Chapter Sixteen: God Child

I was adrift between being awake and the solitude of unconsciousness. The first time my eyes opened long enough for me to process my whereabouts, I could see I was in the medical bay in the labs below the institute. I was in one of the beds, a blanket over my legs and clean clothes. The air smelt clean, and I knew I was in good hands. The other beds were unoccupied. When I glanced to the glass sliding door leading into the room, I could see Hector scolding and shouting at the other savants, who all stood side-by-side with their heads down. I couldn’t hear anything that was being said, but I didn’t have to guess. Then Hector stormed off. I closed my eyes.

The second time was different. I was conscious,  but my eyes weren’t open. I could see my surroundings in a foggy haze as if I was seeing through my mind. Demitry was pacing back and forth in front of the bed, appearing stressed with his hands tucked under his arms. Dahlia was seated at my bedside. Demitry ran a hand over a shortened mohawk, stopping for a second to look at me then at Dahlia. 

“This is so bad, isn’t it?” He asked, tucking his hand beneath an arm again. 

Dahlia kept her hands on her lap, calmly replying, “Everything will be fine. Eden will take care of it.”

Demitry retorted. “You know what the police found. There are so many witnesses. If they get my dad involved, we’re all screwed.” 

“Hector spoke to Markus. Eden doesn’t have any intention of getting General Morello involved. Everything will get sorted out.” Dahlia assured him. “Trust me.”

I faded into black once again. Drifting through the darkness of unconsciousness. In the blackout, I began getting flashes of everything I had hallucinated before. More images followed, but they were of a world I didn’t know. It was like a dream, but it felt different. The oceans were dead. The sky was tainted. The air had been filled with the stench of death. There were people migrating across vacant land. Gun shots. Screaming. There was so much sadness. So much had been lost, but there was threat. Then there was the beach with the red sand again. That’s when I briefly woke up to see Donald standing at the foot of the bed, a strange smile on his face as he stared at me. 

The fourth time I found myself visually aware of my surroundings through the haze, Dahlia had returned to the room accompanied by Dame this time. They both appeared tense towards each other, and I knew they had been arguing. Dame had been leaning on her hands next to my feet, her head hung. Dahlia stood at my side with her arms crossed. 

“Such a stupid idea.” Dame said to herself.

Dahlia replied. “No one could have predicted this would happen.”

“This shouldn’t have happened! We never should have left the building in the first place.”

“Are you admitting this was a bad idea then?”

“Are you really taking this as an opportunity to throw it in my face?” Dame asked, her body tense. “Because if you want to get your digs in, Dahlia, at least have some class.”

Dahlia held no reaction. “I’m just saying we all knew the risks. Even you. Admittedly, I didn’t think it would go this far.”

“I didn’t either.” Dame was short.

“You’re concerned.”

Dame turned to look at the older savant. “We’re all concerned.” 

Dahlia and Dame appeared to be staring each other down, and the tension grew between them. There were words unsaid that were itching to spill out of Dahlia’s mouth, and Dame was ready to destroy them in a barrage of resentment. The air was thick, and I had never before seen them both like this towards each other. The silence lingered for over a minute. 

Dahlia finally spoke. “You know as well as I do who she’s starting to resemble.”

“Don’t start it, Dahlia.”

“Tell me I’m wrong then.”

Dame tightened her arms. “You might want to be careful with what you say, Dahlia.”

Dahlia pressed. “Then tell me I’m wrong, Dame.”

Dame gave Dahlia a look of disgust, her emotions welling up in her chest. “What do you know about it, huh? You don’t know anything about it. You weren’t even there when it happened! You didn’t see what I saw or felt the things that I felt. Subject 23 was purely evil, and you want to suggest that Desley is the same?”

“You know who her father was, Dame.”

“Desley is NOT Daniel.”

Dahlia stood up. “I’m not saying Desley is Daniel. I’m afraid of Desley becoming Daniel because it’s pretty clear that animosity is there. This was his experiment, after all.”

Dame stared at Dahlia as she began to leave the room, muttering to herself. “It’s just so easy for you to judge.”

Before Dahlia left the room, she paused for a moment at the glass doors. “And if you’re so certain about killing 23 because he was purely evil then why do you feel so guilty?” 

Dame scoffed and ignored the savant’s words. The discomfort was evident from the look on her face to how she had been carrying herself. In a way, she appeared upset. Disheartened. Dame wrapped her arms around herself and stepped to the side of the bed. She glanced up at my unconscious face, locked in thought before taking a seat next to my feet. The girl’s eyes slowly sank to the floor, her shoulders dropping slowly. 

“Because it wasn’t his fault.”

Fade to black.

Downtown Jordan City, Hector and Markus arrived to the gruesome scene created the night before. Eden’s own operatives had taken over by then, dismissing the local authorities by claiming jurisdiction and feeding them a false conclusion. It wasn’t important for Hector to know what lie was told as long as it drove away the third parties. The men crossed under the yellow tape in the alley to get a better understanding of what had taken place. There was a pool of blood on the ground with more staining the building wall to the left of them. A few intact body parts could be identified, but what primarily remained was a brown coat. Markus took charge and began gathering information from the other operatives while Hector stood in silence, staring at the blood soaked coat. He recognized the coat, and his stomach turned. 

Markus approached one man in a suit and asked, “What do we have so far?”

The man wasted no time. “The scene is secure and under Eden’s control. We’ve confiscated any and all security footage. No eyewitness accounts to what happened. There’s another scene a few blocks away from here that is also being handled.”

Markus crossed his arms. “A second incident?”

The operative nodded. “A nightclub. Multiple eyewitnesses have said there was an altercation between the bouncer and a girl trying to get in last night. The bouncer went to stop her from entering when his hand ‘got stuck in the air.’ It’s being dealt with, sir.”

“Tell me what we know about the victim.”

“Female. Late 30’s. She followed the savant into the alley with intent to execute. Possibly one of Dogma’s, but we can’t determine that.”

“Do we have the identity?”

“It’s Penny.” Hector muttered flatly causing Markus to turn his attention to him. “She always wore this coat on the days she’d visit the institute.” 

