Jennifer left her room and snuck past her parents. As she approached her brother's room the noticed the door was cracked open and she could hear him inside. She moved past the door and caught a glimpse of him playing on the floor. He had piles of action figures on the floor. To the side was a large pile of miscellaneous figures that looked a little more generic, not as cool and shiny as the others. In front of them was a row of soldiers and robots. He was holding one figure. Jennifer didn't notice it until he started talking. It was a female figure dressed all in black. It looked like it was from the Matrix or Underworld.
Mean voice. "Move away from the mutants before they hurt you girl."
Heroic voice. "What's your problem? They don't want to hurt anyone. They're fine."
Mean voice. "Jenny Allen, move before they try and get you."
Scared voices. "No! Help Us! We don't want to hurt anyone!"
Heroic Voice. "Looks like you and your friends are the ones who are gonna get hurt!"
The black clad action figure jumped into the soldiers and robots, sending them flying all over while the pile of misfit figures cheered her on. Jennifer was down the stairs and out the door before the fight was over. She wiped away her last tear as she walked to the pick-up spot.
*-----------------------------*
Eleyna opened the door. stepped inside and stopped in her tracks. Her parents were standing directly down the hall in front of her in the kitchen, hugging. When they turned to look at her it was very obvious they were both crying. "Oh baby! Oh baby, are you okay!" Her mother ran towards her and didn't stop until she was hugging Eleyna. Her dad walked directly past her. he closed the front door behind her and made sure all the blinds were closed. Then he walked up behind his daughter, hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
They moved to the kitchen where they sat and listened to Eleyna's story of what had happened that day. They each held one of her hands as she spoke. They barely took their eyes from her and when they did it was to look and make sure the other one was okay. When she was done explaining everything they sat in silence for the briefest moment. "Honey, I don't think you can leave with your friends. You've got a dentist appointment on Thursday." Her dad shook his head. "And aren't you supposed to take your cousin to the bus for his class trip on Friday night? I don't think you're gonna be able to go with your friends, Eleyna."
*-----------------------------*
Lorenzo walked through the front door and almost knocked over his parents as the walked around the corner. They were carrying duffel bags, his duffel bags. Until they saw him. The door shut, the bags hit the floor and everyone was hugging in the blink of an eye. His mother started crying like a baby and rushed off to the kitchen for kleenex. His dad picked up the bags and smiled at him. "We heard the news. We know what kind of a boy we raised. You pretend not to care but you do care, maybe too much. These mutant kids they found in your school, they're your friends. We know you won't stay here, your friends need help and you aren't going to sit around and take tests and go to study hall while your friends are hunted. We packed your bags, you can check to make sure we didn't miss anything. I was going to put them in your old tree house in the back." His dad looked at him, still smiling. It wasn't a fake smile, it wasn't a big dumb goofy smile. It was an honest to goodness, 'I'm proud of you and that's all I can say' smile.
Lorenzo's mother rushed over, filling his arms with plastic bags. "Zo, honey. I'm not gonna cry. I'm not! You need food. I made sandwiches and there are chips and those snacks you kids like. You go to the garage and fill one of the coolers with some soda, too. You kids are gonna need to eat..... You make sure you eat good, baby.... Oh, I said I wasn't gonna do this!" She started to smack his dad on the shoulder. "Give him the rest. You got the rest for him didn't you?"
His dad nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out an envelope. "Here, this is your money. You know we don't have tons in savings and I know you wouldn't take money from your mother and me if we did. But this is your money, all the money we had saved for your college. It's yours. You take it, son."
Lorenzo's hand touched his dad's as he reached for the envelope. For the first time since he had discovered his powers he had to try not to use his powers. He didn't need them to know what his parents were thinking or how they felt.
*-----------------------------*
Sammy looked at the old mailbox as he walked past and scraped his finger across the name "Donaldson's" painted on it. The Donladson's were good people. They had taken great care of him and had been better parents to him then a lot of the kids at school seemed to have. The house was locked but Sammy knew how to wiggle the door and force it open. He collected up the things he needed and walked through the house. This part of his life was over, he could feel it. He wanted to say something to them, maybe write a letter or let them know how much they meant to him. He decided it was easier not to. He grabbed his stuff and a snack from the kitchen, locked the front door and walked out of the house. As he walked down the street he could hear a car coming from the other direction. He knew from the sound of it that it was them. He didn't stop and didn't turn around. He heard it pull into the drive, heard the engine shut off and the car doors open and shut. He pictured them in his mind and forced himself not to turn around. The picture in his mind was all he would have from now on. When he heard the front door close behind them he pulled up his hood and shoved the rest of his food into his jacket pocket. He wasn't hungry anymore.
*-----------------------------*
Gabe moved through the house quietly, not really knowing why. He wasn't trying to sneak but, he didn't want to scare his mom, either. He called out to her once or twice and there was no answer. Finally, he heard a noise from the rec room. He walked downstairs and saw only one light on in the corner. His mom was sitting on the couch. The t.v. was on. His dad was on the screen. It was the old home movies from before his dad had died. They had promised each other they would only watch them together. He walked around the couch and looked at his mom, she was holding his dad's old coat, crying and looking right at him. "Gabe..... is it really you...... come here Gabe...." She held his arm, wrapping both of hers around it. "Why are they taking you away from me Gabe.... you're such a good boy, oh Gabe..... your father would be so proud of you..... these damn people, these stupid, #*&@*^( people! Come here Gabe, let me hold you. I wouldn't go. I wouldn't go see them. They told me what happened and that I had to come to their meeting and be briefed and I told them to *#^@ off. I told them I didn't care what happened next because all that mattered was that you were gone. But I knew you wouldn't leave me, not without letting me hold you again. Thank you, baby. Thank you." His mom just held him and rocked back and forth on the couch for as long as he let her.
*-----------------------------*
Kyle put away the old photos and smiled. He wasn't happy to be leaving but he knew the day would come. He tried to stall hoping his Aunt and Uncle would come home and he tried to hurry so he wouldn't have to see them. He pulled out the chip he had told hi uncle about and put it in the frame like they had planned. He grabbed his cash from his hiding place and felt something strange. There was something metal there. He pulled it out and saw some kind of chip that was way more sophisticated than anything he had ever seen. He looked it over and then looked around to make sure he was alone. He checked his cash on a normal basis and this had never been there before. He stuck it in a pocket and grabbed is money. He made his way to the back door and as he closed it behind him he heard the front door open. He hesitated, not sure what to do. When he heard voices it was his Aunt and Uncle talking.
He heard his Aunt Kari's voice, first. "You couldn't expect him to stay around here forever. He had too much of his father in him."
"I know. That's what I've always been afraid of." His Uncle Chris answered.
"Do you think he'll be okay? Do you think he's one of those mutants?" Asked his Aunt.
"He'll be fine. And he's a mutant, I know it. So does he. So did his dad."
Kyle's Aunt and Uncle both jumped as they heard the back door close.
