by Dee J. Stone
They don’t say anything. Or move. Only their eyes do. They go from X, to Kale, to me, to X again, and so on. I’m not counting how long this takes, but it feels like years. I peek at the clock. Eight PM. The seconds don’t seem to be moving, or if they are, they’re really slow.
Finally, Samson clears his throat. “What are the three of you up to?”
I look at Kale, who looks at me. None of us utters a word.
What do you think he means by that? I ask Kale.
Don’t know.
Do you think they know about—?
“Kale,” Cindy scolds. She knows we’re communicating like this.
Kale laughs sheepishly. “Sorry.” He turns to his dad. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Samson leans forward. “The three of you have been spending long hours in Ray’s room. Whispering.”
Again, Kale and I exchange a glance. He shrugs. “Just catching up, Dad.”
“Yeah,” I say. “There’s so much I missed and stuff…”
Samson eyes us carefully. “You aren’t by any chance discussing how to help Stealth escape from the ShadowBlades, are you?” His eyes move to X, whose expression is indifferent.
Sweat gathers on my forehead. They’re onto us.
“Kale?”
He doesn’t answer.
“I don’t want to resort to reading your minds,” Cindy says. She doesn’t do that unless it’s necessary.
Kale sighs. “Maybe we were.”
Samson runs his hand down his face. “Why are the three of you constantly looking for trouble?”
X pushes off the wall. “We’re not looking for trouble. Stealth needs our help.”
Samson walks over to X and places his hand on his shoulder. “She made a decision. She was aware of the consequences.”
X shrugs Samson’s hand off.
“Have you considered what would happen as a result?” Cindy asks. “There’s no telling what Vlayne would do. Attack the League. Kill Andrew out of spite, anger. You don’t want to put everyone’s life at risk, do you? Do you want to put Andrew’s life at risk?”
X looks at me for a second, then at the floor. “She won’t do that.”
“How can you be certain?” Samson says. “You can’t play around—” He stops talking as his gaze meets Cindy’s. Her eyes are huge, confused, and a little worried. They’re talking to each other telepathically. After a bit, Samson blinks. “Where’s Lindsay?” He turns to Kale, who shrugs. “She was supposed to be at therapy over an hour ago, but Dr. Evans just informed us that she failed to show up. Where is she, son?”
“How should I know?” Kale mutters, avoiding his parents’ gaze. They look at one another with furrowed eyebrows.
“I don’t sense her,” Cindy says. She touches her head and shuts her eyes, using her telepathy to read Lindsay’s thoughts and locate her. “She’s not in the house.”
“What do you mean she’s not here?” Kale asks, looking around like he’s trying to sense her, too.
“You haven’t spoken to her?” Samson asks him.
“No.”
Samson exchanges a look with his wife again. I bet he doesn’t believe Kale. I mean, why should he? Kale lies to them like all the time. We’re always getting into trouble.
But this isn’t Kale’s fault. He’s sitting in the chair, all hunched. It probably hurts him so much to be reminded of what happened between him and Lindsay. Not to mention how worried he must be, now that she’s missing.
“They broke up,” I say.
Kale’s eyes move to me in a “thanks.” I smile a bit. I know he’s grateful I was the one to tell his parents. He’d be too embarrassed to tell them himself.
“You and Lindsay broke up?” Samson asks. “When did this happen?”
“Oh, sweetie.” Cindy pulls him into her arms. “I’m so sorry.”
Kale pushes off. “I’m fine. Where is she? We need to find her.”
“Why did you break up?” Samson asks.
“Dad—”
“We need details if we’re going to find her.”
Kale slinks down in his seat. “She was scared she’d get me sick again. I told her that’s screwed up, but she didn’t listen.”
“Why didn’t you tell us the two of you broke up?” Samson asks.
“Seriously?”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Cindy takes his hand. “Kale, you know very well that Lindsay isn’t a typical teenage girl. Her emotions are so volatile. She can be very dangerous.”
