I couldn’t believe it. Sure, we looked alike. We had the same hair color and everything, but he was a superhero. It didn’t make any sense. For years I had tried to plan what I would say to him if I ever met him.
Mostly, I would just yell at him until my vocal cords cried about not telling us he was alive. Now he was here, with his arms around me, crying to have his little boy back. I cried too. I had a father now and he loved me. Let’s just say Rim didn’t take it as well.
“WHAT!? I have a brother!? HE’S my BROTHER!?”
“Twin brother,” Dad confessed, loosening his grip on me.
It made sense. We looked about the same age, and we were. Our names were also linked. We were meant to be opposites. Blake, which meant black, and Rim (and Blanca), which meant white. I had a new sister. That didn’t coolly Rim down anymore.
“And you never told me!?” Dad let me go.
“We couldn’t. We needed to protect you.”
“AAGH!” Was all Rim could think to say as she stormed out of the sphere to the elevator and left with an angry grunt as she punched the button.
I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t want to tear her family- my family- apart. I looked up and realized that Tara was gone. She must have wanted to avoid getting wrapped up in everything. Dad hugged me again.
“Oh, my baby Blake. Look at you! You’re so big!” I wiped the tears from my eyes.
“Dad, what happened? I’m so confused. How come you never came home?”
“Oh Blake, I always wanted to, but I knew it would only put you in danger. I’m sure your sister has told you all about Super Naturals. I’m one, and so was your mother.”
I raised an eyebrow “Mom was a Super Natural too?” Dad laughed.
“Yes. Your mom and I met in the city, where I worked as a firefighter. When you two were born, your powers were unequally distributed. That’s why you are an Ultra-Natural, which in my mind makes you very special. We had to separate you and your sister to protect you. I’m not scared of you. No one is. I don’t want you to think that you’re unwanted. You are wanted. I love you, Blake.” I hugged my new father.
When we let go he told me to go downstairs and meet everyone. He had business to take care of. I was actually kind of happy to leave. My mind was swarming with the new information. I had a father. I had a sister. I had a new identity I would have to get used to. I rode the elevator down to a room with rounded walls. It was a lower level of the sphere.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHYkFf4KiN
When I walked in everyone was staring at me, which made me a little uncomfortable. I tried to look like everything was normal, but what good is that when everything is totally not normal for you? Allen came up to me and squeezed my shoulder. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6xtkGX5TX
“I’m sorry about how I acted before, brother. We’re still buds right?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhd95LVflmm
“Of course,” I replied, glad he actually had the guts to accept me. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2mONo2tDR
He gestured to the room. “Come on in! These are the coolest people you’ll ever meet.” 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQjY3Pour2
The room was littered with bean-bag chairs and comfy sofas. A table was set off to the left, piled with every snack and dessert you could think of, which was good because I was starving. Allen pushed the blue-eyed kid close to me. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmABe6Vrof
“Is he safe?” The boy asked, looking at him up and down.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFPba0Lu2a
“Yes,” Allen affirmed. “Blake, this is Terence. He’s a leg-natural, and man is he fast.” Terence smiled and blushed. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05IHN5Qqrl
“Aww Allen, you flatter me.” I smiled and said hello before Terence ran (literately ran) to get a brownie off the snack table. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5MJ171rvM
Allen introduced me to a couple of others. The ten-year-old girl was named Alma, and she was a head-natural. The red-haired kid who had the super skin was named Rex. There was a heart-natural named Andromeda, who seemed pretty nice. She was wearing too much make-up for my taste and seemed to want to win my heart by batting her eyes like a china-doll. It kind of made me uncomfortable.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IBX4L76ow
I didn’t see Rim at all even though I felt guilty for making her feel that way, she WAS over-reacting just a tad. I used my growing headache as an excuse for Allen to take me home, or at least, where I would be staying. I told him the whole story in the car, he seemed just as confused as I was, but he didn’t ask too many questions.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLNAgvokHX
He knew how fragile I was. After all, it’s not everyday your life is flipped upside down on you. I had a lot to think about, preferably alone. I rapped my knuckles on the wall, trying to clear my head. It didn’t exactly work out that well.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEazjbfbfc
I was in Dad’s apartment in the guest room, which would most likely end up become my room. I didn’t want to live here though. I wanted to go back to being a regular kid in middle school, who had friends and liked to play volleyball. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrz1XLL5kOL