Markus dismissed the other man, his interest drawn towards Hector’s revelation. Hector placed a hand over his face, pushing his glasses up to his forehead. He was trying to compose himself while the grief slowly seeped into his chest as he processed everything. Markus went to place a hand on the man’s shoulder, but Hector waved it away, shaking his head and attempting to convince his colleague that he was fine. 

“If this was Penny then why would she try to do something like this? It doesn’t make sense for it to be her, Hector.” 

Hector shook his head again. “No, I’m positive it was her.” 

“Is it possible that Dogma could have put her up to it? Do you think Desley knows?” Markus asked.

Hector was entranced by the blood on the ground. He was starting to think more about the situation, and it felt oddly familiar to him. He couldn’t be for certain though.

“I need the security footage.” Hector said. 

The operative from before came to both of the men with a plastic bag in his hand. There appeared a blood stained piece of paper on the inside. 

“This was found inside the victim’s coat pocket.”

Everything was different the second I opened my eyes. I was awake, and it wasn’t just coming out of being unconscious. The air felt different, and that was first thing I noticed. It was like feeling connected to every particle around me. Then I could hear a collection of millions of voices coming in and out, but it wasn’t startling or overwhelming. It felt right. I could feel the countless heartbeats and the individuality in each one in my hands. I could feel the universe pulsing in my chest with all the life in it, and it was wild. 

It had lasted for but a moment before it started slipping away into some dormant space as the pain in my head returned, forcing me to press my hand against my temple. The pain started off sharp but eased up enough to where it was bearable. I started sitting up in the bed to have a look around. There wasn’t anyone in the room with me, and I began to wonder where the others had gone. That’s when the memories from the night before rushed back. The crowds, the lights, the rides, the savants. The pain, the fear, the blood, my father. I couldn’t pick apart what was real and what was fake. Either way, I knew it wasn’t good news. Something was happening to me. 

Shortly after, Markus entered the room, which was already odd due to the lack of presence he had at the institute. If anything, I had expected Hector. Maybe Dahlia at the least. Markus took a seat in the chair next to the bed, crossing one leg over the other as he brought his hands together. I could only look at him, waiting for whatever he was in there to tell me. I already figured I was in some kind of trouble. I just didn’t know how bad. 

Markus began by asking, “How are you feeling, Desley?”

I tried to smile. “I’ve definitely been better.”

“Haven’t we all?”

I didn’t comment.

“Desley, I am going to ask you some questions. Just do your best to answer them for me. Is that understood?” Markus was diving into it already.

I nodded my head.

“Do you remember where you were last night?”

“In the city with the other savants.”

“Can you name who you were with?”

“Dame, Dahlia, Donald, and Demitry.”

“What all did you do?”

I had to think about it for a second, but I began explaining. “We went to this festival thing on the outskirts of the city. It was for my birthday. We got tickets, played some of the games, and went on the rides. Then afterwards, they all wanted to sneak into a dance club.”

“And did you sneak in with them?”

“No, I didn’t. My head was hurting and decided to go walk it off.”

Markus raised his eyebrows. “Your head was hurting? What happened after that?”

I tried to think of what happened, but I started second guessing myself. The confrontation with Thomas, Keith, and Kyler felt so real. At the same time, it wasn’t possible. Then there was the alleyway. The gunfire. The club. Seeing my father. Then all of the weird events that unfolded after. It was all so bizarre that I couldn’t draw the line between what happened and what didn’t. 

“I’m not sure, sir. It’s kind of a blur.” I told Markus.

Markus nodded. “Desley, the reason why I’m here and asking all of these questions is because we had a major incident involving you last night. It’s a pretty big mess, but we’ll take care of it. Hector, unfortunately, can’t be here to explain it to you, but we think you experienced a kind of psychotic episode. The security footage we confiscated shows you running and yelling at something that isn’t there. You appeared to be distressed. You launched a man nearly twenty feet down the street.”

I winced. “Is he okay?”

“As far as we know, his injuries are minor. However, we watched the footage of you running into an alley. You were followed by someone. For reasons we don’t understand yet they were there to harm you. You retaliated before they could. That person is dead now.” Markus continued. 

“Someone died?” I asked. “I…killed them?”

“You defended yourself. You probably weren’t aware of what force you were exerting at the time.” Markus replied.

“I didn’t think that was real. I didn’t want that to be real.” I said to myself, but it was probably loud enough for Markus to hear.

Markus continued talking, but I started withdrawing from the conversation. I was crawling inside myself, my stomach feeling like it was in a knot at the thought of having killed someone. Again. It wasn’t anything that I wanted. It was an accident, but it still didn’t make it okay. Markus had gone on to explain how I was going to be kept under observation for a length of time. I was now a concern in the eyes of Eden, so what little freedom I had was going to be restricted more. I didn’t care. I felt that I deserved worse. 

Within the hour I was discharged from the medical bay to return to the other savants. Stepping out of the elevator, I could hear their voices echoing from the second level. The conversation sounded normal enough, so there was a chance that none of them were traumatized. I made my way to the stairs leading up to the commons area where they were gathered. Demitry had been laughing at a remark Donald made, Dame quick to counter-argue. At least that hadn’t changed. However, when I reached the top of the stairs, the laughter and conversation ceased to a dead silence. Donald and Demitry had their eyes fixed on me, Dame glancing from behind the couch. Dahlia didn’t look back at all. 

The air was thick and awkward, and I found myself unable to speak. I was certain they knew. The weight of my actions the night before smothering me as I hastily dismissed myself to my room. I barged in, closed the door, then locked it before taking a few steps back to where I stood in the center of my room. It was my own space, but I didn’t feel anymore comfortable. In fact, I hated it. I glanced around at everything and truly began to despise all of the inanimate objects: My bed, my desk, my closet, my clothes, everything. I was trying to place blame on anything I could think of that wasn’t me. If I didn’t leave my friends, none of it would have happened. If I didn’t have the stupid headache, none of it would have happened. If I didn’t go out at all, if I stayed in, if I didn’t flip the dump truck, if Dorian didn’t run off, if I didn’t try to be friends with Dame, if I didn’t sync with Daisuke, if I didn’t blow up the bridge, if I only looked both ways before crossing the damn road…then none of it would have happened. This wouldn’t be on my conscience. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape the fact that this was entirely my fault.

