Secret Villain

by Dee J. Stone

  After a few minutes, Kaylee stops slamming her fists and her eyes get droopy. Holding her tightly in her arms, Mom stands. “I’m going to take Kaylee to her room and sit with her for a bit.”

  Once she’s gone, Dad, Matt, and I exchange a glance.

  “Dad,” I say. “What’s up with Kaylee lately? I thought she was getting better.”

  Dad stares at his plate, sighing. “She is. It’s not so simple and will take a little while. We need to be patient and supportive.”

  I don’t want to blame myself for all this, but once again I do. I know I can’t do anything else about it, just be there for her, but sometimes I wish I could undo the past. On the one hand it’s great that the kids are no longer under Hiram’s control. On the other, they’re with his son. So did I really gain anything by freeing them?

  They’re not imprisoned anymore. Fine. And Jack and a few others are free and safe. I guess some good did come out of it.

  Matt’s hand goes to my arm. “She’ll be okay.”

  I nod, but something’s bothering me. Don’t know what it is. It’s like I’ve got this feeling inside. Like I’m worried about something. Not Kaylee or Jeremy. But something else.

  I stand. “I’m going to go talk to Danny,” I tell Dad and Matt. “He has no right talking to my sister that way.” I fly out the door.

  On my way to Samantha’s, I think about everything that happened the past few days. Maddie called me earlier, telling me she couldn’t find Jeremy. That didn’t surprise me. The guy’s good. Of course he’d hide himself well. That’s why I’m hoping going on TV will help us get through to hm. I just know we can talk like civilized people. He just needs to trust that all we want to do is help him. We don’t want to hurt him.

  Samantha’s husband, Ben, answers the door. He doesn’t hide the disdain from his face. It’s not that he hates me—he’s actually a fan of Blue. He must still be mad at me for shaking his furniture yesterday.

  “Hello, Nick.”

  “Hi, Ben. Is Danny home?”

  “We’re in the middle of dinner.”

  “I just need to talk to him for a few minutes. Won’t take long.”

  He invites me in and as soon as Kitty sees me, she shyly rushes over to me. “Kaylee was over before and we pretended to be superheroes. She wants to be just like you and so do I.” This is the most excited I’ve ever seen her.

  I smile. “Thanks, Kitty. It means a lot.”

  She beams. “Are you going to stay for dinner?”

  “I already ate. I actually want to talk to Danny.”

  She pulls me into the dining room, where the rest of the family is. Samantha hugs me. “It’s so good to see you again, especially after…” Her voice trails off. “Are you staying?”

  I shake my head. “Maybe another time. I came here to talk to Danny. He said some things to Kaylee that really hurt her feelings. She’s in her room, crying.”

  Samantha turns to Danny. “Is this true?”

  He kicks his feet under the table. “I just said she was crazy. ‘Cuz she goes to that doctor. Everyone at school thinks she is.”

  “She’s not, Danny,” I say. “And you should know better. You know what happened to her and you know how hard it is.”

  He doesn’t say anything.

  “Danny and his friends play heroes and villains all the time at school,” Kitty says. “They pretend to be villains and they force the other kids to be their minions.”

  Samantha’s hands shoot to her hips. “Danny.”

  He shrugs. “Everyone likes me because Blue is my brother. And what’s the big deal if we make other kids be our minions? You always said to include everyone when I play.”

  Samantha shakes her head like she doesn’t want to deal with this right now.

  I say, “It’s not cool, Danny. Not cool at all. I’m not going to parent you, since that’s not my job. I just want you to apologize to Kaylee. You know very well that she’s not crazy and I want your friends to know it, too. So tomorrow at school, you’re going to apologize to her in front of all your friends. And you’re going to tell them she’s not crazy.” The poor kid has been through so much and she doesn’t need this, too. I know what it’s like to be bullied and I would never want that for my sister, or anyone. That’s why I’m probably being so harsh on my little brother. I don’t want him to inflict that pain all those bullies inflicted on me.

  “Did you hear him, Danny?” Samantha asks.

