Chapter Summary: Several week after Brandon crushed her hand and murdered her mother Brandon's middle-school crush tries to get back to normal.
Caitlyn
My foster parents threw me a surprise party to celebrate my cast coming off. Laura painted my nails. She is a bit younger than me so I let her practice. Plus I didn't want to take the chance of upsetting her. She is Mr and Mrs. Potts' real daughter after all.
This home was rather nice. I liked it better than the last one. There are more kids here for me to talk to. Though David says I don't talk enough. I think he has a crush on me. He is kind of cute I guess. He's two years older than me and already in high school. I suppose that's kind of cool. He tried to kiss me the other day. I started to cry so he left me alone. I'm just not ready for anything like that.
Mr and Mrs. Potts are pretty amazing. They are very patient with me. Much more than my previous foster parents. They didn't even seem to mind that I didn't speak for the first week in the house. I even got my own room which is pretty unusual since the other kids share a boys and girls room. That want me to move into the girl's room next week. I don't know if I'll be ready.
My therapist says that it might help to put more effort into getting to know the other kids. She wants me to socialize more. I try but it's hard. After my mother died...no, after that bastard murdered her...it's hard.
We are only allowed to watch 30 minutes of television. Mrs. Potts even took away our phones and unplugged the computers. I've heard rumors of what Brandon has been doing. Their calling him Brightburn now. Mrs. Potts doesn't say it but I know that she took all those things away from us so I wouldn't keep seeing him. Hearing about him. She forbid anyone from talking about Brightburn. Yet she couldn't shield us from the gossip. We had to go to school after all.
My new school was alright. It was four states over from my previous home in Brightburn. I mostly kept to myself and tried to focus on my studies. Yet it was getting harder and harder to ignore all the talk about Brightburn. It's all anyone seemed to talk about now a days. As usual I ate at a table by myself in the cafeteria. I couldn't help overhearing a group of boys talking nearby.
"Dude the President actually declared a state of emergency. The entire state is shutting down."
"That's fucking crazy. Did you see the video of Brightburn picking up that tank. He lifted it up like it was nothing."
"I bet he's some kind of government weapon gone rogue. They probably have all types of experiments like that."
"Dude...what if he came here?"
"That's not going to happen. The military will come up with some kind of weapon to stop him."
"But what if they can't?"
"I guess we are all fucked then."
I had to leave. My exit was a lot less subtle then I hoped. I ran from the cafeteria and locked myself in a bathroom stall. It took an hour for my homeroom teacher to convince me to come out.
The drive home was quiet. Mr. Potts picked me up from school. After talking with my therapist they decided that I would be homeschooled. They were really good people.
That night I was getting ready for bed, brushing my hair in the mirror when I heard a knock at my door.
"Come in."
Laura walked in already dressed in her pajamas.
"I just wanted to say goodnight. So...goodnight Caitlyn."
I tried to put on my best smile. It wasn't as happy as I wanted it to be but she seemed to be pleased by it. She ran over and gave me a hug. I eagerly returned it.
"Thank you. Goodnight Laura." I whispered into her ear.
"Mommy says you will be getting home schooled with us."
"Yea."
She smiled.
"I know they wanted you to go back to school to try to get back to normal but I like having you around a lot." She said before pulling away and heading out of the room.
She gave me one last finger wave before closing my door. Most of the kids in the house did go to school but Laura and her brother, Joshua, were homeschooled. Sometimes I heard that the foster kids could do it as well when needed. I was thankful. I don't think I could go back to school. Not for a long time.
This was an especially dreary night. The rain fell harder than I ever remember. Thunder roared periodically, illuminating the night sky. Thunder used to scare me and my mother would come into my room and make me feel better. Now thunder just makes me sad.
I woke up in the middle of the night. I thought it might be the thunder that woke me but that wasn't it. I felt the same thing I did all those weeks ago. Someone was in my room. I was sure of it.
It was probably Laura. One day she snuck into my bed to sleep with me. It scared the hell out of me and I woke the entire house up with my screams when I noticed her sleeping behind me. She never did that again. Maybe after so many weeks of getting used to me she decided to try again.
Somehow I knew that wasn't the case.
This was different. Someone was here. They weren't moving. I don't know how I knew but I knew.
I didn't move from my spot under the covers. I kept my eyes closed. Maybe it was all in my head. Either way I didn't want to open my eyes to find out. I stayed that way for I don't know how long. Maybe it was only a few minutes, maybe it was an hour.
Then I heard it. A creaking at the edge of my bed, near my feet. I couldn't help shivering. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I was stronger than this. It was probably nothing. I'll just look. It will be ok.
I was wrong.
I sat up and opened my eyes at the same time hoping to God, to the universe, to anyone who would listen that all I would see was my Elsa nightlight and a few ominous shadows. Laura let me borrow her nightlight to help me sleep.
What I saw, or more accurately, who I saw, made me feel a terror that I didn't think was possible.
His mask was something straight from hell. What type of person would wear something like that? What type of monster. I just couldn't take it. Everything went black.
