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Read the previous chapters.
Chapter 30
Homeward Bound
The same doctor as before examined me. He put my pinky and ring fingers in a splint on my left hand, and stitched a gash on my forehead. He put a brace on my knee and pushed my dislocated shoulder back into place and I passed out.
When I woke up, I didn’t feel at all rested. I shaded my eyes from the bright glare of white lights, wondering how I was able to sleep at all in such a brightly lit room.
Footsteps broke the silence. Suddenly Ethan and Tiffany were looking down on me.
“My head hurts.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. Then as my mind woke up, I asked, “How are you guys?”
Ethan smiled down at me. “We’re good.”
“Samantha?” Why I asked, I didn’t know – maybe I just appreciated her saving my life, or maybe I was genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. The thought would haunt me for days.
“She’s okay too,” Tiffany answered. “The doctor said she shouldn’t do any cheerleading for a coupl’a weeks, though.”
“You should see the bruise on her spine,” Ethan added. Sparks of excitement actually danced off him. “It’s huge. It looks like–”
“You know what?” I had to cut him off. “I don’t care what it looks like.”
Peter and Savanah appeared above me next, both looking quite pleased with themselves. I really wanted to punch the girl, because she’d been hit as hard as me, if not harder, and she didn’t have so much as a scratch. I would have felt so much better if she’d at least gotten a black eye.
As if she had my mind-reading ability, Savanah piped up, “Why is it that every time we get into a fight, you end up looking like this?”
“I hate you.” I pushed myself into a sitting position. I still needed to lean against the wall, but I was tired of lying down. “Besides, it’s not every time.”
“Four out of five,” she said.
The room was the same as it had been when I was here… a few hours ago? Yesterday? I couldn’t tell anymore. What I could tell, even without looking at my cell phone was that I would have a voice mailbox full of messages from my mother. Each would be more frantic than the last. I would be in deep when I got home.
The only people who wouldn’t care about my disappearance were Grandma and Grandpa Walker. Sadly, they would probably be glad I wasn’t there.
“So, what’s going to happen?” I asked. “With us, I mean.”
“I think I should answer that.” It was amazing how stealthily she could move. It had to be the suit. She joined our group, looking at everyone. Abby seemed impressed with each of us – even Tiffany, who had no more powers than Abby herself. “Can you excuse us? Christine and I need to speak alone.”
Before my friends moved an inch, they looked at me for approval.
“It’s fine,” I told them.
They filed out of the medical bay. The door slid shut behind them. She waited several long, silent seconds, before rotating her head toward me. “You really have made a mess of things.”
“Yeah, I know. But I fixed them all too.”
“Fixed them all?” Her voice raised an octave and her eyes rolled into her skull. “If you listened to me in the first place, there would have been no problem to fix. Besides, you present the biggest problem of all. Do you know how much paperwork I need to file because of you?”
“You don’t understand,” I muttered, sounding too much like a child.
“Why don’t you enlighten me? Or are there more unfortunate people you need to save?”
She was making fun of me. But she knew me too well. Though reluctant to jump into action, I also couldn’t sit by while someone else was in danger. Call it my tragic flaw. At least I knew what my tragic flaw was.
Speaking the words even before the realization hit my brain, I said, “I was doing what I was supposed to do.” Not “had”, not “wanted”, but “supposed”. The word took me by surprise almost as much as Abby.
“What do you mean? Like fate?”
“No.” It wasn’t like that at all. It was more a calling I guess. I was called and told to come. I could still choose whether or not to accept the call. “Not exactly.”
I paused, not believing I was about to tell her one of my biggest secrets, but I needed to verbalize my thoughts to make myself understand it all. “You see, I had a dream a couple weeks ago…about you capturing Eddie in the museum.”
“I know,” she said matter-of-factly, making me feel stupid, like I should have known she knew.
“Anyway, the dream led me here. Then everything that could go wrong did, including my perception of the situation. All the while, I thought I needed to rescue Eddie from you, but I really needed to save him from his powers. Plus, by being here, I was able to save the other prisoners. I know you don’t think that’s good,” I added, when a protest formed on her lips. “But I do. You can’t imprison people, no matter who they are or what they’ve done, without a trial and without cause.”
“Thank you for quoting your U.S. History textbook.” Her tone was beyond sarcastic, much like I sounded when someone was feeding me lines of absolute crap. “You’ll find when you enter the real world that things written on paper don’t always work.”
“It doesn’t make it right.”
“It doesn’t make it wrong either.”
We’d never see eye to eye on this. We both knew it, and decided not to continue that part of the conversation.
“So, these visions – do you have them often?”
I shook my head. “Twice.”
“How can you tell the difference between these visions and a regular dream?”
