Metanoia

Prologue ~ Before Beacon

The vibrations came first.

They shook their way through the ground with an alarming rattle from the furniture they manage to move.

I sat on the floor, watching it all happen. Around me were little toy cars, and robot space men that were driving them to get spaghetti for their children. Two adults ran into the room. A tall, beautiful woman with brown hair put up in a tight bun, and a rough, muscular man who had just gotten home from a boring day at work.

These were my parents.

The woman picked me up and hugged me ever so tightly, whispering in my ear that everything was going to be okay. I didn't understand. I wasn't crying. I wasn't hurt. I was happily sitting and playing "Go Get the Spaghetti" with my space dudes. I was perfectly fine.

The three of us ran outside, my parents watching the clear blue sky with a foreign look of fear clouding their glassy eyes. I looked up with them and saw a flock of birds flying in circles around our house. Nothing else.

"What's wrong, Mummy?" I asked in my baby voice. High, and innocent, I wish never had that voice. No one ever took me seriously.

"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head hastily, "Nothing, my sweet child."

To my dismay, those were the last words I would hear from her.

My dad took me into his arms - his strong tan arms - and charged ahead of my mother. She fell to the ground crying. I could see the tears falling from her eyes. I wanted to go to her, to make her feel better. I squirmed and hit and shouted like a wild animal, but my dad never looked back.

He never looked back at the woman he loved. He couldn't.

My dad put me down, and he looked his brother in the eyes.

"Take him." was all he said.

My uncle grabbed me, and lifted me off my feet in one swift movement. I watched as my dad fell to the ground, too.

"NO! NO! I don't wanna go bye-bye!" I pleaded, "I don't wanna go bye-bye!"

A high-pitched noise then filled the air, making my ears scream in pain. The birds from the circle, they were dropping things. Large things. I didn't understand.

Now I do.

Those weren't birds.

They were planes.

Dropping bombs.

They fell, their high whine making me cover my ears in pain. I closed my eyes tightly, and was thrown to the ground. It hurt. It hurt so damn much.

I opened my eyes. I was in a dark place. It smelt like metal and oil. Food was thrown in a corner, along with tons of water. I hate water.

It was just my uncle and I in this strange place. My parents were nowhere to be seen.

My uncle looked at my sore, aching body with sad worried eyes.

"Hope you like the dark, kid." He said, and closed the lid, sealing us in complete and total darkness.

I panicked.

But, I wasn't terrified.

I was brave. Brave like my spaghetti-buying space dudes.

A light switched on. It was faint; only lit up a small circle around the bulb, but I could see my uncle. He had his arms out at his sides, waiting for a hug.

I ran to him to hug him. I needed a hug too.

"It'll be okay. I'll protect you." He whispered.

"Uncle, what's going on?" I asked, "Where are Mummy and Daddy?"

There was a long pause of unfriendly, chilling silence.

Finally, my uncle looked at me with a dreading frown.

"They aren't coming."

"What do you mean?" I cried, tears falling down my cheeks; cold as ice.

"I mean they aren't coming. It's just you and me. The rest will die."

My eyes widened with shock. Die? What did that mean? I was tempted to ask, but my uncle sniffled and wiped a tear from his face. My questions can wait.

That was ten years ago. Back before the world became hell, and I had to fight for my life.

My uncle and I made it alive. Many have died brutal deaths at the hands of the enemy. My parents being one of the first. We had managed to escape the explosion, and the armies. Now it was time to fight back. We had searched for those few who had lived. We had joined with them, formed a team.

We were going to fight against those who had taken our world.

And we were going to win.

My name is Maxwell Anderson. And this is how my life became a living hell.

{ Prologue written by @RandomTheUnicorn }