———unedited———
It was dark outside when Orlando Gret came to. His body immediately tensed. Not knowing where he was put him on edge. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he looked around. He had been sitting in a chair and it wasn't until he tried to get out of it that he realized his arms were tied to the arm rests.
No problem. He thought to himself. His eyes emitted a pale blue light. It wasn't bright enough to light up the entire room but bright enough to make faint figures visible in the darkness. Bodies.
" Hello! Hello? Can anyone hear me?" He whispered, still wary of may have been lurking in the dark," Hey can you hear me?"
A few feet in front of him, one of the silhouettes shifted and awoke to see the familiar glow of Orlando's blue eyes," Hello? Orlando is that you?" He moved closer only to realize that he was chained to other people around him.
"It's me, Kevin. What's going on?" And to their right another voice called out," It's me Mary as well." Soon a chain reaction of fear and confusion swept through the crowd. Only one person didn't respond, but he reeked of alcohol so no one even bothered to wake him up.
"Orlando, we are all from the same town, why are we here?" Mary asked. It was clear that she was terrified.
"I'm not sure. I can't remember. Does anyone remember how they got here?"
For the first time since Orlando has waken up, there was silence as the people searched through their memories trying to find even a sliver of a clue.
Suddenly, a voice from the back, Marvin, gave a distressed shout," Wait! I remember walking back to my apartment after stopping at the ATM. I took a shortcut through the alley and someone jumped on me from behind and choked me till I passed out." Now the entire group shared his distress.
Orlando's eyes went from a dull glow to an intense light so bright the entire room was bathed in vibrant blue light. Whoever had targeted them was specifically after the people from his home town. They were basically his family. He be came even more enraged. He reached out with his telekinesis to undo his bindings. However, his ability snapped back to him like a rubber band on contact. His eyes flickered in confusion. Literally. He tried again, and eventually gave up trying to use his power entirely. He, instead, resolved to pull against the relatively thin chains. His efforts were in vain because the chain were stronger than they appeared. The men in the group on the floor had had the same thoughts and results. It didn't stop them though. The women cried and the men struggled. They all thought they were going to die.
Why won't my ability work? And why only target the people from my hometown? Orlando's thoughts were racing. He counted all of the people on the floor around him.
Thirty? Thirty-one, if he included himself. That's the exact amount of people who moved to the city from the town.
Whoever gathered them there had made sure to gather ever single person. Thirty-one...there's something wrong with that number. Something about the number didn't sit right with him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
The sound of an approaching helicopter broke him away from his thoughts. The thunderous noise was directly above them and the search light shone on the terrace. There was a collective sigh of relief when a ladder was lowered onto the balcony. A man descended and the group thought they were being rescued.
Dressed in a nice three piece suit, he looked more like a 20s gangster than an officer of the law. His body was slight, and feminine but even so he exuded a masculine aura. A detective, maybe?
However, as he removed his jacket and rested it on a coat-rack and walked swiftly to the front of the room and turned on the light switch, their hearts all sank, with the exceptional Orlando's since he hadn't trusted the man since he stepped inside.
He poured himself a drink and leaned against the table and smiled at them as he took a sip. He enjoyed seeing them like this. It's what they deserve. He thought.
Orlando took a closer look at him. With his chestnut skin, undercut hairstyle with wavy curls that complemented his slender borderline womanly build, it was hard to say that he wasn't attractive. He appeared to be about the same age as him, around twenty-six years old. There was something familiar about him however. His facial expression? The way it was so cheery but also resentful. His stance? The way he assumed a defensive posture even when though he's the perpetrator.
Then the switch in his brain flips," Thirty-one." He muttered." I knew something was off about that." He looks back at the man in front of them. He smiles and shakes his head.
"Long time, no see! How is everybody doing today?" The cries and struggling resumed.
The scream at him things like: why are you doing this to us? What did we do to deserve this? For him they all blended together until he heard something that stood out.
"Why are you terrorizing innocent people?" Orlando finally spoke up," you have a great explanation for this...Boy!"
Teeth bared, he spoke with a spine chilling ferocity," Innocent by whose standards?" He's snapped.
"I knew you would snap eventually. You were bad from the start! Innocence? Coming from someone who killed his own mother." Orlando scoffed and looked at Boy. He's clearly lost his mind! He needs to be snapped back into reality.
Orlando new that bringing up Boy's mother was low but he needed him to snap out of it before people get hurt. Boy's blood was boiling.
"I didn't kill her!" His voice broke a little," You all listened to his lies over the truth. You trusted her murderer more than her child!" Boy was beyond exasperated. They're never going to believe me!
The group shuffled uncomfortably until a brave voice in the back spoke," Mr. Mainstay said that you deluded yourself into thinking that he killed her because you couldn't process the guilt you felt for your actions." Emily had said what they were all thinking. Boy stared them all down. The animosity was palpable and suffocating. Then he smiled unnerving then all.
"How about this." He paused raising his hand and pointing at them,"Answer one question and I'll let you all go and turn myself in. No trick because unlike most of you, I keep my word." They all slowly but surely nodded while Orlando stayed still and silent. They all wondered how hard the question was that Boy would risk imprisonment over it. An uneasiness washed over the group.
Boy's expression went from a disturbing excitement to a cold and calculated one," What is my real name?"
They all burst into laughter.
"It's that easy?" Someone asked.
Orlando watched Boy's expression falter. He could have sworn he saw a bit of hope in his eyes.
