Sirens wailed behind, the noise echoing off the buildings. It was nighttime, and the city was on lockdown. Not a soul was outside of their homes, the people fearful of what would happen if they were caught outside at a time like this. Five hundred of the city’s finest, as well as members of a secret organization, were searching for a single person, a person that had discovered a secret they did not want getting out. That person was Mark, and he was running for his life.
Hours before, Mark had stumbled on something he could still not understand. His cat had gotten out of his family’s apartment, and Mark had gone out searching for the stupid animal. Mark had seen it climb into the city drainage system on their street. Knowing his parents would not return without at least trying, Mark opened the grate and followed the feline down the drain, dropping straight into the underbelly of the city. Mark used his phone light to search through the disgusting mess of the drainage line for over an hour before deciding it was a lost cause. However, in all the twists and turns of the sewer, Mark had become lost. And that’s when he found it.
A door; a single, unremarkable, metal door. In the entirety of the concrete world that was the drainage system, Mark could not help but wonder about the door. As he had approached the door, a soft yellow light shone underneath. The light had only made Mark more curious. Reaching out, he had found the door strangely unlocked. Pushing it open, Mark discovered where the light was coming from.
The source of the light was a large, glowing cube that was in the middle a large room, empty with the exception of the cube and a small camera on the opposite wall. Another door was on the other side of the room, of the exact same design as the door he had just entered. Mark looked around, slowly approaching the cube. The light of the cube was soft and inviting, transfixing Mark. As he got closer to it he realized that the cube was not supported: it was floating in midair. He had reached out, moving to touch the object, when the light turned harsh, blinding even, and he was thrown against the wall by an unseen force, knocking him unconscious.
What happened after was all a haze to Mark, but what he could remember involved him waking to the shouts of men in the room. In what felt like a split second the men were on their backs, and Mark had sprinted out the door back into the drainage, looking for the quickest way to reach the streets.
Now Mark was on the run, confused and afraid. He knew he could not go back to his home. What had happened? Why was he being hunted?
He turned right, getting off the street and heading down another street. Almost immediately black cars appeared behind of him, no sirens, no police lights…only pure black and headlights. The beams of light shined in his face, yet he was strangely not blinded by them. He nevertheless held his right arm up, trying to block the light, when he saw it: his arm was as black as onyx. He held up his other arm: normal. His heart raced…what had happened to him
He saw a nearby alleyway, and took off towards it, his legs and arms pumping with all their might. He was moving faster than he thought possible, and seemed to be picking up speed. He did not sweat, did not pant, and did not feel any pain from the exertion. The cars behind him were speeding towards him. Mark was fast, but they were faster. If he could just reach the alleyway, he could lose them…he knew it.
He reached the alleyway just ahead of the approaching cars. He turned right into it, sprinting forward, when he saw that he was trapped; the alleyway was a dead end, high walls surrounding him. He panicked, not knowing what to do, turned around to try to make it out again, but two black cars immediately blocked the alleyway. Armed men exited the cars, dressed in all black. One of them shined a large light down the alleyway. The men took up position, weapons pointed, some of them gasping at what they saw…
A voice rang out “Kid, we do not want to hurt you. We want to help you. This chase has gone on long enough. Come in, so we can fix what happened.”
The voice was eerie, unnerving. Mark held up his arm again, blocking the light. He was able to make out the face of the voice: the man’s gaze was without emotion or compassion.
Mark hesitated.
“It’s no good. Tranquilize him”
A man aimed a specialized weapon at Mark, and squeezed the trigger, the shot echoing off the walls of the alley. Mark held up both his arms, closing his eyes, his mind screaming…
Nothing happened. Mark opened his eyes: the dart was about a foot in front of him, hovering in midair.
A panicked voice shouted “Do it again!”
Three more shots, all of them stopping in front of Mark.
Silence. Mark let his arms fall to his sides. He stared out at the men in front of him, all of them looking scared. Mark lifted his hand up, staring at it. A small voice, deep in his conscience, screamed at him…
Before he realized it, the four tranquilizer darts reversed course, speeding right back at the man who shot them. The darts found their mark, biting deep into the man’s flesh. The dose of the tranquilizer took its effect immediately, the man sinking to the ground with a quiet moan.
The harsh voice called out “OPEN FIRE”, the order responded to immediately, a half dozen assault rifles all shooting at Mark. He raised his arm, stopping all the rounds before flinging them back with a wave of his hand. The men had fled, taking cover behind their vehicles, but some of them still fell. Mark charged the terrified men, somehow effortlessly jumping over one car, landing amongst three of them. Two of them came at him immediately, attempting to subdue Mark. Mark dodged the attack of one, and grabbed the hand and head of another, using his newfound strength to bash the man against the vehicle. The man slumped to the ground. The other Mark punched so hard he flew into the nearest wall, knocking him unconscious.
The man that had originally called out to Mark appeared now, a stun weapon in his hands. “You’re mine, boy” he said, his words grating on Mark’s ears. The man charged forward with his stun weapon, hoping that fifty thousand volts would be enough to bring Mark down. Mark effortlessly broke the man’s attack by dodging and tripping the man, who flung forward onto pavement of the street.
Mark advanced on the fallen man, and grabbed his throat. The voice in his conscience let him know what he was capable of…He lifted the man with one hand, high above the ground.
By now, more cars were speeding down the street from both directions. Mark was surrounded by a half dozen vehicles. He looked at the man in his hand, the terrified look, and, in his anger, threw the man. Mark’s newly found strength carried the man over two hundred feet, slamming into the windshield of one of the approaching black cars. The car, from the sudden impact, flipped in midair, crashing to the ground on its back. All the other cars immediately stopped in their path, forming a sort of barricade on each side of the street, surrounding Mark completely. Within moments, twenty men in black combat gear all had their weapons trained on Mark.
Weapons opened fire, Mark calmly blocking them and flinging them back in all directions, forcing everyone to take cover. In the few moments that gave him, he lifted up one of the first cars that had blocked the alleyway. He held it above his head, moments feeling like hours as the armed men stared at the sight in awe. Anger overtook sense as Mark threw the car towards the first barricade, screams echoing all around the street as the car smashed into the other two. He repeated the maneuver before the second group could react, throwing the second car towards the three cars in the other direction. Even in the relative darkness, Mark could see crimson as the car crushed many in its wake.
The street was silent, except for the cries of the wounded. A voice, a weak, fading voice, called out to him.
“W-w-what are you?” it said. Mark turned his head, towards the sound of the voice, coming from the man who he had bashed into one of the cars he had just thrown.
Mark could not answer, his anger fading. … “I don’t know…”
Sirens echoed across the street as red and blue lights appeared from both ends: the city police. Mark did not wish to harm them. He looked at his arm, the blackness of it unnerving him. And he knew that something was wrong with him as a whole…he just could not see it.
He turned back to the man. “I’m sorry…” Mark said.
He knew he could do it, he just did not know how. He sprinted at the building on the opposite wall at full speed. Just before he hit the wall he jumped, twenty feet high, catching the window sill with his black arm. He propelled himself upward, catching the window twenty more feet above him, and again, until he reached the top.
The roof was dark and lonely, the only sounds coming from the streets below. The moon, coming out of the clouds, bathing him in a soft light.
Mark looked down towards the street, seeing the police arrived, some puking at what they found.
Mark looked at his arm again…What have I become, Mark thought, as he sprinted towards the end of the roof, jumping off of it and soaring towards another roof, escaping into the darkness.
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Short Story: What have I become?
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