CHAPTER TWO: RED LETTER ECLIPSE
“What did you do?! What did you do?!” Lily yells.
Riley groans as he feels paralysed and stuck in place whilst looking at his surroundings.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Lily enunciates as she faces directly towards Riley, ensuring that she has his complete and total focus, without fail.
“Um, I… I remember… Our lesson, I remember the lesson finishing early. We came out to see the eclipse…” Riley groans.
“Tell me more, carry on.” Lily demands.
“This morning… You woke me up with a knock on my door.” Riley remembers. Knocking occurs on his bedroom door, waking him immediately. Riley reacts in shock and surprise having forgotten that he now lives in a haven.
“Are you there, Riley? It’s time to get up!” Lily shouts, her voice muffled by the door.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m up. I’ll meet you in a second.” Riley groans as he realises he slept in the same clothes he wore the night before. He stumbles to his cupboard where he notices that some clothes have kindly been given to him already. He picks out a dark green shirt, an equally dark blue jacket and some black trousers. Riley dresses into his new clothes and leaves his room to meet Lily.
“Hey... Riley. Class starts in an hour and a half, let’s grab some breakfast from Roberts Hall first?” Lily reacts in shock, hoping that her reunion with Riley the day before was not a concoction of her imagination. She guides Riley as the two go to Roberts Hall together and quietly eat breakfast with each other. Lily’s group of friends approach, immediately joining them at their table.
“Hey Lily!” a female figure greets Lily as she sits down next to her.
“Hi Jamie, you alright?” Lily replies to Jamie, a tall and slim teenager with shoulder length blonde hair, a plaid shirt and skinny jeans.
“I’m not too bad, so you’re friends with the newbie, huh?” Jamie remarks.
“Yeah, this is Riley, we knew each other on the outside. He’s lost his memory though, so I’m trying to help him get it back.” Lily explains Riley’s situation. Jamie doesn’t respond, she looks to the other members sitting at the table. As Lily is about to place a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, she notices the others have become awkwardly quiet.
“What’s the problem?” Lily asks whilst she slowly and carefully places her spoon back in her bowl. The others stare at one another, unsure of how to answer.
“Nobody in here knows each other, except for the families that arrived together. Now this guy, Riley? Yeah, Riley’s come along, and you two know each other. I guess it’s just a bit upsetting to some of us that we have family and friends out there who could be dead or alive. It’s a great thing you two have found each other! It’s just making some of us think.” Jamie explains hastily.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it like that.” Lily stutters under her breath.
“No, honestly, there’s nothing to apologise for!” Jamie speaks clearly and places her hand on Lily’s shoulder. They all continue eating their breakfast in dead silence.
Lily and Riley leave the table after having finished their breakfast, departing from Roberts Hall whilst feeling the digging stares of cautious eyes in their backs. Riley turns around and Jamie and the other students suddenly avert their gazes in the most nonchalant fashion.
“Come on, Riley. I should show you where the classroom is, class’ll start soon.” Lily instructs, as they both leave.
Jamie waits until the coast is clear before making her suspicions known. “When I was in her room the other night whilst she was in here having dinner, I saw that picture in her desk, remember? A picture marked ‘Me and Riley’. Whoever that guy is, it’s not Riley. You saw that photo, right, Jonathan?” Jamie whispers to the others on the table before directing a question to Jonathan, a slightly built teenager with very short hair, wearing a jacket and jeans.
“Yeah… So what’s Lily up to? Either she’s smuggling somebody else in, or Riley’s powers are to shapeshift? For all we know, it could just be another guy called Riley.” Jonathan responds.
“I overheard the teachers speaking about Riley’s powers being inactive. Come on, Lily doesn’t help people she doesn’t know. Another person called Riley would be too much of a coincidence.” Jamie argues.
“Maybe he’s just stuck in this form whilst his powers are inactive? Or maybe that is his real form?” Jonathan counter-argues.
“I don’t think it’s his real form… She wouldn’t take a picture with anything other than his real form, right? Either way, we’ll find out exactly what his powers are once the eclipse is over.” Jamie wraps up her concerns.
Lily walks Riley towards the classroom whilst steadily analysing his eyes, truly accepting that Riley is here. As they step over creaky wooden floorboards, Lily looks at an obviously distracted Riley, but chooses not to speak to him just in case she interrupts his train of thought. As soon as they reach the classroom, Lily abruptly stops walking.
“Oh, is this the classroom?” Riley asks, followed by Lily nodding. “Sorry, I didn’t want to say something in case I disturbed you, seemed like you were deep in your thoughts there.” She explains.
“I was just staring into space, really. I was finding the creaking of the wood quite… therapeutic.” Riley answers with a slight smile. The two walk into the classroom where Frank Bowman is already sitting at the desk, setting up his presentation for the lesson.
“Lily, Riley. Good morning. How are you both?” He asks.
“I’m good thanks, Mr. Bowman.” Lily responds, smiling.
“And Riley?” Frank asks.
“Sorry, yeah, I’m okay thanks.” Riley responds with a nervous tone in his voice.
