Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Marvel Comics and are being used for non-profit entertainment. The story, Wisp, Nancy, and Billy belong to me, Magik, the author.

    The first thing I thought as I stepped out of my midnight blue Volkswagen beetle with the silver and blue phoenix on the hood and sky blue flames (1) down the sides and looked at this giant mansion was, I want to go home. A couple of tears sprang to my eyes and I could feel my legs shaking.

    "Are ye okay?" I heard Sean Cassidy ask as he strode over to greet me.

    "Yeah. Fine. Just my nerves," I told him. (2)

    "Pretty bad nerves," he commented with something like half a smile.

    "I'm fine. I'll get over it," I lied and followed him up the steps.

    He turned to me as I stopped. "What's wrong now?"

    "Is it really too late for me to go home?"

    "Aye. Now, come along."

    Regretfully, I followed him. My knees were shaking like jelly now and my stomach was in knots. Just yesterday I had been home talking to Justin while we watched Star Trek: Voyager and e-mailing Becca (3). So much for that. Now I was officially a mutant.

    ~Stop whining~

    *Shut up!* I hissed at the voice.

    She sniffed. ~That's not very nice.~

*Quiet! If they detect you...*

    ~Stop worrying.~

    Mr. Cassidy opened the door...

    There was no one there.

    "What's up?" I asked.

    "Don't know. Ye stay here." With that he rushed off.

    Right. Like I was going to stay there and wait while Mr. Super-hero made sure everything was all right. I brushed the lock of dyed red hair (4) off my face and began sneaking around the mansion.

    ~You're going to get in trouble.~

    *Like I care.*

    ~You should.~

    *But I don't.*

    She sniffed again and I turned to face the phantom. *You've gotten to be a pain lately.*

    ~All part of my job, Wisp.~

    *I wish you wouldn't call me that.*

    ~What do you want me to call you? How about S...~

    "Never! Don't mention that name again."

    Using my powers, I re-arranged the molecules of air so they would hold me and set off to air-walk around the house. Mr. Cassidy told me that my power has something to do with re-arranging the molecules of things so I can pass through them or walk on them. I know, it doesn't make any sense to me either. I just woke up one day and found that I could float.

    <Whot are you doing `ere?>

    I froze...

    I spun around to face none other then Jonothan Starsmore.

    <Whot are you doin'`ere?> he questioned again.

    My eyebrows narrowed of their own accord and I place my long-fingered hands on my hips. "Mr. Cassidy invited me to the school. I have a reason to be here, Jono, despite what you think."

    <I didn't mean you, Wisp luv. I meant the phantom thingy wit' you.>

    The phantom still hung in the air next to me.

    *You said no one could see you,* I hissed at her.

    ~I forgot about him. Mistakes happen, dear.~

    *I'm going to kill you!*

    ~Considering that I'm already dead I would very much like to see you try it.~

    *One of these days...*

    <If you two are finished `aving your little telepathic spat, I'd like ta talk ta Wisp.>

    "Sorry, Jono, forgot that you were there." I turned to him and pushed up my glasses (5). Behind the thick lenses my blue eyes were heavily flecked with gold that could turn them green on occasion (6).

    <As I was sayin', whot is she doin' `ere?>

    "Nancy kinda followed me," I admitted and looked up at him. Jono was giving me one of his how-stupid-can-you-be looks as he rearranged that blasted black scarf.

    <That's all well and good fer Nancy but don't you remember whot `appened to Billy?>

    Something inside me clicked and before I knew it my heartless side people called The Ice Queen (7) was there. I pushed my hair aside with one pale hand and turned away from him. "I don't want to talk about Billy. He's dead. That's it."

    Jono came down the stairs and stood next to my floating form. He glared at Nancy and she just stuck her tongue out at him. <`e was your brother.>

    "And now he's my dead brother just like Nancy is the spirit of my dead cousin (8). End of discussion." With a small, feral growl, I floated over to the window and settled back down to the floor.

    <Why did ya come `ere?>

    "Because Mr. Cassidy asked and because I don't want to be destroyed by my power the way Billy was." A fleeting flicker of pian passed over my face but The Ice Queen stepped out. Nancy glared at Jono.

