Chapter One: I Cause A "Natural" Disaster

If you are reading this, and you know you are one of us, great news: you have survived thus far. If you are not one of us, and are merely reading this for leisure, good for you. Count yourself lucky and move on.

But if you recognize your own life in these words, if you feel a sensation that you can't quite explain, if you find yourself questioning all you've been previously taught about the world, I would highly suggest you put this down right now, then run. Run as far away from this text as you possibly can. Because once you recognize who you really are, there is no going back. Your life can only get worse.

You have been warned.

Oh, excuse me, I'm being rude. My name's Austin Skye.

I assume you want me to start from the beginning. For as long as I can remember, I had always been different. To begin with, I was an orphan. My mother had died when I was very young. And my father? He left us. I never met him. At least, not when I was intelligent enough to realize the guy had contributed half my genes. The only thing I had left of his was a necklace: a pale blue crystal point on a silver chain. I didn't even remember what he looked like.

I was currently located in a foster home for kids who were... difficult.

Was I difficult? Yeah, you could say that.

Every foster home I'd gone to, something had happened, something I couldn't explain. The first incident went down about a week after my arrival. One of the older boys kept pushing me around, calling me names, and I kept getting more and more angry. I screamed at him. The exact same moment, a tornado hit the building: an honest-to-goodness, completely unpredicted F5 tornado. The place had been totally destroyed, so we had all obviously had to leave.

The next one went only about three days later. A couple of new kids showed up, and were kind of just hiding in the corner, not being very sociable. I figured they were being shy, so I decided to try and make nice, you know? But as I approached, one of the boys, a redhead, shot me such a violent glare that I think I jumped out of my skin. Not five seconds afterward, the building spontaneously combusted. It literally burst into flames as if the boy's glare had contained the ignition sparks. We all got out okay, though the building was destroyed. The redhead disappeared. I never saw what happened to him. But I could have sworn that, when he'd glared at me, his eyes had been scarlet.

And the time after that... well, you get the idea.

So, I kept jumping from orphanage to orphanage, foster home to foster home, and each time, something happened, something I couldn't quite explain, and that something would either get me kicked out, or completely destroy the place.

Fun, right?

Currently, the orphanage I was stuck at was run-down with a leaky roof and less working electricity than a doghouse. The food was cold, the sheets were thin, and the air was humid and carried the vaguest scent of boiled cabbage. All the other kids that were living there were either loudmouthed and rude, or silent, creepy, and constantly shooting evil looks at everybody.

The adults were no better. I guess keeping three dozen kids in line wasn't exactly easy, but they could have been a little nicer. They watched us all like vultures, breathing down our necks and snapping at us if we dared to step out of line. The scariest among them was a scarecrow of a woman that everyone called Mrs. Enolcyc. She had beady black eyes and greasy hair the colour of asphalt, which she kept up in a tight bun. She always wore a tight storm-grey suit with a collar that covered her neck, and a pair of gloves that no one had ever seen her take off. Rumors about her spread like wildfire around the orphanage. My best friend, Russell Dogwood, informed me that he'd heard that the last time Mrs. Enolcyc had been alone in a room with a kid, the kid had never emerged.

I guess I should tell you about Russell.

See, he'd come to the orphanage only a few days after I had. He was four foot nine with messy black hair and wide brown eyes that were always hidden under his bangs. Being not only short and absolutely scrawny, but also walking with a permanent limp, he was the victim of a good amount of physical bullying incidents, and often locked himself in the bathroom until the bleeding stopped or the bruises faded. He hardly spoke a word to anyone. Feeling awful for him, I decided to take him under my wing, which meant that no one else wanted anything to do with me after that. He and I became very close friends, though I was constantly having to rescue him from the older boys. He wasn't exactly good at defending himself.

