by Lucas Flint
Immediately, I heard a loud machine starting up somewhere behind him. It sounded like a big, old computer, but I couldn’t see it thanks to the clamp around my neck. It sounded very close by, however, and it would probably get really loud once it was fully operational and going.
“Now,” said Grandmother, looking down at me again (if someone who didn’t have eyes could be said to ‘look’ down at something), “where were we? Ah, yes. My goal is simple: Reverse what the aging process has done to my body so I can continue to live and put myself in the right position to take advantage of the future.”
“That’s it?” I said. “That’s all you’re trying to do? Just become young again?”
“It is far more complicated than that,” said Grandmother. “In the long-term, I have much larger plans than simply becoming young again, but yes, that is my current goal. Though it is a means to an end, really, because I want to be ready for what I have seen in the future.”
“What have you seen in the future?” I said. “What did you see that was so important that you need to steal my youth in order to deal with it?”
Grandmother shuddered when I asked that question. “The angels again. Those who came down from the heavens, turning cities into fire and bringing destruction wherever they go. And their leader, a man of unfathomable power, who with but one stroke of his sword, can slay anyone in an instant.”
“What are you talking about?” I said. “Who are these ‘angels’ and who is their leader?”
“I don’t know,” said Grandmother. “All I know is what the future has shown me. But I do know this: He is a threat that only I can stop, but not in this body, not when I am this weak.”
Grandmother sounded a little crazy, so I said, “But I still don’t understand. I thought Grandfather, well, controlled you. I heard that he had ripped out your eyes because he thought he could ‘help’ you. But the way you treat him, it makes it seem like you’re the one who is really in control.”
“What, Matthew, in control of me?” said Grandmother. She chuckled. “That old fool couldn’t even control a TV remote. No, I’ve always bossed him around. He’s always lacked the spine to stand up to me.”
“But your eyes …” I said. “What about your eyes?”
Grandmother smiled. “I asked him to remove them myself.”
I gasped. “What? Why? That’s crazy. Why would you ask your husband to remove your eyes? That doesn’t make sense.”
Grandmother rubbed her empty sockets, which looked really creepy to me. “It is related to my power. You know that I can see the future, correct?”
“Yeah,” I said. “But I don’t see what your eyes have to do with that.”
“They limited my vision,” said Grandmother. “That is, I could not see as many visions as I wanted to while I had these eyes. My clearest visions always came at night, whenever I was asleep and had my eyes closed; in contrast, my murkiest visions were always those I had during the day, when I was awake and had my eyes opened. But I wanted to have clear visions all the time, so I had Matthew remove my eyes in order to ensure I would have clear visions no matter the time of day.”
“That’s … disgusting,” I said. “And painful, from what it sounds like.”
“It was painful at first, but worth it in the end,” said Grandmother. “My visions of the future have indeed been clearer since then. Still, it was difficult getting used to blindness, though it is a price I feel was well worth paying. It is about the only useful thing that Matthew has ever done for me.”
“Then why didn’t you tell Dad that?” I said. “I saw the video where Dad told me about your powers. He didn’t mention that you had asked Grandfather to remove your eyes for you.”
“Because I didn’t think he’d understand,” said Grandmother. “Theodore was always such a precocious young child, even before his superpowers first manifested themselves, but that doesn’t mean he was capable of understanding the seemingly irrational decisions of us adults. It was never necessary for him to understand that or anything else, since he was never directly involved in it.”
“So you let him think that Grandfather was an abusive monster just because you didn’t think he’d understand your real reasons for having your eyes removed,” I said.
“I wouldn’t use such … harsh language myself,” said Grandmother. “But yes, that is more or less the point. Not that it matters much; you see, Matthew will go along with whatever I tell him to, because he loves me and supports me in all my endeavors. Right, Matthew?”
“Yes, Jane, of course,” said Grandfather again. “I would never think to question you. I will support you always and forever, just as I promised on our wedding day fifty years ago.”
