A I D E N M c K E N N A & A B E L L E D ' V O I R E
Friday evening, Orlaith Valley Trail & Park
The solitude of his errand was proving beneficial for Aiden's demeanour, wandering aimlessly through the thick woodland as he allowed himself to mellow. He didn't for a second regret his behaviour, grimacing as the memory of Sebastian's crazed eyes flashed before him. The guy had every intention of killing him there and then; every instinctive impulse in his body has commanded Aiden to defend himself from whatever wild animal had possessed his rival. Of course, he acknowledged he had perhaps been harsh on Winter, but the girl just seemed incapable of casting off her prep-girl tendencies. It was a shame she felt such a need to meddle in matters she knew nothing about.
But then again... Defending his innocence aside, he had to concede that he, himself, had hardly any solid recollection of the night's events. And what if, perhaps, by some small miraculous chance, Winter had somehow recovered her memories in the weeks since? There was no denying the validity of one claim in particular that she had made: the heat in his hands that still throbbed from his encounter with Sebastian was enough to testify. And if she was correct in her deduction that Aiden was a Hyperhuman, then how much else of what she spilled was true?
He kicked a large stone, sending it skipping through the woodland in an attempt to push the implications of what Winter had said out of his mind. Had he really tried to burn down the school? He shuddered at the thought.
Deciding he'd better make good on his promise to return with firewood, Aiden began collecting suitably dry sticks and branches. The selection process was a welcome distraction from his own obsessive ponderings, but by the time he had amassed a sufficient arrangement, Aiden soon realised that it had distracted him in other ways, too. Looking around at his desolate surroundings only confirmed his realisation: Aiden was completely lost.
Fuck, he cursed to himself, scanning the area for a sign of any sort of path. It was beginning to get dark, and yet each direction he looked towards seemed identical to the last. He could barely even recall from which way he had walked, each tree looking as tall and thin as those around it. He had only a small amount of time to begin panicking, before a noise nearby distracted him: the snapping of branch underfoot. His ears pricked intently, more noises followed, and the sound of human footsteps trekking through the wood was unmistakable.
Aiden swallowed loudly, before calling out into the approaching night. "Hello?" he said, his words lost to the army of tree-soldiers. "Mr. Lehrer?"
As if in response, a brilliant red fox emerged from behind a tree. It moved with grace and precision, seeming to strut through the trees before delicately taking seat upon the earth and peering at Aiden intently. Aiden raised an eyebrow, and the fox tilted its head curiously as the two locked eyes for what seemed like an age. He had never seen an animal act so unusually, and something about the fox was... Indescribably off, though Aiden had not seen enough of the creatures up close to determine what it was.
He had little time to inspect further, however, as the fox turned and darted off into the woods. For reasons unknown to him, Aiden felt inclined to follow, and sped after the fox as fast as he could. Naturally, the pursuit of such a nimble creature was no easy feat, but every time Aiden feared he had lost the animal, a seemingly deliberate flash of orange fur lured the boy further into the chase.
And then it was gone. As if into thin air, the strange little fox had vanished into the trees, and Aiden found himself alone once more and panting heavily. As he allowed his breath to settle, Aiden noticed that his laboured breathing was not the only sound he could hear in this part of the woods: he could hear voices, some of which he recognised, and they were close. As he followed the noises, Aiden soon found himself walking straight into the camp his classmates were setting up.
"Mr. McKenna," greeted Jonas, noticing the boy's breathless state and flushed cheeks. "Is everything OK?"
"Yeah, I, uh," Aiden said, surveying the campsite for any sign of the fox. It had led him straight here, and yet was nowhere to be seen. It couldn't be... Aiden was letting the stress get the better of him, he was certain. He allowed himself to chuckle, if only to ease his own mind. "Yeah, uh. I'm good." he said, dropping the armful of dry wood at his teacher's feet and taking a seat alone on a log, a good enough distance from the rest of the group. He didn't much care to talk to anyone this evening.
Alas, it seemed that Lehrer had other ideas, as he began detailing his plans to run a 'capture the flag' style bonding exercise. Aiden frowned and sighed and cursed internally; he was beyond frustrated. Surely, Lehrer knew what he was doing? Surely, he knew that these people would never warm to the school's suspected arsonist? Why was he doing this?
