3: Unveiling A Secret

Unveiling A Secret

"I've read your file, Dante. Ever since you've been at this school, you have never received a grade that was under an A+. Therefore, I think you deserve a suitable reward."1

I listened intently as she continued her explanation.

"While you did save an innocent kid from a pack of bullies, which I'll deal with later, you also happen to be the best student Rowan High School has ever acquired. Everything you do receives the highest grade possible, your performance in sports is leagues above any other kid that has ever played in this school, and that's all been achieved without much effort on your end."

I raised an eyebrow in question, deciding to voice my thought this time. "What exactly are you getting at, Ms. Rivera?"

She smiled at the inquiry, staring at me as if she was looking through my body. "This place is a waste of time for someone like you, Dante."

Her straightforward statement shocked me and the reason should've been pretty clear, considering the fact that this woman was an actual principal. If anything, I would've expected her to make a list of reasons as to why I should stay and allow my brain to slowly rot by listening to information that I already knew be released from teachers who taught it in a boring way.

I was beginning to like this woman more and more.

"The red lanyard I gave you is special. While it appears to only be a rope and identification card, it's true purpose is to act as a key."

That threw me for a loop. The more she went on with her explanation, it was like my confusion kept increasing, but I just let her continue with what she was saying.

"Haven't you noticed how your two identification cards felt different from each other? The purple one is weak and easy to bend, like a piece of paper. On the other hand, the red one was..."

I examined both of them, rubbing my thumb across each one to see what she meant.

"The red one is stronger because it's most likely made of a different material, which I'm assuming could help it act as some type of keycard for an area you wouldn't want to be found by just anybody." I finished for her, my mind quickly connecting the dots and creating multiple ideas as to what this conversation was going to eventually lead up to.

Ms. Rivera's smile had grown after my explication, the figurative light in her eyes getting brighter once she noticed that I was beginning to understand.

Before she could even open her mouth to speak, I interjected first. "Why are you giving me this, a key? As a matter of fact, what happened to the old principal that caused you to replace him? This conversation is filling me with more questions than answers. I need you to get straight to the point."

Her smile slowly faded, a mask of seriousness taking over her facial features. "Are you sure that's what you want?" She asked, her voice unusually calm.

I was a bit weirded out how her persona changed so quickly but I nodded in confirmation to the woman nonetheless.

"I was going to have this talk with you later in the year but I suppose now works as well. Around three years ago, we detected an anomaly within a rural area outside of the city. Once we pinpointed a more precise region of where it occurred, we went to go and check it out. Unfortunately, the only odd thing we found was a sizeable crater that was made by something from space, which decided to take a trip to Earth. It must've burned enough in the atmosphere to where it was practically vaporized once it hit the ground. That was what we originally thought."

I sat in my chair uncomfortably, listening to her explain the strangely familiar story in silence. Her eyes stayed on mine as she continued.

"Our theory soon evolved when we found a set of footprints leaving the site. Unfortunately, we were never able to find the extraterrestrial. However, after that event, things began to change on Earth. A chosen selection of people began to gain extraordinary abilities that no human being has ever had until just recently, at least that we're aware of."

In other words, it sounded like this woman wasn't just a principal. She was some kind of trained agent that was part of a team who... helped protect the world? I didn't know how to feel when she mentioned other people randomly getting superpowers. Hopefully, they didn't get into the wrong hands, but that was wishful thinking.

I was uncomfortable and my patience was beginning to run out, which Ms. Rivera discerned from my mannerisms, so she thought it was best to cut her explanation a bit short for now.

Opening a nearby laptop, she pulled up what looked like footage from a surveillance camera. It was an intersection in the middle of a bustling city. My eyes narrowed as the video began to play because it seemed familiar for some reason.

Everything looked normal until a truck came speeding down the street at around fifty miles per hour, swerving from lane to lane as other people moved out of the way. It was a drunk driver.

My heart sank when I saw a child begin to cross the intersection, blissfully unaware of the oncoming danger.

That's when the old memory came rushing back as it proceeded to happen in the video.

Right before the truck could hit the small boy, a hooded figure ran into view and pushed the child out of harms way, knowing that there wouldn't be enough time to do the same.

When the drunk driver made contact, the hooded figure got hit by the front of the truck. There wasn't anything he could do but get violently thrown forward into the windshield before sliding off the side of the vehicle in a heap.

However, the man slowly got back up after a few seconds, turning towards the truck only to see it flipped over and completely destroyed.

The collision had apparently knocked the man's hood off of his head, revealing his face to be the same as mine, beginning to limp away from the crash site.

When the paramedics eventually arrived, the drunk driver would later be found dead from their injuries.

Ms. Rivera ended the video and put the laptop away before sitting in silence, obviously waiting for me to say something.

"What do you expect me to reply with after watching that?" I asked, not even trying to hide the fact anymore. Prolonging the interrogation would just be stupid.

"You seem to have a knack for saving people, Dante. Why is that?" Ms. Rivera questioned, trying to stare into my head for the answer.

"Maybe because it's better than watching a child be brutally murdered while no one else is capable of dealing with the situation." I huffed, a little aggression leaking through my voice. The fact that this woman, and most likely the people she worked for, knew about me was kind of pissing me off.

The woman frowned, a little put off by my sudden attitude. She kept her calm and decided to say what she came here for. "The team that I'm associated with is trying to find people and help them with their unique abilities. We'd be more than happy enough to do the same for you."

I studied her for a moment, looking for anything unusual, but nothing seemed out of place. Although, her heart was beating a little faster than it should've been for a deadly undercover agent. Maybe it was because she was talking to some kind of alien or something.

"On a few conditions. You will provide me with living arrangements, a monthly allowance to spend on whatever I want, and a team of armed security placed around the home of my parents. Be discreet about the last one."

Ms. Rivera's eyes were calmly staring at me but a small smile appeared on her face when she heard the last part, nodding in agreement with my terms. "Is that all, Mr. Luca?"

"I've got one more. You people are not putting my body under a microscope to find out how I tick. If you'd like to learn anything, it'll be from behind the glass in a training room like in the movies."

With another nod, the agreement was finally sealed.

The both of us stood up at the same time, heading for the door. I made sure to grab my red lanyard, stuffing it in my pocket on the way as she rested her hand on my shoulder.

"It was nice talking to you, Dante. However, I wished it was under better circumstances. I'll contact you tomorrow morning and let you know where to meet up with me." She gently spoke, lowering her voice as other people were nearby.

"Yeah... wait. How are you going to contact me if I never gave my phone number?"

She smiled, letting out a giggle at my confusion. "I have my ways, honey."

I didn't know how to feel about that, but there was one more question running through my mind. "I forgot to ask this earlier but you never gave a name for the organization you work for."

"Salvation." Ms. Rivera whispered into my ear, purposefully doing it in a way that would cause my blood to flow downwards.

After that, she gave me permission to leave school early. I had a lot to think about.

pqdm.com