"Kane, come on!" I heard another boy yell yell. I stood up again, ignoring my swimming head. Guns blared behind us as hundreds of children ran in all directions, filled with panic. He grabbed my hand and ran as fast as he could. I saw my fear reflected in his eyes.
We climbed steep hills that surrounded the lab. I was frightened not of what lay behind me, but the unfamiliar place in front of me. Throughout this whole time, I felt my thoughts swirl, and something growing at the back of my mind. Then came the voice.
Who. Are. You. The voice demanded. I looked around but at this point it was only me, and my brother.
You are different from the rest. Unlike these other sheep, your past and future and deeply intertwined, to each other and your present. I see your goals, your desires. You are the one I choose, and rightly, I will give you my power.The words came from inside my head, and I blacked out.
I gasped, sitting up from my nightmare. I looked around the street I was on, at the cars passing by and the people bickering about. I sighed\, shaking my head. That was the same memory from that day.
The day I escaped that lab.
I didn't know how it had happened, but when I had blacked out, so had my memory. Next thing I knew I was a lone kid in the streets of an unknown city.
I sighed and stood up, walking away from the alley I was in. People roamed the sidewalks, but they ignored me. To them, I was probably just an ordinary orphan the Government would pick up off the street. yet as much as I waited, no one came for me, and I woke up in the street.
"So did you hear? A new consecutive of the government is coming to this town." I heard from a nearby conversation. "something about a lab being destroyed nearby."
I jumped at this, and leaned in closer to the voices.
"Really? What were they doing in there?"
"They wouldn't tell anyone. Some top secret research."
"And this consecutive is here to investigate?"
"Probably. She'll be staying in the skyscraper they own." I looked down, and walked away. So a member of the wretched place is coming here? I didn't know what to think, I could only feel something grow.
"I know you are there." I whispered. Memories came back to me of my days in the lab. The lab was what these oblivious people thought served as orphanages. Yet every kid that was found was subjected to tests. I remember what they did to me. The operation. They had tried to implant something into the children, and whatever it was, well, I never saw those poor kids again.
I was the last child they tried this on. And now they gave me something I could not control.
Just what am I? I have no brother, I have nowhere to go. I'm on the verge of death.
You are afraid.I heard it again. That voice, with the curious tone in my head. I looked around, making sure no one was in sight, and went into the darkest alley I could.
"What are you?" I whispered, trying to get a reply.
We are not something you can speak to. We have no voice. Use your thoughts. I blinked, and formed a question in my head
You were the one who brought me here?
Yes, I am.
Just what are you?
You will not understand, but I am a being of pure spirit. My kind has gone by many names throughout this earth. I am simply one part, one string on the lyre. I am pure thought. I have no material form, and cannot interact with anything material. I cannot give you my name, for I have had many. Names only the wind can remember. Your race sees me as an angel. I go by the name of Ix The whole explanation took me away. I only read about angels in children stories.
I am not the only one who has habited your race. Many of your kind has gone by different names as well. Prophets, Warlocks. I was aware of you in that prison. Many children were tested to see if they were able to handle us. Only few accepted us.
You see, we hold something the human race has earned for for an eternity. Their is something every human is capable of, but it is locked deep inside them, and only the strongest of mind, body, and spirit can find the key. Your power is like a lake, and we are the channels that make the water flow.
Power? I asked.
Once again, it has been used by many names. Magic, sorcery. Yet truly, it is Kinesis. A power of your most inner self. Now that we are acquaintanced, I will assist you. But first, you must find more of your kind.
And how do I do that?
Simple. Kinetic users are always attracted to each other. Make a scene.Immediately, I felt an enormous surge within me. A turquoise light glowed from my body, and stretched into long tendrils. It surrounded me and I could feel my connections to it.
Interesting.
What?
I cannot identify your power. do you remember how often they tested you?
Yes. They tested me often. More than the rest of the kids, there were two. Me and this kid they called Kane.
