EvoWatch

Kaleb watched with interest as his friend, Daniel, swung across the balustrade on his graffiti designed skateboard. It skidded on the iron, causing enough friction to build between the wheels, and jumped off in a frontside one-eighty. Daniel continued to slowly stroll around after that with a cocky grin on his face.

“Let’s see you top that,” Daniel challenged.

Kaleb had been skating for three years, Daniel only having a year under his belt. Kaleb didn’t need to tell him he could top it and he figured his actions would speak for itself. He stood, cocked his skateboard off the ground and began moving with a running start. He jumped onto the balustrade, tilting his way down and finished the trick with a ten-eighty (which is three consecutive 360 spins or one full rotation).

He landed with ease and looked over his shoulder to grin at Daniel. His friend was frowning and did a loud sigh.

“Show off,” Daniel scoffed.

Kaleb shrugged. “You should have seen that coming man, but anyway, I gotta head home before my mom finds out I’m missing”

“What? Why?”

“Grounded, remember?” Kaleb stated, grabbing his bag off the ground and shoving his skateboard under his arm.

Daniel gave him a high five and then the two separated. Kaleb made his way out of the secluded section of the skate park and started walking towards town. The park was a twelve blocks from his house with a rather dangerous walk through a construction ground. The community was set to get a new fifteen-storey office building. Kaleb’s mom warned him not to walk through there but it was easier than doing the last three blocks around the site.

As he walked to the third block, he spied a man shoving his hand into a ATM. Actually...his hand was literally through the front of the screen. Kaleb blinked twice to ensure he was seeing the right thing but in the next minute, the guy’s hand was by his side and he was staring at him with a surprised look. Kaleb looked away and continued on but the man skipped across the street and stopped in his path.

“Hey kid,” He greeted.

Kaleb walked around him. The last thing he needed was to get involved with strangers. The man trailed behind him for the other two blocks, keeping a distance but Kaleb was still on edge. He wasn’t up for being robbed either, especially when he shouldn’t have been out in the first place. He decided to cross the street and take the long way home, stopping at a friend’s house. His classmate, Greg, had decided to skip the park to study for his upcoming college SAT’s. Kaleb came up to his house and knocked on the front door.

“Coming!” Greg shouted from inside. 

In the next few minutes he opened the door and let Kaleb enter into the living room. Kaleb set his stuff down and peaked through the living room window to see if the man was still following. The coast was clear but Kaleb was still a bit suspicious.

“Is something up?” Greg asked. His friend had rumpled brown hair sagging into his eyes, hands shoved into the pockets of his sweatpants. 

“This guy was following me,” Kaleb slowly explained, “I think he’s gone but I’m not sure”

“That’s weird, did he hurt you?” Greg added, turning into his kitchen to get two sodas.

Kaleb peeked outside once more, met with no sight of the guy, while outstretching an arm to grab the soda. The can hit the carpet with a thud and Greg stared at him as if he had grown two heads. Kaleb subtly ignored him and reach for the soda. His fingers reached out but they passed through the can like thin air.

“Uh...”

He tried again. 

This time his hand did the same thing again.

“Dude, what...” Greg tried to form a sentence but he stopped. He took the soda from the floor and tried to hand it to Kaleb again. 

“My hand...I can’t,” Kaleb started to panic.

Greg noticed this and tried to calm him down. “Okay, okay, calm down. I think I know what this may be”

Kaleb looked at him with scared eyes. Greg motioned for him to follow him up to his room. He shut the door and Kaleb stood next to him at the computer desk.

“I read about this in a comic once, think it’s called intangibility, the ability to pass through solid objects,” Greg rambled out.

Kaleb didn’t understand. He reached for his friend’s bed and his hand settled on the pillow. He felt the rough texture of the sheets. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Maybe this is all a joke,” Kaleb tried to reason. He hadn’t experienced this before and maybe the rush of adrenaline caused him to see things that weren’t there. 

“No Kaleb, I saw it happen too,” Greg argued.

Did he say that thought out loud?

“Look Greg, we’ll chat tomorrow, I need to get home.”

With that, Kaleb ran downstairs, grabbed his stuff and was out the door in seconds. He skated three more blocks until he got to the construction site and tipped it off the ground. For some safety, he didn’t skate in this area. He carefully walked around the steel beams, watching his footsteps. As he was getting close to the exit, his bag clipped against the foundation of a few beams hanging overhead.

“Shit” He cursed.

He moved out of the way as one beam fell beside him. He tried dodging the rest but one managed to outsmart him and it almost snapped his foot off. Somehow, the metal passed right through his leg and now his foot was angled on top, completely unharmed. Kaleb couldn’t move. He’s heart was beating a mile per minute and he couldn’t feel either of his legs.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed!” A voice shouted.

