Prologue

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BOOM.
Yelling and chaotic sounds reached my ears as I carefully scrambled over the rubble and darted away from the facility. Large booms rumbled behind me and the building buckled under whatever I had triggered. I tripped a few times, the ground uneven and new to me. I hadn't been allowed to run in so long... it felt amazing. The texture beneath my feet changed from the cold tile and cement to a strangely wonderful softness. The ground was grainy and had a slight give to it, letting my feet sink into it slightly. This must be what dirt feels like? Damp blades brushed against me ankles and calves as I ran farther out, leaving smears of water across my exposed skin.
The sounds of the facility faded and I felt the oppressing feeling of so many presences fade behind me. The workers and scientists couldn't keep up, my awareness of their minds dimmed with distance. The explosions had even snuffed some of them out, silencing their minds forever.
When I was a fair distance from that horrid place, I slowed my frantic running to a more moderate pace. I came to a stop and took a deep breath. A wave of smell hit me, a wonderful blend of pine and earth. I turned, swinging myself into the wind. I took another deep breath. There were other smells... wood, faint burnt smell, and car exhaust? There must be a town nearby, or maybe a small city in the distance. I ran my hands down my body, feeling the clothes I had worn for my escape. I felt the familiar cleanliness of my standard shirt. The workers had always given me these stiff scratchy clothes, always beyond clean. Over the shirt was the much softer jacket I had stolen from the guard at my door. It felt strangely like skin, but it was dry and rough. Perhaps it was leather? I bent over and ran my sensitive fingers over my shorts, feeling the same annoying crisp feel of the shirt. If I had to guess, I'd say they were white or grey garb. That would look the cleanest.
A smile graced my lips as I dug my bare toes into the soft dirt. My hair ruffled in the breeze as the wind's direction changed. I smelled something new, and it was close. It smelled like campfire smoke and... cooking meat? I took a deeper breath and lifted my chin, analyzing the scents. My stomach constricted at the taunting scent of food. I turned till I faced the fading scent and slowly began in that direction.
As I walked, I became aware of two minds. They were dim, but close by. I softened my steps till even I could barely hear them. I crept towards the presences, barely avoiding trees as I passed. Somehow, I could feel where living things were. Every creature has a presence, a light in the darkness I see. I felt animals fleeing into the woods as I trudged through, avoiding me. Even the trees emitted a dull presence, helping me know where they were. I walked sideways to avoid the trunk of another pine, shifting my direction to follow the scent.
The two stronger presences in front of me were human, and they were weak from something. Alcohol maybe?
Each of my steps sent vibrations into the still silence of the woods, reverberating back to me. I sensed a structure near me, a tent. The flapping of fabric in the wind alerted me I was close. I felt slight warmth to the air and the smell of smoke heightened. I could even hear the popping of sparks and hiss of flames.
A stick snapped under my foot and I froze.
"Who's there?" A female voice called out, slightly slurred. A man's chuckle came from near her.
"Nobody's out 'ere sweetie." The male said, clearly amused with her nervousness. I analyzed the presences, trying to pin their location and all the trees around me. After several moments of concentration, I had a decent map in my head of the terrain. The two humans were sitting in chairs around a fire, facing more or less towards me. The fire was between us. There were several trees between us. It must be nighttime or they would have seen me standing here. Their tent was to the left, beyond the immediate ring of trees.
The scent of food was overpowering and my stomach rumbled again. I took one settling breath and stepped forward loudly and uncertainly to alert them of my location.
The woman gasped and yelled out "Mark! Oh my god!" She scrambled up from her chair and backed up behind the man's presence. I grabbed my head and grimaced as her mind became panicked and madly shifting between emotions. The man bolted up and picked up some thin object I couldn't identify. It seemed metallic the way it clanged as he picked it up from the ground. His mind was no better. His uncertainty and anger was grating against my mind, distorting the map I had so carefully created.
"Hey you! You better identify who the hell you..." He paused and I could feel them their eyes on me. "What the fuck happened to you?" He called out.
I scowled. I know the facility had injured me repeatedly for 'testing' but I didn't realize it was so noticeable. I ran a hand over my arm, feeling the many dips and divots in my skin. Perhaps the scars were more pronounced than I anticipated. He seemed to be trying to make eye contact. I felt his glare on my face. He took a step forward and accusingly yelled out "are you blind!?"
The mix of anger, surprise, and pity in his mind made me sick. The woman moved out from behind the man, her mind twisting between fear and anxiety.
"Yes." I said quietly. A searing heat was rising in my body, tensing my muscles and narrowing my eyes. Their emotions were too much for me. Their weak presences were like bugs, so miniscule and so very vulnerable. I had come with the intent to ask them for food, but why ask such mice for help? His voice broke through my thoughts.
"Hey, we're real sorry for ya kid, but you gotta go. Just... uh, go back where ya came from and we won't call the cops." He told me, swelling his chest. A hint of arrogance and pleasure at protecting his girl rose in his mind, further sickening me. The girl was no better. Her mind was a mix of support for the man's choice and utter disgust at my appearance.
I felt my face twist into a sneer and the shadows around me bend. I raised my hand and channeled the feeling in my gut, just like at the facility. The bugs were saying something, fear enveloping their tiny minds. But I couldn't care less. They screamed and tried to run, but their presences were constricted and then snuffed out by the darkness I commanded. Even the fire was extinguished by the dark. Everything around me was plunged into total blackness.
I must say that their food was delicious.

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Lil-magpie
DeviantART

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