Not All Heroes Wear Capes

8: Cracks in the Chorus

Looking up at the giant clock in the conference room, Cecelia notices that her time here in the lab is almost up. They only gave her one day to interview these individuals. It's not nearly enough.

The doorknob suddenly rattles, drawing her attention. Not one but two people enter the room, which surprises her. Who is this other person? In a hurry to get her answer, Cecelia motions for both to come forward.

"Hello, I'm Cecelia Price and you are...?"

"My name isn't important, and neither is hers, honestly. She's the girl you asked for."

"And she can't tell me this herself because why?"

"Her powers have mutated. Instead of calming down, the serum changed them. We don't know how bad it's going to get, so we decided it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Okay, so how exactly am I supposed to talk to her? All the research suggests it only happens when she sings."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. Things have changed."

Well, this is just great. How is Cecelia supposed to record an interview with a person who can't even talk? When she had dug around the college campus and surrounding area—she had a feeling more people were affected. This girl's story is important.

After a moment of wild gesturing from the pair, the guy walks back with something in his hands. Curious, Cecelia stops fidgeting and prepares to listen.

"This is her story. Since this all began, she's had to go to therapy because she lost the one thing she loved most: singing. Her therapist suggested she get everything out on paper to help her cope. She wants you to read it."

She scans the first few paragraphs and thinks she might be getting somewhere.

"So her name is Charlie? And you're either Bishop or Daniel?"

"No, she changed all the names so no one reading it would know who we are. This has to be kept a secret."

"Look at where you are, young man. How much of a secret do you think this is?"

"Shit..."

"Exactly, so why don't you sit down and let me read this? Maybe I can figure out how to help her."

"CHARLIE'S" STORY

Daniel whizzed by Charlie, knocking the books and papers she was carrying out of her arms.

"WHOA! SLOW DOWN!"

Bishop yelled to him as he helped Charlie pick up her stuff. Daniel yelled a half-hearted apology as he ran into the sciences building.

"Just great. Dr. Lane is gonna kill me if I'm late again."

She exclaimed this as she picked up her report, which was covered in mud. Bishop handed her the three small books he'd gathered and squinted at her. Charlie was mumbling to herself, spiraling into a fit, when she finally looked up at him, trying to get as much mud as she could off her report and another book.

"What? What's the look?"

She ran her hand over her short curly mohawk, dotting the red hair with specks of mud.

"You've been off lately. You good?"

He asked as he flicked the dirt from her hair.

"Yeah, just tired from trying to get the pageant and I think I'm getting sick."