Chapter 1

Seraphina Blake, founder of Heroic Heights Institute walked along the streets, lonely and unprotected. She clutched her purse in her arms as she increased her pace. She could hear the sound of footsteps following her. Seraphina began to panic, attempting to run, however, her heels caused her to fall."Are you hurt?" A man offered his hand to her. "You should not be walking alone in these deserted streets. It's dangerous." The man smiled.Seraphina hesitated before accepting the man's aid. As she was brought up to her feet, Seraphina stumbled. She had bruised her ankle from her first fall. She attempted to bend to rub it but the man stopped her."Let me help you," He said. He bent down, letting Seraphina use his body as support, and rubbed her ankle. His hands were too rough, it made Seraphina uncomfortable."Thank you for everything. I promise to repay you one day. As you said, these parts are not safe. I need to go home now," Seraphina said."Why don't you let us escort you home?" A man walked behind her.A third man appeared and said, "Maybe, we could have some fun on the way?" He eyed Seraphina. She was disgusted by the man's eyes on her."Please, please let me go. I will give you anything. Please, I will give you anything, please don't hurt me," Seraphina pleaded as tears began to flow."Calm down girl, we won't hurt you. We will make you enjoy it, you will come begging for more," The second man said.I shook my head, looking in the direction of my teacher. He was sitting behind his desk with his legs resting on his desk and his head resting on his chair. I turned to my friend and said, "How many times will he make us watch this? It's the people's choice whether they would like to be a hero or not."Lucas Bennet, one of my only two friends in school said, "I wonder what you would do if you were in her shoes."I rolled my eyes and pointed to the large TV in front of our class. "There's a knife on the first guy's belt. The second guy also has a gun," I said to him."And you are sure you could have fought those three men?" He asked.I shook my head, "You will never find me walking alone... you really want to become a hero?"A wide smile appeared on his face as he flexed his biceps, "I want to save as many people as I can so that people will feel safe in their homes. You know, people without abilities like us."There he goes again, always trying to be the good guy. In Veridia, certain people are born with powerful abilities that make their lives better. These people are called 'Gifted' or, as some people usually call them, Heroes. Most heroes after graduating, follow the crowd to become real heroes. Others use their abilities for their own purposes. I don't blame them because it's basically theirs. Others are also stupid enough to do bad things with their abilities.As you would know, those without abilities sometimes feel left out, some get bullied by arrogant and prideful gifted, while others who are fed up with it either kill themselves or become criminals. I do not even know how becoming a bad person would satisfy your desire for power, but I know one thing, all those people are stupid."Good luck with that," I said to him.Everyone in my class had their own abilities, except me, or so they thought. Lucas's ability makes him super strong and my other friend, Ruby Foster, her ability makes her turn into a tiger. She had trained so hard, she could now use the abilities of a tiger without transforming. I'd say she's better than Lucas since she is stronger and faster. I looked in her direction to see her so engrossed in the event on the television.She and Lucas have both decided to join the hero organization. By now, I'm sure they have watched all the heroic actions of the hero who saved Seraphina Blake that night. The night before she thought about establishing the hero organization."Leave her alone," the hero's voice rang from within the television. The whole class began cheering when they saw him. To make the story short, the hero, Damian Frost, saved Seraphina Blake one evening when she was being harassed by some perverts who had nothing to do with their lives. This heroic action was what resulted in the establishment of the Heroic Heights Institute.My eyes darted to the screen. As Damien walked toward the perverts, his surroundings began to freeze. The men watched in fear, backing away while Seraphina, free from the harassment, gazed at the man in awe. "Some kind of hero," I whispered.This is the thousand times they have made us watch this clip. I'm tired of it. This teacher won't also let me out of the class until we are done watching. I felt a hand on mine as I was focused on the teacher's relaxing form.Looking at the hand, I realized it was Ruby. "You look like you want to strangle the teacher. Are you okay?" She asked. I gave her a slight nod and focused on the TV. It was almost nearing the end. Finally, I can get out of this hellhole."Evelyn, what will you be doing after graduation? Rudy and I have decided to apply to Heroic Heights," He happily informed me even though they had already done so many times. Lucas waved sheets of paper in my face, saying, "We got the forms yesterday. Some guy who has completed his, informed us of some questions that will be asked and since we are already strong, we won't have any problem with the physicals.""As I said, good luck. Stop disturbing me with your hero talks," I said to him.After the clip ended, the teacher turned the television off and dismissed us, saying, "I hope I will be seeing your ugly faces on the hero's archive."My friends and I exited the classroom. Hoping the day was going to get any better, I was met with a prideful, self-entitled queen bee. Whatever that means. "Looks like quiet Evelyn here will be