Payne placed a hand on Seth’s back as they two of them paid attention to the puppy. Seth, who was still nervous if someone he didn’t know well was nearby, didn’t even blink at Payne’s touch.
No, I wasn’t going to back down. Not on his life.
Dinner that night was a feast of Chinese takeout. We passed around cartons of fried rice, lo mein, and dumplings. Archer tried to teach Seth and Zack how to use chopsticks, but both of them just dropped most of what they tried to eat in their laps.
After dinner, we were treated to a movieaimed more at the younger kids. I had no great desire to see the dramatics of a family of superheroes, but I didn’t want to disturb the others, so I quickly got up and left.
I walked down the hallway of the underground facility. We hadn’t been allowed to go to the upper floors at all, but we were free to roam around down here. Most of our time was spent in a giant rec room, or in the adjoining office, where we did most of our homework. The rec room had a big screen TV with a Blu-Ray player, and video game systems for the kids. There were plenty of comfy chairs and couches to lounge on. Past the rec room was a library, which had a decent amount of books, although most of the books were considered old before we’d entered the twenty-first century.
I walked past the small library and took a dark hall in the opposite direction of the main hall. The walls of the underground bunker were a drab, pale green. There were no pictures hung or decorations, just a few large pipes along the ceiling that ran the wiring for electric wiring. The deeper I went, the thicker the layer of dust was. Nobody came down this way much, which was want I wanted. It was private; someplace where I could be alone with my thoughts. It wasn’t the same as my walk through the woods at home, but it was all that I had.
“You’re so wonderful with Seth.”
I turned around to see who had spoken, and wasn’t surprised to see Seth’s mother. I had been waiting for her to show up.
“He loves you,” Jean Connor said. “You know that.”
I nodded.
“I love him, too. We all do, Mrs. Connor—I want you to know that.”
Jean smiled as she moved closer. She wasn’t pregnant now, but still very pretty with her soft, blonde hair and blue eyes and freckles. She was in a blue sundress and carried the same wildflowers that Seth had picked for her on the day she’d been murdered.
“Please, call me Jean. You’re probably the most important person in my son’s life. I think we should at least be on a first name basis.”
Jean’s smile was warm, sincere, and put me at ease. I imagined it couldn’t have been easy to talk to me; the young girl who was now so close to her little baby.
“I can’t tell you how much I owe you all for what you’re doing for Seth. You saved my baby. You’ve given him a chance at a life.”
I blushed. I never knew what to do when someone was grateful to me.
“Like I said,” I responded. “We all love him. We’ll all protect him, no matter what.”
“I know you will,” Jean said. “You can relax. I’m at peace with my death. Don’t get me wrong; I’d much rather be alive and be able to raise him myself. I wish I still had my family.”
Her hand traveled down to her stomach. I could feel her mourn for the unborn child that she had lost, but she never broke eye contact.
“This isn’t about me,” Jean said.
“I know,” I said. “I could get Seth, or take you to him. He’d love to see you, I’m sure. Everyone here knows about him. There’s no reason why we can’t—”
“I can’t get any closer to him.”
I was shocked to hear her say that. More than that, I felt disappointed and betrayed on behalf of Seth.
“He’s your son,” I said. “He loves you.”
“I know,” Jean assured me, breaking her gaze for the first time as she looked down at the wildflowers she was carried. Suddenly, instead of bright yellow buds, they were withered and dead.
I tried to control my anger as I moved closer.
“But he needs you.”
“He needed me,” she corrected. “I failed to protect him. Maybe if I had moved faster, Seth wouldn’t have suffered....Matthew might still be alive. But I hesitated.”
I shook my head, frustrated. “That doesn’t matter. He’s not angry at you. He loves you. You can’t let fear keep you from him.”
Jean smiled sadly. “Never.”
“Then why won’t you go see him?”
“Don’t you think I want to?” She asked. “He’s not ready for me. That little puppy is helping, but he’s still hiding how scared he is. He sees how brave you’re being, but he remembered what happened to me and his father and Matthew. My baby is terrified.” She started to sob as she spoke and my heart broke for her. She dropped the dead flowers which faded away as they fell. “He’s terrified because he knows what they’ll do to him if they get the chance—and to you.”
“We’re not going to give them the chance,” I promised her.
She made an effort to control herself. Extreme emotions could sometimes make it hard to stay in our world.
“I know you think that. And Lord knows, I hope you’re right. But don’t underestimate Victoria Shaw. She’s evil. The only Shaws left are sick and twisted.”
“I know,” I said. “I saw.”
She turned away, disgust displayed on her face.
“They weren’t all monsters,” Jean said. “There were nice ones. After years of fighting and killing, we had started to discuss a treaty. Someone thought they had found a way to end this curse. We thought we had the answer. I guess we were wrong.”
“What was it?” I asked. “What did you think the answer was?”
Instead of answering me, she looked over my shoulder. I followed her gaze. Payne was standing there.
I was shocked to see him. He was just leaning against the wall, watching me. His eyes locked on mine. I felt staggered by the intensity in his gaze. So much so, that I forgot for a moment about Jean.
When I turned back to her, she was gone.
