Yin & Yang

Chapter 24: Power (Gabe)

"Hi, uh, Gabe."

I froze. It was like seeing a ghost come back to life.

"Cam, is that really you?" I breathed. He was taller than me. He obviously didn't look the same as when we were 12, but I would have recognized him anywhere.

"Who else would it be?" Cam laughed.

I shook my head. It had been so long since I'd seen Cam. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him. A tear rolled down my cheek.

"Cam, I'm-" I started to say, but before I could get the words out, Lilith appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Cam, upstairs, now," Lilith growled. Cam tried to protest, but Lilith silenced him with a glare. Almost sheepishly, Cam slunk upstairs.

I approached Lilith angrily. "What the hell!"

"It's not safe for you two to be around each other, you know that, Gabe!" Lilith had raised her voice to match mine.

"He's my best friend!" I yelled. "You've been keeping us apart for years! I didn't even know he was alive until a few days ago!"

"This is exactly the reason why you can't be around each other!" Lilith shot back. "He's a zombie! You're a Reaper! He could eat you alive! You could kill him just by touching him! You already did that once! You can't let your emotions get the better of you!"

I turned away in disgust. "I can't believe you don't trust me to control myself," I snarled. "You don't think I know what I'm capable of? All of the people close to me get hurt."

I didn't wait to hear what Lilith had to say to that. I took off, practically sprinting out the door. I couldn't handle seeing or talking to Lilith at the moment.

***

I ended up at the park about two miles from our house. Exhausted, and finally out of breath, I'd stopped to sit down. Too many thoughts were swirling through my head. I thought of my powers, of how they controlled my life, of Cam, of Lilith. It was too much to handle. I felt somewhat sad, but mostly I felt angry. I was angry that I'd been born with these powers. I was angry that I'd killed Cam. I was angry that Lilith had kept his life secret from me.

I looked up at the empty park. The sun had set a few minutes ago but there was still a light pink glow along the horizon. I pushed myself up from the bench and started walking. I didn't know where I was going, but I needed to walk off my anger.

I was still in the park when I noticed someone walking along the path toward me. Not wanting any interaction, I put my head down and my hands in my pockets, very clearly avoiding them. So I was surprised when a jolt went through my body as they bumped into me. Something snapped inside of me.

I turned around and grabbed him by the neck. "Watch where you're going," I screamed at him, but my voice didn't sound like my own. It was low and seemed to echo.

All of a sudden, a vaguely familiar sense of invulnerability washed over me. My fatigue from the stress of the day's events washed away, and I was filled with energy like I'd never felt. I felt myself growing taller, and I floated up a few inches above the ground. An ethereal black cape grew from my shoulders. It was tattered along the bottom, and it seemed almost incomplete.

I turned my attention to the man I held gripped in my hand. I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to feel the pain that I felt. So I squeezed. I felt the life force flow from his body into mine. I felt powerful, unstoppable. It felt good.

Suddenly, I hit the ground hard. His life force was completely gone. The man's limp body fell out of my hands as my knees buckled. I sprung to my feet quickly, though, and ran. I ran from what I had done. But I couldn't outrun myself.