Secret Villain

by Dee J. Stone

  He shakes his head. “You see, the main reason I was rude is because you two remind me of the mistakes I’ve made.”

  “You mean with JQ?” Maddie asks.

  He nods. “I was never proud of what I did. True, I didn’t experiment on the children, but I was still part of it all. I saw what was going on and never said a word.”

  “You were afraid,” I tell him. “Hiram threatened everyone’s safety if they told anyone about the experiments.”

  Charlie doesn’t say anything.

  “We came here to thank you,” Maddie says. “I don’t know where we would be right now if not for you.”

  “Dead,” I say.

  Maddie clutches my hand. Hers shakes a bit.

  “Thanks a lot, Charlie,” I say. “Really, thank you. I can’t say it enough, or mean it enough. I owe you my life.”

  He shakes his head. “You don’t owe me anything. It was the least I could do to make up for everything I have done.”

  “Thanks the same.”

  He nods.

  “Can I ask you something?” I say.

  He motions for me to go ahead.

  “You don’t have to answer this, but how exactly did you get that bracelet? Did you make it? I thought you weren’t part of the experiments, so how did you create the bracelet?”

  “I saw enough and am familiar with the basics. But I don’t know enough to make the bracelet give permanent invisibility.” He nods to the bracelet wrapped around Maddie’s wrist. “Since Maddie already used it, it’s useless now.”

  Maddie asks, “Something weird happens when Nick and I hold hands. Our powers become stronger. Did you know that, and that’s why you gave me the bracelet? Did you want me to go invisible and take Nick’s hand, or did you expect me to attack Jeremy from behind?”

  Charlie sits back with an amused expression on his face. “Hiram was actually able to achieve his goal.” He says that to himself.

  Maddie and I exchange a glance. “What are you talking about?” she asks.

  His smile widens. I’ve never seen the guy smile before. “Hiram conducted many different experiments. As you know, he was trying to make powerful super humans. His son was an actual success, though he didn’t know that. Jeremy had both your abilities combined. In Hiram’s eyes, invisibility and telekinesis are the most powerful abilities. Telekinesis can not only cause you to move things with your mind, but you can fly as well. Those are two powers in one.”

  He tilts his head toward Maddie. “The same goes with the fire ability. You can fly quickly when you’re engulfed in flames. You can create not only fireballs, but explosions. You can send anyone and anything flying across the room. And invisibility—the perfect way to keep yourself hidden. So you see, Hiram believed these abilities superior to others.”

  I shrug. “But neither of us can breathe underwater. Or reads minds. Hey, no one we know can read minds.”

  Charlie shakes his head. “Telepathy is impossible. JQ was never able to create it.”

  I guess that’s a good thing. The world would be screwed if Jeremy was able to control our minds.

  “This doesn’t explain the whole holding hands thing,” Maddie says.

  Charlie nods. “I’m getting to that. Hiram wanted powerful super humans. He figured that if one genetically enhanced child was powerful, then two combined would be even more powerful. But he never succeeded. I didn’t think it was possible, but now I see that it is.”

  “What do you mean? And do all the other scientists who are locked up know all of this, too?”

  He nods again. “Have you ever held hands with another powered child? Did your powers grow stronger?”

  Maddie and I shake our heads. We’ve trained with the others kids, have gotten close to them, but were never able to do what Maddie and I can do.

  Charlie goes on. “The only reason the two of you are able to combine your powers is because you’re soul mates.”

  Maddie lifts an eyebrow at me and I do the same to her.

  “Soul mates—made of one soul. It’s as though you’re one person. When you combine your powers…”

  “Boom,” Maddie finishes.

  “Now you get it.”

  Maddie and I gape at one another. Soul mates? Does this mean what I think it means? That we’re…going to be together forever?

  Her cheeks redden a bit. I bet she’s thinking what I’m thinking. Maddie and I will be together forever! This is one of the best news I’ve ever gotten. Without thinking, I grab her and give her a huge kiss on the lips.

  She laughs a little as she tries to pull free. “Nick! We’re in public.”

