Nova's POV

I woke up gasping and clutching at my throat. The darkness had vaporized, but now my vision was overwhelmed with color. Coughing, I sat up straight, my arms shaking. I realized I was in the bed and the doctors had vanished from the room.

"Oh no," I moaned, suddenly feeling a strong wave of nausea flush over me.

That's when I lurched over the side of my bed and puked onto the floor with no control or aim. As there was little in my stomach, not a lot came up, but it burned like hell. I gagged on the taste of something chemical and bitter, and my head felt fuzzy.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I lied down, resting my head against the pillows. My body was fully functioning now at least, but I still had the remains of a raging headache, and my limbs were noodles. Feeling my stomach rumble, I also became aware that now I was running on empty.

Some of the vomit had gotten onto my clothes, and the stench was enough to make me vomit all over again. Swallowing the bile rising my throat, I slowly removed the shirt, wanting to get the smell off of me without moving too suddenly.

Just another day in the life of a supernatural science experiment.

Sighing in frustration I sat up again, slowly, looking around the room which I had not finished fully exploring. Off to the right of the bed was and open doorway with what appeared to be a small room. I assumed it was a bathroom of sorts.

Thank god.

The bathroom wasn't exactly small, but it wasn't large either. It was a toilet, sink and shower. Simple and more than anything I could have asked for. Not luxurious, just functional. Something like this would have been unheard of at the lab. The gang and I had shared a community bathroom that was connected to our cells and had two showers, and two toilets that we had to take turns using.

Stripping out of my stinky, vomit covered clothes, I tossed them to the floor. Just as I was entering the shower, I saw a glimpse of myself in a mirror. It caused to me halt, the shock and horror of my appearance holding me in place.

In the mirror, a frail, bony, malnourished girl stood. She had pale white skin that made her emerald,wide eyes look sickly. Her long black hair needed cut. It was greasy, dirty looking. The girl in the mirror with glowing eyes was an animal. Pure rage and abuse fueled that girl. She lived true to her name, Diabla.

It was the first time I'd seen myself in a mirror for years. The lab hadn't provided much to us and a mirror wasn't in the cards for us. So seeing myself now, this weak, ailing shadow girl, was in all honesty horrifying. In some ways, I wished I had never seen myself now. This shell I was living in was proof of just how much pain, physical abuse, starvation and lack of sleep I had dealt with in that hell hole.

Shivering now, I shook my way into the shower, unable to look further at my hollow self. Once in the safe confines of the shower, I began to wipe clean my grimy body. As I scrubbed with a wash cloth I was reminded of the day my skin stained red from blood.

I swallowed, trying let myself breathe. If I did the breathing techniques, the memories went away.

One breath in, one breath out...

The stench of the metallic substance was all I could smell.

Focus on your breathing.

One breath in, one breath out.

"She killed him! He's dead! He's dead!"

Try counting.

1...

     2...

           3....

Suddenly the shower was pouring out blood. It fell into my eyes and covered my body. The blood was sickeningly warm, thick and impossible to see through. My feet slipped on the bloody tiles, causing me to collapse onto the floor.

The blood began choking me, coming out faster in the shower. I couldn't see.

I couldn't see.

It was all red.

Red.

Red.

Red.

"HELP!" I screamed.

I screamed and screamed until my throat hurt. And then I couldn't tell if it was me screaming or if it was the countless victims I had claimed.

Rocking back and forth in the shower, I begged for the blood rain to stop. For the screams to stop. For it all to stop.

"You're a monster."

"Please, stop!" I screamed, putting my hands over my ears and clenching my eyes shut.

"I can't take it!" I bellowed, but the distorted voices didn't stop.

"Nobody's coming for you."

"Subject 101 displays aggression, and did not cooperate. Subject will now be punished with electrical reinforcement."

"Death is fleeting, little girl. But power is forever."

"STOP!" I screamed.

Then out of nowhere the voices grew quiet. The blood went back to being water. I wasn't choking, I wasn't back at the lab.

I was in the shower again.

Taking a steadying breath, I removed my hands from my head and stood back up. Slowly, my heart began to calm itself. Still my body trembled, the incredibly realistic hallucination left a bit of a traumatic aftermath. In fact it had made my nausea and the headache worse.

