After a bout of inspiration from my new partner, here is Chapter 6. Tissues might be needed. Enjoy and review.
William looked at his cousin with concern filling his eyes. He was very disconcerted by the look on her face and the tone of her voice. He inched closer to the table and drew out a seat and sat down, ready to face whatever was coming.
"Sooooo…." Kathleen started, elongating the word. "When were you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Questions raced through William's mind.
"Well, when you had gone to bed last night, a visitor arrived at the door. It was quite a surprise really."
"Who was it?" William tried the best he could to hid any knowledge in his voice of the events which occurred.
"It was Billy the Cat. He came to see me and said that you had told him about me when he rescued you. Why did you not tell me that you'd mentioned me?"
"I… I guess I was just so pent up with everything else that had happened. It just slipped my mind. He was very nice."
Kathleen gave a knowing smile. "Yes, he is very nice. He came to let me know that whilst he appreciates my love of him, he is gay and isn't interested in girls."
"Oh, well I didn't know that. That's a shame. Lots of people will be really disappointed if they knew."
Kathleen stood up from her seat and wondered around to where William was. She reached into a bag hanging from the back of the next chair. She brought something out, but concealed it from William.
"You see, the thing is," she began, "I came to your room this morning to see if you were awake and I saw your door was ajar and I couldn't help but peek inside. Then I noticed something on the floor just sticking out from under your bed. I was intrigued as it looked unusual, yet familiar. My question really is, why didn't you tell me?"
William was getting really concerned now.
"Tell you what?" He tried to steady his voice.
Kathleen brought her hand round in front of William and dropped the item onto the table. It was the rope that formed the belt to his costume. He stared in shock at it laying there.
"Hello Billy," Kathleen said.
There was a stunned silence. Time seemed to have stood still, the seconds eking out into unfathomably long minutes. Neither one of them seemed to want to break the quiet and start the next part of the conversation. It was incredibly awkward. A tear ran down William's face and dropped down onto the wooden surface of the table below. He suddenly found himself in a tight embrace, as Kathleen threw her arms around his shoulders.
"I can't believe you're a superhero. My cousin, with superpowers. I promise I won't tell anyone your secret, could you imagine mum finding out? She'd freak out and not know what to do. How did it happen?"
William took a moment to catch his voice and then proceeded to recount exactly what had happened the day of his parent's deaths. Kathleen slid into the chair next to him and listened intently. When William was finished she slipped her hand into his and held him tenderly.
"You have been so brave dealing with all of this and the fact you've turned this horrible negative into an opportunity to help others, that's amazing. Just promise me you'll never use these powers for revenge or to hurt innocent people. You have so much love in you William, that's something I've always admired about you."
A tear was now rolling down Kathleen's face. They both laughed at each other becoming so soppy.
"Thanks for being so understanding," William said.
"No problem cuz. I've got you. Oh… and I've got a few ideas for cute guys you could date too."
"Katie," William said, drawing away from his cousin in laughter, using her nickname from when they were younger.
"Hey, you know I prefer Kathleen these days, it makes me sound older, more mature."
They both laughed again, before giving each other another hug.
"How long have you known you're gay," Kathleen asked.
"Oh, a couple of years now. It was towards the end of year 8. I just never found the courage to tell anyone, until last night when I was dressed neck to toe in skintight spandex and wearing a helmet." They laughed again. "I'm glad you know now though, but please don't tell anyone else. I don't think I'm ready yet."
Kathleen nodded and sipped her lips up.
"Your secrets are safe with me."
"Right," William said, "I had better get this put away before Aunt Mabel sees. Do you want to see the box it came in properly?"
"Sure."
The pair of them headed up to William's room and he pulled out the special hard light hologram box. Kathleen gasped in awe as he reached in and pulled out the suit from its hidden compartment. He handed it over to her to feel.
"Wow, it's so smooth and soft. It's quite light too, I thought it would be much heavier and thicker. You'll get cold in the winter wearing that."
"It's got inbuilt thermal properties, it is really comfortable," William replied, taking it from her and putting it back in the box. "I'll have to show off C.A.T another time. The helmet only works for me and I'm not sure she'll be happy about you finding out about her."
"Fair enough," Kathleen replied.
The two of them put the box back into the wardrobe and headed back down stairs. They decided that they would go out and grab some fresh air. Each grabbed their jacket and walked out of the house, making sure the door was shut behind them. Aunt Mabel had gone to work Kathleen had told , and it being the weekend, they were free to do what they wanted.
A short walk through the streets got them into the village centre and to a row of shops. This was one area where the big name brands hadn't managed to blight the English landscape. It was full of independent shops, including a bookshop, tearoom, post office and village shop.
The pair of them went to the bookshop and had a look at their comic selection. Kathleen wasn't the biggest comic reader, but she could appreciate the passion William and other like him had in the stories and characters. They admired the artist's drawings and Kathleen even pointed out some moves that William might be able to try out as his alter ego.
"Yeah right," William replied. "You're talking to the least athletic person in the world."
"Yes, but," Kathleen nudged him, "you now have a well muscled body and the reflexes of a cat. You should easily be able to do some of these moves."
"Keep your voice down," William whispered, chuckling under his breath.
They both giggled and picked out a couple of comic to buy. They went up to the counter to pay for them. The shopkeeper looked at them both and handed the comic straight back to William.
