chapter three
When Winona awoke the next morning, she immediately began getting ready. She figured that in this place, she should be up and ready for anything. After taking a quick shower and getting dressed, Winona walked back to the room that she was staying in.
She grabbed her backpack and shoved it under the bed. She didn't want to risk anyone stealing it or anything inside of it. When she was done, she timidly made her way out of the room. She slowly walked down the stairs of the bank and could see people bustling about again. It seemed as though everyone was always doing something.
Winona looked around the area for the only three people that she somewhat knew. She didn't spot any of them and she didn't want to go looking for them, out of fear of getting lost. "Hey!" A voice called. Winona walked forward and toward a room. A hand grabbed her shoulder and the girl spun around.
She came face to face with a woman with reddish hair. She wore a wide, yet kind, smile. Winona found it kind of creepy. "Hey," the woman repeated. "Oh, uh, hi," Winona said unsurely. "You're the new girl," the woman said. "I guess," Winona said. "I'm Sonya. But people here call me Dreamer," the woman, Sonya, introduced herself.
Winona refrained from laughing at the ridiculous nickname and forced a smile. "I'm Winona," the girl introduced. "Yeah, I know. We all do," Sonya replied with a light laugh. "Right. I'm sure I'm all over the news," Winona muttered. "Yeah," Sonya trailed off.
It was silent as neither woman knew what to say. "So, I can give you a tour of this place if you want. Just so you won't get lost or anything," Sonya said. "Yeah sure. That would be great," Winona replied. "Okay, follow me," Sonya said, her smile softening, which made Winona a little less uncomfortable. The two began walking about the bank, Sonya explaining the different areas as they went along.
"Do you know where John is?" Winona asked the woman next to her after a few minutes. "John?" Sonya asked. "Yeah, John. He's like the leader of this place right?" Winona said. "I guess you could say that. What do you want with him anyway?" Sonya responded. Winona didn't like the tone that Sonya's voice had taken. "He was supposed to give me a rundown on the rules of this place," she said.
"Right, of course. Well I could always do that," Sonya said. "Okay," Winona replied, shrugging her shoulders. "After the tour then?" Sonya questioned. "Sure," Winona agreed. Sonya nodded and continued showing Winona around. As they walked past a room, the sound of a news anchor could be heard. The mention of her name caused Winona to slow down and begin walking back toward the room.
"Oh that's kinda like a break room, I guess. We mainly only use the TV to watch the news and whenever kids come around here they watch cartoons. But this is more like a secondary news area. All of our monitoring equipment and things are elsewhere," Sonya explained, catching up to the girl after noticing her leave her side. Winona nodded slightly but wasn't fully listening to what Sonya was saying as she walked into the room. In it were Marcos, John, and Lorna who were all staring at the screen intensely.
"Police chased the suspect to an alleyway where they thought they had her. But then she seemingly disappeared into thin air. The search for Winona Martin is still underway. If you see her, please inform the police. And remember, she is considered armed and very dangerous," the male news anchor was saying.
A picture of Winona briefly flashed across the screen. Lorna grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. She turned to the door where Winona was stood and smirked. "I didn't know you could turn invisible too," Lorna said. Marcos and John both turned toward the door as well. "I can't," Winona said.
"So how did you make yourself 'disappear into thin air'?" She quoted, her voice almost teasing. "I just made the police see what I wanted them to see. Which was nothing," she answered. "Is that some kind of mind control thing or something?" Marcos asked. Winona shrugged, "Or something."
"I was just giving Winona the tour. I was gonna tell her the rules after," Sonya said. Winona had forgotten that she was even there. "No need, I can take it from here," John said, speaking for the first time. He pushed himself off of the wall that he was leaning against and walked over to where Sonya and Winona stood. "It's okay, Johnny. I got it," Sonya said. Winona wanted to laugh again. "Really, Dreamer, I can do it. Besides, I told Winona I would explain the rules," John said.
"Okay," Sonya replied with a smile. This one seemed forced. John nodded and walked to the door. "Let's go," he said and Winona nodded before following after him. The two walked in silence for a moment. "So. Johnny huh?" Winona asked, struggling to contain her laughter. "Nobody calls me that," John said. "Except for Dreamer," Winona pointed out, emphasizing her name.
He released an annoyed sigh and Winona laughed. "Why is that funny?" John asked. "It's just so ridiculous. I mean, the nickname makes you sound like a ten year old boy," she said. "Thanks," he replied sarcastically. "I'm not wrong," she responded. He ignored her comment and began showing her around.
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Many hours later, Winona sat in a room. A dog, whose name she didn't know, was sat next to her. Winona slowly ran her hand up and down the dog's back. "You know, I've always wanted a dog. But my adoptive parents would never let me get one," Winona said.
"I never understood why. I always said that I would take care of it. They didn't have to do anything. And still, they always said no," she continued. The dog looked up at her, it's head slightly tilted to the side. "Talking to dogs now?" Winona jumped slightly as she heard the voice.
She turned to face the door and saw Lorna. A smirk was on her face as she entered the room. "It's not like I have anyone else to talk to. Everyone here looks at me as if I punched their mom in the face," Winona said. Lorna walked over to the couch and sat next to Winona. "They just need some time to adjust," Lorna tried.
"To having a murderer live with them?" Winona said. "You're not a murderer," Lorna said. "Yes, I am," Winona replied. "What happened was not your fault," the dark haired girl said. "Doesn't matter, I killed someone," Winona responded. "It was an accident," Lorna tried.
