Mixtape Ghost N((Collab between Letter Bee and TaliPaendrag))
Lexi would be woken up by a breeze - the window had opened - and find herself facing a man in a Special Forces outfit, who would then press a rag soaked in a strange-smelling liquid onto her face.
A few hours later, Lexi's parents and brothers would find that the girl had vanished, taken from her bed. And there would be a sinking feeling that they would not see her again for a long time...
Shivering suddenly as a breeze swept across the room, Lexi opened her eyes to find a man dressed all in black in front of her, the basement window (i.e. the only one in her room) open behind him. Before she could react in anyway, he clamped a damp, foul-smelling rag onto her face. Figuring that it was not something that she wanted to be breathing in, Lexi held her breath and began struggling. Unfortunately, the size difference alone meant that it required virtually no effort on his part to hold her down, even when she tried to knock him off balance with her powers.
Though it seemed to last forever, the struggle ended almost as soon as it started, the man digging his thumb into her collarbone to make her gasp and inhale the fumes of whatever was on the rag. Within seconds, the chemical took effect, her body relaxing against her will as her vision faded. The last thing she heard before she passed out completely was the man alerting his team that the target had been acquired, which would have been enough to terrify her had she had been fully cognizant.
Timeskip
Lexi would then wake up on what seemed to be a plane, her arms and legs restrained by cuffs bolted directly into the chair she sat on. She would still be in her pajamas, and one of her stuffed animals would be with her. The man and woman from before would be in front of her, both now clad in full special forces armor and helmets, so as to fend off any telekinetic attack. The man would then say:
"You should have accepted the offer to go to Milestone Academy for Special Girls and Boys," that had been the name of the fake institution. "Now you'll have to join the kids in the missing child reports each day."
"You don't have to be frightened," said the woman, "sorry for having to resort to...all this just to get us to hear our side out, but, well, we're strapped for time, and we can't just let someone with special powers out into the world without guidance, can we?"
”Ohhhh… I feel like I got hit by a truck…” Lexi mumbled as she came too on the plane, her head pounding. When she tried to move her hand to massage her temple, she was surprised to find it immobile, which prompted her to fully open her eyes and glance to see what was restraining her. Her brow creased as she took in the sight of the leather band that was pinning her forearm to the arm of the chair she was seated in.
Before she could dwell on it too much, a man spoke up, drawing her attention to the seats positioned directly across from her as he explained that she should have taken the offer to attend the fake academy. Though she hadn’t recognized the duo on sight due to the body armor, his voice, a soft orange that felt like ice water dripping down her spine, was unmistakable. He had been the false HR representative from before! The woman’s voice as she tried to comfort Lexi while justifying their means, a dim gray that felt like a dry wind, only confirmed her suspicion that it was the same pair.
”Well, maybe you should have taken better care to make sure that your story checked out under the scrutiny of a casual Google search,” Lexi responded with a huff, albeit sort of quietly, while fidgeting in the restraints and probing them with her telekinesis to see if she could undo them, if only to make herself more comfortable for the ride, as they had, for some reason, decided to fasten them unnaturally tight.
”And I feel like the rational response to being kidnapped and loaded onto a random… plane, is terror,” Lexi continued with a pause to take in her surroundings, attributing her current boldness and general lack of fear to the remnants of whatever drug they used in her system. Ordinarily, she supposed that she would have been too scared to keep her pants dry, let alone say anything intelligent.
Lexi could appreciate that they were, at the least, trying to make her comfortable and assuage her fears, as they had taken the time to grab Zooks, her favorite stuffed animal, and they had left her in her pajamas. The interior of the plane was also incredibly cushy and ritzy, the only downside being the restraints on her wrists. Of course, it’s not like any of this excused their actions. They had still kidnapped her, but at least it let her know they weren’t going to be brutal and savage.
”It would probably help me feel better about this whole situation if you told me your names at least, though assuring me that I won’t be turned into a child soldier or something along those lines would also help,” Lexi said, wincing as her head pounded again. Hopefully, the duo would get up or something so she could get the restraints off without them seeing. Though she honestly had no intentions apart from just getting her hands free, as she knew struggling would be futile, she had a feeling they wouldn’t believe her.
"My name is Richard 'Dick' Carver," said the man, who, through his helmet, was staring at her; she can tell by the glint of the light on the visor.
"And I'm Selina Hutchins," the woman introduced herself. "I can't promise you that you won't be a child soldier, though, but at least allow us to explain the reason why." Her voice was mild and honey-like, Lexi would notice, before Selina looked at Richard, and said:
"Do you think we can let her out of the restraints?" Richard's response was to pull out a small knife...which then sliced the leather straps holding the small girl's arms and legs in place. He then told her, slightly less firmly:
"Get up, we have to meet the Defector," those last two words were said roughly, before gesturing at her to get up; Selina would go before her, while Richard was behind, knife stil in his hand, though not pointed at her.
