hero – Alex's Writing Corner

Chapter 5: The Unexpected Test

Faith wanted him to reconsider. She didn’t want him to leave that night in a city they didn’t know.

“I will be fine, don’t worry,” Adaru said. “This is to help me for tomorrow.”

He left an hour later, after he made sure his mom was already knocked up by possibly the last bottle she would be able to drink in a while.

He went back to the store and asked how he could reach Smith or Red. The cashier told him to take the bus 27 Blue at the corner. He also warned him that it was dangerous to go there at that time.

It was already getting dark when the bus arrived and Adaru got inside.

“Where to?” the driver said.

“To Red and Smith.”

Adaru sat and he tried to enjoy seeing the zone in the night. The life and joy of the zone were gone and now it was filled with shadows that disappeared on the corners. There were only less than a dozen of people riding the bus, but in a few minutes, Adaru was the only one remaining.

It only took 15 minutes for Adaru to reach Red Street. He felt relieved that it was close to his new apartment.

“Be safe kid,” the driver told him when he got out.

Adaru walked the street, hoping to find the warehouse. Instead, he heard noises from a hallway. He followed and was surprised to find the famous black market his dad told stories about.

It was on a narrow street between empty buildings. It covered almost two blocks. People were walking on the street instead of the sidewalk because the sidewalks were for the merchandise.

The merchants were on old rugs and were all smiles trying to show their boxes of illegal products.

Vendors didn’t scream or attempted to attract customers. They had to be cautious, so they waited for the clients to come to them. The clients perused the merchandise quickly. His father used to say that if people lingered, a sale was about to be made.

The merchandise was equipment, junk food and even bootlegged movies and some magazines. Adaru was looking for something that was given more in secret. And it was also more dangerous.

He didn’t know where to go, so he started asking merchants if he knew where Lizzy was. Some of them told him to get away, others cursed at him. Finally, one pointed toward a young man who was all alone.

The young man was on the middle of the street, looking at all the vendors on the sides. Adaru saw he was trembling.

Soon, a second man approached him and talked to him.

Adaru saw the man smiled and nodded his head eagerly. The two men started walking into the alley, away from the market. Adaru walked behind them.

He kept his distance when the pair walked to the back of a green warehouse. He heard someone knocking some trash cans behind him, so he hurried inside the warehouse. When turning a corner, he was pulled by an arm and pushed to the wall. Adaru only felt the force of the pull. A strong arm lifted him several feet off the ground.

“Who are you? Why are you following us?” a man said.

Adaru saw his captor. He was a dark skinned man with furious eyes.

“I just came for some pills,” Adaru said. “I’m looking for Lizzy.”

“That’s it? Show me your arms!” the man demanded.

Adaru rolled his sleeves and lifted his arms.

The man laughed when he saw no bracelet.

“How the hell did you manage to get all this way?” he said while he put Adaru down. “I’m impressed. You must be really desperate.”

Adaru fell to his knees and coughed. The man patted him on his back, trying to comfort him, but Adaru felt like cinder blocks were hitting him.

“Come, come,” the man said while he lifted him up. “This is where all the good stuff is.”

Adaru could see the pair he was following. The customer seemed more nervous now. The man he had come with smiled and said everything was OK.

The four of them turned into a second alley filled with trash cans. They turned another corner and were behind the warehouse. Adaru felt trapped by the wall right of him. It was shorter than the warehouse, but not by much. He ought for an exit behind the men, but he only saw a large garbage container near the wall. He couldn’t get back or go forward.

Adaru saw the entrance and there were two men with rifles. He looked around to see people in the ground, some of them were convulsing, and others were unconscious.

“What happened to them?” Adaru asked.

“They just took some of our product,” said the man trying to reassure him. “This is obviously your first time. So don’t worry. This is just temporary.”

Three men were lining up to a man who had a bag. Behind him, there were more men with guns. One by one, they gave him money or other things. The last one gave him his cell phone.

“Hey Lizzy! We have two more customers!”

The dealer saw Adaru and let his tongue out when Adaru got closer to him. It was a lizard’s tongue that could go to the bottom of his neck.

Adaru couldn’t hide his disgust.

“Never seen one like me, boy?” he said to Adaru while getting closer to him. “Don’t worry, you may get a tongue like mine if you take one of these pills. “

He whipped his tongue to Adaru so fast he only saw it when it hit him on his shoulder. It didn’t hurt, but Adaru was still suffering from the pain of the pinch earlier, so he fell once again.

