~amelie~

I can't see and I can't move. There's an inky blackness covering my eyes, blocking out the trace of all light, and it's weighing down my limbs too. I don't know where I am, or who brought me here - the silent, blind atmosphere is miles away from my usual routine.

I try and move, try to make my limbs work, but I'm stuck in a prison of my own body and I can't even scream. I'm suffocating in the darkness and I must be dead because I've never felt this before and then light rushes in and an unfamiliar girl is standing over me. I cry out and scuttle backwards, away from her, hitting the head of the bed I'm on. She raises her eyebrows and steps back, presumably to ease my fear. It does nothing, and my stomach keeps churning with panic.

"Who are you?" I stammer. "Where am I? What happened? Who brought me here? Why-"
The girl interrupts me with a low voice. "As much as I'd like to answer all your burning questions, first I need to know if the healing worked. Can you move your arms?"

The healing?

I lift my left arm, relief washing over me as I realise the lead weight has vanished and I'm free to move. I exhale slowly and shakily, not wanting it to come back when I realise something's wrong with my hand. I pull it close and stare at it, panic again replacing my calm. The girl stands up, worry etched into her face.

"Amelie, what's wrong?" she says, quietly, carefully.
I don't take my eyes off my unblemished palm. "My scar. It's... it's gone."
The girl breathes out, probably happy it wasn't worse. But, to me, this is serious. "Oh, yeah. The healing took all your marks away."
I look at her suspiciously. Dark, thick braids, threaded through with gold and copper hang from her head, and her eyes are a vivid amber. "What do you mean?"
"The healing?" she asks, surprised I don't understand. "It's my power. Ryan flies, Hunter breaks in, Lila messes with minds, I heal, and you... well, nobody knows."
"You have a power?"
"Sure. Most of us do. You know when Ryan told you about the rebels, how they had so many people in their ranks?" She leans in close and whispers. "You finally reached them."

My head spins with fatigue as I reach the conclusion - I blacked out, then woke up apparently in the rebel base. Presumably Ryan flew me here after he delivered his ultimatum. But why?

"What do you need me for?" I ask, looking her straight in the eye.
The girls sighs. "Amelie, you're unique. You have powers, and you're also the daughter of Nathan Carmichael, but you also haven't been caught. You're invaluable to us - none of us are registered as citizens, and if we are we're flagged with abilities. Either way, we'll be arrested on sight. But you, you're a trusted member of society. You can sneak around without anybody suspecting a thing, and best of all? If you're caught someplace you shouldn't be, you can just be looking for your dad. Easy peasy."

Her words make sense, but there's something I still don't understand. I relax my body, still hunched and defensive, into a more casual sitting position.

"You said I haven't been caught. How did that happen? I thought the tests were a hundred percent accurate."
The girl hums quietly as she considers her answer. After a few seconds, she replies. "They are. But the person who did yours... let's just say he's sympathetic to our cause. He faked your results. Bet you're glad you had to skip normal testing, aren't you?"
"Yeah. That's the reason I got my scar. Speaking of which..."
The girl looks embarrassed. "I can't control specific parts of my healing yet. Either it's a full heal or no heal - I'm still learning. So I took away every mark on you. Injuries, bruises, scratches... scars."

I narrow my eyes, angry that the part of me that has always been there, the only part of my life that isn't outwardly perfect, has been removed.

"Can't you bring it back? I don't care how, but that scar is a part of me. I want it back."
She sighs, looking every bit as apologetic as she sounds. "I'm sorry, Amelie. Everyone's power has a limit."

I stare at her, trying to find out if she's lying. But her face is open and innocent, and if the rebels really need me as she's said what possible reason do they have to lie to me? An idea begins to form in my head.

If I can change my eyes, can I change anything else?

