"I was born into great fortune," Seth began. "I was a rich kid, though I wasn’t exactly pampered for my entire life. I more or less had to take care of myself.
"My father was embarrassed at having such a freakish-looking kid. I never knew what happened to my mother.
"I discovered early in life that I was blessed with certain gifts. Whenever my father got mad at me, for some insane reason, I was able to hide from him. I'd look at my hands, and they'd look like the wallpaper I was leaning against.
"I was able to fool my father into believing I was in bed while I really was observing him having dirty encounters with hookers and white powder.
"I was lonely and had no one to talk to about my strange skills. I was homeschooled, and I manipulated the teacher to convince my father that everything was peachy.
"I never spend much time outside my father’s house until I turned fourteen. I quickly learned that I could manipulate anything in the outside world to give me anything I desired. It was fun in the beginning, and I enjoyed life on the street, but there was never anything but petty thefts carried out by my hand.
"Later on, I had to become a full-time thief because I needed money. It started out as a temporary solution to support my cocaine addiction.
"Being a thief isn't as glamorous as the movies make it out to be.
I was a big-time thief because of my abilities, and I started to run with a criminal organization called the Skeletons. I didn't rob banks or anything like that, except for one time when I tricked the clerk in a jewelry store and stole a diamond tiara worth five thousand dollars.
"I learned how to combine my skills of creating illusions and blending in, but it took too much strength, and I'd have to rest for days to get on top again. At the jewelry store, the clerk conversed with what he believed to be me, while I pocketed the jewelry he'd taken out for show and slipped out the back door where I collapsed on the ground.
"I managed to get out unnoticed, or so I'd thought. When I came to, I found myself face down in a dark alley with no knowledge of how I'd gotten there. The tiara was gone.
"For a couple of years, I was a regular house burglar. A typical day's work would net me an average between two and three hundred dollars. On good days, I'd make six or seven thousand. Most people who break into houses get caught, but not me. I planned carefully, knew which targets to pick, and I was always able to hide. I always wore gloves and secondhand store boots which were easily disposed of. Plus, being a master of disguise helped.
"Anyway, it was a Saturday night, and I was on my way to a job assigned by the gang. It was at a banking boss’s home. He was out of town and should have been gone for at least a week. The house security package was a joke and was easily hacked.
"It was in a typical, upper-middle-class, suburban area: neat lawns, the occasional basketball hoop in the driveway, and nice cars and vans parked here and there.
"I pulled up to the house a little after midnight, in a stolen car, of course. No neighbors were out, but I still used a lot of energy to blend in. I didn’t want to risk getting spotted.
"I walked up the driveway and around to the back of the house where I found a window, which I covered with duct tape so that no glass would be visible. Then, I put several layers of thick blankets directly below the glass, placed a pillow against the glass, and tapped it gently with a hammer. This process broke the glass, but because the duct tape was holding it together, it didn't fall and make noise. If a few, small pieces did manage to fall, the blankets below would absorb the sound.
"Inside, I got to work, heading to the dining room, the first room on the right, where I found an impressive set of antique sterling silverware displayed neatly on the credenza. There had to have been at least fifty pieces there. I carefully packed the two thousand dollar case of silverware into my bag and continued into the next room.
"The master bedroom was always interesting. I started going through the dresser, looking for jewelry. I found a couple of bracelets and necklaces worth about two thousand dollars. As I continued searching the house, I found little more interest in a set of antique paintings and a coin collection. After one last, quick look around, I decided to leave when I heard loud voices outside.
"I tried to calm myself down. It didn't help much, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.
"A man and a woman entered the house. The man was carrying something in his arms. He put the package on the kitchen table and spoke words that sent ice down my spine: 'The younger ones have the most tender meat.'
"After a few minutes, they started to suspect things might be missing from the house. The woman started to yell, so I quickly used my skills and made the couple believe I was running from the house and down the street. They ran immediately out of the house to chase after me.
"With my heart still making flip-flops, I walked out, into the kitchen. There was something wrapped in a blanket on the kitchen table. My hands shook like crazy as I removed the blanket, and my heart stopped beating for a second when the small hand revealed itself.
"A little girl no more than six-years-old in a blue dress came to life before me, and I gently touched her cheek. She was still warm. She opened her lips and said, 'Mommy?'
"I picked her up to take her to safety when I noticed some bones that had been casually tossed into a corner of the kitchen. I told myself the people just were messy, and that the bones had been from a cow, but then I remembered the man’s words: 'The younger ones have the most tender meat.'
"I didn’t want to, but I had to see what was in the fridge. Clinging to the girl with one hand, I opened the fridge with the other. As the door slowly opened and the light came on, I stared into appliance with pure horror.
"A human body was chopped into pieces on a plate as if it were leftovers to be saved for later. Blood was dripping from some sort of unrecognizable organ I thought might be a heart or a liver.
"I didn’t want to investigate the matter any further.
"The girl was crying on my shoulder. I hushed her and stroked her hair.
"Outside, the voices had returned. 'What are we going to do?' the woman said. 'We can’t exactly call the cops.'
“'We’ll figure it out,' the man whispered back. 'Let’s go inside before the girl comes to.'”
"I felt a rage inside I'd never experienced before. A fire burned inside me, growing into an inferno. They were cannibals, eating little children. I wanted not just to hurt them but to break every bone in their bodies, but I had to get the girl to safety.
