It was a six story drop to the balcony below. The stale smell of concrete, and garbage, with a hint of urine filled the air. Charley felt sick to his stomach. He looked around to make sure no one was looking, his vision glitched, freezing on certain things and then jumping to something else entirely. He adjusted the straps of his backpack more securely on his shoulders. Before he knew it, he was sailing through the air. The deteriorating concrete wall of the building blurred past him.  The glitchiness of the fall smoothed as neared the balcony. He landed like a feather resting upon water.  He looked through the sliding-glass balcony window.  Past the kitchen, there were four guys sitting on the couch, all in crooked flat-brimmed baseball caps or bandanas around their heads.  Three were playing a basketball video game, the other one was blabbing on his phone. Apparently the game they were playing was hilarious, or it was because of the marijuana smoke that rose into the air in front of them.  There were two behemoth-looking guards.  One stationed by the front door, the other was partially blocking the entryway between the front room and the kitchen.

Good, this should be easy.  The thought entered his head.

The glass of the balcony door started to vibrate and then suddenly collapsed into a ball.  The crushing sound caused everyone to flip around.  The guard by the door immediately reached for the gun tucked into his pants, but before he could touch it, the glass ball smashed him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.  By then the rest of the crew were grasping for their guns.  Shots starting cracking all around. Before Charley could think, a wave blasted through the apartment, sending furniture and thugs alike smashing against the wall and then crumpling down to the ground.  Charley entered the kitchen and looked at the people struggling to get off of the floor.

“So which one of you wants to tell me where you’re keeping the money?” A familiar voice that wasn’t Charley’s said.

“Hello? Hello?! Dawg, what’s happening?” Came faint voice from the cellphone that used to be in the hand of one of the guys on the couch.  The phone collapsed into a ball. The computer screen framed by the white walls of Charley’s dad’s man-cave appeared.

Dang, the connection broke. Charley thought. He touched the screen and swiped to get to the next clip. He pressed the button for the next clip and suddenly he was loading up his backpack with stacks of green cash from a safe with no door.  A hunk of metal rested to the side.  Charley could guess that was where the door went. The weight of each stack felt so real, as if Charley was holding it himself. When in fact, it was only the electrical signals from Trey’s brain being translated into his. A muffled voice came from down the hall.  They were calling reinforcements.

“****.” Trey thought.  He threw a couple more stacks from the safe into his backpack. The click of a ****ing gun echoed into the room.  He stood up and sprinted out of the room.  His feet skated like he was on ice.  He blurred past everyone who was gathering themselves up in the front room. The big guard was on the phone. He started screaming and shooting.  Charley/Trey blasted out the front door, causing even the frame to shatter into the hallway.  He skated to the end of the hallway and up the stairs.  He turned the corner at the top of the stairs to the next floor’s hallway.  A few people were peaking out of their doors to see what the noise was, but they knew from living in the projects to never fully open the door.  Trey/Charley glided to the last story and blew out a window at the end of the final floor’s hallway.  He flew.  The warm air blew past his face.  As the building shrunk behind him, his movements became more and more glitchy again until he was staring at the computer screen again.

Charley took off the headset he was wearing and set it down by the screen.  Ever since Trey had run away, Charley and his family, as well as Trey’s mom and dad had done nothing besides look for him.  Charely’s dad’s original device that allowed Charley to dive into Trey’s head was rendered useless when Trey destroyed his phone.  The way Charley’s dad described how the device, which Charley had dubbed “Treynet”, worked was that when a person makes a call, their brainwaves create a very slight interference with the microwaves being produced by the cell phones. It’s almost undetectable. The interference creates almost a mold of the brainwaves within the microwaves   The molded cell phone microwaves were then interpreted against the person’s (Trey in this case) stored brainwave pattern, then exports them out as the full brainwaves. Then, when the Charley puts on Treynet, the exported brainwaves get translated into a waves that are readable by Charley’s brain and he is then able to experience what Trey has experienced.  When Trey destroyed his phone, he destroyed the transportation method of his brainwaves.  Since then, Charley’s dad had been working tirelessly to find a solution and a week ago, he did.  He was able to tap into cellphone satellites and search through the streams of data passing through until he found an interference signature that matched Trey’s brain. That signal is then beamed to the middle-of-nowhere-swamp-country-hillbilly-land of Florida’s panhandle, where they now lived.

