Altered

Chapter 6

I stepped off the bus onto the familiar soil of Toronto.

I nearly cried at the sight of my old favourite restaurant. I had some money left over so I made my way over. Inside the sweet aroma of pancakes drifted through and I hopped into a booth waiting to be served. I didn't even pick up the menu.

When a server came over I ordered my old favourite, chocolate chip pancakes with extra whip cream. I waited for my food and dug in greedily swallowing every last bite. I licked the whip cream off my lips and groaned in satisfaction.

I paid the bill and with a few dollars left caught a cab to my parents house. Hopefully they were still there and just thought I ran away. Though I was pretty sure that I had heard about my missing persons report.
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I walked up the porch with apprehension. When I knocked I waited a few moments before my mother opened the door.

She looked sad and drained but when her eyes saw my face they grew wide.

"Is-is that y-you Car?" I nodded and a tear fell from my eye. She crushed me in a hug and I in turn have her one back.

"Richard! Get out here! She's home," mom yelled at the living room. Soon enough dad came out and stopped in his tracks. I ran forward into his open arms and tackle hugged him.

"You're a lot stronger than I remember you!" He laughed and I just hugged him more.

How was I going to tell them... It could go two ways.

One, they accept that I'm no longer completely human and think that it's fine I live here.
Or two, they think I'm a freak and kick me out notifying the police that I'm not completely human.

Oh well, here goes nothing.

"I have something to show you guys," I said as I pulled away from dad's embrace.

"Anything Car," mom said and held my hands.

Time to drop the bomb.

"I was kidnapped. I didn't run away. The people who kidnapped me are currently dead or deaf. I'm not completely human anymore. They did something to my genes while I was there and I can do some pretty weird things..." I said it in one breath and pretty fast but judging by the looks on their faces, they heard the gist of it.

"What do you mean 'weird things'..." Mom looked like she was about to cry.

"I can show you here but I might break something. Can we go to the basement?" I asked looking at the floor.

"Yeah, anything you need," I smiled at my dad. At least they were open minded.

I led them to the basement and when I thought I was ready I looked to them.

"You may want to back up, this could get messy," they listened and backed up.

Here goes nothing. Using telekinesis, I lifted the couch an easy 5 feet off the ground by only raising my hand.

That's when they fainted.
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I paced the basement trying to figure out what I was going to say when they woke up.

My thoughts were cut short by a gasp. I turned to see my mother sitting straight up and looking at the wall in front of her. She slowly turned to me and looked at me.

"Was that real," she looked in doubt.

I nodded my head. She sighed. No crying, or screaming, or fainting, or trying to expel some kind of demon from me. Just a sigh. I was shocked to say the least.

"Is that it," she didn't seem frightened at all.

"No. That's not even the least of it," I prayed she didn't hate me.

Another gasp signalled that dad was awake. I stared at the floor and knotted my hands awkwardly.

"Was that-" he began but my mom cut him off.

"Yes, and it's not even the least of the worries," she smiled a bit at me and I rushed forward to hug her.

"I thought you'd hate me. I was so scared," I mumbled into her shoulder.

"Human or not, we still love you," my father ruffled my hair and I smiled even more. That may sound like he's talking to an alien but I already told them I wasn't all human.

"So, how about you just tell us the rest," mom suggested. "That way we don't faint again."

I laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's probably for the best."

I then told them about everything that happened in the last year, about how I have all these powers, and about how I wanted to be enrolled into high school but under a different last name so the people who may be looking for me don't find me. They agreed almost immediately and I hugged them again.

Could I ask for anything better? Yes. And her name is Alice.
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My parents had called Alice's parents and told them that I had ran away because of how I was treated at school. They believed the story without any hesitation.

They told them that I wanted to come over to see her, but not to tell her it was me. So they got her to the living room and waited for me to get there.

Now, I'm walking up her driveway hoping she still remembers me as what I was before. I hesitated before knocking the special knock we used to use. The door flew open and Alice came tumbling out. She tackle hugged me while we both laughed and cried.

"Don't ever do that to me again. Don't you ever run away again! If you do I'll have to hunt you down and drag you back here just to tie you up in my basement," she smiled and hugged me while we were still on the wooden deck. I missed her so much.

"You don't have to worry about that. Though I don't regret what happened, it's never going to happen again," I was telling the truth, just using a different context than what she was thinking.

"Come on, I need to show you something," she helped me up and led me inside. When I stepped into the house the smell of vanilla hit me and I smiled, it was the exact same as I remember it. She pulled me to her room which was exactly the same as before. Inside sat a ball of fuzz on her bed. It poked it's head up when it heard us.

"Come here Carson! Come and see your new bestest pal," she pay her knees to ask the dog to some. It obeyed and a clumsy German Shepard puppy jumped off the bed to nearly faceplant.

"Awww, he's so cute Alice! When did you get him? His so big for a puppy," I kneeled down to stuck my hand out which he sniffed and then walked forward. I pet his head and picked him up to sit him down in my lap. He curled up and stayed laying there for a few minutes.

"We got him a month ago. He really is big for his age, and he's even more clumsy than a puppy his age. It's funny seeing him trip over his own feet all the time," she giggled and bent down to pet him. He barked and pranced around the room while tripping on himself. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

"Alright, let's go see my parents. They've missed having you around," she pulled me away from the puppy and dragged me to the living room where her parents were sitting.

"Hi guys," I started awkwardly. "as you know, I ran away because of how I was treated at school, but I'm back now. So yaaayyyy," I was almost whispering and when I said yay, I was doing jazz hands.

"Come here and give us a hug you big moron," her mom grinned and held her arms open, beckoning a hug.

I raced over and hugged her so hard I thought I nearly crushed her. Super strength, gosh dang it! I eased up and let her go.

"Is it just me or have you gotten stronger?" She looked stunned.

You have no idea.

"It must just be you, if anything I got even weaker," I hoped the believed me.

"It doesn't matter, I want my hug too," her dad interrupted and I raced over to give him a hug to, being careful not to crush him like I did to Alice's mom.

"Thank you guys so much for letting me come back and not kicking me out," I smiled sincerely and they just shook their heads.

"We could never kick you out. You were like a second daughter," her mom said and grabbed my hand. "Were just glad you're back. That's all that matters now."

So am I. So am I.