Maybe...they didn't for get it after all! Boy's heart swelled. If they remembered it then years in prison would be worth it!
"So what is it?" He asked expecting them to answer quickly only to be met with the silence that fell over the room. They all were stumped. Even Orlando couldn't recall such a simple thing. This time the crestfallen look on his face was quite clear and only confused and intrigued Orlando further.
"That's what I thought." He walked over to the drunkard, grab his face and snapped his head to the side whispering into his ear," Do you remember the name of your son?"
In a drunk slur, the man, still half asleep, gave a short reply—"He was weak like his mother. He didn't deserve a name and a fag like him could never be my son!"— before passing out into a drunken slumber once more.
Hurt was evident on his face and it made Orlando's heart twist. Dr. Mainstay had always been such a loving and caring figure. Like everyone's father or friend. Seeing this side of him made everyone feel uneasy.
Boy took a deep breath and continued," My own father started it. Stripping me of my name and you all followed his example." He looked at the ground striding to the front of the room and smiling at them, resentment and pain were the only things heard in his voice as he spoke," Still think it's easy?"
Even though no one else noticed, Orlando saw his eyes swell and a single tear fall as he looked at the people from his hometown do as they had his whole life, as they all avoided meeting his gaze and looked in the opposite direction or at the floor. None of them acknowledged his pain. He stared at them one by one before locking eyes with 'Lando.
" Orlando Gret. The town's hero. Now the City's hero. Mr. Blue Star himself." He strode up to the chair Orlando was chained to and towered over him arms on either side on the arm rests. "Do you remember my name?" Orlando looked away, avoiding his gaze.
"No." He watched as the last sliver of hope left in Boy's eyes was extinguished and his face go blank and eyes grow dull. The crazed look in his eyes was gone and to Orlando, he no longer looked like a madman but someone who had been completely shattered.Single drops of tears fell on to his sweat pants from Boy's face as he pulled it into a smile. He walked back to the front and leaned and a nearby table.
"Owen." His voice was so gentle and broken, it broke the hearts of everyone in the room. Suddenly it didn't feel like they were being held hostage by a person they had known for a while with a crazy grudge. It felt like starring at a zoo animal that escaped and hurt people out of fear and pain. But those types of animals are messed up and unpredictable and that thought is what made most of them brace themselves for the worst.
He looked at them feeling utterly betrayed and disappointment was written across his face.
This didn't sit right with Orlando. What right did this delusional, kidnapping, mother-killing man have to make him, a super, a hero, no less, feel guilty!?
"Boy. You have to stop this! What you are doing is wrong!"
"How dare you tell me what is right or wrong!" His voice thundered in the large room and most of the townsfolk shuddered. With long and powerful strides, he moved quickly towards Orlando before stopping right in front of him.
"Do you know why my mother named me Owen?" He asked loud enough for everyone to hear including the sleeping drunk who just rolled over and gave a grunt of annoyance. "She said it was because it reminded her of soft downy feathers floating to the earth and that she also did it to protect me from that monster right there!" He roared. He continues," Why would she feel the need to protect me? Why would she feel to protect me from that monster? That Doctor you love so much!" He was foaming at the lips." And why would I kill the only person who ever loved me or bothered to protect me." He screamed gains bulging and tears flowing. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. He collected himself before turning back to Orlando, walking up even closer, before smiling cunningly and straddling him and wrapping his arms around his neck.
"Now, you are probably wondering how a name could possibly protect me." He rolled his hips against Orlando's groin making him feel mighty awkward. He did it again and Lando's almond skin turned a shade of cherry. Then after the third time, he realized something wasn't right. Something was missing. He may have been a super-hero but Orlando was not pure. He had been with enough women to recognize the heat of one. His eyes snapped to Owen's. Before he could speak, Owen put a finger to his lips before getting a little two close for Lando's liking," My father didn't want a girl."
She got dismounted him, amused by the expression on his face," My mother was pregnant four times before me. Each one was a miscarriage. Each within days of finding out the gender was female. So she lied on all the paperwork. To the world I am male. My name was my mother's gift to me. It's because of her that I even survived and that abusive prick took her away from me, so how dare you accuse me of killing her!"
She swept her sweat plastered curly from her forehead," At any rate, you all make my life a living hell." Her face switched between what she projected and how she actually felt." I hate you all and I'm honestly terrified of you. I would rest a lot easier if we didn't live in the same world." She looked at her watch. Forty-five seconds." If I can't escape from you or live in peace, then we have a problem which will be rectified very soon." Her smile was sad. This was wrong. The women were crying and the men were struggling against the chains. Still, something about what she had said didn't feel right.
If I can't escape from you or live in peace, then we have a problem which will be rectified very soon. It played on repeat in his mind a few times before he realized what her true intentions were.
"If I can't escape from you or live in peace, I'd rather not live at all."
It happened too suddenly. A single bullet came in through the glass of the balcony door. Owen was hit. She went down as the men from S.W.A.T knocked the door down and made their way over to the people. Orlando was freed from the chains the moment she hit the floor and he immediately when over to her collapsed body.
She looked up at the starry sky and smiled. The stars looked almost like feathers. "Mom." She coughed out with a mouth full of blood," I'll be there soon." The world began to fade but not before she felt fingers on her neck and someone yell," She's still alive!" As a pair of arms lifted her slight body off the ground and an invisible force pressed down on her wounds.
Then...the world went black.
