Fourth Birth: The Oakmont Saga, Book 1

I wasn’t sure how long it’d been since we got on that ship, but Aliyah shook me awake with her backpack against the wall. “Mel, it’s time to leave. We’re in Whittier,” she told me. I looked up at her, barely recognizing what she was saying. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the bed.

Thankfully, I’d actually been showering during the trip, since the cold water helped with the headaches, so I wasn’t dirty, even if my clothes were a bit wrinkled. I think she had actually cleaned our clothes as well, but I wasn’t positive of that.

She helped me put my pack on and then worked hers onto her back, since I offered her no assistance. I was like a zombie, or maybe a wet noodle.

Somehow, I was aware of all of this, even if I was unable to do anything about it, or rather, I didn’t care to do anything about it. We walked off onto the quay, the sun shining on her hair, making a beautiful blue shimmer dance across her head. The sight made me tear up, the tears running freely down my cheeks.

To believe I used to never cry and here I was crying over the sun shining on Aliyah’s hair. I’d slipped so far, and it was really scary.

Aliyah led me by the hand to the train station, not that it was much of a station. She went to a booth, which thankfully had no one waiting.

“How much for two tickets to Anchorage?” she asked.

“Are there any adults going with you?” the woman behind the window asked.

“No, ma’am. We’re meeting them at the train station there,” Aliyah said.

“I’m not allowed to sell tickets to unaccompanied minors,” she said, very businesslike, with no emotion.

I saw that telltale sign of Aliyah entering her mind, before the last words were out of the woman’s mouth. “I guess for you two, I could let you on. One will have to travel as an adult, though. That will come to $97.50.”

Aliyah reached into her pack and pulled out money, which she handed to the woman. I hadn’t known she had money too, or did she steal mine?

As that thought entered my mind, I forced it away. Aliyah was my friend and she wouldn’t steal from me. Besides, the money was for both of us, not me alone. Why was I even thinking like that about my friend?

We got on the train and were heading to Anchorage about an hour later. I was really surprised that no one had come to find us, so far. Maybe we had actually gotten them looking in too many places, although I doubted it. Mr. Stone seemed too smart for that.

The train ride was just a continuation of my ride into darkness. The longer I went, the further I seemed to sink into the pit of my own mind. The need for the drugs was everything now. Thanks to my withdrawal, I shook all the time, like one of those people that had been drinking way too long and shook constantly. I was also sweating really bad and cried at the slightest things now. On top of that, I seemed to be getting more paranoid than I already was, and that was saying a lot.

As we approached Anchorage, I was totally consumed with homesickness. The feeling was overwhelming and I started sobbing, unable to stop myself. “Mel, what can I do to help?” Aliyah asked, her concern only making my misery worse.

“Nothing,” I managed to say between sobs. “I miss home, but I want to go back there more than anything,” I told her and she knew where I was talking about. She didn’t say anything else, and I was sure it was because there was nothing she could say to help.

We stopped at the airport first, and I had to stop her from getting up. “We’re going to the main station,” I told her, finally managing to get control of myself, a little. It was getting harder though. I felt angry all the time, but also like I didn’t really care about anything anymore. I was also expecting everyone to try and attack me and I jumped at shadows. It was a really weird feeling and the feeling itself was making me feel worse.

Aliyah was constantly having to stop me from striking out with my mind, even more so than on the ferry. I was sure she was getting tired of babysitting a complete nutcase, which I definitely was at that point. I knew I’d be tired of it if I was her.

When we finally got off the train near downtown, we walked away from the downtown area, which Aliyah seemed to want to go to. I didn’t think it’d be good for me to be near people right then, maybe ever again. We started walking east to Ship Creek and the road of the same name.

As we were passing the Ulu Factory, Aliyah stopped dead and grabbed my hand. “Mr. Stone and Mrs. Wilde are in there.”

“Just them?” She paused for a moment, her probe heading into the store.

“Yeah, it’s just them and they’re browsing, like any tourist would,” she said, a small smile on her face.

“What are you so happy about?”

“I think you need to go to them.”

“And what about you,” I asked, suspicious of her apparent betrayal.

“I’ll be with you, silly,” she said, which worried me even more. I wanted her to get away from them.

“No. You need to get away from them.”

“Not this time. They want to help us.”

“What do you mean they want to help us?”

“They aren’t with the school anymore. They’ve talked to your mom and they want to help us escape,” she told me, which was definitely not what I wanted to hear.

