"I-I just... I was running from those people. From the hospital."

My heart thudded in my chest as the cold metal dug harder into my back. Not daring to squirm, I kept my body motionless even though I wanted nothing more than to yell and run. What I had just told this person could get me killed. But I didn't have much of a choice in the matter anyway and besides, I knew somehow that she wanted only to protect herself, not kill me. I didn't know how I was so sure of this, except that it was somehow related to the new, foreign power that surged in my veins.

And if she's in hiding, it can only mean one thing. She's like me. An Unnatural.

The cold metal was abruptly removed from my back and the girl grabbed me by the shoulders and stared at my face.

My face.

Only, it wasn't mine anymore. I drew in a sharp intake of breath as I remembered the look I had taken in the mirror.

I had never been ugly, but the girl in the mirror was breathtakingly beautiful. She looked as though she had been carved out of diamonds. Everything about her was just perfect. Only, she didn't seem possible. She was out of this world, like a distant star with beauty that could dazzle and power that could kill.

That power raged in her eyes, making her perfect features take on a slightly lethal look. And even though I had been looking into a mirror, I couldn't accept that face as mine. To me, it was a foreign, alien face that didn't belong in this world.

The girl in front of me was much the same, with a face that simply wasn't possible. Lovely red hair with beautiful brown eyes and perfectly chiseled features that were currently twisted into a thoughtful frown as she observed me.

Finally, she relaxed and her expression softened ever so slightly. 

"You're like me, aren't you?" she asked, motioning for me to sit down. I took my place on the ruined carpet, facing her.

"Yes" 

Just a single word and yet, it carried all the weight in the world. It meant that I was finally accepting my reality. I was accepting that I, Ellys Davidson, was an Unnatural, a freak of nature.

The girl stared at me for a long minute and I stared back, thinking about what would happen next. 

My name is Shyrene Everhart. What's yours?

I jerked back in surprise. The thought wasn't mine! My gaze must have betrayed my surprise because she, Shyrene, spoke," You heard me. What's your name?"

"El-Ellys Davidson" I stuttered, staring at her with surprise etched in every line of my face. 

"Telepathy" She said, in answer to my unspoken question and rolled her eyes. "Don't look so surprised. I know it's lame, but you don't have to rub it in. And besides, it's better than dying, right?"

LAME? She just told me she can talk in peoples' minds and she thinks it's LAME? 

"Are you nuts? Of course it isn't lame! I wish I had a cool superpower too. How did you become telepathic? Is it a genetic thing?" I burst out, rapidly throwing questions at her. 

Strangely enough, Shyrene's expression turned guarded. Eyeing me skeptically, she asked, "How long has it been since you recovered?"

How is that relevant?

 "Yesterday. I recovered yesterday" I answered, wondering where this was leading. To my relief , Shyrene's expression relaxed, although she didn't smile as she spoke. 

"Well, that explains why you don't have a clue about anything. Nevermind, I can tell you all you need to know." 

Growing more curious by the second, I leaned forward impatiently as she started talking. Finally, I was going to get some answers.

"So, you know how this disease suddenly just started killing anyone below eighteen off, right? Well, for a long time, it felt like everything was gonna end. More and more people  died every day. But then, it turned out that some could actually survive the disease. Unfortunately, those who survived, changed." Shyrene's eyes bore deep into mine as I listened, riveted.

Lowering her voice to a whisper, she continued, "To survive the disease, to make it through the highest form of torture, mentally, physically and emotionally, we ended up pushing our minds beyond human limits. That energy was what helped us survive. But, it wasn't all it could do. The energy exploded within our brains, somewhat altering our genes and DNA. Essentially, we gained powers. Mind magic. The greater the amount of energythat exploded in your mind, the greater your power. There are six, in this order: Telepathy, Projection,  Mind Reading, Teleportation, Telekinesis and finally, the extremely rare Controllers."

"So, you can do all of that?" I asked. I could believe what she said because it was the only thing that made sense in my crazy world, but the idea of possessing that much power was terrifying and also a little... disturbing.

She smiled humorlessly and replied, "No. I have Telepathy. You can only ever possess one power. You don't know yours yet because it only manifests properly after a day after recovery. And that's the minimum time it takes. Mine manifested after two weeks!"

Thank God. I don't think I want another surprise today. I've already had many more than I wanted.

I had only one more question I wanted to ask Shyrene. "How do you know all that?" I questioned, more out of curiosity than mistrust. In response, Shyrene pulled out an old cellphone. I was mystified. What did a rusty, broken, outdated cellphone have to do with my question? 

Shyrene didn't seem to notice my expression. Instead, she was busy carefully observing the device, slowly turning it around in her hand. Suddenly, she stopped and pulled the device apart! The second she did so, a piercing sound filled the air. I slapped my hands over my ears, wincing. 

My ears are gonna die today.

I pressed my hands harder against my ears. Suddenly, Shyrene seemed to realize what I was doing and closed the device, before forcibly pulling one of my hands away. I realized that she too had only one ear covered. It was then that it dawned on me that it had to be a special way of listening to the actual words under that... noise. 

Hesitatingly, I copied her and this time, it was words that greeted my ears, not that sickening, eardrum-murdering wail.

So this is how they communicate.

I was awestruck. This technology was next level! But just as I was about to raise my amazed eyes to look at my new friend, both of us were abruptly lifted into the air and thrown straight across the room.

____

Hi people! So, do you like this chapter? Should I continue writing this story? BTW, sorry for the very late update. So, anyway, I want you all to know that this story will probably not exceed thirty chapters, which means that nearly one-third of the story is already done. 

Soooo... please bear with poor not-so-old me till then!