The First: EVO Uprising (33 page)

Sophia took a couple of steps backwards and exploded with a powerful two hundred foot leap into the air. With a thought she channeled the energy residing with her forcing it down through the soles of her feet for propulsion. Her new boots absorbed the energy regulating and focusing the power like thrusters from a jet giving her more controlled precision. Even though she mastered barefooted flight, it was nice to have boots on, she was tired of repainting chipped toenails every week as she soared through the stratosphere for home.

˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

Within twenty minutes, Sophia returned to her island touching down on the tarmac of her airport. The first to greet her was Earl with a look of concern.

“
Girl are you okay?” he asked with worried look. “What went down in New York is all over every news station worldwide!”

“
I’m fine,” she sighed, “three out of the seven bad guys are locked in the deep dark cell where they belong.”

“
How bad is it?” he nervously pressed.

“
It’s not good.” She solemnly lowered her head. “I think we should have a town hall meeting so that we can address everyone’s concerns about what happened, especially those originally from the area, who might still have family there.”

“
I’ll relay it to the council members,” he nodded. “Here’s your phone.”

He pulled out her gold iPhone 5 handing it to her. Concern appeared on her face as she saw a series of voicemails and text messages from the same person.

 “
You stormed out of here so fast you forgot it at the construction site,” he shrugged. “It’s been ringing off the hook an hour after you left. The name Michelle kept popping up.”

She quickly punched in her passcode turning her back to Earl listening to the first voicemail message. An expression crept onto her face that had not made its presence in years. Fear.

“
I have to go.” She quickly handed her phone back to him.

“
What? Wait… what’s going on?” he stuttered. “Where are you…”

“
I have to go, Earl!” she yelled taking a few steps. “Tell everyone I will be back soon!”

She launched herself into the air almost knocking him on his rear from the aftershock. Flying faster than she’d ever flown heading back to the states.

CHAPTER 14

Washington DC, Sophia made the flight in less than ten minutes tearing through the sound barrier at incomprehensible speed. Her heart pounded out of her chest as she slowly descended and landed in front of the small Victorian style home.

It was evening with most residents inside. Those that did see her land glanced her way and then kept on about their business in a world now use to people flying. Nonetheless, she pulled up the hood to her new outfit covering her identity.

She had never visited at this time. It was against the rules—against her rules. Her feet felt like lead every step she took. Her insides became red hot the closer she got, and she had not even reached the steps yet.

She forced herself to trot up the steps to the door. If she lingered any longer she knew she would have just taken off and never turned back.

Her stomach groaned and churned as she stood staring at the doorbell she did not want to press.

Commanding her hand to raise and point her finger, she laid into the buzzer then stopped. A cold shiver ran down her body as she lowered her head.

In less than a minute, someone came to the door opening it. Sophia raised her head to look into her eyes. Michelle Armitage stood at the door barefooted in a simple red and white plaid dress with her long brunette hair tied back into a ponytail. Her left arm was in a sling with a small cast wrapped around the forearm.

“
What the hell happened to you?” a wide-eyed Sophia blurted out.

“
Hairline fracture,” Michelle waved off, “nothing to worry about. Get in here.”

She grabbed Sophia’s hand leading her into the house, shutting the door behind her. Sophia’s heart quickened again as she looked around the house she had been in over a dozen times, just not during the evening. The cream walls looked darker with the lights on. She felt as if she was having an anxiety attack until Michelle came into view once again.

“
I saw you all over the news.” Michelle began. “Is everything…”

“
Don’t want to talk about New York, Michelle,” Sophia nervously cut her off.

“
Okay, um, we have a small problem.”

“
Michelle,” Sophia frantically held up her hands, “freaking out here. To the point. Please.”

“
She got hurt,” Michelle swallowed, “and then she changed.”

“
What do you mean she got ‘hurt?’” Sophia asked with nervous irritation.

“
She was rollerblading with some of the neighborhood children at the park,” Michelle explained. “Apparently she was showing off and doing moves that she saw on television. One of the stunts happened to be a jump from some stairs, sliding down a guardrail, and jumping off, landing again.”

There was an eerie silence as Sophia stood there stuck fighting to process what she just heard.

“
Say what?!” Sophia’s voice boomed.

    “
She misjudged the last jump and went crashing onto the pavement. She got scrapped up really badly and broke her arm. One of her friends came and got me; I put her in my car and hightailed it to the hospital. Halfway there she started to scream and cry saying that her body was on fire, and then she collapsed and passed out in the back seat. So, I pulled over and when I looked in the back seat… she started to grow.”

“
Define ‘started to grow.’” Sophia’s tone now had nervousness to it.

“
She’s taller than me,” Michelle swallowed again, “maybe four inches shorter than you. She’s now a ten year old… in the body of a sixteen-year- old… at least.”

Sophia swayed and stumbled as if she was about to faint from the news. Michelle instinctively attempted to catch her. She held a hand up signaling that she was all right as she stabilized herself.

“
Her RDH forced puberty on her,” Sophia blurted out.

“
Her what?” a bewildered Michelle asked.