It was obvious, at least to me, she was trying to learn more about me, and at that point, I no longer cared. “They’re just more…real, I guess.”
The questioning went on for several more minutes. She asked me how many times I would have a dream, and if it was exactly the same each time. Then she asked some strange questions I didn’t know the answers to, like which part of my brain I used to see these visions.
I shrugged. Like I know something like that.
Only when she was done with her mini-interrogation did she return to the subject. “Now, what to do with you?” she said, as if she didn’t already know. “I suppose I should have you arrested for trespassing and breaking into a government facility.” She waved a hand in the air very dramatically, as if seeing all my violations since my arrival. “Not to mention the attacks on government employees. And let’s not forget the jailbreak, either.”
“But…” I interjected. There had to be a but.
She grinned, and it was genuine. “But,” said Abby, holding the vowel a little longer than she needed, “I’m not.” She paused, looking over my cuts and bruises. “We do have to come up with a cover story for your injuries. And we have to account for your whereabouts since Sunday as well.”
She ran her fingers over the stitches in my forehead. I winced and instinctively slapped them away. Once the brief pain subsided, her words hit me.
“What do you mean, since Sunday?”
Her smile dropped into a surprised grimace. “It’s Tuesday. I thought you knew.”
“I’ve been asleep for two days?”
“Approximately thirty-two hours.”
I couldn’t believe it. I’d never slept so long in my life. My heart stopped as I realized that I’d lost two days of my life in this room.
“I’m sorry.” She meant it. “I’ll get the cover story to you before we leave.”
“Thanks.” I looked down at myself, almost expecting to see an old lady’s body in place of my own, like Rip Van Winkle or something like that. But no, besides the scratches and the bruises, it was still me.
“Now that that’s all cleared up, I have a matter to discuss with Ms. Stephenson.”
“What? Why do you need to talk to Savanah?”
“Let’s just say one of her relatives has been giving us a little trouble. Now, get changed, I’ve got to take you back to your grandparents’.” She started for the door.
“I don’t get you,” I said.
Abby stopped in her tracks. She turned. “Why not?”
“First, you try and arrest me on the day my brother was born, then you pretend you’re a counselor at my school to try and get me to reveal my powers, and when I do you let me go. Then you recruit me to arrest two thieves, when you could easily have gotten them yourself. Then I pretty much spit in your face when you offer me a full time position as one of your Agents, and you try to arrest me. Then when you do finally capture me – twice – you let me go. And you even cover up the whole thing so no one will wonder what I’ve been up to. Plus, and I know it was you that opened the Cryo-Chamber door when I was trying to rescue Eddie. The question is, why?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She gave me a knowing smile. We both knew, however, that she would never give me a straight answer. “Let’s just say I was doing what I was supposed to do, too.”
Did it mean she was under orders to help me? Or was it because of some weird fate thing like my dream? Or did she just need me to help take down Quinn? Maybe it was another answer altogether. I wished I knew, but the answer wouldn’t be forthcoming anytime soon. But I am going to find out. One day I’ll have my answer.
She turned away again, pressing on toward the door. “Besides,” Abby looked back over her shoulder, “I did promise anyone who helped me out a Get Out of Jail Free card.” With that, she disappeared through the door.
I hate that woman.
I changed into the clothes she’d laid out for me – all black, just the right color. Once I pulled the dark T-shirt over my head, I began feeling like myself again. Black really was the only color for me.
It was only a few minutes before my friends, minus Savanah, appeared through the doorway again. Samantha was walking around but she was in a bit of pain, because she kept her back straight, and every time it moved her face scrunched like someone stabbed her with a knife.
“I never got to thank you,” I said.
Samantha’s face wrinkled again, but this time not from physical pain. It was from the pain of actually helping out the likes of me, at the expense of her own body. “Don’t mention it.” She forced the words from her lips. Pretending to be my friend was really out of character for her. “But if you mention this to anyone, freak, you’re dead. Got it?”
Now that was more like Samantha. “Got it.”
“They just took Eddie out. The Agents are driving him home,” Tiff said.
“And no one’s looking for the escaped prisoners. At least, not yet,” Sam said.
“So it looks like it all worked out,” I said, praying it was true.
“Not quite,” Ethan contradicted mesaid. “You’ve been missing for nearly two days, and we’ve all had to pretend we don’t know where you are.”
“Actually, Abby’s got that covered. I’ll fill you in on the train.” Even with the alibi in place, I would be grounded until I was twenty.
Oh well. Small price to pay for justice, I suppose.
“Would you finally admit something, Chris?” Sam asked.
I knew I wouldn’t like what he was going to ask. “What?”
“That you’re the leader of this team.”
“Oh, so we’re a team now, huh?” I had no choice but to roll my eyes. “And what’s our team name?”
