Over two months had passed, the girl becoming even better at controlling her mutant state but still drifting further and further from her parents and all others who had tried to get close to her.

The friends she'd had before, while they'd welcomed her back with teary yet smiling faces and wide, outstretched arms, had turned on her, leaving her out many times as they found that she had changed too much for them, no longer social, no longer trusting, barely able to drag herself out of the house, even after the second month had begun, after her parents had felt school would be a nice piece of normalcy for her and sent her into the ninth grade.

I'll never be normal... not again, she had thought, knowing full well school would just be another series of trials for her, tests and hardships she did not wish to go through. But she also knew that school... was an agonizing necessity.

The school was an old brick building, just three stories high, the stone and grout faded from the years of wear and tear from weather and idiot school kids.

Inside lay a gray laminate floor, looking like cheap tile, which it certainly was, covering much of the building.

The hallways, fenced by ugly, forest green lockers was noisy, teenagers going from class to class, taking with friends, typing on their phones or just being oblivious to everything else going on around them.

Doors were opening and closing as time passed the world by, clocks ticking and tocking, Alia nearly driven crazy by the noises that she'd not heard for two years.

This first month of academics certainly had been excruciating to a degree, what with those 'friends' of hers turning on Alia, not that she needed them.

Then, teachers who she didn't even know were giving her sad and sympathetic looks, some even telling her that she could take it easy for a bit, at least until she finally stated to them that it didn't matter to her.

And then there was the students... oh... many of them were just horrifying. While some strayed away from her, which she felt was fine, others tried to get close to her, like they thought she needed a friend. But the curious ones... they were the worst, asking her how she felt, what happened, what it was like to be a victim of the kidnapping. Some even asked her how she dealt with it.

She showed them by telling them to buzz off, waving them away, saying that she wasn't going to answer any questions. And she mostly ignored the friendlies, only giving them enough attention to shoo them away whenever they tried to get near to her.

But there was one student who wouldn't stop, no matter what. Georgia Melbourne. A persistent journalist. And an attempted friendly. Who had been trying to work her way into Alia's nonexistent social circle.

The golem glared at the journalist as she'd done many times before. "For the thousandth time, I'm not going to answer your questions or be your friend. Not now, not ever. When I say no, that. Means. No." Her hands were in the pockets of her navy jeans but soon found their way to being crossed.

Georgia, skin tan, though not as dark as Alia's, and wearing a bright yellow sweater, like a colorful version of an english prep school uniform top, over a white, long-sleeve business-y blouse, black glasses perched precariously on her nose, dark jeans paired with ivory socks and ebony shoes, pursed her lips for a moment before speaking, tapping the eraser of a pencil against her chin, her left hand holding a small notepad, spirals on the top. "Then frenemy."

Alia sighed, pulling her faded denim jacket tighter around herself, covering up her white spaghetti-strap shirt.

They'd been having this same conversation, albeit somewhat varied, for several weeks now.

"Listen, I don't care what you do. Except for this: don't follow me, don't talk to me and, most of all," she started tapping her foot, a white sock and an ivory sneaker with black laces covering it, "stop freaking bothering me!" Her eyes went from a vivid hazel-tinted green to a dark, pallid gray, the color of her clay form, staying that way for several minutes.

Georgia backed up slightly, pausing in her pencil tapping, lowering both her arms, falling silent, staring at Alia's face for a bit before she moved towards her again and spoke. "Can we at least be... acquaintances..?" The journalist adjusted her slipping glasses as she said this.

Alia sighed but, before the week was over, Georgia was following her around happily.

Months would pass and, while they would become closer to being friends, they'd never pass the level of being frenemies.

By then, another flashback had hit, another nightmare, another fear-inducing memory that sent Alia into fits each time she had one.

The young girl was pulled, roughly, by the man who was gripping her arm tightly, in such a manner that she was stumbling down a long hall, passing many rooms with strange smells, some with strange noises, each and every one of them windowless.

Eventually, the child was pulled into a similar room, the only difference between this one and the others being that this one had a window of sorts, more of a one-way mirror, only those outside able to see through.

The room itself looked to be set up like a strange doctor's office, an IV pole in the corner, a chair near the center, closer to the to the left than the right by about a foot, a table with sharp tools around twelve inches said chair.