“See?” said Grandmother, looking down at me with a smirk on her face. “Such a kind and devoted husband. You don’t see too many men like that these days. Most are just so lazy and disrespectful of their wives in particular and women in general.”
“What about Project Neo and the Test Subjects?” I said. “What was that all about? I thought that Grandfather was trying to figure out how to take away a superhuman’s powers.”
“Project Neo?” said Grandmother. “Oh, that was never the actual goal of it. No, the real purpose of Project Neo—one even the government didn’t know—was to help me find ten warriors who could help me fight against the angels that will destroy Earth.”
“Ten warriors?” I repeated. “What are you talking about?”
Grandmother put her hands on her face again, like she was trying to rub lotion into her skin. “In that vision I saw, I saw myself fighting alongside ten powerful warriors helping me defend the Earth. Men and women with powers far beyond my own. I wanted to find them, the ten warriors who would stand by my side and save us from the angels, so I convinced Matthew to fund Project Neo in an attempt to locate these warriors, under the guise of a government study to learn the true origins of superhumans. He even hid its true purpose from the government.”
“Doesn’t sound like it was very successful, given how the Test Subjects broke out of Project Neo and have been trying to kill you and Grandfather,” I said. “Actually, it sounds like it really backfired.”
“Backfired? Not really,” said Grandmother. “The fact that Cadmus Smith went on to become the head of the G-Men is … problematic, but you know, the Test Subjects were never really trying to kill us.”
“What do you mean?” I said. “Isn’t that why Twinfist attacked your mansion? And didn’t they kidnap you to use you against Grandfather?”
“Kidnap? More like rescue,” said Grandmother with a snort. “You see, although Matthew is a loyal and supportive man, every now and then, he’ll get a … little uppity. He’ll try to ‘protect me,’ as he sees it, and won’t let me do what I want. He entered one such episode five years ago when I became so ill I could barely stand, taking me into hiding while my warriors attempted to find me.”
Grandmother sounded incredibly angry about it. She was so angry that she even looked a little scary to me, even though she was a really frail, old thing that probably could get blown away on a windy day if she wasn’t tied down securely. I didn’t hear Grandfather, but he was probably still listening as well.
“You see, I told the Test Subjects to go into hiding,” said Grandmother. “I didn’t want the government to have them and to abuse and experiment upon them, so I had Matthew free them. They were to go into hiding to train and prepare themselves for the day of the angels and only came out of hiding when I called them and told them that the day was coming soon.”
“Soon?” I said. “How soon are we talking?”
“I do not know, because my visions never come with specific dates and times,” said Grandmother. She looked up at the ceiling suddenly, however, like she could see the sky through it. “But they’re coming. Soon, they will be here, and when they do, not even the combined might of the NHA, INJ, and G-Men will be able to stop them. Earth will fall. That much is certain.”
Grandmother sounded very cer
tain of that, so I said, “Is that why Drop was in NYC? Was he looking for Grandfather?”
“Yes,” said Grandmother, looking down at me again. “After Echo and her fellow Test Subjects rescued me, Matthew was still feeling a little rebellious, so he tried to run away. Of course, we found him eventually. I thought about killing him, but then I realized I would need his help to get you here, so I spared his life, though I am not sure how much longer I will allow him to live after this. He can be so rebellious, you know.”
“Was Emma in on all of this, then?” I said. “Was she on your side?”
“Emma? No,” said Grandmother. “That silly girl genuinely believed we could help her and was only ever really loyal to Matthew. She didn’t like me as much. I only kept her around because she was useful and didn’t ask too many questions. She was never intended to be part of this. In fact, I wouldn’t have even kept her around if Matthew had not insisted that she could be helpful.”
“Then why did you want me here?” I said. “What role do I play in all of this?”
