Warning ⚠️: This book contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

October 10th 2014.

" Esther, I'm an introvert. What if they don't like me?" Joelee questioned as she scratched her arms awkwardly.

" Most of us are just as antisocial as you are. Chill out." Esther sighed as she approached a large group of boys who all immediately grinned at Esther.

" Ayeee, Esther. Long time, no see." Derek hugged the girl who smiled immediately after the boy greeted her.

" Guys this is Joe." Esther said after she gave each boy a hug, motioning to the short blonde who waved awkwardly.

" Isn't that a boys name?" Derek arched an eyebrow before letting out a yelp of pain as Connor smacked his arm.

" I'm Connor, and this is my cousin, Derek. He's a little stupid, don't mind him." Connor smiled at Joelee, running a hand through the neon blue hair at the top of his head.

" It's okay, I get that a lot. Nice to meet you." Joelee tugged at her red and black flannel awkwardly, keeping her gaze on his nose rather than his eyes to make it appear like she was making eye contact without having to actually make eye contact.

" I'm Kent! But you can call me awesome!" Kent reached out a hand to shake hers which she reluctantly did after a moment, looking incredibly uncomfortable at having to touch him after just meeting him.

" She's VERY shy. Poor girl. We don't bite... Well most of us." Connor gave her a reassuring smile which made her smirk as she finally met his gaze.

" Can I meet the one who does?" Joelee asked before slapping a hand over her mouth as her face turned red.

" That would be me." Nathan said as he walked forward, having been concealed by that shadows of the tree he stood next to previously.

" This is Nathan, he's the geekiest one of the group." Kent said as he motioned to Nathan who grinned at the title.

" Then that's my reason for being here, because I'm about to take that title." Joelee smirked which caused Connor and Esther to arch their eyebrows at her sudden change in demeanor.

" Oh, are you? We'll see about that! What do you know about..." Nathan began as the two began to walk towards the football field, ignoring the others as they began to discuss lore around comic books and video games.

" That was the quickest personality change I've ever seen." Connor commented as the rest of them began to follow the two after a moment.

" When you talk about something that she's passionate about, she gets to talking pretty quickly." Esther explained as Connor nodded in acknowledgment.

" Okay, but wouldn't that kill them? If it's a bacteria then wouldn't submerging them in freezing cold water cause the mutations to slow?" Joelee arched her eyebrows which caused Nathan's jaw to fall open as he realized she was right.

" I... Never thought about that." Nathan admitted as he looked up at the stars thoughtfully.

" Joe, help!" Esther exclaimed as she ran up to the two, hiding behind the shorter girl as Kent chased her.

" Get off. What's wrong?" Joelee asked with an annoyed expression as she crossed her arms over her chest.

" Acid spit!" Esther yelled looking at Kent who had his hand up as he approached the two with a large grin.

" Dude, it's just spit." Joelee said, spitting into her hand before she raised it with an expression that said she wasn't going to run from him.

" High five." Kent challenged, not thinking that she would actually do it as he took a step towards her.

Joelee shrugged as she slapped her spit hand against his, causing a loud gasp to erupt from the group.

" She's immune to the acid spit!" Kent exclaimed as Joelee released a laugh, wiping off her hand on his arm which caused him to quickly back up.

" Hey! You should be dying by now, my breath is horrible! The acid spit should've killed you!" Kent backed away with wide eyes as Joelee continued to walk towards him with a grin.

Joelee laughed once again, reaching forward to wipe her hand on Kent's shirt again before he ran away with Joelee quickly following.

Esther and Nathan exchanged glances as Kent ran quickly away from the much shorter blonde who was surprisingly keeping up despite how fast he was.

Kent tripped over a tree root, falling to the ground with a loud yell that sounded almost like a bird squawk.

Joelee stood a few feet from him, laughing through heavy breaths as she pulled an inhaler from her pocket, breathing it in before she began to try and calm her harsh breathing.