The men laughed. The dark-skinned man lifted Adaru from the floor meanwhile the dealer offered him a pill.

“The first pill is on the house. Just ingest it right now,” he said.

Adaru looked at the red and blue pill.

“What ability am I getting?” Adaru asked to nobody in particular.

“The only thing we can imitate with the pills is an animal-based ability. We can make you as agile as a monkey or as strong as an ox,” the strong man with the intense eyes said behind Adaru.

“How long will it last?” Adaru asked.

“It depends on the person but it will be enough for you to pass any government hearing within the week. It’s better to do it sooner rather than later. Also, our new formula is undetectable.”

Adaru looked to his left and saw a woman laying face up. She was drooling but she didn’t seem to care. She had vacant eyes, and for a moment, Adaru remembered her mother who he was sure was now in a similar position back at the apartment with Faith.

Would he become someone like his mother if he took the pill? Adaru thought.

“No,” Adaru said.

“What did you say boy?” the lizard-tongue man said with surprise.

“I said no, thank you,” Adaru repeated pushing the dealer’s hand away.

The men laughed, but now in a different manner. Adaru felt he was in danger now.

The dark-skinned man got behind him and grabbed his shirt.

“You’re telling me you came all this way to not take a free pill?” he said. “I’m hurt.”

He tossed Adaru to the wall closest to the alley where they had come from. Adaru raised his head, and for one moment, he thought he heard more people coming into the alley.

“We are not done with you boy,” Lizzy said. He then turned to the nervous customer who came before Adaru.

“Are you a first customer also? Don’t worry. We are only rough to those who disrespect us,” he said while taking out his tongue.

The man smiled, but he kept trembling.

He took a pill and he looked directly to the man.

“I think I will say no as well,” he said.

“It looks like we have a copycat here,” Lizzy said.

“No,” he said. “You have a rival.”

With that, he hit the chin of the lizard man so hard that Adaru could not see where he landed.

“You should have had wings,” the nervous man said laughing.

The dark-skinned man didn’t wait. He hit the man hard. The man flew almost to the other side of the backyard, hitting the large garbage container. The man stood up and was not scared, even though he was being surrounded.

“Who are you?” the dark-skinned man asked, angry and nervous.

“I work for Tico. You guys are getting into our territory,” the nervous man said. “Bad move.”

“Bad move for you,” the dark-skinned man said. He whistled and the other men started approaching the rival. “You are surrounded.”

“That’s how I like it,” he said.

He grabbed the garbage container with his two arms and hit three men with it. The dark skinned man evaded the hit and ran toward him. They collided and embraced going through the wall, making a big hole. Adaru heard their grunting and fighting on the other side.

Adaru stood up, at the same time men came from all sides of the warehouse shooting and cussing. He had been forgotten, so without thinking, Adaru hugged the wall and tried making himself smaller.

He saw two men fall and some of the clients fleeing. Some of them were not lucky and fell victim to the shots.

“Tico is here! Tico is here!” someone yelled scared.

Then, Adaru felt it before he heard it.

A wave pushed Adaru to the wall that was three feet away. He heard a loud explosion after it.

“It’s Tico! Everyone run!” he heard.

Adaru saw men running toward the warehouse to escape, not paying attention to him.

Adaru crawled, trying to recover his energy. He raised his head, just to see a tall man entering the alley. Adaru could see he had blond hair, strong shoulders and he was wearing a vest that showed the muscles on his arms.

He had to be Tico.

Fear made Adaru stand up. He ran to the wall, jumped and bounced from it to grab the edge of the warehouse’s roof. Adaru ignored the pain on his arms and shoulders. He lifted himself up and he rolled to his back. He took some breaths before standing and running again.

He only took some steps when he heard another explosion. He turned just in time to see part of the warehouse collapsing. Adaru ran until the end of the warehouse to jump, and land on the floor.

Adaru couldn’t stand up; his entire body was claiming rest. The wall surrounding the warehouse had collapsed and there was rubble everywhere.

“Look for survivors,” he heard.

Adaru opened his eyes. He managed to see the shapes of Tico’s men looking into the rubble.

“I found someone!”

Adaru wanted his body to jump and run, but it was not listening. He looked around to see where the men were. No one was near him. They were picking up another man several feet away. When Tico got near him, he grabbed him by his neck.

“Who is your supplier?” he said.

The man choked. Adaru’s sight was improving and he could see Tico clearly grabbing Lizzy by the neck.

“I know you are getting your drugs from outside the zone. You are clever. It’s a different formula, so tell me, who is your supplier?” Tico said again.

