The Center: Taking Wing
Chapter 1

Jack was just an ordinary high school student, trying to get by the bullies and through his classes. But, all of that is about to change as a result of something that happened a long time ago.

Original Characters and Universe belong to Lilith Langtree.

Taking Wing
Chapter 1

It was another sunny day in a small rural town of California. The golden grasses and tall oaks trees that painted the Mother Lode landscape were blowing slightly in the warm northerly breeze. As Jack Thomas walked home from school that day, he could feel the heat from the September sun overhead, making it feel like a summer day from July instead. However, despite the beautiful day, Jack was not in the best of moods.

The slow and monotonous pace that he had set seemed to echo the depressed mood that he was in. As he walked home from getting off of the bus from school that day, he seemed to be running on automatic. He hardly noticed anything but where he was going as he thought about his day at school, and his recurring bully problem. Try as he might to avoid them, the school’s bullies managed to find him again at lunch, and used him as their personal punching bag.

Luckily, he managed to come out of the day’s fight without too many of the normal bumps and bruises that he would normally get from the bullies. Instead, he was just sporting a bloody nose. The bullies seemed to enjoy picking on him, as it seemed to be a sport for them. No matter what he tried to do to stop them, they just kept on doing it. He tried talking, going to the teachers for help, even standing up to the bullies, but they always kept coming back.

Jack had never been really big for his age. He stood only 5’ 5” and was not very masculine in his appearance. He wore glasses to aid his dull brown eyes; he was nearsighted so he had to wear the glasses everyday. He also seemed to be a bit of a late bloomer, and those bullies never let him live that down for it. All in all, Jack looked much like the stereotypical nerd, except that he had better tastes in clothes.

As a result of being constantly downtrodden and not very popular at school, Jack pretty much kept to himself a lot. This gave him a lot of time to keep up with his studies, but, sadly, he had never once had a girlfriend in his life. It wasn’t like he didn’t like girls; on the contrary, he often had some strange dreams involving them. Jack just didn’t have the courage to go up to a girl and ask them out.

His thoughts were lost in the events of that day as he walked along the gravel driveway to his home. The forest that made up the backyard was ominous as ever in the distance. His father, Charles, would often take him on a few excursions into the forest when Jack was a boy. Lately, Charles had been working more and later ever since his promotion. His father was the supervisor for the town’s major business, a chocolate factory that was a subsidiary of a major candy maker. The job was now taking up a majority of his time, so Jack was left to his own devices for most of the day. Jack’s mother had died about an hour after he was born, due to some kind of medical complication. His father didn’t like to talk about it very much.

Jack walked into his house a few minutes later, and threw his backpack on to the living room couch. He went into the bathroom, and dampened a washcloth with warm water to soothe the bruises that he had sustained from the day’s beatings. With each wipe of the warm water over his skin, the pain seemed to subside. He could feel the pain from the injuries start to fade away, as the warm, relaxing water seemed to alleviate it. Soon, Jack was ready to get to his homework, something that he enjoyed as it took his mind off of other things, as scary as that may seem.

Jack really enjoyed his biology classes, as it was his favorite subject at school. He was currently studying molecular biology and genetics. The topics of bacterial transformation and manipulation held some kind of fascination with him, as though the thought of using a bacterial organism to replicate and manufacture a gene of the scientist’s choosing was fascinating. He was hoping that one day he could become a scientist in the field of biology.

A few minutes later, Jack heard a loud knock on the front door to the house. He stopped getting the things out of his backpack that he would need to do his homework, and walked over to the door to see who it was and answer it.

Jack sighed and grumbled as he saw who it was at the door, ‘It seems that I’m not going to be behind this latest thrashing just yet.’

At the front door was Jack’s best and only friend, Jessica. Jessica had been his next door neighbor and best friend, since they were in kindergarten. Although, Jack had some feelings for her, he never acted upon those feelings. He didn’t want to lose the friendship that they had developed over those years.

“Hey, Jack,” she said, “You got a minute?”

“Yeah, come in.”

The two of them sat down on the couch, and she said, “I heard what happened today between you and Harold.”

“What else is there to tell?” Jack retorted. “He and his thugs cornered me at lunch, beat the crap out of me, destroyed my lunch, and took what money I had left. I was lucky to get away with the minor injuries that I had sustained.”

“You know there’s got to be some way to tell him and his buddies to back off.”

