Chapter 3

A Chapter by Katie Wan

I sat quietly in the back of an emergency room ambulance. Red and blue lights brought out many different neighbors from around the neighborhood. The EMT looked over my whole body. I would rather have my Hero looking over my bones once again. I couldn’t get his eyes out of my mind. Everywhere I looked I could see them. I wanted them to be on me all the time. I wanted to run out onto the rooftops and find him�"thank him, in any way I could. He was my Hero and I needed to see him again.

A loud screeching car pulled up and parked on the other side of the ambulance. The Stench of cigarettes and wine filled the air and I knew exactly who it was. I sighed as the loud mouthed woman started screaming: “Where the hell is my son?” She was obviously drunk�"that’s new (kidding). “I can’t leave that damn kid alone for twenty minutes and he makes a fool of himself and his whole damn family.” She screeched high-pitched and loudly with a drunken slur.

The EMT smiled at me as he realized my embarrassment by her. I gave him the courtesy of a smile back. He stepped away from my freezing body and I hopped off the ambulance bumper and landed comfortably onto the road. As I turned I could see the smoke cloud that formed around my mother’s head. Tonight, she wore a slinky black dress. It had no straps and came up halfway on her thigh. It was so skin tight that you could see every bump and curve throughout her whole entire core. Her fishnets were a mess along with her hair. The blonde, once up-do, sat on her head like a bird’s nest at the end of summer when they’ve left. Her makeup was smeared and I knew she had been out having a good time before she was called about me.

My mother was very attractive at one point in her life. It wasn’t until she started drinking that she became the way she is. There was a time when she had every man in town falling over her. My father was lucky enough to catch her. When I was younger she was the best mom on the planet. She would take me for picnics, teach me to swim, take me on long walks, or even just sit on the couch and read books to me. She was mother of the year every year in my book. I don’t really even know what happened, but one year she and my father just grew apart. Everything happened so fast that I could hardly tell what was happening until it was too late. Since then, life really hasn’t been the same and I guess it never will be the same�"not at the rate it’s going now.

“Hello, Mom.” I said and she spun around on her clunky hooker heels making an incredibly annoying sound that echoed throughout the neighborhood. I winced at the noise but continued to walk forward toward her. Her bloodshot eyes landed on me and her mouth gaped open widely.

                “My boy, you’re safe!” She exclaimed in the most sarcastic manner trying to seem like she was mother of the year. Her arms flew out from the sides of her body and she ran over to me. Brutally, she pulled me into her chest with my face directly in her cleavage. The cigarette still burned as she pushed me further into her bosom. My hands went to her waist and I pushed away with as much force as I could muster inside my exhausted body.

“Let’s go home.” Home�"I hated that word. But it was better than making a scene here, I guess. My mother was notorious for causing scenes in public places. The sooner she was all alone the better.

She threw me the keys: “You drive. Jerry is in the car.” My eyes caught the goofy smiled man in the back of the beaten down station wagon. He had a pleasure filled smile on his face. My mom got into the car and they were immediately on top of each other. She met Jerry a few weeks ago in a bar. He had been over to our house every single weekend since then and during the week when my dad was at work. Home�"it was the last place I wanted to be. I needed my Hero now more than ever. As I pulled the handle I saw a streak of silver in the corner of my eye. I turned only to see nothing. I shrugged in defeat and sunk into the driver’s seat of the car.

Jerry and my mother ran up to my parent’s room. I searched the house for my father, hoping maybe that he would out my mother then he and I would disappear forever away from her. It was always my dream to get away from the situation I was in. I didn’t like being her and I surely didn’t want to be here for the rest of my life.

The kitchen was the darkest of all the rooms in the house. The light snapped on as I flicked the switch with my fingers. It was empty. As if no one lived here. All that could be seen was the liquor cabinet. Vodka and whiskey shone hypnotizing me in the bright light. An open beer sat on the counter next to a yellow notepad.

I read over the note slowly. My father’s handwriting covered the page:

                                “Collin,

        I know your mother went out tonight.

I’ll be at the bar.

I’ll see you later.

I love you, son.



Love, Dad.”

My heart sank deep inside my chest. He knew, yet did nothing. Anger rose inside of me. Why the hell would he leave me here to deal with it? He went out and drank himself into some life full of happiness�"a fake happiness�"but happiness none the less? That’s more than I had. The yellow paper crumpled in my hand and I tossed it into the garbage as I walked around the kitchen.

