It was the first time Maya was running on these rocky mountains. She was never allowed to leave the base where she lived with her mother and father. Well, to be honest, it was mostly Maya and her mother. Her father was one of the miners working at one of the extraction sites. That meant he would be gone for long periods. Maya never minded though. She liked it with her mother. She likes living on this planet. No one teased her and called her the dumb girl here. She always wanted to scream and shut them all up. But here it was always so quiet.
But tonight the silence was the problem. When she woke up she found her mother face down on the floor in a pool of blood. The next thing she saw was the two men who worked with her father. They saw her too and that was when she started running.
She had never run before. She was barefoot and her feet were all bloody now. The two men were big and catching up. She needed to find a place to hide among the rocks. She knew she couldn’t run anymore. She had to stop. She started looking for a burrow among the rocks. She had heard her father once describing how the mountains were hollow from inside. All the empty mines had cave-like veins running deep inside the rocky mountains. If only she could find the opening.
The base was built where they had found the first mine. Once the oldest mine was empty, they had the opening closed and moved to a new extraction site.
Maya was desperate but it seemed like she was turning around rocks with no luck. At least her random jumping around was making it difficult for her pursuers to follow her. She still had some time. Maybe she could just hide in the shadows of some big rocks until the two men left.
Maya was desperate but now she was running out of luck as well. As soon as the third moon rose, the entire mountain shone up. She had read which chemicals in these rocks caused to shine under the third moon. But right now Maya didn’t care. She was out of time. The men had found her and she found herself surrounded by them. There was nowhere to run anymore. Not that she could run anymore.
“No No No No No Stay Away Stay Away Stay Away”
“No No No No No Stay Away Stay Away Stay Away”
“No No No No No Stay Away Stay Away Stay Away”
She kept repeating this like a mantra in her mind. She kept moving her lips but no sound came out. She kept wishing for her voice to come back. Just for a while. She just wanted to scream for real. Then maybe, just maybe someone might come to her rescue.
Maybe her wish was about to be granted for she saw a white rover moving from the corner of her eyes. As she turned to get a better look, the two men too moved. But they moved towards her.
In no time they captured her. It was easy for them to lift her petite body between the two of them. They had noticed the rover too. And whatever their intentions were with her, they certainly wanted no audience for it.
Maya was soon taken behind a large rock. The white rover out of sight. This was it for Maya. She could not run. She could not hide. No one was coming to rescue her. This was it.
As Maya closed her eyes, she kept picturing her mother’s body lying still amidst all that blood. Was there really so much blood or was she imagining it? Would her bloodstain the rocks on this mountain which were shining so bright right now.
Her captors seemed relaxed now that she was under their control. They didn’t seem in any hurry to kill her. When they tore off her clothes, she understood why.
“No No No No No Stay Away Stay Away Stay Away”
“No No No No No Stay Away Stay Away Stay Away”
“No No No No No Stay Away Stay Away Stay Away”
She was again screaming in her mind. She was always terrified this would happen to her. Her mother was always terrified this would happen to her. Her mother would always shove her into the cold storage room whenever her father brought any of his friends back home. Her mother always kept her hidden from any danger.
But now her mother was not here to protect her. Now her mother would never be able to protect her.
Maya was screaming in her mind as those two were coming closer.
“Stop Just Stop”
She just wanted them to stop. She just wants to scream. Scream so loudly that they would stop.
And then as if by a miracle it happened. She actually screamed.
“STOP”
She felt the sound vibrating on the rocks all around her. Those two felt it too. Or maybe they felt something more than that. Maya certainly did. Along with the vibrations she could still feel beneath her she could see the vile plans those two men had for her. It was like she was inside their minds and was seeing the world through their eyes. It wasn’t a pretty picture. She knew everything they had done and she knew everything they planned to do.
When Maya couldn’t take it anymore, she screamed again. This time no sound came out but those two still reacted as they could hear her. It was like she had hypnotized her or was able to control their minds somehow. They could understand what she was saying in her mind and they were following her commands. Without thinking much Maya commanded them both to run away from her. She just wanted to be safe.
Those two left without a word and she felt sudden tiredness taking over her. She was cold. She was bleeding. She was too weak to keep her eyes open. The white rover was coming directly towards her. That was the last thing she saw before closing her eyes.
When Maya finally opened her eyes she felt no pain. She felt something soft covering her. It was warm and cosy. She didn’t want to move her covers. She was finally comfortable.
She must have made some movements under the covers because suddenly she was surrounded by bright lights. The lights from the white rover. It did come to save her. As she sat us she realized that she was still on those rocky mountains just covered by a soft blanket. Someone from the rover must have covered her. That must mean they were not planning to hurt her. Right?
She stood up and walked slowly towards the rover. Her feet were hurting pretty badly now. There was a huge logo on the side of the rover. It looked like the letter “V”. Maya didn’t know what it meant but did it really matter? After the incidents of the last few hours, a logo was the least of her concerns.
The door of the rover was open. Whoever was inside must have seen her coming. The lights of the rover suddenly shut off and a woman came out of it. She stood directly in front of Maya and kept staring at her.
The woman was easily a foot taller than Maya. The way she was towering over her, it should have scared Maya. And before the night she just had, Maya would have been intimidated by her.
“Do you know what you did today?”
Maya heard the voice but the woman was not speaking. Was she dreaming? It can’t be real. Can it be?
“It is real. I am a telepath. Do you know what that is?”
Telepath. She had read about those in her father’s old comic books. She didn’t know much about them. She certainly didn’t know what telepaths could do. Was she a telepath too?
“No. You don’t seem to be a telepath. Although you do seem to have some kind of mind-controlling powers.”
Powers. Maya wondered at the possibility. That didn’t sound too bad.
“Powers are neither good not bad. It depends on what you do with them. What did you do with them today?”
I just saved myself. I didn’t even know I had any powers.
“That doesn’t matter. You used your powers to hurt two men. Do you know whats the punishment for hurting two men? And those two looked like miners. Those are hard to come by. Everyone wants to keep the miners happy. They would hunt you down.”
Hunt me down. For defending myself. Why is this happening to me?
“Come with me. I am a recruiter for Villain Co. You will get the best training there. Pay is great. Comes with great health plans too.”
Villain Co. That’s what the “V” stood for. Maya knew about the Villain Co. Great pay along with health plan as opposed to who knows what kind of punishment for defending herself. It was no brainier. Maya knew exactly what she was going to do.