Chapter 1

Everything started a few years ago when the government started testing on humans, wanting to make 'superhumans.' They had done many experiments and later on, the experiments turned into success. Except for three. Only a few patients survived the injection of the power, but they had never gained any of the abilities. Their children did.
The three super abilies that are rare and that were passed on to the patient' s children, were things called, Phasers, Porters, and Changers. Phasers can simply go through walls. Porters can create portals and transport anywhere through them. And lastly, Changers. They can shapeshift into anything and anyone they want. Changers can sound like the person or thing they shift into. They can even change into a person they have never met. Just give them a name and they'll change before your very eyes.
The other types of superhumans are Pushers, Watchers, Movers, Bleeders, Sniffs, Wipers, Shadows, Stiches, and Shifters.
Now Shifters and Changers are completely different. They may sound likr they have the same abilities, but they don't. Shifters can temperarily make an object appear to be something else. But the object has to be somewhat the same. Like changing a one dollar bill into a hundred dollar bill. But the appearance of the dollar won't last long. The more years the Shifter has been practicing their gift, the more the illusion is substained. But it can't last forever, not like Changers can.
Not like I can.
I am the only Changer that has ever lived. At least, that's what I think. My mother had been tested but she never gained the powers. But when she had me, she knew somehow, that I had gotten the powers.
Maybe it was my unnatural eyes that let my mother to believe that I was different. My gray eyes that had flecks of green around the pupil. And she was right. My mother had died two years ago because she had gotten sick and we didn't have enough money to go to the hospital. But things didn't stop going bad from there.
No, a year ago the division somehow found out that I had inherited the injection they had given my mom when she was around my age. And now for a year I've been running, hiding, from the division and their men.
Right now I have shifted into a young woman that I had seen a few years ago when my mother and I visited New Mexico for Spring Break. Right now I have short red hair, freckles splashed over my nose, and crystal blue eyes. Nothing like me.
I walk down alley upon alley. Looking before walking through. New York is so big it feels like it threatens to consume me.
"Hey girl, wanna hang with a couple of guys like us." A voice slurs behind me.
I stiffen in place. The young woman I have shifted into is around twenty years old, but in reality I'm only fifteen years old, soon to be sixteen.
I start to speed walk, wanting to get out of the alley as quickly as possible.
"Hey," A hand tugs at my arm, causing me to fall on the floor, "I was talking to you."
I look up and see three grown men, all looking disgusting and hideous. All three had over grown beards and they looked as if they haven't had a bath in a long time.
"Let me go!" I say, trying to tug my arm away from his filthy grip.
"Come on cutie, don't you want to come hang with us?" The guy, who was gripping my arm, says.
His friend to his right smiles at me and I see that he's missing a few teeth and the ones he does have are either yellow or black.
I shudder and try pulling my arm away again.
"Let go! Get away!" I cry out, tears threatening to spill.
"Hey!" A voice yells from behind the three ugly guys, "I believe the lady said to leave her alone!"
The one that was grabbing my arm let me go, turning to the voice.
"Oh yeah? And who do you think you are?" The man snarls, looking at whoever was there.
There was silence and then suddenly the three guys are pushed backward. As if hit by a very powerful wind. They are propelled into a dumpster. As they land noisily inside, the top lid closes on them.
I turn to my savior in fear that it might be some division men ready to take me in. But all I see are two teenagers that are around my actual age.
"Hey lady are you ok?" The guy asks. He extends his hand out to me.
I look at it hesitantly, but then take it and get up from my position on the floor.
"Yeah I'm ok, thanks." I say, looking at him and then at the girl, who was now standing next to him.
They looked exactly alike. They both had long blonde hair and green grass eyes, that looked like a dark forest in the dim light.
"Come on Travis, let's go." The girl says, tugging on the guy's sleeve.
"I'm Aurora," I say suddenly, "I mean...well you can call me Rory."
The guy smiles, showing his one dimple on his right cheek.
"Hi, um, I'm Travis and this is my sister Tracey." Travis says, pointing to the girl that is still holding onto his sleeve.
I recall the powerfull force that had blown the three guys into the dumpster and look up at Travis.
"Are you a Mover?" I ask.
Mover can use telekinetics to move animated and inanimated objects. Skilled Movers can create force feilds around them, or they can amplify attacks. Like punches, kicks, and other moves.
"Uh...yeah," Travis says, scratching the back of his neck.
The only people that know about everything that goes on with the division and what these gifts we are born with are, are the division themselve and superhumans like us.