His frustrations were interrupted as Belle slid onto the log beside him. Aiden was deciding whether to ignore her presence and hope she'd go away, or politely tell her he wanted to be alone. He liked Belle enough, but something about her tone earlier in the day had irked him. Before he had to chance to commit to either approach, the girl leaned over and whispered in his ear.
"The dance wasn't Elroy and Louis," she hissed, Aiden's ear pricking up, "and it wasn't you either."
Aiden's eyes opened wide in shock, his mouth dropping a little but his face remaining otherwise locked in the direction of professor Lehrer. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. Without turning to face her, and moving his lips as little as possible, he muttered back.
"What do you know?" he asked.
Belle watched her hot dog as she carefully replied, her voice barely a whisper.
"I know that your speech with the lighter back there was just you covering your ass." She sniffed and shooed away a wasp that was hovering near her food, allowing it to land on her shoulder.
"And I know that you probably had a decent reason to torch Sebastian." She took a bite, mulling the luke-warm psuedo-meat over in her mouth as she chewed slowly.
"And I know that you are far from being alone. Despite how much you want to be."
Aiden scowled a little. Belle was intelligent enough to have begun to add up the available facts, and her tone of address made it clear that she was beyond disuasion. Still, he supposed it was better Belle, than another of the group. She, at least, seemed to have some empathy towards Aiden and his... Situation.
"If Winter's to be believed, then the whole school is, like... Infested," he said, being careful to still not deliver any concrete confessions. "But suppose she's right? Suppose I have a few tricks up my sleeve..." he said, his voice lower than it had ever been for crippling fear of being overheard. There was an awkward silence that existed only between them, as the rest of the group chatted around the crackling campfire that was reflected in Aiden's eyes. He finally turned to face Belle, and in that moment there was no facade; no mask of strength or indifference... Only fear; naked and vulnerable.
"...What makes you so sure it wasn't me?"
Belle held eye contact. "Winter was right. Someone attacked us. You tried to save us." She broke eye contact, looking at the wasp that now left her shoulder and moved to hover above her head, joined by three others that seemed to halo Belle. "And if we get this little after-school club on the same page, we've got quite a force on our hands."
Aiden tried to process the girl's words, but found it impossible to absorb what she was saying: in part due to their colossal weight, and in part due to the distraction that now buzzed around her head. Four or five wasps, moving with all military precision in a circle above Belle's head. It was... Well, he didn't know enough to label it unnatural, but it was definitely unlike anything he had ever seen.
"Belle, uh..." he said, pointing at the vicious insects. But the girl seemed unfazed. Completely and resolutely indifferent in her disposition, barely even looking at the bugs and instead maintaining a knowing eyecontact with Aiden. And that's when it dawned on him.
"Shit, are you..?" He didn't need to finish his sentence; nor for Belle to answer it. For within that moment, everything became clear. He wasn't responsible for the blaze afterall. And he certainly wasn't the only Hyperhuman in his class.
Belle blinked as the wasps dispersed in a single group. She knew where to, but in a place like this, she had no reason to track them. They were soon out of mind, though they'd reappear if she needed them.
"I think I know why Mr. Lehrer has put this class together."
Aiden nodded, understanding Belle's whispered theory as he surveyed the group and began to sift through his memories, curious as to whether any previous oddities could now be explained away by the knowledge that everyone here likely possessed some sort of ability. Whatever Winter had done to Belle seemed to have restored her memory, so there was that... And Aiden had no doubt that a Hype gene would account for a good portion of Sebastian's antics; not least the one he pulled earlier. He shuddered, once again recalling that monstrous look in his rival's eye when they had scuffled.
His attention was captured by Mr. Lehrer, announcing that the game was to begin. Aiden scowled at the team he'd been assigned; not only were they outnumbered, but he was to play alongside Sebastian and Brynn. Not nearly his first choice in allies, but then again... Aside from Belle, was there really anyone in the class he would have been happy to see?
Still, as they walked towards the clearing, a mischievous thought entered Aiden's mind as he looked over the group once more. 'Everyone here is a Hype...' he mused to himself, mulling over the idea. He honestly doubted that his earlier performance would have been enough to dissuade his classmates from suspecting his Hype status, especially if they were each in secret possession of their own gifts. But if Aiden had to be outed, then he was going to drag each and every one of them out with him...
For the first time that evening, a smile crept onto his lips. He'd never been one for team sport, but this was going to be fun.
