The trip downstairs to the church’s basement was so dreary and moist. Each step that Chantel took following Mercedes made her nervous! The scary feeling like she was going to trip on the stairs!  She put her hand on the stair railing to keep herself from falling down to the ground. It felt so slummy as she felt water running over her hand while holding the metal railing.

“Ew, this is so gross.” Chantel thought to herself as she stepped down the last step. Wiping her hand on the back of her jeans and she thought to herself, “I’m seriously going to get some hand sanitizer after this.”

Mercedes led her to the first white door in the hallway, then knocked on it. “Mr. Richardson. Ms. Jia Delisle would like to see you.” Mercedes called as the door opened. There revealed a lean-built man with dirty blonde hair in a slick hairstyle appeared.

“Um…” Chantel did not know what to say to the man that she recognized from the video that night of the Rise of Light meeting.

“Ms. Delisle! Oh, come in! Come in!” Mikel Richardson welcomed Chantel in the room with a big smile. He turned over to Mercedes and said, “That will be all Ms. Castillo. Please do, go back upstairs and help others.”

Mercedes excused herself, leaving Chantel with Mikel alone together. The room was a little brighter than the hallway in the basement. She went to sit herself in the chair at a small table where Mikel did the same. From top to bottom, Mikel looked handsome and well-dressed in that nice blue suit,  while sitting in a relaxed posture. There were so many questions she wanted to ask that Darren could not answer for Chantel. “I apologize for the appearance of this room. This is the only available place so  we can meet in private.” Mikel said, then he leaned forward to her. Chantel's hands shook in her lap, then she jumped when Mikel spoke, “You look scared, lost one.”

“Well, when you find out, you have some weird powers and device that was used to suppress it without your knowledge. Yeah, I am scared.” Chantel answered back. Her fingers played with the strands of her raven hair nervously.

“So, Jia…” Mikel began their conversation.

“Chantel. Just call me Chantel, please.” Chantel corrected him before he continued.

“Chantel, I see you are a keyboardist of a band. You must be talented, dear girl.” Mikel praised her then said, “So what’s your group about, anyway? Again?”

Chantel rubs her head to numb her small headache which once again, her sickness was going to start up again. A word couldn't leave her mouth to answer his question. Not the best time for this to happen!

“We help people like you find and guide you to your truth to set you free. Tell me, Chantel: Do you think you know everything about yourself?” Mikel questioned.

Chantel bit her lip to think of an answer and rambled, “Well, I’m an only child and my parents divorced when I was eleven. Um… I have three best friends, you already know Darren, but I have an amazing friend, Jesse. Oh, I just found out and I’m a bio-whatever that is.”

“Have you ever felt that you were just out of place?” Mikel asked.

“Well, when I was a kid kinda, but like I said; I have three friends…” Chantel got bored with this conversation until Mikel pulled out a folder.

The folder was large and brown full of almost worn out newspapers from the past. Watching him opening the folder, Chantel just sat there in silence while Mikel continues to talk to her.

“One of my people at the meeting overheard you talking with Ms. Hernandez and Mr. Cross. Something about summer camp. Let’s see... Five missing children being found near the ruins of Bay Side Square… Interesting.” Mikel commented, flipping through folder than he finally pulled out one newspaper.

“The Great Fire of Bay State Square. My three friends, Leticia, Leticia’s friend, Dakota did something foolish. We wanted to find a town that people claimed didn’t exist. I guess the town known as Roseland to you, but we had to walk through Bay Side Square and… I don’t remember other than we were told that they found us at a nearby alley. Ow…” Chantel puts her head down at the table. This headache was getting worse by the minute.  She felt Mikel hold her hand to check that she was alright.

“Are you okay? Would like some water?” Mikel asked.

Chantel waved her free hand to reject the water, then tried to let the migraine pass. Darren and her never talked about what happened at summer camp for eight years.  What happened that night?  How this event connected to all this, including learning about her powers?

This is the first time that someone brought up about that confusing, horrid night. Chantel then lifted her head up to look at Mikel, she wiped her hair from the front of her face.

“I heard from some sources about the incident that happened to you. What if I told you that the police lied all of you on what really happened? You said your friends were sitting in an alley that night but that wasn’t true.” Mikel explained as the girl’s interest piqued up.

Chantel’s eyes went wide and mouthed, “What? What do you mean?!”

“Why don’t you ask your friend, Darren? I think all three of you could benefit from a talk with him about that night. But I know the police abused that you and Ms. Hernandez that night, Ms. Delisle. Abused by Outsiders, who wanted you to shut up and cover up the whole incident. It was more than just an arson that happened, but I will leave that up to you to find out the actual truth of the events of that night.” Mikel took two small business cards out of his pocket of his suit pants and handed it over to Chantel.

Chantel reads the card, and it showed a name, “Dr. Aaron Horris,” then she looked back at Mikel. “But I already have a doctor, sir. ”

“Keep that because that doctor is one of the finest surgeons of the Crocecia Sector.  He knows how to remove that device of yours, so you can be free and healthy. The longer you keep that device inside you, the more sick you are going to get. Suppressing powers are unnatural and Supernaturals need to use their powers freely. Keep that card with you. Think about it. Do you really want to keep living with this lie of someone you aren’t?” Mikel turned around when Chantel heard a knock on the door from a person outside.

“I’ll.. think about it. I’m just so exhausted...” Chantel took the card and put it in her pocket.

Pushing the chair out, she got up and followed Mikel to the door.  Like a gentleman, he opened the door and guides her out.

“Don’t just think. Do it quickly. If you do it, let me know and I’ll pay the entire surgery. Oh, make sure you give the other card to Ms. Hernandez today. It’s a shame, I didn’t meet her  today. I would love to help her too. I hope you have a very nice day, Ms. Delisle. Stay safe.” Mikel told her and signaled in a tall, black, young man to come in the room next.

The trip to the upstairs of the church was less gross than the last time. Chantel could not think about the gross, moist basement. All with extra information that she learned from that meeting with Mikel is a start. It was time to form a plan. First step, talk to Darren about what happened on the night of “The Great Fire of Bay Side Square”, then the second step, try to contact that doctor, so she can get that surgery, and maybe the third step, she could learn about her new powers. There is so much uncertainty about the Rise of Light leader on the back of her mind. He wants to help people, so what is so dangerous about a guy who wants to help people?

Chantel shook her head at the thought of letting a complete stranger from a mysterious group to help her with this mess. At the end of the stairs, Darren was waiting for her, leaning against the wall.

“How was it?” Darren stopped leaning over to the wall as the two friends headed over to the exit of the church from the same place they came in.

“Interesting. I’ll tell you more about it after the concert later.” Chantel replied.

All these things can wait for now. It was time for her to have fun with her friends tonight.