“An important one, I can tell you that much,” said Grandmother. She ran her dried, wrinkly fingers over my face, which made me shudder at her touch. “In order to rejuvenate my body, I need a youthful body to draw power from. And I have chosen your youthful body to be the object from which I will draw that power.”
“What?” I said. “Why me? Why not someone else?”
“Because you are related to me by blood, Kevin,” said Grandmother. “The Rejuvenator works best when connected to people who are related. Indeed, I’ve always intended to take your own youth away from you, even from the moment you were born. Theodore never knew that, but he always suspected we’d try to do something to you that he didn’t approve, so he kept us from you. What an awful son.”
“Awful son, maybe, but a good father,” I said. I struggled against the clamps again, but still found no luck in breaking them, though they did seem to be giving away slightly. “And what the heck is the Rejuvenator, anyway?”
“One of Theodore’s inventions,” said Grandmother. “Or, rather, one of the many blueprints he designed when he was a child and still living with us. It took only a few minor modifications from Matthew to make the design into a reality. It will allow me to transfer your youth into my body, which will make me young and whole again.”
“What will happen to me?” I said. “Will I die?”
“No,” said Grandmother. “You will probably become very old, however, just like me. You will still have the mind of a seventeen-year-old, but the body of an old man.”
“You’re willing to do that to your own grandson?” I said in shock. “Are you serious?”
“Very,” said Grandmother. “I wish I didn’t have to do this to you, but this is the only way to ensure that I will ready for the angels. I did not see you in my vision, so it is fine if I did this to you. Besides, you won’t die; you’ll just be very old and unable to do much.”
“That’s not very reassuring,” I said. “Like, at all.”
“Who cares?” said Grandmother with a shrug. “Besides, you aren’t the only one who is going to be used to restore my youth. Have you ever heard of a girl named Savannah Jones?”
I nodded. “That’s the girl whose disappearance Triplet is investigating. Or, rather, the disappearance of her soul.”
“Indeed,” said Grandmother. “As it turns out, that annoying detective was right to try to investigate us, because we do have her soul.”
“You do?” I said. “How did you get it? Does Grandfather really have soul-stealing powers, like I thought?”
“No, he doesn’t,” said Grandmother. “Instead, he used a device capable of stealing souls from other beings. I will not tell you where he got it, but all you need to know is that it is not of this Earth, and I mean that in more ways than one.”
That sounded incredibly ominous to me, but I didn’t really care where Grandfather had gotten that device at the moment. “Why? Why did you steal Savannah’s soul?”
“I need her soul in order to gain more strength,” said Grandmother. “Even in my prime, I was always a weak and mousy little girl. If I absorb Savannah’s soul, then that will give me more strength and youth. It will also increase my lifespan, allowing me to live for decades longer than I normally would, which should be more than enough time for me to prepare against the angels.”
“How do you know that will work?” I said. “I’ve never heard of anyone absorbing someone else’s soul before.”
“There is no guarantee, perhaps, but it is possible,” said Grandmother. “There was a supervillain some years back named the Reaper who could do such a thing. He stole souls and used them to make himself younger and stronger. I believe the same can apply to me, so I am going to have Savannah’s soul pumped into my body via the Rejuvenator. With her soul and your youth, I should be in even better shape than I was in my own youth.”
“Why Savannah?” I said. “Why not someone else?”
“I didn’t choose Savannah for any particular reason,” said Grandmother. “I just needed the soul of a young, healthy teenage girl, and she happened to fit the bill. Plus, her powers to project her own soul made it easy to steal her soul, though I should have expected her parents to hire someone to find her. At least that foolish detective never managed to prove we stole her soul.”
I wished I could call Triplet right now and tell him that he had been right to suspect my grandparents, but unfortunately I couldn’t reach my earcom or watch at the moment. All I could do was just lie there and try to free myself, though I doubted I would be able to do that before Grandmother used the Rejuvenator to steal my youth.
