Valerie Haden

[Valerie Haden]

Valerie Haden
FACE CLAIM: Shay Mitchell
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AGE: 23
GENDER: Female
ORIENTATION: Bisexual
POSITION: Recruiter for Bellefonte Academy

POWER: Sensory Scryer
Valerie has the ability to hijack all five senses of a human, inhabiting their body and seeing, smelling, touching, tasting and feeling the way another person does. This is achieved through either touch or if her or their emotions are heightened. When she is inhabiting another person, they are unable to detect her presence unless they are mutants with some sort of degree of mental blocking. While in another person's body, her own body goes rigid and she seems to shut down for the moments she's inhabiting another person. She is no longer in control of her body once she hijacks another person. She is also able to track anyone with the mutant gene.

LIMITATIONS:
Anyone with a degree of mental blocking would be able to sense her and push her out
She can only use her abilities for a small pocket of time, usually under an hour
It is limited to only one sense at any time
She can't control the person she inhabits
She is unable to control her own body while she is inhabiting another person

SIDE-EFFECTS:
Vertigo
Losing blocks of time whenever she inhabits another person
High risk of early on-set Alzheimer's
Lack of spatial awareness
Temporary loss of the sense she inhabits



If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can’t see
I'll be the light to guide you
You can count on me like 1, 2, 3
I'll be there
And I know when I need it
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2
And you'll be there

The four year gap between Jess and I made for some interesting happenings throughout our childhood. When she just started playing with Barbie dolls, I was already in the middle of the Potter mania. We didn’t have a lot in common and boy did we fight. But what we lacked in affection for each other, we more than made up for when it came to our parents. Jess was always a mama’s girl. She was the pretty, dainty, princess-y type while I roughed it out with dad. I think he was secretly glad that even though he was surrounded by women, he had me to play ball with. I actually started becoming interested in basketball because of him.

When I hit puberty and started high school, my relationship with Jess actually started getting a little better. We still didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things; she was always part of the bratty ‘popular’ kids in middle school while I hung out with the friends I made since grade school. But at least we didn’t kick up a fuss whenever mom decided we should dress alike for family functions or any special occasion. Although I did add a pair of torn up jeans to an all pink ensemble that so did not suit me.

I think we started hitting it off properly when I turned fifteen and had to walk her to school because mom and dad both started working. Although it started out begrudgingly, I actually started to like hanging out with her. She was kind of insightful at eleven years old, wiser beyond her years. I didn’t understand how she got sucked into the group she did but when she was alone with me, she had some pretty interesting thoughts. Our walks became something I learned to appreciate as time passed that it got to a point where we would wake up early, pack our own breakfast and walk to the nearby park to have it together.

Mama got pregnant the same year we grew close and let me tell you, the energy in the house was palpable. Jess and I were so excited when Mama told us we could help decorate the baby’s room and we went to town looking through all the wall swatches, and going through tons of drawing blocks (sorry trees) that were filled by our artistic ideas on how the room should look like. We had to compromise on a lot of our artistic integrity due to budget but in the end, the yellow walls and multi-coloured paint splashes against the yellow backdrop appeased our young minds and we welcomed little Lacey a few weeks after our art project was done. Jess and I promised each other that Lacey was going to be under our protection.

No way to make the pain play fair

It doesn’t disappear just because you say it isn’t there

I don’t know when things changed between Jess and I but parties suddenly got a lot more interesting to me. And boys. And girls. I couldn’t really decide whether I liked one or the other. A few nights of experimentation and I realised, wow, why choose? There was genuine attraction towards both genders for me. For some reason my sixteen year old brain couldn’t fathom at the time, I found out that it was harder to be with girls than to be with boys and there were a lot more closets and hidden relationships with them than the public displays I could have with the boys.

Jess found out about the relationships I’ve had with these people and for a while she wouldn’t speak to me and we sort of grew apart again. Until weird things started to happen to Jess and I seemed to be the only one who saw it. There were times when she would seem to hover over her bed or her chair or there would be a spring in her step that catches her off guard. It wasn’t until a week after her birthday that she actually started flying in the room, along with everything in it. Our beds, the lamp, books and her stuffed toys started to float for a few seconds before everything fell to the ground. Jess almost hit her head against the bedside table had I not pushed her away at the last second. It sent a clear message that something was definitely wrong. Jess tried to beg me not to tell Mama and Dad, something I didn’t think was possible but I did keep her secret. And for a while, that secret kept us close. Our parents could see something was spooking Jess but I held up my end of the deal and we thought that was that.

