Secret Villain

by Dee J. Stone

  After Maddie puts out the fire, I wave my arms around, pushing the debris out of the way. Maddie and I swoop inside. My gut drops. The kids, who are around our age, are all bloodied up. One girl has parts of the car stabbing her chest.

  None of them seem alive.

  Since we can’t move the bodies, we carefully lift the car, then the paramedics do their thing. As we fly away, I think I hear one guy say that one of the kids is alive. In critical condition, but alive. They rush him to the hospital.

  Maddie shakes her head as she zooms toward home. I place my hand on her arm. “What’s wrong?”

  “I just hate that it happened. That these things happen.”

  “Me, too, but there really isn’t anything we could do about it.” I rub her arm. “We did save one kid, though. A minute or two later and he could have died.”

  She nods.

  “Plus once we help train all those kids, there will be more heroes around. More people will be helped and saved.”

  “Assuming our future pupils actually want to be heroes. My mom made it seem like they do, but you never know. Those scientists screwed them up. We have no idea what we’re getting ourselves into.” She takes my hand. “Mom and I are moving tomorrow, and school will start next week. I’m sort of nervous.”

  I gape at her. “You nervous? I didn’t think it was possible.”

  She rolls her eyes.

  “Excuse me?” someone calls.

  Maddie and I peer down. An old lady stands there. Sometimes I forget we’re visible. I’m used to always being hidden when I fly.

  “Yeah?” I ask.

  She points to the left. There’s a fallen tree lying in the middle of the sidewalk. “Explain this.”

  Maddie and I look at one another.

  “Don’t play dumb,” the woman says. “One of you did this.”

  If one of us did, it’d have to be me, since Maddie can’t move things with her mind. “We didn’t do that,” I say. “Maybe it was the wind.”

  Her hands go to her hips. “The wind did not do that. I’d call the police, but I don’t really want to involve them right now. But the next time you destroy my property—or anything on it, I will call the police!” She slams the door to her house.

  Maddie and I are still confused as we jet toward our houses. What the heck was that? Why would we uproot a tree?

  At my house, we sit on the roof. We don’t say anything to one another, just watch the activity going on. It’s pretty late, around ten at night, but there are many people strolling around.

  “I’m used to it, you know,” Maddie breaks the silence. “Being accused. Everyone accused me when I started being Red. I burned people.”

  “But this is different. I mean, we weren’t even near that tree. What the heck?”

  She shrugs. “There are some crazy people out there.”

  “Haters.”

  She doesn’t say anything. I guess it comes with the job.

  Maddie looks around. “This will be my last night in this neighborhood.”

  I hold out my hand and she slips hers inside. “Nothing’s going to change. We’ll still sit on my roof and I’ll still throw rocks at your window.”

  She laughs. “And you still won’t come through the front door.”

  I laugh, too. “Hey, I’m not the only one who’s avoiding front doors. How’s it going with your stepdad? Is he coming with you and your mom?”

  She shrugs. “Not sure. He’s not moving with us tomorrow. He’s staying here with Stepzilla. He and my mom haven’t concluded anything yet. Last night they were yelling at each other. He doesn’t understand how much this job means to my mom. She feels like she’s finally doing something with her life. Making up for what she’s done. Believe me, I know what that’s like.” She pulls her phone out of her pocket. “It’s late and we have to wake up early tomorrow.”

  “Need help with the move?”

  She shakes her head. “My mom wants our lives to be as ‘normal’ as possible. That means moving trucks and all that.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

  She gives me a kiss before dropping to the ground and landing on her feet. She looks up at me. “See you, neighbor-who-won’t-be-my-neighbor-anymore.”

  “And you claim I say the dorkiest things.”

  She sticks out her tongue before disappearing into her house. I sit out here for a bit, feeling the cool wind smack me in the face. I always feel at peace when I’m out here, like nothing could hurt me. But sitting here now, something’s off. Can’t place my finger on it. Maybe because things are changing. Maddie’s moving, Matt will go to college in a few months, I’ll start a new school. Training fellow powered kids. It’s a lot.

