Superheroes In Denim

by Lee French

  “Eleven of us were taken, everyone else is accounted for. There was some talk of going back to the site you woke up in, but Sam found a news blurb saying it was burned to the ground, two days after you escaped.”

  Later, when he might care more, he’d ask who Sam was. “Not a big shock, that.”

  “Whoever ‘they’ are, they’re pretty good at cleaning up after themselves.”

  Bobby nodded, forcing himself to take another bite. “We just weren’t what they expected.”

  “Best guess is you have a higher metabolism than they could have predicted. Stephen says you eat like a horse, and the times you’ve been dosed, it didn’t affect you very long.”

  His mouth full, Bobby grunted. He turned to stare out the window, not wanting to hear any more bad news. If he could sleep on the way home, that would be a small mercy. If the place could actually be ‘home’ for him, that’d be a greater one.

  Chapter 20

  Either they somehow missed the roadblocks or checkpoints, or none were set up. Bobby dozed off early in the ride. He woke in the dark, finding the van quiet and Stephen driving. He felt much better for having slept, with the pain in his arms and legs much more manageable. Hungry again, he rummaged through the cooler for more food and bolted it. Filling his belly improved his mood more and he unbuckled to roll forward and perch between the front seats.

  “How much farther?”

  “We’re almost there, maybe fifteen minutes.”

  Bobby nodded and looked up through the front windshield at the stars. “Thanks. For coming after me. And bringing food.”

  Stephen glanced down at him, smirking. “It didn’t seem possible they would be feeding you as much as you can pack away.”

  “Not even close,” Bobby confirmed, a grin forming, then fading away. “However it works out, I’m going when we find out where Jasmine is.”

  Stephen nodded. “So am I, and I expect Jayce and Andrea will want to, also.”

  “Means while the brains are working on it, we ought to train together.”

  “Good idea. We’ll start tomorrow. Most of us have barely discovered what we can really do.”

  Reaching up, Bobby scratched at his chin, reminding himself he had plenty of beard. The act hurt his fingers, so he stopped. “Man, I ain’t had a shower in…I don’t even know how long.”

  “There’s hot water at the farm.” Stephen grinned. “I’m sure Lily will be happy to help you shave.”

  Bobby coughed and looked away. He and Lily hadn’t even talked much yet. “Shut up.”

  Stephen chuckled. It sounded like he suppressed a much louder belly laugh. “Would you like a lecture about safe sex?”

  “From a vampire?” Bobby snorted. Part of him wanted to punch Stephen in the face for talking that way about Lily. He told it to shut up. “No, I think I got it covered, thanks.”

  Covering his mouth, Stephen shook with the need to laugh. A few minutes later, he pointed at a red reflector on the side of the road. “There’s our turn.”

  The rest of the van woke up when they turned down the bumpy, tree-lined dirt road. Bobby had every intention of helping to carry Dan or Alice inside, but Stephen scooped Dan up effortlessly and Jayce had no trouble picking Alice up. Matthew gave Lizzie his shoulder to lean on, which she only took because she’d just woken up. Andrea didn’t need or want help, either.

  Someone must have heard the van, because the door opened when Jayce got to it. Ai held it open for everyone to troop through. When she saw Bobby, the last of the short parade, she gave him a conflicted, pained smile. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said softly.

  Well heckbiscuits, this had all kinds of awkward all over it. What was he supposed to say? ‘Even though you left me behind, I still managed alright, except I had to be rescued on account I couldn’t escape on my own. By the way, I got shot twice.’ He had no reason to get into it right now. Unable to come up with anything else, Bobby shrugged. “Yeah, me too, for you.”

  She didn’t meet his eyes and shut the door behind him. “Um, are you tired? Hungry?”

  “I dunno.” He shrugged again, watching the parade keep going deeper into the house. When he’d been here in the dragon, he hadn’t paid much attention to the layout. Even if he had, no one showed him to whatever he’d use for a bed. “Guess I ought to try to get some sl—”

  “Bobby!” Lily ran into him and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re here, you’re safe.”

