The Secret of Eleven

Chapter 10

I get to Miami with no trouble, surprised at the relative calmness. The crowd surprises me, the city much larger than I anticipated. I focus on finding Twelve, though, focusing on getting to her before the Mogs do. They will eventually find her. They always find us. 

After an hour of searching I find her school, Miami Senior High School. It's big, and I think I'll have a hard time finding her. I describe her to everyone I pass, making excuses. I'm her sister, her friend, her cousin. No one has seen her. Except for the last person I talk to, right before I give up. 

"You're looking for Maddy. Madison, you might know her as. She was sick, stayed home today. i was just about to head over there, if you want to come along."

I follow him, staying behind and mostly silent, even as he tries to engage in small talk. He finally seems to get the message for a while and stops talking, just moving his head to take in his surroundings or whistling, or cracking his knuckles. He's a nervous kid.

We enter a residential area for what looks like rich ass people. How could her Cêpan be so careless, letting her live in such an area? 

The kid gets a text on his phone, and tells me he has to go, pointing me towards the largest house in the area. It's a normal, double-story house, with large doors, a lawn filled with flowers and grass, a pool in the back. It's almost as if Twelve lived a normal life.

I knock on her door, waiting for her to open it. A voice comes out, playful and flirty.

"Charles, is that you?"

Twelve opens the door, and immediately her face goes blank. She's undeniably pretty, with curly brown hair and tan olive skin. She's wearing a top that barely covers her stomach, and short shorts. Impractical clothing. This girl must be crazy.

Suddenly her face changes into one of fear. 

"Leave me alone!"

She slams the door in my face, but I open it again before she locks it.

"Twelve! It's time to go! The rest of the Garde are already together!" I scream at her, shocked at her behavior.

She trips over something, falling on her back. She crawls away from me, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

"Twelve? What's wrong?"

"Stop calling me that! My name is Madison!"

"Twelve, that's just an alias. We got to go now!"

And then, she snaps. "What the hell are you talking about? For the past week I've been having nightmares about this giant monster, but you're always in them too. Who the hell are you?"

"Twelve, do you remember who you were before Madison?"

"I've ALWAYS been Madison!"

I can't believe it. She doesn't know who she is. 

"Twelve, you're not going to believe me. But you're an alien. You're from the planet Lorien, which was destroyed by another alien race called the Mogadorians. The leaders of Lorien, the Elders, allowed nine children to escape the planet, but also sent away four others in secret. The children were Garde, people with extraordinary powers that are hard to imagine. The Elders cast a charm on our ankles, see?"

I show her my scars, the five on one leg and my number on the other. She shakily rolls down her socks, showing me her own scars. 

"This can't be true. I don't believe it. I'm a normal girl. I'm not an alien. You're crazy. You're lying," she stutters, shaking her head.

I respond calmly, even though I'm boiling inside, "Twelve, you should've gotten your legacies by now, your powers. You have the scars, you've felt them burning into your skin as Garde died. You know I'm telling the truth."

She screams again, this time with more than one emotion boiling up. With fury. With fear. With acceptance. Her scream breaks all the glass in sight. I feel pushed away by the sheer force of it, pushed out her house and into the street outside. She follows, still screaming, still pushing me away. 

I push back with my telekinesis, uprooting trees, grabbing lawn furniture, it all goes towards her. But nothing is strong enough. Her scream still pushed everything away. 

She stops, breaking down into sobs. For some reason I don't feel empathetic. I feel angry. How dare this girl be mad at me for showing her the truth? How dare she scream at me when I'm the one who lost everyone I had, Cara, Thirteen, my family, everyone I have ever loved, while she sat in blissful ignorance?

I stomp towards her, unknowingly sparking electricity. I grab her, make her stand up.

"Do you understand? Do you remember? Because that's a hell of a legacy you have and we're not the only ones who heard it."

She nods, suddenly getting stronger, standing up. Her eyes widen.

"I...remember. I'm sorry, Eleven, I don't know what came over me. I've tried to block out those memories, those emotions. When you came I immediately recognized you. It would have led to the destruction of this life I have."

I help her up, the anger gone, glad we've gotten over this.

"Let's go find the Garde, Twelve. It's time to fight."