Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~THIRTY EIGHT~

~amelie~

"I managed to get out without them seeing me, through a vent leading to the outside," I explain, and I grip Hunter's hand as I steady my breathing.

I'm sitting in the planning room, next to Hunter, as I recount what happened to me. The kidnapping, the interrogation, my mother, Roman. Elian, Markus, Matthew, Nathan, Amber and Lila are with us, and, although everyone is deathly serious, Amber's face is getting more and more crumpled by the minute.

"Go on, Amelie," Dad prompts, softly. Telling him about Mum was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I don't think I could have done it without Hunter's reassuring presence. Sophia... even beginning to imagine how I would tell her makes me want to cry.

Hi, Soph! Did you miss me? Your mother might be dead.

I swallow. "I thought I'd gotten away, but one of them saw me. He must have had telekinesis, or something, because then a rock just flew at me, and another, and... and..." I choke on the words, forcing them out. Remembering the pain, the shock, all on top of the possibility I'd just seen my mother be murdered - I wish I didn't have to relive the experience, but everyone needs to know.
"It's okay," Amber says, reaching for my other hand, and I take it. She squeezes, and warm energy passes from her to me, easing some of my painful emotion. "You're okay."
"Amelie," Elian says gently, looking straight at me, "can I just confirm something?"
I nod wordlessly.
"So... Roman's side knows where we are, correct? And your mother was... working with him?"
I nod again.
He breathes out heavily. "This... is not good. We need to tell everyone. Are you up for it, Amelie?"

I'm about to say no, to allow myself to crawl into some abandoned room until this is over, but suddenly something clicks. It's like I've hit a barrier, so low I can't descend any further, and now I've been catapulted back up. It's hard to describe, but it feels strong like steel and bright like sunlight. And I stand up, and words start to come out of my mouth.

"They need to know," I say. "Everyone. We have to tell them, and we have to get them to fight. The only way we win this is with an army, and we have one already. We just need to prepare them for war.

"Because this is war. It's a battle of good versus evil, right versus wrong, whoever's perspective you're looking from. This is the war that will determine our futures. My mother might be dead at Roman's hands, but she's not the only one. Think how many people will be locked up for life, killed, forced into hiding if we don't win. We will never have normal lives. We will live in fear, and danger, and that is no way to live. So they need to know, and we have to tell them. This is it. We win, or we die."

The room is deathly silent as my words ring around the room. I realise sometime in that speech I've slammed my fist on the table, and I stare at it as the others process what I've said, suddenly feeling a tingling, burning sensation. It has a strange quality to it, almost silvery, steely, metallic... but I'm ripped away from concentrating on it as Hunter speaks.

"Well," he says, with a half-rueful smile, "that's one way to inspire a crowd."

And then everyone is looking at me with something new in their eyes, and I think it's respect, and they all stand up as my father smiles at me. Hunter's hand finds mine again and I squeeze, this time not from despair, but from hope - because I can feel the steel inside me, and I know there's a chance. A chance to win, a chance to survive, a chance to undo all the suffering and all the secrets that fill my world, and so many others'.

And I smile.

~~~

I stand on the podium where Elian stood at Cade's memorial service, speaking to the huge number of rebels who have assembled before me, as applause fills the air. I have recounted my story, again, and repeated my speech, all with the seven people I just told by my side. Now everyone is clapping, and although I'm not fully sure why, I can feel the pulsing determination spreading through the crowd. The shared emotion is so strong it's almost tangible, throbbing and humming like a heartbeat through the room. The applause dies down as I lift my hand, and start to talk again.

"So, I have one question for you all. Are you willing to fight for this? To defend yourself and your allies, and create a better world for us all? Who's with me?"

I shout the last words, and my question shocks the room into utter silence. My eyes widen. I thought they knew exactly what I was talking about - risking everything to fight for a chance. The only chance we have. But, from the shock radiating like a pebble in a pond throughout the throng, I see just how wrong I was.

I cast my eyes to my right, and I see Hunter's expression as he scans the crowd. Worry and confusion fill his face, and I know he's feeling the same way - unable to comprehend the complete lack of willingness to fight. It only increases my own unease, and I'm about to open my mouth again when another voice fills the air.

"I'm in," announces the voice, words carrying through the large room, and I stare at Thomas as he lifts his hand high in the air. He gives me a small smile, and nods, and fresh hope blossoms inside me.
I'm still staring at him when someone else speaks. "I'm in," says Genevieve, and I watch her funnel her hands around her mouth and manipulate her voice to easily carry across the crowded auditorium. She gives me another grin as she throws her hand to the sky.
Minerva's voice calls, "I'm in," and then I hear Cerise piping up with the same words, and then I recognise the voices of Katie and Iya, the newly-rescued Ezra, the Professor, Victoria, people I've met once, twice, people I know well, people I've never even seen, and then the auditorium is filled with outstretched hands and voices and I laugh as Hunter turns to me and says "I'm in,", and takes my hand, and then I turn back towards the crowd and my jaw drops.

Everyone in this room, apart from Elian, my father, and a few other exceptions, has a power. I know this. But, sometimes, knowing is not the same as understanding - and, as I stare at the crowd, all simultaneously using their abilities, I finally understand what being a superhuman really means.

Rainbow trails streak through the air as sudden music fills the auditorium and rebels conjure fire in their hands, leap into the air and join the rest of the fliers, change shape, size, species, fill the air with bursts of colour and light. Everything you could possibly imagine is here, under one roof, in one room.  And even after Cade, after Ryan, Dad, Roman, Mum... this moment can still exist. This happiness.

And, right now, I truly feel that everything is going to be okay.