Adaru stood up. If he was silent, he could probably get away.

Tonight wasn’t his day because the lizard-tongue man saw him.

“He knows. That boy knows,” he said.

“What boy?”

“The one behind you.”

Tico turned.

“Get him!” he yelled.

Two of his men leaped and in seconds, they got to a pile of rubble near Adaru. They were so close that Adaru could see their smiles. He thought that if they were able to leap that far, then he had no opportunity of escaping.

“Now come with us,” one of the two said.

They walked on top of the rubble, but the rocks moved below their feet.

“Wh-?” the second man said when two men emerged from the pile making them fall, confused.

They were the dark-skinned man and the nervous man who were still throwing punches and wrestling each other.

“Hey, be careful,” said the first man. But it was too late. He had fallen behind one of them. The nervous man stepped back and stepped on the first man’s leg. Adaru heard his bone cracked before he heard the man yelling in pain.

It was that yell that woke Adaru’s body.

He ran to the street and turned a corner. The streets were getting crowded by people who heard the bangs and were curious to know what had happened. Adaru ran the opposite way when he felt an arm grabbing his shoulder.

He turned to see the second man who could leap very far away grinning at him. They were separated when a big muscled man wearing a red shirt came between them. It was just for a second, but Adaru saw the muscled man’s wallet hanging from his back pocket.

Quickly, he grabbed the wallet and threw it to his pursuer.

“Hey sir! That man is stealing your wallet!” Adaru yelled.

The man turned and put his hand on his back pocket. After not feeling the wallet and seeing the man with a wallet on his hands, he yelled angrily “You thief!”

“No, wa-“the pursuer tried to say but was interrupted with a big smack to his face.

Adaru ran through the street, quickly becoming crowded, hoping to hide. He turned and saw a man on top of the building next to the warehouse pointing at him and yelling.

Adaru ran even though his legs and chest were hurting. Fear made him run. When he fell, the fear made him stand up again and keep on running.

He didn’t stop when he saw the bus. He didn’t stop when he turned the corner and saw the building where his family now called home. He didn’t stop when he got up all the stairs and he reached the door of his new apartment.

He only stopped when Faith opened the door and he collapsed at the entrance.

“What happened?” she asked.

“This town is more dangerous than I thought,” he said, relieved that he got home safely. “I really don’t think we are going to survive here a week.”

“Well, did you get what you were going to get?”

“No, and it is a good thing. We just have to survive tomorrow and say the jump was a big fluke,” Adaru said. “ Don’t do anything that make them pay attention to you.”

“I’ll try,” Faith said while Adaru stood up.

He decided to calm himself and not scare Faith more than she already was. He ignored the noise of cars passing by the building, but he couldn’t ignore them when they started parking near it.

He could hear murmur from neighbors and then he could hear the voices of the men who were in the parking lot.

The panic came back to him when he heard one voice.

“WE KNOW YOU ARE HERE BOY! WE FOLLOWED YOU FROM THE MARKET!” the voice said.

“IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU, YOU MUST COME DOWN NOW!”

Adaru’s eyes got wide. He ducked behind the door, like it was the best place to hide.

“What’s going on Adaru?” Faith asked. “They are not coming for you, right?”

But she only needed to see his face to know that was wishful thinking.

“TO EVERYBODY ELSE, YOU WILL NOT INTERFERE AND YOU WILL NOT CALL THE POLICE OR SAY ANYTHING. WE WILL KNOW IF YOU DO AND WE WILL COME BACK!” the voice continued. “TICO ONLY WANTS THE BOY WE SAW RUNNING INSIDE THIS BUILDING”

Adaru peeked at the window to see if there were people on the hallways, but they were empty. Everybody must know who Tico was and feared him.

“YOU BETTER COME OUT OR WE WILL GO IN! AND IT WILL BE YOUR FAULT IF ANYONE GETS HURT. YOU DON’T WANT SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT GETTING HURT, DO YOU?”

And then panic, erupted. Neighbors started yelling from their rooms. Adaru couldn’t see them, but he guessed they were also hiding behind their walls.

“Please! Get out! We have two small children here!” someone said.

“Why did you have to make Tico mad?” someone else said. “Get out and be done with it.”

Adaru realized that he was dead. Tico wouldn’t let him live and he didn’t need a lot of effort to do it. He was now scared that Faith could get hurt.

“I have to get down,” he told Faith.

“No,” she said grabbing his arm. “You cannot!”

“They will hurt you if I don’t,” Adaru said.