Here, I was an outcast. I was a time bomb. I knew from the bottom of my heart there was no way this would ever be my home.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZLVnlrYSo
When Rim cooled off I would ask her to take me home, and both of us could forget any of this ever happened. I could hear Rim in the other room. She most have been hitting something, as big crashes were ringing out. Then for a long time, there was silence.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyH503ECVcw
My fingers kept clicking click click click against the wall. I closed my eyes and listened to my breath, trying to relax. Twenty minutes later my door opened. Rim was there. Her hair was messy and knotted, and her eyes were pinkish red.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnBsqQWk1J
She looked at me for a long time before coming in and closing the door gently. She was wearing new clothes, but she still wore one of her belts. She sat on the end of my bed and didn’t speak to me for a long time.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziG2T639sk
“I’m sorry,” she said finally, facing me. She bit her lip, “I never should have lashed out like that. I was just upset. He never told me about you, and he said my mom was probably dead.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSy9R8o88hS
“It’s not your fault that any of this happened,” I told her. “You never asked me.” 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHamf9Ajwa
She nodded, even though she probably wasn’t happy with that answer. She pulled out a slip of film paper from her pocket.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGMQv7mhke
“I found this in one of his old wallets.” She tossed the paper to me.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHvj33CybQ
It was a photo of two newborns. One was dressed in blue and one in pink. It occurred to him that this must have been a picture of us when we were babies. I put the picture on the side table.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAt2oQmftAs
“Are you mad at me?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxzlUKb1P6
“Why in munchkin-land would I be mad at you?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qGoPir0Yg
“I don’t know. You seemed pretty mad when you found out we were related. I’m sorry. If I only knew...” I didn’t finish. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0rzM4qi78
We sat in silence for a while. Rim flopped on her back and stared up at the ceiling. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvSsSsV4e4
“What was Mom like?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFS5qdCYuc
“You mean what IS she like. She’s still alive, you know. She’s very pretty, and she’s got these big blue eyes. I have them, so do you. You look just like her. She’s got the same thick hair, same expression when she’s frustrated.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNcu8i68fp
“Do I appear frustrated with you?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlB7e4lSTW5
“A bit,” I admitted.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwAV2fSmSA
“I’m sorry. Keep going.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuM41djacer
“She works at this cupcake shop. Goodness, you should see how many of those little cakes she has there. When business is low she brings home all these extra cupcakes. She sings well too. She doesn’t like it too, but you can hear her when she’s in the shower one room over.” This made Rim giggle. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKIfp5FkyS
She sighed. “She sounds perfect.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMdAEBXk87
“Mm-hm.” Thinking about her made me think of her business trip.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Qf7yPu4SZ
“She’s been gone a week on a trip. She’s staying a lot longer than she told us initially. I miss her a lot.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgRjtRXYTF
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Rim said then she sat up straight. “Wait a minute. She’s been gone longer than you THOUGHT!?”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEnW3lvqyo
“Yes,” I said. Rim paled.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TbsW8X3He
“Oh NO! Please tell me....”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvk1ptozQy
She fumbled on my bedside table for a remote then pointed in at the flat-screen TV, mumbling “please tell me” over and over. A man was sitting behind a news desk.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyKSW2ViXW
He was reading a list “- Robert, Francesca, Lucile, and Lauren are all some of the leg naturals missing this week. We can only hope that we’ll find a way to stop the under-naturals from taking any more of our beloved friends and family.”481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGH4KtdCTuJ
Rim cupped her hands over her mouth. “Oh no! They have Mom! Those creatures have Mom! We have to tell Dad right now!” I looked between Rim and the TV, equally confused and worried. 481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdh2sfGoBxQ
The newsman shuffled some papers on his desk and gave a huge smile.481Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMubUfj0JUJ
“And now for the weather.”
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