  I don’t care. I kiss her and kiss her until my mouth’s numb.

  Charlie holds up his finger. “Yes, you’re soul mates, but that doesn’t mean you won’t break up in the future.”

  My gut drops. “Break up?”

  “If that does happen, you will eventually find each other again.”

  I shake my head so fast it’ll fall off. “Not gonna happen. I’m never going to let this girl go. Never.”

  Maddie smiles at me, her face a little redder. Mine’s on fire, definitely redder than hers. But I don’t care. I just love her so much.

  “So…” Maddie says. “Every time we hold hands, we’ll be strong?”

  “Yes, but you need to be careful not to use it so often. For two reasons. One, you don’t want to accidentally hurt someone. Two, you will wear yourselves out.”

  That makes sense.

  “After we defeated Jeremy, he lost his powers,” Maddie says. “Why? And are they gone for good?”

  Charlie’s eyebrows furrow. “Jeremy lost his powers?” He thinks for a second, then a lightbulb seems to go off in his head. “Your combined powers caused that to happen. It was so strong it knocked the powers right out of him.”

  Maddie and I stare at one another.

  “Are you sure?” I ask.

  “Pretty positive.”

  Wow. I don’t know what to say, and it looks like Maddie doesn’t either.

  “This is another reason you have to be very careful when you combine your powers,” Charlie says.

  Maddie and I nod.

  “Is there anything else we should know?” I ask.

  “That’s it, I believe.”

  We thank him and Chandra one more time before leaving the house. We’ll probably never see them again, which sucks. But this is the only way they’ll stay safe. Unless I can somehow convince the government to pardon Charlie for what he did. It doesn’t seem likely, but I can always hope.

  “Soul mates, huh?” I say as we fly.

  Maddie shrugs.

  I stop flying and take her hand. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy? Or do you want to break up?”

  She shakes her head, leaning against the tree. “I am happy about the soul mate, thing. I just don’t want to deal with tomorrow. I can’t.”

  I scoot closer to her and wrap my arm around her, bringing her close to my chest. Tomorrow, all our fallen friends will be buried. I don’t want to deal with it, either. It’s too hard. But we’ve got to do it. We’ve got to be there for them one last time.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The funerals are done and all the kids, including Maddie and myself, are sitting in the rec room. It’s quiet as we think about everything that happened. It was very painful to be at the funeral, but I’m thankful I had the chance to say goodbye. I silently apologized to each kid for not protecting them better.

  Melissa’s trying to get us to talk, kind of like a group therapy thing, but no one is in the mood for that. I think we all just want to be alone with our thoughts.

  The kids who joined Jeremy were questioned by the FBI and no one, other than Justin and Ally, have been locked up. The FBI understood that the kids were just confused and felt imprisoned here. They and Melissa are going to make some changes to help the kids feel more comfortable.

  School and training will start again tomorrow. Life goes on. Though it will take a very long tim
e until things go back to normal.

  I’ve spoken to the government about Charlie. I didn’t give them his name, I only put a hypothetical scenario in front of them. They told me that if this person really did aid in taking Jeremy down, then they will pardon him. They gave me their word. Even though Charlie was part of JQ, he never actually harmed the kids, which is why the government is willing to give him a second chance. Now all Maddie and I need to do is convince Charlie and Chandra. She told me she’d speak to her mom about it and both she and her mom will go to their house to talk to them. I’d tag along, but Mom texted me that she’d like Jack and me to come home as soon as we can.

  My first thought is that something happened to Kaylee, but I need to train myself not to freak out. She’s fine. Practically back to how she used to be, though she keeps begging me for powers.

  I say bye to Maddie, then head over to Jack, who’s sitting on the side, his head between his knees. He hasn’t made many friends here, but he was close with a few kids who died. He’s handling all of this well, but I bet he’s just hiding his emotions.

  I clap him on the back. “Doing okay?”

  He shrugs. “I guess.”

  I grab a chair and plop down next to him. “I’m sorry.”

  He lifts a brow. “For?”

