December 2004

A 7-year-old Megan wakes up from her nap drowning in sweat. She’s in her one-bedroom shack in the capital’s poorest neighborhood. Her parents are out working and she’s by herself. Her right hand trembles and she grabs it with the other, trying to make it stop. It slowly turns blue.

No, no, no, stop, stop.

She fires the blue light against her mother’s pot, breaking it immediately into a thousand pieces.

No!

She grabs the broom and cleans it up. Her heart races and she scratches her tangled, short, broken hair. It’s cold outside, the house doesn’t have any isolation and Megan only has a layer of clothes.

Her parents return later that day for dinner. They share one bread and Megan pours a bland soup on their plates. Megan’s mom looks at where the plant was supposed to be and Megan looks away.

“Where’s me plant, Megan?”

“What now, ma?” Megan sits down and starts eating.

“Ya heard me. Where’s me plant?” She gets up and goes to the corner, “it was there this morning. What did ya do?”

“Nothing, ma,” Megan avoids looking at her mom and scoffs, “know nothing ‘bout no plant.”

“You destroyed it, didn’t ya? With that devilish hand,” she adds.

“Leana!” Megan’s father raises his voice.

“What now? She did it. Again!” Her mom grabs a knife from the table and points it in her direction, “I should cut that hand off!”

Megan’s eyes fill with water and tears fall on her plate.

“Dear, did ya break it?” her father asks and Megan nods this time.

“I knew ya lying!” Her mother shouts and slaps her.

“Leana!” Her father pushes her mother away from her.

“You’ll never change, Megan. Never!” Her mother pushes her father away and sits again. Slurping her food.

“She’s a child, Leana! Tomorrow, we’ll see the future teller. He’ll know if Megan changes, no?” He removes Megan’s plate and tells her to go to bed.

On the next morning, they take Megan to a clairvoyance. He asks for a generous fee for a brief glimpse of the person’s future.

Megan’s father gently pushes her in the direction of the man. He asks for her hand.

“Pa.” She looks back to him and he smiles.

“It’s okay, little girl. You’ll see it too. Let’s see your future together!” The man smiles.

Megan closes her right fist at first, but eventually slowly gives in. She shows him her palm and as soon as he touches it, her eyes turn white, everything is black for a moment, and then it turns clearer, a blue right hand slowly rises, the light turns brighter and brighter until it fires in every direction. Megan regains conscious, and the man slaps her hand and takes several steps back.

“This child is death! Death! Get her away from me!”

“Please, sir!” Megan’s father falls to the ground with his hands covering his face.

I knew it. Leana grabs Megan, her husband, and they leave.

Megan home. The fifteen-minute walk back to their house is filled with silence. Their unspoken thoughts fill their minds.

We’re not safe around ya. Her father avoids looking at her.

You’ll kill us any day now. I knew it. Leana looks at her husband and tells him we have to get rid of her. He nods.

When they get home, Megan runs to the bed and starts crying. Her father hugs her tight while her mother puts sleeping pills in the tea and hands it to her.

“It’ll make ya feel better, love.” She smiles.

Megan reaches for the cup and drinks it in one go. A few moments later, her eyes get heavy and she collapses on the bed. Her father gets up and grabs the knife, puts it close to her throat, but his hand can’t stop shaking and he puts it away instead.

“I can’t, Leana.”

“She’s death.”

“Not now, she isn’t. We can take her away, leave her someplace someone can help her.”

They wrap her around a blanket, the only one they had, ask a neighbor for their car, put Megan in the car and drive off for three hours. They reach one of the capital’s wealthiest areas and see a place to hide her near a dumpster. It’s protected enough from the cold for her to be there. They lay her there, with some cardboards on the floor, and left, without writing any note.

Megan wakes up, shivering. It’s early in the morning, probably five or six.

Where am I? She looks around, trying to recognize the buildings. Ma… pa… where are ya?

She hears footsteps approaching and sees that they belong to two young soldiers.

