~First-Person Narration: Jasmine~

    I was stuck going to the set that afternoon; we shot a few more scenes all of which took more effort than they should’ve, but I couldn’t help myself. Everything felt so incredibly empty all of a sudden . . . Like a gaping hole was pulling out my heart . . . or . . . whatever the thing was . . . I could still envision the device. And the first time I’d found it inside my chest.

~~~

It had been a mere week since Daniel had found me, and was allowing me to stay with him for the time being. He’d given me a couple minor parts in some movie he was shooting where I was this waitress that showed up about four times, give or take what stayed in the movie, and had less than fifteen lines total, all of which weren’t critical.

I was exhausted and just wanted to rest. I glanced at the ring on my finger and winced, feeling a stab in my chest, so I quickly averted my attention.

Jasmine: “Just get a grip girl, you can do this . . . You’ll be on your feet in no time . . .”

    I murmured to myself, staring at the mirror. I tried so hard to calm down. I just wanted to focus on calm . . . so I held my own stare with the glass, gradually slowing my breathing.

    It was working . . . I was feeling calmer as the emerald green was battling the black of my pupil as it contracted and dilated. Just a little . . .

    That was when I started to have blobs of purple cross my vision, a faint sensation in my chest that I couldn’t place. I pulled away from the mirror, rubbing my eyes, trying to shake it away.

Jasmine: “Fragging . . .”

    The word came against my will, but I didn’t dwell on it long. When I looked back at the mirror, a pulsing . . . thing . . . could be seen in the center of my chest. I’d thought it had been my heart before but seeing it . . . No. That couldn’t be right. It was this circular mass that, exposed, looked like pure energy, strands of light that ebbed and surged from the dead center. It was orb-like, a higher concentration.

    I was not fascinated like a scientist would’ve been.

    I screamed at the top of my lungs, stumbling backwards, hitting the lip of the tub and falling in. At some point on the way down, my hands had transformed into something resembling high-tech guns, shooting into the wall and ceiling, one, two, three, four, five times each . . .

    I stared at them, wide eyed, hitting my head against the wall behind me, the butt of my jeans getting wetter by the second as I sat there, the area damp from a recent shower. I was terrified . . .

    Daniel burst in shortly, and he saw me, hands absent, the inner workings of my chest exposed. Me just . . . wide-eyed . . . vulnerable . . . He could’ve done anything . . . He could’ve given me to scientists to be dissected and destroyed . . .

    Instead he took me under his wing, vowing that he would never allow anyone to hurt me, that no one would know . . .

    I vowed that Daniel was my family, and that once I was capable of figuring out the ins and outs of my morphed body, I would protect Daniel as he had me . . .

~~~

Not soon enough, the day came to an end. I was exhausted. Not physically but emotionally. One more day. I still had to endure another day without that letter . . . It was painful, but I could do it, right . . . ?

Regardless, the pain in my chest wouldn’t cease. With a sigh, I strode back to my trailer.

Jasmine: "Good job, kiddo. Get some rest."

I grazed my hand over Meggy's shoulder as I passed by, heading outside to get to the trailer. I just wanted peace and quiet . . . To try and relax . . .

I opened the door and went inside, sitting down on the couch. I was just glad Akane didn't bother to come to here unless there was an emergency.

As soon as I sat down, a pair of hands clamped around her mouth.

???: "Took you long-."

A male voice began to say and then stopped, perplexed.

???: "You're not Megawave!"

A muffled scream escaped me a moment before I struck, my fist aiming straight for his cheekbone. I scowled, maneuvering to bite his hand and delivering a quick kick to his abdomen. Thank AllSpark for . . . well . . . instinct, I guess . . .

Akane burst into the room the moment he heard the yell and tore the man off me, pinning him squarely onto the ground. Hard.

Meggy came running over, hearing the shout and gasped.

Meggy: "Jasmine! Are you okay?"

I let out a hard breath before swallowing, wiping a tinge of red from the corner of my mouth.

Jasmine: "I'm fine. He got a little scratch."

I shook my head lightly. None of this made sense, and I definitely wasn’t in any shape to be processing it in the first place.

Jasmine: "What in the . . . ?"

I sighed. Meggy's eyes widened. It was the photographer from the café! From what felt like forever ago . . . He definitely bore resemblance to another photographer . . . But wasn’t the same . . .

Meggy: "What's he doing here?!"

Gradually, a look of fear crossed her face.

Jasmine: "I haven't any idea. But I'm hoping he explains before things get rough."

???: "I-I'm not talking u-until I get a lawyer! Ow! Watch the suit!"

That rang a bell somewhere . . . But I was certain that aside from this man’s appearance on the rooftop across from the cafe who knows how long ago . . . I hadn’t seen him before . . .

Bright red hair . . . Certainly I’d remember him . . . And his odd demeanor . . .

Akane yanked the intruder up, looking at Meggy.

Akane: "Call the police."

Was all he said as he roughly moved the man out of the room. Meggy nodded and quickly patted my hand.

Meggy: "You'll be okay."

Was all she said before walking out, grabbing her cellphone and dialing up the police station. Something about the gesture and the way Meggy had said it drove me insane . . . No, I wouldn’t be okay right now. I felt like the weight of the world was crushing me and it was driving me absolutely insane.

    I rolled her eyes, fuming, and grabbed my bag, heading out of the dressing room and down the street. It wasn’t long before I heard her call me . . .

Meggy: "Hey, uhm, Jasmine!"

The girl called out, running over. I couldn’t take it anymore, I just . . . snapped. Everything was a pinprick of stress today and I felt like a dummy used for practicing acupuncture by people who had absolutely no idea what they were doing and every bit of stress came rolling in like a storm cloud. It was horrid and I lost control.

Jasmine: "WHAT?!"

I whirled around on my heels, face flushed in anger.

Jasmine: "What could you possibly have to tell me now?! I already deal with nightmares I can't recall ninety fragging percent of the time, I'm having memories that aren't even mine frag up my brain and through it all I'm trying to fragging pretend that I'm somehow this NORMAL person who doesn't deal with some freaky ass shit like creeps trying to kill me! What does a fifteen-year-old have to tell me that I don't know?!"

    She froze, and I couldn’t help feeling some satisfaction in that . . . I hated myself for it. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I didn’t exactly want to be the one hurting, either . . .

Meggy: ". . . You don't know anything."

The teen's eyes burnt, flickering a brief red before she turned and slowly walked away.

Meggy: "You'll never know what it's like."

Not know? What wouldn’t I know? What it was like to feel like a freak every day of your life and not even know why you are what you are or how you came to be such a horrid piece of scrap when the last flashes you can recall are of being a normal human?

Jasmine: "How do I not know?! Do you know what they would do to me if the masses knew?!"

The metal was burning under my skin. I had too much energy built up from the surge the argument was causing. I couldn't take it. It had to be released. From the tip of my fist to my forearm, I transformed, the metal clearly revealing itself. It was risky but the metal endoskeleton was screaming to be let out.

Jasmine: "Do you really want to tell me I don't know about something?"

I reached out mentally with the strings, attaching them to Meggy, forcing her to stop in her tracks.

Meggy's eyes flashed, tearing up.

Meggy: "I CAN'T TELL YOU OKAY?!! I CAN'T! BECAUSE I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO REMEMBERS!"

She struggled against the ties, trying to break free.

My blood was boiling. Blood and that other substance . . . I forced Meggy to turn around.

Jasmine: "Remember what?! A sky-high blast?! Splattered blood?! Someone calling your name and still running?!"

Meggy: "YES!"

In that moment, my energy plummeted and hers surged, causing a break in the strings. She ran, and didn’t look back.