H.O.M.E

Chapter 4

I wake up with my mind still in a haze but it slowly starts to wear off. I look around and see that I am in my bedroom which is set up the same way my old one. Sliding out of bed my legs still feel a little wobbly, I can’t believe how fast Sadie’s power worked on me. I’m not even mad at her for using it on me because it is a very cool power and I shouldn’t have doubted her. Walking out into the living room I look around for Buddy and Sadie but there is no sign of them. When I am about to turn around and head back to my room I hear the loud sound of the front door unlocking and see Buddy and Sadie walk through the door. Buddy has a big smile on his face and looks at me,” hey Q-tip, you slept away all the fun.”

“What do you mean? Where did you guys go, Mom told us not to leave the apartment” I say to him as he flops onto the loveseat.

Buddy sighs and shakes his head, “dude you don’t have to listen to everything that Mom says. But there is no reason to tell her anything so let’s just keep all this to ourselves, okay?”

“I don’t feel right lying to Mom like that.”

“Yeah but Mom has no problem lying to you” I hear Buddy murmur under his breath.

When she hears this Sadie jumps up from her observing position against the wall and yells at him,” Buddy you can’t say stuff like that!”

Buddy sits up and yells back at her,” he is going to have to find out sooner or later Sadie! And maybe if he knew the truth he would be more fun to hang out with.”

“You know that when he finds out it is going to mess him up, just like the rest of us.”

“See you think that we are messed up but I think that since we know the truth now we are better than before. We aren’t so blind to what is really happening here.”

I am tired of them talking about me like I’m not standing right here. Ever since I have met them and Alpha team there has been something that they have wanted to tell me and I want to know what it is. “Guys I am right here stop talking about me like I’m not! I want to know what you guys and everyone else has been wanting to tell me since the day I met you” I yell at both of them kind of shocked at my own voice.

Buddy looks at me with wide eyes but then break out a large smile,” that’s two against one, I win!” He moves to the couch and slams his hand on the stop next to him,” come here Sport let me tell you about the facts of life.”

I walk over to the couch and sit next to Buddy and look over at Sadie hoping that she will join us but she stays standing off to the side. Eager to hear what Buddy has to say I turn to face him. Before he can even say a word I hear a huff from behind me,” maybe someone with a little more grace should tell him.” I turn and see Sadie walking over to us and she sits down next to me.  She takes a deep breath and then begins to speak, “the first thing that you should know is that Mom isn’t really your mother.”

I could not hold in the laugh that came out of my mouth when she said that,” of course she is and she is your mother too.”

Sadie’s eyes turn big and watery and she starts to shake her head,” no Gizmo you see none of us were actually born, we were created.”

Created? No that can’t be true they have to messing with me. “That doesn’t even make any sense and is a horrible lie.”

Buddy puts his hand on my shoulder and I turn around,” Gizmo let me ask you a question. How old are you?”

I don’t even have to think about it the answer just comes out of my mouth,” I’m 14.”

“Okay then why don’t you tell me what you did for your, um 8th birthday?” he says.

I open my mouth to answer him but there are no words in my head. I don’t even remember having an 8th birthday,” I…I don’t know.”

A sad look falls on Buddy’s face, the first time I think I have ever seen him like that. “Well can you tell me your earliest memory?”

I wrack my brain for a memory from long ago but the same thing keeps popping up. “The furthest I can go back is a week before I met you guys. I woke up in my room and Mom came in and was talking to me about how I was a “special little boy”. That was when she told me about my power and how I was going to be part of a team with my brother and sister.”

The sad look fades from Buddy’s face and he erupts in laughter. After about a minute I see a hand come from behind me and smack Buddy in the back of the head. “I’m sorry for laughing at him but I just can’t believe that we were ever that naïve” he says as he rubs the back of his head.

“Well we were,” I hear Sadie say from my left” and we need to help Gizmo though this. Now that we know better it is our job to fill in the blanks for him.”  Turning now to face her Sadie starts talking to me,” see the reason that you can’t remember anything past that day is because that is the day that you were created, in a lab like the rest of us.”

Still not believing that they are telling me the truth I humor her with a question,” okay so why would someone want to create 6 teens with super powers?”

“Mom is the head of this big company called H.O.M.E. and they do experiments on people in hopes to enhance the human condition. They started off by finding cures for common diseases and things like that but their claim to fame is when they found a way to actually create their own people. That wasn’t enough for them though and they wanted to make a person that was more powerful than anyone had ever seen. That’s where we come in.”

Letting all of the information that Sadie had just spewed sink into my head I still had trouble believing all of it. “How do you know all of this?”

“Rex and them told us,” I hear Buddy say answering my question. “When they were first created Alpha was very curious about everything and with Skip and his power it was very easy for them to sneak around unnoticed. When they were sent out into the real world they were able to learn more about Mom and H.O.M.E and so when Sadie and I were created they filled us in on everything. There is something else you need to know Gizmo, Mom might seem like she cares about you but she doesn’t. To her we are just like pets and hers to control.”

When Buddy said those words I felt something that I have never really felt before, rage. “You guys are just making all of this up!” I shout at them as I stand up in a fit. “You guys have hated me since the moment we met and this is your way of getting back at me. There is no way that Mom would keep something like all this from me. And there is definitely no way that she doesn’t love me and is just using me like a pet.”

Buddy and Sadie both have shocked looks on their faces, I’m guessing because I have never raised my voice this much before. Buddy turns to Sadie with a concerned look, “you need to take care of him now. If Mom finds out that we corrupted her new pet she will never let us leave this damn place.”

Sadie nods her head and stands up,” Gizmo you need to calm down, maybe you should go back to sleep.”

As she steps closer to me I know what she is going to do and I am not going to let her use her power on me again. “No I am not going to calm down you guys can’t keep messing with me like this!” As she closes the space between us I reach out of grab her arm and feel the surge of electricity go from my hand and into her arm sending her flying back down onto the couch. Looking at the knocked out Sadie Buddy jumps up in a flash.

“Screw this, goodnight Gizmo” were the last words I heard before a fur covered fist hits me right in the face.