Charley got up and walked up the stairs that lead outside of his dad’s man-cave, which was actually an underground storm shelter that he remodeled.  The sun was just setting, casting an orange-red glow on the black waters in the distance.  Charley mosied over to an old wooden swing on their property and sat down to watch the sunset.

Charley’s family and Trey’s family had been living in the panhandle for the past month and a half.  Charley didn’t mind it.  It was surprisingly an improvement from middle-of-nowhere-farm-country-redneck-land of Iowa.  They lived there for a few months, just to throw off their trail from the feds. However, even more surprisingly, Charley missed Portugal.  It had been 5 months since they were forced to leave there.  The fiasco with Trey brought too much attention.  Charley’s dad and Mr. Salome knew they had to leave. They knew that the agency that they used to work for would be quick to respond and capture both of their families.  The agency knew they were too valuable to let free, and Charley’s dad and Mr. Salome knew too many secrets, at least that’s what Charley’s mom told him. It was still hard for Charley to wrap his head around his new reality. His whole life he had been running and he didn’t even know it. His dad and Mr. Salome had been diligent enough to cover their tracks so well, that they were able to live in Portugal for a few years without any fear or distraction.   

So he, his dad, his mom and unborn sibling lived in neighboring trailer houses along side of Mr. and Mrs. Salome, and the amazingly beautiful Kait. Charley had been strangely excited about this summer. Even though he knew he was going to be on the run the whole summer, he was happy that he was going to be with Kait.  After all the craziness they went through at the end of the school year, they had grown closer than ever.  Even though she had made it clear that she didn’t want to get involved romantically right now, which he understood why, Charley was hoping that the summer would lead to them to get even closer. Then it would eventually turn into a true relationship when they finally got settled down. Sadly, the summer didn’t turn out the way he planned.

When they left the country and landed in Iowa, Kait had an emotional breakdown.  She threw a fit and almost ran off. Her mom eventually calmed her down, but things never were the same after that.  The stress bearing on her made her fall inside of herself. She stayed away from her family and only talked to Charley occasionally.  They had some good times together, a few meaningful talks, and even cuddled a couple times in the past few months, but the good times with her seemed few and far between.  She would sneak out and get locals to buy her beers and would go off and drink alone. Recently, here in Florida, Charley had noticed the smell of marijuana smoke on her, but he feared that was the least of his problems.  Charley had begun to suspect that she had started getting into heavier drugs.  The thought of Kait becoming an addict made Charley so queasy he could hardly stand. He had lost his best friend Trey to anger, and the unbelievably sweet Rhana to a car accident  He didn’t want to lose Kait too. Not like this. However, there was nothing Charley could do about it. He had learned over the past few months to let his emotions go, to let the fly away.  He couldn’t stand to dwell on everything that has happened. He lived his life day by day and tried not to let his situation get the best of him.  Living like this had been hard, but he was getting used to it.

Charley’s pocket buzzed. He reached down and pulled out his phone. An unconscious smile crept across his face when he saw that it was Madi who texted him.

“Don’t forget the stuff for our presentation tomorrow! :-)” The text said.

“I won’t, don’t worry. But, I wasn’t able to find the 20lb cheese wheel, is that ok?” Charley jokingly texted back.

She immediately responded.

“Ha ha ha, you better not screw this up Charles ;-)”

Charley chuckled, shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket.  Madison Cartwright was one of his only friends that he has made in his new school. She had short, light brown hair, hazel eyes and thin lips. She was short and had a pretty average figure, not fat by any means, but not super skinny. She always looked nice but not to the point of dolling herself up everyday. She was pretty in her own way, but not as stunning as Kait was. Madi’s best friend was a tall, lanky, blond person who reminded Charley of one of those inflatable characters with the wavy arms that car dealerships put out in front for no apparent reason. His name was Caleb Shuman, or Cal for short.  Cal and Madi had been a duo ever since they were three years old.  They were basically inseparable. They were constantly mischieving, but it was always harmless and in good fun. When Charley showed up as the new kid on campus, they accepted him with open arms into their dangerous duo. Being in this newly formed trio had been a great escape for Charley. Cal and Madi were into lots of the things that Charley liked, such as video games, good movies, electronic music, and other geeky things.  Madi had introduced Charley to her favorite anime, Cowboy Bebop, which she and Charley had just finished marathoning last week. They were now partners for a presentation about the carbon cycle for their biology class tomorrow. When the assignment was given out, Madi immediately went to Charley to see if he wanted to be her partner. Cal wasn’t too happy about that, they were always partners, but Madi got Mary Simons, a girl he had been crushing on for a while, to be his partner. He had a pleasant, dumb, infatuated look on his face the rest of the day. At first, Charley assumed that Madi wanted to be his partner just to be nice, but now Charley was pretty sure that Madi liked him. She was always finding excuses to touch him or be near him. She even laughed at all of Charley’s jokes. Charley enjoyed being around Madi, they always had a great time together. He didn’t know if he liked her though. He still had hopes for Kait.  Even though she was distant, he still sensed that she still liked him. However, he was wondering if she only liked him now because he was the only one around and the only one that paid her attention.

