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Author's Note: Here's something I wasn't planning on doing but it just came to me yesterday while I was shoveling the driveway. Its a one shot but there's a possibility of continuing it at a later date. I have to stress that it might be wise to read the whole of Some Kind of Wonderful before you read this one though seeing as it sorta hints to events in that story. I'd like to thank djkauf for the devilish good editing and DC Comics for their characters.

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Chapter One:

I never thought in a million years that I’d be going to my own funeral. You know it’s one of those things that most people don’t even think about. I mean, after all you’re dead so what’s there to think about. But me, I was one of those very few unfortunates who got to see the whole thing. Not that I was a guest, I mean how freaky would that have been. Not that anyone would notice me anyway. But I was the creepy guy who got to linger in the background---crouched behind a large tombstone no less---watching the whole thing happen. I had a pretty good turn out actually. Mom was there, crying. I’m not sure if it was fake or not. Cissie was there too, holding her hand. I saw Connor and Cassie; it was nice to see the two of them actually. The rest of the team was there, as well as a bunch of other kids from school.

You can tell a lot about a guy by how many people turn up at his funeral. There had to be at least a hundred people here or more. There were a lot more at the church for the service but it was nice that so many people came out to the cemetery, too. It made me happy to know that so many people liked me. But it also kinda pissed me off, too. Not the people, I loved that. It pissed me off that I had to die in the first place. You see it wasn’t my idea. In fact, I was fine with hiding in the basement for the rest of my life, having Cissie and Mom for company. Then I had to be the hero. Ok, so being the hero was kinda cool I guess. I mean not every guy can say that they flew through the air, smashed through a skylight and laid the smack down on a ten foot tall bronze Minotaur.
Yep that’s me. Eddie Bloomberg, Monster Slayer. Yeah it didn’t matter if it was that Amy chick who slew the beast, I helped. I suppose I should have bailed then but I’m one of those no good glory hounds. Besides, as soon as the thing was down, Amy collapsed. What kind of guy would I have been if I bailed on a damsel when she was in serious distress? So I stuck around. I stayed with her, making sure she didn’t like have a seizure or something crazy like that. Good Samaritan points and all that I guess. Yeah, I know.

I’m not sure how long I stayed with her but I know when the goons showed up. They came storming out of the elevator, guns drawn. Amy tried to tell them I wasn’t a threat but they hardly listened. They actually opened fire on me. It was a real bad time for me to find out that as soon as bullets touched my skin they melted. It was bad for them too because it turns out that when I’m really pissed off I breathe fire. Hey, it shocked the hell out of me as much as it did to them. It was cool actually. But you know what wasn’t cool, putting two of them in the hospital for second-degree burns. Yep, deep crap city.

They put me down with tear gas after that. When I woke up again, I was in a padded cell with my hands tied behind my back with some kind of flame retardant rope or something. I’m not sure how long I was in the room before someone came in to talk to me, maybe five or six hours. It was some severe looking blonde woman and she was mighty pissed. She asked me a lot of questions. I tried my best to answer them but when I didn’t she got even angrier. I think she probably would have tried something drastic if not for the dude with the white hair. He saved my ass actually. He came in and barked out the orders. He got me out of there, even brought me home. I’ve always wanted to be in an ice cream truck all to myself. It was one of those lifelong ambitions I had when I was a kid actually. It was a shame that there was no ice cream in there. Not that I could eat it anyway, it melted as soon as it touched my mouth. You have no idea how much that sucked.

When we got home, the white haired dude---Agent Faraday–read me the riot act. He told me I was to stay in my house until further notice. He said in a day or two someone would come by and they’d discuss options with me. I had a pretty good idea what that meant. It was pretty obvious that these were the people that Cassie was trying to keep me away from. She didn’t do too well with that I guess. Not that I blamed her, it was my own fault actually. I chose to help her when she called. I could have ignored it like my mother suggested. I think she knew what was going to happen before I did. But Cassie had sounded so desperate on the phone that it was hard not to want to help.

