board. Sam shook the cobwebs from her brain and motioned towards the still open back door to the porch. "Sit Indian style on the ground and just breathe as deeply as you can. I'm a channeler like Justin, so all I'm going to do is check your ability and what's going on."

Then a shock wave through the energy streams rocked Sam and she fell to her knees, something was wrong with Vive, no not Vive, she wasn't tied that closely to him she wouldn't possibly know about something like that. Sam was aware of arms around her and confusion. She was channeling everything around her and she couldn't calm herself. Then suddenly she was there in a pool hall across town, she knew it Vive hung out there a lot. The place was on fire, brilliant fire but it wasn't natural. There were too many magi about, what the hell happened?!


Thirty minutes had gone by. His crew was headed out the door, including Jude, all on their way home. Vive stayed behind, cleaning up the pool table they had played on, stacking the balls back into their box. His mind was still vaguely on the same train of thought he had at work earlier, although he tried to push it to the side with the thought of Jude’s moms cooking.
He approached the counter of the bar with his backpack on, pushing the box of balls onto it. Vive threw a twenty on top of it and told the bar girl, Amy, what drink he wanted, since how he didn’t particularly feel like heading back the Jude’s yet. He seated himself on the stool, dropping his bag at his feet. Vive shifted uncomfortably, feeling a bit too warm. He took off his jacket and put it on top of his bag.

“Here you go,” she said, pushing his drink toward him, smiling sweetly. “So, who won tonight?”

Vive looked up at Amy. She was a genuinely beautiful girl who didn’t need make up to enhance her beauty. They had gotten to know each other slowly over the years, but they had originally met because some of his friends had tried to pick her up, and she had turned them down flatly. “Kin and Rick, as usual,” he replied, shaking his head, smiling. “Damn pool sharks.”
Amy giggled. “Aw, Vive. No amount of winning will ever change the fact that you are and always will be a loser.” She winked. He grinned at her and took a sip of his drink. Amy moved away to serve a girl who looked strangely familiar. Had he seen her here before, or somewhere else?

Vive pulled at little at his collar. Why was he burning up? Was he sick? He took another sip, this time allowing an ice cube to slide into his mouth and began sucking on it quietly. His hands were really sweaty, and he wiped them on his jeans. What the hell was going on? He put his hand back onto the counter and drew it back quickly, having burnt his hand. Fire irrupted on the table where his hand had been, and Vive knocked over his drink by accident from shock. The fire mixed with his alcoholic beverage and the table lit up. He jumped up out of his seat and cussed ‘Fuck!’ out loudly.

When Hanna first walked into the Pool Hall, she noticed immediately that there weren't too many people clustered by the pool tables or by the bar. Only few (it seemed) loners finished their drinks or stared moodily into the distance.

Hanna immediately felt uncomfortable. In her torn school uniform and mussed dark hair (though carefully straightened just this morning) she knew she was decidedly out of place. But with a glance toward the window, she saw the dark sky wasn't a much better alternative, so, taking a shallow breath, she squared her shoulders and walked over to the bar.

On her way, she nearly stopped in shock. Sitting casually back in a chair, was a girl. Bedecked in a short cape, she immediately drew her Hanna's eye. But was that a peek of POINTED ears beneath her hair? The girl didn't seem to notice Hanna, and poked one of her fries at a tiny pool of ketchup on the wax paper in front of her.

Hanna had the feeling again, of...the impossible she felt when her fire erupted. But it wasn't so bad, after a moment, Hanna was able to control it, and began walking steadily to the counter.

Beep beep beep. Her phone. Almost automatically, she pulled it out and scanned the screen. Her gut curled at the small black letters.

"I have a proposition for you. If you're interested, i suggest you do not set one of my channeler students on fire.

Justin"

Again? Who in HELL WAS THIS GUY?! And suddenly the air was awash in warm, acidic colors, and the guy at the bar was shouting and turning to her, eyes wide in shock while the pretty bartender ran for the fire extinguisher.

Oh my god. Hanna thought numbly, stretching out her hand. He's on fire. He's on FIRE. And, reaching her fingers just a bit further, she actually touched the flame, moving her hand in and out of it easily as water. The guy's face went slack, and his mouth opened as he said hoarsely. "You've got to stop it."

She was nearly weeping as she choked out, "I can't."