    <That your car?>

    "Uh huh. She's a beauty, isn't she? I just adore her."

    Mr. Cassidy walked back into the living room. "Who're ye talkin' to, lass?" he asked.

    I turned to face him. He stood there, framed by the wooden door frame, his strawberry blond hair a mess and his green eyes bright. Jono was nowhere to be found. "Um...I was talking to Jono but it looks like he ran off."

    "Ye must be mistaken, Wisp. Jono's not here. Nobody's here, in fact," Mr. Cassidy told me.

    I just looked at him with my blue eyes. Why had I gotten involved with Generation X again? Why? In answer to my question, Nancy just shrugged.

    I lay on my bed, starring up at the ceiling, while Natalie Imbruglia sand "Torn" in the background.

    ~Such an appropriate song for you,~ Nancy whispered as she flipped back her phantom hair.

    I turned to stare at her in shock. *How so?*

    She shrugged. ~I just felt like saying it.~

    *Oh.*

    Silence fell between us again. I had not seen one other person in the house since Mr. Cassidy had walked in during my chat with Jono. What chat? According to Cassidy no one else was here. But I knew that I had seen Jono. I growled and flipped onto my stomach.

    ~You're thinking about Billy, aren't you?~

    *No. It's been a long time since I dwelt on Billy.*

    The ghost smirked. ~The you're thinking about Cliff.~

    My blue eyes trailed over to the picture on my bedside table. *Maybe.* Cliff was someone I detested leaving behind. There had been three weeks of school left when Mr. Cassidy had called me up/ Three weeks! I hadn't even had time to tell Cliff how I felt about him (9).

    ~What are you thinking about then, Wisp?~

    I sighed. *Nothing.*

    There was a knock at my door and before I knew it, Jubilee had blown it off it's hinges. She stood there, framed by the splintered wood, her eyes a little dazed.

    "Jesus Jub!" I cried as I lost my concentration and kinda atom merged with the bed. "I was planning on getting the door."

    Her black eyes turned to where I was sitting but they were blank. I looked at her eyes and, I swear, that she saw right through me.

    "Jubes?" I asked in a worried voice.

    With a puzzled look on her face, Jubilee turned away and ran down the hall.

    I looked up at Nancy. "There's something wrong here."

    The ghost sighed in frustration. ~Did you JUST figure that out?"

    Any other time I would have glared at her but at the moment I was too puzzled for my mind to register the insult.

    I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Short red hair, pale skin, a round face with a pair glasses hiding the large and articulate gold dotted eyes. The red and black Generation X costume was ill fitting on my waifish body. With a sigh, I snorted and frowned.

    "I hate this crap," I mused aloud and stepped down to the closet.

    Nancy floated near me, her transparent black hair long and shiny. ~Having problems, are we Wisp?~ she cooed.

    "Stay away from me, Nancy. I'm not in the mood," I told her as I abandoned the "uniform" for a pair of tattered blue jeans and one of my Matchbox 20 T-shirts. I brushed my hair and examined the roots in the mirror.

    ~Stop fussing. It hasn't been that long since you dyed it.~

    "Yeah, I know, but..."

    <Wisp, you in `ere?> Jono asked.

    "Sure am, Jono. Where are you?"

    <I'm in the `all. Can I come in?>

    I rolled my eyes. "Nah. I expect you to wait in the hall all day." Then I sighed. "Come in."

    The young man opened the door and peered in at me. He saw the rumpled Generation X uniform right away. <Didn't ya like the uniform?>

    "It was ill fitting."

    ~It looked awful,~ Nancy laughed.

    Jono narrowed his brown eyes at her and said, <I didn't ask ya.>

    ~Get all huffy about it, why don't ya? It's weird around here. Most people can't see us. Jubs can't.~

    <Is t'at so?> he inquired turning back to me.

    I sat down on the bed. "Yup. `Fraid so."

    <Well, Emma's been sayin' `ow it's odd that Cassidy isn't back yet.>

    My eyebrows rose in shock. "No. He's here. I see him everyday."

