Katara reached out her hand to me. For a moment, I hesitated, staring at her palm as if it might bite me.
"Come on," she said in a cheeky tone, her smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You don't want to sit on the cold floor all day, do you?"
I swallowed my pride, nervous and cornered. Slowly, I grabbed her hand, and she pulled me up with ease. What now? I just got caught… What do I do? My thoughts raced, but Katara only turned and gestured for me to follow.
We walked through a long, sterile hallway. My footsteps echoed faintly, and the farther we went, the more it became clear: this was no hospital. It was a laboratory. White walls, polished metal doors, and windows that revealed shadowy figures working behind glass. I tried asking her once, "What is this place?" but she gave no reply, only silence. When I studied her closely, a chill spread through me—there was something dangerous behind that smile of hers. So I kept my mouth shut and followed quietly.
Finally, we stopped in front of a massive door. Katara faced me, her expression shifting into that bright, practiced smile.
"Welcome to our base, Lena," she said, and pushed the door open.
Inside was a long table surrounded by chairs. Three people sat waiting, all about our age. Their eyes locked onto me instantly—sharp, serious, and almost predatory. Some smirked, some just stared. My chest tightened as I followed Katara in.
She signaled me to sit beside her, next to a girl whose eyes gleamed strangely, almost reptilian, her whole body full of snake accessories. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, leaning toward Katara as if to whisper my unease. But before I could speak, her face changed. The cheerful mask vanished, replaced by something cold, sharp, and commanding.
"Lena," she said, her voice cutting through the air like a blade. "Introduce yourself."
For a moment, I froze, confused. But the weight of her stare pressed me forward. Instinct told me I had no choice. Slowly, I stood up, my knees trembling.
"Hi… I'm Lena Noctelle" I said, my voice soft, almost breaking. "And as you know… I have no powers."
Silence. Then, sudden laughter.
"Hah! Katara, you scared her stiff like a little pussy cat," the boy across the table mocked, slapping his knee.
My face burned, but I forced myself to stay quiet and sit down again. I didn't know why I was here, what they wanted from me.
The snake-eyed girl leaned forward, her voice sharp. "Katara, you haven't explained anything to her, have you?"
Katara let out a sigh, cold and heavy. Then she rose to her feet, her shadow stretching across the table. Her gaze locked onto me, and I felt like prey.
"Lena," she said, "you will join the greatest villain organization of all time, we the Interitus"
The words hit me like ice water. My stomach dropped. Villains?, wait Interitus?
But she didn't give me time to react. Her tone grew heavier, deliberate. "And you are here because you are not powerless."
My breath caught.
"The scientists confirmed it. You have a power—one of the most dangerous we've ever encountered."
"No," I whispered. "That's not possible. My parents told me… the doctors said—"
Katara slammed her hand on the table, silencing me. "Your parents didn't know. The doctors couldn't detect it. Your power was dormant. Until the cave."
My blood ran cold. The cave. The bomb.
Katara's eyes bore into mine. "That explosion should have killed you instantly. It destroyed everything else. But you didn't die. You absorbed it, Lena."
Gasps rippled through the table. The snake girl's eyes widened, gleaming with fascination. The mocking boy's grin faltered, and even the quiet one leaned forward, intrigued.
I froze, my mind screaming. "Absorbed…? No… That's not true. I should have—"
"You should have died," Katara cut me off. "But you didn't. You devoured the blast. The fire, the shockwave, the destruction—it became part of you."
Her words hollowed me out. My chest ached as memories clawed back: the blinding light, the crushing force, the silence afterward. Could it be true? Was that why I lived?
Katara's voice softened, but her gaze stayed sharp. "That's why you survived when no one else did. That is your gift. Your curse. You are not powerless, Lena. You are something else entirely."
The room fell silent again. Their stares pressed down on me, heavy and suffocating. I wished, more than anything, that she was lying—that I really had no powers, that I could've died with them. But I was here. Alive. And trapped.
Katara straightened, signaling to the quiet boy. Without a word, he raised his hand. Metal slithered through the air like liquid and wrapped itself around my wrist, hardening into a cold, heavy band.
I gasped as pain shot up my arm. "What—what is this?!"
Katara answered flatly, "Your monitor. It tells us where you are, whether you're alive, and whether you're using your powers. Freedom exists here, but not without control."
Freedom. The word tasted like poison. I looked down at the bracelet, my arm burning beneath it. I wasn't free—I was chained.
The boy finally spoke. "Oh, right. I'm David," he said casually, sitting back.
The loud one leaned back, rubbing the back of his head. "And I'm Mike."
The snake-eyed girl gave me a sly grin. "You can call me ."
Finally, Katara turned to me with her cold smile. "And as always—you can call me Katara."
They all stood, looking at me expectantly. With no choice, I stood as well. My voice shook as I whispered, "I'm Lena."
That was the end of the meeting.
But the beginning of something far darker.