1 1. THE BEGINNING

"I'm very hungry so I'll call you later." She said as she hung the phone up. Carter had been on the phone with the woman who had raised her known as her grandmother. The old woman never left her home due to her reaching the age where she could no longer drive due to her bad eyesight.

"I enjoyed your company today. I hope you come and visit me more often!" The woman said from the other end of the phone.

"I will, Grandma." Carter replied. Carter didn't say anything else as she listened to the sound of the dial tone signaling that her grandmother had ended the call. Tossing her phone on the couch, Carter walked towards the fridge and slammed it open in hopes of finding something to eat.

"What are you doing?" Meghan asked as she made her way into the kitchen area of the small apartment. "Please don't tell me you're about to grab another juice and attempt to make it float in the air again!"

Rolling her eyes and scoffing, Carter slammed the door shut. "That isn't funny. I could have sworn that I saw the hairbrush floating in the air."

Meghan laughed. "You're always seeing things online about Zims and Runne since both are filled with those mutant people and it was just messing with your head."

Carter and Meghan had been close friends for two years. They met at Kingsborough Community College and immediately hit it off with one another. Meghan was what Carter would describe as beautiful. She had the longest and softest brown hair that complimented her brown eyes really well. Meghan was originally from Miami, Florida and had lived there her entire life before moving to New York for college.

Despite being best friends, Carter and Meghan were opposites. While Carter grew up in a struggling household with only her grandmother, Meghan was raised in a suburb as the only child to a doctor and real estate agent. The Latina bombshell enjoyed all the finest things in life and she wasn't afraid to show it.

"You're right." Carter said to her friend as she leaned against the kitchen counter. "The King of Runne is always on the news crying about his daughter and it just got in my head!"

Meghan rolled her eyes. "He needs to face the facts and realize that his daughter is dead. She was kidnapped many years ago and she would be nineteen now. I'm positive that everyone would know if a mutant was walking amongst us especially a princess."

"You believe Princess Leigh is dead?" Carter asked her friend.

"Hell yeah!" Meghan exclaimed. "There's only two places mutants are allowed to be. Runne is their country and only contains their kind. In the US, they have Zims and it's only there because of the school."

"I've always wondered why Runne doesn't have a school in their country."

"They do apparently but it's for younger kids. I heard that Martial Academy is only in the United States because the government has some type of work going on there which is why no one other than mutants are allowed in. It's kind of like another Area 51 situation happening. We don't even see mutants come out of there."

Carter chuckled. "They live there, Meghan."

"I get that but those who decide to relocate to Runne are never seen leaving the creepy city. We have airports in New York but they are never seen catching a flight." Meghan responded.

"How do you know that? They're mutants but they look like us! You'll never know if you're standing next to a mutant until they show their powers also I'm sure they most likely have their own airport inside of Zims." Carter suggested.

"They probably have plenty but we will never know because our government won't even tell us what all is in there!" Meghan complained. Carter watched as her friend grabbed her purse and the keys to her car.

"Another shopping spree?" Carter asked causing Meghan to smile.

"Sadly no!" She said. "Dad got onto me yesterday after I finally told him about me opening the car door and hitting that pole so now I have to go get that dent out."

"At least he paid for it!" Carter called out as Meghan walked towards the front door of their apartment.

"Be back later! Love you!" Meghan exclaimed before leaving. Carter shook her head and laughed at her friend as she walked towards the window. The neighborhood was a bit empty today with only a few cars occupying the parking lot.

Carter sighed as she looked at her reflection through the window. Her long black hair flowed down her shoulders and was in desperate need for a hairbrush. Freckles decorated her face and dark circles surrounded her brown eyes showcasing the fact that she hadn't been getting plenty of sleep. Touching her pink lips, Carter sighed in sadness.

"I have to do better than this." She mumbled to herself before standing up. Turning around, Carter's mouth dropped open at the sight of the remote from the television floating in thin air. For weeks, Carter had been paranoid after seeing the hairbrush in the bathroom floating but when she told her best friend and roommate what she had witnessed, Meghan only dismissed her. Shocked, nervous, and scared - Carter stared at the remote without moving a muscle. She had no idea how the remote was floating but she was determined to find out why.