So I helped and got into a whole lot of trouble for it.

The funeral was finally breaking up. I tugged on my hood, pulling it closer around my body. It was dangerous for me to be out in the day like this, especially with all these people. But it wasn’t like I was alone actually. A few feet behind me, I had a pair of babysitters. Agents Maad and Fite, two of the most menacing looking dudes I’d ever seen. This coming from a running back with guys coming at me all the time. Fite was a giant black guy, looked like he played ball himself. Maad was a little Japanese guy but he looked like he could kick Jet Li’s ass any day. They were my official guardians now; at least until their boss decided I was too dangerous to keep in the general population. He’d already talked about locking me up. I think the jury was still out on that one.

“This blows” I said, loud enough so the two of them could hear me. I turned to them. “Have either of you been to your own funerals?”

“As a matter of fact I have” said Fite in his booming, Michael Dorn like voice. “Twice in fact.”

I shuddered. Who in the hell dies twice anyway. “Did they freak you out?”

He shrugged. “In my line of work kid, it comes with the territory.”
Maad said nothing. He continued to stare ahead, looking at me and not. His eyes roamed around, looking at the other tombstones around us. I think he thought someone was going to jump out from behind one of them and attack us. I hated to burst his bubble but I was the only scary monster hiding behind one today. At least I hoped so anyway.

“Dude, you need to lighten up a bit,” I mumbled as I turned back to the parting crowd.

People were starting to go back to their cars now. I locked eyes with Mom, she smiled sadly at me. She didn’t like this idea at all. I think she was still convinced that there was some kind of cure out there for me, something to make me human again. But apparently, Agent Faraday’s people took some of my blood and ran a battery of tests on it. Something to do with my Meta transformation, it completely rewrote my entire DNA structure. I was technically still human but I was something else too. I suppose that made sense in a way. My aunt Marla is a big movie producer, she’s involved with a horror movie series called the Blue Devil. It’s about a guy who sells his soul to a demon to get revenge on the people who murdered his family. But the demon double crossed him and turned him into a monster. It was an awesome series, Mom said I was obsessed. She once told me if I kept watching those movies, I’d turn into a demon too. You can imagine her surprise when it actually happened. After I got her to stop screaming, she was pretty cool about it.

After I was done staring at Mom, I looked over at Cissie. She was one of the only other people here that knew I was still alive. The other two were Cassie and Connor. The three of them were my only lifelines to the real world. Connor was my best friend, the best bud a guy could have. When he saw me the first time after my change, he was so totally cool about it. Cassie was the bomb as far as I was concerned; even though the first time we met, she tried to rip off my nuts. I deserved it, trust me. She was like me, a Meta. But unlike me, she used to be a guy, which kinda sucks I guess. Then again, if I were to turn into a chick, I think I’d want to be a hot one like her.

Cissie was my rock. When she found out, she accepted me without hesitation, even though I’ve been a major dick to her. She was the reason Cassie wrenched my sack. I’m not really good with girls and expressing my feelings toward them. Ever since I was little, I thought the way to get a girl’s attention was to do horrible things to them. In the third grade, I had a little crush on Susie Hansen and to show her how I felt I dipped her pigtails in red paint. Suffice to say it didn’t go over too well. I think I’m the reason she went gay actually. But Cissie was different. She shocked me when she confessed she liked me too. It made my heart sing actually. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t touch anyone anymore. As soon as my skin comes in contact with someone else’s, bam instant third degree burns. Mom and I found that out the hard way.

Cissie and I are working on it though. She’s real smart. She thinks she can get her hands on some fireproof stuff. Then maybe we can at least hold hands during our tutoring sessions. Yep, I can’t go to school for obvious reasons. It kinda sucks but Cissie is the greatest teacher. She’s real smart and takes her time even though I’m kinda dumb. But she’s real patient and doesn’t laugh at me when I screw up in Math or English.