Hmm. For now, this is the only force you can use. Your own energy, or aura
I tried to force it with my mind, but nothing came. Instead, I focused on the tug on my mind, and i felt as if the energy was my body itself. Then I rose high off the ground, slowly. My hair lifted off slightly.
The Ix said I had to attract attention to myself. I remembered the consecutive was in town.
Time to crash a party.I said. The power increased and engulfed me. My hair rose fully into a spiky tangle. I landed softly and held out my hand, palm open. The light swirled into an orb and disappeared.
"Time to find some friends." I muttered aloud. I set off into the street, fixing my tattered jacket and dusting off my jeans. I started to head towards the taller buildings in the center of the city.
So tell me. How do I find one person.
We are currently searching for the one you speak of.
Wait, why do you keep saying that?
Hm?
First you say I, now you say we.
I am not a material being. I am primordial, an ethereal being. There is no quantity of us. We cannot be measured.
Oh. Even though I had no idea what it meant.
So talk to me about this kinesis. I asked as I made my way down the street.
Abilities of the mind. No normal person can have such a power. It is manipulation of the universe itself through your mind or spirit.
You help us control it. I said it more as a statement than a question.
No. We ourselves serve as a channel. I thought about what that meant, but either way I was confused. I decided to ignore it.
I was about to cross the street when two police cars shot past, giving me just enough time to yank my foot back. behind them was an armored truck.
"What the hell!" Someone behind me yelled. I kept my eyes focused on the truck. As it has passed by, I felt something from inside it.
Did you feel that? I asked the Ix.
More children. The same as you. You must go after them, now!The surge of energy was enough, but this time there was no light. I felt energy pumping through my legs, and I broke into a sprint.
How soon can I catch up to them?
You can't. The truck is going forty miles per hour, and you are going twenty six.
So what do we do?
We block it.It's attention was diverted and I looked as well to the source. Just above the truck, some twenty stories up a building, someone had jumped off the roof. I was alarmed at first, until I realized how slow he was falling. The figure had a long black coat on and had black hair like mine. He pulled something out from behind him, a long, narrow blade.
Stop him!The Ix yelled and with more energy, I jumped up as a blast of energy shot out of my hand. With a rush, the person in the cloak shot down and drove the sword on top of the truck. Of course, why would a truck need to put armor on the top?
The bolt of energy hit the back of the truck and burned the wheels. It skidded ever so slightly. The person on top the truck pulled the sword in one direction, and the truck actually tilted over. The police cars turned around and halted, the officers climbing out and running towards the person. I still couldn't see his face with his black hair covering his eyes.
"Hey move!" I yelled as the officers pulled out pistols. I jumped low and grabbed his leg, yanking him down. He fell backwards, kicking out at me. i tucked under just in time, but he had already gotten up.
Do not fight him! Wait!The Ix yelled as I jumped back up and tackled him to the ground as another bullet rang out.
"Let me go! We have to get away!"
"Get away from what?" I asked just as he pointed back to the truck.
"That!" Just as he yelled, the roof of the truck, where the large gash had been, had started to turn red. Then I realized what had happened.
"Hit the deck!" The officers yelled. I listened.
The ground shook under me as a wave of heat flew past me. I felt the heat barely singe my eyebrows. I looked back to the truck-
-as two girls walked out. They wore prison uniforms and handcuffs, except the first one, the taller one, had hers burned off.
"Nice timing ladies." The boy said, standing back up. The two girls looked at him and grinned. Not kindly, though.
"Took you long enough, Gabriel. Who's this?" The one asked. She had brown hair and blue eyes. She had a nice build compared to the other, who had black hair with blue and then green dye running down the tips of her hair, and had brown eyes.
"Extra weight. Should we take him with us?" The boy named Gabriel asked.
"I don't know." Said the one with black hair. Then she looked away and her eyes widened. "Gina, duck!"
The girl with brown hair fell into a crouch as a beam of light flew past her.
"I missed." Said another voice. I looked and what I saw made my blood run cold.
The police officers lay on the floor, smoke coming from them. Above stood half a person, a boy with short cut brown hair and glowing eyes. His legs were gone, turning into shards of energy. The skin on his thick arms was torn, and instead of tissue was more energy.
