by Holly Hook
Chapter Four
I did the worst thing I could have.
I looked down.
The sidewalk expanded and grew. The two outside guards turned their gazes up at me, and the heartburn guy's eyes widened as he backed against the ATC building. A car approached the intersection and slowed for a red light. The world paused as I fell and air blasted against my skin.
I bent my legs, bracing for the pain.
Three stories would kill Normals, right?
I closed my eyes.
My existence exploded into reds and yellows, crunching through my legs as the bones shattered. Pavement smashed into my cheek as I collapsed. The ground. The fall. Numbness spread through my legs. They had vanished. The rest of me was pain. My spinal cord. Paralysis.
The outside guards shouted and the doors to the ATC building flew open. That didn't matter, either. I'd be dead by the time they reached me.
But then, the bones in my legs crunched, trying to pull themselves back together. The red faded as blackness took its place. The darkness was a relief.
I was healing or dying.
Knives of pain stabbed through the numbness as a searing heat filled my lower back. My nerves were coming back.
I took a breath.
I would live. Even Alyssa didn't heal this fast.
Then I opened my eyes.
Maybe.
Guns trained on me, barrels dark and lifeless. Four men in black vests and ATC uniforms stared down at me. The guy with heartburn bit his lip. The first guard eyed me as if he couldn't believe I was the culprit behind the alarms. He shifted and muttered a curse. He must know he would get fired after this.
"She's dangerous," one of the other guards said. "Why did you let her in?"
"She looked Normal," the first guard said.
My bones popped so loud that a fourth guard flinched. Pain flared and faded. My stomach roared with hunger. My body had burned through a lot of energy healing itself. A tremor overtook me. Even if I got up without them opening fire, I might manage a half-run.
"Um, hi?" I asked. "Shouldn't you be calling an ambulance?" My words were the only weapon I had left. "I think someone threw me from the window."
"She jumped from it," the second guard said, wide-eyed.
"Someone threw me!" I said. There was still a chance I could make them think I was Normal, right? Normal, and injured. But these agents must have gotten my description from the ninja ladies and Grimes himself. "I can't feel my legs. I think I'm paralyzed!"
"She's healing," the heartburn guy said. "There's no way she's Normal."
Cars slowed down as drivers gawked at the scene. If I made any move to get up, they'd shoot, and they wouldn't care about all these witnesses. What was one more embarrassment? And where was—
"Xavier!" Alyssa shouted from a block away. "No!"
The air heated and turned to an angry magenta.
He was using his power.
Agents flew as a ball of glowing magic and lightning struck them, missing me by inches. Bodies crashed into the building and an agent flew through the rotating doors, making them spin so fast they squeaked with the stress. The War Magic charge spread out over the front face of the building, shattering glass and raining it on the sidewalk.
I don't know if shock propelled me up, but I'd take the opportunity. My bones had stopped popping, and the pain faded to an ache in my legs, but they held me up when I rose. Note to self: falling three stories, 0/10 do not recommend.
A car sped away with a newly busted taillight. Xavier had almost hit bystanders with magic. He stood at the corner a block away, jaw falling open, and Alyssa squeezed his arm as if urging him not to try it again. Stumbling as I ran, I made it to them in seconds. Xavier's eyes stayed huge as he eyed the destruction wrought on the ATC building. Alyssa pulled at his arm, but even she couldn't get him to move.
Brendan peeked out from around the corner of the nearby building. "What happened?"
"I told you to stay back," Alyssa said. She faced me. "Janine. We saw you jump. We were running to help as soon as we heard the alarms going off inside the building--"
"Let's go," I said. I held up the forbidden folder of brochures. "The red tape to get one of these was amazing. They need to improve their customer service. And they don't have prisoners in there."
"No crap," Alyssa said.
The alarms kept blaring inside the building. More sirens started in the distance. I glanced back at the ATC building, stomach heaving. A part of me cheered from the adventure, but I didn't want to see people die because of what I'd done.
