Troy Matthews's Story

Star remained very silent, slowly blending into her surrounding, nearly becoming invisible. She felt a weird tingly feeling and the number 4 bounce around inside her mind, with the faint pulse of the number 1. Confused, Star decided she didn't want to stay here. Star could teleport anywhere in a 5 mile radius, so, not wanting to be seen, she decided to pop out of the forest. When she emerged on a road, the tingling grew worse, except she could only make out the number 1 in her mind. A man no to far away form her had stopped his truck and was staring aimlessly at the woods. Seeing as Star was still camouflaged, he wouldn't be able to see her. Whenever she glanced at the man she got the weirdest feeling. Almost on instinct, she decided to find out who he was.

But before she could show herself, he suddenly pushed the gas and was speeding away. Star concentrated and teleported onto the bed of the truck. Not wanting to cause a scene to any cars passing by, Star transformed into a simple blue-jay. It was painful and slow, but better than getting spotted on the roof of some guys car. All the while, the odd feeling radiated from the number on her neck. The guy had gotten out and went into a house, but came out a little later and drove to a bar.

Curious, she transformed back into her normal self and entered the bar, grabbing a seat at the counter, close to the guy and a girl who faintly resembled the man. She guess maybe they were siblings. And judging by the conversation, they were. Suddenly, a comment sparked Star's interest. ""Well why don't you just read my mind and figure it out!"

Could it be true? Weirder things have happened. And what was with the weird feeling? Shaking her head, she realized the guy was leaving. Star didn't have any money on her so she couldn't pay. Felling guilty, she teleported out of there, hoping the bartender didn't see her teleport.

But Star had missed her target. She didn't teleport where she thought she would end up. Instead, she teleported right in from of the guy that just left. Letting out a startled scream of fright, She backed up, nearly tripping to the ground.

(I just realized that we have to same first name)

Spitfire grumbled as she texted Cyrus. One of the keys wouldn't work. Spitfire frowned in frustration as she pressed the glass, hard. It shattered and it broke into a million little pieces. "Dammit!" Spitfire exclaimed, throwing her phone at the ground. It made an indention in the ground. "Oops," She winced as she picked it up carefully. Spitfire knew it couldn't be repaired. She held a flame to it until it turned to ashes. "There, no one needs to know," Spitfire exclaimed, dusting off her hands.

Spitfire kept walking. It was getting chilly. "I better head home," She grumbled. Her leggings got stuck on a thorn, shredding it. "Ugh!" Spitfire untangled the mess. The leggings had ripped at her ankle. Spitfire sat down and pulled out a safety pin and held the leggings together. "I;ll just throw these away, and it'll all be good," Spitfire exclaimed. She walked along and got out of the forest. She tried to start up her motorcycle, but it made a horrible sound. "UGH!" Spitfire kicked it in frustration. A huge dent appeared. Spitfire hit her head as she tried to bend it back to shape. She looked up, it was pretty dark on the road. Even if she got it in working order, her headlight was shattered now.

Spitfire groaned as she started to walk her bike along. "This will take FOREVER!" She yelled out, scaring a few birds away. Spitfire could feel an intense warmth growing in her head. She quickly blew on her hands, which had started to smolder and smoke. "Ugh!" She cried out in frustration.

Star was about to teleport out of there, but the guy walking towards her asked if she was okay. That wasn't something someone who almost crashed would say. Instead, he'd likely be spewing profanities and shouting at her to get out of the middle of the road. Instead, he asked if she was okay. Star turned her head in confusion, unsure what to do. "I would make some reference to how it's not wise to walk in front of a moving car, but I think we both know walking wasn't really a factor here."

Star froze in place.

How does he know I could teleport? Does he know about my shape-shifting too? And invisibility? Surely he couldn't know about the force-feeds. I didn't use any anywhere near him. And why do I get that weird tingly feeling and keep thinking of the number one?

Star stepped back a step, ready to put up a force-feild if necessary.

