Heroes

Chapter 15. Nate's 1st power

I glimpsed a shimmer of scales before he was gone, racing down the hallway. Without thinking, I began sprinting after him, ignoring the protests from the others. Rounding the corner, I saw Nate disappear around another. I kept up speed, hoping that I'd catch up to him and I'd finally be able to see him after all this time. After I saw those scales on his hand that one time, I had to know what was up with him. And when Jack said his powers weren't real. So now that he's out of the cell, I can get some answers out of him. I may have been only 10 years old, but I was surprisingly nimble and before long, I was gaining on Nate. He ran through the entire asylum, pushing past other patients and sending them flying. I followed in his wake, not checking to see if the others were behind me. But I couldn't go much further. Like a cheetah, I only had a short burst of speed before I needed to regain my breath. So I felt myself slowing down. Nate became more distant as I slowed to a jog, and then stopped. By this time, Nate was gone. I cursed under my breath. The hallway was silent and empty. I couldn't hear Nate's footsteps anymore; he was too far gone. Instead, I heard other footsteps. I turned around, thinking it was the other guys. But it wasn't.
About a dozen guards came stampeding into the hallway. I took that as my cue to leave, and I bolted off in the direction of Nate. I lost the guards fairly quickly, but I knew they were still following. I couldn't see Nate, but I imagined he was probably outside the building by now.
But suddenly, a door opened in front of me, a hand reached out and grabbed my collar, and I was pulled into a room. I didn't have time to register who pulled me into the room, but I was flattened against the wall, presumably so I wouldn't be seen. I heard the guards go past and knew they had no idea I was there. I looked at the person who'd helped me and even before I saw the scales, I knew it was Nate. It was light enough in the room that I could see him properly for the first time. He had short black hair and his eyes really were pitch black. He was about a head taller than me. But what fascinated me was the scales. The entire left side of him, up to his neck, was covered in shiny, light green scales. They snaked down his arm to his fingers and blanketed the palm of his hand.
"Nate?" I said, though I knew that it was him.
"Mark, what are you doing?" He asked, sounding angry, turning to face me. "You should've stayed put with the others. You almost blew everything."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Blew everything? You're the one that almost blew everything when you left! If you'd stayed below, none of this would'v9
"Hey, you can't blame me for everything! What about Jack? How can you blame me for that?"
I knew he had a point. But I thought back to our conversation the day Jack went.
"Let me ask you something," I said, making him look at me quizzically.
"What?"
"Did you lie when you said you'd never been above?"
Nate was silent. He shifted his gaze from me and looked at the ground.
"So you did lie," I said quietly.
"I didn't lie, I just..."
"Didn't tell the truth."
I was watching Nate to see if he'd make any sudden moves, but he didn't. He just looked back at me, dead in my eyes.
"Look, Mark," he began. "I'm sorry I lied. I just didn't want you to know."
"Know what?" I asked.
He sighed and started walking around the room.
"See, this is why I didn't want to be seen. I'd have to explain what all...this is," he said, gesturing to his arm.
"If it helps, Jack's already told me," I said tentatively.
"Told you what?"
I stopped, thinking about how to word it. But I was too slow. Nate came at me and slammed me against the wall.
"Told you WHAT, Mark?!"
"He told me that your powers weren't real!" I said quickly.
Nate stepped away from me.
"What...did he say...exactly?"
His voice had been reduced to a hiss, and I was reluctant to say anything against Jack.
"He said that...you weren't born with your powers. That you were...given them, so to say. Is that true?"
Nate didn't reply. He just stared at me. This was the most intense staring contest I'd ever had. He was deadly still, looking directly into my eyes. I didn't know what he was doing. But then, the weirdest sensation came over me. It felt like my brain was being eaten alive or something. It was a really odd feeling that I've only felt that one time. As I struggled to keep control of my mind, a sudden thought filled my head. It was actually more of a voice than a thought. Nate's voice. And he said, 'Jack's almost here. Whatever you do, don't mention this to him. And by this, I mean this whole conversation. Keep your mouth shut.'
And then I felt fine. Nate went over to the door, opened it, and there was Jack.
"Nate? Um...hey, man, how you doing?" Jack sounded utterly terrified.
"Mark's here if you want him."
Jack came into the room and spotted me.
"Mark!"
"What's up, Jack?"
"The others are out!"
"Out? What do you mean, 'out'?"
"The doors opened. They're out the building!"