"And I believe that's called involuntary manslaughter. Either way, someone died because of me and if I get caught by the police, I'll be put in prison or wherever," Winona said. "Well then you're lucky that we found you. Because now they can't," Lorna replied. "Maybe I should've let them take me to prison. That's where I belong," Winona muttered.
"What about your sister? How can you help her if you're in prison?" Lorna questioned. Winona remained silent and looked at the dog. "Look, I get that you feel bad about what happened. But you can't continue to blame yourself for it. It's time you start forgiving yourself. And you don't deserve to go to prison," Lorna said.
She stood up and walked to the door. "Marcos, John, and I are heading out. A mutant broke out of a detention center and we're gonna go find her," Lorna said. "Are you three the only ones who go on the rescue missions?" Winona asked. "For the most part," Lorna replied with a shrug. "Well, good luck," Winona said and Lorna nodded.
She went to exit the room but stopped and turned back to the girl. "Try to get to know some people, okay? They're not as bad as they look," she said. Winona nodded. "And her name is Zingo by the way," Lorna added before leaving. Winona smiled and turned back to the dog. She sighed. "Who needs friends, Zingo? I've got you," she muttered.
The dog growled lowly at her and her eyes narrowed. "Fine. I'll go talk to people. You happy?" She stood from the couch and walked to the door. She exited the room and looked around the building. It seemed more relaxed than it had before. Winona made her way through the building.
People gave her looks as she did. Nobody seemed interested in talking to her. It felt as though she were the outcast in a cliche high school movie. "Screw it," she muttered. She walked to the stairs and ascended them. Once she reached the top, she began going back to her room. When she got to the room, she entered it and closed the door behind her.
Winona slipped off her jacket and tossed it onto the bed. She sat down on the ground next to the bed and pulled out her backpack. She unzipped one of the pockets and rummaged through it. She pulled out the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, and began rereading it.
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By the time Winona had left the room, it was late. She walked down the stairs and and looked around. She was beginning to feel worried for the three who had gone out to help another mutant.
"Winona!" The girl was startled by her name being called. She looked around to see a woman with short, dark brown hair looking at her. Winona was confused but walked over to her. "Yeah?" Winona questioned. "We haven't met. I'm Sage," the woman, Sage, introduced. Winona nodded.
Sage pointed to a girl sitting on the couch. She had black hair with purple streaks and strange bright green eyes. She also had a light purple mark running below her right eye and pointed ears. She was pretty. "This is Clarice. She's new, like you. Is it okay if she stays with you in your room?" Sage said.
"Yeah sure. It's not like it's really my room anyway," Winona answered. "Right, well if you could show her to the room, that would be great," Sage said and Winona nodded. Her eyes then travelled to the glass behind Sage. Marcos and John were in a room, John seemed to be treating a wound on Marcos' arm. Clarice stood up and Winona held up a finger.
"Can you give me a minute?" She asked Clarice. "Sure, why not?" Clarice answered, slumping back into the couch. Winona walked around to the other side of the structure and entered the room that John and Marcos were in. "What happened?" She asked. John looked at her briefly before returning his attention to Marcos' arm.
"Marcos got shot," John said. "Where's Lorna?" Winona asked. The two men remained silent. "Your silence is making me think the worst," Winona stated. "She got taken. The police got her," Marcos muttered. Winona released a breath and looked down. "What're we gonna do?" She asked.
"We aren't gonna do anything. Not right now," John said. "Why the hell not?" Marcos exclaimed. "Marcos, we already discussed this. We can't do this right now. Not when there are cops out there more than likely looking for us. Not when it's this dangerous," John said.
"Don't you think we should try to find her now before it's too late? I mean who knows where she'll end up," Winona said. "It's too dangerous and we don't even know where she is," John said. "But can't you just track her?" She asked. John sighed, "It's a lot more complicated than that. There are things to consider."
"You know, if you're not willing to go out and find your own friend, how do I know that you'd be willing to help me find my sister? We still haven't even talked about doing that," Winona said. "Now isn't the best time to talk about this," John said. "Well then when is the best time, John?" She snapped. He didn't respond and she glared at him.
Marcos slipped off of the table and walked toward her. "Hey, I promise you we will help you find your sister, okay? But you gotta help us find Lorna," Marcos said, pulling her attention away from John. Winona nodded slowly before turning back to John with raised eyebrows. He sighed and nodded. "We'll help you find her. Get her back," he said. "You promise?" She questioned. He hesitated, gazing into her pleading chocolate brown eyes before nodding slowly. "Yeah, I promise," he replied before turning to Marcos.
"And we will get Lorna back," he added. "Guys, we got a situation," Sage said as she entered the room. The three looked at each other briefly before following her out of the room. "What is it?" John asked. "Yes, and as we have reported, breaking news on the mutant attack at Belleview High. We believe two young mutants to be responsible for the destruction. We've also heard the federal authorities will be getting involved," a female news anchor said.
Winona's eyebrows raised as she listened to the news story. "Well, if it wasn't too hot before, it sure as hell is now. I'm sorry," John said. Winona stared at the screen for a moment longer before turning around and walking back to where she left Clarice.
Clarice was sitting on the couch, impatiently tapping her fingers on the couch's arm. She stood up from the couch upon seeing Winona who gave her a sheepish smile. "You took a lot longer than a minute," Clarice noted. "Yeah, sorry about that," Winona said. She motioned for Clarice to follow her and she led her up the stairs.
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I hope you all enjoyed chapter three. I have a lot of fairly interesting things planned for this book so keep reading if you liked it. Also leave a vote if you liked it. Have a nice day.
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