Chapter 2 Close Encounter

It wasn't until another five minutes until both Jack and Anna could calm down. It was because Anna began to realize her current state which was that she was partially naked and if it wasn't for Jack's quick thinking of putting her in the bathtub, she might've been burned to ashes or at the very lease burned all of her clothes off. Luckily, they were siblings and very close, so there were no awkward feelings between the two besides Anna kicking out Jack so that she could shower and get dressed.

While waiting for Anna to shower and clean herself up. Jack began to think desperately about what to do and what this sudden change meant. If he can get his eyesight back and Anna got her legs back, what else can some of the changes do or be. The process of what Anna went through questioned him the most as she was literally on fire. Furthermore, he had the ability to see 360° and he can pinpoint this sight on a specific spot to amplify the sight of that area.

He thought back to that strange voice and what it said and what follows after. Were they just lucky and got an evolution that benefited them? Was their ability gained because of what they solely lacked to survive in this world? The voice had mentioned that all living inhabitants in this world will evolve. Did that mean the animals and insects, too?

This current thought process made Jack realize the predicament that he and his sister would soon be facing. If cities can be ruined if a simple thing like the power going out, what would happen if people gained abilities that make them stronger than everyone around them.

With a creaking sound of the bathroom door opening, Anna walked out of the bathroom with her skin glistening anew. the skin that looked like it was falling off and burnt was nowhere to be seen. Jack and Anna were both attractive people as their parents were, but with Jack's unique and somewhat haunting look of pure white eyes and Anna's new and pure skin, their looks were greatly elevated.

Anna walked out dressed. She came to Jack's side and said, "What do we do now?"

Jack shook his head and replied, " I don't know. we need more information on why this change occurred and how stable our environment is, and the extent of our abilities. After that then we can gather people and find ways to survive in this new world. I doubt things would stay as they are now. I am pretty sure things would get chaotic as people are beginning to finish up with their changes."

Just as Jack finished saying this, he caught sight of a bird outside their window flying towards them with blinding speed. He saw a small bright red bird, about the size of a soccer ball, came flying straight towards them with red eyes full of hunger. He didn't think much of it but that the bird was flying way too fast, and it could even break the glass window from the speed it was going. Soon enough, his prediction was right and tore through the glass easily. What worried him the most was that he noticed that the bird was not heading towards him, but his sister, Anna, who was right next to him. Out of natural protective instinct, his eyes focused immediately on the bird and his surroundings and noticed that time seemed to have been slowed down. Briefly surprised by this ability, he refocused his mind and began to take action, but he noticed one fatal thing. it was that he was moving way too slow while the bird was inching closer and closer towards Anna. Worried and panicked thoughts soon surfaced as he thought that if this bird could pierce through glass like nothing, then what would happen if it was a person instead of glass. If that happened, then the person would surely not survive considering the size of that bird.

However, what could he do, he was moving much slower than the bird, but luckily, he was closer to Anna and with all of his strength, he pushed her to the side and had just barely saved her life.

As time seems to have resumed to its natural state, Jack seems to have already run out of breath once Anna was pushed away, and the bird flew past and flew into the wall.

Anna was just about to ask why Jack suddenly pushed her when she heard the glass breaking and saw the hole in the wall. She quickly looked at Jack in astonishment and thought to herself, "Did he just see what happened just now?" Fear began to creep in her mind as she saw the huge hole in the wall and at a speed that she wouldn't have even noticed if it wasn't for the sound of breaking glass the hole in the wall and would've just thought that Jack had pushed her. She noticed the out-of-breath Jack and quickly knew that he had just barely made it, too, and it took a lot of energy from what he just did.

Just as she was about to ask what had happened, she saw a fiery red bird come out of the hole in the wall, first it shook off the debris on it, gave a piercing look at her and cried out. This was not what a bird cry should sound like. An average sized bird like this had made a sharp cry like that of an eagle.

When Jack saw that the bird wasn't going to stop going after Anna, he decided to take action first. He quickly grabbed his cane and took off the bottom tip, revealing a razor-sharp blade that he custom-made for self-defense purposes.

He stood in front of Anna, legs shoulder with apart, and held the cane in front of him, readying for the bird's next attack.

Now that the bird was right in front of him and standing still, he saw the subtle characteristics of the bird. a small flame like pattern on its belly and a sharp glistening beak that looked like it can pierce through even cars. However, the rest of the bird look like regular bird flesh. It seems as though only the size and the beak of the bird evolved and not the other bodily strength.

The bird sensed that the person in front of it was getting in the way of its meal. The bird cried out once again in anger and prepped itself for another attack.

Seeing the bird on its feet and its wings expanded, Jack knew he only had this one chance to kill it, or else both he and Anna would be this bird's meal. He noticed that the slow-motion view that he had just performed took a lot of energy and effort to pull off, and it wouldn't happen another time with his current strength.

Jack took a deep breath in and slowly breathed out, as this was happening, his concentration doubled as time soon began to slow and saw that the bird had taken off and was flying towards him. Once again, he felt the limits of his body as he felt sluggish and heavy, especially his arms as he focused on angling the blade to pierce the Bird's body. He observed every detail and movement of the bird the best he could so that he can move accurately and not miss the target.

The difference between this interaction and the interaction before was that he was unprepared for that bird's action and speed. Now that he was ready, he can focus more and better.

Using all of his strength, the battle between the two would be who would hit the other person first, he pointed his pointed cane upwards and brought it up with all his strength. The two's interaction looked extremely slow for Jack's eyes as the bird and his cane was moving slow as the bird inched closer and closer to his neck and his blade moved closer and closer upwards.

What seems to have been eons to Jack happened in only a few breaths of time and Jack's preparation have pulled off in the nick of time as he had successfully pierced the underbelly of the bird straight through with his back almost bent backwards because of the amount of strength it took to pull of the speed against the bird during that short match.

Sweating and breathing heavily, Jack fell to the ground on his knees and hands as the cane with the bird pierced through fell to the ground.

Anna cried out, "Jack, are you alright? What's going on? What is with that bird being outrageously fast."

But Jack didn't answer her right away because he heard a voice and a small window notification appear before him.