And then there was a rush of air, and another girl stood at their side, looking just as surprised as Hanna felt. Her eyes flew from Hanna to the man, and Hanna felt the flame creep its way to her own skin, not burning her, but shaming, shaming her. Her fault.
A Non-Existent User
There was a fire. I can't really do much with it at all but I know how to stop a person from being on fire; there's only the three magic steps; stop, drop, and roll. I have an even better one for a gun lying around, but lets hope I don't have to use it.

Anyway I got it mostly under control, I don't think anyone even noticed me. There was a girl who I think had been sitting at the bar, but I was kinda busy thinking about my new school. It's not an actual school of magic or anything, but I think there are a few people are. And then all of a sudden there was fire, a lot of fire.

As soon as it was under control I left, I needed to walk. I was quickly followed by the other girl whose phone went off when the fire began. I wonder if she caused it? I guess I'll find out...
"Sam honey, come on, wake up," Emmy said for perhaps the one-hundredth.

The shorter girl, head resting in the electrokinetic's lap, remained unresponsive, except for the tiniest flutter of her eyelids. She seemed to be dreaming, or something, and had been for the last 15 minutes.

Emmy had a few ideas about what she could do to wake the other young woman. However, most of her ideas --- dribbling water on Sam's forehead and cheeks, shaking her gently, talking to her --- had failed. She could call 911, but she knew that if this were an problem involving Sam's powers (which she suspected it was), then medical professionals probably wouldn't be able to do anything anyway. And if she was right and this did involve Sam's powers, then perhaps nothing was actually wrong; Emmy never went into a trance-like state when she used her powers, but maybe it was different for channelers?

Wiping away tears of worry, she resumed her vigil and murmured once again, "Sam, come on, come back."
Mike walked down the Steet. It was a boring day, so far anyway. He smiled as he passed an old coupel and Greeted them good day. The town was nice and small, at least for a university town can be nice and small. He herd about the pool place down the road from a few students at the the school. Somekid named ViVe or VI-Ve or something. He walked his way to the location of the pool place. Off in the distance he could see the pool place. And allso pareameds in there vans.Mike sped up a bit when he got there he asked some random people what happend. All he got was fire and that the place wouldent be open for a nother few hours. Disapointed MIke walked back toward his temp to lay down, starnaged day so far.
A Non-Existent User
His hand felt the black plastic knob on the end of the shifter. Fingers closed around the edges, and a movement of a couple muscles sent the Wrangler into fifth gear. Raven hair whipped in the wind as he drove down the highway back home. He had the soft top removed and it felt good to have the last heat of the day swallowed in his body along with the mix of air in his face.

Taylor darted in and out of traffic, ocular cavities covered with a pair of head-hugging oakleys. He gave a toothy grin to a little child that seemed to be running amock in the back seat of a mercedes, or at least Taylor surmised that by the red face that the mother driving had. He darted in front of the woman and took the next exit, following the main road for a few miles, and then turning off to a dirt trail. A tattered sign and bent mailbox announced it as the McGiven's land. Dust plumed behind his Jeep, sending a cloud into the air. It allowed the house keeper to know that he was home.

He finally parked in front of a very large log cabin, which actually had the layout of a large size suburbia house, including a second story even. The door swung open and he slipped out. He was adorned in some grey sneakers, a pair of dusty jeans, and a white t-shirt, covered by a blue-black plaid overshirt. He closed the door, leaned over, and picked up the books that he had purchased, along with a black ball cap. He set the cap on his head, which made his hair feather out past his ears and down to his shoulders.

His 6'2" frame carried him to the house. The arm not holding the books effortlessly jingled a set of keys until he found the right one. He sunk it into the tumblers of the lock, and felt the gratified click. Openning the door, he extracted the keys and tossed them on a sofa table that was in the entry way.

Inside the house, everything was adorned in a warm natural wood glow. The planks of the floor were polished to mirrors it seemed, and photos adorned the walls and tables. He walked inside and plopped down on the couch, going over the books he had bought while he was in the city. Some kids had suggested that he go to this certain bookstore when he had inquired about where to find stuff on witchcraft and the unexplained. He had looked at the town bookstore, but to no avail; so he had used the excuse of going to see his parents in the big city to look at some of the more mystic-oriented book stores. In the end, he had settled on 2 books that he didn't even know would help.

