Hey all! Hope you'll enjoy the story and thanks for the reviews! :)
So Sam's abilities might seem a little too X-men for some people, but I really wanted to play with this a little and I promise it's not an X-men crossover or something and I'll try to keep it as realistic as possible.
Sam Egan loved his life.
He had been blessed with a wonderful mother, a home that met their needs, and the ability to help people who needed it. His mother had always taught him to be grateful for what he had and whatever his mother said was gospel to the young boy.
Sure, life was hard sometimes too.
Nothing's perfect.
Sam shrugged off the thought and tossed the ball up into the air, catching it again easily.
...
Cara Egan watched her son play in their backyard, her expression sorrowful, wistful.
She wished more than anything that she could have given her son a different life.
At 11 years old, her son was innocent in a way that surprised her given their circumstances. Their small town of North Grove didn't offer many opportunities for a normal family, much less one like their's.
Sam had been gifted with a soft heart, tenderness towards others, a long suffering that Cara herself had worked years to develop. The boy was very shy, small for his age, and didn't have many friends, yet he was happy. Always content, always forgiving.
Cara struggled to forgive the residents of North Grove so easily. The daily torture they put her through she could live with. It was something her family had lived through for generations. She had never wished it on her baby, though had known it would come.
The residents no longer believed in witches, but the stories about her family, the feelings towards her family, had been passed down for many generations and it seemed the hatred would never stop.
Forget that they were trying to protect this town full of foolish, horrid people – no they had to torture her son because they knew, somehow they always could sense, that he was different.
Sam looked up at her then, flashing her a dimpled smile that she returned. She forced her thoughts back under control.
Gratitude. I am grateful for what I have. Sam is my treasure. If the poor boy can be loving and grateful, then his mother can be too.
...
Sam walked down the dust road towards his small home, pulling his backpack up higher on his shoulders.
His head hung low, trying to hide the tears that mixed with the blood on his face, the bruises that were already forming.
He didn't really understand why the boys at school treated him like they did. He didn't think he had ever done something to them to deserve it, but maybe he had. His mom told him all the time that it wasn't his fault, but he had to wonder. Surely they wouldn't pick on him without a reason, right?
Either way, his face hurt nearly as much as his heart did.
...
"Sam?"
Cara looked out the door, watching her son walk towards the door slowly.
He paused at his name and that's when she knew. Oh, no. Not again. Reluctantly, he looked up to face her, revealing a face full of blood and bruises, a torn shirt, and tears.
"Oh Sam. Honey."
She quickly moved forward, wrapping her arms around him, gently escorting him inside their house, sitting him down quickly at the table.
They had done this far too many times. She grabbed a bowl, filling it with water, grabbing the spare cloth she kept on the counter and knelt in front of him.
"A story. You need a story, Sam. How about...hmm, do you want to hear about the hero, Morgan, again?" She began to dab at the cuts on his face as she spoke. Stories had always been her method of distracting him, usually stories that her mother had told her, stories that had been passed down through the family for generations.
Sam nodded slightly, still silent.
"Okay. A very, very long time ago, there was a young boy named Morgan. He was a simple farm boy, but a hard worker. He walked down to the sea, very near his home, every day, because he loved the water."
Cara dabbed at her son's face again, pulling a wince from him.
"One morning, Morgan went down to the water and saw a beautiful young woman being tormented by several of the bachelors in the village. Morgan was a smart boy and he knew that the skin that one of the bachelors held in his hands belonged the young woman. She was a selkie."
Sam spoke up then, having heard this story enough to know it by heart. "He felt sorry for her, then."
"That's right. He felt sorry for her and didn't want her to be taken from her home, where she was happy and safe. So he grabbed a bunch of rocks, climbed up into a tree and started throwing them at the young men. Pelted by rocks, the bachelors ran away, leaving the skin on the beach. The selkie grabbed her skin, but waited for Morgan to climb down the tree. She called to him, asking her rescuer to come see her. He did, moving forward. She thanked him and promised him that for the rest of his life, he would be protected by her and her people. She returned to sea."
Sam was almost cleaned up, but he didn't move, enthralled by this story, just as he always was.
"Morgan grew up to be a sailor. He sailed far and wide, seeing most of the civilized world. He had many adventures and nearly died at sea many times, but was always saved by the selkies."
Sam smiled now. "And he met Aalish."
"He did. He landed on a foreign shore, a place he had never been before. He was taken in by the local people and he met the chief's daughter. She was a powerful witch, but a good one. She had a heart of gold and cared very much about her people. She and Morgan fell in love. They sailed everywhere together and had two beautiful girls and a strong son. When Morgan and Aalish died of old age, their son took over and the ship was passed down through the generations. There were always daughters and they were always witch's, just like Aalish was. Every fifth generation, a son was born."
"And the son had powers. Just like me."
"That's right. Their powers were always unique to them, and they always used them to help others."
"Because they had a responsibility to help."
Cara smiled at her son, proudly. "Good boy. Yes, they did. Finally, the family moved to the Americas. They were one of the first settlers of a little town called North Grove."
"They loved their town."
"Yes, they did. But then one day, an evil witch started to do very bad things in North Grove. The oldest daughter of the family knew she had to do something, so she fought the witch and managed to defeat her. As the evil witch lay dying, she cast one final curse on the oldest daughter. She swore that the daughter and her family would soon be hated in the town. She charged them with the protection of the town they had killed her to save and promised that if they tried to leave, they would all die."
"And until the town completely rejects them, they cannot leave."
"That's right."
"And that's where you come in, right mom?"
"Yes, Sam. Me and you. We have to stay here until the curse is broken."
"When will that be, mom?"
