Death's Mistress: Origins of Supers: Book One

by D. L. Harrison

  Worse, it’d been a huge story and the deaths that followed seemed to verify it was just a hard fact of life, instead of stirring more doubt that it was a conspiracy by the government. I’d never really questioned it either, not until the day from hell.

  And in that moment, I was standing outside of his house on the sidewalk, wondering what the hell I was expecting from this. It was a typical three-bedroom ranch on the edge of the city in a middle-class neighborhood. The house was painted a light brown color, and it looked to be a few decades old at least. The yard was fenced in, and there was a beware of dogs sign out front on the gate.

  It was my hope he’d be able to help me find my daughter and get a new identity, but the longer I stood there the sillier I felt. I was a strange woman knocking on this guy’s door. He’d have no reason to help me, and just because he was a conspiracy theorist didn’t mean he’d have the unsavory contacts I’d need to find. Nor did it mean he'd have access to the kind of information I needed.

  The door opened and he stared at me. I recognized him from the news. He was right around thirty, with short medium brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a medium build at about six foot one, and he was more than passably attractive. I suspected that latter part was the only reason he’d gotten as much screen time as he had.

  He stared right at me, “Bell? Get in here. You don’t have much time.”

  Well, shit. So much for my fancy disguise.

  “How’d you know it was me?”

  He said gruffly, “You just told me. I also knew you were coming, but I wasn’t sure what you’d look like. You were blonde and blue eyed in the vision, maybe visions can see through your disguises, but my eyes can’t. I was just… expecting you.”

  Right. Psychic.

  I started forward and opened up the gate, and I closed it on the way in just in case the dog sign wasn’t bullshit.

  “I feel like I’m at a disadvantage here.”

  He shrugged, “You probably know more about my life story than I know about yours.”

  That was a good point. I knew a whole lot of details about his life from the news reports back then. I’d been a senior in high school at the time.

  “I’m sorry to just drop in like this, I wasn’t sure what to do. I wasn’t ready for this.”

  He grumbled, “No one ever is. We don’t have a lot of time. I’m guessing you let them get your blood before you escaped?”

  I shut my eyes for a moment. That moment I told you about before. It finally hit me then how utterly stupid that had been. They couldn’t follow me around, but they could use it to get visions of me. Important events surrounding me, either in my personal life or related to the city. If he thought that they were coming for me there at his house, then I’d made the right decision, if his help was enough to give the government psychics a hit it would be significant.

  “Yes.”

  He grunted, “You’re in for an interesting month then, until the blood wears out.”

  Yeah, wonderful.

  “So, in a nutshell, they have my daughter, my husband’s dead, and they were planning to kill me. I overheard them talking about it, and I managed to stage an escape. I also killed one of them. I didn’t have a choice.”

  He looked like he was hardly listening as he led me toward the back of the house and into an office. The old wood desk against the wall was cluttered with paperwork. He also had a cork board on the wall over it, with all sorts of notations, pictures, dates, and other things tacked to it. On the other side of the room was an even more cluttered bookshelf, with just about everything but books piled in there. I didn’t see a kitchen sink, but I bet I’d find it if I went looking.

  There was also a light gray screen set up in front of the window.

  He said, “Stand in front of the screen, and don’t forget to smile.”

  I didn’t know what the hell he had in mind, until he picked a polaroid camera off his desk. A bit bemused I moved toward the screen and put my back to it.

  “How long ago did you know I was coming?”

  He grunted as he snapped a picture, and I belatedly smiled for the next one, but it probably looked closer to a grimace than a true smile. My head was still spinning with everything going on.

  “Since the bridge. Since you quickened fourteen hours ago, and your destiny was set to bring you to my door. It didn’t take long, or a lot of smarts to figure out what you’d be looking for.” He shook the pictures, one in each hand, “I’m sorry for your loss. You must have some powerset. You’re also cuter as a blonde.”

  I ignored his last comment, but I didn’t disagree.

  “I wonder why you got the vision this morning, but the government psychics didn’t.”

  He grunted, “Because this here is a defining moment in both our lives, and not in theirs. They also didn’t get the blood until a few minutes ago, when it was clear you’d not only eluded them in the building, but also their perimeter,” he looked at the pictures and picked up a small messenger bag and threw them inside.

  “A defining moment for you?”

  He nodded, “Because you’re going to help me stop it.”

  I felt a moment of surprise, but in hindsight I should’ve realized he’d want some kind of quid pro quo to help me.

  “I am?”

  He grinned, “I have two photos in here, and the ten grand you’ll need. I also have three addresses. The first is a for a guy I know. He’ll take those two photos and make you a passport and license for your new identity. He can also do birth certificates for both you and your daughter. Not just the paperwork, he’ll get it all in the system. I’m pretty sure the visions won’t see this new you, because it’s a fallacy. So it’s worth doing even right now while they have your blood. The second address is your daughter’s location at a foster house. The third address is a safe house, of sorts.”

  The of sorts sounded rather ominous.

  “Of sorts?”

