"You're a good fighter," Daniel said.
"And you're a good drinker," Hayley added. "You can hold your liquor better than anyone I know."
"Uh-huh," Corey said. "So Maya will grow up to be an amazing healer who can change into a killer cat. Daniel and Sam will roam the country hunting criminals and demons. Hayley and Nicole will divide their time between recording platinum albums and winning gold medals in swimming. And me? I'll be the cute, funny guy sitting at the bar, hoping for a good brawl to break out."
"In other words, exactly where you were already headed," Hayley said.
We all laughed at that, even Corey. We had to. For now, this was the best way to deal with it. Tease. Poke fun. As if we were comparing Halloween costumes. Look, I'm a superhero. Yeah? Well, so am I.
"I'm sure you have powers," I said. "You're just a late bloomer."
"Thanks... I think."
"Your headaches might be related to it," Daniel said. "They began a year ago, right?"
"And Dr. Inglis was very interested in them," I said. "She started looking after you personally and giving you special medicine."
Corey nodded. "She asked about them a lot, too. Whether anything was happening when I got them."
"Happening?"
"Like whether I was seeing things or hearing things. I thought she meant like my dad, who always smelled burned toast before he had a seizure. I figured she thought it was a sign I was getting epilepsy."
"More like a sign you're getting your powers," I said.
"And the headaches went away with the pills, right?" Sam said.
Corey nodded.
"That was the point," I said. "Suppress whatever was happening to you until they were ready to tell us all the truth."
"Or suppress it because it's dangerous," Sam said.
"We don't know it is," I said.
"And we don't know it isn't."
"Ultimately, it doesn't matter," Daniel cut in. "Because we're doing our damnedest to get to safety before anyone needs to worry about a superpower meltdown."
"Where's safety?" Sam said. "With the people who apparently want to help us ... by burning down our homes, killing Uncle Phil, and shooting us with tranq guns? Or with the people who did this to us in the first place?"
"Obviously you have some third option," I said. "So let's hear it."
"I can contact people my parents knew. One of them must have known why they were on the run. Maybe they can help. I was going to do that after my parents died, only I got shipped to Salmon Creek and for a while everything seemed to be okay."
"Until you discovered your fake aunt and uncle were evil," I said.
"What? No. I never said--"
"Because they aren't evil. I don't know whether my folks knew anything about this, but I know one thing. They're amazing parents. So were your aunt and uncle."
"My dad's not Father of the Year material," Daniel said. "But he isn't evil. If our parents did know, then it's like Rafe said about his mom--they agreed to this experiment because they honestly thought it was a good thing. Right or wrong, they didn't mean to hurt us. I'm not as sure about the St. Clouds, but I still believe we can trust our parents."
"So let's go back to Salmon Creek," I said. "Check it out. See if it's safe to return. Agreed?"
They all nodded.
There was, however, one question still to be resolved. Should we try to find Nicole?