Adam was poised to live normal life, until he was about five when he accidently bent a spoon with his mind out of anger. After that, he had to live with the fact that he was - according to his parents at least - a child blessed with gifts. Gifts that needed to be hidden, for his own safety. 

Wanting to be a good and obedient son, he did as he was told and kept his powers a secret. His parents helped him, teaching him how to control his emotions, keeping himself in check. According to them, psychic power relied on the mind, and the mind was influenced by emotion. Therefore, keeping his feelings under control was the most important part of being a psychic. Failing to do so would result in disastrous consequences. He wondered why his parents knew so much about what it meant to be a psychic, going so far as to explain what exactly he could, should, and would do.

Adam could read thoughts, enhance his senses, and move things with his mind.  He could even summon a forcefield that stopped objects in the air. These were just the basics, of course, and his parents promised to teach him more once he was old enough. 

Before that, he tried to live a normal life. It was important to his parents that he did so. He went to school, made some friends, almost fell in love, and trained both body and mind. The former was because he wanted to. The latter was because he needed to. He seldom used his power, oftentimes using it in isolated cases to help someone in need. 

One such example was when an elderly woman was almost rammed by a truck as she was crossing the street. She must have had poor eyesight and hearing since she failed to notice that the crossing lights were red and that a 72 feet long 18-wheeler truck was screaming for her to get out of the way. 

All of the other bystanders had looked away in horror, expecting a gruesome end for the old woman. Adam, meanwhile, summoned his telekinesis and pushed the old woman out of the way with a jolt, also catching her head before it hit the solid ground. 

The truck screamed past, followed by gasps of horror as every onlooker thought the woman dead. Much to their surprise, the old lady had managed to cross to the other side, dazed but otherwise unhurt.

As a crowd gathered around the old woman to help her up, Adam waited for the crossing lights to turn green then went about his day. 

He saved a life, and it felt good. However, his act of kindness would prove to be his undoing.   Unbeknownst to him, the old lady was a trap. The entire situation was made to draw him out, to confirm his identity by forcing him to use his abilities. Adam would have known this had he used his ability to read minds to scan the crowd, but that would've been rude. Adam was not rude, just naive, and that was worse.

So did the end begin.

It was five days after his birthday. On this particularly slow day, Adam was supposed to leave for college, and he was already bored. The college entrance exam was easier than expected, allowing him to secure a spot without much hassle. Tempted as he was, he didn't use mind reading to check on the answers of his fellow examinees. He studied, and he was confident, there was no need to resort to underhanded tactics. Besides, that would've been wrong anyway. 

Adam sat with his legs across the couch as he watched the morning news. It was 9 am. He had packed all his things the night before, putting all his belongings into one big travel case. Said travel case stood in a corner of the living room. 

"Someone's excited." A kind voice said as his mother went downstairs, followed by his father. 

"Goodmorning, mom, dad." Adam greeted with ab absentminded wave. 

"Watching the news again?" A rougher, but equally kind voice said as his father made his way towards him. 

"Yeah, nothing new or exciting." Adam replied, his eyes fixed on the news reporter as she was about to deliver some breaking news.

His father stood beside the couch; his eyes were also glued to the screen. "Well, that's good. Boring is better than exciting," He said, "But your legs are twitchy. It's safe to say you are the one who's excited." 

Adam looked at his father and found him smiling, "I'm proud of you, son. And I know you'll make us prouder once you're done with college." 

Adam couldn't help but smile too, "Thanks, dad."

The news was reporting on an incident at one of the city's ports. An explosion and gunfight had occurred with the suspects still on the loose, but this information escaped Adam's attention. Instead, he peeked his head over the couch, smelling the aroma of cooked bacon and scrambled eggs as a pan simmered and popped.

"I smell breakfast." Adam's stomach growled. 

"Dibs on the bacon." His father quickly said.

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"There's enough for all three of us, you two." His mother said with a hint of feigned exasperation. 

"Most of the bacon then." His father jokingly said. 

Breakfast was served after a few minutes. They were gathered around the dining table in the dining room, listening to the TV as it played the news back in the living room. Though the reporter on scene of the port attack was explaining to the public that the suspects were heavily armed and organized, nobody in Adam's family was listening, even him. 

"No work today?" Adam asked just as he finished his plate. He and his father had just finished dueling for the last pieces of bacon. Adam lost, as was expected. 

"None, we both have the day off surprisingly. Management must be feeling generous." His father said, putting the last strips of bacon into his mouth.

"Yeah, or maybe there's something wrong?" His mother said, ever the worried one. She had finished her plate much earlier, eating most of the rice. 

