My last foster mom had once told me that patience, understanding, and staying calm in delicate situations was a virtue I should work on achieving in life. That obtaining this skill would get me far in the world. I didn’t understand everything she told me that day, but got the gist of what she had meant.

However, what most adults saw as a problem was: I didn’t give a damn about being told what to do.

And I was only ten and being patient, calm, and understanding wasn’t in my pretend vocabulary.

So, the one and only thing that made sense to me was to kick the boar creature right in the snout. Then, the next sensible thing to do, when thinking in ten-year-old terms who thought she had superpowers, was to grab ahold of his wrists again and, with the same energy I used to jump up on the fire escape two stories high to grab that stupid fart-turd earlier, pushed that energy through my palms and straight into his wrists. My grin festered, but my triumph didn't last when I felt the boar creature’s own energy drumming from his skin, pushing back my own in a strange wavelike pattern. The sensation made me grimace. It was something I had never encountered before. But this new discovery wasn't in the forefront of my mind.

I needed to get away and process the revelation of having actual, tangible horns covering both sides of my head near my temples. And in processing this newly found horrendous, life-altering information, it needed to be done in my world; in my bed. Everything around me was happening too quickly. Too much information being thrown at me. I needed to make sense of it all.

I needed to run away before I broke again.

However, he appeared unfazed by my attempt at escaping.

The boar creature laughed again in my face. It took a lot of control not to hurl chunks at the stench coming off his hot breath.

“Yer can’t get away, sol-sucker. Not wi’that pitiful attempt.”

Everyone around gave us a wide berth, watching as they passed, but made no attempt to help me. They even went as far as turning their heads away when they past.

“Let me go!” I yelled again, now clawing at his hands and landing kicks anywhere my feet could reach. “I did nothin’ wrong!” My head was starting to hurt from where he held me.

My kicks bounced off him, and he made no sign I was hurting him. He only laughed at me as he continued to hold me high in the air by my horns.

“Not’a chance, sol-sucker. Yer kind think they cn’drag their sorr’asses here and do as yer please wit’out consequence! Wit’out measure er order!?” He enunciated those big words slowly, making sure I understood him through whatever accent he had. Or maybe it was because of his huge boar tusks on either side of his bottom jaw that made him speak the way he did.

“I don’t even know what a soul-sucker is! Let me go! I need to get back home! I need to find that fuzzy asshole! Let me go, you yellow ass turd! Don’t take your temper out on me because your pants are pinching your wrinkly old grapes!” Pushing my energy through my palms again, I tried to escape his grasp a second time, but all I got in return was an answering thrum of energy pushing my superpowers back and a bellowing laugh that was pissing me off more by the second.

Suddenly, I descended back down to the street. Within that second, when my right foot touched the concrete below, I pushed off it with my powers, trying to break free. But, yet again, my escape had the boar creature bellowing with laughter and all I got in return was a heavy pull on the horns attached to my head. Wincing in pain, I got dragged forward again by the right side as he had let my other horn go to turn forward.

He smiled cruelly. At least, I was pretty sure him showing me his teeth from the corner of his mouth was some sort of cruel smile on his part. “Yer coming wit’me,” he began, pulling me once more until I stumbled forward to his side. Looking up, I became vaguely aware of his apparel, wearing some sort of black apron over loose gray pants and his pig-like hoof-feet were bare. There was some sort of black powder covering most of his ugly pig body. Maybe charcoal? “We’r show ya wha’ happens ta stealin’ sol-suckers. Don’ try an’ run, sol-sucker. Yer ha’no place t’go.”

“What the hell did I steal from you? Where’s your proof? I didn’t steal anything! Let me go! I have people waiting for me! They’ll come looking for me!” I screamed, pushing off the ground again as he pulled me forward down the busy street. I was grasping at straws. Saying anything that would stick and get me out of this mess. “They’ll come looking for you! Everyone here is seein’ what you’re doing to me. They’ll tell my people and you’ll be in big trouble! They’ll kill you! Let me go, you blown-out asshole!”

The boar creature looked down at me, his lips twisting in that cruel smile again. “No one i’lookin’ for ya. Yer do nicely for m’project. Nicely indeed. Howev’r, tha’ mouth o’yers will need ta be dealt wit’. Can have tha’ shit spewin’ in fron’of customers.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I panicked. Screaming now and feeling the tears threatening to spill, I frantically glanced around me with tear-filled eyes and pleaded with everyone that passed.

“Please help! Please!”

