Origin of Power

Prologue Part 1

I became a Titan on the day London transformed into a city of islands.

A city-wide siren sounded the start of destruction. My dad was working from home, just a ten-minute drive from school; I was one of the first kids to be picked up. He must have left as soon as the siren started, which was lucky, as the traffic had yet to fully form.

The journey home... not so lucky. From the moment we left the car park, it was jam-packed with panicked drivers. An hour later and we weren't even half way home.

The sky was eerily unnatural; going from a clear sunny day to a black overcast in moments. Clouds moved in a torrent, so dark I couldn't tell if the sun was still up. Rain pelted us, even with the windscreen wipers on it was difficult to make out the car in front. Not that it mattered, we were hardly moving anyway.

"We might be stuck here for a while, Mav," my dad said, his voice oddly calm.

His face was stern and serious, it wasn't like him. He was always happy, even on the rainy days. But looking at him now, drumming the steering wheel and gazing into the darkness, I could tell he was worried.

"We could walk."

He ruffled my hair. "I'm not sure we can. Do you think we can go out in rain like that?"

"No," I scrunched up my nose.

"Didn't think so," he smiled. "Let's just sit tight for a while. Mum would make me sleep on the sofa for a week if I took you out in that."

"If you're lucky!"

He fiddled with the radio, searching for a station that didn't sound like static, before giving up and turning it off altogether. He took out his phone, glanced at it, then sighed before slipping it back into his pocket.

He hadn't taken his wrist supports off. Years on the computer had given him a serious case of RSI that had never quite gone away. He must have forgotten about them when he left the house. At least he remembered my coat, it was starting to get cold, even with the heating on.

I took my seatbelt off tucked my legs underneath me so that I could see over the dashboard. I liked to watch the shadows of people running for the underground. Most didn't have umbrellas. I smiled, watching them cover their heads with their bags, trying to keep the rain of their faces.

Everyone was dressed for summer, it was hard to believe that just over an hour ago there hadn't been a cloud in the sky.

I enjoyed the rain. It made it so much easier to think. Despite the sirens in the background, the ambient pitter-patter made everything seem distant. It was so loud, yet made the world feel so quiet. Watching the rain trail down the window, one droplet to the next, was mesmerising.

Somewhere out there was Sunlancer, with him on our side, I knew everything would be okay. If only I could catch a glimpse of him. A flash of light in a window, or a lance piercing through the clouds. That would be awesome.

I startled as the sky flashed blue and thunder boomed.

"You're alright," my dad said, putting an arm around my shoulder and pulling me towards him.

I nodded timidly, a sinking feeling growing in my chest. Would it really be okay? The more I thought about it the more my heart raced.

"Is Mum alright?"

"Of course she's fine! I bet she's tucked up somewhere safely in her office, probably wondering how her little man is doing," he gave me a squeeze. "She's a way outside London so it might still be sunny for her."

"Good, she shouldn't come home in this."

"Agreed. It's absolutely abysmal!"

"Have you tried calling her?"

He nodded. "No signal."

"I bet it's a Hellraiser," I said, gluing my eyes to the window and gazing up at the sky.

There had only ever been two: one in Tokyo and the other the Caribbean. They had attacked shortly after the first Titans appeared in the world, without them we wouldn't have been equipped to resist. The military could only watch as heroes like Sunlancer fought back the monsters.

"I hope not. I don't want you near any fighting."

"You don't need to be worried," I laughed. "Sunlancer will protect us."

"Well I hope he protects us from somewhere else. Somewhere you aren't close enough to watch!"

"What? Why?"

"What do you mean why, you goofball? You think I want you even close to anything so dangerous?"

"You're just scared."

"Sure am! Hellraisers are scary."

He was worried. He tried to sound cheerful, but I could tell.

A black cab pulled up in the lane next to us. The driver smoked a cigarette with the window partially rolled down. I sat up, trying to see if the traffic was moving again but there was no such luck.

We were down one of the wide, four lane roads, with towering buildings well over one-hundred years old mixed up with ones that looked brand new. Somehow the designs seemed to work together. Through the windows I could see shadows. Everyone was watching the sky, watching the endless lines of cars. What could they see from there that I couldn't?

"Can you keep a secret, Mav?"

I nodded quickly.

"Look what I got for Mum's birthday," he said, opening the glove box and handing me three bits of paper.

I looked at them. "We're going on holiday!"

"Yep," he smiled. "Do you think Mum will like it?"

"I do, I do. Where are we going?"

"Read the ticket."

"Florida... We're going to Disney Land?"

"Yep. Sound good?"

"It sounds awesome. Mum will love it."

"I'm glad you think so," he looked out the window. "You know what? I think you should hold onto those tickets for now. We don't want anything to happen to them, do we?"

"No."

"Fold them up and keep them in your pocket. You look after them for us while I focus on driving."

"Okay," I unzipped my coat, putting them inside the inner pocket and carefully velcroing it shut. "I'll be extra careful with them. You know you should have brought a coat too, it's getting really cold."

"Good lad. And I'm bigger than you, I don't feel the cold so much."

He was wearing his indoor clothes. The stuff my mum wouldn't let him wear in public. She hated the fact that he wouldn't change the same baggy jeans for a week, and a Star Wars t-shirt so faded that the original colour was impossible to guess. Though I was pretty sure it was meant to be the Deathstar on the front.

However, I did agree that he needed a haircut. He had the habit of going months without one. Supposedly because he was stingy, but I knew that wasn't really the case. He was just lazy.

I noticed the cab driver drop his cigarette, strangely he didn't seem to care. He leant forwards, turning his head sideways to look out the top of his front window. I put my face up against the glass-the cold, icy against my cheek-and tried to find what he was looking at. A shadow passed over us.

I climbed forwards, putting my elbows onto the dashboard and searching for whatever it was. A giant, scaled tail whipped over us.

"Something's out there," I whispered, climbing onto my dad's lap to look out of the window on his side.

Hellraiser!