No one said anything for a moment, as they attempted to come up with a name that didn’t sound like a bunch of children thought of it.
“The Supers?” Peter offered.
“The Patriots!” Ethan shouted.
“Ultra Squad,” Sam said.
It would figure, the boys would come up with names. And the three of them kept shouting out titles, finally giving up after “Justice League” and “The Avengers” were thrown into the pool, when they realized they had no other good ideas.
“All good names,” I said sarcastically. “Why don’t I think about them for a while before I choose?” We all knew I had no intention of thinking about them.
“You still haven’t admitted it,” Sam pressed on.
“Fine,” I sighed. “I’m your leader. Happy now?”
“Very,” he said.
**********
Savanah rejoined us about an hour or so later. She didn’t speak to us. I respected her privacy and didn’t invade her mind, even though I was dying to find out what Abby had told her. Based on her mood and the way she kept her distance, it wasn’t anything good.
Abby personally drove us all—with the exception of Sam and Samantha, who were taking Sam’s old car back to Pennsylvania—to the nearest train station and put us back on the train to Manhattan. Before she ushered us onto the platform, she handed me a folder that contained falsified medical records, claiming I was in a hospital in New Jersey for my “fall”. Then she promised to see me in school the next day and disappeared into the crowd.
I explained my alibi to Ethan, saying how I was supposed to be surprising him by showing up at his grandfather’s house, but never made it on account of my “accident”. Since I wasn’t supposed to have a cell phone or a wallet, I was admitted as a Jane Doe, and was unconscious until that very morning, when, without insurance, they discharged me, and I returned to my grandparents’. It was a rather well thought-out plan that only a government Agent would be able to pull off. The medical records, signed and dated by a doctor at the hospital, would seal the deal if my parents had any questions.
We parted ways at Penn Station. Tiffany, Peter and Savanah waited for me to pick up my things at my grandparents’ and return so we could take the train together. Ethan went back to his grandfather’s, to pretend he’d been searching for me for a couple of days. He planned to meet his parents and they would all drive home together.
So, everything was pretty much working out.
That was, until I actually arrived on my grandparents’ doorstep.
“Where have you been, young lady?” my grandmother screeched. “And what happened to you?”
Her anger wasn’t nearly as bad as that of my grandfather’s, who came out of the kitchen and shouted, “You better have a very good explanation for where you’ve been!”
“I’m sorry,” I practically cried, and was about to explain myself with the made-up story when a third person appeared, carrying a baby in her arms.
Oh, crap! I knew I had to face her eventually, but I figured to have at least a few hours before that.
“Christine, you get over here this instant!” My mother’s tone was so harsh that Conner, cradled next to her chest, began to cry. She was so angry she didn’t even try to comfort him. She just handed him to my grandmother and shook a finger at me. “You nearly gave me a heart attack, disappearing like that!” It didn’t seem to register that I had stitches in my forehead, and a couple of broken fingers. “The next time you ask to go off on your own, you can just forget it, young lady. Do you understand me?”
Try as I might to get a word in, my mother wouldn’t hear of it. I barely managed to respond to her with a yes or no before her tirade continued. She wouldn’t even let me sit on the couch, and my knee was killing me.
“You have no consideration for other people,” she continued. “The least you could have done was call someone and let them know where you’d gone off to. Two days, Christine! Two days! I can’t believe you’d be that foolish. What’s gotten into your head?”
I stood there and took all the abuse she flung in my direction. I mean, after all, she had a point. I couldn’t argue with anything she said, even though my alibi could contradict most of it.
Eventually, I was sent to the guest room to pack my things. We were leaving immediately. In my room, I sent a quick text to Tiffany and told her they should leave without me. The only one who had any sympathy for me was Myles, who stepped into my room while I was throwing my clothing on top of my grandfather’s journal and the spearhead. He walked in carrying the set of clothes I arrived in. “I took the liberty of washing these for you, little miss.”
“Thanks, Myles.” I took the clothes from him.
“Did you fix what you were hoping to fix?” Something in his tone made me believe he knew what happened. However, that was impossible.
“Yeah,” I said, simply.
“Well, good luck,” he said before stepping out of the room. “From the sounds of things, you are going to need an awful lot of it.”
“Thanks, Myles.” Again, I wished I could take the man home with me.
I packed my bag and my mother ushered me out the door so quickly, I barely had time to say goodbye to my grandmother and grandfather. For a moment, I thought she’d left Conner behind in her rage, but the boy lay in his carseat/carrier thing, resting peacefully.
My mother was breathing heavily though, trying to calm herself, with little success. I thought of the dragon, and pictured flames shooting out of my mother’s nose. She led me to the subway and back down to Penn Station.
