The Origin Read Online Free Page B

was leaning down for a long overdue kiss, he paused and gave her a quick peck on the cheek instead. “Goodnight.”
    And before Olivia could even open her mouth to return the sentiment, he was out the door and down the stairs.

3   |   GUARDING THE NIGHT
     
     
    Daniel was nineteen and an undecided sophomore at Kansas State University when he was finally forced to use his abilities out in the open. For the past two years, he had kept his incredible strength and speed a secret, so that not even his parents knew that their adopted son could bench press a school bus without breaking a sweat. But one late, wet night, as he was driving back to the dorms in his ’58 Chevette , singing wildly along to the newest punk rock hit on the radio, Daniel witnessed the vehicle ahead take a left turn too abruptly and spin out of control. Daniel held his breath as the two-door SUV hydroplaned on the slick asphalt, then unexpectedly gain traction only to flip over twice and land on its side.
    He was transfixed at first as he slowed and parked on the shoulder, attempting to process what he’d just seen. Finally his brain caught on and he jumped out of the car, his body starting to surge with adrenaline. As he approached, a woman climbed out of the driver side door, which was pointing straight up in the air. She was halfway out when she spotted Daniel, and began to wave her arms frantically.
    “Help, please! My daughter’s stuck in the car!”
    “Where is she?”
    “In the back, behind the passenger seat!”
    Daniel helped the woman out of the vehicle first, and then he heard the most god-awful, heart-wrenching sound: the high-pitched cries of a distressed infant.
    “Please!” She looked up at him with tears and blood running down her face, her fingers clutching his arms in desperation.
    He looked into the driver window and saw the car seat, which was, thankfully, still sitting in its base, with the baby still strapped in. He climbed inside the car but could not for the life of him figure out how to free the car seat from its base. He fumbled around, pressing and tugging at various plastic parts in vain.
    “I can’t get her out.” He climbed back out and faced the frantic mother, reassuring her that her child was not hurt, or at least, not dead. Then it occurred to him that, duh , he was strong. Without a second thought, he ran to the other side of the vehicle, and with two hands placed firmly underneath the roof, lifted the car, surprised at how easily the SUV flipped back onto its wheels. He reached for the passenger door handle and pulled, the damaged door ripping cleanly away and landing with a metallic thud on the ground. A second later, the woman was pushing him aside, unlatching the car seat with one simple move.
    “Is she okay?” Daniel asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the screaming infant around the woman’s shoulders.
    “I don’t know, I think so.”
    “Do you have a cell phone?” he asked. “To call an ambulance.”
    “Yes, yes I do.” She looked up at him, tears still streaming down her face. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
    Minutes later, Daniel drove away in shock, feeling like someone had poured warm syrup down his neck as he thought of the woman’s gratitude. For the past two years, he’d come to accept that the defect in his DNA was nothing but a burden to carry, that nothing good could come of being strong or fast. But what if he had it wrong all along?
    What if he could help?
     
    * * * * *
     
    After fleeing Olivia’s apartment, Daniel lay in his bed, unable to stop from replaying a scene before his eyes, couldn’t help but see Kelly Hoyt’s brown eyes when he had broken up with her.
    “I don’t believe you,” she had said, her lips beginning to tremble. “You told me you loved me.”
    His chest had ached, but he’d had no other choice. “ Loved . Past tense. I can’t be with anyone right now,” he’d added, which was the truth as far as he was concerned. For as much as he’d cared