Versus

“That doesn’t make you one of them.” His expression changed as though a thought had instantly come to him. “As a matter of fact, you may be a danger to them. Even more than we already are.”

His eyes grew bigger, his was looking off, thinking deeply, “What I mean to say is that they have no power over us, we can make them stop by a simple command, but because you were born of one of them, I have heard that they may have different powers that we don’t possess. I wonder if those were passed to you.” He finished while still in deep thought.

She would’ve been immediately worried, but he looked excited, intrigued by her. That is the only reason she was now holding it together.

She knew that the tears in her eyes still remained. She felt unworthy to be here. Like she was the misfit here. The outsider. If she were the only one that was conceived by a Diablenom, then would others reject her or not want her here?

“What’s on your mind, Emma? I can help. You can trust me.”

She held the tears this time, she decided the only growth she could achieve would be to move forward. To understand. “Do I truly belong here?”

“Oh, dear child, Yes! As much as anyone. Maybe more than anyone. You are unique. We all are. You just a little more so. Does that make you special? Absolutely!” Well, if anything could make her feel better, it was his genuine enthusiasm.

“I’d rather not tell anyone about my father.” She almost begged the request.

“Oh, Emma. The secrets I have kept.” He smiled.

“I’ve been keeping your secret long before today.”

“You have?” She said with more fear than she intended. How long have they known about her?

“Emma. Our world is very complicated as you are only now figuring out. I cannot say how sorry I am that you have had to figure so much out on your own. I’m so very thankful that we noticed when we did.”

“Who noticed?” Her mind was racing with every theory one could invent. From a spy to a long-lost relative. “And how, Sir?”

She had been wondering this from the very beginning. How did she get the invitation to this “special” school if they didn’t already know that she too was “special?”

“Well, I will give you the short version.”

“Ok.”

“Galens are everywhere. As you’ve recently discovered. And well, I am like you. I am obviously half Galen. The older we get, the more we can feel pain in others. That is what can “pull” us to an area or even a person. This pain is usually caused by evil so that’s what we naturally gravitate towards. If we can feel this, can you imagine what a full Galen feels?”

“I haven’t thought about that.”

“Well, one was drawn to you around the age of 16 if I’m not mistaken.”

“Me?” Her eyes full of the overwhelming horror of what was to come.

“Why?” Her voice quivering.

“I can only guess that you were coming into your powers and that’s when you stopped an attack.”

“I did what?”

“It is true.” His smile was beaming with pride as though he had known her for a lifetime.

“I don’t know anything about an attack.”

She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Much like the one she had originally with Axle. Like another case of mistaken identity. What if all of these things were coincidences and she wasn’t what or who they thought she was?

Her face began to feel hot. She was certain that her facial color was either red or pale white. Hard to know for sure, given the nauseousness she was currently feeling.

“Dear, that’s because you stopped it.”

She had nothing to lose or everything to lose but she just had to know. So, with a lump in her throat, and her future dangling on a string in front of her, she just asked, “How do you know that I did these things?”

“A Galen saw it.”

She was lost in her thoughts. She pondered over what it could’ve been that they saw. She started to hope again that she did belong here. She really wanted to belong here.

“Do you know what they saw?”

“Of course, I do.” He smiled.

He got up for a minute, the smile lingered on his cheeks.

He went to a filing cabinet and begin looking for something. He began repeating her name, “Emma Johnson, Johnson….Johnson….here it is, ” as he pulled out a file.

He turned to her, “I remember what happened, I just can’t remember the date. Give me just a second.” He turned back to the folder.

“Got it.” He said as he closed the file and placed it back in the drawer.

“March 3rd, 2018.”

She shrugged her shoulders. She shook her head to indicate that the date didn’t trigger anything for her.

He began, “I was informed that on that date, you stopped a Diablenom.”

“What does that mean? What if I just did what normal people did? Like stopping a bully from hitting someone.”

“Dear, a bully is when a human acts under the influence of a DM. In March, you stopped the DM itself.”

She just stared at him. The thought of something existing outside of her sight, willing others to do harm, was frightening. She knew evil existed. It was apparent if her eyes were open on any given day, but that it takes a form and walks and thinks and plans. That’s pretty scary.

“How?” She asked with obvious apprehension.

He paused. She could tell that he was choosing his words wisely.

“You were being watched.”

He paused to assess the fear that overtook her face.

She was afraid he was going to stop, “Please tell me.”

He took a deep breath and began, “A Galen was nearby. He could feel the presence of the DM. He didn’t know that you were a Galen when he hurried to reach you. I was told that you were on a field trip. Your class had visited your county courthouse. It was a civil court case, nothing dangerous but when your group was starting to leave and get back on your bus…”

“I talked to a man.” She remembered what she thought was a minor detail.

“Yes.”

“I remember doing that, but how did that stop an actual DM?”