But I might.
Four agents lay in the shattered glass. Every bottom window on the front of the ATC building had blasted in, bathing the interior in glass. The swinging door still spun, and the agent who had gone through lay on the floor. He lifted one hand and let it flop down again. The other three lay half in and half out of the broken windows. They let out groans of pain. These agents were alive, but injured.
I was glad that Xavier and Alyssa might not hear it.
"What did you do, man?" Brendan asked Xavier. "That's some serious magic."
"We need to go," Alyssa said.
Xavier gulped. "You're right. I need to stop using magic, period."
He turned away, but not before I saw the horror in Brendan's eyes and the anguish in Xavier's.
* * * * *
We needed to head to Xavier's place to go over the brochures in safety, but first I had to go back home and make my mother think I'd go to bed. We took a bus to my apartment, and I went upstairs by myself. I stopped outside the apartment door and let out a breath. Looking calm and untroubled would get me back out tonight.
Even though I had dodged bullets and fallen three stories, I didn't feel that upset. It must result from me Turning. A Normal would curl into a ball after that—if they didn't die. And I had come close. And yet, I felt as if I'd done nothing worse than take a tough test at school. It sucked, but it wouldn't stop me.
Mom was on the couch, watching the late night news. That was bad because the top story was the latest attack on the ATC building.
"Hey, Mom," I said, standing between the living room and the kitchen. "I'm not too late, am I?" It was nice, being able to talk without having to keep my mouth most of the way shut. Thank you, file. "We had fun at the movies. Me and Maisha saw that one with the animated dinosaurs."
"You're right on time," she said, immersed in the news. "You've gotten better about sticking to your curfews. I have to give you that."
A reporter discussed an explosion in the basement of the ATC, a boiler, maybe, that caused the windows of the ATC building to shatter. It was the lamest story I had ever heard. The ATC must want to keep its humiliation under wraps. Word would spread soon enough. How could anyone in that area have missed Xavier's magic?
Grimes appeared on screen to talk about the boiler explosion. I couldn't believe the guy was lying to the public when drivers had seen me lying there on the sidewalk.
"A few pedestrians even hit the ground right here on the sidewalk when the boiler exploded," Grimes said. "We had to deploy agents to make sure we didn't have an Abnormal attack. I would like to take this time to apologize to everyone working late in the Tower tonight for the scare. Safety is our new company policy. I would also like to apologize to the pedestrians our agents had to aim at to ensure that they didn't pose a danger, and--"
Mom turned the TV off with a quick flick of the remote. "Bedtime," she said. "I have to be at the pharmacy early tomorrow morning. It's Friday, but I want to remind you to study tomorrow."
"I will," I said. Since I needed much less sleep, studying came easier. It had been hard at first since Turning because I had way too much stuff on my mind. Now I was getting used to this and had things straightened out (sort of) so I was more confident I could raise my grades.
In reality, I would sneak back out once Mom fell asleep and meet Alyssa and Xavier and Brendan in the parking ramp, where they had to wait for me until the coast was clear. Mom s
till didn't know my secret, and I had to keep it that way for as long as I could. Or better yet, let her find out a little at a time. There was no way I'd hide it forever.
I wasn't stupid.
Mom left the TV to cool and retreated to her room. I listened as she got into bed. She sniffed as if something were upsetting her.
I tensed.
Me?
Did she suspect the truth after all?
Mom blew her nose and wadded up the tissue before throwing it away. She sighed, releasing sadness, and crawled into bed.
I stood there in the living room for a moment before turning off the light.
* * * * *
I still had the problem of hunger once I left the apartment. Storing any, um, nourishment there would get me found out within a week, even if I got myself one of those dorm refrigerators. My legs shook, and I was getting close to where I'd need something. My filed teeth were coming back in by now.