While cracking open the first volume with his first hand, his other automatically sought out the remote control. The television turned on with an electric hum, followed by a kid yelling on some sitcom. Taylor glanced at it for a moment and then decided he needed something to drink. He set the book face down and went to the kitchen, where he poured himself a glass of water. He took a sip of the water, and brought it back to the living room with him, setting it on a wicker coaster. His legs propped themselves on the table as he plopped back down onto the couch and started reading something about the manipulation of the elements, especially the life giving abundant source of water.

As he delved deeper into the book, Taylor had noted a few instances that he could apply to his life. Though he was 23, and these 'powers' should have passed him up, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he may be infected with some sort of mystical something or other. His eyes drifted to the glass of water on the table, and he pondered for a moment. With determination, he set the book down and concentrated fully on the glass. He started to feel the hairs on the back of his neck raise in some sort of building. His body felt ablaze with something, but it was soothing, tranquil...such a contrast in emotion and feeling. The water started to shape into something amoeba like, quivering in the cup as it did so. Taylor rubbed his eyes, thinking it was a dream, but the shape stayed. He shook his head and stood up, wiping his brow and panting heavily at what he had just done. What the hell was he? He had seen stuff like this before, where it seemed that water redirected around him in the shower once in a while, or some odd instance would happen in the pool where it felt like a wall was created to keep people from him in Marco Polo, but this was nothing like that.

McGivens went to the bathroom and ran his hands under the faucet, only to splash the contents up in his face. He rubbed his face vigorously, as if it would rub away what he just witnessed himself do. Finally getting control of his emotions, he allowed himself to accept what was going on...in some small incremental way.

He walked back to the living room, and noticing it was late, decided to turn off the TV, but what he saw shocked him. The pool hall was on the news, and arsonists had set it on fire. In that moment, his determination set forth again, and he grabbed his keys, slamming the door behind him. As agile as a cat, Taylor jumped over the door and into the seat of his jeep. It screamed to life when he slammed on the gas and turned the car on. Deftly, he dropped the gearshift into reverse, and while the harshness of the grinding would normally irritate him, Taylor decided to ignore it.

The Jeep spun out of the cul-de-sac he was parked in, and bellowed down the dusty trail at break-neck speed. The rubber hit the asphalt and screamed its protest, but he was off nonetheless, to see what had happened to the pool hall.
Sam couldn't believe it, not only was she channeling Vive, but two other girls were with him, or slightly behind him rather. By channeling the three teens she was able to keep right there near the pool house. Channeling each of them by turn she saw what had happened. Vive was tired and focusing on magic, Sam knew his family from Justin they were powerful. Vive was apparently powerful too. He had a full-blown case of pyro all right, and a girl also a pyro kinetic was there as well. With two such explosive identities the pool hall was going to ashes. The other girl was a healer, sort of but not really was all that Sam could sense from her. Then finally she snapped back.

Emmy was holding her limp body and rocking in distress. Crying for Sam to come back.

"Hey, sorry about that but I think there are some people who are going to need my help." Emmy stopped the rocking as soon as Sam started to speak and the girls stared at each other until Sam giggled, damn power trips always made her giggle. "Thanks for sticking with me, I've been known to stop breathing once I enter a trance. Especially when I'm knocked into it without warning or preperation. Could you try to get Justin on the phone? I'm going to have to borrow his ducati to get us down to the side of town we need to be on."

Emmy straighened her face and felt around in her pockets for her cellphone which had already dialed Justin's number by the time Emmy finally extracated it from her pocket and broght it to her ear. "He's not answering."

Sam tried channeling him, but he wasn't in town anymore. Oh well, apparently it would be up to her to make sure everything straightened out. Oh boy, what an excersize!

"He's not available, Emmy come on I need to be down by the pool hall. You'd better come along," Sam considered changing out of the dress and decided against it, she wouldn't have time. In the garage she threw off the tarp on Justin's seldom used Ducati motorcycle. She tossed Emmy a helmet keeping the other for herself and pushed the bike out of the garage and onto the street. "Get on Emmy, if nothing else I know how to drive a Ducati."