" Woah look at all of these stars!" Esther exclaimed as she sat down on the grass, staring up at the glittering lights with wide eyes.

" You act like you've never seen stars before." Joelee said after a moment, coughing a bit before she walked over to sit next to Esther who kept her eyes on the sky.

" I live in the city. I never see this many stars." Esther murmured, small smile on her face at how beautiful the night sky was.

Kent looked over at Esther, admiring the way the stars reflected in her pale green eyes. A smile made its way onto his face as he gazed up at the stars as well, thinking of a way for her to take the stars home with her when she left.

" What're you guys doing?" Alyssa questioned as she walked over to the group, followed by Rachel who had her arms crossed to try and keep herself warm.

" Star gazing." Nathan replied as he scooted closer to Joelee who was shivering from the cold now.

" Well, the welcome service is going to start soon so I suggest you come inside before you freeze to death." Rachel suggested before she turned to make her way inside, not waiting for the younger kids as she retreated into the much warmer building.

" Here." Nathan helped Joelee up before he pulled out his phone, handing it to her as they began to walk.

" Give me your number so we can text during the service. I want to know more about your theories." Nathan said as she began to type in her phone number.

" I ship it." Alyssa whispered to Esther who nodded in agreement as the three of them began to walk towards the building, Connor and Derek already waiting by the door with hot chocolate as they approached.

The service was over rather quickly, the girls retreating to their dorms immediately afterwords to unpack their things but Kent stopped Esther as he pulled her aside to talk.

" I... Uh. Made this for you." Kent mumbled as he slipped something into her hand before running away, not giving her time to reply as he retreated after Nathan who fist bumped him as he approached.

Esther arched her eyebrows as she began to walk after Alyssa and Joelee who slowed for Esther to keep up.

" Look what Kent made for me." Esther grinned as she handed Alyssa the small gift, causing a gasp to rip from her as she turned it over in her hand.

" He made this for you?!" Alyssa whispered, turning over the rock which had been painted to look like the night sky filled with stars.

" Esther, so you will always have stars. Love, Kent." She read out loud before squealing as she showed Joelee who smirked.

" Cute. He likes you." Joelee said which caused Esther's eyes to widen as she quickly shook her head.

" We've been best friends for years. He doesn't like me like that! He's just a friend." Esther's face went red as she quickly took the rock back, tucking it into her pocket as they entered the girls dorm.

" Sure. We'll see." Joelee winked as she pushed open the door to her room, waiting for Esther and Alyssa to catch up before she shut the door.

_-*-_

Present.

About an hour of complaining later.

" Are you sure we're going the right way?" Alyssa groaned for the fifth time, rubbing at her arms which were now covered in mosquito bites.

" Yes!" Joelee snapped, her pace being rather quick while everyone else was walking slowly from weariness.

" How are you not tired?" Esther groaned which caused Joelee to sigh quietly as she turned to run backwards instead so that she could face them.

" Wolves can run up to thirty miles in search of food." Joelee said as though it were obvious, eyeing her exhausted friends who all released a loud sigh.

" So? You're not a wolf. You can turn into a wolf but technically you're not a wolf." Kevin argued but Joelee ignored him as she lifted her head, scenting the air with an ever growing smirk.

" Told you." Joelee grinned as she motioned so a sign that said that they had reached Hammond Park.

" Water. Like I said. It'll probably be not as sanitary as we want but... It'll do." Joelee said as she pointed to the water in the distance.

" Where is Hammond Park? I've never heard of that near where we live." Nathan piped up which turned everyone's attention to him instead.

" We don't have one near us either, I don't think.... But I guess we'll find out." Joelee replied before pausing as she scented the air once again.

" Are you guys against a little bit of stealing if it means that we get home safely?" Joelee scratched the back of her neck awkwardly as she spoke, causing everyone to exchange glances in silence.

" We have to do what we need to survive." Kai said after a moment, causing Kevin to nod in agreement.

