The asphalt was stained a scarlet red; blood dripped from my mouth. The right side of my face was numb from the blow I took from the butt of a rifle. I looked at my attacker and grinned. The soldiers picked me up by my handcuffs, the cold metal digging into my wrist. I winced in pain. One of the soldiers kicked a door open and a blinding light struck my eyes.

After my eyes got used to the brightness, I saw what was waiting for me. An army of the Devil’s Messengers were lined up in a row. The soldiers holding my arms placed me in front of their line of sight and walked to join the battalion. My head was lowered. A single drop of blood splattered on the concrete. I looked at the line up and held my head high. There was a huge crowd watching. I focused on the soldier directly in front of me, but I never looked away. In unison, they lifted their rifles and aimed them at me. I smiled as they slowly pulled their triggers. Out of nowhere, someone ran in front of me.

A searing pain came from my right shoulder as I fell to the ground. I slowly got up as confusion entered my thoughts. I should be riddled with bullets right now. I turned toward the firing squad and saw a crippled body on the ground. A young boy’s body. Even though I didn’t know him a flood of panic raced through me because I knew why he died. He died because of me. I had practically killed him.

I jolted straight up and gasped for air. My right hand clutched my chest as I took in quick, shallow breaths. I shut my eyes as a nearby streetlamp shattered. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. It was just a nightmare. No need to destroy this street on accident. Just… calm down, I quietly thought as an attempt to calm down.

“Jade?” I opened my eyes and saw my brother staring at me with a worried look. “Jade… are you okay?” I nodded my head and slowly stood up. As I started to steady my breaths, I noticed that my hands were clenched and white knuckled. I wiped my hands on my jeans as I looked toward the street. The streetlamps were shattered down the whole street. At least the street is still intact. Things could’ve gotten a lot worse, I pondered, remembering what had happened last time. Then, I heard that all too familiar wailing in the distance, and it was growing louder by the second.

“C’mon. The police will be here any second. We have to go before they find us. You know what they will do if they catch us.” I grabbed his hand and began to run to another nearby alley. “Wait!” I stopped running and turned around to face him. “What is it, Aidan?” I asked impatiently. “What happened?” I knew what he was asking about and there was no way I was going to give him the details. “Nightmare,” was all I said.

“What type of nightmare?”

“Jesus Christ, Aidan. Do you want to stand here and play twenty questions or do you want to run away from the police?”

“Geez… I don’t know. I mean I love to run, buuuuuut I also want to know why you woke up gasping for air,” When I rolled my eyes, the sirens became deafening. I grabbed his hand again and took a sharp right into another alley. I know these streets like the back of my hand. After two years of living on the streets, you have pretty much have every street name, alley, and building memorized.

We took two lefts and one right when the sirens stopped. I turned around and froze in my tracks. “What... are you doing?” Aidan asked in between breaths.

“Shhh. I’m trying to hear something,” I whispered. It was dead silent as I looked down the alley. Aidan remained still as I watched the alleyway. Seconds felt like minutes. Then, I heard a distant noise.

Bam.

That was a sound of a car door.

“They’re chasing us on foot. We have to get out of here before we’re surrounded,” I said frantically. I turned around and we bursted into a run. Before long, we ran right into a group of soldiers. All were wearing their typical black uniforms. We stopped dead in our tracks. It felt as if somebody froze time. The soldiers stood there; their guns aimed at us. Aidan was behind me and I held my right arm protectively in front of him.

When I make a move, I want you to get out of here.

No way! There is no way that I’m leaving you here!

Aidan! Now is not the time! I’m not giving you a choice!  You are going to get out of here or else-

Or else what?

Or else after this is over, I'll go find you and kick your-

Fine! I’ll go. Be careful though.

I could tell that the soldiers were growing anxious. It’s funny how they have no idea about the conversation we just had telepathically. “Freeze! Jade and Aidan Barnes, you’re under arrest by the authority of-”

“Yeah, yeah I know. Let’s just skip to the part where we run free and you end up on the floor,” I said with a smirk.

They fired their weapons. I held my hand up and the bullets stopped in midair. Aidan ran in the opposite direction; his footsteps echoed in the alley. I flicked my wrist and the bullets went back to the soldiers. All of them fell to the ground and screamed in pain.

I turned around and ran for my life. After a few minutes, I stopped to catch my breath. I looked around and saw that no one was following me. “Alright. Now let's find Aidan,” I whispered to myself. While I started walking down the alley, I felt a pain similar to a bee sting on my neck.

I grabbed the object out of my neck and observed it. It was a tranquilizer. Immediately, I felt the effects of the sedative and started to sway. Black spots started to cloud my vision as the ground came up at me. Next thing I knew, I was trapped in darkness.

The cold air nipped at my skin as I woke up. I looked around to find myself locked in a concrete cell with my hands cuffed behind me. I tried breaking the cuffs with my mind, but it was no use. They must’ve injected me with something, I thought to myself.

A soldier came to my cell and unlocked the door. “It’s your lucky day,” he mocked. He grabbed me by my cuffs and lead me through the building. With all of my strength, I struggled against his hold, but he struck me across the face with his hand.

Next thing I knew, I was on the ground watching my blood drip on the asphalt. More soldiers came and picked me up from my cuffs and I winced in pain. As I looked at my attacker and grinned, we approached a door and a soldier kicked it open, letting in a bright light.

After my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, I saw a line of soldiers that were armed and ready. A firing squad. This is my execution, I realized as they placed me in front of the line up. The soldiers joined the rest of the firing squad while a crowd of people watched from behind. Since I refused to stand down, I held my head up high and stared them down with defiance.

In unison, they lifted their rifles. I smiled as they aimed at me, but someone ran up at the exact moment they pulled the trigger. I fell to the ground and felt a searing pain in my right shoulder. Slowly, I got up wondering what had just happened. My face grew pallid when I saw the scene.

A blonde boy with blue eyes was on the ground riddled with bullets. As I got closer, my blood turned into lead and I felt heavy. “Aidan?” I called, but there was no response. I shut my eyes and a tear slid down my face. The soldiers just watched me stupefied.

Unexpectedly, my cry transformed into a laugh. I opened my eyes and looked toward the soldiers. “For as long as I could remember, you guys have always been ruining my life. You took everything away from me,” I announced before bursting into laughter again. My brown hair framed my face as I laughed. I saw my reflection in a nearby window and saw that my jade eyes were now crimson.

I broke my handcuffs as I felt my energy come back. All of the soldiers were frozen with terror. “I’ve always tried to do the right thing. To stay in control, but I’ve realized something,” I stated while slowly holding my arm out with my hand open. Everyone in the crowd started to clear out except for the soldiers. My intention was to crush every single one of them. To make them suffer like I did. Like Aidan did. “Sometimes, you just have to let go and let the power control you,” I smiled from ear to ear and saw the fear in their eyes. The soldiers finally realized that I lost it.

They lifted their weapons again, but it was too late. I tightened my hand into a fist and smiled at the horror in front of me.