A pressure around my waist woke me up. I opened my eyes quickly to see that rain was still peppering my window. Lightning flashed in the night sky. I could feel someone's hot breath beating against the back of my neck. Carefully I reached down to the cover which engulfed most of my body. I lifted it up to see that a pale hand was resting against my belly. Small fingers lightly rubbed at the fabric of my pajama top, wrinkling the fabric.
I didn't need to see his face to know. I'd had nightmares almost every night since the day I found out that my mother was murdered. I know what they felt like. This was different. He was really here.
"It was hard to find you." He whispered to me.
His voice made me quiver. I couldn't stop tears pouring down my cheeks. I tried to speak, I wanted to tell him to go away. Ask him why he was here. Why was he doing this to me? But all that escaped my throat was this little squeak that I didn't even know I could make.
"If you scream everyone here dies."
My heart sunk. I knew he meant it.
"Turn around. Let me see you."
I was frozen but I didn't want to make him have to tell me twice. I rolled over very slowly, dreading every second. I didn't want to see his face. I closed my eyes as I faced him.
"Look at me."
He sounded agitated.
I let my eyes open and a deathly chill crept up my spine when seeing his face. There he was. The boy who murdered my mother. I know that I hated him but in that moment all I could feel was fear. At least he wasn't wearing that terrifying mask.
He stared at me for quite a while in silence. I half expected him not to blink but he did. He looked like a boy yet I knew that he was a monster.
Brandon
She was so pretty. Prettier than any girl I've ever met. I don't know how to describe how she makes me feel. My father said that this kind of thing was normal. I suppose I have no reason to doubt him. At least I don't think that he was lying to me. But what I feel for her isn't normal. Not even close. I am superior and she is a sheep. It's not normal to feel this way about sheep. And yet here I was.
I had to convince a lot of people to tell me where she was. It was a long, annoying process. My eyes are great but not even I can see that far. Maybe one day. Now I've found her. Now I'll never lose her again.
"Please leave me alone." She whimpered out in this extremely pathetic voice.
I shouldn't have been surprised that she would be scared of me. All sheep should fear the wolf. Yet still it made me mad. I tried not to show it. Mostly because I didn't quite understand why she made me so angry.
"I came a very long way. Do you think I'd just leave now?"
She took a long time to answer. Her tears wouldn't stop falling. I raised a hand to wipe her cheek, she shied away from my touch.
Why did that make me so angry?
"It's ok to be afraid. You should know that I didn't come here to hurt you." I tried to explain, to calm her down.
I didn't think it would work. Like usual I was right.
"Then please just leave. Why are you doing this to me? I'm sorry I let you fall. I'm sorry for whatever my mother did. Just please...go."
Hearing her beg excited me. Yet at the same time seeing her cry was upsetting. There is a lot I don't know about myself. I don't even know what I am. No one does. I know that I am superior but outside of that...well, what could explain what I was feeling right now? Even the superior are confused once in a while I guess. I'd have to figure that out later. For right now this girl who I liked was crying and right in front of me. Right now nothing seemed more important than her.
"You're very pretty." I spoke out, ignoring her protests.
She went quiet, a look of shock on her face. I think I upset her even more.
"Prettier than any girl in the world." I continued.
She still didn't seem to find my words comforting. That's ok.
I reached down to touch her hand. She pulled away quickly. I got really angry. My vision darkened. I knew that my eyes were glowing. Honestly I didn't mean to have that reaction, to scare her so much, but I didn't like her pulling away.
When she saw my eyes she moved her hand back to where it was before. I touched her hand again. She didn't pull away this time.
"I want to see all of you." I stated simply while climbing out of bed.
I wore my best clothes. A clean pair of jeans and my favorite shirt. This one was purple. I wanted to look good for her.
She followed, though her pace was excruciatingly slow. I wanted to tell her to move faster but I thought against it. I'd show her that I had patience.
She sat at the edge of the bed with her legs squeezed together, her arms wrapped around her body as if she were cold. I liked her pajamas. They had little bears on them. Her pajamas were purple too! Not the exact same as my shirt but close enough. She didn't wear socks so I could see her toes were painted blue. Not my favorite color but it still looked good on her.
"Stand up." I tried to make it sound like a request but I'm sure that it came off as more commanding than I intended.
I don't know why I was so nervous. Me. A being of unstoppable power. The one bad thing about killing my father is not being able to ask him about all this. Maybe he wouldn't know everything but it would have been worth a try. I don't really have anyone to talk to these days. Especially about girls. There is Ben but I seriously doubt he knows anymore about girls than I do. Everyone else just tells me what they think I want to hear. There were downsides to being superior. Just a few.
I was lost in my thoughts and barely noticed how long I was staring. She was squirming. Her thighs were rubbing together. I could tell that she was just as nervous as I was. If not more. That made me feel better. My eyes seemed to focus on her every movement. The way her pajamas wrinkled as she fidgeted. She was really pretty.
Caitlyn
I wanted to throw up. He was just staring at me. It was so creepy though I knew I couldn't tell him that. Could I? No, he would kill me. If any other boy made me do this I'd claw his eyes out, or scream, or something. Anything but just stand there and just be...watched. My father used to look at me like that sometimes. Especially when he got really drunk. This was scarier than that. At least back then my mother was around to protect me. Now I had no one. His next words caused me to nearly pass out again.
