~Sabina~

Fate and destiny are the two words that mean the most to me at this moment. I've been waiting for this moment for forever and finally today my fate and destiny are going to be sealed. At last.

"Sabina. Sabina."

My eyes focus on Ezra who's waving his hand before my face. "What?" I ask.

"You were spaced out again."

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?" I say as I fall into step beside him.

"Nothing important, forget it," he mumbles.

I don't press the matter, since we've reached the IE headquarters and I'm too busy taking in a deep breath to calm my nerves. All my worries are swirling around me and I find myself frozen in place as I stare at the gigantic, but ancient building looming before us. The rounded, stone stairs lead up to the impressive, large, oak door where the IE emblem of a fist punching through rock is etched into the stone above it.

"It isn't as frightening as it looks."

I peel my eyes away from the building to look at my best friend, my body trembling like an earthquake the entire time. "It's terrifying," I breathe.

"I swear if I survived it, you'll do great." He gives me a small smile as he squeezes my hand in a comforting way and I return a weak smile of my own.

"Thanks," I tell him before I begin to make my way up the stairs.

"Sabina."

I glance over my shoulder at Ezra.

"I'll be waiting here for you. Good luck."

I need all the luck I can get.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sabina Katherine Jones?"

I look up from the magazine to see a lady in a tight navy dress approaching me.

"Are you Sabina Katherine Jones?" she repeats. I nod."Good. Please come with me."

I stand up from the hard chair and on stiff legs, I follow her out of the waiting room. She leads me down a long, narrow hallway and then ushers me into the room at the end. I quickly shove my hands into my jeans pockets, trying to hide the fact that they are shaking uncontrollably. I then lift my eyes from the floor and focus on the young man known as Ethan Mayor who's sitting behind the wooden desk in the center of the room.

"Thank you, Laura, that would be all," he says. The lady beside me bows her head before retreating from the room. Ethan's eyes then fall on me. "Welcome Sabina Katherine, please make yourself at home and take a seat." He gestures with his black-gloved hand to the chair across from him.

Finally, I find my voice. "It's just Sabina."

"So Sabina it is." He smiles. A smile that doesn't seem too friendly. "Now don't be afraid to sit down. I don't bite."

I say nothing as I sink into the brown leather chair.

"Are you ready?"

Nodding, I prepare my mind by clearing it from all of its worries. I want to be able to answer his questions properly. I won't let his high status intimidate me.

"How old are you?" he asks first.

"Seventeen."

"And you already applied to join last year?"

"Yes."

"When you knew you were underaged?" His hazel eyes turn into slits as he examines me.

I squirm in my seat, feeling quite small under his gaze. "I thought it would be worth the try."

He smiles at that, which startles me. "I like that you did that, you know. It shows that you are determined." He leans forward and my heart quickens. "Tell me, Sabina, why don't we accept those who are underaged?"

I swallow the dryness in my mouth before replying, "The IE is one of the top organizations in the world and can't afford to make any mistakes."

"So why are you here when you're still not eighteen?" He finally asks the question that I've been dreading.

"Honestly." I look down at the floor embarrassed and nervous, my fingers inching towards the scratch patch on my elbow. "I have nowhere else to go."

I can feel his eyes bearing into me. "Why is that?"

My eyes meet his. "My father died when I was a baby and my mother was taken."

I remember that day as if it was yesterday... Mom rushed into my room, her eyes frantic.

"Sabina, go get some bandages now!"

"Why? What happened?" I asked nervously as I scanned her for wounds, finding none.

"Don't ask questions. Go get them and bring them to the kitchen," was all she said.

I listened and brought her what she asked for. "Mom, what's going on?"

She took the bandages from me, placed them on the counter, and quickly closed the shades-- an action she only did when she didn't want the neighbors seeing in. She then walked over to the pantry, the door creaking as she opened it.

"Help me get him onto the table now."

"Him?"

I peeked into the pantry, my eyes widening. Slumped on the floor was a boy, his light gray shirt soaked with blood. His startling blue eyes looked back at me, pained.

"Mom, who is he? And why are we hiding him?" Deep down I already knew the answer... He was one of them. He was an Inhuman.

"So your mother was an Inhuman lover?"

