“I have no use for this power,” the old man said. “I cannot hurt Alexandros because the rules have changed. But a human can. You can.” His put his arm down and Kevin collapsed to the floor.
Kevin stood and gasped for air. This man was more powerful than any steroid could ever make him. Kevin would do anything to be as strong as him. “How can I—”
The old man reached for Kevin’s shoulders and held them in a vice grip. Energy surged through Kevin’s body like electricity. The room spun in circles, and his head felt like it would explode.
He crumpled on the floor when Ty released his grip. The world turned black.
“You will kill Alexandros Helen,” he heard a faint voice say. “And you will have everything you want.”
KEVIN AWOKE to the pitter patter of rain on concrete. His back ached from lying on the garage floor. He sat up and waited for his head to stop spinning. When it cleared, he remembered what the old man had promised him.
Kevin stood and laughed. Had he been drinking? Was the whole thing just a dream? Had Susan been here and let him feel up her shirt? He sure hoped so!
Kevin strode to his Olympic weight bench and prepared to press the two hundred and thirty pounds again. “Please work.” He took a deep breath and pressed the bar up without any effort.
“Amazing!”
He lowered the bar to his chest and pushed it back up ten times before putting it back in the rack. His heart still beat at the same rate, and he wasn’t even breathing hard.
He took one hand off the bar and centered the other on the bar. “It’s not possible,” he said. “Or is it?” He pressed the two hundred and thirty pounds up with one hand and held it there, then stood up from the bench with the bar still over his head.
He looked outside the garage and tossed the bar toward the driveway. It flew out of his hand and landed at the end of the driveway. Chunks of concrete shot up into the air.
“Alexandros Helen is Danny Neumann.” Kevin sat on the weight bench and put his hands on his head. “Danny must die.”
CHAPTER 3
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
DANNY’S HANDS wouldn’t stop shaking. He fumbled with the house keys over and over. Every time he gripped one it slipped out of his fingers.
Becky snatched the keys from him and shoved the right one into the keyhole. She threw the door open and raced inside. “Mr. and Mrs. Neumann? Hello?” She ran from room to room.
Danny stood in the doorway. He was afraid that if he took one more step forward he might discover the truth—that his parents really were dead. He shivered as the rain pelted his back.
“What’s all this ruckus?” his mom shouted, walking out of the kitchen. She wiped butter off her hands on the rose designed apron he got her for her birthday. Her long brown hair was tied back in a bun.
Danny couldn’t help but cry. He didn’t recall ever being this relieved.
“Get out of that rain, boy,” his dad said. He poked his head out of the kitchen with a chicken leg in his hand. His glasses drooped down his nose. “You’ve got more sense than that.”
Danny wiped the tears from his face and stepped inside. He was grateful his parents were alive, but something kept nagging him as he looked at them. Something wasn’t right.
“He said you were dead.”
“Who said that?” his dad asked.
His mom ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She closed the door behind them. “It’s okay. We’re right here.” She guided him to the couch and sat next to him.
Danny didn’t know if they’d believe what he had to tell them about Ty. He wasn’t sure if he believed it himself. “He said my name isn’t Neumann.”
Danny watched his mom look up at his dad. They stared at each other a minute until his dad nodded. Danny knew they had something to tell him, and it wouldn’t be good.
“Becky,” his mom said, “there’s some chicken and mashed potatoes in the kitchen. You should help yourself.”
Becky looked at him with wide eyes. They locked eyes for a moment, and he wondered if she could see his soul. She walked away when he nodded at her.
“Danny,” his dad said, “you need to tell us everything.”
Danny didn’t think he could but when his mom’s smile reassured him, he couldn’t help but tell them everything that happened with Ty. He expected them to laugh at him and maybe call the asylum downtown. Instead, his dad paced the room.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen!” his dad yelled. He punched the wall.
Danny’s mom sighed. Her eyes were fixed on the wall like she was in a daze. “We knew this day could come. We just didn’t want it to.”
Danny’s hands trembled. His parents always had the answers, but they seemed lost for the first time. “What? What’s going on?”
His dad crossed his arms and put his head down.
“We’ve been here since the day you were born,” his mom said. “You’ll always be our son.” She stopped for a minute and took a deep breath. The room was silent, and Danny wasn’t sure if she would say anything else. “But the names of your birth parents are Margaret and Thomas
Helen.”
“No,” Danny said. “That’s not true. Don’t try to scare me.”
His dad walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Tears glistened in his eyes; Danny had never seen his dad cry. That’s how he knew it was all true.
Danny couldn’t look at his parents. Why had they hidden this from him? They should have told him earlier. Now what was he supposed to do? His whole life was a lie.
“Thomas Helen was my best friend,” his dad said. “He was a good man. He asked us to take care of you if anything ever happened to him and Margaret.”
“What happened? Where are they?” Becky peeked out of the kitchen. Her brown eyes were full of sorrow.
