April 21st, 2005

When I was 4 my mother caught me playing with a box of matches and I almost burnt our house down. She didn't say anything, she just took the matches and called my father. For hours I wondered if I was in trouble. I had yet to fully comprehend how dangerous fire was and because of that my childlike mind didn't see the problem of my actions. When my father arrived home, he was eerily silent as he put his work stuff down and took me outside. We lived in a cabin and owned acres of land, we were mostly alone the nearest neighbors being an hour away on foot, the boredom and loneliness being one of the reasons I started playing with the matches. As we went outside we stopped at a weird looking circle. The perimeter of the circle was made of stones and the ground was pitch black. My father poured this nasty smelling liquid in and then took out a match. Dropping the match, the ground became an inferno. It was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen, yet also the most dangerous thing as well. My father caught my gaze with his own, and like helpless prey I was paralyzed in fear. Without looking away he stuck the entirety of his arm in the flames. Looking at the flames devouring his arm I felt a fear I had never known. After what seemed like an eternity, his arm removed itself from the flame. It was awful, his skin was burnt and peeling and the smell of burning flesh made me sick. His gaze never left my eyes and I wondered how he could just effortlessly mutilate himself like he did. After a few more second the skin on his arm began to repair itself. New skin grew in place of the old and the smell of burning flesh faded after a few more seconds his arm looked as it had before.

"Do you know why I did that?" his stern voice freeing me from my hypnotic state.

"No…"

"No what?"

"No sir"

"I did that because, you need to learn. Fire is dangerous. It is the original glutton. It devours everything in its path without any regard for the life forms around it. It destroys everything without purpose or reasoning. It has no morals and is a vicious beast that can't be truly tamed. What if your mother had not caught you? What if the fire touched the floor and started devouring our house. What if it devoured you? What if it ate your mother or your baby sister? You need to think before you get us all killed."

"I'm sorry... I didn't know."

"I know which is why, I'm not going to punish you. I know our powers make you feel like you're invincible, but you are not. We are still human, and we can still get hurt. Now let's go home I hear your mom is making that famous apple pie of hers."

June 14th, 2006

Even though it had been over a year since my father had taught me the dangers of fire I had never forgotten it and had never amused the destructive force of nature ever again. Sometimes I dreamt of it spreading through my home burning everything I cared about. I saw it swallow my memories, my home and my family. Usually I woke before the flames ate me and I would be relieved it was only a dream. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times, no those times only felt real, but this didn't feel real. It was real. My house was on fire. I ran to my door and opened my door. The hallways were ablaze, and I could barely see anything. I scream out for my parents, but my 6-year-old voice couldn't carry across the house against the flames. I had hoped the flames hadn't devoured my family, tears streaming down my eyes until I heard crying.

Maggie.

I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me praying that my special talents would help me reach her. I loved Maggie, more than I loved anything else. So much in fact I gave her my favorite stuffed tiger, Dylan, which she sleeps with every night. Once I made it to her room I opened the door and saw her crying begging for someone to pull her out her crib.

"Maggie." I shouted.

"Maggie." This time she made eye contact. "I need you to go wee" Wee was her favorite call. Mom said it was her way to tell me to pick her up and that I shouldn't indulge her, or she'd never learn to walk. Dad and I failed every time. Maggie seemed to get the gist and lifted her arms. Using my stepping tool, I reached in and pulled her out, only to have her clutch onto my chest. During my impromptu rescue mission, I had ignored the devourer which was now covering the door and in flames. I knew that my entrance could no longer be my exit. Maggie started crying again so I gave her Dylan to calm her down. I turned to the wall with the least amount of flames. My father warned me of using my talents when I was around Maggie and forbade it, but I was running out of options.

Focus. Breathe. Feel. Direct. Release. I focused clearing my mind of all distractions. I breathed in the air around to calm myself and keep me grounded. I felt it. A raging mass of power in my core. It was constantly swirling around like a whirlpool of energy. I directed a small portion of the whirlpool through my chest in my arm and could feel it fill itself from my arms to my fingertips. Pointing my arm at the wall I felt a force shoot itself out of my fingertips and destroy the wall standing in my way. After doing so I jumped out of the hole, directing my energy into the legs and soles of my feet and crashed into the ground kicking up dirt and rocks. I clutched Maggie's head into my shoulder and sprinted as fast as I could to the safe house. As the safe house got closer into view, I noticed men surrounding it. Then soon they surrounded me.

"Hello little boy, we need you to come with us." They had masks with weird orange goggles on. Smart. No facial recognition, no reduced visibility. They had guns semi-automatic, full tactical gear, they weren't first responders.

"Where are my mother and father?"

"Let's just go get"

"Maggie, close your eyes and don't open them." I put her down. "Before we get started, does anyone want to leave?" The tensing of their muscles, and the tightening of their guns was all the answers I need.

'Son, you there?'

'What do you want boy?'

'Go wild.' Even though I couldn't see him I could feel the smug look on his face.

'I always do.' The last thing I could consciously feel were the growth of my fangs, my finger nails became elongated and sharpened, my hair started to rise, the air around me started to whip around me, my senses grew stronger. The rest was a blur, throats slashed, face smashed, legs and arms broken. It was a slaughter. Son was taking them out one by one. I think at one point grabbed one their pistols and started shooting. They shot at me, they missed, I shot at them they died. Not once, could the land a hit me, Son was taking them out with ease. I don't know how long it took, but I did it. When I turned back to Maggie she was in the arms of a man, no mask but it he had this evil look in his eyes. It reminded me of a devourer, it reminded me of fire.

"Your good kid, but Hydra's better. Now come with me or your little sister here, loses her head."

'Son what can you do for me buddy?'

'I can't do anything for you now kid. There's no guarantee that he doesn't kill her even if we surrender, I say we kill him and leave.'

'Relinquish control Son.'

'But…'

'RELINQUISH CONTROL!' I had no options. I was out of moves. "I'll go with you, just leave my sister out of this." The only response I was dignified with was a stupid smug grin. As I took the steps toward his open hand I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming amount of dread. What can I possibly to do? As my hand reached out for his, a warm liquid shot and splatter against my face. The man had a sword sticking out of his back. Catching Maggie in my arms I looked up and saw a man in a suit and multiple men around him attempting to put out the fires. The coldness of his eyes paralyzed me, they were so dark and void.

"Who are you? Why are here?'

"I am the beginning, I am the end, I am evil, and I am good, I am atrocities and I am justice, I am the sword and the shield. The demon and the angel, I am Ra Ah Ghul, but you may call me grandfather. As for why I'm here, well my son has been murdered and my daughter in law is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile I my grandchildren were almost abducted by Hydra, so I guess you could say I'm here for you."

"Hydra?"

"Yes, they were our old business partners, but today they have declared a war. A war in which I will need soldiers."

"I'm in, I'm going to kill them all. When do we start grandfather?"

"Tomorrow child we start tomorrow. Welcome to the League of Shadows."