" It's just clothes. Nothing more... I'll meet you there." Joelee motioned to the water before she turned and bolted deeper into the forest, footsteps completely silent as she moved.

" So if we hear gunshots-" Blake began to joke which caused everyone to glare at him.

" That's not funny." Nathan snapped, causing Blake to quickly look away as they all reluctantly began to walk once again despite their weariness.

The water lapped gently against the shore, causing Alyssa to release a happy sigh as she immediately took off the dirty gray slip on shoes that The Monarch had given all of their patients to wear.

She dipped her toes into the water, letting out a surprised squeak at how cold the water actually was.

" It's really cold! We have to bathe in this?!" Alyssa exclaimed as she gave a large shudder at the thought of being fully submerged in the freezing water.

" Not like we're not used to cold baths." Esther said after a moment, causing Alyssa to release a soft sigh.

" You're right. But, I guess I was just looking forward to a hot shower for once." Alyssa mumbled before rolling up her pant legs and completely submerging her sore feet into the cold water.

" I could use a hot shower. I smell like wet dog." Joelee said which caused everyone to turn around quickly, Kevin using water from the lake to spray her but she just stood there until they realized who it was.

" Thanks." Joelee mumbled, shaking the water from her hair before glaring at the ginger male who gave her a sheepish smile.

" That was fast." Kent said as Joelee wrung out her shirt, Joelee wincing as the bloody water began to drip onto the ground.

" I'm really fast now. It's kinda weird. They didn't even see me." Joelee murmured as she motioned to the duffel bags next to her which had been surprisingly spared of the water that she had been pelted with.

" At least your power is water... Would've sucked if you had fire." Joelee told Kevin who blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

" Sorry." Kevin said awkwardly but Joelee was already digging through the duffel bag now.

" I took their shower supplies too... Even though they didn't have much. They still had like four bags left so they're not entirely defenseless. Plus they were glamping so I don't think they'll even notice that one bag out of an entire trailer full is missing." Joelee said before she pulled a black T shirt from the bag, looking it over to try and tell if it would fit her.

" Is there any pants that you can fit in? Cause... You're kinda covered in blood." Nathan walked forward, standing next to her as she dug through the bag with growing annoyance.

" They all look pretty big... But I think I can make this work. They look like skinny jeans so maybe they'll fit me." Joelee mumbled as she lifted a pair of hard washed, ripped, blue jeans from the bag.

" You guys can go over there to get cleaned up. We'll stay here. I don't really feel comfortable with any males seeing my... Well... Anything." Joelee said awkwardly as she motioned to a section of the lake next to them that was hidden by trees.

" Aweeee, come on, Joe." Blake stuck out his lower lip but she shook her head, tossing him a green shirt that had a stick figure drawing on it.

" Go." Joelee said in a low voice that told the boys that she wasn't messing around.

The boys awkwardly walked passed her, quickly grabbing shirts that looked like they would fit before they began to walk into the cover of the trees.

" Hey, Nathan? Here." Joelee handed the boy a bar of soap and a shampoo bottle which he took with a grateful smile.

" Thank you. Hey, if you need to talk let me know. I'm here for you." Nathan said, using his free hand to gently touch his fingers to her arm.

Joelee gave a light nod, causing his smile to fade for a moment but he said nothing more as he followed his friends, leaving the girls to all exchange awkward glances.

" Well... This reminds me of that one time at church camp-" Joelee began to joke before Alyssa slapped a hand over her mouth.

" We're not going there." Alyssa said, causing Joelee to laugh from behind her hand as she raised her hands in surrender, waving the shirt a little as she did.

" On a side note..." Alyssa released her as she dug through the bag, pulling out a white shirt and a pair of black pants before she began walking towards the water.

" How are you both doing?" Alyssa questioned as she began to pull off her dirty shirt, discarding it onto the ground carelessly before she began to work off her too small sweatpants.