"Okay." She mumbled to herself. Carter cleared her throat before speaking. "Is anyone here?"

She was relieved to hear no response.

"AbraCadabra!" She exclaimed. Expecting to see the remote drop, Carter was confused to see that it still floated the air.

"Expecto Patronum!" She yelled. Again, the remote stayed in the exact spot.

Carter had no idea how much time had went by, she had been standing in the same spot yelling out different things to the remote in attempt to stop it from floating. She was confused. How and why was this happening? She obviously wasn't the one controlling it. Exhausted from the fact that she hadn't been getting much sleep for the past two weeks and from her standing in the living room shouting at a object, Carter exhaled.

Squinting her eyes and staring directly at the remote, Carter prepared herself for one last attempt. The sound of the television muted as all of the noises in Carter's surroundings were muted. Holding her right arm up, Carter took a deep breath as she focused on the object in front of her. Moving her hand down, Carter watched as the inanimate object dropped to the floor. Carter gasped as she tried taking in what had just happened but before she could do anything, she passed out.

Opened her eyes, Carter stared at the ceiling. Looking around she noticed that she was still in the living room. Looking at the clock that sat on the wall, it read 9:37 AM. Sitting up, Carter turned towards the window to see that it was the next day. She could hear the birds chirping, the sun shining brightly as it decorated the crystal clear blue sky.

"What in the fuck?" She whispered to herself.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Meghan greeted as she entered the living room. "It is so hard to get in contact with you, Carter! I was blowing you up yesterday trying to see if you needed anything while I was out and I never got an answer! I thought something happened to you and I rushed home only to see you passed out on the couch!"

"I'm sorry. I was very tired?" Carter apologized but it sounded more like a question.

"I know you haven't had any sleep as much so I just left you there and didn't wake you." She explained.

"Did you bring anything to eat?" Carter asked as she jumped up and walked towards the fridge. Slamming it open, Carter grabbed the first thing that she saw which was chicken in a bowl. Ripping the aluminum foil off of the bowl, Carter bought the cold chicken to her mouth and took a huge bite out of it.

"What the hell, Carter?" Meghan yelled as she ran towards her friend and grabbed the bowl out of her hand. She stared at her roommate in disgust as she watched her sloppily eat the cold chicken.

"I'm just very hungry." Carter mumbled as she chewed.

"Are you on drugs? What on earth did you do last night?"

"Nothing much." She replied. Carter opened the refrigerator again and grabbed a carton of orange juice before opening it and drinking the entire thing. She slammed the now empty carton on the table as Meghan watched on in shock and confusion.

"What the hell!" Meghan mumbled as she rubbed her hand up and down Carter's arm, "You're freezing!"

"This will sound crazy but I'm telling the truth!" Carter said through deep breaths. "The remote was floating! I saw it with my own eyes! I am not delusional!"

"Relax!" Meghan said. She stared at Carter as tears welled up in her eyes. She was certain that her friend had been doing drugs. "I think we should get you to a doctor!"

"You know I hate doctors plus I don't feel sick!" Carter exclaimed. "I actually feel a whole lot better compared to yesterday!"

"We are taking you to the doctor!"

"I am okay!" Carter groaned while throwing her head back.

"You're freezing!" Meghan yelled. "You're so cold and that's not normal!"

"I said I'm fine!" Carter yelled. Suddenly, thunder roared and a huge bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Meghan stared outside the window as Carter did the same. They were both confused on how the beautiful sun had disappeared so quickly and had been replaced with grey clouds.

"Okay?" Meghan said with a hint of confusion in her voice. "Let's relax, okay? Let's sit down and you tell me what happened yesterday while I was gone?"

Carter sat on the floor in the kitchen and leaned against the wall. Meghan sighed in relief as she noticed that Carter had calmed down a bit. Slowly, Meghan walked over to her best friend and sat ext to her. Pulling Carter into a hug, she listened to her friend sniff and attempt herself to stop crying.

"You have to just listen, okay?" Carter asked Meghan.

"I'll listen." Meghan replied.