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June 2015

What now was an interview with a bunch of people in suits. One of them was named Joe; the friend of the blonde who blasted the battleship. They looked like government people but they didn't act like it. Joe started to talk to me at first but Paige took him aside and he sent the flyer to talk to me instead.

"Hey, I'm Erin. I'm just helping out with these stiffs. We've never had anything quite like this happen before, so the powers that be want us to interview you lot and find out what happened. But lets get out of the sun for this, okay?" she said.

I nodded numbly and followed her. The others were all following the suits. Our guides walked off with one of them, except for Paige. She followed us.

"I'm not going to bite her, you know." Erin said when she noticed Paige following us.

"I know. But this one's kind of fragile. Kind of like Tessa, but worse. I want to make sure she's okay." Paige replied. Erin turned serious when she heard that, though it didn't make any sense to me.

"How much worse?" she asked darkly. Paige just nodded and Erin growled, "Damn it! I don't suppose you were able to meet up with the ones that did that to her?"

Paige shook her hand in a so-so way, "Not exactly. Her family is the culprit here, or at least her father. But one of the others we rescued decided to take advantage of that. I left him in a stone cage without food or water. He might survive, but I certainly hope not!"

Erin cursed under her breath and took several deep breaths to calm herself. "Okay, we'll deal with that later. I'm no shrink. Let's get this out of the way so you can get started on your new life."

I was left following behind them and wondering what they were talking about. Some of it was obvious, but other things confused me. Like the 'new life' comment. What would be expected of me here?

We were all led into a hospital where doctors started looking at us intently. After we were given a clean bill of health minus our obvious malnourishment and exposure from being on the ocean for days. Then Erin and Paige led me into a small room with a table and some chairs and sat me down.

"Okay, considering what's happened I think we should start with some food and water. Cool?" Erin said. I nodded uncertainly and she breezed out of the room.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Paige smiled, "Erin's just going to get you some food and water. Once that's taken care of she'll do the whole interview thing. Then we get you into refugee housing and help you get on your feet. Well, your mentor will do that part. I'll be going back as soon as transportation can be arranged."

"Going back?!" I exclaimed. "Why would you want to do that?!"

"There are a lot of people needing help like you did. As long as certain governments treat obvious Wyld like sub-human beasts there's going to be a need for us. And my power over earth is really helpful for making escape tunnels and shelters, as you saw." she explained.

"I couldn't do that." I said with a shudder.

She shrugged, "I've got some advantages in that area. I know what my powers are and have some experience using them. I know how to fight, both with and without powers, and I don't have the background you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"You may not want to admit it now, but you were obviously badly abused. And by your own father, no less. And that fairly shortly after your mother died by the sounds of it! Anybody would have a rough time after that." Paige replied.

I shrugged and thankfully she dropped it. A little later Erin returned with a tray heaped with food and a small pitcher of ice water. I devoured it, with admonishments to take my time from both of them. It was hard, though, being so hungry. Even as a slave I'd never been so hungry. Quite.

When I was done I was embarrassed by what a mess I'd made of myself, and how I'd eaten every crumb I could get to.

Somewhere along the line Erin had left and returned with some papers. "What's that?" I asked while I was cleaning myself off.

"The ever present paperwork. It's not too bad, though. Just fill it out as best you can. If you don't understand something just ask." she replied, pushing the papers and a pen across the table to me.

After that was done Erin made a call and another woman came in. "This is Nancy. She's a healer. She's just going to make sure you don't have any illnesses or injuries the doctors missed." Erin explained.

I held still while Nancy laid her hands on my shoulders. She stood like that for a while without moving. Then she shook herself and looked awkwardly at the other two. "Uh, I think maybe you two should leave for this." she said.

"What's wrong?" Erin asked.

Paige stood and pulled Erin to her feet, "I think I know. We'll be right outside." With that they left the room.

"What's going on?" I asked worriedly.

Nancy smiled sadly, "In order to heal someone I have to touch the damaged area. I can feel where the damage is from anywhere, though."

"I still don't understand." I said.

"You were hurt, down there." Nancy explained, pointing down. I blushed, realizing what she must be talking about.

"Uh, it's fine. Really." I said weakly.

Nancy shook her head, "Trust me, it's not. Please, it won't take more than a minute."

Reluctantly, I agreed. She offered to take me to another room with a bed, but I didn't want to face Erin and Paige so I just laid down on the table after getting undressed. Nancy was as good as her word. She only had to touch me for a minute to heal me. I hadn't realized how painful it was until she healed it.