“It’s the defense mechanism.” Hector said before Eden’s highest ranks.

Hector stood side-by-side with Markus in front of an enormous monitor displaying the faces of each board member. There were five present, Eden’s head being absent from the meeting. They were deep in their discussion concerning the savant that had been troubling their attention. 

“I believe these acts are without intention or any real means of control. Created in high stress situations and serving as a reflex. It might be a method of self-preservation, but I have yet to fully determine that.” He continued. 

Markus analyzed the expressions on each of the boards’ faces. Cold as stone and painfully displeased. Markus suspected they weren’t interested in Hector’s theories. He glanced at his colleague nervously. 

One board member, a man with a heavy Dutch accent, spoke. “So, are you insinuating that Desley has no control over her own power?”

Hector shook his head. “No, she can control and manipulate small portions on her own. This power is growing and advancing more and more every day. Faster than we can anticipate. Desley’s abilities are presently limited but will expand more as time goes on. It’s a game of discovery. Most of her abilities were accidents she’s learned to control.” 

“Hector, I think what we really want to know is how likely it is for Desley to turn into another Subject 23 case.” Another member, a much older man with thin glasses and a bald head, interrupted. 

“One moment please. Hector, a word.” Markus intervened, pulling Hector a few feet back from the monitor. He began whispering sternly. “Let me do the talking, Hector. We need to tread lightly here. If you want to keep Desley out of their hands, I need to handle it.”

Hector didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look up from the floor. The two men turned back to the monitor where the others were patiently waiting for an answer. 

“Gentlemen, what do we know about Subject 23? He was an already psychologically unstable man subjected to a dangerous experiment conducted by our own Daniel Morgan. He showed promise at the start: Telepathy, telekinesis, manipulating matter to his own will. Powerful. More powerful than any proxies we’ve had on record before him. With how much he progressed, we didn’t consider the mental decline that began a couple years after the experiment began. Then the unthinkable happened that cost the lives of many. The mistake we made was thinking the human brain could handle this amount of power without fatal side effects. This is where Desley Morgan differs, and I will explain why.” Markus opened his statement.

The men of the board listened intently.

Markus proceeded. “We believe that Daniel knew the flaw in his experiment and took a different approach. A fully developed brain would not be able to handle the growth and stress of a power that was constantly advancing. However, a brain that has barely been formed amidst new life…it was possible. Daniel conducted the experiment on the fetus of his first unborn child. It is in this stage of Desley’s neural development that the brain can grow and adapt to these advances that would otherwise degenerate a fully grown brain. Now in Desley’s adolescence, we are seeing developments that are unprecedented and far exceed expectations. We are witnessing the max potential of the human brain and maybe even what transcends beyond human. Gentlemen, what we thought was rambling from a madman has now become a reality. We just might be witnessing the first ever peripheral proxy.” 

The men all remained in strong silence. Markus had high hopes that his words would convince them to let things continue as they were. Hector wanted to make his own remarks about Markus’ speech, but he kept it to himself. Markus made it sound like a sales pitch, and it made him sick. 

“What of these episodes?” An oriental member of the board asked.

“They will happen from time to time. She is only human, after all.” Markus answered. 

The men all nodded, the Dutch man speaking again. “We want you to continue monitoring and reporting new developments with Desley. However, to prevent backlash from anymore possible episodes, her movement is to be restricted to just the grounds and only the grounds. Severe consequences will result if this is not followed. Be sure to stress this to your other problematic savants.” 

“Understood, sir. Thank you.” Hector said. 

“One more thing.”

Everyone fell silent again, Hector and Markus trying to anticipate what was about to be asked. 

“If Desley ever gained full control over her power, what would be the likelihood she would use them against us?”

Markus asked, “Against Eden, sir?”

“Against everything we’re trying to do here.”

Hector scoffed and turned his back to the board, redirecting everyone’s attention to his behavior. “If you’re concerned about Desley turning against Eden then I would suggest not giving her a reason.” 

I didn’t keep track of how much time had passed. The sun was up when I first entered my room and found a spot on the floor next to my bed to think. Now, it was getting to the twilight hours with the pastel blue bleeding through my window, and I had yet to move yet to move from my spot. My back was against the wall. The crying had exhausted me, but I refused to sleep. I felt as if sleeping meant I had no remorse, and I wanted to feel every moment of guilt I deserved. The conclusion: I was a terrible person. Either that or something was incredibly messed up with me. I wasn’t ruling out that it could be both, but regardless I didn’t feel worthy to be around the others. I posed as a danger to them and didn’t want their shameful expressions or cautious body language as they tried to act normal. 

What was normal?

I was slouched with my head hanging into my knees, but I lifted it to press it back against the wall. It was quiet. There was nothing to fill the void, and it ate me alive. Surprisingly, I wasn’t trying to fight it. I wasn’t trying to occupy myself or find a suitable distraction to steer me away from the bad that was crowding my brain. I stretched out my legs, resting my hands at my sides. Fully giving myself over to the guilt. Then there was a knock at my door. A light knock.

“Desley?”

It was Dame’s voice.

“Leave me alone, Dame.” I responded bluntly.

“Can I talk to you?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Go away.” I was more stern.

A portal opened in front of my door, which allowed Dame to step through. The portal closed behind her, and she stood with her arms crossed. 

“Excuse me, you were up my a*s when I wanted to be left alone. Do you really think I won’t get you back for that?” Dame’s snotty tone returned. 

I flatly replied, “This is an invasion of my privacy.”

Dame stood her ground, arms still crossed as she stared me down. Of course, I stared back at her, and a battle ensued of who would break the tension first. I sat still while Dame occasionally shifted her weight from one leg to the other. She was starting to look smug, which was most likely due to the annoyance starting to grow on my face. Guess who was about to lose.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine. You can stay.”

