Abilities

Karen and her men walked into the room cautiously. Karen knew if she made one wrong move or moved too quickly that Mitchel could destroy all of them before she could fire off one shot. She slowly walked towards the two men on the couch and pointed her three to fan out and search the apartment for anyone else. Two of the men walked into the bedroom and looked through the closet and the bathroom.

“Come on in, Karen. Make yourself at home,” said Gazet.

“Shut up. I don’t know who you are, but shut up,” she responded.

“Sure, you do. I’m Gazet.”

“Well, Gazet, I’m not going to tell you again. Shut up,” Karen’s motions threatened to turn the gun on him. But she knew she needed to keep it on the most dangerous person in the room.

She slowly sat on the coffee table across from Mitchel. She didn’t take her eyes off him. She lowered the gun, but only to rest her arm on her knee. She kept the barrel aimed toward her assignment.

“I need you to come with me, Mitchel,” she told him.

“Where? To your daddy’s little agency?” he wasn’t buying her nice girl approach. “He’s not going to lock me up, Karen. And you’re definitely not taking me in.”

“I know,” she said.

“Good,” Mitchel said thinking he’d won.

“But they are.”

Gazet chuckled. He looked at everyone in the room like they had all known each other for years and were reuniting after months away from each other. Gazet treated this hostile arrest like it was a game night between friends.

“What?” asked an irritated Karen.

“Mitchel, here, was just telling me that he has killed many of your men.”

“Eleven,” she said.

“Eleven. So, what makes you think these men are any different?” asked the Irishman.

“They’re different,” she devoted her attention back to the target. “Please, Mitchel.”

After thinking it over, Mitchel responded, “first, I need to talk to you. Alone.”

“Not gonna happen, Mitchel,” she said.

“Please. If I wanted to kill you, I’d have done it already. Please. Two minutes.”

Karen agreed and they headed into the bedroom. Gazet made things less awkward, as they left the room, by greeting the three well-dressed men. He got no response.

Mitchel and Karen entered the bedroom. Mitchel guided her to the bed and closed the door behind him. She side stepped the bed, to Mitchel’s displeasure, and walked to the side of the room, turned, and waited for Mitchel to give a reason why he needed to talk to her.

“I’m sorry things turned out this way,” he confessed.

Mitchel sat down on the bed. For the first time in months, he seemed not only comfortable with being in the same room as Karen, but he seemed to welcome it. He wanted to be there. He wanted her to be there.

“It’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault. We didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“Did you?” he asked.

“What?”

“Did you know who I was when you met me? Were you there to get close to me until I discovered my abilities?”

“No,” she answered.

“Why should I believe you? If the stories are true then I just so happen to be the most powerful man on the planet and you happen to work for the one company that arrests people like me. You were sent to watch me until I discovered I was an Ability.”

“What stories, Mitchel? What’s gotten into you?”

“Did your father know about me?” he answered with a question.

“No. He didn’t. Mitchel, everything I ever told you was the truth. I met you and I fell in love with you. All of that was real.”

“Why were you in the park that day?”

Karen threw her hands up in disgust, “Mitchel, for the love of god, I didn’t know who you were.”

“Why were you in the park?” he yelled. Mitchel rose to his feet and got closer to Karen. She backed up, and moved around him to the other side of the room knowing that Mitchel’s blood was starting to boil. He was growing irritated because he was looking for answers that Karen didn’t have.

“I was there because my dad wanted to meet and have lunch, but he never showed.”

Mitchel stopped following her around the room. He sank into the chair in the corner of the room like he had received the worst news a man could. He collected his thoughts before he made his next line of questioning.

“Your father? Why the park?”

“He said he had been there a couple times before and thought it would be a good place to meet.”

“Did I ever tell you,” he started after a brief moment of silence, “that I stopped in that park every day to study for my exams? Every day at the very same time.”

“What does that have to do with any of this?”

“Where did he tell you to meet him? And did he ever tell you why he didn’t show up?”

“He told me to meet him by a big tree on the west side of the park, and all he told me was that he had to work.”

Mitchel stood up to walk off his aggravation. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. He started laughing and it actually calmed him down enough to talk. Karen waited for him. She was beginning to think that their love, their serendipitous meeting wasn’t at all by chance.

“I went to that tree every day. I sat beside it every day to read. And your father told you he had to work because he was working. He was there, Karen. Watching us to make sure I said something to you.”

“That’s impossible.”