"Feel better?" she asked while I got dressed. I just nodded, blushing profusely. "Want me to let the others in now?" I nodded again. "Okay. I think you might benefit from talking to Tessa, Erin's wife. She might have some useful insights for you. She escaped form a somewhat similar situation as you. See you around."

I watched her leave, wondering what she was talking about. And wife?! Weird.

When the others came back in they didn't say anything about Nancy or ask what had been healed, thankfully.

From there Erin led us out of the building and to the parking lot. When she pressed the key fob and the lights of an SUV flashed Paige laughed. "What?" Erin asked.

"Since when do you use a car?!" Paige giggled.

Erin shrugged, "I've got a kid now. Can't fly her everywhere. Besides, Tessa never has gotten used to flying. At least not at my speed."

"Mach three is kind of extreme." Paige said.

"Seriously?!" I squeaked.

Erin shrugged self-consciously, "Yeah, pretty much."

I realized then how far out of my league I really was. An earth elemental that could shape rock like it was putty and someone who could fly three times the speed of sound. Or tow a boat at insane speeds. Here was me with a little strength and nothing else. But it fit, too. Dad always said I was worthless and what was more worthless than a Wyld who was just a little stronger than before?

I was lost in my own thoughts as we climbed into Erin's car. Soon we were pulling up to a gate with two large Wyld guards. Erin showed them something and they opened the gate for us.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Refugee housing. The government puts you up here for up to six months until you get on your feet. I stayed here a few years ago." Erin replied.

The apartment was surprisingly nice. The carpet was a bit worn, but clean. The appliances were getting a little old, but everything looked good. I couldn't believe they were giving this to me; even temporarily.

I flopped down on the couch and sighed. It felt soo good! I felt like I could stay right there forever.

---

A jolt woke me from a sound sleep. I flailed around wildly and touched... nothing! Screaming I realized I was floating in mid-air. Suddenly I fell on a soft surface.

"I'm so sorry!" someone said nearby. I looked around wildly and found myself in what looked like my new bedroom, on my bed. Standing nearby was a woman with cat ears and a tail that swished anxiously behind her.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Tessa, Erin's wife. I was just moving you somewhere more comfortable. I didn't mean to wake you." she said.

"But, there was nothing touching me?" I said, confused.

She shrugged self-consciously, "I'm telekinetic."

I shook my head in wonder. I'd never been around Wyld before I changed. Now I seemed to be surrounded by powerful Wyld.

"You fell asleep on the couch and Erin had already asked me to come over so I thought I'd move you to the bed where you'd be more comfortable. I'm sorry for waking you." Tessa said.

"What's going on in here?!" Erin asked, running into the room.

"Sorry dear, I startled her when I floated her off the couch." Tessa explained.

"Oh, is that all? I thought someone was getting murdered from the sound of it." Paige said from behind Erin.

"How are you feeling Anna? Do you want to sleep some more?" Erin asked.

I was surprised she used my name; I didn't think I'd told her. But then I remembered the papers I filled out. I had written my name at least a dozen times and Erin had those now. "Uh, I'm awake now, I guess." I said.

"So why did you ask me to come over Erin? Just to move Anna?" Tessa asked.

Erin snorted, "Hardly. Paige thought she might like to talk to you. Sounds like you have similar backgrounds."

"Except you got off easy compared to her." Paige added.

Tessa frowned, "Do you mean...?" Paige nodded sadly. "Oh, you poor thing!" Next thing I knew I was getting the stuffing squeezed out of me by Tessa.

"Uh, thanks?" I said awkwardly.

"Maybe we'd better go for a walk?" Erin said, glancing at her wife. Tessa nodded, so she ushered Paige out and shut the door behind her.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

Tessa sighed and sat on the bed next to me, "They thought you might benefit from talking to me. They think we might have something in common."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Our fathers, probably. Mine was no prize, I'm afraid. He would hit me and my mother whenever he was upset. Or drunk. Or just felt like it. Mom died when I was ten from injuries he caused. I didn't know it at the time, though. When I went Wyld things got worse." Tessa said softly.

"How?" I asked.

"He kicked me out. But only after beating me within an inch of my life." Tessa said.

"What did you do?" I asked.

She smiled sadly, "I went to my uncle. He lived not far from us. After that meeting I woke in the hospital."

I nodded, having a few memories like that. She noticed, "You know what that's like, don't you? Anyway, my aunt didn't agree with her husband, or my father. She came and helped me. She got a hotel room for me to stay in until I was recovered enough to leave and then got me a ticket here. I owe her my life."

I didn't know what to say to that, but she didn't seem to expect me to, "What's your story? Paige said it was worse?"

