Valeria - A Short Story Collection

London, United Kingdom November 22nd, 2136 * Eric Sampson POV My sister Annie and her husband were sitting in the chairs across from my desk, signing a non-disclosure agreement while I patiently waited for them to finish. Valeria was taken to a private hospital a few blocks from here where she had spent the night. In the meantime, I had tried to track down any relatives that could take her in. That proved to be an impossible task. I couldn’t find any family to either Paul or Hanna that could take her in. I needed a backup, since I didn’t want her to spend more time in the hospital. The doctors had wanted to examine her, but I saw Valeria pale when they got close to her and told them to hold off until the morning to give her some time to adjust to her surroundings. In the meantime, I called my sister. Annie and Lucas lived in Surrey with their son Aidan. Their daughter Jennifer passed away from cancer two years ago when she was fifteen years old, and it had really taken a toll on them. It was like something died inside Annie when Jennifer died, and I knew that I could never even begin to imagine what they had been going through for the past two years. But I hoped that maybe they were healing slightly and would consider taking Valeria in. If not permanently, then maybe for a while until I’ve figured out a better solution. I knew that I should probably involve social services in this, but something stopped me. Valeria wasn’t an ordinary child, and I needed to make sure that she didn’t just end up in some random foster home. If not for Valeria’s sake, then for Paul’s. He was my friend, and I owed it to him to make sure that his daughter got the best possible care for what they had done to her. I was pulled from my thoughts when Lucas handed back the documents to me. Annie did the same and I put them away before turning back to them. “I need your help.” I said. Annie frowned. “I figured, but I don’t really understand what we could help with.” She replied and looked around my office. “Last night, I led a team that raided a factory in Sheffield.” I began. “As the team searched the facility, they found the staff trying to destroy evidence. We found eleven kids executed.” Annie gasped. “What?” She whispered. “What kind of sick psycho would do that?” I shrugged. “We’re still trying to put the pieces together.” I replied. “But it seems like they have been experimenting on the kids, trying to create humans with superpowers. They killed the children to cover up their experiments.” Annie and Lucas looked at each other in confusion. “I don’t understand.” Lucas said. “That’s sad and all, but I don’t get why we’re here.” “One of them survived.” I replied. Annie’s eyes widened. “Only one?” She asked. I nodded. “Poor kid.” She mumbled under her breath. I pulled out the tablet and showed a snippet of the bodycam footage from when we found Valeria. “I guess that you need to see it to believe it.” I said. “They actually succeeded with the experiments. She has special abilities. To what extent, I don’t know yet.” Annie and Lucas leaned their heads together and stared at the video where Valeria made the Rubick’s cube float on its own. “This is real?” Annie asked and handed the tablet back to me. I nodded. “I’ve been trying to find any family or relatives, but her family was killed when she was kidnapped by these psychos and I can’t find any other relatives that can take her in.” I saw the hesitance in Annie’s eyes and I leaned forward. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.” I pleaded. “I don’t want her ending up in foster care. She’s all alone with these powers and after everything that she’s been through, I want her to have a stable home where she can heal from this traumatic experience.” Annie was silent for a moment and looked at Lucas questioningly. Lucas shrugged. “It’s up to you.” He said quietly. “I’m good either way.” After a moment in deep thought, Annie sighed and turned to me. “Can we meet her first?” She asked. “Of course.” I said and got up from my chair. “She’s in the hospital right now, we can walk there together. It’s not that far from here.” We walked together a few blocks to the hospital and took the elevator to the seventh floor where Valeria was given a room. When the doors opened, I was taken aback by the chaos inside the ward. Nurses and security guards were running and a loud crash was heard at the end of the hallway. “What’s happening?” I asked a nurse. “That girl.” She muttered. “We tried to examine her and she lost it. The room is trashed and she flung two security guards across the room without touching them.” I looked at Annie, who looked terrified. A doctor came up to us and I recognized him from last night when we dropped her off here. “We need to sedate her.” The doctor muttered. “It’s not safe for any of us to keep her conscious.” I frowned at him. “No, you’re not.” I snapped. “She needs your help, not your fear. Skip the examination and get a therapist down here instead.” I walked past him and pushed past the crowd running away from Valeria’s room. I walked up to the open door and peered inside. The room was a complete mess. The hospital bed was flipped over and an IV stand was laying on the floor next to it. Shards of a broken mirror that was scattered all over the floor and I saw Valeria curled up in the furthest corner, hugging her knees tightly and her face buried in her arms. I tiptoed around the debris until I reached her and carefully sat down in front of her, crossing my legs. “Valeria.” I said softly. “What’s going on?” Valeria didn’t look up, instead I heard her sobbing from underneath her arms. “I’m sorry.” She whimpered. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.” “Hey, it’s okay.” I said softly. “It’s going to be okay.” “I shouldn’t be here.” She sobbed. “Why didn’t you just let me die? I just want to die.” Her shoulders shook from sobs and I put my hand on her arm. “Don’t say that.” I whispered. “I don’t want you to die.” “But I’m a danger to everyone.” She mumbled. “I’m a freak.” “Nah.” I replied. “If you ask me, you’re kind of like a cat.” Valeria lifted her head and looked at me with a confused frown on her face. “Well you’re cute and sweet, and really nice to be around.” I said. “But if you’re threatened, you can definitely scratch the eyes out of anyone who tries to hurt you. I don’t think you would lash out without reason, so as long as everyone treats you with respect, I don’t see you being a danger to anyone.” Valeria still looked confused, but her eyes softened a little at my words and I decided to take it one step further. “Meow!” I screeched in a high-pitched voice. Valeria giggled and I laughed with her as I saw her relax slightly. “See.” I said. “You’re not dangerous.” “I guess.” Valeria shrugged. “So, what happened here?” I asked. “Were they being mean to you?” Valeria shook her head. “No.” She replied. “I just freaked out. I’m not used to doctors touching me without tying me down first.” My breath caught in my throat and I was brutally reminded that I only knew a fraction of what had happened to her all these years. “It’s okay.” I croaked out. “They are not going to touch you if you don’t want to. They just wanted to check you over to make sure you weren’t hurt.” Valeria’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry.” She sobbed. “I’m just scared.” “It’s okay to be scared.” I replied. “But this time you don’t have to be. I’ve got you, kid.” Valeria smiled softly and wiped her tears with the back of her sleeve. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about.” I said. “You know I said that I was going to look for any relatives that could take you in?” Valeria nodded. “Well, I haven’t been able to locate any family.” I continued. “I’m sorry.” Fear flashed in Valeria’s eyes. “What happens to me now?” She asked shakily. ”I have arranged for a temporary situation until we can figure something out.” I said. I glanced back over to the door and saw Annie watching us with tears lining her eyes. When I looked at her and nodded, she walked over to us and sat down next to me. “This is my sister, Annie.” I introduced. “Annie, this is Valeria.” “Hi Valeria.” Annie greeted. “It’s nice to meet you.” Valeria looked at Annie with curiosity, and I smiled when I saw that Valeria didn’t seem so wary of her. ”If you want, you can come live with us.” Annie said. ”We have an eight year old son called Aidan, and I think he would love to have someone other than me and my husband around. Would you like that?” Valeria smiled softly and nodded. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw how relaxed Valeria seemed around Annie, and I knew that Annie was perfect for this. She was a school teacher and handled kids every day. “Do you want to help clean this up?” I asked and pointed at the flipped bed. Valeria blushed. “Yeah.” She replied sheepishly and I held out my hand. Valeria took it and I helped her up. Once she was standing, Valeria reached out her hand towards the bed. The bed lifted from the ground and turned over until it was standing straight again. I saw Valeria glance at Annie. “Are you afraid of me?” I heard her whisper softly. “Not at all, dear.” Annie replied and pointed to the floor. “Can you pick up the shards of glass?” Valeria smiled, relieved that Annie wasn’t afraid and we watched in awe as the mirror shards danced over the floor, gathering neatly in a small pile. “Nice work.” I said, trying my best to make sure that I made it sound like this was completely normal. “I think the cleaning crew can take over now.” Someone knocked at the door and we saw a woman in her fifties with blonde hair tied into a bun and glasses resting on the tip of her nose. “Hi there.” She greeted. “I’m doctor Amelia Carson. I’m a therapist here at the hospital.” Valeria frowned and looked at me, making me give her a reassuring smile in return. “Hi Doctor Carson.” I replied. “This is Valeria.” I gestured to Valeria and I saw her tense up. “Please.” She whispered and shook her head with tears welling up in her eyes. “I don’t want to be examined.” “She’s not going to examine you.” I replied. “She’s just going to talk to you for a moment.” Valeria eyed her suspiciously and Dr Carson smiled softly. “It’s okay.” She said. “I’m not going to hurt you. No one is going to hurt you.” Valeria looked at me, hesitation shining in her eyes. “You can go with her.” I whispered. “Do you want someone to go with you?” Valeria glued her gaze to the floor. “What do you want me to do?” She whispered. I saw her hands tremble and realized her fears were very real. She was in desperate need of therapy, and I needed to encourage her to take this first step. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I picked it up to see a reminder from Sam about a meeting I needed to attend. I glanced at Annie, who nodded. “How about you go with Dr Carson and Annie can wait outside.” I suggested. “I have some work to catch up with, but I’ll check in on you later. If you need anything, Annie has my number so you can call me. How does that sound?” Valeria nodded and we walked out of the room where Lucas was standing. “Valeria, I want you to meet my husband.” Annie said and gestured to Lucas. “Hello Valeria.” He said. “Hi.” Valeria whispered and looked down. I turned to Valeria, making her look up at me. “I have to get going.” I said. “I’ll check in later, okay?” Valeria nodded and I patted Annie’s arm. “Take care of her.” I whispered. “I will.” Annie replied. I saw a new determination in her eyes, which made me happy. I hadn’t seen her like that since before Jennifer died. Maybe this could be good for all of them.