The shore was burning under the amber colored skies. Cries and pleas could be heard from miles away. How would the entire town react if they had known that it was done by one girl?
Would they detain her like a criminal?
Would they torch her for being a witch?
Would they fear her like some rabid animal?
If she is a criminal then I will be her lawyer. If she is a witch then I will stand with her. If she is a rabid animal then I will be her friend, because I knew her. I knew January from the very beginning. I knew her and there was not a single time in my life that I wished that I never did.
She came into my life when I was young, and I was happy that life brought her to me. We grew up together in that southern shore where the sun sinks at the end of the lake’s horizon.
We live in a town near the Macabre lake. It’s a big lake, encompassing over many lands in the distant horizon. I remembered when we were kids, I used to think of it as the sea, but my mind was little, and I too, was little, so everything in front of me was big. It was the lake in where we got everything. Our lives, our livelihood, our food on the table, everything. Macabre lake had been known for its fishes and its clams, it has also been known for our heartwarming town. But it is also known for its darkest secrets. It was also the same lake that consumed my father, and many other children’s father.
Our fathers were fishermen and our grandfathers before that. Our grandfathers rode on small boats while our fathers rode on bigger ones. Fishes never seemed to never fade away from the lake and that is why, centuries ago, it was a lake that shred many people’s lives.
The lake and my hometown took a lot from me. The lake took my father, the town took my soul. But it wasn’t only my story to tell.
I had found January on the lake’s shores on the day that I had lost my dearest father. I had found her crying because, she had lost her father too, and just like me, she ran to the lake for comfort. I saw her amber colored hair blazing from a distance. She wasn’t like many of us, but I didn’t mind. We found each other in desperation. We found each other in need.
And in her hazel-brown eyes, I found my clarity.
We grew up together. In a town that only seemed to grow smaller and smaller each day. She lived in the opposite side of town, but I didn’t mind. There was only one school that every kid went to, so it was inevitable that we would see each other everyday. We spent most of our time together, playing, rambling, drawing, reading, exploring, we did every activity we could think of. We would sometimes explore her hidden talent, a talent that was like no other. Only I knew of her talent. No one else.
She was cheerful and smart. I was secluded and brooding. I couldn’t help to see the differences within us as we grew up. She was very active with the world around us, even if she had something devastating within herself. A secret within a secret and she lived on while having faith on the idea that she could live normally. That thought started to fade away as we grow up. But when we were kids, I didn’t mind. I found her talent to be something out of this world.
“You could control fire!?” I exclaimed while we were sitting on the shore. The skies started to turn to amber red as the sun slowly fades away from the distance.
“Kind of. It’s crazy, I know.” I could see a hint of sadness from her face as she said those words. She looked away from me and turned towards the sunset. I stared at her gloomy face. I never understood then as to why she would be sad. I was a small kid and I thought everything was little and never encompassing, just like me.
“But you’re like a superhero! That’s not crazy! That’s awesome!” I said in a cheerful tone. It was one of the few things that made me happy and interested. At that moment, I was happy for her and I was proud for having a friend like her. She smiled cheerfully at me, she had forgotten her sadness because in that moment, I was her world, I was everyone, to her. “Can you show me?” I added.
“Yeah, but I need a source of fire.” She said, looking around the shore. I grabbed my father’s lighter from my shorts and gave it to her.
“My father smokes. He gave me the lighter so that he would stop smoking.” I said and it was true. It did stop my father smoking, but it wasn’t smoking that killed him.
She grabbed the silver lighter from my hand. In one hand she lit the lighter and on the other she started to harness the fire that the lighter made. Her one hand held the lighter, on the other hand she had a little fireball.
“Wow! That’s Awesome!” I shouted and clapped and jumped for joy. She smiled at me, but her eyes were concentrating on her actions. I could see bullets of sweat come out from her forehead. The fireball on her hand grew bigger and bigger but that didn’t scare me.
After a couple of seconds her hands started to shake, her face of concentration started to turn into fear. I was blinded to her emotions because I was concentrating on the miracle unfolding in my eyes. What else could I do but marvel in amazement that someone like her exists.
“Marc, I can’t—“ She muttered, then before I knew it, the lighter exploded from her hands and the fireball shot into the lake. I jumped to the ground, covering my face. I still remember the immense heat on my face. It was like the sun had exploded there and then.
“Oh god, Marc! I’m so sorry!” She shouted at me as she turned me around. I had a big grin on my face.