She didn’t speak, and I knew it was because she was afraid if she did she’d scream like a mad-woman again. Not wanting to create a scene in public, she did her best to ignore me. All the while, I was looking for a way to tell my falsified story, to lessen the blow of the punishment I had yet to hear about.
We only had to wait twenty minutes for the next train to Pittsburgh, and when it came she all but threw me aboard, forcing me to sit right next to her. This would be one long train ride.
Trying to sleep, unsuccessfully, the train lurched as it started and stopped at every station. About an hour into the ride, I opened my eyes only to see my mother staring stony-eyed at me. The anger shooting like arrows off her still outweighed her concern for my wellbeing.
Jeez, I thought, how long until she finally lets up?
The answer was: another hour. The sour face lessened a little as she played with Conner, entertaining the baby on the long trip. The anger was still there, and she still wasn’t speaking to me, but it was a start.
We passed through New Jersey with little incident and finally stopped in Philadelphia. A few more hours and we’d be home.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she asked, “What happened to you?” Her voice was a forced calm that she still didn’t feel, but at least she wasn’t so pissed anymore that she felt she couldn’t speak in a civilized tone.
Even better, she actually waited for an answer.
“I had an accident,” I explained. Then went into the whole story about how my phone and wallet had been stolen – which was true, though I neglected to say I’d recovered them. Then I told Abby’s story about visiting Ethan and being pushed down the train station steps, then lying unconscious in the hospital. I added that no one could call her because they didn’t know who I was.
It was at this point her motherly concern returned, even if it was still overshadowed by the need to rip me limb from limb. “Why didn’t you call when you woke up, then?” she asked.
“I didn’t think about it, Ma,” I said. “All I was thinking was I needed to get home before you killed me. I’m sorry.”
The apology did it. It changed the flow. The anger, though lingering under the surface, was swept away by the flood of concern. I showed her the medical charts, and she seemed to accept this as truth.
“You’re still grounded, you know.” Her voice grew tense once again.
“Yeah, I know,” I sighed. “How long?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I was thinking about the rest of your life.”
I chuckled, and she did the same. It was the one light-hearted second we shared on the whole train ride home. The rest of it was either spent in silence, or with her chiding me for my irresponsibility.
We were still nearly ninety minutes from Pittsburgh when an all-too-familiar presence filled my mind. They were nearby, not in the same car, but close enough that they’d set off my senses. I couldn’t believe my luck, and all I could ask myself was, Why me?
I rose from my seat, which earned me the dirtiest look my mother had ever given me, and slid into the aisle. “I’m just going to the bathroom,” I lied.
Yeah, that’s the way to go, I told myself as I walked into the next car where the source of my distress beckoned, get yourself into even more trouble.
The door slid open. Four rows of seats back, sitting as if they hadn’t a care in the world were Johnny and Gina.
Eh, what else can my parents do to me?
Using my powers, I grabbed both of their heads and slammed them together, while I slipped into the seat in front of them, kneeling and looking over the headrest at them.
“You two better not be thinking of pulling something.”
“Ow.” Johnny rubbed the side of his head.
His fist clenched into a ball and he made as if to take a swing at me, but Gina grabbed him. Wise girl.
“I’m serious,” I said. “You better not try and steal anything tonight. Not while I’m on this train.”
“What if we do?” Johnny’s defiance was nothing but a show, I could feel his true emotions. He was shaking like a Chihuahua inside.
I narrowed my eyes, making myself look quite evil. “You know what I can do to you,” I said in a soft, low voice. “And I will.”
“Just leave us alone.” The tremor in Gina’s voice was apparent. If there was a weak link in the pair, it was her. “We haven’t done anything to you.”
Deciding to stop with the threats, I decided on a different tack, “You know, it was real slick disappearing the way you did when we were fighting that dragon.”
Johnny pointed an accusatory finger at me, and opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Gina looked away, ashamed.
“That was cowardly,” I said. “We could have used you in the fight.”
“It looks like you did all right for yourself,” Gina said.
Johnny was a little more aggressive. His lip curled up into a snarl, and this time his finger jabbed me in my shoulder – my tender shoulder. “You listen here, all right? Y’all can do whatever you want. But don’t confuse being a coward with being smart. We made a decision. It kept us alive.”
“Yes, it did. But how many people had to die because of that decision?”
“I don’t care. There are only two people in this world I need to look out for and that’s my sister,” he jabbed his thumb into his chest, “and me. That’s all we need, and it’s done us a lot of good so far. Because I’ll tell you, once that smoke clears, no matter the outcome, there are two people still standing.” He didn’t say anything more, but tapped Gina on the shoulder and then slammed his fist into his own chest to indicate who he meant.
“Whatever.” I think my eyes went three-sixty in my head. “Just don’t do anything stupid until after I get off in Pittsburgh, or I’ll make you pay for it.”
