Chapter 34.

Give and Take.

Damien Reyes.

Time/Area: July 31st, 2013. NYC

The bus had been driving for fifteen minutes now. The squeaks of the bus breaks, the chatter of kids, and the ambient noises of the city revolved around me like a wasps’ nest. The presence of Henry Mores annoyed me more than a little bit, and I found myself glaring out the window whenever I thought of him being here too much. Throughout elementary school, he would mainly just pick on Jason for some reason, but because of that I got dragged into his bullying a lot. I didn’t know what was up with the guy, but what he said earlier this morning removed any of that ‘at home trauma’ sympathy that people typically try to give bullies. I knew that was harsh to say, but I honestly couldn’t care less about Henry’s personal issues right now.

I recalled what he and his little gang had said,

“Hilarious…pretending to be sad…losers.”

I was clenching my fists again by the time Jason’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Hey, you good?” He asked from beside me. I looked at him. He’d taken out the earbuds he had in, setting his phone down to address me,

“You were like…glaring murderously at that street lamp outside.”

I scratched my head, laughing apologetically, “Uh, sorry,” I said, “Just thinking about the unexpected company.”

Jason shrugged, sighing, “Yeah…well, hopefully he doesn’t-agh!”

I frowned when Jason suddenly stopped speaking, watching in concern as he arched his back and clutched his stomach.

“Are you okay, Jason-”

“No.” He stated, sagging back into the seat as he laughed with absolutely no humor, “No, probably not.”

I resisted the urge to ask what was wrong, because I knew exactly what was wrong.

I wasn’t the bad guy here…

“I…Jason-”

“It’s not your fault,” Jason stopped me, and I wondered if he had heard my thoughts just now, “But I erm…the feeding thing like…really hurt.”

I cursed myself for feeling shock rise within me,

“I already knew.”

“D-don’t worry.” I tried to say, “I’ll just…take a nap and ask Terry about it!”

Jason opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but then clearly thought against it as he just nodded, “I…” He sighed, “Sure, whatever.”

It took a minute, but I was eventually able to force myself to sleep.

-

“So you’re on a..Field Trip..huh?”

I glared, the void of my brain wrapping itself around me for what felt like the hundredth time, “Y-Yea I guess. Why didn’t you tell me it hurt Jason to feed on him?”

Terry’s large, monsterish form stared blankly at me, “What? Issues with feeding again?”

I continued, “Y-you didn’t tell me that Jason could get-!!”

Terry suddenly let out a laugh, the sound scraping against my bones as his eyes’ red glow burned with fury. I could still feel the disorienting feeling of this space forming around us, and it didn't help me process Terry’s rising anger.

“I’m going to stop you right there.” He said, stalking towards me. I backed up, feeling fear rush through me.

“We are more connected now than anyone else on this planet.” Terry said, “And you expect me to not know when you-are-LYING?!”

I fell onto the pitch black ground as Terry started his rant,

“I am getting sick and tired of your crap, Damien. I am trying…very hard to atone for my actions towards you, and I will admit that you may have not known feeding would hurt Jason, but after? You knew exactly what he was going through and you did NOTHING!”

I looked down at my hands, knowing that everything Terry said was right. There was no point in hiding things from him.

“I…I know.” I muttered, causing Terry’s glow to soften,

“I…I’m sorry.”

Terry shook his head, “Don’t apologize to me, because I really don’t care who you feed on so long as you continue to do it. That’s why I told you don’t feed on people twice within a short period of time. I thought it went without saying that there was a possibility of death.”

I just nodded.

“Aura feeding is an alternative, Damien,” Terry continued, “Not some solution everyone walks away happy with. Like I said, it’s a give and take.”

“Will he be okay?”

Terry’s eyes dimmed, “I believe so, but you may have taken more than necessary by accident, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the pain stayed.”

-

A long moment passed before I said something else.

“So…when should I start feeding again.”

“Anytime now is fine,” Terry sighed, “But if you meant all your talk about drawing lines, then try to be more aware of whose fear you consume.”

Got it.