“Let’s do that again!”
We both laughed and in that moment, I felt and I had faith that everything was going to be alright.
I never thought she would hurt me with her hidden power. I never doubted her because we were inseparable.
But in time everything fades away. And soon enough, there would be another in her eyes.
How much faith do you need to trust someone that he or she will never hurt you in your entire life? Do you need yourself to be a devout religious fanatic, serving that one person alone? Do you need to have faith to the point that you carry your heart on your very hands, willing to give every piece of you without any hesitation? Or do you to need to jump without knowing the height or the measure of the fall? I had faith within my father. I gave him all of my faith when he told me that he was going home during that stormy night. But where did faith lead me to? It led my heart to bleed from an oozing wound that would never be cured. My father is lost and is never coming back. She had faith too, it was one thing she had and grew up with, and she continued to have it even at the cost of her father, but it was one of the many things that will be inevitably destroyed.
Promises are a bountiful gift, bountiful in a way that everyone could give you one without asking for anything in return. He gave her his promise when he took her virginity away, promising that everything is going to be alright from there on. His promise riddled his hands as he carefully caressed her amber hair. His promise consumed them together and eventually became as one.
They were young then. The boy and the girl. The boy who lusted for the cravings of the flesh. The girl who had, well, an unnatural talent, and then there was me, the boy who remembers. I was with them when we grew up but I was the one who ended up to be detached, because I knew that everything that comes near me will soon, inevitably, fall apart.
January and I were young teenagers when we had met Kristoffer. A boy who grew up with a silver spoon on his tongue but sensitive enough to be kind to everything around him. He was kind and he was cheerful and he recognized and interacted with everything around him. Just like her.
“Do you think he likes me?” She said. I’ve never saw her so unsettled before. I kept quiet and ate my ice cream.
“I mean, how could anyone like me? With these braces-“ Did I mention that she had gotten braces, even though she had a beautiful set of teeth? All her braces did was impeding her speech more than anything else. “-And these freckles and these stupid glasses, Oh gosh, I look like any loser out there in town.”
I’ve never seen her so frazzled and anxiety-ridden, ever. A part of me was getting torn apart by seeing her like that because of some goody-two-shoes. I gave her a smile and grabbed her hand which was holding her ice cream.
“Don’t worry Jan. You’re the prettiest girl I ever met.”
She looked at me and smiled. Her emerald-colored braces, fully shown for the world to see.
“Oh gosh, you’re such a good friend Marc! But, you know, I have to hear that from him not from you!.” She said and giggled. I kept quiet for a while.
“Your ice cream is dripping.” I said. She let out a shriek and hurriedly licked the dripping ice cream from its cone.
I must say, that yes, I am jealous of him. Every single part of him. Jan would look at him as if he was her world, she would look at him as if he was everything, but she feared him, she was scared of him because what if he had discovered what she could do? Maybe he would pack up and run, or even worse, he might tell everyone about it. I’ve used those ideas against him, because, to be honest, I knew that Kristoff liked her too. But I’ve learned to get into Jan’s head and slowly push her away from him, because in my head, there were only us. But, of course, faith and chance would get the best of me.
As time went on, she slowly spent more time with him and less with me. They would hang out more with each other, with me being part of the background. I was losing confidence within myself, she was all of my self-esteem, and she was fading away. So I decided to detach myself and she didn’t even notice. It was hard for me to find other friends, just because I’m a miserable person when I’m not with her. I ended up being secluded. I never knew that things started to develop within them, that was her secret to share as time goes on.
She would still spend time with me whenever she can. She would go to my house and we would spend the day watching television or playing video games, but our time together was deduced to almost one day a week, two days, if I’m lucky. Those one days were the days that I looked forward to the most, but they were little and too far in between.
But I remember that one summer afternoon when everything in my world truly shattered apart.
I remember that afternoon when we were watching the news talk about some upcoming alien invasion (which was disproven because it and just shelved as another conspiracy theory) while eating ice cream. I had then noticed how she had looked more mature and quieter throughout the one days we had with each other. She looked prettier than ever, but it was covered by needless makeup that she had learned to cover her face with because she thought that she was too imperfect because of her freckles and ugly glasses. Oh, she also took off her braces. In a simple point, she had changed, and it was, of course, because of her lover. We were sitting quietly, just slowly eating our ice cream from our bowls and staring into the television. We both know that we weren’t paying attention to the show and I started to feel uneasy. Until she said those words.
