by Bryan Cohen
"I like you, Jen. You care about more than yourself. For example, you’d want to know if Erica snuck a knife into school yesterday."
Jennifer’s heart sunk. "She did?"
"You want to protect your friend, and so do I."
"She was dating an older guy." Her pulse sped up despite the reduced speed of the treadmill. "She kept him a secret from us."
Natalie frowned. "And you don’t know where he lived or anything?"
Jennifer stopped the machine and stepped off. Before she could get to the free weights, Natalie was on her.
"Spill, Norris. It’s the best for everyone involved and you know it."
"Fine." Jennifer tightened her ponytail. "She invited me to Veo one time before she was here. It was 1a.m., so I didn’t go."
Natalie cocked her head sideways. "She was in the hood at 1a.m.?"
Jennifer put up her hands. "That’s all I know. Take it or leave it."
Natalie actually grinned. It was a rare and strange sight to witness off the field.
"Enjoy your workout, Norris. Thanks for your help."
When Natalie disappeared into the girl’s locker room, Jennifer leaned back on the mirror, letting herself sink down to the faux-hardwood floor. She wondered what Natalie would find when she went looking for Erica’s skeletons. Would she break Ted free from the cheerleader’s thrall, or would it simply ruin all of their lives in the process?
22
Watching Ted's interview was bittersweet for Sandra. She loved seeing her knight in shining armor being praised as an amazing hero. She doubted any bullies would pick on him when he ate out from now on. They'd be asking for his autograph instead. On the other hand, Ted was forever connected to one of the most traumatizing experiences of her life. A man tried to choke her to death when Ted turned the restaurant upside down to stop him.
Sandra looked in her bathroom mirror. The sink beneath her had collected some grime in the last few weeks. She'd been too tired from work to do much cleaning at home. Now that she had all the time in the world, cleaning was the furthest thing from her mind. Aside from her efforts to wash the strange mark from her arm. Her skin from her elbow to her shoulder was red and raw from scrubbing. She'd cleared the drugstore of everything from rubbing alcohol to peroxide, but it looked like whatever the diner gang used to make the symbol appear was there to stay, barring an expensive laser treatment.
"What's next?" Sandra stared deep into her own eyes.
Page's had been a temporary gig, until it wasn't. She was going to move to New York or Washington, D.C., but her relationships with two locals kept her grounded both times she wanted to go. As she looked at her reflection, she saw all the previous versions of herself. The pierced nose and lip she'd ditched a few years ago. The shave-under haircut her then-boyfriend hated. Sandra glanced away from the mirror and spied a black and white cat on the fire escape. The daredevil leaped from one handrail to the other with ease.
"Don't fall, kitty. It's a long way down."
Living on the fifth floor was a pain for moving, though it provided a nice view during the upcoming sunrise. Sandra heard a noise at the front door. She wondered if it was her crazy neighbor trying to get in the wrong apartment again.
"Carol? This is 5B. Remember, you're in 5C."
Sandra reached the foyer. When she saw the door was wide open, her heart skipped a beat. She swore she’d locked it.
Sandra balled her hand up into a fist. "Hello?"
While she didn't live in the best part of town, there weren't many breakins in Sandra's neighborhood. She supposed she was the lucky one, as per usual. Sandra heard movement somewhere in the apartment. It may have been footsteps. There wasn't enough time to be sure. She threw open the closet door, tossing aside shoes and coats to reach for a metal softball bat. It had been years since she played, but she hoped she remembered how to use it.
"Whoever you are, you better get out of here." Her voice stayed strong. "I don't go down easy."
The movement in the other room stopped. There was a step. Then another. With the third, a figure came into the room. There he was, almost a foot taller than her. It was Yarrick, the man who'd tried to choke her to death. Her nightmare had come to life.
"I was rummaging through pantry, but all you have is rabbit food."
She held her breath. "I'm vegan."
"You served me big plate of bacon at diner. Seems like contradiction, no?"