I rose and walked back to my mother, who’d get suspicious if I was in the “bathroom” any longer. I hoped with all my might that I would never see that brother-sister pair again, but even as I closed the door to the car, I knew, be it luck, fate, or just plain coincidence, we would cross paths again.
Chapter 31
Revelations
As predicted, I was grounded for a month, which was far less than I expected or deserved. My father wouldn’t even speak to me when I walked in the door. He and my grandfather were watching television in the living room. I think it was the baseball game—Pirates vs… who knew or cared.
My dad pointed, not tearing his eyes from the television for a second. “Room.”
Not wanting to start an argument, I ascended the stairs. I felt like an inmate on death row, walking the Last Mile. Waiting at the end would be the gas chamber. Fortunately, my fantasies didn’t become reality and all that awaited me at the end of my trek was my room. Computer – gone. TV – gone. Radio – gone. I threw open my closet doors, half expecting my clothes to be missing too. They were still there.
I sighed. This is going to be a loooooong month.
I threw my clothes in my dresser, and placed Grandpa Carpenter’s journal in its spot on my nightstand. I turned off my cell phone and, removing the extra money from my wallet, threw both items under my bed. They were supposed to be missing, after all.
I had an extra item, though. One I wasn’t sure what to do with. I pulled the corroded piece of metal from my bag. It still felt alive, which still creeped me out. Maybe I could ask Quinn about it in school tomorrow.
No! I chided myself. I had to stop thinking of Quinn as someone I could trust.
As if hearing my thoughts – he probably had – there was a soft knock on my door before it slowly creaked open. My grandfather stuck his head in. “All right if I bother you for a minute?”
“Yeah.” I tossed the spearhead on the bed.
I had to ask him. It was the only way to know for sure.
Plopping on my bed, I watched the old man shut my door for privacy. “I saw Camp Hero,” I said.
He nodded slowly, solemnly.
“Your old barracks is still there. The one where you carved your initials into the doorframe. The one in the picture.”
Again, he nodded, sitting at the chair near my desk. He stayed silent.
“They’re still doing experiments there. The MHDA is using it as a base.” I closed my eyes, fighting back tears as I recalled the other things I’d seen there. “I saw the machine. The one they used to…make you.”
Another nod. I could tell he was reliving painful memories.
“Remember the conversation we had just before you dropped me off at the train station? When I asked if you’d ever had any dreams like mine?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I think I know what you dreamt about. It was Hiroshima. You could have stopped the atomic bomb.”
He didn’t respond in any way, but from the far-off expression on his face I knew it was true. Here I was, nearly sacrificing my life for a hundred people, and my grandfather hadn’t lifted a finger to save thousands.
“It’s okay, we all make mistakes,” I barely managed a whisper. “I still love you.”
The room was filled with a stifling silence for a while.
Half an eternity later, he broke the stunning quiet. Still, he didn’t quite sound like himself. Motioning to the stitches on my head, “Your mother told me about your stitches. Why don’t you tell me what really happened?”
“Would you believe I got these from a fire-breathing dragon?”
Of course he didn’t. His eyebrows rose to his hairline. I explained about Eddie, and his powers, and our breaking into and out of the facility. I told him about the other prisoners, and the dirty, dusty rooms. I pointed to the spearhead, but didn’t make a big deal about it. There was only one thing I left out – Quinn.
“Over a hundred powered humans?” he asked. “That’s not possible.”
“According to Abby, you guys weren’t the only experiments. They’ve been doing experiments ever since.”
“I can’t believe it. That means there are a lot more of us than I thought.”
He heaved a great sigh and looked up at my ceiling, deep in thought. It was a revelation for him, more so than me. He’d lived his whole life thinking he was one of twelve gifted men. Then only six months ago, I came along, and his whole world was shattered. Now, I present the news that there are even more of us, and the shards came crashing down.
“There is one more thing.” I forced myself to say. “Did you ever serve with a man named Quinn?”
His eyes went up into his head, accessing his memory center. It didn’t matter. The fact that he didn’t give me an immediate response was all the information I needed.
“No, hun. Why do you ask?”
It was my turn to sigh. I’d opened the door, now I had to explain. “Since December, this teacher at my school has been training me. He claimed he was one of the Dirty Dozen.” I pulled the picture out of his diary. “He even had the same picture, only–”
“Only what?”
I pointed to the man in the corner who had been Quinn. “This was him, and… it’s changed.”
“That’s Gabriel. He’s always been there.”
“That’s the thing. I realize that now. But Quinn has the same powers as you and me. Could he have… you know… done something so I’d see him in the picture?”
“It’s possible.” Worry oozed off my grandfather. I usually couldn’t feel emotion from him since he was so good at blocking it. The fact I could feel it now had me shaking in my shoes. “Why haven’t you said anything about him before?”
