After two years of The Treatment, Shade is finally allowed back into the real world, only to find its not so real after all. Shade, Kate, Susan, and Misty are all girls with extraordinary abilities but because they are different, they are cast aside, told that what they can do makes them weak, a target for their 'sinful' way of living. The Treatment hammers into their heads that they are abominations, but they know it can't be true. Kate controls your thoughts, Shade can Transform into any creature from this world or the next; if she wants she can even replace you. Susan controls material objects, making paintings and art into real life things you can touch and feel. While Misty can watch your every move, and you can never see her.
Monster, Freak, we have heard them all.
We are the Shades of Darkness,
And mankind will pay for what the've done
"What the hell?"
I took a step closer to the mirror, staring at my reflection in disbelief. The person looking back was still me, but at the same time it wasn't. I had the same thick, dark, curly hair. The same hazel eyes. The same olive skin with a light dusting of freckles (ugh) scattered across the bridge of my nose.
But my curls were now streaked with highlights. And not the subtle, golden-brown ones that sometimes appeared during the summer. No, these were an aggressive, dazzling blond that went from the roots of my hair all the way to the tips. It looked like I had spent a full day getting my hair done in some upscale salon. Never mind that I had never set foot in such a place since the day I was born.
My eyes appeared somehow wider and more luminous. The colour brighter, my eyelashes darker up against them. And, when I looked closely, my pupils seemed to be slitted almost like a cat.
I looked down at my body. My skinny arms-which had always refused to gain any definition no matter how hard I exercised-were lined with flat, wiry muscles. My bony shoulders were now curved and smooth. My scrawny legs were toned like a dancer. I reached down and lifted my shirt, revealing two subtle lines running vertically down my perfectly flat stomach, hinting at the rock-hard abs underneath.
My whole body was rippling with strength. Like liquid steel.