I don’t know how long I stood there, wrapped in the arms of the tall gentleman. It could have been 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 years; and I wouldn’t have cared. He was warm and I knew I could trust him; that was what I needed: trust.
At some point, one of the other men clears his throat. The old gentleman and I awkwardly untangle. I glance around at my friends again. I nod quickly at Natasha after wiping a tear from my eye, to answer her wordless question asking if I am okay.
The rain seems to have stopped as suddenly as it had started. A few rays of sunlight pierce through the clouds and descend upon our extraordinary group. I squint up at the Sun, gazing at its power, its strength. If it weren’t for the Sun, we wouldn’t be here.
‘You need to come with us, Albert,’ says the old man, smiling.
Within the blink of an eye, Natasha and Asbel grab my arms, holding onto one each. Natasha’s grip is shaky yet determined, Asbel’s is harsh and unforgiving. I look into each of their eyes in turn. Natasha gazes back at me in shock and terror, Asbel gives me a look of angry resolve.
‘What do you want with him?’ Asbel asks.
Despite the great height difference between the two, Asbel’s willpower seems to stun the old man for a moment. However, the man smiles softly, his eyes glistening in the faint sunlight. His wet grey hair shines, giving him a golden glow for a few moments.
‘I want Albert to be safe,’ he says simply, looking at me rather than Asbel. ‘In fact, I think all of you would qualify for a position in the Ci-’
Asbel’s grip tightens on my arm. My throat closes for the umpteenth time that night. Despite all the annoying things he’s done, Asbel actually cares for me.
‘We won’t let you take him away!’ he says, and I can hear the rage in his voice. I turn and smile at him, frantically willing the tears out of my eyes.
‘Why don’t we let Albert decide?’ the man says. ‘Albert, do you want you and your friends to come with us, or do you think you all should stay here?’
All eyes turn to me. I feel stuck as for what to do. I’ve now been tasked with deciding not only my own but my best friends’ futures. On one hand, these people have treated us with nothing but kindness. They stood protectively in front of my friends to not let Amy’s sparks hurt them. The old gentleman had helped me in my stand-off against Amy. He had comforted me after I had discovered the truth of that day. On the contrary, I didn’t know who these people were, where they came from, or where they would take us. To me and Ethan, education was wildly important, so if they didn’t have a decent school wherever they planned on taking us, Ethan and I would be out of the deal immediately. But, they hadn’t cared about my mutant-ness. When they’d seen me fly, they watched in wonder, whereas my own friends seemed scared at the sight of me flying above them. For someone like me, the choice seemed obvious. But some unknown force kept me back. I opened my mouth to speak, but my words died in my throat. I looked at each of my friends in turn and then did the same to the five unknown folks. I set my jaw, looked once more at the photo on the wall, and my decision was made.
‘I know what I have to do. I have to kill Amy,’ I say purposefully. ‘If you can help me do that, I’ll come with you, no questions asked.’
One of the women sighed with relief, and the old man’s smile grew even larger.
‘But, Albert,’ Natasha says quietly, her voice breaking. ‘What about us?’
I stare at the ground, gritting my teeth together as hard as I can. I’ve only known Ethan, Natasha, Jay, and Asbel for a little over two months, but I know losing them will not be unlike losing a part of myself.
‘I-I-I have to, Natasha,’ I murmur, not removing my gaze from the ground. ‘You guys mean the world to me, but I have to.’
‘Hang on, hang on,’ the old gentleman says, his smile gleaming at us. ‘I didn’t say we couldn’t take all of you.’
One of the men whispers something to the old man, and he nods.
‘I’m sure of it, Tom,’ he says. ‘Every last one of ‘em is fit for the City.’
Ethan grabs my shoulder, his hand strong yet shaky. His eyes are wide with determination, and his jaw is as set as it was half an hour ago. He looks me in the eye, that familiar glimmer shining at me.
‘Where are we going?’ Jay asks, sounding both excited and terrified.
‘The place of your wildest dreams,’ one of the women says, beaming.
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‘That doesn’t begin to cover it,’ the old man says. ‘The City is a place, a shelter for people like us: mutants. It spans a huge area and- well, I suppose it’s better to show you in person.’
‘What do you mean, mutants?’ I say, my eyes widening. ‘My friends aren’t- They’re not like me.’
‘Indeed they are not,’ the old man says warmly. ‘But all of you are special. None of you may be able to say you’re as special as Albert, but you’re all special.’
I feel sick to my stomach. My friends, mutants? Impossible. None of them had stupid wings or saw silly visions in the middle of class. Not a single one of them saw the night their parents died at the touch of another human.
‘How do we get there?’ I ask curiously. I want to get there as soon as possible, yet I don’t want to leave-
‘Rob!’ I shout, startling myself. ‘I can’t leave Rob!’
The smiles worn by the five strange people falter, and I see the glimmer of hope in the old man’s eyes vanish in an instant.
‘Told you,’ the woman with short hair says. ‘Told you he’d say that.’
