Faster Than Lightning

Out of the Woods and Into the Lightning

Have you ever wished you had superpowers? Wings? Anything like that? Do you wish you weren't so average?
    Don't.
    Being normal is the best thing that can happen to a person. In fact, being average is wonderful. You don't have people calling you a freak, your parents don't kick you out because they think you're the devil, and the government doesn't hunt you down because they want to disect you and see what makes you tick.
    So yes. Bask in your normality. Enjoy that feeling you get when you realize you'll never fly, have laser vision, or jump over buidlings. Congrats my friend, your life is perfectly, beautifully, mediocre.

    "Peniculum?" Nothing. "Peniculum." I say with more confidence this time. Sometimes it doesn't work the first try. Nope. Wait is that smudged? Maybe it's, "Periculum WHOA!" Red sparks shoot out of my hands and slammed, very loudly mind you, into a tree.
    Without a thought, I whirl around to see if anyone is approaching. No one should be. I lost the merry band of manhunters a few miles ago. Destroying the night vision goggles certainly helped. They won't bother trying to find me at night now.
    Maybe I should stick to spells whose effects I can read. For instance, "Ferula." I whisper. A whole section on healing! Just what I need. Bandages appear in my hands and I begin to wrap them around my arm delicately. The last thing I need is for something to get infected. I can't exactly show up at a hospital. Not when the whole state, maybe the whole country will recognize my face.
    Assured of my safety, I lie down on a pile of leaves, clutch my one possesion tightly, and drift off to sleep.

   
    As I'm pushed down to my knees, a group of seven people including the priest, my parents, and four other church goers prepare the holy water.
    "Please." I hear myself begging. "It's me. It's just me! Your daughter!" But my pleas fall on empty ears.
    "Silence, demon. We will free the girl you have influened and decieved. We will bring back our Aurelia."
    Cold water pierces my head as incantations in both English and Latin begin.
    And then it stops.
    Everything around me has been blown backwards, including the people. Reactions range from scared, to angry, to confused.
    "She-devil!" The priest barks in disgust. "There is no demon inside of you, you are a demon!" He cries.
    Everything is a blur I run to the door that was locked upon my entrance. It unlocks when my fingers brush the handle. Turning my head, I get the last glimpse of my parents. For a split second, I think they are scared for me. But they are instead, scared of me.
    Turning away, I open the door and fall into a botomless pit that can lead to nothing but Hell.

    I scramble into a standing position as my own tearless sobs wake me up. I stopped crying weeks ago, but the dreams will never go away. Slumping against a tree I recall the event that happened the last day of not being on the run. My parents decided I needed an exorcism, and the preist had agreed. They also agreed that I should be branded with "Qui subesse Diablo," one who is susceptible to the devil. My fear must've caused whatever happened, the Unholy Explosion as it was dubbed by news outlets, and I haven't stopped running since.
    But I need to focus. Reliving the past won't change what happened.
    Water. I need water. Luckily, it's not that hard to come by.
    "Aguamenti." Water falls out of my fingertips and into my mouth. Clean, fresh water. Another reason why I owe my life to this book. This smudged, almost ruined book. It is the only thing keeping me alive, and the only thing I care about. Deep in the forests of Mount Greylock's state reservation, with hard to come by food, and little safe water to drink, I am thankful for this mysterious gift. I do wish it were in a bit better condition. My spark scare of last night was certainly unpleasant.
    The sun has started to rise, and that means the manhunt will continue. As I begin my trek, I scan through the book for more spells. Finally! A section that's easy to read!

Repello Muggletum: repels muggles away from an area

    Ok. I don't know what muggles are, so that one won't be useful.

Riddikulus: Use this spell and laugh to defeat a boggart

    Again, I have no clue what a boggart is. The two spells that are easy to read are the least helpful in this entire book.

Sonorus: Point at self to -

Quietus: Undoes effects of sonorus

    I wonder what this does. No matter what it is I can undo it I suppose.            

"Sonorus." I try. Nothing happens.

"WELL THEN WHAT DOES THIS DO!" I try to mumble but it comes out as a roar.

"QUIETUS." I wince again, well aware that I should probably start running.

"Please have worked! YES!" This time my shout is purposeful, but altogether stupid. I hear voices followed by rustling leaves and snapping branches.

They don't travel quietly, manhunts don't.

Well aware of how utterly screwed I likely am, I break out into a full on sprint, maniacally flipping through pages looking for anything that can help. And that's when the people grow louder, and the sound of other humans envelops me. That can only mean one thing.

I'm surrounded.

Full on panicking, I start reciting every word.

"Lumos, nox, Homenum Revelio!" At the last one I suddenly can feel everyone around me. A few stumble through the trees, ducking and swatting over their heads as if something rushed over them.

Guns are raised when they spot me.

"Protego, relashio, rennervate." Nothing nothing nothing.

"Don't move." A deadly voice calls. The person directly in front of me has his gun directed at my chest. His own is protected by an FBI bulletproof vest.

"Waddasi?" Nothing.

"Stop talking and put your hands in the air." Finally a spell I recognize.

"STUPEFY!" I shout triumphantly. About half of the men and women around me are launched from where they are standing. It's truly a magnificent sight until I realize what's going to happen next.

Guns cock in unison, and in that one moment of sound, I want to be far away. Anywhere but here. There's one word left on this page. I don't think it's a spell, but I shout it anyway.

"APPARATE!" I'm drowned out by the sound of firing guns, and an immense pain fills my body. I feel as though I'm being electrocuted, and the light around me only supports that theory. Is this what being shot feels like? Am I dying? A blinding light encapsules and melts my bones and skin as screams of fear followed by rapid gunfire deafens me.

And then it all goes away.

I think it's the silence that finishes me off.