“I don’t want to,” I told her, unable to say anything else.

She grabbed my hand and started dragging me toward the store, me giving very weak resistance. I didn’t have the strength to fight her, not after the last week or two. However long it’d been, it had been what I imagined hell was like.

I started to strike out at her, but I couldn’t touch my power. It was gone. I dropped to the ground, landing hard on my butt and started crying.

“No!”

“Mel, we have to. You need help and I can’t watch you dying like this. It’s killing me,” she said, dropping to her knees and crying beside me.

“Dear God,” I heard, and looked up to see Mrs. Wilde standing on the porch of the store, not twenty feet away. She bolted down the steps and wrapped her arms around me.

“Leave me alone!”

“What’s happened to you?” she asked.

“Nothing!” I yelled, my cheeks stinging from the tears freezing on them.

“Mrs. Wilde, she’s not eating anymore and she cries all the time. She tries to attack almost everyone and I can’t stop her much longer. She’s too strong,” Aliyah said.

“What do you mean, you can’t stop her much longer?” Mrs. Wilde asked.

“I can stop her from attacking, but it hurts. It’s getting harder and I can’t do it much more,” she told her. That explained why it seemed like my power was shut off sometimes. She could somehow block it, but it hurt her. I’d been hurting her all this time, and she didn’t let me know, because she was protecting others from me.

“Brian, would you take Aliyah to the car? I’ll get Melanie,” she said, holding me tightly as I resisted, as weak as my resistance was.

“You know, you fought harder the last time I held you like this,” she told me, bringing my anger up in force. I attempted to lash out, but apparently Aliyah still had me blocked.

That made me even madder, and before I knew what was happening, there was an explosion of pain which was yet again worse than the last time. The world erupted in a burst of light and color, which was a new experience for me. This was usually accompanied by a dive into blackness.

As that odd thought was going through my mind, I felt a massive amount of energy burst out of me. There was a delay between the initial attack and that sudden burst of energy. It was kind of like an aftershock of an earthquake, where the aftershock was actually stronger than the initial quake. I knew Aliyah couldn’t contain that, no matter how hard she tried. I felt her pain as the block she had on me shattered and there was no other way to describe what happened. I knew I hurt her really bad, but there was nothing I could do about it.

This went on for a long time, the blinding light and color, even though it was all in my mind, the pain and the feeling of falling. Along with it, I still felt Aliyah’s mind caught up in it. Somehow, my mind had grabbed hers and wouldn’t let her go, so she was suffering this along with me. That thought quickly went away as I was falling and there was nothing I could do to save myself. Terror overwhelmed me, knowing I was going to slam into the ground at any moment. That was how I felt as this was going on.

Finally, my vision returned. It was a little bit at first, then a little more, until I could fully see again. My eyes were never closed, oddly. At least, they were open when I started getting my consciousness back. I felt Aliyah’s mind released from mine, remembering again that I had somehow captured her mind.

I was lying on the ground still, Mrs. Wilde slumped on the ground beside me. There were people on the porch of the Ulu Factory looking at us, and around the area as well. The store was dark now, for some reason. Had I been there that long?

The pain hadn’t stopped, even though it wasn’t quite as bad as it had been. That was also new. Usually, the pain was mostly gone when I started coming out of it. There was always a lingering headache, but not like this. It was almost as bad as the attack itself, only a little milder.

I wanted to know how Aliyah was doing, but as soon as I attempted to reach out to her mind, a sharp burst of pain exploded in my head, ending that attempt rather quickly. I felt a lot of wetness on my chin, and reaching to wipe it, I saw blood running over my hand.

I couldn’t make myself sit up, no matter how hard I tried. I simply didn’t have the energy. I was amazed that I could lift my hand to my face, once I thought about it. The reaction changed every time it happened, not allowing me to know what to expect. That was really annoying.

My thoughts were interrupted as hands gently lifted me up. Opening my eyes, I saw Mr. Stone carrying me.

“Leave me, please,” I begged.

“We’ll take care of you,” he said, but I didn’t want to be taken care of. Tears began pouring from my eyes, knowing that this was wrong.

A little later, I guess after he got Mrs. Wilde, I felt the car driving down the road. Aliyah was out cold beside me, blood still on her face, under her nose and eyes. I was sure there was blood on her ears as well, but I couldn’t see them.

“Melanie, how do you feel,” I heard Mrs. Wilde ask. I wasn’t sure how long it’d been since we left Ship Creek and I had no idea where we were, but I was laying on a bed in a room that looked like a hotel room. At least it wasn’t home.

