The boy that would one day be known as Tenebrae Storm trudged along the footpath to the bus stop. Ahead of him, the sun was peeking over the horizon, casting its ray across the sky like watercolour paint on a canvas. The city of London was silhouetted against the light, preparing for another day. The River Thames snaked through it, reflecting the light into the fog that lay over the city, giving it an ethereal feel.
There was a honk, and Tenebrae was yanked out of the clouds as the bus pulled up in front of him. Students in Hampshire Park High School uniform piled on, their noisy chatter filing the enclosed space. Tenebrae came on last, and plopped down onto the last empty seat. The girl next to him was too engrossed with her phone to notice Tenebrae's presence. Tenebrae rumaged in his school bag and pulled out his pair Apple earphones. The company was closing down soon. They had just released the iPhone 7, which hadn't sold anywhere near as well as the company had expected. The loss had been too much and they couldn't move in any direction.
Tenebrae put his iPod on shuffle and gazed blankly out of the window, abosrbed in his own thoughts as some tinny song he didn't know the name of blared through the earbuds.
He thought of his parents back home. The family was fairly well off - a good reputation in the community, an average size house. His parents worked hard to give him the life he had. It wasn't easy nowadays, not like 30 years ago, when humanity celebrated the dawn of the 21st century. The economy was on the verge of collapse now. Forests were quickly becoming a thing of the past. The sea had claimed, in total, land the size of India. The Thames Barrier was continuously being upgraded. The predictions of scientists in the past had come true 20 years early.
All of a sudden, the bus lurched forward, throwing Tenebrae forward in his seat. Horns blared as the bus skidded around in a loop. The students were thrown against the side of the bus, screaming. Tenebrae whipped his head around and stared out of the window. They were in a tunnel, and cars were ablaze, stacked in piles. Acrid, black smoke filled the air, and all around him, Tenebrae could hear screams and cries.
Tenebrae clutched his armrest and turned to his right. The girl next to him was lying still with her head lolling to the side. Blood poured from a deep gash in her forehead like a crimson waterfall, and her eyes gazed blankly ahead.
"Oh my God..." Tenebrae whispered, his eyes wide. He checked her neck for a pulse. There was none. Tenebrae swallowed, his heart racing. Reaching out with two fingers, he gently closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry," he murmured hoarsely.
Another jolt rocked the bus. And then there was silence.
Tenebrae gazed around the bus. The driver's head rested on his wheel. Dead. The students around him were whimpering, sobbing into each others shoulders. Tenebrae saw fear in their eyes as he had never seen before.
One of the younger students warily stood up. When he spoke, he spoke softly, as though if he spoke any louder, the whole incident would happen again. "Is it...," he started, his voice trembling, "Is it over?"
As soon as the boy finished his sentence, an explosion rocked the entire bus. Time slowed for Tenebrae. He watched as the floor of the bus was torn open by invisible claws, as the engine blew. He watched as flames blossomed from the gap like bright orange roses. He watched as the cement roof of the tunnel cracked and collapsed. And he watched, and heard, his classmates screaming and wailing, as they realised that their lives were coming to an end.
Tenebrae closed his eyes and felt something he had never felt before. Raw power boiled up inside him. The power spread throughout his body, energising him head to toe. Tenebrae gasped as the energy forced itself into his arms, worming its way up into his hands, and into his fingers. Tenebrae watched in slow motion as electric blue sparks flew from the tips of his fingers. The sparks came faster, and faster, more and more. They danced over his fingers, his palms. They joined and grew stronger, twirling and whirling around his hands. Tenebrae pushed the energy to flow faster, and it did. His hands glowed with intense power, filling the bus with blue light.
Without thinking, Tenebrae threw his arms out in the air, screaming in pain, and the volcano inside him erupted.
The blue light burst from his hands, flying playfully around the bus. The screams stopped, as the students' fear was taken over by awe. More and more light burst forth, casting a water-like shimmer onto the seats and the faces of the students. The blue light came together, creating a forcefield around everyone in the bus.
Time sped up again, and Tenebrae stared in utter amazement at what he had created. The students stood up one by one, speechless at what they were seeing. Outside, the fire raged, engulfing the forcefield, but unable to penetrate it. Tenebrae felt a smile forming on his face and he burst into a manic grin, in relief at their escape and the insanity of it all.
A lanky boy with a messy mop of black hair frowned at Tenebrae. "Oh my God," he whispered, "you're a mutant!"
Tenebrae's grin vanished. It had only just struck him. He was a mutant.
The entire bus burst into whispers. Those near Tenebrae inched away from him.
"Freak!" an Asian girl spat. "You shouldn't even be alive!"
Tenebrae felt a wave of anger welling up inside him. "The freak," he said, trying not to let his voice waver, "just saved your lives."
The students ignored Tenebrae, and the whispers turned to yells, as they realised that a mutant was among them. Wave upon wave of insults hit Tenebrae like a tsunami. A sharp pain cut through his head, dampening his thoughts and blurring his vision.
Tenebrae's legs gave way, and through his pain, he was suddenly bombarded with hundreds of emotions. Emotions of hatred and fear. Envy and awe. They were the emotions of his schoolmates - he was in each of their minds. The hate kept coming. Over and over.
Tenebrae couldn't stand it. Couldn't stand the bitterness that shouldn't exist. He willed it to stop. He willed it all to stop.
And it did.
Through his hazy vision, he saw every single one of his schoolmates collapse to the ground, unconscious. The forcefield shimmered and crackled, and disappeared. He felt the heat of the fire, and once again heard the horns and screams and cries.
Tenebrae felt his eyes close, and felt his head hit the ground.
I am a mutant. This is where it all changes.
And then there was black.
----------TO BE CONTINUED----------