"I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your parents William," he said, sympathy filling his voice. "Have these on the house and if there is anything I can do to help, let me know."
"Thanks Mr Perry, you're very kind."
William and Kathleen left the shop and went to the tearoom to grab a drink. Kathleen ordered a milkshake and William went for a regular tea. Again, they were offered the drinks on the house, the owner, Mrs Joseph, expressing her own shock and sadness at the events that had befallen William.
The two cousins went and sat at a table at the back of the shop, hidden in a corner away from most prying eyes and twitching ears.
"I don't know how to feel about all of this," William said. "It's nice people are saying how sorry they are, but I don't want to feel like a charity case."
"It'll die down. People are in shock that's all. They saw your dad as a bit of a mad scientist, but pleasant enough and your mum was well loved for putting up with his mad capers. Nothing like this is supposed to happen in a small, quiet village like ours," Kathleen reassured him. "Anyway, Billy the Cat will take all the attention soon, I'm sure. Then it'll all be off you as William and back on you as him."
Kathleen let out a loud snort as she spluttered into her milkshake, at the sight of William's face.
"Oops," she said, trying to mop up spilt drink.
"Serves you right," William giggled as he helped her.
They sat a bit longer and chatted about various things, recounting childhood memories and likes and dislikes. When they'd finished their drinks, the left the tearoom and continued in their walk through the village.
The day was a pleasant one, a slight breeze in the air and also a damp feeling, like it wanted to rain, but couldn't quite make it happen. The end of summer was coming and autumn was on the way. Some of the leaves were already changing colours and beginning to fall to the ground. They spent around another hour just wondering around the village, across a couple of fields and back round to the house.
When they got there, a car was waiting for them. As the pair walked up the pathway, a door on the car opened and a figure got out. William recognised them as DI Jefferson, who had questioned him some days earlier. Another door opened and someone else got out. This time it was a female he did t recognise.
"William Grange?" DI Jefferson asked.
"Yes sir," William said walking over.
"You may remember me from the other day," Jefferson said. "I've come to talk to you a little more. This is Mrs Davies from Social Services, she would also like a chat. Can we come inside?"
"I'm, well my Aunt isn't here at the moment. Can it wait till she is back?" William asked.
"I'm afraid not. If we can…?"
It seemed like there was no choice really. William and Kathleen led the way inside and took the two adults through to the kitchen. They offered them a drink, but each declined.
"Shall we sit?" Mrs Davies asked, motioning to the table. "If you could leave us please?" She turned to Kathleen.
There was something about this lady that both William and Kathleen disliked. She had some air of authority about her, but in a way where someone who had this power, might not be the right one to use it.
"I'm not going anywhere, this is my house and my cousin." Kathleen firmly stood her ground.
There was a tense moment as both females stared at each other, until Mrs Davies just nodded and sat down. William reached into his pocket and prayed to himself that he could work his phone without seeing the screen. He hoped that he had managed to dial C.A.T, hoping she might understand what was happening and record the conversation down the line.
"So, what do you want?" William asked.
"Well, we have some more questions about what happened the other night," DI Jefferson said. "Some things aren't adding up. Could you go over your version again please."
William sighed. He didn't want to recall it more. Nevertheless, to get these people out, he did what was asked. When he was finished, he looked over at Mrs Davies to see her furiously scribbling in a notebook.
"Why were you let near any of this equipment," she snapped when William stoped talking. "Surely a competent adult would not let their son near this stuff, especially when they were underage?"
An anger started to build inside of William. He was lost for words as to what to say to such a callous comment.
Mrs Davies continued. "It seems your father was not a stable person. I've got reports here of many so called 'accidents' happening at your house over the years. It seems like he had had enough of failing at his experiments and under the pressures of a visit from the government, with nothing to show, he decided to end it all and blow up his workshop with you inside and then end his and your mother's lives together. Can you help us in understanding this?"
William was too stunned to speak. The anger was bubbling so hard inside of him, he could feel his body getting hotter and hotter. A sharp stinging pain shot up from his hands as he gripped them tightly. Kathleen looked in horror at her cousin, as she noticed the blood coming from his palms, as William's cat nails protruded outwards.
"How dare you!" Kathleen shouted. "How dare you say that about my uncle. He would never have done that, he was amazing."
"Excuse me young lady, don't talk to Mrs Davies like that," DI Jefferson said in a harsh tone. "We need to know the facts."
"The facts are that someone else killed my uncle and aunt and tried to blow up his work. Right now, they are out there and my cousin is mourning the loss of his parents. Get out of here now, seriously, go."
There was a bang from the hallway as the front door closed. A call came from the hallway. Aunt Mabel was home.
"In here mum, we need help!" Kathleen called.
Aunt Mabel came hurrying in. Kathleen explained what had happened. Mabel looked over at her nephew who was beginning to shake and large salty tears falling down his face.
"I would like the both of you to get out of my house, right now. You can rest assured I will be talking to your superiors about this. Questioning a minor without suitable adult supervision. I'll have your jobs for this. Get out!"
Kathleen had never seen her mother this angry. She was not a woman to mess around with in this state. DI Jefferson and Mrs Davies gathered their things and walked out of the house, Kathleen going after them to make sure they definitely left. She slammed the door after them.
Aunt Mabel moved over to William and cradled him in her arms. He let go of his emotion and a howl like a wolf in pain rang though the house as he cried like never before. There was not a dry eye in the house at that moment.