Second String Savior

by Rick Gualtieri

  Todd’s eyes flashed. “You’re right. Simply killing you won’t do. I need to make a statement, something to motivate Wyatt to get in his right mind again. But you know what? The young lady here is right. I need to make it hurt first.”

  With that, he stepped away from me and back toward where he’d dropped Tony. No—

  “What are you doing?” Lindsey asked, for the first time ever echoing what I was thinking.

  But he ignored her, dragging Tony up by his hair, and then grasping his chin with his free hand before giving his arms the barest of twists.

  CRACK!

  No!

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  I stared in stunned silence as Tony’s body fell limply to the floor. Horror, grief, and sadness they wanted to come rushing in, but all I could feel was a spark of rage forming in the pit of my soul. Tony had deserved so much better—better than me, better than what fate at the hands of this monster had handed him.

  Yet, despite the anger building up, I couldn’t do anything about it. Not with my broken, bruised body.

  “What the fuck did you do?!” Lindsey shrieked, sounding more outraged than horrified.

  Todd merely grinned at her. “Why, I do believe your words to me were if I can’t have him, nobody can. Simply fulfilling your wish, babe.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” she snapped. “You were supposed to . . . urk!”

  Quick as lightning, Todd’s arm flashed out and caught her by the throat. “Supposed to? You know, for little more than a thrall bitch, you sure got some big britches on you. It’s time to teach you some manners.”

  For a moment I thought he had the same fate in store for her as he’d done to Tony. Good. Wait, no, what was I even thinking? No, I was wrong. He pulled her in, pushed her head to the side, and bit down on her neck. Arterial blood sprayed as he dug in, her struggle growing weaker moment by moment while I could only watch.

  I never thought I’d say this, but what I wouldn’t have done for Gary’s help right now. Hell, maybe even Phil’s, but all I could do was lie there weakly, barely able to push myself to a sitting position as Todd let go of Lindsey and dropped her to the floor.

  He circled around me, his clothes stained red and a look of sadistic glee on his face. “Don’t be sad now, Jessie-girl. You and your friends are going to have plenty of company in a few. . .”

  That didn’t sound good, but what sounded much better was the clunk of a fire extinguisher to the back of his head. Todd went down to one knee, while Gary wound up from behind him and brought it down again, knocking the vamp to the floor. Poor Todd. Guess he didn’t know the rules about monologuing.

  “Come on!” Gary said, grabbing me, hooking one of my arms over his shoulder, and dragging me to my feet.

  He helped me limp-run out of the cafeteria and into the hall. There was a janitorial supply closet nearby, which he headed toward. Once inside, he grabbed a gallon of bleach and dumped it onto the floor. “It’ll keep him from sniffing us out,” he whispered.

  “Why?” I asked. “How did you . . . Tony. . .” Everything I’d just seen and experienced wanted to come out in one jumble of words and emotions, but instead Gary clamped a hand over my mouth—and with good reason, too.

  “Jessie! Come out and play-yay!”

  I shot the closed door a glare. Rage was really beginning to win out of all the emotions vying for dominance in my mind, especially with Todd now quoting The Warriors, and badly at that.

  Footsteps echoed in the hall.

  “Come on out, Jessie, or stay hidden. It doesn’t matter much to me, although it will to you in a few minutes. Either way, the results will be explosive, if you catch my drift.”

  Todd’s footsteps faded away in the distance just as Gary’s hand clamped down on my wrist hard enough for me to spin to face him. When I did, I saw his eyes were glowing yellow. Uh oh.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  “I don’t think he was kidding,” Gary said, as his eyes faded back to normal.

  “What did you see?”

  “Fire. Lots of it. I think he meant explosive literally.”

  Oh God! “But how? Can vampires—”

  “Anyone can, if they have the right tools,” Gary said, closing his eyes. “Hold on, I’m trying to recall everything I saw. Oh . . . crap.”

  “Oh crap doesn’t sound good.”

  “It’s not. I think he did something to the boiler room.”

  Every instinct inside of me was screaming that we should run, but . . . but that’s not what heroes did. There was no way we were going to get everyone out of here in time, not with Todd roaming the halls. That meant someone needed to distract him.

  I turned to Gary. “Find what he’s done and figure out how to stop it. I don’t care if you have to call the spy who would be me or Phil, just do it.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m gonna face him and hopefully keep him busy long enough for you to save everybody else.”

  “Jessie, you can’t, you’re hurt. You can barely—” he stammered.

  “I don’t care.” He was right. This was a stupid idea, but I owed Todd for what he’d done to Tony. There was no way I was running from that. I tested my leg. It wasn’t able to hold my weight, but I could hop like a beast. Good enough. “Please, Gary, you owe me this.”

  He looked like he wanted to say something else, but finally just nodded.

  “Do whatever you have to do to stop this, and so will I,” I whispered before pushing open the door.

