This was the moment he dreaded every day of his life. Evan knew nothing about sports, and he was far from an athlete as you could get. Today, Coach Miller cut Evan a break and let the class run laps, but he informed them that they had to play dodgeball soon, according to state law. Coach Miller had always been nice to Evan. He knew that Evan had a tough time at school, so he tried to make it bearable for him.  

The class ran their laps and headed home for the day. Evan tried his best to avoid Dylan Kremp, but it was to no avail. He was ambushed right outside his home by Kremp and his gang of idiots. Each of these brutes was at least twice the size of Evan and more aggressive than a bear. 

“Hey loser, I thought I told you not to come around here anymore!” Dylan exclaimed with a look of pure hatred in his eye. Evan took a minute to think about how he should respond. The first thing that came to mind was to say, “I live here, Idiot. I can’t very well stay away from my own home now, can I?” Instead, he decided to say, “I’m sorry, but I live here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be around.” Evan thought that this was the perfect response, but it seemed only to infuriate Dylan. “What do you think I am, stupid!’ Dylan yelled from across the street. “I know you live here. That’s why I told you to stay away!” At finishing his statement, Dylan got on his bike and rushed toward Evan. Evan sped off before Dylan’s goons had a chance to follow.

After about twenty minutes of riding, Evan noticed that Dylan was no longer following him. While he took a breath of relief, Evan saw something glowing in some bushes on the side of the road. Upon investigating, Evan found what looked like plane debris and a small shriveled-up figure. He thought about poking it with a stick to see if it was alive, but before he could do anything, the figure spoke. “Please help me, earthling! I can’t survive here on your planet! Please let me take shelter in you!” Evan figured that this alien misspoke or the word was lost in translation. He knew that the figure meant take shelter with you, not “In” you.

Evan thought for a minute. How incredible would his life be if he lived with an alien? Evan had seen E.T last year, and he felt he could deal with the FBI better than Elliot did. After all, he was much more mature than that little kid. The thought of his mom being concerned crossed Evan’s mind, but she’d only be worried if she found out.

“Sure, you can stay with me. Oh, by the way, my name is Evan.” The alien seemed to be pleased with his answer and began to glow. The light emitting from this creature grew until Evan could no longer see anything else. He lost consciousness. 

Evan awoke a few hours later. He felt fine. Actually, he felt better than fine. He felt like the haze had been lifted from the world, and he felt like he could do anything. Evan wondered where his alien friend had gone, but the thought was interrupted when he noticed his watch. It was two in the morning. His mom must be worried sick.

Evan rushed home as quickly as he could, but his mom wasn’t there. Evan then remembered that his mom had to work late every day this week. He was abnormally hungry after he woke up, so he decided to grab a sandwich. But after he devoured the last bite, he felt like he needed more. It was almost like he was eating for two.

The following morning, Evan awoke feeling like a superhero. He felt invincible, like no one could stop him. He also felt more confident in himself. Gym class arrived later that day, and It was time for dodgeball. The torture he had once been dreading didn’t seem so scary anymore. He was actually excited to test out his newfound inner strength. As soon as the whistle blew, Evan dashed forward to grab a ball, but he had arrived at the balls before anyone else. It wasn’t by a few seconds or even a few feet. No one else had even left the line, yet Evan had reacted as soon as the whistle had blown.

“What just happened?” Evan thought, but another voice in his head told him not to worry about it. This was a voice that Evan had never heard before, but he felt compelled to obey. The only thought remaining in Evan’s head was to throw the ball. But who would he throw it at? The answer formed in his head before his previous thought had even concluded. He would aim for his bully. Dylan Kremp.

The ball shot through the air, and as it hit Dylan Kremp in the chest, the ball kept going. It shot through his chest and bounced against the wall behind him. Everything went quiet. The only sound was the bouncing of the Dodgeball as it hit the floor. 

People were screaming. People were running in fear. After a few seconds, the only people remaining in the gym were the coach, Dylan’s gang, and Dylan’s lifeless body. Dylan’s goons rushed him, and at first, he thought he would be overwhelmed, but then he remembered his power. The first goon to reach him reeled back to hit him, but Evan immediately drove his fist into his gut. Evan’s fist shot out through the goon’s back, and as he fell to the ground, Evan unleashed a round kick to another kid’s jaw. 

The last few kids tried to run away, but the voice inside Evan’s head didn’t let them. Suddenly two blue rays shot out of Evan’s hands and fried the kids in their tracks. The only one left in the room was Coach Miller. He had a look of utter fear, and Evan thought he could smell the scent of urine. The voice told him to kill the coach, but for the first time, Evan said no to the mysterious voice. 

