Superhero Squad

by Alesha Dixon

  “I’m sorry,” I said, dropping my hands to my side and clenching my fists. “I just… I can’t do it any more. I’m hopeless.”

  “That was still really great,” Cherry said, smiling at me. “Maybe you’ve just lost your confidence a bit. You want to try again?”

  I shook my head, my cheeks growing hot with embarrassment.

  They stood awkwardly for a moment and then Cherry gave JJ a nudge. “Hey, bet you can’t lift the whole bus with one hand.”

  “Oh yeah?” He raised his eyebrows and then raced towards the bus. “You just watch.”

  I waited until he was out of earshot and then caught her eye.

  “Thanks,” I said, grateful to her for changing the subject.

  For the rest of the day, Cherry and JJ talked excitedly about each other’s powers and how cool they were, tactfully avoiding any mention of mine. That evening as I got into my pyjamas, I pushed my Lightning Girl trainers under the bed. I didn’t deserve them. I didn’t feel like Lightning Girl at all these days. Maybe that time at the Natural History Museum was a fluke. I wasn’t the superhero that everyone thought I was.

  “Aurora,” Cherry whispered into the darkness once the lights were off. “Are you awake?”

  “Yes,” I replied over the sound of JJ snoring next door. I’d been lying awake thinking about the next day’s events, and when the decision would be made about the Light of the World.

  “I … I just had a premonition.”

  I sat bolt upright in bed. “Cool!”

  “No, Aurora. It’s not cool. I don’t know what on earth it is,” she said, her voice shaking. “But I think something bad is going to happen.”

  12

  The next day, Cherry, JJ and I stood outside my parents’ bedroom knocking loudly.

  “Good morning,” Mum said, stunned to open the door and see us all crowded in her doorway. “Is everything all right?”

  “We’re not sure. Can we come in?”

  Mum nodded and stepped aside to let us into the room where Dad was sitting on the bed tying his shoelaces.

  “Hello.” He smiled warmly. “Are you all coming down to breakfast with us?”

  “We need to talk to you about something important,” I said firmly. “JJ, shut the door behind you.”

  He did as I instructed.

  Mum folded her arms. “What’s going on?”

  I nodded to Cherry, giving her the go-ahead, and she nervously stepped forward.

  “Last night I had a premonition. It’s one of my powers,” she explained. “And it wasn’t good.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s hard to explain but I just know something bad is going to happen. I have no idea what but…”

  She tailed off and I took over.

  “But, considering that today is the day the final decision is made on what to do with the Light of the World, it seems a bit weird.”

  “I can’t be sure,” Cherry said, letting out a long sigh. “But it seems odd that I would get a bad premonition the night before such a huge moment, don’t you think?”

  “Mum,” I began firmly, “I think you should cancel the conference today. We should take the Light of the World home with us.”

  “What?” Mum shook her head in disbelief. “Aurora, I can’t just cancel the conference! We have gathered everyone here for this reason; people have travelled a long way, literally from all over the Earth. We’ve had long, tiring meetings yesterday just to get to this point.”

  “But the Light of the World might be in danger!”

  “Maybe my premonition has nothing to do with the precious stone,” Cherry jumped in, looking worried. “It could be nothing. I’m probably just making a fuss.”

  “I don’t think we should take the risk,” I declared.

  “But even if the premonition is about the Light of the World, would it really be safer at home with you?” JJ pointed out. “The security systems here are the best in the world and there’s no chance that someone can get past all the superheroes.”

  “That’s true,” Dad said, watching me carefully. “Surely if it is in danger, the safest place would be here, where it is protected.”

  Mum pointed at the high-tech safe in the corner of the room. “That safe is unbreakable, even to superpowers. I’m the only person who knows how to access it and even if anyone were to crack that – which they can’t – the Light of the World is still in the box that your dad and I had specially designed for it. Aurora, the box is so strong that the stone has no effect on your powers when you’re nearby. Remember the Natural History Museum? You only had to be in the same building as that stone for your powers to be sent out of control.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Trust me, it’s safe with us.”

  There was a light rapping of knuckles on the door.

  “Hello? May I come in?”

  Mum stepped past JJ, opening the door to Mr Vermore and David Donnelly, who stood anxiously behind his boss.

  “Everything all right in here?” Mr Vermore asked, his small sharp eyes darting from one of us to another.

  “Yes, of course,” Mum said cheerily. “We were just about to make our way to breakfast.”

  Mr Vermore checked his watch and raised his eyebrows at her.

  “Well, you had better get going, it will be cleared soon. I heard raised voices in here.” He paused, watching Cherry as she stared down at her shoes. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Dad insisted. “Just a healthy debate.”

  “I thought I heard something about the Light of the World being in danger,” he pressed. “If that’s so, I think I should know about it.”

  “It’s my fault,” Cherry squeaked, unable to look anyone in the eye. “It was a silly premonition that I had.”

  “A premonition?” Mr Vermore towered over her. “What premonition?”

  “Cherry had a bad premonition about today,” JJ explained. “And we just thought we should let Mr and Mrs Beam know, in case it was something to do with the Light of the World.”

