In the middle of the night, I'm woken by someone crying. It sounds like Billy. I get out of bed and go over to the boys' and Dorothy's room. The door is open, so I peek in. Billy is writhing and whimpering in his bed. Johnny, sleeping above him, and Dorothy and Ricky, in the other bunk, are undisturbed.
"Hey, Billy, it's okay," I whisper, and I tip-toe over to Billy's bed and lift him up. I bounce him up and down, and rock him, yet he still cries. I can't really see him in the dark room, so I carry him into the hall. I'm nervous to see that he's flushed and sweaty.
"Do you want some water, Billy?" I ask him.
He nods with his head flat against my shoulder.
I take him to the kitchen and turn a light on. I get him a cup of water, sit him on the counter, and hand it to him. He doesn't take it, just stares at the utensil drawer with golf ball eyes.
"Billy?" I wave my hand in front of his face. It's as if he doesn't even see me. I look at the drawer, then go over to it.
"Billy, it's alright, see, there's nothing wrong," I open it up, then the utensils bend themselves over and shoot towards me. I scream, grab Billy, and teleport out of the way before I can be impaled by forks. I teleport into the dining room, away from the utensil drawer, but the forks, knives, and spoons follow, diving up and down and arching like dolphins.
I look at Billy, who is now hyperventilating and dripping sweat, unable to pull his focus away from the utensils flying towards us.
I understand what's happening, Billy's powers have manifested.
I teleport again, back into the kitchen, and the utensils still follow. I realize that Billy doesn't know that he's doing this.
"Daniella!" I hear Dad call, and I sense my other siblings waking up, as well as Mom.
The utensils start to move faster because everyone else waking up is freaking Billy out more. I teleport again with a yelp before we're impaled.
"Billy, you gotta listen to me. You have to calm down, okay?" I say, trying to get through. But, Billy is still shell-shocked, staring at the utensils that I have to teleport to avoid again.
"Daniella," Dad cries, coming in the doorway.
"Dad!" I call. "Billy's making-" I stop short to teleport out of the way again.
If I can't get to him verbally, I have to try mentally.
'Billy,' I call to him in his mind. 'Calm down, if you don't, the forks won't stop.'
'I can't; dunno how!' Billy thinks back, panicking more. I have to teleport again.
'Try, Billy! Just relax, take deep breaths.' I think to him. 'Close your eyes and relax so they'll stop.'
Billy closes his eyes and takes deep breaths.
Just as I'm about to teleport away, the utensils stop about a foot in front of us and drop lifelessly to the floor. I heave a sigh of relief, and Billy starts crying into my shoulder.
"Dan, are you okay?" Mom comes over to us.
"I'm okay," I answer. Though my head aches from teleporting so much in a short time, I'm okay.
"What happened?" Ricky asks.
"Billy got his powers," I say.
Mom lifts Billy off my shoulder. "Billy, do you know what this means?" She asks him.
Billy doesn't answer, just cries into her shoulder.
"It means that you're special now," Dad rubs his back. "You can do things that most three-year-olds will never be able to do. Isn't that great?"
YOU ARE READING
People Like Us (Completed)
Science Fiction"It's just me and my family against the world. It always has been. Until Now." Innez was thrown onto the wrong side of the tracks. She will do whatever it takes to keep what's left of her family together, even if it means breaking the law. Daniel...