I moved on to the other concern,

“This burning in my back…” I started, “Do you know what it is? I thought it was you…or maybe the liquid in my back is acting weird-”

Terry slowly shook his head, “I’m afraid it isn’t me,” He said, “It probably is the…ringing liquid in your back. Our connection isn’t one sided yet, so it’s still operating just fine, but I don’t know its other uses.”

“Great..” I thought sarcastically, “So still nothing concrete.”

“Got anything about the uh..superspee-”

“How many times must I tell you that I do not know how the Excess Abilities truly work?!” Terry interrupted.

I coughed, “you mean you’ve never used one before?”

Terry sighed, “I’ve used one, but it’s too complicated for your usage..At least until I can find a way to explain it.”

My frown deepened, “Oh come on-!”

“Bye.”

—-------

“Dude, we're here!” Jason hissed, shaking my shoulder briefly.

I groggily sat up, wiping my eyes before looking out the window to my right.

We were in a heavily wooded area, and the bus was parked alongside the sidewalk.

“Uh, where are we?” I asked, not wanting to go through the effort to mentally piece together the city.

Jason shrugged, “Inwood Park, I think… H-hey, what did Terry say?”

I sighed, “He doesn’t know what it is.”

Jason shivered, “Creepy,”

Just then, something like bells resounded throughout my head. Not quite in my ears, but literally in my brain,

“And what about the other thing?” Jason’s thoughts came and exited my mind in what felt like echoes, each reverberation bringing its own needle of guilt.

I looked at him, “It’s…” I looked up at the ceiling, the sound of kids getting up to stretch their legs floating around us like a bubble as I tried to compose my words,

“It’s my fault.”

Jason didn’t say anything, so I took it as a sign to continue,

“I’m really s-sorry-”

“What’s with you and apologizing?” Jason interrupted me, “I was the one who didn’t tell you...I don’t know- I guess I just felt...useless.”

Useless…

My frown deepened as I recalled what Terry said,

The pain could stay.

I squinted at Jason’s stomach, willing the now almost natural security into my eyes as they began to glow. I ignored Jason’s hissing as he tried to tell me to stop.

His red strands were fluctuating when it came to his stomach. It looked like his entire body was some badly built Jenga tower, and I was staring right at the point which would cause it all to fall apart.

I looked down at my left arm, watching red dots orbit the yellow stranded limb in sparks that resembled the embers of a fire.

What if I could give my ‘Excess Energy’ back?

My vision reverted back to normal, now able to view Jason’s nervous expression,

“What did you see?” He asked.

I sighed, looking back at my arm, “Erm…I took stuff I didn’t need so…Imma try and give it back. I guess.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed, “You guess..?”

I looked over our seats to view the rest of the bus.

Everyone was still talking, waiting for Mr.Fencer to let us out. It looked like he was upfront talking to the driver about where to pick everyone up and at what time.

I fell back on my seat, absently reaching to poke Jason’s stomach.

He grabbed my finger, “The heck are you doing?”

I shrugged, “Monster stuff!”

“Monster stuff?” He protested more, “Will it help?”

I nodded to calm his nerves, “Yeah…well… it should anyways.”

Jason gulped, letting go of my hand, “This is not how I pictured dying.”

The moment my finger touched the fabric of Jason’s shirt, it was like a bomb went off in my head. Suddenly I was calm. My eyes weren’t glowing, but power was coursing through my body. I couldn’t see the energy radiating off me, but I could feel something like sparks running through my finger. I could feel Jason’s ‘sparks’ too. They felt…desirable.

I shook my head, focusing on the question of what to do now.

Instead of drawing energy, I tried pouring it outwards. I closed my eyes, picturing the red strands flowing through Jason’s form, desperately trying to fix the damage. This would work. It had to work.

Suddenly, I felt a painful, chilling sensation come over me- like ice cubes were just smashed onto my back without warning.

ZTZTZ!

A collective gasp rushed through the bus as the whir of the engine stopped and the overhead lights flickered. All that could be heard was the sounds of the park from outside the bus as I slowly looked up at Jay.

His eyes widened, no pain in them as I nervously grinned,

“Whoops?” I laughed, feeling my body recover from my…outburst.