They would then take her down a small hallway, to a large room, where Lexi would meet a most shocking sight:
A...being with the lower half of a giant spider and the top half of a human was sitting on his own legs at the far end of the room, gazing at a holographic table. Said table's light glinted off the blue-green, iridescent skin of the alien, reflecting onto the walls.
The holographic table itself showed people like Lexi, people with telekinesis, super strength, super reflexes, and pyrokinesis.
"This is H'mina, the defector," Richard was gruff, clearly in a bad mood.
Lexi felt a little comfort at being told the names of her captors, as that ultimately made them feel more… relatable. It was, however, shortly undermined when the woman, Selina, informed her that it might be required for her to be a child soldier. Before she could dwell on it too much, Richard spoke up about removing her restraints, using a knife to cut the leather straps before anything could be said otherwise.
”Thank you,” Lexi said, flexing her fingers and toes to restore proper blood flow more quickly. ”I was afraid that I was going to have to loosen them myself.” Before she could really enjoy the newfound freedom of movement, Richard directed her, rather firmly, to get up so that they could go meet someone known as the defector, tugging her out of the seat when she didn’t immediately comply.
Rubbing the wrist that Richard had grabbed to get her moving, Lexi followed Selina to the back of the plane, conscious of the fact that Richard hadn’t put his knife away. The first thing Lexi noticed upon entering the room after Selina was the holographic table displaying people with abilities like her own, which explained how they had found out about her.
It wasn’t until Selina stepped out of the way, however, that Lexi was able to see who this “defector” was. Upon seeing the… thing that Richard introduced as H’mina, Lexi let out a sort of choked scream, immediately back pedaling toward the door and colliding with Richard, who was rather immovable. Though she knew it to be irrational, Lexi couldn’t help the panic that gripped her when she was anywhere near spiders.
"Please," Richard's tone was perfectly ordinary, without a tone of sympathy, "he's actually less likely to hurt you than us."
"Dick," Selina said, "that's not a good way to reassure her."
"Do not be afraid," H'mina broke in in a naturally modulated voice. "As the man called Richard said, I am not here to harm you, but rather, to reassure you that the conflict you might be fighting in will be as just as any conflict involving children could be." A stare, Lexi could see that H'mina had whitish hair on top of his head, if she had time for that, before the alien continued:
"I am H'mina, of the Es'mira faction of the L'mina species. The Es'mira are a rebel/resistance group fighting the D'Nava, the main planetary regime, due to differences in belief that would be elaborated on once all the Star Children that can be gathered, are gathered."
"To elaborate," said Richard, "The L'mina are aliens, the D'Nava are Fascists who believe in torturing people, then sucking out their psychic powers in order to make their own much stronger, while the Es'mira are a group who believe that psychic powers must be strengthened through training, working together, all that Hippie stuff, except that their powers can make it work."
Lexi shook her head at Rick’s comment as if to convey that it wasn’t that easy, as it seemed that they believed she was scared of the fact that H’mina was an alien, and that he would harm her. Even if she could have spoken through the terror gripping her, she wasn’t sure that she would have been able to explain properly that it didn’t matter whether she knew she was safe or not. The H’mina was part spider and that was enough to trigger her phobia.
When he started speaking and explaining what was going on, Lexi closed her eyes and concentrated on his voice, a rather muted green that felt like tingles running up and down her arms. Without the visual input, it was easier to ignore the fact that the H’mina was part spider, and, though she still quivered with fear, it allowed her to actually focus on what… it was saying to her.
”I… uh… suppose that makes sense,” Lexi said shakily. And it did make some sense, or at least as much as her suddenly being able to move things with her mind did. Both scenarios were, in her mind at least, equally far-fetched but nevertheless true. ”Is it safe to assume that, had you guys not kidnapped me, the other group would have?”
"Yes, yes it is," said H'mina. "Anyway, we're about to reach Area 51. You might meet a new friend there; he came willingly." The reference was to Cedric.
”Oh, well, thanks, I guess,” Lexi replied, albeit a little hesitantly. While being treated kindly and being given time to train her powers without fear of becoming a pariah was rather swell, they had still kidnapped her, resulting in a bit of an unpleasant grey area in her feelings regarding the group. Fortunately, the pilot chose that time to alert the passengers that the plane was beginning its descent and that they needed to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts, a directive to which the humans complied readily, the plane touching down moments later...