"People do strange things for money."
Yarrick grinned. "Good small talk. You want to say any famous last words?"
She wound up the bat. "Get the hell out of my house."
Yarrick laughed as Sandra ran toward him. As he was about to block the blow, she pulled back and used the bat like a pool cue right into Yarrick's stomach. He let out a deep groan from the unexpected blow. When he bent over, she swung the bat upwards and hit him in the face. Yarrick crumpled to the ground, and Sandra went running through the front door.
"Call 9-1-1! Carol! Anybody!"
Sandra turned the corner toward the elevators and ran right into Carter, the man who'd chanted the permanent symbol onto her arm.
He grabbed her by the shoulders until it hurt. "You're a little firecracker, aren't you?"
Sandra struggled to get some leverage and gripped the bat tightly. "You're right. I'm dangerous."
Sandra used all her might to slam the bat upwards into Carter's chin. It connected and stunned her captor. He released her just enough to give her some space. She kneed him in the groin and down he went.
She pushed the elevator button and tried to catch her breath. "Come on! Come on!"
When she heard Yarrick coming out of her apartment, Sandra dashed through the doors for the staircase. She ran at top speed, pulling the fire alarm as she went. It didn’t make a sound as the handle came off in her hands.
"Damn!"
As she cursed her luck, Sandra saw someone coming up from the third floor.
She screamed. "Help! Two men are after me!"
A chuckle brought Tank’s face into focus. "Correction. Three men."
Sandra nearly tripped as she sprinted to the fourth floor entrance. The elevator door opened when she passed by.
Adrenaline filled her body. "Please, help me!"
It was no neighbor. Instead, it was Yarrick, sporting a fresh red mark on his forehead. "No, I don't think I will."
This time he did catch the bat when Sandra swung, ripping it from her hands and tossing it to the ground. It clanged when it hit the hardwood.
"You're only making it worse."
She faked one direction and ran down the hallway the opposite way as fast as she could. Despite his size, Yarrick was fast, and she could hear him running closely behind. Sandra reached the end of the hallway and opened the window. Her hands shook when she pushed out the screen with both her hands. Sandra pulled herself up onto the sill, hoping she could reach the fire escape with a well-timed leap.
"Please, please, please."
She had it in view and prepared to jump, when her pursuer gave her a hard shove from behind. Sandra’s stomach and throat clenched tight as the air flew by her cheeks. She screamed as she plummeted to the unforgiving ground.
Sandra awoke to see Yarrick and the others standing around her. The pain in her head was immense, though it subsided with every passing second.
"You were supposed to just kill her. Not throw her out of the building."
"She was too feisty. She die either way, yes?"
Sandra lifted her head slightly and felt a swollen gash. It was covered with blood, but the wound had begun to heal itself. Sandra felt strong, as if she was a whole new person.
She leaped to her feet and socked Yarrick in the jaw. The blow was so powerful, it sent Yarrick to the ground while the others laughed. Sandra scowled and Tank took a step toward her. Nigel put his hand up to stop him.
"The waitress is just getting some anger out. Nothing to worry about."
"I don't think I'm a waitress anymore." Sandra inhaled deeply. "I th
ink I'm a warrior."
"A warrior needs a war." Nigel grinned. "I happen to know of one going on right now."
Sandra felt like she was finally home. The symbol on her arm glowed in the night.
23
It wasn't hard for Natalie to convince her parents she was sick – she'd watched Ferris Bueller do it at least 50 times in her youth. After she'd gotten over the weirdness of licking her palms, the clammy hands trick worked quite well. Since her parents both had jobs, she waited the customary half hour before washing off the saliva and leaving.
Natalie used to take the bus to the shady part of town to play pick-up basketball. Veo's was only a couple of blocks away from where she got into her first game at the age of 12. She remembered the cheers of the assembled crowd when she faked out a guy twice her age and laid the ball in the hoop. Nobody paid her much attention as the bus rumbled to her stop.
