This is the first story in what is going to be my Origins series, a series of about 3 chapter long origin stories to some of my original characters that I'm not quite sure what to do with yet, but want to work more with in the future. These will also allow me to explore and improve my writing more before I get into more serious and longer works, as well as better explore the characters and how to write them, as well as get a better idea of how I want to develop them.

This has also more recently become the first part of my Rapture series.

I would love some constructive criticism in the reviews, especially as English is not my first language.

It had just been a regular day, for Kylie at least. School had only recently started back after the summer holidays, and it was safe to say that most of the students there weren't quite ready to let that freedom go quite yet.

That was how it started, really. Just kids messing around, playing during lunch time. What had started out as a simple game of tag had ended up in an argument about who was 'it'. As per usual, this quickly escalated into a fight.

Kylie had seen it coming, but she wasn't ready to fight back, she hadn't thought that far ahead. So instead, she simply raised her arms above her head and curled in on herself as well as she could while standing up, a subconscious self defence mechanism. She heard the teacher that was currently patrolling the playground yell and start running towards them, but knew that she wouldn't get there in time. At least not to stop the first blow. But it never came.

In fact, the entire playground had fallen silent. The entire town seemed to. Kylie couldn't hear anything. No footsteps, no voices, no cars, nothing. Had he already hit her? Had she been asleep the whole time? Was that all just a dream?

Taking the risk, she opened her eyes, and found the word frozen. Not literally, there was no ice, even if it was quite cold already. But nobody was moving. The boy in front of her had been stopped mid-punch, she could see the facial expressions of her fellow students easily, could see who cared and who was just being entertained. The teacher had been mid run as well, seemingly caught between concern and frustration about the entire ordeal.

Next, Kylie risked moving. Nothing changed. Turning around, she went to face the street. There were no cars there, but it wasn't a large town in the first place. But there were people who were walking, talking. Or, at least they had been, but they were frozen too, just like the people behind her. Kylie stepped back in her shock, and in doing to accidentally walked right into the fist of the boy who had been trying to punch her.

Then everything started again.

The punch sent her flying to the ground, the boy having got a much better angle on her now that she had turned away from him. But she didn't care that the teacher had shoved him aside to tell him off, didn't even notice when another knelt next to her to check if she was alright. No, all she could hear was the voices.

There were so many, they were so loud, it was almost as if they were in her head. She couldn't take it. Kylie let out a scream as she raised her hands to cover her ears. She pressed as hard as she could, but it hardly made a difference. If anything, it simply made it worse.

"Shut up!" Kylie yelled, but again, they only got louder. "Shut up!"

"Kyler, nobody's talking." The teacher told her, calmly, a touch of worry in her voice. Everyone had gone quiet after Kylie's first scream, but she didn't seem to hear her teacher either.

"Stop it!"

Kylie didn't know what happened between then and when her parents arrived, she wasn't sure how much time had passed. It had surely only been minutes, half an hour at most, but it felt like so much longer. The school had probably phoned home, told them that there was something wrong with their daughter, 'something wrong in her head'.

That's what they were saying, she could hear it, she knew she could. She wasn't crazy. But they wouldn't listen to her, they just kept going. That's why she leapt into her Daddy's arms the moment she say him.

"Daddy, make it stop!" Kylie cried as he caught her, quickly pulling her up to his chest and stroking her hair in a comforting way. But no words came out of his mouth either, his voice got lost in the sea of voices that took over her mind. Until he touched her temple, then his voice drowned out the rest. They were still there, of course they were, but his was louder.

'What's wrong with her?', 'Does she need a doctor?' It was similar to what the other voices seemed to think, although his was clear enough now for her to hear properly. The thought only made her frown more as she buried her face into his chest, keeping her small hands over her ears.

There was nothing wrong with her. It was them who were wrong, she was sure of it.

Kylie didn't notice when her Daddy began walking away, nor when she was sat down and strapped into the car, she didn't even feel it starting or her parents talking, probably to her, perhaps to each other. She couldn't even tell anymore, couldn't hear anything other than the voices in her head.

Not until her baby brother began crying.

"See, even Sean's worried about you!" Her Mammy told her, concern leaking from her like waves. Kylie frowned even more. She didn't like it when Sean cried. She was the oldest, she was meant to look after him, meant to look strong. That's why, despite her own pain, she didn't hesitate to stretch out one arm and stroke his head, much like their Daddy had done to her earlier. She wanted to comfort him, to make sure that he was alright, to show that she was fine, that it was them that were over reacting. She wasn't crazy.

It was that simple touch that seemed to dull everything else once more. The waves of voices seemed to die down into whispers as feelings seemed to creep into her mind. But they weren't her own, they were Sean's.

"He's not worried." Kylie said, calmly, earning her a strange look from her parents. "He's confused, he doesn't like being confused." She continued, making eye contact with her father as he turned to face her from the passenger seat.

"How do you know that, a thaisce*?" Her Daddy asked, his face frozen in what looked like concern and, fear? Kylie couldn't tell anymore, she couldn't hear him, not really.

"I can feel it." She replied, seeing nothing wrong in this statement. It was the truth, and they seemed to know that. If the look they shared wasn't enough, then surely the thought they seemed to share did. Kylie could hear it loud and clear, even as she concentrated on Sean.

'She's not crazy.'

Kylie didn't like coming here, she didn't need to. She knew that, her parents knew that, even the doctor knew that. That didn't stop them, but she knew why.

"Have you been taking your medication?" The doctor asked. She looked familiar, Mammy's friend, if she remembered correctly. Kylie didn't know her very well, but she was a nice enough woman.

"No."

"Why not?"

"They don't help."

"They won't if you don't take them."

"I've tried, they don't do anything."

"Well, maybe we should get you on a different-"

"There's nothing wrong with me."

Silence fell over the two as they seemed to be caught in a staring contest, but Kylie knew that the doctor was too old for that, considered it 'childish nonsense'. No, she was trying to read her, but Kylie knew that she couldn't. There was nothing more to be read.

"There's nothing wrong with me." She started again. "And you know that. So do Mammy and Daddy, and the teachers, everyone." She pointed out, causing the doctor to sigh and rub her forehead.

"So you know why we do this? Why you have to come here, why you have to take your medication?" The doctor stressed, looking her in the eyes once more.

"Because you're scared. You all are." Kylie began, looking back defiantly. "You're scared of the bad men taking me away, the bad men hurting me."

"Exactly-"

"But the bad men don't know about me."

"They will."

"How do you know? Are you bad?" The doctor sighed at the child's persistence, taking off her glasses to look her sincerely in the eyes.

"Do you think I'm bad?" She asked.

"No. I think you're trying to help." Kylie replied, honestly. Although she clearly felt awkward as she shifted in her seat. "But why?"

"Kyler, you're not insane," The woman began, causing the girl to beam up at her with a gap toothed grin. "you're special. But there are, people, out there, bad people. If they found out that you were special, then they might try to trick you, or hurt you, or hurt your family. Do you understand?" The doctor asked. Kylie tilted her head, but ultimately nodded. "That's why your parents are afraid, they don't want to see you get hurt, to see people hurt you. That's why we have to do this, so they don't find out. That's why you have to take your medication."

"But it doesn't help."

Silence fell over the room as the two stared each other down, both just as determined to win the test of wills as the other. It was the doctor that cracked with yet another sigh.

"Listen, how about we make a deal." The doctor suggested, getting a nod in reply. "I'll clear you, say that it was an incorrect diagnosis, they happen all the time." Kylie shot her another smile. The woman didn't think the child entirely understood what she was saying, but probably understood enough. No more medication. "But you have to promise me something."

"Anything." The girl looked so honest, so innocent. The older woman wanted to cry.

Kylie was surprised when the kind doctor got off of her chair and knelt next to the young girl, taking both of her hands into her own gentle grip.

"If you ever lose control, if it becomes too much, you promise me that you'll run. Run far away from here, from your family. You run and find somewhere safe and don't look back."

"Why?" Kylie asked, wondering why she was being asked this, why the doctor was crying.

"Because the world isn't kind to, people, like you. Special people. They'll want to hurt you, hurt us, the people closest to you. I don't want to see that happen, and I don't think you do either." The doctor said, causing Kylie to shake her head furiously, and the doctor to grin. "So you promise?"

"I promise."

When Kylie left that day, she was happier than she'd been in a while. The happiness clearly spread throughout her family, with her baby brother laughing away in his father's arms, and her parents grinning, still living under false hope, a fantasy world.

Yes, the doctor knew why they'd sent Kylie to her, even when there was nothing that she could do to help, and they knew that. Denial. They didn't want to believe it, couldn't accept it. So they grasped onto false hopes, made up stories in hopes that they would be right, that their guts were wrong.

But they knew better, just like she did, like Kylie did. There was nothing wrong with her. That was why the doctor was alone, crying in her office as she watched them leave. They were happy, but for how long, she wasn't sure.

Because the WORLD wasn't kind to the enhanced.

*a thaisce - (uh HASH-keh): Also "my treasure." Irish endearment.

Sorry if this is bad, I wrote this up just now and it's almost 2am and I have school tomorrow and UGH. So it isn't going to be the best anyway xD