  But I can handle anything. Especially because I’ve got Maddie by my side. I’d never be able to get through any of this without her.

  ***

  Maddie and her mom are pretty much all settled in their new home. She told me that except for a few boxes that haven’t been unpacked, everything seems to be in order. When she invites me over the next day, I get there in less than ten minutes. The good thing about flying is that I can go as fast as I can. I’m too low for airplanes or helicopters and too high for people. It’s awesome.

  “Nick.” Maddie snaps her finger in my face. “This is it. Home sweet home and school sweet school.” We’re standing outside the building. Man, this place is huge. It’s as if they took ten houses and pasted them together.

  “What do you think?” Maddie asks.

  I’m still staring at it. “That I can’t wait to see the inside. Are all the kids in there?”

  She nods. “All two hundred and thirty six of them. There are lots of government officials here, watching over them.” She rolls her eyes. “Not that they could do anything. But they do have tranquilizers to…” She makes air quotes. “Control them.”

  I puff out my cheeks. “That doesn’t sound right.”

  “I know. I guess they’re just trying to keep everyone safe.” She takes my hand. “Let me give you the grand tour.”

  I follow her into the building. The first thing I see is the foyer, one you’d find in any school or college. There are steps that lead to many floors above. And further down are many other doors, probably all leading to classrooms and maybe the principal’s office.

  “I’m guessing the dorms are up there,” I say.

  “Yep. Classrooms are that way.” She points to the left. “My mom told me the school will be divided into three groups. Elementary, middle school, and high school.”

  We head to one of the classrooms. It’s a big room, filled with many desks and a teacher’s desk in the front, with a board behind it. “But there aren’t any high school-aged kids,” I say. “Except for us. Are we going to be in our own class?”

  “No. My mom and the government have everything planned out. You see, there are mostly middle school-aged kids. But some of those kids have such high intelligence that they’re on high school level. They’ll go to school with us.”

  “Oh, that makes sense.”

  She nods. “Jack is one of those guys. My mom said he’s been having trouble…adapting, I guess. He was the closest to Mr. Hiram, and he must be very confused. I’m sure he thought of that jerk like a dad. A bad one, but a dad nonetheless.”

  I sit down at one of the desks. “But at the end he did the right thing. He knew that what Mr. Hiram was doing was wrong.”

  Maddie sits next to me. “I think you’re the only one who can get through to him.”

  I nod.

  She stands. “Want to see my room? Maybe meet some of the kids? They should be hanging out in the rec room.”

  “Rec room? Cool.”

  “Not really.” She makes a face. “They’re being supervised to make sure they don’t kill one another. My mom and the government agents were arguing whether to inhibit their powers with bracelets, like they did at JQ. Mom was against it, and the agents said they’d give the kids a chance. So far it’s been going good.”

&n
bsp; She leads me up the stairs and down the hall. There are noises coming from further down and voices that sound like they come from hundreds of kids. When we reach the room, I peer inside. The room is bigger than the gym at my old school. There are a few TVs in here, game consoles, sports equipment, and many other recreational activities.

  The kids are doing their own thing. The noises I heard earlier are not coming from the kids, but from their games and the TV. They don’t seem to be…friends. They’re all just there. Sure they asked to be together after the lab was destroyed, but they don’t seem to be close. I bet Mr. Hiram never let them socialize. He was probably afraid they’d band together to rebel against him.

  I spot Jack in the corner, reading a newspaper. He doesn’t look miserable, but he doesn’t seem to want to be here.

  All the kids are dressed like normal kids, jeans and T-shirts. A few girls have dresses or skirts on. It’s weird to see them as normal kids, and not guards dressed in black. Maddie tilts her head to the right, and that’s when I see a glass window on the wall. A few guys in suits stand behind it. Ugh. They’re watching the kids like lab rats. They don’t need this. But I guess I can’t blame them for wanting to keep everyone safe.