"Kiss me."
I hoped I heard him wrong.
Brandon
She pretended like she didn't hear me. That made me mad. I hate repeating myself. For now I'd bare it.
"Kiss me." I restated.
She froze up and didn't respond. I narrowed my eyes, my vision darkened. Still she didn't move.
I remember when my father tried to kill me. He lied to me about taking me out on a father and son hunting trip. I was so happy. At the time I was going through a lot, trying to figure things out. Going on that trip was just what I needed. Then he shot me in the back of the head. After raising me for 12 years I kill a few people and he turned on me just like that. I was so angry. Angrier than I'd even been.
How I felt then was nothing compared to how angry I was now.
She didn't have to say it. I could see it in her eyes. She told me "no." I could tell she didn't want to kiss me. I know I killed her mother but still. How could anyone reject someone so superior!? Who does she think she is!? I'm Brightburn!
Caitlyn
I think I peed myself a little when I saw the way he looked at me. This was different than before. And then he was gone. The last thing I saw of him were those evil red eyes of his. I hate his eyes. I hope I never have to see them again. I didn't have to wait very long to see his eyes again.
It all happened so fast. Honestly I don't remember it all. It was all a blur. The house quaked, wood chips flew all over the place. It was like bombs were going off all around me.
Mr. Potts was first. Brandon killed him right in front of me. Burned his face off with his heat vision. I've never screamed so loud.
Mrs. Potts was next. He tore her in half.
Then the children. I was almost thankful the way he did it. I think they died so fast that they didn't even realize they were being killed.
I screamed and screamed, pleading for him to stop. I didn't see him kill Laura but I knew he had. He picked me up, carried me outside and dropped me on the front lawn. Somehow I didn't break anything. I watched in horror as he burned the entire house down. His laser vision changed. Instead of it being a small thin beam it widened like a spotlight, setting the entire building on fire. The next door neighbors came outside to see what was going on.
They didn't last long.
In a matter of moments every building I could see had been set ablaze. The streets were filled with blood and body parts. I stood up and watched dumbstruck, barely feeling the wet chill of grass on my bare feet. I wanted so badly to pass out, to close my eyes and wake up in my bed to before this happened. I even tried a few times but I couldn't. This was real.
After several minutes of his rampage I saw Brandon hovering several feet in the air, using his heat vision to shoot at targets I couldn't see. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he stopped.
He descended down to the ground in the middle of the street with his back facing me. He was covered in blood. My legs seemed to move towards on their own.I felt numb, almost as if a hand had touched me and taken away my emotions temporarily. It was nice not to feel. Maybe I no longer could.
My legs carried me forward until I was within arms reach of Brandon. I placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned so quickly that I didn't even see him move until his red eyes were baring down on me. I can't explain why but in that moment I didn't feel any fear.
I calmly reached forward with both hands to fidget with his mask. I didn't know how to undo it at first but he waited quietly while I figured it out. I pulled it off his head. His expression was hard to read. His mask was bloody along with the rest of his body, but his face was clean.
I kissed him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. Just like they do in the movies. My first kiss. Brandon was stiff at first, frozen. Soon he kissed back. Neither of us knew how to kiss. We just pressed our lips closer to each other. When I pulled back his expression had changed. He didn't seem so angry. He had this look of confusion and happiness. Though there was always something off about the way he expressed it. This thing he did with the corner of his mouth that just wasn't right.
In the moment I didn't seem to mind.
He reached for my hand. This time I didn't pull away. In fact I willingly held his hand. I could see his body relax. He bend down a little to scoop his arms under my legs, lifting me up and carrying me like a husband would a bride.
I'd never been on a plane before. Brandon gave me that experience for the first time as he took off into the night sky.
I didn't know where we were going. I didn't dare ask. As the ground grew further and further away my emotions returned. Dammit, they returned. It all hit me like a truck. I looked past Brandon's arms, down on the many fires he left behind. I buried my face in his chest and cried. I cried harder than when I found out my mother was dead.
He smelled awful, like...death. Yet his body was warm, and I was tired. I fell asleep in his arms.
Brandon
I laid her down in the bed, making sure to be careful. I could tell she had been through a lot. Blood from my outfit had gotten on her. I'd have to get her new clothes. After settling a blanket over her body I walked into the bathroom.
I don't think there was a single spot on my clothes that wasn't covered in blood. It seemed I'd have to get us both new outfits. For now I stripped down to my underwear and wiped me face with a fancy rag. It was extremely soft. The people who owned this place had good taste. I took a moment to stare at my own reflection, looking at my lips. The lips she kissed. I couldn't help smiling. Somehow this smile was different. It felt...good. Really good. It was at that moment that I decided.
If I was going to take the world, to rule over it, to be its king. She would be my queen.
End of Chapter 2
My muse really struck and I had to start writing some more. I actually intended the first chapter to be about Caitlyn but somehow it didn't work out. So I just HAD to write this chapter. I hope you all liked it. Tell me what you think. I'm still a complete noob at writing in first person so I apologize if it's not the greatest. Anyway, thanks for reading!