“We had sex.” She said as she took a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and changed the channel.
My heart then split into two. She was my world, my everything, and someone else defiled her.
I felt my hand shook, my body tremble, but she didn’t feel it. It was like she was never there. I was shattered, every nerve of my body felt like it was on fire. I didn’t want to hear it, I never did, but she somehow thought that I wanted her to say those words and be proud of it.
I wanted to cocoon up and stop existing. If only I had told her what I really felt, if only I spent more time with her, if only—No. It’s just not possible. She never loved me the same way I loved her. She would never reciprocate the same feelings back, because in the end, what we were only meant to be was to be friends. A relationship that is pure, a relationship that had no space for the heart, because in reality that was all we were going to be.
So I tucked what I felt deep inside me, just like everything else in my life.
“So, how are your powers holding up?” I said, in a desperate move to change the topic. But I had a feeling that she didn’t want to move away from said topic. I could feel her staring at me as I direct my eyes on some kid’s show on TV.
“I didn’t want to talk about my damn powers.” She said, I could hear her voice crack. “Marc, I never cared shit for my virginity. But doing it with him is something I wish I had never done.” I could imagine the tears on her eyes. I couldn’t look at her out of both guilt and shame. If she had known what I had felt for her, would things be different?
She told me the entire story. She told me how much she hated it, how much she wished that she was never with him. She explained to me how much of herself felt like a toy, an item to just be used and I couldn’t believe her because all I could think of was that she could’ve done something about it.
I knew that her tears flowed freely from her eyes. I knew her eyes were turning red. I knew that she was feeling the greatest despair she ever felt in her entire life. I wanted to hug her, to be there for her, to be that one person she always trusted, but I didn’t, because all I could say to myself was: You could’ve done something about it. I wanted to say that to her, I wanted to let her know but I chose not to and I was glad that I didn’t.
Because now that I look at it, it was never her fault in the first place. We humans are a product of circumstance. I looked back upon my father’s tragic death: there was nothing I could do about it. And she had gone through the same thing and there was scat shit we could’ve done to save our fathers.
If you really ask yourself, deeply enough, if you reflect upon your choices, just like I did when she had told me those words, would you really be able to say: ‘You could’ve done something about it’? Despite pride and the hatred that fueled me, I didn’t say those words because clarity had told me that she couldn’t have done anything about it. Even if she was strong and able to push him and run away. Even if she was thinking completely fine at the time and could’ve told him no. Even if she had the ability to burn him down into ashes, she decided upon her humanity that she wouldn’t do it and that she couldn’t do anything about it.
We are beings of circumstance and we are mistakes waiting to be done and undone. It is not our fault that we have failed to make the right decisions in life. It is god’s fault for making us so goddamn imperfect and miserable.
So no, it wasn’t her fault and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was god’s fault. It was her parents’ fault. It was my fault. It was everyone else’s fault but not hers, because she was born to make that mistake. She was born and cursed to make mistakes.
“And the worse part of it all, when we left that place, he didn’t even talk to me about it. It was like nothing ever happened.”
I hugged her and told her everything was going to be okay even if nothing will ever be okay or fine, because everything turns in for the worse.
“And when I was riding his car going back to my house all I could think about is, if I was with you, would you have done the same thing?”
I hugged her and thought about what she had told me. I hugged her and I could feel myself walking away from everything I am, because reality still exists, and yes, at a given point, I might’ve done the same thing he had done, it is my own undeniable fact within our relationship. But maybe I could’ve done something more, but then again, we never happened so I would never know.
When Jan decided to break away from Kris, it was then we found out that he had told a lot of people about Jan’s powers. It was both devastating and a blessing at the same time.
There were a lot of students who had harassed her to show what Kris had told them. I mean, of course, Kris would tell them to go to Jan, because if Jan couldn’t show it then it would make Kris look like a retard and Jan denying those people who had almost physically beaten her up just because of some goddamn rumor was the plan. We decided to wait until it settled down, until it was forgotten. But it took a toll on Jan.
It’s crazy what human beings would do just to get what they want. In the mediocre lives of the students of Macabre High, all they could do is talk about rumors and get behind it if it’s real. They went to lengths just to know if Jan really had powers. At first, they were kind enough to simply ask. Then they decided that it would never work so they decided to turn abusive. They thought that making her angry would eventually turn her to a fireball, so they played pranks on her. A lot of it.
