Short Stories

The People Who Hide

The old town of Sumertin has changed over the years in ways most people couldn't explain. Not only the town but the people in it. Whether born into it or already been there while it changed, it doesn't help with facing the truth. The truth that not everyone in this town is human. At least that's what the people think. They know about the abilities they have. The power they hold. The fear that some created. Some say the powers held by them could take over the world. Others say it could save it. Yet, most known people with abilities are thought to either be extinct or are hidden.

The clock was ticking. Every second and every minute going by felt as if it was counting down till the last breath. The pounding in her head. The rain poured as heavy as hail. The street lights felt as if they were as bright as the sun. Her breath turned to fog against the cold air. As she was walking the lights seemed to move farther and farther apart. The streets were empty and had no evidence of life around it.

Mild fires were still able to be seen in the distance towards the forest. The smoke filled the skies that were once full of the sun blazing down on the town. Harsh winds blowing down trees. The river overflowing. The houses that were once filled with love and joy from families are now nothing but piles of wood. She looked around in fear. Fear of herself. Fear of what she had done. The destruction of the town in which she lived and grew up.

She continued to walk down the path near the woods hoping to find something or someone. The regret was building up. The wish to go back in time. She knew she needed to learn to control her emotions, but she didn't think that this would be the outcome. Her steps were feeling as if they were getting heavier and heavier. Her consciousness started to fade away. Her eyesight started to blur and eventually turned black.

The walls seemed as if they were closing in on her. Her breathing is irregular. The cold turning her breath into a thin fog. She couldn't believe how things could turn out like this. The people she loved and considered family left her to die.

She screamed into the darkroom filled with nothing but a dripping sound of water. She tugged and yanked at the restraints attempting to break free. The rope burning her skin. She yelled until her voice was hoarse and couldn't bear it anymore. She kicked her legs around the floor in the hope to come in contact with something. Anything that could set her loose.

Soon enough she started to hear heavy set footsteps above the room in which she stayed. They seemed rushed and anxious. She was blinded as the door was thrown open and the light came through.

Although, the people standing in the doorway didn't look like anything she pictured. There were four of them. Two boys and two girls. They seemed friendly. They looked like they were full of guilt and maybe even sorrow. She tried to back up away from them once they started walking forward but she was stuck in place.

The girl on the far left came closer and her hands started to heat up turning a bright shade of red. She lowered them onto the ropes that had kept her in place and they started to burn up and eventually fell off.

She looked up at her in astonishment. I thought I was the only one. 

The girl with the burning hands walked away and one of the guys who stood in the background came and helped her off the ground. "We won't hurt you", he said. Granted, she must have still looked confused considering he started to explain everything in more depth.

"You are like us, and we're just like you", the other girl who had finally walked into the room had said. "Now care to explain how almost half the forest was burnt to a crisp and you were lying in the middle of it", she then asked.

She explained everything. From how when she was born she had always been able to light things on fire, most of the time when she was enraged. To how the people in her town had found out she was one who held abilities and set out to kill her. She started crying in the midst of it.  She didn't mean to use her powers. She didn't mean to hurt the people she once called family.

I didn't mean to out her to everyone.