Lexi would be woken up by a breeze - the window had opened - and find herself facing a man in a Special Forces outfit, who would then press a rag soaked in a strange-smelling liquid onto her face.
A few hours later, Lexi's parents and brothers would find that the girl had vanished, taken from her bed. And there would be a sinking feeling that they would not see her again for a long time...
Shivering suddenly as a breeze swept across the room, Lexi opened her eyes to find a man dressed all in black in front of her, the basement window (i.e. the only one in her room) open behind him. Before she could react in anyway, he clamped a damp, foul-smelling rag onto her face. Figuring that it was not something that she wanted to be breathing in, Lexi held her breath and began struggling. Unfortunately, the size difference alone meant that it required virtually no effort on his part to hold her down, even when she tried to knock him off balance with her powers.
Though it seemed to last forever, the struggle ended almost as soon as it started, the man digging his thumb into her collarbone to make her gasp and inhale the fumes of whatever was on the rag. Within seconds, the chemical took effect, her body relaxing against her will as her vision faded. The last thing she heard before she passed out completely was the man alerting his team that the target had been acquired, which would have been enough to terrify her had she had been fully cognizant.
Timeskip
Lexi would then wake up on what seemed to be a plane, her arms and legs restrained by cuffs bolted directly into the chair she sat on. She would still be in her pajamas, and one of her stuffed animals would be with her. The man and woman from before would be in front of her, both now clad in full special forces armor and helmets, so as to fend off any telekinetic attack. The man would then say:
"You should have accepted the offer to go to Milestone Academy for Special Girls and Boys," that had been the name of the fake institution. "Now you'll have to join the kids in the missing child reports each day."
"You don't have to be frightened," said the woman, "sorry for having to resort to...all this just to get us to hear our side out, but, well, we're strapped for time, and we can't just let someone with special powers out into the world without guidance, can we?"
”Ohhhh… I feel like I got hit by a truck…” Lexi mumbled as she came too on the plane, her head pounding. When she tried to move her hand to massage her temple, she was surprised to find it immobile, which prompted her to fully open her eyes and glance to see what was restraining her. Her brow creased as she took in the sight of the leather band that was pinning her forearm to the arm of the chair she was seated in.
Before she could dwell on it too much, a man spoke up, drawing her attention to the seats positioned directly across from her as he explained that she should have taken the offer to attend the fake academy. Though she hadn’t recognized the duo on sight due to the body armor, his voice, a soft orange that felt like ice water dripping down her spine, was unmistakable. He had been the false HR representative from before! The woman’s voice as she tried to comfort Lexi while justifying their means, a dim gray that felt like a dry wind, only confirmed her suspicion that it was the same pair.
”Well, maybe you should have taken better care to make sure that your story checked out under the scrutiny of a casual Google search,” Lexi responded with a huff, albeit sort of quietly, while fidgeting in the restraints and probing them with her telekinesis to see if she could undo them, if only to make herself more comfortable for the ride, as they had, for some reason, decided to fasten them unnaturally tight.
”And I feel like the rational response to being kidnapped and loaded onto a random… plane, is terror,” Lexi continued with a pause to take in her surroundings, attributing her current boldness and general lack of fear to the remnants of whatever drug they used in her system. Ordinarily, she supposed that she would have been too scared to keep her pants dry, let alone say anything intelligent.
Lexi could appreciate that they were, at the least, trying to make her comfortable and assuage her fears, as they had taken the time to grab Zooks, her favorite stuffed animal, and they had left her in her pajamas. The interior of the plane was also incredibly cushy and ritzy, the only downside being the restraints on her wrists. Of course, it’s not like any of this excused their actions. They had still kidnapped her, but at least it let her know they weren’t going to be brutal and savage.
”It would probably help me feel better about this whole situation if you told me your names at least, though assuring me that I won’t be turned into a child soldier or something along those lines would also help,” Lexi said, wincing as her head pounded again. Hopefully, the duo would get up or something so she could get the restraints off without them seeing. Though she honestly had no intentions apart from just getting her hands free, as she knew struggling would be futile, she had a feeling they wouldn’t believe her.
"My name is Richard 'Dick' Carver," said the man, who, through his helmet, was staring at her; she can tell by the glint of the light on the visor.
"And I'm Selina Hutchins," the woman introduced herself. "I can't promise you that you won't be a child soldier, though, but at least allow us to explain the reason why." Her voice was mild and honey-like, Lexi would notice, before Selina looked at Richard, and said:
"Do you think we can let her out of the restraints?" Richard's response was to pull out a small knife...which then sliced the leather straps holding the small girl's arms and legs in place. He then told her, slightly less firmly:
"Get up, we have to meet the Defector," those last two words were said roughly, before gesturing at her to get up; Selina would go before her, while Richard was behind, knife stil in his hand, though not pointed at her.
