Page 66 of The Not So Super Hero

“She’ll be okay,” Antoine explained calmly, arms crossed and lips set into a thin line. That stony gaze of his pierced through Zane, who shook in place and nearly dropped to his knees at what Antoine said next. “But she doesn’t want to see you.”

Everything Zane had ever known was suddenly ripped from his grasp, leaving his fingers cold and numb.

The one person who had always been by his side, the one that showed him love and affection.

She didn’t want to see him anymore. That hurt Zane in ways he couldn’t describe, so much so that his response was not to respond at all.

There was nothing. No tears. No scream. No disagreement.

Simply a blank expression with dark eyes that took in everything and nothing.

Zane’s world crumbled, leaving nothing behind to hold on to.

Antoine relished in that. For the following days, Zane lay in bed, blankets twisted around his fingers while the darkness consumed his room to create a shadowy abyss.

Antoine lingered outside to give the occasional “kind” words.

Bit by bit, Zane became easier to manipulate until it was no effort at all.

Antoine couldn’t have planned things better himself.

Everything went perfectly, leading to the moment that Zane made the worst mistake imaginable.

“Raiffel Academy, it’s a place for children like you,” Antoine explained over dinner.

“Law runs that school, right?” Zane pushed the food around his plate, which paled compared to the home-cooked meals Marceline made. Thinking of her made him lose his appetite. He sat his utensils aside.

“He does. You will live with other children like you.”

“Monsters?”

Antoine nodded. “Though they pale compared to you.”

Zane never stood a chance. With Marceline gone, there was no one for him to turn to, so he agreed. Plans were made and he was shipped off by the end of the week. The poor child hadn’t a clue what he got himself into.

Raiffel Academy was an exquisite school, luxurious in every sense of the word.

The campus itself sat on acres of land far from the city.

A beautiful garden surrounded the academy, intricate archways gave off a very European-esque feel.

Those who studied were top-notch, the best of the best. Sadly, Zane didn’t attend the academy itself.

He was sent to the laboratory, technically on campus but off limits other than staff, and admitted students.

On the outside, the lab appeared as nothing more than a faculty building.

However, deep beneath the halls lied the true nature of Raiffel and those who worked there.

A sense of unease settled over Zane the moment Antoine led him beneath the service. The elevator took them further and further down to the labs, although there were no markings on the elevator to indicate floors. Surely his father wouldn’t take him somehow unsafe, that’s what he kept in mind.

When the elevator doors opened, they stepped into the hall. Zane stumbled. Something felt off, like a power latched onto his bones and held him in place, then zapped the energy from his legs.

“Dad, do you feel weird?” he asked.

Antoine kept walking. Others in the hall passed by, nurses, armed guards, and doctors. Each gave him a quiet look, calculative even.

“That is the great thing about this place,” Antoine said, glancing at Zane over his shoulder.

“One doctor has a very special mutation. So long as they are within range, your mutation is weakened. You can use it, but not to the fullest extent, which is likely why you feel strange. Trust me, it’s for the best.”

He didn’t fully understand, but Zane nodded.

The halls moved in convoluted patterns, leading past open rooms that lacked any children like he was led to believe lived there.

Some doors were locked. Others appeared too heavy to open.

The deeper they went, the more it felt like a prison until Zane’s entire being was screaming to go back.

“Dad, I...I think I’ve changed my mind,” Zane said, taking a step back. Antoine grasped his hand.

“Do you really want to risk hurting someone again? The next person may not be as lucky as Marceline.”

Zane didn’t battle through the rest of the walk where he was taken to greet Law in a tiled room. A chair sat in the center. Zane knew what to do and took a seat.

“I’m so happy you’ve decided to join us, Zane,” Law said while beginning the same treatment he used to give Zane.

Except when the needle pierced his skin, there was pain.

It rippled through him so ferociously that all he could do was throw his head back to release a scream.

Something was horribly wrong. He could feel it but didn’t know what it was.

“I wish I could say you’ll like it here, but that would be a lie,” Law continued to speak while Zane struggled to remain conscious.

The pain was pure fire in his veins. He wanted to scratch, fingers twitching uncontrollably at his sides.

“This is a very special facility for very special children such as yourself. In order to test the true strength of your abilities and to better understand the makeup of mutants, we have to bend a few rules others don’t always agree with.

And you, oh, you, we’ve been waiting to have you here since the day you were born. Right, Antoine?”

“Indeed,” Antoine replied. “We were starting to lose hope.”

Zane’s watery gaze landed on Antoine, confused and terrified. Antoine’s gaze didn’t hold a piece of remorse or care. Zane’s chest tightened, no longer certain if it was from realizing his father didn’t care or the agony overtaking him.

“We always wanted to know if a mutant could be made, could be manipulated. The very genetic makeup of a person and finally we have an answer!” Law smacked Zane’s arm before jumping out of his chair with delight. “Though I admit you came out different than we expected. Not a complaint, mind you!”

“Don’t bother holding back,” Antoine said, grinning. “It’s time to see what he’s really capable of.”

“You’re the boss!”

