Of course I remember the first time I used my powers. Everyone remembers their first time.

For me it was good old Uncle Bix beating up on Mom again. He was saying something about her not respecting him or some other drivel (as if anyone could respect that drunken moron). It was the first time me and little Bobby had actually seen it happen. Oh wed heard it often enough and seen the results the next day. But this was the first time hed not even bothered to hide it. He had Mom pinned against the wall and he was screaming at her. I could see spittle spraying out of his big ugly mouth as he held her by the arms. Little Bobby was holding my hand so tight and when I looked down I saw that he was crying. He had his hand over his mouth so that he didnt make a sound and I remembered that Bix was always telling us that children should be seen and not heard. As I looked down at little Bobby I felt something change deep inside me. I had always hated my uncle and for as long as I could remember I had wished with all my heart that he was dead. But this was different somehow. For a moment I was so angry that I just couldnt breath and a violent strobing pressure started building up and pressing hard behind my eyes. It hurt so bad that I thought I was going to pass out or explode (or both). I let go of Bobby and threw my hands up over my face as I felt something shatter inside my head. Suddenly the pressure was gone and I felt something new, something dangerous and predatory gathering around me. I felt static fizz across my fingertips and the smell of ozone filled the air. For a moment I just stood there, holding it in and savouring the feeling, and then with great venom I simply let it all go. Im not sure I can really describe the sensation but it was a huge release, like a primal scream in my mind reaching out into the world. And it was so quick. One moment Bix had mom against the wall and the next he was suspended in the middle of the kitchen. I held him in a tight telekinetic grip and walked around him slowly just so that I could relish his stupid bug eyed look of confusion. Mom and Bobby were temporarily forgotten as I focused more and more on good old Bix. And then I began to squeeze. I felt his bones grinding and crunching together and I drank in his frantic gasps as I started to compress his rib cage. I remember wanting to look him in the eyes because I wanted him to know it was me doing this but I could see that he was already lost in panic and fear. And so I hammered him against the wall. It was

a hell of a smack and the whole room shook. Dear old Uncle Bex virtually exploded on contact and Im afraid he made quite a mess. As he dripped down the wall I thought he looked a bit like a huge splodge of spaghetti in tomato sauce, only ickier and with bony bits sticking out. The smell was horrible. It was all horrible really but Im ashamed to say that I felt exhilarated. In fact the only regret I had about killing him was that it meant I couldnt kill him again. Mom got over her shock first and started screaming hysterically. I think I said something like Its OK Mom he cant hurt you now. Were all safe now, but she was already backing away from me and trying to edge her way towards the door. I turned to little Bobby but he had wet himself and was cowering in a corner by the washing machine. It felt like Id been stabbed in the gut. To see the two people I loved more than anything in world looking at me like that was more than I could bear. Their fear crushed me and I fell to my knees in tears. To be fair the authorities arrived really quickly after Moms phone call. In less than half an hour I was phased out on haloperidol and strapped down in the back of an armoured truck. Of course I was on my way to one of the meta human camps. I would never go home again. I was nine years old.