" That's a complete change of topic, not a side note..." Esther mumbled as she grabbed a purple and gray striped shirt from the bag before walking to join Alyssa next to the water.

Joelee stayed silent as she sat on a rock near them, tracing the scars on her wrists as she gazed down at the ground with a distant look in her eyes.

" I have hope that Rachel will be cured someday. That's what keeping me going." Esther said as she quickly removed the overly large sweatpants she wore, wading into the water as she tossed her shirt onto the shore.

" So you're okay then? Like... Mentally?" Alyssa questioned awkwardly as she began to rub her skin with soap, wincing a bit at the gross smell that it had.

" As well as I can be." Esther shrugged lightly before dunking her head under the water, the dirt from their long walk dripping from her face as she surfaced.

" And you, Joe?" Alyssa questioned as Joelee slowly began to take off her shirt, the two girls watching with horrified expressions as a multitude of scars were revealed.

" The scientists there are smart. I'm sure within the year they'll find something. I've overheard Doyle talking to other scientists about developing a cure by using the stabilizer that they used on us." Joelee said as she shed the gray sweatpants as well, not noticing how pale both women had gotten by now.

Joelee's whole body was littered with a large amount of scars that seemed to end just below her neck but even her neck had a clean slice along the middle. Her stomach was so full of scars that it seemed like she didn't have any skin that wasn't marked with at least something.

" What happened?" Alyssa whispered as Joelee joined them in the water, wading out a lot further than the other two girls which revealed the large slash marks on her back.

" Experimentation. I'm surprised you guys don't have any marks at all to be honest. Doyle believed that we had to suffer to force our evolution. That our bodies would fear for our survival and kickstart our evolution. That's why we got electroshock therapy. To trick our bodies into evolving." Joelee mumbled before she dunked her head under the water, wincing a bit as she came up for air at the pain she felt through her body at the harsh cold.

" That's... Horrible." Alyssa whispered but Joelee simply shrugged as she reached for the soap.

" It helped us escape in the end so I'd say it was worth it. If we hadn't unlocked our powers, we never would've escaped in the first place." Joelee said, nodding her thanks when Alyssa handed her the soap as she began to run the soap over her scarred arms.

" I'm sorry about what I said earlier, Joe. I know Killian was important to you. And I know that Sam was your friend. You've lost just as much as I have." Esther ran a hand through her hair as she spoke, not looking at Joelee now as she instead looked at Alyssa who didn't seem to know what to say.

" Rachel is your sister. I understand. You love her and you were scared. You don't have to apologize." Joelee handed the soap to Esther, avoiding Alyssa's gaze as she instead began to lather her long hair with the shampoo that she had saved for them.

" Yeah, but... Killian was... Well... You know. He meant a lot to you." Alyssa said awkwardly which caused Esther to arch her eyebrows in confusion but Alyssa shook her head at Esther to signify that now wasn't the time to explain what she meant.

" And Rachel means a lot to Esther. I'm not comparing pain. Hurt is hurt and that's all there is to it." Joelee went under the water once more before she surfaced, handing the bottle to Alyssa before climbing from the water to dry off in the hot sun.

Alyssa and Esther exchanged glances, deciding it was best to just stay silent now as they finished getting cleaned up and joined Joelee on the shore.

Joelee took a shirt from the bag and wrapped her hair in it before she began to dry herself off with a different one.

" I'll have to find the people who owns this stuff after all of this is said and done." Joelee said finally before she slipped on the black shirt that she had chosen for herself.

" Why's that?" Alyssa asked, pulling on a pair of light blue jeans that were slightly baggy on her but she didn't seem to care as she looked at Joelee.

" To send them their stuff back and give them a little money. I feel bad for taking their stuff." Joelee admitted as she slid on the jeans, having a bit of trouble as the rips in the jeans caught on a few scars that were only scabbed over on her leg.

" You shouldn't... We're doing what we need to survive. We're not just stealing because we can. We're borrowing it until we get home..." Alyssa paused as she slipped on her shoes, brown eyes turning almost gold in the sun as she gazed across the lake.

