The 7th Child

Journal Entry: #1

It's been a couple weeks since we got to the city. The first days were the worst. A bunch of kids and a grown woman dressed in all white scurrying through the city wasn't suspicious at all. Finding food and a place to sleep was hard, but easier than we expected. We found an old warehouse on the outside of the city. It's pretty secluded and the area around us is just about completely abandoned so it's perfect for us. We went from a bright white cage to a dirty green dungeon. At least the facility wasn't overrun with mold, or "moss" as Apollo insists I call it. Whatever it is, it's gross. He seems to love it though. He's fallen in love with this place. With all the plants he's right in his element. Good for him. I'm glad he's able to enjoy this so much. Meanwhile I've been... adapting is hard. For instance, the first day we got here was horrid. The boat crashed into a wall that was under some bridge, and the first thing I remember was the smell. God, it smelled like death and nightmares had a child and let it crap on itself. Again, as bad as the facility was, at least it was clean. The dirtiness of the city made us stand out even more. Then we had to find food. "Steal from whatever stores we find" was Levia's plan. Apollo was against it, along with others including and especially mom. I'll give her this though, the girl knows how to survive. I guess that's cause of her secret life before the facility. But let's be honest, she was 11 when she joined, how much of a life could she have had? Anyways, we owe it to her for making it this long so I'll give her that. Legai's had some kinda problem though. Mom said it was cause of something that happened while we were breaking out. I don't know whats going on, but I hope it gets better. Jackson's been loving it out here. He explores every chance he gets. He even came up with this thing, "patrol". Basically he feeds Legai's fantasy of being a hero, his fantasy of exploring the city, and dragging us along with it. It hasn't actually started yet, Levia won't let it, but he won't stop insisting. They're both childish if you ask me. They even started coming up with codenames for themselves. Even Ikemi's gotten into it. She used some wireless ear-plugs and connected them to her tablet after strapping it to her arm. Honestly, Ikemi's "thing" for him is getting more obvious. I mean, she used to hide it well, but now it's a little embarrassing. And she still tries to hide it which is the worst part. It's seriously painful to watch. At least I don't have to go on those stupid missions. I don't need any new buisness, I don't need to explore, and I definitely don't need anything that some stinky city has to offer me. I have everything I need here. Everyone I need here. That's enough. Only reason I'm writing this in the first place is cause Lenani wouldn't stop begging me to. She says I'm getting too quiet, talking less ect. I don't mean to. It's nothing against them, but this new place is just alot to take in. It's hard to think with so many smells and sounds and lights bombing every sense I have. So what if I'm not as talkitive as her? It's not like I'm not here. But she says I need something to "express my feelings" so here I am. I won't lie, It's kinda nice. Maybe she's on to something, for once. Anyways, living in this warehouse has... been something. We all each got our seperate rooms, as long as we shared with each other. Legai has his room with Lenani, they've been getting pretty close. Jackson called them the "Lightning Twins", I think they took it literally. They're starting to act more and more like brother and sister, it's kinda cute to watch. They even came up with a new nickname for her, "Nani", it's... cute. Ikemi has a room with mom, Apollo has his room with Jackson, and I have my room with Levia. Great. At least I get to sleep on the floor. Sleeping high is a problem for me. Don't really know why, it just is. Oh well. Another good thing, Levia has way better hygene then I thought. Like I thought Ikemi was a clean freak, not that she isn't, but Levia suprised me. Didn't take her for the type that obessed over being clean, what with the "rough" life she led before us and all. I had expected her to sleep on rocks. Anyway Ikemi handles most of the cooking using utensils that Apollo made for her. Though I don't get why mom couldn't just buy her utensils. She buys all the other food, I just don't see why Apollo has to do it for her. Speaking of him, he started a garden in his room. Turns out Jackson's body makes the atmosphere clean or something so it's easy for him to grow plants in there. Kinda cool honestly. He even gave me a flower one day. Purple daisies, my favorite. At least they are now. Ikemi's still stuck in her inventions, and remade a little lab in her corner of the main living... space. It reminds me of her corner lab in the facility. Good to know I'm not the only one who appreciates the classiness of that place. Not to say I miss it. It was terrible living there. But It's just I don't know anything else. Most of us don't. I don't know what to do. And now it just started raining out of nowhere. Levia wants to show us something outside, probably another one of her training things. Update: It was another one of her training things. And now I'm wet. I learned something though. Apparently my hair gets really curly when it's wet. I kinda like it. Maybe I'll keep it like this more often. We've all been learning things about our hair lately actually. Like Ikemi, apparently her hair is curly, but it looks more like waves, and really shiny. And it does this thing whenever she gets emotional. Its like waves of fire that start from her roots and go all the way down to her tips. Its not just one either, its a steady pulse, like a heartbeat. Its kinda cool to watch. And Levia, her hair does this weird thing she calls "locks". Its basically where the strands of her hair tangle together and become... thicker strands. Its strange, but honestly she looks really pretty with them. She even tied some of them in a "bun" or a ball at the crown of her head. Paired with her blue eyes, shes become really beautiful. She wants to put Apollos hair into these styled cornrows, like how she used to do Ikemi's hair back in the facility. It was harder then cause Ikemi barely had any hair, but with Apollo theres plenty. Its really healthy too. But he wants to keep it in an afro, like me. He says it's more natural, and reminds him of a tree, so he likes it better. He looks good with it. He even called us the tree twins. I love that nickname. Though if he ever decided to get cornrows I could do it for him. Levia showed me how to do it a while ago, but I still remember. I mean I wouldn't blame him for asking Levia first but, I can do it too. Levia said he would have to take it out after a while, maybe then I'll ask him if he wants me to redo it for him. Im sure he'd say yes, it'll be nice. I can say its to repay him for the flowers. Sounds fun. Anyways, Jackson's and Legai's hair have been doing the same thing as Levia. Though theirs is shorter than hers. Legai ties his back like Levia. Jackson ties his into little "groups" at the sides of his head. He kinda reminds me of Lenani when she was little and had her pigtails. Speaking of, Lenani's hair is pretty, "wavy" like Ikemi's, but she doesn't like it. Or at least, I dont think it was enough to her. She been dying pink streaks in her hair. I think its to mimic Ikemi's hair. The way her powers affect it. She also started wearing contacts. Pink ones. I wish she wouldn't though. She doesn't deserve to feel like she's not enough. As young as she is, shes been through enough. We all have. Still though, shes beautiful with them. Like a little pink eyed blessing. I mean, its honestly shocking. She makes us smile the most, and shes the one whos been through the worst. She even came up with some games for us to play using our powers back at the facility. She always suprises me. Its still annoying sometimes, but I love her. Im sure she knows that.

- Aajiah - June - 2016