cont

Akaisha paced back and forth outside of the hospital room, nervously chewing on her thumb. The cat carrier rested inside the room with her kitty mewing softly. Mahima was still unconscious from her fall, with no signs of waking up. Many of the nurses fretted over their favorite star being in a coma.

Akaisha, on the other hand, had hoped none of the other news stations reported the incident. Half of them respected her as a journalist, the others were not so much for her attitude. Left up to her own thoughts, she wondered how did Mahima fall. How did she hurt herself from the fall? The trajectory and speed weren’t enough to do this to her. Just as she continued to think about it. ‘Is that woman crazy?’ The unknown voice flitted through her mind. The random thought caused her to look around her surroundings. She caught the eye of a wary nurse, looking at her with disdain. She was one of the fans concerned about Mahima.

‘What does she have that I don't have?’ Akaisha’s face twisted in confusion. She turned to the beautiful nurse off to her left, gazing at the handsome doctor. She was holding a clipboard, stealing glances at the man.

She tried to step away. Fear and confusion took hold of her. Sweat formed at her temple. The same thing that happened when she was a child began to happen again, except this time it was stronger. More and more voices piled into her mind, overlapping each other. Sounding garbled. Akaisha put her hands against her ears to drown them out, but they kept coming. So, she kept walking backward until she bumped into someone. Their future flashed in front of her eyes. It made her grip her chest in agony. A gruesome death awaited them. She felt the moment their soul left their body like it was her own, but they were standing there smiling, unaware of what waited for them. She wanted to grab them and tell them to watch out for the sky.

A nurse noticed she was breathing rapidly and her eyes were unfocused. Akaisha stumbled around with the voices drilling a hole in her brain. The nurse decided to try to help her. The moment her hand brushed against Akaisha’s shoulder; she soon saw her life rolling across her mind as if it was a movie.

“DON’T TOUCH ME! Please don’t touch me!” She screamed and tried to shove the woman aside, but collapsed onto her knees. More nurses ran up to her. They had security subdued her in vain, but a field kept them from getting too close. A barrier had formed around her. She managed to keep them from touching her, but it didn’t stop her from touching them. Akaisha was fine until she touched one of their shoes, seeing the betrayal that awaited the woman when she came home. Her husband was in bed with another. Akaisha's eyes fluttered to the back of her head just as she lost consciousness. ‘Men suck.’ That was her last fleeting thought.

It was a few hours later when she woke up. It looked like they only placed her in the bed since there were no machines whirling around her. It was a wonder she didn’t dream of the lives of those that touched her. Akaisha breathed out in relief. She remembered from the last time when these… issues… started happening. Nothing would penetrate her skin unless she allowed it. The force field was new. Strangely, he had no problem injecting her with the serums afterward. The needles still hurt. She rubbed her elbow, feeling the phantom pains. A nurse happened to be walking past when she saw Akaisha sitting up groggily.

“Miss Morningstar, you're awake. Thank goodness. You fainted in the hallway. I'll go get the doctor, all right?”

While the nurse was talking, Akaisha could hear her thoughts loud and clear in her head. ‘This woman must have felt guilty about something. I should have the guards keep a watch on her.’

It was the same thing fifteen years ago. They had admitted Akaisha to a psyche ward because of her strange behavior after reuniting with her parents. Her parents thought she was a psychotic person with the way she could hear thoughts, see a person's future with a simple touch, bringing misfortune on those around her with a thought, have superhuman strength, restorative healing, and have skin like Teflon. They didn’t believe her, sadly. There were two other things she had dealt with previously, but had hoped they didn't return. Those issues were deadly. Akaisha could stand on her own. She felt fine, so she checked on Mahima before she left the hospital. It was hard to slip out without guards and nurses trying to follow her. This was one time she wished she could become invisible.

The rain had stopped by the time she made it outside to a blackened sky. Most of those that were outside were the “freaks.” Even in the post-apocalyptic world, where it was more advanced, slurs were still a thing but now aimed at those preternatural. Vampires, lycanthropes, elves, nymphs, Aziza, Yumboes, and seemingly normal people.

The hover lights were there to guide her home. The cars on the street seemed useless compared to the FFAC. Hardly any carbon emissions polluted the airways. It was cleaner and better. But the FFACs weren’t easy to buy. An older model still costs a lot. Which is why you’d still see cars from the early 2000s. Akaisha couldn’t stop thinking about what the man had said and about how the powers she thought were sealed away, gone even, came back in full force with vengeance just after meeting him.

‘Did he know this was going to happen? Had he waited all this time in the hopes that I would display the abnormalities?’ Akaisha had just reached home when she saw her door was ajar. She rushed inside, hoping to find Blue. Her rare pit bull. It was hard as hell to keep random strangers from trying to dog nap her at any given time. “BLUE? Where are you, girl?”

The sound of pitter-patter across the floor calmed her racing heart. Blue bounded in from her bedroom, happy to see her. ‘YOU’RE HOME!!! OH MY GOSH, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! DID YOU BRING ME ANYTHING? DID YA? DID YA? AKAISHA SOME CRAZY MAN BROKE IN BUT I BITE HIS ASS. IT TASTED LIKE FEET. NOT YOUR FEET BUT BLEH FEET.’

Akaisha ruffled Blue’s ear before kissing her forehead. “Good girl Blue. You bit that naughty man.”

Blue tilted her head to the side in confusion. ‘YOU UNDERSTAND ME? MAMA, YOU UNDERSTAND ME. NOW I WANT YOU TO BRING ME A…’

Blue didn’t have time to finish her thought when she saw Akaisha shaking her head in dismay. “No expensive meats unless it’s for a special occasion, Blue. I brought nothing back with me and I’m sorry I’m late. Something happened to Mahima and then I had some issues.”

Blue put her paw on her knee and nuzzled her head against Akaisha's cheek. ‘WELL, SHE HAD THAT COMING. YOU SAID SHE IS A MEAN LADY WITH AM AWFUL CAT. GRR, I HATE CATS. YOU’RE OK MAMA. I WAS A GOOD GIRL IF THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.’

Akaisha chuckled. It may not be such a terrible thing if Blue can have a polite conversation or just any conversation with her. “All right girl, go to the room and I’ll have a long shower. No waiting by the door.”

It took little to cause Blue to be upset. Having to be alone when Akaisha was at home was one that always upset her. Instead of speaking, she purposely sneezed into Akaisha’s face and walked off. ‘HMMPH’

“Blue, you little shit. Fine, fine, you can come into the bathroom, but don’t peek in the shower.”

Blue looked back at her as if she were smiling. Her jowls raised, exposing her teeth and tongue. Blue pretends to pant to hide her glee. She headed to the bathroom to wait for Akaisha. ‘Once I find you and kill you. I hope these unnecessary powers go away. Mister, you better show yourself to me again.’ She grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom where Blue happily was waiting for her behind the door.