27
ROOFTOP SERIES
Selena stood by me, while Eddie and Doug walked around on the roof behind us, exploring. “If one of you falls off just start screaming. I’m sure one of us will be able to catch you,” I yelled at the two of them over my shoulder. That got a smile out of Selena, something I hadn’t seen in a while.
“Do you ever get a bad feeling about something?” Selena asked, her face returning to the sad, nervous state it’d been in all day.
“What do you mean? Like about a situation, or when I eat some bad food?”
“You know what I mean,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, I guess I do. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you’ve got a bad feeling about Drew?”
She didn’t respond at first. She stared down at the ground. “I just feel so helpless, you know?” she said, looking up at me.
“I know exactly how you feel,” I said, my mind wandering to Samantha. She was somewhere out there. I had incredible abilities, and I had no idea where that where was at. I had the power to save her. And yet, I couldn’t. So yeah, I knew the exact hopelessness Selena was referring to. “Drew’s gonna be alright, you know that, don’t you?”
Selena chuckled as she looked back out at London. “If I knew that, Kane, I wouldn’t be feeling like this.”
She had a point. “Well, trust me. Nothing’s going to happen to him.”
“I really care about him.”
“I can tell.”
Selena looked at me. “No, I mean I really do. We’ve been seeing each other since Dallas.”
Shocked by her out-of-the-blue admission, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Since Dallas?” I asked. “Who all knew?”
“Just Samantha. When we were out in London and Johannesburg we would send each other messages through her, so she kinda had to,” Selena said.
That made sense, and it made me think Samantha was that much more amazing. She didn’t give up peoples secrets, even if they were big ones like Selena’s and Drew’s. That’s the type of trustworthy person Samantha was, and it made me miss her all the more. “So that’s why you’re so worried, huh?”
“Yeah. I just can’t shake this sick feeling.”
“Trust me. He’s going to be fine.” I turned around and sat on the edge of the roof. I saw Eddie and Doug across the way, the two of them finding things to electrocute. “One time in high school, there was this party that Drew and I really wanted to go to,” I said, not really sure why I was telling this story. I guess I just wanted to try and take Selena’s mind off things. “There was this girl there named Gabby King, and I was going to finally ask her out. But then I accidentally let these chickens out that my dad had spent all day corralling into their cage, so of course I got grounded. In the middle of the night, Drew drove to my house and parked his car about half a mile away so my parents wouldn’t see the headlights or get woken up by someone driving up. He ran in the middle of the night—pitch black—all the way to my house. He threw rocks at my window like he was my damn lover and this was some John Hughes movie.” I started laughing as I remember the sight of him standing outside my window.
Selena chuckled and placed her head in her hand. She sat down on the edge of the roof next to me. “Sounds romantic,” she teased.
“Anyways, I go to climb out the window because I had creaky stairs and my parent’s room was right under them. But just the thought of sneaking out and asking Gabby King on a date made my palms really sweaty. As I held on to the window seal, trying to lower myself onto the part of the first floor roof below me, I slipped off, fell to the ground, and broke my leg.” I winced just thinking about how painful that experience was.
“Oh man, that sounds painful,” Selena said.
“It definitely was. Anyways, the both of us got in big trouble. Once I went back to school, everybody was trying to figure out why I’d broken my leg. Of all people, Gabby King walks up to me and asks.” I laughed and cringed at myself, remembering how awkward I was at that moment. “I just froze. Totally froze. But then Drew stepped in and told this story about how I broke it by pushing this little kid out of the way of an oncoming car, and took the hit instead. Total bullshit, and Gabby knew it too. But still, he saved me from my own awkward self. Drew telling that story broke the ice enough for me to ask Gabby if she’d want to go get lunch on Saturday. ‘I’ll tell you what really happened,’ I said, definitely overcompensating for my earlier awkwardness.”
“What’d she say?” Selena asked.
“She said no, of course. She was way out of my league.”
“Wow, not even a sympathy date? You did have a broken leg.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “I know! That’s what I was thinking. It was not a fun time to be me. An itchy leg I couldn’t scratch, and a rejection from the then-girl of my dreams.”
Selena laughed, and I felt a sense of pride knowing that I made her forget about her fear and nervousness, even for just a few minutes.
We sat there for a few more moments before I finally stood up. “Come on, we’d better get back down there. Wouldn’t want to miss any news.”
I reached down and helped Selena stand up. When she stood, she embraced me in a hug. “Thank you,” she said.
“For what?” I asked.
She pulled away and smiled. “For being a good friend.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was both shocked and genuinely touched by Selena’s gesture. “No problem,” I said, not sure what else to say.
We turned and walked towards the exit.
“We going back down to that hell-hole?” Doug yelled across the roof when he saw us walking towards the door.
“Yep, sure are,” I said.
“Aw, dammit,” he said under his breath as he kicked at a rock. “Wait for me.” He and Eddie ran over to our side, and the four of us made our way back down to the waiting room.