“It’s not like this is my fault or like I knew she’d run away!”
His mom rubs his arm. “Let’s relax, okay?”
Samson looks from Kale to Cindy. “This is a delicate matter—”
“I said, I’m fine.”
“But we need to focus on locating Lindsay,” Samson continues. “Kale, did you say or do anything to hurt her?”
“I didn’t do anything. She broke up with me.”
“If she ran away because of your breakup…” Samson stands up and paces around the office. He buries his face in his hands.
“You…you think she’ll blow up the world because of our fight?” Kale asks.
“Not likely. Andrew, Ray, did she say something to either of you? Where she was going?”
I shake my head. I didn’t really know Lindsay. Wish I did, but I was murdered before Kale stopped her from blowing up Earth and her joining the League. Then she and Kale broke up, so she didn’t talk to me, out of association with the Ex.
“Ray?” Cindy asks.
“No,” X says. “She didn’t talk to me.”
Samson continues to pace. He goes to the large window, then to the wall that’s got all our trophies and awards. They’re reminders of our acts of heroism.
“Sam, we need to relax.”
He faces Cindy. “All our lives may be in danger.”
“What? Dad—?” Kale stops talking when a loud noise thuds from one of the lower levels. We’re on the top floor, but we hear the sounds from the first floor. They’re loud and strong.
Another sound booms.
Kale gasps at X, who’s scanning the floors, looking through them to the first floor. Images fly into my head. Kale’s sending me what X sees. Men dressed in armor. I don’t know who they are. If they’re military or something else. They’re using weapons and grenades to crash through the walls. They’re attacking and grabbing some League members. Some fight back.
My entire body trembles. We’re going to die.
“Stay here,” Samson orders. He and Cindy rush out of the room.
We sit frozen.
After a few seconds, Kale leaps to the door. “Let’s go!”
X follows. I stay behind. “But your parents said—”
Someone from behind me grabs my arm. I let out a sharp screech and thrash my arms to get him off me, but his grip is too firm.
Chapter Three
I’m flying. Well, someone or something is holding my arms, leaving me suspended in the air. We’re flying over buildings at a very fast speed. I smell the person, her perfume. I look up. “Mom?”
She’s lying on her stomach, hands hanging down as I clasp on to them. Two people clutch her legs for dear life. Kale and X.
“What’s going on?” I ask, shivering, even though it’s July.
Mom doesn’t answer.
Finally after a few minutes, we’re lowered to the ground. I look around, but have no clue where we are. All I see are buildings. Mom’s standing before us, her gaze glued to Kale. He must be reading her mind.
“What?” he says. “You want us to…no! We’re coming with you.”
He makes a move to follow her, but she whirls around. “No.” She looks at each one of us closely. “I don’t want any of you returning to the Tower.” She pulls me into her arms. “I need to rescue the others. Do as I say.”
Kale nods reluctantly. I don’t know what’s going on, but when Mom pulls off, I hold on. Feels like this is
our last hug. Like I’m going to lose her. “Mom.”
“I’ll be back. Promise.” She kisses me before shooting up in the air. The three of us watch her get smaller and smaller until she’s gone.
X and I look at Kale for an explanation. He swallows. “The League’s been attacked.”
My body shakes and I try to keep my legs from giving way. I don’t want to collapse right now. “What do we do?” I squeak. “Where’s the rest of the League? My dad? Your parents?”
“I don’t know,” Kale says.
I drop down to the ground and try to steady my trembling hands. “But how were we attacked? Don’t we have awesome security? And who were those guys in armor?”
Kale holds out his hand to help me up. “I don’t know. All your mom said was to get to safety.”
“Safety?”
“Yeah. The League’s got a safe house. Somewhere we can escape to in case something like this happens. Your mom said she’d meet us there with the others.”
Wow. Samson and Cindy are prepared for everything.
“Where is it?” X asks.
“The Bronx.”
