Benchmark By Alexa Eddy

Chapter 1 (Isaac)

Isaac was 6 when his father died in the 50 gallon war. What was the fight over? 50 gallons of water. His mother also fought in the war, but she survived and went on to become a scientist. She became one of the world’s most respected scientists.It was 2078 and the population had drastically gone up. The world’s population clocked in at about 12 billion and resources were running thin quickly, especially water. Clean water has become so scarce that even the fishes must huddle in together and take short breaths to not take up all of the oxygen in the water because there is so little. Aside from America and Germany fighting over 50 gallons of water found in Japan, all countries are kind of tense. Gallons are never found randomly. They are harvested. And each country has a fair share based on their population. Japan harvested and hid fifty gallons in violation of their population. They had 450. They were only supposed to have 400. Even though many people hated the war, some loved it. Some felt like they needed it. It was a sort of population control. Many people were drafted. Although, the battle ended short when the two countries just decided to split it 25/25. Not as many people died, and it was a peaceful two years. Then the discovery of “Scrups” happened. And all humans were turning against each other so quick you would have thought they were enemies even before time. 

Isaac was now 8 years old and he lived in a tiny house along with his mother. He shook the black hair from his face and he walked into the kitchen. 

"Mami!" 

"Que?" 

"What are you eating?" 

"Steak." 

Isaac frowned, he knew that they were blessed with money but he wish she didn’t spend it on fresh food and eat it all. Both corners of her mouth scrunched up into a satisfied smile. Isaac had always heard "Eat healthy, you are what you eat ya know," from his abuela and he was always afraid his mom would turn into a steak. He never shared this fear with her because he didn't want to be labeled as a "dummy". She always called him that when she thought he made a stupid comment. His mother ate steak every night. Every morning. Every noon. And for snack, which was 6 times a day. And with each steak she ate, she drank a 8 ounce glass of orange juice and 2 ounces of water. Little Isaac walked up to his mother. 

“Can I have some?”, his eyes went wide. “BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT!”

His mother jumped back and her right eyebrow scrunched up, “Que te pasa?! Why the hell are you yelling?!”

Isaac apologized as his mother cut a small piece of steak. Her eyes were rimmed with dark purle, and the sea of wrinkled invaded her eyes, creating saggy bags. Despite his mom being exhausted, he loved her because she still took the time to talk to him. She flashed him a tired smile as she fixed him a small plate of steak. He was glad he only asked for a little bit, he didn’t want to turn into a steak. 

“Lo siento, I forgot your fork!” Maribel stood up to run to the kitchen. 

“No te preocupes, I’ll get it,” little Isaac got up to grab a fork. As he went to grab the iron handle to the wooden drawer, he bit on his lip so that he wouldn’t gasp as draw flew open as the handle pulled out straight towards his hands. 

“Isaac? Are you okay?” his mother called. Worry was deep in her voice and she got up to move. Just then, Isaac came running through the door. Spoons, forks, and knives were flying through the air and they seemed to be chasing him. He ran back and forth, desperately trying to live when his mother brought a fist upon his cheek. Isaac blacked out, that’s all he remembered. 

He woke up on a soft bed, screaming. He mother ran into his bedroom and held him down. 

“Shhh! Shhh! Shhh! Ya cálmate!” she held his shoulders down as he panted. 

“What do you mean calm down already?! Did you see that mommy?! Did you see that?!” he pointed everywhere, he quickly became paranoid as the metal candle holder on the brown wooden dresser started to shake. He screamed and his mom put her hand over his mouth. 

“Shhh, the more calm you are, the less it happens. This was much easier when you were younger. I used to put medicine in your bottle just to calm you down,” she sat up on the bed and wiped the tears from his scared face. 

“Your father, used to laugh. He believed that he had everything a man wanted. A wife, a beautiful child, a good paying job. He didn’t mind. We knew you were always special. Especially because his jacket buttons always stuck to your back. It was easy to peel them off of course. But it was funny to see the rainbow of colors on your back.” She giggled. 