I nodded hesitantly. She sat, patiently waiting for me to continue, "My dad was never happy about having a girl. He didn't know how to relate to me. My brother Jerry was born a year after me, so he pretty much ignored me once he had his son. That was okay, though. I got to spend a lot of time with Mom. But then she died of cancer."

The tears came, as they always did when I thought of Mom. I missed her as much as ever. Tessa waited until I had composed myself and could continue, "After Mom died Dad got really strange. He had me take over all the cleaning and cooking that Mom had done, and even stuff I think he had done. He said it was my job as the woman of the house. That I had to take Mom's place."

Tessa listened, but gasped at the last sentence, "He didn't?!"

"What?" I asked.

"He didn't have you take your mother's place in his bed, did he?" Tessa asked fearfully.

I nodded, "I had to. Mom couldn't anymore. I didn't like it, but Dad said he needed me."

Tears streaming down her face, Tessa crushed me to her again. She held me like that for a few moments before pulling back. She sighed, "Anna, please listen carefully, okay? What your father did was wrong. It was not your job to do that. Not for him or anyone else. That's something you should only be doing when you want to, with someone you care about very much. It might not seem like it to you, but what he did was rape. Plain and simple."

I shook my head, "No, he told me..."

She put her finger to my lips to stop me, "I know what he told you. But consider the source. He was the one hurting you. And don't argue with me, we both know it hurt and more than physically."

"But... he wasn't the only one to say that." I protested.

Tessa's face darkened, "Who else?"

I shrank back from her intense gaze and looked down at my hands in my lap. "Jerry... and him."

"Your brother, too?!" Tessa nearly screamed. "And who is him?"

"He must have been in the factory. He was with us when we escaped. He had sharp teeth and said I belonged to him." I said, shivering at the memory of him.

There was a knock at the door then, and Erin's voice coming through, "Is everything alright in here? I thought I heard another scream."

Tessa patted my hand and got up. She opened the door and said something in whispers to Erin. Erin's faced darkened, she nodded, and then hurriedly left. Tessa closed the door and returned to sit next to me.

"What was that?" I asked.

Tessa smiled sadly again, "Erin's going to get someone who can help you. I'm afraid your history is much worse than mine. I was just beaten. I was never raped, though a gang tried once after I arrived here. Fortunately for me Erin was there to save me."

"But I was never raped. Nobody ever forced me." I said, though I couldn't look her in the eye to say it.

She placed her finger under my chin and lifted. She held it there until I met her gaze, "Rape isn't always about physical force. What you experienced was still rape. You thought you had no choice. And if I'm not mistaken, you were punished if you didn't do as you were told. You were conditioned to act as you did. That's not your fault."

Before I could say any more to that there was another knock at the door. Tessa got up and answered it. I was surprised to see Erin there with another woman. The woman looked a little disheveled and a lot annoyed. "What is this all about Erin?!" she demanded.

"Thank you for coming Beth. We were hoping you could help Anna here." Tessa said. Beth looked over at me and gasped, her skin turning pale.

I thought she was horrified by how ugly I am now, but she quickly disabused me of that. "My poor child!" she cried, rushing into the room. She took Tessa's place beside me and engulfed me in the warmest hug I'd ever encountered. I found myself melting into it and bawling my eyes out for no apparent reason.

---

I woke lying on a soft couch with my head on somebody's lap. Whoever it was, they were stroking my hair and I was afraid if I moved they would stop so I kept my eyes closed and relaxed.

"I know you're awake, but I'm glad you're so comfortable." someone said. Cracking my eyes open I saw the woman Tessa had called Beth leaning over me. It was her lap I was lying on. She smiled sadly down at me, "Are you up to talking now?"

"About what?" I asked, afraid I knew the answer.

"Whatever you want to talk about. I'm kind of a counselor." Beth replied.

"Kind of?" I said.

She shrugged, "Yeah. I don't have the training, but I sense thoughts and emotions. With all the trauma around here it was natural for me to fall into the role."

"Trauma?" I repeated, worried about what might be going on here to cause so much trouble.

She smiled sadly, "Yes, unfortunately most of the refugees we get here went through some pretty bad stuff before they got here. Most aren't as bad off as you, but some are even worse."

"Is it... safe, here?" I asked hesitantly.

A tear ran down her cheek as she looked at me with an expression that reminded me of Mom. Sighing, she said, "You poor thing. You don't really know what safe is, do you?" I just looked at her blankly so she continued, "Yes, it's safe here. We have our share of bad eggs around here but you've already got some good friends in the Carlsons to help you."

"Carlsons?" I asked.

"Sorry, Erin and Tessa. They both feel very protective of you, so I'm sure they'll help you get settled here. And if you ever run into any trouble there aren't many better people to have on your side." Beth replied.

"So... what happens now?" I said.