The affluence of the nearby suburb hadn't rubbed off on the hood. If anything, the people who created the developments and strip malls filled with chain stores did everything they could to push the "undesirables" in this direction. There were a few small cues that rich people lived nearby, and Veo was one of them. Natalie nearly missed the place, as the front door was located down a nondescript alley. The fact that it was the only non-crumbling building on the block should have given it away. Instead, it was the truck loading in keg after keg of beer in the back. After trying the locked front door, she figured her best way in was with the booze. Natalie hid behind a dumpster as she waited for an opening. A seven-foot center wouldn't faze her on the basketball court, but sneaking into a seedy club gave her pause.
Remember, you're doing this to protect Ted.
She prided herself on her elusiveness as she snuck in, hiding from the deliverymen with relative ease. She hid next to a cash register until they left. The door shut behind them.
I'm in this. Natalie cracked her neck. No turning back now.
She took a look around Veo. It looked much bigger on the inside, and it was slightly more sophisticated than she imagined it would be. Veo felt like it belonged in a major city, but here it was on an abandoned block where the closest landmarks were a methadone clinic and a halfway house. Given the nearby attractions, few kids from school would try to come here even with a good fake ID.
She must’ve had a reason for coming here.
Natalie wandered into the main room of Veo's and saw a bartender wiping down glasses behind the bar. Natalie steeled her nerves and sat down in front of him.
"I'll have a milk."
The bartender hardly looked up from his task. He was the same height as Natalie but looked twice as wide.
"Get outta here, kid. I'll call the sheriff."
Natalie sat up a little straighter. "I don't think it'll stick. I'm friends with his daughter."
"You served a girl here." She took out her phone and pulled up an image of Erica. "I want to know who she was here with."
The bartender must have realized he wasn't getting rid of Natalie. He put down the glass and the cloth and looked at the picture more closely. She could tell right away that he recognized her. It all became clear in the pause before he gave an answer.
"I've seen her on TV. Real hot stuff. Never seen her here."
Natalie smiled. "What's your name?"
"Rick."
"Rick, this girl is 16 years old."
Rick the bartender grunted. His best attempt to intimidate her by staring straight into her eyes wasn't going to fly with a state champion.
Natalie stowed the phone. "I get proof she was here, and the sheriff'll take your license so fast, you'll have to give out these glasses as keepsakes."
"I hate kids. That's why I never had any."
"But you're fine with giving them double shots of whisky, huh?"
The last line made Rick cave. "The girl. She went by 'La' when she was here. Hung out with an off-duty deputy."
Natalie raised an eyebrow. "From Treasure?"
Rick nodded. "Daly's his name. You didn't hear it from me, and I never served anyone underage."
"Deal."
Natalie saw herself out and waited until she was back on the bus to do some sleuthing. It wasn't hard to get Daly's address. The bus would actually take her just a couple of blocks away from his place if she got off three stops early. She couldn't believe that, of all people, Erica was seeing a sheriff's deputy. A quick social media search showed that he was plenty active and in town during the last month. How come she was gone while he stayed put?
"There's got to be evidence at his place." She nodded to herself. "I'll be in and out. No big deal."
Despite saying the words out loud, Natalie wasn't convinced. She got ahold of Daly's cell phone number from a classified ad he'd posted a few years back. She at least needed to see if he was home before she stormed in. After stepping off the bus and taking a deep breath, she dialed the number. Daly picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
She did her best stuck-up cheerleader impression. "It's Erica."
There was a long pause on the other side. Natalie wondered if she should have pretended to be a neighbor instead.
Natalie broke the silence. "Are you at work?"
"How are you still alive?"
She stopped in her tracks about a block away from Daly’s.
What?!
She cleared her throat. "We need to talk. Where are you?"
"I'm at the hospital. Cracked rib. What did you see Sheriff Norris about yesterday?"
