Exes and Superher-o's

Part 14

Lightning bugs skitter across the lawn before disappearing into the dark line of trees at the edge of the forest. Coming to a stop, you rest both forearms against the porch railing.

Behind you, the door falls shut as Katie exits. She joins you at the rail and for a while you're quiet, simply existing beside her. Lake house is a bit of a misnomer for Namjoon's retreat. While there is a lake about a mile away, it's not close enough to be seen from the property. Fewer neighbors that way, he explained at the start.

Finally, Katie exhales.

"Roa was the one who figured things out first," she says, quiet. Staring straight ahead, Katie watches the darkened woods. "He was the one who pieced things together."

"Oh?" you ask, keeping your voice level. "What happened?"

It takes her a moment to answer, so you let her think. Katie is young to have been dealt such a hard hand. Dimly, you recall the file you scanned inside ISA headquarters. She's an orphan, no family to speak of besides an estranged aunt she left when she turned seventeen.

"When I first entered the program... I thought that would fix things." Katie shakes her head. "ISA was purposeful in their recruitment, I think. The went after people who'd been abandoned. People with no one around to defend them. To warn them."

A chill goes down your spine, but you force yourself to stay quiet. If Katie has more to say, you want to give her the opportunity to speak freely.

Resigned, she exhales. "Growing up, the supers always seemed so amazing. Beloved by all. Strong enough to fight back. To defend others – that's what I wanted," Katie admits. "I gave up everything to join the program, but the trade-off seemed worth it. I had nothing left for me, anyways."

"When did you first realize something was wrong?"

"Not at first. They were kind to us in the beginning," she explains. "We had regular meals, our own bedrooms and all the entertainment we could ask for. The 'treatment' was given to us twice a day, and it wasn't too bad. Another kid said it was like a blood transfusion he had to get once. I wouldn't know.

Katie lowers her gaze, lost in thought. "Roa was the first to display any powers. Super-strength. Not everyone in our program was a good person, and one night a few of them ganged up on Roa. He fought back, and..." Closing her eyes, she swallows. "He didn't know what he was doing. He couldn't control himself. One of them died, I think. A guy named Adam was taken away, but never came back."

Overwhelmed by this information, you find yourself unsure what to say.

"That's terrible," you say at last. "I'm sorry."

She swallows hard. "We thought ISA would be angry with Roa. Thought they'd kick him out, but instead they were... happy. Ecstatic, even. After that... things got worse."

"How so?"

"They made Roa the example." Her face tightens. "From then on, they started 'testing' us to display our powers. We'd always had numbers but that was when they stopped referring to us by name. Every day, the tests got worse and worse until they were basically torture. I discovered my superspeed when they were waterboarding Roa."

The image is enough to make your stomach churn.

Sadly, the story of discovering one's superpowers is often one of tragedy. Some people are lucky enough to know from birth but others, like yourself, find them under times of duress. You discovered chronokinesis at summer camp when a counselor tried to force himself upon you. Seokjin realized he had super-strength during a carjacking gone wrong where his mother died.