She was walking with Cassie now, going toward Connor’s new truck. That annoyed the hell out of me by the way. The government gave him a new truck when he found out about Cassie’s powers and they wanted to stick me in some refrigerated underground bunker. Where’s the fairness in that. I stood up when the three of them walked by. She was far enough way not to see my face but she knew it was me. I told her where I’d be standing during the cemetery ceremony. She turned and looked at me. I could see her well enough to know she was crying. It made me feel like shit, making a swell girl like her cry that much for me. I wanted to go over there and give her a big hug but knew I’d put her in the hospital if I did.

I sighed. She smiled weakly. Cassie turned and looked at me, too. Then she looked at my two goons. It’s been about a week since I helped her take out that crazy bitch and her brainwashed army. The day after the incident, she raised hell when she found out they detained me. I think she might have been the reason I was released. I owed her a lot for that. I wasn’t too happy when I found out she was now working for them but she later told me she didn’t have much of a choice. The bastards gave her a choice: work for them or end up in a cell pretty much like the one they wanted to put me in to. She apologized a hundred times over for how the DEO was treating me but I told her again and again that it wasn’t her fault. It’s not like she asked them to capture me. It was my choice. I chose to stay behind, just like I chose to help her in her fight. If I hadn’t showed up when I did, that thing could have pounded them into the wall.
Fite was the only one who looked uncomfortable under Cassie’s gaze. I think he’d read her file, he knew what she was capable of.

“Scared of a little girl?” I asked with a laugh.

He didn’t say anything. But Maad smiled. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen him show any kind of emotion whatsoever.
I laughed. Then I watched as Cissie got into the truck and drove off. I watched the others leave too, one by one until only Mom remained. I waited until I was sure the others were gone then I walked toward her. It would be later when they filled in my grave. I wondered what they put into the coffin because I definitely wasn’t in there. I couldn’t help but think that maybe it was filled with stones or something. When I watched up on Mom, I startled her because she jumped. She turned around, her hand on her chest and then she sighed. She made a move to hug me but stopped, remembering.
She frowned.

I sighed. “I’m sorry Mom.”

She nodded, tears in her eyes. “It was a beautiful service. It’s a shame your aunt couldn’t come in, she would have loved it.”

Aunt Marla knew about me too. When she found out, she flipped. Not in a bad way either. After all, she was the woman who produced horror movies for a living. She was ecstatic and would have jumped at the chance to go to my “unfuneral” as the two of us had called it over the phone. Unfortunately, she was caught up in post production on Blue Devil X. She did promise to send me an advanced copy as a condolence though.

“I saw Cissie and the guys; it was nice that they did this.”

Mom nodded. She didn’t say anything though. She just continued to stare at the large hole in the ground. I wanted so much to hug her that it hurt inside. I felt my anger begin to rise, the fire building inside of me. My hands started to heat up, singing my jeans. I cursed again, seeing the burned hand marks I left on them. I’d been having a lot of those accidents. Anger issues were starting to become a problem with me. The DEO was trying to arrange a shrink but it was taking some time. I think they were looking for someone they could trust. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t need one. I was fine as long as everyone just left me alone. But I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Mom’s back was to me now but she sniffed the air. “Edward is that smoke?”

I cursed and looked down. Though my pants weren’t really burnt, my hands were still smoking slightly. I sighed heavily. “Sorry Mom, I got angry again.”

She didn’t turn around. “We need to get a handle on that.”

We stayed in the cemetery a little while longer but finally we had to leave so they could finish with their work. Maad and Fite stuck to us as we walked back to the cars. They had this cool codename for me actually; they called me the Kid Devil. Ok it’s not so cool but it’s cool when they get on their radios and say things like “Kid Devil leaving the building” or “KD coming your way.”

We had two cars. Mom got to drive with Maad in a normal vehicle. While I got to drive with Fite in the back of a van. He opened the back and let me in, shivering from the cold. It was something that we got from a frozen food company actually. They used it to make smaller deliveries. They refurbished it for me; they even put a seat in the back. Not that I got to go to many places but it was still kinda cool---no pun intended---to drive around in the back of it. The best part, the cold didn’t seem to bother me.

