We sailed across the room and crashed hard into the wall. Hot, warm liquid flowed down the back of my head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw thick, red blood drip down the wall from behind Shyrene. The combination of dizziness and pain along with the sick sight made me want to throw up and being stuck against a wall in midair did nothing to help. I felt my eyes closing and blinked furiously to keep them open.

I can't pass out! I can't!

The cold wave of panic brought me back to consciousness. I was struggling to breathe, my head feeling heavier by the second. I pushed hard against the wall to free myself, but it was as if someone had glued me there! 

I pulled hard, trying to free myself, but I might as well have been paralyzed, for I couldn't even budge, no matter how hard I wriggled.

Suddenly, a boy entered the shack, wearing slightly tattered clothes and a menacing expression. His eyes were glowing with power that colored his pupils and his features were sharp, aristocratic and angled. Impeccably styled black hair and dark brown eyes contrasted and complemented his lightly tanned skin. 

The second he glanced at us, I knew he was our attacker. I glared at him and asked, "What do you want?"

He ignored me and made a weird motion with his hand. A blanket zoomed into view, straight towards us, and completely covered us. I let out a gasp as I was engulfed in darkness. I turned towards Shyrene and whispered, "Shyrene! Shyrene! Are you listening to me?"

No answer. Feeling slightly worried, I whispered again, this time with more urgency. Once again, she did not respond. Instinctively, I knew she'd passed out. My parents' lessons on first aid and survival flashed through my head. 

A serious head injury may cause concussion. In such a case, the patient must not fall asleep. It would be very dangerous for them.

A cold chill ran down my spine. Panicked and barely managing to keep my voice steady, I pleaded with the boy, "Please help! My friend, she's unconscious. Please... she needs help."

But he ignored me even though I asked him again and. Anger and panic rose inside me and something exploded in my mind, quite literally.

A sudden yell erupted from the depths of my soul as pure, unadulterated power took over my body. My very eyes burned and my entire body shivered with the surge of energy. Tears ran down my cheeks, evaporating even before they could run down the length of my face. My skin felt like someone had alighted a thousand coals under it's surface.

Strangely enough, I felt more connected with my own self than I ever had. I didn't know how, but I just knew what to do. Or rather, the powers did. The blanket flew off us and launched itself straight across the room.  Astonished brown eyes met my glowering gray gaze. I was fuming. How dare this random idiot turn up out of nowhere and barge into this place and start attacking us?

I was getting ready to blast him to teeny tiny smithereens or something similar when he opened his mouth. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean... are you hurt? I just wanted... I didn't... I never meant to hurt you. I've got some medicines for you, don't worry." he stammered and grabbing his backpack, started rummaging in it. Pulling out some ointment and bandages, he set them down and slowly lowered us to the ground.

I watched him like a hawk as he tended to Shyrene who had been hurt much worse than I had. But when he moved towards me, I snatched the medicine out of his hands. He hadn't tried anything fishy with Shyrene, but that had probably been because I hadn't taken my eyes off him.

 Reaching up, I applied the lotion and with some difficulty, tied the bandage awkwardly around my head. Throughout the whole process, I didn't take my eyes off the boy even once and he  squirmed uncomfortably under my gaze and stared intensely and the ground.

"I guess I should explain" he mumbled, picking at a loose thread in his sweater.

"Yes. So, explain."

Taking a deep breath, he started, "Okay, so, my name is Ryan and as you already know by now, I'm telekinetic. I recovered from NHD only a few days before they... reprogrammed... our parents. But, to be honest, that didn't really make a huge difference. My parents hated my guts since the first time they got to know of the disease. Almost instantly, I was an abomination, a freak of nature. I was treated as an Unnatural long before they labelled us and even before I got the disease." His eyes glistened with tears. It seemed almost as if he was thinking aloud. 

"They were afraid of me. No, they were terrified. So, as soon as they got to know of the rehabilitation camps, they were overjoyed. They would've happily sent me away right then and there, had they not found out that only those who had survived NHD could be sent there to be 'cured' properly. " His voice turned venomous at the end and my heart thawed towards him. He was just another kid like me who had seen too much. So, I relaxed my posture and listened intently as he continued.

"I still can't believe that they are the same people who risked their lives for me. My mom once jumped in front of a car to push me out of the way and my dad wasn't mad at me at all. He said he was glad I was safe and that he would do the same again and again and knew mom would too. I was so happy when she recovered. I knew then that I had the best parents in the world."

"And that's why it was so painful, watching them try to get away from me. So, when they replaced my parents, I completely lost it. Any hope I had of living a normal-ish life was instantly extinguished and the very same night, I packed my bag and hid in the boot of the car. I knew they would go searching for me to send me to those camps. They even drove to the next city and I managed to roll out of the boot and escape.

That was three months ago and since then, I've been on the run and slowly, I learned to be afraid of everyone and to not trust anyone at all. Even kids. You see, I met a group of teenagers like us who tried to trick me into going to the government. Groups like those trap other children in exchange for their own freedom. That's why I attacked you. I'm really sorry."

My heart went out to Ryan. Even though he had attacked us, I understood why he'd done so. I wasn't ready to forgive him just yet, but I was willing to let him earn my forgiveness. I relayed my own story to him as we waited for Shyrene to wake up. Then, I quickly filled her in on everything and she agreed to let him stay.

*** 

Slowly, the three of us got used to each others' presence and fell into a routine of familiarity. The food Ryan and Shyrene had stored away was fast coming to an end so each morning, I and Ryan would go to raid shops to steal supplies. 

Many of them were closed and abandoned and these we broke into to ravage the whole place. Shyrene helped us with the rest, talking nonsense into people's heads to confuse them while one of surreptitiously stole a few items using our telekinesis. I replaced my hospital pyjamas and we made the house slightly more livable over time, although we were careful to make sure that it looked untouched.

It was a lovely period of friendship, stability and understanding. And it had been so long since any of us had had a home that we let ourselves be lulled into a sense of security that we knew was false, but all three of us remained intent on ignoring that little fact.

___________

Hope you guys enjoyed this! Finally, Ellys seems to be getting a little bit of happiness. Also, does anyone else feel sorry for Ryan? BTW, I've been thinking of adding some aesthetics. What do you think? Comment here ----

Anyway, Love y'all guys! Next update in the last week of March!