And then two suits came at our door. The woman cheery and the man stoic. It was an odd couple but I didn’t think anything was wrong about it. Not even Mama and Dad had any problems asking them in to have a cup of tea. I remember not even batting an eyelash when they started talking about mutants and Bellefonte Academy and Jess having to go there. I was then set for college and it seemed like the best solution was for me to go up there with Jess to keep her company and for me to get my degree. They offered excellent courses for me to choose from and I didn’t think twice before agreeing. We started our journey to Montana the next day and it was only when I got there that I realised what had happened. The lady explained to me what they had done to us. She was what they called a power suppressor and he had something called empathic manipulation. I almost took the bus back home with Jess but when they called for back up, someone who explained to me that I had no reason to panic or think that they were shady mostly due to the fact that they were being honest about their abilities and whatnot, I had no other choice but to stay. They brought both Jess and I around campus, explaining their methods and their procedures and they offered both of us a place to stay on campus so we didn’t have to think about accommodations. They even got Mama and Dad to sign off on it via Skype. Everything went by so smoothly that I couldn’t help thinking that maybe this was another setup.

My doubts were laid to rest when I realised that Jess was flourishing in this environment. The longer we stayed, the less frightened she was and the more control she had over her abilities. For one whole year, it seemed we could settle down.

Well sometimes I go out by myself and I look across the water
And I think of all the things what you’re doing and in my head I paint a picture
Oh won’t you come on over, stop making a fool out of me
Why don’t you come on over Valerie

A little over half a year after I arrived at Kalispell, I met him. It was the cheesiest meet cute I could have ever possibly experienced. What were the odds that out of all the cafes in the town, I ended up drinking coffee at one that had the boy on his guitar singing a song with my name in it? I can’t explain it any better than the fact that it was a whirlwind romance. He introduced me to constellations, he made me make a fool of myself by falling flat on my face while ice-skating, and he made me storm out of my own damned apartment in a fit of jealous rage in less than a year of meeting him. The latter was a lot cuter than you would think, believe me. I gave him a gag gift for our very first Valentine together the next year and on my birthday the very same year, I was pregnant. That shook me to my core. I couldn’t even begin to describe how he reacted. It took a hell of a lot of adjusting but somehow, it worked. We welcomed Leo into our lives and for awhile, we were a little family unit, with Jess visiting every once in awhile when she gets away from school. Mama and Dad and Lacey also visit sometimes. It was nice.

Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear
Take the wheel and steer
It's driven me before
And it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal
But lately I am beginning to find
That I should be the one behind the wheel

Amidst the crap that happened ever since the broadcast of mutants being in existence and Kalispell suddenly booming into a college town, my family was my constant. I clung on to them for dear life and at one point, I tried to encourage Jess to leave with me but she had found home in Kalispell, just as much as I did. And I didn’t want to uproot Leo from his friends, even though he was probably still much too young to understand. I wanted to protect the people I loved from being the targets of any sort of harm but I knew there was no way I, a mere human, could.

That was until I was no longer simply a normal person. It seemed like a normal day and Leo was being cranky in the car seat as I tried to buckle him down before heading to the grocery store. Suddenly I was looking at my own car, a fuzzy image at best. I saw myself in a really awkward position from behind coming closer and closer. There was a taste of marshmallows in my mouth and a rancid smell coming from somewhere behind me and just as suddenly as I was looking at myself, I was looking down at Leo again.

Instinct pushed me to grab Leo out of his seat and I ran out of the way of another car that started to skid before crashing into my car, toppling both vehicles over. I must have passed out from the shock because the next thing I knew, I was waking up at the hospital with someone in a coat talking to Jess who was holding on to a clinging and thankfully unscathed Leo.

I found out that day that I was a mutant. My ability wasn’t something even the doctors knew but the irregularity in my blood meant that someone from the Academy was about to shake my life up once again. And boy did they shake it. Because I was a late bloomer, it meant that I had to be subjected to tests. Which meant I had to practically live on campus once more. I had to force my way home on more than one occasion to try and get back the life I had thought was normal. But normal was not in the cards anymore. Because of my absence from my regular day job, I was laid off, which meant I had to find a job on school grounds. I tried for the easiest one, which made sense because of my ability. On the job training took on a new meaning once I started working as a recruiter for the Academy. It has been about seven or so months since I had gained my abilities. I’m still working out the kinks but I think my trainers are pretty impressed by my determination to get it under control. I’ll be graduating soon. At twenty-three years old. With my baby sister. Hey, worst things have happened.


SAMPLE: Asante sana Squash banana, wewe nugu mimi hapana!

USERNAME: What would you like me to be called? ^-^ It’s Nu, duh

AGE GROUP: Approaching the big three oh in a few years time

EXPERIENCE: Fifteen yeahs

WHERE DID YOU FIND US? Mel’s Halloween costume 2015

[Kam *]