Do you ever get that feeling where you're absolutely certain something happened, only to realize it occurred in a dream? It felt so real, so vivid, that for a moment you could have sworn it was true. That was exactly how I wished I'd felt when I woke to my alarm that Monday morning. I got out of bed and walked to the mirror. Staring at my reflection, I closed my eyes and focused the same way I had on the mountainside, hoping that when I opened them, everything would be normal again. I wanted to laugh and tell myself it had all been one crazy dream, but when I opened my eyes, the glowing light shining from my pupils in the mirror confirmed the truth. This was my new reality, I knew my life was about to change drastically, I just had no idea how much. I got dressed and ran downstairs.
"Good morning dad, mom"
"Good morning kiddo" Daniel, my dad replied.
"Good morning sweetie, you seem to be in a rush, anything interesting happening in school?" Amelia asked.
"No mom, just a project Chris and I are working on"
My dad sat on a dining chair "Well it got you out of bed early so it must be something exciting"
"I hope not" I responded almost immediately.
"Alright be careful, Chris sometimes get a little high spirited, I don't want you guys getting hurt" My Mum said with a worried look.
"Don't worry mum we'll be fine, I'll keep him in check" I assured her.
Shortly after I had my breakfast, Chris pulled up at my house and honked.
"He's here, see you guys when I get home"
I ran out the door and got into Chris' car.
"I see your house is still intact, I guess you didn't kill anybody" Chris said with a half-smile trying to make a joke.
"Yeah, but right now I'm feeling this strong urge to blow up a car" I replied with a smirk.
Chris' smile turned to an immediate frown. "You're walking to school, get down"
"Calm down, I'm kidding, I forgot this car is basically your girlfriend"
"Honestly, how're you doing?" Chris asked.
"Well I've gotten better at controlling it, I can make my eyes glow on command but I'm still working on controlling the lightning. I spent all weekend in my room trying to avoid any incident"
"So, what's the plan for today?" Chris asked.
"We go to school and after school we tell Karen, after which I don't know, try to find out what's going on with me and see where it leads"
Chris put his foot on the gas "Alright then"
We arrived at the school parking lot and made for the hallway.
"No sign of Karen, do you think we got to school before her?" Chris asked.
"Not in this lifetime" Karen answered, standing directly behind us.
"Stop doing that" Chris replied in a jump of fright.
"Doing what?"
"Sneaking up on people" Chris answered.
"When do you wake up?" I asked.
Karen led the way as we walked to class "Unlike the both of you, this wolf is well organized and hates being late"
"That aside, we have something to tell you" Chris said.
"Okay, what is it?"
Chris and I exchanged a look, then he turned to Karen "It's better if we show you after school, it's kind of a mind-blowing thing and we can't show you with this many people around"
"Mind-blowing?" Karen sighed. "Alright, but at least tell me it's not one of Chris' dangerous projects again"
Chris turned to me "And you ask me to be nice to her. You know what, I'm not going to say a word, she wants me react but I won't give her the satisfaction"
"Don't look at me, I don't want to get in the middle of you guys argument, when it comes to the two of you I'm a pacifist" I replied as we all got seated in the classroom.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I upset you?" Karen asked in a sarcastic tone. "Last week Chris said he wanted to show us something, is that what this is all about?"
"No it's not, I built something that will indeed blow your minds, but right now what we want to show you is slightly more important" Chris replied.
I gave Chris a raised eyebrow "Slightly?"
"Alright, since you guys won't tell me what it is, I guess I'll find out after school" Karen said.
Mr. Park entered the class and was about to begin the lecture of the day when the principal walked in with a teenage girl.
"Good morning class" The principal voiced. "I hope your studies for this session have gotten off to a great start, as I always tell the freshmen, always remember that the unit of anyone's future is time, high school is a place where you discover yourself so what you spend your time on determines your future. So please spend your time on things that are actually important and will impact your future"
Chris looked at me and whispered "Does he have to give this speech every time?" I responded with a faint smile.
The Principal continued "As most of you can see I have a new student with me, her name is Susan Adler, her family just moved from Waterbury to Stowe. Susan has been assigned to this class, I would like it if all of you made her feel welcome…"
Those were the last words I heard from the principal as my eyes wandered to the new student. There she stood, a tiny marvel, arms casually folded, with dark hair flowing over her shoulders. My gaze was stuck, like I stumbled upon something wonderfully unexpected, I felt my heart race, I didn't mean to but I accidentally used my powers, the lights in the classroom flickered off and on, rapidly for a few seconds. I didn't even notice the whole class staring at the flickering lights until Chris realized what was happening and softly hit me, I quickly composed myself and the flickering lights stopped.