There was one time when they did the good old paint in a bucket trick. I was never on the same class as hers for some reason and some of her classmates decided to place a small bucket of (washable) paint on top of the door and well, you already know what would happen.
Long story short, the classmates who had done it was reprimanded (suspension for two days and we would see them in the cafeteria doing dishes) but then it was clear that the message came across: They would do anything just to show Jan was a freak.
Jan being a freak also had gotten to her parents, who, at first, thought that she was desperate in getting some attention. But then after she had confronted them, and explained to them that she was the clear victim in the situation, they sided her, creating a unbreakable bond that would last for quite some time. But, she didn’t show them what she could really do. She never did.
The rumor also brought us friends, but we were careful to whom we would choose. We had two new people join us, Aria and Richter. Both of them never really cared about the rumors, they were just interested in having friends.
Eventually the rumor had died down, the pranksters were tired, as well as everybody else. They decided to move on with other rumors. I was just glad it was big enough to let Jan out of the spotlight.
But Jan was no longer the same cheerful person that interacted and loved everybody. She was no longer a Disney princess. She had turned into someone like me. Brooding and miserable. Quiet and detached.
The world has taken a toll on her and there was nothing she could do but fall apart.
It makes me wonder how someone like her, with all that power and strength would stoop so low. She has an ability to burn down villages, take down cities, destroy anyone who gets in her way and yet, she decided to stay lower than anyone else.
I did warn her to never show anyone else her power. I told her that it would only turn people against her. But I can’t also discount the fact that when we were children, I supported her abilities, I worshiped her every being. But it only made me wonder even more, if she had shown her abilities, would they fear her? Praise her like a god? Or would they treat her like a psycho and leave her? She could just simply put them into slavery, put them to follow her, simply because she could incinerate them anytime. But instead they humiliated her, turned people against her and she decided to not fight them at all, because she knew better. She was kind and she kept everything to herself and soon it would be her own utter destruction.
I can’t help but think that she would never use what was given to her. At home, she would still use the stove to cook just like any normal human being. She would still use gas and matchsticks to light up their fireplace in the evening; still use a lighter to light up candles. I even thought that she had forgotten all about it. All she wanted was to belong, but someone like her could never belong. She was born to not be a part of anything, because she was alone. There was no one else like her and that idea makes me smirk, because we human beings always want to be unique when in reality, when we are truly unique, it makes us different and that makes us lonely and alone for the rest of our lives.
“Hey, guys, New York got trashed.” Richter said to us one morning when we were playing D&D.
“By what?” I can’t help but ask. There had been conspiracy theories all over the place about some alien invasion.
“By aliens.” Richter replied with a blank expression on her face. I remember that we all stared at him. “But you know, those guys in weird costumes kick their asses back to outer space.”
“What do you call them again?” Jan asked Aria.
“I forgot.” Aria replied. But it was clear that she was clueless. I can’t help but think about those guys. A bunch of weirdos claimed to have superpowers. Some dude even carries a hammer and the other guy had a shield. I always thought of them as some publicity stunt. No one really kept up with them from my side of the world, I mean, we are kind of miles away from the nearest city.
“Are you sure what you’re telling us is true? There’s a shit ton of fake news going around nowadays.” I said while crossing my arms. It was at that moment in where I wished I had watched the news more. I kind of wished some of us did. Heck, even my father barely watches the news. All he does was go and watch the latest football game. It made me wonder who actually in my town cares about the news from the outside world. We are an isolated, forgotten town that no one would even care to visit after all.
“Wait let me check my iPad.” He said. “What’s your wifi password again?”
“How many times do I have to tell you? We don’t have wifi here.” I said.
“God, man it’s like the 21st century and you still don’t have wifi?” Richter said annoyingly. Aria and Jan can’t help but giggle.
“And how many times do I have to tell you that my mom kept does not trust wifi because of all the radiation shit it gives out.” I answered back.
“Fuck that, I’m heading home. Last thing I want to be called is a liar. Just you guys wait, I’ll show you.” Richter said and it was clear that he was quite pissed off.
“We’re sure you’re not lying Rick. I’m sure that everyone in town would know about it tomorrow.” Jan said in hopes of calming him down. But it did the exact opposite. He stormed out of my house and into his bicycle.
“Rick!” I shouted out desperately but it was a futile attempt.