Charley grabbed the ropes of the swing and leaned back until his arms were fully extended. He let out sigh. His mind wandered back to when he and Kait had kissed.  It was so perfect in that moment, but it was that kiss that turned his world upside down, in the worse way possible.

A bell started clanging. Charley looked up and saw the stout figure of his mom ringing the old dinner bell that was on the door of their trailer house.

“Dinner time! Dinner time! Dinner Time!” Charley’s mom yelled with a giant smile on her face.

That bell must be her favorite thing in this place. Charley thought. She rang it every day and loved every minute of it. Charley launched himself out of the swing and went inside to eat.

Charley’s eyes fluttered open.  He rolled over in his bed and checked the time. 6:55am. Charley hated waking up fifteen minute before his alarm.  He tried to roll over and catch the last fifteen minutes of sleep, but it was no use. He was hot and sweaty. He kicked off the small blanket the covered him, it didn’t help cool him down at all. He tossed and turned for the next five minutes before he gave up and got in the shower. Halfway through scrubbing his body he looked down at the shampoo bottle.

Did I already wash my hair? Charley thought. He was sure he did, because his routine of shampoo, conditioner and then body wash didn’t feel out of order, but he honestly couldn’t recall washing his hair. Giving himself the benefit of the doubt, he rinsed off his body and got out of the shower to dry off. The towel never got him completely dry in this muggy weather. He always felt damp the whole day.

No one was home. Charley’s dad was with Mr. Salome trying to track down Trey, and his mom had to drive to the nearest city, which which was an hour away, for a checkup. He ate breakfast and then browsed twitter and some newsfeeds on his phone until it was time to go. He grabbed the poster about the carbon cycle and the sprouting pea plant that he and Madi used for their experiment. Mrs. Salome was waiting outside their newly purchased old beat up truck. Even though both his family and the Salome’s had quite a bit of money in the banks, they bought two jalopies to fit in, one old gray Camry and this brown truck. Charley wasn’t even sure what brand it was.

“Kait! Come on! You’re going to be late!” Mrs. Salome yelled. The truck glitched and suddenly Kait was sitting inside looking annoyed. Kait hadn’t put as much effort into her looks ever since they left Portugal. She didn’t mope around in sweats like she did after Rhana died, but she didn’t go above and beyond to make herself look absolutely perfect every day. Her relationship with her parents had deteriorated over the last few months too.  Kait had gone from the perfect sweet child in her parent’s eyes, to the moody rebel. At least she hadn’t dyed her hair and gauged her ears.

“Kait! Get in the car!” Mrs. Salome continued yelling. She hadn’t realized that Kait already gotten into the car using her abilities. Charley walked toward the truck and threw the poster into the bed and placed his backpack on top to make sure it didn’t fly away.

“Umm, Mrs. Salome?” Charley said.

“Hmm?” Mrs. Salome said as she turned around to face him.  Charley pointed to Kait sitting in the front seat.  Mrs. Salome rolled her eyes and opened the driver door. Charley got into the cramped back seat, if you could even call it a seat. It was more of an afterthought in design.

“Kait, you can’t be using your powers like that.” Mrs. Salome said as they pulled out of their property.

Kait shrugged.

“Its not like anyone is going to see me out here. No one lives within three miles.”

Kait’s mom sighed. Charley fixated on Kait in the front seat. The morning sun was glistening off her black hair. His heart skipped a beat. Even with Kait’s distance lately, Charley couldn’t help but still be hypnotized by her. He just wanted to hold her, and run his fingers through her shiny hair. He shook the thought off.

I can’t be thinking like that right now. Charley thought.  He knew that the more he focused on Kait, the more he felt torn up inside. He had been trying to let it flow. Whatever happens, happens.