I searched the kitchen looking for anything to kill the pain that was pushing throughout the veins in my body. A bottle of Tylenol sat alone in one of the cabinets. Two pills spilled out into my hand. They easily slid down my throat with the help from the open can of beer. It chugged sourly down my throat. It took the edge off though, so I couldn’t complain.

My feet jumped up the stairs two at a time as I walked to my room. Loud noises poured from my parent’s room. I didn’t take the time to listen to what any of them were saying. My hand dialed the number for a cab as quickly as I could. If my Dad could hide out�"so could I. I filled my bag with a few essentials and I left.

The morning light woke me up. It poured brightly through the white curtains in the extra room. All night my dreams focused on the silver glowing eyes. The eyes were the only things keeping me moving at this point. I just wanted to lie in bed all day as I felt sorry for myself. I couldn’t though, just the way they looked over me as if he needed to be protecting me. Something in those eyes kept the drive inside of me.

My eyes slowly opened up to the bright white room. The pale walls calmed my aggravated mood. It was nice to not wake up in my home. That place was the last place on planet earth that I wanted to be in.

Jo Lee’s parents were gone for the weekend so I knew the noise coming from the kitchen had to be her. I hopped into the shower before I went out to greet her. The warm shower felt nice over my cool body. The water ran pink as the dried blood from my body was washed away. I hadn’t taken the time to do that earlier. I took this alone time to go over the events of the night before. Where was my father now? Had he gone home? Was my mom still with Jerry? I shuddered at the thought of Jerry sleeping in my father’s bed, using my father’s things. My hand slammed into the wall with frustration. I hated my living situation I just wanted to escape. I needed a change.

The water started to turn cold. I took that as a hint, so I shut it off and stepped out. The mirror was steamed so I wiped a clear spot so that I was able to see myself in the reflection. There was still a little bruising on my nose, but nothing was much different. I pulled my jeans up over my hip bones on and stepped out of the small steamed room. Steam shot out from the room as I opened the bathroom door.

Jo was still in the kitchen, but something else caught my attention�"a light knock at the door. Jo lee called from behind a wall: “Hey Col, will you get that?”I wrapped the towel around my bare torso and dried as I walked the warm towel cleaned the rest of the night before off. I moved the towel up my body to my hair and I shook it around. My hand twisted the door knob and opened the door. A man stood backwards in front of my warm wet body.

“Hello?” I asked the strange figure. He spun around and my jaw dropped to the floor. Phoenix Oreson the greatest Hero of all Miami was standing in front of me.

His shoulders tensed as he saw me, shirtless, standing in front of him. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his designer jeans and he licked his lips as if he was nervous. A smile twitched at the left corner of his mouth, or maybe it was trembling.

“Can I come in?” He asked quietly, his voice cracked indicating a dry throat. His silver eyes snapped up to me and looked up and down my whole body. He took a deep breath and waited for my reply.

“Yeah, Sorry,” I returned back into the house dragging the door with me. Phoenix’s large sly body slid into the house carefully as if he was trying not to touch anything. He wore a plain black tee over his stone hard chest. His silver eyes shot across the room analyzing everything that was surrounding him.

I returned the door to its rightful place and walked over to Phoenix. He turned and faced me with only inches between us. His right hand slid from his pocket and went to my chin. With his index finger he lifted my face up into the light. The pools of silver examined my nose looking over the appendage as if he was studying every inch of it. This was a little awkward. My head tilted from side to side under his command. Finally, the strong finger slid out from under my chin. With his index finger and thumb he pinched my nostrils together. I flinched, but immediately the pain vanished.

“That looks good.” He slid the spine of my nose between his fingers. “I think I did alright, I was kind of rushed. Are you okay with it?”

With pure reflex I slapped his hand away from my face. “That was you last night?” I began to feel the frustration rising inside my body.

He jumped at my reaction. “Yeah, who else would it have been?” His hands returned to the pockets on either side of his hip bones.

I exhaled and sighed loudly. “I told you it was him.” Jo lee’s voice came from behind me. A faint tinkling came from her stirring her coffee with a silver spoon. She was right yet again. For a slight moment I thought I had found a new Hero. Someone that would be able to take over the Oresons and I would be able to call him my own Hero. I’d be the popular kid in school because I knew the new Hero in town.

