The Gods Among Us

Chapter 3: More People

Aileen:

"What did you do," I scream, shoving the man. Falling back, I leave him and run over to Diana. Grabbing her by the shoulder, I start shaking her.

"Diana. Come on. Can you hear me? Come on. Say something. Snap out of it."

Despite how loud I clapped my hands or how close I snapped my fingers, Diana is still in a daze. She's staring into space and repeating what the man told us.

"What on earth did he do to you," I say, clapping my hands again.

The Kid:

"How," I think, "How can this girl resist my powers? Who is she? I have to know."

I push myself up and walk over to her. However, the second she sees me, she grabs Diana and tries to run. Thinking fast, I slam my hands on the road and turn it into quicksand. The girl stops, she now starts to sink.

"Help," she screams, waving her arms and trying to get out of the quicksand. "Help! Someone, please help us!"

I feel a sharp pain in my chest all of a sudden. It feels like something is stabbing it.

"What is this," I ask myself, trying to analyze the pain. It is not like the headaches from before, but still, it hurts very much. I look at the girl, thinking she is the cause of the pain. I discover I am right.

When she turns back to look at me, there are tears in her eyes, and immediately, I feel the pain sharpen. Clutching my chest, I endure the pain and look at the girl.

"I will help you," I say, shooting out my hands to lift the two girls out of the quicksand. Once out, I transform the quicksand back into a normal road.

Dropping the girls onto the normal road, I want to reach out and help her, but I decide not to. Instead, I wave my hand and pull her friend out of the daze.

"What," Diana says, blinking a few times and looking around. "What happened? What's going on? Where are we?"

Diana asks many more questions but the girl ignores them and turns to me. I put my hands up and back away.

"Wait," she says, shooting out her hand. Stopping, I keep my hands up. The two of us stay still for a while, just looking at each other, waiting for the other one to make a move.

"Thank you," the girl says, breaking the silence. "We will go, and you will never see us again."

She turns around and grabs Diana by the arm. Dragging her away, I think fast and instead, scan Diana's mind.

"I cannot read her mind," I think, "But I can read your mind. I need to know about your friend. Who is she?"

Sifting through the useless thoughts and information, I finally find what I am looking for.

"Her name is Aileen Elizabeth Howard. She is an only child, with two loving parents. She lived in an apartment building with three other people in San Francisco. I got the address."

The two driving away, I stay where I am, even after they fade from sight.

"Aileen Elizabeth Howard," I say, replaying what happened. "She is immune to my powers. I get headaches when I try to read her mind. She is special. Why? What makes her so special?"

Thinking back to when she thanked me, and then when she slapped me, I begin to feel weird things. Holding my hand over my chest, I trace where the car drove.

"I got her address. Would it be wrong if I go and see her at her building? Yes, I think so, but at the same time, I really do need to see her again. For two years, two long years, I have searched for something that can tell me anything about who I am. This may be my first lead. Something about that girl makes her immune to my powers and I have to know what."

Staring at my hands, flipping them over, and then back again, I look around for a bit to make sure I am really alone. Taking in a deep breath, I gather a blast in my hand. Focusing, I then slam the blast into the ground, an eruption of dust and sand exploding and flying everywhere, rocks and plants getting picked up and traveling for miles.

"I am going to regret this," I say to myself, walking a few steps before teleporting away. Dropping onto a skyscraper in the middle of San Francisco, I hold my hand over my eyes and scan the city.

"Shoot. I do now know where her apartment is. I never learn the streets' names. How am I supposed to find her building? It could be anywhere."

Hitting myself in the head over and over again, I think of what I can do next.

"What do I do? What do I do? Uh."

I notice something going on in the alleyway below. There is some kid on the ground getting beaten up by two other bigger kids. I am ready to ignore the kid and teleport away but stop. As I look closer at the kid and think it over, I recognize him. I have seen fragments of him in Diana's memories.

A pale-skin, thin boy with very short, brown hair in a short-sleeves, white shirt with tan shorts, I watch as one of the bigger kids pushes him down. Holding him down, he along with the other kid starts hitting him. As I watch, I remember my first night here, flashbacks of Chris and Peter creeping their way into my head. Clutching my fists and grinding my teeth, I burst into black dust.

Drew:

"Are you happy now," Spencer yells, kicking me in the stomach. "Are you? Because of you, we lost our job."

"This is all your fault," Jim screams, still holding me down. "It is your fault. It is all your stupid, stupid fault."

Punching me across the face, he knocks me back down to the ground.

"How does begin the 'hero' of the day feel now," Spencer mocks. Looking at Jim, his fist looming behind him, all I can do is close my eyes and hope these guys leave me soon.

The Kid:

Spencer's fist shooting through the air, about to hit Drew's face, I grab it before it can.

"What the hell," Spencer screams, surprise to see me standing beside him.

"Stop," I say, shoving and knocking him back. Turning to look at Jim, I charge him and push him back too. Quickly reading his, Spencer's, and Drew's minds, I learn that the reason Jim and Spencer are beating him is that Drew discovered they have been stealing small amounts of money from the store they worked at. Such small amounts but over many months that if Drew had not been checking the registers, most likely they would not have been caught and have gotten fired on the spot.

"Hey," Spencer screams, walking right up to me. "This doesn't concern you so get the hell out of here."

Spencer swinging his fist hits me right in the face. Staying still for a while, not moving an inch, his fist starts to shake seconds later. I can see tears in his eyes as he screams and pulls back his bleeding fist. Meanwhile, I wipe my cheek.

"What happened," Jim yells, examining his friend's fist. As purple as a grape and with blood oozing out of the knuckles, the two look at me.

For some reason, Jim leaves and grabs an empty glass bottle from the ground. Charging toward me, the bottle high in the air, he slams it down on me. The bottle shatters as it hits my head, I cross my arms.

Stun for a while, looking between me and the broken bottle in his hand, he charges once more. Trying to stab me with the bottle, I grab his wrist.

"Enough," I say, pulling the bottle out of Jim's hand and lifting him into the air via his short collar. "Do me, Drew, you, and your friend a favor and go away."

Using my power, I slam Jim far onto the wall on the other side of the alleyway, Jim making a loud thud before falling onto a closed dumpster and rolling off. Groaning and moaning as he pushes himself up, Spencer runs to him and the two of them look at me before wobbling away.

I turn around to face a paralyzed Drew. Walking over to him, I grab and pick him up.

"Okay. Now that that is out of the way, it is time for you to help me with something."