Fantasy (Book #1 in the Superpowered series)

3

This book got three votes in one day? Jeez, by my standards this book is going viral!

When Serenity's parents came to pick her up, they were noticeably unsettled. They also almost never came to pick their daughter up together.

"Serenity, we heard about what happened at school," her mom said finally. "All of the parents have been notified in case we want to pull our kids out of school."

Her mother's straightforward way of delivering news was almost calming to Serenity.

"So... am I still going to go to school?" 

"We have the whole weekend to decide." She had forgotten it was Friday. "It's really up to you, though."

"I just don't know," Serenity sighed. "I'm scared." 

And she was scared—but not for the reasons her parents thought.

***

When Serenity got home after school, she usually used the time to manage her piles of homework. But today she ran upstairs to her bedroom. She sat down on her desk and flipped open her laptop. She clicked on Google. Serenity knew she couldn't handle this alone, but in the real world, you couldn't just stumble upon random geniuses to give you super suits.

In the real world, you couldn't just stumble upon superpowers. Or at least, you weren't supposed to be able to.

Serenity clicked on the search bar, but her fingers hovered over the keys. What was she supposed to type in?

Then she realized something. Why not just tell her parents? The whole problem in movies where they thought that people with special abilities would be put into labs for testing was just nonsense.

She walked out of her room and ran down the stairs. Her mother was eating blueberries at the dining room table.

"Mom?" Serenity asked.

"Yes?" her mom responded quickly.

"Well... I have this..." Serenity's voice stopped working, leaving her mouthing the words, then her lips stopped moving entirely. She couldn't do it. She couldn't let this secret out.

"Serenity? Serenity, are you all right?" Her mother stood up and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. 

"I'm getting really behind in schoolwork," Serenity fibbed quickly. It scared her, how easily the lies could slip from her mouth when the truth got stuck.

Her mom sighed and sat down. "Should we make a plan?"

"No, no, it's all right. I just wanted you to know."

Serenity smiled and sprinted back to her room. What had happened? 

She was on her own, for better worse.

***

Serenity spent the rest of the day worrying, but she was too tired to read any books before bed. She just let her mind wander, and slowly succumb to sleep.

***

Serenity woke up in the middle of the night. She was tangled in her sheets and hot. So she got out of her bed, planning to go downstairs and get a drink of water.

But instead, Serenity snuck into her parents' closet. She grabbed one of her mom's scarves, masking everything but her eyes. She had no idea how to do it, but her fingers folded the fabric as if it was something she'd been doing for years.

Then she crept into her room and changed out of her pyjamas, into dark green camo and jeans. Serenity was truly scared now. Something was controlling her. This was not her.

Then Serenity ran out of the house. The sun was just beginning to rise, and lights blotted out the stars. She sprinted down the sidewalk, faster than she had ever run before. Her thighs started aching almost immediately, but she wouldn't, couldn't stop.

The pain in her legs escalated. Her whole legs burned.

Where am I going? Serenity thought in a panic. Was this the side effect of her powers? Nightly strolls?

But to where?

Then Serenity stopped. 

In front of the bank.

Although it was early, the bank was open. Serenity knew she could walk in without any trouble, but instead, she grasped the minds of everyone around her. This was easy as if whoever (and whatever) was possessing her knew exactly how to control her power.

And in the scenes she ran through their minds, Serenity was invisible. Serenity didn't exist. 

Serenity tried to figure out what her power was doing. It felt like she was holding on to hundreds of balloons, and she couldn't let go of any of them or let them drag her off the ground.

The girl walked in the bank. She walked to a door that was passcode protected. A man in a suit walked over there and cupped their hands over it. Serenity reached out to the cord that connected her to their mind and duplicated reality. They put in a code: 4047.

Since a person does whatever they do in the illusions, the man also opened the door in reality. Serenity caught the door as he closed it, making him feel like he'd close down it. But in reality, he'd just let a terrified middle schooler in.

Serenity tried everything she could to move her limbs, but the run made her feel like she was covered in lead. But she pressed forward still, into a vault.

This was a vault straight out of a movie. The man checked to see if something was watching him. But Serenity was watching, balancing delicately on her feet like a cat, ready to pounce.

He twisted something and then pushed the vault door open with a grunt.

"You following?" the man asked. He slowly turned to face Serenity. "Her power isn't strong enough yet; her illusions don't work on me yet."

"Most people don't have your training," Serenity argued. What was she doing?

"Hmm. And how are you still controlling her, Pup--"

"Shut up!" Serenity said loudly, but didn't yell. 

"It's not your real name. Besides, answer my question. How are you still controlling the girl?"

Serenity felt her lips twist up in a crooked grin. "Getting up at four AM and sprinting three miles will do that to you. Oh, and she calls herself 'Fantasy.' Guess she already had dreams of being a superhero."

The man studied her. "I think you should let Fantasy go now," he said, pronouncing the word 'Fantasy' drily.

"Fine." For the first time, Serenity was in control of her body. 

She collapsed to the ground, exhausted.