“You...you mean you knew I was a scrup?!” Isaac’s mouth twinged into a tight pout. 

“A what?” her right eye brow scrunched up. Isaac knew that look, but he didn’t care. 

“A screw up mom! A screw up!” he yelled, her temper came in quick and she slapped him so fast he didn’t even see the hand. Just heard a “whir” before he saw stars. She began to yell! 

“You are NOT a screw up Isaac! You are beautiful and you are special!” she saw the tears in his eyes and she calmed down. She didn’t like hitting him, even for disciplinary reasons. 

“We just, we just didn’t say anything because we thought we could keep it under control. We didn’t know what caused it at the time. We don’t know. But what we do know is, if people know then they will take you away from me.” 

She began to cry, streams of tears dressed her delicate face and she no longer looked tired. Just devistated. 

“I can’t have them take you away from me. I would die. I would just die. I wouldn’t know what to do!” She held on to Isaac and they cried together. 

“W-w-what do I do mami?” he held on to her hand. 

“I’ll show you,” she held up her right hand and a fork flew right into it. Isaac’s eyes went wide. 

“WHOA! YOU HAVE IT TOO?” Isaac almost passed out. This was too much excitement for one day. He damn near fainted. 

“Yes, come here. You can read well can’t you?” she pulled out a leather bound book. It was big, brown, and it had a metal lock on it. 

“Yes ma’am,” he said proudly. 

“I know you’re mature. I was waiting to give this to you, go in your room and read it,” she handed him the book. But he didn’t know the lock combination. It was a 7 slot lock and he didn’t know if he had to guess or what, and he flashed a worried look at his mother. She held out her right hand and the lock turned. The term “SOFRITO” came out and Isaac smiled. Only mami would do something like this. 

“Mom, anyone whose spanish will know this! Can’t I change it?” he pouted. 

“Yeah, here”, she held out her right hand again and made a fist. Something clicked and she rephrased the word into “ISAACYR”. 

“There, your name and the first initial of your father’s last name and the first initials of my last name. Better?” she looked proud. 

“Yes!” Isaac ran to his room and plopped on his bed. He opened the book, he appreciated the fact that his mom drew pictures for him to understand. 

Chapter 2 (Maribel’s Diary)

Dear Isaac, 

Hello, if you’re reading this, it means you’ve finally discovered that you are special. Like me. I might be retired now, and we’re probably living low because we are “special” and I need to teach you how to conceal your powers. Because if they are found, we will both be killed. Please read this, and learn a lot. This was from the studies that I did when I was still a scientist. Ok, here we go. 

Basically, we are of the magnet origin. It is ancient, and it’s just ONE of the many origins that people can come from. Not everyone in the family has it. Just you, me, your grandma, and her father. Basically, we have the power to magnetize and demagnetize ourselves. But with magic, comes science. I’ve done some experiments on myself and I realized that the reason why you are of magnet origin is partly my fault. You know how I always eat steak and drink orange juice? Well, those are my favorite things to eat and drink. The issue is, we are already born with an iron imbalance in our bodies because we are basically human magnets. You know what else has iron? Steak. And do you know what an orange has? Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron and I pretty much ate this while I was pregant with you. I’m so sorry Isaac, please forgive me for burdening you. ❤

Okay, here’s a simple diagram: 

Okay honey, as you can see, we have a crap load of iron in us. Therefore, at will, we can become super magnetic. Here are things you need to know: 

1. Even if you want to panic, don’t. You will pull all of the metal to yourself or push it away. 
2. Befriend people of different origins. If you want, I can introduce you to some. 
3. Befriend people of similar origins. Here’s a chart of how they’re broken down. 

