"I'm doing this so you stay safe. I need you to be safe, kid," my dad spoke for the first time since we got in the car towards our new home in Forks.
"I know. I get that but if there's any danger here, you know I have to," I told him, leaving no room for argument.
Charlie sighed, turning back to the road.
I understood his concern. Now that mom was gone and he had retired from saving the world, the responsibility rested on me whether he wanted it too or not. It was kind of my birthright.
There are very few people in this world who can consider themselves superheroes, having had to be born with the powers. Of course there are a few of those who want to be superheroes so badly that they rely on machinery and physical training, but at the end of the day they're still human, which makes it much more dangerous for them.
Renee and Charlie met when they happened to run across the same villain. Some organization trying to take over the world or something. You know, the usual.
That's right, they were both born superheroes. Most people who inherited the power gene only had one parent who had the power, or even had a grandparent, so it was rare to have someone like me who had both parents with powers. Charlie always told me I needed to be extra careful because to this day, even after all my training, we still have yet to know the full extent of what I could do.
When we lost Renee a few months ago during an attack on a government facility in Phoenix, Charlie made the decision to retire and move away from the city to the small rainy town of Forks. Partly because he didn't want to stay in a place that would constantly remind him of Renee and partly so that he could retire in peace and hopefully keep me out of the same fate.
I fiddled with my silver bracelet, running my thumb over the blue stone in the middle. All superheroes, or those with powers, were given some way to transform into their gear when they needed it. Mine came in the form of this bracelet, and when I pressed the stone in the center, it transformed my appearance. Nothing drastic, just an outfit that was more mobile, fireproof, waterproof, all the important things, and a mask. Doesn't seem like much but it's enough to keep anyone from recognizing superheroes from our "normal" selves. It allows us to live normal lives while still being able to help save the world, not to mention it protects us from being found by those who want to get rid of superheroes.
"We're here, Bells," my dad's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
I looked up to see he had pulled up to a nice two story house. Not too big, not too small.
What caught my eye though, was the red truck in the driveway.
"Dad? Whose truck is that?"
Charlie looked at me nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's yours. I got an old friend from the reservation to fix it up for you so you could get around, school and anywhere else."
My eyes widened in shock as I practically launched myself across the console to give him a hug. "Thank you!"
"Is the car okay, Bells? I know it's kind of old…"
"No, it's perfect," I told him honestly. This earned me a smile and an awkward pat on the back. Charlie had never been physically affectionate but he was probably still one of the most caring parents in the world.
Between the two of us and the help of our super strength, it only took us only a couple trips to get everything inside. Luckily our nearest neighbors were a few minutes drive away so nobody was witness to a sixteen year old girl carrying a couch inside by herself.
"Do you think you can find the school yourself tomorrow?" Charlie asked me once we were all settled in the house. "I have to go in early for work tomorrow."
Charlie had retired from being a superhero, but he still kept his day job, which was law enforcement. Because of his extensive experience he was Abel to get a job at the police Chief of the town.
I nodded "I'm sure I'll find it easily."
Charlie gave me a sad smile as he bid me goodnight and the dark circles under his eyes were prominent. Losing Renee was of course hard on me, but had been unimaginable for Charlie. He not only lost his wife, but also his partner in crime. Literally. Most superheroes work alone, but some are lucky enough to find their partner, a superhero that they are essentially perfectly compatible with, power wise. In other words, they make the perfect superhero team. When a supe finds their partner, there's supposed to be some sort of spark between them. Kind of like a quick flash, or at least, that's how Charlie and Renee explained it. Now this doesn't necessarily mean the two supes will get along or anything, after all, the whole partnering thing is based solely on our powers, but for Charlie and Renee, it worked out pretty well.
Of course, not all of those with powers decide to be good. In fact, there have been several of those who have decided that power was more important than working for the good of the world. But of course that's what Charlie and Renee had spent their life fighting against and now it's my turn.
But in a town as small as Forks, what dangers could I possibly run into?