[color=edffed]Anika glanced at the clock. 2:34 PM. And then listlessly went back to laying in bed and staring at the thin gold bracelet that adorned her wrist. It looked foreign dangling in front of her considering it was her sister's. Sarah loved that bracelet but let Anika borrow it that night, insisting that it went perfectly with her party outfit, and she never seemed to remember to take it off, or perhaps it was more the fact that Anika wanted that visual reminder of the night her life changed in more ways than one- Her sister is probably dead, her parents think she is crazy and the biggest change of all- her new found powers. A knock resounded, breaking her out of her thoughts, and then her mom's voice.

[b]“Anika, the police are here. They want to talk to you.”[/b]

The girl rolled over on her bed. [color=7A997A][b]“Tell them to go away. I've already talked to them.”[/b][/color] There was a pause and then shuffling from outside the door before her mom cleared her throat.

[b]“You know you can't keep moping around like this...It's...It's hard for all of us.”[/b] Anika sighed and rolled over on her bed to sit up on the edge of it. 

[color=7A997A][b]“Mom, I just...you know, what happened last time...my...condition.”[/b][/color] Yeah, the last time she talked to the police, they didn't even finish the questioning. It was the day after the party and Anika had seen things that she only thought existed in movies. She was running out of the warehouse along with the crowd but amidst the screams, there were growls and silhouettes of strange creatures. Some people were staring at their hands in disgust, others grasped at their faces, she thought she saw someone running around their entire body made of ice. She told the police what she remembered and in the process of recalling events, one of the detective screamed [b]“Keep it away!”[/b] pointing to an empty space on the ground with a trembling hand. Alarmed, Anika, her parents and the other detectives looked around but saw nothing. Still the terrified man kept pointing at the ground. He even went as far as jumping on top of the coffee table and reached for his holstered gun, but his partner grabbed it before he did and had to escort the confused man out of the house.  That's when Anika told her parents about her abilities and that's the first time she really saw fear in her parent's eyes. Since then she thought it was best she stayed away from people, including her parents.

Anika looked up at the door separating her and her mother. Judging from the silence, her mother agreed. Anika heard a sigh and then [b]“We'll figure it out, honey. I'm sure the therapist will be able to help...I'll just tell the detectives you're not feeling well.”[/b]

[color=7A997A][b]“Thanks, mom.”[/b][/color]

The girl rolled back into bed listening to the retreated footsteps of her mother and muffled conversation before her phone went off alerting her of a text. She reached for it thinking of another excuse to tell her concerned classmates about why she's missed school for almost a week, but the message made her stop thinking all together The girl frowned and re-read the message again.  Mid-way through reading it a fifth time, Anika jumped out of bed almost dropping her phone, but she held onto it and glanced at the time. 2:50 PM. School was almost out, that means she had only a few minutes before finding this Apollo guy and getting some answers. The girl glanced at herself in the mirror, making sure she was somewhat presentable, before grabbing her purse and car keys. Her thoughts raced as she sped out of the house, past her confused mother and surprised police.

[i]“It's us versus them...we have something deeper here..there's no coincidence...I might be the only “friend” you have any more...”[/i]

[color=7A997A][b]“Friend or not, you better have some damn answers, Apollo,”[/b][/color] Anika muttered under her breath as she peeled out of her driveway and drove to school.[/color]