Earth (metal)	Water (life)	Fire (offense)	Air (supports)
Magnetic (attracts metal)	Life (healers)	Electricity (Good at fighting, can summon electricity. Good for black outs)	Travelers (can fly/super speed)
Rockers (Manipulate Earth/Metal)	Aqua mages (can manipulate water)	Starters (People who can summon fire)	Pushers (Can maipulate air to create “natural” disasters)
Chameleons (once they touch the earth they can blend in)	Green thumbs (Can manipulate plants)	Melters (People who just have the abilities to heat up things)	Airlocks (Can summon air)

As people of the origins, our job is to simply keep the elements in balance and to keep the Earth safe from it’s people. We were supposed to live in peace. Now, for each origin there is a “mother” origin. The mother origins are the four elements. Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. And from these stem the “baby” origins. Such as us “Magnetics”. Now, where were weeeee oh yeah. How to magnetize! Here is a practice method: 

1. Sit in a calm, quiet room. 
2. Put a metallic object in front of you. 
3. Close your eyes. 
4. Breathe calmly in and out. In and out. 
5. Grab the fork. When you touch it, focus on the energy going back and forth into the fork. 
6. When you close your eyes, hold the fork in front of you. You will be able to see a bright blue outline of everything. Focus on the fork until all of it is light blue. 
7. Mentally tell it to push away. 
8. Let go. 
9. If it drops, you need to practice some more. 
10. Once you master that, you can mentally “demagnitize” yourself. 
11. Hold the fork until it’s blue again. Now, focus all the energy away until it’s faint blue again. 
12. Drop it. 
13. You won’t attract any metal unless you want to. 
14. What the hell are you waiting for? Go try it! 

Isaac was excited. He jumped out of his bed and ran to the door and screamed when he saw his mom standing there with a fork. 

“Here!” she threw the fork at him and he screamed and put his hands up. The metal flew to his hand. 

“Okay, here’s one thing. As magnetics, we can only pull or push. There is no floating or suspending in the air. That’s what the Rockers are for. Now, try to pull that spoon over here. Remember the guide. Y por favor, no te grites.” she pouted. 

“Okay I won’t scream,” He sat on the floor and closed his eyes. He breathed in and out. In and out. He could feel his body gathering energy and soon he could see the outline of every little thing in the room. He focused on the little spoon on the marble counter and soon it began to turn bright blue. He thought “COME” and in a flash he felt the spoon smack into his hand. 

“Whoa I did it!” Isaac jumped up and down.

“Great, now, time to ea-,” she stopped in mid sentence. Isaac could see blood drip on the floor. 

“MAMI!” he screamed to deaf ears. Dead ears. He saw her body fly to the ground and he held out his hand in panic. Her book flew to his hand as he backed in a corner and screamed. Tears flew to his face. He panicked, his body drenched in sweat and a little urine trickled. Four men in army uniforms started to walk towards him. The strongest one, the most muscular spoke up first. 

“I don’t know Hank. He’s just a kid. Do we have to kill him? We could just collect him.”

The smallest one, who was supposedly the leader shot back: 

“Orders were, annihilate any scrups. Shoot him.” 

The men readied their guns and shot. Isaac screamed and put his hands up and all of a sudden the shots stopped. All he could he was four dead men who looked like bloody swiss cheese then he was whirred away. All he saw was a flash of his neighborhood and his house getting smaller and the next thing he knew he was in a room. He looked up and there was an African American kid. 

“W-w-what are you DOING?” Isaac began to stand up but he fell again. He was dizzy. 

“Calm down dude, that’s gonna happen. Hi. My name’s Connor and I like Star Wars. Everyone get’s dizzy when I drive them!” Connor was 8 years old at that time and full of energy. 

“H-h-h-hi. My name’s Isaac. I’m a m-m-..,” Isaac couldn’t stop stuttering out of fear. 

“Magnetic? Yeah. I know. We all know. You’re mom used to be one of the big guys.”, Connor stood Isaace up and supported him on his shoulder. 