“I wish this ceasefire would last forever, man,” one of them says and lights up a cigarette.

“You just want the war to be over,” the other kicks the snow.

“Don’t you?”

“My father died in this war two years ago. I want it to end when they are all dead.”

“The other side also lost someone. That’s probably what they think too, man-” the boy notices Megan, “what the….” He puts out his cigarette and runs toward her. “are you okay? Why are you all alone?”

Megan looks into his eyes and sees the kindness in them. She sees his gun next and takes several steps back, hitting her back against the wall.

“I won’t hurt you.” he takes off his coat and hands it to her. She refuses at first, and takes it in her own hand and puts it on, “please come. We’ll take you somewhere warm!”

“Are you insane?” the other boy comes closer. “we aren’t taking her anywhere.”

“We can’t leave her to die here. She’s by herself, man. It’s Christmas. Have you got no heart?”

“The general won’t like this!”

“Then I’ll take the heat. No problem, man, this was all me!”

As soon as they park outside the perfume factory, several other soldiers surround their car and try to take Megan from them. The boy stands up to them and tells them not to touch her. He’ll take her in. He takes her to his general and he orders them to head to the lab downstairs. The boy puts her in a transparent room and tells her it will be okay. She notices his eyes again and believes him.

“Does it seem like we are running a charity here?” Edward Hall shouts right outside Megan’s room. She can’t hear them.

“He’s young, Mr. Hall. I’m sure we can move past this.” the general’s soothing tone is working its charms.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Now what am I supposed to do with it?” Edward points at Megan.

Saif Ahktar and the mental controller that works with him are passing by when the mental controller stops.

“What’s wrong?” Saif asks him.

“Edward, who is that?” His mouth won’t close.

“An orphan that some idiot soldier decided to take in. I’m dealing with it,” Edward scoffs.

“No… you don’t understand…” the mental controller comes closer to the glass, “I can’t… read her mind,” he says and Saif and Edward look at him.

“What do you mean?” Saif asks.

“I mean… I can’t. I just can’t.” He faces Edward now, “this never happened before.”

“Find me other mental controllers,” Edward orders Saif.

Ten minutes later, all the other mental controllers available, all seven, are watching Megan. No one could read her mind.

“The child is a deviant. Clearly, maybe its ability is blocking it. Send a soldier there with a syringe to take her blood out for testing,” Edward orders.

A soldier goes inside and Megan runs to the corner of the room, trying to stay as away from him as possible. He tells her he won’t hurt her, but she begins trembling, her right hand turns blue and she fires it against his shoulder, disintegrating part of it and making him bleed. The soldier shouts in pain and others rush to take him out of there.

“What…?” Saif gasps.

“That thing just attacked my man. I’ll kill it myself,” the general says and takes off his weapon.

“You wait now,” Edward tells him.

“You aren’t in charge here, Hall!” the general’s voice echoes through the room.

“That’s a child,” Marianne Olsen and a colleague approach them from behind.

“What are you doing here, Marianne? I’ve told you already, you can’t come here.” Edward says in a strict tone and his eyes reprove her colleague.

“Hello, Marianne,” Saif smiles.

“Saif, how are you?” She smiles back and faces Edward now, “That’s a child, Edward. She’s scared and you are all making it worse.” She looks at Megan and smiles, “let me talk to her.”

“Are you insane? Did you happen to miss her blowing that arm apart?” Edward elevates his tone and everyone around the room is watching them.

“I did. I noticed you're all still alive. May I?” she removes her lab coat and hands it to Edward, asking the soldiers to let her in.

Marianne makes a ponytail out of her blonde hair with a pencil and opens the door to Megan’s room. Megan looks at her and stands in the farther corner, Marianne doesn’t come closer.

“Hello! I’m Marianne,” she smiles and says her name with an American pronunciation.

Megan watches her, the smile on her face, but more than that on her eyes. How her light blue eyes are showing friendliness, the same the soldier that took her in hand.

