Chapter 1

My name is Asha, Asha Rene Ardolf.

My parents always wanted to have a boy, and they both liked the name "Rene", but they had me and it wouldn't hurt to name me Rene, I kind of liked it too.

The Ardolf family always had the gift of time in their blood, however, it is only present to all the females in the family. The males cannot manipulate time, but they can feel it when time is being manipulated.

My grandmother and aunt died at the age of 42 and 19, when my Grammy "accidentally" manipulated time when she and my aunt Ritchel, the youngest in the Ardolf family, were being chased by The Apollito on their way back to the car after buying the grocery. My Poppa was left inside the car, he was 22 that time.

Poppa never told me about the whole story, he just knew it was The Apollito, and that my aunt ang my Grammy died.

Wait, The Apollito is a family who've been tasked by who knows who to hunt all "The Gifted", and kill them all. My Poppa never told me about the story too, he said I'm too young and it won't make sense, that I have to wait for the perfect timing, that I still have to train my mind, that I should muster the strength to control my emotions, that I will read the book when the book finds me. The hell would I understand it all. I just know that for generations we had The Gift in our blood, and at the same time The Apollito existed too.

So, Yeah. You're asking why "accidentally"? Well, our gifts are fueled by our emotions, and just like emotions, we can control it and sometimes we just can't. We can make time go slow, we call it "Traag". We can also make it go fast, we call it "Shnel"

When the gifted manipulates time out of concentration, it is easy to take control of it, easy like breathing. However, if it is out of emotions, it cannot be tamed unless you tame your emotions in the middle of feeling it.

I am 19 years old, we live in San Rivera Coast of the City of Gralinda. I am an only child of Robert Chris Ardolf, and Nellie Jane Clyborne Ardolf.

This is our 16th address by the way. Yes, 16th. I know right? How exciting. Yes, that is sarcasm right there. It is exhausting, little red flags scares the crap out of my Momma. I hate her for it but I do understand, she just wants to protect me, and I love her for it.

Being one of "the gifted" is a privilege. Actually, that was stated incorrectly.

Being the ONLY one left of "the gifted" is a curse.

All the Red Flags, like, being "followed" by random people, being stared at for too long, being asked with a lot of questions by a random stranger, pictures taken, loud whispers, silent talks, being talked to, having friends at school, sharing a table at lunch, almost everything that are normal, almost everything are red flags.

and I hated it, but I understood.

The first move was when I was 4 years old. We were at the Park Playground, me, my poppa and my momma. They said I was waiting for my turn on the swing, but this kid just stares at me smiling like the devil she is, wanting me to wait longer than necessary to have my turn.

The girl's father told her to have me take my turn. This I remember-- she nodded, smiled, and stepped away from the swing. As I walked passed her and took a seat on the swing, wearing the fluffy and thick trench coat my poppa bought me, she moved the swing and my butt kissed the ground. Time stopped-- no, it slowed.

The leaves were moving, slowly, delicately. The girl's eyes were smiling-- laughing at me. Everything around me slowed, and I can't breathe, I can't speak, I can't scream, then I forced it all out and everything instantly moved, the girl's face turned from laughing to crying, then screaming without a sound, instantly to her father's arm. The leaves moved so fast I can't see its movement, the swings swaying fast, kids all around me running, shouting, laughing, but everything is silent, and the last thing I remembered is my Poppa hugging me and everything blacked out.

I woke up the next day, in a different room, a different place, Momma and Poppa talking in muffled voices. Since then, we were more cautious. Since then, everything was different.