“I don’t care,” she said.

“I have to,” he said while getting up and opening the door.

“At least, take something that you can use,” she said.

“Like what?”

Faith went to a room on the corner and came back with Adaru’s lunchbox.

“There must be something here we can use,” she said.

There were only papers and money. She emptied the box on the floor and then, they heard a metallic sound.

It was a silver lighter that their dad must have used for smoking. Adaru grabbed it and he then saw his mother, still laying face down in the middle of the room with the bottle on her hand. He grabbed the bottle.

He only had the bottle and a lighter against someone who made buildings crumble.

“I don’t think I can do anything with this,” he said with desperation.

“GET OUT NOW! WE ARE COMING IN.”

Adaru cursed.

“I have to go,” he said. “If something happens, just lay low so the man with the mustache and hat doesn’t notices you.”

“I don’t want you to go!” Faith said and Adaru could see tears coming out. “I won’t let you get hurt!”

“I’m sorry,” he said while he got out. He couldn’t dare to see her. In his mind, he had failed to protect her. He got to the corner where he could see three cars with about a dozen of men waiting for him. He could distinguish Tico from that height.

“I am here!” he yelled. “I am coming out!”

He heard them jeering and even some clapping. His plan was to get to the elevator, but a man appeared from the edge.

“We don’t like waiting,” the man said. Adaru could see he was the one who was hit by the strong man with the red jacket. His nose was swollen, and bleeding, and he had a dark eye. His smile was missing all but five teeth.

He grabbed Adaru and they fell to the bottom floor. He let go of Adaru who couldn’t remain standing like him. He hit his shoulder and face because he couldn’t use his hands to protect him from the fall. He had the bottle on his right hand, and the lighter on the left.

“So this is the kid who was causing too much trouble?” he heard.

Adaru stood up to face the strong blond man from the warehouse.

“Still, you got my respect,” he said with a crispy voice. “Like a tiger respects the ant before it steps on it.”

Adaru could see it like it was happening on slow motion. Tico extended his arms so wide Adaru could see his armpits. Tico then clapped.

Adaru heard a loud BOOM and a second later, he was pushed so hard he hit the ground face up several feet away. His head started buzzing and he felt pain on his back and chest.

He stood up. A car that was next to him had been damaged like it was hit by a trailer. The windows behind him were broken and a trash container had a big dent, like if it was hit by a bull.

But Adaru was standing; something that Tico was not used to seeing.

Even his gang was surprised.

“He is still standing?” someone said. “He must have strength level 3!”

“He wasn’t that strong back on the market. He must be a sensorial.”

“Shut up,” Tico said, annoyed. “I must have missed. Nobody could stand up from my blasts like he did. “

Tico was about to clap again. Without thinking, Adaru threw the bottle at him. The gesture surprised even Tico, who stopped his motion to protect his face from the improvised attack, breaking it with his arms. Tico cursed when he smelled the alcohol on him. Adaru ran toward him as fast as he could. Tico was clearly angrier now, so he also ran to met Adaru halfway.

Adaru jumped to the garbage container and jumped again to fell on top of Tico, who caught him with his two arms and a big smile on his face.

“Got you,” he said while he raised him higher. He was going to smash Adaru to the pavement. Adaru opened his left hand to turn on the lighter. When he felt he was going down, he let go of it and he could see the flame hitting Tico’s right shoulder.

Tico let him go when his shirt caught fire.

Adaru fell hard on his back again and he rolled to get away from Tico. It was a smart choice because on his panic, Tico tried to put out the flames by hitting his body. When he did, he caused another BOOM.

Adaru had covered his face to protect himself from the blast. When he looked, he saw Tico had fallen to his back.

The flames had gotten bigger, which was something Adaru couldn’t believe it should happen. Tico’s men had rushed to cover him and make the flames disappear.

“Run Adaru!” he heard. He looked up to see Faith looking at him.

“You are not going anywhere,” one of Tico’s men said.

It was then than the street was filled with blue and red lights and the sounds of sirens. The men cursed and they lifted Tico up to escape, but the patrol cars had arrived.

“Zone police!” Adaru heard.

The lights blinded Adaru, but he could see a woman jumping over the cars and faced two men. She kicked one on the groin and she punched the second on the neck. A third tried to hit her but she grabbed his arm and twisted it. Adaru yelled to warn her about two men behind her, but it was not needed. One of the cars belonging to the gang flew towards them and knocked them out. Adaru could see a man grabbing a second car with his hands over his head. He threw it to a small group who appeared were about to attack him and made them scatter. Adaru could now see the man was Custos and the woman was his partner, agent Whiteman.

