Episode 1 - Chance

A small house on the outskirts of the city. An empty road. The calendar read April 13, 2295. The clock chimed as the hour hand reached the 7. The mother looked at the clock and turned off the burner. She washed her hands and took off her apron while taking off the bun in her black hair as it trailed down her back. She looked out the windows and thought she saw some movement. She walked over and opened it. There was nothing. It must have been a cat. There was no one someone could come to this area unless they were able to get past the barriers she had a friend set up. The only people allowed in and out were her family and people she knew. The barrier would disappear once she was dead but that was unlikely. She closed the window and walked back to the kitchen. She grabbed some plates and set the table. Looking satisfied she looked over at the living room and sighed.

    "Will! It's time for dinner!"

The 5-year-old looked up. He was playing with his father. They had stacked up his cubes until they had a miniature castle with a bridge made of ice and snow around it. His father was creating and spreading the snow around the castle walls. Some of the snow had gotten on his brown hair and the child's black hair was speckled with white. The child's mother peeked around the corner and laughed.

    "Honestly, Dave. Clean that up and bring Will over here. The food will get cold. And get rid of all the ice. The floor will get wet."

    "But I wanna play more mom!"

    "Coming Liz! Come on Will. Your mom says it's time for dinner."

    "Can't we eat later?"

    "William, listen to me. When your mother is angry, she is really scary."

    "Like when she caught you sneaking some of her tea?"

Times like these were when Dave realized how perceptive his son was. That event had happened 2 years ago when William was 3 and sitting in the living room. Ever since he was a child, his sight and understanding of things were better than the average child.

    "Yes just like that. So let's go before she gets mad."

With a wave of his hand, the snow disappeared and he walked the child over to the table. They sat down and Liz put the food out on the table. Potato salad, steak, and miso soup with tofu. The family was about to dig in when the doorbell rang.

    "I'll get it. You go on and eat Elizabeth."

Dave stood up and headed for the door. Worried, she stood up and carried Will with her and stood at the corner of the hall. Was it a friend?

    "Who is it, Dave?"

He looked in the eyehole and took a sharp breath. Stepping back, he stared at the door and slowly raised his hand. Ice started forming around the edges of the door until it was completely blocked off with several layers of ice. He spun around and ran towards them. His face was pale and he seemed scared, his black eyes alert and worried.

    "We have to run. They're here."

    "Is it them? But I never told them anything. How could they come here? The barrier should still be activated."

    "I don't know. We need to hide Will before they-"

There was a fizzing sound and smoke started to rise. The ice slowly melted until there was a puddle of water left on the floor. The door smashed open as 2 men came in. Both wearing black and covering their faces. Dave turned around and faced them.

    "Man, I can't believe how many barriers you put up in this area. Even illusion barriers? Good thing we had some tools to dispel them."

Dave shot a bullet of ice at their face but the man melted it in his palm.

    "You really shouldn't do that. My flames will burn the whole building down if I'm not careful you know."

The blood drained from Dave's face. He put up some more distance between them and built up several layers of ice as well as making the floor cold and slippery.

    "Hurry Liz! We don't have time! I'll do my best to distract them! Hide William! Make sure he's safe!"

    "What about you David? You can't take them on your own. His fire will melt your ice."

He said nothing and shook his head. He kissed her and pushed her backward. He ****** his hands up and made a wall of ice separating the 3 of them just as the ice melted and the knife was thrown and hit the wall. Elizabeth turned around and ran into the room. From the hall, she could hear the men taunting her husband. Dave wouldn't be able to hold them back. She quickly opened up the closet and pressed some numbers into a keypad embedded into the wall. It made a sound and hissed open. She looked behind her and then pushed Will into the hidden room.

    "Will stay inside. Do not come out. Just remember this. Your father and I love you from the bottoms of our hearts. Wait in here until someone comes to help. Remember what I said."

    "No mom! Stay with me!"

    "I can't Will. At the least, you need to survive. Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you."

    "Hey~! Where are you hiding? Why don't you come and join your husband?"

The steps were getting louder and there was a smell of blood in the air. Then the sounds stopped.

    "Here you are."

The 2 men were standing at the door, one of them dragging a blood-stained hand with them. Elizabeth shut the door and faced them with tears in her eyes. Will, confused and scared, banged on the door trying to open it. There was a small crack and he peered through trying to see.

    "Hand over the child or die trying to save him."

    "I won't give him to you. Especially not to them."

    "Oh come on Miss Master of Blood. It won't do for you to die like this. After all, you're our precious leader."

    "I'm not your leader anymore. Tell the council to stop coming after me. I never did anything to make the council angry."

