So You Wanna Be A Superhero
Be Careful What You Wish For...
It was exactly 6:24 p.m. when Allison Caldwell knocked on the Llewellyn family’s door. It was a nice enough house, in one of the middle class neighborhoods of Hobbs, New Mexico. Mr. Llewellyn, a tall man with dark and graying hair, was perfectly polite when he opened the door to invite her in, having expected her. It was only when Alice first stepped inside that she noticed that something seemed off. Despite the fairly warm temperature outside, the inside of the house was actually very cold. She thought for a moment that the family must spend a fortune on air conditioning, but then noted that Mr. Llewellyn was wearing a sweater, which seemed incongruent. Mr. Llewellyn led her to the living room and offered her a blanket as she sat down on the lone chair, which she gratefully accepted.
“Can I offer you a drink? We have coffee, tea, hot chocolate…” he listed.
“Tea would be good, thank you.” She rubbed her arms to stimulate warmth as he walked toward the conjoining kitchen, and found herself looking around to occupy herself while Mr. Llewellyn made the tea. On the mantle, she saw a number of pictures of the family. Besides Mr. Llewellyn, the family consisted of two children, a young boy and a teenage girl, who featured in the images at various ages. There was also a woman who must have been their mother, but Alice noted that the most recent family photos didn’t have her in them. Mr. Llewellyn soon returned with a cup of tea for each of them. Alice savored the warmth from the small sip she took before turning to the matter at hand.
“My name is Allison Caldwell, and I am a teacher at Grayson Academy for Gifted Children, as you may have guessed. I apologize that it took so long for the school to send a representative; your email caught us at a busy time. I understand your daughter has come into a gift?” He had sent an email to the school stating as such, but including little else in terms of detail. Alice did have an inkling as to the nature of the girl’s gift, however, given the state of the house. Mr. Llewellyn nodded, taking a deep drought from his tea cup. Alice followed in suit when she realized that the tea was already losing its heat.
“It happened about three weeks ago,” he started. “ Just overnight, it was suddenly cold in the house all the time, even when we turned the AC off. Turning the heater on didn’t help either, and it took us a couple of days to realize that the cold was following Avery around. We knew for sure when the windows started frosting up when she was upset.”
Alice nodded. “Based on your observations, and what I’ve been able to observe for myself so far, I do believe that Avery would have a place at our school. I will have to meet her to be sure, however, before we can extend her an invitation. Is she at home?” He nodded his head.
“She hasn’t left the house much since we found out,” he said, getting up from his seat and wandering toward the stairs.
“Avery!” he called up. “There’s someone here to see you!” Alice heard slow footsteps on the stairs just as he sat back down, and a teenage girl appeared. She was tall and thin, with pale blue eyes and hair that was dark like her father’s, which she wore long. She also appeared to be tired and deeply unhappy. She was wearing sweatpants, thick socks, and gloves, with multiple sweaters layered on top of one another, a scarf, and a large, fuzzy blanket draped over her shoulders and trailing over the floor behind her. The room grew even colder as she walked in, and she sniffled miserably as she settled on the couch next to her father.
“Avery, this is Ms. Caldwell,” Mr. Llewellyn said to his daughter. “Ms. Caldwell, this is Avery.”
“Can you make it go away?” Avery asked before Alice could speak, a small amount of hope in her eyes. Alice shook her head regretfully.
“There is no known way to remove a gift once it has manifested. We can, however, help you learn to control it. Your father mentioned the cold, and icing the windows. Have you noticed anything else about your gift so far, or experimented with it in any way?” The girl shook her head listlessly.
“There’s really nothing?” she asked, seemingly to herself. What little tea that was left in Alice’s cup froze over, and intricate trails of frost started to creep up the glass of the windows. Her father unflinchingly placed his hand on her shoulder, and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. The cold effects of her power receded to their previous levels.
“Avery,” Alice said with sympathy in her eyes, “it is very rare for a gift to develop that doesn’t come accompanied by an unwelcome side effect.” She lifted her hands, drawing attention to the elegant linen cloth gloves she wore, which had gone unnoticed up to that point. “My own gift is a form of touch telepathy. Anything I touch, especially with my hands, I can tell everything about its history. The same goes for people as well. It used to overwhelm me, causing intense headaches and disorientation. But with training, I was able to learn to control it and limit what I see with my touch. We can help you to do the same.”
“I’m sorry,” Avery said, looking up at Alice from her miserable huddle. “I just hate being cold all the time, and everything I’ve tried to make it go away hasn’t worked.” Alice nodded and tugged the glove off of her right hand, holding it out to Avery.
