The alarms sounded as soon as my hand met the door, a high, piercing squeal that set my teeth on edge. The gray stairwell was filled with red strobe lights that reminded me I was definitely still nauseous. I flew down three flights of steps with the man pushing me from behind and sometimes holding me up when I stumbled on still unsteady legs. We burst, panting, through the door on the bottom floor and into the main atrium of the hospital. He tried to pull me back, but my adrenaline carried me out the front door just to our left and onto the street where a couple dozen other employees were milling around, chatting as if nothing crazy was happening. Breathing hard, I tried to stand up straight against the stitch in my side and ‌look like I belonged there. I was on the verge of going back inside when a familiar voice stopped me.

“Oh, hey, sweet pea! You're working late too! I didn’t see you up there. Stupid fire drill, huh? It’s cold as heck out here.” Kate animated her remark by pulling her sweater tighter around her middle and shivering dramatically. Great, this I did not need.

“Yeah. Just…. just working late.” I said. I felt a hand on my waist and jumped. When I turned, I saw my new friend behind me. I had to take a steading breath, but he looked calm and spoke in a normal tone.

“We should probably be going.” His smile was familiar, casual.

“OH, honey!” Kate squealed. “You’ve been holding out on me! Who is your handsome friend?”

I tried very hard not to groan. “No one Kate. Just... just a friend. Sorry, we have to go.” I started away from the hospital without waiting for an answer.

After a minute, he fell in beside me. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, but he had returned to scanning the surroundings nervously. It was dark, but still early enough for people to be out. We took up pace with the other foot traffic around the hospital. He began to talk a few times, but seemed to think better of it after only a few words. After ten minutes at a quick pace, cutting across a few side streets for safe measure, my adrenaline had died down enough to think again. I probably couldn’t have gone farther without a break anyway, so I figured I might as well get some answers before I passed out again. He walked a few feet before realizing I wasn’t beside, but when he looked back, he seemed hesitant to close the distance between us.

“Who are you?” I didn’t mean it to come out so aggressively. But he seemed relieved by the question.

“Well...my name’s Nate.”

“That’s great, Nate, but I think you know what I meant.” I took a breath and tried to gentle my tone. He may have just saved my life, he deserved not to be snapped at least. “Why are you here? Why am I here? Why did you come looking for me? Who were those clock and shadow douchebags back there, and why are they after us?”

The streets were not as well lit where we’d stopped, but I saw him grin. It made him look like a little boy who was up to no good and it did nothing for my mood.

“That’s a lot of questions. Quick answers though, because we have to keep moving; I’m here because it’s my job. You’re here because you’re in danger. And I was looking for you for the same reason those douchebags are. That light show you put on earlier.” He motioned vaguely toward my neighborhood.

“The explosion? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Seriously?” He looked genuinely surprised. “Don’t you watch the news?”

“Not so much lately, no.” I could feel my anger building again. “What does that have to do with me or my apartment burning down?”

“It has everything to do with it. You’re a changer.” He seemed as confused by my reactions as I was by his answer. “A changer?” He said more slowly.

“What? I don’t know what that is.” He looked skeptical and my patience was done. “I’ve had a bad few months, okay? I haven’t really kept up with the news.”

“Yeah. I heard some people got like that right before.” He went back to scanning the surrounding street, his attention only half on me now. “Depression, withdrawal, and all that.” He turned and took a step closer, his expression serious again. “I know you have a lot of questions, but this isn’t the place. They’re still looking for us and I need to get you to the house. All your questions can be answered there and by people who know more about it than me.” He turned and started off again without waiting for an answer. “I have a car close to here. I left it out a bit because I didn’t know who I would run into at your place. Figured I could blend in better on foot, you know. Anyway, it’s not far. Just try to keep up a little further.”

I followed him grudgingly. I was angry at his dismissal, but also tired, exhausted, and the thought of being this sick out on the street with nowhere to go spurred me on. Nate’s answers had only made things worse, but I was too busy trying to put one foot in front of the other to demand more. We walked for another ten minutes in silence, pausing at every corner or unlit patch of sidewalk. Finally, he stopped at the end of an alleyway we had cut through and pressed close to the dingy stone wall. He slowly peered into the street. I wanted to sit down, but this alley smelled like it might have run between two bars. It wasn’t a chance I was willing to take. But he didn’t look long before I saw his big shoulders relaxed a bit and he turned back to me, grinning boyishly again.

“It’s still there. I half thought it would be gone or maybe surrounded by cops or something.”

“How do you know it isn’t being watched?” Ugh, I’d watched way too many crime dramas.

But he just shook his head slightly. “I don’t. Not for sure, anyway. But I didn’t see anyone follow me to your place and I haven’t seen anyone from back at the hospital. Besides, we need a ride, so I’m willing to take the chance. Come on.” He dashed into the street and out of sight.

“Hey! Wait!”

