Equifinality (Bare Bones)

Not Light

The memory hit me with the force of a tidal wave, sweeping me back to a time I had long tried to forget. It felt like it had just happened yesterday, even though years had passed. I was twelve years old, sitting on the cold, grimy floor of the middle school bathroom, my heart pounding in my chest. The day had started like any other, mundane and predictable, but it had quickly taken a turn for the worse when Jacob and Tyler, the school bullies, cornered me during lunch.

The bathroom was dingy and dimly lit, the flickering fluorescent lights overhead doing little to chase away the shadows that clung to the corners. The air was thick with the smell of cleaning chemicals, overlaid with the faint, lingering scent of old sweat and something sour. I hated this place, hated how it always felt like the walls were closing in on me, trapping me with my fears and insecurities. But there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. They had caught me, just like they always did.

"Look who we found, the little freak!" Jacob sneered, his voice dripping with malice as he shoved me against the wall. His breath was hot on my face, carrying the stench of the half-eaten sandwich he'd just devoured.

"Yeah, the weirdo who always keeps to himself," Tyler added, his voice a mocking echo of his friend's. He was taller than Jacob, with a wiry frame and a face that always seemed to be twisted into a sneer.

I didn't know why they had chosen to target me that day. Maybe it was because I had accidentally made eye contact with them in the cafeteria, or perhaps they were just bored and looking for someone to torment. Whatever the reason, it wasn't the first time I had been their victim. My fists clenched at my sides, but I stayed silent, hoping they'd get bored and leave me alone. My mind raced, trying to recall the advice my adopted mama had given me—stay calm, stay quiet, and avoid confrontation. But it was hard, so hard, with the anger bubbling inside me like a pot about to boil over.

But they didn't leave. Instead, they started pushing me back and forth between them, their laughter echoing off the tiled walls like the howls of some cruel, wild animals. I stumbled, my feet struggling to find purchase on the slippery floor, and the anger inside me began to burn hotter. It was a familiar sensation, one I had tried so hard to suppress, but it was growing stronger with every taunt, every shove.

"What's the matter, freak? Too scared to fight back?" Jacob taunted, his voice full of mock bravado as he shoved me harder, sending me crashing into Tyler's waiting arms.

Tyler caught me, his smirk widening as he added, "Maybe he's just too weak. Or maybe...he's not even human!"

That last comment hit me like a punch to the gut, the words reverberating in my mind like the tolling of a bell. It was as if they knew something about me that I didn't fully understand myself, something dark and terrifying. The anger inside me surged, a burning heat that I could no longer contain, no matter how much I tried to push it down.

I didn't know what was happening, didn't understand why the world suddenly seemed to tilt on its axis. My vision blurred, the edges of my sight tinged with a bright, searing light. Panic gripped me, squeezing my chest like a vice, and I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping it would all just go away.

But it didn't.

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light erupted from somewhere deep within me, exploding outward with a force that rattled the very walls of the bathroom. The light was so intense that it seemed to come from everywhere at once, flooding the room in a brilliant, searing white that banished the shadows and swallowed everything in its path. I felt the heat of it on my skin, felt the way it pulsed and throbbed, as if it had a life of its own.

I opened my eyes, just a sliver, just enough to see through the blinding light. And then, just as suddenly as it had come, it was gone. The light vanished, leaving the bathroom shrouded in darkness. The overhead lights had blown out, plunging us into near-total blackness. I could hear the steady drip-drip-drip of water from a leaky faucet, the only sound in the eerie silence that had fallen over the room.