by Lisa White
“Yes. Everything seems to be going as expected … I mean, we’re holding our own and I’m sure DJ will return soon with reinforcements.” Ben paused. “Why are you trembling?”
“When you didn’t come back … I thought … ”
Ben shook his head and pulled her close. “Well, you need to stop thinking.”
Grace closed her eyes and melted into Ben’s arms. “I thought you were in Guardian mode.”
“I am. But I can’t have my assignment losing it on me, can I?”
“No. I’ll be fine now. I just needed to know you were okay.”
“I’m fine.” Ben started to release his hold on her.
“No.” Grace nuzzled her head closer into his chest. “Please just hold me a few minutes longer. I just need to feel us for a moment before you go back upstairs.”
Ben kissed the top of Grace’s head. “Just us,” he whispered.
“Right,” Grace sighed. “Just us.”
They stood in each other’s arms. Muffled battle cries from the road below attempted to invade their thoughts but the sounds barely passed through their moment. For that moment there was no battle, no Anti-Powers, no Family, no Gift. There was just Ben and Grace.
But unfortunately their moment was short-lived.
“Ben! Are you down there?” Star’s frantic voice broke into their private thoughts.
Ben instantly released his hold on Grace and she saw in his face that he had reentered Guardian mode. “Yeah?” he shouted toward the stairs.
Star’s face appeared in the shadow at the top of the stairs. “Ben, we need you! Dave’s in trouble!”
“What? What do you mean Dave’s in trouble?”
“He’s hurt. Real bad. And they have him surrounded. We need you.”
Ben looked at Grace.
“Go,” was all she said.
Stay with Grace or save Dave. Ben’s mind raced, looking for alternatives. There were none.
“Star,” he directed. “You stay with Grace and if you see anything out of the ordinary, anything at all, you get on that front porch and glow like you’ve never glowed before. With my powers, I’ll see you wherever I am. You got that?” His eyes were stern.
“Yeah, I got it. Please hurry. They have him at the community center and it looks like Dave’s in a lot of pain.”
Ben turned to Grace. “I promise I’ll be back. Star will take care of you.” He squeezed her hand and then disappeared up the ladder.
Grace looked up at Star who still stood at the top of the ladder. “Want to come down?”
Star glanced behind her before answering, “Sure. For a minute.” She climbed down the ladder and surveyed the small bare room. “Real ritzy Waldorf-Astoria you got here,” she smiled.
“Yeah,” Grace smiled back. She could see why guys were attracted to Star. There was something about her that made you want to like her.
“I hear you’re an orphan,” Star stated abruptly. She stayed near the ladder, her face half hidden in the corner’s shadows.
“Yeah. My parents and brothers were killed in a car wreck when I was four.” What a weird way to start a conversation, Grace thought. “Do you have any family?”
“Yeah. But I haven’t seen them in a while.”
“Oh.” Grace had no idea where this conversation was going but something in her gut told her it was going the wrong way. She casually stepped back, placing the bed between herself and Star.
“Obviously, the Misfits like to stay hidden so we don’t get many visitors.”
“Oh, yeah, right,” Grace nodded.
“But luckily, one of my brothers has found his way here.”
Grace crinkled her brow.
“Brother, dear! Come on down!” Star called to the top of the ladder.
Star’s brother appeared on the ladder and Grace’s gut lurched. She clutched the bed rail to steady herself.
“I think you two know each other,” Star smiled as she stepped out of the shadows, her newly green eyes glowing.
“Grace, darling, where have you been?” Gregory’s smile matched his sister’s. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Five: Lost
Surveying the lanky man with the ponytail standing in front of him, Tom noted how low his apartment’s ceiling hung. It was bare inches above the visitor’s head and Tom was almost, but not quite, intimidated by the man’s height.
“Are you sure about all this?” Tom asked. “I mean … how did the Anti-Powers know where you all were? The mountain’s supposed to — ”
“Cooper’s dead.” DJ’s bluntness stemmed from his impatience, not out of any callousness. “On the way here I found him cut up on the floor of his store. Looked to be a couple of day’s old.”
