Shadows {Book one in the Coriana Johnson series}

The Whole Story

I sat across from Coulson, not meeting his gaze. I could tell he wasn't happy that I had gone to save Daisy when he specifically told me not to, but he wasn't saying anything about it yet.

     I took a deep breath. I had to tell him everything. It would be hard, but I had to.

     "My parents never paid hardly any attention to me. They never stopped looking for Daisy. And when Jiaying left, Cal still didn't care much about me.  And his temper was out of control. He felt abandoned, which doesn't really make sense because I was still there.

     "But I guess I didn't count. I was just a nuisance. And sometimes when his temper got out of control-" I paused and my face hardened even more as I remembered all of the pain.

     "He would abuse me. Beat me up. So when I was ten, I left. It was hard. I had to adapt. I had no idea what to do.

    "But then this boy, Liam, came along. He was about my age, and offered to take me somewhere where I could be with other runaway kids.

      "Those kids helped me. We helped each other. We shared food, money- and taught each other useful skills.

      "I grew very close to all of them. We cared for each other. If it weren't for them, I might be dead."

      My eyes started to well up with tears.

     "Then- then this happened."

  I produced some dark energy to show him what I meant.

     "When I- I changed- it didn't take me long to realize what had happened."

   I looked up.

   "You wanted to know what had happened in that building. Well, that was the building we all lived in. And just because I understood what had happened, it didn't mean I could control it.

     "Liam was away, doing some work. One of the others had gotten some fish. After I started eating it, I felt strange. So, I ran to the bathroom and then, well- it happened.

      "When I came out, everything was dark in there. Someone came and knocked on the door, since they had heard me fall.

   "I didn't know what to do. I thought that maybe I could tell them. We were so close, so maybe they wouldn't care.
But I was so afraid they would push me away.

     "So, I was able to make the dark energy in the room go away, and I told them I had just slipped. I rejoined them, trying to calm myself down saying everything would be fine.

     "But, of course, it wasn't. I grew too afraid. I jumped at the slightest sound.

    "Then the lights began to flicker, and eventually, they went off entirely. Everyone else though it was just a power outage, but somehow I knew it was me.

      "Then they noticed some dark energy that was around me. They didn't know what it was, and then suddenly, the dark energy exploded everywhere.

     "I couldn't stop it. They all died, because of me. There was nothing I could do." Tears started to stream down my face. Coulson's face softened a bit.

"Liam returned a half hour later. He found me, on the floor, crying. I told him everything. To my surprise, he didn't push me away or call the police. He embraced me. I told him to leave before I hurt him, but he stayed. He told me he would help with whatever I needed.

"So, the two of us set out to find my sister, who, other than him, was all that I had left.

"Then, those people started coming after me. Liam came up with the idea of following one of them back to their base. I told him that it was too dangerous, and that I wouldn't let him put himself in harm's way for me, then-"

I broke off and took a breath.

"He went by himself, without me knowing. He left me a way to track him, but when I got there, it was too late. He was dying.

"He gave me the hard drive, and he- he told me it was worth it. And he wanted to die helping me. He told me that he l-"

I started sobbing. I couldn't say it. I didn't want to relive that moment, Thr moment when I had realized the only person who had loved me truly, and I had loved them, was going to be gone. Forever.

Although I didn't finish the sentence, I could tell Coulson understood.

I wiped my tears away and continued.

"So I took the hard drive, but I couldn't view all of the files. What I was able to see, is that they were collecting information about known Inhumans. I found their information about Daisy, and discovered she was working for SHIELD.

"So I decided to use the picture they had to run facial recognition across the US, for starters.

"I had almost succeeded, but then thr people who were after me found me again. I was trying to escape, then SHIELD found me."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was done.

"That's everything. If you have any questions, I'll answer any of them," I finished.

I looked at Coulson, nervous about what his answer might be.

"Thank you for telling me everything, Coriana. No, I'm not happy that you went to help Daisy and Lincoln against my orders. But, since you told me everything, I am willing to let you on our team eventually, but you will need some training. Ok- a lot of training," he said.

   My eyes lit up. Honestly, that was what I had really wanted. To be on their team.

   "Thank you," I said and smiled slightly.

    "And, I from what I've seen, you have enough control over your power to not stay in this room any longer." He glanced around. "Well, that is, if you really want to leave. It's pretty cozy in here."

   "I hope you were being sarcastic," I said.  He smiled.

   "Maybe."

I grinned.

Maybe Coulson wasn't so bad after all.