I was 13 years old when my family was broken. My mom, dad, and I had a house out in the mountains. It might have been small but it was enough. As long as we had each other, food, and shelter then everything would be ok. Both my parents were mutants.

My mom was Kayla Silverfox and my dad was Logan Howlett. My mom could make a person do anything if she had physical contact with them. My dad had bone claws that came out of his knuckles. He also had healing powers.

Everyone says I look like my dad and I even got a few of my powers from him. I had some of his running speed and part of his strength. Another one of my powers was that my eyes could change color with my emotion. It was weird yet really cool.

One morning, everything changed. I woke up early and saw my dad getting ready for work and my mom was gonna drop him off like usual. Sometimes I go with and sometimes I don't. It sorta depends on if I get up early or not. Since I did this morning, I get to come along.

It was a long drive, maybe about a half hour or so. The whole time, my dad was poking me, making me laugh and wiggle around. I was in the middle of my mom and dad in the truck. I like sitting in the bed of the truck but they both said it was too dangerous when we're driving for a good while.

When we got there, there were already many of my dad's friends and co workers. My dad got out of the car but before he did, he leaned over and kissed me on the head. "Be good for your mom. Have fun. Love ya, Kid."

"Love ya too, Daddy!"

He smiles and gets out. He starts walking over to his buddies but my mom stops him. "Hey."

He smiles and stalks over back to my mom. They kiss and everyone starts making fun of them. I join in but I make a sicky face, pretending to throw up. As they pull away, my dad hits my window, right where my face was. Since I wasn't expecting that, I jump back a little. That makes my dad laugh as he jumps in the back of the truck with his co workers.

He gives us both a happy smile as they drive away. He turns his attention back to his friends and starts shoving them around, laughing. The rest of the day, my mom and I were baking lots of different things. We were making some brownies when my mom said she had to go pick up dad.

After she left, I had to keep an eye out for the brownies. When they returned, I waited behind the door for my dad. When he walked in the door, I jumped on his back. It was like a routine. My dad laughed and quickly threw me over his shoulder and plopped me onto the couch.

We had a nice dinner that night but when it was time to go to bed, I felt like something was wrong. When I walked to my parent's room, I saw my mom was standing in the doorway with a scratch on her hand. I look in and saw my dad having a nightmare. Before I could do anything else, he jumped up from bed, yelling with his claws out, like he was getting ready to attack someone.

When he realized where he was, he calmed down. He looked at my mom but when he saw me, his face showed regret. I quickly ran out of the room, jumped in my bed, and hid under the covers. I knew I was 13 and all but I still felt a little safe when I was in my room, under the covers, where I couldn't see anything.

After a few minutes, I heard footsteps coming in my room. I felt one side of the bed sink down and I heard the person sigh. They gently pulled back the covers and I was met with the brown eyes of my father. He looked sorry and pulled me into his arms. "I wish you didn't have to see that. I know that was scary."

All I did was nod my head. I knew my father felt bad. When I was little I saw him get upset about something and pulled out his claws and destroyed something. When he saw me in the room, he promised me that I wouldn't have to see anything like that again. I knew I would see it again one day. Just not like that.

When I calmed down, he tucked me in my bed. He kissed me goodnight and left the room. I didn't want to go to school tomorrow but I knew I did. It was always better when I was at home with my parents. I always thought we were like a perfect little family.

The school day went slow but when the final bell rang, I ran outside. Dad was supposed to pick mom and me up today. He took the car this time. When I got outside, I saw my mom being surrounded by little kids. I looked for my dad and saw him staring at a little boy being picked up by his father.

I knew about his past. He told me stories about it all. About all the wars he fought in, about his experiences, and even how he got his mutant powers. It was all very interesting to me. I can't explain why but it always felt like he was telling me these stories because he felt like it was something he could only tell to very few people.

I ran up to him and threw my bag in the bed of the truck. I hopped in next to my dad as we waited for my mom. "Hi Daddy!"

"Hey, Kid. How was your day?"

"Boring. As usual."

