Daniel?

"Her thoughts are a mess. She's really cold."

"I'll get a blanket."

"But I don't think it's a temperature thing. I think it's grief."

Grief.

"She's just completely shut down."

I woke up in a tangle of bed-sheets and thought a Dad!

"Where is he?" I sat up and hit my head on the bunk above. "Where is he?" I swung my legs out of the bed and collapsed to the floor. I was a mess; shaking and weak. "Where is he?"

Daniel rushed over to me and pulled me back onto my feet. "Get into bed," he said kindly. "Your dad is at rest in the church vaultaa"

"You didn't... you didn't have a funeral?"

Daniel helped me into my bunk. He pulled the cover over me. "We wouldn't do that, Mina. He's just at rest there until you're better."

"You're not... you're not going to make me drink tea as well are you?"

"No." He stroked my hair. "Will you be all right?"

I shook my head. "Not on my own."

"Want me to stay with you?"

"Yes."

Daniel climbed into the bed and held me as the drugs worked their way out of my body. I fell asleep listening to the soft sounds of his breathing.

The next day we carried torches into the catacombs. Daniel watched me with level eyes. His gaze produced new feelings on top of the gnawing grief. Even after I'd hurt him and everyone around me, he still took care of me. He was still here. I struggled to meet his eyes. Every kind touch brought warmth to my cheeks.

"Stop feeling guilty," Hiro whispered. "He still loves you."

"How long was I incoherent for?" I asked, ignoring his instructions about Daniel.

"Just over a day," he said. "It was scary."

I took his tiny hand in mine. "I'm sorry."

Hiro's eyes filled with tears and he ran away to Kitty. I had a lot of bridges to mend.

Daniel held my hand in the catacombs, but it just reminded me of the shame and guilt. I killed my own father. The horrible cold came back as I thought of him lying in the vault with the rest of the dead. My torchlight found marble coffins a dusty from the years. It hit me like a train. Dad belonged with the dead now. He would never breathe, or eat, or talk. He would rot in a marble coffin with the others.

"Let's get this over with," I said. My voice shook with emotion, and it took all my concentration to hold back the tears. I had to keep it together.

"Where do you want your father to lay at rest?" asked the priest.

"I don't... I don't know. He didn't believe in anything," I said. "I think he wanted to be cremated. He always said it was more... practical." The words sounded so impersonal a as though I was talking about how to dispose of a house plant. This was no way for a life to end.

"He lives on in your heart." The priest placed a hand on my shoulder and his strength helped me.

I nodded. "Yes. I suppose he does." A swelling rush of emotion took me over and I turned to run away from the group... Matthew stopped me and pulled me into his arms.

"Listen to me, Mina," he said, so quietly only I could hear. "If I hadn't trusted Anna in the first place, none of this would've happened. If you hadn't let Anna in, Jonathon would be alive. But if he'd told us..." He sighed. "He was a stubborn and proud man afraid of his failures, and afraid to tell the truth. You didn't do anything wrong. If he'd faced up to his own problems, none of us would be mourning his death.

"He dealt with everything by running away, and by locking the truth away in his own mind. You can't blame yourself for that."

The words resonated with me. No, I couldn't blame myself for what happened with Anna, but I could blame myself for always wanting to run away a just like Dad.

"Say goodbye, Mina," Matthew said. "That's all we can do now. We say goodbye and we move on."

That day we burned my father and I said goodbye. We all did.

The next day, I read through the Gestalt project and shared it with the other Freaks. Dad's words echoed between the lines. I heard him telling me his story with his last breath as I read about our history with my mother. We were her monsters. She was our Frankenstein. I guess I really did find the Frankenstein I'd been looking for.

Today I realised the children are connected. They feel each other's pain. Hiro is still a toddler, and yet he gave Mina his bear when she banged her knee. When Daniel has a vision, Mike shares his chocolate with him. They are more like brothers and sisters than friends. It's as though their heightened senses recognise each other.

Daniel remains the most fascinating of the children. His visions are so real and intricat, that it's unlike anything I predicted. The enhanced sight works in his subconscious, meaning that he couldn't tell you his predictions until he has a flash, or vision. He isn't apsychic' in that way. He'd never be able to read people.

Yet I worry about the toll it takes on his physical health. The nosebleeds and the migraines suggest that it is too much for one mind to cope with. I worry that each vision shortens his life in some way. Could it develop into a tumour? I hope not. I really do.

My Mina is the strongest. She has the most power because her sense gives her the ability to inflict pain. I love watching her train. I love the effortless way she lifts objects with her mind. I can't wait to teach her more, to help her become the strongest human being on the planet.

Catherine and Mike are perhaps the weakest of the group. Their gifts aren't as impressive as the other children, but together they strengthen each other. They have the hardest time connecting to other people. Mike's gift is more of a hindrance than a help to him. Being around other humans makes him physically ill. I worry that he will never cope with human emotion; that he will never find someone to share his life with. The same goes for Kitty and Hiro. To taste, smell, or hear the worst of human nature a it is a fate I would not wish on myself. When I look at them I worry about the Gestalt project. I worry that I've done the wrong thing...

"Do you think she did the wrong thing?" I said. "We wouldn't be here."