The amber-eyed girl opens her mouth to ask what I'm doing, but I hold up my other hand as I stare at my palm, closing my eyes and breathing in. I remember how I got that scar, tripping over a rock the morning before my ability test and slicing through it. I remember the pain and the horror I felt as I saw the blood dripping from my hand. I remember the doctors stitching and bandaging it, telling Dad I'd have a lifelong scar. I remember going to someone outside school to get tested, and Dad's relief at my normality. I remember all the times I felt lost and alone, everyone seeing the media-edited Amelie and not the real one, nobody understanding what it was really like to have a life that looked perfect but, on the inside, really wasn't - all the times I stared at the only thing that was imperfect and let it comfort me. I remember the shaking nervousness caused in my hand, and how just looking at that line helped. I remember everything, and I release my breath and open my eyes and let the cold wash over me and sink into my palm and it's there, my scar, and I flip it round and show the girl. Her mouth drops open.

"How...?" she stutters, almost running to my side and clutching the hand.
I smile widely at her, and even through the distrust and fear of supers that's been drilled into me for my whole life, I feel pride. "My power. I can change my eyes... and apparently my body too. Cool, right?"
She gawks at it. I've never seen somebody so astounded in my life. "I've never seen that before. You're obviously using your ability, so you must be healed - I need to take you to see Dr Elian."
He sounds familiar. I frown. "Who is that? And why am I even here? What happened to me?"
The girl hesitates for a second, before grabbing my arm and yanking me off the bed. "I'll explain on the way. Come on!"

The girl leads me out of the room and into a featureless corridor, painted a neutral, pale yellow. She seems to know where we're going, but I'm lost as soon as we round the fifth corner. I stare at the walls, each identical to the one before - blank and devoid of windows or doors. The girl turns again, catching me unawares, and I hurry to catch up.

"How is this place so big?" I ask.
She smiles sideways at me. "It's not. It's an illusion to prevent anyone reaching Dr Elian who wishes him harm. In reality, we're just walking in circles around a pillar. When he's ready, he'll get Lila to reveal the door to his office. In his office there's another door which leads to the other rebels. That's where we're going!"
"Who's Lila?" I ask.
"My sister," says the girl, looking slightly embarrassed. "She's... um... well, you could call her morally grey. But then she'd probably punch you, so don't do that."

Oh.

"Where were we then? If we're not even in the building yet?" I say.
She has an answer for every question I ask. "Think of it as an entrance - it's meant to be an emergency medical room for immediate treatment, then when they're stabilised we move them to the main medical wing. We treated you there... well, because we can't let you in yet."
"Why not?"
She bites her lip. "Amelie, how much do you remember? From before you were here?"
I think for a moment. "Ryan told me to come to the rebels or stay at home, and then that he'd come back that night. Then... then..." I frown. "Then I don't know. It's just fuzzy and black."

We round yet another corner, and suddenly another girl is standing in front of us. I do a double-take and look back at the original girl, brown-haired and smiling, to the new person, with vivid purple braids and a sullen expression. Apart from the hair, and the first girl's amber eyes, they're identical.

"This is Lila," says the first girl. "She's my twin."
"I think she worked that out already, Amber," snaps Lila, shooting a snarky glance at her sister.

Amber looks embarrassed, and and frowns at Lila as if to say don't be so rude. Awkwardly, I watch their exchange, and a thought occurs to me.

"Um," I begin, starting strongly, and they both turn to me. "Why am I here?'"
"Why are you here?" Lila answers mysteriously. "That's what I was going to ask you."
Amber frowns. "Give it up, Lila. I think we can assume she's not going to kill us or whatever you're worried about."
There's a beat of silence before Lila looks at me. "Fine. Close your eyes. No peeking."

Feeling stupid, I follow the instructions. As soon as my eyes close, the atmosphere around me changes, becoming warmer, and the smell of wood varnish reaches my nose. I open my eyes again to see a man behind an oak desk in a stylish office that's suddenly appeared around me.

"Hello, Amelie," he says, smiling widely. "Welcome to the rebellion."

A/N:

amelie's with the rebels now! and we've met the twins...

comment which one is your favourite!