The Perks of Being a Freak (Editing)

59. We're On The Hunt For Answers

I ran to him and grabbed his arm without thinking of the fire. My palms stung, but I pulled him away from Simon, who collapsed to the ground and held his throat, shocked.

“We’re leaving,” I told Tony firmly, tightening my grasp on his arm. For a second it looked like he might argue, but he clamped his jaw shut and nodded instead.

“Man,” Simon chortled. “She’s got you whipped.”

“Shut up, Simon,” I glowered and led Tony away.

“Not gonna happen, doll,” he retorted. “I’ve got things that need to be said.”

“I don’t think my ears need to suffer any more,” I didn’t look over my shoulder. “Hearing you talk hurts enough.”

“It’s alright,” he cooed. “You can admit that you love me. I’m sure your buddies wouldn’t mind.”

“You’re an asshole,” I called. “Have a good night.”

It took me a block and a half for Tony’s actions to sink in fully.

“Holy shit,” I stopped. “Tony!”

“What?” He demanded, looking around.

“You were on fire!” 

“Oh, yeah,” he looked down at himself. “I forgot to tell you guys that I can do this.”

“That’s amazing, bro,” Benny said.

“Warm,” Emily snuggled into Tony’s side.

“So now all of us have some sort of power.” I mused.

“Except Rajeev,” Benny pointed out, and we all stopped.

Even his name was painful. Our lost Freak.

“So are we gonna do this thing?” I asked, looking around. “Get some answers?”

“Yeah,” Benny said, punching his hand into his fist. “Yeah, we sure as hell are.”

“There’s a shit ton I wanna know,” Tony agreed. 

“Alright,” I agreed. “Next Sunday. Early in the morning. Maybe around three?”

“Three in the morning?” Tony asked incredulously. 

“We don’t want there to be a lot of people around,” Benny mused. 

“The early bird catches the worm,” Emily sang.

“Okay,” I exhaled heavily. “We can talk more about this later.”

“We’re gonna do this,” it almost sounded like Tony was trying to reassure himself.

I myself was even a little nervous. This was a daunting idea. Break into the lab we had fought to get out of? Risk our safety for answers to our questions? Doesn’t seem worth the trouble, does it?

But I needed to know, and the others did as well. Why us? Why was I made into a weapon? If they weren’t making more weapons, why did they need the other four? How did they get us out of our bedrooms in our pajamas? How did they connect our minds? Why wings? What were these extra powers?

We had questions that needed answering, and we would get those answers if we had to beat them out of those scientists.

As it turns out, we never got the chance.