Darknesss united

Chapter 19: Someone I Used to Know

Scar

"Cub!" I yell. "You're alive!"

He's alive!

I have to stop myself from hitting him as I hug him.

"Are you okay?" I ask worriedly. "Let me check on you."

I carefully unbutton his lab coat. X did all the investigation for me last time.

And there's nothing. No wound. Nothing.

I pause, checking his pulse, his breathing.

What? Why is it silent?

"Cub?"

"Yeah?"

I poke where the wound was. He doesn't flinch.

My brain runs wild in a few seconds as pieces click into place. Little things I've noticed.

I back away, turning, running. I can see the hurt in this thing's eyes.

If it were really Cub, it would be breathing. If it were Cub, I could have felt its heart.

If it were Cub, it would tell me where the wound went.

Vague memories of an old man with Cub's name occupying the upstairs apartment come back suddenly. He was bald with a grey, bushy beard, but the emerald eyes are the same. He didn't wear glasses, but he loved science. I remember visiting and seeing an old picture that looked just like the thing. I remember going to his funeral after he fell down the stairs. The wound was right where the thing's is.

It hits me like a truck. That's Cub.

I launch myself out of the building before anyone can question me. The flight home is filled with unanswered questions. How can I lose my best friend twice in the same day? Because, regardless of who that body used to belong to, it was my best friend. I lie on the carpet, staring up at the ceiling.

The ceiling where Cub used to live.

I can't stay here. I need to run, need to escape. I leap out the window.

Like I did when Grian was there to catch me.

I rocket away on Vex wings.

The Vex wings Cub taught me how to use. I nearly fall to the ground as I flash back to us laughing and flying. I'm free.

I'm crying.

I need to get the tracker back on. Maybe I can forget. Go back to how things were. Pretend nothing ever went wrong. Pretend nothing happened at all. I don't want to feel nothing, but I can't keep losing everything.

So I run.

I run, not fly. I won't use the wings. I let myself hit a wall instead of using my powers. I buy clothes from the nearest store. They look shocked but don't question. I run into the bathroom and change my clothes.

What am I doing? What happened? I can't think.

I'm holding my villain clothes clutched in my fists. The black fabric reminds me of what I was. Who I could have been if I had just kept myself in ignorance. I force my wings into the new shirt, cut my claws, tuck my pointed ears behind my hair. I dump the uniform in the trash and cover it with toilet paper.

Please, just let me be human again.

I wander the streets aimlessly until well after dark. A few times I see a Hermit pass, but they don't see me. I can't go home, so I find a comfortable-looking patch of sidewalk and curl up for the night. I realise I've had my communicator on this whole time. I scroll through the messages of panic, of where are yous, of the search.

And I see a single, unanswered message from 'Cub'.

I can explain. Just come back. We need to know you're safe.

No. You can't, whatever you are. I turn my communicator off. My friend's happy faces wink out.

Goodbye.