52 stories

Week 29: Backstory

''Not really. Why?''

Terence explained how he heard that some people seemed to have developped powers since the storm and he was wondering if maybe it had affected them too. Jamal didn't want to believe him at first even if Terence was giving lots of examples of how Terence just knew how people felt. It was not only because he was empathic, it was something else ''And I feel something else in you too! Please believe me.''

''No! Stop with this... nonsense, please! I don't want to think about it!'' Truth was, Jamal was feeling different, but he didn't want to believe it. And learning that maybe his brother was affected too made him even more protective and anxious about it. Their father looked down to see why they were arguing about and has he did, he kicked his pot of paint, making it fall in the brothers direction. Jamal raised his arms in a protective way only to see the pot of paint crash on an invisibles shield a few inches above his brother and him. The three of them stared at paint slowly falling down the invisible shield. They then looked at each other in disbelief. What happened? Did they really just saw what they just saw? They settled a family meeting to talk about it. What they should do? They decided to keep it secret for now. Maybe more informations will come has the time passed. And did the info came. And not good ones.

It took a few more weeks, but now everybody knew. Some people all around the World developped Powers. Most likely because of the Storm, but noone could confirm this theory. While some did good things with their new abilities, a few took advantage of it and, of course, people only talked about them. That's why the goverments all around the globe united they strenght and created The Hunters. A group of elite reinforcers of the laws trained and equiped to find and hunt the Threats. That is how they called people with powers. Jamal and Terence were glad that they were able to keep their little secret between them. Nobody knew about it and their family made sure to keep it that way. Nobody came to bother them, but as Jamal was getting ready to go back to college at the end of the summer, he couldn't let himself go ''Please mom, dad! Innocent people get hunted and even killed for something that is not their fault! Something that happened to us! We have to do something!''

There was a big argument between the brothers and their parents. The youngers wanted to do something for the people like them. When they told their parents how they always told them to follow their dreams and do what they thought was right, the parents didn't really have a choice but to let them do it. But only after Terence promised to come back home often to get home-schooled with them. He was still only a highschool student after all. Their parents also helped in their own ways by trying to find the parents of other child with Powers while Jamal and Terence went on their own hunt to find people like them before the Hunters could. And they knew exactly how to do it. They would walk around town and Terence would tell Jamal whenever he would feel someone with Powers, just like he did with his brother. And it didn't take long before he did. He felt a really strong power from a random girl. they tried to follow her, but she was moving way too fast in the crowded main street. It took them a few days, but they finally managed to find where she lived. A court. She was a consort, or atleast she would be a consort, because she still looked a bit young to be an actual one. They didn't really know what to do so they did what they always did: ask their parents.

Their mother had to help a few of the women there in the past and from what she learned and heard, everybody working there were bond by some kind of contract that anyone, including the person bond to the contract, could 'buy' to become the new owner of the contract. If the person could buy their own contract, that meant they were know free to go as they pleased, but if someone else bought it, the person now had to work for them. This didn't seem really fair since it was almost impossible for the person to buy their own contract, but it wasn't technically slavery so... The authorities never did anything about it. Maybe they could go and ask her about her contract, maybe find a way to help her to buy her own contract if she wanted to. They would have to find the way to help her on their own. The two brothers felt a bit unconfortable at the idea of 'buying' someone's freedom. It was a part of reality that they never saw or heard of before. But they decided to try anyway. For all the people that were being hunted right now, they had  to try something. The feeling Terence got was really strong, they truly believed this young girl could help them in their quest to free all the people with powers. They all went to their room, trying to find as much money as possible, along with jeweleries and other valuable  trinkets that could help them... Help her get her freedom. They stuffed everything in a bag and in their pockets and they went out again to try and find her.