Why have we gotten two of these powerful freaks so close together. I wonder what that boy's powers are. They have to be something strange. It's those eyes, they just don't fit the rest of him at all. I don't think I've ever seen eyes like those before. He does look kind of familiar though, but I'm not sure why.

He's walking into class. He's with a blonde. That's odd, the principal must have meant he had some kind of disability with his powers when she said he was special. That makes more sense. Why else would he want to hang out with a blonde.

"Okay," says the teacher, "You have a project today. You will work in groups of five to make a project based on the rise and fall of the redheads as our rulers. I have decided to make this project open ended. There is no specific format I want it in. Have fun with it! Be creative! I have chosen the groups for you. They are listed on the wall. You have the rest of class for the next week to do it."

I walk over to the sign. I'm with Cristina, Lilyanna, Ayana, and Vincent. Nice, I'm with a blonde, and Vincent definitely has something wrong with him. Oh, well at least I have Cristina in my group, and Lilyanna probably knows something about the redheads since she is one. Maybe it won't be so bad.

We sit down at a table.

"Hi, my name is Rivka," I said trying to be civil, "This is Cristina. I know who you two are," I gestured to Vincent and Lillyana, "And I guess that means you're Ayana. So, we should probably get the research part of the project out of the way first. I was thinking we could divide it up maybe two people working on each part of the history."

"There are only five of us," said Lillyana.

"Well, then why don't the rest of us work in twos and you can research the rise to power."

"Okay."

"I'll work on the fall," I said.

"I'll work with you," Vincent said quickly.

"Okay," I said.

Great, I have to work with the disabled one. I wish I could say something, but that would be considered "rude". No matter how true it is. I was hoping he would work with Ayana, they already seem to be friends. I wonder why he didn't. Probably has a crush on me or something. How pathetic.

At the end of the period Vincent stops me in the hallway.

"H-hey can we meet up after school to work on the project?" he asked

"Yeah okay. You know we have a whole week to work on this right?"

"I know, I just think it would help us to get some extra time. We could also get to know each other a little better."

Yup, he definitely has a crush on me. Ugh.

"Yeah, alright. My house or yours?"

"Yours would probably be better."

"Okay fine."

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A new person, a new life.

Vincent

I'm waiting outside the school for Rivka now. I can't believe this is going so well. Not to mention the project. The fall of the redheads will make it so easy to play to her ego, as long as I seem harmless she'll come with me no matter what! This is going to be easier than I thought.

"Hey," she says walking up to me, "Are you ready to go?"

"Y-yeah," I say.

Why can't I stop that stuttering?! She's just so powerful, I really hope I don't have to take it from her. No she'll probably come willingly from what I've seen. I really hope this works.

"My house is right around the corner," she says.

"O-okay."

We get to her house and sit down at a gray couch in large room. It has windows in it! Real windows! I've seen this room several times through the table, but never in person. There are pale blue curtains that match the sky outside. The carpet is brown and soft, the walls are cream colored. There's a picture of Rivka with her family on one of them. She's the only one with those eyes.

"My dad's at work, and my mom's out of town for while, so we have the house to ourselves for the next few hours," she says.

"Alright," I say.

Wait, didn't Fiona say that she had a friend with her? No. It couldn't be! Could it?

"So, what do you think the main reason was?" she asks.

I realize that she's been talking for the past few minutes and I haven't been paying any attention.

"W-what?" I say pathetically.

"That the redheads fell from power," she says sounding annoyed, "What do you think the main reason was?"

"Oh, uhh... I-I think it m-might have been that the t-task to get their power couldn't b-be sustained for v-very many generations, b-because it was a-almost impossible to do."

Stop stuttering!

"Hmm. . . I think it was more because of the fact that they got overconfident and the people with black hair saw the opportunity to overthrow them and take their rightful place."

"True, true, they d-did have a reputation f-for being a l-little crazy and o-overconfident."

"Exactly."

Oh, I love her ego. If I can just keep this up she'll play right into my hands. It'll also make it way less likely that I'll be forced to control her. Well, I guess I'm manipulating her a bit for this, but it's still better than outright mind control. It's better for both of us.

The stutter is starting to go away too! Although now that I think about it, it might help to keep it up around my classmates. It could make me seem more harmless. Like I could be less likely to do anything dangerous. Yeah, I'll keep doing it.

"So, I'm just curious," she says, "What powers do your eyes have?"

"Huh?"

"I've just never seen anyone with eyes like yours and the principal said that you had unusual powers. Do you have some kind of a disability with your powers or do they have some special rare power or what?"

"O-oh, well I c-can k-kind of control other p-people and their powers."

She looks at me skeptically.

"Yeah right. The only people who could ever do that only existed around the time the redheads fell."

"I-I know, but I c-can do it t-too."

"Okay, then control me."

"W-what?"

"Control me. Do it right now. Prove you can do it."

"No!"

"I knew it. You're lying just to hide that your powers are disabled or something."

"I'm not lying! I just don't like forcing people to do things against their will!"

"Uh-huh, likely story."

"It's the truth!"

"Then prove it. I'm giving you permission so you're not doing anything against my will."

I close my eyes and reach out for her mind. This time it isn't like it was with Fiona. This time I reach out aggressively and grab it as hard as I can. I reach further towards her power. I pull on it and rip it away from her. Then I let her go.

Wait a minute! What did I just do?! How could I do that?!

She's staring at me now, completely dumbstruck. Then looking at her hair. I immediately let go of her power and send it back to her.

"I-I'm sorry," I say, I can feel tears forming in my eyes, "I-I didn't mean to, I j-just d-didn't I'm sorry!"

She's just staring at me now. How could I have let myself do that. How could I let myself lose my temper like that?! I hope she can forgive me! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I did the exact thing I was praying I would never be forced to do!

"How?" she says.

"I-I d-don't really know," I say, "I just can."

Okay, never mind. I'm not going to keep up the stutter anymore. At least not with Rivka. She already knows what I'm capable of anyways.

"It's amazing. Someone must have taught you."

"Yes, my master taught me most of my life. Look I want you to know that I don't want to hurt you or any of the others okay."

"I understand. Is there any way you can teach me how to do that?"

"I can't but, Rivka I have something to tell you and you have to swear that you won't tell anyone. Can you promise me that?"

"I-I . . . Yes, tell me. I swear I won't tell another living soul."

"Okay, here goes."