05

Chapter 4: Jealousy

When Anthony made it back to the apartment half an hour before curfew he found Raz in the living room doing push-ups. "What happened with the 1st years?" He asked as he went into his room and grabbed his body wash and shampoo from his closet.

"Beat them in 37 seconds," Raz said without stopping his push-ups. "Where were you? We were both assigned to help the 1st years."

Standing at the entrance to the bathroom, Anthony turned to him to answer. "Well, I am not as fast as you and Tessa and Trinity saw me and it would have been rude to just turn and leave so I stayed and talked for a little while." Raz didn't say anything; he just turned over onto his back and began doing stomach crunches.

"She asked about you. She wanted to know why you took off like that. She apparently didn't realize what you are like normally." Anthony said and then turned, started the shower and shut the door. Raz continued with his crunches. When he was finished with his 1000 crunches he stood and took a drink of water from his water bottle. As he sucked the water down, he almost choked on it when a flood of emotion hit him like a ton of bricks.

-

Tessa felt sad and lonely. From the moment the connection happened she, somewhere deep inside her, knew that she would never be alone. When Raz saw her and she knew he did, and he ran off, she felt alone and sad. They had almost been close enough to establish their connection, mentally.

Instead, she sat with Trinity and Anthony and had lunch. They tried to cheer her up and then they fell into their own conversation. Tessa remembers vaguely Trinity laughing at something Anthony said. The rest of the day was a blur. Her classes and dinner just happened in a convoluted period of time highlighted by more feelings of sadness and loneliness.

After dinner, Anthony said he was going to head back to his apartment and hang there for the night. Trinity waved goodbye with a big smile and Tessa briefly acknowledged his leaving and headed to the Training Field to look at the stars. Trinity followed.

Once they reached the field Tessa just stopped and looked up. Trinity stood next to her and took her hand to comfort her. As Tessa looked up a shooting star streaked by and she made a wish and a tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. Upon seeing this, Trinity pulled her hand and guided her back to the dorm.

As they neared the dorm, the pull became stronger for Tessa. She knew Raz was in the dorm and she wanted to get closer to him, but she knew if she did he would run away. For now, she would just enjoy the pull and the sweet anguish it put her in. Because she at least knew that he was close by.

-

Raz felt his humanity return in a flood of emotions that made him drop to the floor and gasp for air. He felt sad that he hadn't been with Tessa all this time and that he had run from her, Angry that the separation causes his deficiency to flare up. Happy that his emotions had returned and anxious because he knew she was close and at least for tonight he would not be without her.

He took off from the floor, out the door, around a group of students, down the stairs and as he turned to her hall he saw her about to go into her apartment. He raced up to her, scooped her up and took her back to his room and gently laid her on his bed. He sat next to her and just looked her in her eyes and smiled. She returned the smile.

"Hi," Raz said with a big smile on his face. He felt alive again and happy like there was nothing but he and Tessa in the world.

'Hi,' Tessa said mentally. She could feel the flood of emotion coming from Raz and she returned it as well. There it was, the feeling of never being alone, of being protected, Love that would never leave.

As they sat there in their own little world, Anthony came out of the bathroom and saw them sitting there. He smiled and walked into his room and put up is toiletries. He put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and then walked into Raz's room and leaned against the wall.

'I missed you.' Tessa said still oblivious to Anthony staring at them.

'I missed you also, but not tonight. Tonight we stay together.' Raz said and a flood of new emotions entered the link, Hopefulness, happiness, and determination.

'Where would we stay?' Tessa asked.

'Here in this room.' Raz said. Tessa sent her agreement through the link and then became aware that Anthony was staring at them. Raz became aware also and turned to Anthony. Anthony nodded his head, left Raz's room and shut the door.

When the door shut Raz returned his gaze to Tessa's. No words, mental or verbal, were spoken. None needed to be. Raz went to his closet and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and handed them to Tessa. She accepted them with a smile. Raz turned and left the room and went into the bathroom carrying his toiletries and a pair of shorts.