Kaleb looked into the face of the guy that was stalking him earlier. Seeing him up close, he had dark brown hair brushed back in a neat man-bun and green eyes. The guy yanked Kaleb to his feet and walked with him through the exit of the site. His house was 2 doors down.

“Look kid, I wanted to talk to you earlier about-”

“Can I get home first? If my mom finds out I’m out here, I’m grounded for life” Kaleb interjected.

The guy helped him over to the house and Kaleb unlocked the door to let them in. The man helped him to take a seat on the couch and he sat across from him in a separate love seat.

“Now as I was saying, you saw me earlier, with my hand in the ATM”

Kaleb met the eyes of the stranger. Should he really have him in the house?

“I approached you because I sensed that you had the same powers. My name is Eric”

Kaleb frowned. “Whoa whoa whoa, powers?”

“Yeah, you have intangibility. I saw you at your friend’s house too, your hand went right through the soda can” Eric continued.

“Usually when I find someone else as evolved as you, I dispatch them to my universe.”

“Evolved?” Kaleb’s brain was trying to process all this.

“We called it Evowatch,” Eric stated. “People from my world, Evol, scan the galaxy for evolved or matured humans who posses supernatural abilities...like you”

“So we’re talking about superman....spiderman...thor, kind supernatural abilities!?” Kaleb asked incredulously.

“Yes, however, those are just comics, this is real life”

At that moment, the front door opened to reveal his mother. She was dressed in her scrubs from work and stared at the two of them with a strange look on her face. Sadly (and luckily) Eric had left his bag and skateboard back at the construction site so he didn’t look suspicious.

“Hi sweetie,” his mom greeted. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Eric, Greg’s cousin from New York,” He quickly covered.

His mom shook hands with the stranger and disappeared to the kitchen. Kaleb gestured for Eric to follow him upstairs. Once in his room, he shut the door and slid to the floor.

“Explain this now,” He begged.

“Humans evolve for two reasons,” Eric started, “Either from a need to protect themselves or losing their purpose in life. What have you been thinking?”

Kaleb looked around his room and vaguely thought about the options. He had lost interest in school for the past few months even though he was in his senior year of high school. Additionally, his father had left the family to pursue his own selfish dreams in Florida. It had really torn his mother but she pushed on for him, trying to pretend they were one big happy family. He hadn’t realised that all these things made him feel withdrawn and made him wish to have a different life. 

“I’ve been...wanting to disappear,” He honestly answered.

Eric sighed. “Because of this, you’ve unlocked your power. Granted, I never expected it to be the same as mine. I was teleported to this area by the scanner and my senses immediately pointed to you. I’m glad I caught you in time.”

Kaleb leaned his head against the door and calmed himself. 

“So what now? I go to your universe?” 

“Usually, yes. Evol is located a million light years from yours. Don’t worry, I’m also able to teleport so it shouldn’t take more than a snap” 

Kaleb focused on the ceiling and thought about his mom. She was better off not worrying about him but he didn’t want to disappear like this.

“Do I really have to leave?” He asked.

“Your wish was to disappear and I’m offering it to you on a silver platter. Evolved humans have to leave Earth because if they stay, their power can be broadcasted to other strong beings. Earth is in no way ready for a higher level of war. You’re safer on Evol,” Eric finalized.

Kaleb sighed. He understood all Eric had said but he was still hesitant to leave. He couldn’t deny all he’d seen so far and he didn’t want to put anyone in danger. 

“When we leave, you’ll be erased from their memories,” Eric murmured softly. “It’s a percaution so that no one suffers from your departure.”

Kaleb nodded relieved. “Okay...lets go.”

Eric touched the teenager’s shoulder and smiled. “It is an honor to come to our planet. Do not worry, your power will be put to good use. Once that is accomplished, if you wish to return, their memories will return but be altered.”

Kaleb didn’t want to get into it any longer. The more they talked about it, the quicker he would choose to opt out.

“I know it’s hard but you’ll see it’s worth it” 

Eric pulled him into a manly hug and with the snap of a finger they were gone. His mom, standing in the kitchen, stared into the fridge with a dead look in her eye. The pictures around the house slowly dissolved, his existence disappearing. Greg and Daniel experienced the same, looking off into the distance and letting go of the memories they had of a certain someone.

Kaleb and Eric watched from above on a swirling planet. 

“They’ll be safe, you have my word” Eric assured.

Kaleb shrugged. “Let’s get to controlling this power, yeah? The sooner we start, the sooner I can get home.”

Eric patted his shoulder. “That’s the spirit! First stop is the scanner, I need to file my report”

Kaleb followed behind him, reveling at the new world he was thrust in and the power he would be learning to wield.