  I only had to turn one corner to find Todd. He was standing in the hallway, a crumpled body at his feet. It was Mr. Turner. I’d seen him chaperoning the dance earlier. It didn’t take much to figure he’d caught Todd loitering in the hall and paid the price.

  Todd, for his part, waited calmly as I hopped toward him, his fingernails making a clacking sound against the lockers as he drummed his fingers against them. Smug bastard.

  “You do have spunk, I’ll give you that,” he said as I approached. “I can almost understand what Wyatt sees in you.”

  “Understand this!” I got within range and lashed out with a jab to his jawline. It barely turned his head but sent unpleasant reverberations up my arm.

  He grinned so I tried again, but this time he caught my fist with apparently little effort. He must’ve seen the scars peeking out from beneath the bandages I still wore, because he tore them off and took a good look at the writing etched into my flesh before laughing. “You kids and your crazy tattoos.”

  Funny as he found that, he apparently got a much bigger kick out of backhanding me. I tasted blood from both my mouth and broken nose. Then Todd grabbed hold of me and slammed me against the lockers hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

  That was fine. Every minute he wasted on me was another for Gary to stop his plans. I was already hurting. What was a little more pain?

  “So what should I do with you?” Todd asked, almost sounding like he was interested in my opinion. “I could turn you and make you my slave, but Wyatt would just take you back. Nah. Killing you is really the only way to go, babe. Problem is, if I just gut you and leave you here, they might not be able to identify the body after it all goes boom. What fun would that be?” He emphasized the point by slamming me into the lockers again. Then he looked past me, and a grin spread across his face. “I know.”

  He reached out and wrenched the locker door closest to us open. He glanced at it, then back at me a few times. “It’s been a while since my school days. Tell me, do they still stuff nerds in lockers?”

  “W-What?”

  “I mean, it’ll be a tight fit. Might have to tear off one of your arms first and all. . .”

  “Not that,” I said, my voice shaking. “Seriously? You’re fridging me?”

  “Excuse me?” He raised a brow.

  “It’s when you kill the girl then leave her for the hero to find just to prove how evil you are.” The anger rose in my throat, and I felt my cheeks burn. Sure, I was probably gonna die terribly, but to end u
p like this, the butt of the worst comic book trope? Why not just fling me off a bridge and have Wyatt break my neck trying to lasso me while he was at it?

  The rage inside of me intensified and in my very core I felt heat . . . fire.

  “Babe, you don’t know what evil is,” Todd said, “but allow me to give you a lesson.” He slammed the back of my head into the locker this time, making me see stars . . . stars, like the one I’d almost fallen in during my vision.

  The heat in my chest blossomed further and I closed my eyes, focusing on that white-hot fire, willing it to me again even as I went hurling into the air.

  “Please, if anyone is listening. People are going to die if I can’t help them, people who don’t deserve to. Please—”

  “Do you think yourself worthy? Do you think you are chosen?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I think. Someone needs to stand up to these bullies, this evil—”

  I opened my eyes and found myself standing out on the football field. However, this was totally an away game. Familiar figures filled the bleachers, but they weren’t from around here.

  I looked around, finally settling on the silvery eyes watching me from the sidelines. “Ash, I don’t care if you won’t pick me, but I need to stop this. You can kill me later if you want, but these are just kids, kids who had nothing to do with any of this. Please, help me fix this.”

  “Does this mean that you accept the blessing of our great father, no matter the cost?” Ash asked, her voice softer, more unsure than I ever remembered. “Because there is no turning back.”

  “Will you use your power to defend the weak?” Olivia’s voice whispered in my right ear.

  “Or will you lash out and destroy our enemies?” Sayuri’s disembodied voice hissed in my left.

  “Look, I’m not ready to pick a major yet, let alone my destiny, but my father always said one should find a balance in all things. I-I want to choose, not be chosen.”

  “Very well,” Ash said, approaching me, her mask still hiding her face, but her body language far less aggressive. “Make your choice.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I couldn’t see Ash’s expression, but I got the impression she was smiling anyway. “Our father has already given you his blessing. You simply have to choose to accept it and it shall be yours.”

  “What? But I never drank. . .”

  Ash was already gone, though. They all were. Everything was, everything except a single star floating before me.

  “Accept them with my blessings,” Mr. Keyne whispered in my ear.

  What?!

  And with that one last question screaming in my head, I fell into the heat of the star and let it consume me.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  I snapped open my eyes and felt the world slow down around me. Todd was winding up again, no doubt intent on tenderizing me against the row of lockers and I was still falling.

  It was as if every martial arts lesson I’d ever had came screaming into my head all at once. I landed on my hands and snapped my feet squarely into Todd’s smug face. He didn’t even have time to switch stupid expressions as I leapt back to my feet. He latched on one more time, parasite that he was, lifting me up like I weighed nothing. I grabbed hold of the hand grasping me and twisted, feeling the snap of Todd’s thumb as I put on the pressure. Strong he might be, but there are some things that will always even the odds.