They would then take her down a small hallway, to a large room, where Lexi would meet a most shocking sight:
A...being with the lower half of a giant spider and the top half of a human was sitting on his own legs at the far end of the room, gazing at a holographic table. Said table's light glinted off the blue-green, iridescent skin of the alien, reflecting onto the walls.
The holographic table itself showed people like Lexi, people with telekinesis, super strength, super reflexes, and pyrokinesis.
"This is H'mina, the defector," Richard was gruff, clearly in a bad mood.
Lexi felt a little comfort at being told the names of her captors, as that ultimately made them feel more… relatable. It was, however, shortly undermined when the woman, Selina, informed her that it might be required for her to be a child soldier. Before she could dwell on it too much, Richard spoke up about removing her restraints, using a knife to cut the leather straps before anything could be said otherwise.
”Thank you,” Lexi said, flexing her fingers and toes to restore proper blood flow more quickly. ”I was afraid that I was going to have to loosen them myself.” Before she could really enjoy the newfound freedom of movement, Richard directed her, rather firmly, to get up so that they could go meet someone known as the defector, tugging her out of the seat when she didn’t immediately comply.
Rubbing the wrist that Richard had grabbed to get her moving, Lexi followed Selina to the back of the plane, conscious of the fact that Richard hadn’t put his knife away. The first thing Lexi noticed upon entering the room after Selina was the holographic table displaying people with abilities like her own, which explained how they had found out about her.
It wasn’t until Selina stepped out of the way, however, that Lexi was able to see who this “defector” was. Upon seeing the… thing that Richard introduced as H’mina, Lexi let out a sort of choked scream, immediately back pedaling toward the door and colliding with Richard, who was rather immovable. Though she knew it to be irrational, Lexi couldn’t help the panic that gripped her when she was anywhere near spiders.
"Please," Richard's tone was perfectly ordinary, without a tone of sympathy, "he's actually less likely to hurt you than us."
"Dick," Selina said, "that's not a good way to reassure her."
"Do not be afraid," H'mina broke in in a naturally modulated voice. "As the man called Richard said, I am not here to harm you, but rather, to reassure you that the conflict you might be fighting in will be as just as any conflict involving children could be." A stare, Lexi could see that H'mina had whitish hair on top of his head, if she had time for that, before the alien continued:
"I am H'mina, of the Es'mira faction of the L'mina species. The Es'mira are a rebel/resistance group fighting the D'Nava, the main planetary regime, due to differences in belief that would be elaborated on once all the Star Children that can be gathered, are gathered."
"To elaborate," said Richard, "The L'mina are aliens, the D'Nava are Fascists who believe in torturing people, then sucking out their psychic powers in order to make their own much stronger, while the Es'mira are a group who believe that psychic powers must be strengthened through training, working together, all that Hippie stuff, except that their powers can make it work."
Lexi shook her head at Rick’s comment as if to convey that it wasn’t that easy, as it seemed that they believed she was scared of the fact that H’mina was an alien, and that he would harm her. Even if she could have spoken through the terror gripping her, she wasn’t sure that she would have been able to explain properly that it didn’t matter whether she knew she was safe or not. The H’mina was part spider and that was enough to trigger her phobia.
When he started speaking and explaining what was going on, Lexi closed her eyes and concentrated on his voice, a rather muted green that felt like tingles running up and down her arms. Without the visual input, it was easier to ignore the fact that the H’mina was part spider, and, though she still quivered with fear, it allowed her to actually focus on what… it was saying to her.
”I… uh… suppose that makes sense,” Lexi said shakily. And it did make some sense, or at least as much as her suddenly being able to move things with her mind did. Both scenarios were, in her mind at least, equally far-fetched but nevertheless true. ”Is it safe to assume that, had you guys not kidnapped me, the other group would have?”
"Yes, yes it is," said H'mina. "Anyway, we're about to reach Area 51. You might meet a new friend there; he came willingly." The reference was to Cedric.
”Oh, well, thanks, I guess,” Lexi replied, albeit a little hesitantly. While being treated kindly and being given time to train her powers without fear of becoming a pariah was rather swell, they had still kidnapped her, resulting in a bit of an unpleasant grey area in her feelings regarding the group. Fortunately, the pilot chose that time to alert the passengers that the plane was beginning its descent and that they needed to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts, a directive to which the humans complied readily, the plane touching down moments later...