Author: Olabisi Bello

I feel it in my heart before anywhere else. The painful shock that leaves my body reeling with pain, that makes my every nerve wish for relief, and that makes me wonder how I am still alive. It only lasts for a second but I never stop hurting.

“Take a break, Kathy. We will be back” an all too familiar voice says.

I slowly move my eyes to the side and see two blurry persons moving away. Shivers run through my spine as I focus on the back of the man who has the darkest aura I have ever sensed. My origins allow me to sense the auras of people and I have never sensed such a dingy and dark aura in my 100 years alive. I close my eyes and search for the auras of my parents, but it’s hopeless. I knew the minute, no, the second when I lost connection to them. I felt my dad’s aura burn with pain and then it was gone. After that, my mom’s aura was suddenly glowing with deep sadness and regret for making the mistake of going on a family vacation. I felt her communicate her love for me and her apology before I lost her connection.

When it dawned on me what had happened, I lost all control. I phased in between my two forms: one human and one beast. I broke the chains holding me down, and I made a run for it. They tried to stop to me, but I manipulated their hearts making them cower in fear of me. I ran for as long as I could, as far as my weary legs could take me. I ran and ran and ran. I could hear them trying to trail behind me fighting the hold of their hearts. I couldn’t use my power to the fullest as I was only just a child. I tried to send a signal to all my family members, but the space between this planet and mine was too large for my signal to pass through. I got to the edge of a cliff and the trip down didn’t look appealing. I didn’t want to jump, so I tried turning back. My mistake. They caught me, took me back and bolted my limbs into the platform while I screamed in my Ultrion deafening voice. They blocked their ears and left me alone to wiggle around in pain. I cried for days feeling helpless. Eventually, I became numb and they continued their experiments on me. I don’t understand much of what they were trying to do. They said something about building a robot-human alien, but that makes no sense to me. Nothing they do makes sense to me. I open my eyes and stare at the black ceiling above me. I don’t get to see the beautiful Earth sky that everyone back at Ultrion talked about. Our sky is always dark red and boring, so our eyes always sparkled when Ultrionians who had visited Earth showed us pictures of its clear blue skies. Mum wanted us to visit so much despite the risks, and Dad finally agreed. He shouldn’t have, but his love for her always blinds him. I miss them so much. The pain I feel doesn’t compare to the electric shocks they send through me. I hear them come back and start up their equipment. I stare fixedly at the black ceiling hoping to see my dark red sky again and wondering why Earth treats its foreigners in such a horrible manner.

“Get ready, Kathy.”

Then I feel it in my heart.