“If there is, I haven’t found it in the six years that he’s done this to me.”

“You would think someone that can ace high school classes could figure out how to get a bunch of thugs off of his back,” she joked.

“Yeah, whatever,” he replied, as he sank deeper into the chair. The topic of Harold and his gang of thugs was always depressing to talk and even think about.

Jessica saw the look on his face, and tried to think of an idea to try to cheer him up. After about a minute, she tried to see if he had anything on his mind.

“Hey, do you want to do something to take your mind off of it, before you plow into your homework?”

“No, not really. I just want to get my homework done, so I can eat and try to relax.”

“Do you really want to do that?” she replied, looking sad, with a bit of a pouty look on her face. She also had some feelings for Jack, but she also didn’t act upon them. She was willing for the advancement of their relationship, but she wasn’t sure about Jack.
Jack sighed deeply, before nodding. He was in no mood for this at the moment. All he seemed to want to do at the moment was just put this day behind him as quickly as he could.

“All right,” she said. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me,” she said, heading for the door. Before she opened it she snapped her fingers and said, “Oh! I almost forgot.”

She dug around in her jean pockets and pulled out a small silver necklace. “This is for you.”

Jack looked surprised as Jessica had a gift for him. As far as he knew, it was nowhere near his birthday.

“A necklace?” he said, as he saw what she dangled in her hands.

“Hey, I thought you would like what’s on the necklace. Take a look,” she said, showing him.

Jack examined the necklace, and he saw a depiction of a bird on the coin-like thing dangling from it.

“A raven,” Jessica said, “I thought it would be good luck for you, for the next time that you get in a bind with Harold.”

“Thanks for the thought,” Jack said, with a sarcastic look on his face. He thought that if those creeps had caught him wearing something like that, they would just take the opportunity and give him some more injuries.

“Don’t mention it; I’ll let you get to your work now,” she said somberly, as she left the house. She paused for a moment at the door, hoping that Jack would snap from his reverie, but he was being one track-minded again.

---

An hour later, Jack was looking through my biology textbook, just casually reading it, since he had finished with his homework a couple of hours ago. As he began to read about the subject of gene transfer in bacteria, he heard another knock on the front door.

Groaning, since he didn’t really want to get up at the moment, he walked over to the door to see who it was. Jack wasn’t expecting anyone, since his father wouldn’t be home until late that night. He briefly thought that it was Jessica again, going to try again to cheer him up.

However, when he opened the door he saw two people there that he did not recognize. They were both dressed like people his own age, but there seemed to be a sense of business and urgency with them. The first girl had brown hair, which she wore long. The hair seemed to compliment the hazel eyes she had. She wore a simple outfit that fit the contours of her body really well.

The other girl had a no-nonsense kind of attitude surrounding her. Her dark brown locks also cascaded down from her head to about the small of her back, like the first girl. She was dressed in a black tank top and dark blue jeans, and she had a very nice figure. But, Jack got the feeling that she could kick my butt as easily as those bullies at school.

“Jack Thomas?” the attitude girl said.

“Yes?” he replied, with a curious look on his face.

“May we come in? We have a few things that we would like to talk to you about.”

Jack panicked for a second, as he thought of what he had done to warrant such a humiliation, or if he had done something wrong. The attitude that the dark-haired girl was permeating was definitely getting under his skin.

Jack meekly nodded, and showed them in. He offered them a seat on the couch and something to drink, as he headed into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. The light brown-haired girl asked for water, while the other one politely refused. After grabbing the drinks, Jack gave the girl her water before he sat down on one of the armchairs in the living room.

The no-nonsense girl began by saying, “Thank you for letting us see you, Jack. My name is Kristyn and this is Lili. We’re here because we have a few things we want to discuss with you.”

“Okay, like what?” Jack replied, with a note of curiosity in his voice. If this was a prank or he was in trouble, he definitely wanted to know sooner rather than later.

“First, have you noticed that you’re a little different than the rest of the guys around here?” the one named Lili asked.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked suspiciously.

“We mean, haven’t you noticed that you were somehow different than the rest of the guys your age in town?” Kristyn reiterated.

“Have you been spying on me?” Jack replied, looking shocked.

Kristyn sighed, and replied, “We have, but only for your best interests.”

“How is spying on me in my best interests?” he replied, getting a little defensive.

