A Small Burn
Chapter 1 of 6
"Please…. You're my only friend."~SB~
Brandon Breyer sat quietly at his desk, minutes before class began. Drawing in his notebook, he paid little mind to his classmates as they entered, save for Caitlyn, and just a little for that fat kid who picks on him.
Brandon wouldn't call himself "friendless", because quite a few kids knew him, liked him, and talked to him, but he had very little reason to interact with them outside of school. "Best-friendless" may be a more accurate assessment. He thought he'd have a better time finding that one true friend if the kids around him were as good as him. "No, that's not fair," he thought. But his grades, health, and fitness have always been just a step or two above his peers. "I dunno" He thought. "Maybe I should be at one of those fancy private schools for 'gifted' kids, like H.I.V.E. Academy." But even at his age, he knew that that was financially, and physically out of the question.
Nearly everyone has filed in and sat awaiting the teacher to greet them. Only the boy that usually sat to his right was absent.
"Good morning, class." The teacher announced After she got her things organized.
"Good morning, Ms Bloomberg!" The whole class responded in unison.
"Now before we begin, we have a new student joining us today. Not only new to the school, but also to Brightburn. So I want everyone to give him a big Brightburn welcome today. Ok?"
"OK!"
Ms Bloomberg opened the door to let the new student in. He wore a grayish jacket, a red and blue cap, and thick black glasses. He had such a big chipper smile on his face, it kinda made Brandon uncomfortable.
"Everyone, this is Jonathan Kent."
"Hi guys." He said brightly.
No one said it back.
"Um, you can call me Jon. That's J-O-N."
Still no answer.
"Anyone? Bueller?" Ms Bloomberg joked, eliciting a few chuckles from the students. "Hey why don't you tell them a little about yourself?"
Jonathan took his cap off revealing messy black hair. "Well, I just moved from Smallville, and My parents work in the newspaper. My mom, Her name is Lois Lane, and even though my dad's name is Clark Kent she doesn't wanna change it. She's an 'Investigative journalist'. She Said she was really famous in Metropolis. She writes about really cool stuff, and she likes to solve mysteries. I like doing that too, and--
"Man is there anything about you that Isn't boring?" The fat kid interrupted.
A few students laughed with him.
Brandon wasn't very interested in this new kid either, but he instantly found Jonathan much more tolerable than whatever came out of his fat mouth.
"Well since you want to interrupt, I suppose you'd like to share something cool about your parents?" The teacher retorted.
The kid just sat back.
"That's what I thought. That's strike 1. Ok Jon, we don't have a desk for you yet, but you can take a seat next to Brandon Breyer today."
"Great." Jon sits down while putting his hat in his Robin backpack. "Hi. I'm Jon." He says to Brandon, trying to shake hands.
Brandon feels just a bit of pity, so he accepts the shake. "Brandon Breyer." He said nothing else.
"Hi Jon. I'm Caitlyn." She said turning and offering a hand.
"It's nice to meet you." He shakes her hand.
"Hey I've heard about Lois Lane. I read this old thing online called 'I Spent the Night With Superman'. Was that true?"
"Yeah! My dad… a-and my mom are really close friends with Superman."
"That is so cool. Have you ever met him?"
"Uhh, once. We were in Metropolis, and--"
Ms Bloomberg cleared her throat. "If I could have your attention. There'll be plenty of time to talk after class."
Everyone quieted, and the teacher began her lecture on insects.
~NEARLY 2 HOURS LATER~
"And that is what we call a hive." The teacher said, as the video (hopefully) neared its end.
The fat kid audibly yawned while Brandon quietly doodled. Only Jonathan paid full attention the whole time, keeping that dimpled smile of his.
"Wasps and bees." She continued as the video turned off. "Both members of the same insect family, both with 2 pairs of wings, both with stingers. Can anyone tell me any differences between them?"
None of the students spoke up. Some did know the answer, like Brandon, but had no energy this early to get involved.
Jonathan finally raised his hand.
"Yes Jon?"
"Well I think bees are pollinators, and wasps are predators."
"Good. What else."
"Um…Wasps like to attack first?"
"Yeah because wasps are more aggressive, and more dangerous." Brandon chimed in. "One species, the Polistes sulcifer, is what's called a brood parasite."
"Oh yeah right!" Said Jon. "They can't make nests, so they just make other species raise their babies."
"Yeah, using brute force. They make them feed their young things beetle larvae and Maggots."
"Yeah, thanks!"
"Nice work you two."
"Man, not you too." The fat kid said. "Brandon be always talking about them maggots. He must wanna be one."
Only he really found that funny.
"Ok enough. That's strike 2, sit down. Unless you wanna spend your next period with the Principal."
Jon turned to Brandon. "Is he always like that?"
