Chris and I were already driving off to school when I saw a very familiar car went past us and pulled up in front of my house. It was a black SUV, slick looking with tinted glass on the windows and windshield.
"Hey, slow down a bit" I said. I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and stuck my head out the window to get a better view.
A tall muscular man in a suit exited the driver's door, my eyes lit up because I recognized him.
"That's Luke" I voiced in excitement.
If he's here that could only mean one thing – I thought, He walked to the passengers door and opened it, a woman came out, she was formally dressed with a pair of sunglasses hanging on her forehead.
"Isn't that your aunt?" Chris asked looking at the rearview mirror. "What's her name again?"
"Aunt Tracy" I replied.
"Do you want me to turn around so you can say hi?"
"No, I'll see her after school. She won't leave without seeing me"
Aside from the excitement of my aunt visiting, I was very eager to find out what Karen had pieced together with the blood sample. We had a free period right before lunch, we agreed to meet at the basketball court. When we got there we saw students scattered all over the bleachers of the court "Let's find a quiet place to sit" Karen said. We wandered until we found a quiet spot.
"Alright no one can hear us here, start spilling" Chris said.
"Well, from what I can tell you're human but there's something different about your DNA, it's like it's mutated in a way that concerns me" Karen replied.
"Concerns you? How?" I inquired.
Karen sighed "Well there was a normal structure of DNA before supernaturals were exposed and then after the Circle launched their terrorist attack and detonated pathogen bombs all over world, the structure of the human DNA changed again. But from what I can tell yours is slightly different"
"At least I'm human" I said with relief. "Were you able to find out anything else?"
"Unfortunately no, that's where my expertise ends. I have a family friend who works at the hospital lab, she could look at it for us" Karen replied.
"No" Chris responded. "We can't afford to let others know what Fred can do because we have no idea what kind of attention this could attract"
"So how else do you think we should get answers?" Karen asked.
"I don't know" Chris replied.
Karen looked at me "It's your blood, it's your decision. What do you want to do?"
"I want to get answers but Chris is right, we don't know what kind of attention my abilities will attract"
Chris leaned closer to us "At first the world wasn't very welcoming to the supernatural community, some parts of the world still aren't a safe place for supernaturals. Can you imagine what they'll do with Fred?"
"Honestly guys I can't deal with this now, I thought I had my powers under control but yesterday I got frustrated thinking about my situation and accidentally blew out two light bulbs and now I'm scared I might accidentally electrocute someone" I said.
"Remember back at the diner, Bob said something that got you mad and you ended up blowing out the billboard" Karen said.
"That's right, and in the cafeteria when he bumped into you and your eyes started glowing" Chris quickly stated.
"So my emotions affect my powers?"
Karen snapped her finger "Could be a working theory"
"See, we're making little progress" Chris said.
"If we can't find out how you got your powers at least we can help you learn to live with it" Karen said.
"She's right Fred, and besides you might not like the answers you're searching for"
"Who wouldn't like the answers they're looking for?" Susan asked as she approached us. We were so caught up in our conversation that we didn't notice her getting close.
"Hey!" Karen exclaimed. "We were just talking about the homework Mr. Park gave us. We disagreed on a theory and Chris told Fred that he definitely wouldn't like the answers he's searching for"
"Oh okay, I'm guessing you all got a free period too" Susan said.
"Yep, how're you settling in?" I asked.
"Great so far" She answered and sat down. "I've caught up on all of my classes, I've met some nice people and some so not nice people, like a really self-absorbed dude in the hallway. I think he's the captain of the basketball team"
Chris chuckled "His name's Bob"
"Is he always like that?"
"You have no idea" Chris answered.
"I tried out Joe's diner, the place was cool. What else do you guys do for fun?"
"The town's fair is coming up and during the fair most of the students sneak away and we throw a huge party in the woods, trust me it's going to be a blast" Karen replied.
"We're all going, do you want to come?" I asked.
Susan smiled "I'm game, just keep me posted"
At the end of the school day, we made our way to Chris' car in the parking lot.
"Fredrick" A man shouted as we nearly reached Chris' car.
"Luke!" I exclaimed as I rushed to give him a hug. "Guys you remember Luke, he's my Aunt Tracy's bodyguard"
"Hi" Chris and Karen said with a slight wave.
"Hey Kids" He responded.
"Is Aunt Tracy here or is she back at the house?" I asked.
Luke pointed at the black SUV in the parking lot "She's in the car, let's go"
I waved Chris and Karen goodbye "I'll see you guys tomorrow"
I rushed over to the car, opened the car door and gave my aunt a tight hug.
"Hey! Nice to see that I was missed" She said wrapping her arms around me.
"I've been calling you but it's not always connecting, Mia says you can't receive calls at work" I said releasing myself from the hug.
"You know my line of work requires me to keep a low profile" Tracy replied.
"No, I don't know" I responded. "All you told me is that you have a contract with the military, I don't know what exactly it is that you do cause you won't tell me"
"Exactly, I can't talk about my job so I guess the little information you have will have to do young man" Aunt Tracy said with a smile.
"How's Mia" I asked.
"Your cousin is great, she's actually been wanting to visit you for a while now, perhaps during the holidays" Aunt Tracy replied.