His mom took another deep breath. “I’m sorry, Danny. They’re not alive.”
Danny stood up. “I don’t believe you.”
“Sit down, boy,” his dad said. He pointed to the main bedroom. “Mary, go get the article.”
Danny’s mom stood, wringing her hands. “Are you sure? He needs more time.”
His dad nodded.
His mom bunched her apron, pulled it up, and wiped her face in it. She walked away slower than he had ever seen her. Her normally vibrant arms hung by her side.
His dad sat next to him and stared at the floor. “Thomas Helen chose us to be your parents. He chose our name–Neumann.” He stood back up to let Danny’s mom sit down as she came back into the room. “That’s got to mean something.”
His mom handed him a laminated newspaper article. It slid out of her hand like she didn’t have the strength to hold it, and fell right into Danny’s lap. He stared down at the words screaming at him.
COUPLE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING was the article title. Danny glanced over it. He saw the names Thomas and Margaret Helen. It said their bodies were burned beyond recognition, and dental records had to be used for identification. But then he saw the one thing that let him know his parents were lying. He was surprised they had missed something so simple in such an elaborate hoax.
“This article was written November 19, 1998. That just happens to be my birthday.” He glanced at Becky in the kitchen. “Is this a joke? Are you in on this?”
Becky shook her head.
“Margaret Helen was 6 months pregnant when she died,” his mom said.
Danny threw his arms up and laughed. “You expect me to believe I was born 3 months early out of a charred cadaver?”
His mom smiled at him. “You were born without a scratch.”
CHAPTER 4
FOLLOW THE STARS
DANNY STORMED out of the house and slammed the door. The rain had stopped, and the sky was the darkest he had ever seen it. The only light came from the carport. He carried his telescope by his side and sloshed through the mud for the open area over the septic mound in the back yard.
“Danny, wait,” he heard Becky scream after hi
m.
He turned and held out a hand. “I can’t do this right now. Please leave me alone.”
Becky had tears in her eyes. “I’m here for you, Danny. Don’t shut me out.”
Danny threw his telescope down and marched up to her. His birth parents were dead. His best friend didn’t want anything to do with him. The girl he loved was with someone else. “You have no idea how this feels. No one wants me.”
Becky grabbed his hands and spoke slowly. “I know you’re hurting, but don’t ever say that again. I will always be here for you, Danny Neumann.”
Danny’s face turned red. “Why didn’t you choose me?”
Becky’s face froze, and she seemed to stop breathing. “It’s not that easy. Call me when you’re ready to talk. I’ll see you tomorrow, Danny.” She took two steps back then turned and walked toward her car.
Danny wanted to race after her. He had yelled at her, maybe even scared her, and he was sorry for it. But he had to let her go no matter how much it hurt. She could never love someone like him. No one could love him.
Danny snatched his telescope out of the mud and headed for the septic mound. It was the one place where he had a clear view of the night sky. He had watched the stars from there since he was six years old. The stars were the only things that made his world feel centered and at peace.
He set the telescope tripod up and searched the sky for the zodiac. He soon found the Ursa Minor constellation and focused on Polaris. Most people called it the Northern Star. It was the forty-fifth brightest star. Something about Polaris always calmed him down.
“You’re looking at the Northern Star again, aren’t you?” he heard his mom’s voice ask.
Danny never took his eye off the telescope. “I don’t have anything to say to you.” He heard her sigh then step up to him and set something by his feet.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just listen.” She sighed again and put a hand on his shoulder. “Your birth mother loved you more than anything in the world.”
Danny gulped. He wanted to hear more.
“She and your birth father came over for dinner a few times. I was jealous of her because she was such a beautiful woman.” She laughed. “She always talked about you and how much she wanted to give you a good life.”
Danny looked up from the telescope. “Was she a good person?”
His mom smiled. “Yes. You have a lot of her personality.”
“Am I like my birth father?”
“Yes. He was an honest man. I think he would have given his life to save a total stranger.”
Danny faced his mom and cried. “What am I?” He couldn’t get the flash of light out of his mind. How had he sent out a burst of energy that stopped the old man? “And who is Ty?”
“Listen to me,” his mom said. “I don’t know who Ty is, but I do know that you’re my son. We’ll figure this out together.”
Danny took a deep breath and nodded. He knew this woman loved him, and everything she said was true.
His mom pointed to the ground near the telescope. A green notebook lay there. “That’s for you.”
Danny reached down and snatched it. He opened it to the first page and looked at penciled drawings of constellations. He turned through the pages to find the entire book was full of hand drawings with coordinates.
“You wrote this?” he asked his mom. She had never shown any interest in the stars.
“It took me 5 years. I’ve never shown it to anyone.”
Danny looked back up at her. It didn’t make any sense.
She stared at him for a minute then looked up into the sky. “Your birth parents were fascinating people. They told us unbelievable stories about their lives.” She looked back at him and smiled. “You might want to sit down.”