“No, it’s not. We didn’t meet by luck. Your dad planned it all along. He knew who I was. He needed to keep tabs on me and the best way to do that was by using you, Karen. Your dad set us both up.”

Karen couldn’t deny it any longer. Mitchel was right. Her father was the reason they met. He was the reason that they had their first conversation in the park. Because of him they had dinner dates and anniversaries. Their one-year relationship was constructed by someone else. They fell in love not knowing that one day they would be forced to hate each other.

“I’m sorry, Mitchel. I had no idea, you have to believe me,” she was sincere with him for the first time in a long time. She was afraid he wouldn’t believe her.

“In the airport, a friend told me that I needed to come to Ireland to find answers about my life. I guess I’ve got all the answers that I need.”

“Then we need to go,” Karen said. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not going with you, Karen.”

“Mitchel.”

“I’m not!” he interrupted her. “After all of this you still want to take me in? You are a cold-hearted bitch, Karen.”

Mitchel walked to the window and looked around. He saw people walking down the street. Some carrying groceries or shopping bags, others were walking around with briefcases, and there were some on their bikes.

“He told me you were coming,” his words grabbed Karen’s attention. “He told me to bring you in this room and talk to you about us because he knew it was a topic you couldn’t resist. And It would distract you long enough.”

“Enough for what?” she asked afraid to hear, or worse see, what the answer was.

“For me to do this,” Mitchel kicked open the bedroom window. He looked back and smiled at Karen.

“Get in here!” she screamed to her men in the other room.

Before they could get in, Mitchel had jumped out the window. He fell down the four-stories at flight speed and crashed onto a parked car. The top caved in and the glass shot out sending shattered pieces scattered around the car and at people on the sidewalk. Some people ran screaming and others watched like it was a live-action theatre production.

Mitchel rolled off as if he was fine. He had a deep cut across his cheek. Blood dripped out of the wound and ran down his face. He looked up at Karen, who was now looking out the window. He smiled at her and as he was smiling the cut on his face began to slowly vanish. It was shrinking, healing in a matter of seconds until it wasn’t there anymore. There was no scar or evidence left that he was even cut on the face. Mitchel wiped the dripping blood off his face and he was completely back to normal. He took off running.

The former Marine poked his head out the window and was standing next to Karen. She stood in shock. She couldn’t take her eyes of the car. The fall wasn’t terribly long, but it looked like a meteor had just landed on top of the car. It was impossible that someone could get up after a fall like that.

“Well,” she struggled to say. “Do your job.”

The former Marine nodded and jumped out of the window. He didn’t seem to fall as fast as Mitchel did. It was between floating and free falling. He glided down to the sidewalk. He looked up and waited for his partners to come. They jumped out of the window in a single line, one right after the other. They were so close they almost tackled each other out the window.

They jumped so close together that they were falling down in the same line and the first one was standing underneath them. They were going to land on him and probably get hurt. Karen watched but was still in shock from Mitchel’s fall and that these guys leapt out so quickly that she couldn’t scream for him to look out.

Before they landed, the third guy, the guy that jumped out last started to pick up speed. His feet were inches away from the second guy’s head. It started to look blurry. His feet were mixing with the guy’s head. The two guys were being joined together as they fell from the building and then they were. The two men were now one and that guy fell on top of the Marine.

But there wasn’t a collision. There weren’t two guys lying on the ground because one had just fallen on top of the other. There weren’t two guys lying on the ground in pain with broken bones.

The three guys had morphed together into one. The Marine, the first guy that jumped out of the window, was the only guy that truly existed. He was an Ability. He had the power to multiply into numerous people. When he did that, they looked different, sounded different, but all wore the same black trench coats and suits. If anyone of his multiples were to be killed, they’d vanish and it wouldn’t affect him at all, but if he were to die while using his ability, all the multiples would vanish.

Once he was back to one person, he took off running down the street in Mitchel’s direction. He was fast. Faster than Mitchel and would catch him in mere minutes as long as he was running in the same direction. A man leaving a store walked into the path of the Marine and got run over for his trouble. There were plenty of people on the sidewalk and they were all getting in his way.

He sidestepped them and moved into the street, not stopping to look for any oncoming cars. He never slowed down. He just kept moving. He seemed to be getting quicker with every step that he took. He came to a corner and was running too fast to turn at a sharp angle, but his ability helped him.

