I thought about my current situation and how things were unraveling faster than I could process, first I got abilities, then an Alchemist and a bunch of werewolves chased me in the woods, a Dire Beast and a Chimera are apparently hunting me and to crown it all, I was interrogated by the AMU yesterday. I've been trying to be mad at my parents for hiding things from me but it's hard to keep playing mad after you were picked up by the AMU. When my parents took me home from town hall, I spent a better part of yesterday being interrogated again by my parents. 'Why did the AMU pick you up? What connection could you possibly have with these attacks? Are you hiding anything from us?' These were the questions my parents threw at me, I tried to answer their questions as best as I could without mentioning anything about my abilities or the identity of the Alchemist.
"You can't be serious" My Dad yelled, he was visibly angry "You followed your friends to the woods when there was an attack earlier that day, and by doing so you ran into someone who claims to be an Alchemist, who could have hurt you and your friends. You've been spending a lot of time with your friends lately and I told your mother that we should give you space to be a teenager but instead you and your merry band were playing Nancy Drew with a very dangerous situation"
"I'm sorry, everything happened so quickly and I didn't make the best of decisions. It won't happen again" I apologized, knowing that it definitely wouldn't end there but still I had to show I regretted my actions.
"Being sorry isn't going to cut it young man, you are grounded until we know we can trust your judgement" He responded.
My Mum was usually the one who goes ballistic over things like this but she sat quietly and watched my Dad do the scolding, after another round of speeches about how I failed to make responsible decisions, my Mum finally spoke "You're not telling us everything"
"Mum?"
She got up from her seat "I raised you your whole life, you think I can't tell when you're keeping something from me. What is it?"
"It goes both ways Mum, I've known you guys my whole life, I can also tell when you're hiding something" I responded.
"Are you seriously talking back to me right now?" My Mum barked.
"I deserve all this anger and disappointment, I know I messed up, but I can't be completely honest with you if you can't be completely honest with me"
That was the summary of yesterday's conversation, they still couldn't admit they were hiding something, and at a point in our argument my Mum did in fact threaten to have me homeschooled but thankfully things didn't escalate much.
The next day in school wasn't any easier, turns out being picked up by the AMU makes you popular. Everyone kept staring at me, the ones who were bold enough to talk to me asked what yesterday was all about, 'Just a big misunderstanding' I would reply and walked away quickly before they asked me for details, thankfully I ran into Karen in the hallway.
"How'd it go with your parents?" She asked.
"I'm grounded till kingdom come. You?"
Karen sighed "Well, my folks already knew about all of this but my Mum still had a lot to say, bottom line was a warning not to do anything stupid or reckless"
"You got off easy" I responded. "I wonder how it went with Chris' Mum"
"We'll find out soon enough but I need to give you a heads up, Susan asked why the AMU picked you up if you were in the dark, so I told her I had to clue you in after the attack on the carnival"
"What?" I said so loudly that it drew attention of passing students.
"Chill, just say you didn't know how to talk to her about it" Karen said. "By the way I've been meaning to ask how you're doing with your powers" She whispered.
"With our current situation, I sometimes forget I'm dealing with something myself. It's all under control I think, when we were being interrogated I thought I would get overwhelmed and have an outburst in front of the AMU but thankfully I didn't"
"If you weren't grounded we could've gone to Chris' after school to help you practice more" Karen said.
I scoffed "With the AMU in town, doesn't sound like a good idea. It feels like they have eyes everywhere"
I saw Chris come in with Susan from the main entrance, as soon as they spotted us they came over "Hey" Chris said. "So my Mum is mad about me going into the woods and running into the Alchemist, and then deciding to take that information to Mr. Brown and my Dad while keeping her in the dark. How'd it go on you guys end?"
"I'm in the clear but Fred's grounded indefinitely" Karen responded with a taunting giggle.
"Can I ask you something?" Susan said looking straight at me, she looked serious "Karen said she told you everything, which means you knew about me and my Dad before we talked yesterday. Why didn't you say anything? You acted like you were still in the dark and I want to know why"
I took a quick glance at Karen and Chris before answering her question "Honestly I didn't know how to bring it up"
"You didn't know how to bring it up"
"Yeah, I didn't know how to bring it up. What should I have said? 'How's your dad, by the way Karen told me she once attacked him in the woods during a full moon' that didn't seem, like a normal conversation in my head"
"Still you should have said something, considering what we talked about yesterday" She said.
"Um… What did you guys talk about?" Chris inquired.