“Into the Ice Box, KD” said Fite as he held the door open for me.

I smiled and climbed inside.

_______________________________

It started to rain on the way home; I could hear it drumming off the top of the van. It kinda sucked that there were no windows back here but there was an obvious reason for that. They didn’t want anyone peeking inside and seeing the red freak hidden there. The only way I knew what was going on was the little window slot that separated the front of the van from my back compartment. It was a recent addition, added so I could talk to whoever was in the front. The slot was shut now but I could hear the radio over the rain. Fite liked to listen to Jazz, which was fine by me. He was listening to some new age stuff when the music cut off.

I leaned forward and opened the slot, about to ask him what was wrong when I heard the voice over the radio.

“I repeat, the police are asking any pedestrians in the area to be on the lookout for this dangerous man. He’s driving a red Camaro, last seen going east toward the cemetery.”

Fite groaned and shut off the radio. “Damn fools can’t do their jobs so they’re asking civilians do it for them.”

The Chicago PD was stretched thin as of late. New Metas were cropping up every day and it was getting harder and harder to monitor things. I guess I couldn’t blame them. There were also reports of some masked vigilante stalking the rooftops now, taking the law into his own hands. The police were having a hell of a time catching him. They said he was like a shadow, appearing and disappearing without warning. It was kinda bad when someone in black was doing their jobs for them, better than them, actually. I thought it was kinda cool actually, glad that someone was out there cleaning up the regular mess.

I was curious about the guy in the Camaro though. “What was that all about?”

Fite groaned. “Some nut in a snake mask just robbed a jewelry store. He jumped about like a ninja apparently, put on quite a show actually. The guards tried to catch him but he was too fast. He went out the window and took off in a Camaro.”

“Did they say he was heading for the cemetery?”

Fite knew as well as I did that there was only one road there, what with all the snow cleanup from the recent storm. This was the only road open, which meant that the guy could be coming our way. Fite looked in the rearview mirror and saw the look in my eyes.

“Out of the question, Kid” he said, grumbling.

“You’re kinda a cop right?” He grumbled. “So if the guy happens to come across our path then you have to arrest him, right?”

Fite groaned. “I might assist if it comes to that.”

I wasn’t looking at him anymore. I was looking at the scene ahead. It was pouring pretty hard now and because it was so cold, it was now sleet. The front windshield was almost completely concealed by it. Fite was having a hard time driving, especially seeing as he could only see a few feet in front of him. Me, my eyes were better. I think it was a part of my mutation. I could see a good ten of fifteen feet in front of us actually. I could hear pretty well too, now. It was no surprise that I could actually hear a roaring engine coming right for us. I had a pretty good guess who it was too.

“Ummm….Don” I said, using his first name. “You might want to watch out. I think that guy’s coming our way.”

“What makes you think that?”

He got his answer before I got a chance to say anything. There was a loud screech of tires. Through the little slot, I saw the red Camaro spin out of control on the road in front of us. It swung around in a couple of circles. The van had better traction but there was no way we were going to avoid hitting him. When the crash came, I was jerked out of my seat. The sound of metal on metal was deafening. I’m not sure who hit who first but both vehicles came to a jarring and wrenching stop. I hit the floor of the van, rolling into the corner hard. I told them my seat needed seatbelts but they didn’t listen. It hurt pretty good when my head slammed against the floor of the van. The world started to spin as I pushed myself up, groaning and sputtering. My hands started to melt some of the ice underneath them as I pushed myself against the wall, sliding to standing position. I was a bit disoriented but I was okay.

