Metamorphosis

Chapter 1: The Canadians

On a forgotten street in the city of London, Ontario, with no one around to see it, and no one around to see its secret occupants, there sat an abandoned house. The nearly brown front lawn was littered with broken bottles, garbage, and disintegrated newspapers. The tall maple tree in front of the house was dying, and its leaves fell to the ground in a large ring, waiting to be dispersed over the rest of the front by the gusts of wind that would come every so often.

The street lights flickered as night fell, and the few stars that showed up at night time were beginning to appear in the darkening sky.

However, that was not the only light coming out that night. Though you wouldn't be able to see it from the outside, small lights from candles flickered in the darkness of the "abandoned" house. Laughter filled the rooms. Inside, down in the basement, four teenagers sat together in a semicircle on the cold floor, which was covered by a soft blanket, watching as one of them would get up and start making strange movements as they attempted to explain an idea, topic, or object.

One of the boys spread his arms out to his sides and made it look like he was smelling something in the air. He ran his hand through his fluffy, dark blonde hair like wind, then he fell down abruptly.

"Um..." one of the two girls said. "Is it, like, Dead Sound of Music or something?"

The boy shook his head. He then moved to make it look like he was scrambling to get onto something, and he swayed like it was floating on water.

"I have no clue," the other girl said.

He reached to the floor like someone was dying, and then threw his head back in a silent wail.

"Is it The Lion King?" the first girl asked. When everyone looked at her like she was crazy she rolled her eyes. "The part where Scar straight up murders Mufasa?"

The boy shook his head again.

"Is it death?"

He made rolling motions with his hands, telling them to go on.

"Um, people dying?"

More motions.

"Guys, it's the Titanic," the soft voice of the other boy said. "Everyone knows the arms outstretched scene in Titanic."

The first girl sighed. "How do you always know this stuff, Parker?"

Parker shrugged. "Like how you always know how technology and stuff works. I just know."

"Well, it's Parker's turn, then," the second girl said.

He paled and shook his head. "Nah, someone else can go."

The other boy laughed and went to sit next to Parker. "Come on. If I, Nyle Winters, ego extraordinaire, can act out the cheesiest and most cliche movie of all time, then you can do it too."

"Nyle!" the first girl admonished, horrified. "Titanic is a classic!"

He smiled and said, "Yeah. A classic bore."

She gaped at him and was about to pounce, but the other girl sighed and said, "Saige... Keep yourself in check. You know he's just trying to get a rise out of you."

"But, Mira--"

Mira shook her head, her dark brown hair waving slightly. "No buts," she said firmly. She looked over at Nyle and narrowed her eyes. "As for you, no annoying Saige. You know how she gets when she gets annoyed. Especially when it's you."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother," he replied jokingly.

She hit him on the shoulder lightly before turning and saying, "Now, Parker, go up."

Sighing, Parker reluctantly got up and walked into the middle of the semicircle. He picked up a card and his eyes widened. He looked back at the others and squeaked, "Can I choose another?"

Saige shook her head, nearly messing up the meticulous bun her blonde hair was in. "Nope. What you get, you have to do."

Parker groaned and put the card in the discard pile. "Fine."

He lay down on his back and started to writhe in pain as he clutched his stomach.

"You're dying?"

Parker shook his head. He mouthed screaming bloody murder.

Mira giggled. "Oh my gosh. Is Parker actually, like, for real, giving birth?"

Saige laughed hysterically as she saw that this was true. "He is!"

He nodded in obvious relief and crawled away to the end of the line. "Mira's turn," he said quickly.

"I'm sorry, but you just about lost all of your manliness there," Nyle said, clapping a hand on Parker's back. "In just one minute. That's gotta be some kind of record. Although, I think I could have done that and stay my manly self." He flexed his arm and Saige rolled her eyes.

"Alright, you can stop now. Mira's going."

Just as Mira was reading her card, the light that the candles gave off flickered and nearly went entirely out. She winced and they became stable once more. "Sorry, guys. That was--"

"An accident," Parker finished. "And it's fine."

"Is it that bad?" asked Saige. "You only make the lights go out when you're upset."

"Can I do another?" Mira asked quietly. "I don't think I'll be able to do this one."

Parker laughed. "I gave birth. If I can do that, you can do anything."

Mira shook her head. "I mean I physically can't." She showed them the card. "How do I show family if I've never really had one?"

Frowning, Saige said, "What do you mean? We're your family. We have been for over a year. Heck, we had a one-year-anniversary party just a few weeks ago. Why would you say you've never really had a family?"

"You guys are my family... But not in the same way that other people have a family," Mira said sadly. Tears welled in her eyes.

No one spoke as they all silently agreed, not wanting to offend Mira.

A few years prior, Mira's family had discovered her powers and immediately kicked her out onto the street in fear of her hurting them. They didn't understand that Mira was just as frightened of her powers as they were.

Similar things like that had happened to the rest of them, but none so harsh as Mira's experience.

"Well, we're your family now," said Nyle, smiling brightly. "And we don't need anyone else."

"Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean," Parker said helpfully.

Mira smiled and gave a small laugh through her tears. "You're right. We're an ocean, and no one can drain us of our power."

They all came together for a group hug, all of them in one big pile. They all felt complete, like nothing could go wrong as long as they were together.

It wouldn't take long to see how terribly wrong they were.  

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Dear readers,

This is the first chapter of the sequel to Agent Kat (I may change the name to something else). If you would like to suggest another name for "Agent Kat", please, please, please feel free to comment. 

BTW, the photo above is of Nyle Winters. Thank you AnnabethC for creating him for me.

-flygirl1