• “Hey, you there! Stop!” Yeah, that’s the cops, coming after me, again. I don’t know why they choose t o always make me there top subject in every case that they have in our small town. It could be that I wear black, all year long, or it could be because I read every book in the library and remember every word from each.
    The whole town thinks I’m a freak, and who knows, maybe I am. I am Thomas Michael Murray, yeah a weird name, but still, I can live with it. I’m just glad my name isn’t that common. I know at least seven Nicks, and it is a little hard to keep up with who is who.
    My life of being an outsider started in the First Grade. A little early you might say, but those first graders are quick to judge, and they never forget what they say. I used to always dream, and when I dreamt, I was always sleep walking, and talking, and all sorts of crazy stuff, but only in my dreams. I hated it, I would sometimes wake up with cuts on my arms or legs, and once I fell down the stairs from it, I broke my arm.
    Anyways, in the first grade, we had recess, and I somehow started to “dream” I didn’t understand it, I just was automatically in a state where I saw things coming from every direction towards me, and my friends, the ones I had, I started to fight them. I didn’t know how, I just did.
    I thought everyone could see the monsters, but I was wrong, no one but me realized that I was saving their lives; they just thought I was a freak. That’s been my label ever since. I see the monsters, I fight them, and then I am a freak for the rest of my life.
    Anyways, the reason I am in my predicament now, is because a kid was recently beat up, and guess what, I beat up monsters every week, so they automatically thought that I was the cause of this one, because I though the kid was another one of my “daydreams”. I know that they aren’t daydreams, because I can feel the monsters breath, see the whites or blacks of their eyes as I am battling them into oblivion. They aren’t my imagination, and I don’t hurt anyone besides them.
    You see the monsters have a different tint to them than the humans, when I am in these states, I see heat signatures, not real bodies, and the monsters don’t have either the shape, or the same body heat that humans do. I know when I am close to a human, and I can’t hurt them. I can’t hurt humans, no matter how much I want to just nick them once, I am just unable to get the right aim and hit them.
    I have just figured that I am supposed to protect the human race, and I am the only one left to do so. I also made the assumption that the monsters came to me, because they wanted to destroy me, like they did to the others.
    Well this kid, apparently had large bruises, and he was always mad at me, for one reason or another, so he blamed me for his pain. I don’t blame him, I would blame me too if I saw me punching air every other day.
    So the cops came after me, and I’ve been running since.
    “Come on Thomas! I just need to make sure you didn’t hit Al, okay! I only want a statement!” The officer again, he is always on my case, he isn’t sincere about any of it, he just wants me to let my guard down.
    “Liar! You just want to bring me in, like always! I am not going to make a statement, because you’ll just blame me anyways, like you did the last time that kid was beat up by his father!” I shot that back at him, because I know its true, and so does the rest of the town. We all know that Al has been the brunt of his fathers’ alcoholic tendencies for his entire life, and Al just wants to keep his dad.
    No one can prove that Al has been beaten by his father, and Al won’t testify against the guy, so Al blames me.
    “Come on Thomas, please!” I hate him!
    “No! Just stay away from me! I didn’t punch Al, and you can’t prove it!”
    “I’m sorry Thomas, but we can! Just come in! It will be quick and easy! I swear!”
    “How many times, old man, how many times do I have to tell you? NO! I am not coming into the station!”
    That was it, right then and there; I blew, like I literally blew! The feeling of blowing up, not a good experience, but what was odd, was that it didn’t hurt, it was just an odd sensation. I stood there looking at the officer for a second, and then I realized that the officer was staring at me like I was a freak. From then on, I was even more of a freak, the officer didn’t even tell anyone what happened, but that was the first time that I had ever experienced my powers.
    After a while, I realized I had a lot of hidden talents, well for a freak, my parents even saw me once, practicing my powers, I scared them so much. I wish they never saw, because now they see me as a freak, their own flesh and blood, a freak. I decided to run away.


    Running away was a hard decision, but once I realized that no one wanted me around, I decided to just go away and never return, make everyone happy. When I was packing, my mom decided to come into my room.
    “Thomas? What is going on? What are you doing?” she asked me. Like she didn’t already know. She was one of the people who just avoided me altogether ones she found out that I was a freak. How can she come back now, and ask me what I was doing, pretending to care, at the last possible moment?
    “Lucy,” I haven’t called her mom in I don’t know how long, “I am going away, forever, and I hope you are happy.” She cringed at that, and it made me want to laugh, how can she still pretend to care what happens to me?
    “My Thomas, I didn’t mean to make you feel this way, I…I just don’t know how to handle differences in people. Please, don’t leave me, you will always be my baby.”
    With a dark look I replied, “No, I have made up my mind, you can’t change it now, good bye.” With that, I left that house, and that state, forever.