Cara shrugged. "I don't know, Sam, but we must be patient."
Sam nodded.
"Now go change and throw that shirt on my bed. I'll see if I can repair it, okay?"
"Thank you, mom. Thanks for the story too!"
"You're welcome, sweetheart."
Cara watched as her son walked down the hallway, sighing.
She never had told him that the only way to break the curse was for the town to kill a member of the family. Her gut told her the time was coming. She just hoped and prayed that Sam would be safe.
...
"Okay, Sam. Are you ready?"
Sam looked nervous, but nodded anyway.
The daily practicing with his powers was never boring. He found controlling them difficult, some of them worse than others.
The telekinesis was the easiest. He already used it easily, fluently, because it had come more naturally to him at a younger age.
He could create fire instantly, without a spell, which his mom said was a rare gift, but the most difficult of his gifts was definitely the phasing. He could pass through walls and other solid objects, in theory anyway. It took so much energy and he wasn't very good at it. Often it made him sick if he pressed too hard, so his mom was very careful to keep their practices short.
Narrowing his eyes, Sam concentrated and finally a little flame burst to life before him.
He flashed a smile at his mother. "I did it!"
"Fantastic job, Sam. Can you put it out again?"
Sam glared at the little flame, smothering it with his mind and with a small sizzling sound it disappeared.
"Great job! Now, come sit with me, honey."
Sam sat beside his mother, who favored him with a soft smile. "You've been practicing very hard, Sam, and I'm very proud of you. Do you know why I make you practice even though it's hard?"
Sam knew the answer to this one easily. "Because I have a responsibility to help people. I've been blessed with more, so I should use it wisely."
"It's important to always be careful, kind, and helpful, Sam, and you do all three very well. I'm so proud of you, Sam. Now, I think that's enough for today, okay?"
"Okay, mom."
"Go wash up for dinner, Sam. I made some spagetti!"
...
Sam walked towards the small food mart, pausing as the owner appeared from behind a truck, carrying a large load of packages, clearly struggling.
Sam rushed forward. "Do you need help with that?" He asked, already scooping up one of the packages the owner had dropped.
"Thanks, Sam." the owner, Cole, said with a smile. Cole was one of the few in the town who treated the kid with the same kindness that he was shown.
Together, they moved the packages inside and the second everything was settled, Sam moved through the isles, looking for the couple of items his mom had needed.
He tried to ignore the scowls being sent his way by a dark-haired man that he knew all too well. Jacob Kearn was a cruel man by nature and the leading participant in anything opposing Sam and his small family of two.
Sam reached for a jar on the shelf, pushing away thoughts of Kearn, only to jerk back in surprise as a rough hand grabbed his wrist. "Oh, I don't think you want that, Sam. Perhaps you should just leave."
"Sir, please, I just need to grab a few things."
"Cole doesn't want you shopping here, Samuel. Surely that's clear enough. No one wants you and your freak mother around here."
Something dark flashed across Sam's face, a rare but powerful anger building in his chest. "She's not a freak and don't you dare call her that!"
Kearn laughed. "Are you trying to be intimidating, Sam? 11 year olds don't do intimidating very well. Why don't you just run back home to mom before something happens that you would regret?"
Cowed by the man's looming form and taunting face, Sam backed away and headed out the store.
Dang it. Suppose I can just hide and wait till he leaves.
"Sam!" a loud whisper caught his attention and he looked up to see Cole standing around the corner, out of sight of the door, holding a bag with the groceries Sam always got on his trips.
Flashing the older man a smile, Sam hurried over, exchanging the money for the groceries.
"Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome, Sam. Take the long way home tonight, okay? You don't need any more trouble."
"I will, thanks."
"Oh, wait, Sam, your change. I almost forgot."
Cole accidentally dropped a penny, Sam quickly bending over to pick it up, momentarily forgetting...
He dropped it with a nearly silent hiss, his fingers throbbing with the pain.
Before Cole could get suspcious, Sam took a deep breath, grabbed the penny, and quickly stuffed it in his pocket. He knew his fingers were already burned from the contact.
Flashing a slightly forced smile at the shop keeper, Sam turned and started heading home.
Well that went well.
...
Unknown to either Cole or Sam, Jacob Kearn watched from the shadows nearby, having seen more during the little exchange that he could have expected.
What is up with that freak anyway? Hmm...
...
"Hey, mom, I'm home!"
"What took you so long, Sam, I was worried!"
Sam winced. He hated worrying his mom. Setting the bag down on the table, he sat down heavily.
"Mr. Kearn was in an unpleasant mood again."
Cara instantly looked concerned at that. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No. Just wasn't going to let me buy anything. I left the store, but Cole brought it around back and we exchanged there."
Cara sighed. "Well, at least you're okay."
"He, uh, he gave me change mom."
Cara was immediately kneeling in front of her son. "Copper, huh? Let me see your fingers."
Sam offered his hand to his mom, who looked unhappy at the light, but painful burns on her son's skin.
"I'll treat these. It could have been worse."
...
Cara watched her young son sleep, amused and touched by how innocent and young he looked in his sleep. Her boy put up with so much, so willingly.
She was so very proud of him.
But she was frightened for him too.
If Kearn had seen Sam drop the penny, seen Sam's reaction to it...
Would he ever put the puzzle pieces together?
Copper was for Sam what silver was for a werewolf.
The thought that their secret could have been compromised had the mother's blood running cold.
He won't be hurt.
Her resolve strengthened.
You'll be safe, baby. I promise.
...
A/N: The copper weakness is a bit of a shout-out to Megamind. If you haven't seen it, you should. Yes, it's being used as a serious weakness and problem here, but I thought it was funny anyway. :)