“A couple of days?” Tom’s voice cracked.
“Yeah, so I don’t mean to be rude and all, but we really need to get going. Time is not our friend here.”
Tom shook his head. “I told the Council that we needed to get up there and get them. All this could have been avoided! They gave some silly excuse about Misfit territory and passport documentation. Even the Council leader thought Grace would be safe there while they followed their stupid protocol. I mean I even gave the Council my dad’s old map to the Misfits.” Tom said mainly to himself.
“Look, I’m sorry they didn’t listen to you then but do you think you could make them listen now?” DJ gestured to the front door.
“Yeah, we’re going to make them listen.” Tom waved his hand and the door instantly sprang open. “Come on. It’s time I had another face-to-face with our stubborn Council leader.”
• • •
Ben crouched behind a thick, old boxwood and pushed his back against the log wall. The community center’s windows were slightly higher than most — something about the humidity controls for the artwork within — so Ben was hidden below the window listening, rather than watching, for any sign of Dave’s struggle inside. But despite his superhuman hearing, Ben heard nothing. No voices. No scuffles. Nothing.
Just dead silence.
Staying low, Ben made his way around to the front of the community center and crept up to the front door. He listened again.
Still nothing.
Slowly, he cracked open the door and peeked into the dimly lit great hall. Not seeing anyone or anything, he slid through the door and braced himself, back against the wall. He scanned the large room and there, crouched down in the far corner, was Dave.
Ben glanced around again before stealthily skirting the perimeter walls of the room to reach his old friend. “Dave!” he whispered.
Dave looked up. “Benjamin! What are you doing here?” Ben noticed Dave did not bother to lower his voice.
“I thought you were hurt? I thought they had you surrounded?” Ben’s instincts kicked into overdrive.
“Surrounded? What are you talking about?” Dave slowly stood up, rubbing his left shoulder. “I’m not hurt. Petra and I were up at the clearing trying to see like you wanted us to and I slipped, fell, and popped out my shoulder. No big deal. I’ve done it before. We got it popped back in and Petra went in the back here to get me some ice.”
“So the Anti-Powers aren’t here?”
“No! The only Anti-Powers I’ve seen were down on the main road.”
“But Star — ,” Ben froze.
“Ben?”
But Ben had disappeared.
In an instant, he was rushing into Dave’s cabin. “Grace!” Ben screamed. He flew down the ladder into the secret basement. It was empty. Cold and empty. Grace was gone. He had left her and now he had lost her.
Ben stood in the cold room. Still. Shock stealing the last of his breaths, his eyes unable to focus. He knew there was something he must do in this situation, something he had learned as part of his Guardian training. But his training had never taken into account his heart. It ached and the pain clouded his logic. So, he just stood there. Unable to move. Frozen to the cold stone floor.
“Ben!” Breathless
, Dave stumbled down the ladder. He bent over, trying to catch his breath from his recent and rare run. “Ben!” Dave’s panting voice was unable to penetrate Ben’s shock. “Where’s Grace?”
“Gone,” Ben’s voice was no more than a cracked whisper.
“Gone? What do you mean gone? What happened?” Dave’s heaving voice escalated, still unable to pierce through the shock that paralyzed Ben’s mind. He grabbed Ben’s shoulders and shook him. “Snap out of it, son! Ben, answer me! Where’s Grace?”
“Star.” Ben mumbled.
“Star? What the — ?” Dave shook Ben again. “What are you talking about? Benjamin, wake up boy! We need to find Grace! Can you hear me? Find Grace!”
Ben’s eyes looked through Dave, still unable to focus. “She’s gone. I left her and now she’s gone,” he whispered.
“Dang it, Ben! You are her Guardian! Get your head back in the game!” Smack! Dave reached across and slapped Ben’s face as hard as he could.
Ben’s eyes widened and finally focused on Dave. He rubbed his cheek and stepped back out of Dave’s reach. “Oww.”
