I opened my eyes and the black clouds had changed into white once. The screams had changed into children laughing and despair had changed into hope.

I was sitting on my bike like every morning, going to school. For a moment I forgot about everything else and enjoyed the fresh wind brushing against my face and the sun shining.

I didn’t know what date it was but I was happy to be back, was this heaven, Was I given the chance to enjoy life again? Whatever it was I didn’t want to think about it, I just wanted to enjoy the day. After months of death and fear, it felt good to have no worries. It felt like waking up from a bad dream and all my worries dissipating in an instant.

I reached the campus and parked my bike in the same spot I did every day. My body moved on its own like It was on autopilot.

As I reached the entrance I stopped and looked at my old school with nostalgia, all the happy memories of my childhood hit me and I felt joy for the first time in years, but I was never lucky, to begin with, suddenly the earth shook like an earthquake so strong I hit the ground head first. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was red, I had cracked my skull and my face was covered in blood.

Then I remembered, this was the day I became a protector. The day my whole life would change, and  I knew I had to prepare myself.

A sharp pain hit my body, it felt like I was being crushed by a big rock. I never experienced pain like this again, not even after I became a protector.

I tried to focus and manipulate the energy to the best of my ability, but I knew it was not going to do much. I was notorious for having no talent when it came to control, something my father never let me forget for a second, always telling me how the sacred relic was a waste in my possession.

I always regretted not witnessing the sacred relic materialize the first time, some philosophers called it the most beautiful thing in the world, so I was not going to miss this chance. I knew they exaggerated and that it was called that by the protectors so they could feel superior to humans. The truth is that they are just a part of us, to me my stopwatch was a part of my body like any other.

Nothing happened, it felt different from the last time. “It should have materialized by now,” I said starting to panic. The pain was growing stronger and there was no sign of the stopwatch.

The bright yellow light appeared from beneath the skin of my right palm. The pain was clearly much stronger than the last time, I had to do my best not to pass out. Inch by inch the yellow light drew the sign of a stopwatch, it felt like the most painful tattoo ever made.

When the pain subsided I started to look around, it wouldn’t take long before the two protectors would arrive. I didn’t remember their names anymore but I knew one of them was a member of the Overkill gang.

In the meantime, I stood up and started to help the wounded around me. It would take a new protector months to learn how to use their powers, but I didn’t have that problem. Most of us got the basics like super strength and super speed, and if you were lucky another ability or a sacred relic.

I wiped the blood out of my face so I could assess the situation, the whole street had been torn apart by the force of the earthquake, the lucky once were trying to run away with broken arms and legs, the others were just waiting for their fate. The old me would have stayed down but I had to do something.

“Don’t move them, it's best to let them sit still until the ambulances arrive.” Said misses baits, she was our English teacher. I would agree with her but she didn’t know what was going to happen next, I had to get everyone out of there before the two protectors arrived.

I picked up a girl who looked to be in critical condition and moved her inside the building. I couldn’t use my super speed in fear of injuring her, one bad move and I could paralyze her.

She should be safe here, this was one of the most expensive prep schools in the country, they had made sure the building was able to withstand an earthquake.

As I hastened back to the entrance I saw the two protectors arriving. The one that really scared me was Jacks, he was a self-proclaimed hero who could level the whole block. Not only was he stronger and faster than most new protectors, he also had the ability to make everything combust after he touched it, and if he got angry he could increase the temperature to almost melt everything to the ground. He was wearing a simple black mask to hide his face he had properly bought at a kids toy store.

When I was young I looked up to them, but now I saw them for who they really were, children playing with fire. The fool had caused tens of thousands of dollars of properly damage to catch a thief who had properly not even stolen one-tenth of that and lets not even starts about the civilian casualties.

The girl he was facing was called Alexandria, she was not a big time criminal but was making a name for herself. She was a little weaker than Jacks but she had enough tricks up her sleeves. She could make anything levitate and collide with the target of her choosing. Not much was known about her ability but I knew that it had its limits, she was only able to throw items that she could physically lift and the speed couldn’t be faster than her own speed.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Bad guys like her didn’t really try making costumes, she was wearing the cliché black hood with only her eyes and mouth showing. Even I wouldn’t be able to recognize her it wasn’t for her abilities.

I didn’t really care who won and just kept moving injured people inside, I never really cared about money anyways.

I had moved a couple of injured people inside while getting the stink eye from misses Baits before the fight had reached the entrance of the school. Jacks was trying to stop Alexandria while she was throwing cars at everyone and everything trying to keep him busy.

It wouldn’t take long for the other protectors to arrive and take care of this. New York was famous for having one of the first counsel that was run by protectors, even though they called themselves heroes.