“I hurt really bad. Worse than normal, not that there is a normal,” I replied, actually able to function finally. “How’s Aliyah?”

“She’s still out. That hit her really hard,” she said.

“She was touching my mind when it happened and I wouldn’t let her go. I think that made it a lot worse for her,” I said. “You felt it too,” I realized, remembering her on the ground.

“Yes,” she simply said.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Wilde. That isn’t something I wish on anyone,” I told her. She smiled at me, but it was a weak looking smile.

“How’s Mr. Stone?”

“He was a little further away, so he didn’t suffer as bad, but he did black out for a moment when it happened. He might be trying to hide it too,” she said, smiling a little more brightly.

“You still hurt,” I observed.

“Yes, but it’s getting better. I would take some pain medicine, but I’m pretty sure it won’t work,” she told me.

Curious, I reached into her mind, something I would never have done a few months ago, maybe even a few weeks ago. I was looking for something very specific, and I wasn’t sure why I wanted to know this, but I did. I found her current feelings and sensed the pain she was suffering. Although it was a pretty good headache, it was nothing like what I was suffering or what Aliyah was going through.

Then it occurred to me. I had used my telepathy without pain. That was mildly interesting.

Then I thought of Aliyah. God, I’d hurt her bad and I knew it. Tears started streaming down my face, as I thought about what I’d done to her. I was a monster, regardless of what Mrs. Wilde said.

I felt a warm rag wiping at my face, not realizing I had closed my eyes. I opened them to see Mrs. Wilde cleaning the blood off of me.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, a friendly smile firmly in place.

“Is that what you feel every time you have an attack,” she finally asked. I knew there was something she wanted to ask, but was hesitant to do so. I remembered a similar incident not that long ago.

“What I feel is much worse than what you felt,” I told her.

“It’s worse than that?” she asked, shocked. I only nodded.

“Each one hurts worse, but this time was different than all the others. I felt like I was falling and couldn’t do anything to stop myself and I had grabbed Aliyah’s mind and wouldn’t let her go. It was horrible,” I said, the feeling of it coming back.

“Melanie, I can’t be sure, but I suspect that the medicine they put you on right after you arrived has made them as bad as they are. I also think that that medicine made you angry more easily and made them happen more often than they should have. I admit, I am guessing, but I think I’m right. Did you have them very often before coming to Oakmont,” she asked.

“I never had one before coming there,” I replied. She just stared at me, her hand stopping its motion.

“Never,” she kind of asked, but it wasn’t really a question.

“No, ma’am,” I told her.

“While you were there, how many did you have that you didn’t tell us about?” she asked.

“I always had them when you or Mrs. Trulin were with me, or some other adult,” I replied.

“You never had any that you didn’t report?” she asked. I shook my head that I didn’t. “What about the times when James attacked you?” she asked, seeming hesitant to do so.

“I didn’t think of those, but I’m not sure they were the same thing,” I replied.

“How many have you had since they took you from my class?” she asked. Tears started pouring out of my eyes again, thinking about what the doctors did to me.

“I’m sorry Melanie. You don’t have to answer, if it’s that bad,” she said.

I shook my head. “It isn’t that. The doctors made me have them all the time. They trained me to have them when they commanded. It hurt real bad,” I told her. The look of shock on her face was mixed with a clear look of sympathy, but her sympathy meant nothing to me right then.

“Don’t answer this if you don’t want to, but how many would you estimate you had while they controlled you?” she asked.

“I don’t know, hundreds,” I told her, not able to stop the tears from flowing again as I thought about it.

“Those people are evil,” she said, almost as though she didn’t mean to actually say it. Maybe I heard her thoughts, without meaning to. I couldn’t tell anymore, what was real and what wasn’t.

“You were willing to go back there,” she stated.

“I would if they’d give me the drugs again,” I told her.

“Even knowing what they’ll do to you if they get you again?” she asked. I only nodded. There was no doubt in my mind that I would.

She stared at me for a while. “Melanie, I am so sorry for what you’ve gone through. There are no words that can tell you how sorry I am,” she said. For some reason, her words didn’t make me mad, which they definitely would have not very long ago.

“Mrs. Wilde, I’m sorry you quit your job, but I’m glad you did,” I told her. She started laughing, which made me start laughing, for some reason.

“My Lord! You have an incredibly beautiful smile,” she said.

“You just noticed? That didn’t come out the way I meant it,” I said, realizing how I sounded.

