Prologue

A Chapter by Olivia

“I don't mind spending everyday Out on your corner in the pouring rain Look for the girl with the broken smile Ask her if she wants to stay awhile and she will be loved”

Maybe running away from the only people in this lonely world who care about me wasn't the brightest idea. I was 15, and believed I deserved a better life. Who wouldn't run when your whole life was a boring wheel of repetition? Every day at the orphanage we did the same thing: Wake up, Eat, free time, eat, study time, eat, bedtime. Surely, day after day, that would drive a girl mad. Especially a girl who has a never-ending craving for adventure. So I really shouldn't be surprised that here I was, sprinting down the dampened sidewalk, cheerfully ignoring all the rude curse words and insults of the people I roughly shoved aside. This was the second time I'd ran away from the orphanage, although last time I barely made it out the front door. The L.A. February air was chilly, and the rain was pouring down on me with intense pressure. Every drop that touched my skin was like a small needle, roughly piercing my skin. My beat-up black converse where beginning to peel at the sides, exposing my purple wool socks. My long, blonde and wavy hair was beginning to stick to the nape of my neck. I shoved it behind me roughly, annoyed. I've always loved my hair; It was a perfect contrast to my brown eyes. Even though the tips where nearly at my waist, and it's length could be such a bother, I've never had the heart to cut it. I've also always known I was attracted, at least as attracted as you can be in orphan clothes. I have a heart shaped face and my eye lashes are naturally long. I have a full, lush mouth, and nicely curved eyebrows. The main thing I never did have was designer clothing to fully complete my look. Today, my outfit consisted of my black converse shoes, a pair of skinny jeans with holes in them (not the stylish kind-mind you) and a simple over-sized white hoody. There was something about wearing second hand clothing that seriously bugged me. I guess I've always wanted to know what it feels to purchase a clean, soft article of clothing, not be given some itchy material that can barely be identified. Some of the stuff they gave me made me gag, however, what was I to do? I could always go in my Birthday Suit, although I'm sure my orphan friends would be quite terrified, indeed. All of these thoughts where passing through my mind as I neared an alley Way. I turned around, seeing if anyone was watching me, and entered. There was small path at the end of the alley that I made my way to. I knew I had nowhere to go. Nowhere where I could feel happy and live a full life. It wasn't often I felt depressed, I'm usually an insanely fun person. The one thing that tends to bring me down is when I think of my family. I have a very long list of questions about them: who where they, why did they abandon me and did they love me? I looked up, and realized my feet had taken me through the small passage, into a rather large area surrounded by a brick building. What I'd thought to be one path had truly ended up to be a maze of several twisting and winding paths. I turned, noticing I didn't remember from which path I came from. As I turned back around, I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. I whipped around, looking up at a dark figure in the shadows. It began to immerse, and the light peering in from the side of the building began to encircle and cling to its face. Upon further inspection I realized then that it was a teenage boy. I started to walk towards the face, wanting a better glimpse, when I practically slapped myself realizing I should be running. I ripped myself away, feeling somewhat empty, and began running through the path to my right, away from the boy. I mentally scolded myself. What was I thinking? Since when is a mysterious man immersing from the shadows in an alley way ever a good thing? That image of the boy's face taunted me. I continued along the long paths that seemed to go on forever until I entered into a park. The sun was nowhere to be seen, and I knew it was around 10 at night. As I was nearing the middle-practically skipping into the park-, I noticed that the far side was completely covered in large fir trees. I made my bed under the trees on a bush that clung to a rotted fence. I swear I say the boy's lean figure watching me from where I'd entered the Park. He didn't look harmful, he was just observing. I blinked my eyes, and he was gone. As I laid, down I replayed today's events in my head over and over, remembering every detail. Exciting things never happened at the orphanage, and although I knew I should be scared, I wasn't. I love the feeling of the adrenaline rush; when your hearts beating so hard your chest hurts. I replayed the alley scene in my head so many times, I was sure it would be in there forever, and slowly, I dazed of to a peaceful sleep.