It looked like he was gonna ask me something when my mom came up. She sat next to me and looked at my dad. It was usual, it was either my mom or my dad driving and I was always in the middle. It just kinda fit. Half way home, my mom could tell something was off with my dad. "What's wrong?"

"…Stryker came by today." He turned to us and saw our scared expressions. "Don't worry you two. I said no."

"Why is he bothering you after all these years? Doesn't he know you have a wife and daughter now?"

My dad hesitated before answering. "That's the thing that worries me. He does know. He knows what your job is; he knows where we live, and how old Scout is. And I'm the best there is at what I do. What I do best isn't very nice."

"You're not an animal, Logan. What you have is a gift."

"A gift? You can return a gift." My father mocked.

I stayed quiet, not knowing what to say during this conversation. My mom did make my dad smile a bit after she said, "It is a gift! Think about it. You can protect you family. Your daughter."

When we came up on the hill, there were a few guys blocking the road. My dad stopped and laid on the horn. All he got back was someone flipping the bird. He started getting out of the car but my mom begged my dad, "Stay in the car."

He looked at me instead when he answered and I saw a twinkle in his eye. "I'm just gonna go ask nicely."

I tried my best not to laugh, knowing that look. After he got out and shut the door, my mom put a hand on her face, shaking her head, knowing too. I tried to lighten up the mood by saying, "You gotta admit, he has a good sense of humor."

That got both of us laughing a little. We quieted down when we heard my dad yelling out, "Mind letting us go by?"

One of the bigger guys started walking toward my dad, "You in some kind of hurry there pal? Are ya?"

"Just move your truck so we can go by."

"Trying to have a conversation there, right!" he shoved my dad and we immediately got out of the car. "If you start something, you'd better be ready to finish it." He went to punch my dad in the face but he caught his fist.

We ran over to the two and I went to grab a hold of my dad's arm as my mom cautioned, "Hey guys, take it easy. Calm down."

I saw my dad's claws starting to come out but he was trying to hold them back. I tried holding him back when I saw my mom's hand on the man's shoulder. He ripped his arm away from my dad and said, "Your friend has a big mouth."

"I know. Big temper too. So please let us pass." The man went to go move his truck as my mom thanked him.

My dad was still breathing heavy as we all walked back to the car. "How'd you do that?" he opened the car door for me and then got in.

My mom got in too and answered, "You know power of persuasion is a gift."

"I see…Do you, uh, have those powers over me?"

"You didn't stay in the car, did you?"

My dad just started laughing. The night just went on and I went to bed early. I knew my parents wanted some time alone. The next morning almost went like the way every morning went. We went to go drop off dad at his work and we headed back to the house. About half way there, there was a man in the middle of the road.

It looked just like how my dad described his brother, my Uncle Victor. We stopped a few yards away from him as he stared us down. He started walking toward us and my mom did nothing. She just sat there staring at him as he was right in front of the car. I was shaking like a leaf but tried not to show it. If my dad taught my anything it was 'Never let your opponents know that you're scared. Show them how tough you are. How brave you are.'

I knew it was my Uncle Victor when his nails came out and ripped through the hood of the car. He ripped open the door and threw my mom out of it. I screamed as I jumped out of the car. It looked like he was killing her and when she stopped moving completely, covered in blood, he turned to me.

I knew I didn't have much of a defensive mutant power but I still had some of my dad in me. Victor stalked over to me and said, menacingly, "So, your daddy's little girl. My niece…Scout, isn't it? Let's see how much of your father you have in ya."

He charged after me as I ran for my life. I was jumping and dodging trees like nobody's business. I knew he was catching up to me fast but I thought I could still make it. Off in the distance I heard my father's voice. "Kayla!? Scout?!"

I kept running but this time, in his direction. I knew if I made it a few more minutes, he would save me. I let him know I was still alive. "Daddy!"

The last thing I remember was Victor jumping on me, and it felt like he was ripping through my body with his claws. The final thing I heard was my dad calling out for me, sounding desperate.