“Don’t worry about him. He just likes being first with the news, that’s all.” Aria said as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “The perks of having the first few wifi in your house in this backwater town. But I’m sure we’ll all have it by the end of the year.” She added.
“Yeah and then my house will be the only one without it cause my paranoid mom thinks that it’ll kill us.” I said still looking out for Rick who was driving his bicycle out into town.
“It’s either that or the aliens.” Jan interjected. Both Aria and she laughed. I stayed still.
“Ha-ha real funny guys.”
Aria stayed with us a couple of minutes more, but it was clear that we couldn’t finish up the game without Richter; it just didn’t feel the same.
“Welp. I guess that’s it. That ogre just shows that we do need our cleric around.” Aria said. “It’s also kind of getting late, I think I’ll be heading home now or else I’ll get an earful from Dad again.”
We said our goodbyes and I actually thought that Jan would go with her since they lived close to each other but she decided to stay. We stayed out on the porch for a while, sitting in our dilapidated small staircase in front.
“Do you think it’s true?” She said all of a sudden.
“I don’t know. New York is a pretty weird place.” I replied. Jan hugged her knees closer to her chest. She then gave out a wistful smile.
“You want to head out to the shore?” She asked. I looked at her and I saw her eyes staring at me earnestly.
I think that I forgot to mention that heading towards the Shore of Macabre Lake requires us to dredge through a shit-ton of dirt and a fuck-ton of trees.
“It just rained a couple of minutes ago. The dirt road is mud by now.” I said.
“Oh come on! It’ll be fun! You might even get laid there.” She said as she stood up and started to run across the road and into the forest.
I felt my face heat up as she said those words. I fucking hate it when she does that. She did know that I d like her a couple of months ago but we both decided to brush it away and stayed as friends. I guess growing up together really makes you comfortable with whatever you say with each other. But I know that she likes flirting with me once in a while. Maybe it makes her feel special or wanted, but hey, I don’t mind it. I like her flirting with me once in a while.
After going through the thick mud for what felt like hours, we finally showed up on the other side. In front of us was the lake and on top of us were stars. It felt like there was a million of them, well, there really was a million of them out there. I could never get tired of that view.
Jan hurriedly sat down near the shore. I approached slowly behind her. We both heard the waves of the lake crashing onto the shore. It was minimal but the sound was there and it was calming to both body and soul.
“You know I hate it when you say something like that.” I said as I sat down beside her.
“Sorry.” She said. And somehow that hurt me even more.
We both kept quiet for a while and stared at the stars and at what seemed like the neverending horizon in front of us. It was dark but our eyes were accustomed to the given darkness. We almost had some kind of night vision if I say so myself. Maybe that could be my superpower or something.
“Don’t worry, Marc. You’ll get laid someday.” She said. Her saying that hurt me even more. It’s like she hasn’t known me at all.
“It’s not about just getting laid with me, y’know.” I said. “I’d actually want to make it a meaningful experience.” I added without realizing what I had said. I can’t believe I was that insensitive.
“Yeah, I wish I could have that too.” She said. I couldn’t see her expression at all. I suddenly had the urge to cry and hug her and tell apologize to her for saying such a thing. “But you know, that doesn’t matter. The past doesn’t really matter. People don’t really matter, because as long as I’m around, I could make something out of myself and that’s enough for living.” She said when I had thought that all of her hope and optimism for the future was lost. I guess it’s true that one lifetime would never be enough to know someone. I felt like the old January was coming back and I was happy.
“My relationship doesn’t matter, because I could get love from so many other places, like from my parents, from my friends and from you. And sex doesn’t matter cause it’s just friction in the right places. It’s stupid to think that for some people that means everything to them when it doesn’t even scratch the surface. Hell, I could even say that my performance in school doesn’t even matter because I know it could never ever prepare me for what would happen in the future. What really matters is me. And you.”
My heart was pumping a billion times a second. I could feel my face heat up. I didn’t want that night to end. The stars, the lake, her wistful and sweet voice. She had grown so mature and so beautifully that I can no longer comprehend what she is.
“What—what do you mean by that?” I could hear my voice shake. I could feel my body shake. She stood up and looked into the sky.
“I don’t know. Maybe someday when I’m a better person, when I’m right for you, I would come to your arms and say, ‘I love you’.” She said and my heart sank and bloomed at the same time.
“But you are a better person, you are right for me!” I said and pushed myself to stand up.
