Leon's blood ran cold as he noticed the door unlocked, already ajar. 'Wait, Lily always bolted it from the inside when she was alone.'
"Lily?" he called out, pushing the door open before his mind could calm. "Mom?"
The only answer was a low, shuffling noise from the living room. Someone was inside.
Leon burst into the living room with the fear for his family burning in his chest.
What he saw hit him like touching a live wire with wet hands.
Two of Tiger's thugs were inside. One slammed his leg on their rickety table, scattering the few pathetic belongings they owned like trash.
The other had his back to Leon, standing over Leon's mother, shrinking her in her chair.
As Leon's gaze fell on her, he saw wet terror shimmering in her blind eyes.
"The boss just wants to send a message," the thug sneered. "Make sure the painter's kid knows his place."
Something inside Leon gave way. The grip clawing at his chest, the shame burning in his gut, the rage from that alley - all of it collided, crashing together until it erupted in a single blinding surge.
"Get away from her!" Leon roared.
The thug turned, surprised, then laughed. "Look what crawled out of the gutters."
One of the thugs threw a lazy but powerful punch meant to end the fight before it began.
But Leon saw it coming in slow motion and ducked beneath it. His movements were so fast that it shocked himself as he managed to slam the thug in the stomach.
The thug grunted and stumbled back until his spine hit the wall with a heavy crash.
As the thug's scream died, the second thug stopped his vandalism and turned slowly, his brows knitting as his face twisted with irritation.
Everything happening in the fight was so fast that Leon couldn't process each hand swing. Yet still he fought them, not with skill, but wth raw strength that looked like an animal-like power.
He received countless punches that would have cracked a bone on his ribs and shook it off. The pain was felt, but as if it belonged to someone else.
He moved, blocked, and struck not with skill, but with pure, undiluted rage.
Leon swung with so much force that when he missed and hit the wall, it cracked, leaving spiderweb lines on the wall's surface
He wasn't winning, but still managed to keep them off. Not by his adrenaline, but by something else.
Finally, with a combined effort of fury and his mother's cries, he shoved them both out of the door and pushed the lock into place.
His chest heaved as he leaned against the door. Then his legs gave out letting him slip to the floor.
His body thrummed not from fear, but from the strange power that had just ripped through him and left his body buzzing.
After he regained his strength, his thoughts reeled as he tended to his sobbing mother and sister.
Leon's jaw tightened as his eyes landed on the black envelope, lying on the floor where it had fallen during the struggle.
The exam is tomorrow. It wasn't just a hope for a better life anymore. Instead, it was a weapon, and he needed it.
That night, drawn by a need for answers, he slipped out and walked toward the ruins of the Granum Tower.
As he reached, he saw it as not any normal crash site; instead, it was full of wrecked, bent metal and blackened stone.
Every inhale he took smelled of acid and death.
Without hesitation, he moved carefully through the debris. His heart ached upon every slight trip of stone.
When he finally reached the top floor, his breath caught as he saw it: a green familiar fabric, untouched by the fire, fluttering from a piece of rebar.
His father's cap. It was pristine, as if it had been protected from the inferno. As his fingers closed around the rough cloth, he heard it.
A dry, skittering chittering that echoed from the shadows behind a mound of wreckage.
Every hair on Leon's arms stood on end as he froze. Sweat beaded his skin as he slowly turn toward the sound's direction.
At first, he felt a slight sense of relief as he saw no one. But just as he saw two pairs of glowing, faceted eyes blink open, the tension returned.
The creatures he saw from the shadows were like nightmares given form.
Insectoid limbs skittered over molten metal, and carapaces gleamed like oil under the emergency lights. They were nothing from this world.
Leon froze in terror, his body stumbling back over scattered debris. The creatures moved in, their chatter sounding almost like a language from a nightmare.
One lunged, a razor-sharp limb scything toward his head. Leon threw up his arms in a helpless gesture.
But in that instant, a golden light erupted from his chest and blazed into a shield.
When the creature's limp slammed against it, a burst of sparks filled the air as the energy shield deflected it with a sharp clang.
Then, as the creature stumbled back and struck again, the shield dissolved and pooled in Leon's hands, forming into a bright golden sword.
One strike after the other, it guided Leon in deflecting and dodging strikes that could just tear him in two.
With the creature's countless strikes, Leon gasped for air in every little time the creature paused. But as he thought it had finished with him, a sequential strike came from both his front and his back.
In that instant, the sword drove his arms up, blocked the one from the front, and sheared through the one from his back.
Each movement Leon took slipped toward defeat—but the sword moved, guiding and granting him strength and speed that wasn't his own.
As the creatures regenerated for the third time, their limbs extended, drawing out long and sharp swords.
Just gazing at it, Leon knew he couldn't handle that strike, even with the help of the strong sword in his hands.
Then, as they neared him, a blazing image flashed behind his eyes:
In the image, he saw his father walking calmly through the heart of the explosion. The flames part aside like a respectful sea as he places his steps one after another. Unharmed.
Then, for a fleeting second, his father's eyes glowed the same color as Leon's sword.
The vision vanished as quickly as it came, leaving behind a staggering confusion.
But what he saw froze him entirely. The creatures which were just above his head were now standing at a vast distance staring at him.
As the creatures surged against him again, a siren wailed in the distance. Per the tone and nature of the sound, Leon knew it was the same alarm they used to make people leave an outbreak site.
But as Leon's mind turned from the sound, one of the creatures landed a glancing blow on his shoulder, sending sharp pain through his body.
Leon's bones screamed, causing him to flee from the site. The golden sword dissolved back into light and vanished into his chest the moment he vanished from the creature's sight.
He didn't stop running until he hit the alley behind his home and crumpled to the ground.
His body shook uncontrollably, his shoulder burned, and his head spun with terror and truths he couldn't understand.
Slowly, he walked back to his house, opened the door, and trod quietly into his room.
As he cracked open the following morning, he walked and stood infront of the only silver mirror they owned. Instead of seeing his normal 6.5" and slightly skinny body, the form he saw was different.
Not only was it different in size, but the eyes seemed harder and older than his.
Then, he saw a faint golden mark like a tiny sunburst flickering on his forehead.
The boy who stared back in the mirror wasn't shy or scared anymore. Whatever he stared at the abyss, was felt staring back at him.
'What's that?' He raised his hand to his temple, swiped for a moment, then glanced in the mirror again. But this time, no mark was there - only his smooth skin.
After getting himself ready, he picked up the black envelope. Kissed his mother's cheeks. Waved at Lily before vanishing into the humming, riotous street.
Today was the exam. He wasn't just going for his family or for a better life. He was going to understand what he was and also find out what really happened to his father.