Jet, 2010 | San Diego, California | Pre-Awakening

  “If you leave I will never forgive you,” Jet’s mother hollered at him in her Greek accent. Aisha, his half-sister’s mother, glared at Jet as well. Why were they all ganging up on him like this? Jet knew they got bad vibes from Brian and Mathiaz, but it wasn’t as serious as they thought. They were just a couple of goofy guys, and they were his friends.

  “Please,” Aisha pleaded, her facial expression softened. “If you care for nothing else, care for your mother.” She also had an accent, but hers was Ghanaian. Neesi was Jet’s mother, but Aisha may as well have been as well. “It’s bad, Jet, there’s something not right about those two, and we’ve got a horrible feeling. We have had this feeling for weeks, we asked you to stay out of trouble. Why won’t you listen?”

  “I’m not a child,” Jet said coolly. “Why do you keep treating me like a goddamn child? Mind your own business! I’m 15, I don’t need you to hold my hand. Everyone thinks I’m a wuss because of you all!” Jet turned and stormed out of the house, slamming the door. He walked fast, but the door opened again.

  “Jet what the hell is wrong with you?” Nhucha, his half-sister, demanded, shaking. She couldn’t stand that Jet would be so callous toward their mothers. They nearly died to get to the States, they protected Jet and Nhucha because they wanted a better life for them, obviously. “Stop! Just listen! They aren’t trying to hold you back, they just don’t want you getting into bad shit!”

  “Shut up,” Jet snarled over his shoulder, “you’re supposed to be on my side! Thanks a lot!” Nhucha slowed to a stop and then yelled something at him, but Jet ignored her and picked up his pace.

  It was pitch black tonight, no moon. If it wasn’t for the street lamps and some faint city lights, Jet wouldn’t be able to see where he was going at all. He slowed to a walk. Brian and Mathiaz, their gang leader’s sons, chose this night specifically for the lack of moon. Jet had managed to befriend these two and felt like it boded well for him, like he would be favored for it. They didn’t seem too bad, even though Jet’s family hated them- they would see how wrong they were soon. He could feel the scowl on his face, thinking about the fight that he and his family just had. It was like they all knew something was up. He wondered how families were so good at this shit.

  There was something up, and Jet was just trying to help his family by doing this, it was the only way. They were so poor, always barely scraping by. Of course, the government and corporate “cops” who everyone called “mercs” made sure it stayed that way. Jet needed to make money and he needed to protect his family, he was, after all, the man of the house. He felt like he wasn’t doing enough for his family, certainly not enough to be called a man. In this shitty era, joining a gang and proving your worth to them was the only way to combat the merc’s habit of simply coming into your home and taking whatever they wanted as the government looked the other way. So, this was it. This was his initiation. After 5 years of training and preparing, they had to make sure that they could trust Jet completely, even though he wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. For a split second, he thought about running, but something drew him to the house. It was familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

  [POP POP]

  Jet went rigid then snapped his head up in direction of the gunshots. He heard horrified screams coming from the house. What the fuck was going on here? Dogs started barking and windows lit up down the street. Jet ran up the stairs to the front porch, ripping the screen door open and bolting inside. This was supposed to be a robbery, not a damn thing more. Why were there gunshots? He began to follow the direction of the sound and stumbled into a room to find a horrifying scene; a man, dead on the floor in a pool of blood and Ami- Ami!- who had been shot in her side, barely holding herself up on the floor in front of the man. Jet looked closer and realized that the man was Neil, Ami’s ex. Ami raised her head, shaking. She spotted Jet and her eyes narrowed, then she reached toward him.

  “P..please-” she tried to choke out.

  [Inspirational Song | Green Day, “St. Jimmy”]

  “What the hell are you doing?” Jet yelled at his accomplices, starting to charge. Brian smirked and pointed the gun at Jet. His demeanor, usually goofy, completely changed. Right now he was sinister and murderous.

  “Change of plans,” his oily, rat-face sneered. “We lied. This is your initiation.”

  He nodded toward Ami. “Kill her.” Despite the blood pouring from her wound, Ami stiffened and held her chin up defiantly. Jet’s eyes widened. No, no way! He was cool with teaching fuck boys who wanted to start shit a lesson, but these were innocent people! Ami, specifically, was someone Jet knew and had known his entire life. They knew that, too, this couldn't have been spur of the moment. They wanted to test Jet’s loyalty by forcing him to kill a person they knew he'd have a hard time killing. No, this was planned. Bastards!

  “Hell no,” Jet bellowed, lunging for the gun.

  “Do it or we will,” Mathiaz pressed his gun to Ami's head. “And it won't be quick.” He grinned sadistically. These two always struck Jet as a little off, but this had taken him by surprise. Nothing this dark had ever seemed like them. Maybe Jet just, like his ma had said while pleading for him to stay away from them, underestimated their capabilities. Jet looked at Ami. She was proud but pleading and Jet knew why. Her daughter- was she here? Ami’s eyes bore into Jet's. Soleil. She was here, but they didn’t know it... yet.

