Order of the Birds Shall in Turn Kill the Owl - 2

Well to start, my name is Daniel Edward Jones and to anyone reading this, this is an autobiography. I dunno where I came from besides from my mother's womb and I don't know where I live currently. Sounds stupid?

Anyways, at the moment, it's good to have a little bit of child in you because I've been living alone in a pitch black room for 17 years now. Having an imaginary friend is quite useful, keeps me from going insane. His name is Gary if you're wondering.

Why have I been locked up alone in a pitch black room for 17 years? It's because of my "abilities" and my lack of control over them. These "abilities are activated by natural light, kinda like Superman and as to why I'm alone well... I honestly don't know. It's not like I'm dangerous around other people, oh wait I accidentally turned New York City into a fresh water lake the size of Lake Michigan just because I was thirsty, hahaha!

I 'spose I should get on with it huh? Fine. I'll start with my parents. Mariam and David Jones are barely able to keep an apartment. Despite this, they have a healthy social life. Then we came. Me and my sister, Hannah. Caring for us didn't just drain then financially but physically and mentally as well. They feel tired and depressed all the time and we soon lose the apartment. We're without shelter but we still have food and clothing.

Being street kids we had to make do with what we got and instead of stealing like others did we did our best to entertain even one person; to earn money for the family.

The others jeered at us for doing this but we didn't stop. In fact, we came to enjoy our day to day activities. Our parents still watched over us though.

I remember my parent's voices clearly. Her's was soft, like leaves on the wind, floating on a gentle summer breeze. His was a gravelly baritone speaking musically through one ear and out the other. Two most beautiful voices I've ever heard. However, I don't know what they look like. I wish I had photos of them.

As you've probably read, I wasn't born alone. I had a sister, or I guess I still have one but she's not the person I once knew. We are fraternal twins and we had many good times together, especially when she helped me get over my stage fright. She had such a pretty face.

We were 7 when we saw a strange looking person approach our parents. She appeared to be asking them a question and they motioned us to come over. We stood beside them and she looked us over. I didn't know then that they just wanted a better life for us. I didn't understand when they gave us to this stranger that ultimately we would all be better off without each other. I looked at my mother with a confused look on my face and she began to cry.

I learned later that a pandemic swept through the area that we had lived in months after we had left but my parent's fate was unknown and I still don't know what happened to them. I just stopped hearing from them altogether.

"Pause"

This strange woman drove us to an even stranger looking building which I learned was a research lab. There was a small bilboard outside proclaiming that this was Querrel Laboratories and we would unwittingly become one of it's many subjects. The woman was just one of many researchers and scientists working there.

We were placed in a very white room; very... sterilized as I can remember but we were given anything we asked for and for four years we lived a very privileged life. The councillors there treated us well and were very friendly. They spoiled us even, a couple of street kids getting anything they wanted like TV, video games, toys, a dog and the like. But I wanted more than anything to be outside.

Everyday I looked out the window watching the sunrise and sunset and occasionally seeing an animal rush past. So, I requested that I be placed outside just to experience it. They said they couldn't, it would be too dangerous but I insisted and they eventually gave in. They built a greenhouse adjacent to our room thinking that would be enough; not for me.
I did enjoy it for a while but I got bored and I yearned to be outside again.

I became more and more restless as the days dragged on and so finally I just decided to break through the glass of the greenhouse and step out onto the grass. I loved it. I wanted Hannah to experience it with me. I pulled her by the hand and the dog we had followed us. It was good to breathe the fresh air again and though Hannah didn't want to go at first, she admitted she felt better. I lied down on the grass on top of a large hill and stared at the clouds with a smile.

Suddenly the dog started barking and I got up to see what was the matter and all the rocks, boulders, and pebbles lifted up into the air and rushed toward us. Run! I had yelled to Hannah and so we did back up to the facility. The barking had abruptly stopped and I looked back to see our dog already dead, a large rock having crushed it's head.

We headed back as fast as we could when the grass had become sharp and penetrated our sneakers and soles of our feet. We had to keep moving, the rocks dropped on us if we stopped at all and having our feet impaled by grass wasn't helping.

Finally we got back to the lab but the way we came in, the hole I created in the greenhouse, no longer existed. Not only had that section changed but the greenhouse was now completely made of rubber so we couldn't get back in.

A boulder smashed into the ground beside us as we tried to get in through the window. It was too high so that was out of the question. We looked for other ways to get in but there didn't appear to be any other openings no matter how much we searched.

So we just ran, ignoring the tiny little pinpricks in the soles of my feet. "Just keep running" I said to myself and I felt myself become more exhausted with every step I took. I suddenly tripped and fell forward and if I wasn't dead from the grass impaling me, then the boulder that chased me down finished me off.