Chapter Fifteen
That Is Why You Never Bite a Man With Electricity Running Through His Veins

Once Static saw that I had started to feel sleepy, he had flown me back to my bedroom and put me to sleep. Maybe it was due to my half consciousness, but for whatever the reason, I had asked him to stay. I had expected him to say no, but instead he laid on my bed beside me, and waited until I was fast asleep. Then he left like he always did.

This morning, I had  been woken up not by the angelic sound of my alarm, (note the sarcasm), but rather by my brother banging on my room door at six in the morning, demanding me if I knew shit.

"What the hell is this?" Drew had pulled me out of my room and into the living room, where Audrey already sat, staring at the TV with a conflicted look in her eyes.

"What the hell is what?" I slurred and rubbed my eyes, plopping down next to my best friend on the couch.

With a frown, she gently pulled my hands away from my eyes and pointed at the small screen. "That."

My eyes widened at the sight. On the news they were showing a picture that was supposedly taken this morning, exposing one of the walls of the General Hospital.

"What is that?" I sat up straighter so I could get a better look at what was painted against the grey wall.

"Graffiti," Drew answered with a scowl.

I eyed over to black spray paint. My brows furrowed at the sight of the evident exploding building, signed by Static.

"What the hell is this?" Drew exclaimed once more as he pointed a finger at the screen. "I thought you said he was on our side!"

"I thought he was too," I nodded as I kept my eyes on the screen. What I didn't understand is how he could have found the time to paint that if he spent the night with me. I mean, he could have painted it before or after he came to see me but I would have trusted him to tell me about doing something like that.

"It's not that bad," I tried to reason, "It could just be art."

"You know what? I give up," My brother raised his hands in defeat, "I thought you tamed him but you clearly didn't. Please, just deal with the villain."

"He's not a villain," I shot back and whipped my head in my brother's direction, but he just strolled out of the room, completely ignoring my comment.

I shot Audrey a glance but she just gave me a guilty smile before trotting after my brother.

***

By the time Sam had picked me up, my mind was still buzzing with questions. I couldn't wrap my head around what Static did. I didn't know why he did it, what it meant, and I hadn't received an explanation. I didn't even know if I was going to get one.

"You alright?" Sam questioned as we made our way out of my tall apartment building.

I nodded in response and followed him to the curb where a blue KIA rested. As a gentleman, Sam opened the passenger door for me to climb in. I smiled at him in thanks as he shut the door and walked over to the driver's side and hopped in too.

The engine roared to life and we pulled away from the curb. I snook a glance a Sam who was watching the road intently, and I wondered if that was because he was afraid to look at me.

"So..." I perked as I looked out the window and fiddled with my hands.

"So..." Sam repeated.

"Where are you taking us?" I decided to ask him.

He kept his eyes on the road, but I could spot a smile tugging at his lips. "The May Fair."

The May Fair was a fair that came every May, hence the name, and lasted around two to three weeks. Most people, generally families with children, would go and spend the day.

"Really?" I asked, and sat up in my seat.

"Yeah," He nodded.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did you ask someone if it was a good idea to take me or did you just take a random guess and assume that I would love to go?"

He shrugged. "A bit of both. I just guessed that, based of how mature you are," He said that part with an eye roll, sarcasm evident in his tone, "you would love to spend the day at a fair surrounded by young children."

"What a lucky guess," I smiled and sat back in my seat as he chuckled.

After a few more minutes of me bouncing in my seat, we had pulled into the crowded, dirt parking lot. Sam found a spot near entrance and as soon as he pulled the brake, I was out of my seat and dashing to the ticket counter and Sam had to run to keep up with me.

"Hi," The blonde girl watched me with a weird smile. "Which type of pass would you two like?"

I eyed the three options as Sam asked, "What's the difference between the three?"

The girl pointed to the first one, "You could get twenty tickets, which would let you ride a certain amount of rides, based on how many tickets each ride costs, "She pointed to the second. "This one gets you fifty tickets, which, much like the twenty tickets, will let you on a certain amount of rides based on how many tickets they cost. " She pointed to the third option, "The All-Day Bracelet is a blue paper bracelet that gives you access to all the rides for the day."

Sam opened his mouth but before he could say something I cut him off by shouting "Bracelet!"

"Two bracelets?" The girl narrowed her eyes at Sam for approval.

He chuckled. "Yeah, two bracelets, please."

The girl typed something into the register and gave us the total. I reached into my pocket to grab my wallet but Sam had already beat me to it, because in one very quick motion he had his wallet in hand and his cash in the other.

