Chapter 3

I wake up sweating heavily, my heart pounding against my chest. I wipe my forehead and slip out from under by blanket. Its only 4 am. . . I have time to go for a run before school.

I change into a clean cyan shirt with black leggings. I slip on my socks and shoes before quickly grabbing my phone and shoving it in my pocket.

The run is quiet except for the sound of my shoes pressing against the dirt. I have my long black hair tied back with a rubber band and it sways side to side with each step I take. When I reach a stop light, i quickly check the time before running across the street as the white man appears on the screen.

I set my eyes on a bench after running for a while and let out a heavy sigh before sitting on it to take a break. I stretch my legs and arms before looking up and realizing where I am. Right in front of the agency. Its a tall 3 story building, one of the floors being underground. Its a white building with few window and a gray base. Suddenly, I notice the door open and someone beginning to wave at me. I squint my eyes and lean forward trying to get a closer look to realize its Reggie.

"Ugh. What do you want?!" I yell from across the street. His parents walk out the building as Reggie looks both ways before running across the street to me. I slow down my breath despite being tired from running.

"Hey, what are you doing here Hazel?" He asks.

"I could ask you the same thing." I say wiping my forehead with my arm to stop the sweat from dripping further down.

"You never answer a question head on, do you?" He asks while chuckling gently. I raise an eyebrow confused at why he finds it funny.

"I was out for a run." I say crossing while swinging my arms from side to side to stretch out my shoulders.

"Ah, ill remember this moment. The first time Hazel answered one of my questions willingly." He smiles at me.

"Nah, I strongly believe I was at gun point." I say while smiling just a tiny bit. He gasps and points at me pulling back. I look behind me.

"What?" I ask before looking back at him.

"You just had a genuine smile! I think the world is gonna end." I clench my fist and ounch him in the arm recieving a painful grunt from him. He just doesnt know when to stop.

"That is for being annoying." I say while cracking my knuckles.

"Awe, you find me annoying? How sweet." He says while fluttering his eyelashes. I grunt in annoyance before pushing past him and beginning my run back home. Maybe it was a bad idea to run today before school. My thighs already hurt.

"See you at school!" Reggie yells from behind me. I avoid looking back and turn a corner so I am out of his sight.

The whole run back home, my mind is flooded with thoughts of my brother and father. My family is well renouned as our power has been passed through generations getting stronger each new generation it meets. Me and my brother were the most recent generation.

My brother wanted to grow up to be just like our father. Strong, independent, a leader. He ignored all the wronga father had thrown. His drinking, his yelling. The glass that would shatter against walls whenever mom tried to get him to stoo drinking. He never hit her. . . But he wasnt right. He was no hero in that household.

I remember my brother pulling me under the blanket with a flashlight and reading me stories to take my mind off the violence coming from the room down the hall or in the kitchen.

One day. . . My brother comes home with news of him joining the same agency passed down through our family. He was a great hero. . . But some nights he wouldnt come home. He could be gone 3 days at a time and when he would return home, he was covered in bruises and cuts.

It was the day before Christmas. Father, brother, and I were headed back home after buying my mother one final gift. We were heading down a hill on an empty road. Suddenly, the tires lost whatever grip they had and that crooked and cracked road. My father and brother frantically tried gaining control of our spinning car but it was useless. As a 12 year old, I knew what was happening but I just sat there.

My eyes met with my fathers in the mirror roof of the car. His eyes looked scared. Id never seen my father scared. Mad, sad, and happy ive seen all on his face. This look. . . It made me freeze. The pounding of my heart against my chest sent vibrations through my whole body. Its all i could hear other than my heavy breathing and the screeching of the tires before the car lifted from the ground. I felt as my seatbelt pull me tightly ad the car flipped over crashing back down against the ground a few times. Glass shattered everywhere and I shielded my eyes while holding on tightly to my mothers gift.

The glass cut at my skin making tears leak from my tightly shut eyes. Something pounded against my head sending a loud ringing throughout my ears before everything started spinning. I knew the car had stopped flipping but it was stuck upside down. I looked out my window to see my brother and father crawling out while other feet started approaching the car. I coughed up blood while trying to call for my older brother. I could hardly hear the grunts over the ringing already in my ear.

I watch as my brother falls to the ground, his eyes meeting mine. He holds his finger over his mouth quieting me before they pick him back up along with my father who continues to fight back. The blood i saw all over my brothers face still haunts me. How useless i felt in that moment as I watched as my brother and father ripped from me. I muffled my sobs by bitting my lips till they bled. The blood rushing through my head gave me huge migraines but I held out until I could no longer see feet. I quickly unbuckled myself falling to the roof of the car. I hoist myself through the broken window, the glass scraping at my clothes and arms. Blood dripped from all over my arms. I looked around for my father and brother but there was no sign of them.

My eyes sight began to blur as my eyes became glossed over with tears. I staggered while trying to stand up. My legs felt numb and weak. I felt my blood trickling down them as I slowly made my way to the last gas station we had went to. I fell over many times. Each time made my heart rip more and more. I clutched my chest begging for the pain to stop. As I got closer to the gas station, my legs just gave out. I screamed out for help.

My voice scratched at my throat and my lungs felt dry. I coughed a few times before letting out shrills for help. Finally, a woman stepped oyt of the gas station looking around. She had to squint to spot me before yelling in the store and racing over to aid me. The only words able to come from my mouth was my brothers name and the sobs. The pain full pain now become apparent as I felt my whole body sting including my legs. I groaned in pain while trying to hold in my screams as she quickly pulled out her phone to call an ambulance.