" I miss home. I miss my mom, my dad, and Ali." Alyssa murmured, watching as the sun slowly began to set in the horizon.

" I miss my mom and dad too... Can I ask you guys something?" Joelee questioned as she slipped on her shoes, gaze on the sunset as well as her eyes seemed to glow purple in the setting sun.

" Go for it." Esther agreed, wincing at how large the pants in the bag actually were on her, deciding that it was best to not look a gift horse in the mouth as she tightened the black sweatpants as much as she could.

" Do you think you'd recognize your parents if you saw them right now? Do you even remember what they look like?" Joelee questioned in a distant voice, tears filling her eyes as she spoke very softly.

" No. I barely do. I remember their descriptions mostly. I remember enough to make up in my head what they look like but it's probably not what they actually look like." Alyssa said after a moment, eyes suddenly sad as she released a quiet sigh.

" I remember what they look like. Just by looking at myself in the mirror I can kind of figure out what they look like when I start to forget." Esther explained, turning Alyssa's attention to Esther instead while Joelee simply nodded slowly.

" I forgot what I looked like at one point." Joelee admitted after a moment, gazing down into the water before she winced at her appearance.

" It just doesn't look like... Me... Anymore. My brain doesn't process that it is me. I'm not thirteen anymore. That's what I should be. I should be thirteen, just leaving camp and beginning to get ready for when I went to my internship with my grandparents again. Not... This." Joelee muttered as she balled her hands into fists, tears running down her sunburned cheeks as she stared into her reflections eyes.

" They stole so much from us. They stole our Prom from us... They stole our first day of high school from us... They stole us getting our licenses at sixteen and everyone bullying us about staying off of the sidewalks when we drive." Joelee sniffled as she bitterly wiped the tears from her cheeks, throwing a rock at her reflection before she turned her attention to Alyssa and Esther.

" They stole our last years of childhood. We'll never get that back." Joelee whispered, Alyssa and Esther both looking just as upset as her now as Alyssa began to cry silently.

" You're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Esther joked as she looked down at her hands, eyes full of sadness now at the thought of all that they had lost.

" Sorry. It's just the fact that I can't even look at my reflection now without being disgusted with everything around me. I just... I wish I could go back to when it all started. I wish I hadn't followed that sound in the woods that day. I wish I hadn't done a lot of things... But most of all... I wish it had been me... And not them." Joelee ranted before going silent as a sob ripped from her body and she tucked her head into her hands.

" There it is." Alyssa whispered before she slipped on her shoes and walked over to Joelee, wrapping her in a hug.

" Survivors syndrome is normal, Joe. They wouldn't want you to think this way and you know that. There's nothing that any of us could've done." Alyssa rubbed her back gently before a loud gunshot caused the girls to immediately perk up as their eyes went wide.

" What was that?!" Esther yelled as Joelee stood up quickly, the three of them bolting towards where the boys were as the sound of yelling reached their ears.

" NO!" Nathan screamed as they grew closer, bursting through the trees as Joelee pulled her sword from its sheath.

" Nathan?! What's happening?!" Joelee paused as all three girls halted where the boys had been swimming previously, a tall male turning to grin at them as he gave Esther a little wave.

" David? What are you doing here?" Esther asked as she narrowed her eyes at the attractive male who gave her a cheeky wink.

" E-Esther?" A strained voice said from behind David, turning the girls attention to where Kent lay on the ground.

Kent was holding a wound in his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers as he gazed up at the woman desperately.

" No." Esther whispered as she realized that David had a gun which he pointed at the girls with a sinister grin.

" Sorry, love. He was getting too attached." David shrugged as he spit on the ground next to Kent before he cocked the gun once again.

" Now then. Let's get this party started, shall we?" David's almost red eyes flashed in the last of the sunlight as it disappeared below the horizon, leaving everyone in the dark.