Chapter 6: Anna

I was called to the local police station to help assess the mental condition of a young MORFS survivor, who had apparently suffered some sort of breakdown after attacking several kids at her school.

I felt the girl from quite a ways away. I think anyone in the neighbourhood with even the smallest amount of telepathic or empathic sense could feel the girl's tortured emotional state. She was like a beacon of fear and pain. I wasn't sure what had happened, but she was terrified.

I was taken in to see the girl, whom I immediately recognised as one I had seen very recently. The police explained she'd had some sort of episode, had manifested huge strength, hurting some kids and damaging property at her school. Afterwards, she had had seemingly lost her strength, then become hysterical, insisting that someone else had perpetrated the attack. She had then become increasingly non-communicative. Concerned for her mental state, they had called me.

"Have you contacted her parents?" I asked.

"No, we have been having a great deal of difficulty contacting them," said the officer who had shown me through. "The mother is out visiting a client, and the father is not in at home. Neither is responding to their mobiles."

"Do you know any more details on what happened?" I asked.

"No we have a few witnesses, but their testimony may be suspect. They have been in trouble for bullying MORFS survivors before. None of the staff saw what happened, despite some of their initial claims to the contrary. We are trying to locate other witnesses to clear up what really happened," the officer said.

"Well, let's have a look at her then," I said.

The officer took me into a small room where they were keeping the girl, who was being watched by a WPC. The girl was sitting, hugging her knees, tears streaming down her face.

They left me alone to examine the girl, her surface thoughts made little sense, she was too agitated to think straight.

"It's Jennifer, isn't it? We met the other day when I read you for powers. What happened, did you discover a power and loose control?" I asked. "It's alright, you can tell me. It happens sometimes when powers develop suddenly. We can help you get better control."

I didn't remember seeing anything like the strength suggested by the police. I wasn't always right though and sometimes things like this could develop in stage three.

"She did it. It wasn't me, I tried, but I couldn't stop her. She was like me, but different, an evil twin or something. Or someone else using my memories. It wasn't me!" Jennifer wailed, burying her face in her knees, sobbing, rocking herself back and forth.

Her thoughts were clearer now, she seemed to think someone had taken her over. Maybe the onset of her powers and her lack of control had caused some sort of breakdown like the police suggested. I could feel no hostility, only fear. I decided I need to probe her mind more deeply.

"Now Jennifer, I'm going to take a look in your head, so just relax," I said, gently taking her hands to help her relax.

I concentrated. Her mind was a mess. Recent events, combined with her change had left her a wreck, withdrawn and scared. I sensed something else though, an odd doubling and the events of the fight as she remembered them were of her as a prisoner in her own body.