    <I know but...no one else, besides me, sees you and NO ONE see Mr. Cassidy.>

    With a worried look, I bit my lip.

    ~Don't get self-destructive on me again,~ Nancy warned.

    Jono raised an eyebrow and adjusted his scarf.

    "She means there," I said in a huff and thrust my wrists forward. There were little white scars running down both of them.

    <Ya did this...?>

    "After Billy died," I admitted and looked at the blue comforter on my bed. When I looked up again, Jono was gone.

    There was a knock at my door.

    "Come on in," I called.

    Mr. Cassidy stuck his strawberry blond covered head in the door. "Breakfast's ready. Are ye comin' down, lass?"

    "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am." I followed him down the steps. Nancy trailed behind us and she looked...odd somehow.

    I poked my head out the door and peered down the hall. All clear on the Western front, I thought with a chuckle. Biting my lip, I slipped into the hall and began rearranging my molecules. Then I started switching my atoms with the atoms in the floor. It's kinda like phasing only it takes a lot longer because I have to interchange ALL my atoms with the floors and then rebuild myself.

    Mr. Cassidy had left on "urgent business" or so he said. I didn't trust him. Not anymore. This wasn't the same Sean Cassidy who had helped me and my brother two years back.

    Billy...As my thought spiraled back to him, my heart turned to ice.

    No tears, I thought harshly. No tears. No reaction. He's dead and that's all there it to it.

    But no matter how hard I tried, the memories came back to me. Memories of Billy with his dark brown hair and those icy blue eyes. Billy, my dead older brother.

    No. No. I shook my head and concentrated on piecing the floor back together after me.

    "Jono said ya was around. Ah...I guess Ah...I should've believes him but no one else could see ya an'...an'..."

    I recognized the speech and the voice immediately. Paige Guthrie. Now I get along pretty well with almost anyone (10). It's, like, just my personality. Jub and I have this wildish, child-like behavior that bins us. My common link with Jono is pain because we've both had to deal with a lot of it. But me and Paige...we just kinda...I don't know how to describe it...we became best friends.

    I turned, brushing hair off my face and saw the blond standing on the floor below my still free-floating atoms. "Hey Hillbilly," I quipped.

    She smiled and put her hands on her hips. "How's the Citygirl wannabe?"

    "Oh, I'm sure Jubs is fine."

    We both laughed at that.

    Then Paige bit her lip. "So, ya really are here?"

    "Do you see me?"

    "Of course Ah...I see ya, S..."

    With a frown, I shook my head. "I don't go by that anymore. It's just Wisp now."

    Paige stood in silence as I regrouped my atoms and touched the floor. Then she hugged me. A tight hug that could've splinted my thin bones if not for my semi-flexible atoms.

    "Easy, Paige, the way you're acting you'd think I was dying." Or dead, my ill-at-ease mind called out.

    The doe-eyed girl released me and opened her mouth to speak.

    The front door opened. I turned to see Mr. Cassidy walk in.

    When I turned back around, Paige was gone. A small sob died in my throat and I quickly disappeared upstairs using my power quickly but sloppily because as I rearranged all the molecules, I left quite a few of my own atoms behind. That might pose as a problem later but at the moment I just didn't care.

    Something was defiantly very wrong in the land of teenage mutants. I glanced at my T.S. Lewis calendar and the red dragon staring down at me. June. June the first. I had been here for three weeks and still hadn't seen most of my fellow students and not much of Mr. Cassidy.

    When Mr. Cassidy had flown to Indiana (11) to help Billy get control of his powers, I had been awed by the Irish giant. The first time I saw him it was like a picture out of a storybook come to life. He came flying down from the sky in this blue and yellow costume that had cape and his voice was like hearing something from the other side. Then the great Irish giant had introduced himself to me. Said he was Sean Cassidy and the like but all I could see was a proud and noble Celtic Lord. The strawberry blond hair and the bright green eyes matched with skin more likely to burn then tan, reminded me of my own Irish roots of which I had inherited very little (12).

    But now he had locked me in my room, which was in the most secluded area of the house, because he said they were having "security problems". Security problems, my foot! This was insane!

