Almost Easy

The events leading up to Marina's arrest seemed to fall into perfect sequence. It all started halfway through freshman year of high school when she noticed she wasn't herself anymore. This change happened inside of her so quickly it was like she was a new person over night. She became more distant, quiet, observant, and shy. Marina hardly spoke to anyone and almost refused to make new friends, let alone keep the ones she already had.

In everyone elses' eyes, her anti-social behaviors were a shame. But that wasn't the case at all; she considered them a blessing. All the boys thought she was beautiful and flawless, soaking up the delicate grace of her presence. Most girls would be happy to have the attention of so many good-looking people, yet no matter how hard Marina tried, she couldn't enjoy it. She wanted to be alone.

She rejected society before it could reject her. Marina wasn't sure what was wrong inside of her, but she knew it wasn't good. The feelings consuming her wanted to explode, but she just couldn't let it. Energy bubbled inside of her until something life changing tore her core being to shreds.

It was the summer going into sophomore year. The poor, beautiful girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time and her whole world changed. In the heat of the moment she was being destroyed, her whole being broke out from its' shell again.

The events of that night are still very unclear to her. All she remembers is waking up in a field alone.

From that moment forward, she was confident with herself. While still being quiet and observant, she dominated the minds' of every single person she encountered. What she didn't realize at first seemed to shape all of her relationships. The well-hidden thing living inside of her controlled every person she wanted to be friends with.

That thing was her mind.

Every word she spoke seemed to mold the people around her. They'd do what she wanted, when she wanted, no matter what it was she demanded. People would fall around her, begging to be one step closer to her heart. This attention was new, different, wrong.

When she finally realized the damage she was doing, she wanted to change it. She wanted her control to be for the better, not something that destroys. She wanted to control it, no matter what the cost.

When Jimmy finally opened his eyes and saw what his sister was doing, he decided to become distant. It was no coincidence that he just stopped seeing her around or bumping into her in the hallways. He made sure that every route he took in between classes would be Marina-free and safe from the manipulations, from the lies. There was no way he was subjecting himself to what his parents tried so hard to hide.

By the end of sophomore year, Marina had her techniques nearly mastered. She consciously knew how to make a person bend at her will just by making eye contact, something that she learned to use only when necessary. There were no restrictions on her control unless she put them in place. She made herself unstoppable.

That attracted the attention of all the wrong people, though, and Marina found herself trapped. They took her, beat her, and threatened her life is she didn't do what they wanted. The beautiful teen found herself doing things for people who only wanted to hurt her. But that was still only the beginning.

May 19, 2006

“Tell me where she is,” The blond woman spoke, her voice cold.

“Go into the back, down the hallway, turn left, and it's the third door on the right. It's a room of doors, so you'll have to take the second one to the right,” The cashier told her, his face in a dream state.

“Thanks, Frank,” She smiles widely at him, leading the two bulky men down where he said to go.

That was just too easy, his mind didn't even try to fight hers. It was people like that who made her life so much easier. Without them, she'd never get to see another day rising. After seven years of service to these people, you'd figure they'd let her go already.

Once they reached the room of doors, Jeff, one of the men who was protecting her, kicked the door in. The room before them gave away everything they needed-Evidence that Marina's bust was successful. Evidence that she wouldn't be in trouble. Evidence that her ability wasn't fading.

“Put your hands up, Faelie,” Marina commanded, gun placed in front of her.

The dark haired woman's eyes glossed over like every other person forcefully put under Marina's control. She stood stark still with her hands straight up in the air, a dead weight in Jeff's' arms as he knocked her out. Kevin called the boss over the radio as she scouted out the room.

Everything was accounted for. The stolen weapons, drugs, money, and gems sat in their original bags from the heist. People made it just a little too easy for Marina to do her job sometimes. Her faith in criminals slowly went down bit by bit until she finally remembered-She was technically a criminal, too.