"Don't worry, I'm not from the division." I say quickly, noticing their nervous looks.
"But you're like twenty-some years old, how do we know you're not tricking us." Tracey says, trying to tug Travis away.
I think a moment. Maybe if I were to show what I really look like then maybe they'll believe that I'm really not from the division. But I can't change into myself. The division might find me easily if they see me. They already know what I really look like.
The division has people scattered all over the world, it would be no surprise if some were in New York. So if they see me they'll alarm the rest of the division. And that won't be good.
I close my eyes and think about a random girl with long blonde hair and green eyes. The same kind of green that was flecked around my pupil when I was me with my weird gray eyes.
"I'm a Changer, the division's looking for me too." I say, back to my normal height, but not normal look.
"Oh well um...uh," Travis says, at a loss of words.
"I'm a Porter," Tracey says, looking at me.
I smile at her, feeling a new coonection with her. We're both running from the division because we're both rare, uncommon. Even among superhumans, we were different.
"How did you become a Changer?" Travis asks after a moment of gathering his thoughts.
"My mother, when she was my age, had gotten the injection to become a Chnager. But the injection gave her no powers. But then she had me and she knew, I had gotten what she was supposed to. She was scared at first, knowing the division was after Porters, Changers, and Phasers. But she helped me blend in, help control my powers so I wouldn't accidently use them. But then she died two years ago because she was very sick and we didn't have enough money for the hospital. And then last year, somehow, the division had found out about me. I've been running ever since." I say, shuddering at all the memories of hiding behind houses, running through different streets, becoming new people.
"Oh," Travis says, obviously again not knowing what to say.
"Well our dad had been injected to become a Porter, but gained no powers. He had met out mom in the division and soon they got married and had us. Our mom was a Mover, so that's how Travis inherited his gift and I became a Porter because of the injections they had given our dad when he was seventeen. Both our parents are still in the division. Travis and I got out because I had accidently made a Portal to the outside three years ago. We got out and we've been running ever since. I still don't have my power quite right, but Travis is helping me and he's mastered his. Even though he's a second generation." Tracey says.
"Second generation?" I ask, confused by how she said second generation, as if that explained why it was a big deal for him to master his powers.
"Second generations, their powers aren't all that right. They're not as powerful as the first generations. So if you can master your gift when you're a second generation, that's a big deal. Or at least, that's what Tracey thinks." Travis says with a shrug.
"So that makes us," I turn to Tracey, "first generations?"
Tracey nod and says, "Yeah, but since our gift is rare, I haven't had any help at controlling my powers. So it's as if I were a second generation."
I nod, thinking everything over. Behind me I hear moaning. Seems the three guys are waking up. And I don't think they'll be all too friendly since Travis dumped them in a dumpster.
"Let's go," Travis says, turning to run.
"Wait, can't Tracey just make a potral for us?" I ask, looking at Tracey and Travis.
"I don't have a lot of practice with my gift." Tracey says worriedly.
"Well now is the time to practice." I say hopefully, looking at Tracey with pleading eyes.
I was afraid that if we got caught by the three men bad, things will happen and I was afraid that if we ran out of the alleys into the streets of New York, we would surely run into someone from the division.
"Ok, I'll try, but where do we go?" Tracey asks while closing her eyes.
"Um, how about we go to-"
I cut Travis off, "Go to L.A. I know a place where we can hide. I was heading to the airport to fly over there until these three guys stopped me on my way."
Tracey nods, her eyes still closed. Behind me I can hear rustling inside the dumpster.
"Wait," Travis says, "what if-"
"I did it!" Tracey squeals in excitement.
Opened in front of her is a swirling purple mass of a portal. It doesn't look all that friendly, but I have to trust Tracey.
"Ok, let's go." I say, walking in a fast pace, towards the portal.
"But wait," Travis tries again, his voice sounding tired of being ignored.
"We have to go before those gouls that call themselves men come out of the dumpster. You can tell us in L.A." I say, standing in front of the portal, Tracey at my left.
Travis seems to finally give up. He runs up to the portal, hesitates for a second, then steps in to whatever lies ahead. Tracey and I walk into the portal at the same time.
Before it could close I turn around and see the three guys getting out of the dumpster, looking around disoriented. Then the portal closes when I see one of the guys looking directly at us, giving us a toothy grin that made my skin crawl.
Suddenly everything went black and I think I passed out.