And with that began Zane’s dark days at Raiffel. Although there was someone who brightened his days even a little.

Guards tossed Zane into a dark, dank cell. His vision had grown blurred, body tingling. Whatever they gave him stole his energy, although that didn’t prevent him from banging against the doors. “L-Let me out!”

“It’s no use,” a voice said. Vision returning, Zane caught sight of another boy in the room, sitting on the top bunk in the tiled room. “Shouting, banging on the door, jiggling the lock, don’t bother. They’ll just laugh at you for trying.”

The stranger had eyes of gold and burgundy hair knotted atop his head. Freckles stained his pale cheeks and down his neck to the tip of his hands. Though his demeanor wasn’t intimidating, Zane pressed his back against the door.

“What’s your name?” The stranger hopped off the bed to approach Zane. When he snarled, the boy chuckled. “Ah, I should probably introduce myself first. I’m Isaiah, your new roommate!”

Saying it like that made it seem like a good thing, but this whole situation was terrible.

“That tired feeling you got will go away in a few hours, maybe less, depending on your level. Law made some twisted formula off Harmon’s mutation.

The guards will use it on you again if you make too much of a fuss,” Isaiah hissed.

“You probably don’t know who Harmon is, either.

Um, he’s the one that keeps the barrier up around here.

He’s also a colossal pain in the ass, so if you run into him, keep your mouth shut. ”

Zane had a feeling that Harmon wasn’t the only pain in the ass at Raiffel.

“Who are you?” he finally asked, earning himself a raised brow from Isaiah. “I mean, why are you here?”

“Same reason as you. Just another lab rat for Rebirth.” Though Isaiah rambled on, Zane didn’t process a word. He focused on the name that rang in his ears.

He heard about Rebirth on the news, made jokes about it with Marceline, claiming that one day he would grow up to bring them down. The truth was; his father was part of an organization that cared for no one, that took lives like it was a normal thing to do.

“Hey, you actually look like you’re getting worse. Are the effects wearing off?” Isaiah inquired.

Zane answered by shoving past Isaiah to vomit in the toilet at the back of the room. Everything happened too fast. He had fallen into a nightmare.

Isaiah rubbed Zane’s back. The touch wasn’t soothing. Nothing was. Zane couldn’t stop shaking. Most of all, he was too frightened to ask Isaiah what was in store for him.

“So this is your bunk!” Isaiah announced once Zane had finished.

His attention shifted about the room, small, disgusting green tiles and ugly gray walls.

The door was a deep black iron and there were no windows.

The bathroom wasn’t even hidden, there was a toilet and a shower that were completely open and cameras in the corner. Zane shivered.

“You’ll get used to it,” Isaiah said, nodding at the camera. “Took me a while to take a shower without my clothes on, but well, not like I am ashamed of anything!”

Zane gave Isaiah an incredulous look.

“Sorry, I was just trying to get a laugh, maybe even a small grin?”

Zane did no such thing. He shuffled into bed, in no mood to talk or do anything.

If Isaiah had more to say, he kept it to himself.

But his lack of speech made the room deathly silent.

Zane realized, in that silence, that he could hear outside the walls.

Whimpers and crying from other rooms. Children, like him, begging to be let out, to go home, screaming for help. How many were there?

His legs and fingers twitched. He told himself to get some sleep. He’d wake up, and it’d be okay. Na?ve thoughts for someone unsure of whether he could handle this. Rather than listen to the horror around them, Zane whispered, “How long have you been here, then?”

“Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to ask questions with what you suspect to be poor answers?”

“By evading the question, you’re making it bother me more.”

“Oh, didn’t think about that.” Isaiah leaned over the side to peer at Zane. “If I am keeping track correctly, about two years.”

Two years? Surely someone had to be missing Isaiah. How could Raiffel capture these kids without people noticing? Or were they noticing and they just couldn’t find them?

“How did you get here? What about your parents?” Zane asked, turning slightly to find Isaiah still leaning over the bed like a monkey. The boy looked thrilled for talking about such a dark topic. It made Zane weary.

“There’s no one looking for me.” Isaiah hopped off his bunk to pace at the center of the room where the tiles were chipped.

“I don’t remember my mom. Doubt if she even remembers me.

Dad said she bailed on us, was never interested in being a mother, and my dad, well, he was a mean drunk and an awful gambler.

One day, I came home to find these strange men in our home.

They dragged me off, gave my dad some cash. I never heard from him again.”

Zane had turned to face Isaiah completely, staring with wide eyes at the boy.

Before he could ask why Isaiah told him, he nervously laughed and scratched at the back of his neck.

“I don’t really get to talk much. At this point, I’m willing to say anything just to make conversation.

Sorry, that probably didn’t make you feel any better. ”

“Not really.”

Isaiah smirked. “I find it only fair that you tell me your name now.”

“I’m Zane.”

“Well, Zane,” Isaiah held out his hand for Zane to take. “Welcome to hell. From today on, we’ve got each other’s backs.”

Zane took Isaiah’s hand, giving a hesitant nod because he had no idea what the future had in store for them. He was too frightened to even think about it.