“I’m sorry that they scared you. I have a daughter. She’s probably around the same age as you. I know it can be scary when people don’t ask us anything. How are you?”

Megan keeps quiet.

From the other side of the window, the general, Saif, the mental controller, Edward, and the colleagues are all holding their breath.

“The temperatures were so low when they found her. How is she alive?” the general asks.

“It’s a deviant, general. They have a higher immunity when they reach the age of seven, even if they don’t develop an ability. Isn’t that right, Saif? Didn’t your asthma completely disappear when you turned seven?” Edward asks.

“That’s the devil’s work,” the general comments.

“It is, general, but the devil has brought us a gift.” Edward smiles, envisioning the damage that controlling this thing will inflict on the other side.

“Assuming you can control it. Because if not, we’ll put it down,” the general concludes.

Back in the room, Marianne still stands in the same spot.

“Are you hungry? I’m starving. I haven’t even had breakfast yet. I think I’ll eat now. We can share.”

Marianne faces the window, indicating Edward to bring something. Saif enters with some chocolate croissants, ham and cheese sandwiches, and boxes of juice and water. He leaves it on a table nearby Marianne.

Marianne sits there and puts one croissant, one sandwich, one box and one water on each side of the table. She takes a bite of the croissant and her entire face lights up.

“I just love chocolate!”

For a microsecond, Megan smiles. She slowly approaches the table and sits, but faces the opposite side of Marianne. She takes a small bite of the croissant before eating in all.

“You were hungry!” Marianne smiles again and Megan looks away. She gives her the rest of her croissant and Megan’s eyes light up.

Why are ya giving it to me? Megan takes it in one swift.

“Apple or orange?” Marianne points to the boxes of juices.

“Don’t know,” Megan finally speaks in her thick Scottish accent.

“I haven’t been to Scotland yet, but I want to. It’s beautiful there!”

“Don’t know,” Megan looks away.

“Have both, then. I’ll have the water.” Marianne smiles while opening both boxes and putting it in front of Megan.

Megan finishes eating and goes back to her corner. Marianne gets up and begins to leave.

“Will ya come back?” Megan softly asks. A whisper almost that Marianne hears.

Marianne turns around, faces her and smiles, “of course, I will.”

She finally steps outside.

“Can’t believe you made it alive, Marianne!” Saif greets her.

“Please move the girl to a different room, one with a proper bed, books for her to read, papers to draw and paint. That’s a child and you are treating her like a war prisoner.” Marianne’s voice grows louder.

“Dr. Olsen, you aren’t in charge here. This specimen will be useful to us in the war. This is not an after school special,” Edward scoffs.

“Dr. Hall, how exactly do you plan to use the specimen? To test it even? If it has the power to blow you into a million pieces if it wishes? You need to establish a relationship of trust first. I’m coming back to see her as soon as I return from university. Get her comfortable so I can work her.” Marianne smiles.

Marianne leaves for university. In the meantime, they set up a room, with vigilance and soldiers standing by in case Megan needs to be contained, but it has everything that Marianne suggested. When Megan sees it, she runs to the pieces of paper and begins drawing. They give her lunch and she eats by herself.

Ya aren’t coming. She keeps staring at the door, and her eyes grow sadder by the hour.

It’s after lunchtime and the door opens. Megan’s eyes glow when she sees Marianne.

“Wow, this is so much better, isn’t it?” She notices Megan is drawing. “Can I see what you are up to?”

Megan nods and Marianne comes closer to her and admires the drawings. They set the watercolor and begin painting, Megan telling Marianne which color to use and where.

“Did your parents paint with you?”

Megan shakes her head and continues painting.

“Can I ask you where they are?”

Megan stops painting and begins trembling. Marianne puts her hands on her shoulders and Megan feels strangely at peace.

“Slowly breathe in,” she shows her and Megan follows her until she stops shaking, “are you okay?”

Megan nods and continues painting.

“Don’t know where they are. They left me. I’m death.”

