Prologue

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The familiar stern voice of a mother echoed through the ears of her son, who stood five feet away from a sudden explosion. Harrison Germain was launched off the ground as if he was weightless, landing in a painful heap with the right side of his body scrapping against crumbled asphalt. The teenage boy lifted his head in a daze, warm blood trickling its way down freckled skin. Harrison ran a bruised and scratched hand through the wild brown curls atop his head, flecks of soot and dirt falling out in the process. Now was a time he wished he had something to hold his hair out of the way.

Flames flickered up from the destroyed pillar that had collapsed to the ground, taunting Harrison from where he stood not a moment ago. The explosion had technically saved his life by pushing him out of the way, but a burning pain in his torso didn't go unnoticed.

Harrison's squinted eyes scanned the scene for the woman that had called to him, almost immediately noticing the body that lay still just beyond the fire. Harrison dug his nails into the dirt as he hoisted himself up to his feet, his legs feeling like rubber. After inhaling sharply and squeezing his eyes shut Harrison ran through the flames, ignoring the heat that grazed his skin.

"Mom?" Harrison mumbled, falling to his knees beside the woman. Curly hair-that was the same dark chocolate colour as her son's-lay askew around her head. "Mom!" The boy spoke louder, gently shaking the woman's shoulder. Harrison felt something warm touch the tips of his fingers, and pulled his hand away to see the deep crimson colour of his mother's blood on his skin.

"Harry," the woman mumbled, her eyelids drooped to a nearly closed state and a small smile appearing on her lips. Heidi looked up at her son, admiring the features that made up his face. The mother and son duo looked quite similar, both with freckles that resembled constellations scattered across their skin and chocolate coloured curly hair.

"You're gonna be okay. It's okay, it's..." Harrison's eyes wandered to where his mother was clutching her abdomen, a stain of red spreading over her fingers. "Someone help!" The boy yelled out, looking over his shoulder for anyone that would be able to offer assistance. A dull ache rattled up his neck as he looked around, realizing that everyone else was too busy saving themselves.

"It's okay, Harry. I love you." Heidi barely managed to push the words past her dry lips as her head rolled to one side, the muscles relaxing to a more natural state. A single tear rolled out of the corner of her eye, dripping down from her nose. The woman took one last glance at her son before allowing her eyelids to flutter shut.

"Mom." Harrison whispered as blood, sweat, and tears mingled on his face. He wasn't sure which one was currently rolling down his left cheek, falling to the dirt in a dark splatter. The sounds of high pitched screams and thundering explosions were blocked out of Harrison's ears as he yelled out in pain, his heart crumbling in his chest.

"Come on, Kid. You need to get to safety." A man's voice pierced into Harrison's senses, as his ripped shirt was pulled at.

"No, I can't leave her." Harrison ripped his shoulder away from the stranger and grabbed his mother's hand, noticing how her fingers stayed limp in his grasp.

"You have to! You'll die if you don't leave." Sounds of the voice and explosions echoed in Harrison's ears as he got to his feet, breathing heavily with salty tears flowing down his cheeks. He glanced at the man and took one last look at his mother before bolting away.

Harrison's shoes hit dirt with every long stride he took, running despite the burn in his lungs and dodging rogue flames as he went. The teenager ran until he saw a black and white winged jet that could possibly provide assistance. He skidded to change direction, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process.

The jet appeared to be completely intact, except for one broken window on the left side. Harrison climbed through the hole it made, trying not to get any shards of glass in his skin. Once he was in the jet, he sat down where all the controls were and frantically looked for some sort of start button or ignition.

There was a key in the ignition that Harrison turned, smiling widely when the engine roared to life. Half a dozen people started running over at the noise, protesting for Harrison to not leave the ground. The boy ignored them, and managed to get the jet in the air. Without looking back, Harrison flew higher and higher into the smoke filled sky.

Before Harrison could even count down from ten, he was in outer space. A dull ache formed in his head as he glided through the dark abyss, trying to devise a plan of what his next move was. He had no idea how to fly the jet he just stole, and didn't know where to go.

Harrison tried to slow the jet down the same way he had sped it up, so it was no longer spinning uncontrollably through space. The boy stood up from his seat and took a deep breath in. He squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring how dry they were now that his tears had come to a halt. Harrison opened his eyes again and held his hand out in front of him, noticing a silver aura around the skin. 

Without thinking twice about his not-so-genius plan, Harrison crawled out of the jet. He gasped at the lack of oxygen, trying to hold his breath as he held onto the metal side of the jet. The boy closed his eyes again, and allowed himself to let go.









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