“You think so?” She said and turned around. I could see tears streaming from her eyes and into her cheeks. “I can’t be, not with who I am right now. I feel that ever since I left you for him, that I was never enough for someone like you.”
“That’s stupid and you know that.” I said and smiled. “Miss January Embers, you are one stupid and shallow woman.” I added and she laughed. She genuinely laughed with tears of both joy and sadness and I can’t help but laugh out of sheer happiness because finally, we were once again reunited and maybe this time, it’s towards a brighter future. After we had both laughed our hearts out, I slowly approached her and I could see her hair was again flare out after such a long time.
It was on that same shore she cried out of sheer despair and now it was on the same shore that she cried out of sheer happiness. The circle is complete and everything felt right and reunited.
“January, would you like to be my—“
Then a loud crashing sound coming from the sky. We had to cover our ears because the sound came too near from us.
Just when everything was going so right. Just my fucking luck.
Something had crashed near us. It sounded like a plane but it was more like a meteor. Jan and I rushed towards the location without care as to what we may encounter. Well more of Jan not caring what she may encounter and me trying to convince her that we should get the fuck out of there.
“Jan!” I shouted as we climb up a small hill to get a better vantage point. I was huffing and breathing heavily from all the fast trekking we just did. My joints were on fire. “Jan, we should just head back and tell the sheriff about it.” I said as I regain my breath.
“Come on, Marc! It might be those aliens from New York!” She shouted back. It’s like she didn’t even hear me.
“More of the reason why we should head back!” I shouted in response. She was already a couple of meters ahead of me and it was clear that she was ignoring my pleas. I had no choice but to follow her.
Once we got to the crash site, they were there. Humanoid like creatures with what seemed to be like metal as skin. They had staff with a crescent end with a green glowing particle in the edge. They didn’t look friendly at all.
We both stay hidden under the bush but I could feel Jan’s eagerness, but I couldn’t identify as to what she would be eager for when I’m about to shit my pants.
“We should go back.” I whispered to her.
“We should stop them.” She replied.
“Don’t go Superhero on me now. They’ll kill you.” I said, my voice rising up a few decibels.
“Aren’t you supposed to be happy? I could finally use my powers on something!” She replied back in a loud manner. That was enough to raise the heads of our alien invaders. She hurriedly ducks back into the bush.
“Are you insane? You don’t even know what you’re against!” I said but trying to keep my voice low. We could see the aliens approach our current position. “Oh fuck.” I said. There was about five or six of them.
“Looks like we have no other choice.” She said and charged a fireball at her hand and lobbed it at them.
I watched from a distance. The staff the aliens had wasn’t a melee weapon, but rather it was a projectile weapon that fired out beams of light. It could’ve been a plasma weapon or a gauss weapon, I can’t tell, but one thing for sure, it obliterates anything that it comes in contact with. If it could cut down a tree in one hit, it could certainly do a devastating blow on the human body. Jan has a human body, or at least that’s what I think.
She was dodging the shots from the aliens like it was nothing. She literally returned fire with streaks of fire from her hands. A couple of them hit one of the aliens and it combusted into pure fire. But she was still outnumbered and she was going to be pinned soon enough as the aliens kept sustained fire on her.
I felt useless. It was only going be a matter of time before they would find where she’s hiding. Three of the aliens started to move. Two of the aliens stayed back, they looked badly wounded with sizzling wound from their shoulders but they were still able to keep firing towards Jan. The other three started to move forward. It was now clear that there were only five of them and it was five against one if I don’t do anything about it.
I looked at Jan and she looked calm amongst everything that was everything. In fact, she was smiling. She placed her hands together and it looked like she was charging something. Something big. I stared and watched as her hands started to turn into one massive fireball.
The three aliens didn’t see it coming. They were consumed by the fire before I could even notice. The other two ran away into the forest to god knows where. As soon as the battlefield cleared up I ran towards Jan to check if she was okay.
“Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.” I muttered. My heart was beating hard but Jan looked calm and happy.
“How did I do, babe?” She said with a smile.
“How the fuck did you do that!?” I shouted. “And did you just call me babe?”
“Uh-huh. And I’ve been practicing.” She replied. God, she was hot, both literal and non-literal.
But with all the crazy shit that had happened, we had forgotten that fire ignites leaves and we were in the middle of the forest. It was going to be a matter of time before everything was set ablaze.