Holding back vomit, I let out a heavy sigh and turned the knob on the shower. I was met with immediate relief as the chilling water raced down my spine and puddled at my feet. I tilted my head up into the water with my eyes closed, letting the water free me.

Unexplainably, the cold water helped. I'd learned that back at the lab too. Sometimes I would have these rare horrible hallucinations like the one I just had, and rinsing my face in the cold water after they ended soothed me.

Sometimes I wondered if one day when I had an episode what would happen if I didn't come out of it...

Like if one day I won't come out and I stay in the void of mind.

A shiver or terror went down my back. Being stuck, tormented by the demons of my past for eternity? That was a nightmare waiting for me someday, I was sure. Hopefully many years from now, if ever.

Finishing with my shower, I was now chilling. The cold water had helped, but it also froze me. My room was warm, but not warm enough to take an icy shower. Unfortunately that was the cost for sanity.

I stepped out onto the cold tile floor, soaking it as the water ran off of me. Seemed to be more inefficient than cheap to not provide at least a bathroom mat. Even the lab had one of those. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Luckily the cabinets were easy to navigate in the fact that there was hardly anything in them from how many there seemed to be. A simple towel sufficed, which I found and wrapped around my shivering, naked, body, however, I searched the rest of the drawers, my curiosity peaked. I found a single brush and comb, (another unusual luxury), a toothbrush and toothpaste of course, a tube of chapstick, deodorant and a sweet, honey smelling lotion.

Honestly, it was already a five star hotel compared to the wretched living conditions of the community lofts and cell rooms we had back at the lab where we were first produced. I guess we survived the horrible procedures, experiments, and torture so we deserved an upgrade.

A big thank you to my sponsors.

Combing through my hair, I realized fully brushed out that my hair reached my bottom. It seriously needed a cut. Half the time I didn't know what to do with it. Blue was super creative with her hair, and always had braids in it. I, on the other hand could barely manage a pony tail.

Then again, I never had a mother, or motherly figure at least, to teach me shit.

Braiding hair wasn't on my top ten things to learn either. My biggest concern was adapting to survive. You learned really quick when to be submissive and when to show them you were what they made you for. The scientists only saw us as pet lab rats. A means to an end. If we didn't survive, thrive even, we would die. Though to be fair, some kids didn't survive because the scientists' procedures failed, or a serum failed and stopped a kid's heart rather than give him super human strength.

Thinking about it brought back memories. Memories I didn't want to have.

Once I recalled being strapped to one of their lab treatment tables, completely naked. This was likely when I was younger, eventually the boss found out they were doing things to the children while they wearing nothing, and he put a stop to that at least. I think it was because he walked in on a procedure being done and saw that the child was exposed.

Any normal person would be appalled. But then again, he hired the sick fuckers.

Anyway, I was lying there, freezing, and terrified. Next to me was a little boy on a separate table. I could only make out his features but he was so petrified. Even though I didn't have much experience with the lab at this time, I knew that calling out to someone for help was no use.

No point.

Nevertheless, the boy was crying, he was calling out for his mom. Which made me grateful, in a way, that I had never met my mom. I had no reason to believe I even had one to come help me. I had no idea was a 'mom' even was.

Whoever she was, he wouldn't stop crying for her. I tried to reassure him that we would be okay, but truth to be told, it was a lie. I had no clue what was about to happen, and I, just as much as him, wanted someone to make things okay. That's who I was, making everything okay for everyone else. But at the end of the day there wasn't a soul who could make me okay.

While the boy sobbed, the scientist who I eventually came to know as Simon, walked in with a few of his fellow colleagues. They each had eager looks on their faces. Their sickness was a disease that would never stop spreading at the inhumane lab.

Despite everything in me to remain strong, tears began pooling in my eyes, because I knew whatever was about to occur was likely going to be painful.

"Today we have test subject 101 and subject 167. We will be testing our latest serum on each of them. There are two variants. Variant 323 with the compound, and variant 739, without the compound. The serum, if successful, will give them the ability to heal themselves on command." Simon had said, allowing the other scientists to ask him questions.

I, at that point had squeezed my eyes shut, trying to mentally go away somewhere else. But that day, that day I was unable to. All I could hear was the terrified screams of the boy next to me.

"Since subject 167 is in distress, we will start with him." Simon stepped to the little boy.