And supplies were low in the Underground. By cutting off the blood supplies, Bathory had forced the vampires into the open to hunt. The ATC had captured most of them. At least, that was the story Brendan and Xavier had gathered.
"You're hungry," Alyssa said as we walked down the sidewalk.
"I know I am," I said. "I didn't think healing would take that much out of me."
"The park is still a good place to find people," Brendan said. "That's what I had to do a few times."
"We're not going to the park," Alyssa said. "I bet there are ATC people all around it."
Beside her, Xavier stayed silent. He was getting like that more often. The guy was dwelling on his heightened powers. He had it worse than me. All I had to do was bite people, and I didn't even have to kill them or even hurt them that bad. Principal Penguin was already back to work at my school, sitting in his office with a bandage on his neck. And only one in five hundred people Turned when bitten. The risks were low.
Xavier could kill with his magic. He could have done that before but now that could happen even if he wasn't trying. I had the sense Xavier hadn't used his full strength on the ATC guards. They still might end up with permanent injuries.
"We might have to," I said. "I'm starving. Maybe we can find a creep who's there trying to mug someone."
"I'd feel better about that," Brendan said.
"It might be dangerous," Xavier said. "Bathory's people are still out. They need food, too. And they know Brendan likes to hang around the park."
"True," Brendan said. "I haven't been back since I escaped from them. I think some of them survived the dragon."
I grabbed onto a street sign. "Then what? I'm going crazy."
Xavier backed away from me. "We don't want that."
"Maybe," Alyssa said to him, "you should go back to your place while the three of us worry about other things. All the blood bag supplies got stolen. It sucks for us and for people who need transplants. Even my father's having trouble getting some from his friend at the Red Cross. We only got five bags this week, and he used up the last one yesterday."
"I was about to ask you about that," I said. These conversations would never feel normal. "I wish we could just go out for a burger."
"That's off the table," Alyssa said. Her eyes took that sad look. Even through her contacts, I could detect it. "It has to be people until we solve our problem."
"You know," I said. "If we keep going like this, someone's going to, you know, get infected."
Alyssa leaned against the brick of the nearby convenience store. "I know. That's already happened, and that's why we need to stop Bathory from hoarding everything."
"You know, that makes sense," Xavier said. He still maintained his distance. "I might help the three of you secure victims. We can head to a bad part of town and find someone who deserves to get bitten. I'll lead the way. Five blocks over from here, things get ugly. I think I know how much magic will knock someone out, and then you won't cause any pain to the victims."
"You should go home," Alyssa said.
"No. I'm not ditching you."
"I know you don't want to use your magic," she told him.
Xavier swallowed. "I might have to."
"Fine," she said. "Five blocks over, it is. Janine, it's your job to listen for someone."
The night was dying down, and the traffic was thinning. I felt wide awake, but another hunger pang hit. We needed to find someone unworthy, and fast.
Or Xavier would end up on the menu again. After that, Alyssa would kill me.
He led the way, staying well ahead of us, with Alyssa walking right behind him. She would block me from him but I wasn't sure if she could hold me back. I still had my enhanced strength but there was no way she'd use her sword on me. I'd die. Well, maybe.
Xavier was right he was leading us into a bad part of town. Brendan tensed the more we walked into it. We entered an ancient suburb which might be the same one that Alyssa and Trish had ventured into once to rescue Alyssa's deadbeat mom. Some houses had boarded windows with graffiti on them. Others had overgrown lawns and trash strewn around. Some houses scored all three. The place smelled of sadness and times past. Once, this must have been a happier neighborhood where families grew up. It was a place that had fallen on bad times.
"I don't know if this is a good idea," Brendan said.
"Who's going to bother us?" Alyssa asked.
"Plenty of people," Brendan said. "We should turn back."
"I guess you're right," Alyssa told him. "But we can fight anyone who tries."
Two men shouted at each other in a house on the next street. They fought over who had stolen the beer money. It was a nasty argument, but they were inside and I didn't want to bite someone for a minor offense like that. Televisions played in other houses and someone blasted heavy metal in another. Most people were minding their own business.
