Radioactive [Early Draft, On Indefinite Hiatus]

Chapter 4 - The Secrets

Chapter 4:

The Secrets

Frank Taylor sat at the kitchen table, miserable and depressed. Ever since he had learned about Sonia's illness, he had been in despair, using alcohol to forget about the pain. It was hard enough knowing that his son, Derek, was unpopular. So the guilt he felt was tremendous. It kept him home from his job for weeks. It kept him from getting out of his chair. It kept him from thinking about anything. It was like a curse had been wrought upon him unjustly. It just wasn't fair. A tear trickled down from Frank's eye.

🌀🌀🌀

Derek ran down the street at the speed of an Indy 500 racecar. He had never felt so alive, or so confident, ever before on his life. Derek was overjoyed with the knowledge that he was radioactive. He gleefully shouted out as he dashed across the road.

"I have super powers! I have super powers! I have super powers! Haha!"

As he sprinted about the neighborhood, he spotted the local hospital, a building that towered above the other houses. It seemed out of place just lying there in the middle of the suburbs. It wasn't as tall as a skyscraper would be, yet it still appeared as a giant before Derek. He ceased running and took a break to admire the run-down, but humble structure of the hospital. The pale white paint of the building was peeling away. The front lawn was covered in tall, lime-colored crabgrass. Even the windows were shattered and cracked in certain places. This was definitely not the best place for a sick person to be nursed back to health, but this was only because for seven years, this hospital was not able to raise enough money for repairs. So, the building lay there shabbily, a reminder of its constant struggle for survival.

"Like my mom."

Derek began shed a tear. He held it back, nonetheless, and carried on towards the entrance.

Eventually, Derek arrived at the room where his mother was being cared for. When he saw her face, a large grin formed across his face.

"Mom!"

Derek's mother struggled to turn her gaze from the ceiling. She now had trouble moving her head, and she had been staring at the ceiling for days. Nevertheless, she tried her best to face her son.

"Hello, Derek. It's nice to see you. Please, take a seat beside me."

Derek did as his mother told him to placed the nearest chair by her side, and took his place upon it.

"I heard what happened at the science lab, Derek. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine."

"Derek, did you feel, unusual, at all?"

Not really, but on my way home today, I realized that I have super powers! I could kick things feet away, jump miles high, cause the ground to shake, and-"

"Derek."

"Yeah, mom?"

"About that. I thought that might happen."

Derek stared at his mother in surprise. He was stunned. How did his mother know that something like that would happen?

"I know what your thinking. How did I know that you would gain super powers? Well, the truth is, you aren't the first."

Derek's jaw dropped.

"I am going to tell you a family secret. Do you want to hear it?

Derek nodded. He was eager to know what she was going to say next.

"Okay, Derek. Then you must never tell anyone but those who you trust about this. Do you understand?

Derek nodded his head.

"Yes."

"Very well, then. Well, your grandfather was radioactive. He was a convict living in France. He had escaped from prison, and was in hiding from the law. He was a fugitive from justice, so he couldn't go anywhere without being caught, and because of this he would hide within nearby bushes. This earned him the title of 'The Bushmaster'. Whenever he was spotted, your grandfather would dive into a shrub and escape unharmed. He was one of the most elusive criminals of his time.

"Yet one night, his luck ran out. He was walking across the New Bridge in Paris, at about midnight. Then suddenly, he was ambushed by several policeman. They had hounds, guns, and tranquilizer darts at the ready. Your grandfather took off running in terror. He had never been chased by so many people before. He ran for miles without stopping, every now and then praying for God's mercy. He knew he was doomed.

"Eventually, your grandfather came to a road-side ditch. He jumped inside to avoid being spotted, just in case. When he looked ahead there was a whole trail of organized bushes. Suddenly, he devised a plan to escape. At the other side of the ditch there was a large sewer pipe. He decided that he would proceed to flee while within the safety of the bushes, and then enter the pipe, where he would hide until the law went away and gave up.

"He started moving swiftly amongst the chain of twenty-seven bushes. His plan was working. Yet just when he thought he was safe, he emerged from the hedges to find every one of the policemen surrounding him. He was backed up into the entrance of the sewer pipe, all the while begging and pleading for forgiveness. The police ignored his cries and prepared to end his life with a bullet through the heart.

"However, the water that was coming from the pipe was green... and glowing. Your grandfather was standing in just that water at the time. When he raised his hands in the air, tearing up and melancholy, he noticed that a nearby weed became erect with the motion of his hand. Your grandfather tried again. Once more the weed straightened itself.

"With his newfound powers, he made the trail of bushes grow to height of trees. He then had each and every shrub coil around and grab a policeman or hound. Most of the police dropped their weapons. Four or five hounds howled in pain. Then finally, your grandfather had the bushes make their victims collide with ground. Hard. Only one policeman remained alive after that, and he ran away in fear. Momentarily, your grandfather became guilty of what he had done, and, as he originally had intended, ran into the sewer pipe, frightened by himself.

"Five years later, he boarded a ship headed for America. He changed his name to David Taylor, and purchased a small house in Connecticut. When he married your grandmother, he sold the house and moved up to Massachusetts, where we live today. Little was known about his past amongst the neighborhood, but they knew that he always kept a potted bush by his side when at home."

Derek looked at his mother. She seemed healthier, stronger than before. She was smiling, too. That was something his mother didn't do often anymore.

"Eric's grandmother was radioactive, too. She had the power to read other people'a minds. She even solved a mystery about a missing diamond once by using her abilities."

"Whoa."

Derek had always been fascinated with his mother, but now he was intrigued by her.

"You can go now, but first take this."

Derek's mother reached over for something by her side, and pulled out what appeared to be an old piece of paper. It read:

ENTRY FORM FOR THE ACADEMY FOR RADIOACTIVE KIDS