  He grunted in surprise and pain. “Yeah.” His arms slid around her to return the hug, and it felt damned good. He noticed Ai scuttle away and closed his eyes with a sigh. Lily’s body pressed close to his bare chest, warm and soft, and wiped away all the pain and confusion and distraction. If he could stay like this for a while, he’d be a happy man.

  The second she shifted, it broke the spell and he let her go. She stepped away and tucked some hair behind an ear, looking at the floor. “Sebastian will be really happy to see you in the morning. He keeps asking about you, and even more since your dragon showed up yesterday.”

  “Oh. I like him, too.” It almost sounded like she meant the boy liked him and she didn’t. That confused him, because her hug felt welcoming enough. “Uh, I kinda need to rest and heal up. If’n he’s gonna expect me to wrassle with him, I mean. I ain’t in no right shape for that just now.”

  Okay, here, I’ll show you to your room.” She tossed a thumb over her shoulder and smiled at him, bright enough to melt him into a puddle. “It’s just down the hall from ours. They’re small, but it’s a bed and a roof.”

  Bobby nodded and followed her, watching her hips sway. He should’ve kissed her. She stood there, in his arms, and he let the moment slip by. All kinds of excuses welled up in his head. Only one of them mattered: he couldn’t force himself to piss on her husband’s memory. She’d be ready to move on when she decided to be ready to move on. He had no right to force it.

  “This is it.” She stopped and pointed into a tiny room. It had enough space for the twin bed already inside it, and not much else. Good thing he had almost no clothes. “I guess I’ll make sure Sebastian doesn’t run in and wake you up.”

  “I’d appreciate that, thanks.” He stood in the doorway and stared at the bed. In his head, he turned, pulled her close again and kissed her.

  She patted his arm, forcing him to bite back a tiny yelp and disrupting his ideas. “Good night, Bobby. Welcome home.” She walked away.

  “Yeah. Night.”

  “Yeah. Night.” Stepping inside the room, he rubbed his arm and shut the door. In the van, he thought he still needed to sleep. Here, having fumbled that with Lily, he needed something else entirely. He couldn’t get it by wandering around the house or out in the dark. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he unlaced his boots and considered running himself through a shower.

  Soon, they’d find something, some kind of lead on Jasmine. He’d be the first one out the door. Not because he wanted to spend time away from Lily. Now that he had those experiences to reflect on, he thought he could do this stuff. Yes, he’d gotten captured. He’d been naïve. He knew better now.

  He’d learned his lessons and itched to take the test. As soon as he knew where to find it, he would, and he’d finally get a grade worth showing his Momma.

  Interlude at the Farm

  A Night On the Town

  Bobby

  The warm afternoon shade under a cluster of tall pine trees reminded Bobby of home. This time of year, he’d sit on the front porch, sipping a cold beer and watching the shadow of his small house in the Atlanta suburbs creep across the brown grass and cracked sidewalk. His momma would come home from work, tired but still smiling after her walk from the bus stop, and lie down on the couch under the ceiling fan.

  He wanted to take Lily there, to meet his momma. They’d get along. Momma would be charmed by Lily’s little boy, Sebastian. They’d cook together, or do whatever else women did. He only had to get up the gumption to say something to Lily. He took a drink of his beer, wishin
g he didn’t have to compete with the memory of her dead husband.

  Something sharp struck the back of his head. From the neck up, he instinctively burst into silver dragons, each the size of a quarter, to absorb the impact and protect him from harm. His hand still held his beer, splashing it over the little dragons, the weirdly precise end of his neck, and the front of his shirt.

  Before he could think too hard about whether his body would continue to act without his brain, Bobby ordered the dragons to re-form his head. They merged into his flesh again and he hopped out of his beach chair to the sound of Matthew laughing in the next chair over.

  Bobby glared behind them at Stephen, the tall vampire. “Man, what in heckbiscuits you do that for? ” Bobby’s Georgia drawl draped over the words, heavy and thick.

  “To see what would happen.” Stephen’s icy blue eyes, the same as everyone else’s around here, crinkled at their canted corners. He floated six inches off the ground as he approached, but still moved his body as if he walked.