“Because, whether you believe us or not now, you will become a danger to yourself and
those around you within the next twenty-four hours.”

Jack laughed at that, thinking that he was the victim of one of the practical jokes that other people at his high school would often play on him. He sighed, and then said,
“That’s crazy! If this is some sort of a joke, then I’m not buying it.”

Lili glanced over at Kristyn, giving her a look that seemed to suggest something. Kristyn nodded, as she understood.

“Before you make any judgments about that, please hear us out,” Lili calmly stated.

Jack relaxed in his chair a little bit, and replied, “Alright, I’ll hear you out. But, I still reserve the right to ask you to leave, if what you say doesn’t make any sense.”

“Fair enough.”

“Sixteen years ago there was an incident at a genetics lab. This incident resulted in a bottled water company's water source to be contaminated, and they didn't notice this for a while. All of our mothers drank this contaminated water that they thought was completely safe, during their pregnancy.

“From our files, it appears that your mother drank from this water throughout most of her pregnancy. This resulted in you being born intersexed.”

“What?” Jack asked, as the idea of drinking bottled water during pregnancy could have any effect on the baby was crazy.

“Intersexed, in your case, means that in addition to your male reproductive organs, that you also have a pair of ovaries inside of you. But, that isn’t all of it.”

Jack looked at these two girls, and was wondering how long they thought up this story, and if Tony and his group of cohorts had put them up to this. But, there was another nagging thought in the back of his mind that was thinking that all of this somehow made sense.

“The second part of this explanation is that Lili and I were both males, just like you.”

Jack spat his water out, as he was taking a drink when Kristyn had said that. Luckily, he had turned his head when that was said. He didn’t feel right about spraying all over a couple of pretty girls.

“It’s true,” she continued, “I’ve been a girl now for about six weeks or so,”

“Surgeon does nice work,” Jack commented, still trying to catch his breath, coughing on the water every so often.

“Surgery may be good, but it’s not this good. Also, we all have special powers; Lili here is a telepath, while I am an Electrokinetic.”

“Yeah, and I can move objects with my mind,” Jack retorted. “Prove it, if you can.”

Kristyn just shrugged and placed her fingertips against one another. She pulled her hands back and Jack saw mini-lightning bolts arcing between her fingers. Needless to say, but he was shocked by what he saw. His rational and scientific mind began to race as he tried to figure out a reasonable explanation as to how she was doing that.

“Believe us now?” Kristyn commented.

“Umm…yeah…,” he replied, still sounding skeptic.

“Good, because we have determined that you are a Chlorokinetic. You can manipulate plants with your mind, similarly to the way I can manipulate electricity.”

“Okay, if I can do this, then why haven’t I?”

“Because, your power only manifests itself about six to eight hours before your change.”

“Change?”

“Your change into the opposite sex, of course.”

Jack quickly thought, ‘On one hand, I get to have cool powers. On the other hand, I get my gender flipped on me. But, that’s only if anything that they are saying has any truth to it.’

“What do you want?” he cautiously asked. He tried to hide his contemplation by trying to present a good poker face.

“We want you to come with us, so you can undergo your change in a safe environment. We don’t want you hurting yourself or others. Also, it will give you a safe environment to learn and control your power,” Lili said. “There are other similar people there, and we are all pretty much friends with each other.”

This was a lot to take in at once. Jack felt fear began to grip him, as the idea of others with similar abilities in one place doing who knows what was becoming terrifying. He still didn’t quite believe them, and he thought that they were a couple of pranksters.
“Can I have some time to think it over?”

“Yes, but don’t think to quickly. We need to get back soon,” Kristyn said, as he got up out of the chair and went into his bedroom.

Jack closed and locked the door and thought to himself, ‘These people are crazy. I can’t explain how the Kristyn was able to do that neat magic trick, but I need to get away from here. I don’t like the idea of being taken away, even if these people are trying to play some kind of joke on me.’

He quickly stuffed a couple of his books, and his private notebook back into his backpack, and opened the bedroom window. After grabbing his hiking boots, he jumped out the window, and snuck off into the forest. Hopefully, I would be able to run and hide from them for a while, long enough for my dad to get back from work, so we could get away from these crazy people, or get them away from us.

---

“He’s taking an awfully long time, isn’t he?” Kristyn said.

“Yeah,” Lili replied.

The two of them went down the hallway to the locked door. Using a makeshift emergency key, they opened the door to the bedroom. They looked around for a bit, before their gaze fell upon the open window, with the curtains fluttering in the breeze.

“Damn!” Kristyn exclaimed. “He ran!”

Lili nodded, while Kristyn reached for her walkie-talkie, and said into it, “Lara, time for you to be a bloodhound.”

“On my way,” Lara replied over the walkie-talkie.

---

Jack ran through the foliage, deeper into the forest. The various oak and pine trees were spread pretty evenly through the landscape, and he could hear the birds and other animals a little more active than normal. It wasn’t often that someone was running through the area, so they were a little on edge.

Jack, however, was past that edge. Those two crazy people in my house were trying to take me to a bunch of other crazy people for who knows what reason. If it was part of some sick joke by Anthony, then he didn’t want to stick around.

‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘that whole story about strange genetics doesn’t seem plausible.’
He also didn’t believe that light show that Kristyn was anything more that a few electrodes creating those sparks. It was the only logical conclusion that came to his mind at the moment.

He moved quickly through the foliage, intent on heading to a couple of the hiding places that he would sometimes travel to when things got a little rough at home. Jack was just hoping that no one else knew about them. He was also being extremely careful not to leave any kind of tracks behind that could be easily followed.

As he looked back the way he came, it appeared that he was successful in not leaving an easily discernable trail. The foliage had the appearance of not being disturbed at all, although some of it looked greener than when Jack had first went through it. The plants also seemed to be reaching for the sun a little more, and growing over the path. He chalked what he was seeing up to all the adrenaline pumping through him, and that he wasn’t seeing things properly.

As he jumped over a fallen tree, he thought I heard the sound of dogs in the distance. This was unusual, since there were no dogs near his home.

“Damn, I didn’t know they would have dogs,” he said to himself. “Anthony and his gang must’ve pulled all the stops out for this one.”

Jack continued at the pace he had already set, and continued to head for the river. He was hoping that he could lose them there, once he crossed it to the other side.

---

Lara, Lili, and Kristyn were on the hunt for Jack. They knew of his abilities, and thought that would make things more difficult for Lara. But, no, her pathfinding abilities were accurate, down to the last pressed down leaf. Lara was wearing a dark green tank top with beige cargo pants and hiking boots. These definitely contrasted to her red hair, which was as red as a fire engine.

“It’s too bad Dani didn’t tell me of this one,” Kristyn said, “but, at least she did have that valuable intel on Fred. I didn’t want to have to fight him.”

Lara and Lili both tried to suppress a giggle with that one.

“What?”

“Well, that and he didn’t freak like Jack did,” Lili said.

“And the fact that Tony’s clairvoyance isn’t completely accurate,” Lara added. “But, you have to admit, this is a lot more fun.”

“Chasing a chlorokinetic through a forest, fun? I’m just surprised that you haven’t gotten lost, yet.”

“Luckily, he’s on foot, otherwise it would take a while.”

“Well, let’s hurry, then,” Kristyn said. “There are three of us, and only one of him.”
At the moment, they heard a bunch of dogs barking in the distance, which seemed to be coming from deeper in the forest than where they were.

“Okay, let’s really move it then,” Kristyn added.

---

Jack had finished wading through the river, and once again set out at a strong pace. He looked cautiously behind him. Although he couldn’t see anyone trailing him, he was still very nervous about the entire situation he now found himself in. He could hear the dogs barking, this time much more loudly, and he could only assume that they were getting closer.

‘Hopefully, they would lose my scent in the river,’ he thought to himself, as he turned back toward the direction of one of his hiding places.

The path became a bit rockier, as the outcroppings of granite soon appeared. They would make the perfect place to hide. The outcroppings provided an excellent vantage point from where he could watch the river, to see if they would still pursue him across the river.
He climbed up onto one of the granite slabs, and laid down on his stomach. He began to watch the river, from his viewpoint, looking through the pair of binoculars that he had grabbed from the top of his desk. Nothing happened for a while, although he could still hear the barking of the dogs.

Time passed slowly, as he waited. The sky began to darken, as the onset of night grew closer. He kept his silent vigil, as he was beginning to grow tired from the forest run. A few minutes later, a group of men in camouflage gear, with a bunch of dogs leading them, emerged from the foliage.