  “Hey, everyone,” Maddie calls.

  Some kids continue doing their thing, but the rest stop and turn to us. Maddie waves her hand to me. “You remember Nick. He’s going to go to school here, too.”

  Half of the kids turn away like they’re not interested. One or two appear mad, maybe at me, maybe at their situation. The other half, including Jack, seem happy to see me.

  I wave. “Hey, guys. It’s good to see all of you again.” That might have been lame to say, but I’ve never been in a position such as this one. Would these kids see me as their…leader? Someone to look up to? But I’m just Lame, Loser Nick.

  They all resume their activities. Maddie and I head over to a few kids who are watching TV. “Anything good on?”

  They’re engrossed in the TV, like they’ve never watched before. I haven’t thought about it—how they’ve been locked up their whole lives without any outside exposure.

  They don’t answer me, not that I blame them. We walk around some more, trying to talk to the kids, but none are responsive.

  When we get to Jack, he looks up at us. I shove my hands into my pockets. “What’s up, Jack?”

  He keeps his focus on the newspaper. It’s from a few days ago, and I doubt he’s actually reading it. “Don’t want to be here,” he mutters. He’s around thirteen with short, dark red hair. All the guys here have short hair, military style.

  “Where do you want to be?” I ask.

  His gaze flicks to the Suits behind the window. “This is no different from where we were before.”

  Maddie shakes her head. “No one wants to hurt you. They all have your best interest at heart. That’s a major difference between this place and the last one.”

  He doesn’t say anything, just crumples the ends of the newspaper. I sit down next to him while Maddie goes to another kid.

  “Jack,” I say. “You feel safe here?”

  He looks at me. “What?”

  “Do you feel safe here?”

  He shrugs.

  “Do you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I bend closer. “You’ve been here about a week. How do you feel? I don’t want to be your shrink or anything. I just want to get inside your head.”

  He lifts a brow.

  “Not literally. I can’t read your mind. But I want to try to understand you so I can help you.”

  He focuses back on the paper. “Don’t need help.”

  “Then what do you want? A home? A family? Do you want to do good? Be a hero?”

  He rolls his shoulders. “I don’t know what I want.”

  “I get that you’re angry. You feel like everyone is out to get you. What those scientists did was messed up. But you can start over here. All of you can. You’re, like, this one big family. You can have a bright future. Do whatever you want.” I pause. “And if you need a friend, I’m here.”

  He gives me a smile—or what I think is a smile. “I guess that would be okay.”

  I nod encouragingly. I know it’s not going to be easy. These kids have a long road ahead of them.

  Jack nods toward the glass window. “Are you sure they’re not going to hurt us?”

  “No one wants to hurt you. I swear.”

  “Okay.”

  Once Maddie and I are done here, we check out her room. She and her mom live on the top floor, near the other kids, but also far enough so they can have privacy.

  I bounce on her bed. “Seems comfy.”

  “Yeah and a little lonely. But good thing Mom’s next door. I don’t want her to be lonely. She’s been different ever since this whole JQ thing happened. At least she has the kids to focus on.”

  “Is that why you don’t want to bunk with another girl? Because you don’t want your mom to be lonely?”

  “That’s part of it. You know I don’t like girls.”

  “Yeah, but these girls are different from the ones at our old school. Maybe you’d get along with them.”

  “Nah.”

  We’re quiet. Maddie looks at me and I look at her. She wrings her fingers in her lap while I tap my foot on the floor.

  “It’s weird,” I say.

  She looks at me.

  “It’s like we’ve got nothing to talk about. There’s no taking down JQ. No…nothing. Other than being teachers and going to a superhero school, we’re just like everyone else.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, our watches beep.

  Maddie looks at hers. “You sure about that?”

