The Confidential Files of A Superhero

Onyx: Ten

Alex’s Point of View

Soundtrack: Can’t Let Go by Will Swinton

I couldn’t get Sabine’s damn words out of my head. They were haunting me. I had hoped I’d fall asleep then wake up the next morning and feel totally better. Yesterday was a long day for me, with nothing going quite the way I had planned, but somehow I’d made it through. I sent Ali a quick text the second I woke up, wishing her luck on her first day of school and ignoring the tiny twinge in my chest as I processed the fact that she wasn’t in bed next to me. This was how life was going to be now though, at least for the next little while.

I spent the next hour lying in bed, scrolling through endless news articles on my phone. Basically every major media outlet in the San Francisco area had a story covering Onyx’s sudden reappearance to the crime scene. Several had dove right back into their radical theories about where I had been all summer, while others just claimed I had taken a summer vacation. I smiled to myself a little, yeah it was something like a summer vacation I guess. Now if only I could go back to that. I groaned out loud, forcing that thought away almost as quickly as it came on. No, I was excited to be back. I missed this, right?

Shaking away my doubts, I went back to reading a few more of the posted stories. Not once did any of the articles mention anything about my weird moment at the bank robbery though, mostly because it was unlikely that any of them even noticed. The reporters would have been so focused on the fact that I was back, that they would have hardly even been paying attention to what I’d been doing. Plus, the explosion that had set off the weird moment had produced enough smoke to keep me hidden from any watchful eyes. Just the thought of that explosion had my heart beating a little faster in my chest. Just as it picked up it’s anxious pace as I scrolled through the images that had been captured during the robbery.

I closed my eyes, holding them there for a moment as I forced myself to settle. I definitely had to stay busy today or I was going to lose my mind. Only, the one person that I wanted to throw myself into and spend the day totally distracted with, wasn’t here anymore. And I definitely couldn’t distract her. Ali had been counting down the days to this moment for longer than I even knew here. She was so excited to get started on her education to become a doctor, she’d worked so damn hard for it. So no, I wouldn’t let myself distract her with my problems right now. If whatever this was didn’t go away in a few days, then maybe I’d consider talking to her about it. But for now, I could manage it on my own. I didn’t want her to waste her time worrying, or worse, what if she asked me to take a longer break from being Onyx?

Yet another thought I had to shake away. I sprung up from my bed now feeling fully awake and ready to face the day. If there was one thing I knew for certain, it was that I couldn’t be lying around all day if I was going to survive this day with my sanity in tact. I tugged on a t shirt then headed straight down to the lab. I was practically moving at a super speed as I maneuvered quickly through the house, desperate to avoid another run in with my mother like last night. My heart still ached when I thought about the way she began to cry and crumbled before my very eyes. I hated the way that everyone was so worried about me right now. I hated the way last June had changed so much about the way people looked at me.

While the lab always felt a little uncomfortable now that Sabine was sitting just in the next room, it had also been my favourite place to busy myself in the summer when I had time to kill. Without being out in the field as a hands on superhero, I’d actually take over Ben’s roll a little and begun to do some more of the behind the scenes and monitoring type stuff. Yet, things were supposed to be going back to normal now, which meant Ben was already in the lab when I strolled in.

“Hey,” I nodded my head to him as I walked inside, closing the door gently behind me. Ben was positioned in his familiar spot, looking more like himself now as he worked away at something on the computer monitor. Yet, he was also different, a little more confident in himself than he had been before. For the first time this summer, Ben was actually made to use him super powers and prove himself as a hero in his own right. It was good for him. Maybe now he would broaden his horizons a little bit and not spend his whole life huddled up in this damn room. I almost snickered at the thought. Ben spent so long avoiding the world behind these walls, and now I couldn’t be happier to do the same thing.

I headed over to another computer, this one positioned right in front of the wall of monitors. I glanced up at the cameras all over the city, almost hoping I might see something alarming. I needed something to fill my time today, and another mission would be the perfect distraction from these chaotic thoughts twisting through my mind right now. I sighed though, coming up empty handed. For once it seemed the entire city was actually behaving, not even a sign of a pick pocket lingering around on the Main Street.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced over to Ben who was still focused on his computer monitor. It was like he hardly even noticed my presence, but still I felt this heavy tension building between us. I wondered if Ben had noticed what happened last night, considering he had been the once closest to me when everything went down. If he did though, he didn’t seem to be wanting to talk about it. Unlike Kyle, Ben had always been very happy to avoid any problems that didn’t concern him.

I settled into my seat, leaning back and kicking my feet up onto the desk. I was trying so hard to act casual, and it was painfully obvious. For the first time in a long time, I felt so uncomfortable in this lab, suddenly unable to keep myself from fidgeting in the chair. I glanced to Ben again, this time catching the corner of his eye before quickly glancing away again. Damn, he definitely wasn’t going to ignore that one.

I tried to pretend there was nothing weird about my behaviour right now, but I couldn’t stop myself from continuously allowing my eyes to flicker back and check in on Ben, waiting for him to say something or notice just how weird I was being. My shoulders burned with tense muscles as I sat rigid in my chair. God, what is wrong with me? Ben is supposed to be the nervous one all the time, but it seemed now that we had switched places. Taking time off from being Onyx was definitely a mistake, now I couldn’t even keep my cool while sitting in the lab with my own brother.

By the third time my eyes flickered over to his computer station, Ben was now blatantly glaring at me. “What is your problem?” He finally asked when our eyes locked.

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to act normal, but at this point I wasn’t sure I knew what normal was anymore. “Nothing, just watching the monitors. Anxious to get back out there, you know?” I said, feeling a little like I was rambling but I still added, “Have you noticed anything strange?”

My eyes flickered back to the monitors, hoping he would say yes and I could flee this place, but instead my brother gave a different answer. “You mean other than you right now? Seriously Alex, you’re acting weirder than the day dad brought her in here,” Ben nodded his head towards the blocked off construction zone, acknowledging Sabine’s presence for the first time in a long time. I hadn’t meant for Ben to ever find out that she was here, but of course dad wanted to run some tests on the woman so we needed Ben’s brain. Of course, he was even less willing to help than I was, claiming this whole situation was morally wrong. I had to agree with him, but still, there was no arguing with our father. So instead, Sabine continued to sit in waiting while we did absolutely nothing with her, as if that were any better.