  He nods reluctantly.

  “I’m going to ask her tomorrow after school,” I say. “And if she tells me you didn’t apologize, then—”

  “You’re grounded,” Ben finishes for me. “For two months. And you can forget about Liam’s birthday party.”

  Danny’s eyes widen. “But…but…”

  “Just apologize, little bro,” I say. “And mean it.” I nod to Samantha and Ben. “Sorry to barge in like this. I’d better go.”

  Samantha puts her hand on my arm. “Nick, you’re welcome here any time. I hope you know that.”

  I do know that, but lately it feels like things aren’t how they used to be. Danny only likes me when I’m Blue, and he’s bullying Kaylee. Ben doesn’t trust me. Thinks I’ll destroy the house. And Samantha feels guilty for giving me up. I see it in her eyes every time I come here. I’m sure all of this will pass once we take Jeremy down. Things are just a bit too crazy right now.

  “Good night,” I say before zooming out of the house. From the window, I catch Kitty waving at me. I wave back, glad she likes me for me and not because of my hero status. It sucks that we don’t hang out much. Once all this is over, I’m going to spend more time with all my siblings.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Maddie and I are going to be making a public statement tonight. It’s going to take place at our school, but luckily there won’t be any reporters or anyone bothering us. We’re just going to tell Jeremy we want to talk. The reason the government wants it in the school is because they think it’s the safest place. The place is always guarded, but from now on, it’ll be even more guarded. Especially because most of the powered kids are gone. No one knows where they are or if they’ll turn up. Maddie thinks they’ve joined Jeremy’s team for good, but a part of me hopes some will return to the school, will side with us.

  After school hours, we’re supposed to train like any other day, but I can’t. I’m too distracted. By my home life, school life, hero life. I can’t handle them all. This morning, Mom had to beg Kaylee to go to school. I told her Danny would stop picking on her, but she didn’t believe me. I promised that I’d give her a ride around the Statue of Liberty if she’d agree to go to school. She told me she’d go, and had a good time, especially after I sat her on the Statue’s crown. Then I dropped her off at school, and she clung to me, telling me she was too scared to go into the building. So I stayed with her until I had to leave.

  Something flies past me. Jack, who’s being tossed across the room as Mia explodes in a ball of fire.

  Maddie claps. “Good job, but next time you need to spread out your arms a little more, to get more power.”

  Mia gives her a thumbs up.

  Maddie turns to me. “What’s up? You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. You nervous about going on TV?”

  I laugh lightly. “Funny, isn’t it? We’re finally going to be on TV.”

  She gives me a face.

  I shrug. “Nothing’s really bothering me.” It’s a lie, but I don’t want to tell her the truth. Sure we’re supposed to be honest with one another, but she has a lot going on too, and I don’t want to turn this into something when it’s probably nothing.

  She pushes some hair out of my eyes. “It’ll be okay.” She frowns. “Why do I keep finding myself telling you that?” She crosses her arms over her chest like she’s cold. “Man, our lives suck.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “Some parts, but most of it is pretty good, isn’t it?”

  She takes my hands. “Yeah, some.”

&
nbsp; I stare at her face. Something’s bothering her, too. “What’s wrong?”

  She waves her hand. “Not important.”

  I squeeze her hands. “Come on, Mads.” I know I have no right to demand answers from her when I’m keeping her in the dark, but this is different. I’ve got no clue what my problem is, but she does. And maybe I can help.

  She’s about to say something, but Jack slams into her, shoving her into the wall.

  He groans, rubbing his left side. “Sorry.” He helps her up.

  A guy with super strength, Dozer, waves his arms around, cheering. Jack scowls at him before leaping to his feet and chasing him. He gives him a strong blow, sending Dozer into the wall.

  I rub the back of my neck. “You think we’re training them too hard?”

  Maddie watches them. “No, they need this. Jeremy and his army will be ruthless. Whenever they attack. Why aren’t they attacking?”

