It's Not Magic

Four

"And, here we are!" Wally said happily as we approached an old building. As I looked up, I saw the building was tall, but it was also falling apart, seeming more fit to be a haunted worksite than a place for mutations like me to hide.

"This is it?" I asked, disappointment obvious in my voice. "An abandoned building?"

Max looked at me, disappointment reflecting on his face. "Well, not quite, but almost. The building only looks this way because—"

"Max! Careful what you say up here," Wally hissed, looking around to see if anyone was around. We were in the outskirts of the village, on a side of town that I'd never been to before, but that didn't change the fact that no one was going to come out this way. Ever.

"Sorry, love," Max replied, ducking his head as Wally swung his arm, aiming to hit the back of his head.

"C'mon," Wally said after he missed Max's head. "Let's get going. The others are probably back by now."

I cautiously followed Wally and Max as they walked into the building, watching their every move. I still didn't trust them one hundred percent, and with them advertising the idea of a safe haven, I was a bit weary of them. It seemed all to good to be true, and I wasn't about ready to jump into some stranger's awaiting arms so they could teach me to control my powers. I still wanted nothing to do with them, even if it had seemed like that to Max and Wally.

After everything that happened with Cam, I had no desire to even access my powers. It scared me what happened, and it was like Wally had said, I was afraid. I was afraid of might happen again if I let myself feel attachment to people again. It was bad enough that Cam had died when I was supposed to protect him. Cam died, and every single bit of it was my fault. Cam had encouraged me to use my powers, and I could, but only a little bit, up until he died. I refused to use it after Cam...no, I couldn't go down that road. I'd get emotional, and then...Stop it, I scolded myself. You're just going to lose control again.

"Eggplant," Max asked suddenly, sounding concerned. I looked up at him, surprised, and tried not to jump. "Are you okay?"

I nodded my head, giving him a forced smile. "Yup, everything's fine and dandy."

Max looked at me with a questioning look, almost like he didn't believe what I was saying. And I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that. People always believed my façades, and never did their faith in my mental sanity falter once. Except Ralph. He's always been the exception. And I was okay with him knowing things; more than once I'd come into his shop and spilled out my thoughts to him over a couple dozen cookies. We often joked that I'd eat him out of business.

"Here we are," Wally announced, gesturing to the elevator in front of us. Tearing myself from my thoughts, I looked at the elevator. "Let's all head on in."

I cast a questioning glance at Wally as he pressed the down button, the arrow lighting up a faint green color. Not really wanting to, I listened to the elevator as it rose from whatever floor it was on, the gears turning and the ropes pulling against each other as they pulled the heavy box upward. Judging by the sound of the box rapidly growing closer, I'd say we had about five...four...three...two...one. Ding. The elevator made a little ding, sounding similar to a doorbell, kind of, and the doors slid open, revealing the small room inside.

"Everybody climb in," Wally chimed enthusiastically, following behind Max. Cautiously, I followed behind the both of them, not sure what to expect. "We've got one hell of a trip ahead of us."

"And what do you mean by that, exactly?" I asked, not really liking the sound of that. But it was too late to back out now, as the doors were sliding shut, and the small space became even smaller. I was just hoping the two men behind me had enough respect of the fact that there are other people in this elevator. I mean, it had been in fun and games before, but who knew what they would do? I'd only known them for at least an hour.