Dame didn’t say anything, only made her way over to my bed and sat down on the edge. She leaned back on her hands and crossed one foot over the other.

“Penny for your thoughts?” She asked.

I got right to the point. “I killed another person last night, and I’m wondering if I’m starting to lose my mind.” 

“And you feel guilty, yeah?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Dame raised her head back. “Of course I would. You’d have to be pretty heartless not to.”

“Markus said they were trying to attack me. They had a gun, but I killed them before they had a chance.”

“Sounds like you defended yourself to me.”

“But they didn’t have to die. I could have just scared them. At most just hurt them. It was so violent, and I had no control over it. It makes me feel like there’s a part of me that wanted it to be violent. Like, I’m capable of doing that willingly. And it makes me wonder if something in me is a monster.” I spilled my guts. I didn’t want to tell her about the hallucinations. 

Dame shook her head. “I don’t think you’re a monster at all, Desley. A dumbass, but not a monster.”

“It doesn’t change what I did.”

Dame leaned forward to look at me. “No, it doesn’t. You’d be wrong if you think you’re the only one though. Remember, we all had to do something terrible to be brought here.” 

“Can’t imagine Miss Perfection doing something bad to get here.”

“I’m no exception.”

I tilted my head in curiosity. “What did you do, Dame?”

I could tell that Dame was contemplating answering my question by the deep breath she took and how she pressed her thumbs to the tips of her eyebrows. 

“If I tell you, it doesn’t leave this room.”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“I mean it, Desley. You say anything and I’ll put my foot so far up your a*s that it’ll enter another dimension.” Dame threatened. 

“That’s fair enough.” I replied. 

Dame pierced her lips and rocked back and forth on her hands for a second before getting to her feet. That was a quirk I hadn’t seen before. She slowly paced around my room, arms crossed again. She was figuring out how to start. 

“I was closer with my parents when I was younger. One big happy family in the Blaire house. I always had this tingling in my fingers, but they thought it was my nerve endings or something weird going on in my brain. Bet you can’t guess what it was.” Dame joked. 

“The portals.”

Dame nodded. “My dad was really into physics and science fiction stuff like that. He worked with some other research lab trying to figure out wormholes and space travel. Then here I am. The irony. You’d think he’d be fascinated and proud knowing his daughter could do the very thing he’d been studying his whole life.”

“So, why isn’t he?”

“Because the day we discovered my abilities was the same day I accidentally took the neighbor boy’s arm off. I couldn’t control where the wormholes opened or where. My mother was freaking out. I guess that made me panic, and I ended up hurting her, too. She’s in a wheelchair now.” Dame finished. 

I could see that she didn’t want to get into detail, not that I wanted her to. What she told me was enough for me to know that we weren’t that different. 

“I’m sorry about your parents, Dame.” I said. 

She shrugged her shoulders and came close to the window, the faint moonlight pouring on her. “It’s whatever. Things happen whether we intend for them or not. Vincent never changed towards me, and I’m grateful for that. Jeremy and Lydia were too young to know. It wasn’t long after that Eden came into the picture.”

“And here we are now.” I sighed. 

“It’s not the only thing I feel guilty about.” Dame appeared to get lost looking out of the window. “Even good intentions can haunt you, Desley.”

“So, what do we do then?”

Dame breathed and took a seat next to me on the floor. “We make the best of what we have and learn to live with our decisions. We’ve all done something we regret, but it doesn’t make us bad people.”

I smirked at her. “I didn’t know you were quite the philosopher, Dame.” 

Dame rolled her eyes and jokingly nudged me with her elbow, and then she smiled. We talked for a while longer, not ready to leave my room where time felt completely absent. Perhaps it was. I was getting everything off my chest, every thought I’ve had tumbling out of my mouth without hesitation to how Dame would react. She had an answer for everything. It wasn’t all serious though. After a while, the conversations were becoming more random and filled with corny remarks paired with sarcastic replies. We both made each other laugh. There were no walls and no boundaries. I felt that maybe I was beginning to trust Dame as well. 

It didn’t feel so dark anymore.

Some time passed where my room was completely with the exception of the moonlight shining through my window. Music started playing beyond the door. The bass was muffled, but it sounded upbeat. I could hear Demitry yelling and the others howling with laughter. It caught our curiosity. 

“Sounds like a party.” I said.

“Yeah, it does,” Dame glanced at me, “and we’re missing out.”

I shrugged. “You can go if you want to. I think it’s best that I stay in here for now.”

Dame rolled her eyes. “It’s not as dramatic as you think, Des. Everything will be fine.”

I was going to protest more, but Dame had already gotten to her feet. She instantly grabbed my hand dragged me out of the room behind her. There was no fighting her, so I went with the flow hand-in-hand. When we emerged from the hallway and into the commons, we could see the others dancing. At the time, Dahlia was dancing with Dorian. Donald and Demitry were going solo, mimicking each others’ dance moves then laughing at how cheesy they were. Daisuke was nowhere to be seen, which wasn’t surprising. 

They didn’t appear to notice us. I was hesitant to jump in, but Dame pulled me along anyhow. 

“You guys started without us?” Dame shouted over the music, pulling everyone’s attention. 

Dorian, upon seeing me, beamed with joy and instantly came running over. Dahlia smiled at me with her hands on her hips in the way I knew there was an understanding. Seeing the boys carry on as normal added to my relief. There was no judgment. 

“Well, looks like I lost my partner.” Dahlia joked. 

Dame smiled. “I got you.”

Dame left my side to dance with Dahlia as Dorian took my hand and led me to the others. I held his hands as he wildly flailed his arms around, laughing and bobbing. Dame and Dahlia took turns twirling each other around. Donald and Demitry slowly worked their way into dancing with both girls. I watched how smooth Donald was in taking Dahlia’s hand and turning her around on one foot. He dipped her as soon as he had his arm locked behind her back. It was sweet of him, and I could see how much it caught Dahlia off guard. She liked it. Demitry wasn’t as fortunate, Dame instantly dropping him through a portal the moment he took her hands and puckered his lips. It was all in good fun. 