Chapter 2

I awake to the sound of police sirens and cars honking in the terrible traffic that is to be expected at this time of day.
"Hey Rory, are you ok?" Tracey says to my right.
I sit up a little too fast, my head going a little dizzy. I shut my eyes tight and put a hand to my forehead.
"Yeah, I'm just a little dizzy." I say, opening my eyes slowly, so they can adjust to the bright light.
"Well, you'll be happy to know that I have brought us safe and sound to L.A." Tracey says, happiness ringing out from her voice.
"Yes, but now I'm afraid we're going to have to leave." Travis says from somewhere to my left.
"Why?" I ask, getting up to stand next to Tracey and Travis.
"As I was trying to say before we even came, we can't make any desicions. No decisions that any Watcher can track." Travis says.
Watcher are another type of superhuman. They can see the future, but the future is always changing. Some Watcher's see the future and draw it out, other see the future by the decisions people make. So right now if I were to say let's go to Antartica, if a Watcher were waiting for our decision, she would draw us in Antartica.
I shut my eyes, anger coursing through my veins. If I had only listened to Travis. Now if a Watcher had been looking for Travis or Tracey, they have found them. They know we're in L.A.
"Then we have to leave." Tracey says, aleady closing her eyes and readying to conjure another portal.
"That's the point, we can't go anywhere. If we decide to go somewhere, then any Watcher can find us easily." I say miserably.
"We need to find a Shadow." Travis says.
"But they only work on Sniffs. Shadows can't make us seem invisible to Watchers, only on Sniffs." I say in exasperation.
"Yes, but we also need protection from them also. Tracey and I had many things that we left behind in the division facility. Sniffs could be using some of that stuff and be tracking us right now." Travis says.
Sniffs are like hellhounds. If they uptain one of your objects, they will surely find you. They just smell one of your items and they follow your scent.
"But we also need protection from Watchers." I say, looking around us.
Tracey had made us appear on a high building. We were on a roof, looking out onto L.A.
"Yes, but I know a certain Shadow that is very strong and can protect us from Sniffs and Watchers." Travis says proudly.
"Do you mean Emily?" Tracey asks, suddenly excited about the thought of getting a Shadow to watch over us.
"Who's Emily?" I ask.
"A friend." Travis says simply.
Tracey closes her eyes and suddenly a portal appears beneath us. I only have time to open my mouth to scream, before I blank out once again.


I wake to someone putting a cool towel on my forehead. The cool touch of the towel subdues the pain. I'm so concntrated on the feeling of the towel that I don't even wonder who's putting it on me.
"You're awake?" A kind voice asks me.
My eyes snap open and I am looking into dark brown eyes of a girl. I slowly sit up, so as not to get dizzy again, and look at the girl closely. The girl is standing next to my bed.
She has short brown hair that flicks out at the tips. Her nose is like a button on her face, almost invisible, but still noticebly there. She's small for her age. Her face makes me believe she's around seventeen years old, but her small petite body makes me believe she is around ten years old.
"Hi," The girl says quietly, "I'm Emily Lockheart."
I stay silent for a moment. Until I remember that Tracey had opened up a portal beneath us and probably sent us here.
"Um, hello...I'm Aurora Jennings," I pause, "But you can call me Rory."
Emily nods, a kind smile on her face. Emily suddenly turns towards someone else. I hadn't noticed but there is someone else in the room.
Another girl, maybe seven or eight years old, walks slowly up to me. The little girl looks somewhat like Emily. She has Emily's button nose and dark brown hair, but the little girls eyes. They were a crystal blue, but flecks of purple surrounded her pupil. Her eyes that looked alien, that looked somewhat like mine.
"I'm Allison," The little girl says, looking into my eyes.
I stare into her eyes and see my reflection. A girl that I haven't seen in a long time is staring back. She has long, silky black hair that flows past her shoulders. Her high cheek bones and big eyes making her look seventeen instead of fifteen. But her eyes. Her eyes were the things that threw her off. The girl's eyes in Allison's relective eyes were gray. But not just gray, they were flecked with green around the pupil, making her look almost witch-like.
It's me. The real me. I had actually forgotten what I looked like. The only thing I remembered about myself were my gray eyes.
"But how-" I whisper, mostly to myself.
"Allison," Emily says, picking up the little girl, "it's time for bed."
"Um, Emily," I hesitate.
Emily turns back to me, a pleasant smile on her face, "Yes?"
"How long have I been...um, out?" I ask, because when Trcaey had opened the portal, it had been day time, but as I look out the window, I see it's already dusk.
"Oh, you've been unconcious for two days now." Emily says, as if that's the most normal thing to hear.
"But...why? I mean, last time Tracey made the portal-"
"Remember Tracey doesn't have a lot of control over her powers, she's still learning. She must have accidently used to much of her power and gone unconcious, making everyone who was in the portal grow as tired and as weak as she had been."
That's why I have shape-shifted back into myself. If I have no energy I can't shift and if I can't shift, I change back into myself.
"Well, thank you." I say quietly.
Emily opens the door to the room I was in and turns back to me, a motherly smile now on her face.
"Of course." Emily leaves the room and closes the door behind her, leaving me alone in a place I've never been.
I'm still sitting up and the lights are still on, so I look around, trying to gather my surroundings. It's a plain room, all the walls white, while the floor is nice dark wood. There is only a night stand next to the bed I'm on, a window on the right wall, and a television set in front of me. Even though is looked plain, it somehow gave off a warm, protective feeling.
I lay back down in the bed and close my eyes, falling asleep in a matter of seconds.