"Must've been a minor glitch" The principal said. He continued introducing Susan to the class.
Chris leaned over to me "Umm Fred, you're drooling"
"I hate you" I answered.
Karen and Chris chuckled gently trying not to draw the attention of the class.
"Alright then, take your sit miss Adler. I'll let Mr. Park continue with the class" The principal concluded and walked out.
During lunch period, all the students made their way to the cafeteria. We lined up at the counter to get lunch.
"So Fred, Susan seems cool" Karen said.
"Please stop"
Chris laughed "Are you at least going to say hi?"
"I'm not answering your questions"
I admit I was a little embarrassed, I completely zoned out in class. It doesn't help that my friends are the type that make fun of you over the littlest of things, I knew this would take a while to die down so I thought it best not to engage or encourage this conversation.
We got our lunch and started looking for vacant sits,
Karen grabbed something from her plate and tossed it in her mouth "That reminds me, I got the internship, so I'll spend my summer interning at Stowe labs. I figured I could see what it's like being a medical practitioner before I actually become one"
"Nice, I'm happy for you" Chris said. "Being the only future medical practitioner we know, part of what we need to show you requires your expertise. Get your kit out of storage Karen, we need you to start poking needles"
"No one's poking me with needles" I responded immediately.
"Wait, I don't get it. Why would I need to poke you with needles?" Karen asked.
"Karen, trust me when I say that it's better if you see this for yourself" Chris replied.
Karen looked at both of us "Normally I wouldn't be this curious, but Fred seems to be more involved in this than usual"
"Let's just say I'm crucial to the pressing issue at hand," I replied when someone bumped into me, causing me to spill some of my lunch.
"Watch where you're going, Powell," Bob said and walked away.
"Jerk! Find something else to do with your time" Karen yelled.
I was aggravated, Chris jumped in front of me in a hasty manner "Your eyes are glowing" he whispered.
I immediately looked down, it was then I realized he jumped in front of me so no one would see my glowing eyes
"What's wrong?" Karen inquired.
I raised my head gently. Chris's look of relief indicated that my eyes had stopped glowing.
"Nothing, just pissed" I replied.
After school we all met at the parking lot and headed to Chris' car.
"Where are we headed?" Karen asked.
"My house, my mom is at the hospital so no prying eyes" Chris answered.
Karen sighed "Alright but if all this turns out to be one big prank or a huge waste of my time, I'm going to all agro werewolf on the both of you"
"Calm your fangs little cub, it certainly won't be a waste of time I promise" I replied and almost immediately bumped into someone carrying a pile of books, the books dropped. Both me and the person I bumped into bent down to pick the books.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you" I apologized.
"It's okay" a voice replied
I looked up to see who I was talking to, it was Susan, the new girl the principal introduced to the class.
"Susan right? We're in the same class"
"Hey, I didn't get your name" Susan replied.
"Fredrick, but everyone just calls me Fred"
"Fred, got it. Sorry for bumping into you, I'm just a mess today"
"I wasn't looking where I was going either. These are my friends Karen and Chris"
"Hi" Chris and Karen said in unison.
"Hey! I'm Susan" She replied.
"I see you've gotten your books for the school year"
"Yes I have, didn't expect them to be this heavy though" Susan laughed.
"Whispers of Avalon by Emilia Rivers" I said looking at one of her books in my hand.
"That one's mine, you read the whispers series?" Susan asked.
"Yes I do, I haven't read this one though"
"Huh, it's not every day you see a guy who reads fiction, they're mostly into videogames and stuff"
I smiled "I guess this makes me standout from the guys you've met. I still play videogames though, I also enjoy the occasional reading"
Susan smiled gently "In that case I would be happy to lend you the book when I'm done with it"
"I'd like that "
Karen walked closer to us "So what's Waterbury like?" Karen asked.
"It's awesome, lovely parks, great people" Susan answered. "I haven't seen much of Stowe but from what I've seen I think I'm going to like it here. What do you guys do for fun around here?"
Chris folded his arms and slightly lifted his chin like he was thinking "Let's see, there's skiing on the mountain sides, diners, skating rinks and other stuff. But honestly? Most of us just end up binge-watching our favorite shows every weekend"
I looked at Chris "Is that what you were doing at my house on Saturday?"
