Burning Out

The Introduction

Ever since I can remember, I've worn gloves. To protect me, mama had told me. I kept them on, because they threatened to kick me out of school if I didn't. It was a lousy excuse of a school anyways. People lived in constant fear, so I suppose it was the best education there was. I mean, most kids didn't even have the privilege of going to school. That didn't mean school was pleasant. I was teased and bullied, scratched and got my hair tugged. It was a norm for me sadly.
Once, in my bedroom, I took my gloves off. Nothing happened. I was a bit disappointed, but didn't tell my mother I had done it. I would get in awful trouble. I didn't understand why I had to wear them, and why people glared at me when I walked by, but I remained quiet. It was not my place to speak.
The Dark Empire ruled over our world. They made the rules, made our lives hell. I hate them. I hate them more then life itself, and yet I can do nothing about it.
"Stay away from the Knights." Mama always told me. They were the ones fighting back against the Dark Empire. Anything to do with them could get you hauled off to madam, a prison located in the middle of a lake. It was where all the traitors go, mama said.
But she also told stories of these Knights, how they were a people with magical powers, and anybody could be born one. It used to be a blessing, mama said, but now it is a curse. The Dark Empire doesn't want any special people, mama had explained.
I thought I was normal. I thought I was nothing but a plain, red haired girl, until one night, as I tossed and turned to go to sleep, I heard a thump in my closet. I sat up, my heart thumping. My gloves lay on my night table and I quickly slipped them on; they had become comfort. Then... bang! The door flew open and a ghostly boy tumbled out of the old broken closet. I screamed, and surprisingly, so did he. Luckily my mama was out at the supermarket, working a late night shift.
"Who are you!" I demand, clutching my comforter after a good minute of screaming. He looked up at me, and his eyes widened, his mouth gaping. What he said next shocked me even more than seeing him.
"You can see me?"