My memory fades in a white cloud as my eyes focus on Ethan. "I don't know." Which is the truth. Mom loved children the most and the Inhuman was a child about a year or two older than me. So yes, I keep on telling myself that she couldn't be an Inhuman lover. She only brought him home because he was a child, a wounded child who needed her help.

"How about you?"

My blood begins to boil with anger. "I hate them," I spit out, my voice stronger than before. Because of them, my mom is gone. I know deep down though that she's still alive. I feel her spark.

My blood is still boiling as I lean forward in my seat, my hands resting on my knees and my eyes locked on the man before me. Finally, my confidence has risen. "If you gave me a weapon, I'll kill them all without hesitation."

With that, he smiles. "Welcome to your new home," he says.

I stare at him, shocked. "Really? Even though I'm underaged and you barely know anything about me?"

"I know enough for now." His chair scrapes on the tiled floor as he stands up. "Go home or wherever you're staying... boyfriend's family is it?"

"Friend, nothing more. And how do you know?"

His eyes gleam with something dark and frightening as he looks at me and I can feel a shiver run up my spine. "As I said Sabina, I know enough for now."

"That doesn't answer my question."

He ignores me, striding over to the door and opening it. "Someone will come for you tomorrow."

Dismissed, I stand up and brush past him.

"I'll see you then," he calls after me.

I pretend not to hear him, quickening my pace so I can get out of this place as fast as I can.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How'd it go?" Ezra is waiting outside for me, just like he said he would.

"You're looking at your new IE member." I smile.

"Congrats. Welcome to the team." He pats me on the back as he grins broadly.

"Thanks."

Tomorrow my dream is going to become my new reality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Black is in the kitchen, her pudgy hands busy scrubbing the dishes.

"Here let me help you."

She smiles, handing me the sponge. "Thank you, Sabina, you're a doll."

I look at the woman who took me in and posed as my mother for the past eight years and give her a small smile of my own as I tell her, "I try."

Before I know it, she's hugging me. "Oh, Sabina darling, am I going to miss you."

My eyes sting with tears. "Same here, Mrs. Black."

That's when Ezra appears behind her. "Mom don't get so emotional. I'll bring her home by our breaks, I promise."

Mrs. Black pulls away from me and I can finally breathe normally again. The woman sure knows how to give a bone-crushing hug.

She frowns. "You hardly have any breaks."

While she argues with her son, I wash the dishes, watching the soap suds float before my face. I'm just about to finish when someone pokes me in the sides and I squeal, dropping the sponge into the soapy water.

"Ezra," I scold, dipping my hand into the water and feeling around for the small, foam square. "That was not nice. You made me lose it!"

He shrugs. "Just drain the water and you'll find it."

I glare at him, but do as he says since it isn't such a bad idea. Once I have the sponge back in my hand, Ezra places his hand on mine, his touch gentle.

"Leave the rest for Mira," he says. "There's not much left."

I shake my head. "She's going to have plenty to do when I'm not around. It will only take me a few more minutes."

He nods. "Okay. When you're done come to the family room."

"Yes, sir."

He shakes his head at me and I stick my tongue out. Laughing he leaves the room and I get back to scrubbing the dishes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, I plop onto the sofa beside Ezra.

"A few more minutes, that took ages!"

I ignore him, kicking my shoes off and placing my bare feet on the marble coffee table. "I'm going to miss this place," I admit.

His hand brushes my knee softly. "We'll come back, I promise."

"But you hardly do."

"Well, that's because we don't get much free time."

"Oh, whatever," I scoff. I can feel his caramel-brown eyes on me. "What?"

"You're afraid for tomorrow, that's why you're being so crabby. Am I right?" He scratches at his stubbled chin. "Or maybe you're just being a typical grouchy girl..."

The closest thing to my right is my shoe. I throw it at him.

"Ouch," he groans. "What was that for?"

"An attempt to make you shut up, but it seemed not to work."

He laughs. "You know Sab, I didn't mean to insult you." Now he gets all serious. "I just want you to know if you're afraid, cause if you are, I want to help you."

"That's very sweet of you. But why would I be afraid? This is my dream finally coming to life."

"I was afraid on my first day," he admits in a whisper.