The lights stopped flickering, jokes about ‘monsters invading’ surfacing throughout the crowd. They would never know how right they were.

“What the…” Jason breathed, feeling his stomach before looking at me, “What did you just do?” Then he let himself smile, “I uh…feel great!”

I resisted the urge to congratulate myself, “Honestly, I kind of don’t know,” I laughed again, “Erm… but I need to find a new way to feed.”

Jason’s smile faded, “Yeah.” He said, “Or like, something else to feed on.”

I sighed.

I didn’t need excess energy to live, I just needed to make sure that my Fear Meter was never running on empty.

Right now, my meter was still full, as I only saw red when looking through Fear Sight.

But when it did drop, things would get urgent.

My mind was a lot more at ease now that Jason was fine, but something he said didn’t…seem right.

“Jason.” I nudged him.

He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Y-you know you’re not useless, right?”

He didn’t get to answer.

“Alright folks!” Mr.Fencer called from the front, causing everyone to quiet down.

Jason looked away, ignoring the question.

“Here’s the rules, so listen up! Everyone get into pairs and stay within the vicinity of the park as you look for rocks!”

I rolled my eyes, still not quite believing I had agreed to this rock hunt. Mr.Fencer was literally a math teacher. Maybe some science teacher was originally hosting this thing but couldn’t make it.

“I will give each group a ‘Rock Classification Sheet’ and a bag for your minerals!” Mr.Fencer continued, “There’s a desk outside the bus with ‘Pre Prepared’ breakfasts for you all who haven’t eaten, and lunch will be here when you get back! Meet back here in TWO HOURS! Any questions?”

I spotted Henry Mores raise his hand, “What if we don’t have a partner!?” He yelled, his deep voice echoing through the bus.

Mr.Fencer groaned, making no attempt to hide his annoyance, “Any odd ones out will just have to be with me! DISMISSED!”

Everyone began to charge out the bus, stopping to get into groups outside.

“Partners?” Jason asked me, getting up after everyone had gone.

I followed, sliding out into the aisle to join him, “Wow, how kind. You had so many options.”

-

Once we were off the bus, I spotted a white, plastic table a couple of feet away from the vehicle.

Piles of brown bags were on top, each one labeled ‘breakfast’ with a stack of those rock sheets next to them and a plastic bag.

Everything about this is stupid.

Well, I couldn’t argue with that one.

We both grabbed one of each before delving into the forest-like area, the crowds of kids slowly thinning as everyone began to split up.

Trees towered above us as we walked through the park, sunlight seeping through their leaves and into the soft, grassy ground beneath our feet.

Besides the occasional family on a walk, our school group seemed to be the only ones in the park, which was kind of unsettling but nice at the same time. I had been at Inwood before, but it almost felt like a different place without all the…noise. The place was huge, so the quiet wasn’t really uncommon, but that only applied to certain areas. We were parked right off of Payson Avenue, a road lining a large portion of the grassy fields. It should’ve been crowded.

“Hey, check this out,” Jason tapped my shoulder, pointing to a secluded area circled by trees a couple yards away. It was like a little pocket of peace within the already peaceful environment. “Let’s eat there.” Jason suggested, “Then we can go rock hunting or whatever.”

I nodded in agreement, both of us making our way into the natural dome while marveling at how much shade was provided from under it.

It was the perfect spot if you didn’t want to be bothered.

I nodded towards a nearby log beside one of the trees that made up this ring of comfort, “Let’s sit over here.” I said.

It was obviously placed here as a sitting area, but the cylindrical hunk of wood still did a remarkable job of blending into the natural aesthetic.

Jason and I jogged over to the hollow piece of wood, both sitting down next to each other as we placed our lunch bags on the grass. We had tucked the rock sheets into our pockets for later.

“Wow,” I breathed, looking up at the leaves that seemed to blanket the sky, “This is pretty nice.”

Jason laughed, “I told you it wasn’t all bad.”

I shrugged, smiling as I produced an apple from my bag.

“Can you feed on that?” Jason asked, grabbing his as well.

