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My heart pounded as I ran through the street, icy droplets cutting into my skin as I breathed in and out. The rain was cascading so heavily that a torrent of water crashed down the road like a river. My body was frigid to the bone, but I had to keep moving. I wasn’t going to die, not as long as I could help it.
I kept running away from the school and through the surrounding residential neighborhood. I broke a corner and allowed myself a quick glance above. Monstrous black clouds were forming and expanding in the sky. The energy was fusing and mixing, ready to be released.
The wind started to become stronger, the rain physically starting to hurt my skin. I had to get out of here. Just like the man from my dreams had said, I had to find a way to get to the pier by sunset. Only then would I be safe. There was only one more street to turn down and I would find my parents, and maybe this would all be over…
But my body was becoming too tired. My speed started to falter and I slipped in the ankle deep water. I broke the fall with my arm, the pain magnified by my freezing nerves. I started to my feet again painstakingly when a metallic smell filled my nostrils. I looked up again, this time to see a gaping hole in the clouds, like the eye of a hurricane. That was a definite unnatural occurrence in Southern California.
A fresh burst of adrenaline sent me running faster than I had ever run before. The sensation of panic was rising in my chest. I could feel the immense power hanging above my head, just waiting for the right moment to strike. I knew deep in my gut that my death was inevitable.
Suddenly my vision went white and an excruciatingly loud shock wave threw me off my feet. I felt a sharp pain as my body collided with asphalt. For a couple moments I sat there in limbo, unable to see or hear anything except a high pitched ringing. My blood felt as if it had caught on fire, the white hot energy coursing through my veins.
After a few seconds, the searing had stopped and my vision returned, albeit being blurry. I registered that I’d been hit by lightning and wiggled my fingers and toes to make sure that they were still functioning. I tilted my head forward to check my surroundings, and then my breathing stopped.
Standing in front of me was a figure obscured by a mass of clouds. He was standing tall and powerful, like a statue, staring at me in a way that was unreadable. I knew instinctively that this man was not human, and whatever he was, he was something that could destroy my life with the snap of a finger. I had no hope of escaping anymore.
His mouth opened and he began to talk angrily, though the contents were unknown to me since the bolt of lightning had left my hearing incapacitated. As he went on, his speaking could be felt through the ground, the powerful vibrations chattering my teeth. In a flash the man pulls out a large cylinder object emitting sparks of electrical energy. He points it at me and says a final curse, the weapon starting to glow.
Suddenly a massive object rams into the man, knocking him to the side and sending a blast of energy into a nearby home. I try to focus on the thing, but all I can see is a black shroud of darkness. In the frenzy someone hops out from the back and helps me up to my feet. I’m pulled into the vessel, and promptly lose my consciousness shortly after.
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––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Burning Sky
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