“I promise you, Riley, there is absolutely nothing to be worried about. Today is an exciting day, a red-letter day, even.” Frank expresses cheerfully. Lily sits down at her seat and nods towards Riley to indicate that he should sit down too. Riley takes the seat next to Lily, and sits down whilst the other students begin arriving into the class.
“This is a small class.” Riley whispers to Lily.
“There aren’t many students here, it’s kind of nice. Everybody knows everybody.” Lily whispers back.
“Right, good morning everybody! As you know, we’re only having a quick recap session today for revision purposes so that we can go outside and watch the eclipse. Turns out that it’ll be in alignment with Mars also, which is a very rare astronomical event, quite exciting. For those of you who don’t know, we have a new student, Riley Stenson.” Frank claps his hands once and introduces Riley to the class. Riley nods nervously and smiles towards his new classmates. “Today, we’re going to carry on with the Sullivan Consequence.” He informs the class. “Hmm, Geoff, mind reminding the class where we left this topic off last time?” Frank points to Geoff, a young male student in the room.
“Um, well the Sullivan Consequence is when somebody with rapid cellular regeneration jumped off a large structure in front of a news crew and revealed herself to the world. It happened in the Sullivan Brothers carnival.” Geoff answers.
“Correct, that’s why we refer to it as the Sullivan Consequence. Claire Bennet jumped from a Ferris wheel, which quickly resulted in a global panic. Many of us tried to find out how to undo what had been done, but the consequences were so severe that any change made in the past would still create a ripple effect that would result in the Sullivan Consequence anyway. In another word, it was inevitable to change things, so they were ultimately left as they were. Many died as a result of this, and many others went missing, including the infamous Gabriel Gray, also known as Sylar. It is believed that Sylar killed up to fifty people, and he is one of the reasons that people are still hunting us today.” Frank inspects Riley’s expressions for a reaction. “Here in the United Kingdom, many families discovered that their children or relatives were indeed one of the evolved and they tried their best to protect them. Some others decided to hand them over the police. The more unfortunate ones were kille
d by a group of hunters known as the Purgers, the first group of killers who sought to rid the world of the evolved just because they couldn’t understand people like us.” Frank continues, as he looks to the class, witnessing their concerned expressions as they are reminded of the devastation that burdens those who aren’t in a safe sanctuary. He walks around the classroom, looking over everybody as he continues to remind them of the murderous group of killers known as the Purgers. “At the end of the day, we’re all human. Powers or not, there are good people and bad people. Like I mentioned Sylar earlier, a killer of the worst kind who must pay for his crimes. There were rumours that he had redeemed himself, but he must still pay for the atrocities he has committed.” He mutters whilst walking behind his students. “We should always be grateful for those who helped set up these safe havens across the world, for we aren’t in as much danger as those on the outside.” Frank concludes as he looks outside the window and then down to his watch, noticing that it is almost time for the eclipse. “It’s time to cut this lesson short, the eclipse is due to start any minute now. If you’ll all proceed out to the grounds outside, we’ll begin setting up for the eclipse.” Frank instructs the class as students begin placing their chairs away and proceeding towards the doors that lead outside.
“Lily?” Frank calls.
“Yes, Mr. Bowman?” she answers.
“Make sure Riley doesn’t get lost, we wouldn’t want him missing the eclipse, now!” Frank smiles, as he nods towards Riley.
“I’ll stick with Lily, don’t worry.” He reassures Frank. Riley and Lily walk outside the classroom and Frank walks back towards his desk sombrely, slowly tidying up his paperwork and letting out a long sigh, staring blankly into the sky outside his window.
“How long is the eclipse due to last for?” Riley asks Lily.
“Oh, well the entire event takes place over a couple of hours or so, but the actual coverage of the sun lasts maybe about seven or eight minutes? That’s the length of time we’ll remain powerless for. Hopefully when it’s over, it’ll kick start your abilities again.” She clarifies.
“What good are these abilities if I have no memory of who I am?” Riley questions himself. Lily stares towards Riley, unsure of how to answer him. She looks down, staring at the ground and stammering with the jumbled thoughts that cross her mind, unable to utter a clear answer.
“It’s okay. I just have to deal with things as they come, right?” Riley places his hand on Lily’s arm, attempting to reassure her with a gentle grip. After a moment of silent reassurances through their stares, the two walk out to the back of Petrelli Manor and join the others on a field in preparation for the eclipse.
As Riley and Lily look upwards towards the sky, the other students begin flocking into the field to join in on the natural wonder that is about to occur. Frank hastily leaves the classroom, and walks towards Riley.
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Where does it come from? This constant, unfulfilled need to solve all of life’s mysteries, these seemingly simple questions with what must be complex, yet unanswered explanations.” He speaks with awe. “With no memory to hold onto, I guess that feeling is ever more powerful for you than it is for those like myself, overburdened with memories of one’s life.” Frank continues to delve into his philosophical thoughts with Riley whilst they both gaze into the sky as shadows begin to envelop the land they stand on.
“I don’t feel good. I feel—” Riley groans, immediately blacking out as the sun is totally obscured. What felt like a brief moment of unconsciousness turned out to be an entire six minutes of blackness, of no control". Riley awakens to notice that the eclipse is almost over, the sun shines fiercely upon the fiery manor.
