Avatar: Nova Blanchard's Story

Chapter 2

"Ouch!" I moaned as I felt the brush combing through my hair get caught on some of the tangles that had accmulated.

"Oh stop your complaining Nova." A plump middle-aged lady said chastily with a small smile playing on her lips.

I looked up into the mirror and gave a playful glare at the women as I watch her continue to comb my long wavy white hair.

Mary was my personal maid. It was her job to take care of all my personal needs. For as long as I can remember Mary has been there. Whenever I was upset or had a problem I went to Mary. I might not have had my mother growing up, but it was okay because I had her. She in all honesty was my Mama.

"Now dont you go giving me those looks young lady. Its not my fault you don't comb this hair more often." She lectured as she combed over another tangle.

Gritting my teeth, I held in another cry of protest.

"I do not understand. Why is the Doc making you dress me up?" I grumbled.

I hated getting dressed up in girly attire. Give me a t-shirt and some shorts or pants and I was good to go.

"Dr. Heinburg is having a special dinner tonight and he wishes for you to attend it. Now I want you to behave yourself. The Doctor told me this was very important and he wanted you to show good manners and look presentable."

I rolled my eyes at this. Dr.Heinburg was my legal guardian. He adopted me when I was baby and has let me live with him ever since.

The only time I see him is when he is running tests on me, studying me like a lab rat, or providing my schooling. Dr.Heinburg did not show love and compassion, he was strictly about his work. "Objective to the study" as he would say. He is fascinated with my "special" abilites and thats it. I am nothing more than an experiment to him.

As I grew up I showed signs of developing unique powers. I had the ability to move and bend the earths natural elements at my will. Over the years I have perfected these gifts and knew how to do many cool tricks with them.

I also had the ability to move solid matter with my mind. Mary would joke sometimes and call me matilda. I did not know who this was at first, but one day I asked and found that it was an old movie from the last century about a girl that had my ability.

I have always had my gifts. They were apart of who I am. I learned at a very young age that I was unique because of them. Once I had asked Mary if she had any powers like mine and she explained to me that she knew no one with my powers. I even asked the Doc. and he bluntly told me I was a scientific miracle and that is why he was conducting this on going study. Then proceeded to tell me to leave him be so he could work.

Dr. Heinburg cared only for science. I joked with Mary a lot about how if science was a person Doc would marry it and run off and have scientific theories and equations for babies. She had scolded me for disrepecting the Doctor, but tried to hide an amused smile. She knew as well as I that this was true.

Though Dr.Heinburg never showed love for me it did not stop me from caring about him. He was the only male figure in my life and I couldnt help but want to make him proud of me. To make him see me as Nova and not a lab rat.

"I still don't understand what makes this dinner so important." I said while playing with a piece of loose fabric from my dress.

Mary finished combing through the last tangles in my hair. She then looked up into the mirror into my eyes and spoke.

"This dinner is important because Dr Heinburg will be having a special guest."

My eyes went wide and I let go of the fabric of my dress. Dr. Heinburg hardly ever had guests and when he did he would make sure Mary kept me out of sight. He never wanted anyone to see me. Whenever I asked why he would explain it was for my safety. I never knew what he was protecting me from, but Mary explained that it was probably because of my powers and that if they were put in the wrong hands bad things could happen. Like I could be taken away because in our world people did not like what they could not control.