Fire Starter

Chapter Four: New Changes

"Мы идем домой, домашнее животное." was the last thing Aiden heard when she slipped into darkness in the man's arms.

****THREE YEARS AGO*****

Aiden shot up from the bed in her cell, little flames dancing along her skin, she could smell the smoke and the scent of burnt linen. She took deep breaths, a task she did every time she woke up. She wasn't as sore today, they didn't train her too hard like they usually did when she tried to pull one of her tricks. She shook herself, trying to shake the nightmares from her memories. That one was the worst one, it pulled her back to what she now thought of as the worst day of her short life; she'd been five years old and she had lost everyone and everything she knew and now she was here. She hated this place, but knew better than to try and run away. She had tried it before- catching fire, duplicating herself, her magic....they always figured it out and brought her back screaming and thrashing in a ball of anger. No matter how many mirrors she made of herself, no matter how many times she lit up hotter than before, no matter what she did they always stopped her. Then she'd wake up, a new mark from one of the tranquilizers that they made specifically for her and soon she'd get punished for it. Sometimes it was solitary- the periods of time where she was locked in the cryo box, that never seemed to do what they aimed for it to or forcing her training until she couldn't move anymore; other times it was experiments that she felt in every single cell of her body. But she was getting stronger, the new powers they gave her through the experiments strengthened her old ones, they couldn't control her anymore and they didn't like that. She couldn't control them too well either however, not when she was constantly finding new ones. She couldn't control the mind reading, or the over the top hearing, or the way she could teleport herself into another room without even thinking about it. She was almost thirteen years old and she had more power coursing through her veins than anyone that ever existed.Чудаки, she thought to herself as a guard walked by her cell glaring at her. She had a small smile on her face when she saw the black eye he was sporting; it was her handy work and she was proud of it. She'd gave it to him a few days ago during her last training session and it made her proud of herself. She knew several curse words, she heard them from the guards and from Strucker himself. Even that soldier that had disappeared a few months ago; she liked that soldier, he was nice. He was her favorite person here, but he left her, like they all did.

She stood up when she saw Strucker walking over to her cell, "В лучшем настроении сегодня, мой питомец?" he asked. ("In a better mood today, my pet?" )

It took everything in her not to scream at him, "Да сэр." she replied, her voice void of any emotion. ("Yes sir.")

He smiled at her, "Хороший." he replied. ("Good")

He unlocked the heavy steel door in front of them and motioned for her to follow him. She followed behind him closely, yet kept enough distance in between to be at least a little safe, even if it was more for him than it was for her. Strucker was okay, he did all the experiments, but he treated her differently than everyone else. He'd let her be out of the cell after hours, give her different clothes than the other people got to wear, gave her more water and several other things that had convinced her that he wasn't truly evil; but he also did more experiments and training with her than any other person held here ever could imagine to do. He'd give her more food than the others, but that was because some of the experiments made her hungry and her powers burned through food like the fire that raged inside of her.