"Relax, dear. It's probably nothing. Besides, we're due to retire soon anyway." His father almost choked on the bacon.

"That's still a few years away though, right?" Adam said as he stood, gathering the empty plates.

"Those years will come faster than you think. I mean look at you! Tall, handsome, going to college. You're all grown up." 

Adam blushed at this as he gathered his father's plate. He began washing the dishes as his parents cleaned up the rest of the table. He was due to leave in two hours by catching the noon bus for a short ride to thetrain station. After that, it would be a long train ride to another city where the college was.

After finishing the dishes, Adam went to the living room and found his parents watching the news. They had worried expressions on their faces. 

"Mom? Dad? What's wrong?" Adam said before his attention went to the same news report. They were displaying images of the suspects, and a sketch of a woman. 

"N-no, they wouldn't..." Adam's mother stuttered as tears welled up in her eyes. His father was none the wiser, quickly running upstairs to their bedroom. Adam felt the quickening beats of his parents' hearts as their minds exuded fear and worry.

Something about the suspects being displayed on the news worried them. No, it did not just worry them, it made them panic.

"What's going on?" Adam was confused, and the reaction of his parents was beginning to worry him too.

His father came running down the stairs with a gun in his head and a packed suitcase. 

"Dad what's-" 

Before Adam could even ask, his father was already closing the blinds and getting the keys to the house. 

"Son, we have to leave. Help your mother up. We're going NOW." 

Just as Adam was about to do what he was asked, the news made another announcement.

"Wait. Hold on. This just in, we're receiving reports that the suspects are converging on an apartment building near-" 

Then he felt it, an exceedingly cold shiver running down his spine, alerting him to imminent life-threatening danger. As if by inherent psychic instinct, Adam spread out his  arms and opened his palms, summoning his power. 

And he did so just in time. A boom sounded and their apartment's windows exploded, shattering into a thousand pieces as large shell rounds burst through. Adam caught them mid-flight with his telekinesis, suspending them in the air as his mind reeled against the inertia of their coming. However, the shells did not need to strike a surface. 

A few seconds later, the shells exploded, destroying much of the apartment and drowning what remained in smoke and fire. Adam, quickened by his psychic power, managed to shield his parents and himself underneath a telekinetic forcefield, blocking most of the blast and smoke. 

"We need to go." His father said, coughing as he held his wife. Adam's mother was still crying, but she was not about to give up.

"I can sense them. They're coming up the stairs, gunning people down." Adam said in horror as muffled screams and the sound of gunfire emanated from outside their door. 

Adrenaline pumped in his veins. Anger, sadness, and horror welled up in his heart. What was happening? Why were there people going after his family? 

Was it because of him?

Before he could think about it any further, his father decided on their next move. They were to force their way through the intruders outside, fight their way through the apartment, get to their car, and drive away to somewhere safe. 

It was an insane idea, but his father was not unprepared and neither was his mother. As Adam maintained and expanded the forcefield to keep the thickening smoke and encroaching fires at bay, his parents donned ballistic armor and armed themselves with automatic weapons from secret safes hidden within their home.

Wait a minute. Since when did his parents have automatic weapons? Or armor? Or the skills to use them!? And how come he didn't know about any of this?

"Son, I know you have a lot of questions and I promise you we will answer them. For now, we need to get out of here, okay?" His father said as he held him by the shoulder. 

"Y-yeah." Adam stuttered. He was confused and scared, but he trusted his parents. He loved them, and so he was sure that they had their reasons. Good reasons, surely. 

"Good man," his father patted his shoulder, "Now blow out the front door. We're going in. Dear?"

"I'm on it!" His mother, known for her kindness and gentle demeanor, marched towards the door like a well-trained soldier. She leaned on the left wall beside the door while his father went to the right. Adam's mother refused to look at his direction and he knew why. His mother was overwhelmed by guilt and shame. 

It was him. All of this was because of him. He had no doubt now in his mind that the people outside were after him, his mind, his powers. He was, after all, the only psychic. 

But why now? How did they know? Was it because of something he did? Then he remembered. There were a few odd people back when he helped the old lady crossing the street. A few were looking in his direction, not at the tragedy he narrowly avoided. 

Something clicked inside Adam's mind. A harrowing realization that he made a mistake.    Now he was here, fighting for his family's lives.

Adam did what he was told and shoved the front door open with a telekinetic push. The smoke immediately poured into the corridor but the corridor itself wasn't faring any better. As soon as they were outside, the intruders had snaked up both stairwells on either side of the corridor. Just as reported, they were heavily armed and with tactical gear.

These were no mere assassins.

"Targets outside! Package is along with. Open fire!"