  “Not being a better teacher. Or whatever I was. I should have watched over the kids more. They shouldn’t have died.”

  He doesn’t respond. We’re quiet for a while.

  “Want to sit here for a little bit longer or are you ready to go?” I ask.

  He stands. “Let’s go. I won’t gain anything by staying here. What does your mom want from me, anyway?”

  I hold up my hands helplessly. We zoom toward home and Mom invites Jack to stay for dinner. I don’t get why she’s being all smiley and secretive. She could have just asked me to invite Jack for dinner.

  We’re all sitting at the table, chatting like normal, when Mom takes Dad’s hand. “We have some good news.”

  We all sit up curiously.

  “Well,” Dad says. “We might have good news. We actually want to ask Jack something.”

  All eyes shoot to Jack. He sinks a little in his seat. “Did I do something wrong?”

  Can’t be. My parents are smiling. They’ve hardly smiled lately, because of the whole villain and Kaylee thing. But they’re smiling now. Heck, they’re more than smiling. Any more and they’ll tear their faces.

  “Okay,” I say. “What’s going on?”

  They exchange a glance before Mom starts, “We spoke with Jack’s social worker and she said it would be okay for Jack to join our family.”

  Matt, Kaylee, Jack, and I gape at them. Did I hear that right? “Wait,” I say. “You want to adopt Jack?”

  “If that’s okay with him.” She takes his hands. “I know we should have discussed it with you first, but we wanted to surprise you. Please don’t feel like you have to accept. We only want what’s best for you.”

  Jack’s eyes are wider than the meatballs in his plate. His mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out.

  I clap him on the back. “Say something, man.”

  He doesn’t seem to be able to. But from the look on his face, we all know he more than loves the idea.

  Mom turns to the rest of us. “I know we should have discussed this as a family, but I’ve seen the way you all love Jack as though he’s your brother. Why not make that happen?”

  Matt says, “I think it’s a great idea.”

  “Me, too.”

  Kaylee continues to eat.

  “What do you think, kid?” I ask her.

  She continues to eat. I poke her in the ribs with my finger. She usually giggles when I do that, but now she’s eating like a robot.

  Alarm fills my parents’ eyes, but I signal them to relax. Kaylee’s just being Kaylee. Adorable, but stubborn as hell sometimes.

  “Kayls?” I say. “Did you hear what Mom and Dad said? They want to adopt Jack. Wouldn’t it be cool to have another brother? One with powers who can give you even better rides than I give you?”

  Nothing from her.

  Mom rushes to her side. “Sweetie, why are you doing this? If you don’t want us to adopt Jack, then…then we won’t.” She turns to Jack. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think she’d have a problem with it.”

  “That’s okay,” Jack says. “I’m used to it.”

  I don’t like the sound of that and neither does Mom. She pushes Kaylee’s curls out of her eyes. “Sweetie, talk to me.”

  She pulls her gaze away from her plate and glares at my mother. It’s like she’s got fire in her eyes. “I. Don’t. Want. A. New. Brother.” Forget the fire. I swear it’s like she has a demon inside her.

  Mom swallows. “Okay,” she says slowly. “Maybe we can—”

  Kaylee starts wailing, tears pouring out of her eyes. “It hurts!”

  “What hurts?” Mom asks. “Your head? Tummy? Do you have a booboo?”

  Kaylee nods vehemently.

  I run to her. “Tell me what hurts and I’ll heal it.”

  “Everything!”

  I panic. What does she mean everything? Grabbing her hands, I shut my eyes and channel all my energy into healing her. But something’s wrong. My energy refuses to enter her body. And when I open my eyes, she’s still yelling in pain.

  Why isn’t it working?

  I try again, but the same thing happens. By now the whole family, including Jack are surrounding us, worrying what’s wrong with my sister. She doesn’t stop crying out in pain.

  Then, after a few seconds, she shuts her eyes and slides off the chair. I hold up my hands, catching her right before her head hits the floor.

  Mom gasps. “Kaylee.”