"Lady what's with trying to kill us?" the girl in the truck said.
"She didn't try to kill us, stop being a brat."
"Excuse me!? Did you just forget where we had to walk from? THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!"
"I know, it's not that simple though......"
"What is it then!?"

At that point the guy turned to her. "It's her ability, is it not?"

Yes... But how does he know this about me? Where is he getting this information?

"You're Number Two, Elizabeth Starling. Your mark, it's on the back of your neck."

Star reached her hand up and touched the mark on the back of her neck, tracing the outline. The mark, and her purple eyes were the only two things she couldn't change when shape-shifting. He then introduced himself as Troy Matthews. The name bounced around in her head, sparking a faint memory of the Blackout. Troy Matthews...

Suddenly he put his hand on her shoulder and she flinched away, a weird tingly feeling spreading on her shoulder where his hand was. It sort of felt good, but Star had major trust issues. However, a sudden thought that she knew was true echoed in her mind

This is Number One. I am number Two.

Star frowned. Does that mean I can trust this guy? Four... four? Are there four of us? The blackout? Why can't I remember any of this? How does he know this? thoughts flooded her mind and she took another step back trying to process things.

"I've been sensing you for a while now, so I know you're following us, question is - why? You could of just said hello."

Why had she followed him?

"I didn't know who you were. I just got this weird feeling like I knew you, but I had no clue who you were. Which begs the question, how do you know me? Which one of us is the stalker here?" She asked, laughing nervously, trying to lighten the mood. "We probably should get out of the middle of the road," she said. Without thinking she teleported to the side of the road. Realizing what she had done she quickly turned invisible. Wincing again, realizing she should probably just stop. Turned visible again she turned to Troy.

"Sorry... I'm not the most social person. And I don't normally show what I can do to other people... but I think I can trust you. But how did you know that stuff about me? Are you a mind reader or something?"

Star pondered the question. Teleport home, or get into a truck with a guy she just met who seems to know more about her than she does. The answer was simple. "Sure," she said to Troy, walking over to the truck and the bubbly, and rather impatient, girl was waiting inside. Up close, Star could see striking similarities between the girl and Troy. If they weren't siblings, she would be surprised.

Star climbed into the truck. Literally. Being as short as she was and as tall as the truck was, it took her a little effort to get into the seat. Star then sat in awkward silence as Troy climbed in, too, sliding in next to her. Being this close, she could feel his arm brush up against her own, which sent tingles up her arm.

"My house is down by the lake. Keep going along this road until you see the 'Lakeside Pier Ahead' sign. Then you turn right and I'll tell you where to go from there," She said "So.. you can call me Elizabeth if you want. But most of my friends call me Star." A grand total of two friends...

Star looked over at Troy, taking in his appearance. Star tended to do this with everyone she met in case she ever had to shape-shift into their appearance. Star had to admit, Troy was very attractive. His hair was a mix of streaks of blonde and brown. His jawline was very defined, but in a good sort of way that suited his face. His mouth was perfect. His smile was brilliant and his eyes were striking. Bright sky blue. Star was disappointed she would never be able to replicate them, her purple eyes would always stay the same. He was tall and fairly muscular.

Star suddenly caught herself staring and looked away, taking one last peek at his eyes. "How did you know that stuff about me? You knew my name and I've never even met you before. Have I?" I surely would have remembered him... especially those eyes.

---

---

A scientist's light footsteps echoed down a long hallway. The echoing continued until the scientist stopped at a door, clipboard in hand. Voices could be heard inside and the scientist entered a number onto the keypad on the side of the door. A small beep sounded from the keypad and the scientist opened the door.

"This is a global catastrophe."
"There is only four of them. It shouldn't be that hard to do!"
"Sir, you don't understand their capabilities. I suspect that the four of them combined are even more deadly than an entire army."
"Then single them out, capture them one by one."
"Send in a SWAT team"
"Air force."
"Spies?"
"It's not that simple. We don't know where any of them are. The last we heard, Subject 1 was in Texas. Now we've lost his location."

