The clock on the wall moved past 11 when Evelyn woke with a muffled scream, falling from her bed in a tangle of blankets and scrambling back into the mirror on the wall, disoriented and terrified. Images moved through her mind, like waves crashing on a beach and dragging grains of sand backwards into the water. She could still feel the painful throb on the back of her head from a long gone injury, and still feel the painful pulling on her hair as she was dragged from a van into the nighttime. She could see her bedroom, feel the familiar texture of the carpets and the sheets, but the overlying overlap of memories was too hard to shake. Her fingers felt grass, and they felt carpet. Her eyes saw the room, but they still saw the van smashed against a tree, and the robbers in the nighttime.

With a muffled sob, she buried her head against her knees and tried to stop herself from shaking.

Evelyn had managed a few nights with relatively calm playbacks the past week. Images of central park, the museum and all her favorite paintings flickered through her mind. There were the occasional flickers of sadness, but nothing particularly painful to sleep through. Tonight it felt like all the worst memories had waited, and fallen on her at once. Fear was something she forced herself to live through. She couldn't escape bad memories, so she had to come to terms with them. Most nights she did fine.

Tonight, she didn't feel so ok.

Pulling the sheets closer that had fallen with her, she scooted back to her desk in the corner and sat there, trying to clear her thoughts. But the memories stayed sharp, and she shook as she stared into the darkness, trying, and failing, not to cry.

Maya was reading late into the night. She liked this part of the evening best, when the Mansion was already quiet, and the work of the day over. The book resting on her chest she was just starting to doze off when her senses that sharpened in half-sleep picked up on the sound of a muffled scream.
Exactly eleven seconds later Maya was in Evelyn's mirror, sporting a bedhead and an alarmed look.

"Eve? What happened? Are you okay?..."

Evelyn heard the voice coming from the Mirror, and let out a noise somewhere between a sniffle and a sob. Part of her was relieved to hear Maya. Part of her just felt mortified being caught like this. "I'm...I'll be fine. I just..." There was nothing convincing in her voice, and she clutched the blankets closer and shuddered as the painful throb of a headache moved through her head. It might have been a memory. It might have been real. It was impossible to tell at this point.

"I hope I didn't wake anyone up..." She glanced at the clock, face moist with tears, then back at the door. "Or, you know....freak them out..." Her voice cracked and she buried her head again.

>>"I'm...I'll be fine. I just... I hope I didn't wake anyone up... Or, you know....freak them out..."

She looked miserable, and Maya did not have to ask why; she had seen Eve woken from a nightmare before. She dropped out of the mirror and knelt down in front of her. Eve almost disappeared, wrapped in her blankets.

"I was still awake, and I don't think anyone else heard. Everyone's fine."

Some of the students had left for the summer. Others had just left. Girls' wing was more quiet than it used to be.

"...Except you, ya're definitely not fine."

Reaching up, she smoothed some hair out of the way, trying to see Eve's face.

"Getting flashbacks again?"

Evelyn's blue-grey eyes were red around the edge when she glanced up from the pile of blankets. She shouldn't be this bothered. She took on armed robbers with a broom. She trailed after a sewer monster, and she survived Sam's disastrous date scenario. It was dumb that her own powers were the thing beating the crap out of her. But there was no place to run from her own memories. She just felt... helpless when she dealt with the playbacks. There was no way to turn them off, no way to change course. She knew what the outcome was, couldn't stop them from happening. At least if she dreamed, she could control where she was going. But in memories, the path was already set. You just watched it go.

Maya's hand brushed her hair from her face and Evelyn shut her eyes, trying to calm down a little. She nodded her head at the question, and then stared ahead at her bed. "Just... hard batch to deal with. Getting hit on the back of the head by a bronze statue hurt enough the first time without..." She flinched visibly, and half expected to be able to feel the blood on the back of her head.

"It'll pass. Maybe I can just go raid the art room or something...." She glanced at her desk where a pile of half finished drawings rested. For once, though, she didn't reach for the art supplies. The only images in the surface of her mind weren't ones she wanted on paper.

>>"Just... hard batch to deal with. Getting hit on the back of the head by a bronze statue hurt enough the first time without... It'll pass. Maybe I can just go raid the art room or something...."

