HERO

32 / Captive

A person's presence can make you feel whole when you weren't aware that you had a piece missing.

You can travel through life with people coming and going, and not see that, somewhere inside of you, there's a gap. Not necessarily a void, though that's not to say it can't sometimes be, but an emptiness. One where, when you meet a certain individual, it's filled, making you feel complete. That person's influence on your life can be monumental, but it can also be slight, yet them being there can make a mountain of difference.

They don't need to try or be aware of the effect they have. Nor do you. It may only be noticed when they're once more not there. When their presence becomes an absence.

Then you feel it.

Thomas had only just met Bren, and he wasn't fully convinced she could be fully trusted. He acknowledged he was following her and had falling in line with her thinking and objectives, but there was still an edge of the unknown, not least exacerbated by her growing powers. She'd gone from mixing telekinesis with her morphing abilities, but now she had changed into... what? Was it an enhancement of Dumas's Savage power? She'd not only grown claws and increased her bulk, but she had become something else entirely! An amalgamation of a multitude of animals that had no business being merged together. When would it end?

Would it end?

Even so, Thomas still felt closer to her than he had to anyone other than his mother. He realised it when she vanished, leaving the force field that was meant to contain her empty. He felt the hole in his whole open and was in danger of falling into it. She'd protected him. Put her own life on the line for his benefit. Certainly, it was for her too, but she could easily have gone her own way. Thomas and his lack of power would be a hindrance. She'd be faster on her own without having to worry about a boy who was almost completely unable to defend himself or aid her in defending them both.

Yet, still she stayed. Still she faced the Spotters, pushing him out of the way to try and ensure he wouldn't be hurt. She had left, but what else could she do? He would have done the same, except he wouldn't have survived long enough to do so.

"Now then, laddie. I assume you'll come quietly?"

Thomas spun around and backed away, skittering across the ground, but the tree's stump halted his escape. David was standing in front of him. His team was still laying where they'd fallen, but their leader was unhurt.

"Fuck you," Thomas said.

It was the best he could come up with. A profanity he would never normally say, but that could be forgive considering the provocation. Besides, saying it was something of a tribute to Bren. She hadn't abandoned him, she'd been driven away. She'd done what she could but had to admit defeat. For that, she deserved to be acknowledged.

"Oh, don't be like that, son," David said. "I'm here to offer you the opportunity of a lifetime!"

"What opportunity? To die?"

"Now, that's what I like. Your cheery, optimistic disposition."

"Fuck..."

"Me. Yes, fuck me. You mentioned that. Look, you get to stay alive. Be a celebrity. Have thousands, if not millions, singing your praised and cheering you on."

"And then I die."

"Well, yes. Sure you do, but at least you get to have fun in the process."

"Fuc..."

The word wasn't finished. David smashed the butt of his gun against the side of Thomas's head. The boy slumped back over the stump.

"I just don't get these kids," David said quietly. "They're never up for a laugh."