Brandon just shrugged. He found not engaging him was much less exhausting a while ago.
"Hey don't worry about him, guys." Caitlyn said to both of them. "Smart people always end up ruling the world."
They smiled at that. Although Jon, knowing his best friend, and his dad's worst enemy, found that prospect deeply alarming.
The bell rang, and they were excused for their next period.
~SB~
Twilight has come and many of the adults have left their day jobs. One such couple, The Breyers, decided to blow off steam at their regular bar, where they met the newest residents, Clark Kent, and Lois Lane. The 2 pairs found through conversation, that their lives were so many worlds apart, it was hysterical. The few common grounds they found were between their farming and their children.
Kyle Breyer's last joke about chickens made Mr Kent laugh much harder than he expected it to.
"Hahahahaha oh boy, that's a good one." Clark said.
"I should write that down, 'cause I haven't made him laugh like that in years." Lois said.
"And he hasn't made anyone laugh in years." Tori said.
"Shut up." Kyle replied through laughter.
"No but seriously," Clark said. "I would love to tend to chickens for a day instead of hay."
"You say that now," Kyle said. "But hay doesn't peck your fingers and cluck you up all night."
"Yeah that's true. I like taking care of animals, though."
"Well you're more than welcome to come and help out any time, Mr. Kent." Tori said.
"Thanks."
"But you said you don't have a farm here, right?" Kyle asked. "What'll happen to the one back home?"
"Oh we left my son and my cousin in charge of the old Kent farm."
"Wait." Kyle said. "Didn't you say your son was here with you?"
"And in our son's grade?" Tori added.
"Oh, no no no." Lois said. "That's Jon. He meant his first son Conner. He adopted him before we dated."
"Oh, I see."
"Yep." Clark said. "Just graduated college too(and quit his team). We both thought he could use a little of the quiet life for a while."
"Oh and he majored in motors." Lois said. "He's thinking about opening a bike shop out of the farm."
"Wow, that's amazing." Tori said. "We adopted Brandon too. It's really a wonderful privilege. I mean someone out there didn't want him, and we got to give him a second chance."
That choked Clark up a bit. "Mrs Breyer, I know that feeling all too well."
"But I don't get it." Kyle said. "Why leave all that history behind just to move out here?"
"What is this town not big enough for the four of us?" Lois teased.
"Well I know it's not big enough for Noah." He said.
"I heard That!" Noah yelled from across the bar.
"But no. What I mean is, it's not the most exotic of places. You've seen one of Kansas, you've seen it all in my opinion."
"Well we have been in mostly Smallville and Metropolis all of our lives, so I guess we couldn't imagine much different." Clark Said. "But, the whole reason to move in the first place was…" Clark hesitated.
Lois placed a hand on his arm. She sighed, then picked up where he left off. "We just lost our parents. My dad, and his mom."
"Oh." Kyle said. "Oh man that's awful."
Lois nodded.
"It was general Sam Lane, right?" Tori asked. "I heard about that. They say he was with the League. It was a hell of a fight."
"Yeah. I was gonna write a piece on it at the Planet, but… just couldn't find the words."
"My Ma passed in her sleep." Clark said. "After all that's happened, we just couldn't stand those familiar places."
"Well you have or condolences, man." Kyle said.
"And if there's anything you need to make you feel right at home, you just let us know."
"Thanks, Tori. I appreciate that."
"Hey in fact," Kyle said. "How about you and your son come to Brandon's birthday party this weekend? We'll be going to Darbo's. There'll be arcade and board games, and the food is outstanding."
"Oh that sounds awesome. We'd love to." Lois said.
"It would be an honor." Clark said.
BUT THEN!
Mr Kent got distracted by the sound of terrified screams across town. A closer inspection finds the sound of crackling fire around those screams.
This looks like a job for Superman.
With a quick glance, Lois Lane immediately knew what was up. Just then, Mr Kent used one of his many hidden talents to throw his voice as a sound that perfectly mimics that of a vibrating cell phone in Lois' purse.
"OOP! that's me." Lois dug her phone out of her purse, and put it to her head. "Yeah?... Oh Come on, really? … (sigh) Alright I'm on my way." She put the phone away. "That's work. I gotta fix some punctuation on tomorrow's article."
"What again?" Clark said.
"We All can't spell 'Plough' perfectly every time, Smallville. Let's go."
She grabbed her coat and they went for the door.
"Aww can't it wait?" Tori called.
"Nope, strict deadline. But we are definitely on for that party!"
"Great! Don't misspell anything then, ok?"
"Wouldn't dream of it!"
The two got to their car, but only Lois entered the driver seat.
Clark stood outside, made sure the coast was clear, spun out of his day clothes, and donned his red cape and shield. He put his neatly folded suit in the passenger seat, kissed his wife, and flew off into action.
