Flight was a capability barely spared among the small number of Evolved. But it was one sought as a necessity by Claire.
She soared across the skies like a human jet, letting the bursts of air stolen from her grasp propel her to above the silk strewn clouds. High enough to grace the stratosphere and marvel at the stars littered around. From here she could spy on those who would rather remain quiet. Observing others was her way of studying. By seeing what others would do with her time, she began to appreciate her own activities. The girls from school would only be talking on phones or going to karaoke, activities Claire did not care for.
Time wasted on such mundane things could be better spent training and talking with Gan… as well as Kage.
'Badump.'
Yes. She felt at home with them. In order to remain close all she had to do was train then follow their heels. That was how it began after all. The fervor built by a past fever willing to strike out.
A fever which fumbled when she mistakenly followed Gan.
Claire shied from the image of a clenched fist. It did no wonders for her seeing that balled weapon ready to torment bestowing pain on deserving people. Whenever an object similar in guise was near, she instinctively shivered, cowering from the purple brashness that would remain. Sometimes she could understand the crawling cry that may wrought her esophagus with power.
Such power bestowed at birth for as a babe she cried so loud the doctors' eardrums burst. Years later, her monthly apology in the form of well-written letters never ceased. In response she was always given the same reply, "Do not apologize for what you could not control." Now, she could control herself.
Some days she would stare into a mirror at the filthy mark left on her face. It tainted what many considered a perfectly pretty face. What with the smooth chin, distinct cheekbones, sublime pouty lips and eyes that soothed all worry. Even since the onslaught brought in her youth, she could never forget those fingers and fists that banged away at her skull. Growing up in the period of unrest within the nation found other youths viewing Evolved as monsters, even decades gone that thought persisted. In turn, idealizations became hasty, yet all that met a young Claire was the veneer of children scared at the heinous monster living among them.
Childish games created to extinguish the hidden beast with magic spells of rocks or rituals in shame. For if they drew blood from it the monster would surely fade away into nothingness. However, this monster did not. It only grew uglier. The uglier it became the more terrifying it transpired to the children as their crimes reflected forward.
This very ugliness frightened Claire leaving no mirror untouched in her home. All were shattered or tossed away and every day she awakened to a purifying ritual. This ritual mixed the various glosses, scented perfumes, foundations, concealers, then primers into caked upon layers. Then once completed, a doll remained without a hint of the monster from before. She was finally beautiful. A beauty that Gan loved, a beauty that no one could doubt. She was beautiful… at least when the makeup stood.
So, why was it that she felt the 'bathump' only around Kage? One who shouldn't be granted a vast emotion.
A question so simple it brought terror to Claire's mind. A terror that when realized and denounced forced her back to the skies. Because… up here there were no voices… there were no worries of the common problems that bore to frighten the mind of herself. It was just the wind on her naked frame. Some days that wind was chilly producing goosebumps while others were just warm enough to prick the skin with a delightful twinge.
Up high was when she first saw Gan. The boys she had seen were all cocky and no depth to them, but this one held a growing rose in his heart.
It was a night with the subway cars jiggling to the chatter of its rails. Late from her middle school and no parent to escort her, Claire sat alone, careful not to seek out prying gazes. There was no telling what someone could do at this time of night. The car filtered with a murky brown which collected along a green spore to the glass and bottoms of seats.
Her stop was last in the upper district of the city, but that mattered not for a lanky bodied man. A lanky bodied man who was deprived of stimulation. Who was wrenched with the wicked and brought to a level of depravity he thought not imaginable. Grouped with a construct in society of acceptance toward such behavior he thought no wrong of his actions as he approached the girl. He had taken younger, but this was the perfect age according to past experience. Weak enough to not put up a fight but developed so a play could be created.
The man's hand stroked her weighty hair. A hand that the next moment felt a crushing gush of pain. The man fell to the floor of the car, kicked by the heel of another's boot. Unconscious with a light trickle of urine seeping from his bottom, the man was worse for wear. In his place stood a boy no older than the girl and when their eyes met a distinct connection echoed in the car. Claire misplaced it as time having maintained a relaxed state. Stilled was the train car as they looked into the other examining their purpose. From then their relationship fondly elevated to a quick love skipping several steps along the path.
Then on, Claire had no dictate in her story. It was a story about Gan. His success as well as what would ultimately accumulate to the standard of humanity's pinnacle for adaptation. Yet, along the way she saw Kage, it was then she finally experienced the stillness of time.
Another who had no story that would lead anywhere. An insignificant existence that struggled against the fate of time. Claire did not understand this desperation, he could lie over and let the rest pass him by dead as a dog without a purpose in this world. One which tried its hardest to rid it of him.
But, he did not. That's when Claire asked herself, "Why should I?"
"I have the talent. I have the skill. I have the control. Yet, why does he think that he can be something greater than the rest of us?" That was the first time her heart ached in front of him. It became apparent that to be truly free like a bird soaring with the wind, she would need to follow a new master.
Despite the restlessness caused by the cracked heart, or even the torn statue she had of her new master, Claire knew a path to go down. If Kage would not have her then all she needed was to be close beside him. Afterall, she loved to aid the crestfallen smile of another. If that were to be where Kage marched upon then so would she.
She dropped from the blowing nimbus freely riding the current across the minefield of lightning exalted by hailing pellets. Dancing to their catchy play, she opened her eyes, finding the ground below the tip of her heel. A look told her that she had landed just outside of the first bunker on her journey around the ring encircling the park.