Nate’s getaway car was a black two door hatchback that smelled like cigarettes and dirty socks. It looked like the only people that it could comfortably fit were midgets. I folded myself into the passenger's seat and looked at Nate. His head touched the peeling fabric and, even with the seat all the way back, his knees touched the wheel.

“This isn’t your car, is it?”

He grinned. “I may have borrowed it.”

“You stole it! Don’t you think we have enough issues without driving around in a hot car?”

"I wanted to make sure no one was following me. Don’t worry. The owners are on vacation. They won’t notice it missing for a few days.”

I gave him a doubtful look. “Listen, this is insane. I have no idea who you are. I can’t just get in a car and drive off with a stranger to who knows where. I appreciate the help getting away from whoever that was back there, but I think maybe I should just go to the police. They can help me…”

“I don’t think so,” he laughed. “Those guys back there were the police. At least some arm of them anyway. And the local police aren’t going to treat you any better than they would have.”

“But, that’s ridiculous. I haven’t done anything.”

He just shook his head and pulled the little car onto the street. “You have to them. You saw those guys back there. Feds, military, local cops, whoever they were, doesn’t matter. They all want to haul you in. I promise. Why do you think they followed you? You’re safer where I’m taking you.”

The guys at the hospital were definitely not looking for a friendly chat, but it was hard to believe the conspiracy theory Nate was pushing. The police didn’t just lock you up for doing nothing. But then my apartment had just burnt down around me. Maybe they were after me for that? That seemed wrong, though. Everything about this seemed wrong. But when it came right down to it, I was scared, and Nate made me feel safer. I knew exactly how crazy that was, but it was still true. I sighed and shifted into the most comfortable position I could find. “Hey, Nate.”

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“Humm?”

“Next time you steal a car, how about an SUV?”

He laughed as we headed toward the freeway. After a moment, he spoke. “Sorry, I’ve been a bit too busy to ask before. What’s your name?”

I started to give it without thinking. This guy had possibly saved my life. He didn’t seem like a bad guy really, and I was letting him take me who knows where in a stolen car. But giving him my name somehow felt like a bridge too far. He was looking at me expectantly. I had been stupid enough for one night. For the moment at least, one last effort to not be completely insane.

“Jemma. Jemma Johnson.” It was the name of a character in my favorite book as a child and the first thing that popped into my head. It felt stupid saying it out loud, but I couldn’t take it back without looking even worse. Nate just smiled.

“Well, nice to meet you, Jemma.”

As we drove out of the city, I nodded and shifted in the tiny seat. The smell in the car was making me nauseous again. I still needed answers, and I figured now, trapped in a car going who knows where, was the best time to get them. And the talking might keep me awake.

“What were you talking about earlier? You called me something. A changer? What does that mean and what does it have to do with why those guys are after me?”

He stayed silent for so long; I thought he must have decided just to ignore me. I’d opened my mouth to ask again when he finally answered.

“I don’t know if I am the best one to explain it all.” He held up a hand to stall my protest. “I didn’t say I wouldn't, just don’t blame me if I can’t give all the answers you want. Smarter people than me can’t figure out what the hell is going on, so…and you should probably use ‘Phoenix’. That’s what we call ourselves. At least the group of people I’m with. Other people call us changers, or worse. A lot worse.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it started happening a couple months ago. Just a few people at first. It took a while before anyone connected it all together. Folks all over the world just started exploding, putting off this light, hot enough to burn everything around them.” He shook his head sadly. “A lot of people got hurt. After the human light bulb thing, it’s the same for just about all of us. Sick after, for a day or so at least. I guess some scientists were saying it was a disease or something because of that. But then the abilities started. People started to change.”

The way he said it made my skin crawl. “What do you mean, change? Change how?”

“Well, it’s different for everybody. Not like physical changes or anything, at least not that I’ve seen. Different abilities for everybody, you know?”

“No, I don’t know. Abilities?” I scoffed. “You mean like super strength or telepathy or something?

“Yeah, yeah, sometimes stuff like that or other things. Like I said, everybody’s different.”

It took me a moment to realize he was serious. “Come on. You aren’t serious?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I am. It happened and once it became obvious something was happening, the higher ups took notice, government types and people like that. Anyway, they decided they wanted to ‘talk’ to the people who had changed. Determine the risk, I guess. Most people went willingly at first. They were as scared of what was happening as everyone else, and thought they could get answers. But a few didn’t want to go, and that’s when things started getting ugly. They announced no one that was already in custody could leave. Not many of us liked that, so we started banding together.” He grinned again. “It seems the officials are too scared to actually come get us when we stick together. Some changers started seeking others that needed protection, that didn’t want to talk to the men in black back there. Well, the bigwigs didn’t like that either and honestly, neither did some regular people. It was all at a standstill for a while but, as of two days ago, they announced that any changer who doesn’t turn himself in is considered a fugitive from the law.” He sounded weary. “Now they have an excuse to come after us. And from what I’ve seen today, they’re not even waiting for someone to turn themselves in anymore. Sorry to be the one to break it to you Jemma, but the reason those guys are after you is that technically, you’re breaking the law just by being free.”

