“Why can’t I just help them with my powers?”
“Because people are terrified of them. You can’t help other people if they’re terrified of you.”
I shook my head. “Even if I don’t use my powers, Papa, they are already scared of me.” I remembered how Papa’s guests had looked at me when they realized the boy had gone missing. They were all scared of me.
It took a long time for Papa to answer. “They just don’t understand you, Calys. That’s all. But you cannot let it stop you from helping others, and you cannot let what they think of you make you believe you are doing something wrong.”
“I’ll try, Papa.” I said the words because I knew it was what my father wanted to hear. But warriors didn’t lie. And so I added sadly, “But Papa, I’m worried. What if they will always be afraid of me?”
“Not everyone will be afraid of you, cub. And you know why? Because there are other people like you.”
“Like me?”
“Yes. Other kids who are also like superheroes. And they will be your friends – your best friends. They will never be afraid of you. Ever.”
Someone who wasn’t afraid of me…
Only Papa, my sister, and Stefano weren’t afraid of me. But they were different. They were family. But if I found another superhero, then I would finally have my first friend. Someone who would not be afraid of me…even during the times when I was afraid of myself.
****
Stefano was the first one to describe my incidents as “dark fits”. He was twelve when he invented the term, and back then he was very much into Stephen King. He said one of the author’s characters had a darker half who did bad things. Mine did bad things, too, but to bad people.
As time went by, I became more aware of what was happening when I had one of my dark fits. But awareness was all I could achieve, and even now, controlling what I did during my dark fits was beyond me.
“Stop.”
The word was spoken in a coolly commanding voice. It was the first time my darker half had heard a voice addressing her without fear. She looked at the person who spoke the word and was instantly besieged by emotions, so many of them, and none of them she had ever experienced.
Concern. Courage. And, strangely, anger…but not directed at her. It was, rather, for her.
All the emotions lent power to that one word, Stop.
And so my darker half stopped. In the middle of breaking the arm of one of the hyenas, she stopped by throwing him against the wall. He groaned as he fell to the floor. She ignored the sound, turning slowly instead towards the man who had dared to tell her to stop.
The Masked Wolf walked past my darker half, and she watched his every move. I sensed her amazement as he resumed the fight, not breaking a sweat as he methodically demolished those who stood against him.
Strange. Strong. Beautiful. Those were her last thoughts as she faded back into me.
She slept.
I woke.
And knew that I had found him.
My superhero.
Chapter Four
The first thing I became aware of was the bodies. Most of the hyenas had been knocked down to the ground. I could vaguely recall my darker half beating the hell out of them. The rest was his.
Crap, oh crap. It had been a long time since I lost control of myself. But…
It’s not my fault, I thought defensively. Butcher had shown me his…thing. It was a traumatic sight. Of course I’d freak out. And of course my darker half would freak out, too. She might act like a psycho most times, but she was an innocent psycho.
“I told you not to help him.” The Masked Wolf came to stand in front of me as he spoke.
I studiously avoided his gaze as I said, “I had to help him. My honor was at stake.”
“It was more like your virginity was at stake, you stubborn little hellcat.”
It wasn’t the cool fury in his voice that made me flinch. It was his last word. I wasn’t his little kitty anymore. Now, after what he had seen, I was…
“You idiot.”
My head jerked up, and my eyes clashed with his. First I was a kitty. Then I was a creature from hell. And now I was an idiot? He was no superhero right now. If anything, he was a super jerk.
Another second passed, and it hit me.
I paled.
Seeing it, he smirked. And then he said very succinctly, “You idiot.”
He was not scared of me.
No one who was scared of my darker half would have had the courage to call me a hellcat and an idiot.
I blinked several times, wondering if after a few more blinks, he’d disappear. But he did not. Instead, he remained in front of me, tall, strong, and, like my darker half noticed, beautiful.
“You’re not scared of me?” I blurted out. I had to ask. I had to know. I had to be sure.