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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP19Mt5bAHM
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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWW83baz2ym
“I’m sorry about how I acted before, brother. We’re still buds right?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrsUtcipZa
“Of course,” I replied, glad he actually had the guts to accept me. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYHvYfMSmm
He gestured to the room. “Come on in! These are the coolest people you’ll ever meet.” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jd1vry8RP
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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUvDz7oaKQ
“Is he safe?” The boy asked, looking at him up and down.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRaXTaCcz0
“Yes,” Allen affirmed. “Blake, this is Terence. He’s a leg-natural, and man is he fast.” Terence smiled and blushed. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWUe2xBMK1
“Aww Allen, you flatter me.” I smiled and said hello before Terence ran (literately ran) to get a brownie off the snack table. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHJDachUsB
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPCyHGsvRM
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvojC4bs5p
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRTldmV8eo
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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEVGbNzMqB
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYN3gWjsRy
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuN7hUG1Gfj
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQAiFogO8e
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2SxykJHPZ
“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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8uSFgldVd
“It’s not your fault that any of this happened,” I told her. “You never asked me.” 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhu4JihE3HQ
She nodded, even though she probably wasn’t happy with that answer. She pulled out a slip of film paper from her pocket.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMvJCgF0y6
“I found this in one of his old wallets.” She tossed the paper to me.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1cc1HSLFa
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbk2zATboSo
“Are you mad at me?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIGAIbUUDA
“Why in munchkin-land would I be mad at you?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GQ0UhXtdk
“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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzaUod4hrX
We sat in silence for a while. Rim flopped on her back and stared up at the ceiling. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCkc7HsIji
“What was Mom like?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlH1h3Ouio
“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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡow115ykCIg
“Do I appear frustrated with you?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PnSAoCs1Q
“A bit,” I admitted.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OpaOGeXy5
“I’m sorry. Keep going.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6OUhUNkKY
“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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImPrN6DA9s
She sighed. “She sounds perfect.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXiegpFlDq
“Mm-hm.” Thinking about her made me think of her business trip.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwUeQwn6NB
“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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5u2joSs3T
“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!?”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQeOvKXPXKX
“Yes,” I said. Rim paled.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAu42feJaGR
“Oh NO! Please tell me....”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnqP3dLzk5
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.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKDKOeHUmS
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.”491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IbYX6VouF
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. 491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCOqDidCfO
The newsman shuffled some papers on his desk and gave a huge smile.491Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mAUoOVwbo
“And now for the weather.”
ns 15.158.61.8da2