"I slid into the living room where I blended in with the wall. I closed my eyes and created an illusion of me standing on the first floor. My energy was draining out of me, and fast, but I had to leave unseen.
"As the front door opened, I call out to the couple, 'Hello, man-eaters!'
"The couple looked at each other in disbelief, and the man grabbed a gun from a drawer in the hall. 'Who the fuck are you?' he roared.
"The woman stepped out from the kitchen. 'She’s gone!' she said, panicked.
"'Look outside. She can’t have gone far,' the man said. 'I'll deal with this clown.'
"The woman went outside and frantically searched, but as the man went upstairs, I began to feel drained.
"I couldn’t stay like that much longer, so I moved to the door and outside where the woman was searching behind bushes and trees, seeming desperate and enraged at the same time. I could tell she was angry that none of them had stayed behind at the house to keep an eye on the girl.
"I had to rest, so I sneaked over to the house across the street, but no one seemed to be home. I put the girl down on the front porch and asked her to be quiet. I needed to sit and gather myself and my thoughts and get some energy back. What the hell was wrong with these people?
"The girl clung to my arm as we sat there on the wooden porch. She was crying in silence and asking for her mommy. I had to get to the police, but I also had to prevent the couple from leaving. I felt the little girl’s hand in mine, and it gave me strength.
“'What’s your name?' I asked her.
"'Millie,' she answered. 'Millie Wilkins.'
“'Okay, listen to me, Millie. I will get you back to your mother, I promise, but first I have to stop the people that took you, okay? So you have to be brave and stay here and be real quiet.
"She nodded.
“'I will come back, I promise,' I told her.
"She sat with her back up against the house, arms hugging her knees.
"I was still a little dizzy from the lack of energy, and I stood there for a moment, leaning against a tree. I remember thinking I had to start carrying chocolate around in my pocket for energy. I suppose I'd learned nothing from my encounter the jewelry store.
"I watched the woman stop her search and reenter the cannibal house, and I wiped the sweat from my face and walked back over to it. The rest of the neighborhood was sound asleep or away. Everything was quiet.
"I stopped, and I took a few deep breaths to let the oxygen get to my brain before I continued. When I felt I'd gathered enough energy to continue, I heard a voice behind me. 'Let me help you,' it said. 'You’re not alone.'
"I turned around to see a man with thick scars on his face, a man whose appearance was similar to mine. He was tall with black hair and big black eyes and absolutely no facial hair.
“'Who are you?' I asked, still panting.
"'I'm a friend, Seth. I've watched you. I'm here to help you.'
"I closed my eyes. My body felt heavy. Just taking a single step would have caused me to crash.
“'Your body's slowing its activity because it wants cocaine,' he explained.
"I looked at him.
“'How do I know this?' He smiled. 'Like I said, I've been watching you.'
"I felt embarrassed—I was a freaking coke wreck.
"'Come on, Seth. Let's teach those freaks a lesson while there's still time.
"He walked in front of me, leading the way back to the house. I didn’t question anything—I just had faith that he was sincere.
"When we entered the house, the couple was yelling at each other. We found them in the kitchen, throwing things around and blaming each other for their mistakes. They looked up in surprise when we appeared in the doorway.
“'What the fuck?' the man exclaimed.
"The woman grabbed a kitchen knife, and the man held up his gun, but my rescuer just shook his head in disgust.
“'What a couple of losers,' he said. 'Didn’t your parents love you enough?'
“'You must have a serious death wish, moron,' the man snarled.
“'Funny,' my rescuer said, 'I was about to say the same thing to you.'
"The woman seemed to be inspecting his scars as if taking a moment to consider what she was up against. 'What freak train did you two come in on?' she asked, stupefied.
“'The train of the worthy, something you two dipshits will never experience,' my rescuer said in a hard voice.
“'Kiss your boyfriend goodbye,' the man said, pointing the gun at my skull. Then, my rescuer did something unexpected: he moved fast, like real fast like the Flash, or so it had seemed. The couple never saw him coming.
"He grabbed the man by the arm and twisted it until it snapped. Then, he took the woman and threw her against the wall. With the man was howling and the woman whining on the floor, he took some lamps from the living room and tied the couple up with the cord.
"He asked me to grab the woman’s phone and call the police. I was still wearing gloves, so I didn’t have to worry about fingerprints.
"When the call was made, we went over to the porch where I'd left Millie. She looked up when we returned. We sat with her, waiting for the police to show up.
"When the police pulled up to the house, I was once more asked to use my ability to blend in, and I did, despite my body's begging me not to. I was sweating hard, and I found it hard to stand up straight.
“'Take her to the police,' my rescuer said, and I did what he asked. A female officer took charge once she'd spotted Millie, who she wrapped in a blanket and placed in a police car.
"I staggered back to the porch with my stomach in a knot.
"I sat back down, felt exhaustion run through my body, my stomach contents emptied onto the porch floor, and I blacked out.
"When I came to, I didn’t know where I was, but my rescuer was sitting by my bedside.
“'You did well,' he said when I opened my eyes. 'You are more than worthy.'
"It turned out he'd been watching me, testing me, and he took me in. He got me drug-free and taught me the truth about who I really was.
"Later, as I watched TV, I learned that Millie Wilkins was home with her parents and safe, that the couple had snatched poor Millie Wilkins from a playground as they'd done with two other kids.
"When the police searched their house, they found the two other kids. They were still alive, but cold and hungry.
"Suffice it to say, the couple never made it to court. They were found, having been tortured and hung from a tree."