    I sighed and rolled off my bed, using my power to float over to my computer desk. The computer, one of Mircosoft's with Windows 95 and a pentium processor, had been fried by what Mr. Cassidy called a very bad storm. Thank God for backup parts and the know how to use `em.

    In no time at all, I had the computer fixed and was cleaning out my in-box. Justin had e-mailed me a message dealing with problematic HTML codes, Becca wanted to e-mail address of any cute guys that I met, and Andy said he and Christina, and Cliff missed me (13).

    I had just logged off when an unearthly ether seemed to fill the room. Nancy was floating incorpally above me.

    "I wondered where you had been."

    ~That was a very bad idea, Wisp,~ she told me.

    My eyebrows shot up and I drug a hand through my hair. It needed washing. "What do you mean, Nancy?"

    ~Can't tell you. Later.~ With that she vanished, leaving me more confused then ever and half wishing that I had stayed in my quiet little nothing town.

    It's late. About two thirty at night. I still can't get to sleep. Sleep doesn't come easily for me right now. Too much on my mind. Too much to worry about. Like where the rest of my bloody classmates are. I haven't seen Jono for a week. I caught a glimpse of Everett but just as quick, he was gone. And to make matters worse, Nancy's disappeared.

    I rolled over onto my right side and stared at the clock. It was flashing twelve reminding me of the frequent power outages that were keeping me from turning on my computer. At least Mr. Cassidy had told me that they were power outages. He could have been lying. I want out of here but he said that just isn't possible. After what happened to Billy, he's not going to let me die from inexperience too.

    Billy, my dead brother who heard Nancy's voice long before I did. My older brother who had superspeed powers and a hotshot, loner attitude. But I'm not like my brother. I don't run off into trouble and the way he did. I'm smarter than that. I check out the situation and then charge.

    The only reason that Billy died is because he was stupid and inexperienced. No big fireworks. No mob of the FoH got to him. Just him being stupid again and not asking for help. His own power killed him.

    Mr. Cassidy had come down to help him get a handle on it. The Irish sonic singer said that Billy's power were a threat to his life. But Billy didn't believe him and didn't trust him and just didn't want any help. He said it was his problem and that he'd fix it himself.

    Billy could move at the speed of light. Problem was that he had trouble getting his whole body to move at the same time. When stuff like that happens it's not pretty. His head blew off. It was going too slow and just popped off. Even after he los this head, Billy's body kept speeding around for a while. An hour. It took a whole hour for him to finally die.

    I gripped my pillow tightly and watched the flashing LED display on the clock. Mr. Cassidy said my power was just as potentially dangerous. He said what would happen if I didn't move all my molecules or I don't collect them all together? Then there's always the though that I loose my concentration and I just meld with whatever I'm moving the molecules from. They're not very pretty thoughts but they are possible.

    With a great effort, I turned back onto my left side. As tired as I was, I was having a hard time keeping my molecules together.

    It was so quiet. I couldn't hear anything. There was no noise except for the hum of the ventilation system.

    That was when I felt it. A small tickle at the back of my mind. The next thing I knew, I heard a scream that echoed through the whole house.

    Without a second though, I leaped out of bed and ran to the door. The knob twisted around and around in my hands. Locked. Stupid Mr. Cassidy trying to "protect" me again, I'll bet.

    "Let me out!" I hollered but my voice wasn't very strong and couldn't be heard over the scream. Paige's scream. And as I heard on of my best friends screaming in agony, I sank to the floor and began to cry.

1. This is really what my car is going to look like when my dad's finished with it.

2. I really do have bad nerves. You should see me before a test my hands start shaking really bad.

3. These people are really two of my best friends and I do watch STV.

4. I do dye my hair red.

5. I do wear thick lensed glasses.

6. My eyes do change color sometimes.

7. I have nicknamed the part of myself that shuts out every single emotion the Ice Queen.

8. I had a cousin named Nancy and she really did die. We shared a birthday. My mom sometimes still sees her spirit.

9. My former crush who I know view as a  real asshole.

10. My real personality. I get along with almost everyone.

11. I do live in Indiana.

12. I'm almost half Irish but you couldn't tell by looking at me.

13. This is stuff that my friends would really say.