  “Not a chance!” Jet was seething, ready to attack. In one swift movement he snatched Brian's gun out of his hand. Had he thought that Jet would just surrender and do his bidding? Obey him? That he would be scared of them? Brian’s smug face made the rage Jet felt boil over and he growled, pistol-whipped Brian as hard as he could, then turned the gun on Mathiaz who already had Ami in a head-lock with his gun pressed to her head.

  “Try it, bitch,” he spat. He looked at Brian and scoffed. “Pussy.” As Mathiaz looked back at Jet, something caught his eye- a photo. Damnit! Mathiaz turned to Jet and smirked, his gun still on Ami’s head.

  “There's a kid,” he said slowly, gleefully, “is that why you've gone all bitch on me?” He laughed. “You can still redeem yourself, traitor. Kill her,” he nodded toward the photo.

  “Fuck you” Jet snarled. Mathiaz laughed, but before Jet had time to react, Ami had recovered enough of her strength and conviction to punch Mathiaz in the side of his knee then grabbed the gun out of his hand as he fell. Despite her profuse bleeding, she pulled Mathiaz closer by his shirt and spat in his face.

  “Go to hell, you piece of shit,” she said, rage allowing her slight southern accent to come out. Two gunshots. Mathiaz dropped to his knees coughing up blood then collapsed, nearly landing on Ami. Jet caught his body before it hit her and shoved it roughly to the side. He's gone. Good.

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  “J-Jet-” Ami sputtered, shaking. She dropped the gun, reached for Jet and weakly tugged at his jeans. “Soleil. Don’t worry about me-”

  “No, no! I'll call an ambulance-” Jet interrupted frantically. He started to get up, looking for a phone or something, but Ami continued to plead, refusing to let go of him.

  “Please, please! It's too late! Just listen- save her! I don't care what else happens, just save her! Tess- take her to Tess-” Tess was Soleil’s godmother.

  “She needs you! She needs her mother!” Jet was panicking. He grabbed Ami’s shoulders and gave her a shake. She couldn’t die. Jet didn’t recall ever crying, at least not where anyone could see him, but now he could feel tears pouring from his brown-green eyes. Suddenly, he saw movement- Brian! He bolted out of the living room and Jet followed, leaving Ami behind. Brian ran into a room that Jet assumed was Soleil's. Jet sped up and stumbled in through the darkness. He heard Brian stumble and grasped blindly toward the sound, but he dodged Jet. Soleil wasn't there. Maybe she was hiding? Jet ran from the bedroom attempting to find her before Brian got his hands on her; who knew what that sicko was capable of.

  Jet squinted down the hallway. The smallest sign of a light flickered and he started moving toward it as quietly as he could. It flickered again, from his left. It was coming from.. the kitchen? It was so dark but the light flickered again and Jet saw what appeared to be a kitchen sink in the instantaneous light. There was a barely audible gasp, a sniff, then a whimper. He saw a tiny figure peeking from under the sink. The light reflected the tears streaming down her pain-stricken face. Oddly, there seemed to be another source of light- faint green light- coming from Soleil herself. Jet saw it every time it got dark. He was so relieved to find her that he had to hold himself up for a second. She was alive.

  [Inspirational Song | Imogen Heap, “Little Bird”]

  “It's ok Soleil,” Jet half whispered. “I won't hurt you.” Silent tears ran down his face. “I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry.” At that moment Brian came around the corner and attempted to put Jet in a headlock. He dodged it and shoved Brian into the sink as hard as he could. Soleil backed into the cabinet and screamed. The cabinet cracked open a little bit and Brian saw the light, swearing at Soleil.

  “Come here you little-“ Brian reached for the cabinet door but Jet grabbed him by the neck and slammed him into the wall with his arm locked onto his throat. Brian’s feet were barely touching the ground but he tried to choke out some insults. He was determined to get to her. Who the hell killed or even hurt a child?

  “Don't look!” Jet called severely toward Soleil. Jet gritted his teeth then snapped Brian’s neck. His body went limp and fell to the floor. He stood there in shock for a moment; Jet had never killed before. At that moment, he heard a cough and a gurgle. Ami! “Stay here!” he called to Soleil. “Please, I'm begging you, stay here!” She couldn't see this! He ran back to the bedroom.

  Ami was barely alive, lying in the puddle of her and Neil’s blood. As soon as she saw Jet she attempted to lift a shaking hand.

  “Soleil-“ she pleaded. “Is she-?!”

  “No! No, she’s alive! She’s safe!” Ami must have heard her scream. She staggered a sigh, relieved. Jet started looking for a phone to call an ambulance, but he couldn’t find one. Ami lifted her arm and tried to move it toward something. Jet followed her gesture to the photo on the bookshelf, the one Mathiaz had seen.

