Life Changer

Chapter Four: Rylo

When I got home, my dad was waiting for me in the living room. He held a box.

"Hi, dad. What's in the box?" I asked him.

"Rylo," Dad started off with his I-have-something-serious-to-say voice. "Mom and I thought it was time for you to know a secret."

He sat on the couch and motioned for me to do the same. Mom came into the room, from the kitchen. She was supposed to be at work at the time, so I knew something was up.

"Do you remember when you were three, you had a dream about going into the fireplace and touching the flames?" Mom asked in a calming voice.

"Yeah, the fire didn't even burn, it just felt warm. Then again, it was just a dream, anything is possible when you're asleep," I told them. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just going to tell you the facts. That was real, your dream was real. It wasn't even a dream at all, actually. You did crawl into the fireplace one night. You were immune to the flames, to the heat. And you still are immune," Dad said with a serious look on his face.

"What?" I stammered, "How is that a thing, how is that possible?"

"We are not normal people, Rylo. Your dad is from the center of the earth, there is a kingdom, within the magma. That's why you didn't get burnt, so long ago. You are heat resistant. I'm from the ocean, deep in the ocean. A democracy thrives there. We don't know if you can breathe underwater, like me. We think we should find out if you can," Mom looked at me like she wanted an answer.

"This is too much," I said.

I felt nauseous, my head filled with questions. How can people live in the ocean? How can people live underground? Why didn't they tell me before? Didn't they know this was too much for someone my age? I'm seventeen! Not even a legal adult. Without a word, I went to my room to think.