"That sounds nice" Susan said. "I can't wait to do all of that stuff, especially the binge watching"
"So your whole family moved here?" Karen inquired.
"Just me and my Dad, I lost my mom when I was little"
"Really sorry to hear that" Karen said.
"Thanks, my Dad's a doctor, he just got a job at Stowe hospital and that's why we moved here"
"Well, we're glad to have you" I said.
"Fred, we have some work to do" Chris said gripping me by the shoulder.
Karen took the books in my hands and handed them over to Susan "We would've asked you to hang out with us but it seems you're kind of busy right now"
"Yeah I have to meet up with my dad, and I still have some unpacking to do" Susan replied.
"Next time then" I said.
"Okay, bye guys" Susan replied.
Throughout the drive Chris and Karen kept exchanging looks, I could tell they wanted to make fun of me. I pretended not to notice, I didn't want to give them the chance, but that didn't stop them.
"Hey Chris" Karen called. "Most boys don't read the whisper series"
"I guess that makes me standout" Chris answered trying to mimic me.
They had a long and hard laugh.
"C'mon guys, I didn't sound that cheesy"
Karen who was still engulfed in laughter turned to me in the back seat "You did, you really did"
We arrived at Chris' house and got out of the car.
"Are we using your garage?" I asked.
"No, all my works are in there. Can't risk blowing them up" Chris replied.
Karen started growing impatient "Stop your small talks and show me what it is already"
"Let's go to the backyard" Chris said leading the way.
We went around the house to got to the backyard. I dropped my backpack on the floor "Alright Karen, try not to freak out"
Karen's eyes wandered all over the backyard "I don't get it, what am I supposed to be looking at?"
"Me"
Karen watched keenly as I turned to a clear direction and threw my hands like I had previously done but nothing happened. I did it again but nothing happened. I continued to throw my hands in the air vigorously, at a point I started waving them like I was coordinating a choir.
"C'mon Fred, stop messing around" Chris said.
"I'm not"
"What's happening?" A confused Karen asked looking at both of us.
"It's not working, I don't know what's wrong" I said, still throwing my arms in the air.
"That's great, I should have known you guys were trying to mess with me. If you guys need me I'll be in the kitchen grabbing a drink" Karen replied and then headed for the main house.
"Wait" I yelled with one hand stretched at Karen when all of a sudden a bolt of lightning came rushing out of my palm and hit a garbage bin beside her. Karen screamed in shock and started to run away.
"You said you had it under control, what happened?" Chris asked.
"I don't know, I've been doing it all weekend, I thought I had control, I don't know what happened" I replied in panic.
"Let's get Karen" Chris yelled.
Both of us ran after her, she ran around the house and approached the road.
"Karen wait" Chris voiced.
"Stay away from me" Karen yelled still running.
I lost my balance while running and immediately fell on Chris' car which was parked on the side of the road, I put up my hands to brace for impact but on hitting the car, I didn't come to a stop. When I got up from the floor the car was in the middle of the street. Karen stopped running and just stood still, her eyes wavering from the car to me repeatedly, I couldn't tell if she was amazed or scared.
"You single handedly pushed my car" Chris said as he looked around to see if anyone else was watching, thankfully the street was empty. "Try lifting the car, but be careful"
I wanted to say that was ridiculous but the car in the middle of the street was defying logic. I walked to the trunk of the car and held the bumper and started to pull the car up. I could see Karen's eyes widen and Chris' excited expression when the rear end of the car continued to elevate, I held my grip for a few seconds and then put the car down gently.
"You have super strength" Chris yelled out with excitement.
"How's this possible?" Karen asked.
"We don't know, we're still trying to figure it out" Chris replied.
"You're a supernatural?" Karen asked.
"No, I'm not sure"
"I'm lost, would someone please tell me something that makes sense" Karen said.
We told Karen about the incident at the diner and at the mountain sides.
Karen started pacing slowly "I don't even have the words to describe what's going through my head right now"
"Imagine how I feel. We need to find out what's happening to me, that's one of the reasons we need you"
"Me, how?" she asked.
"Poking needles" Chris replied immediately.
"Huh, poking needles, now I get it. But you do know I'm not a professional right? Like my knowledge base on this is severely lacking"
"We can't trust just anyone with this, your knowledge will have to do for now" Chris replied.
Chris got into his car and re-parked it by the side of the road.
Karen walked gently towards me "Will I be electrocuted if I touched you?"
