Page 64 of Deranged (American Street Kings 3)

He nodded. “A snake can shed its skin. That’s what I do when they come for me. I shed my skin and slither away so they can’t hurt me.”

I swallowed, my mouth feeling dry. “How?”

His thumb drew lazy circles on my hand. “By closing my eyes, and then I imagine it.”

“Imagining you have a superpower doesn’t count,” I protested.

“Of course it does. If you imagine something hard enough, it can really happen.”

I watched our hands joined together. “Where do you go…when you slither away?”

“Somewhere they can’t find me. But you’re there.”

“I am?” I couldn’t help but smile. I liked that he took me with him whenever he used his superpower to get away from the bad people.

He smiled back at me, but just like when we had cake, his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll always take you with me, no matter where I go.”

That made me feel better. It stilled the pain a bit, knowing he would never leave me behind. But then I realized what he was really saying.

“Mom and Dad are going to bring more bad people here…aren’t they?”

His smile faltered, replaced with hard lines. “Yes, Dahlia. They are.”

“I wish I had a superpower that can make me go back in time.”

“Yeah,” he said softy, “then you can make it so this never happened.”

I shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek. “No. I would go back in time to make a different wish when I blow out my birthday candles.”

His eyes glimmered with tears. “What did you wish for?”

“I wished that I’d have a birthday like this one every year.” I closed my eyes. “But I don’t want that anymore. I want to wish that this birthday never happened.”

“Don’t,” he warned with a hard yet soft voice. “Don’t ever allow yourself to go back and imagine how things could have been. It only makes it worse. Just…” He swallowed. “Just turn into a snake. Slither away, and only come back once the bad people are gone.”

“I can’t,” I cried. “I’m not as strong as you. I don’t have a superpower.”

“Then you turn it off. You hear me?” He let go of my hand, placing his palm on my cheek. “Then you turn your mind off, shut it all down. Don’t feel. Don’t hear. And don’t think. Be a void. Be nothing. In those moments, be. Nothing. Can you do that?”

I pinched my eyes closed as tears now ran uncontrollably down my cheeks.

“Dahlia, look at me.”

I opened my eyes, his face blurry.

“Can you do that? Please, promise me you’ll do that every time you’re forced to do something you don’t want to do. Shut it. Off.”

There was only enough strength left in me to give a slight nod. I was suddenly tired, my eyes heavy and body weak.

“Glenn?”

“Yeah?”

I smiled sleepily. “I’m glad you didn’t eat cake.”

“Why is that?”

“Because then Daddy’s friend would have hurt you too.”

---