“We all?” Isaac looked around. They were in a little shack. Connor pulled open a wooden plank and there was a stair case. Connor led Isaac down. 

“Common dude! This is so cool! You’ll get to meet my mom, Jennifer, and all my friends!”. 

As they slowly walked down the dark, spiral stair case, Isaac began to whimper and cry. 

“I-it’s okay! You don’t have to cry! Please don’t cry!” Connor tried his best to calm Isaac down but to no avail. The loss of his mother was too much to bare. He trudged down the stairs to a big ice door. It was frozen solid. White, frozen, solid. 

Connor yelled out “Jennifer!” and the ice magically melted. A nine year old white girl was on the other side. 

“Aw, why is he crying?” she pouted. Behind her, a quick “whir” and a tall slender black woman popped up in front of her. 

“Connor what the hell were you THINKING?” she yelled at him as he hung his head. 

“I was… I got Miss Maribel’s kid. She…,” little Connor didn’t even need to finish the sentence till his mother’s hard scowl softened. 

“Oh, oh you poor baby!” she lifted Isaac in her arms and he let her. He cried on her shoulder and she held him tightly. He looked around with his tear-blurry eyes and sniffled. The room was white with blue lights. The carpet and the couches were white where as the tables and chairs were blue. There were people of all ages staring at him. 

Miss Lana set him down. “Would ya like some water honey?”, Isaacs eyes went wide with surprise. 

“You can have juice, but water is illegal to have! Who are you people?!.” Lana gave him a warm smile. 

“We are you, and you’re one of us. Jennifer!”, Jenny came with an empty cup and drew her right hand up she pulled the moisture out of the air and poured it into the cup. The cup got frosty. She handed it to a now very thirsy Isaac. Miss Lana introduced them all. 

“This is Jennifer. Her origin is Aqua Mage, Mother Origin is water. And this is Connor. He’s a traveler, as you know he can run really fast and he makes trouble. Listen, I’m really sorry about your mother… she meant a lot to everyone here as well.” Lana held on to his shoulder. Isaac looked up with red puffy eyes. 

“Why did they kill my mom? We didn’t do anything!” tears were streaming down Isaac’s face. Lana picked him up gently and took him into a small white room, she closed the door behind her to shield them from staring eyes. 

“The government sees her as a threat. They don’t like people like us. It’s just that, I’m scared for them.” she said, her eyes looked down with sorrow. 

“Why?” 

“Well. Have you ever heard of the term “You are your worst enemy?”” She scrunched her eye brows up. 

“Yes! My mom used to say it all the time!” 

“Well, they will destroy themselves eventually. But, it’s up to us to protect our people. SNS. Suspernatural Society.”

Isaac felt a sort of proudness. He quietly got up, walked to the door, opened it and looked out. 

“Hi” he said, “I’m Isaac”. 

Chapter 3 (2082)

 Isaac was now ten, even 2 years later his mother’s death still affected him. He walked out of a medium red house. That’s where all of the members of the SNS stayed. He walked down the sidewalk to the corner of the 56 septa bus. As it arrived he read some graffiti on the side “No Scrups”. Isaac was scared, but he remembered what his mother said. Be careful, and breathe. He breathed and got on the bus. He sat near the door, that’s where he always felt safe. A strange old lady, wrinkled to the bone began to chant something. He couldn’t hear it until she started to speak up: 

“No Scrups! No Scrups! No Scrups!”, by that point everyone in the bus decided to chime in, getting louder in unison.  

