Hidden Darkness

Chapter 5

       Feeling the cold air hit my skin as I flew was always a favorite of mine whenever I did this. But I'm still new to it and it's very draining so I usually only use it to get home. I land just a couple blocks away and walk the rest. I stopped to look at my own house for a moment. Even with the snow, you can tell the grass hasn't been mowed for a long while.
The building was covered in wood rot and peeling paint. I make my way over the yard and into the house. The only light was in the fireplace to warm the house up. It failed at that job. I make my way down the hall and walk into the first room to my right.
I pull out a chocolate bar from my trench coat and hide it in the drawer where I always have before right beside her bed. I looked at her and see that she was curled up with the blanket off of her, so I pull up the blanket over her and tuck her in and kiss her head goodnight. I slowly walk out of the room and ease the door shut. When I turn around I almost leap from my skin. A dark figure looks down at me and I look back up at him.
I shuffle around him and make my way to the stairs that lead to the attic and walk up them. Once I'm up there, I lie down in my bed and turn to my side. I receive another mind rocking migraine and fly my hand up to my head, but I don't move. I want to, but I can't. So I lie still in my bed, hating myself.

It was around lunch where I tried to steady my arms to carry both my notebook and my lunch tray and to find a seat. I look around and see one almost empty table that people try to avoid as much as possible. That was where Eric sat. I make my way over to the table, attracting more than one wandering eye the closer I get. The moment I sit down, the whole cafeteria went dead silent.
Eric was looking at me with a confused expression. I look around the cafeteria and say, "What? Can't a guy sit and eat without being watched?" The silence lasted for another minute that then rose into loud mutters and whispers. I look back at Eric. "Anyways, now that that's over-"
"What the hell are you doing, Emsly?"
"Sitting, why?" Eric opens his mouth to speak but I guess decides not to say. "Nevermind. What were you saying?"
"I was saying, that that vigilante idea wasn't so bad a thought. You could be a hero throughout all of Chicago. I even..." I stop talking when I noticed a teacher walk over to us. "Matt, Eric. Is everything okay here?"
"Yeah, everything is fine." I turn back to Eric, about to speak, when the teacher spoke again. "Are you sure?"
"Yep." I try going back to talking to Eric when the teacher kneels down and asks, "Is he forcing you to sit here?" I had enough of this. "He's a person, for crying out loud. He isn't a freaking monster, he isn't forcing me to sit here, and he has done nothing to deserve this treatment, so back off." Sure, it wasn't smart to yell at a teacher, but why would I get in trouble?
For defending someone? The teacher was speechless. She just stood back up and walked away. All attention was on us again. I made a shooing motion to the cafeteria and they went back to eating and talking.
"Dumbass."
"What?"
"Nothing, nevermind."
"Alright. So, what I was saying was that making you into an actual hero can come out being great. You'll get a good rep and you can dish out justice." Eric stared at me blankly. "I was up all night thinking this over. Drawing and such." I open my notebook and flip it over so he could see it. First there was a symbol of a bird flying upwards with its wings outstretched and its head pointing upward.
On the back of the bird is an hour glass. Next to it was a design of a mask that looked like a bandana covering the entire head where it dropped into a point where the nose was. On the next page, it shows a jacket-like shirt, the front and the back, and combat boots and also baggy looking pants like the ones soldiers wear. On the back of the jacket-shirt showed the same symbol from the previous page. "What is this?" Eric said, still staring at the paper.
"Your insignia and costume."
"You're gonna make me a superhero?"
"Kinda, yeah." Eric scoffed in reply. "Seriously, dude, just hear me out on this. With this idea, it could really-" I got interrupted by the bell alerting everyone that lunch was over. I grabbed my notebook and tray and stood up.
"Seriously though, just give it some thought. See ya tomorrow." Then I walked off and to my next class. Later that day, Amelia and I went to the same italian restaurant we went to on our first date. The moment the waitress, who was the same one as last time too and just as busy, asked what we would have to drink and left, Amelia went right to the scene in the cafeteria. "I heard you sat with Eric today. Did he bribe you or blackmail you or something along those lines?" she said, really concerned and worried.
"What? No. We've just been talking lately. He's not that bad once you get to know him."
"And you know him?"
"Well..." I scratch my head and looked away for a moment. "Not really. But he's a lot nicer than people tend to make him out to be, or how he usually acts."
"Then why act the way he does?"
"I think it's a front for something."
"Like?"
"I dunno." The waitress delivered our drinks and asked for our order. We ordered another pizza similar to last time. She left and scurried to another table. "I know he has a lot on his plate. Whenever we talk he sounds annoyed but unsure and yet sad. It seems like something is really bugging him. But I can't tell what."

I had left my house just recently. The stupid headaches were getting to me. Luckily it wasn't too cold or snowing out tonight and some of the ice had melted. I walked as long as possible, trying to ignore the thought of what was happening. I needed to practice my flying anyways so I ducked into an alleyway and willed my strange tendrils to form into those dark wings.
I was airborne in one flap. Soon, I was flying through the cold and crisp air, doing dives and loop-de-loops and barrel rolls. I felt so happy while in the air, a frontier no human can experience normally. My calm tranquility was ended when I received another headache and almost lost my focus on flying. I became sad that my comforting moment had to be interrupted. Time to work.