"None of your business" I blurted out. I turned to Susan "I'm sorry. I really am, I just wasn't comfortable discussing it"
"I'm not mad" Susan said. "It's actually better this way, everything's in the open, there's no secrets between us"
I managed a fake smile knowing very well that there were still secrets in the cupboard. Just then I spotted Bob Stowe passing by, and if you knew him as I well as I do then you would be sure he was going to say something.
"Getting picked up by the AMU, you are getting involved in problems that are bigger than you" Bob said.
I sighed heavily "It's my problem Bob, not yours"
"Go away Bob, we don't need your drama today" Karen said.
Bob ignored her and kept he's eyes on me "Why won't you listen to me, you might not see me as your friend anymore but I do, I'm just looking out for you. You're a good person trying to help his friends but you'll be caught in the middle of whatever this is"
"I don't need you looking out for me anymore, I've got people who do that now" I walked away from Bob and my friends followed me, Bob might have cared about me as a friend but his hate of supernaturals and his past mistakes can't easily be overlooked.
Later that day I got home to see both my parents in the living room "Hi Mum, Hi Dad" I said and approached the stairs.
"Fred, we need to talk to you" My dad said.
"I'm tired Dad, I don't have the strength for another argument"
"You asked us to be more honest and we're trying to be, so come and take a seat" My Mum said.
I took a seat, eager to hear what they had to say "I'm all ears"
My Mum gave a nervous sigh "I'm sure you know about the pathogen bombs made by the terrorist organization 'The Circle' that killed supernaturals and mutated human DNA, which lead to the creation of BEF-X"
"Yes I do. BEF-X also known as Bio-Enhancing Formula X which led to the creation of the super soldiers. What about it?"
"What you don't know is that another serum was created called BEF-XP, the P stands for permanent. BEF-X gives the user powers for approximately a week, whereas BEF-XP grants its user permanent powers" My Dad explained.
"How come no one has heard of BEF-XP? And what does this have to do with our situation?" I inquired.
"You were injected with BEF-XP when you were younger, that's how it concerns you" My Mum answered.
"You mean… I"
"That serum is in your bloodstream" My Dad said. "The powers associated with the serum don't manifest until the user reaches puberty, and powerful people know about the BEF-XP, trust me on that. These people will do anything to get their hands on it"
My Mum walked to me and sat on the arm of my chair "That's why we've always been overprotective of you, we've been trying to manage the situation"
I could tell that they expected me to be surprised or confused but they had no idea I already have powers.
"If you would've trusted me with this information then I could've been better prepared" I said.
"We didn't want to burden you with this and the serum is untested so we don't even know if you will ever get powers at all" My Dad said.
I got up and paced slowly in the living room.
"It's going to be okay" My Mum tried comforting me "It can be a lot to…"
"I have powers" I cut in, I looked at my parents faces to see their reaction, turns out they were really flustered.
My Mum lost her cool "What?!"
I explained everything to them, how I found out I got powers, my run in with the Alchemist and werewolves in the woods, the fight with the Chimera in town, and how Chris and Karen have been helping me learn how to control my abilities.
"You snuck out of the house during a full moon and went into the woods? What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" My Dad yelled, the yelling continued for a while.
"What are your abilities? What can you do?" My Mum asked.
I lifted my right hand and buzzed lightning off my palm, I couldn't tell how they felt, but if I had to guess I'd say they were terrified. "I'm also super strong and I think I may be invulnerable"
"Does it hurt when you use your powers" My Mum asked.
"No it doesn't" I responded. "I get riled up though, like my heart beats faster and I got more energy"
"You said only Chris and Karen know about your powers right?" My Dad asked.
"Yeah"
"Let's keep it that way" My Dad said "I need you to stay clear of that giant monster and the…, what'd you call him?"
"The Chimera" I said.
My Dad snapped his fingers as if he just remembered the name "The Chimera. It's not your problem to solve, leave it to the AMU"
"But it's here for me, people are getting hurt because of me"
"We care about them too honey, but our first priority will always be you" My Mum said.
My Dad sighed "Promise me that you'll leave this alone and tell us everything from now on"
"I promise" I said, It felt good that they knew everything now "How did I get injected with the BEF-XP serum in the first place?"
My Mum's countenance changed. She looked triggered, like she recalled a bad memory "It doesn't matter now"
"What happened to no more secrets?" I asked.
"Some secrets are better not knowing" She got emotional really fast. "We're not telling, not because we don't trust you, but because some secrets are better forgotten. Do you understand?"
Obviously I didn't understand. The incident that led to me being injected with the BEF-XP must've been a painful memory to get my Mum all riled up, so I nodded in compliance.