Level Two Norman 1

Mira's alabaster hair whipped around as she recoiled in shock. She had spent the last three hours watching videos and reading articles, neglecting to shower or change her sports clothes, now filthy with grime and green stains after two days of horrific adventures. She hadn't even informed her family that she was still alive, clinging to the faint hope they might check on her themselves. That tiny hope had long been extinguished by the cold blizzard that had become her heart. 

And at this moment, none of that mattered as she stared at the small screen in her hand, transfixed by the sight of a young man jumping from the fifth story of a building. His face was hidden by a black hoodie, but her instincts screamed danger. She felt an overwhelming urge to put down her phone and flee, much like when she had fallen into the lion pen at the zoo as a child. 

The memory of the lion staring at her, as if she were insignificant, resurfaced from a long forgotten crevasse in her psyche. Her body reacted now as it did then, paralyzed by the same fear as if in the presence of a superior being, capable of snuffing out her life like a blizzard could terminate a candle's tiny flame. 

She clicked her tongue however, "Still not as powerful as that creature." 

She'd witnessed two mighty beast fight mere hours before, and she had fallen in love with their display. Seeing the winner tear its opponent to pieces and feast on its entrails, awakened a deep desire in her heart. She seemed to crave something that she'd been deprived of her whole life, and the young man on the screen had somehow found a way to have what she desired. 

Despite replaying the video countless times, watching him fall her mind expected him to splatter upon impact. But again, as he landed, she gasped, unable to suppress her reaction. 

The young man landed in a gentle squat, causing the ground to crack in a web-like pattern beneath him. She had heard rumors of the military creating superhumans by altering genetic makeup, but she dismissed them as urban legends. Could the rumors be true? Yet, his brazen behavior made her doubt it was a government action. She believed they wouldn't be so obvious. 

Just as she was about to rewatch the video for the hundredth time, she heard approaching footsteps. She identified them as two distinct sets with different cadences. Her heart instantly turned chaotic, and if it wasn't for the emotional turmoil that had arisen in her heart, she might have realized how odd it was for her to discern this, given her lifelong poor hearing. 

As the footsteps grew louder, her distress intensified. Her beautiful face was masked by anxiety, her heartbeat racing as if she were about to face that monster in direct combat and all she had to fight with was her bare naked body. For a moment, she felt returning to that cold underbrush was not a bad idea. 

Knock! 

Knock! 

Two violent knocks rattled the door, her body trembling with each one. She didn't respond, her throat constricting her desire to speak out. 

A small giggle slipped through the door. "Do you think she's dead?" 

"You asked the same thing when she had the flu. Shut up!" another voice, similar to the first, responded. Despite the offended tone, Mira recognized that cheery voice. It lacked any sympathy she hoped for. 

"Whatever!" replied the first voice. "We won't find out standing here!" 

Bang! 

The door burst open, and two tall young women with jet-black hair sauntered in, shocked to find Mira gazing indifferently at her phone. Their mouths dropped open, anger clouding their expressions as they realized Mira was ignoring them. 

The one who had questioned Mira's demise spoke first. "You're really weird, sister!" Her companion frowned and grabbed her hand, but she shoved her back violently. "No! I'm done holding back. Today I'll give her a piece of my mind. She just stood there without saying anything, wanting to make fools of ourselves! Look at her face, it's just like when Mother died. The same bored expression, annoyed at having to attend her own mother's funeral." 

"Stepmother." Mira's cold lips parted briefly, making the distinction. Her stepsister's shock was evident, her mouth and eyes wide. 

She turned to her sister as if she might cry at any moment, then stormed out. The remaining young woman pursed her lips, her eyebrows knitting in a frown. She looked at Mira as if she wanted to say something but changed her mind seeing her engrossed watching the video playing on the phone. "Father sent us to check on you." 

"Three hours after I arrived? That must be a record." Mira's voice responded emotionless. 

Her stepsister turned to leave but paused before closing the door. She sighed, "Honestly, you're probably right. It's a record when it comes to you." 

The door shut with a gentle thud, and Mira waited until the footsteps faded before slamming her head into her pillow. 

Magh! 

A long but muffled scream echoed, quickly absorbed by the cold and thick walls of her room. They were built to maintain silence above everything else. 

Her stepmother had died of lung cancer at forty-five. Her father, devastated, had stopped speaking to Mira ever since. She knew he didn't love her, but his silence initially felt like a part of her heart was torn out. Eventually, that void, like any void ever, commanded to be filled by something, and in the absence of love, anger and apathy took root. 

She lifted her head from the pillow and replayed the video once more. Watching it for the hundredth time, she finally put the phone down and headed to the shower. 

Soaking in the tub, she stared listlessly at the ceiling, contemplating her life's potential endings. Skewered, maimed, disemboweled or with plants growing out of her stomach, it didn't seem to matter. She realized that, regardless of how it unfolded, no one would care about her death. 

Her eyes turned cold, and she picked up her phone, dialing her butler's number. A longtime friend of her biological mother, he was the only person she remotely trusted. 

"Albert, prepare the car. Yes. Plan the shortest trip to Alexander High. When?" She glanced at the blue numbers ticking away on her hand and smiled. The images of those two beasts fighting were seared into her mind. And so was the power that the youth could access. She would seize that type of power and then... "Right now!" 

She leaped out of the tub, drying her body hastily, ignoring the various bruises and cuts. The forest loomed in her memory, vivid and unforgettable, as if she had fallen in love for the first time. She could remember her neck becoming sore as she picture craning her neck to gaze at the canopy high up in the sky. She laughed hysterically, donning another tracksuit, this time ignoring the usual white she wore, and instead for the first time choosing a black one, with a hoodie to cover her wet hair. Three days ago she would have detested something so boring, but for some reason, she was enamored with the jet black color that seemed to devour all the light that dared approach. 

She liked what she saw in the mirror, and grinned and headed for the mansion garage, ignoring her siblings and almost running to the black sedan waiting at the castle entrance. 

She nodded to the graying man, casting a cold glance back at the massive structure she had learned to love to hate. "Let's go, Albert."