It has been two years since Vanessa María Phoenix had met face to face with impending danger on her own.

During her sophomore year in Idlewild, she would be assigned missions to take down monsters twice her size.

Now, Nessa can handle monsters on her own: bloodthirsty ogres, rabid hellhounds, and occasionally deadly sirens.

But because she is the youngest in the family, her parents or her older brother would often accompany Nessa with class assignments.

Though the girl acknowledges her family's undivided love for her, Nessa wanted to be like Johnny — strong, independent, and able to fight his own battles.

But even so, she has trouble learning how to trust others. Especially the ones outside of her comfort zone.

When I was her age, I remembered how hard it was to trust people outside of my poor black community.

On the one hand, I had many colleagues who supported my decision as a writer. But on the other hand, I was not ready to leave my neighborhood behind.

To me, it felt as though a heavy quilt had slipped through my fingertips.

For many years, I have been touched by the sun, savored melted ice cream, met friendly faces, played basketball, and joined family picnics.

But now as I type these memories on paper, I realized that the neighborhood I grew up in did not teach me anything about fighting racism or homophobic slurs.

If anything my community had taught me to endure the pain of being a homosexual black man.

Regardless, in spite of society's tyrannical rules, I wanted Nessa and her friends to keep moving forward.

They yearn nothing but to complete their mission, reunite with their families, and forget Lovecraft Creek's existence.

However, as Nessa saunters across black rubble, asking ignorant troopers directions, she realizes that her desire to escape is futile without Apollo's help.

Exploring the dark gray corridors, Nessa felt the urge to look at the soles of her black sneakers.

Her shoes scraped the outer layer of thick grime and black soot.

Four firefighters lurk around the corridors for any indications of hazardous fires. Odors of bitter smoke and charred flesh begin to cling onto their clothes like sweat.

Wiping her small nose with her left hand, Nessa Phoenix heads down the burnt gray corridor.

Californian firefighters moved around the facility, either carrying bright red canisters of white foam or helping distraught victims get by.

Some tried to stop Nessa from continuing her journey, but the young Latina lies and tells them that she's trying to find the bathroom.

"Alright, dearie." the old firefighter sighed.

Her black eyes were the size of raisins and her breath smelled like cranberry juice. Taking a step towards the girl, the older woman advises her that the bathroom is down the hall.

"Thank you," Nessa says in a fake bubbly voice.

As soon as she leaves, Vanessa ignored the firefighter's advice and kept going. She swore her older brother and companion that she'll talk to Apollo.

But the firefighters and soldiers were making it difficult to complete her task. Chewing her index fingernail, the teenage Latina had decided to find a different way.

Nessa saunters down the hallway, searching for her vulnerable prey. Just then, a soldier stops the girl from proceeding any further.

"I am sorry," he says calmly. "But you can't be here, young lady. There is a lot of danger in these parts."

Nessa feigns an innocent frown.

"I am so sorry," she mumbled. "I was trying to find the bathroom, but I got lost."

The soldier's hardened demeanor softens.

"How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Ah," the fifty-year-old trooper sighs. "Do you want me to help you find the little girl's bathroom?"

Is this guy fucking serious? Nessa thought.

A huge part of her wanted to throttle the idiot's neck, but the other forced her to be patient.

Gritting her teeth, Nessa waddles towards the soldier, takes his hand, and begs him to take him to the washroom.

Smiling, the soldier okayed her request.

He takes Nessa down the hallway, where he spots two vacant bathroom doors at the end of the slightly burnt passageway.

"Here you go, kiddo." beamed the old trooper.

Nessa studies the vacant girl's bathroom and smiles.

"Thank you, sir," she says sweetly.

"No problem." said the old soldier. "Now, you can do your business inside."

Nessa's naive smile vanished. "Tempting, but no thanks."

The savage girl surprised the soldier by kicking him hard in the stomach. A brute force sends the man flying into the girl's lavatory and onto the hardened floor.

"What the fuck?" the old trooper stuttered.

He watches Nessa lock the door and move towards him.

"Hey, old man." she welcomed coldly. "Where can I find Apollo's cell?"

Though stunned by her attack, the soldier gathered his strength to get up and confront the mysterious girl.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

Nessa scoffs, "None of your business, geezer."

"Why do you want to see Apollo?" the soldier asks. "You know he is a murderer, right?"

"Sorry," Nessa coldly replies. "But I don't care for people I don't know."