Tico didn’t have any fire on him anymore. He clapped again, but Whiteman got out of the way. The three men she had subdued flew away by the blast. Custos raised his arms to protect himself but the blast only made him take two steps back. He then ran toward Tico, who was about to clap again, but Custos hit him straight to the chest.

Tico flew back and fell. He didn’t stand up.

Custos ran to check on Adaru, who was now really happy to see him. Custos asked if he was hurt, but Adaru said he had been worse.

“Do you know what you just did?” Custos said. “You have faced the biggest criminal in the zone and you are still standing!”

“So, what does that mean?” Adaru said.

“It means that I think you are not going to need an audition,” Custos said. “This has earned you a place in the zone!”

Chapter 3: The impossible escape

Because of the Humanists’ protest and their failure at the auditions, Adaru’s mother decided that they were not going to the zone the next day. Adaru was relieved after hearing this.

In the morning, he turned on the television. As he expected, the news were all about the small earthquake. The reporter on the TV was saying how New Haven was not known for tremors, so this one caught everyone by surprise, especially when the center was far away from any known faults.

He knocked in Faith’s room to know if she was awake. She was and he entered to see her looking outside from her window.

“How did you sleep?” Adaru asked.

“I had a nightmare again,” she said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you this time,” Adaru said.

“I didn’t scream because I am getting used to them. I know screaming won’t help anymore.”

“You know they are only dreams, right?” Adaru said.

“They are not dreams. They feel different. They feel just like the dream I had with the girl who was hit by a car,” Faith said.

“That was a coincidence,” Adaru said, trying to convince her and himself.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but I had a dream with the mustache guy. The man you jumped over at your hearing,” Faith said turning toward him. “I dreamt he came for me.”

“For what?”

“To take me to the zone. He wanted me to live in the zone.”

“That’s a good thing. Mom would be thrilled.”

“But I don’t want to go,” she said, “I’m scared to go.”

“I know what you mean. New city, and all different kind of people,” he said.

“Do you want to live in the zone?” Faith asked.

Adaru was going to say no. He would be uncomfortable with all the freaks. Also, they would still live in constant fear of being found out and that they will be visited by police officers like the ones Adaru met the day before.

“I think it would not be as great as people say it will be,” he said.

“I don’t want live there, because I was there in my nightmares,” Faith said. “If we go, something bad will happen.”

“What will happen?”

“I don’t know. I dreamt I was in a white room on top of a building that looked like a crystal. I could see outside the building and everything was white but it starts getting dark. There’s darkness everywhere, and I am afraid. Somebody wants to hurt me, and I think there’s a man inside the darkness, but I cannot see him,” Faith said.

“How do you know it will happen if we are in the zone?”

“I was wearing those bracelets people in the zone wear, but it was white” Faith said. “I don’t even know how I became like this!”

Adaru had heard a lot of stories of how people first showed their abilities. One day, they were normal and the other they were destroying their houses when they couldn’t control their strength. There is a story his mom used to tell about a neighbor who could control the water. Everybody found out he had an ability when, in a sunny day, water started to pour from inside his house. In a very short time, it flooded the entire street, carrying cars and people away.

Adaru was nervous that his sister was starting to get an ability like that.

He decided to stay inside his home those two days. In part to keep an eye on Faith, but Adaru was also fearful that the police from the zone were looking for them in New Haven.

On Monday, he had no choice but to get out to school.

On recess, he was talking with Joe and Nathan about their experiences in the Zone. Unlike Adaru, they wanted to go back.

Joe was still excited about how he floated for a couple of minutes. Nathan was telling him about a young girl who lifted him, a bench and a horse with her two arms.

Then, Nathan shifted the conversation to talk about Jade.

“Looks like something happen between you two during Evolution Day,” Nathan said.

“We just hanged out together,” Adaru said trying to be cool.

“Well, I guess I have to warn you. I heard Lester has set his eyes on her,” Nathan said seriously.

“He has a girlfriend already,” Adaru said.

“I heard he broke up with her,” Nathan said. “I heard he wants Jade. He is interested in her because of her hair.”

“Who likes someone because of her hair?” Joe said.

“I guess someone like Lester. Of all the girlfriends I know he has had, none of them had Jade’s hair,” Nathan responded.

Adaru couldn’t blame Lester in liking Jade’s light blonde hair. He was concerned by the news, however. Lester was the class president and the hero of the debate team. Everybody liked him. You could ask any girl and they will tell you, he was the best looking student at the school.