Mrs. Salome dropped them off at school. Classes were different here than they were at St. Lawrence’s International English School in Portugal. Surprisingly, their school was even smaller than it was in Portugal. There were about the same amount of students students, but instead of being split between grades nine and twelve, it was split between grades six through twelve. They had the same classes every day, separated into seven fifty-minute periods, as opposed to the split-day schedule they used to have. Both he and Kait had U.S. History together for first period.

Charley stopped off by his locker first to put away his poster and pea plant. When he walked into history, Kait was already sitting in the back with her head down on the desk. Charley sat next to her but made no attempt to talk with her as more kids filed in. He glanced over at Kait. She hadn’t tried to be very social in this school. Her demeanor now was so different than it was last year.  

Its almost like she’s “Bizarro-Kait”, Charley thought.

All the guys in the school still wanted to get with her though, as guys typically do when a cute new girl moves in. She didn’t give any guys the time of day. They had basically all stopped trying to hit on her for the most part. Charley was glad about that. He didn’t want another Bradley Cooper situation again. The only person Kait ever talked to besides Charley on occasion was a big, quiet girl that always looked displeased with life named Carly. Charley had never talked to her because frankly, he was a little scared of her. Charley had no idea why Kait gravitated toward her, but they seemed to get along well from what Charley had seen. He was glad that she at least had some kind of friend there.

Their teacher, Ms. Bark, would have been just tall enough to be a basketball player if the world were run by little people. She got up in front of the class to announce a quiz. Moans rumbled across the classroom. Just then, the door opened and in walked Ashley Thompson. She was wearing bright red cowboy boots, a skirt that just hinted above the school dress-code of mid thigh, a plaid flannel shirt that had a few buttons on the bottom and top undone that gave a taste of her flat, bare stomach underneath and the slightest glance at her breasts, which were unusually full for a high-schooler. Her golden blonde hair fell in locks down the side of her face. Charley couldn’t help but stare, as well as the rest of the male population of the class. She was the quintessential gorgeous farm-girl that moved to Florida from Texas a few years ago. She was nice to everyone around her. Although, Charley could always sense a bit of falsehood in everything she said.

“Hey ya’ll, don’t look so sad! I was just a little bit late.” She jested as she sat down.  Ms. Bark glared at her and continued talking.

Even though Ashley rivaled Kait in her breath-taking beauty, Charley didn’t have a crush on her like every other guy in school. Something about Ashley annoyed him, though he couldn’t put his finger on the reason. He had too hard of a time trying to sort out his feelings between Kait and Madi. Madi and Cal loved making fun of Ashley. She called her T-queen, which stood for “Texas Queen,” because she acted like she was literally the lone star. Charley always laughed at the way Madi and Cal talked about Ashley, it reminded Charley had he and Trey used to make fun of Kait’s old boyfriend, who they only referred to as Bradley Cooper..

His history class droned on and he only half paid attention.  When that class let out, he sloshed through the rest of his classes until fifth period, which was biology with Madi and Cal.

“Lookie what the meerkat dragged in.” Cal said as Charley came in. Charley smirked at him. A week ago, they were having a conversation about what animal each of them looked like, Madi was an anime cat, Cal was an anorexic giraffe and they decided that Charley looked like a stout meerkat.

“I’m glad you didn’t absolutely ruin my life by forgetting to bring the stuff for our presentation today.” Madi said with a smile on her face.

“I told you not to worry.  I’m kinda a quasi-superhero in that way. I don’t save lives, but you can always count on me to not absolutely ruin lives.” Charley said.

Except how I was part of the reason the lives of me, my family, Kait, Trey, and Mr. and Mrs Salome were ruined.  Charley immediately thought. Some quasi-superhero he was. Maybe if he actually had powers like Trey, Kait or Mr. Salome, he could do something to benefit humanity. He hoped he wouldn’t abuse them like Trey had been.

Charley took a seat right next to Madi.

“We present fourth.” She said motioning toward the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. Every partnership was written on there in the order they were presenting. Madi yanked the small pot off of Charley’s desk.

“Aww, look how cute it is!” She said delicately touching the budding leaves. “Cal, look at our little baby.”

She shoved the pot in front of Cal’s face.

“Wow, you two move fast. Charley hasn’t even been here two months and you two have already created a little life together.” Cal smiled. “Whatcha gonna name the little guy?”

Madi’s face reddened. “I was thinking Eulert Samuel III, but Cal’s right Charles. You do move too fast. I don’t know if I can handle the pressure this puts on me. We might have to abort the little guy after class.”