In seconds, a multiplier formed on the other side of his body but kept running forward. He used the force of his ability to help him turn the sharp corner. He used it like a bumper in a Pinball machine. However, the other man in the trench coat, the multiplier, didn’t last long. He wasn’t able to turn and ran into oncoming traffic. The car hit him and the guy vanished into a puff of smoke. The car slammed on its brakes and the driver in the car screamed until his car came to a complete stop.

Mitchel turned a corner and continued down the streets of Dublin. He kept running without any destination in mind. He looked back to see if any of the guys were after him, but he couldn’t see any trench coats. He slowed his pace down to catch his breath and that is when he turned one more time and saw the black trench coat. He sped up back to his full sprint and pushed through the crowd.

Mitchel turned sharply into a small bistro café. It was crowded so he pushed over a couple of people on his way out the backdoor. The Marine made his way through seconds after hopping over the civilians that had been knocked down.

The Marine stepped out of the backdoor and into an alley. He stopped running because he didn’t know which way Mitchel went. When he scanned the area, though, he figured it out. If Mitchel were to go to the left, he would run back onto the street with the public and the chase would keep going, but if he ran to the right he would be stopped at a dead end. The Marine turned right. He knew Mitchel’s type. He knew Mitchel wanted to fight was and would be hiding near the dead end.

The man in the trench coat walked down the alley measuring the area with each step he took. He checked behind dumpsters and garbage making sure he didn’t miss a thing. At the end of the alley there was one more dumpster. It was the only place left that Mitchel could be hiding if he did in fact go down this way.

Before he could look, Mitchel stepped out from behind the dumpster, unafraid, confident. They stared into each other eyes. Neither man wanted to be the first to blink, to make the first move.

Mitchel stepped forward and the Marine stopped him cold with a short and simple, “ah.” He waved his finger at Mitchel. Mitchel stopped and watched. The guy used his ability. Figures started coming out of his sides, and his back. Everything got really blurry as it was happening. The ones coming out of him had others coming out of them. In a matter of seconds, the one Marine had multiplied into an alley full of people. There were men and women, black, white, Asian.

Mitchel was staring into the eyes of over twenty people now. He had never seen anything like it. He looked at each person individually and was utterly impressed. He started nodding his head in recognition of his opponent’s ability. While he was doing that, the original Marine, the only person of the group standing in a black trench coat in the group that was real, made his way to the back of the alley. Letting all the other multiples to move up and take the attention away from him. He snuck all the way to the back and began walking away from them and Mitchel. He looked back one last time and then left the alley.

Mitchel never noticed. He was still overcome by what he had just seen, but he was an Ability, too. He let it pass over. His arms shot to his side, hands below his waist and he was clenching his hands into tight fists. He stayed like that for a moment, waiting for all the others to make a move. When he saw one of them step forward, he reacted. He sprang open his hands and inside his palms the black electricity appeared.

It engulfed his hands. He stayed still. It was a sight to see. A man standing up tall with hands of hot electricity looking into the crowd of twenty black coats all created to kill him.

They all moved at once coming straight for Mitchel. The pack of multiples charged at him ready to attack. That was all the reason Mitchel needed. Mitchel’s mouth curled up in the corner.

He started shooting each one of them with the black beam. He threw up his hands at them each time a bolt left his hand and hit one of the coats. The sound of his Ability each time he used it sounded like lightning cracking down on the Earth’s surface. Not a single one of the Marine’s multiples could get close to Mitchel. He hit anything that was moving.

Each one that Mitchel hit vanished. They were there one minute trying to get to Mitchel, but once his power hit them, they disappeared like a popped balloon. They were dropping quickly. While the trench coats seemed to have an unfair advantage going into the fight, they were getting slaughtered. A confrontation that seemed to be an unfair fight in the advantage of the trench coats was turning into a slaughter. Mitchel had eliminated every single multiple.

He stood in the alley by himself as a cloud of black smoke evaporated into the air. The electricity slowly burnt out and he was back to normal. He breathed heavy. The brick walls of the alley were black and charcoaled like they had been lit on fire and then put out. The dumpsters had holes and lines that looked like they had just been cut out. Mitchel’s power cut through it.

He caught his breath and collected himself. He wiped his head. He noticed his shoe was untied so he bent down to tie it in case any more showed up and he had to participate in another track meet through the streets of Dublin. After his shoe was tight, he stood up and began walking to the end of the alley. As he walked through the area that was once occupied with twenty people who disappeared without a trace, he looked around the ground. He was looking to see if there was any trace of the people. There wasn’t. He ran his hands through his hair baffled at what happened to them.

