💥𝒢𝑜𝒹𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒲𝒾𝓈𝒹𝑜𝓂💥 [𝒳-𝑀𝑒𝓃]

Chapter 1: The Crisis

"I was raised to face any challenge."

- Louis Zamperini

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Elizabeth Grace's POV

I would tell you that this story is about me, but that wouldn't be completely true. I can't truly tell you my story without telling so many other stories. So many of these stories help to make up mine—my father's story, my friends' stories, my lover's story, and a man's story who I've considered a rescuer, an enemy, and a friend. 

I could say that my story starts on the day I was born. While this might be a good place to start, it is not where I chose to start. My story really takes off when a bullet gets involved. Of course, I'm sure you're asking where this bullet came from and why on earth it's involved in my story. Well, hang on, because I'm getting there.

I am at a lecture. It isn't exactly that I am just super excited to be there considering I'm three. My mother and I are here listening to my father speak on... well, if I'm being honest, I don't exactly remember what it was on. While I do sit still and behave, it isn't really as if I am paying a lot of attention. Granted, none of that is entirely important—at least probably not where the goal of my story is concerned.

The lecture ends after a few hours, and I follow my mum out of the auditorium. We pass a lot of people who look quite official—some I would guess could even be military. Many of them smile at us as we exit. One stares at me for a moment as a woman taps my mother's shoulder, and they start a conversation. His eyes seem to be fixed on mine as if he's trying to figure something out about me. I think little of it as mum motions me along once again.

I've needed to pee since about halfway through the lecture, so we veer off from the crowd and head towards the toilet. Mum freshens up as I empty my extremely full bladder. We exit and soon realize that we're farther off from the lecture hall than we originally thought. Naturally, everyone else had already left. The hallway is silent.

Most of the time when you hear that no one is around or it's silent or at least a little too quiet, you start to think that something bad is gonna happen. You believe someone absolutely has to jump out of nowhere. Well, we aren't deviating from this idea here.

Just as you would expect, someone does indeed appear. It is the same man from earlier—the one who seemed interested in my eyes. It isn't until this moment that I realize why he was staring at my eyes: One of the contacts I keep in to normalize my eye color has fallen out. My left eye shows off its natural, glowing, bright white hue for all the world to see.

"Mutant..."

I know I'm the only one that can hear it. It's a thought in his head. The word he thinks in his mind is what dad says I am. I don't mean to hear the voices. It just kinda happens sometimes. I'm not even sure if I meant to hear this time.

Mum looks down at me nervously as he walks toward us. A few other men quickly follow behind him. They all stop a few steps in front of us. My mother's eyes never leave the man. Looking up at him now, I can see he's military of some type, but that's all I can tell.

"Ma'am," he says to mum. "I'm going to need you and the girl to come with me."

I don't have to hear the voices to know something's wrong. The look in his eyes says it all. Something bad is going to happen here.

No... You can't get scared, because bad things happen when you do.

Mum moves me a bit behind her and starts to back away. The man begins to reach for his weapon as she does. She stops, not knowing what to do. Her eyes glance down at me. She knows full and well what's going on.

I don't even know what causes the shot or who fires it. It's all a blur. It rings out as mum falls. Blood appears on my dress as she does. I scream as her body hits the floor. Lights shatter, and two of the men scream and cover their ears as blood runs from them. Everything seems to move at warp speed and slow motion all around me. Another bullet flies towards me... but this one stops. It just seems to float in front of my face in midair. Before I can truly wrap my head around this, someone quickly picks me up.

The floating bullets all fly back in the opposite direction... killing the men that just shot at us.... except... except... two of them were already dead. My mum still lays on the floor. She's gone. I know that well enough.

"It's going to be alright," a male voice tells me.

I don't even ask who my rescuer is. At this point, I don't even care. I drape my arms gently around his neck for a bit of support—burying my face in his shoulder to block out the scene—as we rush out of the building away from the terrors that just took place. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Song: Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson