Superhuman Nature

by Brandon Overall

  It was Sunday night, which meant that Neil had an entire week of class, PT, and homework to get through before he had to worry about finding a way to get to Georgia to meet Delmont. He would have to dedicate a little bit of time to old Neil before he could get any more answers about new Neil. At the very least, he would be able to take the opportunity to hone his ability a little bit more before the next weekend.

  Neil shut his computer off and went to sleep.

  CHAPTER 8

  Neil awoke to find himself sitting in a wooden chair in a pitch dark room. Once he opened his eyes, a single overhead light turned on. Only the area beneath the light was illuminated. Neil couldn’t see the walls in the room. He had no idea where he was or how he got there.

  Once the light was turned on, Neil became aware that he was not alone. Seated at the outer edge of the illuminated area was another man in a wooden chair. He had a black wide-brimmed fedora and a black trench coat to match. The brim of the hat cast a complete shadow over his face.

  “Don’t trust him, Hitchens.” The man spoke with a deep, grizzled voice. He sounded old, and Neil suspected he had spent a lot of years as a smoker. The voice was not familiar.

  “Trust who?” Neil wasn’t sure who this man was, or why he was here, but the concern in his voice was calming and trustworthy. His advice seemed genuine, if ominous.

  “You know of whom I speak. You are alone, you must accept that. Do not get other people involved. It will bring only pain.”

  After he finished speaking, the man got up from the chair and walked into the darkness. His footsteps faded off into the distance. The room Neil was in was much larger than he anticipated. Neil tried to stand up to follow the man, but he could not. His legs would not respond. It wasn’t that they were paralyzed – it was more like they were refusing to cooperate.

  As Neil struggled to stand up, the light overhead began to fade to darkness. The footsteps turned to silence, and at the same time the light went to black. Neil was alone.

  ---

  Neil awoke for the second time that night, this time to his alarm clock. 4:45 AM. It was time to start another week. Being a demi-god wasn’t enough to make waking up any less miserable. At least Neil felt well rested. His bed was unbelievably comfortable. Neil opened his eyes when he came to the realization that he wasn’t in his bed. For the second morning in a row, he was floating a few feet above it.

  He lowered himself down slowly this time and glanced toward his door. Luckily he had had the foresight to lock it this time, so there was no chance he would be seen by his roommates.

  After dressing and shaving, he rode his bike through the streetlight-illuminated campus to PT. Many of the people that he saw at the party on Friday were there that morning. It didn’t matter how tired, hung-over, or sore they were from the weekend; PT was mandatory, five days a week, every week.

  Neil was never exceptionally fit, but he did well enough to pass the PT test with some room to spare. Failing a PT test was not something Neil ever had to worry about again. Although his muscles and lungs might not be strong enough to make him a PT champion, his mind could make up for it.

  That day was long run day – a little joke the Cadre liked to pull on the Cadets after they knew everyone had been drinking all weekend. They were running a six mile route around campus. Normally, Neil would finish around the middle of the pack, but today he decided to have a little fun.

  Once Neil started running, he used his mind to partially lift his body off the ground and support his weight. He felt light as air. His legs were easily able to propel his body forward with very little resistance. He took off at close to a five minute mile pace and pulled ahead of the pack.

  Ross was the fastest runner in the group, and as usual, was in front of everyone else. Neil ran up beside him and slowed his pace to match his.

  “Hey Ross, good morning for a run, right?”

  Neil smiled. Ross looked over and nearly tripped over his own feet in surprise. Neil had never even come close to being able to outrun him before.

  “Hitchens! What the hell, man! How are you keeping up with me? You been working on your sprints like I told you to?”

  Ross was a good sport, but Neil could tell his pride was a little hurt with the surprise of seeing someone else running effortlessly along side of him.

  “Yeah, that was pretty good advice. Maybe I should start giving you a few pointers.”

  Neil took off in front of the fastest runner his ROTC Battalion had to offer, securing the title for himself.

  He finished the six mile run in thirty-two minutes, and hardly had to break a sweat. He could have gone faster, of course, but he wanted to at least make it look believable.

  Ross was the second one to finish the run, coming in at just over thirty-six minutes. Neil waited for twenty-five minutes before the last person crossed the finish line.

  No one had any idea how fast Neil had completed his run except for Ross.

  “Hey man, that was seriously impressive. How did you improve so quickly?” Ross asked.

  Neil could tell that he was still confused about the whole situation, which was understandable.

  “I’ve been running almost every night down Grand River. I’ve been holding back on the last few runs we’ve done because I wanted to surprise you. It worked, didn’t it?” Luckily Ross wasn’t smart enough to see through Neil’s lie, so his explanation seemed to appease him.

  “I guess so. Maybe I’ll have to start running with you sometime.” Ross patted him on the shoulder, and everyone parted ways to go about their day.

  Neil spent the rest of the day attending class as usual. To amuse himself, he pulled some minor tricks on people using his new ability. One of his professors couldn’t figure out why the dry-erase markers kept falling off of her desk. A student in the row in front of him thought his laptop was broken when the top lid kept closing while he was taking notes. The one that made Neil laugh the most was when the french fries in the cafeteria were completely stuck to a poor little freshman’s plate. He tried for almost ten minutes to pick them up and eat them, but he just kept pulling chunks of mushy potato out, while the rest of the fry stuck to the plate.

