Genesis | Book One, The Genesis Series

TWELVE

The next day, Dylo sat in the bathroom, his usual comfort zone, thinking to himself. Anyone else would say that chilling in the bathroom was weird, but Dylo didn't care what other people thought of him. His mother had taught him to be who he was, no matter what others thought.

On the surface, the others viewed him as this carefree, go-lucky person who was ecstatic about the potential of his new abilities. But underneath that playful exterior, he deeply resented his newfound speed because of the murder of his mother and father that occurred years ago.

That memory of them being murdered had remained in his mind for over 4 years. Every minor detail could easily be recalled.

He had been on his way home one day from school.

The day itself had been beautiful, by all means. It rained in the morning, but by noon the sun was out, and the air was bright and warm and pungent with the smell of petrichor. He trotted down the sidewalk, jovial as usual.

As he neared his house, he heard a loud bang coming from nearby that made his heart jump. As the neighbors rushed outside to see what was happening, Dylo began to sprint towards his house as fast as he could, his feet barely making contact with the ground.

Nearly tripping over his own feet, he made a sharp turn up the stone path leading up to his front door, which was wide open. The neighbors called after him, telling him not to go inside, but he didn't listen.

Fearing the worst, he darted into his house as he saw a man in a black jacket holding a gun to his mother's head, his father bleeding out on the carpet. He heard a loud bang as he leaped towards the man in black, spotting his mother's lifeless body fall to the floor in his periphery. The man dodged Dylo's body as it was hurdling towards him.

With his black jacket now drenched in blood, he made a hasty retreat out the back door, refusing to slaughter Dylo as he had done the boy's parents.

"I wasn't fast enough."

"If I'd just been a little faster, I could've saved them."

These thoughts lingered in Dylo's mind like a brain cancer, or a plague of some sort. He'd been too slow to save his parents, and they had paid the ultimate price for his mistake. That was the day that he'd changed. Instead of focusing on his schoolwork or sports, he decided to devote nearly all of his time to locating the killer of his parents.

He'd been trying to find the man that murdered his parents for over 4 years-and only Kai knew about it. He'd promised himself that when he finally found the man that killed them, he'd make him pay. He'd make him suffer as he did-as his parents did.

Yet, he finally possessed the speed to save them-4 years later. It seemed useless. He let out a huge sigh as his eyes fell to the bathroom floor.

Dylo swiftly exited the bathroom, asking Amber where Kai was.

"He's still downstairs in one of the weight rooms." Amber answered. "But Director Callan told us to stay here for some kind of briefing."

"I think he and Troy have been down there all morning." Leo added.

"Of course he has." Dylo complained under his breath as he zoomed out of the lounge. Throughout their friendship, Kai had always felt like he had something to prove. To other people-and himself. He always felt like he just wasn't enough. For that reason, he constantly trained to better himself, unable to realize that no one could truly become perfect.

"Hey," Amber said to Leo, "I just wanted to thank you for standing up for me when Bianca was going off."

Amber, not used to people being on her side as opposed to Bianca's, was profoundly grateful for Leo's help. She never had an actual friend, and nor had Leo. That was why they clicked.