“Where are we?” I ask.
“Brooklyn. Let’s go.” Kale moves toward the subway station at the corner of the block.
X pulls his arm back. “Not so fast. We need to change our clothes. Whoever attacked the League might look for us, for kids wearing what we’re wearing. We’ll need caps, too. Maybe glasses.”
“But no one knows our true identities,” Kale says. Because we always wear our uniforms and masks when we’re out saving the world.
“Most people don’t,” X says. “But we don’t know who these people are or what they know about us.”
“Were they the Blades?” I squeak again. “They didn’t look like them. They looked like…”
“The military?” Kale asks.
We get silent.
“Why would the military attack the League?” I ask.
“We don’t have time to figure this out now,” X says. “Let’s first change our clothes and get to the safe house.”
I swallow this huge lump in my throat. “W-where will we get the clothes from?”
Kale’s gaze sweeps the area until it lands behind me. I turn around and see a shop. He turns to X. X’s eyes get black, which means he’s using his power to look into the building. “No good. Security cameras.” He continues his search until he stops at a tiny shop. Looks like a thrift store. He points. “No cameras.”
“Wait,” I say. “We have no money.”
“That’s why I’m going to control them to give us the stuff,” Kale says. “Then I’ll erase their memories.”
I gasp. “C-control their minds? E-erase their memories?”
X says, “We don’t know what the hell’s going on, but it’s not safe for us. We need to join the others. We need to do whatever it takes.”
Yeah, they’re right. Our lives are at stake. For some reason, someone is after us. Does it really matter if we steal a few articles of clothing?
I swallow. “Okay.”
We enter the store and Kale does exactly what he said. We each grab a shirt and jeans and change.
Once we’re done and Kale erases the memories of everyone inside, we leave the store. Kale’s got a black cap that covers his blue eyes. X has a beanie. Since I can’t wear hats because the heat makes my head shrink, I’m wearing sunglasses.
“To the subway?” I ask.
We throw our clothes into the dumpster near the shop and head for the subway station. As we pass by a bar, we stop short when we hear the Keepers of Justice being mentioned. A news anchor is talking on TV.
“We’re updating you with the latest news. The United States Armed Forces have invaded the residence of the Keepers of Justice and have detained many members. The identities of these former heroes have not been released. Stay with us for more updates.”
“It is the military,” I say, feeling my jaw hit the ground. I quickly pull it back up.
“Detained members…” Kale breathes. “What…what do they want with them?”
X shakes his head like he can’t believe it.
The news shifts to General Higgins, the middleman between the League and normal people. Part of his job is to make sure we don’t get out of line and things like that. He’s got short, gray hair and sharp brown eyes. People with mics are asking him questions. “Were Samson and Cindy captured?” one woman asks.
“Samson and Cindy are still at large, along with several others.”
A man asks, “What about their son, Kale?”
“No word on Kale Zenith’s whereabouts.”
“The heroes who were captured, are they talking? What information have you received?” another woman asks. He ignores her.
A third woman says, “Is it safe to step outside? What security measures must we take?”
He looks into the camera. “Stay indoors. I repeat, stay indoors until these so-called heroes are taken into custody.”
All three of us gape at each other. I feel my eyes bulge out of their sockets. Kale is breathing heavily. X’s hands are curled into fists at his sides.
I’m about to ask what happened, when the camera is back on the news anchor. “If you’re just joining us…Samson and Cindy Zenith, leaders of the Keepers of Justice, have murdered nearly forty innocent people. The images you’re about to see are graphic, so we warn you to please turn away if you do not wish to view them.” The camera displays a man and woman, who look like our leaders, walking through a park. They’re wearing their KOJ uniforms: Samson’s is royal blue with golden streaks. Cindy’s is gold with royal blue streaks. Both are not wearing masks. The KOJ logo is in shiny letters. It’s just starting to get dark out, probably earlier this evening. As they walk, Cindy raises her hand toward the families enjoying the summer day. One by one they collapse to the floor as blood pools out of their ears. Samson uses his telekinesis to knock the people off their feet. He also cracks some of their limbs and heads off.
