Supernatural Tendencies

04

04 | Brandy

She is gone.

Brandy allows a small gasp to part through his slightly widened lips, a puff of white frost billowing past.

Some fucking superhero he is.

His hands are charred and blistering, and Brandy cries out. He isn't a superhero. He is just a twenty six year old boy posing in tights and a useless cape.

They burn, tingling with swollen veins. He can make out the path the fire has taken on his flesh, searing permanent scars and leaving remains of peeling skin.

There is an emptiness in his heart that threatens to swallow him whole, and his breath is in short, shallow gasps that force his lungs up and out of his throat.

Oh God, oh God.

Oh fuck, Brandy has never felt failure like this before.

He is cool, calm, collected. Brandy is an awesome, cold statue. Both unbreakable, and powerful.

He is a supernatural being, for God's sake.

The sobs that tumble out of his mouth are not his, and the legs that buckle and sink to the ground are not of his accord.

They shatter the still night, wracking the whole city with its sorrow.

The change is like flipping a switch.

Ugly tears shrivel, leaving now smooth skin unblemished and polished.

Shock hangs on in a death grip, weighing him down with hefty cold.

Brandy flies back home in silence.

♣

The dark building is silent and foreboding as he approaches it, shrouded in black shadows.

It does not look like the home of a famous, renowned superhero.

Seo is there to greet him immediately, like a puppy to their owner. Her eyes widen a fraction as she takes in his detached expression.

"Mister Scotch, what is the matter? What has happened to your hands?" Concern weaves its way in between her words, but Brandy's ignorance is like a cold bucket of water washing over Seo.

"Mister Scotch!" She speeds up, the sound of black heels clicking on the marble tiles. "Please! I would very like to know the results of your victory."

Silence. A ticking time bomb.

And then it explodes.

"Just leave it alone, damn it!" Brandy bellows, profile whirling around to face the small, shrunken Asian.

His eyes are that of a wounded dog, large, dark and soulful. Rage encircles the irises, red veins made prominent by thick lashes.

Seo recoils, shrinking against the wooden backdrop. Not seconds after, she bounces back, training her slanted eyes on his battered fingers.

"Your hands!" She admonishes, rushing to take the limp limbs into her own pointed ones.

"No, don't touch me." Brandy flinches back, edging closer and closer to his quarters. His voice is dangerous and feral, cracked and disused. Seo drops them immediately.

"I wish to be left alone."

He retires into the room without another word.

♣

Brandy does not know how many hours he has spent staring at the crack riddled ceiling.

Dark, hulking shapes swirl along the seams, playing tricks on his eyes. It is dark, save for silvery moonlight that pours through a glass window.

How had she done that?

He thumps head head violently against the protesting pillow.

How had she managed to take his own power, and reverse it against him?

Brandy repeats the question over, and over, and over again until the words blend in and form monsters that devour the other words, leaving a gaping hole in his brain.

Dark liquid slithers through the crack, pouring seeds of doubt into his skull.

Maybe it wasn't that she was powerful. It was that he was weak.

Months of sitting at a stupid rectangular desk. Months of dealing with crackheads and press who wanted the big scoop of the exclusive, rare superhero who had retired. They have him useless and rusting, like a dusty book on a shelf.

He punches the wall next to him with unneeded force.

It vibrates the building, as well as putting a decent, fist sized crater in the plaster.

If he was so weak, would he be able to do that?

A swell of satisfaction lifts hope up like a rising and falling tide. Then again, Brandy likes to gamble his hope against small, trivial things.

Small, persistent knocks fill the room, and Brandy groans inwardly, knowing that Seo still has not gone to bed.

"Mister Scotch. I can help you, if you would only open the door for me." She whispers urgently into the dead of night. "Mister Scotch, your hands are still damaged. Let me heal them for you."

Eagerness fills her voice, and Brandy's will breaks. He strides across the small room and rips open the door.

Yellow light filters in, causing him to squint into the jarring brightness.

The startled look on the black haired woman's face is soon replaced with one of no emotion and a cold stone mask.

"Mister Scotch, if you will." She holds up a roll of thick gauze and cream, beckoning him into the hallway.

"Seo, I don't have the time for this." Brandy protests, but she is pulling him into the small bathroom. His sighs are drowned out by a cold cream that is applied to his hands, antiseptic wafting just below his nose.

She rips up the thick gauze, wrapping it gently around his hands with a mother's caress.

Brandy remains mute, although the instant the cold paste touched his hands, a wave of relief spreads from his palms outwards.

"Thank you." He says softly once she stands abruptly, dusting off her black slacks. His heart swells, he doesn't deserve someone like Seo.

"It is good. You don't hurt now." She states, gathering the first aid tools and starting to leave. Her hair whips around as she gives a backwards glance. "Make sure you sleep tonight."

And then she is swallowed by the darkened corridor.

Although Brandy's hands resemble somewhat of two lumpy rocks, he manages to stand, swaying on his feet, and leaves the small cramped space.

As Brandy enters the room, his eyes detect a flash of copper that flits like a blade in the dark.

His eyebrows furrow, muscles locking into place.

"Surprised to see me?" The black cloaked girl laughs. "I am too."

♣

a/n if you have time, please please check out the song above. it is a beautiful piece by joe hisaishi, and is played in the awesome film howl's moving castle, an equally beautiful movie directed by hayao miyazaki

anyways... if you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a vote and comment!