Despite the way they all looked, animal-like creatures on all spectrums of the animal kingdom with only a few looking almost human-like, I didn’t care at that moment. If only one could help me . . .

To have any of them reach out their hand and help me . . .

It was within their power to help me . . . Right?

No one stopped. No one was watching the scene anymore. They were all ignoring me, purposely diverting their weird, oddly shaped eyes, and heads, and everything, toward the path ahead.

Not knowing what to do, I continued to struggle. Continued to push this energy of mine through my palms and into his wrist, not once relenting as I thrust that same energy into my feet and pushed against the cement. Trying to back up. Trying to escape.

It wasn’t working.

Nothing I was doing was working!

The energy in my palms thrummed again, increasing in wavelike lengths as it responded to my turmoil. Then, unexpectedly and entirely by accident, I felt the boar creature’s own energy break apart. My energy drummed at a different frequency than before, pushing between his energy and breaking it apart where my hands touched his wrist.

I didn’t know what was happening, but I worked off my accidental discovery. Too desperate to consider the consequences it may bring me.

Like lots and lots of pain.

I didn’t have time to guess. I only acted. Manipulating my energy wavelength — or whatever the hell I was doing — to fit between the boar’s own energy waves, I pushed that manipulated power straight into his wrists again, breaking apart the energy that tried to push me back and effectively penetrating the skin at his wrists.

He screamed a demonic pig squeal and let me go. The boar creature cradled his injured wrist in his other hand, inspecting the damage that I had dealt him.

Not giving him a chance to recover and grab at me again, I took off sprinting in the opposite direction.

Everything passed by me in a blur. My energy buzzed through my legs, aiding in my escape to get away from there as quickly as I could, not caring that I was moving faster than a normal human could run. I just wanted to get out of there. Away from that pig creature that had a project I didn't want to be a part of.

I ignored the stares when I ran past the people-creatures as they finally took notice of me now that I was free. Some even attempted to get out of my path as I ran as fast as I could bear, colorful cloaks reminiscent of that one cartoon I watched with James about little people and a dragon, flaring out as they tried to move out of my path.

God, it felt like I was running through some freak-show renaissance fair. Everyone was wearing weird looking robes, but in my frenzy escape effort, I paid little attention to everyone around me.

All that mattered to me was getting as far away from the piss covered ass-sack as possible.

However, in my panic, I made yet another mistake.

I ran into another person. Again.

Bottles rained down and shattered on the ground when I clipped the person's hip. But I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. Adrenaline fueled my movements and my common sense. I didn't stop to help, even when the guy I ran into fell forward from the impact and cried out in either pain or surprise. The only glimpse I got before continuing forward were goggles and cream-colored overalls.

Knowing some manners, I yelled back, “I'm so sorry!” before continuing forward in my panicked escape while hoping he wasn't like the pig-man and attempted to capture me.

However, it didn't take long for me to forget the incident when in my peripheral I saw something dark dart toward me from an alleyway, and with it came an electrical shock that didn't hurt, but I felt it buzz into my very bones. When the shock grew, more so feeling it buzz in my skull, I ducked, and at the last second the dark figure leaped over me, and crashed into some pottery on the other side near a group of people-creatures who watched the spectacle with wide, fishlike eyes. Their fish faces gapping at the thing more than at me.

Video games do, in fact, improve your reflexes!

The momentum of my run had me careening forward when I ducked, and I fell face first into the hard street below. However, I did take note when the dark thing jumped over me, that static feeling had intensified, then disappeared when it had cleared me, almost like a static bubble.

Another new experience to add to my shitty list of a fuck-fest day.

I didn't dwell on that feeling any further, as I didn't want to stop. So I didn't. Pushing off the ground, I took off running again, letting my energy rush through my legs once more so I could take off in a sprint instantly. Not knowing fully where I was heading toward, but figured my home would be a good start. The buildings were vaguely familiar, but I knew I was taking the same path home that I took when I was chasing after that shit-fuzz.

Only when I heard a loud growling sound and a couple of startled screams did I finally look back at the thing that tried to tackle me.

It was a dog. And not any dog. I'd seen it before in my world. It looked like a boney, malnourished Doberman wearing a skull of another larger dog over its face like a mask. Or maybe that was its actual face. I never got close enough in the past to tell the difference and wasn't planning on finding out anytime soon, but the way its eyes glowed an eerie red shine that was directed at no one other than myself as it took off after me from where it crashed into that clay pot stand, I didn't give a damn about the details.

I didn't want it to eat me like it hunted and ate bones of the dead in my world.