The first time I ever used my powers to hurt someone, accidental or not, I was 5.
I had been feeling this weird tingling running down my arms and into my hands and fingers for a few weeks now, coupled with strange crackling static noises. I slowly began noticing that electronics would glitch when I was nearby and I started shocking random objects and people as I ran chasing my older brothers through Dockside. Ma had once explained to me that one's personal electromagnetic field can disrupt a lot of things, so none of these things were particularly out of the ordinary when living in a house full of electrokinetics. However, I didn't tell anyone that they continued happening when I was by myself.
It was a normal summer afternoon, cloudy out and slightly humid, as I hunted my brothers out through the winding maze of the Marketplace.
Ma and avia were doing their usual shopping while we were up to our typical kid mischief. Our favorite game was tag, and as usual, I was it first. Near a small cafe, I covered my eyes and began counting. With a belt of laughter, I heard the boys scramble off noisily before they faded into the thrum of the Marketplace's heartbeat. "One, two, three," I began counting, peeking between my fingertips to see which way they went before continuing, "Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..TEN! Ready or not, here I cooome!" I yelled in a singsongy voice.
I bolted down the road I saw them escaping through, moving away from the heavy throng of the Marketplace. Ma warned us not to stray too far away, but we rarely heeded her directions. I had been running for a few minutes before I felt for them by sensing their unique bioelectric fields, zigging and zagging through the awkwardly assembled buildings. I finally caught up with them and saw Orion's bright blue hair and beige shirt tails disappearing around the corner of the next building. I bolted down the alleyway, the tingling sensation beginning in my fingertips as I surged with adrenaline. Having been so focused on finding my brothers, I had not been paying attention to any other living beings in the vicinity.
A man sheathed in shadows stepped from an alcove, blocking my path. I had no time to skid to a stop, barrelling straight into his torso and bouncing backwards onto my butt. "Ow!" I cried, my tailbone bruised and my hands scraped and bleeding from the cobblestones. "What have we here?" he sneered with a dulcet falsetto that was as smooth as honey, lowering to his hind haunches. His hand, or rather claw, extended to lift my chin up for further inspection of the small girl.
Through a tangle of green hair, I looked up at the man I had run into. He was bigger than a house, he was so huge, and I could have sworn I saw horns protruding from beneath his hood. His face was still shadowed, but I had a feeling I didn't want to know what it looked like. Cowering at his feet, I shook and tried to keep my green eyes downcast. Casually, he looked around the empty street, daring someone to come out and claim me. Seconds dragged by like an eternity before her looked back down at me and tsked, extending a hand to assist (more like drag like a ragdoll) me to my feet. "Seems you're all alone, little girl, no one to save you here?" The hood drew closer, his hot breath sticky against my ear as I stood at his mercy, "I will have you for myself, my precious little slave."
I cannot recall exactly what happened in that moment as I was consumed by my sheer terror of this man. No, he can't take me from my family! I thought to myself. I tried wrenching my hand out of his grasp, but he held fast, his other reaching into his long, dark robe to brandish a shining golden collar. It glittered briefly in my peripheral before being joined by a bright bolt of electricity that lit up the dimly lit area.
The slaver fell to the ground writhing in pain and screaming in a language I was unfamiliar with; the golden collar lay open beside him. I was in shock, unable to talk or move while gaping at his wound. A grotesque burn remained where I had instinctively sent an electric bolt into his hand. The skin looked decayed, both ashen and a yellow pus-filled circle ringed by red around his palm. A mottled with a mixture of black and bruises scorched up his arm, revealing layers of dermis and muscle that had virtually exploded from a fourth degree burn.
Making the mistake of taking in a deep breath, the cloying smell of charred flesh invaded my nostrils. Gagging, I fell to my hands and knees and heaved up all of ma's breakfast. The slaver, still thrashing on the ground and cursing while trying to figure out how to deal with his wound, reached for me. Startled, I stumbled back to my already cut hands, scrambling like a crab until I hit the rough, firm surface of a wall. Then, I opened my mouth. I screamed and screamed and screamed until someone arrived to help.
