The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 12

John POV

John stood still for a minute, staring at the man. Why does he seem so familiar? He couldn't quite place it. That white hair, however, and the amber eyes, were so much like someone he couldn't remember from the past... He realized a moment later that the man's eyes were the color of his own. Maybe that's why he feels like someone I know?

Shaking his head to clear it, John turned to face the Headmaster. "So... what did you call me here for?" He asked.

Headmaster Vaughn simply sipped his tea, remaining seated at his desk. John saw his eyes shift for a minute towards the man, who was now frowning.

"You don't remember me," The man stated, staring at John.

John frowned back. He waited for the man to continue, but was instead greeted with silence. So... is he going to say anything or can I just go back to class? He didn't want to miss too much more. It would suck to have come back all the way to Wellston only to have to repeat the year. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed to care about this. The man continued to stare at John in silence, while John glanced at the door. Could I just... leave?

"John." The Headmaster finally spoke, causing John to jump and turn back around to face him.

"Yes?" He asked, watching as Vaughn stood up and set down his teacup. The Headmaster glanced at the man in front of his desk.

"This is Alban. He's... He came to see you about your ability. I'll let him explain the details," Vaughn told John vaguely, turning to face the man once again. The man frowned at John.

"You still don't remember me?" He repeated. John shook his head. Although the name Alban did sound familiar, he still couldn't quite place it.

"So... what did you want with my ability?" He asked, uncomfortable with the long silences. John didn't want to think about his ability, either, not when it had hurt so many people... He winced at the memories of the horrible things it had done. Yeah, I'm definitely just going to leave if he doesn't talk soon.

The man, Alban, stared at him for another second before finally speaking. "John, I'm your uncle."

There was another, much longer silence. John almost laughed in shock. "You're my uncle? Yeah. sure." He told him, barely managing not to roll his eyes. He's making things up. I don't have any family members besides Dad. John would've known if his father had had a brother. Right? His Dad usually told him important things, after all... though he had ignored John's call last night... John bit his lip, hoping the two things were unconnected. He didn't have any family members besides his Dad.Though, this guy's eyes are similar to mine... He brushed off the thought and instead turned to look at the man, waiting for an explanation.

Alban did not look satisfied by this reaction. "I am your uncle, John. This is not a lie," He told him.

John frowned. He doesn't look like he's lying... Though, saying it like that does sound suspicious. John was a pretty good judge of character most of the time (he'd obviously failed at this when he'd befriended Arlo), and he could usually tell when people were lying... He'd done it so often that he could see the signs. Without anger clouding his judgment it was much easier to think. However, he couldn't come up with a reason why this stranger would be trying to convince John they were related. He decided to further question the man to figure this out.

"How come I've never met you, then?" John challenged, crossing his arms. Alban's frown deepened.

"You have. It was a very long time ago... I think you were only about five years old," He told John. "Don't you remember your parents introducing you to me?"

John bit his lip. He didn't have many memories from his youth besides everything from New Bostin... He had blocked out most of it. His past didn't hold good memories, just ones he wanted to forget. There'd been enough of those that John didn't like to think about it. Even if he had remembered more, this man couldn't have been in his life long enough for them to be related. That, or Alban just hadn't visited their family much. John frowned. Neither option was all that great... either this man was insane, or he was a horrible uncle.

"My Dad didn't have any siblings," John answered instead. Alban laughed, a cold sound without feeling.

"You think I would be related to a cripple?" He asked John, sneering in a way that made John want to punch him in the face. He felt his fists clench at his sides. No one insults my Dad... or Sera. They're the only ones I still have. I'm not just going to let him insult them.

"Just because he's a cripple it doesn't mean he's not an amazing person. My Dad is one of the only good people in this world," John spat at Alban. He felt an urge from deep inside to activate his ability, something that he'd felt very often in the last few months. It always happened whenever he was angry. John had managed to block it out for awhile when he'd played cripple, but had ended up failing in the end... he forced himself to take a deep breath and close his eyes. Sera wouldn't like it if I beat someone else up. It made him wince to picture the disappointment that would flood across her face if he were to try and hurt this man.

"I'm not related to your father," Alban told John, his amber eyes narrowed and his lips a thin line.

"Then we're not related," John responded simply. He turned to leave before his anger would rise up higher. However, before he could go, Alban spoke again.

"Your mother is my sister."

John froze where he stood. "My... mother?"

The words brought memories into his head, ones he wanted to forget. He remembered the white-haired woman, his 'mother,' who'd raised him for the first eight years of his life all too well. She'd seemed so nice then, so loving... John knew now that it was a lie. She was a lie. She'd left them behind, and so he'd done his best to forget about her.

"She left us," John told his uncle, turning around slowly. "She's not my family, and you aren't either."

Alban frowned at John. "She didn't leave, she went missing."

John closed his eyes, feeling his eyebrows furrow. That's exactly what Dad always said. I don't believe any of it. If she went missing, we would've found her by now. No, she left us because Dad is a cripple, and they thought I was, too. We weren't good enough for her. John had decided that she wasn't good enough for them, either. He'd nearly forgotten her when this man, his uncle, apparently, had come in and brought up the past.

"So why are you here now, then? If she 'went missing,' why didn't you help us out to find her? I haven't seen you in my life. You weren't there when my Dad was trying so hard to find her, when he was trying to tell me she went missing. You were never there," John told his uncle, voice fueled by his growing anger. So what if Alban was telling the truth? So what if they were related? He'd left them, too! He didn't even have the excuse of going missing. He'd never been there in the first place.

"You need control over your ability. I am the only one who can teach you that, John," Alban told John, his amber eyes lighting up in the same shade of color that John's did when he used his ability. John's anger rose inside of him. The fact that Orson was activating his ability only made him hate the man more.

"No. If you weren't going to be in my life to start with, then get out and stay out of it!" John's voice raised with each word until he was yelling. He could see out of the corner of his eyes that Headmaster Vaughn was frowning, but found that he didn't care.

John turned and stormed out of the room.