He started laughing.

Back in the bedroom of Gazet’s apartment, Karen remained standing at the open window that both her ex-lover and present team member had jumped out of moments ago. She wasn’t looking for anyone in particular, or looking at the sights. She wasn’t looking at anything. She just stood there trying to get over the things she learned. She learned that her father planned for her to be in a relationship with Mitchel so that he would always know where he was so that one day, he could arrest him. She learned that the three men working with her were actually one Ability. She found out that she was still in love with Mitchel.

“Are you ok?” asked Gazet who had been standing in the doorway of his bedroom.

“Yeah,” she said but didn’t mean it. Her eyes were puffy and her eyelids looked heavy just like a cloud when it holds moisture right before it rains.

“You’re doing the right thing.”

“It doesn’t feel that way.”

“You’re making your father proud, that’s what matters.”

“Why do I need to make my father proud?” she asked. “He’s a liar.”

Learning the things that Karen just learned would shake anyone’s beliefs. He looked at her as she was on the verge of crying, but she was tough. She choked back her tears and composed herself.

“Did you talk to him?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “He believes that he needs to kill Michael in order to save the world.”

“To save himself,” she interrupted. “Mitchel doesn’t care about anyone but himself…anymore.”

“I’ve got to go to the airport now,” he walked to the bedroom door.

“Ok. Let’s head back.”

“Not me, love. I need to go find Michael.”

“That’s not part of the plan, Talib,” she finally called the imposter by his real name.

“I’m afraid your fathers got a new plan.”

“What is it?” she asked.

Gazet walked toward Karen. She waited patiently for his answer watching him step closer to her. When Gazet finally came to Karen’s side, it wasn’t Gazet. He had transformed into another man. He was taller, he didn’t walk with a limp, and he wasn’t an Irishman. He was an African American. He wore a beaded necklace and clothes that looked like he had been living on an island for his whole life. His eyes were engulfed by a solid red color like they were the top color on a stop light.

“I’m supposed to go convince Michael the very same thing I convinced Mitchel of,” he spoke with a Jamaican accent. “That he needs to kill his brother.”

“Michael doesn’t know Gazet.”

“I know. I’ll use my Ability. I’ll shift into someone he knows. Someone he cares deeply about. Someone he trusts. And I’ll convince him,” He walked to the end of the room. He was a rare Ability that could shift into any person. He doesn’t need to kill a person to be able to shift into them. He didn’t even need to touch them. All he had to do was see them and he can become anyone.

“This is wrong, Talib. People are going to get hurt.”

“Well,” he stopped at the doorway and looked at Karen. She was a torn daughter and a heartbroken girlfriend, yet she still understood the business that she was born into. She understood what had to be done in order to save the world. “You’ll have to take that up with your father.”

And then she was alone. Again.

CHAPTER 25

Michael and Brittany sat in his parent’s kitchen. Brittany had one hand on glass of water and the other placed gently on Michael’s. The only light in the house was the glow of the bulb above the kitchen sink. They sat in silence waiting at the kitchen table. News that his father had gone missing had him shaken. It was the father that he never met because he thought he had been dead for over twenty years. He wasn’t the same after the meeting with the police. He couldn’t concentrate on his work or the students. He felt like he was getting the flu with none of the symptoms.

Mr. Krueger offered to send him home early but Michael denied. He didn’t want to go home and end up a couple days behind in a career that he loved. He wanted to work so that he could prove he was serious about teaching. Also, working was one way to take his mind off of things. If he were at home, he would only wonder what else his parents were lying to him about. He still thought about it while he was at work, but he’d like to believe that the distraction helped.

He tapped his fingers on the kitchen table. He started with his pinky finger and worked to the index. The rhythm; the beat sounded like the drums of an old jazz record. His thumb was the crash of the symbol. He started bobbing his head at every tap of his thumb. Brittany had nothing to say to him. She looked into his sad eyes and had no way of helping. She took a sip from the glass of water and instead of putting it back on the table she put it in his hand because she could tell he wanted a drink. He did.

They heard the rumble of the garage door. It was a low hum and sounded like a broken roller coaster being pulled up the first hill. He heard the car pull in and shut off. Both car doors opened and then closed like the sound of two knocks at the door. He heard the beginnings of the garage door closing and the door to the house opened up. His parents came tumbling in laughing. They just finished what was a weekly date night for the two with dinner and a movie.