  While walking back from his last class, Neil glanced up at the clear blue sky and saw the sun. He recalled the day before when he was floating above the clouds bathing in the sunlight, and felt a strong urge to just fly up and experience it again. The temptation was almost overwhelming, but he knew there was not a chance he could do it without being seen.

  Neil frequently found himself weighing the consequences of just ‘coming out’ and letting the world know what he could do, but he always found a reason why he shouldn’t. No one would be able to hurt him or make him do anything he didn’t want to do, but his family and friends were still vulnerable. It wouldn’t be difficult for someone to take them hostage and send them off to an unknown location. They could be used as bargaining chips to make Neil comply with whatever demands his enemies would make of him.

  The only way Neil could be truly free to do what he wanted was if he stopped caring about the people he loved, and there would always be too much humanity left in him for that. No amount of desire for power could make Neil forget the love he had for his parents and family, or the great memories he and his friends had shared.

  Once Neil returned home after his last class, he heard the familiar sound of a text message from his phone. He checked the name, and a wave of giddiness washed over him. Emma had texted him asking if he wanted to get dinner with her. Neil recalled that Bryan was planning on making his special shrimp alfredo pasta for dinner, so he invited her over. It would provide a good chance for his roommates to meet her as well.

  Emma excitedly agreed and said she would be over in a few hours. Neil took the time to shower and try to look and smell as nice as possible.

  When she arrived, Neil greeted her at the door with a hug and invited her inside. He introduced her to his roommates, and everyone seemed to be getting along well. When Bryan fi
nished making the pasta, they all sat on the couch in the living room to eat while watching TV and chatting.

  There was barely enough room for four people on the couch, so Emma had so sit right up against Neil. A few times during bouts of laughter, her hand lightly brushed his leg. Neil wasn’t sure if it was an accident or intentional, but her gentle touch was enough to send nervous shivers down his spine.

  Neil reciprocated by putting his arm above the top of the couch behind her head. Emma leaned in closer to him when she noticed.

  When everyone was done eating and the chatting had died down, Bryan and Alex found an excuse to go upstairs to their rooms. They knew the roommate etiquette when someone had a girl over. Emma didn’t give herself any more space on the couch after they left, and Neil didn’t either.

  They talked and watched TV for a few more minutes, until Neil decided they should take a walk to get out of his dull college-town home.

  “Have you ever been to the botanical garden?” He asked her.

  “Sure, I walk next to it on my way to class all the time.” She looked up at him with her gorgeous green eyes and he couldn’t help but smile.

  “Have you ever been to it in the middle of the night, when the fireflies are out?” He said, trying his best at a provocative tone.

  “No Sir, I have not. I would love to see it, though.” This time she smiled.

  They walked all the way to the garden, following the path along the Red Cedar River. It was peaceful this time of night. There were no obnoxious screaming people coming back drunk from parties, since it was a Monday. There was the occasional person coming back from the library or the lab late at night, but they mostly had the campus almost all to themselves. They walked and talked for almost a half an hour before they arrived at the garden.

  In the middle of the garden was a small gazebo with a single swinging loveseat. Around the podium were dozens, if not hundreds, of glowing fireflies. Small garden lights illuminated the cobblestone pathway before them, and they could see the many flowers and plants in the garden.

  He walked with her up to the seat and they both sat down. This time, he put his arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder. The moment made Neil the happiest he had been in a while, and he could tell Emma felt the same. Neil wanted to make it even better.

  He closed his eyes and pushed his mind outwards to the garden. He felt all the fireflies around them. He was right - there were hundreds.

  “Watch.” He said, as he pulled all of the fireflies in towards the gazebo.

  He organized all of them into a pattern around the outside of the podium, and commanded them to fly in perfect formation in circles around them. The air was filled with their glowing bodies. Neil looked at Emma’s face, completely illuminated by the yellow glow. He eyes and mouth opened wide. She was completely absorbed in the scene before them.

  “Wow…Oh, wow. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’ve never even heard of fireflies acting this way. Why are they doing that?” Rather than answer the question, Neil pulled away from her head on his shoulder, causing her to look up at him. They spent a moment looking into each other’s eyes, and then they both moved closer together and kissed.

  What lasted only a few seconds seemed to last forever to Neil. Every sensation in his body shut down to make room for the warmth that seemed to be coursing through his nerves. All of his problems vanished, just like when he was flying above the clouds. There was no new Neil or old Neil in this moment, there was just the moment.

  When they pulled apart, the rest of the world seemed to rush back into Neil’s body, but the warmth stayed. He couldn’t help but show a stupid grin on his face, and Emma did the same. The fireflies still danced around them at Neil’s command, but it was no longer being done with his conscious thought. His unconscious mind took over the burden for him while he shared that moment with Emma. He released control of the sea of lights, and they scattered in every direction. Watching them scatter was almost as beautiful as watching them dance in front of them.

  It took several minutes before either of them spoke.