As Lois Lane gazed at the blue blur as he faded into the night, her only thought was, "... Did I misspell Plough? P, L, A, O, W? Man that doesn't even sound right."
~SB~
YYCHHAGARO. LARUM. GHHOL."
This is what he heard when the chrysalis cracked.
No longer larva. A beast. An alpha stepped into the world.
"YYCHHAGARO. LARUM. GHHOL."
This nest has nurtured him to maturity.
Now he must open the gates.
To let the horde in.
"YYCHHAGARO. LARUM. GHHOL."
To conquer.
To feast.
To take what's theirs.
"YYCHHAGARO. LARUM. GHHOL."
Open the gates.
"YYCHHAGARO. LARUM. GHHOL."
Open the gates.
"YYCHHAGARO. LARUM. GHHOL."
Open the GATES!
"TAKE--"
"Brandon?"
As he felt his mother's hand at his shoulder, Brandon's life suddenly all came back to him. Whatever images just ran through his head, of being some different form of entity, of such aggressive metamorphosis, he relegated it to being merely a terrifyingly vivid dream.
He realized he was in the barn, where he definitely shouldn't be so late at night.
"AHH!" Brandon Jumped and backed away, trembling with fear and confusion. "Wh-what's going on? Where am I? Where am--"
"It's ok. It's me. It's mom." Tori said, holding him close. "Look at me. You're alright. You're alright." She hugs him tightly, comforting him. "I think you were just sleepwalking."
"I… I heard these voices, or something."
"It was just a dream. You're ok now."
Tori was only hoping she was right. But before he woke, Brandon was tugging at the locked door to the cellar in the barn. The cellar that holds his biggest secret. His biggest mystery. It was as if he was drawn to it. Like he needed it. How else could he have known, even in a dream, that what lies down there belongs to him?
Tori tried to perish the thought, and sung Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" to Brandon as he went back to sleep.
Kyle came up the stairs. "Everything Alright?"
"Yeah." She said. "He was… sleepwalking I guess?"
"Huh. He's never done that before. Where was he?"
"Um… nowhere. just like, downstairs. It's getting late. Let's go to bed."
Kyle was confused, but followed regardless.
Tori only didn't tell him the truth because she knew he was more prone to worrying and rashness. And there was no need to make this a bigger deal than it is. For now.
~SB~
At Lunch time, Brandon was sitting at a table in the courtyard drawing pictures, while Jon Kent was Playing Four Square with some other kids.
Brandon Just tried to ignore what had happened last night. But he just couldn't get it out of his head. The dream. Those voices. It felt so real. It was like something had swallowed him, and he was growing to match its form, and wore its skin like a suit. But he had no control of where they were going or what he was doing. "Are people usually aware they're sleepwalking?" He thought. Looking back, it seemed so scary losing control of himself like that. But in the moment, all he could remember was that it felt so… so… g--
Brandon felt a sudden gust of wind next to him.
"Whoa! Are you ok?" Said that familiarly upbeat voice.
Brandon looked and saw Jon Kent next to him holding a red ball.
"I'm sorry. I lost control of the ball. But I totally saved your life."
"It's... fine. I didn't even see it." Brandon looked and saw how far away the squares were. Did Kent actually outpace the ball after it was thrown to catch It? "How'd you get here so fast?"
"I… ran." He said. "It was a slow ball."
"Come on, Jonny! Bring It back!" One of the other kids yelled.
"Uh, I'm out guys!" Kent said, throwing the ball back. He then sat across the table from Brandon.
After a bit of silence, Jon finally spoke. "Your drawings are really cool."
Brandon actually forgot he was sitting there, and quickly closed his book. "Thanks." He said as he put it in his backpack.
"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know they were private."
"It's fine. It's just… yeah."
"Sorry."
Brandon tried to finish eating.
"Are you ok, Brandon?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Why are you sitting here by yourself?"
"I just don't feel like sitting with anyone. Something Wrong with that?"
"No no! It's just, you really look like something's bothering you."
"It's ok. Don't worry about it. What about you? Don't you wanna keep playing with your friends?"
"I… don't think those guys are my friends. They keep making fun of me, and they are really convinced of this curse."
"What curse?"
"Well... they think that if you hit someone in the head with a ball in the courtyard, you end up dating that person."
Brandon kinda snickered at that. "Sorry dude, but you're not my type."
"I didn't even hit you!" He said blushing.
He started really laughing.
Jon crossed his arms. "I bet you wanna hit Caitlyn with a ball."
"Yes." He replied while laughing, then got very straight faced.
"... Wow. That was more honest than I thought."
Brandon covered his mouth "Forget you heard that."
"No."
