Hey there. It's me—Lena.
In my world, superpowers are real. Heroes. Villains. The whole thing. But me? I'm just a regular high school girl. No powers, no fancy legacy. Just Lena.
I've got two best friends though. Ann—brainiac and totally power-less like me. And Gwen—our wild card. Sporty, fearless, and yeah, she's got a power. She calls it Claw. Pretty cool, right?
The amazing part? Even though me and Ann don't have powers, the kids at school still respect us. In this world, that's rare. And I appreciated it. Life was simple, fun… normal.
Until the field trip.
It started out harmless. Our science teacher planned an overnight trip to the forest to study bugs and plants. Yay, no homework! Just nature, tents, and snacks. We were buzzing with excitement—especially Gwen, who packed more gear than anyone. We hopped on the bus, rode two hours into the deep woods, and set up camp with our class.
The teacher gave us the usual safety speech: don't wander off, follow curfew, blah blah. I paid attention. Ann definitely paid attention. Gwen? Already halfway into the trees before the speech even ended.
We chased after her and started our "research." Butterflies with glowing wings, beetles with armor-like shells—it was like a nature documentary come to life. But time flew fast. Before we knew it, the sky dimmed to a soft orange glow.
And then we realized… we were lost.
We tried everything our teacher told us to do if we got separated, but nothing worked. The forest seemed to shift every time we turned. That's when we found it—an old, overgrown lab building hidden between the trees, like something out of a horror movie.
Ann didn't want to go in. She said it gave her a bad feeling. But I insisted. We couldn't stay out here in the dark, with wild animals and no light. She reluctantly followed.
Inside, it was dusty and strange. Lab equipment everywhere—beakers, test tubes, tanks filled with glowing liquid. And… guns. Yeah, actual weapons. In a lab. Creepy, right?
Then Gwen called out from deeper in the building. She'd found a basement.
We went down—carefully. One of our classmates slipped and scraped her knee, but we helped her down. The basement was massive, like some kind of bunker. There were crates of high-tech weapons, machines I didn't recognize, and… giant glass tubes, big enough to hold a person.
But the worst part? A bomb. A massive one.
We didn't touch anything. Just searched for supplies, and thankfully, found a box of food and bottled water. We celebrated a little—finally, something good.
Ann told us to grab the supplies and get out. We all agreed. Except, of course, Gwen. She climbed on the bomb. Like, literally on top of it.
Ann was yelling at her to get down when—
Tick.
We all heard it. That low, haunting sound.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
It was arming itself.
Panic exploded in my chest. Ten seconds. That's all we had.
We ran—hard. I saw one of our classmates struggling up the stairs. Without thinking, I shouted for Gwen and Ann to help me. We grabbed her arms and pulled, ran with everything we had.
The countdown hit zero.
BOOM.
I blacked out.
When I opened my eyes, everything was ash.
The forest—burned. My hands—charred and shaking. My skin barely felt real. I could see bone through the cracks. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
Then—figures in hazmat suits. One of them knelt down beside me.
"There's a survivor!" he shouted.
And then… nothing.
"I thought I died."
I heard beeping. Steady. Repetitive. Like a machine. Like… an alarm.
I gasped awake.
White walls. A soft bed. Not a hospital. Not home. Somewhere strange. My heart slammed against my chest.
A woman came in—surprised, maybe even relieved. She ran out, called for someone. A moment later, a girl my age entered the room.
She looked nervous. Afraid. Like she was about to tell me something I couldn't handle.
She opened her mouth and said:
"I'm… I'm so sorry. Condolences for your classmates… and your friends. They… didn't survive."
I froze.
Did I hear that right?
I wanted to laugh. To scream. To cry. My body didn't move—only my voice, breaking, cracking. "No… no, you're lying. They can't be dead… they can't…"
But her eyes said everything.
They were gone.
Ann. Gwen. My classmates.
All of them.
I sobbed until I couldn't breathe, blaming myself over and over. It's my fault. I made us go in. I made that decision.
Then she said something else. Something that chilled me to the core.
"You can't go home."
I blinked. "What? Why not?!"
She stepped closer. "Think about it. Why do you think you're still alive? You were closest to the bomb. You should've been the first to go."
I stared at her, numb. My mind spun.
"You survived," she said, "because you have a power. A very powerful one."
And that…Was the moment everything changed.