In movies, there will be a moment before the protagonist dies, that their life flashes before their eyes. All of their happy and sad memories, jumbled up into one second of a flicker before the next one comes onto the screen.
That's what was happening to me, only I wasn't the one dying- dead.
Almost every day of his life, Alden reminded me and everyone of his friends, that when I was three, I had a nightmare and ran to his room scared out of my mind. He let me sleep in his bed even though my pants were soiled with pee; and he never let me live it down.
When I was five, we were playing in the park. Once the swing was at its highest point, I flew off and sprained my ankle. Even though I could walk on the other, Alden insisted on carrying me bridal style the whole fifteen minutes home.
When I was ten, a boy in my class was bullying me. Alden was the first to find out, and the first to teach him a lesson. The kid, who Alden later explained had a crush on me, never teased me again; in fact, he never talked to me again.
When I was fourteen, I brought home my first boyfriend. Alden and Axel were both tough on him, but Alden was the one who wouldn't let us go into a room without supervision. He stuck to my side like glue the whole night, even sitting in between us when we watched a movie.
On the day of his death, he warned me not to go to the mall. He asked me to stay home. If only I listened, I could have spent more time before it happened. I could have said goodbye, could have told him how much I love him.
But now he's gone, and I can't. He's been gone for the past week. I need to accept that he's not coming back.
I can barely remember his laugh. I have memories of the way he's chest rose and fell when he cackled and snorted, but that's it; there's no noise.
You never think the last time you hear someone's laugh will be the last time; you think there'll be more. You think you have forever but you don't.
It was only after the metal monster killed Alden that the other Westlake supers showed up. They obviously felt the distress but didn't get there in time to save him. Save my brother.
Redux told me he'd take care of Alden; clean him up so that his death doesn't look as bad as what it actually was for if we were to have a funeral. I let Redux take him. I was too numb to do anything; my heart was too crushed.
Amaris was barely responsive when we dropped her off at the hospital; Redux didn't have the juice to heal her. She spent the weekend there with a concussion and foggy memories of what truly happened on January 29th.
Redux dropped me off at home that day; it was the last time I've heard anything from him since. He has dropped off the face of the earth as far as the media's concerned. They've already started making up conspiracy theories up as to what happened to him.
Apparently, everybody knew about the Orbux bromance. Friends from the very beginning. Some people say Redux turned to the dark side, some say he's hung up the spandex; most say he offed himself, that the pain of losing his best friend was too much to bear. A tragic Romeo and Juliet case scenario except for the fact that they weren't in love; not in the romantic way, anyway.
I dreaded breaking the news to my family, I even considered not telling them at all, but they deserved to know.
I started off by revealing Aldens' alter ego. Mom already knew about his secret, she knew something could happen to him at anytime so she was prepared for the dreadful conversation. Axel was another story. His face lit up when he found out his older brother was the all mighty Orbit; he only realized, however, that something was wrong when I broke down.
It has been years since Axel has seen me cry. Being the only girl out of three siblings made me tough, taught me how to hold in my emotions. Whenever we wrestled and I accidentally got nicked in the nose by an elbow or punched in the side, I learned to keep my tears inside. The last time either of them saw me cry was when my boyfriend of two years cheated on me, and only a few tears were shed at most.
I've never seen Axel cry until that day.
Mom let us stay home all week. We sulked around the house, not breathing a word to each other. The first few nights, Mom found herself smothered between Axel and me in her bed. I've been nauseous all week as well, but I never threw up.
Amaris and Lawson called a few times, they tried to come over once but I turned them away. Axels' friends showed up at one point too but he wasn't in any mood to socialize.
The only person other than my family I communicated with was Charmaine. I told her everything, including Orbits secret identity. She thought of Alden as a brother she never had, she took it almost as hard as I did.
A knock at the door brought me out of my depressing thoughts. Maybe it was the extra large pizza I ordered with pepperoni under the cheese. I never liked the taste of crunchy pepperoni; neither did Alden.
As soon as I opened the door, I was engulfed in a hug, it was comforting. I know I said I didn't want company, but Mom and Axel aren't helping me get through this at all; they've barely left their rooms. The person rested their chin on my head, I could hear them sniffle and could feel the rugged rise and fall of their chest against mine.
I fell right into it. At first I thought it was Charmaine, but that would be silly considering she's still in Greengate; it couldn't be Amaris either because she's not taller than me and doesn't have broad shoulders, I know it wasn't Lawson because he doesn't smell like vanilla. I quickly came to the conclusion that I, in fact, don't know who has they're arms around me, squeezing me against they're chest, holding me like I am the last person on earth who can offer a hug.
