City Without Heroes

by Tanya Lisle

  Indira changed into the blue one and headed out the door. She told her mother that she was going over to Penny’s and, though her mother knew it was a lie, she was happy that Indira was going to be home by curfew. She had even made sure to stock an extra pint of ice cream in the freezer for the aftermath of the night. Indira wasn’t sure if that was because the night was going to go poorly, or if she was planning to prepare Indira for her father’s wrath when he found out. Or, perhaps, it was her mother screwing with her.

  Indira walked down the block and around the corner to where Kyle was waiting for her. She cut off her communication with everyone else, Matt breathing a sigh of relief and asking if next time he could be let out of it a little earlier. She knew he was already dealing with Kyle and probably didn’t need Indira’s side of things as well. Indira didn’t apologize, saying that she’d be back as soon as it was time for them to go.

  “Weird place to pick you up,” Kyle said, sounding just as confused as he looked. He was flustered, which gave his cheeks that wonderful red glow she was so fond of. “Are you sure this is completely necessary? I mean, if your folks care this much, then-”

  “Trust me, it’s fine,” Indira said. “I was more worried you were going to actually pull up to the front.”

  Kyle shook his head, but continued to look embarrassed about something else. He’d forgotten something, she could tell, and he was trying to figure out the best way to break it to her as they started driving. “You look great,” he said awkwardly as they hit the road and started taking a very strange way to the theatre. She didn’t know how to get many places, but this seemed to be the exact wrong direction.

  “Thanks,” Indira said. “You’re not half bad either. But I’m pretty sure this isn’t the way.”

  “I kind of forgot my wallet,” he said. Though she couldn’t remember him ever forgetting it at school, she could hear him mentally kicking himself for doing this again. “I’m sorry, I swear, we’ll just head back to my place and I’ll just pop in to get it. You don’t even need to get out of the car if you don’t want to.”

  “It’s fine,” Indira said, though her heart started to beat a little harder in her chest. She had heard enough from everyone else that the police chief and Kyle’s father was the one who had managed to shut down all the heroes in the city, but she wasn’t expecting to actually be this close to him, especially not tonight. She was starting to think she should have heeded Brittany’s warning a little more closely.

  But it would be fine. She didn’t have to go in and actually talk to anyone. She didn’t have to do anything. She could just sit in the car and wait.

  And yet there was something about the idea of going in that tempted her. She wanted to see who this person she was supposed to be so scared of actually was. After all the warnings, she wanted to see the face of the man who had taken her uncle and banned heroes from Whitten. She wanted to know who she was up against at the very least. And to see if she could find a way to reason with him. Maybe she could find a way to figure out where the off switch to this whole thing was if she went into his head. Maybe she could find some way to make this all end before anyone went in. Before Esther even had a chance to meet her end.

  As they pulled up, Indira noticed a woman staring out the bay window of the two story house. “Is that your mom?” she asked, pointing her out to Kyle. She was a willowy figure, though she didn’t look that old. She was very still, though, and she didn’t appear to notice that anyone was even there, despite the wave that Indira offered.

  “That’s Aunt Tess,” Kyle said. “Mom insists on her coming out once a month for a weekend to get her out of the facility. She thinks it’s good for her, but I haven’t ever seen her do anything different. Dad always seems to be a lot happier when she’s in the house, though, so I don’t really say much. God, Mom’s probably going to want you to meet her if you go in. Maybe you should stay here. I’ll be quick.”

  “It’s okay,” Indira said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “It would be weird just sitting out here and waiting for you.”

  “If you’re sure,” Kyle said, leading the way to the house. “I’m so sorry, though.”

  He opened the door and it was pretty much exactly what she was expecting. There were no signs of any other kids in the house, which explained why he had never mentioned any siblings. Instead, she looked around and saw that there were family pictures hanging on the walls and everything looked just a little less meticulous than how her mother usually kept their house. Things weren’t perfectly straight and the house smelled of baked goods and something trying to cover that scent.

  “Are you back already?” his mother called from the kitchen. She came around the corner, a small, slight woman whose blue eyes looked almost too big for her face. They widened at the sight of Indira standing at the open door. Her blonde hair was cropped short, hanging loose above her shoulders, and she was positively delighted to see her. She radiated the feeling that she wanted to know more about her and anyone that Kyle had an interest in, and Indira was so much different than the last girl he brought home.

  “Oh, hello!” she said, smiling widely. “You must be Indira. Come in, come in!”

  “Mom…”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Hollins,” Indira said. She moved aside so that his mother could close the door behind him and get a better look at her. “You really don’t have to. Kyle just forgot his wallet…”

  “Oh, I’m sure he did,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the kitchen. The words seemed to be enough for her to know just what happened. “Well, you go get it. I’ll keep Indira company.”

  “Mom,” Kyle said warningly.

  His mother shooed him upstairs. Indira covered her mouth with her hand to hide the smile, a gesture that Mrs. Hollins seemed to think was absolutely delightful. She smiled broadly at her, reaching for Indira’s elbow to pull her along, but thought better of it and let her hand drop. “Would you like some tea? I was just making a cup.”