  I peer at my watch. A large house has caught fire, and the family can’t get out. “Okay, not like everyone else. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Three

  “And it was so cool how you saved everyone!” my nine-year-old brother Danny says as he, my sisters Kitty and Kaylee, and I make our way to the ice cream shop down the block from their house. “The news people said no one died. All because of you.”

  “And Maddie.” Kaylee crosses her arms over her chest. “Maddie’s a superhero, too.”

  “I know, but Nick’s our brother.”

  “He’s more my brother than yours,” Kaylee mumbles.

  I didn’t want to think about it, but I’ve noticed a slight change in Kaylee’s attitude whenever we hang out with my half-siblings. Maybe she’s jealous that I’m giving them attention, but I have never excluded her.

  “Come, guys,” I say as I lead them into the ice cream shop. We get our ice cream and sit down at one of the back tables.

  Kaylee keeps glaring at Kitty and Danny. I really need to have a talk with her.

  “So,” I say. “How’s school?”

  “Good,” Danny says. Six-year-old Kitty nods. She’s still shy around me. Samantha told me it takes a while for her to get comfortable around strangers.

  I turn to Kaylee. “What about you?”

  She licks her ice cream, a sour look on her face. I try to eye signal her to cut it out, but she pays no attention to me.

  “You know what would be really cool?” Danny asks. “If you do some hero stuff right here. Like, to me. Then I’ll be on TV. Maybe I can pretend to hit my head or get sick or something.”

  He makes a move to throw himself to the floor, but I grab his arm. “How about I just be Nick and not Blue?” Ever since I met him, he’s been obsessed with my superhero persona. All he does is talk about Blue. Kinda stings that he doesn’t like me for me.

  Kaylee drops her half-eaten ice cream onto the table. “I wanna go home.”

  “What?” I ask. “Why? We’re spending the whole day together. I’ve got fun stuff planned. A movie—”

  She stomps her feet on the floor. “Wanna go home!”

  “Kaylee, stop that.”

  Now she slams her fists on the table. The others in the shop turn to us with annoyed faces. Kaylee has thrown tantrums before, but not li
ke this.

  Danny puts his hands on his ears. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “I wanna go home now,” Kitty says.

  “No. We’re not going anywhere.” I grab Kaylee’s arm. “Stop it, Kayls.”

  Again, she ignores me.

  A guy walks over to us. He must be the manager. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  “I don’t want to go,” Danny says. “Make her shut up.”

  The manager stares me down. “Did you hear me?”

  Sighing, I take Kaylee’s hand and, with the others at my heels, we exit the place. Kaylee’s still yelling and crying.

  I shake her hand to knock some sense into her. “What the heck was that? You know better than to make a scene. What’s Mom going to say when she finds out?”

  She pulls her hand out of mine and runs away. You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t take care of all three of them. But I’ve got no choice. I lift all three of us in the air and zoom in the direction Kaylee rushed off to.

  “Sorry, guys,” I say to the other two. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.” I hope she’s okay, that I’ll find her. After everything that happened, the last thing we need is my little sister going missing. She doesn’t have the tracking device on her anymore, which sucks because it’d help find her.

  Every so often, I stop and peer around. Danny and Kitty do the same. But no luck. Minutes pass and still no Kaylee. Calling for her doesn’t do any good, either.

  “Come on, Kaylee,” I say. “Don’t do this.”

  Crickets.

  “If you come back to us, I swear I’ll spend the rest of the day with you. And tomorrow, too. Just the two of us. Please, Kayls.”

  I circle around for maybe an hour before I realize I need to get Danny and Kitty home. I promised Samantha we’d be out for no more than two hours. Plus, I can’t find Kaylee. Who knows where she wandered off to? Once I bring the others home, I’ll canvas the area again. I’m not going to let anything happen to my sister.

  I bolt to their house and ring the bell. Samantha smiles when she sees me and hugs me. “Did you have a good—what’s wrong?”

  I must look really messed up with worry.

  Danny grumbles, “Kaylee ran away.”