"Finally. I found you three." He hissed. Suddenly a whining noise rose, and energy formed into three places: on both his arms and the center of his chest. They glowed a brilliant blue, then red, and he raised them up towards the three kids.
But before he could fire, I felt a gust of wind above my head and Gabriel had launched off, both swords out.
"Gina! Light them up!" The swords glowed a light red and he swung them. Sparks rose from them as he slashed right through the boy.
"Yeah!" The girl with black hair yelled.
"Wait." I breathed out, and stood back up. The boy was floating there, a gash from the bottom of his arm to his chest, but he was perfectly fine.
Ix. I thought.
This boy is pure energy.It hissed in my mind with dread. Look for a focused crystal.
I looked around the boy and found what looked like a blue-green gem right below his chest and above his abdominals.
Go touch it.
Say what? I asked.
Go, we are giving you energy. You are running out of time.With no idea what I was doing, I jumped. I flew further than I had thought. In no time I was in front of him, and my hands went through his skin, grabbing the crystal.
As I did, the boy in front of me roared. His whole body dispersed and swirled up my arm and straight into my eyes. After that, all I saw was white, but inside my mind a battle raged. The Ix were trying to control the boy, but he was putting up a fight.
You are different than these children. The Ix in my head hissed.
Do not speak to me as if I am a child myself.It grumbled.
You… are not even alive? The Ix sounded terrified.
You could not even live through what I have experienced. I am Cluster.
And I am Ix! Suddenly, the fighting was gone, and my head was clear. I blinked away the blinding light, groaning. The boy Gabriel and the girl with black hair were watching me.
No, I realized they were watching something behind me. I turned around to see that very boy standing over me. His upper body was positioned exactly how I was.
"Devin." He said, then looked towards the other two. He seemed to be glaring at them.
I was about to say something when I felt something blunt and hot hit me on the side of the ribs. I turned just in time to see the girl, Gina, swinging a pole that used to be a stop sign, except now it was burning hot. As it whacked me, it thinned slightly and lengthened, and a piece grew off, curving equally to her swing. I flew backwards onto the truck. As the metal started to dry, it resembled a scythe.
"Kat, cool it down." Gina said. A trickle of water shot out from a sewage pipe nearby and dried it, until it was an enormous, albeit dull, scythe.
"Threat detected." Said the boy. I decided to nickname him Cluster, and his whole form changed. His legs remained missing, but he took on a more monstrous look. His jaws stretched outward, his teeth grew outward into fangs. Little spikes came up from his elbows as his arms extended. His hair went spiky, and his fingers turned into claws. Even on the joints of his fingers spikes grew out.
"Waiting to engage." It growled. It was perfectly still behind me. When it spoke, it sounded as if it resonated into my head an out loud at the same time.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Gabriel asked, holding his two swords across his chest. The girl with black hair, Kat, was just staring at me, while Gina was holding the scythe behind her. They were all staring at me now.
"Permission to engage the targets." The thing behind me asked again. Cluster's face was nor more angular, and his ears were sharpened. Then I realized it was talking to me.
Thats what the others were waiting for, to see if I would attack.
"... No. They are not a threat, In fact, I would prefer to think of them as allies." I said the last statement particularly louder, aimed at the other three. "What are you guys even doing? How did you end up in this truck?"
"What do you think? We're hitchhikers?" Gina said sarcastically.
"I mean where are you from, and what are you going to do?"
"Easy up, Gina, he's one of us." Gabriel said. He had sheathed his swords and looked at the two girls, then back to me. "Alright, look. Why don't you come with us? We offer safety and protection. You are a kid from those labs, right? You would understand. Let's be allies." He said, offering his hand to me.
I stood still, eyeing the group. They seemed honest, and it's not like they are just going to sit around and explain everything to me on a road next to a burning truck and two dead policeman.
"Fine. personally, I think it's better if we are friends rather than enemies." I said, smiling. then we all walked away, down the street as far away as they could from that accident.