“No! not little Eulert!” Chaley jokingly protested a little louder than he wanted to. Half the class turned to look at him. Luckily he was saved some embarrassment by their teacher, Mr. Schultz, starting class.

“We’ll discuss this after class.” Charley whispered sharply as he snatched the pot from Madi’s hand. They both smiled.

Charley often had a feeling of elation when he was with Madi. However, everytime he felt like he liked Madi, he would remind himself about Kait. Madi was no Kait. He had to hold strong for the possibility of Kait. He hadn’t ever felt the same with Madi as he did in the short time that Kait showed interest in Charley. He wanted that again and he was willing to wait. Charley did enjoy the fact that someone liked him. It helped him keep a positive outlook on his current puzzled life.

Charley lounged back in his seat as he watched the first few presenters. It was then Madi and his turn. They got up and Charley set their poster that diagramed the Carbon Cycle on the whiteboard. Madi started presenting. When it was Charley’s turn to talk he flowed into where she left off without a hitch. They meshed really well. They finished their presentation and the class clapped. They sat down with giant smiles on their faces, they had been flawless. Charley turned and caught Madi’s eye. They had a moment. Charley’s stomach jumped. The grin never washed away from his or Madi’s face the rest of class.

When class got out, he, Madi and Cal walked to lunch together. Charley was always starving by the time lunch hit.  The seniors in his school had a later lunch schedule than everyone else in the school, but it was nice only having two periods to go to after lunch.

“Did you see how Charles and I rocked that presentation.” Madi said to Cal.

“Oh ya, I was riveted by your explanations of plant respiration and diffusion.” Cal said sarcastically. “It was nothing like Mary’s and my delightful discourse on decomposition.”

Madi laughed.

“You mean Mary’s discourse. All I saw you do is gape at her with starry eyes, fumble over everything you said, and have her clarify everything.” Madi said. “Plus, you two didn’t have the amazing Eulert! Right Charles?

Charley didn’t register what she said at first. He was too busy looking at Kait. She walked past them, following Carly into the girl’s bathroom.  Carly had a suspicious look in her eyes, and Kait mirrored the suspicious look, but also had a tint of shame. Charley wondered what they were up to, he hoped it was nothing serious.

“Charles?” Madi repeated, trying to catch his attention. Charley snapped back into the conversation.

“Huh? Right. Right.” He stammered. “Our little Eulert was a star today.”

“Know what, I think I’m going to give him up for adoption instead of aborting him. Maybe we can replant him in the garden behind your house Cal.” Madi said as they entered the lunch room.

“Eww, I don’t want yours and Charley’s little dirty offspring living in my garden.” Cal said.

Madi dramatically grabbed him by the arm and pouted puppy dog eyes at him.

“Aw, c’mon Cal.” She said. “You would want us just to kill little Eulert would you?” .

She batted her eyes. Cal let out a groan of exasperation.

“Alright fine. But don’t expect me to go out of my way to take care of him, or throw him birthday parties or anything like that.”

“Yay!” Madi exclaimed. She hugged Cal, and then latched onto Charley.

“Our baby is going to live!” She said as she squeezed Charley. He smiled and let out a chuckle.

“I’m so glad. I was worried for a while.” Charley said with false enthusiasm.

They got their food and went and sat down. The rest of lunch went by pleasantly, but Charley couldn’t shake off the feeling the Kait was up to something bad. The worry nested in his mind the rest of the school day. Fifteen minutes before school ended, he decided that he needed to get up straight away and find her. He needed to talk to her. However, that resolution fell through when five minutes before class was about to end, one of the freshmen in his multimedia class looked out the window and yelled “Gator!”

Thirty seconds later, his whole class was outside checking out the six-foot alligator that had wandered onto school grounds. Two minutes later, the rest of the school was out there. It wasn’t a big surprise to see an alligator around these parts.  They were just minutes away from murky waters. The mascot of their school was even the Gators. The faculty was trying to get everyone back inside, to no avail. The principal pulled out his phone to call the animal control.

“Everyone, animal control will be here in about fifteen minutes.” Principal Jones said. “School is over, so we need all of you to go home as quickly as possible.”

No one in the crowd budged. Charley saw a kid run into the crowd with a jump rope in hand. He handed it to the biggest kid in the school, Martin Budge, or Bub as everyone called him. Charley had never seen a kid as big as Bub. He had to have been at least 6’8” and have weighed 300lbs. Although, he was surprisingly agile, as Charley had witnessed when he went to his first football game last week. Bub grabbed the rope and stepped forward.