"Rory wake up, I made some breakfast downstairs." Emily's kind voice says from somwhere to my left.
I open my eyes and look around, I'm still in the white room. I slowly swing my legs off the bed and stand. I hadn't realized before, but now I have.
I'm wearing some sort of sleeping gown. It was a silky white dress that went just above my knees. The dress was spagetti strap, so I grab the small black silk blanket and bring it around my arms.
The designs on the black blanket are small red roses, made of rubies. In the light the roses would shine and change different shade of red, like changing in the shades of sunlight. Breath taking.
I walk down the stairs, apparently where we were staying was a white two story house with many rooms for guests.
I walk into what looks like the dinning room, a large table sits in the middle, with eight chairs around it, three of which were occupied.
"Hi," Allison says in her soft voice.
I look down at the small girl and smile. She was so adorable and cute.
"Who are you?" Tracey asks, looking up at me.
It takes me a moment to realize that I am still in my real form, the real me. Tracey only knowns me as the redhead or the blonde.
"I can't believe you don't recognize me." I say in fake sadness.
"Rory, wow, is that what you really look like?" Tracey asks, looking up from her food again, while Travis continued to avoid looking at me.
"Um, yeah...why? Is it disappointing to know that I'm not really blonde." I tease.
Tracey rolls her eyes and smiles. She turns to look at travis, who looks way too interested in his pancakes.
"Will you look up already!" Tracey leans over and picks up Travis's head.
Travis, childishly, closes his eyes. I roll my eyes and turn to Emily, who is standing in the doorway with two plates of pancakes and bacon.
"Here you are," Emily says, handing over one plate of pancakes.
"Thank you." I say, my voice sounding different than I remembered.
Yesterday when I had changed in the red head, my voice sounded older, safisticated. When I changed into the blonde my voice had changed into a more bubbly, carefree tone. Now my voice sounded...different. I don't know how to describe it, whether it's good or bad, I'm not sure yet.
Travis finally, slowly looks up. I look at him and our eyes meet. For a second we stay looked on to each other, but I look away, finding a seat to sit on and eat.
I grab the chair that is in front of Tracey and sit down. Everyone ate in silence. Finally, Allison was the first to speak.
"Emie, what are we going to do?" Allison looks at Emily, who has stopped eating to answer her question.
"We're going to help Travis, Tracey, and Rory. They need my help and they might need yours, ok?" Emily says, looking at her younger sister.
Allison nods then goes back to eating her pancakes. Emily turns to us and seems serious.
"If I'm going to help you I need someone else's help. He's another first generation Shadow, we can take turns shadowing you guys." Emily says.
"You're a first generation Shadow?" I ask.
"Yeah, when I was merely five years old my mother had taken me to the division to get the injection. Later on Allison was born while we were still stuck in the division."
"They do cruel tests and experiments on you, I didn't want her to go through any of that. And when I found out she was a Phaser, that helped all the more. Allison and I left by going through the walls to the outside."
"No one followed us because I had been shadowing us the entire time. Are mother is still in the division. We weren't able to get to her when we were leaving."
"Shadows can only use their gift while they're awake. I can't help you all the time because I need to sleep too. But if I get another Shadow to help us, then we can take shifts. Ok?" Emily asks, looking at all of our faces.
I nod, wondering who this second Shadow was going to be.
"You know what I've noticed." Tracey says happily, "We're all teenagers and I bet the Shadow Emily is talking about is our age."
I blink. She's right. Emily looked about seventeen. Tracey and Travis looked about fiften, sixteen. And I was fifteen, soon to be sixteen. The only one in the group that wasn't a teenager was Allison.
"Yeah, you're right. His names Blake Rivers, he just turned sixteen a few weeks ago." Emily says, still looking serious.
"When do we leave?" I ask.
"The sooner the better." Tracey says, obviously wanting to meet this Blake guy.
"Whatever," Travis grumbles, staring daggers at his pancakes.
"Ok, well, we'll pack up our things and head out early tomorrow morning." Emily says, standing up and gathering everyones breakfast plates.
"But we didn't bring any clothes." I say in confusion.
"Oh don't worry, you'll probably fit into my old clothes, it seems that you fit into one of my gowns ok. While Tracey and Travis already have some clothes here from our previous encounters." Emily says with a smile, her face turning from serious to kind.
"Thank you." I say, getting up from the table.
"Yeah, just come by my room and we'll figure out how things will work." Emily says, disappearing into what I presume is the kitchen.
"Well I'm going to take a long nap, we have a long journey ahead of us." Tracey says, getting up from her seat, and going up the stairs to her room.
With no words said, Travis gets up from his seat and leaves, leaving Allison and I alone at the table.
"Allison, you want to come with me to Emily's room?" I ask, outstretching my hand to the little girl.
Allison hops out of her seat and walks over to me, grabbing my outstretched hand. Then a thought came to me that stopped me before I even started walking.
"Where is her room?" I ask ,looking down at the now giggling Allison.