Demitry’s attention redirected to Dorian after climbing up from the couch. Dorian was too busy stomping his feet and hopping around to notice the Italian boy sneaking up behind him. Of course, I kept the boy distracted long enough for Demitry to hook his hands under Dorian’s arms and hoist him over his shoulder. I backed up as Demitry began spinning him around, Dorian letting out a giddy laugh. He carried the small boy over between the table and the tv where Dahlia and Donald began taking turns dancing with him. 

Dame started dancing her way towards me, waving her finger at me to join her. I held my hands up to shyly decline, but the girl insisted. Dame moved her shoulders to the beat, turning around and backing into me. I began laughing at my own embarrassment and at the sight of Dame behaving as she was. I almost didn’t know how to react, but I moved to the song and bounced on my feet. I didn’t know how to dance, but when Dame turned back around, I felt that it didn’t matter. I let myself go, and it was okay. Dame was smiling. Dorian was loved. The others were content. I was happy once again.

“Desley Morgan!” We heard someone shout from the other side of the commons, the stereo frying and killing the music. 

We saw Daisuke standing at the edge of the hall leading towards the boys’ rooms. He was sweating, and his eyes looked as if they were ready to pop out of his head. The malice was pouring out of him, and I could sense it. I was tensing up. The nervous expressions on both Dahlia’s and Demitry’s faces told me they could sense it, too. 

“Was the music too loud?” Demitry asked cautiously. 

“I saw what you did.” Daisuke said. “I saw what you will do!” His voice was menacing. 

Dahlia stepped in. “Daisuke, what are you talking about?”

Daisuke squinted at everyone as if he was in disbelief. “Don’t you see what she is? She’s got you all fooled!”

“What is he talking about?” I asked. 

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Donald replied. 

Dahlia turned to both of us. “He’s not well. We need to get Hector up here now.”

Dahlia kept talking, but I became distracted with watching Daisuke’s mannerisms. He kept squinting and grabbing at his head. He made several aggressive, frustrated grunts. 

“Daisuke?” 

He gripped his hair. “It’s in my head. I can’t stop seeing it. All those people. They’re screaming at me!”

“Hold on, Daisuke. We’re going to get help here soon.” Dahlia tried to reassure him. 

“They’re just screaming. Screaming. Screaming. Screaming. They keep screaming. They keep screaming. They keep screaming. They keep screaming.” Daisuke was rambling, physically struggling to keep his composure. 

Dame glanced to Dahlia. “We wouldn’t happen to have anything for him, would we?”

Dahlia shook her head. “I don’t know, and if we did it would all be in the labs.”

“He’s having an episode.”

“Exactly, and I don’t want to set him off if we make the wrong move.”

My heart was racing.

“So, what? We just stand here and wait?” Demitry had a shrivel of panic present in his voice.

“I already paged Hector.”

“And what’s he gonna do? Lecture him to death?”

“Daisuke isn’t some low level savant, Dahlia.” Donald chimed in. 

Daisuke’s rambling was growing louder and more erratic. 

Demitry asked again, “What do we do?”

“We keep things under control. We stay calm.” Dame answered sternly. 

Demitry clutched his hands together. “This is so bad, guys.”

Demitry would know better out of all of us how dangerous the situation was, which was why he was growing more anxious by the second. The others kept tossing words back and forth about what to do. I, on the other hand, couldn’t take my eyes off of Daisuke. I could feel something boiling over within him, and he was about to implode.

A cry from Daisuke got everyone’s attention again. It was horrifying to watch how his body stiffened up, his fingers curling and twisting uncontrollably until they sporadically locked up. His head jerked back, mouth gaped open as if something had been prying his jaw apart. A blood curdling scream followed, his arms twisting over his head and behind his back. The sight made Dorian run to me, grabbing my hand and burying himself into my side. The floor trembled. The lights flickered. I had a brief thought that maybe I had been causing this with how tense I was, but Daisuke put that to rest. Everything stopped as soon as Daisuke’s screaming silenced and his body relaxed. 

Daisuke remained looking up at the ceiling, the others too nervous to make a sound. We waited. Daisuke was motionless. We waited. The tension made me not want to breathe. 

“I see it now.” Daisuke said softly. 

I asked him, “See what?”

It happened so fast.

In mere seconds, a force blasted me off my feet and careened me into the wall next to the girls’ hallway. My body hit with enough impact that it sent cracks webbing across the concrete and up to the ceiling. It felt like getting hit by a train, both blows knocking the air from my lungs. Then I fell to the floor, going limp and falling over onto my side. 

I was dazed, barely able to register the approaching threat as Daisuke took slow, menacing steps towards me. His face was vacant of emotion. Donald was the first to launch himself at the deranged boy, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him back to keep him from advancing further. Donald pleaded for Daisuke to calm down, but it was met with a sharp, backhanded smack to the face that threw him to the side. 

Demitry was next to charge at Daisuke. The boy wildly lunged himself at him, desperate to stop the madness before it escalated more. Dahlia called out to Demitry, but it was too late. Demitry came within a foot of Daisuke, swinging an incautious fist aimed straight for the boy’s face. It looked like it would be a direct hit until an invisible force caught it. It was like smashing his knuckles into a wall he couldn’t see. Demitry felt a crack, a shock of pain shooting up his arm. He didn’t have time to process, swallowing the pain that was lurching up into his throat. 

Daisuke grabbed Demitry by his face, lifting him off his feet as he struggled to get free. He pulled at Daisuke’s wrist with his uninjured hand, frantically kicking his feet. Demitry could feel the pressure on his cheek bones and jaw as Daisuke attempted to crush them. Dahlia, fearing for Demitry, levitated the coffee table off the floor and launched it at Daisuke with a swing of her hand.

Daisuke instantly deflected the table behind him, reacting by using Demitry as a projectile weapon. He hurled Demitry at Dahlia, but Dame managed to shove her out of the way, taking the full impact of Demitry crashing into her that knocked her off her feet. Both savants slapped the floor hard with a clap, Dame smacking her head off the marble. They slid across the floor before coming to a stop. Dame lied still on her side. Demitry groaned with his face down, pushing himself up with one hand as he kept the other close to his chest. 

