The Essences

The Strain

Ouch, there are so many lights in my eyes. What is that humming sound, and why am I being passed along like a parcel? "Emily Louise Milton" I didn't know what that meant at the time, but how could I? I was just a baby...

I grew up in a large home, with only one sibling. My brother. He was stronger than me by far! I just about managed to survive my birth. I always felt. different around my family, like I didn't fit in because I wasn't strong enough or educated enough. Even though, my parents gave the best things to my brother. He went to a private rich school and had powers. I have heard my mother discuss these things with my brother but whenever I would ask about it my mother would shut me out and tell me to mind my own business. I slowly grew up to 10 years old, not knowing much about my families past and what powers we behold now, just because I didn't have mine.

I heard once that our Essences come from generations ago where our family and others used our powers to help mankind. Our powers could absorb the emotions and brainwaves of a human and enhance them, or we could change them. We learned to adapt to our powers and called them 'The Essence'. I tried and tried to absorb or form some kind of power every night underneath my blankets, while my brother was out doing proper training but yet I could not form a single thing. As I stayed weak, my brother grew strong in the years and so he was awarded. But with his stronger power, came greed and selfishness. He wanted more power every time he got power.

One day I heard my brother talking about how he had got a new trainer, this was an old woman. She could sense his overwhelming strength and led him down a dark path of his fate. She involved all her time with him, making sure no one was stronger than he was.
They were out on a field one day training, so I decided to go down there and watch from the distance behind an old oak tree. I put my hood up on my head and made sure I wasn't seen. My parents proudly watched as my brother used his unnaturally strong powers to absorb the mindset and emotions of a mere human. Then the old woman said something crazy.

She ordered him to kill our parents. He smiled and stuck out his hands while murmuring something under his breath. "I'm sorry, I will see you soon don't worry." I leapt forward from my hiding spot and tried to push my brother, to get him to stop, to just stop this madness. With a flick of his hand, he pushed me away onto the floor and put a heavy force on my back. I tried and tried to get up, to save my parents, but with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart I watched as my parents got killed in front of me. I was weak and I couldn't get this heavy force off my back or off my heart for my parents, and for my brother. Then, I noticed something weird. Time suddenly went back, to my parents crying on the floor and holding each other, just seconds before they were killed. Then it happened again, all over again. They were killed right in front of my eyes, for the second time..

The force crushing my back felt heavier as I tried to push myself up. I watched my parents die for at least 10 times before my mind finally made up the realisation that I was stuck in a time loop, I felt my blood boil hot with hatred at my brother and guilt for my parents because I was not strong enough to save them. I felt a raging force build up inside of me and then I heard lightning. I could feel my Essence. It came as a spiritual figure, only small but it was there, it tried with all its might to lift the force off of my back. It struggled for about 5 seconds before I grew weak and it faded away. I tried to summon it back but my will power went along with it. The same scene played again and again as I saw my brother smile and watch as he killed them. I felt sick and hopeless. I was weak, and no match for my brother. Everytime time the same scene played and as I heard the old woman command him, I tried to shut my eyes, but I couldn't. It made me watch. My brother made me watch.

'My parents treated me badly, they threw me away because I was weak. Maybe revenge wasn't so bad' I kept having these dark thoughts drift into my head. I tried to shake them away but I couldn't move. I looked one last time at my parents. They looked frightened and betrayed. I noticed something I hadn't seen before..my dad quickly glanced at where I was laying and mouthed the words "I love you" right before he was killed with the Essence of my own brother. My sadness turned into hatred and my hatred turned into power. I used all of my strength and tried to summon my Spirit Essence again. It came back, more powerful than the one before. It was slightly taller and had bigger muscles. It used all it's strength and lifter the dark force off of me by only an inch, but I felt like I could breathe even if it only was for a second.
Every time I managed to summon my spirit, it grew stronger with each turn. I kept fighting, for my parents and for myself. I knew that if I was able to get out of this time loop, I would avenge my parents and get revenge on my brother. I would make him suffer the same way he made me suffer. I would get stronger, no matter how long it took.

Just then, I felt a force so strong appear from behind me. It was as tall as a giant and had biceps the size of a house. It looked at me with sorry but angry eyes as it approached me. It lifted the beam, I felt my arm twitch as the force was slowly but surely lifted up off of my arm. And then....