The dogs sniffed around the shore, but they couldn’t seem to figure out where Jack had
gone, since he had splashed a great deal of water on to the shore to help throw them off of his scent. Jack was more nervous about the men, though. They were carrying some pretty interesting guns, MP5s and tranquilizer pistols.

They stayed along the far side of the river for a short time, using their own binoculars to try to look onto my side of the forest, but they couldn’t see Jack, as he was hiding behind a few of the rocks and trees. They kept up their search for what seemed an eternity, before they split into two groups, heading along the river in both directions.
After they were gone for a few minutes, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. He rolled onto his back, and sighed. 'Good thing they didn’t want to cross the river there.'

Jack knew that it would take them at least twenty minutes in either direction before they could find another place to cross the river, so he had a good hour or so to rest. He slid down the side of the rock, into a bush of ivy, thankfully not poison ivy. As he was trying to think of the other places in the forest he could go to hide from those pursuing him, he ended up passing out from the sheer exhaustion of running through the forest to this hideaway.

---

The three girls approached the river bank, and Kristyn looked a little crestfallen when she saw the various footprints of the men that were there, as well as their canine compatriots.

“Now what?” Kristyn said, as though things couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“He went across the river,” Lara asserted, with dead certainly.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she said, reiterating the seriousness of her tone.

Kristyn looked up and down the river, hoping to find someplace where they could cross more easily, but she couldn’t see one. “I don’t see how,” she said.

“He crossed right here,” Lara said, following Jack’s trail with precision.

Kristyn shrugged, hoping that she knew what she was doing. She and Lili followed behind Lara as she led the way. When Kristyn looked up and down the river again, she saw the armed men and their furry friends coming back up the stream, now that they had crossed it.
“Looks like we’ve got company, and we’re going to have to find him now, in order to beat them,” Kristyn said, as the three girls began to make their way into the forest on the other side of the river.

---

Jack woke up from his nap, about an hour later; he noticed that the ivy around him seemed to be a bit larger and greener than he had remembered. The ivy also seemed to be partially covering him across his limbs. But, he again quickly passed that observation off as him being hyped up on adrenaline and not thinking too clearly at the time. He also thought that his clothes had caught onto the ivy, allowing it to partially cover him while he was unconscious.

He decided that he needed to move deeper into the forest, for he knew that he had unintentionally lingered in that place too long. The sun was lower and closer to the horizon, and the sky was beginning to darken. As he stretched to loosen the muscles that were resting against the rock, he heard the growl of a dog nearby.

Jack sprang to his feet when he heard that, and saw that his pursuers were nearly right on top of him. A quick glance of the surrounding area, and he soon realized that he had no place to run. Jack wanted to crawl into some hole and hide from them. He didn’t know what the strange men with guns and dogs wanted him for, and at the moment he didn’t want to know.

Jack fingered the necklace that Jessica had given to him earlier. He thought of her for a bit, and hoped that she was alright, and not involved in this in anyway. Jack was startled when he heard a resounding caw nearby.

Jack looked up, and saw a raven, perched in the tree above him. It just sat there on the branch for a moment, as he stared at it. The raven then turned its head towards Jack, and started to stare at him. Jack was worried, for a moment, that it would give away his position to the strange men. But, it just sat there, quietly watching me, as if it was guarding me for some reason.

A little bit later, it flew away, and Jack was saddened to see it leave. It was like he had an ally in this hunt. Jack was brought out of his thoughts in a hurry, when he heard the growl of the dogs and the loading of a gun close by.

“Hold it right there,” said a man with a deep voice.

His heart just seemed to sink into his stomach, right then and there. Jack gulped, and then stuck his hands in the air. The men instructed him to get up slowly, and put his hands behind his head. There were four men dressed in battle camouflage. They looked like they were a part of the military, either currently or in the past. Three were holding pistols, while the fourth was holding onto the dogs.

“Let’s go, head back towards your house, or we’ll sedate you right here and now,” the leader said.

Jack meekly nodded, and led the way back towards his house. He did his best not to make any sudden moves, and just went along with them. He was inwardly hoping that they wouldn’t hurt or kill him. Eventually, the group reached the river, and Jack led them through it, at the same area that he waded through the river when he running from them. As soon as Jack crossed the river, with the rest of them a little bit behind him, but still in the river, he heard that raven caw out loudly. He looked behind him, from the direction of the caw and saw the three girls standing there.