The three enigmas had made their way to the park, and Sam brought the cycle to a skidding halt that left Emmy holding on tighter to her stomach. The two were an odd looking pair on the small italian-made motorcycle. Emmy was taller than Sam, whose dress was whipping all about and exposing pale shapely legs up to her thighs. Sam turned off the bike and pointed at three people walking now from just under a tree, they all had a glazed look about them.

"Emmy, I need you to calm them down and keep them here in the park, I just got one more problem that could prove disastrous to this community. If word breaks out how magical this town really is we're gonna be in a boatload of shit. I need your help."

Emmy was not loathe to leave the tiny bike and Sam watched her only long enough to make sure she was heading for the odd threesome. Then she revved the Duck and spun out on her way to the pool hall. Stupid, inexperienced, downright crazy, Sam was still thinking up expletives as she stopped the bike immediately behind a Jeep.

The jeep had gotten there moments before and the passenger was already making his way towards the blaze. Sam kicked out the stand and tilted the bike, leaping off at a hazardous angle. Her dress flowed down softly towards her ankles with grace, but Sam didn't notice she was too intent on the man in front of her. He was certainly tall dark and handsome, but if Sam didn't stop him he would put a stop to the mountain home of the magi.

She caught up to him quickly and grabbed his hand. Using the physical contact to channel him into magical and physical silence. When he turned to stare at her with a dumfounded look, she deepened the channeling urging herself to use not look. Then using his water kinesis latent ability she strengthened the firefighter's water and stopped the fire mostly from the inside out.

Before someone could see them, she tugged on the arm and pulled him back to his Jeep.

"Now tell me please you arrogant idiot, just what the hell were you planning on doing!?" Sam didn't notice the drastic difference in heights as she began to yell at him. Nearly an entire foot seperated them and yet she didn't care. The wind was whipping her medium length red hair around her face and her dress was plastered to her body. "You could have exposed yourself, do you realize what the government would do to you? Haven't you heard of area 52!? Tell you what bucko we're not so far from Nevada as you might think!!" Looking at the more than puzzled and possibly slightly humble look on the man's face she decided to let it go. "Get in your fancy jeep and follow me or so help me I will rockstar you so bad you won't remember how to walk much less drive!"

She revved the ducati again and returned with just as much speed to the park.


Vive watched Samantha leave from a distance, his hands firmly on the handles of his bike as he wheeled it along the path. He stood between Hanna and Lynna, both of whom were sweet girls. They had gotten to know a little about each on their way out of the city.
The girl who had stayed behind instead of going with Samantha hurried up to them. “Sam says to stay here,” she said, “no matter what.”
         “Why did she leave?” Vive asked casually, gazing at her.
She shrugged. “Don’t know. I’m Emmy, by the way. Nice to meet you all.”
He inclined his head. “I’m Vive.”
         “Hi, I’m Hanna,” she said to Emmy almost shyly, and giving her a small smile.
         “And I’m Lynna.”
Vive walked off to sit on the table of a picnic bench and have a cigarette while they were to wait. He wondered what they were waiting for. His brow creased when he realised he was meant to be a Jude’s an hour or more ago. He was probably missing out on his mom’s stew as well. Vive put his face in his hands almost miserably and groaned; unaware of the three girls now staring at him from the path, wondering what the groan had been all about.

He frequently checked his watch as he grew later and there was still no sight of Samantha. The three girls appeared to be enjoying the conversation they were having, he noticed.
Vive was just about to resign and go home when he had been stopped because Hanna had come over to join him. She sat on the actually seat, a level below him.
         “I’m sorry if I burnt you,” she said. “I only just realised that I hadn’t said sorry yet when it should have been one of the first thing any normal person would have said.” She gave a short, soft laugh.
Vive looked down at her. “Normal? The most interesting people aren’t normal, Hanna, so don’t worry about it.”
She stared back up at him. “Is that your way of accepting an apology?”
He tapped her shoulder with the back of his hand in a ‘come-on’ way. “You’d know if I didn’t. I would have tied your hands behind your back with rope and thrown you into the nearest dumpster.”
Vive stood up at that moment as a car and bike (with Samantha on it) pulled up at the park.
Hanna turned from her perch on the picnic bench to hear the squeal of tires against the pavement. Two car-beams seemed to seek her eyes out in the darkness and she squinted, shielding her face. A gleaming motorcycle turned off its engine nearby, and Hanna recognized the figure that seemed to glide off gracefully as a forest nymph in her soft dress.

