Secret Villain

by Dee J. Stone

  “I have to do something,” I say. “Have to heal Kaylee.”

  “You already tried that,” Matt says. “It didn’t work.” He also has tears in his eyes. I think we all do, including Jack.

  I shake my head. “I don’t care. I need to try again.”

  Even though I’m not allowed to go in, I do it anyway. Kaylee’s lying on the bed, her hands on her stomach, her chest rising and falling weakly. She looks like she’s seconds away from death.

  After grabbing a chair and sitting by the bed, I take both her hands and shut my eyes. I put everything I’ve got into healing her. Even if I weaken myself in the process, even if I die, I don’t care. Kaylee needs to live.

  When I feel like I’m about to crash to the floor from exhaustion, I open one eye and take a peek at my little sister. She hasn’t changed at all. She’s still lying there.

  I shake her hands. “Come on, Kaylee. Whatever’s happening to you, you need to fight it. Be strong, kid. I know you can do it.”

  Nothing. Not even a blink or a twitch. If not for the soft rising and falling of her chest, I’d think she was dead.

  I fist my hands. “There has to be something I could do.”

  “Excuse me,” a voice says from the doorway. It’s a doctor. “You can’t be in here right now.”

  “That’s my sister.”

  He nods. “I realize that and I’m sorry for your loss—”

  I get to my feet. “She’s not dead yet, so don’t write her off like she is. And I’m going to save her.”

  I stalk out of the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Nick!” Maddie chases after me as I storm out of the hospital. “Where are you going?”

  “To Charlie. Maybe he can help.”

  She grabs my hand. “Wait, just wait. You need to calm down.”

  My chest heaves. “Can’t.”

  “You’re going to hurt someone or yourself. The news about Kaylee sucks, so so much. It hurts like a million daggers in my heart. But we can’t go barging to Charlie’s house, demanding he help us. And even if he does help us and it doesn’t work, you can’t blame him. Okay?”

  I nod. “I just want to help Kaylee.”

  “So do I.”

  We fly toward Chandra and Charlie’s house.

  “It was JQ,” I say. “They had something to do with this.”

  “Probably.”

  I punch the air. “They’re going to pay for what they did.”

  She closes her hand over my fist. “I get that you’re mad, but vengeance isn’t the answer. We’re heroes and heroes never go after revenge.”

  I grit my teeth. “Then maybe I’m done being a hero.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  I don’t answer. As soon as we reach Charlie’s house, we ring the bell. The door opens and both brother and sister stand there. They look happy. Not to see us necessarily, but happy to be able to live in society. I almost forgot that Charlie has accepted the pardon. They can finally have a life. Well, good for them. My sister’s life is about to end.

  No, I can’t be this way. Charlie and Chandra are good people who deserve to be treated like normal people. Whatever’s happening with Kaylee sucks, but I shouldn’t have negative thoughts toward them.

  “Maddie,” Chandra says. “Nick. What are you doing here?”

  “It’s my sister.” My voice croaks. “She needs help. She collapsed and the doctors say she’s only got a day or two to live. I don’t know who else to go to for help.”

  Charlie motions for us to take a seat in the living room. All four of us sit down. My leg twitches.

  “Tell me everything that happened,” Charlie says.

  And I do, from beginning when Kaylee started having nightmares. “She was tortured,” I say. “So we figured that with help the nightmares would go away. And they did. For a short while, Kaylee was acting like her old self. I mean, she did beg me for powers a few times, but all kids do that, don’t they? And then today she just collapsed.” I look at Charlie, pleading. “Please tell me you could do something.”

  Charlie sits forward, rubbing his chin. None of us says anything as he thinks.

  “Your sister hasn’t been herself after she was tortured,” he says, more to himself, I think. “She had nightmares. Intense nightmares that required therapy. And then she began craving powers.”

  “It wasn’t craving,” I say. “She just wanted them to protect herself. She was scared.”

  Charlie shakes his head. “No. She didn’t only ask for them because all kids want powers. She asked for them because her body needs them.”