“What the?” Jack commented, looking confused.

“Get down!” Kristyn shouted.

Jack quickly obliged, and saw her zap the river behind him with some sort of blue arcing lightning bolts coming from her hands. The lightning struck the water and electrocuted everyone in the river; all the men and dogs that were had been pursuing Jack. I was dumbstruck when I saw her kill them like that. The stench of ozone and death was in the air, as Jack continued to stare.

“Need a hand in getting up?” the third girl, whom Jack did not know, said, holding her hand out to me. “The name’s Lara, by the way.”

“What just happened?” Jack asked, still confused, and in a state of shock.

“I’m sorry you had to see that. But, these people had the intention of capturing you, and doing who knows what kinds of crazy experiments on you, due to your unique genetic background,” Kristyn explained.

“Now, you know why we wanted you to come with us,” Lili said, “to give you a place of sanctuary from the likes of them; as well as to provide a safe place for you, when you undergo your change so that you don’t hurt others.”

“But, who were those people?” Jack replied, still looking like he had seen something out of the works of fiction.

“We don’t know, but we have encountered them on a number of times when we were trying to pick others up, over the last three weeks. This is the first time they’ve organized this large of a hunting force though,” Kristyn said. “It would be best for us to get back.”

She turned to me and with a look of compassion, quite the contrast from the look of cold fury that she gave those who threatened me, “So, Jack, are you coming with us? Or do you want to wait for them to come around again?”

Looking back in the river at the smoldering corpses of burnt flesh and fur, Jack looked up at the girls and said, mostly out of fear of what Kristyn could do, “Yeah, I guess so.”

---

Jack could hear a raven cawing in the distance, as the four of them made their way back through the forest, towards Jack’s house. The four of them didn’t say anything much to each other, as the girls let Jack digest the information some more. They were hoping that Jack wouldn’t turn and bolt again.

When they got back to his house, a black SUV pulled up into the driveway. “What kept you, Ray?” Kristyn asked the driver.

“I was keeping an eye on the other vehicles down the road. They left in a hurry about a few minutes ago. I take it that was your doing?”

“Probably,” she replied, in business mode, “I had to fry a group of people who were hunting down Jack. They left me with little choice. Did you get anymore information than we already have about this group?”

“No,” he replied, and then added, “Do you have any idea of who these guys were, Kris? Are they the same people who tried to have their say in our affairs six weeks ago?”

Kristyn thought for a moment, and then glanced over at Jack. She collected herself and then said, “We’ll talk about that later, Ray. For now, I’d like you to meet Jack Thomas. Jack, this is Ray Lomax.”

Ray nodded at Jack, and then turned to talk to Kristyn.

“The plane’s being fueled at the airport, and should be ready to go by the time we get there. We have just enough time to get these two settled in at home, if we leave immediately. We can send someone to collect any personal belongings that Jack may want after we take off, other than what he has in the backpack.”

Kristyn nodded, and motioned for Jack to climb into the vehicle. He climbed in nervously; for him, his life had just been turned upside down. A few moments later, they were on the road and heading to the airport. Jack gazed out the window at the moving landscape, and watched a bird in the distance flying along side the vehicle.

---

After the drive to the airport, and boarding a private jet, Jack was introduced to the other person that they had picked up before him. Lili introduced this person as Brian; he was like Jack and the others there, but the two of them didn’t know anything about the other. Jack politely introduced himself, and then sat down in his seat. The plane took off from the airport about half an hour later for parts unknown to Jack and Brian.

They encouraged Brian and Jack to take a nap, to make the flight go faster. Jack certainly did need one, after that chase through the woods by both sides of this mysterious conflict. The assailants, who seem to be opposed to this group of people, seemed to preoccupy a part of their minds. Jack’s thoughts began to wander as he passed into unconsciousness, hoping that he wouldn’t run into anymore of their kind.

---

A few hours later, Jack awoke to find himself in a hospital room of some kind. Another girl, one that appeared to be Native American in descent, was clutching his hand.

“Oh, you’re awake,” she said, when Jack jerked his hand back.

“Who are you?” I asked, sounding groggy.

“I’m Liz, Kris’s daughter. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Thanks, name’s Jack. Forgive me if I don’t get up,” Jack tried to joke.

“Well, it is nice to see this you, before the change.”

“Huh?”