  He grunted, “You’re the only one to escape that place alive after the government determined you should die, but there’s plenty of supers that never go there in first place. People that believed my story, and contacted me before they’d quickened, and knew where to go. Me and a few other guys bankroll the place. You should find safety there for a while. Anyway, this bag is yours, if you’ll agree to help stop it, and help us expose the corruption and murder of citizens. Right now, the government has you as melting down, and that you murdered Mistral. They doubled down, that means all you have to do is live for the next few days. Then make a statement, obviously in your true form and looks. It wouldn’t hurt to wear a super suit either, you’ll get better airplay.”

  I rolled my eyes at that, since I’d never be caught dead in one of those slutty outfits.

  Yeah, I know, famous last words. My naivety back then had no bounds. I look damned fantastic in skintight black. But that’s getting ahead of the story.

  I said, “Not that I would, but what’s to stop me from just taking that bag, or even just walking away.”

  He smirked, “Because without my phone calls after you leave, the safe house and my… enterprising friend, won’t accept you. If I turn up dead, they’ll come after you.”

  I frowned deeper, not blaming him for taking the caution, but felt insulted despite myself.

  He shook his head, “I don’t think you’d do that, no. Secondly, in a few days when the grief let’s go of its hard grip, you’re going to want to get justice. You’re going to wonder how many before you were killed, seven out of ten supers are murdered, and those idiots justify it because we’re not homo-sapiens and they’re simply afraid. You’re going to wonder how all those superheroes working for SAB are so stupid, and how they could turn a blind eye. Or worse, how the evil ones that are actively involved live with themselves, like Mistral. You’re going to meet those people I mentioned at the safehouse, and you’ll see they’re just regular people like you.

  “Most of all, because you’re a good person, and you’ll realize it’s the right thing to d
o. You might as well give in now, for the help. All I’m asking for is one interview, in three days, to prove that you're still alive despite them saying your power ran away and turned you into a killer. If you choose to do more than that later on, that’s on you.”

  I bit my lip, he wasn’t wrong. I was no hero. The last thing I wanted to do was fly around and fight supervillains or more superheroes. But the injustice of what the Super Affairs Bureau was doing was unconscionable. Still, I wondered just how many in the bureau were in the know, and how many out of it were. The bosses in DC, oversight committee, the president? It was a damned can of worms a mile deep. Still, he wasn’t wrong. It was worth doing, and he was handing me ten grand and a new life to do it. I’d also probably be discredited faster than he was, being a killer and all, even if it was self-defense who were the press going to believe? Self-defense against a government agent didn’t really work, even if it was valid. That was just how the law worked.

  “I’m not thrilled by the idea of taking my daughter to a safehouse for supers.”

  He shrugged, “Check it out first, before you make up your mind, or find your own place.”

  I nodded, “I’ll do it.”

  He grinned both smugly and gratefully, and then handed me the messenger bag. It was bulkier than I expected for ten grand, two polaroid pictures, and a sheet of paper with three addresses.

  “There’s also a suit in there, if you change your mind. Now go, before they get here.”

  I had a million questions, but he shook his head at the look on my face, “Visit me again when all this is over, and your new life is stable. You need to leave, now.”

  I nodded, and then there was a knock at the door before I could leave.

  Chapter Five

  “This is Sentinel with the SAB, open up, we know she’s in there,” a loud voice called into the house.

  He looked frozen, and I winked as I disappeared before his eyes. His eyes widened, and he whispered, “Tell Scott and Jermaine it’s all gone to hell, if I get arrested and can’t call.”

  I’d turned invisible not only in the hopes it would let me escape the same way as last time, but so that they wouldn’t see my new face. We could have tried bluffing instead, but that would’ve been stupid.

  I sighed, “I will,” and then I suppressed all my sounds, as I floated up to the ceiling and double checked that both the messenger bag and backpack were invisible as well. That was handy. There was also a lot less clearance, because the ceiling was only eight feet high instead of twelve. It’d be harder to float over heads that way.

  He moved to get the front door as I floated toward the window and looked out. Sentinel and Solar wind were out front, and there were silhouettes high in the sky, no doubt completely surrounding the place.

  I quickly flew out of the room and to the back door in the kitchen. I wondered if I could control light from a distance like I did with sound. The fact the bags had disappeared with me argued for that, since my protection from physical damage only extended out three inches. I pushed the door out slowly, while focusing on the light around it, creating the illusion the door was still closed.

  Or I tried to.

  As usual, anything more complicated than invisibility or being a night light with my light power I’d need to practice, and I heard someone yell, “Back door! It’s shimmering.”

  Well, shit. I mentally added doors to the illusions I’d need to practice list. The one I’d just started in my head. My heart started to pound even harder in my chest, and I felt an excitement in my chest from the situation. Enough of one that I wondered at my own sanity.

  I pushed the back door fully open and floated back about four feet and toward the ceiling. It was my hope they wouldn’t fire without actually seeing me, but I didn’t want to risk floating out to eat an energy beam or something. Two more heroes appeared at the door and rushed in, and right past me. I darted outside thinking it was a good time, but a third hero was landing right at the entrance when I did.

  I flailed my hands wildly at the shock of it. I still hadn’t had any kind of fight training, but when you can dead lift sixty tons flailing hands did the job. I hit him in the chest with the back of my hand and he flew backwards like a bullet, slammed into the ground, and dug a short ditch in the grass as he screamed out.

