As Gabriel hit the ground, he landed on his side and went skidding across the mud. He kept his eyes on Jai-Lee the whole time, holding her tightly and making sure she was safe.
When the two stopped skidding, Gabriel opened his arms to let her out.
"We should be safe here," said Gabriel, breathing heavily as he rubbed his shoulder and rose to his feet.
His wings buzzed rapidly before beginning to shrink. The glowing blue membranes collapsed inward like folding blades, vanishing into his back. His skin shifted, the faint glow of his veins fading, and the carapace-like texture receded. The transformation reversed itself smoothly, like a symbiote retreating back into its host, until, finally, Gabriel stood in his normal human form: sweaty, rattled, but otherwise intact.
"Woah, dude," said a guy on a nearby bench, eyes wide as he rubbed them furiously. He stood up from the bench on shaky legs and took a swig of his drink as he pointed at Gabriel. "You were just… just a huge dragonfly thingy," he said, slurring his words.
"Who, me?" Gabriel said, trying to play it cool. "I think you're just seeing things. A human can't be a dragonfly, dude. You've had way too much to drink."
The man blinked hard and looked down at the drink in his hand, then back at Gabriel. "Man… you're right. I need to stay off the drugs and alcohol. I'm seeing things." He shook his head slowly as he stumbled forward, wagging his finger, and muttered, "I need my home... and I need my bed."
Then he wandered off, still mumbling to himself, waving his drink in the air.
"That was a close call," said Jai-Lee, standing by Gabriel, still catching her breath.
"I know," Gabriel replied.
"Turn back into that dragonfly thing! There's no one around, you're good."
"Jai, do you really think that's a wise thing to do? We don't even know the extent of what I can do. What if I hurt someone?" said Gabriel.
"Really, Gabriel? We're in the middle of a large park at night, and the only person I've seen around here was that crazy drunk man, and as you can see, he's gone now. So just do it, please…"
Jai-Lee wasn't one to back down; when she wanted something, nine times out of ten, she usually got it. She walked towards Gabriel until she was in touching distance, then rested her face on his chest. "Please Gabriel, you know I don't have much fun anymore, especially with it being just me and my dad and him having to work all the time," she said as she fluttered her eyelashes.
"Wow, you're playing that card." Gabriel looked down at Jai-Lee, shaking his head. "Okay, I'll do it, just this once," Gabriel said, closing his eyes and trying to focus.
But nothing happened.
"What's wrong?" Jai-Lee asked.
"I don't know. I'm trying, but… I can't. I don't know why," Gabriel muttered, as confused as he was frustrated.
"That's strange," Jai-Lee whispered.
"I know. Let's give it another shot." He closed his eyes once more and began to picture the room and the men inside it holding their firearms towards him, and his fingertips starting to glow and change color.
"It's working, Gabe, it's working. Whatever you're doing, just keep doing it."
But that was it. No matter how much he thought of that room, the men inside it, or how close of a call it was for him, the transformation wouldn't move anymore past just his fingertips. His teeth ground against each other, his muscles tensed, and veins bulged, but there was nothing.
Gabriel's eyes opened, the look of disappointment on full show. "I tried Jai, I really tried."
"Don't beat yourself up Gabe. You've only just got these powers today."
"You're right, I shouldn't be so hard on myself."
But as Gabriel eased up, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket and his heart sank in his chest. He pulled it out and looked down at the screen. Six missed calls.
"Look Jai," Gabriel said, showing Jai-Lee the missed calls. "I think during all the chaos I missed her calls. I'm a dead man."
"Gabe, just call her back and keep calm, okay."
Gabriel clicked on the missed call and his phone began to dial. His mom had her phone in her hand already, waiting for Gabriel to call.
"Mom, I know, I'm sorry. I lost track of time and didn't see your calls."
"That's not acceptable Gabriel. You want me to treat you like a grown-up, you need to start acting like one. You're going to have to get an Uber, and not in ten minutes—right now, mister," Nicole snapped.
"So you're not going to wait for me, Mom?"
"No, Gabriel. I've waited long enough. If I wait for you any longer, I'll be late," she replied firmly.
"Alright, Mom… I'm on my way."
Gabriel looked over at Jai-Lee. "I've gotta go. We'll catch up at school tomorrow."
"See you there," Jai-Lee said with a nod.
Gabriel walked toward the park entrance and waited for his Uber. "Three minutes. Not bad."
Three minutes flew by, and before he knew it, the silver sedan was in front of him. The driver wound down the window and offered Gabriel a smile. "Gabriel, I take it?" he said, his voice quiet but welcoming.
"Yeah."
Gabriel got into the back of the Uber, put his seatbelt on, then closed his eyes as he rested his head against the headrest.
