Michael Matthias Lancaster's Story

"So let's go to bed before you say something real, let's go to bed before you say how you feel...” rang the lyrics of I Always Knew by The Vaccines in Atheyas relentlessly processing mind. This was the hum she woke up to, and she was a little dazed and confused to why she had for a few moments, before she realized she had fallen asleep with her headphones on, and it was the song that was in fact playing. Groaning, she sat up and pushed her jumbled and snarled dark chocolate coloured hair out of her eyes that was drained from her restless sleep that always seemed to take its toll on her in the early of the mornings, and slipped off the headphones, setting them on the side table beside her bed. Elongating her arms up into the air, she stretched them out, shaking the stiffness out that the five hour sleep she got caused.

She never really did ever get that much sleep, her psyche always seemed to be ticking and it was extremely hard to settle it down. She was constantly processing through her thoughts of every situation, whether it was happening in the present, had happened in the past, or even a possible state for the future. It had always been this way for her, and she had gotten quite used to the idea that it would ceaselessly stay this way. She self diagnosed herself with Insomnia. Of course she couldn’t exactly go to the doctor to get it professional diagnosed. For one, she didn’t want to get pills prescribed because she highly doubted they would actually work, and then there would be the explanation of why she just couldn’t turn her mind off. She wasn’t exactly going to tell him she could mind link with others so it was always actively functioning at larger percentage than others.

Mind linking is her ability, yes. She can create a link between herself and with the minds of others. The metaphor she often uses to paint and image of it is like a signal from one phone, to another. Like an invisible wire connecting the two. With this link, she can do many things, but it hadn’t always been that way. She grew up in Hereford, England up until the age of five. Both her parents were doctors, her father a neurologist, her mother a paediatrics. It was simply put that the family was fairly healthily, but that was until the death of the two. All Atheya knew of the death was that the car simply ran off a bridge, she was never told where they were headed, or why they tipped over the bridge. It had always just been that way. Unfortunately, both sides of the family had no close relatives, only holding distant cousins and such. The family didn’t even have any close friends that could take her in, so she was shipped off to London by Child Services and placed into a lonesome and low budget orphanage. But this is where she discovered her ability.

No child in the orphanage was happy and befriending. They were categorized into two groups, the shy, and the rampaging bullies. Atheya was one of the shy ones, so she was always targeted along with some others. But when she got targeted, she got mad or upset, and when that happened a mind link she couldn’t control would always form and then she would cause excruciating pain to whomever child tortured her during the day. Needless to say after awhile everyone left her alone, calling her freak, but at the same time being equally frightened by her.

When she reached the age of eleven, she had developed another branch off the mind link she had yet to understand. Now through a mind link, she could access others thoughts. But it was a good thing she learned also how to cover it up. Not very well, but she would do a decent enough job of it. She pokes fun at herself as she’s oblivious to many things around her and others emotions, yet she can learn secrets so easily.

Not only did that happen when she was eleven, but she was also moved down to the USA when they transferred her through the foster system there. She would last around two months through foster homes before she freaked them out when she would accidentally reveal her power. But the last foster home she had been in was the one she lasted the longest in, two years. She was thirteen at the time, and was more careful than ever, always shy and quiet; tip toeing around people, seeming almost frightened most of the time. In this new foster home, the people where kind and she even made a good friend in the school, she had never done that before. His name was Julian Klein, and no his family didn’t own the Calvin Klein brand. In fact, he was a foster kid like herself. He was a year older then her, and she noticed his lonerness when she went into school. She herself was the same loner type. Not necessarily because she wanted to be, but because she had to tip toe not to let her ability to get caught. She was shy around him, until one day his thoughts just seemed to ring through her head as it must have been a pretty misery filled day. It was that moment that she, accidently, learned everything about his foster issues, and damn well especially about his power. So, she told him. She didn’t know how he was going to react, appalled, depressed, or maybe happy? She freaked out a bit when he never said anything, and she was about to laugh it off and say she was kidding, but he just accepted her at that point. This was when Atheya opened more in depth into her life, as he did also, and they became close and inseparable. At this point now, she knew that she had a tiny crush on him. That’s when she’s thankful she’s the mind reader.

