CHAPTER 2
SIN OF COWARDICE, part 2

I land abruptly on something soft (a bed), but still dazed from what happened, I lose my balance and slide to the floor. I spring back to my feet to try to figure out where I am, when an annoying noise deafens me. It’s the alarm on my phone telling me to wake up.

I don’t even try to turn it off. I grab the phone, open it, and remove the battery in a fit of anger. I sit at the foot of the bed and take five minutes to process everything. I look around and finally recognize the room. It’s mine. I’m in my bedroom. Before, I was… wherever I had been. But now I’m here… I don’t even know what I should think, or how.

“Hey, change your ringtone! I was trying to sleep!” my brother shouts as he enters my room. He must have misinterpreted the noise he heard. I’m certainly not going to tell him about closing a black hole in my room. “And make sure your room’s clean when you get back. Looks like a hurricane hit in here,” he says, just before returning to his own bedroom.

“Oh, don’t make me talk,” I whisper, making sure no one can hear me. I definitely can’t let him know that I just came back from… another dimension? How do you even describe the inside of a black hole? Assuming that’s really what it was. The worst part is not being able to talk to anyone about it. If I talked about my powers, God only knows what would happen next.

My father is driving me to the bus stop. I’m still shaken by what happened. The thought of having to pretend that everything’s normal for the rest of my life… with my new nature, sickens me. I’ve always struggled to be myself around others and eventually learned to stop caring about what they think. But this time, I risk having to face the consequences.

I need help.

“You okay, Bri?” my father asks, keeping his focus on the road. “You seem…”

“Uh… don’t worry. It’s nothing I can’t solve on my own.”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

I have to get out now. Thankfully. I’m not in the mood to come up with more excuses.

“Have a good day, Dad. Thanks as always for the ride.” I get out of the car and say goodbye to my father before he drives off.

Once on the bus, I go sit next to Renzo. I can spot him from a distance thanks to his short, dark hair cut in a side fade. He’s one of the smartest people I know, and I’m proud to be his friend.

“How are you, Sir?” I ask cheerfully.

I call him Sir because the first two letters of his name are Re, which is a kind of ruler in Italian. Another type of ruler is a baronet, who is usually addressed as Sir. I realize I went through a very convoluted reasoning just to give him a nickname. I wanted to make sure it was something just between us.

“How are you, Brian? I’d ask how your vacation went, but…”

“But I almost died.”

Renzo shows his discomfort at my remark.

“Sir, don’t take it that way. Sorry. I was exaggerating. That man can’t hurt us anymore, wherever he ended up.”

“Why? Wasn’t he arrested?” I realize now that I’ve been indiscreet. I certainly can’t tell him where the steel man is (or even claim to know).

“He escaped. He may have left the island, but he has no idea where we live, who we are, and he’s too poor to find a way off Prince Edward. I have no reason to worry,” I improvise.

“Then why are you worried?” he argues, studying me.

“I… think I’m afraid of the dark.”