I was seven years old when they found out. When they discovered that I was a mutant. I frightened them. The two people I loved most in the world, who had given me life, threw me aside because they were afraid. They couldn't see that I was, too. They didn't want to.
I suppose they were right to fear me. I'm 'a danger to those around me', that's what they say. So someone out there made sure there was nobody around me.
I'm 18 now, by my estimation. I've been locked in this dark room for years. The only faces I see are covered by masks - I barely remember what people look like. And I'm still so afraid.
But I need something, badly. I have to see the sky again. And I've finally decided, I'll do whatever it takes to get out of here. Even though I'm afraid of those men in the masks. And of myself. But if they fear me, I can get past them and into the light.
The time has finally come. I have a plan - vague, at best, but it's something. I crouch by the door - which I know by the slight rise in temperature around it. Then I wait. Hours pass, but I don't mind. I've waited a long time already.
The masked men come in again, to run their weird tests. I don't know what they think they'll learn, after this long poking needles in the same person day after day. "Sera?" one of them asks into the gloom, trying to find me. I don't answer, opting to trip the last one as he comes in the door, then step over him, rushing into the corridor.
That's as far as my plan went. I didn't know what was out here. How could I? All I note is that I expected more light. The corridor is dim, but brighter than my room. The light hurts my eyes a little. I run where instinct takes me, a labyrinth of twists and turns. Someone is chasing me. They're faster than I am, having moved for so little of my life.
If I don't do something, they're going to catch me.
'Please, stop!' I cry out in my mind. The man behind me screams in pain and terror. My back feels warm, and the corridor is bright for several feet. I wince.
Another man jumps out from a hall in front. I jump back, and he is suddenly red, and orange, and terrible. The two behind him cry out as flames catch them as well. I take another route that feels right, and suddenly, there is an exit a little way ahead of me. Three guards, armed with tranquilizers, block the door. One calls to me. "Stand down and you won't be hurt!" I look between his gun and his face, then step back, nervous. The man from my room comes up from behind and puts a hand on my shoulder. I pull away violently and whirl to face him.
"Sera," he says gently. He's not wearing a mask. I realize that nobody chasing me was. "Come back to your room. This is too much excitement..." He reaches for my hand. I panic. "Get away!" I yell. The first words I've spoken to someone else in years. I gave up attempting conversation with them long ago. I slowly back away, but he keeps coming. I scream, and the man stops, shocked, fearful. Then he bursts into flames, just like the others. He claws at the air, his cries choking in his throat, as I turn back toward the distant entrance.
The men by the door raise their tranquilizer guns threateningly. I just run faster. There's no turning back now. After what happened today, if they catch me, I'm gone. Dead. Nobody will even know I existed. 'Whatever that fire was, help! Please...' Two of the men drop to one knee, grimacing, then howling as a spark from nowhere ingnites them. The other one takes off running. I see his face as we brush past each other. He's young. Frightened. I let him go. My power does - I have no control over it. The guards fire. Somehow, they miss, and I'm up against the cold steel of the door. It's locked, of course.
The men lay still and quiet after a few minutes. Neither of them could shoot again. Somehow I find a way out - I have a keycard from somewhere, probably one of them. Then the door is open, and I run out into the blinding light.