Superhero Effects

14. AWKWARD MIDDLE

My sister said the most adorable thing when she straightened up from the wall. She said, "You're dreaming, butthead."

I looked to Archer, and, at once, he faded like a ghost blown away by the wind.

I cleared my throat. "Well, that's embarrassing. I should have known, though. The real Archer probably hates me."

"Oh no," she said casually, making her way to the bed, "he's still out there like your mom said. That morphine is strong stuff, though; it knocked you out. But I am really here."

I rose from the bed, keeping the back of the gown together with one hand. "How?"

She shrugged like it was no big deal. "It's one of my abilities. We can do more than fly and run fast. Something about our DNA reacting in its own little way to the blood: that's how Cooper can alter memories. If I had known I had a twin, trust me, we would have met a lot sooner."

Her eyes wandered down to my casted wrist; it was throbbing even in my dream. "To quote your dream guy...you really aren't a Super. We don't break bones or bleed or scar unless Emerale is involved."

If it weren't for our weight difference and her slimmer face, no one would be able to tell us apart. We were completely, ya know, identical.

"When did he let you go?" I asked quietly.

Her brown eyes moved up and locked with mine. "I'm not here to talk about me. He came...with Dad. Talked to your—our aunt and because of what you said in my room, he knows you now. Who Cooper is, at least. And he's seen you can get hurt, that you're normal."

"Then that's good, right?" I urged. "He knows I'm not a threat, and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He should leave me alone...right?"

Lucinda's expression softened. "Tristan, you're my sister. And I know I look healthy and I'm home, but I'm still a traitor to my family, our family. You're normal...and now you can be used as leverage."

I covered my eyes with a pained moan. "I was afraid you were going to say that. I don't get this; Dad doesn't know his brother is pure evil? You can't tell him or something?"

"No," she said sharply. She grabbed my wrist and jerked my hand down, so I had no choice but to see her cool expression. "Dad doesn't know, and it will stay that way. Do you understand me?" When I didn't answer, she squeezed my wrist tighter.  I couldn't feel it, but her knuckles were white. "Do you understand me?"

I merely nodded and took my wrist back when she released me.

"You can pick up where I left off, finding Aaron Fletcher. He's an author..." she turned, ready to go through the whole spill.

"He's not real," I said, cutting her off. She stopped and whirled back around with narrowed eyes. "That name is my pseudonym...I didn't want all the attention, and you can forget about reading the second book. Your friends torched the warehouse and took my newest draft...not that I had been working on it much anyway. We have more of a twin connection than we ever knew."

Her face had fallen after my second sentence. Now she was looking at the floor desolately. "You only know what I know...you only wrote what I knew. You aren't hoarding some big secret that will tell me what his weakness is."

"He's just a dude! You're a Super! Smack the crap out of him," I suggested enthusiastically.

She shook her head. "He isn't human, Tristan. Not fully. He's like us... He's dad's half-brother, something I learned when he had me in that basement, but the rocks don't affect him like they do us, thanks to his experiments."

I was in complete shock. It took me a moment before I could speak again. "How...don't I know that if you do?"

She shook her head again, defeated. "I don't know. I do know that he thought you were dead too. Whoever revived you and gave you to our aunt—you owe them your life in more ways than one."

She was right, and now I was wondering what else about this whole situation didn't I know. I hadn't written my character Lucinda with a little brother or a stepmom. I hadn't known about them. I had clued in subconsciously to my twin's life but not every little detail—which was more unnerving. What else didn't I know about all this? Could I even trust her?

"I have to go," she said abruptly.

I started. "Whoa, no! You can't! I have questions, and Cooper—"

She shook her head. "I have to. He doesn't know I have this ability because someone didn't put that in their book," her eyes narrowed, annoyed, "and I want to keep it that way."

"But I need something! The others know I found you now! They'll want some explanation as to why you haven't tried to contact them, or they'll think you're a traitor!"

Lucinda only heaved a sigh. "I am a traitor, Tristan. And you shouldn't trust Cooper or any of them. Not even your friend Archer. This is more complicated than you could imagine."
***
I woke with a body jerk and found myself in the hospital bed.

Just like at the start of my dream, Archer was there. Sitting beside me. Our eyes locked, and my body, my mind immediately calmed.

"How's the wrist?" he asked softly.

"Broken. How's Peggy?"

He shook his head with a small sigh. "I can't tell, and she won't talk to me. She looked at me like—like she didn't know who I was."

A lump formed in my throat. "I never wanted that, Archer. I'm sorry. I wasn't going to tell her about you, but we needed help, and you were the first person I thought of."

"You shouldn't have told her anything, Tristan. Cooper can't even fix this because too much time has passed. He can only alter a few minutes."

"I'm sorry," I said again. "But Peggy is my only friend, and I felt like I was drowning."

From zero to sixty, Archer's anger rose. "That," he said, leaning forward in the chair, "was your doing. You could have talked to me, Tristan! I could have helped you, and all of this could have been avoided! All you had to do was swallow your pride."

Tears were falling from my eyes now as I shook my head. "You wouldn't have understood! I'm not like you! I'm not like them," I shook my broken wrist at him, "and I'm not like Peggy either. I'm in this awkward middle, and I just wanted answers!"

Archer slumped back in the seat and shut his eyes with a deep inhale. "I thought you were dead..." I paused from pushing my pain button again and looked over at him as a tear dropped from my eye and into my hairline. "When we got there, and I rushed up to the car and saw you slumped in the seat, there was so much blood from your head. I thought you were dead. And it was the scariest moment I've ever experienced in my entire life."

It was happening precisely like in my dream, but this was happening. I pinched myself to make sure.

Archer's eyes opened, and he noticed my partially casted hand, gripping the pain button with my thumb hovering over it. He leaned forward again and reached out, gently taking it from me. "I think I'm in love with you."

I subtly pinched myself again. I even peered around him to make sure Lucinda wasn't hanging out in the corner. He leaned closer. So close, I could smell his faint cologne and see his facial hair starting to creep up. "And I know the real reason you've been angry with me. You are jealous, Tristan, but you don't have to be. Just tell me the truth, and I'm all yours."

He was right. I was jealous, extremely jealous. And I hadn't known how much I was avoiding my feelings for him until Leilani showed up.

His eyes were earnest as he waited for me to speak, searching my own with hope.

And you shouldn't trust any of them. Not even your friend Archer.

The lump was back in my throat. I shut my eyes before they started to water again and turned my head to face the other way. "My head hurts, Arch. I just want to go to sleep right now."

All was still for a moment, way too long of a moment, and then I heard him get up and leave the room.