Liz explained, in her best Kristyn impression, “With your abilities becoming active, it won’t be long before you change.”

“I seem to recall something about that along those lines,” Jack replied, as the realization returned to him.

“Yes, as a result of our condition, you will change from a boy into a girl.”

“You’re kidding, right?” he joked, trying to put a happy face on, while the thought of the change he was about to go through was scaring him to death.

“No. I was once in the body of a boy, but now I’m in the body that I seem to have always been meant for.”

“And the same is going to happen to me?”

“Yes. My mom asked me to look after you, while she’s at a meeting. She wants to make sure that all the new recruits adjust easily to their new surroundings and conditions.”

“Okay…,” Jack replied, as he started to drift off again.

“I’ll let you rest,” Liz said, in a compassionate tone and a concerned look on her face. She reassured Jack, “Don’t worry, it will all be fine.”

---

Jack didn’t know what happened next, he could only assume that had passed out again from some kind of sedative that they gave him through his IV. His transformation took place close to midnight.

When Jack had awakened, he took a quick glance at his new surroundings. The room was dark, and he could see the stars through the window. Jack was in a bed, just resting there, as though he had just woken up from a nice restful sleep. The mattress was also comfortable, more so than any hospital mattress.

Jack was shocked when he attempted to sit up in the bed. He felt a weight on his head and chest that he was completely unfamiliar with. He gasped in shock and surprise when he looked down at his chest, as he saw a couple of well developed breasts there, where none had been before. Jack gently poked them to confirm that they were his, and sure enough he did feel the sensation of poking himself. However, that it was definitely different than when he had did to his previous body. Another quick check with his hands revealed that he no longer had any male equipment down between his legs.

Jack suddenly decided that she wanted to see what she looked like now. She tried to get out of the bed that she was now in. She was surprised when several long strands of black hair fell in front of his face, as she sat up; her hair had been short and blond before the change. As she tried to stand, she had to quickly reach for the bed to steady her balance, to prevent herself from falling flat on her face.

The first step was definitely different than one she remembered. It seemed that her center of gravity was vastly different than it had originally been. Seeing as she now sported a pair of breasts and a nice butt, she could definitely see why and how that could be.

She glanced over by the door and made her way over there to turn on the light switch. A quick glance at her hand told him that it was not the hand that she remembered having. The fingers and nails were definitely longer, and it also seemed to be more delicate than the original. Jack, not wanting to waste more time in knowing what she now looked like, made her way over to a mirror on the outside door of the closet.

She gasped again when she saw his new reflection in the mirror for the first time. The girl standing in front of him, with no other way to describe it, was damn beautiful. It looked very different from what her male self used to look like. One thing that she did notice, which completely astonished her, was that she had no need for wearing glasses. Her reflection was crystal clear in her eyes, and this brought a smile to her face.
Dressed in what appeared to be a simple baggy t-shirt that she had been given to use as a nightgown, the loose clothes Jack was wearing did nothing to hide the fact that this body was stunning. It had curvy proportions, but looked underfed. The breasts were pretty big, but she didn’t know what size they were, since she never had the nerve to ask a girl out, let alone what breast cup sizes were.

However, the face was something else. Jack had ended up with long, black hair that flowed down to just past his shoulders, maybe a little longer. The face was elegant; not a blemish on it at all, but the most striking feature of this new face was the eyes. They looked like they had taken their color and shine from emeralds. They seemed to also be intoxicatingly seductive, one could get lost in just looking at them.

A knock on the door broke Jack’s reverie of staring at her new reflection. She jumped a little at the knock, since she had assumed that no one would be up at this late hour. She ended up landing on her new round butt. It hurt a little bit, but then again, she now had the look that she had seen food in a long time.

“Uh…come in?” Jack nervously said, and looked shocked and taken aback at the high, if somewhat sultry voice that came out of his mouth.

In walked another girl whom she had not had the chance to meet. This new girl first looked at the bed, and then at the floor where Jack was sitting, leaning on her new arms.
“Did you have a nice trip?” she asked.

Jack laughed at the joke, but it was more like a giggle. The giggle took Jack by surprise, as she wondered, ‘Since when did I giggle?’

“I’m Danielle, but everyone calls me Dani,” she said, offering a hand to help Jack back to her feet.

“Jack, or I was a Jack,” she replied.