“No need to wait, I done got this.” He said.

Before Principal Jones could protest, Bub was tossing the jump rope toward the alligator, trying to get it to latch on.

“Mr. Budge, get away or I will have to take disciplinary action against you.” Principal Jones warned.

“Don’ worry ‘bout it Jonesy, ‘s just a little guy.” Bub said with a smile, still focused on the gator. “I go gator huntin’ wif my pops all the time.”

“Mr. Budge. Get back from the alligator now!” Principal Jones said sternly, but staying wearily back from the gator.

The alligator snapped! It latched onto the rope. Everyone in the crowd jumped, but no one more than Principal Jones. He even let out a little squeal. The student body started laughing.

“Everyone leave or I’ll have to take disciplinary action against all of you!” Principal Jones said out of embarrassment.

The laughter of the crowd died down, but no one left. Charley noticed that Kait was even there. She was standing a bit back from everyone, but still watching all the action. Something was different about her, she definitely wasn’t in a “normal” mindset. She was more “in her own head” than normal.

I’ll sneak my way over to her after this is all done. Charley thought.

Bub circled the gator, waiting for the best moment to strike. The gator followed Bub like a dog on a leash. The anticipation in the crowd was palpable. Principal Jones had even stepped back and watched with horror. Suddenly, Bub jumped on the back of the gator. The gator flailed and the jump rope fell out of Bub’s hand. Held the gator tight and smashed its tail between his legs it tried to thrash around. Bub was big enough to keep the gator easily under control. When the gator stopped whipping around, Bub pushed one hand down on the alligators snout to keep its mouth closed and slowly reached toward the side of the gator’s head to grab the rope. A little seventh grade girl next to Charley yipped with nervousness.  Bub intensely concentrated on the gator, then the rope, then the gator. Charley knew that the gator could snap at Bub at any moment. As his fingers touched the rope, he unknowingly loosened his grip the the gators tail. It snapped its tail and hit Bub across his stomach. His hand slipped off the gator’s snout. Faster than anyone could see, the gator snagged the arm that was reaching for the rope. Dark red blood squirted everywhere. Bub yelled out in intense pain. The whole crowd gasped and screamed. Principal Jones fainted. Charley looked the blood seeping from the gators mouth, dying the grass below a deep crimson. A young boy next to him threw up. Charley’s first urge was to run to help, but he had never encountered an alligator, he didn’t know what to do. The world glitched.

Bub pushed one hand down on the alligators snout to keep its mouth closed and slowly reached toward the side of the gator’s head to grab the rope. A little seventh grade girl next to Charley yipped with nervousness.  Bub intensely concentrated on the gator, then the rope, then the gator. Charley knew that the gator could snap at Bub at any moment. His fingers touched the rope and Charley saw Bub glitch. The rope was in his hand and his legs repositioned against the alligator’s hard scaly flesh. He quickly tied the rope around the alligator’s mouth and then rose his hands up in triumph.

The crowd cheered. Principal Jones almost fainted from relief. Bub took a couple of shallow bows, still sitting on the back of the gator. A minute or two later, animal control came. Bub jumped off the back of the gator and they hauled the gator off.  The crowd started to disperse. Charley locked on Kait and moved to talk to her.

Kait started to walk away, she was slow and had a slight limp for no apparent reason. She stopped to look at a coke can in the grass. She stared at as if she were extremely curious at why it was existing right there.. She stamped on it, and continued walking. Charley caught up with her. She looked at him.

“Oh, hey Charley!” She said. Her eyes were completely bloodshot.

“Kait, what’s up with you today?” Charley asked worriedly.

“Nothing Charley. I’m fine. You just gotta relax. Did someone tell you to come talk to me? Are you being force to talk with me right now?” She said lazily.

“No, no one. I was just worried about you. You’ve just seemed so distant lately and i was concerned about what you’ve been getting into.” Charley said. Kait didn’t seem like she was paying attention at all. She seemed lost inside her head, but Charley continued talking.

“I mean, I understand smoking a little weed here and there. I don’t like it, but I know you’ve been under a lot of pressure and stuff.  I just don’t want you to star…” Kait cut off Charley.

“Wait.” She said. She spun her head around and looked in every direction.

“What, what is it?” Charley asked.

“I gotta go.”. With that, she disappeared.

“Kait?” Charley said into the emptiness.

“Kait!?” Charley said louder. She was gone.