We entered the top floor, and even though the heat wasn’t turned up as high as it was in the lower floor, it still offered a huge relief from the biting cold wind outside. I walked to the elevator, everybody close behind. The hallway stretched out long and dark ahead of me, before twisting out of sight. I felt the urge to go down there and see what was around, but I wanted to hurry up and get back down to Drew. I was worried that I was going to miss a doctor coming in and telling us something.
I clicked the button and waited for the elevator to come. Once it did, we all stepped in, and began the ride down to the basement. With every floor we passed, I felt a pit in my stomach growing larger and larger. I pushed it out of the way. Come on, I thought. Believe what you told Selena. Everything’s going to be fine.
The door opened and we made our way to the waiting room. As we approached, a doctor exited the room. The top of his head was balding, while the sides were a bright white. His eyes looked tired, and his face worn from all the stress he carried day to day.
“There you are,” he said as we approached. He held the door open for us and gestured inside. “Please, step in. I have some news to deliver.”
I felt a slight relief that we got back just in time. We hadn’t missed any important news. But once I stepped inside, that relief was replaced with suspicion.
Two guards stood inside, their Eximus blasters at their side. Their hands were tense, ready to pull them into action at any time. “What’s going on?” I asked as everybody piled in behind me and the doctor shut the door behind him. I made eye contact with Selena, and she looked equally as suspicious. She looked at me, her teeth gritted. I tried to tell her to keep calm with my eyes, but given the fact that her expression didn’t change, I didn’t think it was working.
“These guards are just here to make sure no one gets out of hand,” the doctor said as he stepped forward. “I’ve come here to let you know that there were some complications during the surgery. A large blast of Eximus energy was released, resulting in an explosion that killed everyone in the room. I’m sorry to say, but your friend Drew is dead.”
28
HALLWAY REACTIONS
I fought every urge within me to react. I wanted to scream at the doctor. I wanted to cry that my best friend was dead. I wanted to figure out if there was some way I could save him.
But I didn’t. I pushed it all down. Locked it away. All I needed to focus on right now was Selena.
I watched her, ready to intervene if she lost her cool. She looked down at the ground, pinching her brow. She took in a deep breath and looked at the doctor. The guards tensed. “Thank you for trying your best,” she said, her voice cracking. She turned and walked out the door.
We all stood there for a moment, taking in the news. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to do. The emptiness in my stomach sucked away all my emotion like a black hole. I just felt numb. Useless.
Without thinking, I crossed the room, opened the door, and ran out. “Selena!” I shouted at her as she walked down the hall. She was almost at the exit to the hospital.
She stopped and turned around, her eyes red and puffy. “What, Kane?” she said as she wiped her face.
I jogged down the hallway towards her. “Selena,” I began as I reached her. I realized that I had no idea what I was going to say. I didn’t know what I needed to say. I mean, was there anything I could to make her feel better? To make me feel better? “T-this sucks,” I said, my voice beginning to crack. I looked away, the black hole inside of me began to release some of my emotions, and I didn’t know how to stop them. I looked back up at her, my eyes beginning to water, the realization that I’d just lost one of my best and oldest friends. “This sucks.” It was all I could say.
Selena nodded as she turned away. “Yeah, Kane. It sucks.”
29
EMOTIONAL PLAYGROUND
It was almost twelve hours later. I knew it was sometime in the early morning, probably around two or three. But I didn’t bother looking. Time wasn’t something I was worried about.
I lay on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I wasn’t sure exactly how long I’d laid there, but I could probably count on my hands how many thoughts I’d had in the hours I’d been there. I was letting my emotions do their work on me. There was no reason to fight it. I let them use my mind as a playground.
Sometimes I would feel empty, like a glass that was once filled with water had just gotten kicked over, its insides spreading everywhere. Other times I felt like somebody had their hands inside my body, twisting my guts all around until they were tied in a perfect knot. Other times I felt as if an ice cube was stuck between my brain and my skull, running its way down the back of my head, searching for a way to escape.
While other times, I felt like I’d just been told my best friend died. Because there’s really no better way to explain how I was feeling than saying that, because there’s really not anything quite like it.
“I heard about Drew,” a familiar voice said.
I looked up, and saw Athena walking over towards my bed. She sat down next to me, although the weight on the mattress didn’t shift since she wasn’t actually there. “If you’re here to just confuse me and tell me things I already know, you can just go. I’m not in the mood.”
Athena shook her head. “That is not at all why I am here. Kane, you might not believe it, but I care about you. The fact that you’re doing everything you can to help me means a great deal.”
“Yeah, because I obviously have a choice. You’re holding information hostage, dangling it in front of me like a carrot to a donkey,” I said, the storm of anger beginning to rage within me. “Don’t pretend you care.”
“I do, Kane. You may not believe me, but I do.”
“If you really do care,” I said, bolting up right. I could feel the rage dancing behind my eyes. “Then do something about it. Bring him back like you did Doug.”
Athena shook her head. “It’s not that simple. If there was an explosion, then there’s no body. No body and I can’t bring him back. Besides, these things are much more complicated than just snapping your fingers and bringing someone back to life. A price must always be paid, and you still owe me for Doug.”