  “I’d love some, thank you,” Indira said. She bent down to take off her shoes, thankful that she wasn’t wearing anything too complicated for the night.

  “Oh, don’t be silly, you’ll only be a moment,” Mrs. Hollins said, shooing Indira into the kitchen before she could remove them. Indira protested weakly, but her desire to be polite and abide by what her hosts wanted outweighed the wrongness of not taking her shoes off before walking across the carpet. If they wanted her to track dirt into their house, that was up to them, no matter how wrong it felt.

  Mrs. Hollins led her through the living room where Indira caught a glimpse of the woman sitting in the window. Sitting in a wheelchair was a brunette woman that looked like she was withering away. Her hair had been cropped short and close to her head, but it was so thin that she could swear she saw some of her scalp in the moonlight shining down on her.

  Indira did not stare, taking her in after only a glance and feeling stranger about her because there was no presence to her at all. There were no ambient thoughts or any activity at all in that mind of hers. It was like she wasn’t even there, and that was stranger than anything Indira had ever encountered before. Even friends she had visited who had fallen into comas had left some impression of something, some sign that they were in there. She didn’t know what to make of it.

  “It looks like Kyle forgot his wallet again,” Mrs. Hollins said to the man sitting at a small table in the kitchen. Behind the laptop was a man with a full head of dark brown hair and gold rimmed glasses. He looked up over the top of his laptop, regarding her for a moment before he smiled and closed the lid. This was Chief Will Hollins.

  Indira could read the situation better now that Mrs. Hollins was in the same room as her husband. Apparently, Kyle’s father had a habit of hiding his wallet to make him come back and give his mother the opportunity to meet his dates, though she suspected she wasn’t the only one who wanted to meet them. Nonetheless, Mrs. Hollins was delighted for the opportunity to talk to her a little and find out about the girls her son was
interested in.

  Chief Hollins, on the other hand, was as blank and empty as Aunt Tess. Indira felt the urge to pry cut off sharply by the reminder that prying on the mind of the man who had forced the heroes out of the city, and a man who had managed to keep his thoughts locked away so well that his mind appeared to be blank, was probably suicide for her. Instead, she forced her breathing to remain calm, her shoulders to stay relaxed, and hoped any nerves that did show through would be considered normal from one of Kyle’s dates meeting them for the first time.

  “So where did he find you?” Chief Hollins asked, looking her carefully over again. “Just moved into town, I’m guessing. How long have you been in Whitten?”

  “Will!” Mrs. Hollins chided him, bringing over a cup of tea for her, along with a small creamer of milk and a bowl of sugar. Indira sat across from Chief Hollins and took a sniff of the tea. She proceeded to add a touch of milk and left the sugar on the table as Mrs. Hollins continued. “I’m sorry, dear. Will’s job sometimes means he forgets his manners.”

  “It’s all right,” Indira insisted, keeping her eyes on him as she stirred her tea. “You’re the police chief, right? It makes sense you’d want to know about anyone new coming in, just in case there were problems coming from outside. It must be tough keeping the heroes and villains out of here.”

  “I know my son would prefer it if I just let them in, but there is a law to uphold,” he said. Indira didn’t need to read his mind to know he was doing it out of his own desire more than the law, but the law did make it convenient.

  “He might feel a little different if he had to start scrounging up ransom money,” Indira told him. Her unease about him made her want to get on his good side. “We moved here a couple months ago from the city because my dad got taken hostage. They hired some heroes to protect the building, so he got picked up on the way into the office instead. After we got him back, we moved here pretty much immediately.”

  That seemed to have been just the right thing to say. Indira took a drink of her tea and she could feel Mrs. Hollins relax a little more as Chief Hollins nodded and opened the laptop again. Mrs. Hollins leant over Indira’s shoulder and said, “I think he likes you,” with a conspiratorial smile. She sat next to her and took a glance back at her husband before she turned to Indira again. “I’m sorry to hear about your father, though. Is he all right?”

  “He’s fine,” Indira told her. “He got transferred here pretty much immediately after it happened when he asked for it. And Kyle’s been pretty helpful with helping me get used to everything around here. Although he did forget his wallet the first time he offered to take me out and left me alone with his parents.”

  Mrs. Hollins laughed at that, her laughter echoing loud enough that Kyle’s footsteps coming down the stairs got louder as he raced back down. “Well, I’m afraid he gets that from his father,” Mrs. Hollins told her. When Indira laughed, she could hear Kyle pick up the pace down the last few steps and into the kitchen.

  “I’m so sorry,” Kyle said again. He straightened up, looking between his parents, and then to Indira. “Um, shall we?” he asked. He was trying to be as good about this as he could, though seeing him flustered was all the apology she needed.

  Indira drained the cup and rose to her feet. “Thank you, Mrs. Hollins.”

  “Any time, Indira,” Mrs. Hollins said. “It was great to meet you. And do tell me if he behaves himself.”

  Indira smiled and nodded, going to Kyle’s side as they tried to make it the rest of the way out of the house. They only made it a couple more steps before his mother called after the two of them, “Do say goodbye to your Aunt Tess before you head out, Kyle.”

