PROLOGUE to: SOMEBODY

“Again.” 

The man’s voice was sharp and harsh. His black eyes merciless.

The young boy— somewhere around thirteen years old— sighed and looked down at the picture on the metal desk. 

The picture was of another boy- blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Grumpy face. 

“Well go on.” The man snapped, arms crossed.

Looking up, the boy examined the man. He looked tired. Annoyed. After all, who wanted to spend hours working with an experiment?

The boy sighed once more, looking down at the picture. His ocean blue eyes shimmered emerald green.

Then, his whole body— his whole appearance shuddered. 

His tattered brown hair shifted blonde, growing a little bit more. A striking blue colored his mysterious eyes. Even his skin changed. 

And in just a moment, he looked exactly like the boy in the picture. Except one thing. His face didn’t look grumpy like the picture-boy’s did. It was still gloomy. 

 He looked up at the man who had an eyebrow raised. “Good.” Turning around, the man grabbed a clipboard off a nearby desk. “You may go 250.” 

The boy quietly stood up, his appearances shifting back to normal; brown tattered hair. Ocean blue eyes. Olive colored skin. 

Guards stood by the door, wielding futuristic looking guns. As the boy approached, they opened the door and entered a white hall. 

The boy walked down the hall, two guards beside him, as he made his way back to his corridor.

Sometimes he wondered why he didn’t try escaping. Maybe it was because of the stories of the outside world.

“The outside is dangerous, unpredictable.” His teacher— the man who made him practice his unique power everyday— had said. “You can’t trust anyone. Everyone wants to hurt you.”

Or maybe it was because of all the guards.

“However, if you did try to escape.” His teacher had continued “the metal band on your wrist would stop you. Shock you. And you would be severely punished.”

Or maybe... it was because he was scared. Even if the outside was dangerous... even if it wasn’t. It all seemed unfamiliar.

But tonight... tonight he would find out. 

They finally arrived at his dormitory; the door, metal and with an enormous lock on the outside. 

One of the guards stepped forward, unlocked the door with a keycard, and opened the door. 

The boy stepped inside the dark room. The door slammed behind him. 

Almost immediacy as the door slammed, white lights installed in the walls and ceiling, lit up the small room. 

A bed and a single desk stood at the end of the room. Papers and various objects scattered the floor. Only a few though. 

The boy sat down on his bed, examining a metal armband that contained his right wrist. 

It prevented him to morph into anything. The only time he could morph was when he was in the room with the teacher. The only room where it deactivated.

A green light on the armband indicated it was on. 

The boy looked up at the roof where a security camera stared at him. He had to do it fast. If he wanted to leave. 

Taking a deep breath, he reached under his bed. His fingers found cold hard metal. Grasping onto it, he tucked it under his arm and stood up. 

He hurried into a corner under the camera— the only place it couldn’t see him. 

He raised the tool under the camera, stuck it into a hole, then pulled. The camera tumbled to the floor with a crash that made the boy jump. 

Now it was time. They would be in his room any moment now. 

Throwing the tool to the ground, and his heart beating like crazy, he started to tear open the back of the security camera. 

He found a green card and ripped it out of the camera’s back. 

A commotion sounded outside the doorway. 

The boy scanned the green card across his armband. The green light turned red. The armband fell off. 

He could hear the doorknob turning. 

His ocean blue eyes shimmered an emerald green. And the boy turned invisible — he disappeared.

The door swung open, four guards rushed in along with the boy’s teacher. 

The boy backed into the corner, praying that he stayed invisible. 

As the guards swept the room and examined the camera, the teacher glared down at the deactivated armband. 

The boy edged towards the doorway, eye on the teacher— over years of beatings and shoutings... he learned that he, was the most dangerous. 

The teacher spun around towards the door, eyes flashing. “Lock down the facility! 250’s escaping!” 

His voice sent a wave of recognizable panic through the boy’s body and he froze. 

His arm shifted to his normal arm for a moment. 

No more standing around! I’ve got to go. Now! The boy thought and rushed out the door. 

Guards ran by left and right. Other teachers the boy had never seen before walked by, whispering to each other, wondering what the commotion was. 

There was a moment where he accidentally bumped into a scientist who’s eyes went wide in confusion. 

“Sorry.” He had blurted. 

That made her shriek in surprise. 

But soon the boy spotted a large metal door. His hopes rose. He slammed into the door and burst into open air. 

An unfamiliar feeling of cold wind brushed past him. It was cold but the air... it felt fresh. Filled his lungs with life and energy. 

He ran away into the night, the amazing and terrifying feeling of freedom overwhelming him. 

He was free. 

The experiment was finally free. 

250 was finally, finally, free.