  I hold her close in my arms. She’s breathing, but it’s weak. In fact, it seems like her entire body is weak.

  “Something’s seriously wrong with her! We need to get her to the hospital right now.”

  “Can’t you heal her?” Matt asks.

  “It’s not working. We need to hurry.”

  Dad nods. His hand and voice shake as he shouts orders at everyone. I’m going to rush Kaylee to the hospital while the rest of them take the car.

  I fly out the window and rocket to the hospital. As I’m speeding, Kaylee’s head moves a little and her eyes flutter open.

  Relief washes over me. “You’re okay. You scared me, kid.”

  Her eyes are glassy and she’s staring right through me. She’s also whispering something. When I bend closer, I hear, “Powers.” Then her entire body goes limp again.

  “No,” I mutter. “No! Kaylee. Wake up. Please wake up.”

  She doesn’t move, and once I make it to the hospital, I shout that my sister’s not moving. At once nurses take her from me. I’m left in the waiting room, pacing as a million thoughts rush through my head. Is Kaylee going to be okay? What’s wrong with her? She was doing so well, and I thought she was on her way to being back to her normal self.

  And why did she say powers?

  “Nick!”

  The rest of my family is here and want to see Kaylee, but the doctors tell them they need to keep their distance for now. Matt, Jack, and Dad join my pacing while Mom sits on a chair, her head buried in her hands.

  I text Maddie, telling her what happened. It’s not long before she’s at my side, holding my hand and reassuring me that everything is going to be okay. I want to believe her, but she didn’t see the way Kaylee looked at me. Like I wasn’t even there. It was like she turned into a different person. No, like she wasn’t a person anymore. Like she was existing.

  Maddie and I decide to fly around the hospital building. I want to stay close for updates, but I also need to get away for a few minutes.

  “How did it happen?” Maddie asks after a minute or two of silence.

  I shake my head. “I don’t know. My parents invited Jack for dinner. They want to adopt him, and when they asked Kaylee if it was okay with her, she freaked out. But then she just collapsed.�
�

  Maddie’s eyes widen. “Your parents want to adopt Jack? Wait, that’s not important right now. So Kaylee just collapsed. And you said she was perfectly fine these last few days.”

  I nod. “It came out of nowhere.”

  Maddie’s eyebrows furrow. “None of it makes sense.”

  “I know.”

  We continue circling the building. “This might not be the best time to tell you this, but Charlie accepted the pardon. Mom and I just spoke to him and Chandra about it.”

  “That’s nice. I’m glad, I guess.” Can’t really focus on anything except Kaylee right now. Maddie squeezes my hand.

  I don’t know how much time passes—feels like hours—before a doctor finally emerges from the doors and talks to my parents. Maddie and I rush inside and watch from a few feet away with Matt and Jack by our side. Mom’s nodding, her eyes wide. Dad’s mouth twitches as if he’s trying to be strong and hold in his emotions. He then thanks the doctor, who pats both their arms with an apologetic look on his face.

  What does that mean?

  Once he’s gone, Mom falls into Dad’s arms, crying. Dad’s got tears in his eyes as he wraps his arms tightly around Mom. Are they behaving that way because Kaylee is going to be all right? Or because….?

  Matt, Maddie, Jack, and I waste no time making our way to them.

  “What did the doctor say?” Matt asks. “Is Kaylee going to be okay?”

  Dad opens his mouth, then shuts it. After taking a deep breath and letting it out, he says, “No. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with her or how it happened, but they told us she only has a day or two to live.”

  “What?!” I nearly shout. “What do you mean?” My voice is more than panicked. Please, please don’t tell me I heard that right.

  Tears gush down Dad’s face as he nods and pulls all of us into his arms. “I’m afraid it’s true.”

  “The doctors are wrong,” I say. “There’s no way she’s dying.”

  The tears continue to go down Dad’s face and he makes no move to wipe them. Maddie buries her face in my shoulder.

  Mom continues to cry. She says something, but I can’t hear well because her mouth is pressed to Dad’s chest. I think she’s saying, “My poor baby.”