Dahlia rushed to them, Demitry dragging himself to Dame the moment his senses returned to him. In that instance, their concerns were off of Daisuke. Demitry rolled Dame over to survey the damage as Dahlia dropped to her knees beside them. 

“I couldn’t do anything.” Demitry’s voice was slurred. 

Dahlia examined Dame’s head. There was no blood, so she assumed she was knocked cold. Daisuke was still making his way towards me. I was starting to get up, pressing my back against the wall for support. 

“Daisuke,” my voice sounded raspy, “you’re hurting your friends. You need to stop!”

“You’ll do much worse to them.” Daisuke replied while raising a hand to me.

I braced for whatever was about to hit me next, putting my arms up to guard myself. Then to my fearful surprise, Dorian ran straight up to Daisuke. He stopped a couple feet ahead of him, which made Daisuke take pause. Dorian stretched his arms out as if to ban Daisuke from coming any closer to me. I could see him shivering. The vacancy did not change on Daisuke’s face, but he lowered his hand. Although Dorian trembled, he refused to step aside. He wanted to protect me. I, on the other hands, was anxious for him to leave. To run. To go somewhere safe and away from harm. I had hoped that Daisuke wasn’t so far gone that he’d hurt a child, too. 

“Move.” Daisuke commanded Dorian.

Dorian didn’t budge but shook his head, standing taller with his chest puffed to show he had no fear. 

There was a twinge of agitation on Daisuke’s face. He raised his hand again. I stopped breathing. In a flash, Daisuke backhanded Dorian the same as he did Donald only it sounded harder, a sickening noise escaping the little boy’s mouth as he was thrown to the side. The smack echoed throughout the building. Dorian skidded and rolled across the floor, Dahlia immediately screaming his name and scurrying to tend to him. 

The nerves were fighting to escape my body as my eyes fixated on Dorian. He didn’t move much beyond wrapping his arms around his head. Dorian curled into himself while Dahlia tried to comfort him. Daisuke muttered words under his breath. I didn’t catch what he said. I didn’t care. It only drew my attention back to him, and I became enraged. 

“You son of a b***h!” I shouted, flinging myself off the wall and into a frenzied charge towards Daisuke. 

Daisuke had a hand up and ready to stop me, but I had been observing. The table that Dahlia had attacked Daisuke with earlier had still been behind him. I focused on it, imagining a tight string around the leg that led back to my left hand. I snapped my hand back, yanking the table as hard as I could. The table exploded off the floor, spiraling towards Daisuke and striking him in the back. The impact lurched him forward and dropped his guard in time for me to plow a merciless fist directly into his nose. The power in my body and the rage I felt made everything feel intensified, so I knew I hit him hard enough to take him off his feet. He couldn’t dismiss this one. I wanted him to hurt. I wanted the damage to be permanent. 

The blow to the face did take Daisuke off his feet. It was like he had been clotheslined. I barreled the rest of the way through him, feet catching the edge of the table and instantly tripping over it. I fell to the floor with a thud shortly after Daisuke did, but I didn’t waste any time getting back on my feet. Daisuke, however, stayed on his back momentarily. He didn’t groan from the pain. He didn’t hardly flinch. Instead, he blew the blood out of his nose and sprayed it on his chin, cackling to himself while he slowly got up. His nose was sickly crooked, blood rushing out like a facet. 

“You’ll have to hit me harder than that, Desley.” Daisuke provoked as he turned to face me. 

His words angered me more, and I charged him again. Daisuke lunged at me, too. It was going to get messy. I ducked down for a tackle to get him back on the floor and hopefully gain the upper hand, but Daisuke’s body hardly budged. He trapped my head between his arm and torso and began beating my ribs. It stung, but it didn’t feel as bad as it sounded. That was adrenaline. That was the power that reinforced my bones. It was what made us both so dangerous in this moment. 

I broke away from his grip around my head, catching the arm he was using to beat my ribs in and then striking Daisuke a couple more times in the face. Every punch was more intense than the previous. However, it seem to have little affect. Daisuke’s head snapped back with a crazed smile, grabbing my wrist to prevent me from hitting him again. He collided his head into mine. Dazed. Next, Daisuke raised his leg and drove a foot into my stomach. The force threw me back, but it didn’t knock me down. There was a slow ache that made me nauseous, and I was suddenly concerned about puking. I was hesitant to attack again until the feeling subsided. 

Daisuke laughed. “You’re so weak, Desley. Just give it up. You’re not the good guy here.”

“Shut up!” I yelled before racing headlong towards him once more. 

I threw another punch at him, but he dodged it and landed another shot to my ribs. Following, Daisuke kept the attack coming by ramming a fist into my stomach, and this time I spit up. Daisuke nudged me back and repeatedly struck my face, which caused me to stumble after every hit. He was dominating the fight, and I knew I was losing. Even when I raised my arms to protect myself he managed to break past them and land another hit. 

It didn’t make me want to give up.

In fact, every time Daisuke hit me it made me rage more. 

By dumb luck I caught one of Daisuke’s fists, immediately hurling a right hook into his cheek. Daisuke followed it by hitting back. We exchanged blows, beating each other to a pulp. In a normal situation, I would have been finished after the first couple of punches. The upside to not being normal. 

Daisuke began to gain the upper hand again when he started hitting me more than I could hit back. One punch made me stagger back, but he grabbed my shirt so that I could remain in his reach. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I opened my eyes after another punch to seeing Daisuke reel his fist back to add to the count. His fist was hurdling towards me again, but I didn’t brace for it. My eyes locked in on his balled up hand in a state of hyper focus. Suddenly, Daisuke’s fist stopped an inch before my face. An invisible force caught it. At first, there was a look of surprise on Daisuke’s face, but it turned to strain as he tried to force his arm through. I forced it back. Then I did to Daisuke what he did to me. 

