In a dim basement, a red-haired girl sat in filthy water, exhaustion written all over her face.
Her name was Alani Ryan, and she had a terrifying gift.
She could pass through any object, but it did not seem to be something she consciously controlled.
Anything she passed through would be destroyed on a microscopic level. In other words, any object she phased through would instantly collapse.
Once, while she was surfing with her father, a school of sharks surrounded them. Her father died in their jaws, but amid the violent surge of her emotions, she awakened her current ability and survived.
When she was pulled from the water, the sea held not only pieces of her father's body, but vast swaths of blood.
That blood had once been a school of sharks.
But no one believed her.
Everyone thought she had somehow killed her own father.
At school, many of her classmates threw things at her and called her a witch.
Then a banana peel passed through her head and exploded.
The blast treated her as though she were air, too, but after passing through her body, its shock wave exploded a second and even a third time.
Countless classmates were injured.
Alani was forced to leave school.
Not only was she terrified of her own gift, but her mother was also deeply afraid. So she willingly let her mother lock her in the basement. As long as she barely moved and her emotions remained stable, she would not randomly pass through things.
At first, her mother still brought her meals, cautiously.
But later, her mother began forcing herself to forget she had such a daughter.
A new man had entered her mother's life. Alani knew all of this.
But she no longer wanted to care.
No one had