"You don't have to help with anything, just... I want you to know who you're dealing with."

Taking a deep breath, Clarence pulled away. He didn't shove Elliott to the side, but he wanted to be able to look him in the eye when he spoke the truth. "When I first found out I was a Different, I had my memory like a vision. It wasn't long, like, not even a minute long, but I saw enough."

Another deep breath. "I was on a rooftop, I think. There were two people in front of me, and this weird mask floating in the air. One of the people was this kid, maybe a little younger than us, and the other was an older man. The older guy reached for the mask but I wanted it, so I... I guess I used magic or something? And I shot him in the chest with this red light."

He laughed again, breathless, thinking back on it with a strange sense of deja vu and dread. "I should have been upset when I saw him fall down but I didn't care. It was like I was so determined to get that mask, I didn't care if he just died. And he was dying, I know he was, and I just let it happen. No, I made it happen and I didn't care."