“Hey guys, what are you up to?” asked Michael’s father, John.

Michael didn’t answer. He didn’t know if he should jump right into it. Should he mention the cops interrupting his sixth day of teaching, the fact he was pulled from the classroom, or should he just start with now?

“Hi, Mrs. and Mr. Vernor, how was the movie?”

“It was good,” said Merry Vernor, Michael’s somewhat tipsy mom.

“It wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all,” said John as he reached into the fridge for a beer.

“How are you, honey?” Merry hugged Brittany like she always did when they saw each other.

“I’m good,” Brittany responded.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Merry asked her son.

“The police showed up at school today.”

“Is everyone ok?” asked Merry.

“What? What happened?” John was instantly concerned.

“It wasn’t like that. They came to talk to me.”

“What did you do?” you could tell John was already painting a bad picture of his son in his mind. He remembered what it was like to be twenty-three.

“I didn’t do anything, dad. You did,” Mitchel almost dropped his parents to the floor with his finger pointing. “You both did.”

Merry pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. She sat next to her son and placed her hand on his. John headed to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He was a great father. Michael couldn’t have asked for a better one but John just didn’t understand what his son had been told. He thought it would be a silly accusation about mixing up schedules or forgetting to do take out the trash.

Michael didn’t feel his dad was taking him seriously and that his mother was trying to baby him. That’s not something that a 23-year-old man wants to feel; their mom babying them. He bounced to his feet and walked around the table to look out the back door. Outside it was cold and dark. The snow had melted away leaving nothing but cold, dry air.

Brittany watched her boyfriend pace around the room. She looked at both his parents. She was comfortable around them and always had been, but she knew she shouldn’t have been there for this conversation.

“Michael, talk to us,” pleaded his mother.

“Do you want to tell me about William Wehde?”

“Who is that?” asked John. Beer at his lips.

“A friend of yours?” asked Michael’s puzzled mother.

“Are you kidding?” Michael asked. He laughed quietly not because anything was funny, but if he didn’t laugh it off, he would have punched a hole in the wall.

“William Wehde is Michael’s biological father,” Brittany spoke up. She felt that if she added something to the conversation she wouldn’t feel as uncomfortable.

Merry pulled her hands into her lap. John cut off his beer at mid tip. They were silent. They didn’t know what to say to their son. They looked at each other and tried to have a mental conversation. They were caught red handed and had never been blindsided by such a topic before.

“Michael,” began Merry.

“No. No more lies,” Michael interrupted. “None. I want to know what’s going on. Mom, dad, I want to know the truth. Tell me the truth.”

“Michael, why don’t you sit down?” asked his mom.

“I’ll stand.”

“Sit down, Michael,” imposed his father.

Michael wasn’t thrilled that even after he caught his parents in a twenty-year lie that they were still asking him to do things for them. He wanted answers. He deserved answers and he wanted to do it his way, but he was still their son and they still gave him a wonderful life. He knew the best way to play the game was to play by their rules. He sat down

Brittany rubbed his back and smiled at him. Michael forced a smile of his own out, which took a lot of his energy.

“We tried for about three years to get pregnant, Michael,” John walked to the opposite head of the table and sat down. “When we couldn’t after three years, we finally had enough and saw some doctors. After months of tests and consultations, they couldn’t find anything wrong. With either one of us,” John was bringing tears to his wife’s eyes. “They said we could keep trying but based on the way things were going, God might not have put kids in our plans.”

“So, you found William?” asked Michael.

“Well, no, he found us.”

“And he never told us his name,” blurted Merry. “He said he couldn’t keep you. That he was in danger and he wanted you to be safe.”

“We filled out all the necessary paper work so we’re really your parents, we just weren’t allowed to know his name or anything about him.”

“Sounds kind of sketchy. I’m surprised you went for it,” said Michael.

“Is that legal? Shouldn’t you know all his information?” asked Brittany.

“The lawyers and the adoption agency did the paperwork,” John answered.

“We were tired of waiting, Michael. And you were so beautiful.” Said his mother.

“It worked out for the best. You’ve been an answered prayer for us,” said John. “And we’ve never heard from…William, and we’ve never had any trouble.”

“Why did you tell me he was dead?” asked Michael.

“Well,” began Merry. “He asked us. For some reason he asked us to.”