Then I heard it.
Down the street, a guy shouted at his wife or girlfriend, calling her the worst names he could manage. I stopped in the street next to a fast food bag.
"Do you hear something?" Alyssa asked.
"I don't want to be here," Brendan said.
I could detect the fear in his words, a fear he was trying to hide. Brendan puffed up his chest, but he glanced back like he wanted to retreat. If I didn't know better, I might guess he had been here before—and experienced things he didn't want to see again.
"An argument," I said. "It's coming from a house straight ahead."
The guy called the woman something awful again.
And then he slapped her.
Anger boiled inside of me. A sick feeling bloomed in my stomach. I had never witnessed physical abuse before, but I wanted to bite the man responsible. "We found our victim," I said.
"Who?" Alyssa asked. "We might need more than one. There are three of us. That would be dangerous for a single person."
"I don't care," I said. "Abusers deserve it."
"Is that what it is?" Brendan asked.
"He's hitting a woman." I cut in front of everyone, including Xavier. More sounds reached my ears as I focused ahead. Music played and people laughed. A party. With abuse. The guy accused his girlfriend of flirting with other guys and called her more names. She pleaded with him to stop.
"Okay. Bite him," Xavier said with relief. "I can knock him out and handle anyone else who might be in the house. The woman, though--"
"I'll tell her to get out of there," Brendan said. "That we won't hurt her. It won't be that simple though."
"I know it won't," Xavier said.
There was something in Brendan's words that made me ache for him, even as I picked up my pace. We drew closer to the house. Lights were on inside and I saw shadows moving against the closed curtains. I guessed that there might be a dozen people inside the house. Someone slurped a drink from a cup. I smelled a lot of soda, and no beer. It wasn't a drinking party, but that didn't matter. Some people didn't need booze to be jerks.
The party was quiet except for the music. The woman was crying. Another guy stepped up to
help her, but the abuser told him to stay back. He called her something awful again. It was just like those horrible abuse movies they showed us in Health class.
The street remained empty. I broke into a run.
The house was one of the better ones on the block, with a cut lawn and a halfway decent Buick in the driveway. Someone kept up on the shrubs and even some flowers. The image meant nothing. Awful things happened inside.
"Janine," Brendan said. "That's a house full of strangers."
A single car rolled past. It slowed as if to gawk at us, but moved on once the four of us stepped into the yard.
The man slapped the woman again. They were in the kitchen, and he had her backed into a corner. Tears flowed. Though the guy smelled sober—like pizza, and nothing else—I could detect adrenaline. Metallic and intoxicating, it hung in the air around the house. It was his anger and the woman's fear. The sounds of a shooter video game mixed in with the sobs. We might have to take more than one victim. The bystanders to this might work.
My stomach roared. I had to do something. All thought of being polite ended and my hunger ruled everything. I stepped onto the intact porch and yanked open the door, breaking the lock. These people knew to lock up, but that wouldn't keep me out.
The four of us invaded the house, squeezing through the door. Brendan shoved in after me as if he wanted nothing more than to get off the street. If I didn't know better, I'd think there was an ATC van rolling down the road.
"Why were you looking at him like that?" the man roared. He didn't know about us. "I saw the way you checked out Scott. Don't tell me you were planning on--"
"I didn't look at him that way! I swear!"
The entryway blocked our view of the living room, but the kitchen opened to my right. Adrenaline and pizza mixed. I couldn't hold back anymore. A horrible instinct ruled.
The abuser was a nerdy type in his early twenties, not the dude in the tank top I expected. He held his hand out like he wanted to slap the young woman in the corner. Flower tattoos wrapped around her neck and she might have been an art student in high school. A second guy—maybe Scott—stood against the counter. His mouth fell open as I entered the room, grabbed the abuser by the shoulder, and pulled him back.