But Adaru knew Jade did not like Lester. She had not told him that exactly, but she wasn’t the kind of girl who goes for appearances, Adaru thought.

“I also heard Mitch didn’t come to class today,” Nathan said.

“Mitch has skipped classes before, even since elementary school,” Joe said.

“Not this time. I heard he is purchasing M-pills so he can live in the zone,” Nathan said grimly.

“He is purchasing abilities? But that’s dangerous, and strictly illegal,” Joe said nervously.

“Thank you, captain obvious. We all attended the classes given by the police. Still, Mitch always wanted to live there,” Nathan said.

“Almost everyone wants to live there,” Adaru said.

At that time, music started on the school’s speaker system.

“Apparently somebody wants to entertain us with music,” Nathan said.

“Or is just the end of recess,” Adaru said.

When classes ended, he saw Jade at the entrance of the school. Lester was there too. He wanted to talk to her, but he was surrounded by Jade’s friends. Adaru decided to take Jade away from the entrance.

She smiled at him, and he got nervous. If Lester was actually trying to get her, he had to strike first.

“I was wondering if you are doing anything tomorrow?” he asked.

“I have a birthday party tomorrow,” she said.

Adaru felt disappointed, but he couldn’t give up.

“What about the day after that?”

Jade smiled.

“Why do you want to do something? We just went together to Evolution Day.”

“It wasn’t just us. I wanted to take you to the movies. Besides, I need to make up that I left you alone with your parents on the way back,” Adaru said.

“Joe and Nathan were also with me.”

“So sorry about that.”

Jade laughed and for a moment, Adaru thought everything was brighter.

“I am busy all this week. Today, I have basketball practice,” she said. “Do you want to come and eat something afterwards?”

Adaru couldn’t hide his glee.

“Of course. I’ll see you then!”

The smile never left Adaru’s face. He couldn’t hide it from Faith when they met after school, who seemed worried because she had never seen him that happy before. When he told her he had a date with Jade, she raised an eyebrow.

“Does she know it’s a date?” Faith said.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Did you tell her you were going on a date?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then it’s not a date. She is just hanging out with you.”

“Still, it’s time we are spending together,” Adaru said.

“That’s true.”

The siblings walked in silence. When they arrived at their apartment building, they were surprised that there was a large crowd at the entrance. Faith grabbed Adaru’s hand and he thought that she was afraid.

“It’s not the Humanists. They are our neighbors. Let’s see what is going on,” he said, trying to calm her down.

When they got closer, they could hear the laughter and clapping. There were minor fireworks, but it didn’t sound like fireworks.

“Oh my, how lucky you are! Didn’t you have an audition?” someone said.

“We didn’t know he had an ability until this morning,” a woman said.

Adaru got the front to see a young boy, probably younger than Faith, making smalls balls of fire from his hands. Everyone was mesmerized by the perfect, round and beautiful orange spheres of flames that he was creating. He threw two to the skies and they exploded, forming red fireworks.

Everybody clapped. They were clearly excited even though most of them should have seen a similar spectacle just that weekend.

“So when are you going to live in the zone?” a man said. Adaru could hear the hint of jealousy in his voice.

“I called them this morning. They told me to not take him to school since someone can come today. They didn’t tell me a time,” the mother said.

“Classic government people. They think we have all the time in their world to just wait for them whenever they feel like it,” a man said.

“As long as they pay for our food and rent, I will wait for them all week,” the mother said again and everyone laughed.

Adaru was curious to know what more the boy could do, but he felt Faith pulling him away.

“We need to go now,” she said.

They climbed the stairs and when they were at their floor Adaru asked what was wrong.

“The people of the zone are coming. They are coming for me,” she said.

“No they are not,” Adaru said. “They are only coming to see that boy. Not you.”

“I know I have an ability. I know they will find out,” Faith said, now more in a panic.

“Your dreams are just that, dreams,” Adaru said grabbing her by the shoulders, but he also doubted that. “Just relax.”

Faith hugged Adaru, hiding her face on his chest. Adaru thought she was about to cry.

“You are really that scared to go in the zone?” Adaru asked while combing her hair with his fingers.

“Yes. I think someone wants me there.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. Just a bad man, a man made of darkness,” Faith said.

“There’s no man made of darkness,” Adaru said.

“Like there is no boy who can make fire?” Faith said raising his head so she could see Adaru’s eyes.

“That’s different.”