“NO SCRUPS! NO SCRUPS! NOOOOOO SCRUUUUPS!”, Isaac was getting nervous. His palms were sweaty, his eye brows scrunched up, his face in a frown. He closed his fists and the bus stopped. People’s chants died down and gasps went all around. The old crone whispered: 

“There’s a scrup in here...everyone off the bus!” everyone ran out of the doors. Scared. Nervous. Violent. The outside of the bus was crunched. People scattered in all directions, women, men, children, even the old wrinkled prune seemed to gain speed as if she were 30 years younger. Isaac ran down the street to Erie and Torresdale to catch the EL to school. He was happy to finally make it. After he got on his long ride, he hopped off at 13 street and took a trolley to 22nd. As he went up the stairs, he could hear the same chants. He walked in on a crowd who were protesting intergrated schools. He ran past them and went to greenfield. He was about ten minutes late as he slammed into the seat of his first class, sweaty, nervous. His teacher Miss Mara scolded him for being late. He tried to explain but she wouldn’t have it. She made him sit up front, and the school bully Johnathon threw spit balls at him. Isaac was young, but he was old enough to know what happens. When a fight is going on, the kid that is the most in trouble is the one that retaliates. Isaac looked at his teacher and pretended to pay attention, but he changed his focus. He instead, saw a dull blue light around his teacher, but he could feel the intensity of the metal desk behind him. Jonathon teetered back in his desk and Isaac made himself negative between himself and the desk, pushing it back. Johnathon began to cry as Isaac smiled. He ran his fingers through his hair, it was oily. He figured he could get Connor to rush him home and wash it real quick, but he changed his mind. Jennifer was in his class as well, as Jonathon fell, Jenny flashed Isaac a smile. She was trying so hard not to laugh. After a daunting 45 minutes, the bell rang and all of the kids ran out into the hallway for their next class. 

“Hey!” Jennifer yelled as she ran up. “Happy Birthday!” she smiled. 

“Wanna skip?” Isaac inquired. He was so tired. A friend of theirs, Harry ran up as well. 

“You can count me in! Hey, did you guys hear?” Isaac and Jenny looked confused. Harry decided to elaborate. “They killed him! They took him away and they finally killed him!” 

“Who?” Isaac was curious! 

“That Scrup!” he pulled out his hollogram phone and showed him a picture of an Asian man. His hair was scruffy, but that face looked familiar. No. Isaac couldn’t and would not believe it. His dad died in the war. But this man looked so familiar. No. Isaac’s dad died in a war. 

“D-d-didn’t he die in a war?” Isaac was in shock. 

“Heck no! My mom told me they got him while the war was going on. He’s on a death sentence. But they finally killed him! Isn’t that great? Hung him in front of everyone! They said he was the laaaaaast one that they knew about. They killed his wife already. They’re just looking for the kid! Well, I gotta go!” and proud Harry ran away. Isaac laid himself upon the wall. Shaking. 

“We have to go home!” and just then a “whir” came by and Connor was standing 2 inches from Isaac’s face.

“I can get you guys there!” and the “beep” of an announcement went on. They stopped to listen. 

“Attention! Attention! News reports have stated that a SNS house was found and cleared out! Soldiers have eleminated the threats, along with their leader Lana Johnson!”. 

Connor’s heart took no time to break. Connor grabbed Jennifer and Isaac tightly and ran with all of his might to the house. It was on fire. Wood and metal were everywhere and Jennifer held out her hands and frosted everyone’s skin. 

“It helps. You won’t burn or even feel hot. My grandma taught me that”. All three of them slowly walked in. 

“My father…. was alive.” Isaac whispered. Tears running down his face. He was sad, not only because he didn’t know his father. But because he heard what happened to prisoners through Harry as well. And from the bruises and lash marks that he witnessed in the picture, it didn’t look like he had it easy. Connor began to cry as well. He kneeled down and held a burnt black hand, he washed it in his never ending agony. 

“Mama….” but alas, he had no time to mourn as five soldiers with masks and fire proof suits came in. They all held their guns and began to shoot. Isaac made himself negative and flew the bullets their way, killing all five. 

“Connor! Take Jennifer and go!” Isaac pulled all the metal towards him. Jennifer screamed:

“No, we’re not leaving! We got to stick together. Remember?” she frowned, she had no parents and Connor and Isaac were like brothers to her. “REMEM-” and Connor whirred her away after giving Isaac a strong and lasting hug. 