DANNY LISTENED to every word his mom had to say. Right now he wanted to know everything about his birth parents and find out who or what he was.
“The last page of the notebook has something you should look at,” his mom said.
Danny shuffled through the pages of constellations and star charts. The last page was full of numbers. He recognized them as coordinates in the Ursa Minor.
“Go ahead and look at the sky.”
Danny went back to his telescope and searched for the two coordinates on the paper. He had no idea why it made any difference. He knew all the stars by heart.
“Your birth parents asked us to take care of you if anything happened to them. But they also said they would watch over you.”
Danny blinked and double checked the coordinates he was looking at. He stared at two stars that had never been there before.
“This isn’t possible,” Danny said. “I know all of the stars.” He couldn’t take his eyes off of them. Polaris helped illuminate them like they had always been there. He looked back at his mom. “You discovered two new stars. You’re going to be famous.”
She laughed. “They’re not new stars. They’ve been there for exactly sixteen years.”
Danny crossed his arms. “I don’t understand.”
She stepped up to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Those two stars are only visible on November 19. They’re completely dark every other night.”
“What does it mean?”
She took her arm off his shoulder and put her face in front of his. “I think I always believed it but refused to accept it until tonight.” She hesitated. “Your birth parents once said that if they died then they would be placed as stars in heaven to watch over you.”
Danny would have laughed an hour ago, but there they were, in the sky shining down on him. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
His mom nodded slowly and stared into his eyes. “They said they would be placed there as a promise from the gods.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what it means. But I do know you’re not like everyone else. You’re a gift from heaven.”
Chapter 5
SPEAKING OF THE ENEMY
BECKY DIDN’T know if she couldn’t see the road clearly because of her tears or because of the drizzle of rain on the windshield. Danny was her best friend, and she couldn’t stand to see him hurting the way he was. She wished she could tell him how much she wanted to be with him.
She remembered the first day he moved into town. They were both five years old at the time. Danny had the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen. She knew right away they would be friends for life and told him as much.
It seemed like they were closer than ever this past summer. Danny swam with her at the city pool every week, and chased her around the pool chairs. They always laughed and held each other for a moment when he caught her. More than once she thought he was going to kiss her, but he never did. Becky was foolish to think that he liked her that way. Danny hadn’t even noticed her until after Kevin asked her out.
Becky fished into her jeans pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She pressed Kevin’s picture and put the phone to her ear. It rang, but he didn’t answer. He was probably out with his friends, but she needed to talk to him now. She headed for his house.
Becky didn’t understand why Kevin and Danny couldn’t get along. Kevin said it was because Danny thought he was better than him. Danny said it was because Kevin thought he was better than everyone. After tonight, she didn’t know what to believe anymore.
She pulled into Kevin’s driveway and jerked when her car hit something hard. She slammed her brakes, jumped out of the car, and raced to the front fender, scared she had hit an animal. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the object just beneath the headlights. It looked like one of Kevin’s weights.
“Hey,” Kevin said, walking out of the garage, “what are you doing here?”
Becky crossed her arms. “What is this? I’m gonna have to check my tires.”
Kevin kicked one of the tires. “They’re fine, babe. I was just getting in a good workout outside.”
“In the rain?”
“I live life dangerously.”
Becky chu
ckled. “I need to talk to you.”
Kevin nodded. “Back your car up and I’ll move the barbell. Meet you in the garage.”
Becky kissed his cheek. “Thank you for being here for me.” She jumped back into her car and backed it up. She watched as Kevin picked up the barbell. He looked bigger and more muscular than she remembered. He must have gotten a really good pump from his workout.
“What’d you want to talk about?” Kevin said when she joined him in the garage. He was doing curls and staring at his biceps.
“Oh, nothing.” Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t want to stir any more bad blood between Kevin and Danny.
Kevin put his weights down. “Come on, now. I know you were at Danny’s party. You wouldn’t have driven all the way back here for nothing.” His perfect smile warmed her heart. He was always so perceptive and understanding. He was the perfect man.
“Promise not to get mad?” Becky said.
“I could never be mad at the prettiest girl in town.”
Becky blushed. “It’s been a rough night.”
Kevin stood and put an arm around her. His embrace was comforting. “You came to the right place. What happened?”
“Danny found out some news that hurt him.” She sighed. “Danny was adopted. His real name is Alexandros Helen. I don’t know how to help him.”
Kevin sat her down. “Maybe I can help. Tell me all about it.”
CHAPTER 6
EXPLODING TRASH
DANNY STOOD in the morning fog at 5:15 A.M. and squinted every time a car with blurry headlights passed by. The air was chilly, but he sensed only warmth. He covered his head with the hood of his sweatshirt and began the two mile jog he took every morning.
He stopped when the loud engine of a dirty white van crept by his side. The man in the passenger seat stared at him and waved. The van sped away after a few seconds. Danny noticed the tag was from Los Angeles, California. You’re a long ways from home.
Last Hero Page 2
