My Superhero

Chapter 26

Dark didn't give me much to go on, as the Crimson Witch continued to delve deeper into his mind, he was concerned that he might spill all of our deepest secrets. I like to believe he doesn't have anything to hide from me and that everything he's told me about his life is true.

As I encrypted the coordinates, I found the place where the satellites are stored. Breaking indiscreetly, as I try to stop setting the alarms off. If I do, I have a feeling Dark will come looking for me.

The building is small, but it controls everything connected to the city to the rest of the world. I climbed in through a latch on the roof, checking every corner for any guards who might emerge. But it was quiet, too quiet.

I made it into the control room, where there were bodies on the floor, and I could tell it was all Dark's doing. The black veins on their neck and their eyes wide open when he suffocates and paralyses them. They look dead, but he can reverse with his powers, and they'll be back to normal. It's not his fault; she made him do it.

There is a lot of lights flashing, all of which are labelled with numbers. I'm not sure what either of them does, and I'm thinking about any booby traps she may have set up.

I close my eyes and let my mind clear, "What would Dark do?" I ask myself. I search the deepest depths of my mind for an answer, imagining him here and how he would set things up. I see him there, turning the dial to three, flicking the green switch upwards, and typing 25-04, my birthday. Then he presses a blue button and stands back to watch the machines do their job.

I replicate any move he took, but I proceed with caution, and a note on the computer confirms it's deactivated. I hope that is it. With no signs of life, I make it back to the layer.

My next task is to reclaim Dark and defeat the Crimson Witch. Each day she has him, the stronger she grows, the more powerful Dark can become if his powers are misused.

I drift off to sleep, dreaming of something other than Dark and Crimson together. I somehow enter a room that I'm familiar with, where Dark and Mr Flames are conversing. His blazer was tailored to fit his broad shoulders, short hair and neatly trimmed moustache around his upper lip.

'This is going to be a difficult mission Dark, and you have to be ready for it...' He stands tall, admiring the city through the floor to ceiling windows.

'...And when the time comes....If I have to make a choice, you must take Scarlett and yourself away.'

'I can't do that.' Dark said with his eyes filled with fear.

'You have no choice.' He turns around, 'I've trained you both enough to be brave even when losing the people you love.'

'Why are you saying this?'

'Because I can trust you. Scarlett, she's nearly there, but her emotions can get in the way.... I know you have the chance to change her feelings.'

Dark looks at him in horror, 'I'm not doing it....I will not manipulate Red and her emotions. That is the one thing I will not do.'

Mr Flames gives him a slight smile as he walks across the room.

'You know, when she came to me with you, I was hesitant.....a boy, no remembrance of his mother or father, left alone in the street. Able to move the sky at night, detect peoples personalities, and read the plan of someone's mind. Your type of powers could have fallen into the wrong hands.'

'It hasn't....and I'm grateful for it.'

He returns to meet Dark eye-to-eye. 'And you must never share who you really are. You understand me?..' Dark's eyes move to the floor. '...Never share with her what you told me....Like I said, I need you to take care of her for me.'

He looks back at Mr Flames. 'Our secret is safe....I promise I'll never tell her who I am.'

Everything faded away and transported me into another room that I've never seen before. The pure white walls and soft cream carpet are so pristine and homely. I see two people, a man and woman, tied up into a chair with their mouths covered, begging for their lives. In front of them, I notice a younger version of Dark. His eyes were welling up with tears.

'Please close your eyes...' Dark orders them to, and the female looks at him, trying to get him to reconsider. '...Please, I don't want you to see this.'

He goes up to the male first and whispers, 'I'm sorry, dad.' and looks into his eyes, gripping his throat, as he watches his powers enter his system, turning his body cold and gloomy, the black veins in his neck all popping out.

The light behind his farther eyes disappears and turns black. The woman goes into hysterics and sobs even harder, pleading with Dark not to harm her. I'm sure that's his mother because he looks a lot like her.

'Mom, don't..... You're not making this easy....' He looks at her and reaches up to her neck with his hand. '... I'm sorry.'

The tears stream down both their faces as he fills her body with darkness and emptiness. No spirit in a body is a dead one. Both of his parents lie there, lifeless.

Dark told me that his parents died in a car crash, and they didn't suffer because it instantly happened. If this is the thing I'm not supposed to know, I wish I didn't. If I knew then, I would of never let him join us. That's why he's always been hesitant to tell me about his past because he destroyed his own. This isn't my mind. It can't be.

Disturbed by it all, I awoke to see Dark standing next to my bed with pink-coloured eyes, making me jump out of my skin. His hand is outstretched, forming a telepathic connection with my mind. He was the one who drew me into those nightmares. She's given him access to the dark corners of his mind and a power he's never used since that night.

'Dark?' I call for him.

'Red....' I hear a noise across the room, and I see a battered and bruised version of him. '... I'm not a monster, I swear.'

Seeing two of him puts me into a dizzy spell, and I don't know what to believe.

'Then why?' I ask.

'Because people were after me for my powers, for what I can do with them. My parents always moved to a new city to start again for me. I couldn't let them do that anymore. They were my weak link, so I thought it would be best to end their life for them, then let them suffer all the time.... that's why I ran, and that's why I couldn't tell you.'

'No, that's not true.' As he talks, I return my gaze to the other Dark, 'They were in my way, they ruined everything....like you've done for me.

He grabs my throat, and I'm afraid he'll do to me what Dark did to his parents.

'NO!' The real Dark lunges at the imposter and crashes out of the window, smashing the glass with him.

Then I really wake up, and the window beside me has shattered, just as it had in my dream. I jump out and scan the city to see if I can locate them. There was nothing but the wind whistling in the night.

When his hands were on my neck for a split second, I saw darkness, misery, cold, and death. It would be chaotic if these powerful forces fell into the hands of the Crimson Witch. She must have worked out a way to get further into my head, but Dark is still there to stop her. She was on the verge of killing me. Next time, I fear, Dark may not be there to save me.