I quickly pushed away, catching him by surprise. He stumbled back and almost lost his balance but remained standing.
The guy who hugged me seems to be around my age, if not older. His eyes are dark green sparkled with golden specks like golden specks, the area around his pupils are red and bloodshot where they're supposed to be white. He looks like he's been crying for days.
I can certainly say I look similar. My cheeks are rubbed raw from the many times I wiped away tears and the area around my nose is red from the amount of times I blew it. Mom always said my hazel eyes turned into a clear green when I cry; grey when I'm sick. I haven't taken a shower in days because there's no point and nobody cares what I look like. Not when Orbits death is the on the front page of every newspaper in the province.
"Sorry." He mumbled looking down at the stone walkway leading up to the door.
"Who are you?" My voice was low and hoarse, I hadn't opened my mouth since my phone call to Charmaine which was three days ago.
"I guess I should have started with that," he sniffed, "I'm Sterling." He extended his hand to which I hesitantly shook. His brown curls bounced with the slightest movement of his head.
And then it clicked.
"Your name really isn't Stern." I commented. It was nice to know he was still okay- as okay anyone would be after a best friends death, "or Sterk."
"Or Sterlin," he added, "although that one was the closest." A small trace of a smile appeared on his lips before it disappeared completely as if he felt guilty for doing so. I opened the door wider indicating he's welcomed into the house, however, a locked door didn't stop him the last time he was here.
"How are you?" I asked when we sat down on the couch. The same couch Alden and I sat on when he came to visit in disguise. The same couch where I revealed my powers to him. I offered Sterling a tissue from the almost empty box on the side table
"Getting better," he shrugged, it must have been hard on him seeing how he tried, and failed, to save Aldens' life while I just stood there, not doing anything.
"Is it true that you hung up the spandex? Is Redux retired?" I asked, I needed to know he didn't just give up being a hero.
He shook his head and let out a sad laugh. Scratching the back of his neck he said, "I kind of shred my suit."
"What? Why?" I pushed.
"I was emotional," he sighed, "I figured if I couldn't save the life of my best friend, what's the point in saving any." A single tear fell from his eyes, "don't worry though," he sniffed and wiped it away quickly, "I ordered a new one off of eBay." He looked back up at me and for the first time, I could see his face up close.
"Wait," looking him over once again, "do I know you? Have I seen you without your suit on before today?"
He hesitated before replying, "Ms. Wilson is a real sweetheart of a teacher." I gasped. In English, on my first day of school, he was the one in the back of the room with his nose deep in a book, ignoring the new girl."
"You don't seem like the quiet type." I let out a genuine laugh, he seemed like the exact opposite actually. With his suit on, it's like he's an attention seeker.
"I'm sticking with the whole nerd vibe," he chuckled, "it gives me time to relax and do whatever I want in peace, without people hanging off my arm every chance they get." I then recalled another time I saw him getting pushed into a locker, I frowned.
"What about that guy who bullies you?" I ask.
"I can handle it," he chuckles, "sometimes all I have to do it think that with one flick of my finger, he'll go flying, probably break a few bones." Superstrength. Right.
"How did you and Alden actually meet?" I remembered the story they told me, I wondered if it was a lie.
"I went to stop a robbery, apparently, so did the new super in town," His eyes were glazed over with unshed tears, "we kicked ass together and people just assumed we were a team because we fought so well by each others side, so, we eventually became one." he took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt, even though they weren't dirty, "Alden was like a brother to me." He admitted.
I felt the hot tears prick at the corners of my eyes, "me too." I sniffed. Sterling looked up, guilt written all over his face, and pulled me into another comforting vanilla scented hug.
"Luminescence and Osium are both in comas." He mentioned after we calmed down.
"And they both mentioned some Cyrus guy getting revenge," I recalled.
"I don't think it's a coincidence." He said. I nodded my head in agreement.
"But who does he want revenge on?" I racked my brain for answers but came up empty.
"Couldn't have been Alden because Osium mentioned revenge after what happened," he sniffed, "Alden and I figured something was off when Luminescence hurt you. We thought someone was controlling her because her movements seemed almost-" he paused, looking for the right word to use.
"Robotic?" I asked, he nodded.
"And when Osium showed up and did what he did?" Sterling shook his head, "I'm almost certain now."
"Somebody made Osium murder," I mumbled, "someone with that power making someone so innocent do something so disturbing," I rambled. If that's the case, I almost felt sorry for Osium.
"If we're right," Sterling gulped, "we've got a new supervillain in town-"
"-and he's willing to kill." I finished.
Sterling and I shared a look.
We're in trouble.