When people talked about JJ, they always threw in compliments about his technology skills and how brilliantly he was at approaching topics like alien warfare and quantum science. But what they did not know, and should remain unknown, was how much of a hoarder he really was.
I'm not talking about a simple mess that guys liked to have within their quarters where they leave their dirty laundry out for everyone to see and smell, I'm talking about a real hoarder. The type of hoarder that goes around and collects old pieces of broken hardware as well as rubbish bags to leave to be cluttered in the corner of the room- the type of hoarder that accumulates more and more things that they did not, nor ever, need.
JJ did have OCD- it was just not the stereotypical cleaning side of it as everyone else knew but rather, he had to have his stuff arranged in a way that satisfied him. So there was only one place for guests to sit that he would not snap at you for moving- that was on his bed. So despite every agent's personal quarters being fairly big, JJ's was the smallest by them all because of his 'important projects'. I wasn't a tech nerd so I really couldn't relate.
"Katra! Be careful! That's my replication device; I'm still working on it so don't sit on it!" JJ snapped as I nearly sat on some gadget that he had left on his bed. Sighing, I moved over, only for my elbow to knock into a bag full of metal screws while JJ moved the device to somewhere safer.
"Sorry." I mumbled, folding my arms and staring at JJ's computer across from me, waiting for him to show me the file that was on me.
He seemed to notice that I was getting impatient, dropping what he was doing to sit at his desk and began typing something into the screen. JJ was nervous about something, which could only mean that what was on that file was going to seriously upset me. Lucky for him that my powers were still depleted.
"Katra... Are you sure you want to see this? I mean, I freaked out when I saw it and I'm a level seven agent who sees things like this a lot."
Nodding, I moved in beside him. After him saying something like that, any doubts I had ever had was eradicated, strengthening my resolve to find out the truth. Even if it might hurt me, even if I lose faith in my life.
JJ's nearly midnight black eyes watched me for a few minutes, searching for any signs that I would back out at the last minute; I was not. Satisfied but still anxious, he loaded the file and pressed it. An old medical notes came up on the screen. It read:
Patient: 0-6-2-7-7 aka Katra Marianna Barton.
Sex: Female
Age: 9 years of age
Parents: abandoned her and her brother.
Powers: suspected- needs further analysis
To be put through trials: confirmed
Dread filled my stomach as memories that I had wanted to forget consumed by mind. I wanted to be sick. No, I wanted to eradicate everything from that time but I needed to know how I survived and where Clint was when it happened. That had always been my biggest fear- that whatever I had subconsciously blocked out of my mind was to do with Clint.
Steeling myself against the waves of sickening nostalgia, I pointed to the video file attached that had my patient ID named on it. It looked like the date matched the day Bluemore Orphanage had gone up in flames. No one had known the cause of the fire so they had chalked it up to a sudden gas explosion underneath the building.
"Play it." My voice did not match how I was feeling. It sounded confident- reassured and yet, I was shaking on the inside, consumed by a lot of different emotions. Anger, confusion, sadness and emptiness.
"Katra, I don't think-"
"Play it. I can handle it."
JJ sighed. As soon as it began playing, my ears instantly filtered out all background noise, including JJ and the noise of his machine, my entire focus was on that one huge monitor. The monitor which was playing the video could reveal what happened that day.
An image of a twelve-year-old girl with black hair, red hair streaks going through it, was strapped to a gurney. Her hair was long, matted with sweat and dirt. Her face was gaunt from lack of nourishment. Her arms were littered with bruises that had been caused by needles being jabbed in without any consideration for the patient.
But it was the eyes that made me choke back tears. They were filled with such pain, grief and hatred. Such hatred for a little girl was unbearable and she... was me.
A masked person in all black stood over twelve-year-old me with a knife, ready to test another theory. By the looks of it, they were testing the limits of my healing. She began to struggle ineffectively, knowing that she couldn't do anything to stop the figure from doing what they wanted to do.
"Stop squirming, Kitty. You will only hurt yourself more." A low gruff voice growled, pushing twelve-year-old Katra's head back down onto the gurney.
"Why are you doing this to me?! I've done nothing wrong!"
"Be quiet!" The person snapped, lowering the knife to her stomach.
The room itself was quite small and was already filled with medical equipment, in pristine conditions- it appeared to be taken care of a great deal in comparison to the actual orphanage I remembered. It was such a disturbing fact to understand why and yet, what drew me back to the scene of the crime was the way my hair on the screen began to light up. Like fire had decided to ignite from it.
She screamed. Flames licked at her bonds, setting her free. Little Katra sat up, glaring at the person, who could only stand there in shock and awe. They weren't the only ones. I could control fire now but I preferred to use water or earth, so the fire I now produced was just a small spark.
"Incredible! Well done Katra. This is the start of a new scientific breakthrough!" They breathed, excited.
"A breakthrough? You call torturing me for three years, a breakthrough? You're barking mad. I am going to make sure no one ever remembers or steps one foot into this building ever again!"
Standing up after getting off of her so-called hospital bed, Little Katra held her hands up and began throwing little fireballs at the walls, the acceleration from one of the sterile equipment that was used for cleaning, sped up the progression of the fire.
Boom!
The building shook and sure enough, it was rapidly consumed by flames. Before the camera could cut out, Little Katra was seen roaming the hallway to outside, dazed and exhausted. She looked ready to pass out.
She did. Right after she got outside. The camera cut off, signalling the end of the video. Leaving us with a deafening silence before the screen made a ping! Noise. A report came up and showed that six people had died in that fire but none of them were children- just the adults who ran Bluemore Orphanage.
"Katra, I'm sorry."
"Just don't... what's that?" I pointed out a file that showed a recruitment form and video report for Clint at age fifteen. Without a word, JJ opened it.
YOU ARE READING
The Second Born Curses- A Winterborn Series
Romantik"You can't fight me, Katra, I will have you" he said, pushing me against the wall as if he owned me. I shivered at the proximity at which he was standing at, his gaze boring into mine. "I-I won't s-surrender" I stammered, my fingers itching to touc...