I stood up from the bed, the anger forcing me to move. “You keep coming here and talking to me, but you’re not helping me at all. You’re just confusing me and getting in my way! You say you care, but just a while ago you told me not to trust my friends! What’s your problem?” I yelled. “Why can’t you just be straight with me? Why can’t you give me a little help? What’s your game?”
“There’s no game,” Athena said, standing from her bed. “But there are rules. Life is full of them, Kane Andrews. And they must be followed.” Her voice grew stern.
“Okay then, new rule: don’t bother coming to me unless you’re actually going to help me,” I said.
“That seems awfully selfish,” she replied.
“You want to talk about selfish? Really? You’re not helping me bring my friend back just because I haven’t finished completing your task that, frankly, is vague as hell.”
“Rules, Kane. Rules.”
If I heard her say that word one more time, I was going to blow my top. I couldn’t believe she was standing there saying these things to me. If she really cared, if she was really just stopping by to offer her condolences, then she was doing a terrible job at it. That meant all the emotions that were using my mind as a playground began to overflow, and I was taking it all out on her.
“Kane, I really am sorry, and I really do care,” she said, taking a step forward.
I felt a rush of energy as she stepped closer.
“—you hea—” a voice in the distance said. It came in and out, like a voice fighting through static on the radio.
Athena’s form flickered.
“Get out,” I said.
“What?”
“I said get out!” I yelled, pointing at the door. I’d had enough of her. My friend just died, I didn’t need her coming in and messing with my head any more than my own emotions were.
“Kane, you do not cast me out like I’m a dog sticking their nose where they shouldn’t.” Her form slowly rose above the ground, the robes around her whipping around like someone turned a fan on full blast.
My anger disguised itself as courage and fueled me. “Get the hell out of my head right now!” I yelled, clamping my hands over my ears, pressing down on them like I could squeeze her away.
“Do not speak to me li—”
“—GET OUT!” I clenched my eyes and screamed as loud as I could. Everything in the room shifted a few inches, and I heard glass shatter in the bathroom.
I opened my eyes, and Athena was gone.
For a moment, I was happy that I’d succeeded. I stood up to her. I was alone, just like I wanted.
But then I couldn’t fight off the sudden feeling that I’d done something terribly wrong.
30
THE DIVIDE
My phone buzzed, waking me from my sleep. I didn’t even remember getting into bed. A text from Ellie sat unopened on my screen. I almost didn’t open it, but then I figured I should just in case it was an emergency.
We need to talk. Come by my office soon?
I didn’t even bother to reply. I peeled myself from bed and, wearing the same clothes from the day before, exited my room. Ellie had stopped by the night before just a couple hours after the news, and we talked for a bit. She didn’t stay long though, as it was obvious I wasn’t in the mood for company. Now it seemed like she needed something, and despite the fact I’d gotten mad and yelled at her the night before, I still had a duty to Athena I needed to fulfill. That meant going to see Ellie whenever she needed.
When I was walking to her office though, I realized something as I passed a window. The sky outside was dark. I looked down at my phone and realized it was almost eleven at night. I’d slept through the entire day. Still, my body felt tired and worn.
I reached Ellie’s office and let myself in.
“It’s good to see you about,” Ellie said as I entered
I forced a smil
e. “Thanks.” I sat down in a chair across from her desk. My eyes felt heavy, the few hours of sleep I got not having been sufficient. “Working late?”
“Yes, of course. We need to talk about Selena,” she said, getting straight to the point.
“What about her?” I asked, sitting up straight.
“No one knows where she is. She’s not in her room, or anywhere on the premises as far as we can tell.”
“I mean, that’s kinda to be expected. I’m sure she wants some alone time,” I said. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”
Ellie nodded. “I hope so. However, my superiors are a bit more nervous about the situation. They see Selena as a loose cannon, and her being out in London without any supervision? To them, it is a recipe for disaster.”
“What do you want me to do about it?” I asked, unsure where she was going with this.
“We need you to go find her. Try and get her to come back. We understand she’s fragile and hurt right now, but a fragile and hurt Super is the last thing we need to worry about.”
“She wouldn’t do anything. You know Selena, Ellie. She’s not going to destroy the city because she’s upset her boyfriend died,” I told her, feeling ridiculous that I had to even say those words.
“Yes, I know,” Ellie said. “I know she wouldn’t do something like that. Like I said, this is my superiors talking. Can you just go out there and try to find her?”
I thought about it for a moment. If I knew Selena, I knew she wanted to be left alone. Then again, she’d been alone for almost thirty-six hours. Maybe it was time for her to have someone to talk to. “Okay,” I said, standing. “I’ll go see if I can find her.”
Ellie stood. “Thank you, Kane. I know this time is hard on you, and I would never ask something of you right now if it was up to me. But it’s not.”
I nodded and gave Ellie a smile. “Don’t worry, I know. I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Thank you,” she said as I turned and walked out the door.
The Secret of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 4) Page 12
