Chapter 2: Strength Derived From Pain

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CLATTONIA

I stand in the middle of the warehouse that we've made our home with my hands on my hips, my red eyes scanning across the room as I watch the members of my team, my friends, being themselves. Ink, Indigo, Lucian, and Labyrinth are all on the couch watching TV, Labyrinth playing with a dagger and balancing it on her finger tip in the process, while Indigo is sitting so that her chin is resting on her knees and her arms are wrapped around her legs, while Ink is completely focused on watching TV, his eyes never leaving the screen, and Lucian is boredly trying to pay attention, probably wishing he was reading. Meanwhile, Reece is standing over in the corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his brown eyes focused on me while occasionally glancing over at Aeryn, who is smirking as she scans her nails, Juniper, who is focusing on the small rose bush she's been trying to grow in a pot, Caliber, who is holding a bullet in her hands and examining it, and Katsuro, who is watching Juniper, wondering how he can help her.

I raise a brow at my blond haired best friend and sigh. Reece Maverick is my best friend, he always has been. We've both been pursued by the public, but we've always been there for each other. As for the others, we found them all at different times while trying to survive, get by, and plan to take back our freedom. Reece and I have been through a nightmare all our lives with almost nothing ever going right. Most people...most people couldn't fathom what I've been through, how I've felt. They judge, they point, they say that how I feel isn't okay -- that what I'm doing isn't okay. People can't tell you how to feel or how you feel about something. They aren't you. People can't tell you how other people feel about you either. They can infer, but assuming the way someone feels is incompetent. They can suggest, they can infer, they can advise, but they should never say for certain how another person feels, that is, unless they truly do know.

To be persecuted, to be chained up inside myself, to be told that I'm allowed to express myself, but my words get shoved back down my throat when I speak by those who tell me to, to desperately want people to understand everything that goes through my mind. The rage and power inside of me just grew, as well as my knowledge. I listened, I watched, and I analyzed. That's how I survived, but on the inside I was dying. Eventually, I snapped when I couldn't handle it anymore. I had found people who understood, but someone tried to take me from them, to take them from me -- it just wasn't right. They had no right to do that. They had no right to do what they did, and I came to a conclusion -- they had no right to live, either. And now, I destroy those who try to kill the unique, the ones who are different, whether they have powers or not.

I don't trust people either, at least, not very many. I try to find the ones who are different, who don't blend in with the crowd. But most people are liars. Most people judge. Most people hate. Most people take, destroy, and steal. Most people leave you for dead when they're done with you. Most people think they know what's best for you, when they're actually poisoning you. Most people, well, most people disgust me. The people I view like that just blend in with everyone else. They don't affect me anymore, they never really did. They're just mirror images of each other, showing and acting like what everyone else wants them to. But once in a while there's a unique person in there, hiding away in the shadows, or perhaps, out in the open where only the others who are different can truly see them.

Sure, call me cynical, but it's the truth. And I don't care that I'm cynical -- I embrace everything that I am. I've gathered so many mental and emotional scars that now it's become somewhat of a game to count and see just how many I can get, not that I'd want to get more, but they make me stronger. They make me learn. They remind me that I'm alive. They allow me to help those that I care about. Being a leader doesn't mean you have to be perfect, it's far from that, really. Leaders have to be fair and equal with a clear mind, considering every option and deciding on the best path while balancing logic and emotions at the same time. Leaders take someone who's able to connect to people, to understand everything, and if they don't, then to try without judgement. Leaders don't have to be perfect, because mistakes make us stronger, trust me, I would know. Sometimes I lack a few of these things, but I try my hardest.

"Huh?" Juniper glances over at Katsuro when he pats down some of the dirt in the flower pot before he smiles at her, "Oh, thank you."

"No problem," Katsuro continues to smile and Juniper smiles back at him, brushing a strand of her long, red hair behind her ear as she looks at the other redhead with her green eyes boring into his brown ones.

"Hey, Aeryn, would you like to help too?" Juniper asks the black haired girl.

"Hah," Aeryn laughs and rolls her brown eyes, "Your simple task isn't worth my time."

"Do you have to be so full of yourself all the time?" Lucian scowls and narrows his blue eyes at Aeryn while Caliber glances up from looking at her bullet and her blue eyes look back and forth between Lucian and Aeryn as she tilts her head to the side slightly, her white locks shifting in the process.

"I'd yell at you, but you aren't worth my time either, know it all blondie," Aeryn huffs and goes back to examining her nails.

Lucian sighs and shakes his head, shifting his blonde locks around in the process, before going back to watching TV.

"Idiots," Labyrinth mutters from next to Indigo.

Indigo's indigo colored eyes nervously glance over at the blue eyed, blonde haired girl sitting next to her and she shifts around, raising her hand to mess with a strand of her lavender colored hair.

"Don't worry about her," Ink smiles and Indigo looks over at Ink, the brown eyed, green haired boy that also has orange and white streaks through it, who is on the other side of her, with tattoos up and down his arms.

Indigo smiles back at him before the two of them go back to watching TV. Meanwhile, Reece makes his way over to me and when he stands next to me he sighs and runs a hand through his blond hair.

"Well," Reece says and crosses his arms, "What were you thinking our next plan should be?"

"I'm not sure yet," I admit as I glance around the room at the others who follow our orders, "But I want to protect them. They're our friends and we all may be around the same age, but I still feel obligated to protect them and look after them."

"Yeah," Reece snorts, "And every other supernatural in the world."

"We both have our reasons," I shrug.

"I know," Reece says before glancing at the others.

"I'm going to go to the town market and look for others," I say as I grab my white jacket with dark blue trim off of a nearby chair.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Reece raises a brow, "The attacks on the city have been becoming more frequent. Not to mention that means more people from White Rabbit will be out."

"I'll be fine," I say as I put my jacket on and start to head for the door, "Just look after them."

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