"Nope" Maya said with more confidence that she felt about the whole situation (mental powers always freaked her out when they got out of hand). Standing up she leaned over and pressed a kiss to Eve's forehead.

"We gotta get this under control so ya can get a good night's sleep... I wish I could help." she sighed. Eve looked miserable with red eyes.

"... you know... we could still try puttin' you close enough to Miss T and see how that works. Room next to hers is empty. Wanna give it a try?"

She offered a hand to Eve in case she was going to take the offer and stand up. She was gonna get back to bed, one way or another.

Evelyn was a little taken aback by Maya's response. While the echoes saw the underlying emotions in the other female's face, Maya's voice was still fairly authoritative, and it was clear that sneaking off and going to find something to do for the rest of the night wasn't going to work this time. Evelyn relaxed slightly at the pressure of the kiss on her forehead, and fiddled with the blankets still piled around her.

"Control... I'm not sure there is any way to control my powers. Adapt to, maybe..." Her shoulders sank visibly, but she gave a shaky smile at Maya. "You're here, which is help in it's own way..." While it was a little embarrassing, there was something comforting about having someone there. She wasn't alone trying to deal with this. That was a first.

>>"We could still try puttin' you close enough to Miss T and see how that works. Room next to hers is empty."

The suggestion took her a little by surprise, and Evelyn tried to process the idea. She still had no idea how the adapted's power's would work on her, but after the night she had, she figured it probably couldn't get much worse. So when Maya offered her a hand, Evelyn nodded somewhat cautiously, and got to her feet. "I... guess we could try. No way of knowing otherwise..." Her hand shook slightly against Maya's, and she kept one of the blankets with her when she stood. She didn't exactly feel cold, but the texture was helping ground her in the present.

"At least I only have mental powers.... we don't have to worry about me breaking anyone other than myself by trying, right?" She hoped it would work though. Being able to sleep normally would be a relief right about now.

>>"Control... I'm not sure there is any way to control my powers. Adapt to, maybe... You're here, which is help in it's own way..."

"Told ya" Maya smiled at her, less cocky than usual. She was not sure what she expected Eve to answer about her suggestion, so her brain was already seeking new ideas for managing the situation. It surprised her when Eve accepted.

>>"I... guess we could try. No way of knowing otherwise..."

"Now we're talking." the mirrorwalker nodded, helping her to her feet and tugging on the blankets to help hr avoid dragging them on the ground.

>>"At least I only have mental powers.... we don't have to worry about me breaking anyone other than myself by trying, right?"

"Not funny." Maya muttered, walking her out the door and down the hallway to Miss T's room. Even when the wing was full they did not usually put students into the rooms that shared a wall with the guidance counselor. One, she was an adapted, and that would just cause chaos, and two, she was already overworked.

"This one should work" she said, opening the door to an empty room. The usual desk, chair, towels and bed were in there, a basic setup for moving someone in, even in the middle of the night. Flicking the light switch on, Maya looked around and nodded.

"If we push the bed to that wall, this might just work."

The room wasn't too far away, and the hallways were quiet as they made the short walk there. Evelyn tried not to stress too much over the situation. If being next to the adapted had negative consequences, then they'd think of something else. It had to be better than dealing with the playbacks right now.

Right?

The room looked fairly similar to her own, minus the pile of art supplies she'd dragged there, and she glanced at the wall closest to where the adapted slept. The echoes were quietly commenting on everything, but there seemed to be a sort of...silence, around that particular area. "That... is certainly different..." Evelyn murmered. She gave a nod to Maya, then found herself taking a cautious step forward. She couldn't exactly 'see' where the adapted's field was, but it was as if the echoes commented around the void. Much like when she encountered the female with powers not to be observed. There was nothing, and that showed where 'something' was.

A few steps, and she paused, glancing back at Maya before tentatively stepping into the field. It was like putting her head underwater. The echoes got murky, flickered and struggled to make themselves heard, and then they were silent. Evelyn quickly took a step backwards again, the echoes quickly remarking on the experience and trying to analyze the situation. "I....that is...Quiet." She shook her head, pushing her hair from her face. "No major malfunctions though... It seems safe to try..." She moved towards the bed, and put the blanket down on it, ready to help scoot the bed. She was nervous, but she was exhausted more.

She glanced back at the empty area, and wondered if the playbacks would behave like the echoes did.