“Yeah, that name no longer fits you. But, we can worry about a new name in a little bit. First, I want to say welcome to the Center. It’s a school for us to attend, so we can finish our required education, and it also provides a safe place for us to learn our new abilities, and to get used to our new bodies.”

She paused for a moment, and asked inquisitively, “Do you know what your abilities are?”
“Sort of,” Jack replied. “All I remember is something about kinetic.”

“Well, from what I’ve been told, you are a chlorokinetic, similar to the other psychokinetics here. But, unlike controlling what some would refer to as the basic elements, you seem to control plants,” Dani explained. “Your power levels are also
comparable to some of the other more powerful people here.”

“Yeah, powerful with plants. I’ll be really scary, won’t I?” Jack replied, sarcastically.

Dani laughed at that joke. “Don’t worry about that. You will meet with a power trainer to help you figure out what you can do. Who knows, you may surprise yourself.”

“Oh, that’s good. I don’t want to accidentally make a plant put a stranglehold on someone. But, who knows what I’ll be able to do.”

Jack looked like she was starting to adapt to her new situation. She had a calm look on her face now, as she seemed to be starting to adjust to her new body.

“No, that would be a bad thing,” Dani replied with a giggle.

At that moment, Jack’s stomach growled loudly. She just realized she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. Jack pressed her hand against her now flat tummy, looked up and said, “Do you have anything to eat?”

“We have food in the cafeteria. How hungry are you?”

“Very, I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch at school. But, I think I’m going to need something to wear. I don’t exactly want to other people to see me wearing only a large, baggy shirt,” Jack replied, gesturing to her baggy tee.

“Don’t worry about that. There are some decent clothes in the dresser. I won’t look if that’s what you’re worried about. Keep in mind, though, you don’t have anything that I haven’t seen before.”

Jack smirked, and then walked over to the dresser. Inside, she saw a sports bra, a pair of panties, and a pair of sweats. At first, she hesitated; this was somewhat unfamiliar territory. She had never tried on women’s clothing before, but she did know what it looked like from when she had to go clothes shopping. The panties were simple enough, but when it came to the sports bra, Jack had a little trouble with it.

“Uhm…,” Jack said.

“The bra?” Dani asked.

“Yeah…,” she replied.

“Take your time. It’s not that bad or hard to figure out.”

She sighed, and tried to figure it out. After a couple of minutes Jack had managed to get it on, and feeling comfortable on her new chest. The sweats were much simpler by comparison.

“I guess I’m presentable now,” I said.

Dani turned around, and replied as she took an inquisitive stare at Jack’s better dressed appearance, “Yes, although tomorrow, Heather is going to take you to wardrobe so that you can get some more clothes, as well as your school uniform.”

“Okay…,” I commented, “luckily, tomorrow is Saturday.”

“Well, today is Saturday, considering it is about two in the morning.”

“Really?”

She nodded, and led the way to the cafeteria. They arrived there a few minutes later, and judging from the looks of it, it reminded Jack of a college campus dining hall, from the few campus tours that she had been on in high school. Jack was touring college campuses at a younger age than most, since she was almost finished with high school. She had always been smart, but sometimes she wasn’t very street smart, as her father would often point out.

When they got there, Dani explained how the meals worked, and pointed Jack towards some of the premade sandwiches that were available every night. Jack went over and grabbed one of her favorites, a pastrami sandwich and along with a glass of root beer.

After grabbing food and drink, Jack headed to the table that Dani was sitting at and allowed Jack to eat. Dani started talking about what was going to happen: the general schedule for new people, physicals, testing, and beginning to learn what about Jack’s new abilities.

“So, do you have a name for yourself now?” she asked.

Jack nearly choked on my root beer. “Do I need one now?”

“Well, the sooner, the better. Essentially, you’ve been given a new life and a clean slate. Don’t worry; we’re not going to force you into being a girly-girl. We’re just going to nudge you in the direction of how to present yourself as a young woman, but we won’t force the issue. All the girls here were guys, and vice versa, with the exception of most of the staff.”

Jack nodded, as she digested that new piece of information. A few strands of her hair flew down in front of her face. She glanced at how black it was, and it was really black. It reminded her of the raven that had hung out with her in the forest, and how it had stuck around for a while after.

“Raven,” I said.

“Come again?”

“My name is Raven.”

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Photo Credit: Flora Maria
Original Characters and Universe belong to Lilith Langtree.