He handed the young girl the cash in exchange for the bracelets. He turned around to hand me mine but faltered when he saw my sour expression.

"Thank you for paying," I told him, "But I've had enough guys pay for my things so I'd very much rather if this time, instead of being a gentleman by paying, be a gentleman by respecting my wishes to pay for my own shit."

Sam tried to suppress a grin. "Well, I enjoy paying for your shit," He explained, "So as tempting as this offer may be, I'm going to have to say no."

So that became our little game. Everywhere we went where cash was needed, it became a race to see who could pay first. But somehow Sam kept winning, grabbing his wallet out in record time. We go to buy popcorn, he wins. We go to buy cotton-candy, he wins. We go to tip the custodian, he wins. (Don't ask why, it just happened.)

But we went on many rides as well. I don't know their names, but I do know that we went on this one with this loop, and one that had this disco ball on the roof or something. Never mind, there was no roof, maybe it was on the cart? Not sure. My point is that we went on a lot of rides. In fact, we rode this super crazy skinny one like three times, and after that much spinning I ended up puking in the nearest trash can.

"You alright?" Sam asked with worried eyes as he handed me a bottle of cool water.

"I think so," I opened the bottle and began to dump the water onto my forehead, but Sam quickly snatched it out of me hands.

"It's for drinking," He reminded me. Oh. He handed the water back and so I drank it.

"Can we go on the ferris wheel?" I pointed to the large wheel about five-hundred meters away from us.

"are you are you're okay?" He asked and I nodded, already standing up on my feet. I wanted to be up and closer to the clouds.

We strode over to the ride and I showed my wrist-band, granting my entrance. Sam followed after me and we entered a cart, one of the workers shutting the door behind us.

My feet kicked in excitement as we started going up, and from the corner of my eye I could see Sam watching me with amusement.

"Look at it," My breath fogged up the window as I pressed my face against the glass, but I continued to watch the city grow smaller as we went higher.

"It's beautiful," I told his in awe.

"It is," He agreed as he kept his eyes on me, although I probably looked like some kid in a candy store, with my cheek being squished against the window.

Although my eyes were focused on the window, I could spot him flinch.

I sat back up to ask him what was wrong when I got a mix of a clenching pain in my stomach, almost like a cramp, and a stomach ache, along with a bit of nausea. I bent over and clutched my stomach.

"Are you okay?" Sam leaned over in alarm to help me.

"Yeah," I sent him a small smile. "It's probably some leftover nausea from that last ride and a bit of motion sickness." I told him truthfully. I honestly didn't feel completely okay after puking but I wanted to go on the ride.

He sat back slowly. "If you're sure..."

"I'm sure," I nodded and continued to watch the window.

***

Soon after, we called it a day and Sam dropped me back off at home. I had thanked him for the awesome day and gave him a hug before entering our apartment to see a Audrey and Drew in their super suits.

My eyes widened when I saw Audrey with red-brimmed eyes and a tissue in her hands, meanwhile my brother's hands were on fire, along with glowing red eyes, signaling the fact that he was starking mad. The two sat side-by-side on the couch, facing the TV as the news played.

They both jumped at the sound of me closing the door, and I saw the fire in Inferno's eyes lessen, but at the sight of me they sparked brighter than they were before I entered. Uh oh.

Luna watched me with pain in her eyes as Inferno stood up in a flash and marched right over to me.

I backed closer to the door, my eyes widening in fear at my brother. I've seen him this mad only ever once, and that was because one of my childhood bullies had shoved me off the climber and into the rocks, giving me my first broken arm. But this time, his anger was directed at me. Or maybe there was something behind me.

I felt my back hit the door. Yeah, there's nothing behind me.

"Where the hell were you!" He shouted and pushed the door I had my back against, and I almost jumped out of my shoes.

"I was on my date," I squeaked, "You know that."

He let out a cold, humorless laugh. "How can I be so sure you weren't out with Static causing crime?"

With a small gust off confidence, I pushed myself off of the door and took a step closer to my brother. "What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"You two are probably fucking, aren't you?" He clenched his jaw and shook his head at me. "What did he do, pay you? Or did you give in on your own free will-"

"What the fuck, Drew?" I demanded shook my head.

"It makes sense, you know," He continued, "That you two would be fucking. How else would you actually agree to help him? Why would you even let him speak to you?" I jumped again as he slammed his fist against the door. "He's got you wrapped around his finger, I bet. You'd kill for him or some shit. No, you already have!" He screamed.