“That’s it too. I don’t know. I always meant to, and then every time I’d talk to you, I’d forgot.”
He looked over the picture, perhaps trying to see the man I’d been seeing in it for the last six months. Then, he handed it back to me so I could slip it back in the journal.
“Abby says she thinks his real name is Quintus. Does that mean anything to you?”
My grandfather didn’t say anything at the name. His face didn’t betray any emotion, but his skin turned pale. The shock hit me like one of Peter’s lightning bolts. He knew the name, but he wasn’t saying anything.
“What’s that on your bed?” he asked.
Nice change of subject, I projected.
He gave me a knowing smile.
I handed him the spearhead. He felt its mental presence just like I did.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, and something in his voice… I don’t know. It was like he’d seen a ghost.
“At Camp Hero. There was a room, with all these old computers, and it was just lying there, sort of calling to me. Have you seen it before?”
“No,” he said, and I knew it was true. “But I think I might know what it is.”
My heart pounded in anticipation of his answer.
“During the war, we were ordered to find an object in Hitler’s possession. It was rumored it could turn the tide of the war. We sneaked into a bunker outside Berlin, but failed to retrieve–this.” He held the spearhead a little higher. “It had been stolen before we arrived.”
“What is it?”
“I think you may have found the Spear of Destiny.”
“Wait. What? No. What would it be doing in that bunker? And why can I feel its… thoughts?”
He shook his head and rose, leaving the spear on my nightstand, next to his journal. “I don’t know. I think you should get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Before I could press him further, he was gone.
Could it really be the Spear of Destiny? If only I had my computer, I’d be all over Google. If it was the spear, what did that mean? What could I do with it?
Grandpa Carpenter thought I hadn’t noticed, but knew who Quintus was, and the thought of the man frightened my grandfather – the war hero.
Though it frightened me too, first thing in the morning, I would pay a visit to Mr. Quinn and straighten this whole thing out.
**********
Rest didn’t come easily that night—maybe because I’d slept for two days straight, or maybe because I’d been playing every possible scenario with Quinn in my head. Eventually I did fall asleep, and it wasn’t very long before Conner’s screaming and my mother’s fist slamming on my door woke me.
“Get up, Christine! You’ve missed two days of school already. You’re not missing another!”
I groaned and rolled out of bed. My knee and shoulder hurt something fierce. Whatever drugs the MHDA doctors had given me had obviously worn off. Limping to the bathroom, I got myself ready.
When I went downstairs, my mother was waiting in the kitchen. “Grab a Pop-Tart. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
“We?” I’d been driving myself to school since I got my car. My mother preferred it that way, since she didn’t have to rush out of the house in the morning anymore.
“While you’re grounded, your driving privileges are also revoked.”
“I’ll walk,” I said, thinking of how embarrassing it would be to have her drop me off after I’d had my mobile independence for months. Of course I wouldn’t really walk – I’d fly to school and get there in record time.
“How do you expect to get to school when you can barely walk across the room?” She was over-exaggerating my injury, but she was right. If I were really going to walk, I’d never make the mile and a half in my condition.
I started to argue that I could indeed get myself there, but she cut me off. “You’re still in a load of trouble, Christine. I suggest you don’t make it worse.”
And with that, my argument was put to an end. A month’s grounding would take me to nearly the end of the school year. I didn’t need it eating into my summer vacation as well. Besides, if things didn’t go well with Quinn, I would likely be getting expelled for attacking a teacher.
So, with Conner in tow, my mother drove me to school. She practically threw me out of the car. “I’ll be here at 2:30. Don’t be late.” Then she drove off, surprisingly leaving no skid marks in the parking lot.
Standing in front of the school, alone, much like the first day of classes – the day I’d discovered my powers – I looked at the doors, and the sign, the empty parking lot, and it all seemed so small all of a sudden. Compared the world I’d just left...
But, it was a tool I would need if I wanted to make it in the real world. I couldn’t let my powers get in the way of learning anymore. Every student comes to school with their own baggage—believe me, I’ve heard all the stories. Just because my baggage was a little bigger didn’t mean I had an excuse for not doing well. My powers would be a secondary matter for the rest of the school year. There was just one thing I needed to do first.
Limping up the stairs and through the doors, I headed straight for Quinn’s classroom. The few teachers in the building stared at me, wondering what sort of accident I’d gotten into, and attributing it to my lack of attendance the last couple days.
If only they knew.
In the science hallway, I found Quinn’s door locked and the lights turned off. He wasn’t there – not yet, anyway. I decided to wait.
The halls soon filled with students, and when the warning bell rang, and Quinn still hadn’t shown his face, I had no choice but to head for Mrs. Blank’s room, and pretend like math interested me. I sat next to Tiffany, and she immediately launched into a string of questions.