Alia shook a little at the sight of the pointy objects on the tray, fear showing in her mostly-green eyes.

"Oh don't worry..." The man's face hinted at a somewhat sinister seeming smile. "Everything's clean."

Alia seemed to shrink and tried to run but he grabbed her dress' folded collar, his twisted, hinted smile still lingering there upon his lips.

"You're stuck in here for a week. So don't try anything."

Alia whimpered and attempted to make herself look even smaller, beginning to quiver as she'd been doing before in the cage.

"Don't act like that kiddo..." He smiled at Alia and pulled her towards the chair. "You'll be fine. Just... improved... to be simple about it..."

Only when she was in the wooden seat did the girl realize she would be unable to escape at all, her wrists strapped to the chair's arms, ankles to its legs and a belt around her waist. "Why... why can't you just... let me go..?"

"Because the world is evolving and humans need to follow." He opened a cabinet and pulled out one of many bags, a mildly clear cherry red in coloration. "Some are already doing so naturally, but others..." He hung the bag on the IV pole, rolling it towards the girl. "They just need..." The man wrapped a rubber tourniquet around her arm, just above the crook of her elbow, tying it tight before slowly inserting the IV needle into her arm, causing the child to flinch, wincing. "A little push..."

Alia's eyes were squeezed shut, a small, squeaking shriek emanating from her as the sharp object penetrated even deeper into her skin and vein.

"Don't worry, the worst part is over." He smiled, pulling out another needle. "All you need to do... is sleep......" His words faded out as the girl was injected, into her other arm, with a sedative, the child swiftly passing out, not to wake for quite some time.

Alia jerked awake with a shaking gasp, her body slowly losing it's nearly semi-spherical shape as she shuddered, quivering more and more with each passing second. Had she still been human, cold sweat would be running over her body just like it should've the last time she'd had a fear-inducing flashback. Her only reason to be glad was that she was not still going through the hellish nightmare of being there, that an invisible rescuer had helped her, and several others, to escape. But she couldn't be glad. Just knowing what she was... it scared her, worried her. It was causing her issues, only because it kept her from feeling she could get close to anyone. Having been part of The Kidnapping, she could no longer trust, not even those like her parents. That sacred bond was forever tainted, forever broken, irreparable, irreplaceable, just... gone...

Her fingernails dug into her skin, just below her knee cap, where her red and white ombre nightgown ended, hand and legs melding together, still a dull, slightly dark, gray color.

She was still shaking, body once more spasming, dry sobbing.

There was a soft knock at the door, three gentle raps against the white-painted wood.

Then, a feminine voice, smooth like calm and gentle waves over a soft, sandy beach. "Alia honey..? What's wrong..?"

The girl bit her lip, teeth melding with it momentarily. I was too loud... She didn't answer the voice, be it because she was too worried or scared or something else one could not tell.

The voice softly blew into her room one more. "What's going on..?" The handle moved slightly but the door was locked.

It was always locked whenever Alia was in her room.

Another bout of silence from the sentient golem.

"I just want to help you... I want to help my baby girl..."

You can't... not now... not anymore... not ever... Her teeth went deeper into her lip until her mouth was closed, melding shut though still easily openable. Just... go away... please... The girl couldn't bring herself to speak, not out loud.

A sigh was heard from the other side of the door before a slightly rough but very kind male voice spoke up.

"Katherine dear... she'll talk when she needs to..."

Another sigh from the mother. "Alright..."

"Alia... we'll be here when you're ready to speak... just know you can trust us with anything... it doesn't matter what... just so long as we can help you with it..."

The girl wanted to scoff. Trust you..? Trust who..? I can't trust anyone... not anymore... not after that wacko...

Footprints were heard, growing quieter, further away, albeit slowly, as if someone was hoping for her to call after them.

I won't ever trust again... for who could trust me..? A vile mutant... so they think...

Hours passed before she finally managed to fall asleep once again. Hours filled with near-agonizing silence, her own thoughts the only thing to hear, thundering through her head, like a herd of wild elephants, trampling all other thoughts, trumpeting, drawing her attention no matter what else she tried to focus on.