  I gape at him. “What?”

  He hesitates. “The reason Kaylee hasn’t been acting like herself since she was kidnapped is because her body went through a change. She wasn’t just having nightmares. It was her mind and body’s way of telling her that something was wrong.” He pauses. “Kaylee is dying because she needs an ability to survive.”

  Maddie and I exchange a shocked glance. “You mean, when they tortured her they messed with her body? Like…like they were experimenting on her?”

  “In a sense, yes. While I have no idea exactly what they did to her, I’m pretty sure the reason she’s been behaving this way is because she needs a power.”

  “But she collapsed only once. All the other times she was just scared and traumatized.”

  He nods. “Yes, she was traumatized. Her body needed powers, but it was trying to fix itself, so to speak. That resulted in the tantrums, the crying, the shouting. The nightmares were just a manifestation of what her body requires. A power.”

  “You’re saying if we give her a power, she’ll survive?”

  “Yes.”

  I leap to my feet. “Then let’s do it.”

  He motions for me to sit back down. I do so slowly. “What’s wrong?”

  “Kaylee can’t just get her power or be experimented on. She already was experimented on. But that was a failure, since she didn’t actually receive a power.”

  My gut drops. “So she can’t be helped?”

  “I never said that. The only way to save her is by giving her an ability.”

  “Huh? You just said she can’t get at ability,” I say.

  “No, she can’t just get one out of thin air. The only way to give her an ability is if someone with an ability gives her his.”

  I’m too choked up and confused to talk. To even think. Luckily, Maddie manages to do it for me. “So only someone with powers can transfer their power to Kaylee. And she’ll survive.”

  “There’s a high chance, yes.” He clears his throat. “What would raise her odds of survival would be if someone—a blood relative—would give her his power.”

  A blood relative.

  “That means you,” Charlie says.

  I shake my head. “I’m adopted. Kaylee isn’t my biological sister.”

  Charlie squints as he thinks. “I see.”

  “But I can still transfer my powers to her, right?” I ask.

  He nods.

  “And I won’t die or anything, will I?”

  He shakes his head.

  “Let’s tell my parents and do it.”

  I’m about to head for the door, when he says, “There is one other thing.”

  I turn to him.

  “If you give her your powers, you will lose them forever. They will no longer be yours but hers.”

  I just stand there, thinking. I guess I should have expected that. Transferring my powers to Kaylee would leave me with nothing. I’d be normal. Ordinary. “That’s okay,” I say. “That’s not what’s important. Let’s go.”

  Once again, I’m about to go to the door when someone interrupts me. It’s Maddie, who takes my hand. “I should be the one to give her my powers,” she says. “You’re the Blue Masked Hero. Everyone looks up to you. You inspire so many people. Blue is who you are, and you can’t lose that.”

  I pull my hand away. “Kaylee is my sister and I need to do this. Besides, I’m not goi
ng to let you lose your powers. They’re a huge part of you, too. And don’t ever think that Red is less than Blue. You’re just amazing. Thanks.” I face Charlie. “I’m ready to go, if that’s okay. Wait, what do we need to do?”

  “Bring your sister to my lab.”

  I rub the back of my neck. “You mean sneak her out of the hospital?”

  He shrugs.

  “Okay, but we’ll need my parents’ permission first.”

  Maddie and I head back to the hospital. As we fly, she says, “There has to be another way. You need to continue being Blue.”

  I shake my head. “Maybe if I’m no longer Blue, my family won’t be at risk anymore. Think about it, Kaylee was kidnapped and now she’s…she’s…” I can’t even say it. “And Jeremy only went after Danny because he was trying to get to me. I put my little brother’s life at risk. All because I’m Blue.”

  Maddie doesn’t say anything.

  “I can’t always put them through that, Mads. I can’t. Besides, we talked a few times about the future, right? I told you I’m not sure if I want to be Blue anymore. Now I don’t have to decide and feel guilty about it. The decision is already made for me.”

  She keeps quiet for a bit before, “But they need you, the world needs you. I need you.”