Today, we were unlucky enough to face another attack. I didn't hear him screaming my name at first, so by the time I got there, Russ had been beaten to unconsciousness. A ring of boys surrounded the commotion, through which I had to push and shove to reach Russ. The attacker, a big, buff boy named Nathan (who was a recurring bully), was still hitting his limp body, fists rock hard and covered in blood. I tried to drag him off, but he was stronger than I was, and he had a posse. One of the other boys yanked me back and threw me to the floor, where he kept me pinned with his foot on my chest. I struggled, but his huge, smelly boot was immobile, remaining planted where it was. I couldn't see Russ, but I could hear the others yelling and laughing.

I had to get up. I had to help him.

My vision went red. Before I knew what was happening, the boy was not only off my chest, but through the opposite wall to the next room. Everything stopped. The silence was so intense that you could hear a hair drop. I felt everyone's eyes on me.

Through the silence came footsteps. They got louder, and louder, until the door banged open. Three of the adults, including Mrs. Enolcyc, stood in the doorway, looking less than pleased as they surveyed the damage.

"Who is responsible for this?" Mrs. Enolcyc growled, glaring at us. "Well?"

"Him!" Nathan cried suddenly. He had backed off of Russ, who was regaining consciousness, and was standing with his posse, pointing a shaky finger at me. "Austin."

Mrs. Enolcyc took a step forward, her two companions behind her. Her eyes narrowed to slits. She looked at Nathan, then Russ, than me. "Nathan. Austin. Russell. Come with me. Now."

Her tone left no room for argument. Helping Russ to his feet, he and I followed the three women out, Nathan not far behind.

They led us down the dark hallways to a section of the orphanage that I hadn't been to before. There was even less light here than the rest of the place, and I realized after a moment that the light was not provided by electric bulbs, but dusty torches on the walls. In fact, the hallway we were in looked absolutely ancient. Old portraits in rotting frames hung, covered in cobwebs and layers of dirt and grime that made the images impossible to see. The carpet was red and had patterns lacing through it, which would have been beautiful, had it not been for the countless stains scattered across it.

We were shoved into a room with a door made of... steel? It was hard to tell, for it also wore several layers of dust. The room itself had no windows, and walls made of moldy wood. The floor was so dirty that we left footprints wherever we walked. Particles of dust floated thickly through the air, nearly making me sneeze, and because of which I did not see one of Mrs. Enolcyc's companions shut and lock the metal door.

Turning, I saw the three women standing in a line in front of us, blocking our way out.

"Now, boys," Mrs. Enolcyc said in a sweet voice that made me feel uncomfortable.

"We can't have you fighting like that," said the woman on her left.

"Someone could get hurt," hissed the woman on her right, her voice tinted with laughter.

"Someone did get hurt!" I snapped. Immediately, the left woman hit me.

"Watch what you say," Mrs. Enolcyc snarled. "Dniwedart will not hesitate to strike."

The woman, Dniwedart, grinned at me, her fangs gleaming as her forked tongue flicked between them—

Wait.

Fangs?

Forked tongue?

The woman on the right sneered at me. "Enolcyc, this one... it's him!" she shrieked.

"Patience, Odanrot," Mrs. Enolcyc hissed.

"But you saw what he did! It must be him!"

"Leave it!" Dniwedart screeched. "He does not know what he is yet! We cannot tell him now, or the master will be angry!"

What I am?

I took a step forward. "Wait, hang on!" All three pairs of beady black eyes turned to me. "What the heck are you talking about? What do you mean I don't know what I am?"

Mrs. Enolcyc bared her teeth, which were, in fact, fangs. "That is not for us to say, child." She moved towards me, and I caught a glimpse of movement at her back. At first, I thought there was something behind her, or maybe one of the other two women was tapping her shoulder. But as she got closer, I heard the ripping of fabric, and saw that her suit was bulging and tearing by her shoulder blades. "The master will tell you when we take you to him. However," she said, grinning unpleasantly and flicking out her forked tongue again, "he never said you had to be unhurt."

