What Am I?

Chapter 2 - Moments Flashed Before My Eyes

It was all a big blur at first, various colors whirring through my vision. It made me dizzy and disoriented then I heard a voice. A familiar voice but no one to associate it with. I guess this is what people meant by moments flashing before their eyes in a life threatening moment.

I was dizzy, very dizzy. A lady claimed it to be normal and sat me down as she read comic books to me. The smell of the ink and paper from the books calming me better than I could have ever imagined.

I was told since a young age that I would grow to be like the superheroes in the comic books. That I would be loved, have a girl that loved me, and even a secret identity. I find it ironic that was the first memory to enter my head. I was so naive when I was four.

I was getting my monthly injections. I could remember the chill it sent down my spine and into my core as it entered my blood stream. I always broke out into a sweat only minuets after them. Despite my shivering the sweat only increased coating me like a second skin. No one really worried about it unless I lost consciousness. There was one that was different though.

"Come Shayne." A man with a higher voice than expected called out.

I walked over slowly dreading the idea of getting another injection. The last one had terrible side effects. I couldn't eat for a week cause it always came back up. Just looking at food made me feel queasy. The man injected it in my shoulder causing me to wince. He sent me on my way and the next day I was in convulsions.

I was stuck in the convulsions for hours off and on. I remember how they rubbed it in my face of how many superheroes had to endure pain to become the people they were. I remember how angry it made me and that much rage shouldn't have been inside someone as young as me. There were many fist shaped holes in the yellow walls of my old room. I was around eight or nine years old.

Whatever they were doing to me turned my natural black hair an odd, unnatural orange color. I stared at myself in the mirror somehow liking my new image. It made me feel more rebellious than I really was. I went to show off and was slapped in the face both literally and figuratively. There were other children here this whole time I thought I was alone, I was the prize, and it turned out to be an illusion I made in my mind. There were dozens of other children all with unique traits, mostly hair and eyes. A boy with silver-ish hair was the one who smacked me back into reality. We were like a giant rainbow, but it still didn't make me feel any better.

I was twelve years old at this point and it wasn't getting any better for me. Every night I heard screams, all kinds, varying from agony to death to fear. I miss being locked in that naive bubble where I felt superior then it didn't feel like I was the person with a target painted on their back. I felt like I could actually do something I felt proud of even if it was nothing.

"Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. I want the dessert let's get this done." The boy with silver-ish hair said with a rhythm to make it seem like he was singing.

I rolled my eyes at him giving him the cookie. Usually around our birthdays we got a dessert of our choice. That was if you weren't dead by then anyway. I cared less and less for it as I got older. I only wondered what was my purpose, after hearing a few older hero kids talk of what they were training to be at some place called college. I knew I was told I would be a superhero but just like fashion trends I believed it was only in style for the moment.

The boy with silver-ish hair slapped me gently munching on the cookie as he talked, "You know you shouldn't tune out so much you're gonna miss something important."

When I first heard him say it I overlooked it. I wish I believed him because a year and some months later he died taking a bite of an ice cream sundae with extra fudge. It was his birthday and none of us realized their experimentations gave him a deadly allergy to chocolate. I didn't see the signs and he suffocated, though I still didn't learn. It was my fifteenth birthday party and the boy died on his sixteenth. It wasn't such a sweet sixteen for either of us.

I was taking my sweet time on returning to my home. I heard a loud explosion and some screams. I quickly ran a hand through my hair and changed into my superhero uniform in a hidden alleyway. We had many of those in this city along with horrible pollution and crime problems. The air smelt of smoke and a took off with a run before tucking my arms in flying. I looked down to see who or what was the cause of danger.

I wasn't surprised to see a gas station up in flames with the giant inferno spreading to other buildings. I was surprised to see that it was a woman and a man a little older than me causing the fire. The man was blowing fire out of his mouth barely able to control the flame as his mouth was wide open. The woman was basically a human fire herself. She was shooting flames from everywhere on her body, even her hair. I usually didn't run across enemies that had powers. It was a new thing to me and it sent an excited thrill down my spine.

The fight ended up ruining my reputation. Three close by apartment buildings burned down, not to mention the inferno taking hours to put out. I was seen as a mistake and a threat because of those two people. They thought all people like that were a danger to society.

Society can't hold me in forever and this chick can't keep me falling forever either. I kicked her off at the last minute landing on top of her. The new landing made her breath leave her with a gasp and her back make a loud crack. Seeing all of that again pass by my eyes made me realize I really got to make my life better. Next time my past life flashes before my eyes I need something joyful in that.