  “Tess-” she managed to choke out. Jet grabbed the photo, getting blood on the glass. He stared at it for a second. Neil and Ami were smiling, and Soleil laughed in the arms of a very happy and eccentric looking 40 something woman- Jet would know her wild red hair anywhere, his mom and Aisha worked with her a lot- Tess. He looked back over at Ami. She had taken Neil’s hand in hers and lay completely still, silent. Jet’s arms dropped to his sides, the photo fell out of his hand and he heard the glass shatter. He felt completely numb.

  “No..” he whispered, defeated. “God no.” What had he agreed to be part of? He heard footsteps, tiny footsteps, making their way toward him. No! He saw Sol’s face and leapt across the room just in time to block her view. “No no no,” he groaned, lifting her up and carrying her away. She cried all the way back to the kitchen. She was in shock and terrified. Sirens screamed in the distance, Jet suspected that they were coming for him.

  Jet used his foot to shove Brian’s body into the hall and out of sight, then he gently set Soleil down as she struggled to get back to her mother. The doorway to the kitchen was relatively small so he sat in it, his back to one side of the frame and his feet on the other side of the frame, essentially locking her in. It took a while, but eventually she calmed down. Jet’s eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he could see her. She was just sitting and staring, her eyes were red and dry tear trails streaked her face. She turned her head slowly toward him, hiccupping.

  For the first time that night, she looked into Jet's eyes. Jet gasped. Her- her eyes- something about them! He’d rarely had contact with Soleil, and he’d never seen this light from her. It was like her eyes enclosed tiny stars. What had he allowed to happen? All the warnings from his ma about these wretched people who he called his friends, he shrugged her off, now look at him. He was a mess. A stupid, arrogant little ass. He could have said no, he could have stopped it. Now this little girl, this somehow shining little girl, had lost her family.

  Jet closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. He heard the sirens right outside the house, now. The sound went off, car doors started opening and shutting. The lights were still flashing. This was all for show, he knew it. The people outside were probably a mix of mercs and cops, they didn’t care about these people.

  “Come out with your hands up,” he heard a merc yell from just outside the door. He wouldn’t even try to run. He deserved whatever they had in store for him.

  [Inspirational Song | LINKIN PARK ft. Alchemist & Chali 2na, “Frgt/10”]

  “I’m unarmed,” Jet croaked. He started shaking. Everything was sinking in and he knew he would end up in prison, possibly murdered by other gang members if they found out what happened tonight. He decided he would confess to killing Ami and Neil, and claim that Brian and Mathiaz were already dead when he got here.

  “Come out, now!” A merc shouted impatiently. Jet knew he had to go outside. God knows what would happen to Soleil if he made them come inside. He looked at her again.

  “Soleil,” Jet whispered. “Soleil can you do something for me? She stared at him, still hiccupping. “Please don’t tell anyone what happened here tonight. You can’t tell anyone that I saved you. If you do, I might get killed by people like the boys who did this. Please, Soleil.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Please don’t tell anyone, not even Tess. I have to lie to stay alive. I’m sorry I have to ask you to do this.” She nodded. He felt relieved but was still scared; what if she slipped?

  “Will you go outside with me?” Jet asked. Soleil looked at the door. He followed her gaze to Tess, who was screaming incoherently and being restrained by the mercs. The lights of at least a dozen cars were flashing. Soleil nodded. She got up mechanically. It was such an odd move for someone so small and innocent. She picked up her plush gloworm, it lit up when she squeezed it. So that was the light that kept flashing. Jet also got up. Both of them started walking slowly. Soleil froze halfway to the front door and looked up at him.

  “Th-thank you,” she choked out. She took Jet’s hand and he felt her shaking. She was so terrified. He had to fight tears with all he had left. He had no right to cry. Yeah, he saved Soleil, but he could have said no to the whole thing. Maybe she would still have a mother and father. As they got closer to the door, he grabbed a blanket off the back of the living room couch and wrapped it around Soleil. They walked out the front door. The merc who had been shouting was backing away slowly, his gun on Jet.

  “I have to let go now, ok?” He said to Soleil. She nodded and held the blanket tight.

  He put his hands up. Tess shoved through the officers who let her go, ran up the porch steps and snatched Soleil into her arms. Tess’s eyes were bloodshot and wide in disbelief, her cheeks soaked. She looked back at Jet as she backed away. She was confused and frightened, in shock that Jet could be involved in this, then she hurried away. The mercs grabbed Jet violently and slammed him into the porch wall, handcuffing him, then they shoved him into the back of a car. His mother was going to be devastated, this is never what she wanted for him. She tried so hard to keep him away from crime and gangs, but he would never listen. They drove away, Tess holding Soleil, both of them stared after him. Tess was still in shock, Soleil was still confused.

  Jet looked away, but something caught his eye. In the rearview mirror, he saw something very odd.. he saw what looked like his skin with a dark-ish tint but when he looked directly at the mirror, it wasn't there. Where his eyes had only been brown and shaded green.. now there were beautiful gold flecks that people could only see out of the corners of their eyes.

  [Inspirational Song | Gareth Emery feat. Asia Whiteacre, "Million Years"]