My little cousins’ faces also fill with worry, but to shield them from what just happened, my mom and aunt quickly put on poker faces. I try my best to as well, but I see that it is really hard for my aunt and mom. I wonder if this is what they had to do for 9/11.

  “What’s happening?” my younger cousin Winston asks. My mom and aunt look like they want to speak up, but their voices catch, and they worry that they’re going to have to expin. But I step up.

  “It’s nothing to worry about. It’s just that we might never see something happen like this ever again.”

  All my cousins’ faces turn to me.

  “Aww, really?” they all ask with faces filled with disappointment. But my mom’s and aunt’s faces now have slight relief that I stepped up.

  “Maybe. We never know what could happen,” I say, noticing my aunt about to say something.

  “Alright, guys, ready to head home? You still have school tomorrow, so let’s get y’all all to bed.” There is a slight hesitation when saying there’s school tomorrow, but my younger cousins all get up and start following my aunt back to their SUV.

  My mom comes up behind me and holds my shirt. “Are you okay?” I ask her my voice is weak, but I must be strong for her.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little shaken.” She says like she’s out of breath. “Hey, are we… sure it’s real?”

  She nods her head. “Yeah, I think it’s real.”

  I rub my mom’s back. “We just have to hope everybody is okay. Maybe it’s not as bad as the news said.”

  “Hopefully…” she says quietly as we both start walking back to the car. My aunt and cousins are already driving off further down the road.

  I hop into the passenger seat, and my mom hops in the driver’s. Then, when my mind slightly clears, I feel it again—the pulling sensation just above my right shoulder. I shift uncomfortably as my mom starts to drive.

  “What is this…?” I mutter to myself.

  My mom picks up on it. “What is what, sweety?”

  I put my hand on my shoulder and try to brush it off. “I don’t know. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  I sit back in my seat and bring out my phone, trying to forget about it. My mom turns her attention back on the road, and we keep driving home. I look out the window. The trail of the meteor is completely gone now, and the moon is a lesser shade of red. I let out a sigh, the weird feeling still above my shoulder as we pull into my house’s familiar driveway.

  My mom parks the car, and we both enter the house silently. The thought hits me—most of my family is asleep. They don’t know the news. I look at my mom, and it seems she has the same thought.

  “I think it’s best we tell them in the morning.”

  I nod, agreeing that waking them up would just cause a worse reaction. I bring my mom in for a hug and kiss her on her forehead.

  “Love you, goodnight.”

  She kisses me back. “Love you too, sleep well.”

  With that, I walk upstairs and hop into my shower that’s connected to my room. I dry off and put on some clothes to sleep in. I find Lana and give her some pets before I turn off all the lights and slide into bed. I pull out my phone and go on social media, and sure enough, every single video is about the fires that are still going on.

  I want to put my phone away, but the feeling above my shoulder is still there, making it increasingly difficult to fall asleep. I keep pulling out my phone, and around 12:13, a video shows up. It was posted a few minutes ago and already has a good bit of likes. It shows the New York streets—this person is right in the fires—and it captures an individual throwing fire out of their hands.

  “So, it is caused by a person. Weird… but that’s not possible. No way someone has powers…”

  I look at the person’s profile and see that they’re live streaming. My eyes light up, and I tap to join the livestream, and sure enough, it’s the same individual. But now, they’re in a standoff with what looks to be SWAT.

  The livestream goes on for a few more seconds but then suddenly cuts off and ends.

  “What?! Come on…”

  I let out a disappointed sigh as I put my phone down and roll over in my bed. The pulling above my right shoulder is still there, but my mind is now on the person in the livestream.

  “Could someone really develop some sort of powers?” I say as I let out a yawn. My eyelids start to get heavy, and soon enough, I fall asleep.

  It was loud.

  I didn’t know what was going on, but I jump up. My cat runs across my room into my closet, and heavy footsteps just across the wall can be heard. Not a second ter, my door is busted down.