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, totally,” I said, “All monsters are vegan.”

Jason nodded slowly, “O-oh,” He coughed, “I guess that would be pretty stupid.”

We sat in silence for a minute, taking in the quiet sounds of nature as we ate.

“Hey, do you think you can take the fear from animals?” Jason asked, pointing his half eaten apple at a squirrel by my foot.

I tilted my head, surprised I hadn’t noticed the furry creature.

“Um..lemme see..”

I closed my eyes, opening them again with Fear Sight.

The furry little guy was completely made of dim red strands, which meant that I could feed on it. It must’ve really wanted my apple, since it hardly fidgeted upon viewing my brightly glowing eyes.

“Yea,” I answered, ceasing my glow, “But I don’t know if it would give me a lot of juice.”

Jason motioned towards the creature, “Well..?”

I leaned back, shocked, “You want me to kill a squirrel?”

Jason shrugged, “Well, let’s be real,” He said, taking another bite out of his apple, “You’re going to die eventually if you don’t feed, and nobody wants that.”

I’m starting to like Jason.

Shut up…

After a couple of seconds I sighed, realizing that he was right, “Fine...here goes nothing.”

The squirrel didn’t seem to notice my hand inching towards its back, and when it did, I was already gripping the animal tightly.

“Uh, what do I do now?!” I asked, accidentally raising my voice as I felt the thing squirm within my palm. I couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Jason shrugged, laughing loudly while taking out his phone to take a picture, “I don’t know!”

I glared at Jason’s camera, still holding the creature, “Something is seriously wrong with you…”

“Do it already!” Jason ordered.

I sighed, looking down at the squirrel while closing my eyes.

I felt the sparks of fear dancing across its fuzzy body, like I had with Jason on the bus, feeling each amazing possibility circulate through my brain. I kind of felt like I was in the common room; all I saw was black, yet I felt so close to Terry...to a monster.

“Sorry..” I breathed, the air buzzing with static cracks and hisses as I felt Jason get up from beside me.

This time I was more in control, more aware of exactly how much I could take.

I knew what was going on.

So what if this thing was alive? It’s just a squirrel, right?

Yeah…I could take…everything this time.

POP!

I opened my eyes as the electric presence instantly vanished, dropping the smoking carcass of the animal in bitter disgust as I watched its body roll limp on the grass. I looked down at it, viewing its little mouth as it hung open from shock. I averted my gaze towards the hand I used to grab it, once again watching those red streaks of static fade through my skin.

I grinned, “That wasn’t so hard.”

The energy I had received from the squirrel was about as much as I had returned to Jason. It was easier to tell now, since I had something to compare the feeling to. I knew what it was like to not have this power flowing through me, and vice versa.

-

“Welp,” I breathed, kicking the squirrel away, “Got any hand sanitizer?”

Before Jason could respond, three students walked into our area, all laughing very loudly at the sight of us as they trotted across the field.

Henry Mores had arrived.

What about the other two?

I don’t know, side characters probably.

What?

Not important.

“What do you guys want?” Jason tucked his phone back into his pocket, glaring at Henry menacingly. Although, that should be taken with a grain of salt; Henry was much bigger than Jason. Regardless, I stood up with him, somewhat surprised he had uttered the first words.

Henry seemed to agree with this thought, widening his eyes out of shock,

“Look who decided to grow some balls!” Henry grinned, the two sheep at either side of him snickering at the remark.

I typically stayed quiet during these things, a survival instinct I've had since I met Henry in elementary school, but some part of me was suddenly…disagreeing.

You know…we could beat these…thugs without blinking, yes?

I tilted my head, once again looking back at my palm,

“Could I do that?”

I glanced at Henry and his gang, doubt creeping up in my brain. Henry was dressed in a short sleeve shirt and sports shorts, revealing muscles one would’ve thought impossible to achieve as a junior in highschool. The two others looked just as intimidating, and were only a little bit shorter than Henry.

I looked at Jason nervously, putting my hand back at my side,

“Nah…I can’t do that.”

Henry had tormented me and Jason since third grade. There was no way I could just…fight him.