The Uber ride didn't take long—twenty minutes—but as he stepped out of the car and into the restaurant, his mother was waiting by reception, tapping her watch.
"I know Mom, I'm sorry. Is he mad?"
"Luckily for you son, he was too busy to notice. He's been swamped since the moment he stepped in here. But I still expected better from you."
Gabriel let out a deep sigh then maneuvered his way into the restaurant. Daniel was the first person he saw.
"Better late than never," said Daniel.
"Really, bro? We're doing this again?" Gabriel rolled his eyes.
"What?" Daniel laughed.
"Gabriel, over here!" Robert called, signaling his son over. "This is my oldest son, Gabriel," he said to his colleagues.
"He's the spitting image of your wife," one of the scientists remarked.
"Looks like your father," another added.
"Now that I think about it, I do see your father in him," a third said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, regardless of who you look like," one said, and they all laughed.
Through the laughter, Robert's phone began to ring. "Another person ringing to congratulate, I suppose," Robert said with a smug grin on his face. He reached into his pocket and took out his phone, but when he looked at the screen, he saw the local police department and his heart sank.
No... he wouldn't... would he? If he sold me out, that would implicate him too, Robert thought. But maybe he has his exit strategy from the jump. Or is he going to have someone take the fall just to sink my ship. Robert took a huge gulp, then snapped out of his daze and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Is this Robert James?"
"Speaking," Robert said through dry lips. He stepped back from the crowd and made his way to a corner, making sure no one could hear his conversation.
"This is Jesse from Chaseville Police Department. There's been a break-in at your lab—"
Before Jesse could finish, Robert ended the call and bolted from the corner toward the restaurant door.
"Is everything okay?" Nicole asked, but he didn't respond. He just ran past her like she wasn't even there, jumped into his car, and drove like a man possessed, blowing through red lights and weaving through traffic.
When he arrived, the police were already on the scene. The building was a wreck.
"What happened here?" Robert demanded.
"You must be Robert James, I take it," said Jesse. "I was the officer you spoke to on the phone. I was hoping you might know who would do something like this."
Robert hesitated. Every bone in his body wanted to say Derrick's name, but he knew the consequences of snitching on a criminal organization.
"I don't have a clue, officer. I'm a family man, a pillar of the community. I just focus on my work and my family. I can't think of anyone or any reason someone would do this."
As the officer continued to speak, Robert stared blankly at the building that was once his lab. Then it dawned on him: the dragonfly, his experiments—were they okay?
"Can I go inside? Please let me inside."
"Sorry, I can't do that. This is an active crime scene. You going in there could mess up the investigation," Jesse said. "So I'm sorry, you can't."
"I just need to see if my dragonfly is still there. Please, it's my life's work."
"Hold on," Jesse said, putting his hand out to stop Robert from going further. "Did anyone find a dragonfly inside?" he continued, speaking into his radio.
"Positive," Officer Kieran replied. "It's safe in its case, with Omar."
"Got it," Jesse said. "It's safe. One of my officers will bring it to you."
Robert exhaled with relief. "Thank you."
"It's best you head home," Jesse added. "But here, take my card. If you remember anything or anything that might help this case comes to your mind, give me a call."
"I will," Robert said, pocketing the card.
Derrick and his men barely made it out of the lab before the police arrived. By the time they got outside, Derrick had already taken the SUV and got himself out of there. The men, visibly battered and bruised, scampered into the remaining SUVs and got out of there. Once they were in the clear, they hit the center console and called Derrick.
The call came and at first Derrick sat there watching it, his face contorted into a look of disgust, but his hand raised nevertheless. His finger pressed the accept button.
"What the hell happened in there?" Derrick asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," the op leader muttered.
"Try me."
"There was this... dragonfly guy—boy—I don't even know what that thing was, but it was fast. Lightning fast. It knocked us all out before we could even think of putting up a fight. Then once we came back to, we heard sirens and had to bail. We just about made it out."
"Hmph."
"Told you that you wouldn't believe us."
"If I didn't see it myself, I wouldn't. But I did," Derrick said. "I saw that thing fly out… with some Chinese girl. So today's your lucky day. Just go."
The following morning, normality resumed for everyone in the James household.
"Gabriel! Come on! You're gonna be late for school!" Nicole yelled.
"I'm coming, Mom!"
As Gabriel walked toward his bedroom door, he caught a glimpse of himself in the wardrobe mirror.
"ARGHHHH!" he screamed.
Robert rushed down the corridor. "What's wrong?"
Gabriel, not knowing what to do, panicked and gripped the door handle, holding it shut.
"Gabe? Are you okay? Let me in!"
"I'm fine!"
"Open the door, Gabriel."
"No, Dad! I'm not decent!"
"Boy, we're both men here. It's nothing I haven't seen before."
Robert tried his hardest to force the door open, but it didn't budge.