“There’s one more thing,” John began. “We don’t know anything about William. We don’t know what kind of trouble he was in or why he only gave you up.”

“Only?” Brittany was confused. It felt like a slip-up because John drank from the bottle and Merry looked at the table.

“Wait, what did you mean by that?” Michael hadn’t realized anything suspicious until Brittany pointed it out.

“You have a twin brother, Michael.”

It was John’s moment to floor Michael. His jaw dropped. His eyes went blank. His face was pale. He couldn’t move or breathe. The surprises kept coming. Michael felt the world squeezing his heart and lungs making it hard to breathe. Brittany sat next to him with the same look on her face.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Merry consoled her son as best as she could without smothering him. She kept her distance. “We never told you because we didn’t have a name. We didn’t know where they were or how to get a hold of them and we didn’t want you to know this and always wonder ‘what if.’”

“You’ve got the name now, son. Maybe we can find William Wehde,” his dad mentioned much to the displeasure of his wife.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Even if I wanted to…he’s missing,” Michael got out. “The cops asked me if I’ve seen him because he’s been missing for three months.”

Merry and John couldn’t feel his pain. As parents they wanted to understand, but they couldn’t imagine. It’s always hard to learn something like this, but to learn it in these circumstances was going to be tough to swallow. John hadn’t touched his beer for the whole conversation, but now he needed it. He took a big gulp of it. The sound of the bottle hitting the table echoed in the kitchen.

“Do you know anything about my mom?” Michael’s curiosity was full blown now.

“Just that she died shortly after giving birth,” answered John. “I’m sorry.”

“And that’s the truth. She died,” said Merry.

“Are you ok?” asked Brittany.

“I’m fine,” replied Michael. “I learned that I have a-whole-nother entire family, but that over half of them are dead or missing…” Michael was beat. He was broken. He didn’t really understand why. He never knew them, and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to know them, but he wanted to decide that for himself. Now that choice was taken out of his hands. “All in a day’s work.”

He rose from the kitchen table and excused himself from the room. His parents didn’t stop him or try to comfort him. They let him walk out. They knew their son needed to sleep it off before he started talking about it again. Brittany watched him walk out the front door. She closed her eyes. A tear slowly dripped down her cheek until she wiped it away.

“I’m sorry, Brittany. We never knew this would come back around,” Merry confessed to Brittany like she was one of their own.

“I know,” she replied with a smile.

CHAPTER 26

Brittany came out on the porch to find her boyfriend sitting on the front step. She could see from behind that he was beginning to shiver. He walked out of the house without a jacket as if it were the summer and not the middle of the winter. She brought his coat out with her and placed it around him.

“Thanks,” he said keeping his eyes on her.

She pulled at his arm to get him back inside but he shook his head. She gave him the look that all girlfriends give their boyfriends when they want to get their way. Their face tightens up and their get big like a puppy. Michael shook his head so she gave in and sat down next to him.

“Fine. Five minutes,” she said not joking. She zipped up her jacket.

“I can tell you’re freezing,” she knew.

“We’ll keep each other warm. I just need to sit out here for a minute.”

They held each other’s arms like two people that were falling in love all over again. It was always like that for them. During an argument, during an intimate moment, or when they weren’t even with each other it was always this way. The two were meant to be together. They believed in destiny. They believed in fate. They believed in each other.

“Is it weird to think that this morning my biggest problem was whether I was going to wear my black pants or brown pants?” he joked.

“I would have gone with the brown,” she bumped into him trying to get a laugh out of him, but it didn’t work.

“I have a biological dad that I thought was dead but is actually missing, a biological mom that I had no idea about but is actually dead, and a brother.”

After a moment she said, “I had a student sneeze on me today.”

Michael looked into her eyes. The comment and the look on her face were priceless. Michael couldn’t hold back the smile that was coming. They both laughed and Michael pulled her close to his body.

He put his arms around her and swung her back and forth trying to get a laugh out of her, but also to keep each other warm. They told each other they were in love and could sit there forever, but other than that they didn’t say much. They knew that being there and holding each other was enough. It was all Michael needed to feel better about his life. He kissed her on the head one last time before he walked her back to her car.

“Thanks for coming over and sitting with me through this. I know it was hard for you.”

“I’m glad I was here,” she said.

“If you fall asleep in the middle of class tomorrow, I’ll talk to the principal for you,” he teased.

