I stood there, my breath ragged, staring at the spot where Trouble had vanished. My hands were shaking slightly, and I felt a sharp pain on my cheek where one of his claws had grazed me. Around me, the people I'd tried to help were slowly beginning to rise, staring at me with a mixture of shock and confusion.
An older woman, her face streaked with tears, approached me cautiously. "Did you... did you do that?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. I nodded, not knowing what else to say. I didn't feel like a hero. I was scared, exhausted, and still trying to process what had just happened.
"You saved us," said a young man, helping another man who appeared to have a leg injury to his feet. "Thank you... I don't know how you did it."
"I'm not sure either," I muttered, feeling my cheeks flush. How did I explain that I'd moved a metal pole with my mind? That I had a strange connection with metal objects? They'd probably think I was crazy.
I remembered the invisible gust of wind that had blown Trouble off course just as he was about to attack me again. I looked back down the dark alley he'd come from, but there was no one in sight. Who or what had that been? Was there someone else out there who could do things... like me? The thought filled me with curiosity and a slight shiver of dread.
"Are you hurt, kid?" the young man asked, approaching me. He noticed the blood dripping from my cheek. "You have a cut."
"I'm fine," I replied, bringing a hand to my face. The cut wasn't deep, but it burned. "I just... need to go." I didn't want to stay there, under these people's gaze. I didn't want to have to explain anything.
I turned around and started walking quickly, away from the scene. I heard their faint thanks behind me, but I didn't stop. I needed to get home, needed a safe place where I could try to understand what had just happened.
As I walked through the dark streets, my mind spun. I'd used my powers... for the first time, really. It hadn't been in my room, moving paper clips. It had been in a real situation, to protect other people. The feeling was strange, a mix of fear and a kind of... satisfaction? I'd never felt anything like that before.
But there was also the question of who or what had helped me. That gust of wind... it hadn't been natural. It had been directed, intentional. Were there other "Marked" in the city? Had someone been watching me? The idea of not being alone in this was comforting, but it also made me feel vulnerable. If there were others who could do things like me, who else would know? And what would they want?
I arrived home with my heart pounding. I ran upstairs to my room, avoiding eye contact with my parents, who were probably already asleep. I locked myself in and looked at myself in the mirror. The cut on my cheek was superficial, but the image in my eyes reflected something different. There was a sparkle in them I hadn't seen before, a spark of something... more.
I sat up in bed, feeling tiredness creeping in. It had been a long, terrifying night. But amid the fear and confusion, a certainty was beginning to take hold inside me. My life wasn't normal anymore. It never would be. I was immersed in something far bigger than I'd ever imagined, a world of monstrous creatures and people with incredible abilities. And somehow, I was now a part of it.
As the night wore on and sleep finally overcame me, one last question lingered in my mind: who was that wind-shadow that had helped me in the darkness? And would it reappear? I had a feeling this was just the first of many questions I still had no answers to. The footprints of my new destiny were marked, and the path ahead was uncertain and perilous.
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