The rest of the afternoon, the siblings didn’t talk. Their mother arrived some time later and went to her room. Adaru remembered that Jade got out of practice at 5 p.m., just little more than an hour away. It was an eternity.

He walked to the closet of his room. He opened it and picked a shirt that he thought would look nice on him. His eyes lingered on a box at the corner. He grabbed the yellow lunchbox and he opened it to see the folded papers and the crisp one hundred bills.

“What’s that?” Faith said at the entrance. Adaru tried to hide it but it was too late. He better came clean to his sister.

“Things that our father left us,” Adaru said.

“Can I see it?”

“I honestly prefer you didn’t. They are just things you should not know about dad,” Adaru said.

“Just tell me, is that box important for you?”

“Very.”

Adaru heard the door closed. He went to his room and started opening the folded papers. Two were birthday cards from his dad. Another one was a receipt from the very first time he helped his dad at his work. Of course, by doing that, Adaru was breaking many federal laws. But at that time, he was just so happy to be with his dad on an adventure.

Then he saw what he was afraid of remembering. Adaru saw the blue pin with an H engraved at the bottom of the box. He looked at it with shame. Before, it was just a pin that made Adaru curious to know more about his father’s past. Now, it was shameful because of what happened to Faith and him on that Evolution Day.

The pin was proof that his father once belonged to The Humanists. His father was always telling them about all the work they were doing to save the world from freaks and also how he fooled them every single day he got into the zone with contraband and then came back with money and equipment to sell in New Haven’s black market.

Adaru was proud of his father, and he agreed with some of his beliefs. He also knew he loved Faith, and he could not deny she was one of the freaks.

The people who threw tomatoes and eggs to him and Faith seemed normal, so it was possible that Adaru’s father could had been in that crowd. He could have been in that crowd.

He always remained behind when the family went to the Alpha Zone on past Evolution Days. He said he didn’t want to meet a disgruntled customer. When they came back, he was never at home. Sometimes, he never returned until days or weeks later.

Adaru thought it was like eight months ago that he said he needed to do something for a friend. He never came back. His mom answered a phone call that made her say obscenities. She had already finished six beers and it was only early afternoon.

She said that their father was not coming back for a long time.

“The stupid allowed himself to be caught,” she said.

She didn’t say what he did. Faith only knew her father was in prison. Now, Adaru didn’t want her to know he used to belong to the same group that threw her a tomato. A group that would hate Faith if they knew she had an ability.

“Dad, would you hate Faith too?” Adaru thought. “Do I have to hate her too?”

Adaru remembered a day he had came back with dirty clothes, scratches and blood coming out from his nose and mouth. He had gotten in a fight with someone over his poor clothes. His father gave him a light tap on his head with his knuckles.

“Stupid boy, what matters is what is inside your head, not your clothes” he said to him.

Adaru grabbed two bills of ten and put everything back in the lunch box and then back into the closet. He got out for his appointment with Jade at the school. He was nervous, so he did some flips on the streets and jumped on top of walls as a way to vent his nervousness.

When he got to the school, there was still music blasting from the speakers. Jade was waiting for him outside.

“Am I late?” Adaru asked nervously.

“No. Practice ended early,” she said not looking at him. She looked like she had something on her mind.

“”So do you want to eat something?” Adaru asked.

“Huh?” Jade said, looking at him. “Oh, yeah. “

He tried starting a conversation with Jade, but she was distracted. He asked what she was thinking.

“Nothing,” she said.

They went to a food stand and ordered two hamburgers. Adaru asked for one with double cheese.

“I really love cheese,” he said to Jade while paying for the meal and trying to make conversation.

It was then than a fire truck zoomed past them, and then an ambulance and two police cars.

“What’s going on?” Jade asked.

“It appears there is a fire nearby,” another customer said.

Adaru looked to the corner when the patrols turned. He then looked at the sky and saw smoke engulfing several buildings. The smoke came from the block where he lived.

He then became very afraid. He needed to go back. He looked at Jade’s eyes. She knew what he was thinking.

“Go,” she said.

Adaru ran and didn’t stop until he reached his home street. He turned a corner to see his apartment complex on fire. Neighbors were outside, some screaming and others crying.

“What happened?” he asked.

“We don’t know. Suddenly all of the first and second floors got engulfed in flames. We had to get to the other side of the building to escape,” a man said.

“Have you seen my sister or my mother?” he asked. The man said no.

Adaru ran to the front of the building. He could only see the last floor and the firemen were scrambling to get their hoses working. Adaru could only see one big stream of water disappearing in the smoke.

