New Story - Chapter 1

It was the height of summer 2013. The world had finally declared peace and all weapons had been completely abolished, small groups that wanted to change the ideals of their country were being hushed and quietly dealt with before the media caught on and caused mass panic. All of the nations were working together to save the world, scientists everywhere were being called to try and come up with new fuel ideas, their funding almost unlimited. It had seemed that progress was finally on its way.

Amongst this was a school for gifted children. Although the name might suggest that these children were academically above the average, it was in fact something completely different. Only those who attended the school or received an invitation knew what the ‘gifted’ really meant. It meant those who were a new model of human, above average in talents and skills and have been given a special genetic ‘gift’ through whatever means. Some were born with a power that developed as they did, for example one boy could speak to animals and on occasion (when they cooperated) ask them to do his bidding. His parents had only realised this when he began chatting to a dog in a language they couldn’t understand and the dog then ‘spoke’ back. Needless to say, the shock almost killed both of them. Some other children were picked up by scientists at birth, through ethical and sometimes unethical means. Some had been taken as soon as they were born and the mother told it was a still birth. Some were given away by teen mothers who thought they were furthering research into genetic diseases. These children all had a past that was abnormal to any other child’s and a future that was far from what they expected.

The school was founded many years ago by one of the most powerful gifted known to have existed. Jerome Dupree. Jerome had the ability to make people believe things. He had made his mother believe she had never had a child when he was only a few years old, resulting in him being taken to an orphanage and told he had no parents. His powers grew to obscene levels and so did his aspirations. His bank believed he was a millionaire so he opened a school; ‘Dupree’s School for the Gifted’. The nature of gifted children meant they were usually given away or rejected by families who thought that the children were a danger to all around them. They were easy to track and invite to the boarding school, giving the parents a welcome break.

Currently the school housed probably around fifty children, varying in ages from only a few years old to about twenty and of course there were a few teachers. One of those teachers was Muraki Daijo, who taught the biological side of things due to his impressive knowledge of pretty much everything there was to see. He used to be a scientist, looking into genetic mutations when a rat had kicked a syringe he was using into his own eye. The concoction had mutated his eye beyond the normal boundaries of ‘good vision’ and he had joined the ranks of many gifted humans. At the current moment in time Muraki was enjoying a cup of sweet tea in his office before the weekly quick check-ups of a few students. His shoes were dangling off his toes, revealing plum coloured socks to match his mutated eye’s iris. He wore white mostly, the purity of it was so refreshing and he had to admit, he was a little obsessively clean. He sipped his tea, his eye roaming the surroundings, watching children play in the enclosed courtyard, balls of electrical energy being thrown and then blocked by force fields of impenetrable materials. He sighed and placed his cup on the desk.
“Children, they play and play until someone gets hurt and then blame us for not stopping them, yet when we stop them we are the bad guys.” He rolled his eye completely round in his socket, keeping it fixated on the children, they were a few corridors away and he wasn’t sure whether he could be bothered going to tell them off. Of course he could, he was a teacher.
He shuffled his shoes back onto his feet and flung open his office door, shocking the life out of the student who was sat facing it.
“Oh my! Viempar, you gave me such a shock sitting there!” Muraki exclaimed, his hand to his heart to stop it beating so erratically.
“Sorry Sir, you asked me to come for my check up today? I know I’m early, I don’t mind waiting for a while.” He tilted his head, his eyes unfocused and totally black all the way round the ball with a light grey centre. He was blind but hadn’t been born that way. He was one of the children that have been taken from their mother and said to have been a still born. Scientists had been experimenting with genetic hybrids of animals and humans and he had been one attempt. Vampire bat DNA had been infused with his and throughout his development he had gradually become an amalgam of the two species. Huge black wings with a span of over four metres and still growing, tiny sharp canines that had hollow canals leading straight into his circulatory system and of course, hearing that could hear way beyond the levels of the natural at the expense of his sight, which was completely eliminated.
“Um... Yes, I did. Well I still have around fifteen minutes and there are children playing a bit too roughly in the courtyard I have to deal with. I will be back in time for our appointment, I promise.”

Muraki bustled off, leaving Vi sitting outside his office patiently. He listened to the commotion in the courtyard and Muraki’s footsteps and muttering as he approached the scene. A care in the distance was approaching and Vi touched his watch to check the time. He had removed the glass face so the hands were touchable and he could tell from the position what the time was.
He had time to check what was happening. Rising from his seat he shook out his wings, opening them to touch the sides of the corridor and closing them against tight against his body. His hand ran along the wall, waiting for the handle to hit it.
He opened the front door and stood outside feeling the warm breeze of Summer’s air rush through his chin-length hair, whipping it across his cheeks. The people in the car were yelling at each other from what he could hear. Focusing hard the sounds became as clear as if he were right between them.

“...fucking school is in the middle of nowhere! Lucky the general public won’t have to see your ugly face regularly.” A deep, gruff voice mumbled.

“I got my genetics from you, father, So if I’m even vaguely ugly you are millions of times more!”
“Fuck off did you get anything from me! You’re a freak of nature, you were a mistake for me and your...”
“DON’T MENTION HER!” The younger voice interrupted brashly.
“mother! You killed that woman! You drove her to her suicide with your freakish..” He was cut off by the younger boy screaming his words right next to the driver’s ear.
“DON’T YOU DARE CALL ME A FREAK!” He yelled hard, almost trying to break the eardrum of his father.
The car door opened and a teenage boy practically leapt out of the car. His suitcase was thrown after him, along with the letter that had bought him to this school.
“Fucking freak.” The man muttered as the boy slammed the car door shut. The car began to drive off quickly, the wheels spinning up dust in the gravel.

“Better a freak than a fucking FAILURE!” He made a gun shape with his hand and pointed at the car wheels. As he pushed his thumb down he made a shot noise with his mouth. Metal seeped quickly out of the tips of his two fingers and hardened in a bullet shape. Instantaneously it shot from the boys hand and slammed into all four wheels of the car in sequence, puncturing each one and sending the car skidding sideways in the gate.
“FUCK!” Vi heard the man curse loudly, smacking his palm into the steering wheel. He got out and began to inspect the damage.
Vi heard someone’s feet smacking on the gravel as they ran past the boy and towards the car to help. It was Muraki, going to calm the man and sort out another mess caused by someone else.

The boy span to look at Vi who’s eyes were wide open at amazement of what he had heard.

“You looking at me?” The boy said, causing Vi’s wings to rustle with discontent and nerves.
“How could I be?” Vi said, holding his ground as the boy approached.
“You’re looking right at me.” The boy said calmly now that his father was taken care of. “Man you’ve got weird eyes. Black as a black thing.”
“They don’t work.” Vi said glumly and the boy averted his eyes with embarrassment.
“Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean..”
“It’s okay. I’m used to it.” Vi shrugged nonchalantly, listening to Muraki babbling at the man across the courtyard. He turned away and went back inside, walking quickly back to his seat outside Muraki’s office.