  “Neil, I’ve never felt anything like this before. The moment felt so perfect. I couldn’t imagine being in a more beautiful spot with anyone but you.” Neil felt guilty when she said this. He felt like he had artificially created this scene which felt almost magical to her.

  “I know, it was incredible. I’m glad I could be here with you.” He tried to make it sound as genuine as possible, but there was some sadness in his voice.

  “What’s wrong?” Emma had picked up on his guilt.

  “Nothing, there’s just something I really wish I could tell you.” The words were out of his mouth before he really had a chance to realize why it would be a bad idea to speak them.

  “What is it? You can tell me anything you want. I already know what kind of person you are, nothing you could say would surprise me.” He was hitting himself now. He shouldn’t have opened that can of worms.

  “I’m sorry Emma, I shouldn’t have mentioned it. Maybe I’ll be able to tell you some other time.” Neil could tell what he said had hurt her, but telling her would be a mistake.

  “It’s ok, I understand. Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be ready to listen.” She perked up out of her sad state and put a fake smile on. “Let’s head back now, it’s going to get cold soon!”

  Neil walked Emma back home. She lived a good twenty minutes away from him. While they walked, they chatted and held hands. When they arrived at the gate leading up to her house, they kissed again, said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

  Rather than walk the rest of the way home, Neil decided to take the scenic route. It was dark, so no one would notice anything out of the ordinary if he decided to be a little bit adventurous. He walked a few houses down the street and went into a back yard where there was no illumination. He looked up at the starry night sky, made his body one with his mind, and took off.

  He accelerated quickly, and the cool night air sent shivers down his spine, but it was refreshing, like jumping into a cold pool. Before long, he was already high enough above the ground that the cars started to look like toys. Neil stopped to admire the view as he floated a few thousand feet above the earth. There were no sounds emanating from civilization anymore. All he heard was the whistling of the wind going past his ears.

  He didn’t dare go any higher, since he didn’t have his helmet or his snowsuit, but the view from his vantage point was good enough to give him the satisfaction he sought.

  Neil traced the streets below him like a satellite view on Google Maps, found where he lived, and shot off like a lightning bolt to return home. He landed softly in his unlit back yard, walked to the front of the house, and went inside to retire for the evening.

  ---

  The rest of the week went much like Monday. Neil repeatedly impressed everybody at PT by reaching all-star levels of fitness seemingly overnight. He motivated himself to attend class by amusing himself from pulling pranks on unsuspecting victims. He and Emma sent periodic text messages to each other during class. Whenever Neil saw his phone light up with the name ‘Emma Snow’, he grinned from ear to ear. On Wednesday night, he took her out for dinner, and they spent a few hours alone in his living room while his roommates were out of the house. They mostly just made out on the couch, but Emma offered no resistance when Neil’s hand moved to her chest during the heat of the moment.

  The evenings were Neil’s favorite part of the day. As soon as the sun went down and the red glow in the sky faded to black, he would put on his gear that he kept in the garage. He left it there to avoid the problem of someone seeing him walk into the house with a motorcycle helmet and snowsuit during the beginning of summer. He would walk to an unlit area and shoot off into the night sky. Every day, Neil would become more confident and venture out further and at increased speeds. As long as he could look down and see the highway, he knew how to get home.

  Neil would go as fast as the thermal properties of his snowsui
t would let him go without freezing. On Wednesday evening, he tried to push his speed as fast as he could go. He was sure he must have been going at least four-hundred miles per hour that night, but he didn’t dare go any faster. The biting cold ate through his snowsuit and chilled him to the core. At that speed, his outstretched fist was no longer enough to break the wind in front of him, but Neil came up with a solution that would push his boundaries even further.

  Neil found a clear Plexiglas window lying around in the garage. He suspected it had been left there by the owner of the house. He positioned the window in front of him as he flew, and focused on keeping it solid so it wouldn’t bend or break from the stress the wind placed on it. This created a Neil-sized pocket behind the window where there was no freezing air rushing past him.

  When Neil perfected his technique, he was able to push himself to even greater speeds. He flew himself all the way to the western coast of Michigan and spent over an hour flying over Lake Michigan. He flew close to the water at speeds breaking the sound barrier. The shockwave created by his incredible velocity pushed the water aside like a super-sonic Moses parting the red sea.

  The elation that came with flight was something that Neil never grew bored of. The sense of freedom he experienced was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He found no limit to the speeds he was able to reach. To be safe, he never traveled much faster than mach 1 for fear of running into some static object without having time to react to it.

  While flying over Chicago on Thursday night, Neil had a terrible sinking feeling when he realized a potential hazard he hadn’t thought of before. He was bound to be picked up by radar at Air Force bases and air traffic control towers. He hadn’t heard anything in the news, but it was possible there were already people tracking him and scratching their heads trying to figure out what this fast mover was. They might interpret his movement as characteristic of some kind of ballistic missile.

  When Neil got home that night, he scanned the news for anything related to an unidentified fast moving object, but didn’t see anything that sounded like it could be related to him. Either no one had picked him up, or the government was refusing to release any information to avoid a panic until they understood more about it.