Energy erupted from me and sent Daisuke flying back. He smashed into the wall I was slammed into earlier. I wasn’t done either. I raised a hand and shot Daisuke up into the ceiling before slamming him hard into the marble floor, cracking it beneath him. I paused for signs of movement. It was quick, but I accounted for the level of hurt I placed on him. Dust and small pieces of the ceiling sprinkled on Daisuke. I saw a finger twitch. The boy drew his hand back and planted it into the floor. He did the same with the other. He pushed himself up. Daisuke struggled to get to his feet, and I had high hopes this was the end of it. 

But Daisuke cackled. 

“That’s more like it.” His voice sounded excited. 

Daisuke raised his hand, and another transparent wave flung me across the commons. I crashed into the wall opposite of him. Before I could react, Daisuke was on me, jamming his arm into my neck. 

“You’re biting off more than you can chew with me. Could have just rolled over and made it easier on everyone, but no. You’re just so damn stubborn.” Daisuke hissed. 

“And you’re so damn nuts!” I fired back. “Hector’s going to have your a*s locked up for this.”

“You still think you’re the hero, and you want to call me crazy?” Daisuke laughed. 

Daisuke released my neck only to grab me by the shirt and slam me into the wall again. I instinctually grabbed his shirt sleeves and forced him away from me. He pulled me with him. I freed one hand to strike him in the face once more. Daisuke responded by launching off the floor and taking us both into the air. He turned and maneuvered his body to ram me into the ceiling. Then I pushed back and crashed him into the wall. He rushed me into the other wall. The power struggle made it seem like we were in a pinball machine. 

I began fighting to free myself, punching at Daisuke and doing whatever I could to escape his grasp. Fatigue from the fight was settling in, which led me to believe I was about to be in some serious trouble with no signs of Daisuke slowing down. He seemed almost unstoppable. 

Daisuke slammed me into the ceiling again, but this time I brought my hands to his chest. In less than a second, my palms heated and a tunneling blast exploded from my hands that bombed Daisuke into the floor. I fell shortly after, landing behind him with a firm smack on the marble. 

I staggered to my feet. We were near the top of the stairs. Before Daisuke had a chance to straighten up and regain his senses, I charged and tackled him down the staircase. We tumbled onto the lobby floor. The whole ordeal was beginning to feel endless. I felt the cold floor beneath my cheek after we reached the bottom. I was exhausted. Out of it. Daisuke appeared to be as well. He couldn’t bring himself to his feet. 

I dragged myself away from him when I heard him shuffle around. Daisuke let out several infuriated growls and grunts. There was a hand that gripped my shoulder and instantly flipped me around. Daisuke worked his way on top of me, pinning me down with his weight. I flailed and fought back, but another solid punch that jerked my head to the side dazed me and left me disoriented. 

  “You’re not good. You’re not good.” Daisuke muttered, wrapping his hands around my neck. 

I felt the pressure and the air being restricted from my lungs. I realized what he was doing, and panic set in. I pushed back on his wrists and kicked my legs. Then I was grabbing at his face. Anything to throw him off balance and give me an opening to escape. When my throat began to burn is when I started hitting his arms over and over again. None of it rocked Daisuke. He only kept squeezing my neck and mumbling to himself. 

“You’re not the hero.” I could barely hear Daisuke say between the flabby thuds of striking his arms. 

His eyes were sharp and cold, hateful yet desperate. He intended to kill me, and I knew it in that moment. This wasn’t a mental breakdown or a spurt of insanity where Daisuke would have been docile had it not. It was the push to get him to this point. On the floor. Strangling the savant he use to mentor. 

“Do you want to know why you’re not the hero, Desley?” Daisuke asked. “Heroes don’t kill their own mother, and it won’t stop there.”

The confusion hit me harder than any punch Daisuke had thrown at me. I didn’t understand it, and I wanted to mark it off as ramblings of a deranged boy. There was something that churned in me though. The night before and the gunman flashed through my mind, and something came unhinged inside me. It had to be a lie. It had to be a lie. 

I couldn’t dwell on it. My vision was becoming narrow, and Daisuke’s voice was growing dull and muffled in my ears. I held on, still swinging my fists even though they were turning into light pats. Consciousness was slipping. My throat was on fire with the burning spreading to my chest. I didn’t want to give in, but the weakness was spreading like a cancer through my body. My eyes locked with Daisuke’s. He wanted to watch me die. 

Then something crashed into the side of Daisuke’s head at a high rate of speed, showering me with debris as it ripped the boy off my body. It took me a second to realize it was the television. The television. The collision obliterated the tv and threw Daisuke across the floor, finally knocking him unconscious. Air rushed back into my lungs. Relief washed over me as I coughed and hacked the pain from my throat, giving myself some time to orientate before sitting up to asses what happened. 

I saw Daisuke lying face down on the floor. He wasn’t moving this time. Down for the count. Pieces of the tv were scattered all over the floor. It seemed to have come from nowhere, but I knew there was an explanation for it. I was too tired to stand up, so I stayed on the floor with a hand trying to soothe my neck. I was attempting to put the pieces together of those last moments when I saw Dame appear at the top of the stairs. Then I knew. We didn’t say anything but only stared at each other. Nothing needed to be said. It as evident by our faces that we were glad it was over. We were thankful to see each other okay. 

Hector and Markus arrived several minutes later. They were speechless. Markus reviewed the damages and called for a crew to take Daisuke away for evaluation. Hector interviews everyone about what had taken place. He asked everyone but me. Instead, every time Hector glanced at me, he looked as if I had caused it. Maybe he was right. 

While Daisuke was taken out in restraints and under sedation for the safety of everyone else, Hector requested another team to come in and clean up the mess we created. This included a new television. By now, the building lobby and commons area were buzzing with activity. Demitry was escorted to the medical bay for a fractured wrist, cheekbones, and a couple broken fingers. Donald, mostly uninjured, led Dorian back to his room with an ice pack for his face. Dame, Dahlia, and I were in the kitchen. 