>>"That... is certainly different... I....that is...Quiet. No major malfunctions though... It seems safe to try..."

Maya watched curiously as Evelyn walked to the wall, ready to jump if something went wrong. Eve was right about her powers only being directly dangerous to herself, but it never hurt to be prepared.

"That's... good." she nodded, walking around the bed. The two of them together managed to push it over to the wall; Mansion beds were not terribly big or heavy. Maya huffed when it was done and looked around.

"I'll stay if you want me to" she offered cautiously, turning back to Eve "So... you know, I'll be near, just in case."

It was a relatively simple task moving the bed, and Evelyn felt the strange sensation of silence again once she was standing next to it. In a way, the emptiness was almost as distracting as the noise could be, as her mind kept trying to fill in the information her echos normally would have. She couldn't think quite as fast without her powers on, which made her feel a little sluggish. It helped considering she wanted to sleep, though.

>>"I'll stay if you want me to..."

Evelyn gave a small smile at the offer, and shook her head slightly. "I appreciate it, but I'm sure I'll be fine... I don't want to be more of a hassle than I already have been. Won't know anything really until morning anyway..." It gave her mixed emotions thinking about it. As comforting as Maya had been, Evelyn would feel silly having someone hovering nearby making sure she didn't break herself. When it came to her powers, she was really the only one who could do anything about them.

Her thoughts felt slow as she struggled to finish thinking before Maya left, suddenly aware just how fast her mind normally functioned. She flopped down on her bed and shut her eyes, pulling the blankets around her as she tried to relax. It would be fine. Whatever happened, happened...

Right away, nothing did.

Evelyn slept. Dreamless, playbackless...silence. One moment, she shut her eyes, the next she was awake, glancing at the clock in bewilderment. It was still early, but she didn't feel exhausted or drained like she had the night before. Her first thought was it worked. A relieved smile crossed her face and she climbed out of bed, ready to migrate back to her own room to get dressed and ready for the day.

She thought she heard someone in the hallway as she cautiously moved out of the adapted's field.

She didn't really hear much else though as her powers flickered back to life, and everything went dark, legs buckling as the ground rushed forward.

>>"I appreciate it, but I'm sure I'll be fine... I don't want to be more of a hassle than I already have been. Won't know anything really until morning anyway..."

"All right..." Maya said hesitantly, reminding herself to respect Eve's wishes even thoguh she wanted to keep an eye on her. "I'll check back in the morning. Good night, Eve."

The night seemed to pass slower than usual. Maya shifted into Gawain. When morning came he was out of bed even earlier than usual, making his way over to the room Eve had been sleeping in. There had been no more screaming during the night, so Eve might just have had a good night's sl...

THUNK.

"Eve?..."

Pushing the door open the young knight found Eve lying on the floor.

"Eve? Eve!" Gawain knelt down, checking her "C'mon, wake up..."

Maybe the adapted was not such a good idea after all.

Eve didn't move, she was out cold. Gawain tried to wake her, but to no avail. Finally he scooped her up and carried her down the hall to the infirmary. DocProf barely looked up when he walked in.

"You two again?!"

"Yeah." Gawain muttered, setting her down on a bed "I think I might have put my girlfriend in a coma."

It felt like falling out of reality and into her memories. Evelyn couldn't feel anything. She didn't feel the impact of hitting the carpet, and didn't hear Gawain yelling at her. Her brain was on re-boot, scrambling to make up for the night of playbacks the adapted field took away, and leaving her stuck in the current in the process.

In the middle of the grass a teenage boy was stretched, large golden brown wings spread wide and what looked like a lions tail less visible in the grass. Evelyn felt a small frown spread across her face, scanning her head for the time. Most of the other students would be in class around this hour, but this lone figure seemed to have other plans...

Meanwhile, Gawain finally picked her up, and started for the infirmary.

Evelyn blinked at the words that slipped from the strangers mouth. Her brain processed them, sifted through the dialect, and came up with little meaning to what he was saying. Was he asking if she was alright? Was that an apology, what was that? The gears in her head slipped for a moment and she pushed her hair from her face. "Pardon me. Was just getting a closer look before the next round of bidding but it's getting a bit crowded to really manage that..." She remarked with a small frown, avoiding looking ignorant and remarking on what he said.

Evelyn didn't move as the DocProf moved over to examine her.