"Pretty much whatever you want to happen." she replied. "Hawaii will support you for up to six months, so you have some time to figure out what you want to do with your life. You can go to college if you want. We might even be able to get your records from your old school, if you were going to college before."

"I was. Mom insisted." I said.

"What were you studying?" Beth asked.

"I was working on a teaching degree." I replied, unsure if that's what I really wanted at this point.

"You don't sound very confident. Having second thoughts?" she said.

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess I am. But what can I do? I'm not good at anything."

She started stroking my hair again, "One thing you can do is work on that self-image of yours. You're a lot more valuable than you give yourself credit for. You can do anything you want to do, if you try hard enough. What would you like to do?"

I lay there and thought about it for a while and realized I already knew. I wasn't brave like Paige or Corey, but maybe... "I'd like to help other Wyld, but I couldn't go and fight like Paige and Corey."

"Well, we may be working together a lot in the future then." Beth said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because that's what I do. I'm not a fighter, either. My powers are particularly badly suited to fighting because I'd feel my enemies pain as well as my friends. But here I can use that to help people get their lives back together. Maybe you could do the same?" Beth suggested.

"But... I don't have a power like that. I don't have any power at all, except for being a little stronger." I protested.

"Every Wyld has a power. For some, strength is their power. But those are a lot stronger than you are. So there has to be something else you can do. But even if your powers aren't useful in my line of work, you can still study psychology. If you want. There are certainly plenty of Wyld with problems." she said.

"How... how would I find out what my powers are?" I asked, wondering why I'd never given that any thought before.

Beth shrugged, "In my experience, trying to figure out what your powers are doesn't work very well. It's best to just get on with your life and they'll make themselves known eventually. There's just no good way to test for powers. At least, not that anybody has figured out so far. And testing some powers could get you or someone else killed."

That conversation led to others. It seemed like I spent most of my time those first couple of months talking to Beth or Tessa. Or Paige, for the few days she stuck around. At first I did a lot of crying as I slowly came to understand all that was done to me and got my head on straight. Then I got angry. Really angry!

In the meantime I slowly got to know the area and Erin helped me get a job at a restaurant she used to work at. Luckily it was as a cook, not a waitress. I didn't think I was ready for that. At least Dad making me do all the cooking at home gave me some experience to draw on.

My new life started to take shape. I even started looking at taking some classes at the local community college. But the anger just kept growing.

I was walking to the bus stop one day when a group of orcs approached me. I'd been warned about the orc gangs in the area and how they'd probably try to recruit me. Apparently I'm an orc now. I'd really rather be human.

Anyway, the biggest of the group swaggered towards me and said, "Hey babe, you new here? Why don't you hang out with us? This is our territory; we'll take care of you." He finished up with a leer just like the guy with the sharp teeth had.

I froze in fear, knowing where this would likely lead. But then something snapped inside me. My vision went red and I began to feel very hot. I might have thought it was just something in my head if the orcs hadn't suddenly been thrown off their feet and back away from me.

"What the...?" one of them shouted as he fetched up against a parked van.

Before I could take all that in I found the grass at my feet had suddenly caught fire!

"Shit! Look at that! Now I really want her in our gang!" the orc leader said from where he was lying in the gutter where he'd fallen.

The gangers all got up and started back towards me cautiously. I was tired of people wanting to take advantage of me. It seemed like everyone in my life had been taking advantage of me until I met Paige and Corey. Then there was Erin, Tessa and Beth. They never took advantage of me. In fact, they had no need of me at all! They were all more powerful and skilled than me. But they still treated me like a human being.

"Just leave. Me. ALONE!!" I screamed, accompanied by some sort of shock wave that flattened the grass and sent them all flying back in the air again. I guessed that's what knocked them down in the first place?

They scrambled to their feet exchanging uncertain glances between them and then looking back at me. It looked like they couldn't decide if they wanted to keep trying to recruit me or if they wanted to run.

A crumpled up piece of paper fluttering in the wind brushed up against my leg and burst into flame. It didn't last long before it was nothing but ash. Somehow, that seemed to make the gangers' decision for them. They broke and ran.

I watched them run in fascination for a moment before I burst out laughing. They were running from me. Me! It was too ridiculous to believe. But then I looked down at the ashes at my feet and that sobered my mood. I didn't fully understand it yet but I'd found my Wyld power. Beth was right, trying to find it would have been dangerous. I could have burned down my apartment!

The bus passing me broke me out of my reverie and I ran to catch it at the bus stop. Somewhere along the way my vision returned to normal and I cooled down. Perhaps the most amazing part was that I was totally calm. My anger was gone.

---

To Be Continued...