“What did you do?! What did you do?!” Lily yells.
Riley groans as he feels paralysed and stuck in place whilst looking at his surroundings.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Lily enunciates, her hands holding Riley’s face, as she stares Riley in the eye, ensuring that she has his complete and total focus, without fail.
“Um, I… I remember… Our lesson, I remember the lesson finishing early. We came out to see the eclipse…” Riley groans.
“Tell me more, carry on.” Lily demands.
“This morning… You woke me up with a knock on my door.” Riley continues to groan, his vision blurred. As his sight adjusts to the surroundings, Riley notices that the entire complex is on fire and bodies lay around the field. The eclipse concludes whilst Riley shudders, he feels a cold hollow emptiness in his chest. The fear and panic overwhelms him as he contemplates what must have happened during the course of the eclipse. Riley turns to his side to see Frank Bowman lying on the ground, lifeless. “No, no, no!” Riley shouts as he stumbles towards Frank, desperately trying to check for any signs of life.
“He’s gone, Ri, he’s just gone. Everybody’s gone.” Lily speaks with a broken voice whilst Riley looks around to see all the residents of Petrelli Manor have perished. Nearly fifty people have died on the spot, their bodies and limbs covering the grassy terrain.
“What… What did I do?” Riley cries.
“It wasn’t you… It wasn’t your fault. I promise you. I… Look, let’s get out of here, the Purgers are going to be here any moment. They would’ve heard or seen this place by now.” Lily tries to get Riley’s attention as she wearingly reminds him about a group known as the Purgers. Riley is oblivious, dumbstruck and totally unaware that words are escaping Lily’s mouth.
“Listen!” Lily shouts and slaps Riley across the face. “Somebody’s alive, Riley.” She hears a groaning survivor and shakes Riley by his shoulders. He immediately turns from side to side, concentrating and trying to find out where the sounds of desperation are coming from.
“This way!” Lily sees a figure by the main building and pulls Riley with her as they run towards an injured figure. “Owen, are you okay?” She recognises the injured student as he recoils in fear.
“Get him away from me! Get him away from us!” Owen yells in fear, shaking tremendously.
“It’s okay, it’s okay! It wasn’t him. Owen, look at me. I promise you, it wasn’t him.” Lily rushes to reassure Owen, placing her hand over his arm, using her abilities to calm him down.
“Then what the hell was that? His eyes, they turned orange and he just attacked everyone, relentlessly! His powers… how did he have his powers during the eclipse? We were all defenceless!” Owen yells, his mind full of endless questions. Riley listens to Owen’s testimony of the events that occurred, trembling at the thought of what he had done.
“I don’t know, Owen. But… but look at his eyes now, they’re not orange, it’s not his fault.” Lily continues to defend Riley and uses her powers to calm him down. Slowly, a growing sound begins erupting from the meadow nearby.
“What is that?” Riley whispers towards Lily.
“They found us. We have to go.” Lily commands as she grabs Riley and Owen by their arms.
“You ain’t going anywhere, missy.” A croaking voice of man with a thick accent emerges from behind Lily as he knocks her over the head with the butt of a gun.
“Oh, none of youse are going anywhere.” He chuckles whilst stroking the top of his hair, fiddling with his ponytail and scratching against the baldness on the sides of his head.
“Riley, do whatever it was you just did, and get rid of them!” Owen shouts through his teeth towards Riley as he crouches down to inspect Lily.
“I… I can’t, I… I do… don’t know how, I j… just don’t know how.” Riley stutters fearfully.
“G… g… got s… s… speech problems, laddie? The name’s Simon, and I’m gonna be taking youse all away.” Simon mocks Riley whilst laughing and waving towards his group as they approach the Manor.
“You three, go search the front of the place, and you two, check the back. Kill anybody who we don’t need, powers we’ve already catalogued, you know the drill! You hit the jackpot, Si!” An oncoming group member instructs other followers, a
s she applauds Simon.
“Nah, I dunno, Hilary. Looks like somebody else hit the jackpot, I don’t see anybody else alive here.” Simon mutters as he scratches the rear of his head.
“Then you need your eyes looking at, Si. Look at that, a little one crawling through the grass, must only be a kid!” Hilary giggles, pointing towards a crawling child, no older than ten.
“Shut up.” Simon sneers as he walks towards the crawling child.
“Mum… mummy, please. Help me find my mummy, please?” The child pleads as Simon walks around the child, noticing his broken leg.
“What’s your name, kiddo?” Simon asks the wounded child.
“Emmett, my name… it’s Emmett.” He answers with pain in his voice.
“I had a horse once Emmett, her name was… uh… Opal. One day she fell. Her leg broke.” Simon pretends to reminisce.
“Like… like mine?” Emmett wonders, as he struggles in pain.
“Yeah, kiddo. Like yours. So we went and put her down. Just a little quick thump and it was done, you see?” Simon represses a chuckle, as he crouches down to Emmett.
