Chapter 22

Hmm.. Well.. awesome.

David and I walked quietly up the stairs. We heard voiced from inside. My hand twisted the knob and we both walked in. There were many faces that looked up towards us. Shiloh had his arm around a young blonde girl. A woman with short brown hair looked up at me from the table with bright wide eyes. She sat next to a familiar face. Rylan was kneeling next to Josephine. Quickly he stood up and walked away from her. “Zander I thought you were at the movies?” Shiloh spoke with a quick fear in his voice.

“David and I went to the earlier show. We wanted to kill some zombies before we had to pack it up.” 

David walked from behind me to look at the scene for himself. “Hey Madeline,” he waved at the young girl standing next to Shiloh. She smiled and waved back at him.

“Who is she?” I asked anyone in the room. When no one answered I spoke again, “What’re you doing hereJosephine?”

Rylan jumped all over this one, “we wanted to thank her for all of her help while you were gone. That’s where we also met Megan and Madeline.” His voice seemed to trail off at the end of the sentence. Everyone was looking at him with sympathetic eyes, “they’re really nice.”

“Rylan sweetie, stop.” Shiloh put his arm on my dad’s shoulder and stopped his talking. “There’s a lot you don’t know Zander…”

“Then tell me. What is so hard to say that you people can’t tell me about who and what I am?” My voice was becoming a little hysterical. It was as if the whole world was looking at me, laughing. Everyone else knew so much and I knew nothing. I had no idea why when I was mad I became ultra strong and had amazing senses. Being a superhero was not something I was going to believe. Sure strange things happened while I was kidnapped, but that wasn’t me. I was human and it was a fact. Shiloh was my true birth father and he was human. He didn’t share the same silver eyes or the large muscles. He was normal just like me. My whole life they’ve told me my mother was human and I ended up looking much like her. Never had I seen a picture of her so I didn’t know.  The world felt as if it was spinning. I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself.

Shiloh was whispering something to Rylan, trying to console him. “He has to know, it’s time.”

My hand shook at my sides. Suddenly the world went silent, “Zander it will be okay.” It was a girl’s voice, not one I recognized. I looked around the room. Madeline was staring straight at me. 

“Zander, you need to sit down.” David tugged at my elbow and led me to the couch. I sat in the center of the white couch with David at my side. Everyone at the table stood up and walked into the main room. Rylan stood in the back with his arms crossed in front of his chest.  Josephine walked up next to Shiloh with the brunette woman close behind her. Madeline sat on the couch next to me.  Shiloh took a deep breath and spoke, “Josephine is your mother Zander.”

I looked up at her and studied her face. The complexion and the bone structure didn’t match me at all. The only thing that was the same was the silver eyes. “But she doesn’t look anything like me. You always said…”

“There are a lot of things that we always said, but they aren’t true.” My lips pursed together and waited for him to continue. “Megan is her wife,” Gay parents. I was used to that, it didn’t bother me at all. Megan took Josephine’s hand and they stood close. “Madeline is their daughter.” My head turned to Madeline who smiled. That smile couldn’t be mistaken, “Madeline is your twin sister.”

My legs straightened and I stood up. “I have a sister?” My eyes stayed on her. Her tan skin stuck out against her almost white blonde hair. She had strong features; high cheekbones, large lips, distinct eyes. “She doesn’t look anything like you two.” My eyes shifted back and forth between Shiloh and Josephine. “She looks like…” I paused and looked up at Rylan who was leaning against the wall. He smiled slightly and that confirmed it. “Rylan’s my father?”

“Yes and no. I’m also your father.”

The air was getting harder for me to find, “What am I?”

“A hero,” Rylan finally spoke up. “Abigail was telling you the truth, we are heroes.”

I looked over everyone, “The eyes.” I saw Shiloh shift slightly, “Except you?” My finger pointed to him.

“Zander sit down.” I did and Madeline took my hand. I didn’t pull away. Her warm comfort flowed through me lovingly. Shiloh spun around and looked at Rylan. He pushed off the wall and walked to the group. Josephine and Megan sat down on the love seat next to the couch. Shiloh pulled contacts out of his eyes slowly. My face twisted as I watched what was going on. Rylan walked up to him, he ran his hand through Shiloh’s blonde hair. The blonde strands took on a dark color. He was changing right before my eyes. Rylan’s silver eyes illuminated like I had seen before. Shiloh opened his eyes lids exposing the same thing. I watched carefully as his body changed before me. His arms became bigger and his legs bulked up. His chin lifted and I saw my true father. That is what I looked like. He scratched the back of his head. “I’m not human. Abigail was right.”

I sighed loudly and sunk my head into my hands, “So I’m a hero? I wear spandex and tights around in order to save the world.”

“You always have a choice,” Shiloh walked in front of me and kneeled down. He took my hands in his pale palms and held them tight. “I love you and that hasn’t changed. We just wanted to protect you, and it worked well. Because whoever took you didn’t know that you were a hero you were able to use your powers and save Abigail.”

I said nothing .What could I possibly say? I looked over at David who smiled, “I didn’t know about all this.” He pointed to Shiloh who was in front of us.

My neck turned to look at Madeline, she also smiled. Her hand stroked the top of mine. “I didn’t know you were my brother until after my mother was taken. Now that I do I feel right.”

She was right it was almost as if everything was complete. Of course there was a lot of confusion but everything was also making sense. There was a lot more of explanation to be had, but I was almost content now. My hand touched my dad’s face. He lifted it and looked up into mine. My fingertips ran over his eye lids. I took a deep breath and let it out, “Okay. I can get used to this.” He smiled and kissed the palm of my hand. “I want to learn how to use my powers though.”

That wasn’t my area every eye went to Rylan. He had returned to the wall behind everyone. My eyes pleaded with him. He licked his lips and looked away, “Alright.” Was all he said and that was all I needed.