We got in his car, an old Volkswagen Golf, and travelled for a bit less than one hour. Whenever I asked for an explanation, he would raise a hand and tell me: “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” But that, instead of raising my curiosity, created a sense of uneasiness in me: he had already told me I had powers, plus we were alone in his car, so why not just tell me right now?

As to discourage me to do any further question, he turned on the radio. I spent the rest of the journey concentrating on the generic pop tunes and the DJs speaking, albeit that wasn’t enough to make me feel more unwind. Darrell was turning from a lovable uncle into...I couldn’t even understand what. The Darrell I knew wasn’t so elusive.

Gradually, the cityscape disappeared in favour of open landscape around a highway. The signs indicated that we were somewhere in Sussex. I didn’t even dare ask why we needed to go so far. Finally, he left the highway, and the streets became more narrow with time, the houses rarer, until he stopped on a road made of dirt; around us was a meadow.

“Here it’s good. We can get off.”

I looked around, although it was useless. There was literally nothing but grass: it was almost like I and Darrell were the only living men in the world.

“Darrell can you...?” I cried.

Again, he raised his hand. “Not here, wait until we are far enough from the street.”

He began walking onto the grass, and I followed him. Another time of waiting. If anything, at least I was doing something, which was walking, but I couldn’t stand it any more. Ten minutes, one hour, it didn’t make any difference any more: every second was infinitely long. A child cannot conceive the concept of patience, especially after such child has been told they have special abilities that can solve their problem with bullies. But I remained in silence: I didn’t want to not be a good boy in Darrell’s eyes.

The meadow seemed infinitely wide, like in one of the video games I played back then, where the landscape was generated by the computer. Darrell kept walking in silence. There were no buildings, no trees, no flowers; nothing that could indicate the passage of time. It felt like entering another dimension, where the world was divided just into green below and light-blue above.

Finally, he stopped.

“Yes, we’re far enough from anyone.”

“What’s my power?” I asked at the very instant he finished talking.

“Hayden, dear. Now I can finally explain you what I’ve kept secret to you for so many years. Please forgive me for not being honest.”

With that, I lost it again. He had finally said it was a good place to tell me everything and still he played the mysterious guy. This wasn’t the Darrell I knew at all, it was like some extra-terrestrial had taken his place. I stopped caring about being a good boy.

“WILL YOU EXPLAIN ME?” I shouted in anger.

In that same instant, they appeared.

Two small balls, made of something like fire, came up above the palms of my hands, only to quickly disappear.

I watched my hands in a state of shock, half-opening my mouth in disbelief. Darrell smiled visibly.

“That,” he said, “is your power.”

After the first shock, however, what I immediately felt was a tip of disappointment. I expected something much bigger than some fireballs in my hand. All that wait had increased my expectations a lot.

The biggest emotion, however, was confusion.

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“W...what...what is this?”

Darrell took a long breath before answering.

“Hayden, telling you everything at once would be too much. I promise you, one day I’ll tell you everything. Today you’re only going to learn about your power, and have a first look on how to control it.”

I didn’t have enough force in my mind to protest. I nodded, accepting.

“First, Hayden. What was the moment when those fireballs appeared?”

They had caught me so unprepared that already I had half-forgotten what was happening before. I had to make a long effort to retrieve it back.

“Ergh...we were walking...and then...well...”

“You shouted at me out of anger.” He was right, I had just yelled at him out of frustration.

“So...do I become powerful when I get...angry?” I didn’t expect to be something like the incredible Hulk, but my child’s brain didn’t mind too much. However, I was wrong.

“Not quite,” Darrell replied, “although you were close.”

“Darrell don’t be mysterious again, please, tell me!”

“I will give you a help. What were your feelings toward me at that moment?”

“DARRELL PLEASE! JUST TELL ME ALREADY!” With that, the fireballs reappeared and disappeared.

I watched him, he watched me. This time there was no shock, just all my anger towards this alien that pretended to be Darrell, who kept smiling widely and I didn’t know why.

“You’re more prone to negative emotions than I thought. You’ll be a perfect soldier. You have the fire within.”

I was so close to crying. It felt like he was having fun at confusing me.

“I bet that you’re really hating me right now, eh Hayden? Did I frustrate you enough?”

Finally, a clue. I began seeing the picture. I calmed down, and the tears retreated inside my eyes.

“I need to hate you to make them appear?”

“Not specifically me,” he said, “but yes. It is through hate that you can make those fireballs. I can do the same, actually.”

With that, two fireballs appeared in his hands: they were spherical and red, and looked like pure fire. But unlike mine, they remained on his hands, and he looked perfectly serene.

“Does it mean you hate me?”

“What? No, no,” he dismissed, raising one hand; that gesture made the fireballs disappeared. “I could never hate you. You will learn how to control your emotions too, so you can store them anytime without falling in anger. You have a long path in front of you, Hayden.”

“But...but...what for? Why do I need this? I don’t want to hate people!”

“So, do you love those pesky bullies?”

That was a low blow. I actually felt my heart a bit aching. If there was someone worth of my hate, it was them. At that moment, I remembered what he had said back in his flat: I want to help you face those bullies. The journey and the impatience had made me forget it. However, I wasn’t stupid.

“But if I throw them fireballs they will put me in prison forever...”

“I know. I’m not telling you to do it. But if you don’t learn how to control your power, it may happen. You’d be treated like a dangerous creature to be caged, or worse, eliminated, if you just let your anger go like that, and I won’t be able to train you in our fight against the-”

He abruptly interrupted, like if he had done a terrible mistake.

“Against what?”

Darrell made a gesture with his hand, like telling me to keep calm.

“Against the bullies, Hayden. Against the bullies.”

I just nodded: it made perfect sense for me at that moment. Still, I didn’t feel good at all. Powers activated by hating people? This is not how a child imagines superheroes, or anything similar. In stories, they are always amazingly good people. They protect them, not hate them. Or was I destined to be a villain? Villains were cool too, in a way...but they always did horrible things, and then died...

“Don’t worry, you aren't turning into a villain, Hayden,” Darrell told me, like if he had just read my thoughts. “You’ll use your powers to do good things.”

“But how can I do it if I must hate people?”

“You won’t have to hate all people. Just your enemies, like your bullies.”

“I can’t throw them fireballs!”

“I know, we said that just before. You’re just going to give them a good scare, how about it? That can’t be forbidden, right?”

I reflected. I still didn’t have the conception that death threats are just as illegal as keeping faith to those threats, so my obvious mind didn’t find any objection, despite desperately wanting to find one.

“I can’t think of anything against it,” I said eventually.

“Splendid,” Darrell said, his smile wider than ever: in fact, his smile had never been so large. “Today we’re going see how to give them a good scare, so they’ll stop tormenting you. After they see your fireballs, whatever adults can say, none will believe them. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Something was starting to grow inside of me. A sensation of desire. I wasn’t actually going to do anything bad, right? The fear started to fade away, slowly replaced by the naive hope of a child. My mouth was now stretching into a smile, just like Darrell’s.

I watched the sunset. I watched the grass. I watched my mentor. Out of instinct, I ran towards him and hugged his legs in gratitude and affection.

“I love you Darrell.”

“I love you too, Hayden,” he said, patting my head, “now get ready to hate.” With that, he took me away from him.