Freedom

2: Black sheep

Luz Noceda used to dream of magic. As a kid and even most of her teenage years, that was her passion. At home, lunch breaks and even during the boring classes (which were pretty much all of them), she would be reading magic novel or drawing characters and creatures of these stories. It's not that unusual for kids to appreciate fantasy but Luz's passion appeared far too intense to people around her and she was left alone. Yet, that interest wasn't due to an impressionable kid being exactly that. Luz needed someone like herself, something she found in those books.

Luz Noceda had a power. She knew it was abnormal and hidden it from everyone, but she could create light. At first it was only her hands, but as time and practice went by, she realized she could illuminate any and all parts of her body to a point were it was impossible to see when it was on at full power. Even new capacities appeared with the years. Luz was certain she wasn't the only one who had such a gift, but what would it changed? The others like her probably hide their capacity just like she did. Therefore the girl kept her secret...

Until two months ago that is. During her 18th birthday, she screwed up. And now she couldn't simply hide her gift anymore. She had to hide all of herself. Luckily, she had somewhere to go. And it was on her way there that she met a girl that would change her life.

***

Amity woke up on a surprisingly soft mattress. This alone got her fully attentive to her environment. She didn't get a soft mattress in ages. Where was she? By looking her surroundings, she realized she was in a small room with a red carpet and a tv for all decorating. She was about to get out of the bad when she felt a hand on her shoulder. This contact when she was certain to be alone made her yelp of surprise but another hand came on her mouth blocked the sound, having the girl completely panicked. She was already imagining they had captured her when a familiar voice spoke.

"Don't worry" said the latina girl as she got her hands off and came to face Amity. "I won't do you anything but I do need you to keep it down or we'll both be in trouble. Okay?"

"Okay." answered Amity as she observed this girl. "Thanks for saving me... huh?"

"Luz" she smiled. "And you're Amity right? You mind telling me why this guy was chasing you?"

Amity stayed silent at first. This secret only brought her suffering in her life. She was used by people who only desired their own profit and wouldn't understand or even care about how she saw things. But then it came back to her, how this Luz girl had knocked that guy out in a flash. She was abnormal too. If anyone had a chance to understand, it'd be her. But then again, she probably also thought she was alone all this time. Would she even believe her? If that collar wasn't stuck around her neck, she could have simply shown her but...

Wait... As Amity passed her fingers on her neck, she realized the iron collar was not there anymore. How?

"I took it off" said Luz with an amused grin.

"Thank you... a lot."

She would understand. They had the same condition and she was kind enough to help her that much. Amity knew she could trust this girl and so, she fixed her gaze on the controller left on the desk. The next second, the object was levitating to her hand. She grabbed it before turning to face Luz.

"This is why he was chasing me."