Today Aarav was having a pretty bad day. Even worse compared to the usual days. It all started the day he was born…in a family of drug addicts. He almost died more than 300 times in 4 years that he was with his parents. But fortu *cough* unfortunately one fine morning his parents were found dead due to drug overdose at the front gate of their own home.

Police and medical services were called. Things should have taken a better turn…...right? Well, there was a little bit of problem there. He was ugly (Author: Please let me emphasize on the word UGLY). This led to many orphanages refusing him because he would scare the other kids and may also give them trauma…. only the kids, not the adults.

Finally, a kind soul who worked at the police station adopted him. Her name is Valerie Winehouse and the person who named him Aarav Winehouse. It was her way of encouraging him to be a kind and strong person who is at ease with things he has got.

Things were drastically better for little Aarav. As Valerie was never married so although the presence of Aarav was sudden, but they settled into a harmonious family lifestyle without a hitch. It also helped that Aarav had matured mentally a lot earlier than normal because of his life experience. So, he was a very calm, quiet and rational child. Valerie didn’t have to deal with the shenanigans that normal parents have to. By the time, he was eight years old he was already helping her out in the kitchen, and by the age of 10, he had taken full control of the kitchen.

Aarav started school when was 5. He was exposed to teasing and bullying, understood that there are few good humans out there like Valerie, and accepted the fact that he was different. Being a quiet and ugly kid was not easy during the first few years of his school life. But he persisted because he knew that to be a successful human, you need to have a college degree. Although Valerie’s job paid enough right now but college was and always will be the bane of financial stability in most middle-class families. He came up with the solution to ace all his exams and get the highest scholarship possible in the best college around.

Slowly he took over the duty for all the household chores. As it didn’t seem to affect his studies, so Valerie had to reluctantly allow it. Though on the other hand she was able to focus more on her work and was promoted to Major rank (I’m using the U.S police force ranking). Although it was not perfect, at least his life was moving in the right direction.

Aarav was content with what he had in his life .

Timeskip 12 years

“Hello! Am I talking to Mr Aarav Winehouse?”

“Yes, I am Aarav. Who might this be?”

“I am Carl Johnson. I work for Major Winehouse.”

“Oh! Is that so. How can I help you?”

“First of all, I would advise you to be calm and find a place to sit down.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I would have come in person to give this news, but the situation is pretty urgent. Major Winehouse was involved in a traffic accident while on duty. She has been severely injured. She is in the surgery room at the XXX hospital right now. The chances are slim. I felt like it would be the right thing to inform you.”

Leaving everything he was doing before the phone call, Aarav ran as fast as his legs could carry to the nearest taxi stand. There were a few drivers sitting outside the stand and they all noticed him. Slowly they started to move towards him and started promoting themselves, but Aarav was not in mood for bargain and stuff. He quickly threw almost 200 bucks at the nearest taxi driver’s face and asked him to take him to XXX hospital as fast as possible.

Without asking anything else the driver almost forced Aarav into his taxi, as if afraid that Aarav would change his mind and go for a different driver, and started driving with all the passion and control he had.

When he reached the hospital, he found a man stocky man standing besides the reception. Aarav noticed that he had a nameplate stuck to his left shirt pocket and it said Carl Johnson. He half-walked-half-jogged towards Carl. He wanted to ask a lot of things like ‘who did it?’, ‘how did it happen’ and a lot more, but all that came out was

“Can she be saved?”

Carl solemnly observed Aarav’s face and breathed a sigh as if he wanted to be anywhere else but here.

“Doctors are trying their best.” Carl’s voice was not loud, it was barely louder than a whisper. But for Aarav this voice was as loud as a thunderstorm.

He almost couldn’t control his emotions. He felt like his whole world was crashing down. A deep sense of powerlessness invaded his bones. He wished so badly that he could take Valerie’s place.

Suddenly an ominous voice sounded inside his head

* Do you want power? *

Out of nowhere two panels started floating in front of his eyes. One said ‘YES’ and the other said ‘NO’. He was dumbstruck for a few seconds, but he recovered quickly and asked in a low voice

“Can she be saved?”

The ominous voice replied * YES *

Aarav asked again

"How?"

The ominous voice replied * Absolute power is the answer. *

A fierce glint flashed through Aarav’s eyes and without any hesitation, Aarav clicked on ‘YES’.