Across the street from my house, I had a neighbor. He was a nice guy, always brought us food even when we didn't need it, and I always admired his suits.
But my favorite suit in particular was his black suit.
The suit was a black, long polo with a white tie and black jeans. I always cheered whenever he walked into our house wearing that suit. Eventually, my parents had to have a small conversation with me after he came and I gave him a big hug. They understood my obsession with the suit, but I had to calm down over it.
One day, when he came to our house, he accidentally dropped the broth he was giving us onto his suit. He apologized, placed down the empty bowl, and walked towards the direction of our bathroom. It wasn't long before he walked out. The stain was gone, completely gone. Me still being a kid, I was oblivious. All that mattered was that he'd come back in his suit, and I'd be happy all over again.
Years went by, and eventually I did indeed calm down over the suit.
Nonetheless, it never got boring.
That was until one day-the same day my opinion of that suit would be changed permanently.
We were having a big family gathering at my house. My aunts and uncles were coming, and I was excited, having not seen them for years. My parents also agreed to bring the same neighbor over to meet the rest of my family. Me being close to every last member of my family and the neighbor, there was no resistance.
Lo and behold, when that neighbor came in, he was wearing the same suit. I wasn't angry; but I was surely a bit disappointed that he was wearing a suit he had just worn only a few days ago from then. This was a family gathering, after all. We had company, and he had never known them before.
The rest of the dinner was relatively normal. We all chatted together, but I remained mostly quiet for a reason I didn't even know. I was just about to take a bite out of my baked potato when the neighbor spilled his soup onto his suit. He seemed a bit distraught, but surprisingly, he wasn't too upset. He simply stood up, apologized, and said he was going to the bathroom.
Minutes later, the neighbor walked back into the room. To my surprise, the stain was completely gone. There were no traces left behind. No evidence that he had ever spilled anything onto his suit. While the rest of my family said hello to him, I was suspicious. The soap in our bathroom didn't do that good of a job in removing stains. What had he used to remove the stain, then?
For the rest of the dinner, I kept staring at his suit like a hawk. I needed to know. Maybe I was thinking too childishly, but I couldn't stop. My mind was ticking with different theories about how he had that stain removed. That moment when he spilled his broth years ago no longer seemed coincidental.
We finished our dinner later and said our goodbyes. My plan was slowly being pieced together-I would go to the neighbor's house and see just how he had the stain removed. Once everyone left, I lied to my parents that I was going to the bathroom and snuck out the front door. I walked down my driveway, across the street, and towards the neighbor's house.
I jumped over the fence and scanned my surroundings. To my right was a window illuminated by the weak light inside. Our neighbor carried a glass vial in his hand. It was completely empty, and I saw the neighbor frowning at it. When I got closer to the window, however, the vial began to sparkle. Glittering dust rained onto the floor, and smoke began to emit from the closed lid of the vial. In no time, it was completely full again.
I couldn't help but gasp at the phenomenon.
The neighbor seemed to be shocked that the vial was full. He looked around the room, his eyes darting frantically. I didn't have enough time to move away from the window before he looked directly at me. His expression changed from shock to rage. He threw the windows open, which knocked me back. The neighbor grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and took me inside before throwing me to the carpet.
"What are you doing here?!" he screamed. "You're going to get me discovered!"
"More like, 'what are you doing with that vial'?" I replied. "And why did it fill up when I got close?!"
His expression briefly calmed as he explained. "This vial fills up whenever you come close to me because I have been using you to clean my suit. Ever since you were little, I came over to your house to get you all food. At the same time, I was using the vial. Not only does this vial clean things, but on the same night I spilled my broth, I felt stronger after using the vial. So much more powerful. And now that you're here, I've hit the jackpot."
I was mortified, noticing the vial quickly filling up by the second. "S-so you've been using me for your stupid vial for your own strength?"
He nodded. "You're such a bright individual. Different. That's why I need you."
I inched up, away from him.
He only got closer to me. "Now, you could make this easy. You could stay here. Fill up the vial. I could be strong, you know. And you could join me. As I said, you're different. Strong. Not as strong as me, but you're surely strong. So what do you say?"
This was it. I'd had enough. I grabbed a flowerpot from a counter and threw it directly at him. He didn't flinch as the pot went directly through him and crashed on the ground.
"So, I see the answer is no," he sneered. "Fine, then."
Every light in the house turned off. In fact, every light in the house exploded. All of the lightbulbs in the area were reduced to bits in less than a second. The living room had not seemed this big just a moment ago. I looked down and realized that I was levitating. The neighbor was, too. We were circulating each other, staring angrily at one another. He wanted his powers. I wanted to be set free.
Suddenly, we were dragged towards each other. I was much closer up to him than I'd wanted to be. He grabbed my hands, lifted them up, and let them go. In the air, I shuffled back towards a wall, but he only walked closer to me. I wanted to scream, "Go away!" but my mouth was too dry. I couldn't speak a word. I ran across the room, but he only followed me.
If this was the game he was going to play, then I had no choice but to follow. I ran towards him. We ran towards each other, simultaneously dodging but also attacking. I threw a fist at him, he threw one at me, and I grabbed his face and threw it to the side. I noticed the vial levitating around him, the decorated colors on its glass frame turning black. We stopped to glare at each other, and I used that to my advantage by grabbing the levitating vial and smashing it on the ground. It was reduced to nothing more than just the lightbulbs.
We both stopped levitating. I ran towards the window, leapt out, and slammed the windows behind me shut. All that mattered now was that I needed to call 911.
The next few hours were a blur. I called the police and watched with my parents comforting me as multiple police cars pulled up onto my neighbor's driveway. That was the last time I'd ever heard of him-the police gave me no information on the matter, nor did I even hear anything about him on the news. He was a stranger to us. A stranger to the world.
Maybe he was right-maybe I was strong. Smart. Unlike any other.
Maybe I was different.