We hurriedly ran back towards my house. But I can’t stop thinking in my head as to what we would explain to the authorities. There was no proof of an alien invasion or anything, everything was going to be consumed by the fire, including the two aliens that were able to run. If anyone sees us, it would be clear that we would be blamed because there hasn’t been a forest fire near our town in years and the last forest fire almost burned the entire place down.
When we had reached my house we both turned back and the fire had grown four times its previous size and it has only been a couple of minutes. It was raging throughout the entirety of the forest and into our town. We were covered in mud and soot and that wasn’t going to look good in front of anybody who lived in the town.
“We have to clean ourselves up.” I said.
“Are you just saying that so we could get to the shower together?” She said and giggled.
“No, I’m saying that so both our asses could be saved.” I said. “We can’t look like this.” I added. Jan stayed back as I walked towards my house.
“Come on! Before my parents come back.” I said impatiently. Jan looked sad.
“Aren’t you proud of your girlfriend?” She said with pouty lips.
“Did you just say that you’re my girlfriend?” I asked, my heart was once again pounding.
“Yeah, didn’t we just confess our feelings to each other earlier? That was one thing that kept me fighting you know.” She said and smiled. I smiled back.
“You did amazing.” I said and gave her a hug. “You were always amazing.”
After we both showered separately, we decided that we should split up for a while. I hated the idea but there was nothing else we could do. Jan’s parents were frantically looking for her when they knew about the massive fire so I had to let her go. I had wished that the aliens never came that night, but then again, if they hadn’t she wouldn’t be where she is right now.
The fire lasted for a week or so and it had damaged half of the town. Many firefighters from all around the country came to aid us and were able to contain the fire. It was only a matter of time before the men with suits came and the questions started to come along. They weren’t ordinary men with suits. They were there for a reason. They were there for January.
One of them visited my house. I could recall vividly as to what he asked me, because our conversation was short and straight to the point. That just means that they don’t fuck around.
There were three of them but there only one came inside the house with me. They wore the same suits.
“Hello, I’m Agent Marx, from Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. Are you March Jonathan Hale?” He said before he went in.
“Yes. But everyone calls me Marc.” I replied. He had a straight face, with little to no emotion. Then he smiled.
“Well Marc, you wouldn’t mind if I come in and ask a couple of questions?”
I unlocked the door and opened it for him. He looked around the house for a while before sitting down on the couch on the living room. I sat on a chair opposite to him. He grabbed something from his coat pocket. It was a photograph.
“Do you, by any chance, know this girl?” He asked. It was a picture of January a couple of years ago. She still had glasses and braces on. The picture seemed to be the one we had for our yearbook.
I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t know what they will do to her. I was scared to answer but I had to answer and in a split second. I decided that it’s better to tell the truth than to suffer the possible consequences for lying. As I said, those guys didn’t look like they fuck around.
“Yes. She’s a friend of mine.” I said. I tried to keep a blank emotion on my face.
“Alright, if you don’t mind, I have a couple of questions to ask you about her, Marc.” He said with a smug smile. I couldn’t run away or anything so I sat still and waited for him to start asking and ask he did.
At first he asked me about where she lived. That was pretty easy to answer because almost everyone know where everyone lives on that town of ours. Although, after the fire a lot of places were switched around, but Jan’s house was miraculously left untouched. The next questions were shady at most. He asked me about her well-being, how close she was with her family and how she was as a friend. I answered the questions as honestly as I can. The last question is what got me.
“Does she have any peculiar abilities?” He asked.
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I replied. I did my best not to stutter, but I did.
“I’m talking about superpowers.” He said.
“No—no, I don’t—think she has.” I replied. I was starting to sweat bullets. The agent leaned towards me and tried to smile.
“It’s better if you cooperate with us, Marc. I’m going to tell you the truth, we know everything about your friend. I’m just here to clarify if they are true. It’s easier if you tell us than us asking her.” He explained.
My hand started to shake. I wanted to go and dial the phone to warn Jan about them but I know I couldn’t. I took a breather and sighed.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about, sir. Whatever you have heard, it’s most probably rumors that came from people that hated her during our time in school.” I answered vindictively. I wasn’t going to rat her out to anyone or anybody even if puts my life on the line.
The agent sighed and then smiled.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Hale. We’ll keep in touch.” He said. He then stood up, shook my hand and left.
The first thing I did when they left was to warn Jan about them.