“Damm it,” I said to myself.
When I looked back at Payne, I could see the hurt in his eyes.
“Not you,” I said quickly. “Seth’s mother. We were talking.”
He nodded. “I started to get worried when you didn’t come back. I thought you just went to the bathroom or something.”
I shook my head. “I’m not a big fan of The Invincibles.”
“Incredibles,” Payne corrected. “Never mind.”
“Anyway,” I said. “I went for a walk and I ran into Jean Connor.”
Payne nodded as he moved closer, smirking a little. “Sounds about right. You going for a walk, seeing a ghost, and me walking in on it.”
I smiled and inched towards him.
“Well,” I said. “At least this time, you didn’t ride in on your bike and nearly break your neck.” I recalled our first meeting and realized something. “Actually, you probably did, didn’t you?”
Payne laughed and rubbed his neck.
“Good times,” he said, and moved closer to me. Slowly, his hand touched my cheek. I felt myself melt as his lips touched mine. His kiss said so much with so little.
“I thought you were mad at me,” I said.
Payne stopped and stared at me. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been distant. I know you’re angry with me for getting you to stay, but—”
“I’m not,” Payne said. “Really.”
Payne faced me and took my hands. He looked into my eyes and I felt the world slow down.
“I’m worried about my family,” He said. “I’m worried about your family. I’ve just got stuff on my mind. But I’m not angry with you.” He took a step away. “I guess I was at first. I hated the idea that your grandpa and your uncle and my grandfather and all the others might face the Shaws without me. Honestly, I just wanted a shot at them for what they did to Seth.”
I moved closer to Payne, but he moved away. His hands were clenched
into fists, and I felt that familiar stab of anger that I’d picked up on over the last few days.
“I keep thinking about what he’s been through, and I want to punish them. And then I think to myself, how am I any better than they are? How am I any different from people like them, or someone like my father?”
“Payne,” I said. “You are nothing like them. You don’t take pleasure in hurting innocent people, or innocent children like Seth. You are a good man.”
“Am I?” Payne said. “Don’t you ever worry? I came from my father. I am his son and he’s just as much of a monster as the Shaws are. And here I am hoping the Shaws all die slow, horrible deaths. I want them to suffer.”
“So do I,” I said. That took Payne by surprise. I took advantage of that moment. “Do you think I’m not angry about Seth? I’m angry for his family as well. You didn’t see his mother helpless to help Seth or her unborn baby, or what they did to poor Matthew. They deserve to die a thousand times over just for that. It doesn’t make you bad. It just makes you human.”
Payne didn’t react.
“I love you,” I told him.
Payne kissed me again. This kiss was different. It wasn’t gentle and soft. It was full of passion and wanting. I felt my knees buckle. My body melted into his. It was one of those kisses where you feel the Earth move.
And that’s exactly what happened.
The walls shook, dust sprinkled down as I lost my balance. Sparks exploded from the pipes as the lights went out to be replaced emergency lighting.
“Was that an explosion?” I asked as I pulled away.
Payne turned and started to run back towards the rec room.
The Shaws were here.
Chapter Twenty
The Shaws
As Payne and I ran towards the rec room, another explosion rattled the ground. I nearly fell as the lights flickered. The Shaws weren’t being quiet about their attack. Uncle Mark and the others must be on their way.
But would they be fast enough?
I heard screaming as we got closer, interwoven with gunshots, and I was trying to keep up with Payne when he stopped short. There was a flash of light, and he flew backwards.
It was Bill Shaw. Payne’s smoldering body crashed at my feet. I skidded to a stop.
“One down,” Bill said to me. “Your turn.”
He raised his arms and aimed at me. I quickly turned and ducked around a corner as an electric bolt shot out and exploded.
Bill cursed, and continued to pursue me. His vulgarities mixed with lightning strikes as I ran and dodged his blows.
How did they find us?
The question echoed in my mind as I tried to figure out a way to fight Bill.
“I’m gonna get you!” he yelled. “We’re here because of you!”
I ran around corner after corner, and ended up in a room that I hadn’t seen before. Buckets, mops and vacuums were everywhere, and when I looked around, I saw that there was no exit. I turned quickly and saw Bill. Electric sparks swirled around him as he built up a charge to send another bolt towards me. I pulled the door closed just before he let it fly.
I jumped back as the electric bolt hit the metal door which sizzled. I turned around to take stock of what was in the room.
“We lost one of our own because you had to come for that little shit! I know all about you. You’re just like the kid. No power worth mentioning.”
I could hear the crackly of sparks and the low hum of energy build up through the door. I only had a few moments to finish preparing before he got through. In a panic, I too stock of what I had to use to defend myself. There was a mop in a bucket, a bunch of spay bottles with various cleaning substances, brooms, dustpans and a few hammers.
“You’re weak,” Bill snarled from the other side. “You and your entire family. We’re taking him back, and anyone stupid enough to get in our way is dead.”
The door exploded with a flash, and Bill emerged from the smoke. He smiled at me as he started to build a charge up again.
“Of course,” he said with a laugh, as he came closer, “you we want dead. You took what’s ours.”