30 minutes later he came out of the bathroom and the lights were off but he could see thanks to the moon streaming in through the window. He walked to his bed where Tessa lay against the wall and the covers were pulled back inviting him in. He accepted the invitation and lay, covered, next to Tessa. She turned and he was spooning her and that is how they fell asleep.

-

Raz moved between Tessa's legs, guided by a fragrant and heavy aroma that was drifting up from her wet sex. It was a sweet smell but with an enticing hint of musk. He was pleased to see that she has shaved her pubic hair and he paused to admire it. He lowered his face, deeply inhaling her fragrance, much like one would before tasting a fine wine. He nuzzled his cheeks to her mound. He began softly blowing air onto her sex, which elicited goosebumps and a sigh of pleasure from her.

Raz's hand drifted down between Tessa's legs and he pressed his palm against her, covering up her labia as his lips softly kiss her hips, her thighs and moved closer to her crotch. His palm pressed and moved in a circle, stirring her dampness around. He lifted his head slightly for a better view and used his thumb and forefinger to spread her open. Her clitoris began to bloom and protrude from inside. He blew again, this time directly on it.

There is a loud blaring sound as the 2 return to consciousness. Raz reached over to the dresser and turned his alarm clock off and then returned to cuddling Tessa, at which point both he and Tessa notice his erection.

Raz felt a ping of embarrassment but Tessa barely noticed. Tessa was still thinking about the dream she just had. She was still a virgin and hadn't really thought much about sex before but that dream had made her wet between her thighs and she was almost sad to wake up. When Raz's arm came back to cuddle her she became aware that his erection was slightly grazing her area down there and making her...wetter.

'Did you sleep well?' Raz asked mentally.

'Yes, very well, how about you?' She asked as she snuggled into him. The heat of his body and the comfort of the bed made her not want to move for as long as possible.

'Yeah, except for this strange dream I had.' He said. Tessa's eyes sprang open and she flipped around so suddenly in bed that she almost kneed him in his erection. She looked in his wide open eyes with shock.

"What was your dream about?" She asked aloud.

"You and I were about to have sex. It felt and seemed real and enjoyable." He said with an embarrassed smile. "Why?"

"Well, because I had the same dream." She said and then paused for a moment to consider what that meant. "So, the mental link we have also causes us to share dreams?"

"Did you also dream of just running? No particular place to go just running for the sake of running." He asked her. Tessa paused for a moment and thought.

"No." She said.

"Then it can't be all dreams because I distinctly remember having that dream also." He said and then thought about what she said. So normal dreams they don't share but intense dreams they do. That was very interesting.

"We will keep this to ourselves for now. What time is it?" She asked. Raz looked over his shoulder and grabbed his clock and showed her. It was 5:15 am. "Why do you have the alarm set for such an early time?"

"Anthony and I get up this early to work out by ourselves." He said returning the clock to the dresser.

"I need to get back to my room before they do morning bed check." She said as she started to get up. Raz gently grabbed her and prevented her from moving.

"If we are separated then I go back to the other me. I don't want that." He said with sadness in his voice. He desperately wanted to stay the way he was now. He hated himself as the other guy. Tessa caressed his face and smiled.

"It will be okay. Now that we know how to get you back we will." She said with a smile. He smiled back to her and then eased himself out of the bed. He started stretching as Tessa gathered her clothes up and went into the bathroom to change and wash her face.

When she came out of the bathroom she had changed and was holding his t-shirt and shorts. He reached for them but she held them from him. She smiled and went to his closet, took out his body spray and sprayed the clothes with it.

"That way I have something that smells like you." She said. Raz smiled and then in a blink of an eye he scooped her up, ran her to her room placing her gently in her bed. When he returned to his room Anthony was coming out of the bathroom. "How did you sleep?" He asked.

"Pretty good," Raz said with a smile. He walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth, shower, and shave. After they got ready they headed to the Training Field to run, spar and work out. When they were done they headed back to their dorm to shower again and get ready for classes. The whole time Raz never stopped smiling.

-

When Trinity awoke she saw Tessa coming out of the bathroom smiling. "Have a good time last night?" Trinity asked with a smile of her own.

