Whiplash
I would like to thank the wonderful beta reader Elixr. Check out her stories!
Pietro was always a tiny child.
When he was a young boy, his stature was frail and he was always the smallest of his class, but he never seemed to be bullied for it. He had a quick-minded sense of humour that kept the other kids in line.
Being a mutant in the 60s was not easy. When his ability appeared at age 11, Pietro was yearning to tell someone, to show them what he was able to do. Of course, his mother had strictly forbidden him from showing his speed to any of his friends. After the catastrophic events in Cuba, during which several mutants had displayed the unsavoury side of their species, they were not very welcome in the society.
Luckily for the speedster, Pietro managed to keep his abilities secret, despite a few incidents. He was a brilliant pupil; his mind worked faster than anyone else's. His small frame, silver hair, and ability to talk at alarmingly fast rates gained him a reputation of the funny one among his peers. Pietro had once seen a mutant being caught while flying and sent to jail; this convinced him to conceal his ability.
It was not until the age of sixteen that Pietro felt the need to show someone what he was able to do burn a hole in the pit of his stomach. Recently he had grown a lot and reached the height of many of his classmates. Suddenly he was no longer the funny kid who always had sweets and candies. He began to feel the weight of the girls' looks upon him when he walked the corridors at high school. They whispered behind him, and turned their face away when he looked at them. People were more and more curious about his silver hair and not a day passed without him being asked whether it was dyed or not. The girls talked about the boy with silver hair, as it was the aspect of him they liked the most. Hearing that, dozens of boys showed up at school with a hair like his, as if having that particular hair colour would make the girls fall for them. Needless to say, it did not work. While jealousy spread among the boys who had no girlfriends, Pietro gathered girls by doing absolutely nothing.
One day, however, he crossed the path of one particular girl. She was beautiful and intelligent, and he quickly fell in love with her. They started dating some time later. Pietro lost his court of girls, all disappointed he had not chosen of one them. The general attention ceased their fixation on the young man.
His mother feared this relationship. She knew that love led people to make foolish decisions, shielding their vision from the larger picture. She did not regret her children, but she did regret that they did not have a father. She feared that Pietro would forget his promise and show his new love his power. With all of the time they spent together, she was worried.
Pietro and the girl had spent most of the afternoon in the basement. The sun was setting and they were bored.
"I've never tasted beer," she said.
"Me neither," Pietro said. "We can't, we're underage."
She smiled.
"And when did stupid rules start stopping you? Break the law! No one will know. We can be like the bad guys just for tonight. I've already done all my homework."
Pietro smiled, too. She knew he liked to steal; she just didn't know how he did it. Half an hour later, Pietro came back holding a pack of beer. He collapsed in the sofa.
"Ouch. That one was not easy. I almost got caught."
It was a lie, of course. He had spent twenty-nine minutes in the garden waiting for the right time to come back inside the house.
It was the first time they had beer. They were not used to it. Pietro felt a wave of heat growing inside of him. Her smile was brighter, her eyes lighter, her laugh prettier. He wanted to impress her, and he knew how.
"Why don't we go in the garden? I've got something to show you."
"Yeah?" Her voice was slurred but to him she was the prettiest girl on earth.
They went to the garden. Night had fallen and it was dark outside. She laughed. "No really, what do you want to show me? Can't we wait until the morning? I'm freezing."
Watch me.
He placed himself near the house, twenty feet away from her. In the blink of an eye, he was behind her, touching her shoulder.
"What the actual f-?"
"You've got to promise me not to tell anyone. Okay?"
"I swear. You're a mutant. Right. Okay. Why did you not tell me before?"
"It's not something I show to everyone. You're the first one except my mom and my sister to know what I am."
"I'm special, then?"
He smiled. "Oh yes, you are."
"Well I already knew that, Pietro."
One second later he was holding a blanket and two pillows. "Why don't we watch the stars?"
"I don't want to watch the stars. It's too cold outside. Besides, how could I watch things that are so far away from me when I've got you at my side?" Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"We'll do what you want," he said. "I just want you to be happy. But I really want to watch the stars tonight."
They finally stayed in the garden. Pietro watched the sky, hardly noticing how cloudy it was, while she was watching him and gently stroking his arm.
"Best day ever," she said.
He nodded. "You know what I was thinking? I may be the only one on Earth to have walked on water. I'm so fast it can support me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Wanna try?"
"Why not."
She did not seem convinced, but Pietro did not notice her hesitation. Finally! He could share his secret to the one he loved, he could show her the speed, the wind on the face, the rush of adrenaline every time he walked upon on the river, hoping not to trip or else he would fall in the cold water. His mother had forbidden him to carry his sister, and a few months before he had been too tiny to carry anyone.
"We'll start just here. I'm going to do a tour of the house, okay? You will probably feel dizzy the first time."
"Okay, then. But I'm not really sure I want to…"
"Don't worry. You're gonna love it. I can link us up if you want to, so you won't fall." A second later he was back with a rope in his hand.
"I trust you." She climbed on his back and tied the rope around them. She planted a kiss in his silver hair, and he smiled.
"It's gonna be fine, you'll see. Close your eyes, though, and hold on tight. Ready? Three, two, one, go!"
One second later he had returned to exact same spot he had just left. "I was easy on that one. You're okay?"
No response.
Pietro suddenly felt the heat inside of him washed away by a wave of nausea. "You're okay? It's normal if you don't feel right, I threw up the first time…"
Still no answer. And then he noticed that her hands were no longer clutching his vest. They carelessly hanged on each side of his neck. He feverishly untied the knot that secured the rope, crouching down so she slowly slipped from his back. He turned to lay her gently on the grass, waiting for her eyes to open, for her mouth to speak, when he saw the strange angle her neck had.
"Oh, no…"
He had not though about that. His mutation gave him a great resistance, so he could run faster than a plane could fly without breaking any bones. But he had not thought that only him could undergo such speed without being hurt. Her skin was red, almost burned from the friction caused by the air. And her neck – her neck had badly supported the violent acceleration from 0 to a thousand mile per hour. It was severely injured, and Pietro could already that every passing second menaced to reduce her lifespan.
"Pietro," she murmured.
She was alive!
"I'm here," he quickly whispered.
She opened her eyes, worry painted on her face. "I can't… I can't feel my body!"
The doctors said she would not last the night, but she proved otherwise. By some miracle, she regained control of her body and life continued as it was before the accident. Except that Pietro and her broke up. Except that he never forgot how his mutation could easily kill others, how he could be a threat for others, how he needed to hide from society.
It had never been simple to be a mutant, and it would never be. Pietro would constantly remind himself of how things could have gone worse. He was always so thankful of the way they turned out. But in the end, it was all for nothing. The secrets and the lies turned into dust and ashes when finally, the Apocalypse came.