"She certainly is something," Nathaniel commented.

I stared at the girl sleeping peacefully on my bed. "I don't even know who she is? Did she really come all the way from South just to meet me?"

His figure was outlined by the moonlight. He shrugged, tapping his long nails against the window ledge. "She seems quite smitten with you," he said, amusement ringing clear in his voice.

He was right. She looked sixteen like me but acted like a six year old. She had held onto my arm tightly and wouldn't leave my side until I'd told her we couldn't be seen together at school. The venomous look on her face made me retract that statement.

"Tell me why we had to climb the back of your house just to get inside? My hands are ruined and my muscles are aching," Nathaniel sighed as he stretched and knocked over a few books. I knew for a fact he was exaggerating. All he had done was watch me struggle to climb through my window with the dozing girl on my back.

The reason why I had to go through the back was because of the incredible amount of security on the ground floor and first floor. Until I knew who Kassie was and why she had such an interest in me I had to avoid the cameras around the house. It'd be an impossible feat unless she stayed holed up in my bedroom.

"My parents are downstairs, so stop making noise. And I wasn't so keen on climbing twenty five feet carrying a girl who weighs the same as me," I sighed.

I stared at my bare hands, wondering how not so long ago they used to be capable of human things. They looked normal. Average. Nathaniel noticed my distress and stood before me.

"It's hard, isn't it? Having so much power and trying to control it."

Was he trying to sympathise with me? Hadn't he been the one to cause this mess?

I stayed quiet but silently agreed. It was exhausting wearing gloves, especially when my hands became clammy with sweat. My glasses weren't any better either. Whenever it was hot they'd slide down my nose and threaten to fall off.

"How do I get rid of it?" I asked quietly. His face was close to mine in a split second, and I could feel the anger rolling off him.

His eyes flashed. "Get rid of it? Why would you want to give up such an incredible power? Most people would kill to be in your position, Grace. They would kill for immortality, to be untouchable by death, to have your kind of power," he said lowly.

Nathaniel was using some sort of manipulation, his Influence, that I could tell. I suddenly felt drowsy and compliant. "Why would you pass up such an opportunity?" he continued. "The opportunity to change the world for better with your power. To condemn all the wrongdoers to Hell. Isn't that what you want? Don't you want to change this corrupt, autocratically-ruled world? Don't you want to avenge your sister?"

Lavia. I wanted, more than anything in the world, to see her again. "I do," I whimpered, and felt Nathaniel's breath on my neck. His long fingers traced the nape of my neck and curled over my shoulder, bringing me close to him.

"Then let me help you," he whispered. My eyes were greeted with more darkness as they fell shut. "I can teach you to control your power, and teach you to fight. Just promise me you'll give me what I want in the end. Promise me."

Nathaniel stepped back and held out his hand. "I promise," I said, half-conscious as we shook hands. His laugh echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls and almost shattering my eardrums.

"We have a deal, then, my sweet Gracie." He bid me farewell before disappearing out the window.

Light slowly trickled in through the open windows, signalling daybreak. I glanced at Kassie's sleeping form, already feeling normal now that Nathaniel had gone. Kassie turned her face towards me.

I could have sworn I saw her smile, but it was gone with a yawn.

* * *

"Thank you so much for the food, Miss Grace," Kassie sighed happily as she finished off her oatmeal. Her butterscotch-colored eyes beamed with happiness.

I smiled slightly. "It's not a problem. And please, there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Grace." I didn't think it was possible for her to smile any wider, but she did.

"Really?" I nodded as I shifted my legs on the bed. Kassie squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh, this has to be the best day of my life! I've always wanted to meet you, and now I'm staying here, in your room? This is incredible." She sighed again and fell back, leaving the scent of something sweet.

"Why were you so eager to meet me?" I asked warily.

She was a blur as she sat up. "Because! I saw what you did, in the South, and I thought it was amazing. I think you're amazing, Grace."

I was starting to get uneasy with her excessive infatuation with me. Was she faking it? I stayed silent for a moment, watching her watch me. There was no way she was faking the awed, shiny look in her eyes. I couldn't see a trace of deceit or dishonesty.

"So, you're from the South?" Kassie nodded, sipping her bottled water.

"You didn't even lift a finger. You killed those guys with one glance, which was so cool. The whole village worships you now, and everyone at South knows of you. You're a hero."

A hero? I was far from it. I was a half-dead girl terrified of herself. At least I had Nathaniel to teach me how to use my powers, but his disappearance last night worried me. When would I next see him? What if he went forever? What if I was stuck in this state foreve—

"Grace." I flinched when Kassie suddenly took my hands in hers. She tilted her head and smiled. We looked like mirror images of each other, cross-legged with identical hair. It was almost scary. "Don't worry so much. You can trust me." She did a thing where she linked our pinkies tightly and pressed our thumbs together. "There."

My nerves eased a great deal. She seemed sincere and kind, like an ordinary teenager. "Okay then," I agreed. There was the distant sound of the door slamming shut. "That was my father leaving for work. My mother starts in two hours."

Kassie's eyes widened. "At five A.M.? What time do they come back?"

"They're usually back past midnight." Meaning I rarely ever see them, unless it's a Public Rest day which only happens twice a year. "My parents are part of the Board of Creators. They're Creators, so their jobs are very demanding." I didn't know if I was making excuses for her sake or mine.

"Doesn't the Board of Creators make robots?"

I couldn't help laughing at her blunt question. "To some extent, yes. They've been creating these . . . things, I guess, for the past century. I suppose you could call them artificial humans. One would be referred to as a Fake. I'm not sure what they're made from but I would say they use the skin of corpses and do something to make it rubbery. The BoC started something called Project Hu-Ro five years ago where whole corpses are being fitted with technology to be brought back to life."

Project Hu-Ro. The only project organised by the BoC that I believed in. Kassie studied me, an unreadable expression on her face. "I'm guessing Hu-Ro stands for Human Robot," she said softly.

I was wondering why she looked so remorseful when she suddenly grabbed my hands. "Here, I want to show you something cool." She interlinked our fingers and told me to close my eyes.

A foreign, tingling feeling pinched my palms. Her warm fingers held tighter until suddenly they felt unbearably cold. I flinched but she didn't release her grip. "Now, open them," she said in the strangest voice.

When I opened my eyes I was facing myself. I could feel my heart beating and feel my lungs inflating. "What's happening?" As I spoke I sounded like Kassie. But my body was in front of me, holding my hands. Or Kassie's hands. I could barely see her - see me - in the dim light. My heart raced unnaturally and I struggled to breathe properly.

What was happening? Why did I sound like Kassie? Why was my body before me, staring at me? "Breathe for me, Grace." My voice told Kassie's body what to do. It had been so long since I had the chance to feel air rush to my lungs. "Isn't this fun?"

It depended on what her idea of fun was. After the same tingling feeling passed the world got brighter, and I felt Kassie's warm hands once again.

Her pale eyes winked cheekily at me as she giggled. "Wasn't that cool? I didn't know if that would work. It could have gone badly if it hadn't."

What could have gone badly? "What did you do, just there?" I could slowly feel myself getting lost and confused and frightened, and I didn't know why. There was a panicky feeling building up inside of me that wanted to control me.

Kassie squeezed my hands. "A body swap! I'm ashamed to say so, but I thought you'd die. Your body is a lot more capable than I thought," she murmured. "Thank the Devil you're still alive. How did it feel inside my body?"

Thank the Devil? How was I to explain that being inside her body was the most terrifying and exhilarating experience I'd had in my life? The idea sounded wrong - the fact that I had done such an inhuman thing made my head spin. What was happening to me? Why hadn't I felt this way when I met Nathaniel? How hadn't I realised Kassie wasn't human when we first met?

"When I was in yours, everything was so bright and clear. It was amazing." She shook my frozen frame, her eyes beaming like lasers. "I have a feeling we're going to be best friends."