A year passed in which Atheya had been in a pure, comfortable bliss. Then it stopped when the foster parents didn’t want her. Being told that her and Julian would be separated was hard. And they reacted by simply running away and travelling together. Pretty normal reaction. One of the places in which they fell in love with on their many travels was Rome, Italy, and they stayed within an old building on top of a hill, and renovated it. This is where they have made their roots and stayed permanently. Yet it wasn’t only them, it was a group of people they found and protected, protected because they all also held abilities. They called the home the Safe Haven.

Swinging her legs off the edge of the bed, she slid out and her exposed feet touched the firm ground, and her sketch book slid off her chest and fell onto the ground. She had fallen asleep drawing late into the night. Putting on her exercise outfit, she looked at herself in the elongated mirror that leaned against the way beside the large arched window that streamed in the light of the rising sun, and put her hair in a pony tail. She turned to move away, before she noticed the look of a grey smudged lead showed on the side of her face. Guess she had actually slept on her pencil. Running out of her room still barefoot and across the hall, she tried to be quiet as to not wake anyone up, as it was about five thirty in the early morning, and everyone was still sleeping. Running the cool tap water, she splashed her face and rubbed the grey smudge off her face. Convinced it had all vanished she ran down the steps and to the front door, where she slipped on her shoes and walked out the door, making her way to the small, barn cottage that sat on the property. It really was just a large room made of stone and concrete, beams all holding it up. They did training in here sometimes, but it was mostly just known as ‘Theyas little hide away. Inside she had paint canvases, her adored punching bag, and a very old, cracked wooden piano that she had the other help drag inside for her. The thing was free on the street. Yeah, it was a really weird set up.

There was also small table with slightly padded boxing gloves on top of it, and a set of speakers beside it. Walking over to that small table, she plugged in her phone to the rather large set of speakers that had took her about half an hour to haul down the house steps, through the yard, and into here when she first got them. She refused to accept help, because she was stubborn. Considering the weight of the speakers, half an hour wasn’t a bad time at all really. Scrolling through her music playlists, she pressed the one that simply read out “Workout.” It consisted of music that carried a heavy, heart pumping tone, one that would bring out the frustrating and aggravated side of Atheya she needed to get in a decent workout. Metallica, Def leopard, some White Stripes, some of her more edgier hard indie rock, and anything like the type was what consisted of the playlist.

At this point Atheya went through her regular routine of stretches, that took her about ten minutes to execute. She stretched her arms, did some neck rolls, core stretches, and some lunges so her legs muscles wouldn’t get pulled, and she was all good. Grabbing from the table her black gloves, she strapped them on, and moved over to the heavy duty black bag. She gave a small smile as she took in a deep breath. This was one of the two things that she could focus on, and was something she enjoyed to do. The other thing was her drawing. When she was a kid, she was always in the MMA clubs or art clubs in whatever school she went to before she hopped foster parents. It was a weird mix, but both helped her. This just let her get her frustrations out that she held in. It wasn’t frustration against the group of course, but on her own self and of her past that she never really let anyone know.

After getting into the mental state she needed to be in, she put herself in her proper stance, and began hitting and kicking the bag, gradually warming up to it more and more, hitting harder every time. A half an hour must have passed before she stopped, and went back inside taking her phone with her. Now the time was around, 6:15 and nobody was up yet from what she could tell.
Moving to one of the bathrooms, she took a short shower, dried her hair, and made her way back into her room in which she changed into normal clothes. Time? 6:30. I think I have time to go into the city. She thought to herself, making it back out the door and down the ten minute walk down the steps. Entering into the quiet morning city, all the cafe’s and markets were just opening. Walking into one of her favorite cafe’s, she grabbed some croissants and other breakfast foods. Once picking out enough for the whole group, getting a variety of things for their different tastes, she handed them to the person at the till, smiling brightly, saying “Ciao, io prendo questi per favore.” Which just meant I'll take these please in Italian. At that point Atheya tried to switch out her British accent for an Italian on. Her Italian just sounded odd in her accent.