    “For the first few days, it was fun, living in the streets, running from everything on my trusty bike. I loved the way it felt, my backpack on my back with clean clothes and plenty of food with a sleeping bag I took from the house. I was finally free, and with my powers, I was never cold, and I could always see.
    Oh yeah, my powers, of course! I never fully explained those. I have the power to create and control light, making it heat up, make it brighter, or darker, and even make only what I see seem brighter to me. It is a strange power, but it has helped many times for me in strange situations, and being a freak, I had a lot of those.
    With all of these powers at my command, I felt invincible, and carefree. But then after about two weeks, I was seen on the news, as a runaway. That was terrible, I needed to hide more, and I couldn’t’ go into stores very often, because I was likely to get caught. I started to become very afraid. What was I going to do? Where could I go? I had no idea.
    I finally found an out of sight place, and I decided to crash there, a few hours later, I was being attacked. I felt like screaming, but instead, I decided that, I am already a freak, why not? And I let my power loose; I made myself blow up, like I did the first time, with the Sheriff. It was supposed to startle my attack, which it did, because I also made the light heat up, just the slightest, enough to hurt the person, but not me.
    The person didn’t react. That scared me even more. I decided to talk “Who are you!? What do you want with me?!” I was hysterical! I am never hysterical, what is happening!?
    “I want you to leave me alone Mystic, and I never want you to return here,” It was a boys voice, “because this is the Mysterium’s territory, you are out of your league here kid.”
    “What is a Mystic? What is Mysterium, I didn’t know there were gangs here! I am sorry, I was just confused! Please, I am just a runaway, trying to escape from my family!” There goes the hysteria again.
    “Oh really, well that is interesting,” my attacker said, “Well you are not a normal Mystic then kid, are you? Who are your parents?”
    Why would I tell him that? “Um, I personally don’t think that is any of your business.” Wow this is a little out of control.
    “Okay kid, have it your way, at least tell me your name, your full name please, so that I can report a new Mystic in the ranks.” What was he getting at? Oh well, I’d figure it out at some point. Should I tell this man my name though? What can it hurt?
    “Um…my name is…Thomas…Thomas Michael Murray, is that all, because I am really tired, and I need to find a different place to sleep.” I just realized after I had said the name that my attacker had just started staring at me in a really odd way. “Um…” I had no idea what to say.
    “My gosh, that is why you ran away!? You parents are Mysterium, and you are Mystic, that is some really Bad juju right there, you have to leave, you should have never been born, the prophecy, oh my gosh, what will HE say? I need to get out of here, and so do you! Let’s go now, I can’t be a part of this anymore, you are here, I will help you find the Mystics, I promise. By the way, my name is Tristram.” How did that just happen? I just made a friend, but I have no idea how, and. wait, didn’t I have any say in the matter?
    “No you don’t have a say in the matter.” Tristram said, wait what?!
    “What the heck, did you just read my mind?” This is so weird.
    “No, the tooth fairy just told me,” (sarcasm can kill you know), “of course I just read your mind, it is my Power, yours is to manipulate light, which is okay, but I read minds, and that is not an easy thing to do, let me tell you. By the way, your mind is really closed off, that is a good thing, and you must have had a rough childhood though to have it that closed off.”
    “Sure, I mean I DID runaway, so I had the best childhood ever, and I would love to go back and relive it over and over again!” Is this guy mentally retarded? I swear I wish that he just left me alone before.

    After walking around in what seemed like circles for a long time, Tristram stopped, and said, “We will sleep here for this day, and we can continue walking at dusk, with your light powers if is safer to walk at night, less noticeable. And you can see without letting others see the light can’t you? How did I know, oh wait, I read your mind, of course.” I wish he didn’t talk this much, it is very annoying.
    “Okay, you got it, now will you please shut up, so I can sleep? You kind of woke me up a little early.” No really?!
    “Fine,” Tristram responded, “You can sleep, I’ll take first watch, and I’ll wake you up in about three hours for your post.”
    “Post?” I didn’t want to have posts I just wanted to sleep, and be done with this crazy new world I was getting myself into. Maybe, I am sleeping, and this is all a dream and I will wake up happy and secure without any interruptions in that shack.
    “Sorry man, this is not a dream, even though all of our kind, both Mystic and Mysterium wish it was at times.”


    After that statement, I fell into a deep sleep and didn’t’ wake up until a glass of cold water was pored on my head by none other than…Tristram.
    “Wakey wakey sleepy head! Your post.” great, can’t wait.
    “Fine, whatever, are you going to sleep? Or what?” well that was a stupid question on my part.
    When Tristram responded, he surprised me. “No, I am actually going to tell you all about the Mystics, and the Mysterium, and why you are so different, and everything else there is to know about the different families.” There wasn’t’ a hint of sarcasm in his voice at all.
    “Okay, fine, start talking.” I was ready for some answers anyways.
    “Okay, this all started a long time ago, the Mystics and Mysterium were all together, one big society, but still considered what you would call ‘freaks’. You’re a Murray, and your ancestors were a couple of the first Mysterium and Mystics to ever roam the Earth.
    One of your ancestors controlled the Light, like you, the other, Darkness. They were brothers, and they hated each other. Your family line goes all the way back to the first Mysterium, to the beginning of everyone’s hardships.
    You see, Thomas, the Mysterium are sometimes described as the people who make the scary sounds in the night, the ones who jump out of no where and scare little children, those people are the Mysterium.
    The Mystics, they are the goody two shoes, and they love anything flowery and fun. The Mystics cause a lot of problems for the Mysterium, but also they make sure that all Mysterium have no power in this world. Mysterium are becoming less and less powerful by the year, and it is all because of your ancestor, Jonathan Shay Murray, he was the Mystic in your line, you Uncle so to say. You Grandfather, he was named Benjamin Thomas Murray. You were even named after him.
    Thomas, I know why you are here, and you being alive is actually love from your parents, they must know what you really are, because they are the most powerful people right now in the entire Mysterium Chapter. I am also surprised they kept you a secret for so long.”
    “Hold on a second, this is a lot to take in, first my ancestors created the Light and Dark sides of the world, that sounds like Star Wars! Next my parents never loved me; I don’t see what you are getting at. Why am I so important then? What is my purpose in the world of the Mystics and Mysterium?” I was so confused; my entire life was being destroyed right before my eyes.
    With an exasperated tone, Tristram replied, “This is going to take a while. Okay, you now know that you are last descendant of the first Mystics and Mysterium. This means that you most likely are the one the prophecy speaks of.”
    “What prophecy?” I am still not grasping this concept, at all.
    “The prophecy states: