Emily

Emily understood she was different from everyone else. She had something that made her special. She saw the world through different eyes. Time for her ran at a much faster rate; everything and everyone was in slow motion. From when she was little, she learned to observe and taught herself how to anticipate outcomes before they happened. Her parents never knew about it until she was older. 

Her father was teaching her to catch when she was three; it was a short lesson. Her mother was watching from the window of their living room. Emily missed the first couple throws; then she figured it out. Her father kept throwing the ball harder and harder, faster and faster. She never missed. Her mother finally came out and stopped him, scared that he might hurt her. Emily tried to reassure her mother that daddy couldn't hurt her, but her mother took no notice. She was but a child, what did she know. Her father and mother vowed never to speak about that day again. It was dismissed as overactive childhood imagination if Emily ever brought it up. Her parents kept a closer eye on her after that day, and purposely avoided any situation that might cause unwanted attention. Emily got used to all of their strict rules of "dos" and "don'ts" in public places. The only place where she could do what she wanted to was at home unless there were visitors. These restrictions kept her world very small and limited the number of friends she had.

As Emily got older, she found she had some other talents that she could use to her advantage. She could move faster than the average person could blink, and when her adrenaline levels were high, everything stopped. The world around her froze. First, it was adolescent things, like sneaking an extra candy into her pocket when her parents said she had enough. Then it was more serious, a toy she wanted from a store that she wasn't allowed to have, peaking at answers to tests at school, sneaking out after her parents were asleep. She also found out because of her speed; her punches delivered more of an impact than anticipated. She got in a fight with the school bully, defending her friend. Despite the boy being twice her size and a few grades higher, she laid him out with a broken nose and arm. The other children backed away from her as the bully lay on the ground, unconscious. When the principal found out, she immediately notified her parents, and they were called to the school to take her home. The principal suspended Emily despite testimony from other students that Emily was defending herself. News of the incident spread quickly, and concerned parents flooded the principal's office with emails and calls to suspend Emily indefinitely. The principal caved to the threats and called Emily's parents to let them know the decision.

Some kid recorded the fight on his phone and posted it online. That is when the people in the black suits showed up. They talked with her parents and convinced them to send her to a special school complete with dormitories, a place where she could learn to control her abilities, a place where there were more children like her. Her parents could visit whenever they wanted. The people in the black suits lied; this would be the last time her parents would see her. They walked her out to a waiting car, suitcase in hand and helped her in. Her parents smiled and waved as she disappeared in the distance.

She made many new friends at this school and found out that she wasn't alone in her abilities. There were more like her, but each one unique: children that could control fire, water, earth and even the air itself. Among all her new friends, she became close to one boy. His name was Tommy. He could control the air, creating wind out of nowhere and changing the pressure inside a room. He could make it rain or snow or remove all the moisture in the air to create a desert. They learned from each other, testing the limits of their abilities, showing off now and again, and trying to outdo each other.

At the beginning of every week, the teachers gave the children a list of assignments to challenge their strengths and weaknesses, carefully monitoring each child and recording every result. For Emily, these tasks became tedious and boring. She could see that the teachers were frustrated with how easily she completed each problem. Soon she was forbidden to use her abilities outside of class. Then they limited with whom she was allowed to interact. It wasn't long until it felt more like a prison than a home. Any outside contact with anyone was not permitted; her parents became a distant memory. Many of the children were sad about the parents they no longer saw, but a few embraced their new life and got special treatment for their obedience: extra dessert at mealtime, a later curfew at bedtime, more outside time, to name a few. Not Emily, every new rule made her more resistant. Her compliance was minimal, and she tested the boundaries every chance she got. 

They thought they could control her; they were wrong. Her abilities were beyond their comprehension. Tommy came to her in secret one day with some unsettling information, she next was on a list, labelled a threat and marked for termination. Other children had already disappeared; supposedly sent home. Emily now knew the truth. She told Tommy to inform the others about the list and to be ready. When they came to get her, she ran out of her room as fast as she could and discovered a new ability—creating a sonic boom. It brought down the entire building, killing everyone inside, except for those with abilities. They banded together and made an oath to take down the people in the black suits. This school was one facility. They found out that there was more spread throughout the world. At twelve years old, Emily was thrown into a war she never asked for, one she never wanted. This was just the beginning.