He screamed for Faith, hoping that she could hear him and yell back. He saw neighbors but nobody could tell him if Faith had made it outside.

“I saw your mom leave before the fire started,” a woman said. “Maybe she went with her?”

Adaru’s wanted to believe that, but he knew she was at a bar getting drunk.

That meant that Faith was still inside.

“Someone bring the ladder! There are people trapped in the upper floors!” a fireman shouted.

Adaru ran to the fire truck that had a big steel ladder. He was stopped by a bulky fireman who was already sweating.

“My sister is trapped in the third floor! Please save her!” he screamed.

“We can’t go to the third floor right now,” the fireman said. “Are you sure she is there?”

“I left her there,” Adaru said.

“But are you sure? We can’t get in the second floor or third.”

Panic filled Adaru. He knew Faith was there but he realized that the firemen would not go searching for her. He saw that the truck started to move the metallic ladder.

“Go back!” the fireman said. Adaru nodded and he turned. He looked back to make sure the fireman had returned to fight the fire. When he had gone away, Adaru ran to get up the ladder truck.

“Hey! Stop!” he heard.

He climbed up the truck and then the ladder as fast as he could. When he got to the top, it was a couple of feet away from the fourth floor railing. He jumped and reached it. He pulled himself to the other side and came face to face with a neighbor.

“Are you here to save me?” he asked.

“No, but if you wait they can take you down,” Adaru said.

Adaru stood up and ran to the stairs to get down. The smoke was thick and he started coughing when he got to his floor. He counted the doors until he reach the fourth and opened it to get inside his apartment.

He felt the heat from the flames downstairs. He didn’t have enough time.

“Faith!” he yelled.

Silence.

“Faith!” he yelled again.

And silence responded again. She may had left or escaped already.

Or she may be unconscious somewhere inside.

He started going to her room. He yelled for her name a third time.

“Here!” he heard from his own room.

He turned and walked to his room. He yelled for her and found Faith at the side of the bed. She was holding his lunch box.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I was going out when the fire started but I remember you had left your special box. I tried to save it but the smoke got too thick,” she said.

“Stupid. It wasn’t that important,” Adaru said. “Now, come on. We have to get out.”

He grabbed her hand and led her outside. They both coughed when they arrived at the hallway. He could see the flames coming from the floor below. He grabbed Faith and ran to the stairs. They climbed to the upper floor to get to the ladder, but they couldn’t find it or the man who was there.

“Help!” Adaru yelled, but the smoke didn’t let him see to the street.

He had never let go of Faith’s hand. He quickly pulled her near him to go the fifth and last floor. At the edge, he could see the ladder that was getting away from the building, carrying two people on it.

“Wait!” he yelled. They saw him but the truck had already started to get away from them.

Adaru held Faith tightly but then the floor shook. Adaru stepped back before part of the floor collapsed. The smoke was now covering the entire building.

“We can’t get near the building! Need to find other way!” a fireman shouted.

Adaru and Faith got to the roof after climbing the remaining of the stairs. The two of them were on an island of smoke and fire with nowhere else to go.

Adaru tried to sign the firemen that they were up in the roof, but he wasn’t sure if they could see him. He thought he could jump to another building, but the closest one was seven feet away.

He saw the building and it was lower than his complex by two levels. He measured the distance and he felt he could reach the building, but only by himself. He doubted he had the strength to jump that distance with Faith on his back.

“What can we do?” she said.

“How far can you jump?” Adaru said.

“Not very far,” she said. “I’m scared.”

“Me too but I have an idea,” Adaru said. “Get on my back.”

Faith gave the lunchbox to Adaru. She got behind Adaru and put her arms around his neck.

“Hold on tight. I am going to jump to get to the other building,” Adaru said.

“Can you make it?” Faith said nervously.

“It is a long shot,” he said.

“You will make it,” Faith said, still afraid.

Adaru ran as fast as he could. Faith’s body was slowing him down, and his legs had become heavy. Still, he ran. When he got the edge, he jumped. He felt the air hitting his face when he started falling. He saw the roof of the other building getting away from his reach.

He wasn’t going to make it.

“Reach it!” Faith yelled.

Adaru felt a strong gust hitting his back. He felt it was pushing him and lifted him enough to land on the roof. Upon landing, Adaru’s ankles twisted. Faith and he rolled. Faith got up but Adaru was in so much pain he couldn’t stand up.

But he smiled when he saw Faith looking down on him with those bright eyes and a big smile.