Sharp thorns cut at my arms and leave dragged across my eyes. Every other step was a struggle with the roots that covered the ground. My foot got caught in a root, but I pushed forward. It wasn’t the first time that happened, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Tears stung my eyes as I struggled through the pain in my ankle. Every other step inched me slightly closer to my limit, and every breath only seemed to leave me more winded than before. I didn’t know if they were still following me or not, but I ran anyway. Ran from them, like every other time. Unable to stand up for me.

Michael and his little “gang” had ambushed me after school by the convenience store again, but this time was different. Instead of the usual fists and the occasional rock flung, they had bats and sticks. I knew I could take any of them on single-handedly, even with weapons. The problem came when all five of them ganged up on me.

Michael, their leader, and the first of them to get his powers distracted me from the front while the rest of his lackeys grabbed me from behind. They dragged me to the nearby alley and blocked off every exit. It seemed like fending off Michael after he got his powers pushed him over the limit.

He’d always been a bully, overconfident, and mean. When I transferred to this godforsaken town after my parents died, he thought of me as easy prey. He thought wrong. It turned out, however, that fighting back and winning just made you a bigger target.

Ever since then, I’ve been his number one victim. It's pushed away almost anybody who would want to be my friend, isolated me. While I could always beat him one on one, once he got his power, he got cocky. After all, who would expect someone without a power to win against a mere F grade?

His power wasn’t even all that good, just a weapon-strengthening aura. Or at least that’s what it seemed like, judging by the light red glow over his bat. His skill in that weapon hadn’t changed. Last time I capitalize on his overconfidence. This time seemed different. He had a certain gleam in his eye that I didn’t like.

He was calmer, and cold fury replaced his brash anger. Melinda was still visiting her grandparents, so she couldn’t save me this time. I fought the best I could, but with the odds, I barely had the chance to escape.

Dodging five kids with bats wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t impossible. That's especially true when only one of those kids had any semblance of skill to their name. Even so, I didn’t come out unscathed. To break out of their trap, I had to take a couple of blows to the arms, legs, and chest.

While that hurt more than I'd care to admit, I was able to power through it and run. The care house was too far away, and with my injuries, I couldn’t outpace them that long. Similarly, the police station, school, or any other authoritative building was out of reach. They picked their location well.

That left one option left, the forest. Many kids feared the forest, but I enjoyed the silence and comfort it provided. Whenever Melinda was away, I’d keep myself occupied in the large swathes of greenery.

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I hoped I could escape them there. Sadly, it was just slightly too far. While I could slip in between the trees into relative safety, Michael threw his enhanced weapon with deadly accuracy. While his power may not be great, any power is dangerous to an unpowered.

The bat flew at inhuman speeds and clipped the side of my face. Blood ran down my cheek and eye as I heard a sharp crack come from my skull. I knew they weren’t playing around before, but if that hit me, it could’ve killed me. It brought a whole new sense of panic to my run.

That brought me back to the forest, running for my life. Finally, pushing through the underbrush, I flew into the light, and for a few brief moments, I felt like I had gotten away. That is, until gravity caught up with me.

Rocks, sticks, and everything you’d find on a steep forest hill tore at my back, ripping the cloth t-shirt I had on like paper. My back was soon covered with gashes and bruises. My legs and arms were flung around like clothes in a washing machine, coming close to breaking them more than I was comfortable with.

My hands desperately clutched my head as the hill slowly leveled out. Blood flowed freely from the multiple wounds that adorned my whole body. As I rolled to a stop, adrenaline delaying the pain, I slowly uncovered my head to peer around.

I lay at the bottom of a steep valley, with my back to an old, decaying tree. Just as my tense muscles relaxed, my ears picked up the clear sound of creaking wood.

My head turned slowly in horror as I realized I was still too dizzy to even try to stand. The bat to the head coupled with the hill made me impossibly dizzy. The tree leaned further and further until it seemed to hit a breaking point where it all came down on top of me. I screamed in agony as my leg was slightly too slow to escape the old tree, pinning my leftmost ankle under the mass. Tears came back as the taste of blood filled my mouth.

I took what felt like hours to calm my breathing and clear my head. Every little movement brought a wave of pain crashing down on top of me. Ever so slowly, I turned to see the damage. My initial thought was that feet were not supposed to go that way. I became nauseous just looking at the gore painting the wood, seeing the stark white bone poking out of my ankle.

Focusing on my breathing once more, I tried to think about how I was going to get out of here. No one knew I was here, except maybe Michael and his crew, but even then, they didn’t know the exact spot. Even if they did, what were the chances they’d tell someone? After all, they were the reason I was trapped here.

That squashed my idea of getting rescued by heroes pretty quickly. Sure, there were some heroes with tracking or scrying powers that could find me quickly, but those were exceedingly rare and had much bigger problems than me. It would take days just to get them down here.

I checked my pockets for my phone, on the off chance that it had survived the fall. Even if it did, what were the odds that I had reception out here? I pulled out the small device with hope filling my eyes, only for it to disappear in an instant. My phone, something I worked my ass off for, was little more than a pile of glass and metal. It was shattered and bent in impossible directions. Which meant no calling for help.

I was truly on my own. No heroes to save me this time. There was only one way out of this. I had to move the tree. It took almost an entire hour just to position myself in a way where I could push the tree. Placing my palms against the knotted wood, I pushed with all my might. Dread settled to the bottom of my stomach like an anchor when my best effort didn’t even budge the damn thing.

Panic set in. My breathing quickened and my heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. I hadn’t even awakened yet. I was nearly 15 years old, the cutoff. If I didn’t get my power before then, I would be a dud for real.

‘If only I had my power,’ I thought as the light dimmed around me. I was getting dizzy. The blood loss was finally getting to me. I knew I only had one last chance. If I couldn’t get free now, I would die. I expected the thought to make me panic more, to lose focus and confidence, but it was the opposite.

The thought of dying here, with none of my goals accomplished, filled me with anger instead of sadness. Rage filled my arms like liquid fire as I pushed. Every ounce of me went into this one last push. Skin burst, bones creaked and veins popped and I put everything I had into it. Yet it wasn’t enough. As despair began grasping at my mind, denial came just as quickly. If I was already pushing at my full capacity, I’d just have to push harder. Break beyond.

Strength beyond what I thought was possible filled my arms and back as the old tree slowly moved. My arms shone with a brilliant orange light as smoke rose from my handprints. With a final heave, the tree flew off my leg. My arms remained bright and hot for a little while longer before cooling down where exhaustion met me. The last thing I felt was the cool tickle of grass on my face as I lay there for a nice little nap.