“You know,” Henry took a step towards us, “Mr.Fencer isn’t around right now, and I’m in a bad mood today.”

“The heck does that have to do with us?” Jason shot, his gaze unwavering.

“Jason!” I mentally hissed at him, echoes rebounding a response back into my head a moment later.

“I have you, right?” He thought, his eyes darting to me for a millisecond, “Kind of waiting for you to power up right now!”

Oh gosh.

Is that what he’s thinking?

The heck? That’s what I’m thinking.

Be quiet.

Aren’t these the ones from this morning? Do your ‘lines’ really give even them satisfaction?

I can’t just go crazy on people, you know-

Oh please. You may have lines, but you are no saint. You’re just scared.

I glanced at the grass, “I am scared.”

Why?

Honestly, now that Terry brought it up, it really did make no sense.

I had never tested out what I could do. Not truly, anyways.

Here’s your chance.

“Aw, Jason,” Henry laughed, the other two bullies walking away to some nearby tree to give him some space, “That’s no way to talk to a friend, dude.”

I didn’t like where this was going.

“Since when were we friends?” Jason snorted, absently stepping back as Henry continued his pace.

“We can be friends now,” Henry shrugged, his eyes narrowing, “If you give me…some reason to be.”

Was he really robbing Jason?

At an unofficial school field trip?

In a park?!

“W-what, do you want money or something?” Jason was running out of room to back up, the back of his sneakers scraping the edges of the log.

“Yeah, that’d be nice…to start.” Henry laughed.

Why wasn’t I doing anything? I felt useless.

Stop being pathetic, Damien.

Henry pushed Jason onto the log, the two idiots behind him snickering just loud enough so we could hear.

“H-hey.” I managed, causing Henry to freeze his approach.

He turned to me, his smirk only widening as my heartbeat accelerated.

What was I doing?

What do you mean? Where’s the attitude from this morning? Tch.

“Oh, so the sidekick speaks?” Henry laughed as he towered over me, eliciting more laughs from his friends.

“Leave him a-alone.” I spoke again.

“Ah,” He chuckled.

Henry clasped his hands on each of my shoulders, shaking me roughly like I was some mannequin as he looked me in my eyes,

“Damien, right?” He almost whispered, raising his voice after so everyone else could hear,

“You two…are something else, you know that?” He laughed, suddenly growing angry as his eyebrows tightened, “If you think that whatever bull happened to your dead parents gave you some kind of pass, you’re wrong.”

I found myself glaring at him, “Don’t talk about my parent-”

“And what if I do, huh?!” Henry smiled, raising his hands as if to hit me.

I flinched.

More laughter.

“You get all the money in the world now, and you guys think you have the right to talk back to me?” He tilted his head back, “What, your mom couldn’t teach you manners before she burned up-”

“I said Shut-up-!”

Bam!

I fell onto the ground, my ears ringing as I felt grass meet my face.

“Idiot didn’t even see it comin-” Henry’s comment was interrupted by Jason’s fist, and I got up just in time to see Jason nail him in the jaw.

Henry hardly flinched. Instead, he took Jason by the collar, grinning wildly as he brought his knee into Jay’s stomach.

Jason fell to the floor while Henry laughed, coughing as he struggled to breathe.

“HEY!” I yelled, now recovered as I felt my nose.

Nothing was broken; there wasn’t even blood.

Henry looked back at his audience, “Hey guys, wanna actually have fun on this field trip?”

They smiled mischievously, both jocks nodding their heads as they made their way over here.

I was breathing heavily and shaking all over. Practicing in Taekwondo for a real life situation was much different, as I felt now, from an actual fight. I could barely think…I needed help….what was I even doing? I shouldn’t have been here. A-and to think I thought I could fight monsters, I can’t-

“Guys, have fun with the tag along,” Henry nodded towards me, my adrenaline filled vision tightening even more, “I’ll take the main attraction.”

I wanted to help Jason, but I could barely register the two coming at me.

Wait no…only one was actually coming for me. The other one was just leaning on a tree watching- probably not suspecting that I was much of a threat.

“Okay, okay..” I tried to calm my nerves. These weren’t monsters. These were just people.

Annoying people, at that.

For once, Terry’s annoying voice proved to be soothing. I didn’t feel like I was in Fear Sight, but it helped to know that he was watching.

The guy coming for me was 5,9 [I’m 5,5] and was wearing a pretty graphic outfit. His matte black leather jacket had tiny, cheap looking skulls embedded onto the rims of its collar, forcing one to question if the thing was really leather at all. His dirty blonde hair was shaped like a mohawk, which I must say, did not work for this guy, and white basketball shoes covered his feet. The only difference between him and the other dude was the hair, making them look like some evil version of the Wonder Twins.

He came closer.

“What’s he going to do?”

“Is he going to try and punch me?”

“What if I can’t see it coming?”

Once Mohawk was a foot away from me, he suddenly lunged, “C’mere brat!”

…Oh.

Something that felt like relief flew through my system,

“I…can do this.”

Time seemed to slow as I sidestepped the graceless gesture, almost laughing from the release of stress in my brain when he struck the grass.

I was doing this. I had blamed confidence on Selina’s presence back when I was trying to get Jason’s phone, but it felt good to know it came from somewhere else too. I was by myself, and I was doing this.

He wasted no time on the floor, quickly shooting up and grabbing at me.

“Gotchu!” He yelled, taking hold of my sleeve.

I grunted a little.

For his massive size he was pretty fast.

He pulled me forward, slamming my stomach against his fist.

I stumbled a bit, but didn’t fall.

Okay, so that was probably bad.

We had switched places due to the force of the blow, him walking forward while I had inched backwards.

That felt like it should’ve hurt a lot more than it actually did. In fact, after two seconds of watching him stare at me, my adrenaline filled mind nearly forgot he had hit me at all.

Mohawk wiggled his fist, “At least you know how to take a punch, brat!”

What was with him and brat?

I rubbed my stomach, wincing as I felt slight pain,

“Oh, so I was hit…” I realized, “How do I use Taekwondo on people twice my size?”

“Eek!” I heard Jason yell. With a quick glance to my left, I saw that he wasn’t doing too much better than me. He was just running around in circles, which wasn't a bad idea when you think about Henry’s height, while trying to use words to calm him down.

“Eyes on me, brat!”

I turned, ducking down just as Mohawk’s fist would’ve struck my face.

Seeing an opportunity, I rocketed myself upwards, bringing my palm towards his chin on my way up before I stopped out of hesitation.

“Agh!” He yelled, his body flying a solid three feet into the air before succumbing to gravity and hitting the dirt.

I blinked in shock as I watched Mohawk’s body go limp.

He wasn’t moving.

Well, that could’ve been better if you didn’t stop.

Did I just knock somebody out?!!

“What!?”

I spun around, still on edge as the second bully ran over and crouched by Mohawk’s body.

He crouched down, smacking Mohawk’s face a couple of times before turning to face Henry,

“Hey!” He yelled, “Timmy’s out cold!”

He looked back at me, “Why did you hit him so hard, idiot!”

Henry’s eyes widened, “Beat that guy already, John!”

Jason took advantage of this interruption, throwing all of his body weight onto Henry.

Henry didn’t even budge.

I looked back to my situation.

I hadn’t meant to hit him so hard, but my heart was beating too quickly to care. My senses were in overdrive, and the tension kept me from feeling sorry.

“O-okay freshman, you’re going down!”

I looked up to see the one I now knew as John. He was standing up over who I now knew to be Timmy’s limp form.

I looked down at my hand, wondering how I did that, and how I could do it again.

John didn’t allow me the time of day. Instead, he barrelled towards me with his fists extended like he was a battering ram. As I was realizing, most kids didn’t know how to fight, but it was also increasingly apparent that the skill didn’t matter when they were two times taller than you.

I tried sidestepping him, but he just grabbed my shirt, sending us both onto the grassy ground with a loud thud.

Before I knew it, he was on top of me, keeping my arms down with his hands and my legs down with his feet as his eyes bore into mine,

“You’ve got some nerve!” John yelled, his spit falling on my face, “But thanks for making this trip fun, brat!”

