Page 96 of The Not So Super Hero

Zane shrugged and hopped up onto the kitchen counter.Marceline whacked his thigh.

“Will Dad be making it to my birthday party?”he asked, glancing at the calendar pinned to the wall.

Marceline frowned.

“He’s not coming, is he?”

“I’m sorry, sweetie.”Marceline bit her lip.

Zane wore an apathetic expression.There was a time when he was sad, agitated, but eleven years of Antoine missing important events led to a general lack of care.It was easier to not care.

“He must be busy.It’s fine.”Zane shrugged, then smiled at Marceline.“More cake for us, right?”

“Right.”She brushed the hair from his face and returned his smile.“More for us.”

Marceline was the only constant human contact Zane got.He had never met his mother, but Marceline was certainly more than up to the task.

As Zane’s birthday drew closer, subtitles changes began.While playing, Zane swore he heard Marceline’s voice.He rubbed his ears, finding the static to be a figment of his imagination.But it got worse from there.

At night, Zane’s screams pierced the halls.Marceline burst into his room to find him in agony, eyes rolled back into his head and body shaking like he was having a seizure.After Zane awoke, he wouldn’t remember any of it.When Marceline mentioned this to Law, he gave nothing more than the usual check up and added more medicine.While Marceline knew that Zane was positive for having a mutation, she had no idea what it was.If it had to do with those seizures, then all she could do was hope he got better, but that wasn’t the case.

Zane grew distant.Though he sat with her, his gaze drifted miles away.Some days, his eyes glazed over and he’d be motionless for hours.Other days he laid in bed shouting about The Voices.If Marceline got closer, he screamed louder.Eventually, he started wearing headphones around the house.The headphones made The Voices go away, granting him a semblance of peace.

“Something is wrong,” Marceline explained when Antoine returned from a business trip.The man didn’t care as much as he should.He acted like the news was nothing.“He isn’t sleeping.He barely eats.He has nightmares every night.The medicine isn’t working!We...he needs to go to a hospital,” she said.

“He isn’t going anywhere.This could all be his mutation finally showing itself,” Antoine ordered.

“What kind of mutation drives a child into insanity?Please, go look at him.He’s miserable!”

Clicking his tongue, Antoine took a menacing step forward.Marceline retreated, her hip hitting the kitchen counter.He grasped her chin, fingers digging into her cheeks.

“Law will continue checking on Zane, and you will continue watching him.If I hear anything more about this from you, I promise you will regret it,” he warned.

Too frightened to argue, Marceline nodded.Antoine left, donning a twisted grin.If she didn’t fear what would happen to Zane, she’d have packed her bags and left.But she adored that boy like he was her own.If there was something she could do, she would, but the cops were out of the question.Antoine would know what she was up to, so Marceline did what she could.

“Please don’t make me take them,” Zane pleaded, eyes bloodshot.

“You have to.They’re giving you this medicine for a reason.”Even if Marceline didn’t know what that reason was or how it was helping.

“I don’t want them.”

“Your dad said—"

“Fuck what my dad said!”Zane hollered, stepping away from the pills in Marceline’s outstretched hand.She recoiled, holding the medication against her chest.“That stuff is making it worse!I know I couldn’t have been sick before, but those things are making me worse.You can’t tell me what to do either, so leave me alone!”

Zane bolted, storming through the house.Marceline followed, even if she agreed.She also feared the repercussions of not taking them.Neither of them knew what was going on or if the medicine was causing anything.She didn’t trust Antoine or Law, but she didn’t believe she had the answers either.

“Zane, please, get back here!”She cried, following the boy into the living room.

“No, I’m not taking it.”Zane kept a distance, always moving in the opposite direction of her.

“This isn’t a game.Neither of us knows what will happen if you don’t take this.”Not to mention, she knew Antoine would probably forcibly shove it down Zane’s throat otherwise.

“I know exactly what will happen.I’ll get better!”

“You better get your butt over here right now,” Marceline scolded.

“Stop acting like my mother!”