“She… she was a horse, right? I can be fixed. You’re not going to do that to me, are you, sir?” Emmett asks with the utmost politeness, as Simon stands up and withdraws his gun.
“Of course not, kiddo.” Simon mutters as he fires his gun in the back of Emmett’s head. Owen screams out, Lily’s lips and hands shake and Riley shudders in fear whilst he realises just how dark and evil the Purgers must be.
“You never had a horse, did you?” Hilary laughs.
“I fucking hate ‘em.” Simon groans, as he holsters his gun.
“You’re lucky the P of E doesn’t go after you, or us Purgers.” Hilary giggles.
“We’ve been through this before lass, why would they? My power is ‘armless, I can only detect whether or not somebody else has a power and what their power, or powers are. That boy already had one that we’ve categorised. These three don’t. Oi, you.” Simon hastily reminds Hilary why he isn’t targeted, as he looks towards Riley.
“What?” Riley struggles to speak, fearful of what Simon may do to him.
“I know you have powers, laddie. More than one. Yet you’re the first I’ve come across that I actually cannae scan at all. I ain’t got no clue what powers you’ve got, so this is your lucky day because we’re gonna take youse all just in case.” Simon nods his head in frustration and laughs it off. “Get these three prepared, we need to take them back.” He instructs Hilary, as the other Purgers confirm that there are no additional survivors.
“What about the guy in the prison?” Riley kneels down and whispers to Lily.
“He’s too dangerous, they wouldn’t be able to hold him back. Trust me, from what I’ve heard, he deserves to stay locked down there.” Lily whispers in return without any sign of hesitation.
“Might I say thank you to our mysterious benefactor, two down, two to go!” Hilary thanks the person responsible for making Petrelli Manor visible as she reacts excitedly at the prospect of two remaining Petrelli Manors left in the United Kingdom.
“Cover them, let’s go.” Simon instructs the other Purgers. Who place covers over the heads of Riley, Lily and Owen, blinding them from seeing whatever hell they are about to be taken to. As they are pushed into the back of a van, Riley begins breathing heavily, his heart beating faster, his head twitching. Lily quickly feels the uneasy and terrified emotions emitting from him. She moves her hand around to try to find him and she places her hand onto his, gently caressing his hand and using her powers to calm Riley down. Her powers could not be used at a more opportune time, for the incident that occurred during the eclipse could truly come about at any given time. Riley, Lily and Owen attempt to sit upright as they try to get as comfortable as anybody could possibly be in a frightful situation such as this.
“Good night.” Hilary speaks in sing-song as three Purgers cover each of their masks around the mouths with a piece of chloroform soaked cloth, causing them to fall asleep as they unwillingly embark on their journey to a locale unknown.
In what seems like mere seconds in their unconscious states, Riley, Lily and Owen are woken up inside a small and dimly lit room, secured by strong titanium walls.
“You two have very similar abilities. If you didn’t have the power to control emotions, I’d have killed you.” Simon states from behind a reinforced door as he looks towards Lily and Owen through an opening.
“I’m dangerous. Please put me somewhere else. Please.” Riley stammers pleadingly.
“You can’t hurt us. See these walls, laddie? That’s just over two metres thick. Oh, and we’re also quite, quite deep underground.” Simon speaks as he slowly leans towards Riley.
“I’m not talking about you.” Riley whispers as he continues to stammer, as Simon looks towards Riley and his friends with a smugly surprised expression.
“Ooh well, what a conundrum. You think you’d hurt your friends here?” Simon chuckles.
“Yes.” Riley answers, interrupting Simon.
“Riley, you’re not going to hurt us, I promise. Not with me here, I know you wouldn’t.” Lily nudges herself towards Riley and places her hand on his shoulder.
“I killed them all. How many were there, forty, fifty? I don’t even remember it. I had no control over my body, yet I remember their dying screams.” Riley struggles to speak, a blank expression on his face is overwhelmed by the tears developing in his eyes.
“You mean you’re our mysterious benefactors? Youse are the ones responsible for all of that back there? Wow, kiddo. You sure saved us a lot of time and hassle.” Simon nods as Riley looks towards him, enraged.
“Just me. I’m scared that I will kill all of you.” Riley groans.
“You cannae possibly do such a thing, boy.” Simon replies confidently.
“Please, I’m begging you to just lock me in a hole somewhere on my own!” Riley continues to stifle his tears whilst Simon chuckles and begins to walk away, before stopping abruptly.
“Actually… there is something I’d like to show you, lad.” Simon returns to the door, staring at Riley with a glint of curiosity in his eye. He opens the door, instructing Riley to come out.
“Riley, don’t go with him. Stay with us. Please.” Lily pleads.
“I know you can control it. If anything happens to me, I know you can control it.” Riley nods towards Lily, attempting to smile as he leaves with Simon who closes the door behind them.
“Just remember, Hope Never Dies.” Lily reminds Riley, who reacts in surprise as Simon pulls him away. She looks through the metal grate on the door, waiting for Riley to be out of sight.
“Do you know? Did you read him?” Lily speaks in a stern tone, refusing to blink as she stares into Owen’s eyes, impatiently waiting for an answer.