This voice could tell that Evan wouldn’t change his position, so he let Coach Miller live. Evan took a moment to look around at the carnage he had caused. He felt guilty but also alive. The voice spoke once again, and this time there was no mistaking what it said. “Who’s next?” The voice said with pure hatred.

Evan could hear sirens. He figured that his bloodbath wouldn’t go unnoticed, but he thought he would have some time before the cops showed up. As he listened to the police moving in, the consequences of his actions finally started to weigh on him. He had just murdered five kids. Sure they were bullies, but they didn’t deserve to die. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t even want to kill them. Evan had just wanted to rough them up to demonstrate that they couldn’t mess with him anymore. 

“Why did I go that far?” Evan thought to himself. But then he remembered the voice in his head. Everything it had said to him so far had been outrageously violent. Evan concluded that this voice must have some sort of control over his emotions or even his mind. Evan wasn’t sure which one it was, but he was scared to find out. 

Suddenly the gym doors burst open, and a dozen soldiers filled the room. Each was equipped with tactical gear and what looked like automatic weapons. “Put your hands in the air!” one of the agents yelled as the soldiers formed a circle around him. At this point, the voice was overpowering in Evan’s mind. “Kill them all. They won’t hesitate, and neither should we!” Evan didn’t like how the voice had started using “we.” 

“Stop. I don’t want to kill anyone else!” The soldiers must’ve thought Evan was talking to them because they responded saying, “Stand down, or we will shoot!” Evan moved forward, hoping to reason with them and explain how his body was taken over. But at that moment, his eyes began to glow the same brilliant blue as the flames he had shot at those kids.

The soldiers shot. Hundreds of bullets rushed towards Evan, and he thought for sure that he was going to die. He thought about his mom. He would never get to see her again, and he never got a chance to tell her what was going on. Evan waited for the impact of the bullets, but they never hit him. In fact, they disappeared completely. The soldiers shot again, but this time Evan saw what happened. As the builts reached his skin, they would suddenly burst into flames and disintegrate. 

Just when Evan thought the situation was under control, the ceiling collapsed, and an enormous spacecraft lowered into the gym. Even more bullets filled the gym. Somewhere from the soldiers firing at the ship, but most were coming from the ship itself. Except, they weren’t bullets. Evan didn’t know what they were. They looked sort of like the lasers he had seen in Star Wars, but he knew that lasers couldn’t be weaponized. But then again, he thought that advanced spaceships were impossible too.

A few minutes later, most of the federal agents had been wiped out, and the ship didn’t seem to be damaged at all. Now that the soldiers were all but wiped out, the ship lowered until it was standing in the middle of the gym. The spacecraft’s back opened to reveal a very large man and a girl who looked to be about Evan’s age. 

The man was tall, probably about 6’6, with dark skin and what looked like blue tattoos covering his arms, chest, and face. He carried no weapons, but the look in his eye told everyone that he could kill them in an instant. The girl, however, was shorter than Evan, about 5’5, with dark black hair and a gentle and pale complexion. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of green, like a shiny emerald that had been removed from the Earth. Her eyes made Evan feel like everything would be ok, but the guns pointed at him said differently. 

The strangers jumped from their ship and began to fight the remaining soldiers. Now that they were on the ground, Evan could see them better. The man was wearing what looked like a bulletproof vest and held a Trident, which he did not look afraid to use. He seemed to have the same strength Evan had used on his classmates. Evan assumed this was the case seeing as how this man threw his trident and pined a soldier against the wall.

"Come on hatchling", the man yelled. "We need to get out of here!" Evan was stunned. He didn't know what to do. On one hand, he would be arrested by the police for murder, but on the other, he would get on a spaceship with a bunch of maniacs. Before Evan could decide, the beautiful girl rushed toward him and grabbed his wrist. "We gotta go, come on." The girl said this in a calm tone. Her voice was as beautiful as she was, and even though she had told Evan the same thing as the giant man, he felt more compelled to obey.

They rushed to the ship and boarded. The girl was starting to ascend the spacecraft, but the man was still fighting below. “What about that other guy”, Evan asked as he watched the girl, “aren’t we going to wait for him?” The girl looked back and with a smirk on her face said, “ Don’t worry about him, he’ll get here on time.” 

Suddenly Evan heard a loud bang and the ship shook, almost as if something had hit it. “Cutting it a little close aren’t you Ronan,” the girl yelled to the back of the ship. “I made it didn’t I, now just get us out of here Val”, Ronan said back to the girl. The next thing Evan knew, he was flying through the air and into space.