Nightmare - Secret Identities Book 1

Chapter 11

Virgil's POV

"Virgil, I've been waiting to hear from you."

I looked out the window at the passing trees, wishing the pounding in my heart would calm down. "Hey, Mom."

Silence spread between us for a second. "Well, how is he?  Please, tell me every detail."

I looked to the driver, though he paid me no mind. "He said he was tired; he looked it."

"What'd you talk about?" She genuinely wanted to know.

How I've damned him... I lied, "You." I looked back out the window, knowing I'd need some truth behind it, too. "We talked about when everything went to hell."

She groaned. "That stupid Nightmare, ruining my poor baby boy's perfect face. I'm just so glad you weren't hurt, too."

My head dropped instinctively. If only she knew...

"Honey, you never speak of that night."

"That's because I don't need to, Mom. I know what I saw; I know what I felt. That is that." Though we were just entering the city, I didn't want to carry on the conversation. "I'm home and have a lot of work to do. I should get going."

"Alright." She sounded sad. "I love you, Virge."

Hesitantly, I responded, "I love you, too," then hung up.

The driver glanced at me in the mirror, then returned his eyes to the road. He said nothing.

———

I sighed, knowing that Prince, Logan, and Patton all wanted answers. Leaning against the wall, my arms crossed, I said, "I went to the prison today."

"That was today?" Patt asked. I usually told him before I went.

I nodded. "That's not the point, though. There was something that they put on all of the Paragon inmates—some cuffs infused with that metal that takes away our powers."

Prince nodded. "There were rumors that they'd done something along those lines. When the police capture Paragons, they inject them with something; it puts them to sleep almost instantly." He looked me in the eye. "We saw it with Connor."

"What has this world come to?" Logan wondered aloud.

I pushed off the wall, beginning to pace. "To think that they can so simply take away an extension of our own being... I just..." I took a steadying breath. "If I lost my powers, I don't know what I'd do." Though maybe it'd be a good thing... I shook my head, telling myself those were thoughts for another day.

Logan looked to Patton. "How is this ethically right? It seems the media would 'eat this up.'"  He furrowed his brow. "I do not understand."

Patt leaned against his husband's shoulder. "If it were Voids, the media would be going crazy; if say, the government were crippling prisoners to keep them from running away, then it'd be a crisis. However, as Paragons..." He stepped forward to the desk, his fingers glancing over a long-dead plant.

Slowly, the browning leaves began to spread, life returning to them. The plant's stem stretched further than it had before until a large red and orange bromeliad fully bloomed.

"We are nothing to them," he muttered.

Prince smiled weakly. "Your powers are beautiful."

He shook his head. "But if I were to be captured and condemned, they would be taken away, beauty be damned."

"Patton, Logan," I sighed, "I know I've said this before, but if you want to back out, I wouldn't blame you. Hell, I'm not sure why I put on this stupid suit again."

Patton leaned into Logan's ear. "We're on the same page with this, right?" he whispered, though I'm sure he thought he was being quiet enough that I wouldn't hear.

Logan nodded.

Patton smiled. "You should know by now that even when you want me to, I'm not going anywhere."

———

I reached for the door handle to my apartment but stopped myself short.

Everything felt wrong. My body's instincts were begging me not to go in there. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Calm down. You know what this means; this means someone's probably broken in.

My hand laid on the doorknob and pushed it open. Powers thrumming to life, I stepped inside, searching for a mind only to come up empty-handed. I explored every room. The feeling stayed, but I found no one.

That night, I went to bed with the lights on.