Sweat drenches me, and I’m trembling so hard my legs are for sure going to shoot out. I panic even more, ‘cuz if people see me, they’ll know who we are. “Guys,” I sputter, my body convulsing. “My arms and legs…can’t stand much longer. Help.”
X grabs my legs and Kale my arms, and we rush behind a house with many bushes and shrubs. They lower me to the ground. “Sorry.” My voice is so faint I barely hear it.
“It’s okay.” Kale pats my shoulder to try to relax me. It’s not working.
“W-what happened?” I ask. “Samson and Cindy didn’t kill anyone. We saw them in the League like all day. Plus they’d never kill…”
“Don’t think about that,” Kale says. “Focus on calming down so we can head to the safe house.”
I close my eyes and try to think of other things, but I can’t. People are on the streets, shouting. Some are yelling to not leave their houses while others are not sure what the heck’s going on.
They sound so close. I open my eyes and try to peek out, but I can barely lift my head. “Guys…”
“It’s okay,” Kale reassures me. “They don’t see us.”
“Dude, is that why the military attacked the League?” I ask. “Because they think Samson and Cindy killed those people?”
Kale clutches my shirt. “You’ve got to stop thinking about that. We need to hurry before someone finds us. Think of happy thoughts. I don’t want to erase your memories or knock you out. Focus, man!”
I inhale a huge gulp of air and let it out in small chunks. I try to clear my thoughts and think of happy things. Like nachos and pretzels and donuts. Of Furball’s cute smile. Her spikey red hair. Of playing video games.
Slowly, my limbs retract. After a few seconds, I’m back to normal. Kale and X help me to my feet and we head for the subway station, peering around to make sure no one sees us.
“Kale,” X says as we go down the steps. “Can you contact your parents?”
“Already tried. Got nothing.”
I
stop in my tracks. “Well, of course you can’t contact Samson. Your mom put a telepathic fortification on his mind, right? But what about Cindy? Why can’t you reach her?”
“No,” Kale says. “Normally I’m able contact my dad. The fortification protects his mind, but I can still communicate with him.” He rubs the back of his neck. “But I can’t connect with any of them now. It’s like they’re…”
Dead? A shiver runs down my spine.
“Don’t go there,” X says. “Try someone else. Freeze.” Freeze is Samson and Cindy’s second in command. He can paralyze people.
Kale shuts his eyes. I see the outline of them through his lids. They’re rolling around. He groans, clutching the sides of his head. His eyes shoot open. He gasps.
“What?” I ask.
He clutches his stomach, bending over. “S-someone else was in there.”
“Where?” X says. “In Freeze’s mind?”
Panting, Kale nods. “A telepath.”
“A telepath?” I ask. “Who?”
“Probably one who works for the government,” X says. “He must be probing the captured Keepers’ minds. Did he sense you, Kale?”
“No. I’m pretty sure he didn’t. I got out as quickly as I could.”
X curses. “You can’t use your telepathy to locate anyone. We don’t know who’s captured.”
“What about my parents?” Kale asks.
X shakes his head. “Not unless we know for a fact they’re safe.”
I swallow. Kale’s face is as white as paper.
X motions for us to continue down the steps to the subway. “Let’s get to that house.”
We reach the last step and stop before the turnstiles. We don’t have metro cards. Kale walks over to the woman in the booth and narrows his eyes. She smiles warmly before opening the door to let us through. Kale thanks her and we run down the stairs to the platform.
Many people are around, waiting for the subway. They don’t pay attention to us.
I rub my gurgling stomach. “I’m hungry. Too bad we didn’t grab snacks.”
X turns to me. “How can you think about food right now?”
“It’s my stomach…”
Kale slaps my back. “Don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of food when we join the others.”