The little boy stopped his crying for only a few moments to plead the scientist to let him go. That he didn't know why he was here, that he wanted to go home. Alas, Simon was one of the coldest humans alive. At least until I killed him in a freak accident years down the road...

I watched in utter horror as Simon, with no catheter, inserted a long needle into the boy's arm. The boy began hyperventilating, gasping. Choking. But as the serum swam through his blood, I realized he was actually dying. The boy was choking, coughing, sobbing and dying.

As he was coughing, a mixture of spit and blood managed to splatter its way onto my face. I was now crying, horrified at the sight. This wouldn't be the first time either.

I was witness to many murders.

The boy suddenly started seizing, shaking so violently against his restraints I wondered if they would hold him. I was answered when his body stopped suddenly. Lifeless.

Dead.

Then it was my turn.

Simon didn't halt in his procedure. He walked over to me with minor disappointment, likely that he'd already failed with the boy, and did not think I would survive either. Without further delay, he injected the same serum into my body.

I expected to die, to start seizing, coughing up blood. But nothing happened. And at last I felt the burn of my entire body in flames of pain. I screamed until my throat was raw. The worst occurred when out of nowhere the lights blurred until all I saw was white.

I was blind.

Temporarily, of course. I regained my sight within a few hours. And I survived the serum. It obviously failed, as it did not give me the ability they thought it would. They tested that hypothesis by sliding a knife across my right palm. When the healing didn't take place we all could say for sure that the experiment had failed.

Thank god for them.

Otherwise, I would have tore through the hellhole, invincible and probably killed every last one of them.

They may have considered that later after my powers were bestowed upon me because it was never attempted again.

Coming to, from the morbid memory, I decided that staring at the mirror in total silence, reimagining my horrifying past was not productive. Especially because it lead to possible episodes. There I was, ten minutes since I got out of the shower, not actually there.

Numb, but at least functional again, I dried the rest of me off, and applied the milky smooth lotion and deodorant. For the first time I years, I smelled halfway decent. And I got to brush my teeth, which was so satisfying since I hadn't had a toothbrush in at least a year. Certain objects were stripped from you if you misbehaved.

The shower helped my animalistic appearance fade a tad, I noted, rechecking what I looked like in the mirror. A hair cut and, a few good meals would help with the wild unruliness of my outer shell. Not sure that I would get either of those quite yet, but Kane promised a dinner to us tonight.

My unsettling glowing, emerald eyes hid the pain of the past well, however my paleness revealed heavy dark bags under them. I blinked a few times still shocked by the supernatural freakiness that I was.

I was aware my beauty was minimal, and still, somewhere inside me I longed to be as pretty as someone who grew up normal. Not tortured, starved and genetically modified into a monster. Maybe then I would look at least more human.

That hopeless thought was useless though in the grand scheme of things. The fact was I wasn't normal, and I certainly had a different childhood than most. I wasn't meant to be beautiful; I was meant to be powerful. Blessing or curse, this was who I was.

Shaking my head, I wandered back into my room hoping to find some clothes. My skin was ice at this point, and anything would be better than nothing. There was a black painted wooden drawer placed in front of my bed. Hopefully I would find clothes in there.

I searched through the drawers, sifting through what I was surprised to find. All of the shirts were long sleeved, and made out of breathable material. There were slim fitting pants, cargo pants, several pairs of underwear, bras, and socks. I found multiple pairs of soft pants and sweaters which I assumed were for bed time wear.

I couldn't believe that I was being given these. It begged the question if Kane was telling at least a portion of the truth. Maybe he had a better part of our interest at heart.

Still, a good skilled, ruthless predator lures his prey. I hesitated putting any amount of trust in anyone that wasn't my family. I've been lied to, hurt, neglected, and treated poorly my entire life. It was going to take a lot more than this to woo me.

I had to admit though, as I slipped a pair of the slim fitting pants and long sleeved shirt on, it was wonderful to have clothes that didn't hang off of me loosely from wear and tear, or reek of body sweat, and other fluids. (Oh did I forget to mention that at the lab, they didn't wash our hospital clothes but once every month?)

Beside the dresser was a single pair of gray, lace up combat boots. They were the nicest shoes I'd likely ever wear. Additionally, they were comfortable, and somehow magically fit me perfectly among the other things I'd put on.