I was backed against a wall, hiding behind a shelf of maintenance equipment brandishing a hammer, watching sparks swirl as he built up his power to peak levels.
“If you think the kid’s life was hell before you took him, it’s gonna be worse now!”
His eyes blazed with hatred, and the sparks around him reached a deadly climax.
Dropping the hammer, I quickly grabbed the bucket of soapy water and threw it on him. He screamed in agony, as his electric powers backfired and short-circuited him. It looked like he was trying to stop it, but he had lost control. I pressed myself back against the wall to escape the stray sparks.
Bill crumpled to the ground, his body smoldering from the ordeal. I forced myself forward and bent down to check for a pulse. There was none.
I stepped over his body without a second thought, and ran back down the hallway. I needed to find Payne and Seth. I needed to help my family.
It took me a few minutes to find my way back to the main hall. Payne was climbing up off the floor, fully healed. He looked panicked.
“Where’s Bill?”
“Dead,” I said.
Payne didn’t ask. Instead, he ordered me to stay put and launched himself towards the rec room. I ignored him and followed.
As we got closer, it became harder to see. The room was full of smoke and dust. I tripped over something, and gasped when I realized it was a body. It was of one of the armed guards. I remembered his name was Steve.
I felt for a pulse.
“Don’t bother.”
Steve’s ghost was behind me.
“Thanks for checking,” he said. “But it’s too late.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. It seemed like such an inadequate thing to say. This man was hired to protect us, and he had lost his life trying to do that job. His life was no less important than mine or anyone else’s. I realized that I didn’t know much about him.
“I think I’m the only one so far,” he said. “You need to try and find someplace safe.”
I shook my head.
“I’ve got to find Seth and the boys.”
“The kid that talks a mile a minute is safe. I saw that lady, Rose, grab him. They were cut off from everyone else. It was the damndest thing. She grabbed him, there was a pop, and they were gone.”
I nodded, and started to move.
“No,” Steve said. He indicated a set of stairs to our left. “Go this way. That way is blocked.”
I thanked him, and changed directions. I felt horrible leaving, but I needed to find my family.
I made my way up the stairs which led to a long corridor. As I ran, I realized I was going over the rec room to the other side, bypassing the blocked area corridor.
I could still hear shouting and explosions. Once I’d run up the staircase, the air was a little clearer. Looking around, I spotted a hole in the wall ahead. I looked through it and could see what was happening below. The Shaws had come through the tunnel that linked Locations A and B. I had remembered seeing another tunnel offshoot west. Varick had told me that was a different facility. They must have come from there. How did they even know where that was?
At first I didn’t see anyone, but I heard gunfire.
I looked to the left. Aunt Breanne was crouched behind an overturned couch and some rubble. Simon and Seth were with her. She had a gun in her hand and I was surprised to see she knew what she was doing with it. She had been shooting at a body near a pile of rocks that had fallen about ten feet from her. My panic faded slightly when I realized who it was.
Cam Shaw lay dead or dying.
The couch shielding Aunt Breanne exploded. She fell back and hit her head. The gun fell away from her hands. Seth screamed, dropped Roxie, and went to help her up. Simon lunged for the gun.
Just before Simon could grab it, the gun became clouded in a blue and white mist. Simon pulled his hand away
just before the gun was encased in a block of ice.
Dan Shaw walked over. His hand was up as he gathered his power again. An ice blue glow emanated from his fingers. I had no idea what to do. I wanted to save them, but I was too far away. The stairwell to get me into the rec room was only a few feet from me, but I didn’t have time to run. I couldn’t even move. I was rooted in place, staring at Dan Shaw.
Simon fell back, and started to crawl away.
“I’m going to turn you into an ice cube,” Dan laughed as he spoke. “Then I’m going to do the same thing to your mother for killing Cam.”
He must have thought Aunt Breanne was Simon’s mother. I don’t know if Simon realized what Dan meant, or if Simon thought Dan meant his real mother, but I could see the fear in Simon’s face mix with anger.
“Get away!” he yelled, and swiped out with his hand.
The smile on Dan Shaw’s face disappeared as some invisible force knocked him off his feet and through him onto the pile of rubble behind him. He struggled to get up and both he and Simon wore matching looks of wide eyed shock. I probably wore a similar expression myself.
I took off for the stairs and ran to find them. I came in through what was the library. The floor was riddled with books. I leapt over copies of Harry Potter and went to the door.
Emerging from the library, I saw Dan, bloody and bruised, curse as he stood up and started towards Simon again.
Simon got to his feet and held out his arm. My first thought was that he was aiming too low to hit Dan. The rocks and rubble that lay between them started to wobble in place as they slowly rose up off the ground. Simon was watching them intensely, trying to concentrate of the rocks before him and not the monster who was about to attack.
Dan Shaw was running forward, screaming in fury as blue mist swirled around his fist. I yelled as he started to close the distance to Simon.
Simon reached his hand out and the debris flew into the air, hovering in place. Gritting his teeth, Simon retracted his hand sharply as if he were pulling on a giant, invisible sling shot, the jabbed his fist forward. The rocks and wreckage shot forward in a blur of motion, exploding into Dan.
Vision of Sacrifices Page 23