I walked over to the slot but there was something blocking it. I groaned and looked around. The impact with the Camaro had caved in the left side of the van; luckily, it wasn’t the side I was sitting on. But it did help in a way because it also forced the back doors wide open. Fite locked them as soon as I got inside. The DEO were paranoid, I think they actually thought I’d run off if the doors weren’t chained shut. It was ridiculous actually; I mean where am I going to go. The only people who knew what I was were here. Besides my aunt of course but they would have caught me long before I got to Hollywood. Nope, I was stuck in Chicago. I was happy about it actually, I liked it here.

I slowly made my way to the back of the van, pushing the mangled doors open the rest of the way. When I jumped outside, the van rocked a bit. The rain pelted me, sizzling on my red-hot skin. It matted my long white hair to my head and kinda tickled on my face and hands. I pulled my hood back up, not a fan of being soaked from head to toe. I walked along the good side of the van, making my way to the driver’s side. When I got there, I found Fite slumped over in his seat, blocking the slot. I smashed the window with my elbow because I couldn’t get the door open. I reached inside to check his pulse but stopped inches from his neck, realizing what would happen if I touched his flesh. I cursed but as soon as I did so, Fite moaned.

I sighed in relief. He was alive, for now anyway.

I knew I should have probably tried to get his radio and call Maad. He and Mom left the cemetery about two minutes before us. I’m sure I could radio him and get him back here ASAP. But I couldn’t get Fite’s radio without touching his ear and besides I didn’t want Mom anywhere near this place. After all, the car that hit us was carrying a dangerous jewel thief. Which reminded me. I groaned and slowly crept around to the damaged side of the van. I half expected to find a Camaro smushed up against us. Instead, I found the huge dent but no car. There was a lot of carnage all over the road though, car carnage that it. I followed it with my eyes and found the Camaro.

The impact must have thrown the car off the side of the road. It was sideways in a ditch, the passenger side facing the air. The scariest thing was that the door was wide open. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what that meant. I took a deep breath and moved slowly over to the car. I knew I’d find it empty even before I looked inside. Wherever the driver was, he was long gone now. I sighed in relief, glad that I wouldn’t have to deal with that little mess. I wonder if he was thrown free from the crash or escaped afterwards. I searched about the vehicle just to make sure.

On the left side of it, on the side of the road facing the forest, was a black bag. I bent down and picked I up. It weighed about a pound and when I opened it, I nearly dropped it. It was filled with jewels---diamond rings, necklaces, sparkling things that I didn’t even know the names of. My eyes opened wide. The jackass took off and left his loot behind. What a douche bag? As soon as the thought entered my head, I heard the click and felt the barrel of a gun press against my back.

“Drop the bag kid and slowly step away from it,” said a hissing voice.

Yeah, hissing. I did as I was told, dropping the little bag. The holder of the gun slid around the front of me, keeping the gun trained on me. I nearly laughed my ass off. It wasn’t just some guy in a snake mask; he was wearing a whole damn suit. Well, it was made to look like snake skin actually. It was skin tight, designed to look like scales. It was kinda cool, like something some professional would wear for Halloween actually. But it was February, not October. This guy looked like a nut. The mask was kinda neat though, his face inside a giant snake’s head.

He bent down and picked up the sack, not taking his eyes off me. Luckily, I was still wearing my baggy coat with the hood up and concealing my face. I wasn’t in the mood for giving two-bit crooks a heart attack.

“What’s with the get up kid?” he hissed.

“You should talk,” I said with a scoff. “I can’t believe you left the house like that. What the hell are you supposed to be anyway?”

He smirked. “I’m the Copperhead. The last face you’re ever going to see.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Here was a guy pointing a gun in my face and he actually just called himself the Copperhead. It was like he was bad villain of the week in a comic book. The Copperhead, what a fricken joke. I don’t think he liked that I was laughing at him though. He got really angry and lashed out. He spun his foot around, catching me in the side of the head. It was so quick that I didn’t see it coming. I’m not sure why he kicked me instead of shooting me but it was his mistake. The kick jerked my head to the side but nothing more. The worse thing it did was knock off my hood. As soon as it did, my entire head was visible. To say the guy was surprised as an understatement.