"That's because you're a scardy cat." I want to pull my words right back into my mouth, but it's already too late, the damage was done.

He looks hurt, the wrinkles on his forehead visible. "Why'd you have to bring that up?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

I actually feel terrible that I did, because it brings back painful memories for him.

When we were thirteen Ezra was constantly bullied by Raymond Seemas, since poor Ezra was pretty awkward around girls. I believe then that I was the only girl he would even look at and talk to without making a total fool out of his poor self. One day Raymond pushed Ezra a little too far by calling him 'A big Scardy Cat who never will have the courage to approach the girl he likes.'

I was at my locker placing my books neatly inside, stacked one on top of the other from largest to smallest when Ezra approached me. He seemed nervous, his long fingers raking through his dark, floppy hair.

"Everything okay?" I asked him as I quietly pushed my locker closed.

"Um, yeah. I thought uh... can we talk?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

He scanned the hallway, letting out a sigh of relief. Everyone else was in class, leaving us all alone.

"Sab, I... Ahh, how do I say this..."

I looked at him confused. "I don't know. You tell me."

"Well..." He scratched behind his ear, nervously. "Well, you see, you're the only girl I feel comfortable around and well I think I might..."

Then he did the unsuspected and pushed me up against my locker, pressing his lips to mine. The kiss was a bit sloppy and rushed, but also kind of sweet. It was my first kiss and it didn't feel right. I wanted it to be special, indescribable, with sparks flying and hearts beating as one. I wanted it to be... well... not this.

He pulled away, his face beet red, which made me feel terrible deep down.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I just..." His eyes couldn't meet mine. "I just wanted you to know that I love you, Sabina."

I was speechless, my mouth opened like a fish on land trying to breathe. He looked back at me with big eyes, hoping that I'd say those words back to him, but I couldn't.

On that day I broke his heart...

"It's fine Sab, the past is the past."

I look at Ezra, eighteen, and still kind of awkward around girls.

But he did improve Sabina, you know that. You saw him speaking to Stacy McCarter last month and she seemed to be smiling. A good sign right?

"Yeah I know, but still..."

"Still what?" He cocks his head to the side, watching me.

Still love me. Still want me to love you back. I don't say that of course. "Nothing. Forget it." I look away at the antique vase resting on the wooden mantlepiece.

"Hello, children." Mr. Black strolls into the room, newspaper tucked under his arm.

"Dad, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a child anymore? I'm a young man, a member of the IE with a lot of responsibilities and beautiful girlfriends."

His father chuckles. "Why don't you ever bring home any of these girlfriends? I'd like to meet them."

Ezra sputters. "Uh, well... I..."

I have to save the poor guy. Confidence is key. "If he brings one or two home, then all the other twenty-five will want to come too. Wouldn't it be one crowded house? And extremely claustrophobic."

Mr. Black smiles, taking his usual seat in the armchair. "I always liked your smart mouth, Sabina."

Shyness takes over. "Thank you, sir."

I remove my feet from the table and slip my shoes back on.

"Going to bed."

I glance back at Ezra. "Yeah. Have a goodnight."

"You too."

I then turn to Mr. Black. "Goodnight sir."

He doesn't look up from his newspaper as he replies, "Goodnight Sabina."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mira, Ezra's younger sister is fast asleep in the next bed. Her loud breathing feels like it's rattling my bones.

Sighing, I roll over for the umpteenth time, trying to get comfortable, but it's useless. My nerves for tomorrow just won't seem to let me sleep.

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I stand up, slink out of the room, and down the hallway. The door creaks as I push it open.

"Sabina, is that you?"
Crawling into his bed, I sit down at the edge, bringing my knees to my chest. Feeling small and lonely.

"What's wrong? Ezra sits up and slides over toward me.

"You were right," I whisper. "I'm afraid and so nervous for tomorrow."

He wraps his arm around my shoulder and I rest my head on his. "Don't be afraid or nervous Sab. You'll do great, plus I'll be there to help you if needed."

"Oh, it will be needed," I smirk.

I could sense the smile on his face. "Go to sleep. It's late."

"I can't."

"Try again," he whispers, rubbing circles on my back. His sweet voice fills up the room as he sings me the lullaby his mother used to put us to bed with.

Smiling, I drift off to sleep.