They really do all say the same things…

I could smell the scent of sweat around us as John looked away,

“Henry, Imma give this guy a lesson!”

I looked at Jason.

He was pressed up against a tree, blood trailing from his lips as Henry laughed,

“Go for it man!” He replied, kneeing Jason in the stomach again, “Ain't nobody around!”

I gritted my teeth at John, anger bubbling in my chest once again,

“Let me go!” I yelled, struggling beneath his grip.

John just smiled evilly, “You ruined my jacket…”

He let go of one of my arms, using his free fist to crush my ribs,

“Agh!” I yelled, pain flooding up my body. He smiled and did it again, another cry escaping my lips along with bits of spit as he hammered at my side, “No one messes with my jacket! Imma make you cry.”

It hurt, sure, but after some time I found myself not able to feel his fists at all. It even felt…pathetic.

I heard Henry spitting insults at Jason from a couple yards away,

“Gotta help him!” I thought, an idea coming to me as I eyed John’s exposed neck.

John looked at my face,

“No tears yet?” He quizzed, letting go of both my arms while raising his hands like a mace, “Let’s see about this one!”

“Screw it!” I thought, pressing one of my free palms against John’s neck and closing my eyes.

ZTZTZTZT!

John screamed like a girl as I felt a fulfilling sensation run over me, a clear bolt of dark crimson flashing across my hand as his cry was cut short. My eyes glowed briefly, all fear and nerves leaving my body like I was expelling some foreign disease.

John fell off of me, slowly getting up as his breath became heavy. I didn’t take much from him, and I still felt this good?

After feeding on him, I was able to feel just how many sparks were circulating through my right at this moment. No wonder Terry was so cocky…

I looked at John’s terrified face, a new perspective dawning on me for the first time in my life. They….were beneath me. They….were beneath us.

“Let’s try this again, shall we?” I sighed, watching as John’s expression twisted with fear and anger,

“b-BRAT, I’LL MESS YOU UP!” He charged forward blindly, swinging his arms wildly with no control of his movements.

I leaned back as the first fist came, his attack only striking air as I whipped my elbow forward.

I exhaled as I performed the movement, focusing just a fraction of those ‘sparks’ I felt towards my arm in hopes-

BANG!

I struck his stomach, a red pop ripping through the air upon impact.

John cried as he was flung several feet across the grass, his body skidding to a stop in front of Henry and Jason yards away. The spot on John’s jacket where I had elbowed him was smoking, a very visible trail of burnt leather drifting in the air beside Jason’s widened eyes.

That…worked.

I couldn’t help but grin, finally feeling like this body…these muscles….these powers were mine. When I moved, it almost felt like my body had a doppelganger. When I hit John, it felt like something else hit him again a millisecond later. Like a duplicate was copying whatever I did, but with more power. Much…more power.

“The heck!?” Henry yelled, dropping Jason onto the grass before turning to face me.

I looked down at Jason, my eyes narrowing when I saw bruises all over his face and legs,

“You’re going to pay for that..” I muttered, walking towards Henry with my fists clenched.

I could feel the ‘Excess Energy’ fading from me since I knocked John across the field, but I didn’t think I needed much of it if my strength was still intact. I had sent that other guy flying three feet into the air with no sparks at all.

I walked past John’s withering body,

“I really hurt him-”

“Good.”

Henry smiled nervously, “What are you, his bodyguard?” He asked, motioning towards Jason.

Jason rolled over to face me, “Stop it!” He groaned, his thoughts following soon after, “Damien, chill out! You could…you could kill someone!”

Henry began to cackle, “Hah, I’ll stop when you idiots-”

Before Henry could say another word, I grabbed his shirt, pulling the rest of him down to my level.

I didn’t know why I was so angry. I just never really had a taste of my power until now, and since I had never trained them before, I really wanted to hit something. To feel those sparks rushing from me into someone else...

Henry Mores gave me every right to do so. This bully. This prick.

I actually kind of liked this.

O-or did I?

Yes…we do.

“Ugh.”