After I was fully dressed, I realized the vomit from earlier was still stinking up the room. Using a towel and a wash cloth from the bathroom, I did my best to clean it up, gagging a few times upon breathing in the smell too much.

Once it was clean (cleanish) I flipped back onto the bed, to relax until it was dinner time.

Which was hopefully soon, my stomach was growling angrily at me. My headache was no better, especially from whatever "chip" they inserted into my skull earlier. Not that being on the brink of starvation for years hadn't conditioned me to always be hungry, but since mentioning dinner, my mouth couldn't help but water at the thought of a decent meal.

I wondered what kind dinner this would be. I almost laughed at the picture in my head. Kane at the head of the table, surrounded by his science experimented monkeys. Sounded like a deranged family supper if you asked me.

Kane.

My heart beat wildly inside my chest. I didn't know what I was going to do about him. Not only was he immune to my abilities, hell for all I knew, it could be all of our abilities possibly, but he had the capability of taking away our powers too. And now he could turn anyone of us into walking weapons for his own personal gain with these stupid chips he had installed.

Face it, Diabla, you will never be in control of your own life.

Disturbed by my own thoughts, I sighed and shut my eyes. "This is a mess."

Then suddenly there was a knock at my door, making me sit up in the amazingly soft, cushiony bed. The metal door slid open, allowing entry for a soldier. I cocked my head at him as he walked forward.

"Are you here to chaperone me to dinner?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

The soldier cleared his throat. "Yes. You're to come with me now."

"Fan-fucking-tastic. Let's go." I replied and hopped off of my bed.

Following him, I noticed that we were the only two walking in the corridor, among other soldiers. However, I didn't see the rest of my family.

Odd...

"Where are my friends?" I asked.

The soldier scoffed. "They're all being individually escorted."

He didn't go on to explain why but I could read between the lines. It was actually very smart on Kane's part. It also said a lot about his paranoia, clear direct planing of anything and everything so there were no surprises.

Clearly the thought was that there was a chance we could all gang up on the soldiers as a group and escape. He clearly knew how at the very least I thought. I may have even attempted it, had I been given the opportunity. Though knowing what I know now about the chip, and the mysterious weapons that can take our powers away, I don't think it would have worked very well anyway.

The soldier lead me to an elevator which we took and went up several floors. From there we went down a couple more corridors until finally arriving at a very large room. Inside the room was a long beautiful wooden, perfectly crafted dining table with huge comfortable appearing chairs situated along the table. Blaze, Storm, Blue and Runt were already sitting. Though Kane was not in the room yet.

"Diabla!"

There was a large squeal as Blue shoved her chair out awkwardly and ran up to hug me.

I smiled and shut my eyes, wrapping my arms around her tightly. Blue smelled of cherries and her long blond hair was braided down her back. She held her arms around me so hard I could barely breath. Blue, even though we were all relatively the same age, was the most child like. She was very attached to me, ever since we were little.

"Aright, take your seats." The soldier barked out, annoyed at the mushy gushiness, apparently.

Blue let go and pulled my hand to come sit beside her and Blaze. They all had weary smiles on their faces. The joy from the helicopter ride was clearly short lived. I was guessing it had something to do with the chip implanted in our brains...

Blaze pulled my chair close to his and snuck his hand down to the small of my back. I smiled at him, feeling butterflies dance about in my stomach. His amber eyes captivated me. They were full of light and most days seeing them search into my soul was the only thing keeping me going.

What he saw, I had no clue.

I sighed and faced the rest of my family. Their fear was too evident not to address.

"I'm assuming you all also got the chip implantation?" I asked quietly.

Each of them nodded their heads solemnly.

Damn it.

"Is everyone okay?" My voice softened automatically.

Blue whimpered, "I feel like we are some place worse than the lab."

I let out a long breath. Blue was right, and in some ways I wanted to tell her that she was, but Blue was delicate. And like all of them, she had been through enough. I think that the reality of being somewhere worse could inevitably crush her. And maybe the others too.

They needed what they hadn't had in years; hope.

So I'd give them what they needed to survive.

"There's no way this place could be worse than the hell hole we came from. At the very least we have actual beds." I pointed out sarcastically, but trying to stay positive.