The next morning I awoke with a sense of urgency and panic. I was turned faced to the fence and couldn't see the park. I felt if I turned something would be there, staring at me. My heart was beating and I counted to three, however I only made it to 2 before I whipped around, crumpling the leaves underneath me. There was nothing there. The light was streaming in through the tree's branches, and the cool morning air was crisp and moist. I got up, my muscles aching from the rough ground. As I began walking towards the playground, my stomach mumbled. How in the hell am I going to survive without food or water? I thought to myself. Luckily I had on plenty of layers to remain slightly warm, and my wool socks kept my toes from turning blue and falling off. I sat on the swing, and swung my feet repeatedly back and forth, until I was so high the seat began to make a painful thump each time it swung backwards. I jumped off, midair, and soared through the air while pushing my head towards the ground to perform a perfect flip, landing without trouble on my feet. That trick had taken a whole years worth of practice at the orphanage, and once I'd finally perfected it, one of the women banned me from the swings claiming it was 'too dangerous' and I could 'injure myself'. What a square. I heard clapping from behind me, and I turned around, revealing two men standing there. The taller and older one had a proud smile on his face, and he was the one clapping. The other one was laughing at the older one, and I instantly realized he was the one from the alley way. He was even more beautiful then I'd thought. He had long blonde hair that went a little past midway of his neck, and soft light blue eyes. He was smaller than me, although most guys where. The thing that was incredibly odd about him was that-contrary to the older man who was nicely dressed in a black suit and dress pants- the boy wore baggy and ripped clothing. He had on a loose white shirt with dirt stains on it, and low hanging baggy jeans with patches. He had his hands in his pockets and wore a sarcastic smile on his face. "That was quite impressive, Jessie. Perhaps one day you could teach Tavis," said the older man. Tavis, that was the boy's name. Tavis didn't speak, he just kept starring. I wanted to ask who they where and demand to know how they knew my name, but I was frozen in place. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Axel Ronden." Axel Ronden. Oh my freaking' God. Axel wasn't only the protector of practically the whole entire bloody world, he was also the leader of Potentia! Potentia was an organization run by Mr. Ronden -the man in front of me at this very moment, oh my god- and what they did was keep absolutely everything in order. If there was a problem somewhere in the world, Potentia would fix it. Nobody knew how they worked, but there were several rumours floating around. Some included them having super natural powers, and some were that they had a whole secret army ready at their command, awaiting to fight evil. The publics knowledge of them was very limited, I have never even heard of anyone who has talked to Mr. Ronden before. All I know is that they have 5 main Units. Units are what they call their main bases. I've seen the outside of Unit #2, which is located here in Los Angeles. They are extremely large brick mansions, surrounded by fences and security patrols. There are also Potentia industries, which are smaller versions of the units. I've been told there are thousands of industries, although only 5 units which are located in popular cities. Axel took a few steps towards me, and I stumbled backwards. His smile turned into a frown, and he glance sideways. "Miss Sage, I do not have the intentions to frighten you, I would just like to talk." When I didn't say anything, he continued. "If the orphanage hasn't informed you, our world is in quite a remarkable era. No wars, famine, or murders, all thanks to my group, Potentia. Now, moving on, Tavis here spotted you running around at night time by yourself. He followed you, and left you once you where asleep, assuring your safety," I looked at Tavis, still not having uttered a word, and he winked. I looked away quickly, focusing on Axel again. "You see, me and Tavis are only here temporarily, making sure everything is in order. Next week we return to our main Unit in Las Vegas. Now, how you have to do with any of this is that when Tavis came back to the Unit, he told me about seeing a girl wandering, possibly in danger. Later that night we received a call from the local orphanage claiming they needed help finding a runaway girl. They described you in the exact way Tavis did." Oh damn. They're going to take me back. How embarrassed am I going to be when Axel Ronden is the one returning me... "I've always admired a brave young women; one who takes risks. I thought to myself, Potentia needs her. She would do great things." Axel now had a full smile on his face, revealing a full set of pearly white teeth. "Wait, you want me to help with your...um - program?" As I spoke, Tavis's head whirled forward, and Axel grinned a smile that appeared to be triumphant of him receiving me to speak. "Well my dear, you are far too young, although with Tavis's help, I'm sure you'd grow to a be a fearless and powerful leader. Come along then, you need to be cleaned up. Surely we mustn't leave you in those rags!" Axel spun around on his heels, and headed towards the gate I entered last night. Tavis regarded me with soft eyes, nudged his head toward Axel, and headed off. I was completely stupefied. Did that just happen? There is no way this could be real. I'd always imagined my foster family to be crude and punishing, not powerful and caring. Out of everyone in the world, the Potentia where adopting me. It was hard to believe. There had been stories of how Axels' kids and cousins helped run several units and industries, and I'm guessing Tavis was one of those relatives. I knew there was something odd about this, I had a feeling deep in the pit of my stomach practically screaming at me not to follow these men, although I was so content of the idea of having such a amazing upcoming, I couldn't resist. I followed Tavis, sprinting to catch up, and jumped into the sleek black Mercedes. Tavis smiled at me, and Axel sped off, towards my new home.