“You’ve never smiled since coming to Oakmont, not that I’ve seen. As for how that sounded, you’re a very beautiful girl, regardless what you think,” she said.

“I think I’m looking pretty bad now.”

“You have looked better. There’s no doubt of that,” she admitted, smiling at me.

“I’m sorry I was always mean to you,” I told her.

“You were mean to me for good reason,” she said, and paused. “I only wanted to help, but I understand why you didn’t trust me.”

“The problem is, you can’t help me. I’m too far gone now,” I told her, any hint of a smile gone.

“You’re like the wind. Your mood changes at the drop of a hat,” she said.

“That’s what happens when you’re insane,” I replied.

“You’re not insane, yet,” she said.

“I’m getting there,” I told her. “I’m having trouble telling when people are out to get me. Aliyah has kept me from attacking people more and more, since we left the school. If it wasn’t for her, I’d probably have killed someone by now. I’d probably also have found the drugs by now, too, and I’m not sure I didn’t kill some people,” I said, feeling the darkness of that longing coming over me, like a massive tidal wave.

“Do you even know what you’re looking for?” Mrs. Wilde asked.

“I know I need heroin, cocaine and amobarbital. I don’t know much about them, but I can figure it out once I get what I need,” I replied.

“It’s not that simple. People kill themselves messing up with those things,” she informed me.

“Then this nightmare will end,” I said.

“Melanie, don’t talk like that,” she said, pleading in her voice.

“How else should I talk!?” I yelled, my anger rising rapidly.

“You have a lot to live for,” she said.

“Like what, being a guinea pig or a weapon? I’d prefer to die, thank you. My life sucks and has for a long time,” I told her, unable to hold back the tears that were streaming down my face.

“Melanie, you still have a chance of living a normal life,” she insisted.

I started laughing, in spite of my anger and the tears pouring from my eyes. “You’re crazier than me. I can never live a normal life. Your experiment made sure of that before I was born. I can do stuff no one should be able to do. I’m too smart to interact with other kids and I’m so messed up in the head now that I’ll never be right again,” I finished, my voice very loud.

“You interact very well with Aliyah,” she countered.

“Aliyah didn’t know what she was getting herself into. She made a mistake,” I replied, my voice almost a whisper now.

“That was no mistake. You two are a lot alike, in more ways than you know,” she said, a little sparkle in her eyes and an odd smile at the corner of her mouth.

“What do you mean?” I asked, suddenly suspicious about how she said that and the look on her face.

“Aliyah is your cousin,” she said.

“What!?” I exclaimed, bolting upright.

“Your mother is the sister of her father,” she told me.

“Oh God, No! No, no, no, no, no,” I said, over and over, dropping back to the floor, pulling my knees to my chin and rocking back and forth.

“What’s wrong? I thought that would make you happy,” she said.

“That makes things worse!” I yelled. “God, why?” I wailed.

“Why is this bad, Melanie?” she asked.

“It just is,” I replied, not giving her my reasons.

“You still won’t talk to me,” she observed. I remained silent, not sure how to respond that wouldn’t give more than I wanted to say. “Someday, you’re going to have to trust someone,” she said.

“Maybe not,” I replied.

“Melanie, I wish you would stop thinking you’re going to die,” she said.

“I don’t think I’m going to die, but I want to,” I told her.

She sat down beside me and wrapped her arms around me. I didn’t resist like I had in the past, instead enjoying the feeling. It was a feeling I didn’t think I was going to experience much anymore, not if I succeeded at what I planned on doing, what I needed to do.

“Is Aliyah safe now?” I asked.

“You both are, although you’re not out of the woods yet. When your father gets here, we’ll figure out our next move.”

“He’s coming?” I asked, desperation suddenly gripping me.

“He should be here soon,” she replied.

I jumped up, unable to stop myself, actually managing to get out of her grip before she realized what I was doing.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, worried I’d sensed something.

“I have to leave,” I said, desperate to get away, my eyes darting around, as if he was going to jump out of every little nook and cranny. Finally, I saw my pack and grabbed it, while she was still climbing to her feet. Before I could get to the door, Daddy opened it, standing in front of me. God, I was too late!

Without any thought, I grabbed the energy I needed and teleported away. The pain was incredible, but I was getting to where I could manage it better, considering how often I’d experienced it.

I wasn’t sure where I was, but thankfully there was no one there. Unable to hold myself up, I collapsed where I was and although I could see and hear, I couldn’t move. My body wouldn’t respond to my commands, not that I wanted to move right then.