Good question. Why’d she see the sheriff? Is he tied up in this?
"I wanted to see you. I'd been gone for so long."
There was a pause on the line before it went dead. Natalie knew she'd pushed it too far. The only way she was going to figure out where Erica had been was by finding some evidence from Daly's place. She reached the front door. She had one last bit of hesitation, before she realized why she was truly there.
"This isn't about Ted. It's about her. It's about revenge." Natalie smiled. "And I can get on board with that."
24
Ted tossed and turned as the same nightmare haunted his sleep. He had no control as he watched the same scene unfold: a lit torch, the faces of his friends, and Nigel's sword stabbing him through the abdomen. The portal opened and his friends changed into enemies. Ted did everything he could to alter the dream and fight for his world. But it was no use. The cave shuddered with a pounding sound. Ted woke up to the same noise, as his mother knocked on the door to get his attention.
"Ted! Are you all right? The door's locked."
Ted opened his eyes to absolute carnage. The door wasn't actually locked. While he slept, Ted had apparently used his powers to move his overstuffed dresser drawer in front of it. His end table and the lamp that sat on top had toppled to the ground, as well. It was a disaster. The one thing that remained untouched was the giant pile of clothes he'd left on the middle of the floor.
"You couldn't have folded those in your sleep? Or at least put them in the hamper?" He pulled the sweaty t-shirt from his chest and called out to the hallway. "I'm fine. I was just…sleep redecorating."
Ted used his powers to move the room back to its original order. Even without much sleep, it felt easier than it had the day before. He considered putting some of the clothes in his hamper, but that seemed like it would take too much effort. When everything was back in order and he checked the clock, Ted realized he only had 10 minutes until homeroom.
After throwing on the closest outfit, he grabbed a protein bar from his backpack and looked toward the window.
A smile crept over his face. "I think I know how I can avoid rush hour."
Ted stepped into his shoes as he called out to his parents. "Love you guys. Gotta fly!"
The superpowered teen opened his window and pulled up the screen. "Up, up, and-"
Ted tripped over the windowsill and fell straight down. He nearly hit the grass before his powers kept him from slamming into the lawn.
He si
ghed. "Not the best start."
Ted concentrated on floating higher and his body complied. Soon enough, he reached the cold air above the roof. Ted grinned as he looked down at the manicured lawns and swimming pools in his neighbors’ yards.
"A man could get used to this."
He focused on moving toward school and his powers answered in a hurry. Ted blasted across the sky faster than anticipated.
His teeth chattered in the thinner, colder air above Treasure. "I really should practice more."
Before he knew it, he’d covered three miles and change, stopping just above the high school parking lot. It took all his concentration to descend slowly. He hadn’t noticed the crowd that formed when he was just a few feet from touching down. Applause greeted him when he made contact. Pride warmed his chest until he attempted to walk toward the school.
The mass of people blocked his every move. It was suffocating. In the pack around him, there were multiple autograph requests, several peers asking him for a job as a sidekick, and even a few attractive seniors asking to be friended online. All of them were shouting their requests at once and it started to give him a pounding headache.
He somehow made it through the lot and into the school, but the mob only seemed to swell the closer he got.
"Guys, I need to get to class."
The students grew louder and larger in numbers. The headache intensified in the back of his head as his momentum slowed in the effort to get to his locker.
"Please, I need to get to class, everybody. We can talk after school."
He felt his nerves start to fray as he considered floating over the crowd to get to his locker. Before he could make that decision, he was pushed too far. Literally. He was pushed too far to keep his balance and fell to the ground, his adrenaline spiking as he tumbled. The crowd responded with a gasp. Ted looked up and saw Jason Torello, who let out a quick snort.
"Hey, Finley, you owe me for the phone. Why don't you float me up in the air like you did that news guy?"
Ted stood up and gently moved the crowd back with his mind. A few of the girls shrieked.
"You're right." He narrowed his eyes. "I do owe you."