I shook my head, “No, this is wrong…whatever happened to my lines…”

Henry struggled to let go of me, confused when he couldn’t, “What are you, juicing?!”

I looked straight into his eyes, resisting the urge to make mine glow out of excitement,

“Don’t-ever-mess-with-us-again, got it?” I ordered, strengthening my grip on his shirt before hurling him sideways.

He yelped as his head hit the bark of a tree.

“Damien!” Jason yelled, stumbling to get up.

I felt myself calm down completely, my eyes widening when I realized what I just did. The feelings of security and calm began to diminish as I felt whatever high I was on fade.

“O-oh..” I breathed, running over to Henry and turning on Fear Sight.

He was still glowing, so he was still breathing.

I sighed a breath of relief, reverting my vision back to normal as I felt Jay walk up behind me,

“Dude! Why did you do that?” He asked, getting up. I slung his arm over my shoulder, keeping him up straight, “S-sorry,” I said, “I..got really angry for some reason.”

Jason shook his head, “So did I, but you didn’t need to...ya know!”

I looked at our three attackers on the floor, frowning as they started to get up.

“Someone get the teacher!” Timmy yelled, cradling his chin.

John clutched his chest, “It hurts..It hurts so bad!”

Jason glared at me.

I gulped, about to apologize when Henry suddenly stood up, “N-no! don’t do that you idiot! Don’t tell on him, what are you, a snitch?!”

Henry looked back at me, his ego visibly broken in his eyes, “We uh..won’t mess with you..you won’t mess with us?”

I slowly nodded, wanting to say sorry but not being able to. He didn’t deserve it,

“Yeah..” I said instead.

Henry winced a little, rubbing his head before exiting the hidden area. I hadn’t hurt him too terribly…at least.

His loyal sheep followed soon after, both glaring at me as they disappeared behind the ring of trees.

“Damien, this isn’t good-”

“Yeah, well what about you?” I turned on Jason, kind of annoyed that I had to feel bad about this, “Didn’t you start it-?”

“Okay okay, that was my bad,” Jason admitted, scratching his head, “I guess…I don’t know, it felt good being able to like…do something.”

Again with this ‘useless’ thing?

What was wrong with him?

I-

I stopped.

Suddenly, another burning sensation ripped through my spine, causing me to stifle a groan as I found a tree to lean against. My head swam as I recalled the same feeling from the bus stop earlier today. It was too similar. The other ones before today weren’t all like this one was. This one always sent chills down to the deepest parts of me. Nothing else, not even when I was at the school, made me feel like it.

But just as quickly as it came, it was gone.

What did that even mean!?

I shook it off, pulling out my phone.

Two hours had already passed, meaning we had to get back to the bus.

“L-let’s go..” I said to Jason, not wanting to be there any longer.

Jason just huffed, “Alright.” he agreed, obviously not noticing the worry in my voice. Terry didn’t even know what the burning was…so what was wrong?

-

Once we got back on the bus, I told Mr.Fencer that Jason and I had fallen down a hill, causing him to laugh without shame. I didn’t know what lie Henry and his little friends had told Mr.Fencer to not ‘snitch’, but I didn’t care much as long as they kept their mouths shut.

Once we were in the back seat, Jason let go of my shoulder , taking his seat by the window since he no longer needed support,

“So..” He groaned, rotating his arm as he winced from pain, “I wasn’t expecting this trip to hurt so bad..”

I frowned, looking at my hands, “Sorry…I don’t know what came over me back there..”

Jason shook his head,

“You only felt what everyone else does in those situations; fear.”

He paused, “Except you have superpowers so...you should probably be more careful.”

I rubbed my temples, “Do you think those guys suspect anything?”

Jason chuckled a little, “Duh,” He said, leaning back into the seat, “But who’d believe them?”

I nodded, realizing that he was right before allowing myself to calm down.

Jason slightly elbowed me, “But… you can’t say that wasn’t the least bit cool.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little, shifting my gaze toward the roof of the bus, “Yea..” I agreed, closing my eyes as I felt exhaustion plague me, “I guess I can’t.”