"That's why you didn't show up, huh?" He screamed in my face, "Because you were two busy blowing up buildings together!"

"What are you talking about?" I yelled back at him and shoved his shoulder.

"Six people died, Skylar!"

My heart stopped.

There was a short pause, and the only thing I could hear was the sound of his heavy breaths. "Six fucking people died." He lowered his voice, "Thirty-seven in critical condition."

'What?" I whispered.

"Don't act like you don't know," He growled, "All the Supers felt it, and all the Supers came, but yet you didn't."

"Drew," I said with a bit more force, "What happened?"

"The hospital blew up," He spat, "That's what fucking happened."

I stifled a sob, "What?"

"You heard me," He raised his voice again. "I was going to tell you that a goddamned date isn't an excuse, but then I realized that with everything going on,a date would be the last place you'd be." He shook his head at me again.

"What do you mean? What the hell are you telling me?" I let out an exasperated cry.

"It was obviously Static," He exclaimed, "He painted an exploding building ten hours before the actual thing happened. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

I felt something in my chest. I didn't know what it was. Betrayal? Guilt?

"You seriously think I'd do that?" I asked him, my eyes tearing up, "You seriously think I'd kill innocent people just because?"

I felt a tear slip. I didn't know what to think at the moment. I should have been there, I could have helped. Why would Static do that? How could he?

"Why would you even help him. Why would you team with him?" He whispered but I continued to stare at the ground in shock.

"You didn't want to help him, did you?" He whispered.

"He threatened me," I whispered, coming out with the truth. I didn't matter anyway. Static betrayed me and the city.

"He really is just the bad guy," Inferno said, and I didn't even bother to deny it.

"I'm so sorry," I cried, and looked up to meet Audrey's red eyes. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there." Luna got up from the couch and swallowed me in a hug.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help but I would never, ever do such a thing," I told them.

Inferno didn't say anything. He just stood and watched as my best friend held me as I cried.

"I never thought he would do this," I tried to explain, "This is so unlikely of him. I could never see him hurting an innocent soul."

"I know," Luna shushed me, "You're okay now. Everything will be okay."

"What about the people?" I asked her, "How do we know that they'll be okay?"

She held me tighter. "We don't."

***

Once I had finalized the fact that I was indeed not a villain, I walked back to my room, ready to mope.

But as soon as I entered my room, my door was shut behind me and a hand clamped over my mouth. As soon as the hand touched my lips, I bit, because I knew exactly who It was.

But my plan backfired, since as soon as my teeth dug into his skin, a hot shock ran through my body and I stiffened in pain.

"And that is why you never bite a man who has electricity running through his veins," Static whispered, but there was no trace of humor in his voice.

He grabbed me in his arms before I fell to the ground from the shock, and laid me down on my bed.

"You're not a man," I managed to spit out, "just a coward."

"I didn't do that," He told me, "I didn't do anything you think I did. After everything, is it really hard to believe?"

I cleared my throat. "You told me not to trust you," I reminded him, "You said I shouldn't trust you."

"Well now i'm telling you to trust me," I could sense the urgency in his voice.

"Why?" I asked him, "I should be fighting you right now."

"Trust me," He said again, "Please." He begged.

"But why should I?"I hissed.

"Because you're the only one that will."

I didn't answer right away, mainly because i didn't know how. Partly because I almost wanted to hear what he had to say

"Slick came to me," he said, "without you. He came to me when I wasn't with you." He clarified.

"And he asked me to hurt you. Do something. Anything that would make me lose your trust. But I didn't want to do that," he shook his head, "I couldn't hurt you. I can't hurt you."

I felt something inside me twist with a feeling I couldn't identify.

"So instead he took matters into his own hands," said sadly, "and unfortunately his way is was most cruel." He shook his head.

"I didn't paint that," he whispered, "And I most certainly didn't blow up the hospital."

I had doubts in my mind. I had warning bells going off too.

"Please believe me," He whispered. "This is what he wants. He wants you to hate me."

"It almost worked, didn't it?" I smiled slightly.

His face lit up at my words. "You believe me?"

My smile faltered. "No, that's not what I meant. I still don't think I can trust you."

He crouched down beside me on my bed and grabbed my hand. "Then don't think about it. Just trust me."

He saw me hesitate because he spoke again. "Please, Skylar. He's only trying to drive you away from me." He begged.

"Why?" I asked softly.

"Because he knows we're most vulnerable without the other," he replied.

I swallowed. "I trust you."

"You trust me?" He breathed.

"I trust you."

After the words left my mouth, he had swooped me up in his arms and we were out the window.