"When did you get so strong? You never told me you started lifting?"
"Didn't I? I must have forgotten. Sorry, Dad. But it's not just the gym; it's the combination of both the gym and the James genes, I guess," Gabriel said, playing into his dad's ego.
It worked.
Robert couldn't help but puff up his chest and smile to himself behind the door as he let go of the handle. "Alright then, I'll see you downstairs."
As Gabriel looked down, the handle on his side of the door was visibly crushed. He began to panic and rushed to grab his phone, immediately FaceTiming Jai-Lee.
"Gabe, I'm not even ready. I'll just meet you at the gates."
"Jai. Look at me."
Jai-Lee stared at the screen, and Gabriel was transformed.
"WHAT?! You figured it out?!"
"No, Jai! I just stretched and got out of my bed. Then when I went to leave my room, I passed my mirror so I decided to look at myself. Luckily I did, because my mom and dad would have had a heart attack, and good luck to me trying to explain to them I'm a dragonfly, because I would have had to tell them that I broke into my dad's lab."
"Maybe they should know. Maybe your dad could help you."
"Jai… Rule number one in any superhero story: never tell your family. It puts them in danger. People already tried to kill us. No one else can know about this."
"You're right. My bad."
Gabriel took a deep breath and tried to rack his brain for a solution to his bug problem.
"Now I gotta fix this. I can't go out like this."
"Gabe…"
"The world's not ready for a giant human bug," he said, talking over her.
"Gabe…" she said again.
"WHAT?!"
"You've changed back."
Gabriel took a few steps back then turned to look at himself in the mirror. Patting himself down, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."
"But we need to figure this out," Jai-Lee said. "You need to get control of this thing."
"I second that," Gabriel replied. "I'll see you at school. My dad's calling."
At breakfast, the family sat around the table laughing and joking. A rare feat for them. Robert's phone rang.
"I need you to come down and sign some papers," the builder said.
"Right now?" he asked, not wanting to ruin the moment for everyone.
"The sooner the better."
"Alright. I'm coming."
Robert stood and looked at Daniel. "You. You're coming with me."
"Huh? Why me? What did I do?"
"You think I'm stupid? I'm not leaving you here so you can just play video games all day, or you'll probably sneak out to meet your friends. No, you're coming with me."
Daniel sat at the table looking at his mom, hoping that she would intervene. But she put her head down; she didn't want to get involved.
"Now, Daniel," Robert snapped.
"Fine…" Daniel grumbled, shooting up from his seat and storming out of the kitchen toward the front door.
"Can I get a lift to school?" Gabriel asked.
"Not today, son. Your school's in the opposite direction to the lab. And Gabriel, how could you let your brother get suspended?"
"Me?!" Gabriel shouted, nearly choking on his breakfast. "I'm not his fa—"
Robert looked at Gabriel with an open mouth. "Go on, say it. What—you're not his father, right!"
Gabriel didn't know where to look, but right now, in this moment, he wasn't about to look at his father. "I didn't mean it like that."
Robert began to shake his head. "There's only one way you can mean it, Gabriel, but I get it. I haven't been around much over the years, so I get that dig. But it was low."
"I'm sorry Dad, but seriously? You're blaming me for a whole human being's actions? Like, really?"
"He's your younger brother, Gabriel. You should be watching out for him, guiding him through high school and through life."
"Dad… he's not a baby. School's a maze. It's hard enough finding your own way, let alone someone else's. But I'll look out for him."
"Thank you, Gabriel. That's all I ask."
Daniel had heard enough, so he stormed back into the kitchen. He was fuming. "I don't need a babysitter," he muttered.
"You clearly do. Fighting, skipping class, and now you've been suspended? You're clearly hanging out with a bad crowd. So when you go back to school, your brother will be watching you. No ifs, no buts, no maybes," Robert demanded.
"Hanging with bad people... that's rich coming from you," Daniel mumbled under his breath.
"What did you say?" Robert asked.
"I said… Gabriel got in a fight and no one batted an eyelid. But of course… he's the golden child. How could I forget?"
Robert turned to Gabriel, who stared at Daniel with daggers.
"What? It's true. What do you want me to do, just sit here and be attacked? You have it easy, but I can read the room, so I'll just shut my mouth."
Daniel turned on his heels, refusing to acknowledge anyone as he stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
"Nic, I don't know what we're going to do with that boy, but we need an intervention. But we'll talk about that when I get back," he said, scooping up his papers from the side as he rushed out.
"See you later, son," he said just before he slammed the front door shut behind him.
"Bye…" Gabriel started. Before he could finish, the front door slammed, its echo reaching the kitchen. "…Dad, I guess," Gabriel finished.
He then picked up his bag, walked over to his mother, kissed her on the forehead, and headed out himself.