"Oh," Hanna said, in a small voice. It was the same girl from the pool hall. Vive, on seeing her, leapt from the top of the table, taking long strides across the already-damp grass to her side.

Emmy turned to see her as well, calling out "Sam!" as Vive said "Samantha!"

So that's her name, Hanna thought to herself. Great, one less mystery. Was she the one Justin had meant- "I suggest that you do not set one of my channeler students on fire." ?

Hanna followed Lynna and Emmy, who made their way somewhat slower to Sam's side than Vive, who seemed almost livid. "Do you think you might explain to me what the hell is going on?" he asked, his voice loud though not unkind.

Sam opened her mouth to answer, when the door to the jeep opened and a tall man stepped down. It was the oddest sensation that struck the entire group. Everyone seemed to, quiet, a little, even Vive.

It was as though Hanna was, for the moment, not a living weapon. There was something in this stranger's, being, she supposed, that made her feel as though she would not be able to HURT anyone, at least here and now. As though her fire could be contained, able to be leveled to a kinder flame.

Emmy's eyebrows quirked in silent question, and Lynna watched the stranger, eyes wide in the same manner. Sam opened her mouth to explain,her voice slightly irritated, "This is-" she stopped, and looked to him. "What's your name?"

The man glanced around the small group before answering to everyone, and yet no one in particular, "It's Taylor McGivens,"

Sam waved her hand. "Yeah, that. He's-"

Hanna suddenly realized it. "Water," She said, her voice clear. "He's, somehow, water." Sam and the others looked at her in surprise.

That's why Hanna could not hurt anyone, water could stop it, stop HER.
A Non-Existent User
ok I am confused. How did I end up with these weirdos, and why can't someone introduce everyone around? This is so confusing I don't even know what's happening. I guess I'll just stand here and watch. Unless someone decides to remember poor old Lynna and that I'm still here, oh well I guess we'll see soon enough...
"Well, that's a damn relief," Emmy said. "We won't have to worry about a fire this time, but a flood!"

The pyrokinetic tore her eyes away from the new arrival and turned to Emmy. "I don't think you understand. He and I compliment one another. Hydrokinesis to Pyrokinesis."

"Maybe you should keep your voice down?" Vive growled, glancing nervously around.

Hanna nodded and then continued in a whisper. "Neither of us can use our powers when we're near the other."

Emmy looked from one to the other. Fire cancelled water, did it? "Huh," was all she could think of to say.

Was there a Magi out there whose power could counter her own? She wasn't sure if she liked the idea or not. The idea that there might be a way to keep her from being a danger to herself or others --- should she BECOME a danger to herself or others --- was appealing. But to be controlled by another... to be unable to use her power when she needed it...

She shivered.
A Non-Existent User
He made the turn onto the main road and screamed toward the blaze. He could see the pillar of water shooting out of the hose and knew without a doubt that he was doing the right thing. His hues shifted the rearview mirror and saw a motorcycle speeding behind him. The flashing fabric mane around the body showed that it was a girl at the helm. Well, he may want to get her number later, but going as fast as he was, he figured it would be a little hazardous to stare much longer.

Getting to the scene, he jumped out of the jeep and started to make his way to the blaze, intent on releasing the same energy he had dealt with in his own home earlier that day, but fate seemed to deal him another card. He went to roll up his sleeves, as if that had any effect on the outcome of what he was about to do, but then skin touched skin, and somewhere deep inside him, the door he had openned had slammed shut with a resounding thud. The backlash was more than he had felt before. It was not pain, or pleasure, but pressure. His head shifted to the one that held him and he was so inexplicably dumbstruck. It was as if he had full ideas, but that his mouth wouldn't work. His dusty ballcap, frayed at the bill, had accumulated a patch of sweat as Taylor tried to make something come from his vocal cords. And then she verbally assaulted him. This girl, woman, whatever she was, had a bad case of chihuahua syndrome, but McGiven's could not quell her. Her hand was warm on his forearm he noted. Damn hormones.

