Powerless

3: My 13th Birthday

"Class, now that you have completed your questionnaires, you must write exactly what happened to you on your 13th birthday." My teacher announces.

I take out a sheet of paper and begin working.

On my 13th birthday, my parents set out to defeat another villain, just like any other day. They told me their goodbyes and their happy birthdays. After they'd said goodbye and happy birthday, they left. I remember feeling a sharp pain in my head, it was slightly more intense than a normal headache. I decided to just sleep it off. I walked into my room and climbed into bed.

I still remember the dream I had. My parents and sister were both gone, and I was alone, sitting at home worried and paranoid. My parents had just disappeared.

I woke up to my sister crying, telling me that mom and dad weren't coming home. I was experiencing serious Deja-vu. My mom and dad never returned home, but I knew I could rely on my sister for the time being.

I still remember them. Their faces, their smiles, their laughs. Sometimes, a distorted image of their faces would race through my mind, one by one as I struggled to pull out a new memory that'd been stuck in my mind, locked away until I found a key that would trigger a lock.

Recently, I've stopped looking for those keys, I usually find things in places I don't expect. When I've moved on and stopped searching for them. One day, I hope to find another key, but right now, I'm focused on how I'm going to get where I need to go without one.

I raise my hand and my teacher calls on me.

"I'm finished." I say, glad I don't have to relive that day any longer.

"OK, thank you. Now this is going to be attached to your evaluation. Tonight, 15 heroes will evaluate your answers. Tomorrow, you will meet with at least one mentor, they will be working with you for the next couple of years as you learn how to control your power." She explains.

"Yes ma'am." I reply, nodding. I'm so eager to be "great," to be "powerful," but I don't even have a power.

[...]

The next morning, I sit in class, shaking, anxious to find out what happens next. Today's the day that I meet with my mentor, or mentors. I can't concentrate on anything. My head starts pounding. My mind races with thoughts.

I probably don't even have a power. What power could I possibly have? I'm so useless, I'll never save anyone, and I'll never be super. I think as I hear my name being called.

"Alex, your mentor is in room 431." My teacher says.

I gather my supplies and walk out of the classroom. I hurry down the corridor and walk into the 400 building.

"431, 431, 431." I repeat in my head. When I walk into the 400 building, time slows down. I walk slowly, passing the rooms one by one. 423, 425, 427, 429, 431. I freeze.

"This is it." I whisper to myself, pushing myself to walk in. I take a deep breath and walk through the door.

"Hi, my name is," I start.

"Alex?" I hear a single familiar voice ask. I look up and stare into the eyes that I remember so clearly. My mentor is my sister. I run up to her and open my arms wide for a hug. She wraps her arms around me and pulls me in for an embrace, out of nowhere, I burst into tears.

"I've missed you so much." I manage to tell her between sobs. We stay like this for a couple of minutes until I start thinking. If she's my mentor, then she can help me understand my powers, she knows what my power is! She'll be with me for the next two years!

"WAIT! You know what my power is! What is it? What is it? What is it?" I ask frantically.

"You can predict the future." She replies, smiling. I pause, needing a moment to process everything that has happened.

"I can predict the future? No...no I can't, that doesn't make any sense. I've never predicted the future before..." I mumble, pulling away from her.

"Yes, Alex, you can. Don't you remember the dream you had the night we lost mom and dad? On you birthday...?" She reminds me.

"Yeah, but that happens to everyone. Don't you get Deja-vu sometimes?"

"Everyone gets Deja-vu, but not everyone gets it the way that you do. It usually happens for a brief moment. You dreamed of an entire scenario and it came true. That's what's super about you." I pause, trying to understand. "This paper that you wrote says that you had a headache before you had the dream. Does that happen to you a lot? Do you get the headaches often?" She asks me, curious.

"Yeah, but I haven't been sleeping much since you left. Only a couple of hours a day. Every time I go to sleep, I wake up afraid that what I just dreamt would come true. You're telling me that's my power? I just know what's going to happen before it does? I know all of the bad things that are going to happen? I can't even do anything about it? That's horrible!" I yell, aggravated.

"YOU can't change anything about it, but as I help you develop your power, you'll start having these visions faster, while you're awake." She tells me, trying not to upset me. I realize I never actually learned what her power was.

"You know, I never got to ask you what your powers were..." I hint.

"I'm a time traveler, in fact, that's my name now: Time Traveler. That's why they put me with you. They want us to be a duo. You tell me what's going to happen and why, and then we can go forward in time together and change what's going to happen!" She explains, excited.