Phoenix’s eyes got big: “Jo Lee, Jo Lee Summers?” He asked amazed at her existence in this living room.

She laughed “That’s me.” Her beautiful smile appeared and my knees melted below me.

Phoenix stepped past me to Jo. They wrapped their arms around each other then he stepped away and returned to his previous spot with his hands in his pockets again. “What’re you doing here?” He asked Jo trying to figure out what was going on.

A smile appeared on her face. “I should be asking you that. This is my house.” She wasn’t nervous at all. She continued to stir the coffee in her hand and talk to Phoenix like he was nothing more than just another human. He wasn’t just another human though. Standing next to us was one of the most powerful creatures on the face of this earth.

Red flushed across Phoenix’s face. Phoenix Oreson just blushed and I witnessed it. A snort of laughter left my nose. Phoenix caught it and tightened up. “Sorry,” he spoke quietly.

Jo punched me in the arm. “Don’t worry about it.” She laughed and tugged at Phoenix’s sleeve. “Relax bud, he doesn’t mean it.” She smiled at Phoenix trying to make him more comfortable. “Actually he’s jealous.” My head snapped to Jo. I gave her the death glare she had just outed my darkest secret to the man who was the secret.

“Are you jealous�"of me?” Phoenix asked coyly.

Jo lee returned a rude glare back to me “Of course, who wouldn’t be? We were actually talking about it minutes before you saved him.”Jo was pushing it. I could feel the anger rising inside of me. The hands at the side of my legs balled into fists and I started to breathe fire.

Phoenix’s eyes fell over me once again. I sunk my head trying not to show my rage at both of them. What came out of his mouth next surprised me: “You shouldn’t be jealous of me. Really I’m not great at all. If anything�"I’m nothing.” My eyes stayed wide on him. I couldn’t believe that he had just said that. Usually his type would take the opportunity to boast and pride at how great they were.

We all stood in awkward silence for a long tense moment. Jo broke the awkward feeling. “Since you’re here, wont’ you join us for breakfast?”

His hands came out of their safety pockets. “Oh no I couldn’t, I just wanted to see if Collin was alright. I should be going.”

“Don’t be silly, it’s the least we could do.” Her arm nudged into mine, “Right?”

“Right,” I answered on command. “Please stay.” I added. I thought it was a nice touch, more from the heart.

He smiled politely “If you insist.”

“I do.” Jo practically cut him off. “Collin, will you please take Phoenix into the front room and I’ll bring you two some breakfast.”

Jo turned into the kitchen and I silently led Phoenix to the living room. Jo chatted happily away with Phoenix as I changed. I put on a blue T-shirt that I had packed the night before. I walked back into the front room. I planted myself in a large white chair. Phoenix sat on the couch next to my chair. The silver eyes continued to watch me. They were the same eyes that I saw in my dream, the same eyes that fell over me the night before. How could I have missed that? They were the same eyes I had seen every single day since elementary school.

His eyes never pulled away from me. Really, I just couldn’t believe Phoenix Oreson was sitting next to me. I’d never actually seen him up this close up before. Usually there is a large mass surrounding him. The normal people avoided the sea of popular kids. I was just amazed that he even attempted to save me. He would’ve recognized me even in the dark. Why would he want to save some little rung like me? Obviously the world would be better without me.

                Jo chattered loudly from the kitchen still. Phoenix’s eyes shot to my hand resting on the chair arm right next to his. Slowly his hand rose from his side; His silver eyes returning to mine to catch my reaction. His hand cupped over mine. Was Phoenix flirting with me? In panic, I pulled my hand away. His eyes quickly shot down in embarrassment.

Luckily Jo came in with three plates balanced on her arms. She laid them on the coffee table in front of us. Then, she sat next to Phoenix on the couch. I watched her carefully, like I always did, as she placed everything out for us. The three of us ate quietly for a few minutes. I could tell that the silence was killing Jo. She poked at her eggs and looked around the room casually. Phoenix’s eyes didn’t leave the plate sitting on his lap even when Jo spoke to him.

                “What’s new?” Jo asked Phoenix finally breaking the awkward silence. Jo was always good for that. You could always count on her keeping up a good conversation.

                His eyes stayed glued to the plate as he answered the question that she had asked. “I guess, Um… My brothers back.”