Chapter 3

Emily had awoken us early in the morning. So early that the sun was barely rising into the sky.
I grab Emily's black backpack, that is filled with someone of her clothes, and open it. I don't even look at what clothes I've picked out. I just put them on, grab the backpack, and hurry downstairs.
No one is down yet, which gives me some time to actually see what I'm wearing. I go into the bathroom that is in the middle of the hall. I turn the lights on and stare at the girl in front of me. Emily had told me last year she had been going through some...phases. And I guess this was one of them.
The girl standing in front of the mirror had some type of skater girl pants. They were black pants that are nicely fitted at your waist, then become baggy on your legs. She had a fitted white tank top, that was cut off and showed off some of her flat belly.
I stare at my self in the mirror for a bit, not recognizing this girl. I put Emily's bag on the floor and look around, on top of everything else were some black and white high-top converse, a maroon tie with black stripes, two fingerless black gloves, and two thick black skatboard braclets. The ones that have tiny spikes all around them.
I smile down at it and put everything on. When I finish I look back at the mirror. I looked like one of those skater girls. I smile at my reflection. It was a new look for the 'new' me.
I close my eyes and open them again. I'm staring at a girl with long brown hair that was the color of honey and green eyes that looked as green as fresh watered grass.
I step out of the bathroom and hear talking in the dinning room. I can hear Tracey talking to Emily while Travis is talking to Allison.
I turn into the dinning room and wait for their reactions. Because, this, was not me. But in a way, I liked it.
"Let's go," This time my voice didn't change. I sound exactly like myself. The only thing that changed, was my appearnace.
Emily is the first to look up and then she is followed by Tracey, then Allison, and lastly, Travis. Tracey begins to laugh and shake her head, as if she couldn't believe it was me, while Allison and Travis stay staring.
"You know, you're rocking that look way better than I did last year." Emily says with fake jealousy.
"Well I do what I can," I play along.
Tracey walks up to me and examines my new look close up.
"I like it and I love you're new look, but I liked how you used to look. With your black hair and awesome gray eyes." Tracey says, "Wouldn't you agree Travis?"
Tracey and I turn to look at Travis, who is still staring in shock. Soon he snaps out of it and looks away while turning different shades of red.
"Well, we best be off." Emily says, picking up Allison and carrying her towards the hallway.
Travis gets up slowly and walks behind us. We all walk out the front door and I finally know where we are. Even from here I can see Big Ben.
"We're in London?" I ask for confirmation.
Emily turns around and smiles while nodding. Emily grabs a bag, which contains Allison and her clothes, that had been set next to the front door.
Tracey and Travis have their bags on already as we hedad out of the house and towards this Shadow names Blake Emily had told us about.
"Ok, Tracey can you please make a portal to Big Ben? Right in front of it." Emily asks, turning toward Tracey.
Tracey nodded with confidence, then closed her eyes. I stare and soon a portal of dark swirling mass opens up in front of her.
"All aboard," I say, being the first one to step into the portal.