At least Aliyah was finally safe. That one good thing came from this, but it was hard to see Daddy, knowing I’d never see him again. It hurt too much, which was part of the reason I was trying not to see him. My heart hurt really bad and there was nothing I could do about it.

Managing to get my body to start working again, I curled into a little ball, crying like I’d never cried before. I wanted to have Daddy and Momma hold me, so bad. I longed for the comfort only they could give me, but I’d never have that again. I was alone from then on. That was the last thought I had as I drifted off to a torturous sleep.

“Where could she have gone?” Stone asked, as they all recovered from her sudden disappearance.

“I don’t know,” Rebecca replied. “She was very upset when she discovered that Aliyah was her cousin, like it was painful for her. When I mentioned that you were coming,” she said, indicating Randy, “she seemed desperate to get away, almost irrational. She seemed more unhappy than when I told her about Aliyah. It makes no sense,” she concluded.

“It makes perfect sense,” Randy said, making the two adults look at him intently.

Aliyah looked sad and hurt at Melanie’s actions, as if she felt betrayed. None of the adults seemed to have noticed her pain, or at least they hadn’t acknowledged it. She was shocked when she woke up to find Melanie gone, but that was nothing compared to discovering that they were cousins. And then to find out that Melanie was upset about it, that just didn’t make sense to her, no matter how she tried to fit it into this weird puzzle.

Someone sat beside her, making the bed sag a bit as the adult’s weight settled on the bed. She looked up to see Melanie’s dad beside her, a small distance separating them, but close still, as if he was tentative about being too close to her.

“Aliyah, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he said, a nervous looking smile on his face.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” she replied, but unable to smile back.

“I know that Melanie might have hurt you with what she’s done, but I know her better than that. She thinks she’s protecting you. She wouldn’t have done this the way she did otherwise. Her unhappiness at discovering you two are cousins likely comes from her plan to leave you when she decided you were safe,” he said.

“She asked not long before you arrived if Aliyah was safe. She never asked about herself, now that I think about it,” Rebecca recounted. “I told her they both were, but didn’t make the connection. That was when I mentioned that you were coming and she panicked.”

“I think she believes that by leaving she’ll keep us all safer, both Aliyah and her family. She’s wrong, but she doesn’t know that,” he said.

“That would explain a lot of her actions,” Stone said.

“Aliyah, does that help you feel a little better?” Randy asked.

“About why she did it, I suppose, a little, but not about where she is or what she’s doing. She’s too messed up right now to be alone. She needs someone to help her and keep her out of trouble,” she replied.

“Aliyah, you might be able to help with that,” Rebecca said, looking as though she had an idea. “We know she’s reached out to your mind and she has also done that with me, but can you do it to her?” Rebecca asked, sitting on the other side of Aliyah.

“I’ve never done that before, but I can try. I think she has to be willing to let me in, though,” Aliyah said.

Aliyah closed her eyes and sent her mind out, searching for the feel of Melanie’s mind. She searched all over the place, but had no luck.

“Aliyah, you gave it your best,” Rebecca said, after a couple hours of her apparent meditation.

“I’m not giving up,” she replied as she opened her eyes. Her head was hanging and she could barely keep her eyes open. Exhaustion slurred her speech.

“You need to rest,” Rebecca insisted.

“No,” she simply said, but with force, then closed her eyes to continue her search.

When her eyes closed once again, she seemed to almost collapse, but Randy wrapped an arm around her and held her up, letting her rest against him. They were like that for another couple hours. Aliyah’s eyes suddenly popped open and she seemed excited, although exhausted.

“She’s very close. She’s in a storage room, or something, with lots of boxes. I can’t quite tell, but I think she’s that way,” she said, pointing toward the nearby grocery store, which was north.

“She won’t let me in, but I can feel her,” she said, her eyes closing again, but this time from exhaustion, not any attempt to search.

“Brian, Rebecca, you stay here, in case anything else comes up. There are radios with earpieces in that bag. Brian, you know how to use them. Help Rebecca with hers, if you would,” Randy told them. They both nodded agreement, although Rebecca seemed hesitant.

Randy walked out, carrying Aliyah in his arms, before anyone could say anything else. He drove straight to the Fred Meyer’s nearby, where he thought she might be, based on Aliyah’s description and where she was pointing.

As he stopped the car, Aliyah opened her eyes. “Are we there? I can feel her a little closer.”