  I nod. “You all need Nick, not Blue. And Nick isn’t going anywhere. I promise.”

  ***

  Mom and Dad blink at us. Maddie and I just spent the past fifteen minutes telling them everything we learned. While they would do anything to save Kaylee, they’re worried about what might happen.

  “And you.” Mom pulls me into her arms. “You’ll lose your powers.”

  I draw back. “That’s okay, Mom. I don’t need powers to be a hero.”

  She gives me a sad smile. “And there’s no other way?”

  I shake my head.

  Maddie says, “I offered to give Kaylee my powers, but Nick refused. He wants to be the one who saves her.”

  Mom gives me another sad smile. She then kisses my cheek, while Dad kisses the top of my head. They both tell me how proud they are of me and wish me luck. Matt fist bumps me, telling me I’m the best bro in the world—that’s what Kaylee would say. Jack wishes me luck, too, and hopes to see both Kaylee and me again soon. Very soon.

  Maddie and I are going to sneak Kaylee out of the hospital. I take Maddie’s hand and make us invisible. We enter the room and walk over to her bed. Kaylee is exactly the same as I left her, though I think she might be weaker.

  “Go on,” Maddie says. “I’ll keep watch.”

  I take Kaylee’s hand, watching how her body goes invisible. Maddie holds onto my arm, keeping herself invisible, while I carefully carry Kaylee in my arms. Once she’s secure, we zoom back to Charlie’s house.

  Maddie stays behind in the living room with Chandra because Charlie doesn’t want too many people in the lab. The place looks like a typical lab, but there are a lot of machines that take up most of the room. Charlie leads me to a metal table and instructs me to lay Kaylee down. I do as he says, then bend down to whisper how much I love her and that she needs to fight this.

  Charlie motions toward another table, where I lie down.

  The last thing I see before everything goes black is Kaylee’s chest rising and falling gently.

  ***

  Someone shakes my shoulder. “Nick.”

  Opening my eyes, I see Maddie, all blurry. It takes a second for everything to shift into focus and for me to remember where I am and what happened.

  I sit up sharply. My eyes flick to Kaylee, who’s still lying on the other metal table.

  Maddie squeezes my shoulder. “She hasn’t woken up yet. Charlie didn’t want me to come down, but I had to see both of you.” She bites her lip. “How do you feel?”

  I stretch my arms and legs. “Not sure.”

  “Are your powers…?”

  I hold my hand toward a flask a few feet away from me, but it doesn’t move. I try to go invisible, but that doesn’t work either.

  I’ve lost my powers.

  But the real question is, did Kaylee get them?

  Charlie comes out of the back room and seems surprised to see me. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

  “Am I supposed to feel different?”

  “I don’t know, honestly.”

  “My powers are gone, so it must have worked, but I don’t know if Kaylee’s going to be okay.”

  He walks over to her and watches her for a few seconds. Then he says, “Her breathing is growing stronger and her heartbeat is stronger as well.” He smiles. “It looks like she’s going to make a full recovery.”

  I jump off my table and dash to her side. I wish I could grab her and hug her. “How long before she wakes up?”

  “It should be any second now.”

  We all just stand there, our eyes on Kaylee. It feels like days before her head moves around on the pillow and her eyes flutter.

  I grab her hand. “Kayls?”

  Slowly, her eyes open and something flashes in them. Something that looks like an electric bolt. “Nick?”

  I take her in my arms. “You’re okay. You really scared us, kid.” Maddie wraps her arms over both of us, telling Kaylee how happy she is that she’s okay and well.

  “Nick, I feel funny.”

  I lower her back to the table. “What do you mean? You feel sick? Bad?”

  She shakes her head. “I feel good. Like…like I’m…”

  Something shoots from her thumb. Electricity that slams into the wall. We all gape at Kaylee. She gapes at her hand.

  “What’s that?” She shudders.

  Maddie looks just as clueless as me. I glance at Charlie for an answer. Kaylee’s eyebrows knit. “Who’s that?”

  “His name is Charlie and he helped save your life. You should thank him.”