"Is she still taking those karate classes?"
Aunt Tracy rolled her eyes "Unfortunately yes, those awful classes made her break my favorite mug. Luke take us to the park, Fred and I are going to have a little bonding time"
"Yes ma'am" Luke replied starting the ignition.
We conversed on our way to the park, she told me more about my cousin and I told her how I was adjusting to high school.
When we got to the park we took a walk close by 'little river' "So you really didn't join the basketball team huh?" Aunt Tracy asked with disbelief.
"Yeah, I know Mia is never going to let me hear the end of this" I replied.
"You guys made an agreement if I remember correctly" Aunt Tracy said.
"A pact" I said.
"Right, a pact. You guys were obsessed with basketball so you both agreed to join the basketball team when you both got to high school"
"I know, but we made that pact when we were little. We've both done some growing up since then. She told me she joined the track team"
"Yeah, I was surprised when she decided to join track" Aunt Tracy said.
"Aunt Tracy, I have a question that you might not want to answer but by any chance does your contract with the military have anything to do with the super soldiers?"
Aunt Tracy looked at me "Why do you ask?"
"Nothing, just curious" I answered.
"I can't tell you that but I can tell you that I have met Titan"
Titan is the popular super soldier on earth, and mostly everyone's favorite, including mine. My eyes lit up "Really?"
"So you're a titan fan too huh?"
"Yeah, he's so cool" I replied. "What's he like?"
"Um… he's strong obviously, a very dedicated soldier, and shockingly he's a great singer" Tracy answered.
"You saw Titan sing?" I asked. She nodded "The super soldiers, what exactly are their powers again?"
Tracy had a shocked expression on her face "C'mon, you're messing with me right?"
"You may know something I don't, I would just like to hear it from you"
"Fine, but the government didn't hide anything. Their powers are basically the same, enhanced strength, enhanced stamina and thick skin"
"How thick skinned? We talking bullet proof or nuke proof?" I asked
"Nobody is nuke proof" Aunt Tracy smiled. "Mostly bullet and knife proof. In some cases special bullets can put a dent in them, few of them such as titan develop a unique ability along with the others"
"Like Titan's ability to increase in size"
"Exactly" Tracy responded.
"Not all super soldiers get a unique ability right?" I inquired.
"That's right, most of them stick to the basics, strength, stamina and thick skin and I'm sure you already know this"
I gave a heavy sigh "Apart from the BEF-X, is there any other way to get these powers?"
My aunt looked at me keenly before answering "None that I know of, to my knowledge only the BEF-X can give abilities like that"
"Oh okay" I answered.
"Fred, is there anything you'd like to get off your chest?" Tracy asked.
I wanted to tell her everything, she was a cool aunt that understood me, plus I just found out she works with super soldiers so she might be able to help me but I chose to keep the secret a little longer.
"No" I replied after a brief pause.
"Are you sure? You know I got you right?" Tracy said, she patted me softly on the shoulder trying to ease me into talking.
"It's nothing, I was just curious" I replied.
"Okay" Tracy responded, she didn't look convinced though. "That reminds me, your Aunt Erica says hello"
My Mum had two sisters, Tracy and Erica, the details are all sketchy but all I know is my mum had a big falling out with Aunt Erica, I haven't seen her since I was little. My Aunt Erica has a daughter Amy, we chat from time to time over the phone, I have no recollection of meeting Amy but apparently we met when we were little.
"It's been years, when are Mum and Aunt Erica going to make up?"
"Hopefully soon dear, we can't lose hope" She responded. "Amy spent last summer at my place, the girls kept asking of you"
"Yeah I know, I tried endlessly to convince my Mum to let me go but Chris and I got into trouble, so my Mum saw the perfect opportunity to ground me"
Aunt Tracy placed her hand on my shoulder "Tell you what, if you're able to keep a cool head, I will personally convince your Mum to let you spend next summer with us"
"Deal" I concurred.
"Okay then, so are you going to show me around or what"
"Sure, things haven't really changed since the last time you visited but there's this new burger place you'll love"
Tracy twitched her eyes "Are you really showing me around or are you trying to trick me into buying you lunch?"
"Can the answer be both?" I responded with a big smile.
Aunt Tracy laughed "C'mon, let's go"
We spent the evening chatting and laughing, I showed her what was new in Stowe and any other hilarious story I could think of, I wished we could've hung out more but it was getting dark and she had to take me home.
"They're back home" I heard my Mum faintly from the window as we pulled up. My Mum and Dad came out of the house to join us outside.
"This was fun, I'll try to visit more" Tracy said.
"Yeah you should, maybe next time you can let my cousin tag along" I said.
"I'll bring your cousin next time, I promise. Good bye kid" Aunt Tracy gave me a hug.
"Bye Luke" I waved at him.
Luke smiled and waved slightly "See you around kid"
"Fred, why don't we go inside while these two sisters say their goodbyes" My Dad said.
My Dad and I got into the house, I went to the window observe my mum and aunt as they talked, my mum's voice got elevated like they were having a quarrel. I've seen this happen plenty times, I was pretty sure my aunt brought up Aunt Erica. My mum calmed down when she turned around and spotted me through the window, they talked a little longer, after which they hugged each other goodbye.