“Sorry about that,” said Dave, halfheartedly. “But I really need your focus right now. Forget you love her. What would her Guardian do? How would her Guardian find her?”
“Her Guardian — ”
“Yes, you, her Guardian.”
“She needs a Guardian now — ”
“Benjamin, she needs you now.”
Ben rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Yeah, me. Her Guardian. Okay.”
“Okay. Now, tell me what happened,” prodded Dave.
But Ben was beyond that now. His brain was reviewing facts, assimilating data, determining next steps. The phrase ‘Just be her Guardian’ kept playing over and over in the back of his mind like a theme song organizing his thoughts and canceling out his heart.
Eventually, his eyes cleared and he asked, “Where’s the list?”
“What list?”
“You know. The list!” Ben called back to Dave as he bounded up the ladder.
Dave found him in the great room hunched over the coffee table. “Son, what are you doing?”
Ben did not look up. Finally, his finger smacked the yellow legal pad in front of him. “I knew I had seen him on Sarah’s list. Who’s Tracker? Tell me about Tracker?”
“Tracker? He’s got a nose like a bloodhound but allergies that would kill an elephant.”
“So that’s why he lives here.”
“Yeah. He’s about as Misfit as they come. Why? What could … Oh!” Dave was now on the same page as Ben.
“Exactly. With his power, maybe he could lead me to Grace.”
“Maybe. So long as his spring hay fever hasn’t kicked in full throttle yet.”
Ben and Dave zoomed out the cabin’s front door to find Tracker but stopped suddenly when they reached the front porch railing. Below them, on the main road below, it was quiet. No screams, no sobs, no battle cries. No Anti-Powers. The fighting had ceased as quickly as it had begun. The Anti-Powers were gone leaving only mangled Misfit bodies in their wake. Some dead, some injured, but all being tended to by the few Misfits who had survived the short-lived attack.
“What the — ?” asked Dave, relieved to see Petra among the caregivers.
“It’s because they have Grace now. This fight was just a distraction until they got Grace.” Ben’s focus was clear now. He turned to Dave. “We need to find Tracker and pray he isn’t one of those bloody bodies down there.”
Chapter Twenty-Six: Found
They were over a mile from the Misfit community and Ben was growing impatient. He had decided to make this journey with Tracker alone, assuming two could travel the mountainous terrain faster than if Dave and the others had accompanied him. Unfortunately, his time estimations had not taken into account the limitations of Tracker’s powers. Using Grace’s old clothes, Tracker had easily picked up her scent leaving Dave’s cabin and the Misfit community. But as they traveled deeper into the mountain’s thick forest, pollen and spring’s smells were taking their toll on Tracker and his sneezes began to outnumber his leads.
“Ah-choo!” Tracker sneezed for the umpteenth time. He awkwardly looked over at Ben. “Sorry about that.”
“Just go on,” Ben sighed and shook his head. He followed the diminutive balding man with the bulbous nose through a brier thicket and up a small hill. He wasn’t used to being the follower and that, combined with Tracker’s sneezes, was frustrating to the Council’s preeminent Guardian. “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” he asked impatiently.
“Her scent is getting stronger, sir. And since my allergic reactions are more prevalent here, her strong scent means we’re close,” Tracker stated assuredly as he reached the top of the hill.
Just as Tracker was about to start his descent down the hill’s other side, Ben suddenly yanked the little man to the ground. “Get down!” he whispered and pointed to the bottom of the descent directly in front of them.
Tracker strained his eyes down to the bottom of the hill but all he could see were trees and the leaf-covered ground below them. “What?” he asked.
“There,” Ben pointed to an area where the leaves on the ground appeared to be denser.
Tracker squinted even more. “But I don’t see anything.”
Ben sighed, “You may have the nose but I have the eyes. Trust me. I think it’s a cabin, a well-camouflaged cabin, but it’s a cabin.”
Tracker’s nose went up, aimed at the dense leaves. “She’s in there. I can smell her.”