“
RDH, regenerative defensive healing,” Sophia anxiously explained. “The same ability that changed me, her cells can both heal her and then build defenses against certain injuries. Especially those that entail a foreign body piercing her skin. Stone or sand must have got into her wound and blood stream. Her cells then analyzed and determined whatever got in as the cause of her injury. A threat. The first line of defense is to increase the density of her skin to be stronger than whatever pierced it in the first place. So her cells accelerated her growth process to make her bones and muscle stronger in order to carry her now denser skin. This entails the increasing of IGF-1, testosterone, and progesterone while significantly lowering her myostatin levels to achieve maximum strength levels.”

Michelle slowly nodded. Being a high school teacher and a mother she knew a bit about biology but was still amazed by the breakdown of the phenomenon.

“
Goddammit Michelle!” Sophia flipped out. “Why would you let her do something so reckless!”

“
Hey! I didn’t let her do anything!” Michelle defensively shot back. “You’re the one who bought her the skates for Christmas last year, remember? She’s also a ten-year-old child that I cannot watch or hover over all the time! Children play, and sometimes they do stupid things and get hurt!”

She coiled back and nodded in agreement.

“
We have a bigger problem.” Michelle instantly forgot about their small disagreement. “The bone did not set right. First of all she tore through her clothes, so I had to run back to the house and redress her. The poor thing was in so much pain she accidently smacked me off me feet, and that’s how I got this.”

Michelle motioned to her sling.

“
I drove her back to the hospital…” Michelle continued her story.

“
And no one can pierce her skin or rebreak the arm to set her bone.”

Whatever fear or anxiety she had vanished in an instant as she made her way up the steps with Michelle following her. The sound of soft weeping guided her to the right room. Placing her hand on the doorknob of the shut door there was a split second of hesitation.

Only a split second as she flew it open and walked in. Within the mostly white and pink bedroom designed for a ten-year-old girl sat at first glance a teenager in a baggy dark blue F.B.I sweat suit clinging tightly to a hug pink “My Little Pony” teddy bear clutching her trembling left arm. Her wild curly hair was similar to hers when she was her age. She also had her dark golden skin color, but her brown eyes that ran with tears belonged to someone she loved a long time ago.

She was not alone in the room. Standing on the bed attempting to console her with its screeches was a black and white male spider monkey. It turned curiously looking at Sophia standing at the door.

Sensing someone was now in the room with her, she looked up. At the sight of one another they both wore a look as if they had seen a ghost. The dead awkward silence had the potential to go on for days as they gazed upon one another.

“
What is she doing here?” the child stammered while getting up. “What is she doing here?”

Her words broke the silence and made Sophia retreat back a bit. Michelle seeing this going downhill took charge stepping in.

“
Kimberly, calm down,” she gestured. “This is your…”

“
I know who she is! What is she doing here?”

Unable to control her new superhuman strength, the child backed up into the wall caving a part of it in.

“
Kimberly, calm down!” Michelle yelled.

Sophia came to her senses after the sting of the rejection. She walked into the room grabbing the frightened child before she ended up in the bathroom.

“
Let me go! Let go of me!” she screamed, struggling to get free.

“
Look at me, look at me!” Sophia sternly raised her voice.

They were not the first words she wanted to say to her, but they were enough to quiet and calm her down. She trembled in her grip like a bunny.

“
Your forearm bone has not healed correctly,” she said softly. “If I do not reset it properly, the pain your are feeling will not go away.”

Kimberly reluctantly nodded in compliance. Sophia grabbed the left sleeve to the sweatshirt tearing it up to the elbow. As clear as day there was a slight jabbed bulge underneath her skin.

“
The ulna did not set right,” she sighed. “I’m going to have to rebreak it.”  

“
Rebreak it?” Kimberly screamed, struggling to pull away again.

“
Look at me! Look at me.” Sophia’s stern voice came back again. “This is the only way. I won’t lie to you, it’s going to hurt a lot, but once I reposition the bone the pain will disappear in a matter of seconds. I promise. Okay?”

Tears poured from her eyes as she nodded again.

“
Hold onto my arm, and squeeze as hard as you want,” Sophia instructed. “We will go on three, okay?”

The child timidly grabbed her arm and braced herself with a fretful look on her face.

“
One,” Sophia began.

The next thing to follow was a snap. The pain did not register at first but when it did the child squealed and screamed fighting to break free. Although her face did not show it, she was amazed how powerful the child’s strength was as she dug her fingers from her right hand into her left bicep. She stamped down hard on the floor putting her heel through it. Sophia’s powerful grip was the only thing keeping her from tearing the room apart.

“
You said on three!” the child cried out. “You said on three!”

“
I know,” Sophia tried to console her. “I know, we’re almost done.”

It was a clean break, Sophia knew whatever small bone fragments would be absorbed by her cells. Quickly repositioning the bone, she waited as her regenerative healing activated. The cells bonded once again with one another mending the two halves to form one solid bone. As promised, the child calmed down again as the excruciating pain she felt quickly disappeared.  

As the awkward silence returned to the room, the child slowly pulled her hand away from her. Sophia lowered her head and backed up giving her space. With a timid nod she about-faced, walking out of the room leaving just Michelle and the child.

She headed back down stairs in a glass eyed daze and found herself walking into the living room standing there with her arms folded over her chest and her chin tucked in. If she could she would have dropped to the floor, curled up into a fetal position, and remained there. She found herself wandering over to the fireplace mantle where she gazed upon pictures. They were of Mark, Michelle, Annie, their late daughter Penny, and Kimberly.