  “You don’t think it’s safe here?” He sniffed, looking insulted.

  “I think we should take it home and cancel the conference,” I said, crossing my arms.

  He turned slowly to face me. “You think what?”

  “Mr Vermore, if there’s any chance that the Light of the World is in danger and Cherry’s premonition is right, then I don’t think we should risk it.”

  “Miss Beam,” he said, his expression changing from concern to amusement, “I can assure you that the Vermore safe over there is unbreakable. Only your mother has access. And there are other security measures in place on top of that. Now, are you sure this isn’t about something else?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He smiled down at me sympathetically. “I can imagine that it must have been very nice to have had the Light of the World in your possession all this time. After all, it is the source of the Beam family superpowers and therefore, it would be very natural to feel that it belongs to you. And today’s outcome may well sway in your favour, but either way, you must understand that this is ultimately the most responsible method of choosing the fate of something so powerful—”

  “I am NOT trying to keep the stone for myself,” I protested, my cheeks growing hot with anger. “Cherry had a premonition and I—”

  “I’m sure it was to do with something else,” Cherry interjected, looking mortified. “Please, let’s just leave it and go to breakfast. It may have been about something completely different.”

  “You see?” Mr Vermore said, clapping his hands together triumphantly. “Cancelling the conference would be an extreme overreaction. Now, if you don’t hurry along to breakfast, you’ll miss it entirely and it wouldn’t do to go through such an important day on an empty stomach, would it?”

  Mum placed an arm around my shoulders as Mr Vermore held open the door for us. JJ and Cherry traipsed out behind him into the corridor.

  “Mum, Dad,” I said, looki
ng at them pleadingly. “You don’t believe I want the precious stone for myself, do you?”

  “Of course not!” Dad said firmly. “We understand that you’re worried.”

  Mum nodded in agreement. “And we’ll keep everything you’ve said in mind. If we have any inkling that something isn’t right, we’ll take the Light of the World and get out of here in a flash.”

  I sighed, defeated. “All right. I’ll see you down at breakfast. I want to check something. You go ahead.”

  They shared a worried glance but didn’t say anything, leaving me alone in the bedroom. I crouched down at the safe and examined it closely. I guess it seemed pretty sturdy. There were hundreds of buttons all around the edge, so it was obviously not your average safe.

  I stood up and shook my head, trying to get rid of the niggling feeling Cherry had lodged in my brain. I left the room and made my way towards the canteen. As I walked down the corridor, I heard a sharp voice and stopped when I realized it belonged to Mr Vermore. He was just around the corner, speaking to someone.

  I stopped, pressing myself up against the wall, and waited, listening closely.

  “Are you saying that I’m wrong?” Mr Vermore was growling.

  “N … no, of course not,” the shaky voice of David Donnelly replied. “But… I just… If Cherry’s premonition is right, surely we need to make sure the precious stone is safely—”

  “Mr Donnelly, you seem to have forgotten your place!” Mr Vermore snapped. “I’ve worked too hard for this moment. You… Well, let’s just say that you have no idea of the work that has gone in to setting this all up exactly how I planned. And no one is going to stop this conference going ahead. Especially not a bunch of teenagers. Is that understood?”

  I heard a vague whimper and then the sound of Mr Vermore’s designer shoes thudding away down the corridor, followed closely by David Donnelly’s squeaking soles, scampering to keep up with him.

  I had an overwhelming urge to speak to the Bright Sparks and let them reassure me that I wasn’t overreacting about all this. Kizzy was so smart and sensible, she would be able to tell me if I was being silly or not. But according to David Donnelly, who I’d asked on the first day, the only place to get mobile signal down here was Mr Vermore’s office.

  And I wasn’t going to go ask him if I could make a call to my friends.

  Because, after overhearing that conversation, I didn’t trust Mr Vermore one bit.

  An hour later, I took my place next to Cherry and JJ in the conference theatre, watching as Mum and Dad chatted in the middle of the stage to Mr Vermore and David. Mum caught my eye in the audience and smiled encouragingly. On the front of the stage was a podium on which there was a simple silver box. You would never believe that it contained the most precious stone in the world.

  “You see?” JJ said, giving me a nudge with his elbow. “It’s right there.”

  “Yeah. I guess I overreacted.”

  “It’s understandable that you did,” Cherry said kindly. “That precious stone means a lot more to you than anyone else in the room. I shouldn’t have told you about my premonition and caused such a fuss about nothing.”

  Mr Vermore cleared his throat and marched centre stage, basking in the spotlights. A hush descended around the room.

  “Good morning, superheroes! Today is the day that you shall come to an informed decision on where the Light of the World would be safest. Your previous meetings have concluded with two sensible options for the future of this most precious of stones. Today shall be the deciding vote.”

  He took a dramatically deep breath.

  “Yes,” he continued, acting as though he was a big movie star shooting an epic battle-cry scene. “Should the stone be returned to where the Beam family believes it belongs, beneath the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, if you will?” He paused, enjoying the flush of whispers. “Or, should the precious stone be kept in the safest of safe places, a place that can be monitored and checked” – he took another deep breath, before bellowing – “a Vermore high-security, unbreakable vault!”