"Is that right?" The aged combatant takes out a black baton from his pocket. "Well, I ain't telling you shit."

Though annoyed by his remarks, Nessa tries to reason with him when he struck her across the face, sending her flying to the floor.

Blood formed in her mouth. Her nose swelled like an infuriating pimple. 

Approaching the unconscious girl, the soldier was about to hit her again, when Nessa sprung back to life.

She curled her hand into a fist, then punched him hard in the groin.

"Oof!" the soldier moaned.

He stumbled back onto the wall, covering his sore privates.

Painful tears swelled up in his eyes. "Oh, you little bitch!"

Fists clashed while angry feet shuffled across the tiles.

The stench of sweat hovered in the air.

Blood trickled down Nessa's violent face as she threw the soldier on the ground and slugged his face until he can barely move.

Raising her bloodied fist in the air, Nessa grabs the vicious soldier by his collar.

"For the last time," Nessa growled. "Where is Apollo's cell?"  

The bruised soldier meekly raised his hands.

"Please don't kill me," he trembled. "I have a family."

Nessa yanks the fallen baton off the floor and presses it against his neck.

"Tell me where Apollo is," she began.

Astonished, the soldier angrily spits in her face. "Go fuck yourself, bitch."

The teenage girl wipes the saliva and blood from her cheek.

She casts the baton across the floor, and—much to the middle-aged combatant's horror—retrieves a semiautomatic pistol from his vest and shoves the gun underneath his fat chin.

A ruthless smile appeared on her lips as Nessa calmly cocks the loaded gun in her hand.

"You can't do this." the soldier scowls. "I am an American patriot—"

"—Until you brutally assaulted a teenage girl who was looking for the bathroom." Nessa finishes without taking a breath.

The soldier's eyes grew wide. "I never raped you!"

"And who are they going to believe?" Nessa questioned. "A two-faced Jarhead or a little girl? And besides, raping underage kids is a very serious crime in California."

The bright shade of red drained from his face as the old trooper eventually gives up. "Okay! I'll tell you where Apollo is!"

Nessa's smile grew a little wider. "Good, now let's start by telling me everything from A to Z."

*    *     *
After Apollo's solitary confinement, a young nurse unshackled the mutant's restraints and lead him to his white prison.

The cold wind greeted him with open arms.

Bleach white bed comforts Apollo's bottom as he tries to forget the horrific events that had occurred three hours ago. 

Blackened bodies. Suffocating fire. Jesus, when will this nightmare end?

He blames the incident on those stupid blue pills the doctors had given him to help him sleep. 

Caressing his dark blonde hair, Apollo glumly looks up at the ceiling. He wishes he could apologize to the soldiers' friends and families.

But Apollo doubts that the armed security would accept his apology. Not even his godfather Martin wants to be in the same room with him.

All of a sudden, he hears a door creaking open.

At first his entire body tenses. Apollo expects the nurse or doctor would inject his body with drugs.

But when he notices a half-Hispanic girl entering his bedroom, Apollo becomes confused.

Who is she? he wondered. And how did she know where I am?

Her white baby tees, frayed jeans, and worn black combat boots are soiled with blood and dirt.

The girl's brown hair is shaped into a curly ponytail. Hazel-colored eyes glisten with fascination and hope; busted lips stretched into a warm smile.

"Hi." she greets warmly.

Apollo questionably looks up at her.

"What are you doing here?" the teenage boy hissed. "And who did that to your face?"

Nessa only gave him a mere smirk.

"What? Can't a friend say hello?" the girl inquires in a casual tone.

Leaning his back against his metal bedpost, Apollo did a callous scowl. "You're not my friend."

Nessa wasn't fazed by his words. Instead, she offers him an enormous Hershey's chocolate bar.

"Here," she beams. "You must be hungry." 

Apollo looked at the candy bar as if it was a poisoned apple. He slides his bare feet on the small mattress and turns away from Nessa's sweet present.

"I don't want it." dismissed the boy.

The girl sighs but tucks the chocolate in her pocket. In the meantime, Apollo continues throwing her uncomfortable looks.

Dark purple rings formed around Apollo's sullen eyes. Red welts stretched across his ghastly white skin.

Black singe burnt sections of white pajamas, revealing contusions, scars, and unhealed bruises on Apollo's emaciated stomach.

"Oh, Jesus Christ." Nessa moaned. Just the sight of those awful abrasions made Nessa want to hurl.

Embarrassed, Apollo pulls down his shirt.