  “HANDS UP!”

  A man in full bck gear shouts, guns trained on me. I can do nothing but quickly comply.

  “We need you to come with us,” a more calcuted man states as I am soon grabbed.

  I look over into my brother’s room, and he is going through the same thing. I see my sister’s room is already cleared out, and she isn’t there. If anything, that’s what makes me mad the most.

  I am confused, scared, and worried.

  “What the heck is going on?!”

  I am moved downstairs and out the front door. I see my mom, dad, and younger sister, along with dozens of cars with blinding lights fshing in front of our house. The sounds of multiple helicopters hover overhead. I know it’s still nighttime, but it doesn’t seem like it with all the lights around.

  I am put next to the rest of my family, and my older brother is soon pced with us too by another person in gear. I am still in a daze, but I can’t help but overhear and notice the confused looks on what I can only assume are SWAT members’ faces.

  “Are you sure we got the right people?” one SWAT member asks another.

  “There’s no big fire or toxic gasses flowing from any of them.”

  My dad seems ready to fight the whole force gathered outside our house. He says, “Fire and toxic gasses?! What are you all talking about? I need you to tell me what in the world is going on right now!”

  Some of the SWAT team seem on edge at my father’s aggression. Some calmly turn.

  “We have readings to believe that someone around here has developed supernatural abilities.”

  My dad just shakes his head and lets out a ugh at how stupid it sounds. But my mom and I look at each other, knowing they aren’t joking and that we could be in danger.

  The SWAT team waves someone over, and out from a van in the sea of cars comes a man in a b coat with a device in his hand. My family and I watch as the man receives a respectful nod from the SWAT team.

  My little sister then asks, “What is that in your hand, mister?”

  The man in the b coat turns to her. “This here is an oscilloscope, and its readings visualize electrical signals. A few hours ago, one of my colleagues was at the scene of the fires in New York City, and the readings were off the charts. After the individual was apprehended, it fred even higher. So, would you like to be tested first?”

  His voice sounds more like a demand than a question.

  He approaches my sister, and my dad tries to step up and stop him but is immediately held down by SWAT. My sister pulls back, unsure of what will happen. The man turns on the device and holds it to my sister. Nothing.

  “Hmmm…” the man mutters, then turns to my mom. Again, nothing.

  He moves to my older brother. Nothing. A slight disappointment crosses the man’s face, but it quickly switches to anticipation as he starts walking toward me.

  I let out a shaky breath as he stands over me, holding out the device. Then, he turns it on.

  A quick moment of silence—

  Then, a high-pitched ringing noise erupts from the device.

  A look of different emotions fshes across the man’s face. Before I can read any of them, he quickly waves SWAT to take me.

  Chaos erupts—

  I stand up but am quickly restrained before I can do anything. My dad struggles in the arms of two SWAT members. “Don’t you dare take him!” My father yells while My brother steps up but is quickly dissuaded from doing anything by another SWAT member. My sister starts crying, and my mom is left in silent shock as I’m dragged down my house’s driveway. “Let me go! I don’t have-”. I try to put up some sort of fight, but I’m Soon throw into car that quickly locks.

  I look around for a way out, but it’s like the back of a cop car, just more comfortable. I look out the window and see my family still being held back, but a few seconds ter, the front passenger and driver's door open. The man in the b coat sits in the passenger seat, and a woman in a fancy suit sits in the driver’s seat.

  “You need to tell me what’s going on right now! Or… I’ll…”

  I know that powers are real if what I saw on the livestream is true, and if they did all this to capture me—

  “I’ll blow up this whole car!”

  Their faces fsh with worry, as if they’ve seen the damage that could be caused by a person with powers, even though it’s quite obviously an empty threat from me.

  The dy in the driver’s seat quickly hits a button, and then gas starts to fill the back.

  “Wait, please, you have the wrong person! I don’t... have... powe---...”

  My eyes become too heavy, and I fall asleep from the gas.