Anchor

Prologue // The Mind Is A Difficult Thing To Control, But Not Impossible

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October, 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day began. My birth went unnoticed by the world.

My whole life was compiled with odd events, coincidences, and unfortunate events. The first, quite literally, being my birth. My mother was three months pregnant when she gave birth to me. The kicker is that it wasn't me she was pregnant with. Six months after I was born she gave birth to my brother Collin, but passed away in the process. That left us with my dad.

My father is one of those  people who doesn't know how to take care of kids. He thinks you beat the shit out of them, not tell them about their supernatural powers, and practically sell them to the next door neighbor who just happens to abuse his kids as well. All great fun.

Reginald Hargreeves found out about my powers before I did. I was five years old when I heard my father at the door talking to an unfamiliar voice. I took a few steps down the stairs, very carefully avoiding the spots that creak on the staircase.

 "And why the hell do you want to adopt my daughter!?" my father exclaimed with a raised voice.

"In case you were unaware, your daughter has extraordinary powers. My seven adopted children are in the same boat. Well six of them anyway," he let a small chuckle, as if he just said something funny. "I want her power in my academy."

Silence. 

"Now listen here, I have two kids to get shit done around here and they can't even manage that! What would I do with one less?"

"How about I make you a deal. I'll pay you for a few hours for her each day."

More silence. But only for a second.

"Deal."

..........................

I met him the next day. Reginald had brought me next door to a room that looked like it wasn't supposed to be known about. Through a door that looked like it lead to a storm cellar, a damp underground hallway and three double locked doors. He opened the door with a creak, and walked to the middle of the room. There was a seat on his left and right, but the one on the left was already taken. I looked at the boy sitting there, he looked back, equally as uncomfortable as I was. 

"Number five, this is number eight. You will be working together, and telling no one," he looked at me but I was confused to say the least. 

I was about to ask him what he meant by number five and number eight when he looked to me and started talking again. 

"When you are training with Five here, you will be adressed as number eight."

 The boy was called Five. Strange. And even stranger yet, he didn't address me by my name. Before I could even register it as a red flag, he ushered me into the empty seat.

"From what already know about number eight's powers, she can't control them on her own. They are too great for her on her own. Number five can project that excess power out so it doesn't harm anyone," he began sticking small electrical stickers to both of our heads. "But first we must connect the minds of you two," he placed some kind of metal cap over each of our heads. "But be prepared, this is going to hurt."

I turned and looked at Five. He looked scared, I was scared. I reached out my hand to him, he looked down, confused by the offer. I reached out a little further and held onto his hand, he looked back at me. I smiled at him, he smiled back with hints of gratitude in his eyes. And we turned to face our impending doom.