“I’ll keep that in mind. I wonder if the 8th grade plans to implement half hour naptime tomorrow. Teacher’s participation is optional.”

A man that had been walking around the neighborhood checked the address on Michael's mailbox, walked up the sidewalk, and smiled when he saw the young couple sitting on the porch.

“Hey, can I help you, buddy?” Michael said with anger in his voice to intimidate any possible threat.

The man didn’t answer, but took a couple steps closer. His head bobbed forward like a turkey. He was trying to get a better look by changing his angle so that the porch light didn’t shine in his eyes, but the only way to see who he was approaching was to get closer. He took another careful step.

“Seriously, man. What do you need?” Michael asked.

“Michael?” said the man.

Michael waited. Brittany began to say something, probably out of fear and worry, but Michael squeezed her tightly.

“Can I help you?” Michael asked. He let go of Brittany’s body and placed her hand in his so that he could take a step forward, but keep her back.

“Michael Vernor? Are you Michael Vernor?”

“Who wants to know?”

The man moved closer, “My name is William Wehde, Michael.”

Brittany pulled at Michael’s hand. He looked back and tapped on her hand as if to say it was ok, but to stay back. Michael took a step towards the man that claimed to be William Wehde. Michael wanted to see what he looked like so that he could verify it really was William, but the problem was Michael had no idea what he looked like. Michael had no idea why he was stepping forward.

“Michael, I’m your father.”

CHAPTER 27

Brittany left. Michael told her that she needed to go home and get some rest. He didn’t know anything about William, but he didn’t expect there to be any trouble. Michael couldn’t be in any serious danger. It took convincing, but she decided that it was best if Michael had the alone time with his father that he never got before.

He put her in the car and kissed her. They didn’t say much to each other. Everything they needed to say was in that kiss. “Drive safe,” “good luck,” and “be careful” never came up. The only thing they said was, “I love you,” and he watched Brittany drive away.

William waited over to the side. He leaned up against the mailbox set waiting for Michael and Brittany to say their goodbyes. As Michael approached, William took a couple of useless steps away from the playground and waited for Michael.

“Thanks,” said William.

“For what?” Michael was a closed book.

“Taking the time to talk to me and not running off with your girlfriend.”

“She wasn’t running off. I asked her to leave.”

“Right. Sorry,” they walked in silence past the playground. Both had so much to say to each other but didn’t know where to begin. “Well, I’m glad you stuck around.”

“The police said you’ve been missing for a couple months.”

“The police?”

“Yeah,” began Michael. “That’s how I found out about you. Less than 24 hours ago. Where’ve you been?”

“I’ve been traveling. I guess I should have told someone,” responded William. “Ever since your mother died, I haven’t had many close relationships…with anybody. Didn’t have anybody to say goodbye to. I just picked up and left.”

“Not even your other son?”

“You know about him?”

“Yeah, my parents told me that one,” Michael said.

They walked together down the street because Michael didn’t want his parents to come out and see William, but they kept a reasonable distance from each other. Michael had learned that the reason William gave him up was because he was in some kind of trouble. Michael knew nothing about him, though. He didn’t know how close was too close. He didn’t know if it was safe.

“I haven’t seen him in a couple months, actually. He kind of ran off to Italy, with a girl I think.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Michael tried his best to sound sympathetic, but it was hard for him.

“Yeah, He’ll be home soon. Maybe you’ll meet him one day,” William laughed after he said it. He tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal that Michael had never met him.

“Why did you tell my parents to make sure I thought you were dead?” asked Michael. “Why didn’t you want me? Why did you keep him?” Michael had so many questions, but only asked the important ones to him. The important ones in that moment.

“Is that what you think, Michael? That I didn’t want you?” asked William. He stopped walking. He needed to look his son in the eyes. “That’s not true at all.”

“Then what was it? You weren’t ready to have two children? You were scared?”

“Yeah, I was scared. I wasn’t sure I could raise two children without their mom. But that wasn’t the reason. I would have done it if I had the choice. I would have raised you both and loved you more than any father ever would. But life wouldn’t allow that.”

William sat on a bench that they had reached. He rested his head on his hands. His whole life before children was flashing before his eyes. His days as young boy playing catch with his dad, and school shopping with his mom. He remembers meeting his wife. For his 23rd birthday she took him to his very first Major League Baseball game. It was a Cubs game. He remembered to this very day the way he felt when he first stepped into Wrigley Field. The smells, the sights, and the warm breeze washed over him like a dream.

