The Swords of the Strange

The Bad News

Daniel's POV

When I opened the front door and walked into the living room, the TV was on, like always. The kitchen table was set for three, and the whole apartment smelled like my mom's enchiladas, mmm. Lyn was sitting on the couch, trying not to get in my mom's way while she was cooking, smart man.

"I'm home!" I called out.

"Oh good," she said, "dinner will be ready in a few minutes." I sat down next to Lyn, who was watching the news.

"Hey, kiddo." He said, ruffling my hair. "How was school today?"

"Pretty good," I responded, I wasn't sure what to tell him though. That I had made a new friend? I thought so, but did Angel consider us friends? Probably not. I sighed internally, well, she's not here to deny it. "I made a friend."

"Oh, yeah? How'd that happen?" he joked.

"Some kid was getting bullied at school, and she helped him out."

"She, huh?" he said mischievously, "and does 'she' have a name?"

"Angel," I responded, not yet sure what he was insinuating.

"Angel?" I nodded, and he laughed, "perfect."

I finally realized what he was talking about, and even though I knew it was a joke, I blushed, then turned to the TV, hoping he didn't take it any further.

"In other news," the news anchor was saying, "the president has stated his intention to issue an executive order after the events of the Supreme Court case, which social media has dubbed 'Outrés vs. Everyone Else'."

I watched with more interest now, that court case had started out as a relatively basic lawsuit. An outré had intentionally used their tic, and got sued. But then new, relatively unrelated, evidence was found linking the outré, and several others, to a plethora of unsolved crimes, all across the country. The outrés involved were all found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison. However, a lot of people weren't satisfied, they wanted outrés to be under surveillance or something.

Many said we should all just be locked up so we can't cause any trouble, some even said we should all be killed.

I bit my lower lip, a nervous habit, as the news anchor continued. "According to president McKinley's statement, this executive order will collect all registered outrés in America into government facilities until professional scientists have cleared them as 'safe to society.' Allegedly, President MacKinley is considering issuing this executive order at the suggestion of several Supreme Court justices. And now, the weather."

A timer went off in the kitchen, and I jumped. Judging from the clattering sound that followed, my mom had too. The TV kept going, my mom finished up in the kitchen, Lyn looked at me worriedly, trying to comfort me maybe. But I didn't hear anything, it was as if the whole world had gone silent.

I was suddenly numb to everything around me. If the president actually issued the order, then I would be taken away from my mom. I'd be locked up somewhere until some under qualified scientist said I was safe to be around. With my tic, I'd never see my mom, or Lyn, or any of my friends, ever again. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Mijo," my mom said gently, pulling me into a hug. "Dinner's ready." I nodded into her shoulder, and she led me to the table.

The food calmed me down a bit, my mom's cooking usually did. The order hadn't been issued, not yet anyway, and maybe it never would be. We ate in silence, neither of them knew what to say to me about the announcement, but the subject hung so thickly in the air that none of us could think of anything else to talk about. We finished our enchiladas, and I cleared the table, while Lyn washed the dishes.

"I..." I started nervously, not sure whether to voice my hopes, or try to talk about something else. "I have homework." I pulled out my geometry worksheet, and tried to remember the formula for the area of a triangle. What was it. I tapped the page with my pencil.

"Take half the length of the base, and multiply it by the height." My mom said, reading over my shoulder. She was a graphic designer, so she was pretty good at math, she'd never just tell me the answer, unfortunately, but she was always willing to give me formulas. I nodded, but didn't write anything.

"You know, kiddo," Lyn said, he was standing at my other shoulder, "he hasn't actually issued the order, he might not. We can at least hope." He smiled lightly, and rapped his knuckles on the wooden table. Then laughed a little.

The rest of the evening passed like it usually did. If a little more reserved. Lyn left around nine, ruffling my hair, and giving my mom a peck on the lips. They had been dating for about three and a half years, and I couldn't help but wonder when he planned on proposing, I knew would be soon.

After he left, my mom sent me to bed. I changed into my pjs and flopped down on my bed. I tried not to think about the bad news I'd heard earlier, but that night, my dreams were plagued with people in white lab coats and masks. They poked and prodded, and then said I was never going home, and locked me in a cell full of rats.

I woke up in the morning with silent tears in my eyes. I wiped them off, turned off my alarm, and forced a smile like I did every morning. At least it was a change from the usual nightmares.

I got dressed quickly, wearing my usual long sleeves and jeans, then stuck my gloves in my pocket and went into the kitchen for breakfast. As I finished my bowl of cereal, my mom appeared in the doorway.

"Your lunch is in the fridge," she said. "Have a good day at school mijo." I thanked her, stuffed my lunch in my backpack and left for school.