At that, the scientist spoke up. "Excuse me," he said, interrupting the Director of the project, an FBI agent, and several other higher up government officials. "We've just received notice of an abnormal spike in Radioactive and/or supernatural chemical activity in the general area of Northern Ohio. This spike in activity could be the cause of the Four."

"All four subjects? Where in Ohio? Are they together?"
"That is unknown. We only know they are in Northern Ohio"
"I will a group in air force to scout out Ohio in sections, looking for strange activity."
"Any report of strange activity and we will send in SWAT teams,"

Again, the scientist interrupted. "Excuse me, again, sorry."
"I would like to send in Subject 5."

Star kept rolling the information around in her head, trying to get a grasp on what she had just learned. They are four of them, She is number two and he is number one. When they reached her house, at the back of her mind she wondered how they had found it, because she hadn't told them any more directions, to involved in her own thoughts and what Troy had said. She brushed it off, wondering what Troy's abilities were. Maybe he had a really good sense of direction or something.

Star climbed out, taking Troy's hand. Just touching his hand sent a shiver down her back, which was most likely because of the weird feeling that spread from her neck, where her number was. He almost seemed familiar, like someone she had known forever. Yet she had never seen him before.

Ducking under his umbrella the tow of them quickly made it too her front porch, the overhand above her keeping them both dry. It was then that he offered to drive her to lunch tomorrow. To which she agreed, but she decided to have some fun. Focusing, she copied everything about him, from the last hair on his head to the clothes he was wearing. She shape-shifted completely into Troy. When she was done, they stood face-to-face, her purple eyes peering into his blue ones. And then mimicking his voice exactly, she said "I have one condition though. You have to answer one more question. What is it that you can do? Clearly you know about my teleportation and now shapeshifting. Tell me something you can do," She said with a smile, his smile.

Telekinesis? So cool. Star was already shifting back to her normal self when Troy lifted her in the air, using telekinesis of course. A smile spread on her face. This guy was awesome. As her feet touched the ground again, she grabbed hold of the umbrella and thanked Troy. And with that, she was gone.

She was of course, now inside her house. Why she didn't just walk through the door was questionable, but she teleported in because her door was locked as it normally was and her keys were no where in sight. Her house was two story but small, very small. It consisted of one bedroom, one bathroom, one tiny little kitchen and a small living area with a TV that never got any channels worth watching. It had old pieces of furniture and stairs crammed into the back of the house that were steep and rickety. In short, her house was tiny, cheap, but her own. She lived alone. Her father died when she was three, a car accident took the life of her brother, and her mother disappeared in the blackout. So, with a small job being an assistant to a magician in a show that was always preformed at the Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside, she made a little money and bought a house. It was rough at times, but with a little thievery which she is not proud of, she managed on her own until she got a real job.

Star went to her fridge, and fried up some eggs for a very late dinner, softly singing one of her favorite songs. Her life was simple. Lonely, but simple. Don't get involved and people don't acknowledge you. Nobody suspects you could do something like turn invisible or teleport. Was she being stupid, talking to some as unique and... different as her? Sighing, Star climbed into bed, thoughts of Troy swirling her head.

-time skip-

Star woke up to the annoying alarm clock beside her bed. It was six in the morning but she wasn't exhausted. Star was a morning person and went jogging to the pier every morning. Today she felt a little sluggish though, from coming home a little later than normal. However, Star slid out of bed and started her morning routine, eating breakfast, jogging, coming home, spending some time with a punching bag, and then taking a shower. Star also took a self-defense class in the afternoon on tuesdays, karate on wednesdays, and boxing on thursdays. Star was so small so she made an effort to always be able to defend herself, especially knowing what abilities she possessed. If anyone figured out what she could do, she would need to defend herself.

It was at noon that Star heard the honk of a horn from outside. At the time Star was reading a book, wearing one of her favorite outfits. Star put down her book and peeked through the windows beside the door. Troy's truck was parked in her tiny driveway, looking out of place. Star locked her front door and teleported outside, not bothering to grab her keys. She was met by Troy at his passenger side door. Star was going to teleport inside the truck to save herself the embarrassment from crawling into the truck, but troy helped her up and she graciously accepted his help.