Storm rolled her big brown eyes, but gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah I guess you're right."

Runt still quivered in his chair. There was a real terror in his eyes. "Diabla, I can't read Kane."

I sucked in a breath. "Well of course not, with the chips and those weapons the soldiers carry—"

"No! You don't understand, when we first got here I mean, before they put in the chip, before I knew about the guns..." he paused, his voice lowering.

Fear crept down my spine with an ugly violent shiver. I knew the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"I tried... I tried to read his thoughts, and all I was met with, was a black wall. Nothing. I couldn't read anything. Because he's immune." Runt dropped the horrific news on everyone.

Blaze stiffened next to me, Blue's eyes went wide with fear, and Storm's hands grew into fists. I, however did not react. I stared blankly at the table, unsure of what to say or do. I had hoped that Kane was only immune to me, but that was obviously not the case.

"Wait, why are you not surprised? Diabla—" Runt started, the realization starting to set in with him.

"Because I knew he was immune to my powers too." I responded, still unable to meet anyone's eyes.

Blaze retracted his hand from me. "Nova, what happened?"

I turned to him, seeing the worry in his eyes. I gave a weak smile. "You know me, I don't know when to hold a punch back."

He raised his eyebrows. "You just attacked him?"

I grimaced. "It was a justified attack."

Blaze's eyes swelled in small flames and his fists clenched incredibly tight. "Did he hurt you?"

Well.

A little.

But I didn't need Blaze attacking Kane and getting himself killed for me.

"No, I'm fine. He just has a mouth that likes to run, that's all." I explained, half heartedly.

"He does, doesn't he? Why don't we all team up and cut his dick off?" Storm interjected, making me burst out laughing.

"I don't think we would be able to get near him with the army he has." I teased.

Runt sighed, running his hands over his face and through his auburn hair. "Then that's it. We're dead."

I sent a forceful kick to his leg under the table causing him to yelp. "No one is dying. We will fight together. We will survive, we always do. I'm beginning to think we are impenetrable." I winked, making him smile a little.

Blue was in heavy thought, never saying a word. I wondered what she was thinking. "Blue?"

She flipped her head in my direction. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" I asked, dreading her answer.

Blue smiled, but her legs were shaking. "As okay as I can be right now."

That was fair enough. I turned back to Blaze who was steaming. I felt his foot just tapping away at the floor. In his eyes, I could tell he was in kill mode. If any one of us was more protective than me, it was him. Blaze had a temper that no one other than me could calm, which was partially why I suspected that the scientists kept me alive sometimes. They knew if Blaze got out of control, I could bring him back down.

But so help anyone who laid a finger on me. He would burn them alive without thinking twice. It was why they also kept tranquilizer guns on hand anytime I was involved with an experiment and Blaze happened to be around. Blaze also had recently been trying to be better than what the scientists intended, seeing as he didn't want to be the hot headed killing machine that they created.

I slid my fingers into his hand, and drew comforting circles in his palm. "Blaze, I am okay. I promise."

He didn't look at me, but he squeezed my fingers in his hand, shutting his eyes. My heart surged, almost feeling guilty I kept this from him. But this was partially why I hid things from him. I didn't want to seem him lose control because of me.

Just then, the double wide doors swung open. Strolling forward was none other than Kane himself. His dark suit had been replaced with a short sleeved black t-shirt and all black cargo pants. I couldn't help but remark at how fit the man was. His clothing only made his body appear leaner; thick tense biceps, broad shoulders, even the faint outline of pectoral and abdominal muscles I could see through the shirt.

I definitely had been staring too long.

Kane's eyes connected with mine, even though he had four other people he could have looked at. I started to feel my body tense up. Something in me could not look away from him. The damn man allured me for some horribly annoying reason.

Enough so that it sickened me. I dropped Blaze's hand and folded my hands in my lap, unable to stand myself. It was sickening that he made me feel that way about him when I knew deep down he was sure to be pure evil.

Kane approached the table with a welcoming see-through smile. "Welcome to dinner everyone."

Let the games begin.

————

Author's Note

I know, I knowwwww. It's been too long since I updated. I'm so so soooo sorry. My life has been insane lately. Hopefully this super long chapter somewhat makes up for it lmao

Love y'all! Thank you for reading😁