  There was another ripple of murmurs across the audience.

  “It is time to put it to a vote. The decision is in your hands. May you choose the safest, most secure, tried and tested option for this stone so precious in our hearts. The Light of the World. Over to you, Mrs Beam,” he said, bowing as he exited the stage to a weak round of applause and gesturing angrily for David to follow him.

  Mum stepped forward to stand next to the podium, resting her hand protectively on the box.

  “Thank you for your patience. After all the hard work, I think it’s about time you were allowed to see the Light of the World as we decide together on its fate,” she said to the crowd.

  I could feel the tension soar as everyone craned forward in excitement and anticipation.

  After a few moments of pressing several buttons on the side of the box, as well as fishing out what looked like a very weirdly shaped key from her pocket to unlock it, Mum opened the lid. There was a collective gasp from the room and Mum stumbled backwards in horror.

  “No,” she whispered.

  The box was empty.

  13

  The conference room erupted into chaos and panic.

  Mum was frozen to the spot as Dad hurried over to be at her side. Cherry had clasped her hand over her mouth in shock and all the colour had drained from JJ’s face.

  Mr Vermore came thundering back up the steps to the stage, roaring, “IMPOSSIBLE! IT CAN’T BE! IT’S IMPOSSIBLE!”

  “How could this happen?” someone shouted from behind me in the audience. “How could you let this happen?”

  Mum was shaking her head in disbelief. “It was there,” she was saying over and over as Dad put a comforting arm around her. “I checked this morning! It was right there!”

  “Someone must have taken it!” a superhero across the room yelled at the top of his lungs.

  “That’s not possible!” Mr Vermore insisted, looking as though he was about to explode. “My security systems are—”

  “Supposedly the best in the world? Clearly not!” JJ’s dad cried out, folding his arms stubbornly, gaining murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

  “Now, you all look here,” Mr Vermore snarled. “The locked safe that stone was in, is unbreakable. It could only… Well, I suppose it could only…”

  “It could only WHAT?” Cherry’s mum asked as Mr Vermore wrung his hands anxiously.

  “It could only have been a superhero!” he roared. “That’s the only explanation! Someone with extreme powers! And even then, it would be near impossible! I’m telling you, the only explanation is that someone in HERE is the thief!”

  “Why would anyone in here take the precious stone?” Crystal said, shaking her head. “We’re all here to keep it safe!”

  “What about the Beams?” a voice shouted from the back. “Maybe they wanted to keep it for themselves!”

  Mum shot such a glare at him from the stage that he shrank back into his seat. But the damage had been done.

  “Of course,” Mr Vermore gasped, his eyes flashing at me. “Aurora … you didn’t…”

  Everyone swivelled to stare in my direction.

  “This is nothing to do with Aurora!” Mum growled, as a feeling of panic bubbled through me.

  “I would never take the Light of the World!” I said, stung by all their accusing eyes.

  “Not for yourself, maybe,” Mr Vermore said, watching me carefully. “Maybe you just took it to protect it. Is that right? You said this morning that you wanted to take it home…”

  “I only said that because I thought it was in danger. And I was right, wasn’t I?”

  His eyes met mine and we glared at each other accusingly.

  It had to be him. I knew it was him.

  No one was going to believe me but everything pointed to Darek Vermore. The way he wanted the conference to go exactly as planned; how he knew everyone’s movements and everything about the safe it had been in; and h
adn’t I overheard him pretty much admitting it to David earlier? “I’ve worked too hard for this moment,” he’d said. “You have no idea of the work that has gone in to setting this all up exactly how I planned.”

  And here I was, the perfect scapegoat.

  “It all sounds like a bizarre coincidence to me,” someone called out before I could say anything else. “Aurora tried to make an excuse and when that didn’t work, she stole it!”

  “Why would I do that?” I asked, fizzing with anger. “No, you have to listen to me; I think I know—”

  “Isn’t she the niece of Lucinda Beam?” another superhero pointed out as others nodded along with her. “Lucinda is renowned for being light-fingered when it comes to precious jewellery. It runs in the family! Aurora may have learnt a few tips!”

  “There is no chance that Aurora had anything to do with this!” Mum cried out, clutching the empty box. “She has only ever wanted to protect the Light of the World!”

  “Please, listen!” I cried, but no one heard.

  “But the precious stone has her scar on it!” a man sitting in the front row said, turning to narrow his eyes at me. “Maybe she felt she had the right to it!”

  “Maybe her and Lucinda Beam are in it together!”

  “I say, we search her room!”

  “I say, we make sure that she can’t escape the conference until we have discovered it!”

  The room burst into noise as everyone spoke over everyone else, trying to make their opinion heard. Mum and Dad tried to get everyone to calm down so that they could protest my innocence, but nobody was listening to them.

  I turned to JJ and Cherry. “You guys don’t believe any of this, do you?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” JJ said nervously, biting his lip. “Although, we have only known you a day or so… Maybe you’ve been fooling us. Maybe you want it for your powers to work…”

  “What?” I stared at them in shock. “I would never… Please, you have to believe me.”