Capes 1: Charge

Prologue

Prologue

January 2008

"Turn off the TV, hun," ordered by her husband. Nakakalong sa kanyang hita ang kanyang apat na taong gulang na anak habang tutok na tutok ang mata sa TV sa balitang ipinapahayag sa mga oras na ito.

"Saglit na lang," aniya saka patuloy na kinukuyakoy ang hita upang malibang ang atensyon ng kanyang anak.

Nagpakawala na lamang ng malalim na hininga ang kanyang asawa. Napailing pa ang ulo nito saka tinabihan ang asawa sa sofa sa salas. They were married for five years and after a year of marriage, fortunate of them, they were blessed to have a son because after he was born, the doctor told them she couldn't bear a child anymore.

She's young not to bear a child anymore. She's just 36 while her husband is 39.

"Lockey, come here," tawag ng ama nito sa kanyang anak.

Lockey immediately made his way out of his mother's arms and jumped toward his father's arm. After knowing that their son wouldn't be able to have siblings anymore, they planned to adopt, but due to current events, they laid the idea off.

Greta, Lockey's mother, couldn't let her eyes away from the news. It scared her. It solely threatened their lives.

"Hun, you should stop watching the news," her husband, Ozzie said. "Let's just do something else. What about camping? Go to the public waterpark?"

Instead of responding to his questions, she shook her head. Eyes are still on the screen, feeling the rapid beat of her chest. She just can't let it go knowing that there's a possible danger to occur in no time.

"Summit City Mayor Nicholson ordered a new directive about the new sightings of abominations in the city. Once you've encountered an abomination, call the local office and we'll take action right away. This is your local news—"

"What do you think we should do, Oz?" Greta asked her wife.

Napakunot naman ng noo ang kanyang asawa. "What do you think we should do, Grets? Are you thinking we should surrender our son to the government? I think that's not a good idea. It will never be."

"I—I'm just scared..."

"I know you're scared," buntong-hininga pa nito saka lumapit sa kanyang asawa at pinalibot ang braso nito sa balikat niya. Lockey was just playing with a baseball in his hand, figuring out what it could do. "I'm scared, too. But we can't risk this one, hun. I won't give my son something like this."

He shoved up the sleeve of his shirt and showed her wife the scar of what the government had done to him. Underneath his skin, there's a little chip injected to track his actions and the use of his abilities.

"I surrender myself so we could have a pretty normal life, I'm not expecting that my son will inherit some kind of ability from me, but I won't take my son's freedom just because our government told us to do so. I'm not an abomination, Grets. Your son isn't an abomination. We're human. We're your family so you don't have to worry about it, alright?"

Greta nodded, but she was still filled with doubts.

"They may hunt people like us who just wanted their freedom, someday, someone will come to beat their system and the trackers injected into everyone shall be taken out of us. They won't come to us, I promise that, hun. We'll be safe. I'll keep our family safe."

He kissed him on her forehead as an assurance of his words.

The next few days, the local news has been filing up a lot of reports about apprehending and arresting abominations. Some fight for their freedom. They were trying to get away with the cruel system of city governance because the people who ruled the city didn't want anyone to be called a hero. Only the Summit City's mayor and their pride.