Dahlia had a single scrape on her elbow from where she was pushed out of the way. She was looking Dame over to make sure she didn’t have a concussion. Dame insisted she was okay though. I sat quietly on the countertop, staring down at the floor. My injuries weren’t terrible either. I only had a busted lip, a moderately black eye, and a possible fractured cheekbone by the swelling on one side of my face. None of it mattered to me though. In the calmness of the aftermath, I was being eaten alive by Daisuke’s words. 

I only partially paid attention to what Dame and Dahlia were discussing. Dame offered to check on me so Dahlia could see how Dorian was doing. Dahlia was caught between the suggestion and what she felt was her responsibility, but she nodded and made her way out of the kitchen. My train of thought was disrupted by Dame placing a bag of frozen peas against my cheek. It made me flinch. 

“Daisuke really did a number on you, huh?” Dame asked. “At least we’re finally getting a new tv out of it.”

I looked up from the floor. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

She shrugged. “You were getting your a*s kicked.”

“Thank you, Dame.”

Dame looked as if she didn’t know how to respond, so she glanced away to a rag that had a splotch of blood on it from my lip. The entire evening had taken a turn for the chaotic. We all felt differently by it. It was in the air like an ominous wave. A dark cloud was lingering, and I hoped it would pass. It made Dame softer in the sense that she didn’t want to make light of what occurred. I, on the other hand, became more troubled.

“Dame,” I started, “Daisuke said something to me, and I don’t know if it’s true.”

Dame clicked her tongue. “He was crazy, Desley. Crazy people say crazy things.”

“He said I killed my mother.”

Dame froze up.

“Is it true?” I asked. 

“He was crazy, Desley.”

“But is it true?”

Dame looked down and placed the bag of peas on the counter before taking a few steps away from me. She started to walk away and leave to the other end of the kitchen. No matter the reason, she was avoiding me. I hopped down from the counter to pursue her. 

“Dame!” I raised my voice. 

She stopped but she wouldn’t face me.

“Is it true or not?”

Dame slowly turned around. “I don’t know what to say, but I don’t want to lie to you either.”

My stomach turned. “What do you mean?”

“It was self defense, Desley. You weren’t suppose to know.” She said. 

I grabbed at my face trying to process everything. “It was the alley wasn’t it? How could…why would she…” Disgust immediately set in. “You knew about this!?”

Dame shut her eyes. “Hector identified her and informed Dahlia. Dahlia told me. I don’t know how Daisuke knew. You weren’t suppose to know.” 

“You all knew. I…I killed my mom.” 

Saying those words sent me into a void where I felt nothing but despair and contempt towards myself. Dame tried to explain that my mother intended to take my life, but all I could think about was how I had taken hers. How violent it was. Dame repeatedly said it was self defense, but her words no longer connected. I cut myself off. I turned around and began to flee from the kitchen. Dame grabbed my wrist to prevent me from leaving, but I yanked it away from her. 

Exiting the kitchen, I rushed past Dahlia who had taken cover behind the wall. My guess was she had been listening to us. Dame was still trying to get me to stop, but Dahlia intervened. The eldest savant came between us and held Dame back, commanding her to let me go. It made a whole scene with the crew who had been working alongside Hector and Markus. Feeling their eyes on me made the guilt swell. The anxiety followed. I knew Hector knew. I, again, felt like a monster. I hastily made my way up the stairs to the commons and rushed myself to my room. Once inside, I slammed the door behind me and sank to the floor. 

I sobbed as the lights flickered. Hate for myself and what I had done consumed me as fast as all the fond memories of my mother swarmed my head. Each one brought more pain. Anguish. I would never see her again. I would never hug her again. We would never talk. I had missed her more than ever, and I was disgusted with myself for the times that I didn’t miss her. She was alive then, and I was careless. 

A decay of loneliness rotted my insides. I was to blame for all of it. Darkness was closing in around me, and I didn’t flinch when all the lights in my room shattered. The world had stopped spinning, and I wanted it to end. 

Markus walked nervously with Hector as they wandered the labs on their way to see how Demitry was doing. He was both anxious and agitated. Hector had a swelling of excitement in his bones. He mourned Penny, but the scientist in him was alive again. Markus stopped walking, and the sound of a single pair of footsteps drew Hector’s attention to him. He didn’t say anything but only waited for Markus to speak his mind.

“We shouldn’t have lied, Hector. We’re in over our heads with this.” Markus said.

Hector replied, “Are you getting cold feet?”

“We have no control over that girl, and incidents like this are only going to get worse.”

“So, you’d rather corporate take over and conduct their experiments with her? You think that’d be better?”

“That boy is going in her place now, and that’s all because of you!” Markus yelled. 

“I know you were fond of Daisuke. He was very promising. It’s unfortunate what happened, and had I known this would happen as a direct result of them linking together, I would have never done it.” Hector tried to settle him.

Markus argued. “You should have known from the start! There was always something off about Desley, and you wanted to keep pushing it just like you were pushing it with corporate today.” 

“Don’t be a coward, Markus.”

Markus lunged forward to grab Hector by his lab coat, slamming him against the wall. “You’re going to get people killed!”

Hector remained unbothered by Markus’ hostility. He’s seen it once before. “You’re worried, and I understand. We will figure this out and keep the dogs at bay.”

Markus loosened his grip. “I don’t get how you can be so calm with this.”

“There isn’t anything else I can be right now. I can’t weep for Penelope and I can’t hate Desley. This is all part of a higher purpose, and we’ve been called to it. We have to do what is expected of us now.” Hector explained.

Markus took a leery step back. “You’re beginning to sound like Daniel.”

“I’m just starting to understand.”

“Things could have gone very far south tonight.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Markus shook his head. “We’re not equipped to even control proxies on the higher end of the one to a hundred scale, and she goes beyond that.”

Hector straightened his lab coat. “We can’t control a god, Markus. However, we can control a child who’s unaware she’s a god.”

“And you’re confident we can control her even now?” Markus asked. 

Hector paused before answering. “I am confident that nothing will ever be the same after this night. 

“So, what will happen now?”

“Anything can happen. Only time will tell what becomes of us next.” Hector glanced upwards at the ceiling and smiled. “A god among ants. Her will be done.”

“Her will be done.”