"Yeah, we slept together," Tessa said with a towel wrapped around her. She sat on her bed and began to put lotion on herself still smiling.

Trinity got up and hopped onto Tessa's bed with a bigger smile. "Congratulations on becoming a woman." She said and gave her a hug around her shoulders. Tessa stopped what she was doing and gave Trinity a curious look. A moment later realization set into her eyes.

"No, we literally slept together. We were wearing clothes and nothing else happened." Tessa exclaimed. 'Although there was the dream,' she thought to herself but didn't tell Trinity because she didn't want to hear what she had to say about the dream. Trinity's smile didn't waver although she did get up from the bed and head to the bathroom to get ready herself.

Tessa continued what she was doing but her thoughts strayed to Raz and his emotional awareness since they were not close together at this moment. She could feel the pull but it wasn't as strong as it had been the day before. She also didn't feel sad or lonely.

Trinity and Tessa finished getting ready and then left the dorm and headed to the cafeteria. As they approached Tessa could feel Raz nearby and knew he was in the cafeteria. When she went it she saw him sitting in the corner with Anthony eating their breakfast. He looked emotionless sitting there. When he made eye contact with her, he didn't smile.

Tessa feared that his drawback had returned until he said: 'don't worry, I am still here. I don't know who is watching and I was told to stay away from you.' She nodded slightly and he returned to eating and talking to Anthony. Tessa felt excited inside that he was still normal but didn't let the emotion show on her face as she and Trinity got in line to get their breakfast.

-

After classes and helping the 1st years Anthony and Raz were heading back to the dorm to change when they heard a female voice that sounded familiar. They both turned and saw her. Moriah Hilliard.

She had a supple, curvaceous figure, a chalice shaped waist and strawberry-red lips, with a flawless, bronzed complexion, arched eyebrows of raven-black and had luscious, star flame-gold hair. She ran up to Raz and Anthony grabbed Raz's neck and kissed him deep and hard while making sure their tongues danced in each other's mouth.

When they separated a moment later Raz just stood there dumbfounded, Anthony had a look of amazement and Moriah just looked hungry and Raz was a piece of meat. As Raz tried to find words he felt the pull all of a sudden and looked to the Training Field. There stood Tessa and Trinity looking wide-eyed at the trio standing there. Raz got to her before the first tear left her cheek.

"Tessa it's not what you think." He said quickly and reached for her hand. She pulled it back and screamed.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" She screamed and a gust of wind grabbed Raz and shot him from the field and 200 yards to the gate that stopped him and knocked him unconscious. He didn't slump to the ground, though, the same wind kept him pinned like he was strapped to the fence.

Moriah looked at Tessa and then ran to the fence where Raz was. Anthony did the same, both of them trying to remove him from the fence and get him to regain consciousness. Trinity grabbed Tessa, who wasn't paying her any attention, all of her focus on Raz, and tried to turn her away from the source of her anger.

For the first time Trinity looked at Tessa's eyes and say they had gone blood red. She was crying but even the tears looked like blood flowing from her eyes. Red veins started appearing like lightning bolts starting from her eyes and rapidly spreading down her face and across her body. Trinity noticed that the same wind that was holding Raz to the fence was also starting to cause Tessa to rise from the ground.

Realizing that her anger would not be subsided by a simple nudge Trinity put her hand in Tessa's face and snapped her fingers. In her palm was a ball of yellow flame that slowly started to change colors. When it reached a dull red Tessa snapped from her anger and took a step back. She stumbled as she had been a few inches off the ground and the wind disappeared. When she saw Raz fall to the ground she looked confused. Then she ran toward the dorms not taking a second look at what she had done. Trinity looked at Anthony who nodded his head toward Tessa and she followed her roommate.

-

Tessa ran to her dorm and into the bathroom and locked the door. She knew Trinity was right behind her and she didn't care. She needed a moment alone, to think, to collect her thoughts. What had happened?

She had walked down the path to the Training Field because she knew that Raz was there. Even though they couldn't show that his emotions were back, she could still watch him and mentally talk to him. She had gotten to the field just in time to see that girl jump Raz and kiss him. When she kissed him the mental link was alive with his emotions.

