Superbeing

Chapter 2 - Magic?

My eyes flicked open as I sat up in bed. My breath was coming hard and fast, I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. My hands were trembling. I checked my head for any bruises. Good, I thought to myself, it was only a dream. I crawled out of bed and made my way downstairs for breakfast, the smell of bacon wafting through the air and into my nose. It made my mouth water. I sat down at the table with Grandpa, who looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What?” I asked.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he says, his old, grey eyes staring into mine, expecting an explanation.

“No I don’t”, I replied, fetching a strip of bacon and stuffing it in my mouth.

“Have you seen yourself in the mirror?” he asks, sipping some of his green tea. He placed a mirror in front of me.

What I saw surprised me. My hair was ruffled as if I had been struggling through something. My green eyes were dilated and wide open, as if I had seen something fearsome. My face and lips had lost a bit of their colour. My hands were still trembling slightly. Sipping some of my own coffee and composing myself, I looked back at Grandpa.

“So then, what happened?”

“I had that dream again.” My mind rewound to the dream I had which spooked me so much. This dream was the same dream I had a few nights in a row, although I hadn’t told Grandpa until today. When I looked back at him, however, his wise eyes were focused on empty space whilst his face registered an expression of total concentration. He was deep in thought.

Now that I think about it, Grandpa had appeared right after the chase. After I blacked out, I walked around the area, stumbling over rocks on the ground and brushing past bushes which gave me scratches. Eventually, with no energy left, I stumbled across a small village. This village was to become my home, and it was where I met Grandpa. I had always referred to him as Grandpa since I had never known his real name. He was a mysterious person, always deep in thought, yet quite muscular for his age. He eventually became a father figure and he would train me as we travelled from town to town, teaching me how to fight and be strong in case his old age crept up on him. He didn’t have to tell me what that meant.

Every month, however, there would be a group of middle aged men who would visit us. Wherever we go, these men in hoods would somehow visit us unexpectedly, and they would sit in the living room, and discuss things which I was not allowed to hear.

After breakfast, I went about cleaning the house whilst Grandpa read his daily newspaper. Whatever was in their really interested him because he would always read it with fascination written on his face.

At that moment, the front door creaked open and four hooded men walked in. They wore robes of black, which were quite long – they almost reached the floor.

“Lee,” said one of them, his voice firm. The men walked straight past and into the living room, where Grandpa was sitting, waiting for them. “Come,” he said, and I followed them, leaning against the doorway. Judging by the authority in his tone of voice, I suspect he was the leader of the crew.

“Now that you are 16, I want you to participate join all our discussions. But before that, there is something that you need to know.”

“Erm....who are you? Can I know that, at least?” I asked, my voice sounding high for some reason.

“My name is Richard. I was sent to come for you.” At this, the hooded men lifted their hoods and all looked at me, their faces visible for the first time. Each one of the men were tanned and looked to be around 40 yrs old. Their hair was combed back, and the leader’s hair was streaked with grey, much like Grandpa’s. However, it was their eyes that stood out. Their eyes were of ordinary colour, brown, green and blue, but for some reason as I looked around at them they seemed to bore into me and look into my mind, and my very soul. For this reason I averted my eyes, not wanting to feel their intense stare.

“Lee, have you ever believed in super humans? Angels, or any other type of superior being of any sort? Have you ever given them any thought?” even though my eyes were focused out of the window, I could feel his eyes looking at me, the men expecting an answer.

“Yes, I have, many times. Almost any child would. But why do you have to know that”

“Well, Lee, it’s because we are super beings.” My head snapped back to look at the men once more. I looked around for any hint of a smile on any of their faces, which could indicate that they were lying. All of them had straight faces, they were dead serious. Not even Grandpa smiled.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked, disbelief etched in my face.

“I said, we are super beings.”

“Do you have any proof? I’m not going to believe you until I’ve seen some proof.”

The man who called himself Richard gestured to his men.” The first man stretched out his arm, his palm facing upwards and his fingers curled in a bowl shape. Slowly, but surely, an orange light began to glow in the middle of his hand. It grew and flames started dancing around his fingers, his whole hand alight. With fascination, I watched as a string of fire travelled through the air into the fire place, where the wood burned and the living room was awash with an orange glow.

Richard gestured to the second man. He stood up from his seat, his feet spread apart and his knees bent, with his palms at waist height facing upwards. His face registered intense concentration as he began to raise the ground, his arms stretching upwards. I could feel the earth shaking as a pillar of rock suddenly shot up through the ceiling. A slight shine was evident on his forehead, proving that this was no simple task. It was then that Grandpa stood up, his muscular frame akin to the man who just lifted up the earth. He spread his legs like the other man did, and punched outwards, a quick, fast jab. Out of the pillar of rock in the middle of the living room, a sphere of rock suddenly flew out of the main structure as if it was pushed out. At this, I turned to look at Grandpa, my eyes wide with fascination.

The third man then stood up. In the same way that the earth man did, this man also spread his legs. With a smooth motion, he stretched his arms towards the kitchen, and pulled them back slowly. A sound suddenly came from the kitchen, and I knew it was the tap. I ran to the kitchen and checked the sink, and water flowed out through the taps, a thick rope of water which again, like the fire, trailed though the air, until it wrapped around the man’s hands in to large blobs. He then began swaying his hands left and right, and the water followed. He stretched his arms and the water went forwards, out of the window, before raining down on the ground.

Richard finally stood up. He faced the window and stretched his arms out. Suddenly he pulled them towards his chest, and a gust of wind rushed through the living room, rustling the cloaks and threatening to take me with it. He flicked his wrist and the wind spiralled, creating a miniature hurricane within the living room.

“Now you see” said Richard once he had finished, “We are not humans. We are super beings. Do you believe us now.”

I stared at him, my mouth slightly open before Grandpa made a sign for me to shut it. Regaining my composure a little, I looked round at all of them. They all looked back.

“Isn’t this some kind of magic? I mean, that doesn’t happen on Earth, right? And super beings only exist in fairy tails and stories, so how comes you guys are super beings?” The questions seemed to rush out of my mouth before I could stop them. The men then laughed, as if I had told some hilarious joke. I felt my cheeks burn a little.

“This isn’t magic, my boy,” said Grandpa. “We are just able to control the elements. That’s the only trick there is to it.”

“Okay,” I said, pausing to take this all in. “So where do I fit in with all of this?” It seems that these men had anticipated the question, because they all became serious again, the tension in the air rising.

“Where do you fit in? Well that’s easy, because, just like us, you are a superbeing.” The grin that split my face would have been worthy of a world record.