Chapter 1
There was a girl. In the fields... running. She was running. Her legs were not letting her stop, even though she looked so out of puff that a minute more and she could faint dead away. She had skin like chocolate and her hair was red, though not in a way that people would consider natural, more like she dyed it.
But she hadn’t dyed it. It had always been that color. She had always been different; she always knew it.
From three years old the girl noticed that she could lift things that girls her age could not. She would be able to lift tables as if they were nothing more than teddy bears, she could hold a grown man with just one arm and not get tried. They say it was a mutation, something that happened to her DNA. They thought that she was being experimented on at an early age, but doctors found out that it was not the case.
Her parents tried to stop it, to contain it by making sure that she avoided gym lessons, that she could only go out if her mother or father were out as well. But the girl did not like that. She wanted to be free. As free as a bird.
But luckily for the girl, there was one person who marveled in her powers, and she loved to show it off whenever their parents were not around. That person was her little sister, Meimei. She always begged her big sister to lift their beds or the desks in their room they shared in the apartment they lived in with their parents.
“Come on Merlot, lift my bed up with me on top.” She sometimes challenged her sister and of course, her sister would always do it, unless the parents were coming their way.
And if you have guessed it, the girl who was running was called Merlot.
Her parents would always try and dye her hair black, just like theirs, just like Meimei’s but always after a day, the red will come back as if it had never been dyed in the first place. But Merlot could never explain just how that happened. And she always got into trouble for it, every single time.
If it hadn’t been for Meimei, Merlot would have gone crazy by then and it was always nice to have someone to talk to. Meimei was eighteen months younger than Merlot, just a big enough age gap to understand the other and not feel too confused. They were lying in their own beds one night when Meimei then whispered,
“Psst, Merlot.”
“Yes?” Merlot whispered back.
“Are you okay, I really don’t like how Mom and Dad treated you, just because he started it.”
The incident Meimei was talking about was that morning, during recess when her sister was getting teased by a boy called Brutus. A big brute of a boy, in the grade between the two sisters. Always looking for trouble.
“Oi, how does it feel to know that your sister is a freak!” He shouted.
That is what he usually teased Meimei about, or bully if you like to call it that, Merlot. That and punching her. Merlot overheard all of this and then shouted at the boy,
“Oi, you, Brutus, is that right, you think that talking about me behind my back and hurting my sister, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Brutus then glared at her. While most people say that all humans are beautiful, this one, it hard to say that he was even good-looking with a face not even a mother could love. His beedy eyes were filled with hate and his teeth either fell out or uneven.
He then grinned at Merlot as he then said, “Oh, the freak speaks. Nobody cares freak.”
“Oh, really you are so gonna regret this.”
She then rushed over to Brutus, eyes seeing red as she then grabbed him and threw him like he was a ball. Nobody clapped. Meimei just gasped but was altogether grateful that he was out of there. Merlot then went over to Meimei as she then said,
“You alright Meimei?”
Meimei then nodded, “Yes Merlot, I’m fine.”
And of course, Brutus complained that afternoon when he finally made his way back to school. And Merlot got a suspension and a telling off from her parents.
Merlot replayed that memory in her head as she then whispered back to Meimei.
“I know but I really should get my temper sorted out. I mean they are right; I am a freak.”
Meimei then got out of her bed and then cuddled up to her sister as she then whispered into her ear, “At least you are unique and the best sister I could ever hope for.”
But why was Merlot running? Why does she look so scared when she is running? Why? Well, the start of the day went as usual, her parents complaining about why her hair was still so red. Merlot, ignoring them as usual. Meimei, giving her a small smile every so often.
“Well guess that we should talk about your birthday soon as it is coming up.” said her mother.
“I know, I’m soon going to be a whole decade old, fascinating. So, you are asking me what I want to do on my birthday.” Merlot then answered, not really bothered.
Her birthdays were nothing ever to be excited about. Since anything that she mentioned that she wanted to do for her birthday, they got turned down as it could make her super-human strength appear and that was always a no, no. But you only turn ten once and after that it all comes downhill, puberty, high school, bullies, work, the same dreary life everyone else leads.
“Of course,” said her father, “what do you want to do?”
Merlot then sighed as she then muttered, “I really wanted to go to Disneyworld, but I guess that is a no.”
Meimei then started to shake with excitement. She wanted, like her sister, to go to Disneyworld since they started elementary school. Their parents then looked worried, they exchanged whispers to one another until their mother then said to Merlot,
“I’m sorry Merlot but we can’t say yes. You know why.”
Merlot then huffed as she then shouted, “You never let me do anything, just because I am not like you!”
She then stormed off back to her room as she then started to punch one of the bean bags that she was given last year. They say that it would calm her down and stop her strength. That failed. Then the door then opened and someone was speaking to her,
“Leave me alone!” Merlot shouted, having no idea on who was speaking to her, but she knew that she just wanted to be left alone.
She then heard the voice again as she then gritted her teeth. Control your temper Merlot, she whispered to herself, just control.
But she was unable to control herself and then rushed over to whoever was talking to her and pushed them with mighty force. After that Merlot took some deep breaths and wondered who she had pushed, it had to be either her parents or- Meimei.
She could see Meimei, looking passed out on the other side. The person that she had pushed. The one person who liked her powers, or curse, or whatever it was. She then rushed over to her sister and then said,
“I’m sorry,” tears formed into her eyes, “I’m so sorry Meimei, please wake up.”
But Meimei did not wake up and panic came across Merlot’s face. She then saw the shadows of their parents, looking down at her. She then turned around as she then said,
“I’m sorry, alright- I didn’t mean too. I was just ang-”
“What happened to Meimei, why isn’t she waking up?” her father then asked.
Merlot had no idea whether her sister was alive or dead. Her parents then checked her pulse as they glared at Merlot.
“You... you killed her. I told you that one day your strength was going to kill someone.” her mother then said.
“I think we’ve better call the cops.” her father then said as he went onto his phone and called them.
Panic set in for Merlot as she knew that she didn’t want to go to jail. Her whole body was trembling at the thought of being carted away with handcuffs. It was an accident. She didn’t want to kill her. She didn’t even realize what she was doing until it was too late. She then looked at the door and knew that there was only one way out. To run and not look back.
And that is why Merlot is running, running on the green, her whole body wanted to pant, to find something to drink but she mustn’t, they might still find her. And she was too young to spend her life behind bars.
She then stopped; she knew that her legs would not take her any further. She panted as she looked for any kind of water. She found a stream of water as she gulped the water down as she then panted. What is she going to do now that she was a runaway?
What was she going to do?