When my eyes open, I'm not lying on the floor. It's as if I only blinked and suddenly we are standing in front of Big Ben.
"We're getting used to going into the portals." Travis says, looking happy about not being unconcious.
I turn to look at Emily and Allison who might not be as used to is as us. And I was correct. Allison was asleep in Emily's arms, while Emily looked like she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep all day long.
"Let's hurry before I pass out," Emily says weakly, walking up to the front of Big Ben.
We stand by the front door, not going in to, but standing by. Many people pass by. Little boys and girls with their parents. Teenagers walking around, couples holding hands.
"Where is this Blake guy?" I ask, looking around and finding no one by themselves.
"You must be Aurora," A voice whispers from behind me, sending me into a fit of shivers.
I whirl around and am about to karate kick his sorry ass, but I stop. How can I kick a beautiful face like his? Yes, I'm not ashamed to say that I think he looks like an angel.
For being called a shadow, he was quite the opposite. From the word shadow, you would think darkness, shapes in the dark, scary looking.
But this boy looked nothing like that. He has long, flowing blonde hair. His mesmerizing blue eyes looking at me with an amused smirk playing on his lips.
This guy with dimples on both his cheeks, was now smirking at me, amused at my reaction. In a matter of seconds I recover and glare at him.
He may be as handsome as any angel, but while he's smirking, you know he's not exactly a saint.
"You must be Blake then," I say, looking at the guy that now stands in front of me.
"So I was right, you are Aurora." Blake says, smiling, showing off his cute dimples.
"Yeah, not really what you expected right?" I laugh.
"Well, to be honest, not really. The way Emily described you...you didn't strike me as a skater kind of girl." Blake shrugs.
"Can I tell you a secret?" I whisper, leaning towards him. He leans his right ear towards my lips. I whisper so low that only he can hear, "I'm really not."
Blake straightens up smiling at me and rolling his eyes. I wink at him and put my index finger to my lips while saying, "Shh..."
"Ok!" Travis suddenly bursts, "Why don't we go back to the house before Emily faints?"
"But we can't go back to the house, the Watchers already know we're there. That's why we left with tons of clothes." I say, stating the obvious.
We had gone to Emily's with no help from her Shadowing ability yet, so a Watcher would already know where we went. But now that we have Emily, they probably think we're still at the house.
"Ok then let's go somewhere." Travis snaps.
I look at Travis and raise an eyebrow. What was his problem.
"How about we go somewhere that's not in London, the division might have sent more people to come track us down. We need to leave as soon as possible before they get to the house and see that we're not there." Tracey says, already closing her eyes to conjure another portal.
"How about we go to," Blake smirks, "Miami?"
Before anyone can say anything Tracey has made a portal, looking a little tired.
"Maybe we should lay off the portal traveling after this?" I ask.
No one answer as they enter the portal and I know by Tracey's tiredness, that we're going to be asleep for a while...