I willed myself to stay put and not be afraid. What could she do to me?

As she got closer, the fabric ripped, and the suit fell away. Where there should have been her neck, upper body, and torso, there was nothing but what appeared to be a black storm cloud, which flashed with lightning every few seconds. A pair of enormous wings opened at her back. She pulled off her gloves, revealing a pair of shriveled hands that looked looked like they had been stuck repeatedly in an oven. They were the colour of charcoal, and at the end of each finger was a shiny, curved, wicked-looking talon. Her eyes turned blood red. The two women behind her, Dniwedart and Odanrot, went through the same metamorphosis.

At that point, I started to panic. Russ was cowering on the floor, his eyes huge. Nathan was staring at them with his mouth open, and from the smell of him, he'd probably wet himself.

I did the obvious thing. I bolted.

I have no clue what I was thinking, being locked in a square room with no windows, but I really wasn't thinking straight. Of course, I was immediately trapped in the corner by the monstrosity herself.

Mrs. Enolcyc leered down at me, saliva dripping from her pointed teeth. "Bad boy!" she screeched. "Very bad boy!" She raised a taloned hand to strike.

Suddenly, I felt the crystal around my neck grow warm. Looking down, I saw it was glowing with a steadily brightening blue light. And it was growing.

I put my fingertips to it's surface.

There was a blinding flash, and the crystal disappeared. In its place was a sword, its blade silver, its hilt the same blue crystal as the pendant.

Mrs. Enolcyc's eyes grew noticeably wider. She hesitated. "Cicyones," she hissed. "We meet again."

Dniwedart and Odanrot appeared on either side of Mrs. Enolcyc. "So it is true," snarled Odanrot. "He is the one."

All three dove at me at the same time, talons clawed and fangs bared. Blindly, I took hold of the sword's crystal hilt and slashed upward in an arc.

There was a screech and a hissing noise, and I was hit with a sudden wind so strong that I slammed against the wall. I pinned my eyes shut and shielded my face.

Through the sound of the wind and the blood rushing in my ears, I heard a familiar voice whisper, "There is no escape. NEVER!"

Then, everything was still. I heard only the sound of my own breathing. Cautiously, I opened my eyes. Mrs. Enolcyc and her two companions were gone. Russ and Nathan were both shoved as far into the opposite corner as possible, their backs to me, evidently to escape the winds.

I looked down at my hand. I was clutching my necklace, the crystal once more just a crystal pendant.

Standing shakily, I made my way over to Russ and Nathan. "Guys...?"

Both turned to look at me, their eyes full of fear. Nathan's were absolutely terrified, but there was something else behind Russ's expression that I couldn't decipher.

No matter. We had to call the cops.

I managed to get them both to their feet, and pry the door open with their help. As soon as we were free of the room, we bolted down the dark hallways and back to the main part of the building.

The rest of the kids were waiting for us. As Nathan rejoined his posse, one of the other boys sneered at me. "I hope Mrs. Yelims has you washing dishes for a year."

I stared at him, confused. "Who?"

He looked at me as if I was stupid. "Mrs. Yelims. You were just talking to her!"

When I still didn't make an intelligent statement upon the matter, he rolled his eyes and turned back to his buddies.

What was he talking about? I didn't remember ever meeting a woman named Mrs. Yelims. Letting myself out, I walked down the hall to the front desk, where new arrivals came in. The woman behind the desk, Miss Grace, was one of the few adults who was decent to us. I approached her cautiously.

"Miss Grace, ma'am?"

She looked at me. "You look like you've just been dragged through a bramble thicket backwards, Austin."

"Where's Mrs. Enolcyc?"

She blinked. "Who?"

"Mrs. Enolcyc. The woman who I'm always in trouble with?"

She smiled kindly. "Austin, we've never had a Mrs. Enolcyc working here. Not that I recall. Are you feeling alright?"