Astrid's POV

I walked through my front door feeling exhausted and so glad to be home. Violet and Ray took a while. I swear, there's something up with those two! Especially Violet... She's been avoiding me for a whole MONTH! Like, what the heck is her problem? 

"Ugh! She makes me so mad sometimes..."

I took off my shoes and walked to the bathroom to fix my hair. I've been home alone ever since my family died. And I mean all of them.

Apparently all the adults in my family were known for trying to break into this underground office building called the Shaft or something. Apparently one of my aunts managed to get in undetected and stole a vial of glowing pink liquid. When she brought it back, every person in my family (except for me, because I wasn't born yet) injected this thick pink liquid into their veins and that gave them all supernatural abilities.

I inherited these powers from my mother when I was born. I was the first and last child to be born to this family with that pink liquid running through my veins and all.

Soon after I was born, my family rebelled against all the other superhumans and broke into the Shaft. Then they had this war and killed lots of people and whatever. Which sounded super awesome, but my family made me stay home, safely tucked away in the cupboard with snacks and an iPad.

I mean, I guess I was okay for a little while, but a few hours later when the iPad finally ran out of juice and there was still no sign of any of them, I knew I'd be alone for a while.

So I've just learned to live on my own. Plus, I found this black cat that just kind of showed up at my house one day, and I soon figured out that he could talk! Apparently he'd been my aunt's cat before she left him. He said that my aunt also gave him my address so he could watch over me and make sure I was okay.

Alright, enough sappy stuff.

"MERLIN!" I shouted. Oh yeah, the cat's name is Merlin.

Merlin raced around the corner and sat in front of me, panting. "What do you need, Astrid?"

"I need your help. I need to find out what Violet is hiding from all of us." 

"Wait, Violet? Isn't she that girl who's always bubbly? And doesn't she always tell you everything because you two are best friends or something?"

"Yes, and yes. But she's been strange for the past month and hasn't told me anything! And the only physical human contact she's had since then was with --"

Oh god...

"Was with who? Just tell me already!" Merlin stamped his foot impatiently.

"Ray..." I stated, my eyes growing bigger by the second.

Merlin just looked at me like I was from the moon. "Who?"

"Ray!" I said, "He's this guy I've known for a really long time! You know, since elementary school? What if he's... One of them...?"

"The people from the Shaft?"

"Shh!" I said as I grabbed the cat and teleported to the kitchen. He made funny cat noises in response.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something. You see, I gained powers when I was born. I got the power to teleport and to turn invisible, which is actually super useful on sneaking up on people. Wait!

"Hold up, cat!" I said as I dropped him on the table. "I have an idea."

"And what is this amazing idea of yours, Astrid?" Merlin said while scratching his ears with his back paw.

"We go and sneak up on--"

"Waiiiiit woah woah woah. Woah there partner!" The cat jumped to his feet.

I rolled my eyes. "What is it NOW, Merlin?"

"There is no 'we' in this plan. Since when is there a 'we'?? You know I'm not stepping foot outside that door!" Merlin pointed at the front door with his paw.

"Right. I forgot you're an inside cat who travelled 20 miles to get here and is really good at directions when outside. My bad!" I said, putting my hands up by my head and walked into the kitchen.

"I'm still not going!" Merlin said, "But tell me your plan anyways. You know I love to hear them!"

That made me run back to him and slam my hands on the table, making him jump. I guess I didn't realise how excited I was. If there's something you know about me, it's that I absolutely love making plans!

"Okay, here's the plan! I say I have an appointment after school and I rush around the back of the school where no one can see me, then I turn invisible and wait for Ray and Violet to come, then I stalk - I mean follow - them and see if I'm right or wrong!"

"You do realise there's two exits to a school-"

"Hush, cat!" Merlin gave me an evil eye, but shut up pretty quickly. "This plan will work out, I'm telling you!"

"If you say so, Astrid..." I nodded in response. This plan is going to work out so well!

Merlin just rolled his eyes at me. "You remember how to use your powers, right? Cause you're going to have to be invisible for a long time if you want to find out what they're up to. And you can only use your powers where there's no sun."

"Yes dad, stop yelling at me." I rolled my eyes then laughed. "I know what to do, so I'm going to be fine."

"I know what to do, she says. I'll be fine, she says." Merlin said, glaring at me.

"I'm serious, Merlin. I got this. See?" I said, as I teleported into the kitchen, then turned invisible and ran forward to where we were talking before (in the dining room), then reappeared in front of Merlin.

It made him jump, which made me laugh.

"Are you serious, Astrid? What if Violet is just a normal human girl who isn't involved with the Chronos--"

"You mean the organisation where the superhuman people who live and work in the Shaft?"

"Yeah, sure, that too." Merlin meowed. "Just let me continue."

I rolled my eyes. "Fiiiine..."

"As I was saying," Merlin continued, "What if Violet - Your best friend - is just a normal human girl who isn't involved with the Chronos and is just torn up about her recent break up with Nixon?"

Dang, that cat knows a lot.

"Well, we'll have to find out, won't we?"