Chapter 4

Have you ever woken up to a bad headache that hurt so much that you wish you were still asleep, so you wouldn't be able to feel the pain. Well, that's how I felt when we woke up on one of the beaches in Miami.
"Tracey? Travis? Emily? Blake? Allison?" I call out, my eyes still closed.
"Rory?" A voice asks, sounding panicked.
My eyes snap open and I sit up in a rush, causing my head to pound with the sudden movement. And let me tell you, it did not help my aching head.
"Travis? Is that you?" I call out, scrambling up to my feet.
I see Travis a few feet away, looking from side to side. A look of panic plastered on his face.
I run over to him. "Travis, what's wrong? What's happened?" I ask, looking at Travis, who was still frantically searching for something.
"I can't find them...where could they be? And where is she? Where," Travis turns to me with a wild look in his eyes, "Where would she be Rory?"
I grip Travis's shoulders and shake him lightly, hoping to erase some of the wild look from his eyes.
"Who Travis, who's missing?" I ask calmly.
Travis turns to me. He whispers so softly that I think I imagine it at first but the look in his face comfirms what I have heard.
"Everyone."
I look around the beach but see no one that belongs to our group. Only tourists and others. Kids playing in the water, parents sistting on towels, couples walking along the beach, hand in hand. But no Tracey, Emily, Allison, or Blake.
"What happened? Why aren't they here?" Travis asks worriedly.
"M...maybe, maybe we just are spread out along the beach. Come on, let's go look for them." I say, extending my hand out to him.
Travis takes it after a moment of hesitation and we start to patrol the beach, looking for the others. We searched high and low, along the entire beach, but not a single sight of the others.
"I knew Tracey was too tired to do that last portal." I complain as we sit down, resting our aching feets from walking for hours.
"Do you really think it's beacuse Tracey was tired? That something happened while we were in the portal and it just spit us out here?" Travis asks.
I shrug. "Even though I think it's because Tracey was tired, I'm not sure."
Travis nods. Silence follows, leaving us with only the waves and distant laughter as noise filling the silence.
After a moment, a sudden thought strikes me. A thought that sends shivers down my back.
"Travis?" I whisper.
"Hm?"
"If Emily and Blake aren't with us...then doesn't that mean that we're not being shadowed anymore?" I ask, fear creeping into my mind.
Now I look like myself, long black hair with gray eyes flecked with green around the pupils. What if one of the divisions men were here? Watching us right now? If I shapeshift now, then they will surely come after us.
No, no our only safe bet is that they're not sure of who we are. But if we go around using our powers, then they will call for back up and take us to the division.
Travis stares blankly at the water, I can practically see the gears in his mind trying to work out the problem that is layed out before us.
"Travis?" I whisper again.
This time he only looks at me, fear evident in his eyes.
"We need to go now." I say, not turning my head to look at him, my mouth barely moving, making it look as if we weren't having a conversation.
I eye the man again. The one that has been staring at us with a confused expression, as if he were trying to figure something out.
He had a beard that looked ungroomed and looked as if he hadn't bathed in days. It was the same man that had smiled at us when we left through the portal from New York.
He must have made the same conclusion. He must of recognized Travis, because I had been some red head at the time.
The man took a step towards us, slowly walking up the beach towards us.
"Travis," I whisper more frantically.
"I see him too," Travis says, standing up and dusting himself off, his face emotionless, no trace of fear.
He extends his hand out to me, acting as if nothing were wrong. I put on a mask of no emotion and grab his hand, pulling myself up.
Travis slings his arm around my shoulder. I'm not sure what he's trying to do, but I think he's trying to make it look as if we're just another couple on the beach, not some kids running from the evil coorperation, of the division.
"Just keep walking and don't look back, honey." Travis says the last word with sarcasm, causing me to giggle in responce.
"Alright, honey." I say, with equal sarcasm.
"Excuse me, ma'am, sir. But have I seen you before, you look awfully familiar?" A voice says from behind us.
I recognize the voice as the guy. The guy that had attacked me with two other guys. His voice sends shivers down my spine.
I don't turn around, but suddenly Travis wirls around to face the man. Dragging me along with him. Again I get a good look at his uncleans face.
"I don't believe we've really met." Travis says in a calm voice.
The man squints his eyes. His face was emotionless, but I could see in his eyes that he was very suspicious and did recognize us.
Finally he stopped squinting, straightened up and smiled tightly at us.
"May I borrow your phone for a moment, I need to call someone." The man says.
"First, I don't even know you," I snap, nervousness exiting my body, "and second, I don't even have a phone on me."
"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Mr. Night." The man says, smiling, showing off his decayed teeth.
I tried very hard not to gag in front of him, but it was really hard seeing that he was losing teeth everywhere and how many were a very dark shade of yellow or even black.
"Well Mr. Night, it was nice talking to you, but we must be on our way." Travis says, his voice emotionless.
Mr. Night looks as if he would like to say more, but clentches his jaw and nods robotically, allowing us to leave in peace.
Relief flows in me as Travis turns us around again and we start walking away. I don't feel completely better until we reach a little shack off the side of the beach, very far from where Mr. Night who was now pacing.
"That was close, he remembered us." I say, my voice slowly wavering.
Travis stands in front of me, his face set in a distant stare, as if his mind were somewhere else.

Chapter 5

Travis and I continue to walk along Miami's steets. Everything belding into to one another. No one's faces

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 19.08.2011

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This story is dedicated to everyone that believes in magic and fairy tales.