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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXi3CeqRX09
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. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJq71T3hpBK
“I’m sorry about how I acted before, brother. We’re still buds right?”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFa9wnKTBkT
“Of course,” I replied, glad he actually had the guts to accept me. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMfJlpmd3a
He gestured to the room. “Come on in! These are the coolest people you’ll ever meet.” 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoFo8zfwqQ
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. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHDkUt6kq0
“Is he safe?” The boy asked, looking at him up and down.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO01cwuM5Yd
“Yes,” Allen affirmed. “Blake, this is Terence. He’s a leg-natural, and man is he fast.” Terence smiled and blushed. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvPAUZioHv
“Aww Allen, you flatter me.” I smiled and said hello before Terence ran (literately ran) to get a brownie off the snack table. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ7CI3KIkp
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlVAp78JBe
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLJZzvk9iY
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5gWLIZq3e
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. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65cVrXKwSx
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6gtSLkTLh
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdV3Svt5jdB
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisg70vpvp7
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeUnvkIyov
“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.”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcPPSb00zA
“It’s not your fault that any of this happened,” I told her. “You never asked me.” 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUV3VQIVDB2
She nodded, even though she probably wasn’t happy with that answer. She pulled out a slip of film paper from her pocket.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0sZh4X6Ov
“I found this in one of his old wallets.” She tossed the paper to me.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQFB5Ve93w
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2NLQDWjDJ
“Are you mad at me?”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMhJmGzFxW
“Why in munchkin-land would I be mad at you?”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3x9cDJmUvq
“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. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGBF6cUd61
We sat in silence for a while. Rim flopped on her back and stared up at the ceiling. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMEgv2e1vM
“What was Mom like?”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3cyaJLHh4
“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.”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1aONkINTF
“Do I appear frustrated with you?”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPtXHZggwL
“A bit,” I admitted.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDmp3YbKEY
“I’m sorry. Keep going.”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpSoOBFhCW
“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. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9s9aU2uDt
She sighed. “She sounds perfect.”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfpuTJcj6R
“Mm-hm.” Thinking about her made me think of her business trip.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLPEKmvtlx
“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.”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTL76j6vYh
“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!?”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOCedZCwgw
“Yes,” I said. Rim paled.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfP5RUyPz7r
“Oh NO! Please tell me....”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlUT2Knv3u
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.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcH8oOV7PR
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.”463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFx8VxGaur7
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. 463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1So0iGwb1
The newsman shuffled some papers on his desk and gave a huge smile.463Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SolMeKnep
“And now for the weather.”
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