Harrison went back home in bitter defeat. Tac let him go, but he knew he was still bound by her chains. This was not something he could easily quit or run away from. If he went to the police, then his hard-ass of a school would find out, then he would get kicked out. This was different from the gangs he and Jericho would mess with as stupid, naïve teenagers. He doubted he could even call those gangs. Someone died this time, and he witnessed it happen without doing a thing.

Harrison sluggishly entered his home. He needed to use both hands to keep his aim steady. He missed the keyhole repeatedly until it miraculously found its way in. Inside, he was not met with either of his parents, so he knew he was all alone. Good, he thought. Nobody to bother me.

Harrison entered his room and collapsed onto his bed. His eyes wandered aimlessly at the ceiling, his eyesight unable to focus or adjust properly.

“You’re fine, Harrison.” He reassured himself. “You got this.”

Harrison rolled over, grabbed the nearest pillow, and shouted into it. His screams ran coarse, barely muffled by the stuffed linen. The objects in his room hurled around him, his rage taking partial control. He allowed his powers to run loose, so he could blow off some steam. Sure, there were more productive, healthier ways of him going about this, but when someone possessed powers like he did, this was the type of thing to do.

Books, papers, clothes, and other miscellaneous items spun like planets attracted to the sun’s mass. He still had enough decency to leave his laptop he bought for $1,500 untouched. Even in his angst, he was smart enough to protect the expensive piece of equipment.

Harrison pressed his head against his pillow again and shouted, “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

How was he supposed to get out of this mess? What did he honestly expect to happen from all this?

His burner phone floated in front of him. Tac’s taunts continued to shroud his mind, and in an instant, he snapped the cheap plastic in half. With his head still buried in his pillow, and screams still filling his room, he crushed the circuit board and the rest of the phone’s parts repeatedly until it turned into dust. He waved the floating particles away and they disappeared never to be seen again.

Harrison stopped. He readjusted himself and began to slow his breathing. He breathed slow and steadily, and he started to relax. The objects in the space around him followed suit, shakily rotating around the room until they floated statically in the air, transfixed in place. His rage-induced thoughts steadily went away and were soon replaced by other thoughts.

His mind wandered, looking for ways to get out. He began to formulate ways out of this mess, to persuade himself that everything was still within his control.

Without realizing, Harrison had closed his eyes, his ideas now in their prime. He sifted out the good and the bad, and when he was done with that, he sifted out the good and the very good. Ultimately, he was left with one good and two very-good plans. He knew he could do better, but this was the best he could come up with for now.

From a few feet away, Harrison’s real phone turned on. He waited patiently for it to boot up, and he maneuvered a floating stylus to type in the emergency telephone number. He waited and considered his options again. Was this the correct plan? Harrison lay the stylus and phone gently down from the air, careful not to allow the two objects to interact with one another.

Bzzzz. Bzzz. Bzzzz.

The phone flung into Harrison’s hand. The name Cho displayed on the screen.

“Hey, what’s up? Are you busy?”

“Hey,” Harrison said. He looked around the messy room. “Not at all. Why?”

“I need to talk to you about something,” Jericho said. “Not over the phone though.”

“Fine with me,” Harrison said. If they bugged his burner phone, then they probably bugged his real phone too.

“Meet me at my house?” Jericho asked.

“Your house?” Harrison thought about whether he had gone to Jericho’s house after he joined the criminal org as a drug dealer. Considering how thorough the information they had on Harrison was, the thought did not matter. Even if they did not know about Jericho they could just as easily find out. Knowing this, he still opted for a different location. “Let’s meet up at the library.”

“Sounds good,” Jericho said. “I’ll see you there.”

***

Harrison scouted the library, making certain no one had followed him. Perhaps, he was paranoid, but he was not taking chances. The thought that they also bugged his real phone intruded his mind. He figured he would stop worrying, and finally sat at his and Jericho’s usual table. It had been a year or so since they were last here, back when they were in high school.

He was glad that Jericho had called when he did. It was clearly a sign for him to think over his plan some more. As he waited for Jericho, he visualized and wrote out the plans he had thought out, and instantly realized how terrible they were.

“That won’t do,” he said. He shredded the paper into forty simultaneous cuts; a repeating pattern of one horizontal, one vertical, and two diagonal cuts. The paper confetti sat in front of him waiting to be impatiently tossed into the air. He forced the paper shreddings into a shape of a ball and slid it into his jacket to be discarded at home.

“Sorry for the wait,” Jericho said. He looked different, happier even. He raised up and shook a bandaged hand. “Was busy with this.”

“What happened to your hand?”

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Jericho said. “Guess.”

“You cut yourself gardening,” Harrison said sarcastically. “Or from cooking?”

“Correct!”

“Really?” Harrison asked.

“No, you idiot,” Jericho said. “I got my ability.”

“What?” Harrison said. He never thought Jericho would obtain his ability, not even a little. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Jericho said. He hushed his voice and looked around. “I can heal myself.”

