Awakened

Chapter 1: Kyle Anders

"Your life or his? Choose." Devon said as he pressed the pocket knife, harder on Kyle's throat.

"No, please don't hurt him. Please!" She screeched, as she raced forward to grab Devon's legs.

"No, no... that's not how it works. You can only pick, woman." Devon said, untangling his legs from her grip.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Kyle cried as soon as he found space to breath.

"Choose... or I'll kill you both. You know how this works Laura."

"Take me, take me.. don't touch my mo-"

"Shut up whimp!" Devon roared as he tightened his grip on Kyle's neck, cutting him off abruptly.

"...Take me, just take me. Let him go please!" She said sorrowfully, as tears flowed uncontrollably in joint streams with the thin streaks of blood on her face.

"Now you're talking," Devon said as he let go of Kyle, "it'll all be over very soon." He added as he brought the dagger he had on his left hand closer to her neck.

"No!"

"Kyle, if you're not paying attention in class then get the hell out!"

"...Huh?"

A nightmare, again—No, it would have been a blessing if it was just that. But for Kyle, it was a memory… a reminder of what he had done. It never leaves him and emerges each time when he thought he had finally forgotten. It didn't care where he was; the guilt, the pain—it tortures him at the most unexpected of times.

And this time, it was in front of his whole class.

"Professor… I think he's having another seizure!"

"God damn it! Someone bring him to the clinic!"

"No…" Kyle's deep breaths echoed throughout the entire class as he stepped away from his desk. The tone of his voice, lethargic but soothing at the same time.

Half of his face was completely covered by his messy black hair.

"I… don't want to bother anyone, Professor Lawrence. There's no need to—"

"I can take him!"

And before Kyle could even take another step, one of his classmates raised his hand; carrying a smile on his face as he stood up from his seat.

"No," and as soon as Kyle saw even a glimpse of the student's red hair, quickly shook his head, "I can go by myself, Professor. I—"

"Just go!" It was obvious to the other students that Kyle didn't want to be escorted out. Professor Lawrence, however, just waved his hand; expressing his displeasure with a roll of his eyes.

"Why are you guys so stubborn? Just go! Your classmate is already offering you a hand!"

***

About 200 years ago, Portals leading to alternate dimensions, appeared simultaneously all over the Earth. From these Portals emerged monsters of different categories and they brought a war that the humans of that time were not equipped to face, and perhaps never would have been.

The monsters came unexpectedly, rendering the humans' weapons completely useless.

Their swords, spears, and bows could really only slow down the inevitable—mankind's annihilation. And they did not even slow it down enough to make a difference. Their numbers just dwindled. Their men fought in a futile war… just sacrifices so that the others could live even just the next day.

But when all hope was lost and only a third of the humans remained, the human population started awakening special abilities-abilities that would help them defend themselves against these monsters.

Humans who possessed these abilities soon came to be known as Gifteds while the others—useless to the society— were casted aside and called Commoners.

At the age of four, a child would be tested to know if he or she possessed special abilities. Kyle Anders failed this test as he turned out to be just a Commoner.

***

"I can go on my own," Kyle breathed out; the tone of his voice, slightly was slow…but it still held a clearness in it, "I don't need—"

"There's no need to be shy, Kyle," and once again, Kyle's words were interrupted as the red-haired student, Rex, placed his arm around his shoulders. Kyle was forced to hunch, however, as he was almost a foot taller than his classmate.

"Ew!"

And subtly, without anyone noticing, Rex hit Kyle's stomach with his elbow. Or perhaps people did notice, they were just all looking the other way. Because of this, the girl sitting in front of Kyle could not help but yelp, as her hair was almost hit by whatever was inside Kyle's mouth.

"Look what you did, Kyle!" The professor wanted to throw the marker in his hand as he saw Kyle almost puking at his classmate, "Just stop bothering the class and go! Rex is already offering you a hand, man!"

"Let's go, let's go," Rex forcefully dragged Kyle away with a friendly smile on his face.

"Wait, professor," Kyle, however, still looked at his professor. But alas, Professor Lawrence just started waving his hand; not even bothering to look at Kyle anymore. He just shook his head and sighed as Kyle was dragged away by Rex.

"Kyle is acting out again, they should expel the poor guy already."

And with Kyle gone, his classmates' whispers quickly filled the entire room.

"Stop being so insensitive. Didn't you hear? They're letting out the guy who killed his mother."

"Wait, for real? What?"

"What? Why!? The guy's a psychopath."

"You seriously don't know? They found out that he wasn't guilty while in prison—"

"Quiet!"

And before the whispers could turn into blatant chatter, Professor Lawrence once again screamed; making everyone shut their mouths completely.

As for Kyle, he was now lying—not on a clinic bed, but on the cold tiles of the hospital ground.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to stand out, fuckface!?"

"...Shit," Kyle was groveling on the cold, damp floor; blood, oozing from his mouth and the several cuts he now had on his face. Even then, however, he just gritted his teeth; his eyes that could barely be seen, still as clear as they could be.

"You know what?" A chuckle then started to whisper inside the laboratory as Rex grabbed a phone from his pocket, "You don't like being filmed, right? So why don't I record your beating so you would remember to know your—

"!!!"

And before Rex could finish his words, Kyle suddenly stood up from the floor; his entire body, moving like clockwork as his fist expertly hit Rex straight on the face, causing a loud snap to whip in the air.

And yet… Rex's face barely even moved a single millimeter. The difference in strength between a Commoner and a Gifted was huge, and clear.

Compensated with as much as he might with his physical body; training it to its peak, Kyle was just a Commoner.

"You…" Rex's voice started to tremble in rage as he grabbed Kyle by his neck.

"...You're fucking dead now!"