  “Thank you. But why is that coming out of my hand? I have…” Her eyes shine as more electric bolts shoot from her hands. We duck out of the way. “Powers.”

  Again, I look at Charlie. “I thought she was supposed to have my powers.”

  Charlie holds out his hands. “Powers are unpredictable. It seems your sister has created her own powers.”

  “But I’m left with nothing.”

  “She took your life force, which is your energy, and survived.”

  Kaylee has a power now. That’s awesome. It’s great. Yet why do I feel like there’s this huge hole in me?

  “Nick doesn’t have powers?” Kaylee asks. “Why?”

  I pick her up. “Because I gave them to you. I chose to save you.”

  She frowns. “So I have powers because you gave them up? That’s not fair.”

  I tap her nose. “I don’t mind. My little sister’s life means more to me than powers ever will.”

  She frowns again.

  I tickle her. “Come on, Kaylee. Smile. I don’t want you to feel bad about it, okay kid? Because there’s no way I would have let you die. No way. I love you too much.”

  A small smile cracks her lips. “Okay. And I love you, too.”

  “Now we need to get you back to Mom and Dad. They’re worried sick, and I can’t wait to tell them the good news.”

  Maddie and I both hold Kaylee’s hands as we return to the hospital. She asks, “Does this mean I need to go to the special superhero school?”

  “I think so,” Maddie says. “You need to learn to control your power.”

  “Yay!”

  My gut gets punched. The superhero school. Will I not be a student there anymore? I’ll lose all my friends. But I can’t think of myself now. We need to celebrate and be happy. Kaylee is alive.

  Once we enter the hospital, Kaylee runs into Mom’s arms. Mom’s eyes widen the biggest I’ve ever seen as she squeezes the life out of my sister.

  “Mommy! I can’t breathe.”

  Mom loosens her hold only by a little. Both Dad and Matt fight to hug Kaylee next. Then the whole family—including Maddie—is smothered in one huge hug.

&n
bsp; Jack stands on the side, smiling as he watches. When Kaylee sees him, she heads over to him and pulls him closer to us. “Mommy, Daddy, I want you to adopt Jack.” She smiles at him. “He belongs with us.” She wraps her arms around his waist.

  Jack smiles back, excitement, relief, and hope, all mixed in. “Thanks so much, little sis.”

  She giggles and hugs him again.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  A few weeks have passed since Kaylee was healed. The days went by in a blur. From helping Kaylee learn to control her power, transferring her to the new school, we kept busy. Now things are slowing down and I feel like I can catch my breath.

  When the world found out the circumstances why I lost my powers, they understood. Many were proud of me, some even in awe. Then there were the few who told me I should have kept my powers and let nature take its course. Right. Like I would have just stood there while my sister’s body deteriorated until there was nothing left.

  Maddie continues to be the hero she’s always been meant to be, and many of the powered kids have become celebrities, too. Things have been going well.

  My parents and Melissa went back and forth, deciding whether I should continue attending SPC or go back to my old school. The Suits claimed I had no reason to stay, since I’m an ordinary student now. But the powered kids fought for me and won. I’m so glad they stuck up for me. I’m still part of the school, though I guess I’ll always feel out of place.

  I’m still waiting to get used to it.

  “Nick! Come.” Kaylee pulls my hand. Kitty pulls my other one. My family, Samantha’s family, Maddie, her mom, and the powered kids decided to go to the amusement park today. It’s not only to celebrate Kaylee’s health, but also Jeremy’s defeat. We figured an amusement park was the best place to do this, kind of to undo the bad that happened, since it all started at an amusement park.

  My sister leads me to one of the rides she and Kitty want to go on. It’s a kiddie ride and I stand on the side, watching over them as they have the time of their lives. Matt went to talk with some cute girls. The mothers, Dad, and Maddie left to go get some snacks. And the powered kids are off having a good time on the other rides.

  Danny’s at my side. He’s been with me ever since we got here. “Hey,” I say. “What’s up? Don’t you want to go on the ride?”