Star couldn't help herself and stole a glance at his eyes. They were just so... blue. Star almost envied his eyes. Pulling her eyes away from his, she buckled up and waited as Troy got into the truck, too. The ride to the restaurant was short and Star spent it sitting quietly, questions formulating in her head, often glancing at Troy's eyes and entertaining herself by turning her hair different colors. When they got to the restaurant and were seated, Star couldn't contain herself.

"Ok. Now talk. How do you know all this stuff. How did you know who I am? Where did you earn this stuff about there being Four of us. What happened during the blackout? How do you know this stuff and not me?" The questions kept tumbling out of her mouth and once she was done she sucked in a breath and sighed.

Spitfire opened her eyes. She groaned at the thought of sunlight, and seeing it was even worse. Suddenly, losing her balance, she fell out of the tree she had slept in. The ground was muddy, and she ended up falling in a big mud slick. "AH!" She let out a shriek as she stood up and slipped again. She sneezed, setting her sleeve on fire. She scuffed it out and shivered. Spitfire felt crappy. She was still damp from the rain. Now she would be walking, homeless, damp and mud covered to who knew where. Sadly, the mud would only dry over time. Looking back at the direction of her house, she shook her head.

Spitfire looked up at the bright sun that was blinding her. She put her hand in front of it, shielding her eyes. She slowly moved her hand from the sun, slowly getting used to the light. Once she was used to it, Spitfire started a slow jog through the forest before she came to the sidewalk, her feet slapping the ground. She let out a fit of coughing followed by some sneezes. She hugged herself as she ran along. She wanted to go home, but that meant defeat, giving up. And now that she had been really kicked out, there was no going back. She couldn't stay with Cyrus or Tom, that would put them in too much danger. Besides, they had themselves to take care of, and they could barely do that.

Spitfire fumbled through her wallet. There was a mud-soaked five and three twenties. That was enough to get her food for about three or so days, considering she would eat gas station food and maybe they would let her inside a McDonalds if she cleaned up a bit. Her stomach growled loudly. If she was at home, she would be eating some yogurt and granola, sipping on iced tea and she logged onto online college. That was never her home. Her real parents weren't there, just a crabby old lady and a slob who were still better then the rest. She moved her fiery red hair back. There was an uncomfortable crick in her neck. Rubbing it, she sighed. "I guess that's what happens when you sleep in a tree," She muttered.

Once she reached a bus stop, she sat down on the bench. Most likely, she couldn't afford a bus ride. Suddenly, an old rust bucket made the climb from a hill up to the bus stop, then halted to a stop. The tinted windows rolled down, revealing an unwelcome sight. Recognizing the car, Spitfire tried to cover her face with her knees. A loud laugh came from the girl, who roughly moved her legs aside. "There you are freak! I told Tom it wouldn't be long until your mother kicked your pathetic ass out," Another snicker came from beside her, one of her stupid friends. Spitfire huddled up some more. "Aw, what's wrong freak?" Tom's girlfriend, Kelly, kept trashing her before Spitfire had enough.

Spitfire suddenly stood up without waring. She punched Kelly in the face. "AH!" She screamed. "My nose! My nose!" She cried as she was beaten to the ground, Spitfire hitting her nose constantly. Her friend backed up in horror as she spied Kelly's nose. It was bloody, and the skin was raw, thanks to Spitfire's strength. "Next time, it won't be your goddamn nose!" Spitfire yelled. She started to run, leaving the two girls to shriek over her nose.

Spitfire trudged along. Spying a stray hoodie, she snatched it up and put it on. It was bright red. She looked pretty odd, almost walk of shame-like. She shoved her hands in it and put up the hood, closing it up so far you couldn't see her face well. Spitfire sat on a bench next to an old lady waiting for someone to pick her up. The old lady started to go on about something that Spitfire could care less about. Once a car appeared, the old woman ran towards it and they drove off. Spitfire saw something on the ground. It was a wallet. She looked inside. It was the old ladies', but there was no way to track her down. Spitfire grinned at the sight of cash. She pulled out enough money to buy herself some lunch and headed into a restaurant. She still had some mud on her clothes, but the hoodie covered it.