"Good question, I don't think so. When I bring the lightning out of my hand that's when I feel the rush within me, I'm guessing if you touched me then you would probably be electrocuted, but when my palms aren't lightning up like a Christmas tree, I'm pretty much normal I guess" Fred replied.
"Your entire response emphasized on 'probably' and 'I guess'. We need to find real answers" She stated.
"Let's continue this conversation in the garage, thankfully no one saw your super display" Chris said as he walked past us.
We got into the garage, it was the place where Chris built all his inventions and showed us his crazy theories, there were different parts of equipment I couldn't identify scattered all over the floor and there was a long table where he arranged his completed projects.
"So Karen, got any ideas that can help us get to the bottom of this?" I asked as I sat on the couch in the garage.
"Let's start with the facts, I don't know any supernatural creature that can do what you can, the only people that match your powers are the super soldiers. There are exactly 200 known human beings on this earth with super human abilities and all of them are soldiers. They got their abilities from the superhuman experiments they volunteered from. You are not a soldier and you have no connection with the superhuman project. Are you sure you have no idea what could have caused this?"
"No, I've been brainstorming all weekend trying to make sense of this but I can't come up with anything. I've never been in a situation that would explain this"
"We've been asking questions like this all weekend and we're still nowhere, let's get practical. Karen will take your blood and examine it" Chris said.
"I just want to remind you guys again that I'm seriously out of my depths here, there could be a billion things I don't know about that'll explain this" Karen replied.
"Then do what you know is in your depths, take his blood, you still have that microscope your mom got you on your birthday, use it to examine his DNA, check if it's normal, check if he's human" Chris said.
"So now I'm an alien?"
"I'm just saying, it could be a possibility" Chris replied.
Karen looked at me "What did your parents say about this?"
Chris and I exchanged another look.
"You haven't told them?" Karen snapped.
"I felt I should at least have my powers under control and have some answers before I tell them, to ease the situation" I answered "Besides, you guys have known my parents for a very long time, if Karen's parents are this intense cause of your werewolf shifting, how do you think my parents will react to this?"
"He has a point Karen, his parents are overprotective, telling them might not be the best thing to do right now" Chris said.
Karen was quiet briefly before answering "But still, they should know. I'm always talking about how my parents give me a hard time since I shifted, but to be honest It would be a lot harder without my dad teaching me how to control my gifts and my mom constantly pestering me to see if I'm okay. You need to tell them"
"In my case none of my parents have powers, so they can't help me. I'll tell them when I have some answers"
Karen gave me a stern look and opened her mouth slightly so I could see her fangs.
"You have to stop doing that" I said but her face remained unchanged. "I will tell them once we have a handle on this, I promise"
"Hey wolf cub, you're still taking his blood right?" Chris asked.
Karen growled "Not today, I don't carry a syringe everywhere I go"
"Then it's a good thing my mom's a nurse, I'll be right back" Chris said and then exited into the main house.
Karen started pacing around the garage, she paced every time something was bothering her or if she was trying to think and I think the news she just received was a legit reason to pace around.
"What is that?" She asked pointing to a object covered with a tarp.
I walked to the object and pulled the tarp off. It was in the shape of a shotgun, it had wirings all over, the end where the muzzle of the gun was supposed to be was shaped to be a round metallic rim.
"Ah, I see you guys found my latest work" Chris said as he walked into the garage with the syringe kit.
"What is that?" Karen asked.
"That's my surprise, I call it the Shock-gun"
Karen rolled her eyes "Shock-gun? So you built a giant Taser?"
"Why is it that every time you repeat what I say you make it sound goofy?" Chris said. "Relatively speaking it's a Taser but it's not just any kind of Taser, it's an electro laser"
"What's the difference?" I asked.
"An ordinary Taser requires skin contact to take effect but in the case of an electro laser, when fired the electric arcs uses the laser to create a conducting ionized channel through the air and can be fired at a far distance"
"Have you tested it?" Karen asked.
"Yes I have but the problem is the power source, I used my mom's car battery to test it out and the battery went flat" Chris replied pointing to the not so subtle dent with scorch marks on the wall.
I was impressed "Wow, the shock-gun did that?"
"Don't encourage him" Karen said in a tone of rage. "Seriously? Your mom's battery. What happened to your car battery?"
"Let's not dive into that, my mom already told me I'm grounded till I have kids so just take the needle and poke Fred already" Chris replied handing the kit to Karen.
Karen did her thing and drew blood from me into the syringe and gently transferred it to a small container.