  I hold up my hands. “No idea. Maybe they’re training like us. I bet he thinks they’re not up to his standards because they’ve been trained by heroes.” I make a face.

  Maddie laughs a little. She’s about to go, but I take her hand. “You okay?”

  She inspects her body. “No damage from being a human bowling pin.”

  “I mean about the other stuff.”

  She bites her lip. “Just some things going on with my parents. Step Idiot came over last night and wanted my mom back. My dad was there and they got into a fight. Dad ended up in the hospital.”

  My eyes widen. “Was it serious?”

  She shakes her head. “Step Jerk punched him and he crashed into the glass table. He needed a few stitches but he’s fine.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have come over and patched him up.”

  “Because I’m trying to be as normal as possible. I mean, I can’t always call you when someone gets hurt, can I? You need to conserve all your strength for Jeremy.”

  Maybe she’s right. I still would like to help as much as I can. “Why didn’t you call me to tell me?”

  “I don’t know. I guess because I knew you’d drop everything and come help. You need to live your life and not come running every time there is a problem. Except, of course, when there’s this major catastrophe.”

  “Right. Are your parents okay now?”

  She nods. “Hope so. Dad did some damage on Step Jerk and I hope he got the message to keep his distance now.”

  “Yeah. I had a bit of a rough night, too.” I tell her about Kaylee and Danny and she’s relieved to know Kaylee is okay and that Danny will leave her alone.

  “With all this hero stuff,” I say, “we still have normal stuff we’re dealing with. Like family drama.”

  She scoffs. “Drama doesn’t even come close to what happens in my life. It’s like we’re a reality show. It should be called ‘Evil step dad wants to get back with ex-wife. Slugs former husband and gives him ten stitches.’”

  I shake my head. “Don’t make a joke about it.”

  “I don’t mean to. It’s just nice to see the way my dad defended my mom. He really loves her.”

  I smile. “That’s great.”

  We continue training until it’s time to make that public statement. We’ve got a few video cameras in our faces and we’re dressed in our hero costumes. Just to make this whole thing seem more authentic.

  “I’m not nervous,” Maddie, who’s standing right next to me, whispers to herself as the cameras get ready. “Nope. Not nervous at all.”

  I get how she feels. This is our only shot to talk to Jeremy. Depending on what we say, we can either make peace or cause war. That’s crazy.

  Her hand is right next to mine and I cover it with mine. Give her a confident smile. I’m a nervous wreck inside, but I need to appear calm. It’s very unlike Maddie to be so nervous, but this is super important. We can’t screw this up. We’ve had many instances where Blue or Red messed up and the public was upset with us. Today can’t be one of those days.

  When the time comes, I clear my throat. Maddie squeezes my hand before sliding hers out of it. Mine drops to my side.

  “This message is for Jeremy,” I say. “The son of Mr. Hiram who was the founder of JQ Laboratories where experiments were done on kids.” I clear my throat again. “We, The Blue Masked Hero and the Red Masked Heroine, want to talk to you. We know what you’re up to, but we don’t want any problems. We just want to talk.”

  Maddie says, “This isn’t a trap, Jeremy. We really just want to talk to you. Maybe we can help one another.” She tells him to meet us in Central Park tomorrow at five in the afternoon. We promise him that no one will be there, no cops, and the place will be closed off. It’ll just be the three of us, and that he can trust us.

  Once we’re done, everyone packs up their things and leave the school. The Suits come over to us, asking us if we’re sure we’ll be okay. We assure them we will be. Besides, if he hides from us, we’ve always got our goggles. He doesn’t know about that, which can be to our advantage.

  Melissa’s the next one to talk to us. “You two did great.” She pulls Maddie into her arms, then me. “I’m going to worry so much, but I have faith in you.”

  Maddie draws back. “Thanks. Are you going to drive me nuts all day worrying?”

  She laughs lightly. “Probably.”

  Maddie smiles a little. I know what she’s thinking. She and her mom have never been close and Maddie never felt like she actually cared about her, especially when she always took her step dad’s side over her. Now Maddie fees like Melissa is making up for all those years.