Dang her and her powers, thought Charley. She could be anywhere now. Charley sighed angrily. Why did she have to be getting into this stuff? Why couldn’t he just talk with her? He started to walk back toward the school. Mrs. Salome was probably already there to pick them up.  He’d have to come up with some excuse as to why Kait wasn’t with him. He hated covering for Kait, but her and her mom didn’t need anymore fuel in the fire of their deteriorating relationship.

He got to the front of the school. Most of the kids had already gone home. The old beat up truck was the only car in the pick up zone. Charley got in.

“Where’s Kait? Mrs. Salome asked.

Charley recited his precognitive lie.

“She has to stay to do an assignment in our history class. She told me she’d get a ride home later.”

“Oh, ok. I tried calling both of you, neither one of you answered.” She said.

Charley pulled out his phone, indeed he missed one call from her. He must not have noticed.

“Oh, sorry. I got held up talking with some friends. Did you hear about the alligator?” Charley tried to distract from the lies.

“Yeah, I’m glad no one got hurt. That could have been dangerous.” She responded.

“Yeah. It was pretty cool though.” Charley smirked.

Mrs. Salome shook her head.

“Whatever.” She said with a smile. She started the truck and they drove home.

Excerpt from “From Life to Timeless Flight”, an autobiography by Lee Salome.

I do not resent the pain of my childhood. For, without it, I would not be the man I became. I have learned through the atrocities I faced. I have grown from the losses I have experienced. To fully describe my unconventionally painful early years, I have been gifted a strong memory. I remember bits and pieces of my life in its entirety. However, I will start with the most vivid earliest memory I can recall.

I must have been three or four years of age. Darkness was a large part of my life, which I loved. When I was in the dark, I was safe, I was not in pain, I was not scared. My handlers kept me locked in a small hospital-like room, with only a small bed, a chair, and plenty of equipment with which they used to poke me and monitor me. There was a complete absence of windows and any other substantial source of light. Whenever the people in the white coats entered my room, a flood of light blinded my eyes. I remember being very hungry in this particular first instance when they entered my cell. I do not remember being hungry all of the time while I was kept in that dark room, but it feels like it was common. They grabbed me, I did not struggle, but they still were rough. They always seemed so angry to my young eyes, always harshly speaking to me in Chinese. I picked up words here and there, and I recall understanding them, when they told me where to go and what to do, but I did not start fully talking until much later in life.

Fear welled up inside of me. I knew where they were talking me and my stomach filled with dread. We entered into a large room. It was white and filled with light. I squinted and grunted at the light. This bright room was the source of the fear and pain and anger of my childhood. There were machines that idly whirred about me. My handlers wore strange glasses and masks to cover their faces. There was a panel of glass that housed my gods. They spoke through an intercom that boomed through the room. As a child, I knew the intercom as their natural voices. They commanded my handlers with a loud voice as to what to do to me. They initiated the torment, and they decided when it was over.  A single chair that looked like a common dentist’s chair sat in the middle of the room. My handlers hoisted me onto it. The chair was hard and cold. I laid back on my own accord. The handlers strapped down my hands and feet. An older man with a giant, pointed nose leaned over me, wielding a tall needle. I squirmed in my seat, but I didn’t let out a sound. No matter how many times I encountered the needle, I never got accustomed to it’s prick. The cold tip pressed against the meaty area of my thigh. I bit my lip as the skin broke and the syrupy sting slowly flowed up my leg. He removed the needle and dabbed the intrusion wound with a cotton ball. The second needle was presented. An IV. He tapped my antecubital vein and slowly slid the metal tip through my skin. The needle was removed but the tube stayed. A dark dye traveled into my body. He then proceeded to place round white stickers all over me, which I now know were used to monitor my vitals, brainwaves and any other attribute they wanted to test.

My handlers stepped back and focused on the gods behind the glass, awaiting their orders.

“Forced time dilation reflex test.” The voice exploded across the room, speaking in Chinese. I must have experienced the test before because I remember feeling a sense of contempt. However, this was the first time they changed the last word of the instructions of this specific test.

“Bàngqiú.” The voice sounded. My handler’s nodded and quickly started setting up the experiment.

I didn’t know what that meant. Usually they had ended had said “Forced time dilation reflex test, wǎngqiú”, wǎngqiú meaning tennis ball. My heart started racing that the unknown.

They wheeled out the machine and placed it a few meters in front of me. The machine had a tubed shaft that extended out from a swiveled head that was attached to a base. They loaded white balls into the it, as opposed to the yellow ones that they used to use. I didn’t know what to expect. It seemed like it was the same as before, but whenever something changed, it was never for the good.

A handler loosened my arm restraints. It was not enough for me to slip out, but it was enough to give my torso extra mobility. The handlers finished their preparations and stood at attention, facing the gods. The voice again rumbled the room, calling me by the only name I ever knew as a child.

“Subject. Slow the projectiles to avoid being hit. If you perform this successfully, the test will end. Remember, you must focus to slow the projectiles.”

My blood ran chill. I could hear the sound of my blood pounding in my head. I felt helpless. No matter how hard I tried, I could never do what they said. I didn’t know why they kept on asking it of me. Despite all the fear and despair, a I do recall a sense of relief. Out of all the tests that I had been through, this was one of the least painful. The yellow balls that typically were shot out of the machine stung, but I must have already endured much worse.

The white balls can’t be worse. I had thought to myself before my pessimistic reality kicked in. It will be worse. It is alway worse.

A cold sweat formed on my hands. The chair rose to an upright position. My handlers signaled that they were ready. The gods looked down upon me with emotionless faces. They did not care what might become of me. They had only wanted results.

A lump choked me.

“Initiate the test!” The voice roared.

The first white ball was shot out. I squinted and braced for impact. It hit me on the left side of my face. The pain was excruciating. My eyes welled up with tears, but I did not let out one sound. These white balls were not the same as the yellow balls before. I now know they were baseballs. They were hard and stung as well as pounded. My face started swelling immediately.

I opened up my wet eyes to see one of the gods make a motion to a handler. The handler swiftly slapped me on my other cheek and told me to focus. I gulped and tried to do as I was told. I was so perplexed as to why they wanted me to focus and slow the balls. I had tried in the past. It never worked. I used my energy to focus.

“Again!” The gods yelled.

I took a deep breath. The machine whirred and jetted out another ball. I tried to make it slow its speed, but to no avail. I tried to dodge at it at the last minute but the ball hit me in the neck. My breath was pinned inside of me for a moment before I coughed and let it out. A lump formed in my neck, making respiration difficult.

“Again!” Sounded the voice.

“No!” I wanted to scream, but I refrained from making a sound. The machine whirred and another white demon exploded out of the chamber. I wanted so badly for it to slow down, but no matter my desire, the ball struck me on my forehead. A piercing ring blared in my ears. My head throbbed.

“Again!”

The machine whirred. It was hard for me to even pretend to focus. I motioned to my left. The ball pelted my ear, crushing it and amplifying the ringing.

“Again!”

The machine whirred. I pulled my whole body right. My shoulder was battered.

“Again!”

The machine whirred. My left side of my face was hit again.

“Again!”

The balls fired at me, each time inflicting me with a pain so intense, I could scarcely bear it. However, never once did I let out a sound. I had learned at that very young age to not show emotion. Emotions only worsened my situation.

They ran the test until a machine that was attached to my body through one of the white stickers started beeping wildly. My heart was racing so fast that I could not differentiate one beat from the next. My face felt like it was twice as big and sagging to one side. Every breath, every slight twitch of my head, every blink sent pain throughout my upper body. The features of my tiny face had melded into one swollen agglomeration. I could only see a small sliver out of both of my eyes.

“Subject. You have failed.” The gods said. “Return him.”

My handlers removed the white monitors on my body, pulled out the tube in my arm and unfastened my restraints. They brought my off the chair and balanced me on my feet. I could barely stand, even though my lower half did not receive one blow. The energy from my whole body was gone.

They pushed me out the door and into the hallway toward my cell. I scampered as fast as my little, energyless legs could. I relied on my handlers to guide me, it was difficult to see. On my way, however, I did see a man. The man that would be my savior. He was wearing grey, baggy clothes and carried a mop. When I first saw him, through my squint, I shied away. I did not recognize the device that he held, I only assumed it would be another tool to damage me.

My fears completely vanished when the man pulled back his mouth and showed his teeth at me.  I did not know what he was doing. I had never before seen such an expression. No one had ever smiled at me. I had never had the need to smile myself. I was taken back at the comfort this strange gesture gave me, a feeling I had not yet felt. That moment was the first time that I felt hope. It was the first time I felt joy, The agony of the previous hours fled from my mind and were replaced by the ragged teeth of this cheerful bearded man. A bearded man with deep yellow eyes.