watching us do our hero work on the sidelines. Oh, don't be sad. If you need anything you can call me," She said. It's really surprising to know she also wants to be a hero because knowing her, the only thing she thinks about is her popularity and how the public sees her.Her female friend standing beside her tugged at her dress shyly and told her to leave me alone. She patted my head and winked at me. I pursed my lips as I watched her leave. I despise this girl. "Don't mind her," Ruby said and grabbed my hand leading me out of the school. I wasn't a fan of having physical contact with others but I couldn't bring myself to reject Ruby.Though I wasn't strong like Lucas or fast like Ruby, every time we closed from school, these two made me exercise with them, telling me that maybe I was a late bloomer and my gift would manifest at a later age. I hate to keep things away from them but I have no choice because my parents would make me do their dirty work when they find out about it.We jogged to the train station. It took us two hours to get here. It would be exhausting if only I hadn't done this before. We got here in time for the train, my uniform was drenched in sweat. I should have brought another dress like they told me to. I am sure my bra is showing through my white uniform by now. I took out a towel from my bag and wiped the sweat on my face."I'm envious of Ruby. Her house is nearby so she doesn't have to take the train," Lucas said. As we entered the train, I noticed the gaze of some guys on me."I should have brought a jacket," I muttered under my breath. A group of guys sitting opposite us eyed me with a disgusting look on their faces."Hey," Lucas waved to them and said, "Please stop looking at my friend. You are making her uncomfortable." I placed my hand on his thigh, signaling him to leave them alone. Using his gift here could cause problems for him during his application to Heroic Heights. "They are not supposed to be looking at you like that. It's disgusting," he said."You can't tell us what to do, buddy. Stay in your seat quietly before you get some ass-whooping," One of the guys threatened."You-" Lucas was cut off as the train began to speed up. "What's going on?" He asked. Some strangers were seen flying outside the train."Did they do this?" I thought. One of them looked at me in the eye and smiled. He then threw a grenade into the train, which landed right in front of me. As I attempted to kick it away, hoping it wouldn't go off before that, Lucas tackled me to the ground. An explosion was heard and Lucas screamed in pain. "Are you okay?" I asked him.He nodded and said, "I'm alright. It felt like a scratch." I looked at him in disbelief. I knew he was strong but I didn't know his body was that hard. He asked if I was okay and I answered with a nod. He then got up to his feet before helping me up. "What's going on?"The train had been divided as a result of the explosion. The cold wind blew onto my face. The other part of the train was burning where the explosion happened. The guys Lucas tried to confront lay lifeless on the floor, with blood all over. "We have to get out of here," I shouted because the train was generating lots of noise.He grabbed my hand and we ran in the other direction. Some people were panicking while others tried to help with their gifts. The guy who smiled at me entered the train through the glass, causing us to stop in our tracks. He pointed to Lucas and said, "I need you to come with me if you want all these people to live."I could feel his skin harden as he let go of my hand. "What do you want from me?" Lucas questioned. A man attempted to attack the guy from behind, however, the man evaded his attack and grabbed him by his neck. He then went on to smash his head against the window, rendering him unconscious before discarding his body on the floor of the train.I took in small breaths trying to calm myself. "Be careful," I said to Lucas as he approached the guy. The guy smiled as he also proceeded toward Lucas."Don't try to fight back, boy. You won't succeed," The guy warned him."I won't know until I try," He said. They then sprinted toward each other. I know Lucas has been training almost every day and he has improved rapidly, however, his opponent was well-versed in hand-to-hand battles and he was also flexible.As Lucas attempted to punch him, the man ducked and kicked Lucas in his chin, sending him crashing into the roof of the train before falling to the floor, unconscious. The man carried him onto his shoulder and proceeded to walk away. I took out my pistol from my bag. I only keep this to protect myself and I'm not afraid to use it when necessary."Put him down," I said, aiming the pistol at him. The man turned back and looked at me with a smile on his face."You wouldn't want to do that," He said."Try me," I replied. A feminine voice called out to him and he turned back. She told him to hurry up so they could leave before the heroes arrived. "I won't repeat myself. Put him down before I empty this pistol into your skull.""You just repeated yourself," he placed Lucas on the seat and proceeded to walk toward me. "Put that gun down. You are just going to hurt yourself with it. Before I kill you, let me tell you about my gift. Most of the time, the people I kill don't even know what got them. Maybe I should just show it to you."As soon as the words left his mouth, the man appeared in front of me. He grabbed the pistol away from me. If I were someone else, I would think I was in trouble, however, what this guy didn't know was that I had already made him my target. As he grabbed my neck with his rough hands, I saw his head jerk to the right before he fell to the ground."That's what you get for touching me with those hands."