Chapter 4: The Beginning (1)

Huff-

It has been roughly a week since the incident occurred, yet it would overshadow everything else in my mind, not fading away in the slightest.

Huff-

Currently, I was on a morning jog, since I live somewhat close-by to the school and I have enough time to do so, I thought the morning might be better than the afternoon. Especially after my experience from last week, I think it's about time to try and get more so into shape. You never know when the next time someone will try to chase me around will be. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, otherwise, I don't think I would be motivated to go on morning jobs like this one if it wasn't for her… then again, I feel like some trauma's been developed next time I try to bypass someone at night.

The route I run encircles this entire suburb, which is roughly 3km according to the online maps. I wasn't able to run this entire route ceaselessly and had to take a few breaks along the way. But I guess this is what exercise is about; striving to improve yourself and once you being to see improvements that's when you realise the joy that comes along with it.

I walk up my unit building and up the fire-escape staircase up the 2nd floor.

"I'm home," I yelled out to no one in particular.

"Ah, I was about to call you, where were you?" The response was no other than my dad.

"I just went on a morning jog."

"Really? What's the occasion?"

"I… thought I'd try to get fitter," I replied. I definitely could not tell him about what had transpired last week. My dad is great, but he gets worried about me too easily. Sometimes I worry that it's a bit too excessive, but maybe that's just what it's like to have kids.

Luckily my dad wasn't upset with me for coming late last night. The reason? Because he wasn't home himself. He was out working and apparently, some issues came up, leading him to come home later than usual. Lucky me.

"I've already made breakfast, so take a shower and eat. Also, have fun at school. I'll be going back to sleep."

"Yeah, have a good sleep."

My dad is a hard worker. His working times always vary, but mainly, he starts earlier and finishes late, so seeing him resting some more is always nice to see.

We came to Australia roughly three years ago, and though it was hard to maintain a proper living at first, now it is quite hard to remember how we were off three years ago. What we couldn't eat back then is now just another meal of the day. It was thanks to my dad's hard work, and to reciprocate that, I've worked hard with my studies. It was give and take, hopefully, more give in the long term though.

After quickly taking a shower, I put on my school uniform and ate breakfast before walking off to school once more.

It is a nice day today.

The vast sky was spotless, it was warm, with no sign of any rain. Today is going to be a really nice day.

***

"I'll be handing out your assessment tasks back, and then we'll be going through it in class."

Today is not a nice day. The weather truly does not determine everything…

My surroundings grew deafening the moment the teacher let those words out. Groans and complaints fill the room. I looked around as everyone's sudden awful facial expressions of discontent formed on their faces… except Celina, she looked cute while looking somewhat upset. Looks like everyone thought they didn't do very well on this test.

"What do you think you'll get?"

Among the many voices in the room, one, in particular, stood out to me.

It was the voice of my seatmate next to me. Though this doesn't go for all the classrooms in the school, this one, in particular, was set out in the form of an exam room: there was a single chair and table for every student, all lined up facing the front with an approximate ruler's worth distance between the nearby desks.

Andrew Davis was the name of my seatmate, also the one that raised his voice in displeasure. He's been the one to show me around the school when I first came here, and we were able to become friends as a result.

I'm sure other things happened in between, I just couldn't remember. It had been a while after all.

"I hope I at least get 80%. I think I studied quite a bit for this one. How about you?"

"80?!? Naahhhh. No way. This test was hard, I'm hoping for at least a 70."

After the teacher had passed my paper facing down to prevent others from seeing the mark, I flipped over the booklet and ended up getting 77%.

I glanced over at Andrew, my look saying "What did you get?" yet all I saw was him planting his forehead upon the surface of his desk. I asked him later on in the day, but he refused to even show me his paper. How regretful for him.

Apart from that, nothing really interesting occurred. It was just a regular school day, and before I knew it, school ended.

'I wish something interesting happened.' That is what I thought, clearly not having learned anything the first time around. It was kinda like claiming it was too hot in the summer and regretting saying that it was 'too hot' when it gets cold during Winter. Hopefully, I don't regret saying this... again.

***

I was at the library once more. After studying for a bit, my mind began to wander elsewhere. Specifically to what occurred last week.

There were still so many things that were left in a mystery, it piqued my curiosity. I'm sure that wouldn't be the case, when I get involved, after all, even someone of that sort of strength got pretty anxious about something. So I'd probably be absolutely scared. But something about the word 'dimensions' got me kinda excited.

'Traveling different worlds sounds fun. I'm sure listening to her stories of moving around would've been fun too.'

The more I thought about it, the more questions formed in return. Until there was one question I couldn't answer.

'If what happened last week wasn't a dream. Who broke the pavement?'

It had completely swooped over my head.

'It couldn't have been a dream, otherwise, I wouldn't remember it in the first place.'

The bright glow, concrete, and dirt getting tossed as a result of what seemed like a detonated bomb. It was still vivid in my memories.

The lady's abilities were time manipulation and some barrier over which she has full control. It couldn't have been time manipulation, manipulating the time of the concrete forward wouldn't have done anything that extreme, or even if it did, that didn't seem plausible considering how much she would've had to forward or rewind it.

She could've controlled what had occurred using the barrier since she was able to manipulate the space within to her favour, but since 'she' had taken over, the barrier, in this case, would have just been the same one she put up at the start.

So then…

'Could it have been me then?'

It sounded presumptuous, yet plausible. That could also explain the reason why she was trying to catch me in the first place. Along with those weird questions of "What are you?" or "Which dimension?"

If that were the case, it would be a dream come true. I... don't like the idea of violence, even with the ability to rule the world, violence wouldn't be my way of acting. Having some ability would ensure that I'll always be safe no matter the circumstances, even if the circumstance is being beaten up by someone crazy for no reason… I'd be at least able to fend off that.

There was one thing that felt off though,

'Why didn't it ever activate before?'

I couldn't think of anyone that could've transferred such an ability to me, nor do I think I was born with it. If that were the case wouldn't I have at least used it once before even if it was accidental?

All this made my head hurt.

'I'm sure I'll be able to use it when the time comes.'

With that, I stopped thinking about it.

***

Another week flew by and there were no signs of any explosive power or glow that Einar Raine could control. By then, Einar had given up on the idea of a special ability, maybe what he saw that night was a dream after all. He hasn't seen the strange snow-haired woman since so he hadn't been able to collect any source of evidence from the one witness there was.

He supposed that everything went back to 'normal.' No special abilities and no crazy killing machine. He would spend his days living his life the same way everyone else would. Day after day, with no change.

Or so he thought…