But since then, since Mitchel and Michael’s birth, everything seemed more difficult. The decisions he needed to make impacted more than just his life. It impacted his sons’ as well. The mistakes he made in his life didn’t just follow him around for all of his life, but they were haunting his sons’.

“So,” William whispered. He was ready to change the subject. “Are you in school, still?”

“I’m a student teacher. Seventh grade English.”

“Really?” William said.

“What? You seem shocked.”

“No, that’s great. It’s just…your mom was a teacher. Social Studies.”

It made Michael feel better. He didn’t know his mom, and he would never get the chance to but to know that he shared something with her made him feel better. They were connected now. Michael couldn’t help but smile.

“Michael, I’m sorry,” William apologized. “I mean, you turned out pretty great. You have a nice life, but I’m sorry that it took me so long to find you. I’m sorry I never got the opportunity to get to know you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“It’s never too late to start, though.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Ok,” William popped to his feet afraid he was going to ruin a relationship that hadn’t even started yet. “Michael, I lied to you.”

Michael didn’t know what to say. He replayed all the day’s events through his head. His principal calling him out of his class, the cops telling him his father was alive and missing, his parents’ confession, and now meeting his dad. Michael burst into laughter.

“What’s funny?” asked William.

“I thought you were dead. For twenty years, I thought you were dead and this morning I find out that’s not true. Now here you are. I’ve known you for five minutes and you’ve already lied to me.”

“I’m sorry, but I need you to sit down.”

“Why? Why should I do anything for you?” Michael had enough. He was ready to leave and never see him again.

“Because I need to tell you a story.”

****

“So what?” Michael said after sitting through the entire story about the sun and the moon’s eternal battle over the sky.

“I guess I should have started by telling you that you are an Ability.”

“An Ability? What the hell is that?”

“Michael, there are thousands of people out there, walking around without being noticed, people who have superhuman abilities. Powers, Michael.”

“Powers? Like magic?” Michael was skeptical to say the least. “Look, I’m sorry, but…”

“I know this is crazy,” interrupted William. “But you need to believe me. Have you been having any dreams or daydreams that seem real? Has anything happened to you that you can’t explain?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Most of the time it starts with dreams. Then your abilities will begin to emerge through a situation of high stress, when your heart is racing. That means they’ve started manifesting. Sometimes you’ll feel it right away and know how to control them,” William paced around to make sure he remembered everything he needed to say. “Or they’ll be triggered by accident before you know how to use them.”

“You expect me to believe this?” asked Michael.

“I need you to believe this. I’m not lying to you, son.”

“Then show me.”

“What?”

“Show me your ability.”

William looked down to the ground, “I’m not an Ability, Michael. I can’t do anything.”

“You’re not? But I am, huh?”

“And so is Mitchel,” William said but realized after a moment that Michael didn’t know that name. “Your brother.”

“Cause he’s the Sun, right? The savior? And I’m the evil Moon?”

“I don’t know. There’s no way to distinguish who’s who.”

“This is rich, man.”

“Did you listen to the story, Michael? You two are the most powerful Abilities in the world, but that’s not good. Your powers will take you over. You are going to kill every single person on Earth.”

“That’s it, I’m done with this. Don’t follow me.”

Michael walked away from the father he just met and the life he never knew. It was only a few hours ago that he was sitting in class wondering what he would say to his father if they ever met. He wondered what his father was going to be like. Athletic? Smart? A doctor or a lawyer? Michael almost liked it that way, not knowing who or what his father was. That way his dad could never let him down. He could build him in his head however he wanted. But that dream was ruined now. Michael’s father was crazy. William Wehde was out of his mind.

“Mitchel is coming to kill you, Michael,” William screamed. It stopped Michael in his tracks. He turned and faced William as his father continued, “He is on his way here right now. The only way to stop all of this, to save everyone you’ve ever loved, is by killing your brother. Somehow Mitchel learned this and he’s coming for you. He’s killed before.” William walked closer to Michael. Michael felt motionless, stuck. “He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about your life and he’ll end it without hesitation as long as it saves his.”

“Why did you come here? Why are you doing this?” asked a scared son.

“Because he can’t win. I need you to kill Mitchel, your brother. I need you to kill my son, Michael,” William pleaded.

Michael shook his head, “Stay away from me. If I see you again, I’m calling the police. You stayed away for twenty-years but it wasn’t long enough. Stay the hell away from me and my family.”