    "Keeping your kid all the way out here and you're still acting ignorantly. Going as far as to hide here and put barriers up. Fine. Suit yourself. Go see your husband."

Within a second, Elizabeth was engulfed in flames. Her screams echoed throughout the house. Her legs were slowly being charred away but before her body disintegrated, she lifted up her hands and a knife appeared in their bodies stabbing them straight through the heart.

    "You-how dare-."

They fell to the floor as her ashes fell. The room was silent. The smell of smoke and blood lingered in the room and the pool of blood near the door grew larger. The child in the closet was in tears. He was screaming and crying. He sobbed for his mother and father until he grew so tired he fell asleep. He didn't know how many hours passed by but when he woke up, he was wrapped in a blanket inside of a car. He thought of his parents and started crying again.

    "Hey, it's okay. It's okay. Don't worry. You're okay."

He looked up. It was a female officer. She looked younger than his mother but kind. She was patting his head and trying to calm him down. She sang a lullaby. It soothed him and he fell asleep again. Again he woke up and this time he was lying on an unfamiliar bed. The lady officer was talking to someone.

    "-can't just leave him alone. He just lost his parents. I'll take him to my house."

    "Well, what can we do about it? How will you take care of him if he went to your house."

    "We can't just drop him off at the orphanage."

Will rubbed his eyes and sat up.

    "Who are you? Where am I?"

The two officers turned towards him. The female officer walked over to him and kneeled down..

    "Hey there. Did we wake you?"

He shook his head and stared at her.

    "What's your name?"

He gripped the blanket.

    "William. I'm William Haris. But mom and dad call me Will."

    "Well, then can I call you Will too?"

He nodded.

    "So Will, do you know what happened to your mom and dad?"

    "Dad was trying to protect me and mom from the bad men who came in and mom-"

He started crying again. The officer hugged him to her chest and stroked his hair until he calmed down. She propped him back up again and sat down next to him.

    "It's okay Will. From now on you'll live with me. You don't need to think about that anymore."

She glared at the man. They seemed to be having a silent argument with their eyes. Then the other officer sighed.

    "Fine he can stay with you but you better take responsibility. I don't want the higher-ups coming after my head. Make something up when you write the report but don't mention me in it."

He left the room and closed the door behind him.

    "You can call me Emma. I'm going to ask you a question, Will. Please answer me honestly. Do your parents have a Stelles? What about you? Do you have one?"

    "I don't know. I don't have any power. Mom and dad said that I didn't need one and that they'd protect me."

Emma gasped and looked at him in surprise. She sensed the building around her. Empty. She turned back to Will and took a shaky breath.

    "Will. Promise me that you'll never tell anyone about that. Only the ones you really trust but don't tell anyone else. Okay, Will?"

He nodded. She sighed and stood up. This had to be kept a secret. If the Konal knew they would try anything to capture. Then it hit her. They must have already known. Why else would Will's family be attacked? The possibility was there but she couldn't think about it now. She couldn't make rash decisions. She rubbed her temple and picked up the bag sitting next to the bed.

    "Let's go then. Oh and here. I found this at your house."

She handed it to him. Inside the bag was a cracked picture frame of his mother, father and him and a small bear his parents had gotten him for his birthday. In the image, his mother was slapping his father's back as he was carrying William upside down. He hugged it close to him as more tears flowed and he followed Emma out the door. It was dark outside. They walked to the car and William sat in the back seat. She turned on the heating system and closed the door. Emma began driving while thinking. She needed to find a different place to stay. If the group coming after Will was trying to capture him, they would be able to find him quickly. She didn't know if it was the Konal or the Tyls but she knew he was in danger. For now, she would try to let him live a normal life. She would have to think of a Stelles for him in case anyone was suspicious. She looked at her mirror. William had fallen asleep again while holding onto the fragmented picture. She sighed and rested her head on the headrest. Such a small boy having to go through all of this. She reached a hotel and asked for a room. She opened the back seat door and was about to wake William up when he moved.

    "Where are we?"

    "Somewhere you can rest for the night."

    "Is this a hotel? Mom said that hotels are only for when there is an emergency."

She was surprised. No child could be this weary. And how did he know what a hotel was? His house was far from the city, about 30 miles away. Who in the world was his mom and why would they only sleep in hotels if there was an emergency?

    "That's right. It's a hotel but, don't worry Will, we're just sleeping here for tonight until I can get us a place to stay."

    "Will, the bad men come after us?"

    "It's fine. They won't come here."

He rubbed his eyes and grabbed her hand. They walked in and went up the elevator. She opened up the door and walked William straight to the bed.

    "Sleep for now. You must be tired."

He nodded off and fell asleep. She lay next to him and stroked his hair. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day for her.

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