HERO

17 / Honesty

Thomas arrived at the alley where he'd met Bren. He thought he'd be relieved but, instead, he only felt under more pressure. Each passing moment left its mark on his back. A weight. A target. He knew he could relieve it quickly by drinking the vials, and he knew he should stop putting it off, but Bren would help. Bren would...

Where was she? The alley was empty. Or looked to be. Thomas hadn't seen her the day before, so that didn't mean she wasn't there again, hiding. That might have been the only time she'd ever been to the alley, and it was pure coincidence that they met. He was abruptly sure there was no way he was going to see her again. He may as well just carry out his plan and join her and the rest of the world.

Except then he'd be one of them. He had to be. Needed to be. But didn't want to be.

What he wanted didn't matter, however. He also didn't want to go insane or be taken away from his father. Iain was all the boy had.

"Hey, kiddo."

Thomas felt the bubble of tension choking his insides pop. Finally, he felt the relief he should have already experienced.

"Hey, Bren."

"You're back."

"Looks like I am."

"You miss me that much?"

"Yeah, completely."

Thomas was smiling and he could tell from the girl's voice that she was too. He was pleased. It seemed he'd interpreted their previous conversation correctly. He just hoped he was right about the rest.

"So you should."

Thomas nodded. He didn't know where to look. Bren's voice sounded as if it were coming from all around him. The alley was too wide for it to echo, but it didn't sound like an echo anyway. Her voice was clear, he just couldn't pin point it.

"Where are you?" he called.

"Oh, I'm everywhere."

"You can't be. You're a Cham... You don't have that power."

"Maybe I can do all sorts of things and I don't like to advertise it."

Thomas thought that unlikely. Most people, even if they didn't actually advertise their powers, still showed them off in some way. It was natural to do so. Once you had them, you couldn't help but play.

"Maybe so," he said. "So just show me you."

The wall rippled directly in front of Thomas and Bren appeared. The colouring from the brick swirled away, leaving her skin its natural dark tone. Again, the fire remained in her eyes for a little while.

"You're weird," she said.

"Thanks," he answered. "But why?"

"No one ever wants to see just me."

"What do you mean."

"Well," she began. "You'd think, with everyone having some power or other, it'd be normal, right?"

Thomas nodded. As sad as it was, it was the truth. The new normal.

"Not so. Me trying to use my power fully, like pushing myself to see what I can do, it was a joke. I may as well have been in an old circus freak show."

"Why's that?" Thomas asked. Once the words were already leaving his mouth, he realised he should have been more tactful. She hated being labelled, so he was sure she'd dislike being seen in such a way.

"My dad. He liked to show me off. He said he was proud, but he was just looking for the glory of creating someone who could do things as well as me. I was his very own party trick."