Day Five - Happy New Year!

Saturday morning. Ahh... No classes... Maybe the alarm won't -------

The alarm went off at the same time as it normally does and Isa grumbled, kicking her blankets off.

"Morning chatty Cathy." Warpaint was up already, working on the painting that Isa had felt the most power permeating from.

"Chatty who?" Isa groaned, ignoring the morning announcements. No one ever seemed to listen to them and no one seemed to care.

She chuckled, "Chatty Cathy. It's a doll from like the 70s.. or 80s.. I dunno. Anyway it talked a lot. You were talking a lot last night. Who's Danny? And who's Sarah? You've got a seriously active imagination." Her eyes remained focused on the painting as the brush stroked the canvas.

Isa groaned again and rubbed her eyes with both of her palms. "I don't know... I guess I do. How long have you been awake?" She sat up, yawning then turning to put her feet into her plain black slippers.

"For like an hour." She put the paints away and left the canvas open to dry, having made good progress. "C'mon, breakfast time or they'll come get us."

Isa chuckled, "What are they gonna do if we decide not to go?"

"Put you on dish duty. Trust me. You don't want dish duty." Warpaint nodded toward her then they grabbed their boots and sweaters. The temperature was chilly but mild enough where the sweaters were all they needed.

Breakfast was all a-buzz about the New Years Eve party. After breakfast there would be physical training and group activities, then lunch, then they'd be allowed to go back to their cabins and get ready for the party.

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Clothing at the camp wasn't very flashy. Each kid was allowed four pairs of pants, two skirts for girls, six tops, three pairs of shoes, and of course the white and grey pajamas. They were allowed to pick their clothing from a central spot they called the 'store' though nothing was purchased. No brand names, no band names, no logos. Thankfully there was color. For tonight they were allowed to pick from formal wear designed and created on site by some of the mutants with abilities to create such things.

Isa picked an adorable yellow dress and Warpaint chose a white dress with a floral design which surprised Isa. "Never seen you dress so... girly." She smirked.

"Hey, I can do girly! I just.. like to be comfortable most of the time.." The two of them were in the ladies room now fixing their makeup and hair. They had no mirrors in their cabin. Which was torturous for Isa. "You never answered me about who you were going with."

"Jackson asked me. You know, Soulsuckerrrr." She emphasized his name which sounded ridiculous but amused her at least.

"Oh yeah? He back from the field yet?" Warpaint pressed her darkened lips together and checked her eyeliner.

"I dunno, he said he'd be back. I guess we're meeting there. What about you? You can't be getting dressed up for nothing." Isa asked, looking at her friend who was just an inch or so shorter than her.

"I'm going with Blindsight." She smiled at Isa and raised her eyebrows. Blindsight was a senior and one of the hottest guys on campus. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Ooooooooh you go girl." The two girls broke into giggles and as Isa went back to fixing her makeup her mind went fuzzy again... memories... she remembered.. putting on makeup to cover a sharpie beard that.. someone.. and a bar... and Ki.. and.. fuzzy again.

"Incite... You okay?" Warpaint was looking at her. "...blanked out there for a second.."

Isa looked at her face in the mirror. "Yeah.. yeah.. I'm okay..."

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The girls headed for the party.. Blindsight met them along the way and walked them into the rec center where the decorations and lights were festive and bright with a large disco ball in the center, music over the sound system, food along the far right wall with sparkling champagne for the midnight toast. Once inside, Warpaint and Blindsight headed for the dance floor and Isa headed over to the food to wait for Jackson...

One song ended and the girls in the center squealed as the beginning base beats of Ariana Grande's Into You started over the speakers. Isa leaned her back against the wall and brought her hand up to her temple as yet another memory tried to force its way through the haze of the false memories that this place was trying to embed into her brain.

The night went on. Isa eventually stopped waiting for Jackson and joined the dance floor.. falling into step naturally.. until the flashbacks were so strong that she had to sit down with a throbbing headache. It was so painful that by the time the countdown began she was slipping out of the party and back to her cabin in tears from the pain...

FIVE... Isa pushed the door open to the cabin and squeezed her eyes shut..

FOUR... She fell to her knees, both hands coming up to her head...

THREE... Images.. flashing before her eyes...

TWO... She curled forward, feeling as if her head were going to explode..

ONE... Darkness... and the fading sound of footsteps coming toward her..

Happy New Year...

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