Extraordinary Mistakes II - Blood Ties

Save me

After they had fresh clothes, a warm shower, food and left them on the mattresses and beds in Rachel and Megan's room, the group gathers in the basement. Ánh, Abigail and Emily stand next to the computers, Diego and Alex face them and Rachel stands in the corner.

Oh, oh, oh, Rachel ... you really outdid yourself now. Diego is about to explode and you even pissed off Ánh. Alex waves at Rachel, who rolls her eyes in response.

"Was Marianne Olsen there?" Ánh breaks the silence.

"We... were blindfolded the entire time. Don't know." Diego taps his foot and looks at Rachel.

"But we have some names. Your friend, Ánh," Alex smiles, "told us about some of the people that work there. Madeleine Clark."

"If Madeleine is in it, so is Jessica," Emily says.

"Saif Ahktar."

"That's... Aminu's boss at the Institute. He heads the lab there." Abigail says.

"Aymee Ortiz."

"Who's that?" Rachel asks.

"Ortiz Hotels rings a bell? They own a huge chunk of the real estate in the capital! She's their only daughter. A mental controller. I remember reading a profile about her." Emily replies.

"For the amplifier to know her, she was probably the one he amplified and accessed my mind there." Rachel takes a deep breath.

"And the mastermind. The head of it all..." Alex simulates a drum roll, "Hall."

"Hall?" Abigail asks and Alex nods.

"I'll search for Hall, see if we can find whoever that person is." Ánh types on the keyboard and the computers run the search.

"Rachel. The truth now. The amplifier told us about the white light." Diego takes a few steps toward her. "Did you know?"

"Of course she knew. She absorbs powers." Ánh scoffs and keeps focusing on the screen.

"Did you know?" He faces Alex now.

"No. This was a secret that I've kept from all of you," Rachel takes a deep breath, exhales slowly and looks up, facing everyone's stares, "please, take a seat. I'll tell you everything."

They all sit down and she grabs a chair and sits while facing them.

"I was 16. Wandering around town, focusing on everyone's powers. Training my focus. Making sure I could see it faster and absorb it straight away. Walking around town, with my little notebook, writing down which powers I saw," Rachel smiles, "I saw this black figure on one night and my heart immediately skipped a beat. That deviant had three powers."

"Isso es impossivel!"

"Diego," Alex puts his hands on his, "hear her out."

"Impossible. That's what I thought too, Diego. I followed her, brought her here, and that's when I realized something else." She looks at Alex.

"I couldn't read her mind. It was all blank with her."

Everyone stares at him. Emily scoffs and crosses her arms.

"Has that ever happened to you before?" Abigail asks Alex.

"Not before, my dearest, and not after. Only with her."

"And that's not all..." Rachel continues, "she doesn't have side effects."

Emily laughs and looks at everyone around the room. That's a lie.

"And her powers are the hardest for me to absorb... they are extremely unstable."

"Why didn't you tell me that the light was her?" Diego gets up and moves toward Rachel. Stopping in front of her.