I remember the day we first brought the boy among us. It was an impossibly dangerous move, but better we'd done it then than later. After all, the boy was a phenomenon. Perhaps not to the world, who'd long turned a blind eye to the children and teenagers who developed, as society had named it, "abnormal mental abilities" and "discolouration of hair." To those of us who knew - those of us who understood - he was sacred.
But we couldn't touch him. Not while he was with his birth parents, two people who seemed as normal as possible. I suppose it was never his fault that these things had occurred every once and a while in his bloodline. I suppose it was never his fault that these things happened to him. And yet, I'm not sure that I shouldn't blame him for the things he's done, and has yet to do.
Somehow, I don't think that I will ever believe that it was never his fault. He could have broken away from his parents, he could have opened his eyes, but he didn't. The boy, the first of our kind born with his Color, was ignorant. He was still a normal human, at least in society's eyes. Yes, his parents explained away the blue quite rationally. For the first while, they'd said there had been complications with the medication that his mother had been taking while she was pregnant. After that, they simply told other parents that "he wanted his hair blue, so we let him dye it."
Both were true lies. After all, the hair refused to be dyed. It refused to be bleached. It's frustrating, I suppose, if you're a new parent with an abnormal boy, but they worked through it. Most parents can't handle the stress, the sudden changes, the trouble. Perhaps this is because the parents who have had children like this in the past have watched the coloration develop. Their children were never born with the color, but born into fate. And fate is something you cannot see nor predict, just as what runs deep within the bloodline is hidden from the naked eye.
I don't know how they missed the signs. I don't know how oblivious one has to be to possibly ignore each and every indication, all of the so-called "symptoms" that added up to one conclusion: he was one of the "abnormal" children. Perhaps they saw this, but chose to turn a blind eye to it, like so many other parents in the world. Perhaps this is why he never began to use what he'd been born with until he reached an older age. He could have been training since he was a baby!
But no. It didn't happen that way. He was still protected by his birth parents, so we couldn't touch him. No one could. Perhaps it was for the better, because we weren't the only ones attempting to get him amongst us. We believed ourselves the right side at the time, the ones fighting for the "good." But doesn't every side of a fight see themselves as the "good" side?
Ha. We were so ignorant then.
We didn't acquire him at a young age, no. In fact, the three of us would have been too young to even try. It wasn't even three of us back then - just myself and the half-Color boy who claimed himself my best friend. I had a mentor back then, one of my own Color, but I have long since seen him go. It's been years since he left me to my own powers, and my own will.
This is what the boy is going to need. The mentor he never had as a young child, the mentor he should have had the moment his streak appeared across his head. Though I don't know one who had ever dealt with anything like this, any of the mentors would have given their lives for that boy. How ungrateful he must have been, walking around with his Color and his smile, not knowing how many people were waiting for him.
There had been special cases before, don't get me wrong. In fact, some Colors were known to have children who showed their colors as young as eight. Half-Colors even earlier occasionally, though none younger than three years of age had ever been heard of. My own Color did not show up until just before I turned ten years. That was when I was first told of the boy, and also when I met my best friend to-be.
It has been nine years since I was ten years old, however. I shouldn't be alive, not by statistics. None of us should be. Most of my Color go mad, as they see things they shouldn't. I've seen things, yes, but none to drive me quite insane. Of course, each of a Color is unlike the next, though so alike at the same time. It always made me laugh when my friends told me I would eventually get it, it would eventually make sense why so many people were driven to breaking down. While I understand now, I can not truthfully say I have always kept my head about these things, and will always be able to.
In the years since that tenth birthday, I have been monitoring the boy, waiting, and, truly, I am not the only one. We wouldn't be able to touch him yet, no, not with the guard of his birth parents and his age, if it hadn't been for the accident. Despite breaking the boy's heart at the time, it allowed us access to him. He had barely been fifteen when it had happened, but it had left him an orphan. We had taken him in then, before any others could taint him.
Perhaps it was the wrong decision. I'm quite sure that we will eventually know - after all, the winds whisper curious things if one cares to listen. But something doesn't feel right about this boy. The Color he belongs to is known to be that of a warrior... yet he is not like me. They say I am the most dangerous, but they know nothing. Not yet.
Even the lightest of souls can be led to the dark. And he... he is not pure, he is not light. He is second behind me, they say, with his taint and his color. But they do not know what runs through his blood. They do not know exactly what this boy is meant to do.
Right now, I can not say for sure what he is destined to do. His future is unclear to me - though I can say one thing for certain.
If the darkness dares to taint him, he will be easier to tempt than anyone will admit.
He was born with a power, he was born with a choice. What he does now will affect his life and that of everyone else.
He could be our death, or he could be our light.
* * *
Author note:
Chapter one and the prologue together is way too long to post as one, so each are going to be seperate.
I've been working on this novel for quite a while and am currently on the tenth chapter with about 30k words (I believe, anyway). I have most of the rest of the plot worked out (It's about 21 chapters). Any and all critiques would be appreciated, as well as suggestions for names of the novel! Thanks in advance.
Also, not sure what to rate. The other chapters have a few mild swears and a bit of violence...
Edit: will be going through and editing out overly repetitive information... soonish. Thanks for the reviews.
Edit edit: will be taking out math, investing in a thesaurus I already have.
Edit edit edit: I'm debating between making this longer or shortening it. I think I actually might stick with what I have now, because Julian's voice refuses to speak to me more and he doesn't like being forced to take back words. Otherwise, I have edited out numbers (or so I believe) that aren't in word form (if I've missed any, please, point them out, I'd be happy if you could!), I've taken out the math. I'm debating on what repetition to keep in and what to edit out. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, I'll be posting the first chapter soon. Ish.
Edit edit edit edit: Chapter 1 is up.
And thought I'd mention, just crossed 40k with this novel.
Okay, most of the chapters aren't in order, but whatever.
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