Page 97 of The Not So Super Hero
Zane’s words cut her like a blade.Her chest twisted, lips falling into a frown.
“I’m...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” he said, clutching the end of his shirt.He hadn’t meant to say that, nor did he mean to do what happened next.A strange black mist circled his form.The room dimmed.Lights flickered.Raising his hands, Zane found that the mist was coming from him, and creeping towards Marceline.Zane wasn’t sure why, but that scared him.The thought of that strange mist touching her made his blood run cold.
The darkness swirling between them so violently that pictures fell from the wall and lamps shattered on the floor.Their eyes clenched shut to protect themselves from the harsh wind.When the chaos settled, Marceline and Zane stared in horror at what the mist had formed between them; a vision of Zane laying pale faced and lifeless in a pool of blood.Real Zane saw this as gray, but it was real in Marceline’s eyes.She dropped to her knees, releasing a blood-curdling scream.
“Marceline, it’s not real!It’s not real!”He shouted.“I’m right here.I’m ok.Marceline, look at me!”
Except Marceline couldn’t see the real Zane.She focused on the lifeless body at her feet.Marceline grabbed at him, holding his stiff corpse in her arms while screaming endlessly.To her, it was real.She could feel the pain, feel the cold, couldn’t see the truth, and so sat there in agony.
Zane didn’t understand and couldn’t stop.Mist of the illusion infiltrated Marceline’s skin.He grabbed her, trying to pull her away, but she dropped like a deadweight to the floor.The mist evaporated, then Marceline screamed.Her body convulsed, eyes rolling into the back of her head.He had never seen or heard anything like it, piercing and frightful.Then a vision came to him, blinking in his mind, a scene of his death.Zane could no longer tell what was real or fake, but he tried to make it to the phone.
His shaking legs barely carried him to the phone for emergencies in the kitchen.He couldn’t focus, seeing double while searching for Antoine’s name.He couldn’t hear the phone ringing, but he made out Antoine’s name on the screen.That’s when Zane glimpsed himself in the hallway mirror.Terrified, he took in the reflection of a monster; eyes nothing more than voids against ghostly pale skin.A darkness settled in his face, shadows moving in his veins.He dropped to his knees a whimpering mess.
Whatever his mutation was, he didn’t want it.
A week later, Zane stood outside the hospital window leading to Marceline’s room.She had been asleep all that time.He heard Antoine over the phone claiming she could have permanent brain damage, that she may not wake.Zane’s gut twisted into a knot.
“What’s wrong with me?”he asked.
“What’s wrong with you?”Antoine replied, smiling.“You’re a monster, Zane.”
And Zane believed him.Antoine had the boy in a vice grip with no hope of escape.He abused that power, the power of a father over his son, even more so when he had the audacity to tell Zane that Marceline woke up a few days later.
“She’ll be okay,” Antoine explained calmly, arms crossed and lips set into a thin line.That stony gaze of his pierced through Zane, who shook in place and nearly dropped to his knees at what Antoine said next.“But she doesn’t want to see you.”
Everything Zane had ever known was suddenly ripped from his grasp, leaving his fingers cold and numb.The one person who had always been by his side, the one that showed him love and affection.She didn’t want to see him anymore.That hurt Zane in ways he couldn’t describe, so much so that his response was not to respond at all.There was nothing.No tears.No scream.No disagreement.Simply a blank expression with dark eyes that took in everything and nothing.
Zane’s world crumbled, leaving nothing behind to hold on to.Antoine relished in that.For the following days, Zane lay in bed, blankets twisted around his fingers while the darkness consumed his room to create a shadowy abyss.Antoine lingered outside to give the occasional “kind” words.Bit by bit, Zane became easier to manipulate until it was no effort at all.Antoine couldn’t have planned things better himself.Everything went perfectly, leading to the moment that Zane made the worst mistake imaginable.
“Raiffel Academy, it’s a place for children like you,” Antoine explained over dinner.
“Law runs that school, right?”Zane pushed the food around his plate, which paled compared to the home-cooked meals Marceline made.Thinking of her made him lose his appetite.He sat his utensils aside.
“He does.You will live with other children like you.”
“Monsters?”
Antoine nodded.“Though they pale compared to you.”
Zane never stood a chance.With Marceline gone, there was no one for him to turn to, so he agreed.Plans were made and he was shipped off by the end of the week.The poor child hadn’t a clue what he got himself into.
Raiffel Academy was an exquisite school, luxurious in every sense of the word.The campus itself sat on acres of land far from the city.A beautiful garden surrounded the academy, intricate archways gave off a very European-esque feel.Those who studied were top-notch, the best of the best.Sadly, Zane didn’t attend the academy itself.He was sent to the laboratory, technically on campus but off limits other than staff, and admitted students.On the outside, the lab appeared as nothing more than a faculty building.However, deep beneath the halls lied the true nature of Raiffel and those who worked there.
A sense of unease settled over Zane the moment Antoine led him beneath the service.The elevator took them further and further down to the labs, although there were no markings on the elevator to indicate floors.Surely his father wouldn’t take him somehow unsafe, that’s what he kept in mind.
When the elevator doors opened, they stepped into the hall.Zane stumbled.Something felt off, like a power latched onto his bones and held him in place, then zapped the energy from his legs.
“Dad, do you feel weird?”he asked.
Antoine kept walking.Others in the hall passed by, nurses, armed guards, and doctors.Each gave him a quiet look, calculative even.
“That is the great thing about this place,” Antoine said, glancing at Zane over his shoulder.“One doctor has a very special mutation.So long as they are within range, your mutation is weakened.You can use it, but not to the fullest extent, which is likely why you feel strange.Trust me, it’s for the best.”
He didn’t fully understand, but Zane nodded.The halls moved in convoluted patterns, leading past open rooms that lacked any children like he was led to believe lived there.Some doors were locked.Others appeared too heavy to open.The deeper they went, the more it felt like a prison until Zane’s entire being was screaming to go back.
“Dad, I...I think I’ve changed my mind,” Zane said, taking a step back.Antoine grasped his hand.
“Do you really want to risk hurting someone again?The next person may not be as lucky as Marceline.”