I’m certain I heard the clang of money as the tall man, Tom, passed something to the woman who had spoken. They’d bet on me. They had bet that I would or would not go with them. My lips curl into a snarl.
‘You bet on me?’ I whisper. ‘You bet money on whether I’d go with you or not?’
The two people stare at me awkwardly. The man shuffles his feet and looks at the floor. The woman’s cheeks flush with colour and my snarl grows.
‘What did I tell you?’ the old man shouts. ‘I told you you shouldn’t bet!’
‘Hang on,’ I say, ‘you haven’t answered my question. Can you help me kill Amy?’
The old gentleman opens his mouth, frowns, and then closes his mouth. He seems puzzled into silence. His eyes become unfocused, and he looks up to the grey sky as though he is lost in thought with himself.
‘We can certainly beat Amy,’ he says after a few moments. ‘But I don’t think we could let a child-’
‘Well, then you’ve lost a deal.’
‘I don’t think we could let a child fight,’ he finishes. ‘We could, it would just need extra precautions.’
I look up, hopeful. ‘Really?’
The old man smiles for a brief moment, before seemingly telling himself not to. ‘Of course.’
So many questions buzzed around in my head, making my brain throb with pain. I tell myself that my questions will be answered soon enough.
‘What about Rob?’ I say once more.
‘We’ll let him know the moment you are safe, we promise,’ the long-haired woman says.
Looking down, I notice my knife lying a few inches away from my feet. It must have landed there when I hit the ground after flying. I hadn’t even realised I’d still been holding onto it after I’d been swung into the hedge.
Quickly, I crouch and grab my knife. I swivel round and end up behind the short-haired woman, entwining my arm around her waist and placing my knife to her throat. I thank myself for being able to make survivalist decisions.
One of the men cries out, drawing a wand of his own. His two comrades follow his actions. The only one that does not draw their wand on me is the old gentleman. The woman in my arms is quaking with fear. I don’t blame her; I’d be terrified if someone did this to me.
‘Put your weapon down!’ yells the second woman. ‘We won’t hesitate to shoot!’
‘Promise me one thing!’ I scream back. ‘Promise me that wherever you’re taking us will protect me and my friends! Promise me that! I won’t hesitate to slit her throat!’
The old man looks down and smiles. The smile becomes a giggle, then a laugh, and finally, he lets loose a hearty chuckle. Nothing is menacing about his laugh, yet everybody is shocked into silence. And even I, the kid holding a knife to someone’s throat, am a little bit intimidated by him laughing.
‘For a smart kid, Albert,’ he says in between laughs, ‘you are stupid.’
I raise an eyebrow slowly.
‘Of course, we’ll protect you and your friends! Why wouldn’t we? Every single worry you have about coming with us, we’ll have a solution for it by the end of the day, I promise you that! The place we want to take you is the place of your wildest dreams! Where anybody can fit in!’
In shock, I let go of the woman I’m threatening. Where anybody can fit in? That’s all I’d ever been asking for. The woman frantically crawls over to her friend, rising to her feet. I don’t need another moment to think. I turn around to face my friends.
‘I know this is a lot,’ I say, ‘but if you guys wanna come with me, you can.’
The only person who’s reluctant to go is Jay. Yet, after some more consoling, Jay agrees to at least have a look at this mysterious place.
‘Alrighty, then,’ the old man says, placing his hand on my shoulder. ‘Form a chain like this, where you’re holding somebody else’s shoulder.’
Everybody obliges. I grab Ethan’s shoulder, he grabs Jay’s, who grabs Asbel’s, who holds Natasha’s, and the four other adults join on at the end. The short man finally reaches up to hold the old gentleman’s shoulder, forming a circle.
‘3…2…1!’ the old man says.
It is then that I am overcome with the quaintest feeling. It feels as though I am being pulled through a washing machine by my belly button. My body seems to disappear from itself, and all I can see is a swirling mass of grey and black. Ethan’s hand tightens on my shoulder so much that I cannot help but wince.
It was over as quickly as it had begun. Our unusual squad stood in a dense forest, with trees. The old man cursed under his breath.
‘I couldn't make it all the way with everyone,’ he says quietly.
One of the other men pats him on the shoulder reassuringly. Between the four adults, they shoulder Maltor and Quinn, who slump miserably.
This unusual group saunters through the thick cluster of trees. Somewhere ahead, I can hear the bustling sounds of a city. I begin to itch for a flight; to weave and zigzag in between the trees, soar high into the air, and see what has become of my destination. As if he could sense this, the old gentleman calmly places his hand on my shoulder, just strong enough to keep me from running.
The autumn leaves crunch beneath my feet, and I can hear the faint footsteps of squirrels and other small creatures from all around me. A harsh breeze seems to cut straight through me. Wherever we are, the weather strikes me as being harshly contrasting to the weather in Birmingham. Warm rays of sunlight shimmer through the gaps in the canopy, shedding little light on the group. The trees ahead of me slowly begin to thin, and through a slight gap, I see some suburban houses and a bustling road.
‘This,’ the old gentleman says slowly, as we all file onto the pavement, ‘is RoCity.’