“Anyway, all of the pieces of the plan are now in play,” said Grandmother. “Soon, the Rejuvenation process will begin and I will be young and ready to fight the angels again.”
“Grandmother, there is no reason to do this,” I said. “If these angels are as much of a threat as you make them out to be, then you can just tell the NHA, INJ, and G-Men about them and we can work together to prepare for their arrival. There’s no reason to do all of this stuff.”
“But my vision didn’t show those organizations fighting the angels,” said Grandmother. “My vision showed only ten warriors fighting the angels, along with myself. And my visions are never wrong, so I see no reason to reach out to these organizations for help. Especially the G-Men, who would just as quickly arrest me as help me.”
“Who cares if your visions are right or not?” I said. “I could vouch for you and Grandfather. I could convince the G-Men to let you two go.”
“Thank you for the thought, Kevin, but that is unnecessary,” said Grandmother. “I have already made my decision and I am going to go through with it. You may not understand why, but that is fine. All I require of you is your youth; the rest of you, I can do without.”
With that, Grandmother suddenly started coughing again, causing Echo to say, “Mistress, you sound sick. You must sit down again. You’ve been standing and talking for far too long.”
Then Echo appeared at Grandmother’s side and gradually helped her sit back down in her wheelchair. I heard the wheelchair move away from the table where I lay, so I tried to break out of my clamps. They were still too thick and strong, however, so I gave up pretty quickly. I thought about having Valerie send for help, but then I realized that I could not feel my earcom in my ear, which meant that it had probably been taken away by Echo.
Still, I managed to twist my head enough to allow me to see Echo helping Grandmother onto a nearby table that looked very similar to the one I was lying on. Unlike mine, however, Grandmother’s table didn’t have any steel clamps; then again, Grandmother probably wasn’t going to try to run away.
Once Grandmother was resting safely on the table’s smooth surface, Echo grabbed a weird-looking metal helmet hanging from the ceiling and then strapped it gently to Grandmother’s small and fragile head. Once it was secured, Echo walked over to my table and pulled down a similar helmet, only instead of
gently strapping it to my head, she slammed it over my skull and roughly did the straps around my chin. This limited my movement even further, forcing me to look up at the ceiling as I listened to Echo walking around.
“All right,” said Echo from somewhere behind me. “Mistress, the Rejuvenator is ready to go. Tell me when you are set and I will active it without delay.”
“I am as ready as I will ever be, Echo,” said Grandmother, her voice firm and resolute. “Activate the machine. And ensure the process is completed from beginning to end. This is not the time to let the chips fall where they may.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Echo.
Immediately, I heard the rumblings of a loud machine, almost like a car engine starting, except it was louder than any normal engine. I tried to break free of my clamps, but I knew I would not be able to free myself before the Rejuvenator did its job. All I could do was lie there as I felt the Rejuvenator begin to suck the youth out of me, unable to save myself.
Chapter Eighteen
The lights above suddenly flickered. It was just for a brief moment, so brief I didn’t think it was anything other than an example of the house’s poor electrical wiring at work, but then they flickered again and suddenly turned off, plunging the room into darkness. At the same time, the Rejuvenator suddenly went silent.
“Echo, what happened?” said Grandmother in annoyance. “Why did the power go off?”
“I-I don’t know, mistress,” said Echo’s frustrated voice in the darkness. “Perhaps a fuse was blown? The Rejuvenator does use a lot of power, after all.”
A long, annoyed sigh came from Grandmother’s mouth. “Matthew, go and check the fuses. If any of them are off, turn them back on again, pronto.”
“Yes, dear,” said Grandfather meekly. “I will go and check.”
“And be quick about it,” Grandmother added. “I have waited too long for this day to have to wait for it due to—”
Without warning, a door at the top of the main staircase burst open, causing light from the outside hallway to come spilling into here. But the light was blocked when someone stepped into the doorway and shouted, “Bolt, are you down there?”