"Of course she did. She made us into unlovable Freaks. Who will ever want to be with us now? Who will ever want to be around us?" Mike shot a furtive glance to Kitty.

They sat away from each other on the basement floor. It was so weird to see them apart. I'd only ever known them together, glued to each other's side. Did they break up?

Hiro nodded.

So they had. What a shame. Daniel sat beside Mike. I watched him fiddle with the sleeve of his shirt and wondered if there was anyone better for us in the world, or if we were meant for each other. He looked up and met my eyes. I blushed and turned away.

"We grew up together," I said after a brief pause. "And we didn't even recognise each other."

"Yeah we did," said Kitty. "We just didn't know it then. I know it's all really scary, but at least we have each other. That's never going to change, right?"

I pulled Hiro to my side. "Not anymore, no."

Daniel stood to leave and I scrambled to my feet. He walked so quickly I had to rush to trail him. "Daniel? Where are you...? Wait." I caught up with him near the kitchen. "What's the matter?"

"Didn't you read all that? She thinks I'm going to die. She thinks my brain is going to explode or something."

"She doesn't know anything," I said. "What she did has never been done before. Any of us could, you know... explode. At any time."

He grinned and my heart skipped a beat. It was the same half smile I'd grown to know and love.

"You're you again," he said.

It'd been a long time since I felt like myself.

"I wasn't sure if you ever would be."

"Really?" I moved closer. He'd grown. He towered over me now: a fully grown man, with a broad chest and slight stubble on his chin. I felt the warmth spread through my fingers and arms a longing to touch him. Then that cold feeling of grief came back and I stepped away.

He nodded. I could tell there was more he wanted to say. Who was I kidding? I couldn't expect him to wait around for me while I went evil and killed my father. I didn't deserve him anyway.

"I'm not completely myself," I admitted.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

I moved towards the kitchen counter and focussed on a spoon left on the side. I made it lift an inch or so, bracing myself for what I knew was to come. The cold panic gripped me, and I dropped the spoon, barely before it lifted. My heart beat fast, and I had to take three deep breaths to steady myself. Daniel placed a hand on my shoulder. He stared deeply into my eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

I took another deep breath and tried to calm the panic in my chest. I felt knotted and jittery inside a like my stomach twisted and ants crawled under my skin. It was one of the most horrible feelings I'd ever had, and it happened every time I tried to use my power.

"Yeah," I said eventually. "I can't use my power anymore, though. It doesn't work now."

"You're just upset," he said. "Don't worry. It'll come back."

I wasn't so sure. After using it for evil and causing my dad's death... No, I had to stop that thought before I started to cry again. So I changed the subject.

"Luce is nice," I said. "She really likes you."

Daniel's cheeks coloured, and he shuffled awkwardly away from me.

"If you two areaa"

"We're not," he said. He glanced around us, his expression one of total mortification.

"Well, I was just going to say that I understand. I mean, after everything I did..." I shrugged.

"Is that how you feel?" he asked. His voice was stiff and curt.

"I guess so."

"That's fine then." He stepped around me and walked away.

39 * Angela *

They sat a hand in hand a watching Daniel's message, with Cam on her right and Ginge on her left. Alfred paced up and down the Commander's office in Area 13.

The GEM army is rising; we need you to join forces and fight. The Resistance can only do so much. We need you.

"There's something wrong with him. He seems... in pain," Angela said. She examined his face on screen, noting his tight jaw line and the dark circles beneath his eyes.

"There's only one person who makes Daniel's face look like that," Sebastian said.

"Mina," Ginge finished.

"Something's gone wrong in London," said Angela. "We have to get to him."

"And take an army with us."

Angela moved around to see Alfred behind her. He had his arms folded and his feet planted wide. He stared at the image of Daniel and Luce on the screen. Another war, Angela thought. Not again. Cam squeezed her hand a sensing her worry.

"We leave in an hour," Alfred said.

"What about the wounded?" she asked.

"They're staying in hospital," he replied. He spun on his heel and walked out of the room.

Angela's heart sank. She let go of Ginge and Cam's hand to go and sort out her backpack. There was only so much she could cram in there, and they needed food and medical supplies. She checked her gun and packed the boxes of bullets.

"Hey, ye all right?" Cam appeared by her side.

She couldn't hold back her tears any longer.

"Hey now, what's this? It's gunnae be all right, ye know."

She shook her head. No, it wouldn't.

They took Area 12 with ease. Only half an hour away from 13, the cars drove straight through the border taking out Enforcers as they went. Dozens of Blemished men and women ran from their houses with kitchen knives and pickaxes to join the fight. Angela learned to aim her pistol, and Cam fought at her side. They relied on Ginge's shooting ability, and it wasn't long before Alfred utilised her in his tactics a much to Sebastian's annoyance. He watched her like a hawk, fiercely protective and proud.

The chants of BLEM-ISHED, BLEM-ISHED roared through the streets. They drove the cars and trucks in a parade, tooting their horns and waving guns in the air. Alfred stole laser guns from the Enforcers, and a group of them tried to figure out how to use them. They took regular guns from the stores left unguarded in the headquarters. Eventually the GEM called Enforcers back to London.