  Maddie and I fly out of the building to clear our heads. I’ve got a lot on my mind and I know she does, too. We don’t talk, though. I don’t think we have much to say to one another right now. I’m pretty nervous about tomorrow, but I can’t let anyone know that. The public is relying on us to keep them safe, and the only way to do that is to make peace with Jeremy.

  “Quiet, huh?” Maddie says after a few minutes.

  “Yeah, just thinking.”

  “Same. But it’s going to be okay.”

  I nod.

  “I’d better go back home before my mom freaks out,” she says.

  “Same with me. My parents must have seen the whole thing on TV and they’re probably worried, too. Parents.”

  She laughs a little. “Yeah. Is it okay if I come to your room later? I kind of want to be away from everyone for a bit.”

  “Sure, but we’d better make sure my mom doesn’t catch us alone in my room. She’s been on my case about that a lot.”

  Maddie pulls me toward her. “You can reassure her that we’re not going to do anything. Just talk, and I’ll leave before we fall asleep.”

  “She’d never believe me. See ya later.” I kiss her, then zoom off.

  At my place, the first thing I do after saying hi to Mom—Dad’s still at work—is head up to Kaylee’s room. She’s on the floor, playing with her dolls. Matt’s with her. The sight is kind of funny, the way he’s making squeaky voices, but it’s also nice. Ever since Kaylee was kidnapped, he’s wanted to be a good older brother to her. He’s taking that role very seriously. And he’s also become the guy who protects kids from bullies at his school. I guess there’s always some positives that come from a negative.

  I lean against the wall. “Hey.”

  They both look up. Kaylee leaps to her feet and into my arms. “Danny said he was sorry and now all the kids are nice to me!”

  I swing her from right to left, making her squeal. “That’s awesome.”

  “Yeah! They’re all so cool.” Now she frowns. “They invited me to play at their houses, but Mommy doesn’t let me go. Why doesn’t she let?”

  Maybe because there’s this dangerous villain out there? A villain who happens to be the son of the guy who kidnapped and tortured her. Jeremy could be anywhere, lurking. I get why my parents are so overprotective of her.

  “She’s just watching over you,” I say.

  She turns back to
where Matt is still on the floor. “Matt said the same thing, but I wanna be normal. I wanna have friends like everyone else.”

  “You will, Kayls. Don’t worry about it,” Matt reassures her. “But right now, Mommy doesn’t want you to go to their houses. That doesn’t mean you can’t be their friend.”

  She tilts her head from side to side. “Okay. But I can only go over to Danny and Kitty’s house. Why?”

  I pat her arm. “Because they’re family.”

  That seems to satisfy her and she asks me to give her a ride. When she first got kidnapped, I promised myself to give her rides whenever she wanted. Mom doesn’t like it, but I need to keep my promise to my little sister.

  She squeals and yells as I make her fly like a plane. I sweep my hands all over, pretending to be a roller coaster. Kaylee really likes that. She’s been a little down the past few days, and I’m glad I can make her happy.

  Someone clears her voice from behind me, and I freeze Kaylee in place. Turning around, I see Mom standing there, a disappointed look on her face. Slowly, I lower my sister to the floor.

  “Aw,” she pouts.

  Mom goes over to her and inspects her for damage. “Mom,” I say. “I’d never hurt her.”

  She nods, still poking my sister all over. “I know you’d never hurt her on purpose, but you’ve been through a lot these past few weeks.” She turns around. “Samantha told me what happened in her house the other day.”

  “You mean when Nick shook all the furniture?” Kaylee says.

  Mom faces me. “I know it was minor, but the next time it could be worse. I know you can control your powers, but you have been stressed. How about you stop with the rides? At least until things calm down.”

  Kaylee’s eyes widen. “You mean, you’ll let him give me rides?”

  Mom plays with her curls. “It’s not like I can stop either of you, can I? Come.” She takes Kaylee’s hand. “Dad should be home soon. Let’s get ready for dinner.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I’m twitching. Why am I twitching?