"I am sorry if I scared you back there," he says quietly. "I thought you and your friends were working with Jason."

Nessa scrunched her face. "Are you kidding me? I don't like him very much."

"Me neither."

"Why?"

"Because he's a hateful piece of shit." Apollo declares in a spiteful tone.

"Jason tortures sea monsters, bullies Martin, and one time, he forced the scientists to do these. . . horrible experiments on me just to see me burn something."

As Apollo continues to vent, his eyes begin to glow bright red until he sees Nessa's startled face. 

Flustered, the teenaged mutant starts to decompress. Brilliant orange eyes alter into the color of tranquil blue.

"Oh, man." Apollo wants to comfort a shaken Nessa, but the last thing he needed is to see her burned alive.

"I am really sorry, uh—"

"Nessa."

Apollo contorts his head. "Nessa?"

"Yeah," she pushes her loosened curls away from her eyes. "It's short for Vanessa."

"Oh."

"Anyway, it's not your fault, Apollo. It's this place that's driving you insane."

The fire mutant stares down at his bruised kneecaps.

"Come on, Apollo." Nessa peers the boy's grim expression. "Don't you want to leave this place?"

Apollo merely shrugs his shoulders.

"Shrugging is not an answer," she points out.

Fed up, Apollo glares up at Nessa. "What do you care? It's not like you give a damn about me."

Nessa chews the insides of her swollen cheeks. "Listen, Apollo—"

"Get out of my room," he demanded. "You're not supposed to be here, anyway—"

"Go fuck yourself." Nessa's repulsive words slapped Apollo into submission as she storms up to him.

"You're right. I don't want to help you. Hell, I don't even want to be in the same room as you."

The fire mutant's deep blue eyes bulge like golf balls. "Then, why did you want to talk to me in the first place?"

Vanessa chews her bottom lip and glances at the ceiling. Her body shook violently like a man having a seizure.

And as Apollo takes a closer look at the girl, he can see her shaken brown eyes getting wet.

"The reason I came here is that I am afraid of Jason and his psycho goons," she reluctantly admits.

A mute Apollo gradually scoots towards the edge of the bed.

"I saw them treat you like a dog." Nessa went on. "I hate the way they threw you on the ground and call you a monster."

After subtly wiping the tears away from her face, Nessa crosses her arms and stood in front of Apollo.

"Doesn't it make you angry?" she growls. "If Harper were here, he wouldn't sit back and watch you get tortured!"

Apollo's pale face turned bright red. "Don't you dare bring up Harper's name."

"Why not?" Nessa challenged.

He wipes the sweat from his brow. "Because it's complicated."

Nessa can't believe she is hearing this. "How is your friendship with Harper complicated?"

The teenage boy expressed an angry sigh.

Once again, he looks at the girl; however, his eyes were not filled with contempt—only betrayal and loneliness.

"Harper and I were very close like brothers," Apollo starts to say.

"We would watch stupid cartoons on TV, listen to Toad the Wet Sprocket CDs, and snuck boxes of Twinkies when Martin wasn't looking."

Nessa's provoked expression dissipated.

"Martin really cares about you, huh?" she sits on the bed right beside Apollo.

He laughs a little. "He's the only person who keeps me sane in this fucking hellhole."

"Wow." Nessa mused.

"Yeah, please don't tell Martin I said those things," begged Apollo. "I don't want him to get all emotional and stuff."

The teenage girl cracks up.

"Don't worry," she says. "My lips are sealed."

Apollo grins and continues to speak about his memories of Harper. He recollected Harper's favorite jokes, movies, and the clothes he often wore.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be like Billy Idol," Apollo recalled. "So, Harper introduced me to punk bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, The Clash, and the Sex Pistols."

"He also bought me a guitar for my birthday. Because of Harper, I know a couple of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Iggy Pop songs."

"But ever since Harper went missing, Martin did not want me to play the songs. I guess the memories were too painful for him."

Nessa picks her bloodstained T-shirt with her fingers. "How did Harper disappear?"

Apollo sighs some more. "Well, it was right after Halloween. We were at the beach, skipping rocks when Jason caught us and took us back to the lab."

Nessa settles herself on the bed, enabling the information to sink inside her brain.

"Okay, so you were caught," she said. "Then what?"

"Harper and I were going to watch TV when he told me he lost something very important on the beach."

Nessa's eyes broadened. "What did he lose?"

"Martin's locket," answered Apollo. "I told him to leave it, but Harper was afraid that Martin would kill him."