The color drained from his face. He took a step back, dropping his bag. He started to stutter. “D…d..d…de…monnn….”

I smirked. “Devil actually.”

I grabbed his gun, allowing it to get red hot in my hand. It got so hot that he screamed like a little girl, allowing me to have the whole thing. I tossed the burning red weapon over my head and advanced on him. He stumbled, slipping in a puddle and went down on his butt. He crawled away from me backwards, crying like a baby. All I had to do was walk toward him in a menacing matter and it was enough to scare the hell out of him.

When I finally caught up with him, I reached down and grabbed the front of his costume, lifting him off the ground. He wet himself, right then and there. I saw the wetness appear at his crotch. He looked down for a second and then passed out. I smirked and carried him over to the van, tossing him into the back and slamming the doors shut. He’d be safe in there until I figured out what to do with him. I then walked around to the front of the van just in time for Fite to wake up and miss all the action. He looked over at me and frowned.

"It was him, wasn’t it?” he asked, I nodded. “Did you at least scare him a little?”

I smiled real big.

______________________________________

“He caught a jewel thief, boss” said Fite, defending me to Agent Faraday.

Faraday sighed, rubbing his temples. “That may be but he broke our agreement too.”

Fite came to my defense again. “He never once used his powers to do it.”

I sat at the table, silently watching their debate. It was nice that he was going to such lengths to back me up but it was no use. It was clear that Faraday had already made up his mind. He was one of those people who took one look at the situation and decided what was best. In my case, I was a dangerous Meta that also happened to look like Satan. Not that he’d ever say that to my face of course.

That woman Chase might have though, thank God she was back wherever it is she came from. Not that it mattered though. In this situation, Faraday was the guy in charge and whatever he said was the rules.

Out on the road, it didn’t take long for the police to catch up with us. I hid in the woods so they wouldn’t see me, too many questions I suppose. The first officer on the scene didn’t really care what kind of vehicle Fite was driving. All he seemed to care about was that the Agent caught his man. When they dragged Copperhead---his name was actually Nathan Prince---he was babbling about seeing a “red demon”. I think the cop thought he was crazy or frost bitten or something. Shortly thereafter, Maad and my mother arrived on the scene. Apparently, he turned around when he couldn’t get a hold of his partner. While they were talking, I slipped into the back of Maad’s SUV. I kinda scorched the seats a bit but it was nothing that couldn’t be repaired.

Then the four of us ended up in the city at one of the numerous safe houses the DEO had in the city. That’s where we were now; Faraday arrived about twenty minutes ago. My Mom and Agent Maad were in the other room, me I was in here with the boss and Agent Fite. Fite was trying to explain the situation and it was looking like I might end up in that underground cell after all. I’m not sure if I was pissed or what. I knew I was angry because I could smell the smoke and burnt plastic from the chair I was sitting on. But I was strangely calm.

After they first apprehended me in the spa, Faraday laid out the rules. As long as I had no public displays of power I was free to live with my Mom, just like I had in the past. But if I put one toe out of line, I was done for. I think they were kinda harsh actually but I suppose it’s the way things worked. In truth, I was convinced I’d end up in the underground place no matter what I did. Faraday was scared of me; I saw it in the way he looked at me. Most of his men were scared of me too, except maybe my two babysitters and the pair that Cassie liked so much, Jay and Kate. But those two were gone now, back to DC or wherever the DEO called home.

I’m not sure why Faraday was still in the city. I think he might have been helping the authorities look for this vigilante. The DEO had an vested interest in him, I think. I mean he was not just taking out ordinary criminals. The other night---according to the rumors---he took out some nut in the sewers. It was some kind of Meta mutant like me, a Man Croc or something like that. This guy was huge; it was all over the Internet. Of course, the authorities denied it but some eyewitness shot an amateur video of the thing, it was freaky looking. Though Faraday would deny it if asked, I think he wanted this vigilante ten times more than any of us Metas.

