[ WP ] A young man gains super powers at the age of 16 , but he discovers his powers slowly drain the life of whomever he loves . To avoid hurting anyone he becomes a loner . Years later , he is having lunch at a diner alone when the most beautiful girl he 's ever seen walks in .

EDIT: I did n't have a plan for this. I just wrote it, if it gets weird I'm sorry! 
 
 
 This had to be the most squalid diner in the entirety of Chicago. And that was saying something. Across the street stood an abandoned apartment complex that was slowly rotting away, but the first floor could still house a squatter or two. On either side of neon lighted diner stood the remnants of stores that had long been looted. How this little place had n't gone out of business yet, Dakota had yet to figure out. 
 
 The food tasted like it had been pre-cooked, frozen, and warmed up. The service was even worse, which was the exact reason Dakota ate here. None of the other diners, and especially not the staff, in this wretched little hell hole would think twice about a scrawny kid in black, with dark brown hair falling in his face. The waitress did n't even ask him why he had ordered two plates of food when it was obvious no one was meeting him here. 
 
 A slice of ham, two fried eggs, grits and black coffee. *Dad's favorite. * A burger with curly fries and strawberry shake. *And that's mom's. * When they had been alive, these had been their favorite meals to get at the Steak'n' Shake they would go to after one of Dakota's basketball games. 
 
 Tonight was the one year anniversary of their deaths. Tonight was also Dakota's eighteenth birthday. And tonight, Dakota could n't eat this food even he had wanted to. These so-called `` super powers'' had ruined his life. Speed, strength, he had even been invulnerable. But without an energy source, everything had dwindled away, all he could do was stare at the greasy, over-priced food with no appetite. 
 
 Dakota closed his eyes. He kept wondering how long it would take to die. He had n't eaten in weeks and had n't slept in days. He had tried to stop breathing, but after two hours of his chest feeling like he was on fire he realized he could n't suffocate. So here he was, waiting for his body to finally, if it would ever, shut down. 
 
 
 The doorbell did n't so much jingle as groan that another patron had entered the store. Dakota looked up and his eyes widened. With her red heels on, she was only a few inches shorter than Dakota's 6'2'', with blond curling hair and ruby red lips. Her body was n't just stunning, it demanded to be looked at. A black, thigh length peacoat clung to her frame and a red, wide rimmed fedora did little to protect her from the rain outside the diner, but she seemed indifferent to it. She looked like a woman straight out of the comics Dakota used to read when he was little, before his life became a comic book hell. 
 
 A surge of longing overtook Dakota. It had been so long since he'd had anyone for a companion. He could n't risk it. Not after his parents. He'd lost his entire life to these godforsaken powers that had hijacked his body. He wanted her, and two years ago he could have gotten her easily. When he kept his appearance up, when he socialized without fear of killing people, when he was allowed to care. 
 
 He tried to turn it off. He tried to look back down at his plates of food, but something about her ignited whatever was left of him. He wanted to be a part of living again. 
 
 Her bright blue eyes met his gray ones with startling intent. She strode over to him purposefully and slid gracefully into the booth across from Dakota. Without asking, she grabbed mom's milkshake and took a swig before more calmly cutting dad's ham into pieces. 
 
 `` So, Dakota,'' she said without looking up. `` Have you enjoyed yourself the last two years?'' 
 
 Dakota stared at her, torn. If he spoke, he would be starting a relationship. He never even talked to his waitress, he always wrote down what he wanted. 
 
 She looked up at him through achingly full eyelashes, `` Well, have you?'' 
 
 He stuttered, his voice cracking from being under used, `` How do you know my name?'' 
 
 She took a bite of ham, `` Does it matter? Are n't you more concerned with why I'm here talking to you? Really, hon, we did n't expect this.'' 
 
 He frowned, `` What do you mean by'we?''' 
 
 She grinned, `` That's the spirit. Ask me questions. I guarantee I have the answers.'' 
 
 He leaned forward, `` What happened to me?'' 
 
 `` You were selected.'' 
 
 `` What do you mean?'' 
 
 `` Selected. It means chosen, nominated, elected-'' 
 
 Indignation flashed in Dakota, `` I know what the word means you jackass. I want to know *why* dammit.'' 
 
 The girl sat back, surprised but not angered. She slowly took another drink of his mother's milkshake, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and reapplied her make-up. `` Some people think we're a government experiment gone wrong, others think it's we were just never human to begin with. You want to know something, though? It's in the damn water. We do n't know who put it in there or if it's been there this whole time, but everyone is infested with it. These little parasites are in the water *everywhere* and there was something about our genetic code that activated them.'' She put away her compact mirror. `` *That* is what happened to us, Dakota. These little bugs changed who we are.'' 
 
 Dakota gripped both sides of the formica table, his voice low, `` My parents are dead because of me, and you're telling me that it's because I have *a bug inside of me*?'' 
 
 The girl nodded, `` When our parasite activates, it establishes itself as the alpha of a hive. The people you interact with the most are considered the other members of the hive. If another person's genetic code ca n't support the activation of this parasite, the parasite begins to die, which causes the host bodies to shut down.'' She looked him in the eyes. `` I killed my mother, sister, and my boyfriend. Not my dad, though. Guess I did n't interact with him enough because he was too busy at bars and clubs.'' 
 
 Dakota did n't say he was sorry. That's the thing about losing someone, you ca n't apologize a person back to life. He spread his palms across the table, `` Why are you telling me this?'' 
 
 `` Because I know you need help. You ca n't die of natural causes, the parasite wo n't let you because that would kill it. But there are others like us. We're working to find a cure. Some way to eradicate this thing from our system. We have safe hives scattered across the globe, and we have some methods that work for short term contact with the dormants, that's what we call normal people.'' 
 
 Dakota nodded, `` How do you not hurt each other, if we're all alphas?'' 
 
 The girl shrugged, `` Who knows? A mutual respect for one another? It's another mystery. We've lived together for about fifty years, that's the earliest recording of when we started popping up. We have yet to have a death from exposure to others of our kind.'' 
 
 Dakota thought it over while she finished dad's food, and went on to mom's plate. He could go with this mystery girl and maybe get some answers to what was wrong with him. Or she could be a serial killer that would rip him limb from limb and scatter him across the city. But would being killed be so bad? Really, what did Dakota have to live for at this point in his life? 
 
 He looked at her, `` What's your name?'' 
 
 `` Annabelle.'' 
 
 `` I'm in.''