I opened my mouth, but it took a long time for any words to actually form. “I’m not...not a fugitive...a...a changer or whatever. I mean, nothing has happened to me. I haven’t changed. I don’t have any abilities.” I knew how desperate I sounded, but I couldn’t help it.

Nate just looked calm, though. Like he hadn’t just told me the world had gone mad. “Maybe they haven’t come out yet. It can take time, or maybe they have, and you just don’t know. Like I said, everybody is different. But you are definitely a changer.”

“How could you know that? You weren’t in my apartment. How did you even know to look for me?”

“Because I’m one and I know what my ability is.” He looked across the car at me, but I couldn’t read his face in the shadows. “At least part of it, anyway. I can sense other changers. The stronger they are, the easier they are to find, and you must be pretty strong. I felt you change from miles outside the city. I told you I was looking for you because it was my job. That’s what I do, track down changers and help them get away from the bad guys.” There was a note of pride in his voice. “At least that’s what I do now. I hope, eventually, I can find other uses for it.”

Everything was going too fast. I couldn’t accept this, could I? No, it was too insane. But Nate didn’t seem crazy, at least not this crazy. “Why is this happening? What caused this? Why...” I didn’t even know the right questions to ask.

He shook his head. “I told you there might be things I couldn’t answer. As far as why, I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone else does either. At least, anyone that makes sense.” Now he sounded bitter.

I was still struggling. "But people wouldn't just stand by and let other innocent people be locked up..."

He sighed. “Actually, it’s what they want. The news lately has been nothing but anti-changer stuff. How dangerous we are, unbalanced, criminal. People are scared. They see us as a threat and want us locked up.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Yeah, try living it.”

“Where are we going?” I was losing the thread of it all. It was too much, too fast. I felt sick.

“I’m part of a group. That’s where we’re headed now. It’s like a safe house. You’ll be able to get some rest there.”

We sat in silence for sometime while I fought sleep and tried to think.

“Nate.”

“Yeah.”

“What would have happened if I didn’t want to come with you?”

He sat for a moment in silence. A small frown creasing his forehead. “I wouldn’t have forced you if that’s what you mean. But it is better that you did, for everyone.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or cry or vomit. Maybe all of them at once. I leaned against the cool window and looked outside. It was very dark outside the city. When did we even leave the city? My head felt so heavy. I tried to take in everything Nate had said, think about it logically. There had to be something important I was missing. If I just asked the right questions, I couldn’t figure out how I wasn’t this thing he said I was.

But It was too much. It sounded so ridiculous, but the light had happened and there were people chasing me and Nate had known right where to find me. I sighed and closed my eyes.

It’s hard to say how long we were on the road, but the next thing I remember was Nate shaking me gently. It was still dark outside, but we weren’t moving anymore. Once I peeled my face off the window, I saw we were parked in a wide gravel driveway. Yellow light poured from an entryway to our left. It was just enough to show the outline of a sprawling white chateau with spires and balconies and fancy wrought iron coverings on the windows. I thought I could hear a fountain in the distance. I don’t know what I’d been expecting the ‘safe house’ to look like, but this was not it. This was the biggest house I had ever seen up close.

“You live here?”

Nate shook his head. “It’s not mine, if that’s what you mean. But yeah, a bunch of us are staying here now.” He got out and moved to my side of the car. Opening the door, he offered a hand and helped me climb out. My legs were stronger, but the cramped car ride hadn't done me any favors. I followed him along the gravel path, staring at the beautiful landscaping and dark, fluted columns. To one side of the drive was a wooded area, the roof of another wing behind the main part of the house just barely visible in the distance. How big was this place? Nate slowed at the steps leading to the main door and waited for me to catch up.

Everything looked well maintained and very expensive. It was hard to believe a group of renegade weirdos were holed up in what looked like the home of some famous actor or royalty or mob boss, and I said as much to Nate.

He laughed and shook his head. “Not quite. I think all this was left to Colin. That’s the guy who owns this place. He’s an architect, or was before. He’s actually a really down-to-earth guy, though. I think you’ll like him.”

I seriously doubted that. I’d never met a rich person I’d liked. Although, to be fair, I hadn’t actually met many rich people. Nate seemed to be genuine in his like of this Collin though. We walked up a set of shallow steps and onto a bright marble landing. The cold stone and tall, ornately carved doors gave the entrance an elegant but unfriendly feel.

“Nate.”

He turned and looked at me questioningly. “Yeah, Jemma?”

“I swear to God if you take me to a bald man in a wheelchair, I’m leaving.”

His laugh echoed off the walls and made me flinch, but I couldn’t help but smile a little too. The absurdity of the situation still had my head spinning. Maybe I'd finally gone off the deep end, and this was all a crazy dream. I'd wake up tomorrow in dirty pajamas surrounded by bills I couldn't pay. But for now, I didn't have the energy to fight it. I followed Nate inside.