The Real Ram

Prologue

It all started out when I realized I wasn't normal.

Okay, I know every teenager you'll find claims to be different, to be unique, to be special. I know they all feel like they are meant to save the world from something, or meant to be the smartest, brightest, most talented person they know. Most teenagers think every case of drama, or every whisper of gossip is directed towards them. But when it comes to me, I'm just...not normal.

I was always aware that I was different from my classmates, my neighbors, my brother, because I always felt like people distrusted me. They knew something was off, and they knew I could never fully hide it. I always thought it was my naturally almost white colored hair or the way my green eyes lit up in any lighting, but I was wrong.

I was so wrong.

Turns out, it was my mother that gave me this lack of normality. People like her and me claim it's a sort of gift, but I don't really care what they think. They only want power. Not my mom though. She used her lack of normality to fit in, just to make a statement. She used it to find love, to create a family, to pass down her inheritance of difference to me.

She also used it to die.

After that whole situation, my brother and I were handed off to our stepfather who had been living with us already for a year now. I guess he never actually lived with us truthfully until his love died.

That's when his real self came out. He got so bad, so violent and cruel that my brother ended up leaving. He couldn't take the heat, so he left the kitchen. I understand that, I just wish he took me with him. There's no sense in dwelling on it though, what happened, happened. He left me in the kitchen with the deranged drunk chef that loves to act out. I take it though, because I know if I don't then someone else will and I can't have that thought on my mind.

Besides, there isn't anywhere else I can turn.

I'm a freak. No friends, no family, just the stepfather that misunderstands priorities. I need to get my grades up. I need to find friends. I need to help around the house. It's my fault my mom died, it's my fault my brother left. It's my fault I have a freaky ability that hinders my normality.

Stupid inheritance.

I know I'm not normal, because I can do things others can't.

I'm a freak with a freaky secret, because I can't tell anyone about my power. This is because the world doesn't take kindly to people like me. People with abilities. They didn't bother giving us a name, just 'abilities' or 'freaks' or 'delinquents'.

They say the first person with an ability originated in just a genetic mutation. It was passed down as well as breakouts occurring in random people. Most humans are well warned about the dangers we pose, but I think they're just opposed to change and differences. They like their uniquely normal crowds. Besides, my kind only take about 9% of the population. Probably less, they really don't know. We're good at hiding, good at blending in as normal people.

I know I'm not the only one because I've seen kids get hauled away from school because they accidentally reveal their ability. It's quiet though. They get sent to the dean's office for citations on violence or something stupid like that and then suddenly they are never seen from, never heard from, ever again.

The government doesn't like us either. They think we have an advantage over them, and they love shooting us down the moment they can. The only true place people like me are safe are in compounds. Not the ones the government created, but the ones that we made. Facilities run by my kind.

But I have to stay with my stepfather. I can't leave because if I do he'll snitch on me, and I'll never see the light of day again. For now, I just need to deal with his nightly beatings. It's just what I have to do. I mean, my mom fell for him for some reason, right? In my opinion, he never even loved her. When she died, he just ended up driving my brother out and is currently working on tormenting me.

My real father, well I never met him so I don't really know much. My mother used to tell me he was just like her and me. He had an ability. She said it was a beautiful power that most didn't understand because they couldn't see past their own uniqueness to. My brother would say our father could make swords fly from his hands. I was young enough to almost believe him. For his sake, I pretended I did.

Apparently he was handsome. My mother said he seemed to never age, and he had this long, coarse hair that was a color just next to white, and his eyes, she said they were a deep, forsaken gray. She said that's where I got my hair from. My long, almost white waves I always keep in a tight bun at the top of my head.

She never had to tell me I have her eyes, though. I know because when I looked in the mirror when I was younger...when I look in the mirror now, I see her. I see her in my eyes. A beautiful living green that I thought made me different.

Phillip, my brother, told me awhile back when I could actually understand what my father was; just a blacksmith for one of the ability compounds called Omega. He also told me who my mother really was. She was a spy, for the same compound my father worked at. We're pretty sure that's how they met, but my mom never really told us.

Omega was this secret compound where people like me trained, and learned how to control their ability. They all fit in because they are all alike in being different.

Phillip promised me that one day he would take me to a compound like that. That one day I won't have to hide anymore, and that I'll be happy and healthy and safe. That one day I won't have to deal with my stepfather's pain.

But he's gone, and so is my mother. Honestly, my stepfather's been gone for awhile now and I just refused to accept that. But now I do. Now I know that I'm not normal, and since my brother won't take me, I guess I'll take myself.

I know a guy on my street that has an ability. With my stepfather's threats to turn me in getting more and more frequent, I feel I should come out and ask my neighbor if he can take me to the compound he works for. Where else would he work? He's a fire user, I know because I can see his ability flowing through his veins.

I guess I should talk about my ability. I can see a lot better than others. My normal vision is 20/6, but my mother told me to never tell anyone that. Apparently it's better than the best record vision in the history of mankind. My power is more than just normal eyesight though. If I focus hard enough, I can turn or make my eyes see different types of visions, like thermal imaging or ultraviolet light. I've seen sound waves, and have slowed down the world with seeing slow motion. Imagine my eyes like filters on a phone, and with every new type of vision I master I add another filter I can just switch to whenever I want.

I can also see abilities in someone, which is really unique at my age apparently. My mother said that she didn't develop that eyesight until she was in her late teens. There's a lot more, but I don't want to bore you with me.

Anyways, I'm going to ask my neighbor today, on his way to work. People won't mind if I skip school, but if he declines my request, then I'm screwed. I'll get more of a beating when my stepfather finds out I've skipped school. I have to be right. I need to be.