The Superhero

The Superhero: Chapter Seven

Chapter 7—A New Life

Dad had been out of the hospital for three days now. I told him about Mom, and he was absolutely devastated. When Dr. Flame heard about the news the first time, he was angry. Now that Dad's alter ego was gone, and he was just Ray Jensen again, he showed a side of him that he rarely showed: vulnerability. He exposed his weak side, something that he used to vow to never do. He cried; he had always claimed to be too strong and manly to cry. At the hospital, he was fine. He seemed like a genuinely happy father figure who just wanted to get back to his family. I hated seeing his face when I told him that our family was broken.

Despite being dark and evil and cold-hearted, Dr. Flame was Dad's strength. Now, he was unaware of the fact that he even had pyromaniac tendencies and that he had the power to control fire. He had no clue that I was Zap and that Grey was The Raven. There was less severe crime because Dr. Flame wasn't plotting to terrorize the city and burn it to ashes every five seconds, which meant that Grey didn't have to save people too often. I had more time to spend with him and Dad was an actual human again. He was normal, or as normal as he could get. However, things still didn't seem right. I mean, don't get me wrong, I knew that nothing would ever be perfect; I was just hoping that I'd be happy now.

*

"I need to see my mom," I told Grey, as he sat next to me at the kitchen counter. He had stopped by to bring us some breakfast from a local diner. Dad wasn't in the room; he was drinking coffee while reading the newspaper in his office.

"Why?" he asked.

"I need to tell her what happened."

"I told her the basics," Grey replied. "I told her how your father has amnesia."

"No, but she needs to know everything. When you're not here, Dad seems so distant. He's lost without her. At least when he was Dr. Flame, he had somewhat of a purpose. It was a twisted purpose, I admit, but a purpose nonetheless. He had something to live for, a goal to achieve. Now, it's like he has nothing."

"I'll take you back to my uncle's house, but what do you expect when we get there?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows. "You can't just barge through the door and ask her to come back."

"I'm not expecting that at all. I just want her to know what it's done to Dad. I just want to—" I trailed off when my phone vibrated. It was a text from Ren.

"The best friends are searching for the third musketeer, I see," Grey commented.

"I've been avoiding them; I don't know how to deal with them right now."

"Are you ever going to tell them the truth about you and your father?" he asked.

"I don't know. Are you ever going to expose yourself as The Raven?" I asked.

"Maybe when I'm old and dying, but even then, I'd probably force myself to shut up."

"Grey—" I stopped talking when Dad walked into the room.

"I need more coffee," he mentioned, holding up his favorite blue coffee mug.

"I'll get it for you, sir," Grey offered, walking over to the Keurig machine.

"Thank you," Dad said as he stood next to me.

"How are you feeling? Was there anything interesting in the paper?" I asked.

"Not really," he shrugged. "I ended up trying the crossword puzzle, but it gave me a headache. What do you two have planned for today?"

"I was thinking of going to the movies with Grey," I lied.