“What do you mean?” Marianne scoffs.

Megan raises her right hand and shakes it, pretending to fire in a direction.

“Death.”

“You’re not death, you hear me?”

Megan’s eyes fill with water and tears begin running down her face.

“I don’t care what they told you. You deserve more than that. It’s up to them if they couldn’t handle it. That’s not on you. You are not death.” Marianne cleans the tears from Megan’s face. “What’s your name?”

Megan looks up, notices once more Marianne’s eyes, how they sad now, how she’s about to cry.

“Megan.”

***

Later that day, Edward and Marianne are in bed in a hotel room. Marianne is getting dressed and ready to leave.

“Have you asked for the permission for the healer to see Sofie?” She asks him.

“I have, but the generals need the healer because of the latest mission. Also, Marianne, a healer, won’t cure her. It helps with symptoms, but that's all.”

“She’s unresponsive now. Any help would do.” She tries not to cry.

“I’ll see if I can convince the general to hand him over next week. Impressive work with the specimen. A few more days and she’ll trust you completely.”

“Trust takes more than a few days to build. But I’ll get there. I have to leave now.”

When Marianne enters her car, she starts crying compulsively.

Everything will be worth it when you are healed. She cleans up her tears, takes several deep breaths and starts the car.

One week went by and Marianne visited Megan every day. Several times a day, they talked, painted. Marianne read her stories when she realized Megan couldn’t read. The girl’s appearance changed drastically. And when Marianne suggested the generals and Edward that her place would be a much better accommodation for Megan, no one bat an eye, they saw a weapon in Megan, one that had to be controlled to be useful.

“Megan,” Marianne comes closer to her, “I’ve been thinking, and I wanted to ask you something. I told you about my daughter. I live with her and my husband, Erik, in a small house, but it’s big enough.”

“I don’t understand. I’d live with you?” Megan’s eyes glow, a shade of green Marianne hadn’t seen before.

“Yes, with me, Sofie, and Erik. Sofie is sick. She is in her bed all day. But she’ll get better one day and you’ll play with her. Erik works from home, so you’ll always have him there, and I’ll be there too. More than here. It’s a small house, but you’d have your own room, and toys, and books, everything that you want.”

“What if I hurt ya?” Megan’s glow disappears.

Marianne puts her hands on her shoulders and smiles.

“You would never hurt me. I trust you. Think about it, okay? There’s no rush.”

She did. She wanted to say yes immediately, but doubts and feelings of abandonment flooded her, so she pretended to need time to think.

The car ride on day one was her happiest moment. She saw everything that was going around her, took it all in, the smells, the sights, Marianne’s smile whenever she looked at her.

Marianne parked her car and Megan noticed the lake nearby, all the trees it has. A tall, dark blonde-haired man stands in the driveway and hugs Marianne.

“Erik, this is Megan.” Marianne smiles.

“Hello, Megan!” Erik’s ocean blue eyes fixate on her through his glasses. “Can I hug you?”

Megan approaches him and hugs him. They show her the house, the garden, and on the upper floor, Sofie’s room. Megan sees Sofie for the first time. How fragile she seems. She’s been younger than Megan for three years. Her eyes are closed so Megan can’t see the ocean blue eyes she has too. Her blonde, long hair is perfectly combed, as Marianne every day does it. She is in her bed, connected to several cables and machines. Most doing all the bodily functions she can’t: breathing, heart beating.

“She doesn’t speak English, only Norwegian, but she can hear your voice. You can talk to her anytime you want. Just please don’t touch any of the cables or her. it’s important for her that this is all like it is, okay?” Erik smiles.

Megan smiles back and stays a while, watching Sofie. Marianne puts Megan to bed on that first day, after finally washing her hair, combing it.

“Marianne,” Megan begins as she’s about to leave the room.

“Yes, Megan?”

“Can you stay here tonight? I’m scared.”

Marianne nods and stays next to her. Holding her hand.