Superheroes

Chapter 1

Cassie crouched down by the strange object. It glowed with an eerie blue light, shining in the night's darkness. She studied its octagonal shape with wary curiosity.

Taking a deep breath, she reached over and picked it up. It was warmer than she expected, like it had recently been near a flame. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, but the woods seemed as empty as they had before.

Hesitantly, she put the object in her bag. She didn't know what it was, but what she did know was that she didn't want anyone else to find it. It seemed... personal, for some reason; like she was the only one who should know about it.

As she started to get up, her phone buzzed. Loudly. Startled, she looked down and saw the time; 12:30! She muttered a few choice words before shoving her phone in her pocket and racing down the dirt trail, back towards home.

She snuck in through her bedroom window; careful not to make any noise. She looked around her small room, and strained her ears for any sign of her parents. When she was sure that nobody in the house had heard anything, she eased her bag onto the floor and crawled into bed. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but wonder what the strange object was and why it had been lying in the middle of the woods.

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**section contains violence**

The lab was home for Number 9. It's all he's ever known. He was born here, his mother died here, and his mad scientist father raised him here. Fifteen years of being nothing but an experiment. His father, Dr. Reed, tested some of his most dangerous ideas on his own poor son. Didn't even name him. Dr. Reed just called him by his experimental case number. Number 9. It was finally time that 9 flew the coop. He had heard stories from other children at the lab, of all the wonderful things outside that lab. Number four especially. 9 admired him above all of the other children... Number 4 used to say things about his home, his friends, his school, and the playgrounds he used to play on. 9 wanted to see all that for himself.

Number 9 and Number 4 were inseparable. They did everything together. They played games, they read stories to each other, they even did some of Dr. Reed's experiments together. There was one time, after a long day of work for Dr. Reed, where 9 and 4 were sitting in the boys sleeping chambers. Number 4 wouldn't stop looking at 9, and finally he asked "Have you ever been in love?" 9 didn't know how to answer this, feeling as if it were some kind of trick question or a trap.

"Yes." 9 said. "Once." 4 seemed intrigued by this answer, considering that 9 had been there his whole life, it had to be someone in the lab. Someone he knew.

"Who?" Number 4 asked eagerly.

"I can't tell you." 9 responded bluntly.

"Is she hot?" 4 continued.

"Yes. HE is."

4 looked dead into 9's eyes, and this time, 9 stared right back. "Did you ever notice, that your eyes get a little more yellow when you're nervous?" 4 said with a slight grin.

"That's the acid tear ducts. That's why I don't cry, because it hurts. So when I get nervous, and my eyes start to water, the acid-"

4 had wrapped his arms around Number 9, and the rest of 9's words were lost against Number 4's mouth. He kissed him softly, delicately, and was surprisingly gentle compared to what 9 had thought. They kissed a few more times over the months, and confessed their love for one another. They were making out in the boy's sleeping chambers before Dr. Reed interrupted by walking right in, without even knocking.

"What in God's name are you two doing?!" Reed bellowed. 4 quickly pushed 9 behind him, as if shielding 9 from Dr. Reed. "I suppose this is your fault 4?!" He inquired angrily.