“You tell me,” he replied.

“I think so.”

“Can you walk, or do I need to carry you?”

“I think I can walk.”

They got out of the car and walked into the store, which was one of those super stores, selling not only groceries, but all kinds of stuff. Aliyah started heading toward the back right corner of the store, guiding Randy as she went.

“She’s getting closer. I can feel her, but she still won’t let me in. I don’t think she’s deliberately blocking me though.”

Both of them continued to the back corner to an ‘employee only’ door. Randy walked through the door as if he belonged there, ignoring a couple of employees that looked oddly at him.

Aliyah kept guiding him, until they came to a door that looked rarely used. There were boxes in front of it and they didn’t look like they were recently placed there. Randy moved them aside, one at a time and then opened the door. On the floor, Melanie was curled up, crying and sobbing, but actually looked to be asleep.

Her eyes popped open as they walked in. She looked up at her father and seemed to try and slide away, but he had her in his arms too fast for her to get away. “Don’t run from me, angel,” he said, rocking her back and forth.

There were sounds outside the door, like someone was moving boxes. As long as they didn’t come in, I didn’t care. Unfortunately, when the sound of moving boxes ended, the door opened. My eyes popped open as I realized who was there. Standing in the doorway was Daddy, with Aliyah behind him.

I started to slide away, unable to teleport. I was too tired and in too much pain to use my power right then. Just thinking about it caused pain. I tried to slide away from him, but he had me in his arms before I could move more than an inch.

“Don’t run away from me, angel.”

“You need to get away from me, Daddy.” I hoped he’d understand.

“Why on earth would I need to get away from you?” His question told me that didn’t understand, which disappointed me, but didn’t surprise me.

“I’m dangerous.”

“You aren’t dangerous, sweetheart.”

“Yes, I am,” I said, getting angry at him thinking I was so weak. I wasn’t weak! Of course, I also couldn’t access my power right then, so he was kind of right.

“I can hurt people with my mind, Daddy. I’m dangerous.”

“No, sweetheart, you’re not. You may have some kind of special abilities, that are new to people, but you’re not dangerous, at least not to me.”

“The government’s after me. They’ll come looking for me, and you and Momma and Ben will be in danger.”

“No, sweetheart, we won’t. I also work for the government and I promise you, they can’t touch us, at least not easily,” he insisted, with a small smile.

Always in the past, whenever he’d hold me and smile at me, I’d feel better. This time, not only did it not make me feel better, it actually made me mad. They’d even messed up the special bond I had with Daddy. My anger soared to new heights as that thought slammed into my mind.

“Daddy, I’m screwed up. They messed me up really bad and I’ll never be right again. I’m always angry and I’m dirty and I’m bad. I broke my promise to you, and I betrayed Aliyah.”

“No sweetheart, there’s nothing they’ve done that we can’t find a way to fix.”

“They took something from me I can’t get back,” I told him, unable to tell him what James did to me, what I lost to him.

“They didn’t take who you are.”

“They changed who I am.”

“No, sweetheart, they didn’t.” His voice was calm. He was trying to be soothing for me, but it wasn’t. It was making me mad.

“Yes, they did!” I yelled, lifting my head from him, fire in my eyes and heat in my cheeks.

He continued shaking his head no. He had no idea how dirty I was, how pathetic a person I’d become. He also had no idea how dangerous I could be. When I got mad, bad things happened and I was getting to where I could barely tell the bad guys from the good guys. I knew I would eventually hurt someone I loved, as I had already hurt other people.

That thought was like a dash of cold water on my anger. I was going to hurt someone I loved. Although I thought I always knew this was possible, I never thought about the fact that I would eventually do so. I felt my thoughts swirling into a black hole. I was screaming in my mind for help that wasn’t going to come. No one could help me. I’d finally made that step across into insanity.

Everything collapsed inside me, and I felt it, I knew it. This time, there was no explosion of pain. Everything simply went black, emptiness took me. My telepathy was gone, my powers were gone, my thoughts were drifting and I was unable to make myself continue. I wanted to die, I was ready. Aliyah was safe and with me gone, she would stay safe.

I felt my mind open again, my powers awake again, and with that opening, I started sucking in as much energy as I could, not caring if I fried my brain. I drank it in, letting it pour into me in greater and greater amounts. I saw the look on Aliyah’s face as I pulled the energy into my mind. She didn’t know what I was about to do, but she knew how much energy I was pulling. Then I teleported, having no idea where I was going, other than away.