  Kyle’s shoulders dropped and Indira hid another smile as he trudged his way the rest of the way across the living room to the wheelchair bound woman at the window. “Bye Aunt Tess,” he said, looking back to Indira as soon as the words were out. He motioned her to get out the door before they were asked to do anything else.

  “Bye Aunt Tess,” Indira said quietly, more so that his mother, who was still watching, would be happy. If she was lucky and all went well, after all, she might be spending a lot more time here with her. From this brief glimpse, she had a feeling Kyle was very fond of his mother and confrontational with his father. And Indira wanted nothing more to do with his father.

  Aunt Tess made no response as Indira followed Kyle back to the car. She plucked the phone out of her pocket and checked the time. A little late, but it should still be fine.

  “If we step on it, we can still make the movie,” Kyle said. “I’m so sorry about that. Was it awful?”

  “It was okay,” Indira said, looking out the window as they pulled out and drove off. Aunt Tess continued to watch them from the window. Indira hoped it would be okay. If she was too late, Penny was likely going to go off and rush ahead without the plan and without her. “Your mom’s pretty nice.”

  “Please tell me my dad didn’t try to talk to you,” he said. She understood the dread that lingered heavy on him as he asked, but she laughed it off, looking back down at her phone to check the show times.

  “He was fine,” Indira said. Fine was definitely a word for him. Already, she was starting to forget why she felt so uneasy around him. There was something strange in the way that he almost wasn’t there in her memory now that he wasn’t looking at her. She wondered if Esther had the same impression of him or if it was just her. She could barely remember the conversation. “Really, it was fine. But we’re definitely missing that movie.”

  “I’m so sorry about all this,” he repeated.

  “Stop,” she said. “It’s fine. There’s a new spy movie that’s out, that we can make. Probably a little more fun than the sappy romance one that goes on for three hours, right?”

  Chapter 21

  Spy Movie

  Movies were the safest of first dates. Sitting next to one another in a dark theater didn’t encourage a lot of conversation. While Indira wanted nothing more than to listen to him talk all night about whatever he was interested in, even if that thing was just how much he wanted to see real heroes live, she was glad for the chance to just spend time with him while taking care of other matters.

  It wasn’t that they didn’t talk before they went in, but their conversations consisted largely of school and what they liked on their popcorn before settling into their seats. There were people on either side of them, and Kyle insisted that they get seats near the middle where the sound would actually be good. Indira went along with him, anxiously trying not to look at the clock and figure out how late she was. She hoped they were ready to go when she settled in.

  Indira waited until Kyle was fully engrossed in the previews, glad to find, like in class, he did not talk during movies. She was leaned in close next to him so she could enjoy the date at least a little before she let her mind wander.

  Alright, time to do this this, Indira said. It’s at Fifth and Ash.

  Where the hell were you? Penny demanded as soon as Indira was in her head.

  Did he forget his wallet again? Esther asked.

  You knew this was going to happen, Indira said. It seemed that Esther had mentioned the possibility to the others because none of them were really surprised at Indira’s tardiness. Indira considered letting her eyes still enjoy the movie and senses enjoy being enveloped in the smell of popcorn and teenage boy, but she could already feel the tension between the other three. And she still wasn’t sure if one of them was going to make it through the night.

  We’ve lost enough time already. Matt, you’re driving?

  You don’t know? Matt asked.

  One of you needs to let me get in enough to pull myself over, Indira told him. Where are you?

  Esther was the only one who let her in, loosening her mind enough so that Indira could find the group of them. Matt had just driven past the call center, the parking lot around it now sparsely populated but not yet empty at nearly eight in the evening. Indira worried that they were cutting it
close, but at least she didn’t have to tell Matt to park a few blocks away, just in case. She stayed with them as they got out and jumped the fences around the warehouses, cutting through lots until they were back by the building.

  There’s a door on the side of the tile place on the right, Indira told them as they got close. There’s a scanner on it, but it’s been broken all week. They’ve just been using the keypad to get in instead, and that opens up a second thing for the-

  Left, Esther said quickly, stopping them in their tracks. I’ll go check that. You guys get the door. I’ll be back in a minute.

  No one stopped her as she rushed off. Indira followed the other two as they went to the door. Penny wasn’t nearly as cautious as she should be, but Matt was watching out for her. At Indira’s body, Kyle was getting a little closer, which was welcome right about now. She was nervous that tonight would be the night the guard routine changed or something would be very wrong. She could feel Esther do something and worried that this was the moment she died, but she seemed to still be there.

  Focus. Indira had to focus.

  The code worked, though they did not have a key. Penny didn’t see the problem with that as she ran her finger along the keyhole. The link to her mind flickered several bright, blinding colours that Indira had never seen before or even conceived of, consuming everything for that one moment. It stopped as suddenly as it started and the door opened under her hands.

  Indira’s body shivered at it and found Kyle’s arm wrapping around her shoulders a moment later. She smiled and crept closer to him, though he continued to say nothing as he watched the movie. Thankfully, he was not terribly attentive right now, too enthralled with the action on screen. She made a note of the feeling, using it to mark where her body was, and let herself drift fully away.