  I took off, straight up, as fast as I could go. The sonic boom was muted, and I stopped several thousand feet up in the blink of an eye. I stared down at the house, and it was hard to make out. That was when I discovered a new aspect of my five abilities, the light one specifically, because suddenly the house looked a whole lot closer, just because I’d focused and wanted it to be.

  I also felt relief, as the one I’d slammed into the ground got up and shook off the blow.

  Sentinel had his hands on Glenn, tightly gripping him by the arm, and I could see the look of pain in Glenn’s posture and on his face.

  The sound waves of their voices reached me, merely because I wished it.

  Glenn said, “…crazy bitch. I don’t know where she’s going, but I know I’m going to sue the hell out of you and the SAB for assault, and torture during interrogation if I can swing it.”

  I let out a chuckle, knowing no one would hear it. Glenn was obviously making it seem like I’d invaded his home. I hoped the prescience the psychics had gotten wouldn’t put that to the lie it was.

  Solar Wind said, “Ease up, Sen.”

  Sentinel growled, “That woman killed Mistral, and how did that idiot in charge of testing not figure out she could turn invisible?”

  Oh, well that surprise was out of the bag then. Not a big shocker after what happened at the back door, in front of who knows how many witnesses. There were at least ten other superheroes still floating in the dim light around the house, still looking around themselves for any sign of me.

  Glenn said, “I can’t tell you what I don’t know. She was crazy.”

  Sentinel asked, “What’d she say?”

  Glenn shrugged, “She just demanded my help. She never got around to with what, and I was busy throwing her out when you got here.”

  Huh, that wasn’t even a lie. I’d never said what I wanted. He’d told me and handed it to me on a silver platter, and he had been telling me to leave.

  Sentinel let go of his arm, “You can explain it at the SAB.”

  Glenn snorted, “Sounds good to me. You’re taking in a victim that had his house invaded without his permission by a crazy person. Assaulted me on my front stoop, and now you’re going to apprehend me? The news coverage will be awesome when I get out, and I do need a new roof from the money my lawyers are going to tear out of your asshole.”

  Damn, he didn’t lie again, if said crazy person invading without permission was the two heroes that’d stormed the back door.

  Solar Wind said, “He’s right, Sen. We’ll be ready for her next time. We’ll bring someone that can see heat signatures, or that can feel the smallest stirrings of air. We can wear tech if we have to. The psychics even bear out what he’s saying, they said she would be here for less than five minutes. Don’t get your ass grounded again.”

  Again? I knew his record was rather spotty and abusive from the news. I also had the feeling a thermal vision device or a super with that ability would see me just fine, which wasn’t good news. That suspicion stemmed from the fact that I hadn’t been able to change the heat quality of my light, which meant I couldn’t take on the ambient heat of what was around me. On the good side, all they’d see is a heat blob, I could work with that, maybe.

  Or, get a super suit with thermal properties?

  I so pretended that I didn’t actually have that thought a second later. No super suits for me, or so I’d thought and believed at the time.

  Glenn said, “Well, which is it. I need to lock up if we’re going.”

  Sentinel cursed in disgust, and then stalked away.

  Good enough, I took off north toward downtown, and found a roof to land on where I could check out the addresses. My hands
found the super suit first, and curious despite myself I pulled it out. It looked tiny, one size for all stretchy fabric that would no doubt leave nothing to the imagination, but it’d cover me in black shiny material from neck to toe. It was just thick enough it’d probably cover the smaller details. It wouldn’t outline my nipples for instance, or anything gauche much farther below, but I still shuddered as I pushed it down into the bag. There was also a small eye mask for it, but I’d never need that, even if I put the thing on. I shook my head and grabbed the paper.

  It wasn’t like I was a prude, even back then. I’d enjoyed dressing sexy and provocatively at times. Even relished the looks of desire that I garnered for it, especially from my husband, but I’d always preferred classy sex appeal over trashy.

  All three of them were labeled when I pulled out the sheet of paper, so I couldn’t get them mixed up. I didn’t recognize the street name much less where in the city the address number would fall. I added one more task to my list and flew down to the street. The invisibility dropped as I became the black-haired girl again, and I went to pick up a pre-pay smartphone.

  I’d need a number eventually, and the map and directions app would help me out right in that moment…

  Glenn’s friend of questionable morality, named Scott, lived in a run-down apartment complex in the south side of the city. It wasn’t exactly a slum area, but close. Most of the outside lights in the parking lot were broken, and the building looked like it’d been new about a hundred years ago. Not that I had any right to judge Scott, or anyone that couldn’t afford a better place. I was a killer, on the run, and planning to illegally create a new life. I also knew what poor and just getting by meant, my old place hadn’t been much better.

  The complex was three large three story buildings, with a long parking lot running along the front of all three. All the apartment entrances were inside the buildings, and Scott’s was in the middle building on the second floor, two sixteen. I took a deep breath as I hit the buzzer, and I hoped getting a new identity wasn’t significant enough for the psychics to get a hit off my blood.