“Okay. Go tell Dave. Tell him to wait until DJ comes back with the full Powers then bring them all here. I’ll stay here and watch over Grace.”
Tracker smiled and saluted, “Yes, sir,” before turning to leave. He took a few steps back down the hill and then turned around. “Master Ben?”
“Yes,” Ben whispered, his eyes never leaving the dense leaves.
“Thank you for allowing me to be of service to you.”
Ben looked back at the humble little man, not realizing until that moment how much the Misfits simply wanted to be part of their world. To work as a Power. To be useful. “No problem, and thank you for your help,” he smiled before refocusing his eyes on the dense leaves below.
With Tracker gone, the forest seemed quieter to Ben. No birds singing, no leaves rustling, no squirrels scampering. Just silent stillness feeding Ben’s concentration on the hidden cabin below. In the forest’s stillness, he tried to listen, but the cabin was silent as well. If she was in there, why couldn’t he hear anything?
Ben’s curiosity began to rip at his Guardian instincts and he decided to furtively make his way down the hill to the cabin. As quickly and as silently as he could, using all his Powers and skills, Ben inched down the hill, never making a sound, not even a ripple in the air. When he was closer, he could see the walls and roof of the cabin more distinctly and discovered two well-disguised windows facing out opposite sides of the cabin. He crouched below the closest window, listening for anything, and it was soon apparent to Ben that the cabin’s walls and roof were soundproof, the intent of their design confirming Grace’s presence within. But the window did not share that same feature and Ben’s stomach turned when he heard the first sounds emanating from the cabin.
For in the middle of the forest’s stillness, Gregory’s voice etched up Ben’s spine like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Ben’s anger briefly derailed his focus and only when he heard Star’s voice join in with Gregory’s did he know what he had to do. She had taken advantage of him once but Ben had learned his lesson. He cautiously peered through a lower corner of the window and surveyed the inside of the hidden cabin.
On the opposite wall next to the other window was a door that presumably led outside. Star sat on a couch near the door, filing her nails as if waiting for her next salon appointment. The only other person Ben could see was Gregory, who was leaning against the wall beside Ben’s window and talking to someone or something on
his left. In the midst of his one-sided conversation, Gregory crossed to the other side of the cabin toward Star, leaving Ben a clear view of Gregory’s conversation target.
Grace.
She sat in the far corner, hands and feet tied to a metal, ladder-back chair. She was in no obvious pain, but her blue eyes were anxiously wild and darting back and forth from Gregory to Star. Her face was dirty, hair disheveled and her shirt was torn, revealing a pale pink bra strap. Her darting eyes never left Gregory or Star and Ben thought he could actually see the wheels in her head trying to find a way to escape.
Ben stayed motionless, staring into Grace’s prison while he weighed his options. He knew Star’s glowing power was insignificant but her newly discovered deviousness needed to be considered. Gregory’s strength would probably be a hindrance for Ben, and he was not sure what other powers his obvious nemesis possessed. As he pondered his situation, a familiar voice softly resonated in his ear.
“Hey,” Tom whispered. “Need some help?”
Relief flooded over Ben at the sight of his older brother. “How did you — ? Where are the others?”
“On their way,” Tom said. “So what’s the plan?”
“Still working on it. I was a little outnumbered until you got here.”
Tom peered through the window. “Let’s just take them. You can handle Gregory and I’ll take Miss Glowworm.”
“You remember her?”
“Uh … yeah. Who could forget Star?”
“But what about Gregory? Do you think he has any powers other than his strength?”
“Bro, you’re doubting yourself again. You can take him.” Tom slapped Ben on the back. “Come on.”
Tom started around the cabin to the door. He stopped and motioned for Ben to join him. Ben shook his head but crawled near his brother anyway.
“I don’t know about this. There are too many unknowns. We should just wait for the others,” Ben urged.
“You saw the way Grace was in there. We don’t have time to wait.”
Ben looked at the door and then to his brother. “Okay,” he said. “When you get in there, go left and take Star. Let me handle Gregory.”