He knew the girl and flashes of their intimacy went straight through to her mind and even though she felt his confusion, she also felt that he was aroused by her. She felt a spark of jealousy in her heart and it ignited into anger like it was a room full of kerosene. She didn't remember the next few minutes. In fact, the first thought she had was seeing Trinity's flame in front of her eyes and seeing Raz on the fence and knowing she was responsible for it. The worse thing was that she felt nothing from the pull. It was like he wasn't there anymore like he was dead. She couldn't handle that so she ran.

-

Raz floated in a sea of nothingness. He drifted, with no up or down or any sort of bearing. He felt nothing he knew nothing he didn't care. He didn't know how he got here. A moment later he awoke in a room. The room was white, with no doors, windows or any sort of entrance or exit. There was no equipment in this room, no people, and no sound. He tried to move but his body did not obey his orders

"So you're awake. Good. It's been 7 days." Raz recognized the voice of the principal. He looked around for the source of the sound but saw nothing. It seemed as if the voice was coming from everywhere at once.

"Where am I? What am I doing here and why can't I move?" Raz asked realizing that he could speak but his body still would not respond.

"You're in a special holding facility. Don't worry; you're still in the complex. You're just in an area that can't be reached but by special security clearance. As for the reason you can't move, that's because we gave you a special paralytic drug to help in your recovery. You were badly damaged by Ms. Vento and we needed you not to move. It should wear off in a little while so don't worry." A slot in the wall opened as if from nowhere and in walked the principal. He was dressed in all white and had a mask over his face. His hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and he didn't smell of old coffee and cigarettes. In fact, he smelled sterile.

"Your specific instructions were not to go near that woman. Yet you disobeyed on the first day I told you not to do it." Raz looked at him quizzically. "There are cameras everywhere. Do you think that we would have this many second steps and evolutions on one property and have no way to monitor them?"

"Okay, so I broke the rules. What now?" Raz asked. He was curious what the principal would do to him considering that he was one of three Evolutions known in the world.

"To you, nothing, you're going to stay here and recover. We had to induce a medical coma to help your body heal itself from the damage that she caused you. As for her, she's being transferred to complex 252 in Brazil."

Raz's eyes went wide and he asked: "what is complex 252?"

The principal looked at him for a moment and then answered "I will tell you. It's not going to matter because once you're out of here we will introduce a drug that will wipe out the last two weeks of your memory as well as Anthony's and Trinity's. Moriah will be here to help you recover. Complex 252 is where we sent the first generation of second steps. We didn't know what or who they were and we didn't know what they could do but we found out. Let's just say what happened in Area 51 to the Roswell aliens is nothing compared to what happened to the first generation of second steps at complex 252."

Raz wanted to break free of his bonds and break the principal's neck but his body still was not responding to his thoughts. All he could do was scream and look at the principal. The principal returned his gaze with a smile underneath the mask and then turned to leave the room. "Don't worry. You'll only be here for one more day and then you won't remember being here." He turned and left the room. The door shut and disappeared into the wall.

Chapter 5: Freedom

Raz sat quietly in the white room. He had tried to struggle, tried to break the bonds that held him in place but the bonds were his own body. His body he could not fight because of the drugs. So now he just sat there waiting, patiently, to find out what would happen next. He felt alone, so very alone. He had never felt this alone in his whole life, not when he found out that he was the reason his parents died. Not even when he was sent to the orphanage, And especially not since his powers had started to develop.

As he sat there, quietly, patiently waiting. He felt it. At first, it felt like a fingernail lightly grazing his skin. Not enough for him to register that it actually was happening but still enough for goosebumps to pop up. But he definitely felt it, the pull. He felt the pull so he decided it was his only chance. So he reached out to the pull. He grabbed hold of it mentally with both hands and pulled harder against it. He pulled with everything that was inside of him. His love his feelings his true emotions for Tessa. He pulled with everything he had and as he pulled he realized he could move his hands than his elbows than his arms then his legs his feet and his toes. And soon he was free, able to move around and able to try and find a way out.