pointed to a man in a nice suit, slicked-back hair, a bit snobby looking in Eli’s opinion with a big smile on his face.
“Wonderful! You are finally here. I’ve been expecting you, Final. First things first, I would like you to get settled, but the anticipation of meeting you got the better of me. Room 2695, here. I feel like it would be one you favored. In fact, the twelfth door even. I had it numbered purposely for you that way. Thought you might like it.” The smile never left the man’s face as he spoke giddily.
Eli began panicking as that was a number combination no one should have known, causing his already panicked state to get worse. Afraid and unaware of his surroundings and partially losing his mind at this point, he turned, and he rose his hand at Boss.
“Now wait. I didn’t mean to upset you, but this is a bit much, don’t you think? I know how important this day is, and I’m not feeling the appreciation!” Eli screamed, letting a pulse blast out from his hand at Boss, quickly getting tackled to the ground by a few of the other men. As he went down, he hit his head on the concrete, and his vision went black, knocked out cold.
“Well, that wasn’t expected, I must say. Get him in the bed and have Hands come and look at him, just to make sure you guys didn’t do anything serious.”
A few of the men and Raiser picked him up and carried him into the room and lay him on the bed.
“Raiser, please stay with him. I imagine with everything, you made some connection last night.
You finally got him to agree, so you may be the only face he wants to see when he wakes if any at all,” Boss spoke softly, not a scratch on him, not even a particle of dust.
Raiser nodded and joined Eli in the room, sitting at a table next to the bed. A woman came in to check on Eli, quickly running her hands down from his head to neck.
“Well, he certainly hit hard. But it’s nothing I can’t fix. He’ll be fine. Just give him an hour or two to get back on his feet.”
Raiser nodded, and the woman left him to the silence.
Chapter 2
After an hour or so, Eli finally began grunting and slowly opening his eyes, hoping he just had an overactive dream, though once his eyes were open and he didn’t recognize his surroundings, he knew he wasn’t. He slowly sat up, trying to get his bearings before moving too much or to get up out of bed. Raiser had lain his head down on the table, hoping to get some rest himself as he spent the entire night driving them to the Order. Eli noticed him and began wondering how he let himself get in this predicament. He noticed a glass of water with a small piece of paper folded in front of it, which he got out of the bed and read.
“Go slow. Take it easy. We can talk when you’re ready, but Raiser will stick to you until then for your safety.”
He began wondering, assuming, it was a note from the man from last night. His thoughts began to run wild as he drank some of the water at his bedside, nice and cold and without ice as he liked it—though the lack of ice and perfect temperature did make him wonder if he was drinking real water or just someone using their power of water. What was real anymore? What was fake or someone’s powers, or was everything just in his head, and was he finally going insane? He couldn’t help but have the thoughts running through his head nonstop. His head began spinning again, so he sat back down on the bed.
“Raiser…I need to know who that man is and more importantly, how he knows that date.”
Raiser grunted slightly, raising his head slowly but keeping his eyes closed.
“Well, you see, Final, it is our job to keep track and tabs on any Beyohuman we find or can find. And that man is the one who keeps us all together, helps us through times like these you’re experiencing now. His name is Boss. My wife, I mentioned before, she, too, is a Beyohuman, Iris. She has sight of powers as Boss likes to call it. She can find any Beyohuman in the world as long as they’re using their powers. That’s how we found you so, though you were very reluctant to until now. I was camped out in your town for quite some time, missing home, missing her. But we are here, and now that you’re up, I can go see her.”
Raiser began rising from his chair, though Eli rose his hand, as to ask him to stop.
“That wasn’t an answer. So unless your wife can also read minds or see the past, she shouldn’t have had any knowledge of that day. Now tell me, how did Boss know, or I’m leaving.”
“So pushy…I can see why he wanted you with us so badly. Look, I want to tell you, but I believe it is best if he does. Better for both of you. If you’d like, I would be more than happy to go get him for you, and you two can talk it out. What do you say?”
Eli nodded, deciding to lay back down, stretching out on the bed.
“Yeah, I guess I owe him an apology anyways, huh?”
Raiser smiled then left the room. Eli sat alone with his thoughts for a few minutes until a knock on his door. Boss walked in without hesitation, the smile on his face as was before. He calmly sat where Raiser had, his hands in the air like he was being held up. Eli sat up from his lying position, ready to get some of the answers he felt he deserved.
“I come in peace,” he joked. Eli wasn’t laughing.
“You should honestly have a few more holes in you.”
“Don’t worry, Final. You can’t hurt me. I have a secret weapon. The only reason those men tried to tackle you was so you didn’t harm anyone else, yourself included, though I suppose they did, in fact, hurt you. Terribly sorry about that, though we do have the best ‘Hands’ around.” Boss busted out in laughter, thinking he had just made the funniest joke ever to be told. He tried holding it back as he saw Eli wasn’t in a laughing or joking mood.
“No, you see, it’s because the woman who healed you, her name is Hands, and she’s a healer. Get it? Well, I’m sure you have many questions—some that I’m not sure even I can answer, but some we both know I can. So let’s do a quick rundown, then the questions may begin, so we are on equal footing, yes?”
Boss’s entire demeanor then got serious, knowing how important this was for both of them.
“You got your powers right after the comet storm all those years ago, yes? Oh, and feel free to stop me if you’d like but only when I’m wrong. Let’s see. You were…seven or eight at the time, I believe. That part is a bit fuzzy, I must admit. Not all details we get are spot on but are close enough that we are okay with what we’re given. Anyways, not very long after, your father passed, cancer. I’m deeply sorry about that. I lost my daughter to it as well, though not brain like your dad. Hers was pancreatic. She was seven, just like you when you got your powers. This was…not too long ago for me. Almost fifteen years for you, yes?”
Boss didn’t look particularly old, so the fact he not only mentioned a daughter but also one who had tragically passed couldn’t have been easy.
“I’m sorry to hear that, though that doesn’t explain the extensive knowledge of me. I would be more than happy to hear about her, but please I need answers. I feel like, I, I feel I’m in a never-ending pit, and I just keep falling, and now the pit is telling me things about myself I’ve never told anyone in my entire life and never intended to. And I was nine. So yeah, almost fifteen years ago. Just wrong on my age.”
“I’m