Faraday looked at me, frowning. “What do you think, Eddie? Are you a threat to society?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think it matters what I say. You made up your mind about me the first moment you saw me.”

Faraday smiled. “You want to tell me what happened?”

So I told him. The story didn’t take long because there wasn’t much to tell. He didn’t say anything not even when I was finished. Fite did though. He confirmed everything I told him, which was strange seeing, as he was unconscious through the whole thing. I smiled at him, glad that he had my back. I hadn’t known him for very long but he was a good guy.

After a few minutes, Faraday sighed. ‘I’m going to let you go back home for now, Eddie but you need to keep your nose clean kid. It may not look like but I’m on your side. But I’m getting a lot of pressure from my boss and his bosses; they feel someone who looks like you might fire up the wrong kinds of people. There’s been some talk about dangerous Metas and what should be done about them.”

I nodded. I knew what he meant even if he didn’t say it.

After that, Faraday left and I was allowed to go find Mom. When I told her I was free to go, she sighed heavily. She got up and rushed over to me, almost making the mistake of hugging like before. The look on her face made me upset. I hated not being able to hug my own mother, especially when I really wanted to. It was cool that I had power and I had the potential to help people but it pissed me off that I couldn’t touch people to do so. You have no idea what it’s like not to be able to hug your mother or kiss your girlfriend. It was infuriating at times.

Fite drove us home in another refrigerated truck. It was lucky that they bought two. Mom made dinner but I wasn’t very hungry. To tell you the truth, I had problems eating now. Most of the stuff that touched my lips, burnt instantly. It kinda sucked not being able to eat a properly cooked meal anymore. It sucked even more that my life was so messed up now. I couldn’t play video games without melting the controllers and I couldn’t sleep on my bed without it bursting into flames. Don’t get me started about sleeping itself. I had nightmares almost every night, horrible ones about accidentally touching Cissie or Mom and then watching in horror as they burst into flames. The worst part was waking up and finding everything burnt to a crisp around me.

Most of the furniture was removed from my room. The only good thing about this weather was that it was really cold. At night I could sleep up there with the window wide open, the colder the better actually. It wasn’t flame retardant by any means but it helped. I had a fireproof mattress that cost Mom a fortune and a fire blanket. They were the only two things in my room now; I didn’t even have a TV anymore. I accidentally burnt it when I tried to change the channel without a remote. My room was a dark and cold shell of its former self, emptied of anything that once belonged to me, leaving nothing left. Whenever I sat in there---in the dark---I felt so cold and alone. There were a few times that I contemplated ending it all. I say contemplated because I could never really get past the planning stage. It was hard to figure out how to kill oneself when most of the most to do so wouldn’t work. I couldn’t shoot myself because bullets burned on my flesh and hanging was out of the question for obvious reasons. I suppose I could have jumped out a window but it turns out that I have wings too. You have no idea how hard suicide is when you can’t even kill yourself.

So instead, I sat in the dark most nights, staring at the wall. I was doing so now, wondering if they were going to change their minds. It was only a matter of time. I saw it in Faraday’s eyes. He said it was out of his hands and he might have been right but he wanted to lock me up just as much as his boss did. I mean, one look at me and you can see I’m a monster. I suppose I could run, it wasn’t out of the question actually. In fact, the other day Cassie and I talked about it. She even agreed to help me with it. We weren’t sure where I’d go, probably over the border into Canada. There were places up north where I could hide and live out the rest of my life. She researched them on the Internet for me actually. It worked out real well too because the cold didn’t affect me.

My mother knocked on the door, opening it a crack. “Honey, are you ok?”

Her tone of voice told me she’d been crying. She did a lot of that lately.

“I’m fine Mom,” I said, trying to hide my own tears. “Just thinking.”

She opened the door all the way and stood in the doorway. “I know what you’re thinking about and I don’t think it’s the smartest idea. These people are very dangerous. You might be able to run from them for a while but I have a feeling they’ll catch you eventually.”