Once she was seated, Spitfire looked around. She could see everyone seated, filling up the booths. None of them were alone. There was an old couple, a family of three, a family with five kids, etc. She waited for someone to ask for her order when she saw a car pull up. She watched intently as she saw something strange. Did that girl's hair just change? Spitfire rubbed her eyes, shaking her head. She was probably just tired. After she and a guy got seated, Spitfire let out a loud sneeze. She quickly patted out the fire her sneeze had started. Hopefully no one saw, and no one seemed to. Spitfire let out a sigh of relief.

Adam Dawson

Walking down main street Adam in a great mood, he held his deck of cards in his hands and was performing basic cardisty absent-mindedly. His messenger bag swung slightly by his side as he walked. His aim today was to ask around and see if there was any part time jobs available anywhere. As he performed a one handed fan he grabbed the attention of a girl who was on her phone, stood outside of a restaurant. She was wearing a shirt that had the name of the branch sewed into the heart. As he stopped walking and returned a smile a sudden feeling hit him, much like the one he experienced yesterday in the woods. Rubbing his forehead he took a quick look inside the restaurant, it was packed full.

Turning back to the girl who must have been a waitress he began talking. "Hey, name's Adam, I'm guessing you work here?" he asked while shuffling his cards.

"I'm Lucy," she put her phone in her pocket out of politeness, "Yeah I pretty much just got this job. Why?"

Trying to ignore the slight buzzing in his mind that was getting stronger Adam carried on, "I was just if there are any more places available actually, I'm out today looking for a part time job." He shuffled his cards once again without looking.

"I think I took the last spot unfortunately," she looked at his hands shuffling his cards and then looked back up, "Sorry."

Adam wasn't surprised, there seemed to be a lack of any luck coming his way today as he'd been turned down everywhere he went. "It's fine, I'm sure I can go and work in the mines." he said jokingly. He noticed she took and interest in his cards and took the opportunity like he always would. "Would you like to see a trick?"

"Okay sure." she said with a smile.

Spreading out the cards Adam suppressed the weird feeling he had in his mind as his wrist started tingling. "Okay Lucy, pick a card, literally any card." after she grabbed a card he shuffled, "Now memorise that card for me." fanning the cards out he watched her put it back into the deck and saw as it protruded out of the back of the deck once he squared it up. Performing a cut he was happy her selected card had reached the top of the deck in such a small amount of time. Smiling as he performed a few false shuffles he thought up a new trick on the spot. As someone tried to get past the two he slid her card into his hand and gestured for them to move, placing the card in her pocket as he politely moved around her. After a few more shuffles he fanned the cards out and spoke. "Okay, do you see your card here?" he asked with a smirk.

"No it's not there." Lucy said as she looked at the cards.

"That's because you are looking in the wrong place, take a look in your left pocket." The smile on his face was huge now.

As she lifted out her selected card she put her hand over her mouth in awe. "How in the world did you-" she was cut off by the door opening beside her and another member of staff coming out.

"Lucy we needed you back in there five minutes ago, get inside and keep an eye on the time next time." he said sternly, giving Adam an agitated look.

As she gave him back the card she walked inside and the door closed, leaving Adam with the itching wrist and fuzzy feeling in his head. He turned slowly and watched his feet as he carried on walking down the road.

Star slumped back into her seat, her short stature being almost consumed by the huge booth seats. Star sat staring at her glass, and a half eaten piece of pizza on her plate, trying to process what Troy had just said. If it was true that these people were hunting them down, then they needed to leave Lakeside. She had lived here for awhile, surely there would be some records on her by now. She would have to leave everything behind... A frown slipped across her face.

