Evo

The first sign was the rain. It fell upward. Mika stopped walking. He stood in the middle of the street with his school bag hanging from one shoulder, watching drops of water rise from the road and disappear into the grey sky. Nobody else seemed to notice. Cars moved past him. A woman held a plastic bag over her head. Two boys ran across the street, laughing as the rain came down around them. Mika looked at his hands. They were shaking. "Okay," he whispered. "That's not normal." A drop of water floated past his face. He reached for it. The moment his finger touched the drop, the world went quiet. No cars. No voices. No rain. Nothing. Then something screamed inside his head. Mika dropped to his knees. Images flashed through his mind. A burning city. People running. Buildings breaking apart. A man standing in the middle of a street with his eyes glowing white. A little girl crying beside a dead body. Then another image. Mika himself. Older. Covered in blood. Standing above hundreds of people. And they were afraid of him. He screamed. The sound brought everything back. Cars. Rain. People. Noise. Mika pushed himself up and ran. He did not know where he was going. He only knew he wanted to get home. His mother was waiting. She always waited by the window when the weather was bad. But when Mika reached his street, he saw police cars. Three of them. Then an ambulance. His heart dropped. He started running faster. "Mom!" A police officer grabbed him. "Don't go in there." "That's my house." The officer tightened his grip. "Mika, listen to me." "Where's my mother?" The officer said nothing. Mika looked past him. The front door was gone. Half of the living room wall had collapsed. Glass covered the floor. His mother's flower pot was lying in the dirt. "No." Mika pulled away. "No, no, no." He ran inside. "Mom!" Someone shouted behind him. Mika did not care. He searched the kitchen. Empty. Bedroom. Empty. Bathroom. Empty. Then he saw the basement door. It was open. Smoke came through the gap. Mika stepped down. "Mom?" A voice answered. "Mika..." He froze. His mother was sitting against the wall. There was blood on her forehead. "Mom." He rushed toward her. She grabbed his wrist. "Don't touch me." "What happened?" Her eyes moved toward the corner. Mika followed her stare. There was a man standing there. Tall. Thin. Wearing a black coat. His face was hidden beneath a hood. Mika felt something inside his chest tighten. The man smiled. "So you're the boy." Mika stood in front of his mother. "Who are you?" The man laughed softly. "You really don't know?" "Get out." "Mika." His mother sounded scared. Not angry. Scared. "Run." The man lifted one hand. The basement lights exploded. Mika felt the air disappear from his lungs. Something hit him. He flew backward and crashed against the wall. His mother screamed. Mika tried to move. Nothing. The man walked toward him. "Your mother did a good job hiding you." Mika looked at his mother. "What is he talking about?" She began crying. "I wanted you to have a normal life." "Mom?" "You were never normal." The man's smile disappeared. "Tell him." Mika stared at her. His mother closed her eyes. "You're an Evo." The word meant nothing to him. "What?" "Enhanced Evolutionary Organism." The man spoke calmly. "People like you started appearing twenty years ago. At first, they were called miracles." He stepped closer. "Then people realized miracles could kill." Mika's breathing became faster. His mother grabbed his hand. "Your father was one." Mika stopped breathing. "My father died." "He didn't." Silence. The man looked at him. "Your father was the first Evo the government failed to control." Mika felt the room spinning. "Where is he?" The man smiled again. "That's the interesting part." A loud explosion came from upstairs. The man turned. Police shouted. Gunshots followed. His expression changed. "They found us." He looked back at Mika. "Looks like we'll have to do this quickly." Mika's body suddenly became hot. His heart slammed against his ribs. Once. Twice. Then harder. His mother looked at him. "Mika..." "What?" "Don't be afraid." The floor cracked beneath his feet. The man stepped back. "What the hell?" Mika screamed. A bright light burst from his body. The basement walls shook. Windows shattered upstairs. Every piece of metal in the room lifted into the air. The man stared at him. For the first time, he looked afraid. Mika could not control anything. The pipes ripped from the walls. The concrete floor split. The ceiling started collapsing. His mother disappeared beneath falling dust. "Mom!" Mika reached for her. Everything stopped. Every piece of broken concrete froze in the air. Every bullet fired upstairs stopped. Even the rain outside stopped falling. Mika looked around. He was breathing hard. His eyes had changed. They were glowing white. The hooded man stared at him. Then he whispered something Mika would never forget. "Oh God." Mika looked at him. The man took one step backward. "You're not an Evo." Mika's voice came out strangely calm. "What am I?" The man looked terrified. "You're the reason they were afraid of Evo." A deep sound rolled through the city. Like thunder. But it was coming from Mika. And somewhere far away, every Evo on Earth felt it. They all stopped. They all looked toward the same direction. Some ran. Some prayed. Some smiled. And some whispered the same name. Mika. The boy who had never known what he was had finally awakened. And the world was about to learn why powerful people were never called heroes for long.