Harrison followed Jericho’s queue even though he searched the library already and found it just as empty as any Tuesday night, and quietly asked “You can heal?”

“I can heal!” Jericho jumped in place landing just silent enough to not cause a disturbance, even if they were alone.

“You’re lying. Show me.” Harrison said.

“I’m actually all tuckered out right now,” Jericho said. “I’ve been practicing a lot lately and testing my limits, and it does appear that I do have a limit.”

“Wait, you found out already? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I got excited that’s all. I called you because my ability is all tapped out. Even when I rest, I instantly go back to practicing, and it disappears again, and I’m left with unhealed cuts.”

“How long has that been happening?”

“It started today,” Jericho said. “I grew restless just sitting around, so I called you. Having cuts on my hands is such a weird thing for me now.”

“I see.” Harrison sighed. He sighed again when he realized that he said a phrase that Tac liked to say. Then he sighed again for sighing. He held his head in place with his fingers excluding the pinky.

“I’m guessing you don’t want advice about anything then?” Harrison said. He exaggeratedly popped his head back.

“Not really no” Jericho said.

“I’m just here to pass the time then?”

“Yes,” Jericho joked. “How’s life going?”

“Jericho, I’m not some back up bitch for when you’re bored,” Harrison said.

Harrison and Jericho both let out a laugh that transitioned into a silent chuckle.

Harrison thought about whether he should tell Jericho about the criminal org. “Life’s good. Just busy with school.”

Harrison surveyed the room. Tac most likely did not have anyone surveilling him, but the possibility was not out of the question. Harrison breathed in and focused his ability onto the exits and windows of the building. He pushed on them slightly, enough to feel pressure applied against them. If someone were to open or close a door or window, an opposing pulling force would notify him if anyone were to pass through. There was no need to lock down the place, only to keep track of the amount of people coming and going.

The table Harrison and Jericho sat was away from any windows, so nobody could spy on them from afar. The open room they were in was sectioned off as well, so somebody would have to enter from either the entrance or emergency exit. The only other thing he had to worry about was other abilities, but that was a variable he could not contain, so he let it be.

“Something up?” Jericho said.

“Have you told anyone about this?” Harrison asked.

Jericho’s face turned serious. “Only my mom, and you. My doctor knows I have an ability, but not what.”

Healing abilities were rare, and depending on which one Jericho had, his could be even rarer. Jericho probably already knew these things.

“I told my mom not to tell anyone,” Jericho said. “Honestly, it scares me thinking about the type of danger I could be in.”

“What are you planning on doing?”

“Well, I have a reputation of being ability-less, so I’m sticking with that.”

“That sounds like a good choice, but what if people find out?” Harrison asked.

“Don’t know,” Jericho said. “That sounds like a future me problem.”

Harrison said, “I’m in some trouble right now too. It’s going to sound stupid, but I was doing research on Delton and the Gomez twins, and now I’m involved with a criminal organization.”

“Who?” Jericho said. “Wait, I know them. You’re still on about that?”

“I am.” Harrison said. “I started selling drugs so I could get somewhat involved in the underground world. I didn’t expect to learn much honestly, but there’s been talk about someone that can negate other people’s abilities. I think that person is somehow involved with Delton and the Gomez twins and I want to find them.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Jericho said, a nervousness in his voice.

“Yeah, it’s scary, I know,” Harrison said. “The small-time gang turns out to be a part of a larger criminal organization. Who would have thought that? Not me.”

“Why are you doing this?” Jericho said. “Criminal justice genes?”

“I don’t know,” Harrison said. “All I do know is that I’m infatuated with figuring this all out, and—” He hesitated to answer. “—and it’s the only thing giving my life meaning right now.”

Jericho nodded and processed the information. “Look. I’m not your parents, but please stay safe. From the sound of it, it appears you have everything under control.”

“They know where I go to school and where my parents work.” Harrison cringed as he said the words.

“Really? You’re screwed. How’d you mess that one up?”

“I was careless.”

“Yeah, you were.”

“I’m also a bodyguard now.”

“Bodyguard?” Jericho laughed. “That sounds like some high school Harrison type of stuff.”

“Yeah,” Harrison said.

Despite wanting to tell Jericho, Harrison kept his mouth shut about watching a man get shot right before his eyes, seeing blood and pieces of skin splattering on his body. He did not want to tell Jericho how he washed it all off in a shower just minutes later, and how he struggled to cope with the whole ordeal. He did not want to put that type of worry onto his friend.

“Listen,” Harrison said. “It seems like you’re busy with your new ability. I want you to keep as much distance as you can away from me, which shouldn’t be a problem for you. I’ll let you know when I’ve handled things, and when the situation is settled. I don’t know how I’m going to handle it, but I will.”

“Okay,” Jericho said. “You better come back alive.”

Harrison clasped hands with Jericho, their eyes connecting.

“I will,” Harrison said. “Good luck, man,”

“Good luck to you too. Stay safe.”

“Next time I see you, you’ll show me how you perfected that ability of yours?”

“You know it.”