Page 39 of The Not So Super Hero
“It’s exhausting.”
“Not if you go for something you like.”Bailey nodded, thinking about how he didn’t see school as exhausting.He had days when he wanted to sleep the entire time or classes that really bothered him.But he ultimately liked college.It had its peaks and valleys, just like everything did.
Zane stiffened, thinking immediately that he had nothing he liked that much.There wasn’t a single thing in his life that interested him enough to pay thousands of dollars to know more.Hell, there was nothing he enjoyed so much to even get out of bed.
Shrugging, Zane replied, “I don’t have anything I like that much.”
Bailey frowned.It almost hurt looking at the man next to him that seemed to honestly feel that there wasn’t anything in his life that interested him.Bailey had so many interests that he often lost count of what they were.It seemed so normal, to have interests, to enjoy some things over others, that Bailey never even considered there was someone who didn’t have them.
“I think I should leave,” Zane mumbled, getting up so fast that he didn’t have time to blink before Zane was off the bed and heading to the door.
“Wait, hold on!”Bailey called.Stumbling off his bed, he followed Zane without too much self-harm.He hit his elbow off the bedside table and his arm was still tingling from it but he ignored it in favor to grasp the back of Zane’s shirt.“I’m sorry if the questioning bothers you.We can just watch TV then?”
“I thought the point of me coming up here was to rest?”Zane argued.Bailey’s fingertips rubbed against his arm.He hated the way his skin broke out in goosebumps.
“Then we won’t watch anything.I’ll study and you can rest,” he said.
Before Zane responded, the ground shook.The building groaned and swayed.Bailey tipped forward, ramming his side against Zane.He clutched Bailey by the shoulders to prevent him from whacking his head off the floor.The quaking came to a stop, but then the alarms started blaring.Zane sent Bailey a glare, who was already smiling sheepishly.
“This is your fault,” he growled.
“It is not!”Bailey argued.
Gripping Bailey’s hand, Zane tugged them out of the room.The door swung open.Students filled the halls.Normally the kids were slow, uncaring, since most alarms were fake.However, this one was definitely real, especially when an explosive blast rippled through the air.
People screamed and ran.The only reason Bailey didn’t find himself trampled was because Zane had the boy in front of him.Zane shielded him from those running past them in the hall.They had shut the elevators off.Everyone ran to the emergency stairs.Bailey’s room was fairly close to the back exit, meaning fewer people took that path.
The two of them reached the exit.Zane kept Bailey by the railing.He didn’t release Bailey’s hand either.His thumb brushed Bailey’s wrist, feeling the rapidly beating pulse beneath.While Bailey panicked, Zane remained calm, almost frighteningly so.It reminded Bailey of the last time they were together with Boomer.Zane knew what to do then, like he knew now.
Outside, the wind blew so hard that it was difficult to stand.Bailey slipped his fingers between Zane’s, squeezing tight.The wind bit at Bailey’s skin, like pinpricks.His eyes squinted, though it was already hard to see with all the dirt on his glass.They barely clung to his face.However, it wasn’t just the air they felt.There was a pulse, a sudden sensation that rippled through the air that caused a drastic wind.Bailey felt it go right through him.
Whatever wasn’t heavy enough soared through the air, hitting unsuspecting kids or shattering windows.Zane forced the both of them to the ground before a chair went whizzing over their heads.It smashed into someone’s windshield.The car's horn blared after the driver inside slammed on their brakes, though still collided with another vehicle.
Zane jumped up, pulling Bailey towards his car.An abrupt surge of pure energy burst through the parking lot, flipping an entire line of cars.Zane’s vehicle was smashed.Windows shattered, horns blared, and people screamed.The entire campus was in pure anarchy, even with officers and ambulances attempting to help with evacuation.It didn’t matter how many drills they had for an attack.The real deal always ended in tragedy.
Bailey struggled to breathe.The rapid beating of his heart set his lungs ablaze.His mind wouldn’t work the way it should.He went blank, no idea where to go, what to say, or what to do.
Zane remained vigilant.He moved them towards the nearest police blockade.Even with Zane’s vigilance, he didn’t quite catch what, or rather, who, came their way.A woman that Bailey vaguely recognized from the news dropped gracefully from above, blocking their path.Within a second she had her hand up, pointed at the two in front of her before her lips twitched back into a sickly smile.
Bailey’s eyes widened when that same energy from earlier surged around her.With a flick of her wrist, that energy shot at them.
Except nothing hit Bailey.The air, once alive, died to nothing more than a simple breeze.An eerie silence encased him, invoking a shiver.He was too terrified to open his eyes to discover what had happened.The tight grip Zane kept on him was sign enough that he hadn’t died, so that was good.How, though?Where did the wind go?
Bailey opened his eyes.A darkness swallowed him so dense that he couldn’t even see his body, as if he was nothing more than a floating mass.He attempted moving his fingers, half expecting not to feel them, but they flexed and the darkness had an almost cool sensation to it.
Then the darkness caved, opening from above to reveal blinding sunlight.Bit by bit he could see, hear, feel, then saw the very woman who tried to hurt them.He finally recognized her as Sasha, a villain he had seen on TV with the power to create power surges that started a lot more shit.
Bailey’s eyes drifted back to the darkness, though.The black, almost mist-like thing had a mind of its own, sinking lower to the earth, then retreating under his feet.He followed the mist, turning his head to find where the darkness had originated; Zane.
Zane’s eyes had gone black, devoid of pupils, and his skin paled to an almost ghostly white.Shadows lurked beneath his skin, veins moving like parasites.His reaction remained calm, collected, not a single ounce of fear in his eyes that somehow took in nothing and everything.
“I’m shocked you defended yourself, Zane.Isn’t it a pain to do that?”Sasha asked, annoyed yet stern.
Zane didn’t reply.
“Maybe it has to do with that boy you’ve got in your hands?”Sasha pointed a long nail in Bailey’s direction, continuing to smile.“Found something precious, have we?”
Bailey’s legs jiggled like jello.He was too busy trying to force himself to breathe to do anything other than lean into Zane’s chest.His hands gripped Zane’s arms wrapped around his waist, fingers trembling and palms sweating.