“Yes. Yes, I know. As soon as I’d calmed down, I read him and I knew.” Owen answers.
“I know it must be horrible, your ability. I don’t know how you cope with it.” Lily sympathises.
“Over the years I’ve come to cope with it, but reading him overloaded me, I’ve never felt so weak before from reading a person, seeing everything they are, seeing their past, present and future, it was messy and convoluted. It took double the effort with him.” Owen confesses.
“What future did you see?” Lily begs Owen to answer her, as she listens out for guards.
“You have to understand, my ability to see the future of a single person has almost never been accurate, it doesn’t account for other people or any decisions made from now onwards, I can only see the future of a person as if it were to be the consequences of choices already made.” Owen stutters as he tries to explain his abilities in the simplest way he can conjure.
“That’s okay, Owen, I just want to get an idea, what did you see?” Lily pleads eagerly.
“I saw nothing good, Lil. Complete desolation. An apocalypse. A world without water. A world without greenery. I saw him, old, withered and alone. It wasn’t
Riley anymore, he had changed. Whatever happened, nobody saw it coming. I could feel what he felt.” Owen mutters as his voice breaks.
Lily stares, her eyes wide open, her eyebrows depressed and her face doleful.
“I didn’t just see him, Lily. I saw two people. Something I’ve never experienced before. But reading the other person barely works at all, it’s a colourless mess of undecipherable images. The clearest thing I could make out was his name.” Owen explains in greater detail.
“Don’t say it. I can’t risk anybody hearing it. I trust that you know it wasn’t Riley that killed everybody in Petrelli Manor now.” Lily makes a statement for Riley’s innocence.
“Of course I know that. What can we do, though? How can we help him?” Owen runs through an endless number of questions as they form themselves in his mind.
“No matter what happens, we need to help him get back to who he was before, we need to help him recover. Please, Owen, please can you help me do this?” Lily pleads once more, holding gently onto Owen’s hands, encouraging him with her abilities. She knows that attempting to save Riley cannot be done alone.
“If I had any family, any friends in that place, I would’ve said no. He’s damn lucky I didn’t. But I feel somewhat hopeful about this. Somewhat.” Owen mumbled.
“I know I wasn’t at Petrelli Manor for long, but I’m your friend, Owen, maybe we didn’t hang around as much but we’ve always smiled and said hi to one another.” Lily protested.
“Sorry, Lily. I know you have. It’s just even in a community where everybody should understand each other, I was never accepted by a lot of people there. They knew that I knew everything about them. The one thing I’ve learnt about knowing every single detail about a person is that I actually stop judging them. You don’t know how hard it is that knowing everybody inside out can make you adore them, or despise them. That can happen to me within a matter of seconds after meeting a new person. You can understand why I keep myself hidden.” Owen complained whilst Lily stares at Owen empathetically as he looks towards the ground.
“My power to see the memories of other people is pretty useless in comparison to yours, I can only see the memories I’ve actually shared with them. I don’t need that, my memory is pretty good!” Lily enthusiastically tries to lighten the mood.
“I’d rather be reminded of good memories when I touch somebody, than see entire lives of people who don’t know I exist.” Owen interjected.
“I’m sorry.” Lily exclaimed.
“No, I’m sorry. I’ve been feeling like this for a long time now.” Owen apologised.
“Why didn’t you ever ask me for help? You know I can control emotions, I can help you feel happier?” Lily questions Owen.
“It wouldn’t be real. It wouldn’t really be how I feel. Just a fake overlay to block out how I feel. I appreciate it, really. I want to be able to feel what I feel, even if it is complete shit all the time. Knowing I’m still a good person despite feeling like this means a lot to me. It’s not that I don’t feel happiness at all, I do.” Owen insisted that he doesn’t need his emotions altered.
“I wonder what’s happening with Riley, they’re taking their time with him. I’m genuinely worried.” Lily mutters quietly.
“I’d be concerned if you weren’t worried at all. There’s nothing we can do. Right now, all we can do is wait. Unless you’ve got a teleporting power I don’t know about. To pass the time, if you could choose another power, what would it be?” Owen wondered as Lily shrugs and looks towards the door eagerly awaiting Riley’s return.
“I guess… I mean I’m happy with my powers as they are. Right now if I had to choose it would be teleportation just so we can get to Riley.” Lily responded logically. “What about you?” She asks in return.
“The ability to slow down or stop time without affecting me, definitely. I sometimes take a long time to make my mind up about things, so to be able to take as long as I like to make a decision or help somebody in danger who is far away sounds great to me. Anything instead of this, for sure.” Owen sighs whilst Lily nods. He moves his lips, but becomes hesitant to talk.
“What were you going to say?” Lily asks reassuringly.
“What did you see? When it happened?” Owen stutters, refusing to make eye contact.
“Are you sure you want to know?” Lily mutters softly as she gives Owen a chance to be spared the knowledge of the events that occurred at Petrelli Manor.
“If I’m going to help you save him, I need to know.” Owen explains, followed by Lily nodding reluctantly.