Fourteen year old Evelyn sat in the corner of the room, sketching quietly on a scrap of paper she'd found in the lobby. Her parents had refused to let her take her sketch book with her to this office, but she was used to that by now. The 'specialist' sat and watched her, trying to get her attention, but she stared harder at her drawings, trying to tune him out.

"So, why don't you tell me about these new 'playbacks', Evelyn? Are they like your echoes? Put the drawing down and tell me about them..."

"They're memories. When I sleep, I remember. I don't dream. I don't forget." She shrugged as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She shrugged as if it didn't terrify her. She didn't look at the man in front of her. He was somewhat of a doctor, somewhat of a psychiatrist. Her parents seemed to think if he could prescribe the right pill, their problems would go away. Trying to shut off the playbacks didn't have any success though. No more than trying to silence the echoes.

"So you've developed an abnormally good memory is all... well that's nothing to--"

"Most people don't relive their memories, doctor." She finally set the sketch down, put her hands on her leg and faced him. Her eye were dull grey as the echoes latched onto the figure in an intense analysis. "And unless you can tell me how to stop myself from sitting in the same chair, listening to you run your mouth for the next few nights, I really would rather we not have this conversation. And then have it again." She snapped, turned her chair, and flicked her pale white hair over her shoulder at the figure as she stared out the window.

The sky was a pale blue, but it looked like rain.

Evelyn's eyes flickered slightly with the movement of her thought process. It was like she was sleeping, but nothing could wake her. The playbacks just had to finish what they started, and Evelyn barely registered the transition from one memory to the other.

"This is all my fault." Gawain said, biting his thumb as he watched DocProf examining Eve. "I told her to try it. I thought that the adapted field would help her sleep. She must have overloaded her brain when..."

"You are not helping." DocProf growled. Gawain shut up. Eve was still out cold, and did not even move when Doc put a hand on her forehead.

Gawain felt like he was about to pass out too. What was he thinking? Eve had said before that turning the echoes off and on could be very difficult for her. It was just a theory, but clearly, out of the two of them, Eve was the expert on the matter. And the smart one.
And the one currently in a coma.

Gawain paced up and down the room until Doc barked at him to stop. After that he just leaned against the desk and waited.

The room was eerily quiet while the Doc checked on Evelyn. While she wasn't waking up, her behavior was similar to someone just sleeping, which left him little room to work. "Well, she's not injured... So my powers aren't going to help much." The Doc finally said, turning back towards Gawain."We might just need to wait a few minutes and see what happens. I've talked with Evelyn a little, and her powers make her brain function almost like a computer. It stores information, it processes data... If you look at it that way, maybe this just 'rebooted' things for her."

Evelyn flinched slightly as a darker memory passed, then stilled again. The Doc checked her pulse as he waited, and glanced at Gawain. "Sit before I have to pluck you off the floor. Don't need both of you injured." He waited for some action from the boy, then looked back down at Evelyn. "It looks like she's starting to come around more though..."

Turning from the blond-haired woman, a different figure appeared, one with dark black hair, accented by red streaks. While still irritated by the transportation and the kidnapping, Evelyn resisted being rude and answered 'Syn's' question. "My name is Evelyn." She said with a flash of what could have been a momentary smile, but she was still taking in the new arrivals appearance....

She thought she heard voices, and flinched slightly as her eyes flickered open. For a moment, everything was murky and out of focus. Then the echoes started taking note of where she was, and the figures closeby. At first, she felt a bit confused, until the correct memories made their way to the surface. She couldn't remember anything after stepping outside the adapted's field. But that was enough to bring a light headache into place.

"You know how we decided my powers don't like electricity?" She murmured, shutting her eyes again and putting a hand to her forehead. "I don't think playbacks like adapteds..." She didn't feel tired anymore, true, but she did feel like she hit her head against a very solid rock. Or the floor... she might have just hit the floor a bit when she fell. Did she fall? She felt unnaturally confused.

"Well, now we know you need to be a bit more cautious around them...." Doc said, a bit more gently than he had been talking to Gawain. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got knocked unconscious by my own powers?" She flinched and tried to reword her sentence. "The echoes didn't seem bothered by it...and I slept fine, just..." Her brain tried to process all the information and it made her feel a bit overwhelmed.

"Gawain, maybe get her a glass of water or something..." The Doc suggested.