People were born different.

No.

Every living creature was born different, even though they might look similar to others at first glance. Such was the world's cruelest law.

...

Liam opened his eyes. The old bed under him creaked in protest as he slowly sat up and drowsily examined his surroundings. The dusty bedroom was as unwelcoming as it was lifeless, covered in a permanent shade of gray and containing a single wardrobe for furniture, with the room's only window being the sole provider of comfort in the form of sunshine. Liam enjoyed thinking that it was like a portal to another world, a beautiful escape to somewhere beyond the grim reality.

Almost in a trance, the young man dragged himself out of bed, his bare feet taking him closer to the window. As he opened it, the room was instantly filled with the typical cacophony of the streets of a major city, while the hot air carried with it the scent of smoke and metal. The scenery outside was mundane, in a way. A street filled with cars, surrounded by buildings that reached into the sky while people walked on the sidewalk, going about their daily lives. A sight he had grown far too used to. Still, Liam opened the window every day without fail, staring at the street for a few long minutes silently.

'That one looks well-off. Should've taken the subway if he's in such a hurry. Oh, is that woman fighting over the phone? Walking under the hot sun sure isn't going to soothe her mood. Whoever called her picked a bad time...'

The youngster did this daily and yet his thoughts were always different. Just like the people outside were always different. In his opinion, however, they were all similar in the sense that they were all a product of their circumstances. That applied to himself, as well.

Gradually, Liam's musings gave way to more pressing concerns and he walked away from the window, entering the bathroom, which was just as dull as the bedroom he was in. His reflection on the bathroom's mirror showed an ordinary face and build, his piercing blue eyes being his only outstanding feature. Taking off his clothes, he started to shower, the cold water running on his body and over all the scars on his skin like a physical representation of the way he felt. It felt colder than usual.

After finishing his shower, Liam walked back to the bedroom, opened the aged wardrobe and selected his outfit. It was an old, worn-out suit that did not fit him well. Still, it was the best outfit he had for a job interview. The youth sighed to himself as he inspected the attire.

'How many times has it been now? Maybe I should just not go. It probably won't go differently from any of the other interviews, anyway. Besides... Does the way it goes even matter at all...?'

Liam stopped himself as he felt his thoughts wander into a subject he did not want to think about.

'Focus. I need to focus. Live one day at a time. Come on, worry only about today.'

The young man dressed up, brushed his teeth and combed his short black hair before walking out of the cramped apartment that consisted of nothing more than a bedroom, a bathroom and a very small kitchen. The small building, like everything in it, was old and decrepit, as if it wasn't meant to have stayed around for so long. Liam walked along the bland corridors and down several flights of stairs, arriving at the building's entrance. Looking over to his right, he greeted the doorman the same way he always did.

"Good morning, Albert. How are you feeling today?"

The old man took his eyes off the newspaper in his hands and squinted towards the youth, cursing under his breath that his sight was no longer what it used to be. His thinning white hair fluttered slightly as he turned, falling over the man's wrinkled forehead.

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

"Same as usual, kid. Going to another job interview?" The elder inspected Liam's suit, taking on a disapproving gaze after seeing the clothing's wrinkles. However, his gaze quickly softened in sympathy as he noticed the youngster's eyes seemed even more lifeless than normal.

"Yeah. Same as usual too, I suppose. I should be back before sunset."

Seeing that Albert gave him a silent nod in response, Liam walked out of the building and into the street he'd seen from his window. He couldn't help but think that he preferred to simply look at it from his room. It felt much more bearable from up there. He stopped for a moment, before almost begrudgingly trudging towards the entrance to the underground subway, a few hundred metres away. As he walked, he repeated the same thing to himself in his head over and over, while trying to keep his eyes focused.

'One foot after the other. Maybe this time it'll work out. Think of the things you're going to say. Don't worry about anything else.'

Suddenly, Liam's pupils dilated.

Ba-thump

He felt like he could hear his own heartbeat as his muscles tensed up, the blood in his body flowing towards them with unprecedented strength. In nothing but a moment, he turned from an ordinary man into a tiger-like figure.

He could feel 'it' coming from above him. If he had to describe it, he'd say it was like a droplet of bright red paint on a pure white canvas, sliding in his direction. Both himself and others had called this several names throughout his life. Some of the people he once knew called it 'instinct', while others described it as a 'sixth sense'. Some educated folk said it was 'an unheard of physiological response caused by severe trauma'. The same educated folk almost took him apart trying to figure out how it worked. In spite of all of this, Liam simply knew it as 'the feeling of danger'.

In a flash, he sidestepped, almost crashing into other passers-by. Less than a second later, a flower pot crashed where he was standing a moment ago. Looking up, the young man saw a rather horrified middle-aged woman standing on a balcony over 10 metres above him, who breathed out in relief after seeing he wasn't injured. After trying to tell her not to worry about it through gestures, Liam absent-mindedly answered the multiple "Are you alright?!" questions coming from the people around him, while ignoring the inquiring and impressed gazes of the ones who'd seen him avoid being hit.

Continuing along his way, he discreetly put a hand on his chest, his eyes now much brighter than before.

'It's beating too fast. I need to calm down. God damn, that was close.'

It was only in moments like these that he felt alive. For a short instant, he was something more, something other than an unemployed 22 year-old without any remarkable skills. Right as his thoughts reached this point, his cellphone rang.

Picking it up from a side pocket, Liam looked at the name on the screen. 'Arthur'. He accepted the call and put the phone against his ear. Before he could say anything, the man on the other side spoke first.

"What up. I didn't wake you up, right?"

Feeling slightly happier, Liam grinned at his friend's disappointed voice, which he did a very bad job of hiding.

"No. I'm already on my way to the interview. You tried."

"Oh, shut up. Anyway, I called to remind you of it if you were still sleeping and to say I'll be dropping by for your birthday next week."

"What? We had already agreed that there was no nee-"

"I changed my mind. What you gon' do 'bout it? By the way, my dad also let me spend some extra money so we can do some cool shit. I'll bring a girl for ya, don't worry. Only way for you to get some, either way."

Liam knew that there was no use trying to convince Arthur to go back on his decision at this point. They'd known each other for far too long for him to try to argue. In fact, he suspected that Arthur had planned to do something on his birthday all along and had only pretended not to.

As such, the two kept throwing jabs at each other while catching up. The conversation only came to an end when Liam reached the entrance to the subway and decided to have the last word.

"Alright, I gotta go. Entering the subway right now. Try not to overdose on something or catch some new STD's while I'm gone."

He hung up the phone before he could clearly hear the stream of curses coming from it. Noticing he felt a little lighter than before, Liam took a deep breath. Talking to his only friend almost made him forget about the world for a while. It was just like the few profound conversations he'd had with Albert over some beer. His eyes visibly dimmed as he thought about the rest of the day, however, the very possibilities of what could go wrong draining him of what little energy he had. Shoving these unpleasant thoughts to the back of his mind, he stepped onto the stairs leading to the underground.