“We were waiting for the eclipse. I smiled at Riley and he smiled back. He went to go and talk to Frank and I could see him smiling politely. As the moon fully covered the sun, he suddenly changed. His smile dropped rapidly to a shell-shocked look, his eyes turned a glowing orange. Frank didn’t even… he didn’t fight back. He put his arm on Riley’s shoulder to make sure he was okay, but Riley snapped his neck there and then without even moving a muscle. That’s when I ran to hide. He looked terrified, he didn’t know where he was or what was going on. He killed everybody. Some tried to fight him physically, others fled for their lives. All of those watching the eclipse were defenceless, yet his powers were still working somehow. He eviscerated people and set everybody on fire, the buildings too. It was as if unrelenting fear lay inside of him that set itself free the moment the eclipse had reached total coverage. After it all ended, he went back to Frank’s body, standing over it and staring… just staring at it. That’s when he saw me. I thought I was dead. I couldn’t use my powers to calm him down, but I ran up to him and instantly tried to reason with him, not knowing if I would make it out alive. If Riley loved me, there would be a chance that he would have felt that love too. The vibrant orange in his eyes began to fade away and slowly, Riley was back. I saw a tear fall from his eye, almost as if he was somewhat aware of everything he’d done, but he just couldn’t remember or control any of it.” Lily reflects painfully on the tragedy.
“The fact that his powers still worked during the eclipse makes him something different, something extremely powerful, Lily. He’s very dangerous. With what I’ve seen from reading him, I will help you. I will. Since I’m locked in here with you, our interests are aligned. That leaves me with no choice.” Owen responds.
“You have a choice. He’s really important, Owen. He’s supposed to save the world. I know that much. If something happens, just keep reminding him that Hope Never Dies.” Lily concluded.
Simon is slowly tugging Riley alongside him, leading him through the dimly lit corridors, the darkness of the facility speaks volumes of the Purgers’ reputation.
“I shouldn’t have really brought you out, but my own curiosity is just far too powerful not to. You’re an intriguing figure and all, son, I cannae tell what your abilities are.” Simon smiles whilst he continues to guide Riley down the corridor. Riley refuses to speak, pondering on how Simon can be such an upbeat person after murdering an innocent child.
“Okay, okay. Here we are laddie.” Simon mutters as the two enter a very long and dimly lit room. He flicks a switch, causing the lights in the room light up one by one from the back to the front. Riley covers his eyes, struggling to adapt to the bright lights after being trapped in darkness for a while. The lights all come to life, revealing a complex looking machine with two people connected to it, one tall and strong black male with short black hair, and one small and pale female with ginger hair. Riley refuses to move whilst Simon slowly walks forward.
“Well, come on then.” Simon grabs Riley aggressively by the arm and starts to bring him towards the machine.
“What are you going to do to me?” Riley mutters, as he desperately tries to pull away.
“What? No, I’m not going to do anything to you. I want you to take a look at this.” Simon remarked, his unnatural level of curiosity desires to see Riley’s reaction to The Machine.
Riley stares towards the two figures who are linked up to this machine, concerned for th
eir wellbeing. Wires are embedded into their heads and arms, as they are kept unconscious with only their very basic functions left intact.
“Oh, don’t worry about them, they’re pretty much brain dead. They’re only there to do the cloning. The lass has the power to clone herself, and the lad has the power to give and take life.” Simon explains whilst he looks towards the middle of the machine, he stares at an unlit and concealed pod with a third figure trapped inside.
“Oh the clones get produced in this here container. Are you ready?” Simon asks with impatience, refusing to wait for an answer as he flicks the switch on the middle of the machine, turning the light on for the darkened vat in the middle.
“Oh, God.” Riley groans, fighting against the very bodily instincts that are trying to make him vomit out of sheer shock and fear.
“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Simon chuckles with a big grin on his face whilst he continues looking towards the container.
Riley looks away, attempting to debunk what he saw as the machine lit up. With little motivation, he looks back and his disbelief is shattered as he sees his own face reflected in the glass, he shifts his focus from his reflection to the figure inside the container, which appears to be a ghostly-pale and muscular version of himself.
“The Nomad, My employer’s employer, had us create this machine specifically designed to put these two together, to control and combine their powers in order to clone people. Bloody fantastic, I say. Unfortunately, most of the clones result in albinism, so they do. The Nomad is the only one who can always clone himself without albinism since he designed this machine using his own genetic detail. We’ve had some people who are cloned without albinism, it’s a wonderful game of chance.” Simon laughs, as Riley stares on in horror.
“What the hell is this?” Riley panted, as he averted his gaze from the machine.
“Chances are you’re going to die anyway, lad. Once we categorise your powers, that is. My employer only keeps those who will benefit our cause… even if they don’t want to support it.” Simon huffed as he observes the two prisoners who are unwillingly trapped and wired up to the machine.
“We, the Preservers, or the Purgers as the media likes to call us, are funded solely by the Preservation of Eden. Yeah, that eco-friendly Company that thrives to document, categorise and protect all living things on this planet, or so the world believes. It’s just a front for our goal to… well, you won’t need to know that much. You’re at the headquarters for it right now. The hidden part of it anyway.” Simon chuckles as he informs Riley without any hesitation, altogether curious about the impending reaction from Riley.
