p r o l o g u e

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February heat beat down on Jackson, Mississippi, warming its inhabitants who were mostly too occupied with their own business to notice.
Grace Khang walked, tattered school bag slung over her shoulder, home from school, alone like always.

That's not to say she wanted anyone's company, she preferred solitude, especially after a day surrounded by other children her age. Though there weren't many children in Grace's school, most of the locals attending the school for the white students.

Grace didn't mind though, if they wanted nothing to do with her then she wanted nothing to do with them.

So she walked along the side walk, avoiding the stares of the adults as she passed by them, her mind set on returning home and telling her momma all about her day.

As she was thinking about how her friend Molly had held hands with one of the boys in their class for the first time, she spotted a football out the corner of her eye and ducked just in time to avoid being hit.

"Watch where you're going!" The culprit, a twelve year old called James, shouted across the small street.

Grace simply adjusted her bag on her shoulder, ducked her head and continued her walk home, brushing off the unwanted attention.

"Hey! He was talking to you, freak!" John, the beefy older brother bellowed, stopping the small girl in her tracks.
James she could deal with, but his brother, all blond hair, shoulders and height, was far too intimidating.

"I'm sorry for getting in the way James." Grace squeaked, avoiding eye contact with both boys. Of course, passersby shook their heads disapprovingly at the young girl, as the confrontation was obviously all her fault.

"It's ok Gr-" James started.

"Next time I'll make sure it hits you all the way back to where you came from." John sneered.

Grace's eyes began to sting as she picked up the ball and threw it across the street back to its owners. Unfortunately, John had already turned his back, and the ball sailed through the air and struck his shoulder.

"John, she didn't mean to-" James again was cut off by his larger, older brother.

"That's it." John grumbled as he scooped up the ball. "Hey mutant, heads up!"
And the ball was airborne, headed straight for its target, who could only throw her hands in front of her face as protection, heart hammering in her chest, eyes scrunched shut, breath caught in her throat.

She thought perhaps she had imagined the whole thing, as the ball never reached its mark. When she opened her eyes the football lay discarded at her feet, and the two boys across the street stood stock still, eyes wide and hearts racing.

"James get inside." But he remained unmoving.
"James go inside, now! And call the police!" John wanted to appear strong but his voice was wavering more and more each second.

Grace came to her senses and noticed that she had been looking through a thin, purple tinged shield of some sort, and just outside it is where the football had landed. Almost as if...

"You stay away, you hear me! Y-you freak!" The eldest boy squeaked, before turning and bolting inside after his brother.

Grace lowered her hands and the shield dissipated, as if it had never been there. With a quick look over her shoulder she sprinted the rest of the way home.

-

"Momma! Momma!" Grace called upon entering her home, and running straight to the kitchen where she knew her mother would be.

"Gracie, slow down honey, you'll fall over." Rose Khang laughed as her eleven year old daughter barrelled through the doorway.

"But you'll never believe what just happened." Grace started without taking a breath.
"The Miller boys were throwing a football and it came across the road and nearly hit me." At her mother's shocked look she added, "Don't worry, I moved before it could."
Then took a deep breath and started up again, "Anyway, some more stuff happened, thats unimportant. But John, the big scary one, threw the ball again, but instead of it hitting me I made a shield and it stopped it." The young girl smiled up at her mother, quite proud of herself and her newfound trick.

Her mother was dumbstruck. Mouth slightly agape, eyes wide and an eyebrow raised.
"Gracie, baby, what on earth are you talking about? You're starting to sound just like your pa." Rose shook her head laughing lightly.

Her daughter sighed, dropping her head.
"Here I'll show you." Taking a deep breath, she tried to conjure up the purple shield from earlier that day. She thought of how she felt the first time it had happened: scared, ashamed, mad.

Upon hearing her mother gasp Grace opened her eyes. And there it was, her shield, purple and shimmering slightly in the light shining in the kitchen window.
"They always called me a mutant, guess they were right." The girl grinned up at her mother again, not considering that the woman would be anything but impressed.

Rose Khang was frozen, not out of fear for herself, but for her daughter. Surely this could put her in harms way, she thought, if anyone finds out I could lose her forever.

"Sweetie that's amazing." She smiled back at her little girl. "But you have to promise me that this stays between us, some people might not like what you can do. And I don't wanna lose you too."

"Ok momma, I won't tell anyone." Which earned her a stern look from her mother.
"I promise."

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