“So, how much trouble you in?”
“Grounded for a month.”
“Yeah, me too. Mostly because I skipped two days of school. So, your mom came to pick you up, huh? I can’t believe she’d travel all that way just to get you. She was probably pretty mad, wasn’t she? I know my mom was angry. But I can’t imagine how yours was. So, we going out to fight crime anytime soon?”
“Tiff, nothing’s changed,” I said. “You have no powers, and you can’t come with us.”
“Yes, I can.” She looked around conspiratorially. Then she lifted her schoolbag and opened the zipper slightly. Inside, I saw a white garment that could only be one thing.
“Tiff, you didn’t.”
“Like hell I didn’t!” She resealed the bag. “You guys aren’t leaving me behind anymore. With this, you have no more excuses.” She looked way too excited. Her smile was so big I thought her lips might tear apart.
“I can’t believe you stole that suit.”
“I’m not the only one. Samantha did too. Says she can use it for cheerleading.”
Samantha could do some pretty amazing tricks with that suit. I couldn’t blame her for taking it for that reason, even if it would be cheating.
“Oh, wait!” Tiff continued, way too excited for only seven in the morning. “You have to see this!” She pulled her phone out and accessed a video. “Check it out, you’re on YouTube!”
The video was shaking and grainy, like someone had taken it from a cheap cell phone, but I could tell it was an image of the street outside The Plaza. I hovered a good ten feet off the ground as Abby jumped around, attacking me like a maniac. The video was only about forty seconds long, but when it ended, I felt the lead weight drop in my stomach.
“It’s already got 50,000 hits!”
“Wonderful,” I said, feeling it was anything but. I’d been spotted, not that anyone knew who I was, and from the video quality, no way anyone would be able to identify me. Not to mention, most people would probably think it was faked with invisible wires and whatnot.
Mrs. Blank started class, and we were forced to quiet down. I concentrated on the lesson this time, determined not to have to cheat on the next test. I did all the practice problems Mrs. Blank assigned, and I really think I understood the lesson for a change. The really good news was it took my mind off of Quinn, for a little while.
Science was the same. I actually participated and answered questions, which nearly gave Mr. Jenkins a heart attack. But at the end of class, he pulled me aside and told me how proud he was of me, and how I should keep up the good work.
Walking past Quinn’s room, I found it still shut and locked. A wave of anger went through me. I wanted so badly to confront him. Was he avoiding me?
English was good. We read excerpts from The Count of Monte Cristo, about this guy who was thrown in jail, but breaks out and vows revenge on all the people who put him there. It was very interesting, and yet, oddly familiar.
It seemed like such a long time since I sat at our table in the cafeteria with my friends. This was usually the best time of my day, and I’d actually missed. I wondered vaguely if the table, sitting vacant, had missed us as well.
Savanah took Ethan’s usual spot next to me with a huff. She ate quickly. Several times I noticed her squeeze the edge of the table, indenting it slightly. She was showing remarkable self-control, because she could easily have broken it.
“Something the matter?” I asked.
She threw her fork down, embedding it into the table – no easy task with a plastic utensil.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Tiffany and Sam sat with us, followed by Peter, and then Ethan. Everyone noticed Savanah’s foul mood, and all made a point of sliding their seats away. I didn’t press the matter. I figured she would speak when she was ready.
We ate in silence. All of us were concerned, but we waited for her to make the first move.
“My grandfather’s dead,” she said. “My grandmother too.”
“Oh my God,” Tiffany and I said at the same time.
“I’m so sorry,” Sam said.
“Me too,” Peter added.
“What happened?” I asked. “And how did you find out?”
“Abby Davidson told me. “And I don’t know. They were found in Upstate New York, in some mountain park, or something. They say they were attacked by a bear, but–” Her voice caught, and she didn’t say anymore. Instead, she grabbed the bottle of iced tea she’d bought and took a swig.
She didn’t need to continue the sentence, we all knew what the but was. Savanah’s grandfather had the same powers she had. There was no way a bear could have killed him, even if he was over seventy years old. Which meant…
“How did Abby find out?” I asked.
“A hiker found them yesterday.”
“Why are you here, then?” Ethan asked.
“Where else am I going to go? All my friends…” Her voice caught and she forced herself to take another gulp of tea. “…are here.”
“Why don’t you try talking to someone at least?” I suggested. “As much as I hate to say it, maybe you should see one of the counselors.”
“I already tried talking to Quinn. He was no help. He just mumbled a lot and didn’t say much of anything.”
“Wait? Quinn’s here?” I asked, feeling my excitement and anger rise.
“Yeah, I just saw him.”
“Sorry, guys,” I jumped up from the table, hurting my aching knee further in the process. “I’ve got to go.”