“Give it up Alexandria, you can’t wound me. Surrender now and I’ll try to make sure you see the light of day again.” Said Jacks with a smile on his face, he was trying to sound confident but I knew he had a weakness. His younger sister was Page, who would become a protector herself was here. If only they knew she would become one of the most powerful protectors in New York City in just a couple of years.

But the Overkill gang was an organization just as big as the New York hero alliance. I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed up too. It’s funny how much you forget over the years even on important days like this.

“Don’t bet on it sweetie, don’t think you the only one with friends. Besides, I know your weakness, or did you think I was moving around the city because I wanted to do my morning exercises?” Said Alexandria in a seductive tone, she was a little older than Jacks and was wearing a tight costume that showed her curves, and she was clearly using it to make him uncomfortable.

I could clearly see Jacks blush and it made me laugh, boys will be boys I guess protector or not.

I didn’t have the speed to keep up with them, they were injuring them faster than I could move them. Alexandria was using everything she could get her hands one which was mostly cars, and Jacks didn’t help either hitting them all over the place. It looked like a baseball match between two madmen.

I tried to keep clear of Page and not get involved but a part of me knew I had to help her, she was just a fourteen-year-old girl. I had to wait for Alexandria to be distracted, I knew that she was keeping one eye on the girls, which told me she only knew Jacks had family here and didn’t know it was Page. Going after the family of a New York counsel was suicide, but to people like Alexandria, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Getting to live in a dark hole somewhere in the dessert or dying my the hand of multiple protectors, I couldn’t decide which was better.

But I wasn’t successful, she was not someone I could fool and just as I tried to reach Page she used her power to throw a car at me. I was already standing in front of Page and I had to shield her with my body. I knew I was going to survive the hit but I didn’t know how long it would take before I could walk again.

Jacks was starting to panic but didn’t want to give away that Page was his sister. Besides, he wasn’t fast enough to stop it anyways.

I covered Page with my body and tried to block the hit. I knew I didn’t have a chance to block it but I could slow it down. I felt the adrenaline rush hit me and being the coward I am I closed my eyes, but I had to give myself some credit the old me would have dodged and let the girl take the hit.

But then something interesting happened, my body moved on its own and the palm om my hand started to shine with a yellow light. It moved forward and touched the car that was going to hit me and it stopped. The car was frozen in time right in front of my face, did I do that, but how?

I didn’t have much time to think about it, I was never good at controlling my powers but I knew that the car would start moving again. The energy it took to keep it frozen in time was just too much for me to handle.

I looked at the palm of my hand and there was a counter going back from five in the same yellow light. Four, three, two, I snapped out of the thought and I was able to throw the girl away before it started moving again and crushed me against the wall behind me.

It felt like every bone in my body was broken and it even hurt to breath. That’s why I never wanted to be a hero, it just hurt too much.

Jacks rushed towards me and moved the car that was lying on top of me. “You did a wonderful thing right now, are you ok?” He had a wonderful smile on his face and stuck his hands out to help me get up.

Alexandria was looking at me with anger in her eyes, she was clearly losing a lot of energy as the number of cars and rocks that was coming our way had lessened. I could also see some fear in her eyes, the power to freeze time was something that even scared me a little.

I looked at the boy in front of me and was clearly annoyed. Here I was lying with broken bones and he wanted me to get his hand and get up like nothing had happened. To most protectors, broken bones were nothing as they would heal in an hour or two, but to me, it was the first time I had broken something and I was more sensitive to pain than other protectors.

But I knew I had to take his hand, the girl was going to kill. I used all the power I had to grab his hand and expected him to do the rest.

When he tried to pull me off to the ground something strange happened, the tattoo on my hand activated and the yellow light started to shine.

What was happening?

Why did I feel better all of the sudden?

My broken neck healed and I was able to look up again, there was Jacks growing older with the second.

I need to let go of his hand!

Why can’t I get go?!

I was looking at Jacks with shock in my eyes, just in a matter of seconds, the sixteen-year-old boy had turned into an old man and then dust.

I turned my head and saw the look of terror in Page’s eyes.

Why didn’t I just stay down like I always did?

This is what happens when I try to help, maybe my father was right about me.

This was the first time I had killed someone, I was so busy feeling pity for myself that I had forgotten that the wounds on my body had healed.

Alexandria walked towards me and her laughter filled the street. She looked like a twelve-year-old visiting the chocolate factory.

“I like your style kid, making him trust you like that.  Now let’s go, we need to get out of here while we can.” She said with excitement in her voice, I had just killed one of the most promising newcomers without doing anything than just holding his hand.

I didn’t want to kill him!

I swear I didn’t want to kill him!!!