I nodded. “They want to lock me up Mom.”

“Did they say that?” she asked, trying hard to stay in the doorway.

It was too cold for her to come into my room. It pained me that not even my own mother could walk into my room anymore.

“Not in so many words” I said “but it was clear from his tone. He told me to keep my nose clean but that his boss was seriously considering locking me up for my own safety.”

“Maybe we can write a letter to our Senator,” she said, sounding hopeful.

I smiled and nodded even though she couldn’t see me in the dark. ‘That sounds good Mom,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. “Why don’t you do that and I’ll think of something to say.”

She nodded. “Just promise me you won’t run away. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

Mom had had it hard in the last few months. Dad was in the military and we moved around a lot. We came here while he was stationed in Iraq. Things were supposed to be different but everything changed two months ago. He was killed in a roadside bombing. It nearly destroyed Mom. It took everything I had to keep her from joining Dad. In the end, Aunt Marla succeeded. She got Mom some good professional help. He was one of the best shrinks in the state and Mom was making good progress. Or at she was. Then this whole thing with my metagene happened. I’m not sure but I think she had another relapse. She was doing better but I could see it in her eyes, she was barely holding on as it was.

Even if I wanted to run or kill myself, there was no way I could do it. For Mom’s sake, I needed to stick with this. She left, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I sat in the darkness for the longest time, trying to decide what to do. Dad used to be the one with all the answers. If he was still alive, he would know what to do. He would have told Agent Faraday to go screw himself and he would have protected me until he was blue in the face. He made sure no one pushed our family around. He was a true American hero and died as one. I don’t know how many other people can say that about their Dads. In a situation like this, he would have told me that “there’s always a silver lining.” As much as I would have loved to agree with him, I just couldn’t see where one was.

Fortunately I didn’t have far to look. I’m not sure when I noticed the green glow but it grew brighter real quickly. It filled my room, so bright that I had to shield my eyes. I jumped to my feet, trying to see where the source of it was coming from. I snapped around, looking at the window. What I saw shocked the hell out of me. There was a girl outside, hovering there, bathed in a green light. She smiled at me. Then she raised her hand and flew through my window, landing gently on the floor in front of me. She looked around the room and shivered, rubbing her arms.

“It’s like a freezer in here,” she said, her breath visible.

I was dumbstruck. I knew her on sight; there were very few people in the world who didn’t know her. She was Jade, the Green Lantern. Her face was in the news all the time now. Some of the news people were calling her the Vanguard of the Meta Invasion but I saw her as a Saint. She was definitely heavenly, standing before me, looking very beautiful.

I finally found my voice. “I have to keep it cold” I said “or else everything burns.”

She nodded and then looked me up and down. “I can imagine.”

I smiled sheepishly. “You get used to it. It’s a face only a mother can love I suppose.”

She smiled. “No offense but I think my mother would die of a heart attack.”

We laughed. Then she looked around the room, frowning at how bare it was. “I love what you’ve done with the place.”

I didn’t laugh this time. “Burning things kinda takes a toll on the stuff that you own.”

She nodded and smiled sadly. “I can see where that might be a problem.” She reached out for me, attempting to touch my shoulder. I pulled back, afraid I was going to burn her. “Don’t worry; you’re not going to hurt me.”

Her hand glowed green and she touched me, showing that she could indeed do so. The only other person who had touched me and wasn’t harmed was Cassie. But she was in a whole league of her own. I’m not sure how this Jade person did it. Maybe it was her ring. I looked at it on her finger. It didn’t look like much but then again looks could be deceiving. If you looked at me, all you might see is monster and I’m much more than that.

"How did you do that?”

She held up her ring, just as I thought. “It can do a lot; it might even be able to help you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ve got a great gift Eddie and don’t let anyone else tell you differently,” she said, the way she said it I knew she was referring to the DEO. “If you’re willing, I think maybe I can help you get over that handicap of yours.”

“How?”

She smiled. “The Devil is in the details.”