When he weighed them, she paid him the correct amount of cash she owned him, grabbed the two doggy bags everything was placed in, and walked out the door, calling back “Arrivederci!”

The time now was about 6:50 in the morning, and she sat down on a bench near a fountain, and opened the bag to grab one of the sweet bread rolls she had bought. Chewing it slowly, she made sure to take her time. When she finished, she went on a small walk around, the city coming to its morning life by the minute. She noticed a lot of them where tourist who woke bright in the morning. She could just saw the wonder in all their eyes. When it reached Seven fifteen, she decided to head back.

Walking through the old oak doorway, she made her way into the kitchen that was just around the corner from the main stairway. Placing the two doggy bags on the island, she continued then to sit on one of the hard wood stools. Propping her arms up on the counter, she set her head down on top of her warmer skin instead of the hard granite counter. She began day dreaming a bit, but that just turned to her promptly falling asleep once more right smack in the kitchen.

The whistle of the tea kettle broke through Atheyas sleep and she woke up, giving a tiny groan. She kept her head down, looking as if she was still sleeping especially as her eyes were still closed. Yeah, she really didn’t feel like getting up. Soon after, she heard the heavy footsteps of someone else entering the kitchen area, and heard the voice of Julian. She was going to lift her head up and maybe look like she was awake, but that was before she heard whispers in her ear. “Hey, Theya? We’re out of firewood, what do you say we chop up that old piano in the barn and get toasty?” Opening her eyes, and turning her gaze to look at him, she gave a very enunciated, and sarcastic “Ha ha ha.” Patting his check twice, she moved to slip off the stool, and went over to grab some tea, all the while saying “Julie, you’re always so funny.” Using the nickname he wasn’t exactly fond of. Opening one of the tiny jars on the counter, she grabbed one of the black tea bags and dropped it into the mug she pulled out of the cupboard. Pouring some of the hot water from the kettle, she waited a minute before removing the little bag filled with the tea, mumbling under her breath in almost a question to herself, “Who even says get toasty?” in reference to Julian’s whisper.

Leaning against the counter, she held the porcelain mug with both of her hands, the warm seeming to radiate through her arms. “Morning, by the way,” she said in a warm voice to all three, Penelope, Julian, and Mike who walked in shortly after. Taking a sip from her tea, she lowered it from her lips soon after. “Oh,” She said, a thought coming to her head. “I need to go get that girl today, she has a foster family right now so I’m not sure she will come with us, but we best give her the option.” She stated.

Atheya about a week ago had crossed paths with an icy haired girl, and it seemed that she was having a pretty miserable day, and when that happened her mind just automatically clicked with hers. So, by accident, Atheya found out about her “icy” powers, and got a quick clash of her past. The good thing about her was that she was literally right at home in Italy, so there was no plane ride or anything to have to creepily stalk and hand a letter to the person. Once she got home that day, she had informed everyone of the situation so they knew what was coming. The girls name was Reyna.

What usually happened when they brought a new person in was just hand them a letter with a bit of information and chat for a bit, leaving to let them decide upon themselves if they would follow or not, but since she lived right in the city Atheya, and Julian if he was coming as well, could discuss it to her more in depth, They could explain why they started it, who the others are, what the others do, all the basics.

Glancing up at the extremely taller boy, she said to Julian. “If you want you can come, but it really won’t take too long to talk to her.” She smiled, taking yet another sip of her tea. Looking over at the weirdly artsy clock on the wall, that she can’t even remember who got, she saw the time and poured the rest of the tea she had out. “Probably should leave soon, give her a day to think about it.” Pushing herself away from the counter, she glanced around for a second, saying, “Elliots still asleep?” Noticing the one less person in the room.