Seraphim
I'm not crazy.
I know I didn't always hear voices, but I can't seem to remember exactly when that was. They're always there. They're always desperate. I couldn't save them. I could barely separate them. I know they're in danger, I can tell. I wish I could do something, but even if I separated the voices, who would I help? How would I help?
When I was 16 years old, they started getting too bad to sleep. I was on almost no sleep, walking around like a zombie. My schoolwork declined significantly, my parents were disappointed, I couldn't say I blamed them. They put all their faith in me to be the genius of the family. For a while I was. Until the voices.
I didn't talk to anyone about being able to hear them. I could tell my younger brother, Sasuke, was getting worried but I couldn't tell him anything. I didn't want him to think I was going crazy. Sasuke looked up to me, I didn't need that changing. Maybe I should've. I would be in a different position now if I reached out, but there isn't anything I can do about it now.
Seven months after I turned 16 I figured out a way to separate the voices. Finally, they were clear. I could sift through each of them with just concentrating, I could even turn them off, only by this point it was such a comfort hearing voices all the time, I forgot what it was like for it to be silent. This made me a little crazy, so I didn't stop the voices, for too long, I mean.
One day I heard a voice, begging for someone, for me, to save them. I knew where he was. I knew it in my heart where he was and I jumped into the car, despite the protests of my parents and raced there. He spun out of control near the lake not too far from where I lived and drove into the lake. I'm not stupid, I called the police while I was on my way. I told them someone drove into the lake and I was going to try and get them. The 911 operator advised against it but I hung up on her and kept driving.
I got there 7 minutes before the cavalry and rushed into the water where most of the car was already submerged. I swam to it, it was dark, it was late at night. I couldn't see in the water. I don't remember much of that night, but I was able to break open a window, how, I'm not sure. But I saved him. He was so thankful. I told him it wasn't a problem and I left before anyone could talk to me.
From that point on, I listened in, separating voices that sounded desperate to those who were calm and just like that, I was able to know where they were. I would drive there and help.
Sometimes, I got there too late. When that happened, the connection to the voices faded and I was left in the silence. I wondered if it was a punishment for not saving them in time, so I couldn't hear them anymore.
The voices always came back. Sometimes it took longer, but I would always be smacked in the face with a horrendous headache and there would be so many voices at one time I couldn't focus on anything.
At some point along the way, I realized I had developed more abilities. Healing. One person I protected was a woman, she was being assaulted. I protected her and got hit pretty badly. I fought off the thug and I sat with the woman until the police arrived, leaving before they could see me. When I got home, the nasty cut on my face was gone, in its wake was a trail of blood.
My parents didn't like me coming home like that.
I would practice my healing from that point. I would hurt myself on purpose and time how long it took my body to heal it. Some days it healed faster than others, I haven't been able to discover why that is yet. Then, amazingly enough, I realized I had the power to heal other people.
Sasuke hurt himself playing outside when our parents weren't home. I tried to sooth him but I could tell his leg was broken. Sasuke was crying and he had his face covered. I told him I was going to pick him up. When I did, I cupped my hand over the injury and tried to will myself to heal him the way I healed myself.
It worked.
Sasuke didn't know what happened, only that it didn't hurt anymore and he was glad. He was off playing without even realizing the extent of the injuries. I stared at my hands for a while that night.
Then the night of the incident happened.
I saved someone. Some young blonde girl, I couldn't even tell you her face anymore. When I was done I heard it.
My mom.
My dad.
My brother.
I raced home faster than I'd ever driven before but by that point it was too late. I rushed into the house and it was destroyed. I looked around trying to find my family. Then I found them.
They were dead. Laying in the middle of Sasuke's bedroom.
I rushed to save them. I put all of my power into healing but you can't bring back the dead, even me.
I was able to save Sasuke. He still had a pulse. A dull one at that, but it was there and he would be okay. I cried and hugged him. My hands were covered in their blood from trying to save them. I gave most of my energy to my little brother but he would be okay. He was on the verge of death. I couldn't let that happen. I would die for my brother.
That's how the police found me. Crying in the room with my dead family, covered in blood. I was taken into custody for the murder of my parents and the attempted murder of my brother. The trial was strange though. I didn't have one.
They took me in. It was a prison but it was underground. The cells were made of nothing I'd ever seen before. They were crazy. I saw things that I'm not sure I could even explain.
They shoved me into a cell and one of them put a silver cuff on my wrist.
The voices stopped. I couldn't hear them anymore. They were gone. My heart was beating so fast and I demanded them to take it off, I couldn't get it off. I couldn't feel the energy inside myself to heal either. Everything was dampened. I had no power here with this cuff.
They closed the cell behind me, and wrote me off as crazy.
But I'm not crazy.
***
"Who is the new one?"
"Uchiha Itachi."
"Says in his file he murdered his family."
"Yeah, that's what it would say."
"Did he?"
"No. But we can't have anyone else knowing that, can we?"
"If he's here, what can he do? Why was he framed?" The question hung in the air for a while until a new voice took over.
"Uchiha Itachi is probably the biggest threat to the planet we can think of right now. We needed to kill his hosts, or who he thought his parents were. We weren't sure if him and Sasuke were actually related, so we had him killed too, just in case."
"Why didn't you kill Itachi if he's such a danger?"
"We need to study him. It isn't every day we get someone with power like his."
"But what can he do?"
"Itachi thinks he can hear voices, this is partly true. What he can actually hear is prayers. It seems he's discovered this and can pinpoint which prayers are dire and he will try to go and help. He knows their exact location. He also can heal and if our database is correct about his kind, he will also be able to fly. There are other powers that we aren't sure about yet, but we know these for sure."
"What is he?"
"He's what you call a Nephilim."
In the glass cell behind them, Itachi's eyes flashed red.
I'm not crazy.