Next she spoke about the government and area 51...or was it 52 she spoke of. Didn't that have something to do with aliens. Was she an alien? Was he crazy? And then she was off, with him being demanded to follow. Well, it was a wierd day already, so he might as well entertain the oddities that he seemed to fall face first into. Getting back in the wrangler, Taylor turned the ignition and the motor screamed back to life. The mystery girl was already off, so he popped the clutch and started after her, going straight from 1st gear to 3rd to keep the momentum with the cycle.

"What the hell is going on here?" It was a miracle, he could speak again. Whatever the girl had done had not been permanent. He took a couple turns after her until they arrived at a park, where it seemed a couple others were waiting. His keys were tugged from the ignition, to be set in his pocket for safe keeping. He then got out of the Jeep and closed it behind him. No need to lock it, as the soft-top was still off. Unsure steps carried him to the scene that started playing out without him. The smart-ass in him blurted out to just her, before the crowd started to gather, "Are you taking me to your leader? Where is the anal probe?"
He didn't know if the glance Samantha had shot at him was one of good humor, or one of anger. Either way, he gave a lop-sided grin and followed after her. Well, there were 3 girls in total, and another guy who seemed to him to be either a little unsavory, or just lonely.
He thought to himself, 'Well, this is a little wierd. This must be the the mickey mouse club and I am the new mouseketeer.' He didn't realize how right he was until someone had pegged that he as water. Taylor realized that she was the girl he got some sort of feeling from. It was as if a compliment to him was in her, though while she pegged him as a water controller, he didn't know what the hell she was.
That uncertainty quickly faded away when she had spoke again though "...hydrokinetic to pyrokinetic." Well, even if he wasn't the newest member, he was at least the most confused. Then the threat came that her power nullified his, and visa versa. So not only was he not allowed to explore his newfound gift, he also was not able to just use it period. 'So much for manipulating a water balloon fight,' came another thought. His hues shifted to the one known as Vive and gave him a curious look. As if trying to quell any situation that might erupt from the hothead, Simon stuck out his arm and grabbed the other guy's in a handshake.
"What was your name?" Simon had already offered his, yet he still not know any of these other people.
Vive looked a little shocked at the sudden contact, but held McGiven's hand in the shake. "Vive." It was all he said, but Taylor figured it was enough.
Simon outstretched his hand to the 3 women and smiled as he awaited each of them.
"Hanna."
"Ella."
When it came Samantha's turn, he shook her hand politely and said "You must be Samantha, or else Vive didn't know who he was yelling to for attention."
Sam gave a nod. "Well, now that everyone is here, let's get started. You all have powers...."

which makes a damn boatload of sense. For generations this mountain valley has been a refuge for magi, but why don't we go and sit down somewhere so I can tell you the story." Sam smiled and walked into the wooded park. This had been a haunt of hers growing up and she knew somewhere that they could go, somewhere that they wouldn't be disturbed at least not by mortals. There was a place where four old elms grew together in a tight circle, this was where Sam led the unlikely group of misfits. As she motioned them into the small glade she looked them over.

Emmy, the tall viking princess with a gift for technology. Lynna, more of a misfit than Sam had recognized. She was half elven and it was apparent in the girl's manner, the peacefulness almost. The elven blood explained the healing gift and that sense of 'other' that Sam had channeled earlier. Then there was Hanna, who needed to know she wasn't something bad or something wrong. Then Vive walked into the grove, touching her arm briefly before entering. Sam could see the fire in him now, it almost scared her. Then the new one passed in front of her, ducking his head beneath some low-hanging branches. Taylor, a hydrokinetic.

Sam followed them into the grove, everyone had sat in a circle sort of. Sam walked over to where Hanna sat, her head bowed. Sam leaned over to whisper in her ear; "you can do more than spontaneously combast." Hanna's head shot up and stared at Sam, Sam paused and then continued. "This is your first exercise; I want you to give us fire so we can see each other, and so we won't freeze." The head began to drop again and Sam reached out a slim hand to capture it, "think, there's a small ring of stones, and fire has been made here before, you can do it, I'll help you." Sam straightened and began collecting twigs and branches, fallen from the trees surrounding them.

Hanna stood after a moment and helped Sam, then they dropped the kindling into the circle of stones, Sam grabbed Hanna's hand before she could walk away. "Talk your hand and touch the kindling, the fire is within you, be kind and ask for its help. It will help and obey you." Hanna gulped and touched the knidling. A small flame leapt from her finger and touched the wood. The fire spread quickly and a modest campfire stood in the middle. Sam smiled and motoined for Hanna to seat herself again.

