Born of starlight and shadows

~Part nine: Stella~

"You used that word once before," I remembered. "In the cafeteria."

"You did what, Hannah?" Mr. Jones asked.

"She didn't understand what it meant," Hannah protested.

"And I still don't," I pointed. "Not really, anyway."

"No?" Hannah asked. "All right then, guess. What do you think it means?"

"It's a...it's a name for people like me. People like...like us, I suppose," I said, remembering what she'd shown me. "How did you do that, anyway?"

She shrugged. "It's like...I have this sort energy inside of me that I can call upon and sort of manipulate in certain ways. So I...I basically asked it do as I wished, and, well you saw, didn't you?"

"I saw your hand glowing," I said. "But how-"

"Because I manipulated in such a way that would create an illusion of light," she said. "That's why it looked like it was glowing. But the light itself-it wasn't real."

"An illusion," I repeated.

Hannah nodded. "Yes. That's what I can create."

I felt an odd feeling of happiness rush through me. But, a moment later, it faded.

I tilted my head and looked at Hannah questioningly. "Did you do that?"

"Uh-huh," she said. "I could make you feel something else, too. Anything, really. Fear, hate, disgust, jealousy, anger..."

"Pleasant," I muttered. "Really, really pleasant."

"But, as you just witnessed, I can create positive emotions, too. Happiness, excitement, stuff like that," she added. "If I really tried, I could make you do things you would never have done on your own. I could make you see things that weren't really there."

I shivered.

"I could also create an illusion of noise, like making you think you heard your favorite song or someone's voice or something," she continued. "But that doesn't matter. Because I have the potential to use it...use this power, which I never asked for and most definitely never wanted, I am dangerous. I am a threat."

"A threat to who?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

"Everyone else," Mr. Jones said. "The rest of the world who was lucky enough to avoid becoming a Star Child-which, by the way, is a name referring to individuals such as yourself and my daughter, individuals that, at some point in their lives, changed from a so-called normal, natural human being to one bearing otherworldly power."

"That's ridiculous," I said. "Even if there are others-"

"There are," Mr. Jones.

I blinked. "Wait, what?"

"There are others," he repeated. "I can't be sure how many, but...at least a couple hundred or so."

"A couple hundred?" I asked.

Hannah nodded. "At least."

"Fine, then," I said. "That's a couple hundred people out of the billions on this planet. Billions. How could any of them-us-ever cause real damage to that many people?"

Mr. Jones reached for something in the passenger seat-a tablet. He passed it back to Hannah.

"Show her, will you?" he asked.

Hannah swallowed. "Do I have-"

"Hannah."

"Okay," she said, and squished her thumb on the power button.