I scrambled down the hall to Quinn’s room, and I went inside. The room was set up for some kind of experiment. Microscopes littered the tables in a haphazard fashion, not the usual clean and impeccable way Quinn typically had them.
He wasn’t in the room, but I heard someone moving in the office. I slammed the door behind me and yelled, “Quinn, get out here, now!”
Nothing happened for a moment, but sounds still came from the office. Just before I was about to threaten to break things, a head popped out the door.
“Oh, Christine,” he said, “you startled me. What can I do for you?” He stepped out into the room, and stood behind his desk. There was something about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“You have some explaining to do.” I threw mental blocks up in case he tried to manipulate me in any way. Pulling the picture out of my bag, and slamming it on the desk in front of him, I demanded, “Explain why you’re suddenly not in this picture. And don’t lie to me.”
He looked at me, and then at the picture. Sweat formed on his forehead. Mentally, I grabbed the edge of the desk, ready to flip it in case he tried something funny.
He was at a loss for words, and his nervousness filled my mind. “Christine, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Would you mind explaining?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” My fingernails were digging into my palms. This man wasn’t going to answer my questions, and he was either unwilling or unable to manipulate me with his mind. “You better start answering, or some people are going to find out about who you really are.”
“How do you know who I am?” His voice cracked. But, his voice didn’t crack like a man who was upset or nervous. His voice cracked like an adolescent boy’s.
My anger was quickly replaced by confusion. “Whoa, what’s going on here?”
“What do you mean?” His voice was back to normal, but it wasn’t. Nothing about him was normal.
His thoughts were a jumble, like he couldn’t make up his mind. And then, I realized something. I could read his thoughts. Something I’d never been able to do with Quinn before. Suddenly, it all made sense.
“Who are you?” I let my voice remain cool, but left a trace of anger in it.
“I’m Mr. Quinn, your…s-science teacher,” he stammered.
“This might fool normal people, but we both know it won’t fool me. Not when you have such an undisciplined mind. Now, tell me the truth, or you’re gonna pay dearly.”
He looked to the door, making sure no one was outside. Then, in a move I hadn’t expected, Quinn began to shrink, and his skin changed color. Even his clothes changed. Suddenly, a boy stood before me – a boy I’d met a few days ago in this very room. It was the boy I’d rescued at the beginning of the year from Tommy’s clutches – the fifth super-powered individual this school had.
I pulled the boy’s name from his own head. “Jayson Johnson. You’re a shapeshifter.”
“Ummm, yeah, I guess so.” He sounded as nervous as his mind felt. This boy truly was undisciplined. The question was: why was he pretending to be Quinn?
When I posed that very question, he simply answered. “Because he asked me to.”
“Do you know why?” I asked.
“He said…he said, he was going out of town…on business. He needed someone…to take…to take his place, in case someone came around asking for him.”
“So, that’s why he wouldn’t tell me about your power. He was covering up the fact he’s not here, and he didn’t want me suspecting anything.”
The web was growing more and more tangled. Quinn didn’t trust me – trust any of us – to let us know when he’d be absent.
“Get back into disguise,” I ordered, “before you get caught.”
As quickly as he’d changed before, he changed again until the visage of Quinn stood before me.
“You must be really fun on Halloween,” I commented.
I retrieved the picture from the desk, knowing that Jayson really didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. I didn’t say anything else, but went straight out of the classroom.
I’d been used. I’d been tricked. I’d been manipulated. The deadly hatred I felt for Quinn was so intense that lockers rattled beside me as I limped by. He lied. He wasn’t who he said he was, which meant that he was using me – using my friends – for something. What that could have been, I didn’t know – maybe I would never know. One fact remained: I wasn’t playing his game anymore.
I would no longer idly sit by while he planned whatever he was planning. Someone had to stop him. I needed to do the right thing, and this time it meant taking Quinn down.
There was only one destination for me.
I barged into the counselor’s office. “I need to see Abby Davidson.” I felt sorry, because I know the woman felt a blast of my anger, and it frightened her. But I couldn’t contain it.
“I’m sorry, but–” she began to say. Probably to tell me I’d need an appointment and to go back to class.
“It’s okay, Rhonda.” Abby came from an office down the hall. “I always have time for Ms. Carpenter.”
She was so jovial, it was like the events of the last few weeks had never happened. She led me into the conference room where we would have some privacy, and ushered me inside. I could already tell that she understood where my anger was coming from, and was ready for what I had to say.
There would be no pretense to this conversation. I didn’t care if she was evil. I needed her, and I was going to use her. Once the door clicked shut I simply said, “Get me a badge. I’m in.”
Like what you’ve read? Well this isn’t the end of the story for Christine and her friends. We have our next story arc coming to you soon. This one is called Hero Heist, and it is exactly what it sounds like!
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