  “What happened is you spilled beer. That ain’t right. Wasting beer is criminal.”

  “Bah. You aren’t even old enough to drink anyway.” Stephen snatched the bottle away from Bobby and held it up. “Ought to report you for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Rover.”

  Matthew snorted and brushed droplets of beer off his Marine Corps desert camouflage pants. “He’s not a minor, he’s nineteen.”

  “Close enough.”

  Bobby huffed, knowing Stephen was bored. “Whatever. Gimme the beer back.”

  Stephen handed the bottle back and adjusted the hood of his sweatshirt. “What are you guys doing over here, anyway? All the work is happening inside the house.” He pointed at the nearby rundown farmhouse undergoing renovations so it could be used as their base. It sat in the middle of nowhere, eastern Colorado, where they hoped no one else would ever find it.

  “I needed a break,” Matthew said, his amusement fading. “If I let myself get too exhausted, I can’t hold the wolf back. It’s better for everyone if I don’t push too hard.”

  Bobby ignored the question, but Stephen stared at him so hard he thought the vampire might develop laser vision to burn holes in him. He sighed and wished he could get away with escaping under the pretense of changing his shirt. “I just needed a break is all.”

  “Of course.” Stephen picked up the rock he’d thrown at Bobby and tossed it into the woods. His superhuman strength sent it sailing into the distance. “I’m sure it has nothing at all to do with a certain pair of shapely hips attached to a certain—”

  “Hey now,” Bobby spat. “Don’t you be talking about Lily like that.”

  Stephen grinned, dark and mischievous. “Oh, were we talking about Lily?”

  Bobby scowled and considered tossing his beer at Stephen’s pasty white face. “Shut up.”

  “Ease off,” Matthew said with a dismissive wave.

  “Damn, both of you need to lighten up.” Stephen let his feet touch the ground and gazed off into the distance. “I’m hungry and none of the woman here will let me tap a pint. I’m going out to find food tonight. Come along for the ride. We can make a night of it.”

  Bobby looked to Matthew, who shrugged. “Sure, I guess. Ain’t got nothing better to do.”

  Hours later, after the sun set, the trio met in the woods and took off. Bobby’s dragon swarm re- formed his body in a dark alley after a half-hour flight. Stephen landed beside him. Matthew, who’d ridden Stephen piggyback, jumped to the ground, his combat boots splashing unknown liquid from a suspicious puddle onto Bobby’s jeans and sneakers.

  Bobby grimaced and shook his leg, hoping the stuff didn’t stain. He only had two pairs of jeans and one pair of shoes. Getting new clothes after fleeing terrorism charges a few weeks ago had proved challenging with his face plastered all over the news.

  Matthew stepped to the mouth of the alley and patted his hip where a gun holster would normally sit. He spat a curse and took a deep breath. “I’m calm,” he murmured. “I’m fine. God in Heaven, let me not kill anyone tonight.”

  “Relax, Fluffy,” Stephen said with a smirk, his dark eyes glittering in the light of a distant streetlamp. “If anybody’s going to accidentally kill someone tonight, it’s much more likely to be me.”

  “Ain’t nobody needs to be killing nobody,” Bobby said. “Don’t joke about that.” He stood at the mouth of the alley, checking the street. “Ain’t right.”

  “Listen to the Voice of Morality, Matthew. He knows what’s right.”

  “Shut up,” Bobby snapped. “We done came here to have a good time.”

  “And by God,” Stephen said with his right hand raised, “we will do so. Hey, did you hear that? I said ‘God’ and didn’t burst into flames.”

  Matthew shoved him, though nothing happened. Without the superhuman strength granted by his werewolf shape, he couldn’t budge the floating vampire. “That’s because you’re not a real vampire, dumbass. You’re a science experiment gone wrong.”

  “That hurts, Spot. Right here in the feels.” Stephen tapped his sternum. “C’mon, guys, let’s find some fresh blood.” He strode out of the alley with a swagger that would have been more impressive had he been wearing a trenchcoat or cloak.