“Jan, there are people looking and asking about you.” I said.
“I know. They already talked to me.” She said, her voice was blank and out of emotions.
“But—how—no. What did they say?” I asked. My anxiety was once again getting the better of me.
“They told me that they know about me and what I am capable of. They told me that I wasn’t alone, that there are many of us with special capabilities. Those guys that stopped the invasion in New York, they’re people like me but with different abilities.” She explained. “I’m not the only, Marc. There are people like me.”
We were silent for a minute or so. I couldn’t say anything at all. I was out of words and I felt like I was out of place because it was clear that I was going to lose her. I was going to lose the person I love before we started.
“They want me to come with them.” She finally said. I felt a stabbing pain in my chest. I was really going to lose her.
“Jan, I’ll go to your house right now.” I said.
“Please do.”
At first she explained to me the current situation. The guys with suits were looking for anyone with special capabilities like her and that they are currently waiting for her answer. The agent that talked to her said that they’ll wait for as long as it takes, but it was clear that they’re not taking a no for an answer.
“Did they explain what do they need you for? God, Jan it might make you a lab rat or something.” I said.
“They told me that they were going to train me. To make me someone who helps humanity as a whole.”
I was enraged. Deep inside I could feel my blood boiling. I won’t let her be taken away from me.
“They explained to me how I do all of these things, it’s in my mind they said. I could change the temperature of the atmosphere around me. I simply ignite the oxygen in my nearest vicinity and then boom!” She said with a smile. I couldn’t believe my eyes, how could she fall for such an explanation. She’s a goddess, not some science project. “When I was a kid it was controlled by my emotions, but as I grew up, I could simply control it with my own will. Isn’t that interesting Marc?” She said. “And that’s not the only cool part. I could make ice too! I never knew that!” She handed me a couple of ice cubes coming directly from her hand.
“They’re going to use you!” I shouted. I felt the entire house rumble. My voice was loud and she jumped from the sound of it.
“Use—use me as what?” She asked and I could see the fear in her eyes.
“As a weapon. As a—as a—uh something. They’re going to use you, to fight other countries or something!” I said.
“Marc, they’re letting me join them because something big is going to happen. There’s more of them.” She explained. “They call them the Chitauri and the ones that came in New York was just a splinter of their main army and I know I shouldn’t be telling you this, but what the hell.”
I sighed. I sat down and placed my hands together. My knee was jerking beyond my control. That just says that my anxiety is on the roof. Jan approached me with a smile. She looked so slender and mature. She has really outgrown me and I couldn’t help but smile with that idea.
“Come on, daddy. I’ll visit you.” She said. I smirked.
“Did you just call me daddy?” I asked.
“Yep. I thought it’ll be hot or something.” She said with a malicious smile.
“That doesn’t change anything.” I said.
“Maybe this will.”
She grabbed me on the cheeks and kissed me on my lips. The only thing that I could say about our kiss was that it was hot, both literally and non-literally.
“Well, I didn’t expect my first kiss would be like that.” I said, I felt out of control and completely frazzled.
“I never expected a lot of things either. But hey, we’re here.” She said.
“Yeah, we’re here.” I said, defeated. “There’s really nothing I could do to change your mind huh?”
“A lot of things, actually. But think about this Marc. If they don’t get what they want, they could ruin us and our families. They could create some kind of fiction in where I’m the bad guy, especially with what they know. I can’t let that happen.”
She was right. This was a hostage situation more than anything.
I sighed.
“You’ll visit me?” I said, finally agreeing with her.
“Yeah.”
“Often?”
“As often as I could.”
She left the next day. The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (they should really use acronyms instead) took her away in a blink of an eye. And she was true to her word, she did visit me as much as she could and that was once a month. But that wasn’t the first time that had happened.
She told me a lot of things. About how the dude with the shield was hot. How the dude with the hammer was a literal god of thunder or lightning or whatever and how much of an asshole Mister Stark was. She didn’t really get to talk to them as much because she was assign in a different team. A family of three, I think. Well, if she does join them, they’ll be a family of four. I think she’ll be happy there and I think it’s real funny to know that one of her co-workers powers is to turn elastic. That’s hella crazy. I should really get out of this town more. Maybe I could discover my own kind of superpower because as of now the only superpower I have is to remember. Every single detail that had happened in my life so far. It’s crazy, but hey we do with what we have.
And also wherever you are right now, I love you, January Embers and I will always remember.