Riley refuses to react as he walks up to the machine, his lips trembling when he reaches out to touch the glass container, his clone submerged fully in the vat of water-like substance, its face covered with what Riley presumes to be an oxygen mask.
“Oi, what’s going on in here?!” A voice echoes as Riley pulls his hand away from touching the glass. The clone opens his eyes abruptly, before blinking rapidly and falling asleep.
“Jorah. I was just showing our delightful guest here the special surprise we have planned, since he’s not going to live past today.” Simon responds slowly with an explanation.
“Of course he’s going to live past today. Take him back, right now. None of the guests are authorised to access this section of the building, you should know better. Do this again, and your job will be on the line. Get the girl, and hand her over to the crew for them to prepare her.” Jorah huffs whilst Simon shakes his head and grabs Riley by his clothes, leading him away from the room and back into the holding room.
Jorah interacts with the contraption as he presses a variety of buttons in a sequential order, resulting in the clone opening its eyes once again.
“It’s time to get you ready. I’m calling you… Wildcard. Seems quite fitting, wouldn’t you say?” Jorah grunts and smiles whilst the clone looks sternly towards him in the eyes, as if he is seemingly programmed to follow his instructions. The water drains from the container, the wires disconnect from Wildcard’s body and the glass container opens up, allowing Wildcard to exit.
As Simon leads Riley back towards the cell with Lily and Owen, he looks towards the other prisoners and questions their presence.
“Why do you keep these ones here?” Riley mutters.
“Sometimes it takes a little longer to document their… abilities. That’s all. And sometimes we like to use them for other things. Like Dillon and Quinton in the room you just saw.” Simon shrugs. Whilst the two are walking, Riley looks inside one holding cell and sees two young Asian female twins, holding tightly onto each other. They stare at Riley in shock.
“Those two are pretty interesting, they can tell the future, but only when they’re touching each other. We believe they’re both capable of seeing the future without touching one another but it may very well be one of those instinctual actions that comes with being a twin and they’re so used to relying on that instead. They also have another ability, something I can’t detect. Rather intriguing lasses, so they are.” Simon explains.
“I didn’t ask. I don’t want to know what you’re doing with people here. Those two people in the back room? That’s morally wrong, it’s horrendous.” Riley lashes out.
“You know what, lad? Screw you, and screw those people. I might have a power too, but what we’re doing here is for the greater good. We’re protecting people, finding out how to achieve world peace. Think about it, wars with people like you? People capable of wielding fire, controlling the land, and moving things with their minds? It’d destroy the world.” Simon argues with a raised voice.
“People are capable of ending the world just fine by themselves. Powers or not. I lost my memory, and I don’t even need those to know that. If you’re saying you’re protecting people by destroying us, why are you cloning us? Why are you categorising our abilities? Your lies just fell apart before you even finished concocting them.” Riley scolded. Simon looks towards him with a chagrined expression, refusing to reply.
“Get in.” Simon grunts aggressively as he opens the door and pushes Riley back into the holding room where Lily and Owen are.
“Riley, are you okay?” Lily speaks softly, comforting Riley as he nods his head.
“You’re coming with me, lass.” Simon huffs as he grabs Lily, taking her with him and shutting the door as he leaves.
“Lily!” Riley and Owen both shout as they bang on the door. Riley bangs his head against the metal door, angrily trying to use his powers.
“Stop hurting yourself, Riley, please.” Owen objected.
“What good am I if I can’t even use my powers? I need to save Lily.” Riley murmured.
“You’ve gone through a lot of trauma, you need time to learn how to use them again.” Owen explains. Riley stares at every corner of the room, looking for anything to use.
“They cloned me.” Riley divulged.
“W… what?” Owen sputtered.
“They’ve got two people in a back room, they’re linked up to some kind of machine that uses their powers to create clones of people. They’ve used it to clone me.” Riley reiterates, looking down at the ground in shock.
“Wait, how? I mean, when could they have gotten what they needed to create a clone of you?” Owen asks.
“It could’ve happened when we were unconscious. Some hair, a scraping of skin or a drop of blood. I’d never have known.” Riley theorises.
The metal door opens again and Simon enters the room, knocking Owen out immediately, before dragging Riley out of the room.
“Time to go!” He shouts, whilst restraining Riley and leading him to a lift.
“Why did you attack Owen?!” Riley shouts, attempting to get free from Simon.
“It was the quickest way to avoid a struggle, lad. He’ll get a nice sleep in return for a little bit of a headache.” Simon shrugs his shoulders, as the doors close and the lift begins ascending.
“Where are you taking me?” R
iley asks agitatedly.
“My employer whom you met earlier insists we need to get you ready for something. I’m taking you to the surface.” Simon answers as the lift continues to ascend.
