Location: Orlando, Fl
April 2, 2026, 1:50 am
Adrian touched down just a few houses down from where he lived. Pulling his hoodie tight, he avoided walking in any direct light from the streetlights, weary to any cameras or sensors that might have been installed in them. He could hear a few dogs barking throughout the neighborhood. His powers were probably a strange and unfamiliar sound to their sensitive ears. Sirens whaled off in the distance in all directions but non of them sounded like they were headed towards him. He could safely assume that he successfully evaded the cops for now. He was exhausted. All Adrian could think about was crawling into his bed and worrying about what was going to be reported in the news tomorrow.
As he approached his front door, he glanced back over his shoulder one last time to indulge his paranoid nerves.
"The last thing I want to do tonight is explain to my mom why I am wanted by the cops for unorthodox use of superpowers." he thought to himself. Adrian reached for the door knob and slid his key into the hole to unlock it and go inside. Except... the key didn't turn.
Adrian felt stupid after fighting with the lock on the door for several minutes and still not having access into his own home. He was as quiet as he could be, as to not wake his mother but he was getting frustrated at being outsmarted by a simple wooden door. No matter how hard he tried, his looks of disdain and contempt did not threaten the lock into granting him access. Defeated, he trudged through the wet grass and the darkness until he made his way onto the back porch. The back door was locked too. Adrian wasn't surprised. He checked for the spare key he had hidden away under one of the loose stones on the pathway leading up to the door. Adrian slid the key and the rock back in their resting place after he unlocked the back door.
"Did mom get a new couch today?" he thought, scanning the room. Adrian flicked on the light.
"Woah mom. You redecorated the whole house? Where did you get the money for all of this? ...and why did you buy such ugly things?" Adrian continued to mutter to himself about the unusual decor choices his mother made in his absence as he made his way to the fridge.
"Even the fridge is new. But why throw out the stew we made this afternoon? I was looking forward to some when I got home." Adrian settled on some of the store bought chicken and a hand full of peanuts from the can on top of the fridge.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?' An angry voice came from behind him.
"Don't make any sudden moves bub. This here is a Glock 26 and I don't think I'll need all 20 shots to take your dumb ass out." Adrian froze with a drumstick still in his mouth.
"You've got to be the stupidest burglar I've ever seen. What robber turns on all the lights from the house he's stealing from anyways?' The man behind him sounded like he was ready for a fight and Adrian didn't want to agitate him any further.
"Matthew, sweetie. Look at his clothes, they're all worn down. I think he's just homeless and hungry." A woman spoke not too far away from where the man was standing.
"Don't be so hard on him. He probably just needs help." Adrian stood with his back to both of them, listening.
"Homeless or not, he's probably on drugs and I'm not risking you getting stabbed or hurt because we went easy on him." "I'm not homeless and I'm not on drugs." Adrian called out.
"In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best thing to say..." "So you are robbing us and you're incredibly stupid. Lilly, call the cops. I want this trash in jail where he belongs as soon as possible." "Go ahead and call them. I'd like to watch you explain to the cops what you are doing in MY house!" Adrian turned to face them, scowling at the man.
"Boy, you must be off your meds. We've been living in this home for 4 years. Just paid the mortgage off it this year too." "Four years, you've got to be..." Adrian choked on his words. He just noticed his reflection in the glass of the microwave.
"Do you have a mirror?" Adrian turned and headed for the full length mirror in the living room.
"What the hell are you babbling about no... HEY! I still have a gun pointed at you! Don't move again or I'll shoot!" Adrian was too fixated on the mirror to pay attention to the man's threats.
A stranger peered back at him from the mirror. When he blinked, the stranger blinked too. His hair looked like Adrian's but longer, his face looked a little older. The piercing violet eyes that he knew so well peered back at him. The reflection looked confused, scared, worn and tired.
"What year is it?" "What?" "What's the date today? The full date?" Adrian asked with angst, turning to face the man.
"Honey, I think he's schizophrenic. Do you see a hospital band on his arm with a phone number that we can call?" the lady whispered to her husband, as she clung to his sleeve.
"Look boy. I don't know if you got a few screws loose but I see that you really do need help. Do you have someone we can call to come get you?" "The date. It's very important that you tell me the date. Please. The man sighed and looked down at his phone.
"It's April 2, 2026. But why does that matter? What's so important about today's date? Look, I'd rather not be on the news for having a mentally ill person arrested in my home. If you just give me a number to call I'll..." "2026?!? I've been gone for FIVE YEARS?!?" Adrian felt the color draining from his face.
"Here. Call this number. It's my mom's phone. I can't even imagine how worried she is!" Adrian spoke the numbers as Lilly called the number and let her phone ring on speaker.
"The number you have dialed has been disconnected. If you'd like..." Lilly tried again.
"The number you have dialed has been disconnected..." "Do you have someone else we can call? That number doesn't seem to be working." she asked after the third attempt.
"Son, can you at least tell us your name?" Matthew's tone was softer this time.
"I'm Adrian Hunter. I used to live here five years ago. "Hunter, Hunter... Why does that name sound familiar?" Lilly started searching through Google on her phone.
"Alright Son, I believe you. Can..." "I KNEW IT!" Lilly's excitement was an unexpected change to the current tone.
"Hunter. Yes! Here it is! I remember this from when I was looking up facts about this house before we bought it! It says right here "Andrea Hunter and her late husband Mark Hunter lived here with there son Adrian Hunter. Andrea was attacked and killed by a brute named 'Grissom' a few months after the disappearance of her son 'Adrian Hunter'!"
"And look. There's a picture of the two of them right here. Gosh. He looks just like you." Lilly held up the glowing screen of her phone for Adrian to see. The screen might as well have been headlights and Adrian was the deer because all he could do is stare frozen at her screen.
"My mom's dead? ...Grissom killed my mom?"