However her thinking was cut short as a tingly feeling spread across the back of her neck, the same feeling she felt around Troy. Someone else was here. One of the Four. Star turned in her seat, glancing around the room, her eyes finally finding the red haired girl who use entered. She looked a little torn up, and muddy. Star could see the mud that soaked her shoes and bottoms of her pants, and there was a streak of mud on her face that she didn't seem to have seen. Star immediately knew that this was Number Four. Troy confirmed what she was thinking. What could Number Four do? Shoot lasers from her eyes? Breath underwater? Lift things five times her weight?

Star was pondering this when a sudden thought struck into her mind. Star turned back to Troy. "Wait, you overheard someone think about this stuff? So you are a mindreader?" She asked. Then she did what anybody else would do in her position. She practically screamed her thoughts, forming a sentence with her thoughts, trying to test this. she thought "If you really can read my mind, then tell me something only I would know." Star almost felt silly doing this. How could somebody possibly know what she is thinking right now? A realization hit her. Embarrassed, Star blushed, recalling everything she had every thought near him. About his eyes.... Star squeezed her eyes shut. He was likely reading her mind right now. Star's face went bright red and she looked down at her pizza again.

Spitfire, completely silent, as she waited for her food. ONe of the servers came to her with a small mini pizza. The cheese oozed over the crusts, the smell reaching her nose. Her mouth watered. She hadn't realized how hungry she was. Devouring the pizza in only a few minutes, she wiped off the oil dripping down her chin. Her stomach still rumbled. Spitfire laid some money down, including a tip and ran into the bathroom. She stood at the mirror, grimacing at her mud-covered clothes and the streak on her face.

Spitfire grabbed a paper towel and scrubbed at her face, the dirt crumbling into the sink below her. She looked around, then decided that her hair was too ratty to leave unwashed. She turned on the hottest setting of water. If she was going to deal with any water, it would have be as hot as possible. Her hair slowly weighed down with the weight of the water. She smiled as her scalp felt cleaner by the second.

Spitfire grabbed her soaking hair as she turned the water off. She crouched under the hand-dryers, her hair moving around. Once it was dry, Spitfire, feeling hot in the hoodie, took it off and examined herself. Her tank top was mainly clean, expect for a small dash of mud on the lace. Grimacing, Spitfire moved her hair to cover it. She stared at the ruby ring on her middle finger. Out of habit, she twisted the gem, revealing the small blade that Cyrus had built in her favorite ring. Twisting it back on, she walked out and back to her table to make sure the waitress got her money. She did. Spitfire walked towards the door.

Star finished her pizza, watching as the muddied redhead, Elizabeth, Troy had said was her name, tear through a mini pizza. It looked as if she hadn't eaten in days. For all Star knew, she hadn't. Homeless maybe? Or just having a rough day? It didn't seem like she was homeless, she just looked a little muddy. However, the way she ate the pizza was disgusting, and Star turned back to the table, peering out the window to see if she could spot Troy. she didn't so she picked up her drink and took a sip before turning back around to see if the redhead was still there.

Star turned her head from side to side, looking around. Elizabeth was gone. Star stood up suddenly, panicked she had lost her. However, a streak of red hair caught the corner of her eye. Star turned to see the redhead disappear into the bathroom. Star took a deep breath and set back down. Looking at where Elizabeth had sat, she noticed money on the table, which meant she would be leaving. Star thought fast, thinking of some sort of reason why Elizabeth shouldn't leave. Troy had asked her to keep her here, so Star would. Star smiled, and idea occurring to her.

Nobody was paying attention to her, so, she dropped her fork under the table intentionally. Ducking down, she shape shifted fast, it was painful to shape shift faster than normal, but she didn't have much of a choice. When she bent back upright, clutching her fork, she was the spitting image of Troy. Catching Elizabeth in his sight again, he stood up, and crossed the room, blocking Elizabeth's pathway to the door. What would she say? What would Troy say? Clearing her.. uh, his... throat, she/he finally came up with something. "Um, I hate to be intrusive, but can I talk to you for a second?" she said with an exact impersonation of Troy

Star motioned to the seat she was sitting at, a couple pieces of the pizza Troy and her were sharing early sitting on the table. Star sat down where she was sitting earlier, hoping Elizabeth sat down too.