Then they both started laughing.
"Well, I'm glad I got you to cheer up." Jon said. Then he got up.
"Wait, hold up." Brandon said, stopping him. "Is that really all you came over here for?"
"Yeah pretty much. You said you wanted to sit alone."
"So he just goes out of his way to make me smile?" Brandon thought. "This kid is too innocent for his own good." Brandon decided to follow Jon, and he threw his tray away. "Hey Jon wait."
"Yeah?"
"Look I… (sigh) Have you ever sleepwalked before?"
"Oh yeah a lot, when I was really young. I don't really remember it, but apparently I did a lot of weird stuff like pee in my toy box, or floa… find the fridge, and just start eating everything."
"Wow that's gross."
"Hehe… yeah. Why do you ask? Did you?"
"Well, yeah. Last night. I've never done that before, but I wound up in my barn, yanking at the cellar door, and It just kinda freaked me out. It's pretty embarrassing."
"Don't be embarrassed. It's totally freaky. Especially if you wake up in the middle. My mom said that's why she used to lock my door and window."
"So there's like, nothing wrong with me?"
"Not really. You'll be ok. But if you're still scared, just ask your mom to lock your door from now on."
"Ok, thanks. I thought I was gonna have to chain myself to my bed."
"What would you do if you had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?"
"Find my old toy box?"
That had them both dying.
It's weird. He hasn't felt so comfortable talking this openly with anyone. But suddenly this new kid acts nice to him for no reason, says things he personally would never say, gets him to spill his secrets, and just cracks him up saying the dumbest things. Maybe they both could use some new friendship.
"H-(BREATHE) Hey. You know what? I wasn't gonna say anything, but my parents really want the Kents to come to my birthday party at Darbo's tomorrow. I kinda didn't want a lot of company, but I think you should come."
"Wow really? I'm already getting invited to a party? That's awesome!"
"Sweet. So we'll be there around like five."
"Great! See ya later Brandon!"
"Yeah see ya Jon."
They walked to their separate classes.
~SB~
Brandon held the screen door down while his dad screwed in the hinges.
"Alright. Just hold it underneath, keep it stiff…" He screwed it into place. "There we go. I think that's gonna hold it."
They took a break from working, and Kyle took some candy from his shirt pocket.
"You want one?" He asked.
"Yeah sure." Brandon said, taking one.
"You know the first couple years after we adopted you," Kyle started. "I had no clue how to be a dad. Your mom was out one day, and you were bawling your eyes out. But I had a secret weapon." He proudly displayed the candy in his hand.
"So you just gave me a piece of candy?"
"Yep"
The two ate their pieces.
"Did it work?" Brandon asked.
"I guess. You didn't turn out that bad did you?"
"Well now I'm sleepwalking, so…"
"Ah that was one time. Don't worry about it." Kyle put his tools away. "And hey I'm really proud you invited Jon Kent. You always seemed so… distant from the other kids."
"Maybe Jon's different. Or there's just something wrong with me."
"Nothing wrong with liking people." Kyle rubbed his hand through Brandon's hair. "Alright, do you got the lawn? I gotta get to the seed store."
"Yeah no worries. I'll handle it."
"Mah man. See you later."
Brandon tried to start his lawn mower, but it was comically difficult. It grumbled and groaned when he pulled the string, but it wouldn't come to life. "Damn it." Seven more pulls, and some the string wouldn't even come all the way out. "Stupid piece of shit. Come on!" His anger swelled, and he gave one last mighty tug. And somehow the whole machine completely flew out of his hands, and into the field beyond his fence.
He was awestruck by the strength he didn't know he had. And just a little scared that he probably wrecked his father's equipment. But on the upside, he could swear he heard it start on the way up.
With caution, Brandon made his way out to the field to the overturned lawn mower. The motor was still running, and the blade was still spinning. What had he done? Before simply pushing this ugly brown dinosaur was a chore in and of itself. But today he barely felt the effort of heaving it several hundred yards like a mere softball. He desperately wanted to believe it was puberty.
But suddenly all sounds around him muffled out, and all he could hear clearly were the whoosh of the blades spinning. And time seemed to crawl, as the blades spun slower and slower.
Then as Brandon gazed into the hypnotic blades, a wave of curiosity came over him. Maybe all this wasn't puberty. Maybe… it was something else. He inched his bare hand closer and closer to it. Feeling no fear. Taking no pleasure. No emotion at all. As he jammed his hand in the blade's path. The motor grinded to a halt, metal fragments shot out of it, and the blade crumpled like paper against his hand. And his hand was completely unharmed.
Any normal child's hand would have been cut to ribbons. This was when it dawned on Brandon that this wasn't normal. There really was something wrong with him.
Or perhaps, something just right.
End of chapter 1