“If you don’t mind, I can tell a lot about how your gift works if you take my hand.” It was the reason the academy often liked to send her as a representative. Avery stared blankly at her hand for a moment before taking a deep breath and grasping it. Instantly, Alice was inundated with information about Avery, and the frigid cold of the girl’s skin took a backseat to the flood of knowledge. She blocked off everything but the manifestation of Avery’s gift, refusing to invade the girl’s privacy, and let go of her hand as soon as she had what she needed. The entire process took approximately ten seconds.
“It appears that you have a very powerful gift, Avery,” Alice said, replacing her glove. “It will allow you to do everything from creating ice to inciting snowstorms. The level of your power may be the reason you are having such difficulty controlling it. I’d wager the only reason there hasn’t been any snow is the lack of moisture in the air. I’ll start working with the teachers at the school immediately to create a plan for you based on what I’ve been able to learn about your gift.”
Suddenly, a loud beeping noise sounded from Alice’s purse, filling the room. Her brow crinkled as she reached into her purse, withdrawing her phone, and her frown deepened as she silenced it and looked at the message. Moving quickly, she grabbed a thick white envelope from her bag and handed it to Avery.
“I’m afraid something urgent has come up, and I have to get going. This is your acceptance letter to Grayson Academy in Winchester, Virginia. It is a boarding school, as we have students attending from everywhere in the nation, and a high level of focus is required from each student. Although the school year is over and most students spend the summers at home with their families, I do recommend that you sign up to attend Grayson over the summer given the strength of your gift and lack of control at this point. The decision is up to you, though.”
Alice looked at her watch, standing. “Most questions you have can be answered by the letter that accompanies Avery’s invitation. If you have any that are not, you can reach me at this number,” she held out a card, which Mr. Llewellyn took. “The second number is a hotline you can dial in case of an emergency. I hope to see you in my classes soon, Avery.” Mr. Llewellyn and his daughter shared a long look.
“I think you will, Mrs. Caldwell,” Avery said with a determined set to her chin. Mr. Llewellyn stood to escort Alice to the door.
“Thank you, again, for coming. It’s good to know for sure, and to know that we can do something about it,” he said as they reached the front door.
“You’re very welcome. I’m always happy to assist in any way I can. Don’t hesitate to contact me if anything comes up, or if you have questions.” Mr. Llewellyn opened the door for her. As she turned to say goodbye, she caught sight of the young boy from the pictures, Avery’s brother, peeking at them from the stairs. She smiled at him briefly before shaking his father’s hand and taking her leave. As soon as the door closed behind her, she was dialing a number and holding her phone to her ear. The call was picked up immediately.
“What’s the situation, Graham?” she asked, wasting no time with pleasantries.
“There’s an emergency situation with a newly manifested gift in Missoula, Montana,” Graham answered with his characteristic calm. “We’ve got people on site already, but we want you on standby for when the situation is resolved; your gift might come in handy once the situation is resolved.”
“Is Jack coming for me, or do I need to catch a flight?” she asked, walking already because she was fairly certain she already knew the answer.
“He’s coming for you at the same place he dropped you off at. Just send him a message when you’re there,” Graham confirmed.
“Alright. I’ll let you go, unless there’s anything else?”
“There isn’t. I’ll see you later.” Without further ado, Graham ended the call. Alice kept her phone in her hand and sped up, walking at a brisk pace for several moments until she ducked into an alley between houses.
I’m here, she texted quickly before stowing her phone away.
“Alice,” a voice said from behind her less than a second later. She barely kept herself from jumping and turned around. A tall young man with stylishly mussed brown hair leaned against the brick of one of the houses behind her. “Busy day, isn’t it? How did the visit go?”
“Jack,” she sighed in brief exasperation. “It went well. She’s definitely a candidate. Her Gift affects cold and ice. It’s contained for now, if not well controlled..”
“How ironic,” Jack mused walking toward her. “We’re headed to meet someone with the opposite problem.”
“A fire starter?” she queried.
“Something like that,” he said, holding his arm out with a wink. She took it with a barely suppressed sigh. They took a step forward together, and in a disorienting blur, they landed in Missoula, Montana, leaving an empty alley behind them.
About the Creator
Kayla Todd
I love writing almost as much as I love reading, so it's a good thing writing is my job. I have a degree in Creative Writing and am currently writing my first book, but my "big girl" job is technical writing for a software company.
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