Chapter 4 

Isaac was brought before a crowd in Ritten House. Whipped. Bloodied. Dirty. Skin black from the ash. Through his chewed up ears he could hear: 

“NO SCRUPS! NO SCRUPS! NO SCRUPS!” 

He could also hear a group of women who were upset: 

“NO! He’s just a child! He’s just a child!” 

They brought him onto a stage in front of everyone and through him over a cold wooden block. A big man with an axe came by and made a speech. 

“Dear ladies, and gentlemen. These “Scrups” are nothing but trouble. They think they’re better than us, stronger, and more deserving of life just because they have powers. We have a child here. The child of the two leaders of SNS. Maribel Rodriguez and Ichiro Akiyama. The child of disgusting scum who didn’t deserve to walk the Earth.” 

A lady yelled out “They were SOLDIERS. They FOUGHT for this COUNTRY! You are the real scum!” 

The man simply replied with “Shut the hell up you prune. Bring her up here.” two soldiers dragged her up to the wooden block and slammed her down as well. 

The man cleared his throat, “As I was saying, as humans, we are supposed to take care of this world. And today, we will make progress. Look at this boy and his scum follower! This is the enemy! This is what we must kill! They are the reason for sickness, global warming, the pain and agony that we endure every day! It’s ALL THEM!” 

And with that, he brought down the axe. The head of the old woman ended up in the middle of the crowd and they all screamed a yell of joy as her blood sprayed on the grass. 

“Goodbye devil child”, the man brought up his axe and- 

_-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__-__

A ten year old girl with brown curly hair closed the book. She ran out to the living room to her mother. Her father ran after her: 

“Clara, CLARA! Give me that book! JENNIFER COME AND GET THIS GIRL!”. Clara’s mother softly got up from the couch. 

“Connor what’s wrong now?” she inquired. She was tired. 

“Did this really happen?” she breathed in and out. She never read something so scary. Her mother sat her upon her lap. 

“No honey, of course not.” She rocked Clara back and forth until she fell asleep. She gave Clara to Connor and in 1 second Connor came back. 

“You tucked her in and all?” Jennifer asked. 

“Yes. Was one second too long for you?” and he tried to smile but it didn’t cheer Jennifer up. 

“Where did she find that book Connor? I… I hid it away. I didn’t want to remember. I didn’t want to remember being in that crowd. Seeing Isaac… for God’s sake he was only ten Connor! Only ten! How many other children did they need to murder before they got their point across? Just for being a magnetic? For being a “scrup”? We even have to hide today Connor. When will they stop hating us?” Jennifer’s face became coated in tears. 

“Just because he was a child, he had a hard time controlling it. Just because he was special. They killed him. Did they have to?” Jennifer mumbled. 

Connor held her frail body and hummed until she calmed down. 

“I know honey. I know. We just need to keep hiding. Ok? They can’t just tell if we have powers. We’ve had a nice life so far ok? And our baby was born normal. You don’t have to worry. Even if we were found out. I’ll protect you and Clara with all my life.” 

Jennifer sniffled and she smiled. “Yeah, at least Clara is normal.” 

It was just then she realized that Clara had just walked in. She was scared. 

“Mommy?” tears were in her eyes. Her body was shaking. She jumped into her parents’ arms. 

“Yes honey what’s wrong?” Jennifer began to sweat. Hoping her daughter didn’t hear the conversation. Her daughter held up her right hand, and a spoon began to float. Jenny’s eyes went wide with fear. She whispered: 

“A r-r-rocker!” Jennifer exclaimed. 

“M-m-mommy, some kids at school saw. My t-t-teacher knows”. Clara couldn’t stop stuttering. She wasn’t ignorant to the world. She knew.

Jennifer and Connor looked at each other as they heard a knock on the door. As Connor stood up to hold Clara and Jennifer to escape, the door flew inwards and broke open. 

The End