She then grabbed my hand and squeezes it tightly promising me everything would be alright. I shook my head. They have my brother and father is all I could say. She brushed my thin long black hair out of my face and caressed my cheek gently. She kept trying to reassure me that they would be found but they never were.

2 weeks after getting constant treatment in the hospital I was allowed to return home. My sounds have almost all healed up but my insides felt entirely different. I started to hate it. Everytime my mom would leave me at home alone to go to the agency. The place that provided protection for others but couldnt protect its heroes. The place that allowed my brother to be taken. Whatever love I had for my brother, grew into the same hatred for my father.

A couple months later my brother and father are pronounced dead on the news. It was a large dropping point in everyone. There favorite heroes entirely vanished. 3 years later im stilll here.

I look up to the sky and sigh before entering my house. They arent dead, I keep telling myself. Reassuring myself. My mother is finally awake and having her cup of coffee while getting ready to head to the agency. I pull the paper my principal gave me out from my backpack and hand it to my mother.

"I need this signed so I can turn it in today." I say recieving a sigh from my mother who closes her laptop and sips more coffee before responding to me.

"You need to start trying in school Hazel." She says while signing the paper and handing it back to me. I nod my head and shove it back in my backpack before racing upstrairs to grab a clean pair of clothes and take a shower.

The warm water patters against my body before trickling down. I stick my hands in my hair brushing it all back off of my shoulders and iut of my face. I turn around letting the water drop onto my chest. I look at the falling water and gently light a slight flame on my finger tip. Once the water makes contact with my small flame, it makes a sizzling sound and sends mist through the air.

I yawn before turning off the water and stepping out to dry myself and get ready for school.

I make sure to lock the front door on my way out before making my way to school with my backpack on and an earbud in my ear. The walk to school is quiet and calming as I hum along to the music going directly to my eardrum.

I yawn again and cover my mouth with my elbow. Im really tired now. . . That run was a bad idea on my part.

I open the front doors to my school making my way down the cafeteria. I take a glance at what is available for breakfast. I keep walking dismissing it until I hear my name.

"Hazel!" Ugh, this guy again. I take my earbuds out and stop my music before folding up my earbuds and shoving them into my pocket.

"Hey, I got you an omelet from the breakfast bar." He says while handing me a plate.

"Why did you buy me an omelete?" I ask while looking from the omelete to him. He shrugs his shoulders and heads to a table. I reluctantly follow and take a seat across from him.

"You dont eat a lot. Breakfast is very important so eat up." He says before cutting a piece of his omelete off and shoving it in his mouth.

"Thank you. . ." I say before cutting a piece of the omelete off and eating it. Its taste makes my mouth water and a sense of heat go through my head as it pleasures my taste buds.

"Is it good?" He asks before shoving another peace into his mouth. I nod my head and continue eating. The rest of the time, we eat in silence until the bell rings and we are off to our seperate first classes. I head into Mr. Bookers class and pull out my notebook and pencil. I open it and listen closely to everything he says even while listening to music from my earbud. I write down notes following what he is teaching. It comes easy to me like normal but i dont feel like releating this grade level.

Throughout all my classes untul lunch time I take notes. My teacher calls me up to the front desk before dismissing me to lunch.

"Yes?" I ask her while slinging my backpack onto my back.

"Thank you for taking notes and paying close attention in class Hazel." She says while smiling. I nod my head in response and make my way to the exit of the classroom.

"Hazel, your a really good student." She says as I walk out. Thats the one teacher besides my art teacher who has never compaired me to my brother. The one teacher who doesnt force me into anything I dont want to do. Just like my art room, its my escape.

I enter the cafeteria instantly spotting Reggie waving at me while other girls are trying to get his attention. He brushes his fingers through his short pitch black curly hair and smiles while walking towards me. The other girls look discusted as they watch him approach me and i stick my tongue out while flipping them off. Hah, bitches.

I walk beside Reggie who has an extra meal in his hands looking homeade. We take the same seats we had at breakfast and he hands me one of the pales.

"I made some barbeque ribs and I figured you might like them." He says while slowly opening his. This is gonna make a mess. . . But. . . I slowly open the container he handed me to see smoke rising from the ribs signaling that they are warm. The barbeque looks delicious and there isnt a lot of fat in the meat. Just meat and bone. It makes my mouth water then I look back up at him.

"Ah, do you not want it? Sorry." He says while reaching out to take it back. I smack his hand and yank the container closer to me. He smiles and nods his head before beginning to eat his. A smile slightly appears on mu face before I quickly wipe it away and begin eating.

The ribs are rich in taste sending a tingling sensation down my spine. I have never had such well cooked meat before and this seems so perfect.

"Thanks. . ." I say while my mouth full not wanting the taste to leave my buds. He smiles and waves his hand.

"No problem. A way to a womans heart id through her stomach." I choke on my food laughing and quickly swallow it fully before chugging some water. I gasp for air before speaking.

"First of all its the other way around, and second of all." I laugh out genuinely even after trying to hide it.

"It seems to be working perfectly fine for you though." He says while winking and shoving another piece of meat into his mouth. I feel my ears heat up just a bit and brush it off. This guy is way too cocky for his own good.

"Dumbass. . ." I mumble beneath my breath.

"Awe, dont talk about yourself like that. You need some self love in your life." His words make me giggle before quickly reaching across the table to grab a lock of his hair.

"Jeez, cant keep your hands off of me?" He chuckles while gripping my hand as I tug at his hair gently. This little bastard.