“Ryder?” she chimed. Phoenix answered with a simple nod. Ryder Oreson was followed by a cloud of controversy. Ryder was his father’s sidekick before Phoenix took the job. He’s about five years older than us. Well, he’d had the sidekick job since he was ten years old. But when he was 16 he suddenly disappeared. The media and news soon under covered family problems. Supposedly Ryder hated his father and the way he treated everyone. Ryder finally had a mental breakdown and attacked his father. It was a fight between titans. After the fight Ryder disappeared. The story blew up as soon as Phoenix jumped in at ten. That’s when people realized he was different. He could take out more Villains than any other anyone had ever seen. There are rumors that he could out do his father any day. Larsen’s so amazing I couldn’t actually believe those.

“Oh we shouldn’t be keeping you then. You should see your brother.” Jo urged him and put her knife and fork down.

                A look crossed his face for a moment. It was pain filled: “No.” his hand picked up and shot his eyes to mine then Jo’s. “They’re all working things out. So the twins are gone and my sisters went out.”

                Jo nodded. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need.”

                “Thank you.” He whispered.

                All of a sudden a memory shot into my mind. He was shot three times last night. I gasped and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. My eyes shot to Phoenix’s chest. “Are you alright?” I asked out of breath.

Phoenix followed my gaze all the way to his wounds. A smile crossed his face. His eyes fell into mine. “I’m perfectly fine.” He pulled up his shirt there were no scars, no marks. Everything had healed up perfectly�"this baffled me. My mouth gaped at the smooth skin.

                “What happened last night?” Jo asked seriously.

                I answered in telling the story. By the end the three of us were laughing hysterically. I watched Phoenix grab his stomach as he laughed. Then, it occurred to me that I’d never actually seen him laugh. The only time you saw him fully smile was on the front page of Magazines and newspapers. Not even when he was surrounded by people and not even when he was playing sports�"never. Phoenix was always the serious type. He never took time out of his busy schedule to have fun.

Suddenly Phoenix’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree in winter. Jo and I continued to laugh while Phoenix’s face became very serious. His head sunk and he sighed: “I have to go. They’re having a family council.” I began to think that maybe Jo was right. Maybe Phoenix has more problems than any of us really know or care to see.

                After everyone stood up Jo hugged Phoenix, piled the plates to clean them and returned to the kitchen. I walked with Phoenix to the door. I stood in front of him looking up to his perfect face. “Thank you again, Phoenix.” This thank you was sincere. He had saved my life, whether he and I got along was a whole different matter.

His hands returned to the safety of his pockets: “No thank you. I really enjoyed this.”

                I smiled oddly and I started to feel nervous around him also. His silver eyes flicked over me and I felt my stomach flip in side of my body, “Anytime.” I answered truthfully. His hand went to the door knob and he started to twist it open without moving his body away from mine.

                He stopped and looked straight into my eyes: “Do those windows open?”

My eyes shot behind him to the bright windows pouring in the sun light, “No. There’s a balcony in the back though.” My eyes scrunched trying to figure out what he was trying to do. He walked only a few steps behind me as I led him to the balcony. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time. I led him all the way out onto the balcony. It was a large balcony a hot tub sat in the corner and a large barbeque in the other. It was large enough to have parties on. Jo’s dad spent a lot of time on the barbeque, whenever I came over.

I looked over the whole city and down onto the ground. “It looks really peaceful up here doesn’t it?” I could smell his sweet scent behind me. The wind blew and knocked his hair out of place. He stroked it back and returned his hand to his pocket. I didn’t say anything I watched down on the city. Phoenix was in my Peripheral vision the whole time. Slowly his hand pulled out from his pockets and the tips of his fingers played with the back of my sleeve. “Blue looks really nice on you.” He smiled and took a deep breath. “It really brings out your eyes.” I turned around and looked up at him. He smiled and the silver eyes flicked over my face again. There was a kindness in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before.

                Phoenix leapt up to the guard rail without holding onto anything. I spun around quickly to keep him in my view. The Superhero thing was hard to get used to. He stood on top of the white medal with his hands on his hips looking out over the whole city. He turned around with those silver eyes. He looked at me the same he did last night. “Be careful.” He said this time verbally and then slowly he lifted up from the railing. He watched me for a minute and then he was gone.

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