"Thank-you Hanna, that was nicely done for a novice. There is a history that you all must know and I might as well be the one to tell you. Let me make introductions around first though hmm." Everyone was wide-eyed, so Sam began. "I am Sam, and a channeler. Hanna is sitting on my right and thanks to her we have some decent lighting. On Hanna's right is Lynna, who is a healer and perhaps more. On her right is Emmy, a telekinetic. On Emmy's right sits Taylor McGivens, a hydrokinetic. On his right and my left, sits Vive, a latent pyrokinetic. Let's get started.

"When the pilgrims first sailed to this land they hoped for freedom to practice their religion, with them came others. These others hoped to practice magic in safety away from the fiery persecution of England. They were met by the indians who helped them in this new land. Many of these first magi recognized the power of the indians and went to live with them, joining powers and forces. Through the years, these magi were more or less left alone, becuase they kept to themselves. During the American Revolution the magi fought alongside their fellow patriots, hoping for a country accepting of magi but it was not to be. In 1803 with the Lousiana purchase, the colony of magi voted to go west.

"It was they who founded our town in 1816. In this valley they found freedom from persecution. There was peace, but eventually other settlers came, the magi were forced to go underground and so have we been these last two and half centuries." Sam took a deep breath, nobody looked confused, but she should open it up for questions anyway.

"Uh, questions anybody? no questions? Well we should probably call it a night,"
Sam grasped her head suddenly and sucked in her breath painfully. Someone was in her head and boy did it hurt. The scream of a siren resounded in her head for eternity until finally it receded enough to form two simple powerful words; apparently Justin was back. "Come Here". Sam gushed air in and out of her lungs in recovery for a moment until her equilibrium was restored. Her eyes cleared and she stood up, ready to explain away the pain only to find the circle of new friends lying in states of shock. Everyone in the circle had blacked out, Sam's eyes traveled around praying that they were alive until the chest moved with the labor of life. That is until her eyes fell on Taylor. He had landed on his knees, and one hand rested heavily on the ground but he was still upright. Sweat beaded his aristocratic forhead and his eyes met Sam's with determination and strength, who was this guy?

"Sam? What was that?

"Ha, ha, well" gulp, "that was Justin. Do you think we could revive the others?"

(ok everyone hold onto your seats and feel free to throw in any twists! Your turn is coming but in a new, random order, enjoy!)
A Non-Existent User
Everything was fine, or at least Taylor had thought so at the time. They had been conversing hadn't they? They had been introducing themselves within this circle of trees that Taylor knew he had not seen before. So why did he have a splitting headache, and why was everyone but the 'ring-leader' passed out. His head pounded and every nerve in his body screamed their distraught, but something had happened when the assault hit. The whole chemistry of his body went into overdrive, sending hormones where they needed to go in faster than normal time, and speeding the blood to his brain so that lack of oxygen wouldn't allow him to faint. He hadn't thought about it till much later, at which time he realized...water. It was everywhere in his body, and in this group's bodies too. Suddenly, he shook at the implications, the chill running down his spine at lightning speed.

"Sam? What was that?

"Ha, ha, well" gulp, "that was Justin. Do you think we could revive the others?"

Her words were dull in his head, but he gave a nod anyway. The exertion of his innate power had made him sweat profusely. He wiped away the beads from his brow and started on all fours, lightly jostling each one awake. He had gotten Vive and Lyanna aroused while Sam worked on Emmy and Hanna. Now they were all awake, and looking a bit dazed at eachother. Each one was gripping their heads. No thought occured to Lyanna to heal Emmy when she groaned about the headache, and it didn't seem anyone else thought about it either.

"What was that?" Vive piped up, though shutting his eyes at the last word when he realized that his brain gave out another protest.

Sam spoke in a quiet voice, understanding the noise might aggrevate them. "That was Justin, and we need to go see him now...he will want to meet you all."