  Bobby stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed Stephen. They walked past a boarded-up video store and a man lying in the gutter. This already felt like a bad idea waiting to get worse. All three of them had government markers on their hides and they decided to go out for a night on the town? He tried and failed to remember why he’d agreed to do something this stupid.

  Matthew kept pace beside him, his hands in the pockets of his Marines desert fatigues. “We could’ve picked a better part of town.”

  Scantily clad women in high heels tottered up and down the street. Garbage cans overflowed. Iron bars covered every window and garish neon advertised sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. Bobby avoided making eye contact with anyone loitering near them. He had no idea what kind of guy trolled a shady street like this looking for hookers, but they must come because this street had plenty of them.

  Stephen sniffed the air as he pretended to walk. He passed several women before heading straight for a young one in a pink miniskirt with bleached blonde hair up in a peacock spray Bobby thought had gone out of style before he was born. Heavy makeup reminded him of the drama club girls getting ready for a show back in high school.

  Bobby stopped and tried not to look like he came to pay for sex, though he didn’t quite know how to do that. He saw Matthew sigh and cross his arms over his chest. The man did a good job of projecting impatience. His approach wouldn’t work for Bobby, though.

  The girl giggled at something Stephen murmured into her ear. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Stephen turned the girl away from the street and tucked a twenty dollar bill down the front of her too-tight shirt.

  “Hey baby, you looking for a date?”

  “No,” Matthew said with cool stare. “He’s not.”

  “How about you, sugar? Military discount.”

  Bobby felt dirty just listening to her. “Man, I don’t need this.” He saw Stephen leading the girl around the corner of the convenience store they all loitered in front of. His belly rumbled and he thought about bursting into dragons to go find a snack. That would mean leaving Matthew behind with Stephen, which would be a jerk move.

  “You know what I do need?” He asked the girl. “Something to eat. There anyplace with decent, cheap food around here?”

  The girl huffed at him. “Amy’s Diner, a few blocks up.”

  Headlights strafed over them, making everyone turn away, hiding their faces from any cops in the area. Bobby followed suit. So did Matthew. They drifted past the store with a silent agreement to move slowly enough so Stephen could catch up when he finished with the girl.

  Stephen’s hissing voice buzzed in Bobby’s ear. “Bobby, Matthew, c’mere.”

  Bobby rolled his eyes, figuring the vampire had a cheap joke he wanted to
play. Matthew shrugged and gestured for him to go first. They reached the corner and found the girl limp in Stephen’s arms. A dribble of blood ran down his chin.

  “I think I killed her,” he whispered in a panic.

  “Heckbiscuits,” Bobby spat. “I told you not to joke about that.”

  Matthew helped Stephen lower her to the ground and held a hand in front of her mouth and nose. “No, she’s still breathing. You drained her unconscious, you idiot.”

  “Kimmy, you okay back there?” a woman asked.

  Bobby gulped. They needed attention like they needed extra holes in their heads. “Yes, ma’am, she’s fine.”

  The woman wobbled toward them, her stiletto heels catching on the broken asphalt of the weed-infested parking lot. “She can tell me herself then. Kimmy?”

  “Get her out of here,” Matthew growled. “Take her to a damned hospital before she really does die.”

  The incoming streetwalker screamed.

  Bobby gulped. “Ssh! It ain’t nothing.” He reached for her.

  She stumbled back. Her heel caught and she fell. “You killed Kimmy!”

  Matthew stepped toward the streetwalker, hands held out to try to calm her down. “I swear she’s not dead.”

  “She’s only unconscious,” Stephen said. “It was an accident.”

  The woman’s eyes went wide at the sight of Stephen. “Is that…blood? On…on your…were you drinking her blood?”

  Bobby winced as she shouted the last three words. “We gotta get outta here.”

  Stephen tossed the girl over his shoulder and flew down the alley, not bothering to pretend to run. Matthew swore and sprinted after him. Bobby gulped. He faced a dozen angry hookers and had no idea what to do about it. If these people got the cops riled up, the government agents chasing them might notice a report about a guy drinking blood. They’d be able to narrow down the search for the whole group to this part of the country. After that, finding their base would only be a matter of time.