Chapter Text
Via-1
My Saturday started off boring like they all do. Sun shone through the window of my room. I woke up unwillingly, laid in my lumpy bed for a while, ate a bit of a banana, and then went to the pine forest. There usually isn’t a lot of empty forest in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, but I was lucky enough to live near one. It’s rare to have wilderness near a fairly large city. I quickly got dressed in an old black leather jacket and torn up jeans. I shoved a black cap onto my messy hair and ran out the door. To the woods I go.
By the way, the name’s Via. I’m basically just your typical teen. I’m tall, with dark hair and brown eyes. I like music. I’m an average student. I’m nothing out of the ordinary. But I’m different. You’ll understand sometime soon.
Anyways, I ran over to where my tree fort was. It has a roof of just some strong branches tied together with cording. The special part of this fort is the large willow tree in the center. It’s one of the only willows in this forest, so I claimed it as my own. My best friend and I made the fort, which we dubbed Fort Claria, years ago, and it’s still holding up pretty well. I sat down on the wooden stool I made in shop class last year and looked around at my surroundings for a while.
The wilderness is very peaceful. It’s a great escape from my house. This is my true home. Sometimes, I sit so still that rabbits and squirrels come and sit right in front of me. It’s amazing being unnoticed and alone. The peace would soon be disturbed, though.
I waited for Clarity, my best friend since 1st grade. I checked my watch; the time was 9:30. She should be here pretty soon. While I waited, I used my dad’s pocket knife that I stole to carve my name into the stool I was on. My real name’s Sylvia, but I hate it. It’s way too girly for me. One time, me and Clarity were in class. She was reading a book, and a sentence said ‘he flew to New York via London.’ Clarity had written ‘syl’ in front of the word to make Sylvia. I crossed out her handwriting. I liked Via better.
I heard quick footsteps and glanced over to see her. Clarity Levett was fairly short, with shoulder length light blonde hair usually messily tied into a ponytail. She was wearing her usual white shirt and black leggings, but she added a blue cowl over the shirt. I got it for her as a joke when we were at a thrift store, and she’s worn it ever since. I’ve never understood why. Clarity looked over at me with bright blue eyes that would catch your attention immediately. She smiled a huge, perfect, blinding smile. The beauty dot on her right cheek crinkled.
“Hey, V!” she yelled as she ran over.
“Hey,” I replied. I stood up and stretched out. Clarity grabbed my hand and started running in the direction she came from.
“Slow down! Where are we going?” I shouted as I was practically dragged through the dirt. I didn’t get a response, and so I kept following behind my friend.
After a few minutes of stumbling through the woods, I saw a rickety wooden bench. Clarity pointed at it.
“It’s… a bench,’ I said. Clarity nodded.
“But look,” she replied, “It has things written on it.” She pointed to a sentence that read: There’s something in the rock.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked. I studied the messy writing. It looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen it. “I recognize it.”
“That’s weird. Anyways, I think I know what it’s talking about. There’s a big boulder in the middle of the woods. We have to go there!” Clarity stated enthusiastically.
“Fine,” I replied. I know she really likes solving mysteries and exploring. I personally was not interested in this search, but sometimes I have to be nice. Together we headed into the darkest part of the woods.
Clarity-1
Via is a good friend. Don’t get me wrong. She is just reckless, and mean, and scary, but the biggest softie. She looks tough, but she really does have a kind heart. I think. I try to hang out with her as much as I can since she has no other friends, and her home life is rough. It’s not like I’m forced to be friends with her, though. Via knows me better than anyone, though I’m not sure if I really do know her.
I dragged Via along by the wrist. She is pretty slow and lazy even with her long legs. We came to a stop when we reached a large boulder covered in moss.
“It looks like a normal boulder to me,” Via commented. She ran her hand along the soft moss.
“Someone wrote on the bench for a reason,” I replied, “so now we just need to find out why.” I ran my fingers against the bottom of the boulder trying to feel for a lever or button. There was nothing.
All of a sudden, I heard a loud ringing noise. I looked up to see Via on her phone.
“It’s my dad. I gotta go. Sorry Clar.” Via quickly ran off leaving me alone in the dark woods. Typical Via.
I took a long walk out of the woods to where I chained my bike to a pole. I hopped onto the shimmery blue bike and slowly pedaled home. While going through the suburbs of Detroit, I took some time to think. I’m lucky to have a good family. My parents are doctors and my older brother is off at college to become a surgeon. I get decent grades, too, but I always feel like I’m disappointing someone. I’ve never had the family gift of loving everything medical. Blood really disgusts me, so while my parents are at work making lots of money, I’m working my shift at McDonalds. My dyslexia doesn’t help anything either. I shouldn’t feel bad for myself, though. There’s a lot of people who go through much worse.
I’m almost home. I live on a nice street in a fairly large house. The other side of the neighborhood isn’t as safe, though, so I’m not permitted to go there. I’ve heard it’s occupied by many Unnaturals and police raids happen all of the time. When I got home, there were police officers surrounding the house next door. There’s where the old lady and her granddaughter live. I’ve heard the granddaughter, named Lily, is an orphan since both of her parents were killed in war. She’s nice, but she’s very quiet, has severe OCD, and has a weird plant obsession. It must be hard living without her parents around so maybe her plants are a coping mechanism. I walked into my driveway and stared at what was happening next door for a minute. A police officer saw me staring so I quickly scurried inside. I wonder what’s going on?
I ran up to my room to stare down at the situation next door. I waited for a few minutes with nothing happening, but then I heard shouting and a door banging open. Lily was escorted outside in handcuffs by a special team of people in navy and white uniforms. It’s the UCA, also known as the Unnatural Containment Agency. Why were they here? When I saw plants sprouting from the lawn next door at an alarming rate, I realized. Lily must be an Unnatural. She was dragged into a van screaming while her grandmother just had to watch.
Unnaturals are highly dangerous. Citizens are told to tell the police if they ever see one using their powers. All Unnaturals are different, but always strong. Lily must’ve been able to control plants. There was a famous criminal named Randal Booker who was able to steal powers from others to use temporarily. The list of powers they can have are endless. Some are stronger than others, though. I’ve heard a saying that great power comes with great consequences, and that’s true for Unnaturals. They usually have some sort of disability. Lily had horrible OCD. Randal Booker had schizophrenia. It must be hard to live with conditions like that, but getting powers is cool anyways. It’s not fun having dyslexia, but at least I’m not hunted down by the government.
The police left the house. I sat down on my white bean bag in my room and took out a sketchbook to pass the time until I had to go to work. I sketched plants, hospitals, and jail cells. It’s a weird combination. Around an hour later I got up to head to work. This is just another day in the life of Clarity.