Riley stares blankly, refusing to talk any further, ultimately concerned for the wellbeing of Lily and Owen. The two remain in silence whilst the lift takes nearly two minutes to reach the surface. Industrial lights shine through the openings of the lift as it continues to rise to the surface, giving Riley an idea of just how deep the facility is. Sunlight finally penetrates its way through the lift as it stops to a halt, the doors open and reveal armed guards who lead Riley to a chair and sit him down, strapping him tightly into the constraints. Simon proceeds to walk towards a control panel with a video monitor to let Jorah know that everything is ready to go ahead. A dark and abandoned industrial building stands tall in front of Riley, with noises coming from the roof. Riley shivers with fear, terrified that he is going to be shot to death by a firing squad. He continues to tremble and holds his eyes shut, refusing to acknowledge his surroundings.
“I believe you two have met. Jorah’s given him a name now; Wildcard.” Simon chuckles as he stands on Riley’s left hand side. Riley looks towards Simon and then slowly looks to his right where he sees Wildcard standing firmly besides him. Riley gasps and shudders in sheer terror. As he looks straight ahead, his clone gradually stares at him.
“What you don’t understand, laddie, is that you are part of something so much greater than you could ever imagine. I wasn’t even aware of it until my employer let me know certain facts. The Nomad has some big plans for you.” Simon smiles whilst looking towards the top of the industrial building where two security guards are holding a struggling figure.
“You see, Riley, we need you to unleash that fire from within you. The fire inside of you that destroyed Petrelli Manor, not the literal kind. Don’t worry about hurting anybody, this chair and its restraints are held down by some seriously powerful magnets and some technology that even I don’t understand. We figured you’d need some motivation…” Simon explains as he raises a thumbs up to the guards on the roof. They take off the cover of the figure they are holding, revealing a gagged Lily.
“Don’t you even… don’t hurt her!” Riley protests, shouting for help as he sees that he is surrounded by seemingly endless woodland.
“Oh we’re not going to hurt her. You are. Well, another version of you at least.” Simon states as he stares towards Wildcard. “It’s a best of both worlds scenario, boy. We get to train the clone and reveal your inner demon. Of course if you can summon it yourself, we won’t have to hurt anybody. I promise.” He continues to explain, attempting to motivate Riley.
“I can’t control it! I don’t know how to!” Riley shouts, pleadingly shaking his head at Simon.
“Very well.” Simon nods towards Wildcard and raises another thumbs up towards the armed guards on the roof, who then take their leave. Wildcard stares towards Lily, making her step forward towards the edge of the roof.
“Don’t do this!” Riley yells whilst struggling to try and break free from the chair. “She’s innocent!” He continues to protest as Simon walks up to him and crouches down, grabbing Riley by the chin and stares into his eyes.
“Come on. You can do it. We’re going to kill her. The lass is gonna to die because you cannae save her. It’ll be all yer fault.” Simon whispers, trying to motivate Riley further as an orange flicker occurs in his eyes. Simon’s eyes open widely with apprehension, before the orange of Riley’s eyes fade away.
“Pathetic.” He mutters and nods towards the clone again.
“Please!” Riley screams whilst Wildcard continues to make Lily step towards the edge of the roof. Rubble crumbles off of the edge, falling to the ground below.
“I love you, Riley.” Lily mumbles in a muffled tone underneath the gag, hoping that his abilities will allow him to hear her. She tries to fight the restraints holding her hands behind her back, realising that with the guards surrounding her, she is powerless to save herself. Immediately, she realises that she cannot fight against it any longer. Lily makes eye contact with Riley below, nodding towards him slowly as tears drop from her eyes.
“Do it.” Simon commands the clone, who looks towards Lily and makes her take one final step, causing her to plummet off the roof to her death below.
“No!” Riley yells eyes turn a harsh orange as he teleports out of his chair and tries to teleport Lily to safety. When he fails to use his ability, he rushes towards her as quickly as possible. Lily continues to fall as her body crashes into the ground below. Riley stares at her whilst realising he was unable to save her. Instantly, he dissipates into particles and flies violently into Simon’s body. Riley aggressively shuts each vital organ down one by one, giving Simon an extremely painful death. He flies out of his body and the particles rapidly reassemble back into form. Simon spews with blood, before collapsing to the ground and dying a very slow death. Up to twenty armed guards begin to surround Riley, aiming their automatic rifles towards him. Wildcard curiously stares towards Riley, before teleporting away, temporarily abandoning this battle for another time.
“Stand down!” An armed guard yells as he walks towards Riley. Suddenly, the armed guard turns his gun on his colleagues and they all enter a disastrous firefight with one another until around ten are left standing. A stray bullet hits Riley in the shoulder and he stares at the wound whilst it heals rapidly.
“Hold your fire!” Another armed guard shouts as they all stare towards Riley whilst trying to back away. Riley blinks, and with no physical exertion whatsoever, all the remaining guards drop dead on the spot. He walks towards Lily’s body, seemingly still aware of who she is. Riley kneels down and places one hand behind her head, lifting her up. No matter who, or what is in control of Riley, he clearly shares the very same feelings for Lily. The orange in his eyes slowly dissipate, as Riley suddenly realises he is holding Lily’s mangled body. He gasps in shock, slowly beginning to cry as he rests his head on her chest. Riley hears paper crinkling whilst resting on Lily and discovers a letter marked with his name inside of her jacket.