I still wake up from nightmares about it.
I had been feeling this weird tingling running down my arms and into my hands and fingers for a few weeks now, coupled with strange crackling static noises. I slowly began noticing that electronics would glitch when I was nearby and I started shocking random objects and people as I ran chasing my older brothers through Dockside. Ma had once explained to me that one's personal electromagnetic field can disrupt a lot of things, so none of these things were particularly out of the ordinary when living in a house full of electrokinetics. However, I didn't tell anyone that they continued happening when I was by myself.
It was a normal summer afternoon, cloudy out and slightly humid, as I hunted my brothers out through the winding maze of the Marketplace.
Ma and avia were doing their usual shopping while we were up to our typical kid mischief. Our favorite game was tag, and as usual, I was it first. Near a small cafe, I covered my eyes and began counting. With a belt of laughter, I heard the boys scramble off noisily before they faded into the thrum of the Marketplace's heartbeat. "One, two, three," I began counting, peeking between my fingertips to see which way they went before continuing, "Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..TEN! Ready or not, here I cooome!" I yelled in a singsongy voice.
I bolted down the road I saw them escaping through, moving away from the heavy throng of the Marketplace. Ma warned us not to stray too far away, but we rarely heeded her directions. I had been running for a few minutes before I felt for them by sensing their unique bioelectric fields, zigging and zagging through the awkwardly assembled buildings. I finally caught up with them and saw Orion's bright blue hair and beige shirt tails disappearing around the corner of the next building. I bolted down the alleyway, the tingling sensation beginning in my fingertips as I surged with adrenaline. Having been so focused on finding my brothers, I had not been paying attention to any other living beings in the vicinity.
A man sheathed in shadows stepped from an alcove, blocking my path. I had no time to skid to a stop, barrelling straight into his torso and bouncing backwards onto my butt. "Ow!" I cried, my tailbone bruised and my hands scraped and bleeding from the cobblestones. "What have we here?" he sneered with a dulcet falsetto that was as smooth as honey, lowering to his hind haunches. His hand, or rather claw, extended to lift my chin up for further inspection of the small girl.
Through a tangle of green hair, I looked up at the man I had run into. He was bigger than a house, he was so huge, and I could have sworn I saw horns protruding from beneath his hood. His face was still shadowed, but I had a feeling I didn't want to know what it looked like. Cowering at his feet, I shook and tried to keep my green eyes downcast. Casually, he looked around the empty street, daring someone to come out and claim me. Seconds dragged by like an eternity before her looked back down at me and tsked, extending a hand to assist (more like drag like a ragdoll) me to my feet. "Seems you're all alone, little girl, no one to save you here?" The hood drew closer, his hot breath sticky against my ear as I stood at his mercy, "I will have you for myself, my precious little slave."
I cannot recall exactly what happened in that moment as I was consumed by my sheer terror of this man. No, he can't take me from my family! I thought to myself. I tried wrenching my hand out of his grasp, but he held fast, his other reaching into his long, dark robe to brandish a shining golden collar. It glittered briefly in my peripheral before being joined by a bright bolt of electricity that lit up the dimly lit area.
The slaver fell to the ground writhing in pain and screaming in a language I was unfamiliar with; the golden collar lay open beside him. I was in shock, unable to talk or move while gaping at his wound. A grotesque burn remained where I had instinctively sent an electric bolt into his hand. The skin looked decayed, both ashen and a yellow pus-filled circle ringed by red around his palm. A mottled with a mixture of black and bruises scorched up his arm, revealing layers of dermis and muscle that had virtually exploded from a fourth degree burn.
Making the mistake of taking in a deep breath, the cloying smell of charred flesh invaded my nostrils. Gagging, I fell to my hands and knees and heaved up all of ma's breakfast. The slaver, still thrashing on the ground and cursing while trying to figure out how to deal with his wound, reached for me. Startled, I stumbled back to my already cut hands, scrambling like a crab until I hit the rough, firm surface of a wall. Then, I opened my mouth. I screamed and screamed and screamed until someone arrived to help.
I still wake up from nightmares about it.