Slowly, everyone gathered themselves up and sullenly followed out of the grove single file, following Samantha. In the few minutes that it took to get to the cars, everyone had finally had their headaches subside. Samantha hopped back on the crotch rocket and revved the engine, while Taylor slipped into his jeep with the 3 girls Emmy, Hanna, and Lyanna. Vive slipped on the back of the motorcycle with Samantha, and they started off. This was definately the wierdest night he had ever had, and it didn't seem to be getting better. While he thought she looked good, Taylor was a little disturbed that Lyanna looked to be Spock's long lost sister. He didn't even know a thing about elves, so he had not made any association with them. The other 2 seemed ok also, but one was self-conscious about herself, and the other was a viking goddess it appeared. He was not comfortable with having any female close to his height...it was a male pride problem for him, but he kept that to himself.

His hand shifted to the stereo and turned it on. "Spoon Man" by Soundgarden was playing, and he didn't decide to change it when it seemed the girls were either too lost in their own thoughts, or they just didn't care. He was sure it was the first that was the problem. Up until now, he assumed they had all lived relatively normal lives...that he wasn't the only one that found out things the hard way way too late in life. Suddenly, he realized he may be the oldest one there, and that made him feel a little bad about himself.

Sam had turned onto some street that brought them into the heart of the middle class suburbs, as opposed to the more commercial district where the park stood. She pulled into the driveway and Taylor pulled up next to the curb. He was looking around, wondering what was going on.

"I guess we are here."
Taylor went to open the door, and glimpsed in the rearview mirror to see a guy walking down the street with a bandana wrapped around his head, and an eyeball staring right at them.
Hanna opened the car door and slid out onto the pavement. The sky was black, not even a glow upon the horizon like there was on most nights, and the stars seemed swallowed up in shadow. She frowned.

The roar of Sam and Vive pulling up made her start, then turn away from the approaching headlights. It was probably not far from midnight. She'd told everyone that morning she was staying out late tonight, so she wouldn't have to deal with any shit now. But still, Hanna fought down a rush of bitter, dark fire-rage over the fact that she was stuck in the middle of the suburbs which looked not too different from her own neighborhood, with a group of cocky mis-fits who didn't even know who SHE WAS. She was lumped in with them by default because of her "ability."

She watched the others get out of the car. Lynna, the strange, elvish girl like someone out of the Hobbit, with her fey features and pointed ears. Emmy, the tall, confident Norse-like one. And lastly Taylor, the new addition to their oh- so f-ing homey family.

Hanna shivered at a rogue breeze, turning to see a guy, maybe her age? older? with a bandana emblazoned with an eye... and he had a look of sarcastic disbelief upon his face as he took in the situation. "I'm Mike," he said, in their general direction, his eyes scanning all of them.

Vive and Same walked up to the scene, where the rest of them lounged awkwardly around the car. Sam cast a glance over the motely group and took a firm stance before them.

"Ok," she began "Now that we're all here, there are some things you have to know before we, well, start."

God, I hate this, Hanna thought savagely. It sounded just like some lecture in a lab a Chem teacher gives you before you start mixing potassium and water and all hell breaks loose. She felt restless. And annoyed. And just angry.

Sam continued "This is where someone very important to us all lives, even though you might not know him yet. But he knows we're here, and why."

Oh great. Hanna had an idea of where this was going. Her stomach twisted, and her hands itched to hit something. Instead she roughly tied her hair back, cooling the flush in her high cheekbones.

"This is Justin's home," Sam was saying, which drew a different reaction from everyone. For Hanna, it was just sharp confusion, and her large hazel-green eyes narrowed.

Where had she heard- oh yeah, HIM. "Bastard," She hissed. At that Sam turned to her, surprised. As did Taylor, Emmy, Lynna, Vive, and Mike.

"What do you mean?" Emmy asked, her jaw set. Hanna took a step back from them, furious. "He started this," She spit out, getting strange pleasure from the shock in Taylor and Lynna's eyes, and Vive and Mike's silence.

Sam stepped forward. "Hanna," she said, her voice frustratingly calm. "You don't know the whole situation-"

"I'm SICK of you telling me what I don't know!" she shot back, eyes flashing. "This- history lesson? This freaks' anonymous reunion? This isn't helping, ok?"

"Listen-"

"No, I'm not," Hanna whispered harshly, her voice low. There was a moment's silence. "I'm going to find out these answers without having to hold someone's hand to cross the street. I'm talking to Justin NOW."

And without a look behind her, she strode up the sidewalk and jammed the flat of her palm against the doorbell.

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