  He cried out and let go, dropping me to my feet on legs that were suddenly more than healthy enough to support my weight, and that wasn’t all. I gave my head a quick turn, seeing locks of pure red in the corners of my vision. This was more like it.

  I spun, whipping Todd in the face with my fiery do. He screamed as he reached up to cradle his burning face, allowing me to sidestep behind him.

  I pushed him against the open locker, then lowered my head against his shoulder blades. Before he could fight back, the heat from my head spread to his body and he combusted into a shower of dust.

  “In case you’re wondering,” I said, watching the bits of him settle all around me. “Yes, we still stuff nerds into lockers.”

  And with that, I slammed the door shut.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  I couldn’t help myself. I repeated my capoeira kick in the now empty hallway, noting how light I felt. I glanced down at myself. The worst of my scars had faded to mere dimples, with the rest being gone altogether. In fact, only one set remained unchanged—the brand on my arm identifying me to the world as a false Icon . . . or at least the part of the world that understood ancient Greek.

  I stared at it for a moment before realizing I didn’t have time to gawk. It was possible Todd had been bluffing about blowing up the school, but, somehow, I didn’t think it wise to call his hand, especially with Gary still trying to stop it.

  I pulled the nearest fire alarm, making sure I could hear the stampede of people vacating the gym before turning and heading toward the basement. There was no way I was leaving without my sidekick.

  I raced downstairs, trying not to revel in the fact that I was moving as good as—no, better—than I had before Canada.

  There! I reached the boiler room and stepped in through the doors just as Gary was backing away.

  He glanced over his shoulder and saw me, panic in his eyes. “It’s too late,” he cried. “I couldn’t stop. . .”

  The rest of his words were lost as the boiler blew apart. A wave of heat and flame raced toward us just as I stepped in and wrapped my arms around him.

  But, where I expected to be immolated, time slowed in the same instant my skin touched his. I felt a familiar tug in the back of my mind, as if someone were knocking and asking to be let in.

  Come on in, Gary, and do what you can to stop this.

  Both of us blinked and then Gary’s eyes turn brilliant violet. He raised his hands and a bubble of purplish energy instantly sprang into existence around the oncoming blast. The whole room shook as the magic absorbed and deflected the worst of the explosion, until it finally dissipated in a smell of sulfur and a massive sound as if a giant had let one rip.

  We both stood there, staring at the scorched but mostly intact room while the fire alarm howled all around us. Gary turned toward me, his hair now completely white, and laughed. “A flexible barrier to disperse the energy,” he explained. “Damn, I’m really glad I paid attention in physics for a change.”

  His eyes then opened wide as he took me in, glowing hair and all. “What happened?”

  I shrugged. “The Blessing of Uranus happened, I guess.”

  “What?! How. . .?”

  “I did what I had to do.”

  Gary nodded, although I couldn’t say he looked happy. “You saved everyone.”

  “Not everyone.” I turned away. “I couldn’t save Tony. I. . .” My voice trailed off as a horrible thought hit me, one even worse than watching Tony die. “Oh my God!”

  “What’s the matter, Jess? What’s wrong? Does it hurt, does—”

  “Todd,” I said. “He left my phone at the gym. He knew all about my family. Where they worked, where they lived. What if this wasn’t just him tonight. What if . . . I have to get home to my dad.”

  “Jessie!” Gary cried after me. “You can’t go home! You need to—”

  But I was already running, bolting up the stairs five at a time and picking up speed.

  Hang on, Dad. I’m coming for you.

  Chapter Forty-Nine: Can’t go Home Again

  It was as if every hair on my body was electrified and I was able to use that energy to push myself far past my normal limits.

  Let me tell you, it’s a good thing I’d trained for years in parkour, because otherwise I’d have slammed into just about every obstacle known to man as I raced toward home at seeming breakneck pace. I can only imagine how I might’ve appeared to any onlooker—a blur with a flaming head somersaulting over bushes, leaping over fences, and almost missing that sedan that suddenly pulled out in front of me.

  Hopefully the driver didn’
t catch a good look at my face due to the deer sized dent I left in his fender. None of it slowed me down, though.

  I finally reached my cul-de-sac, noting a large, black SUV with tinted windows sitting in the driveway. Who? But, just then, another vehicle pulled up in front—a black coupe with similar tinting. I skidded to a halt just as the driver’s side door opened and a familiar face stepped out.

  Wyatt stared at me from where I stood across the street. “Jessie? That you?”

  “What are you doing here, Wyatt?”

  “I caught wind that one of my people was planning on doing something stupid. Are you—?”

  “It’s not me, it’s my dad!”

  “Viktor?” He turned toward my place, then hesitated. I tried to rush past him, but he held out an arm, blocking my way. “Oh boy. Jessie, darlin’, I know that car and believe me, you do not wanna go—”

  “Get out of my way, or so help me, I’ll fight you.” My hair seemed ready to prove my point, flaring around me and making him back up a step. He held up his hands in surrender. I turned for the door and saw it was slightly ajar. “Oh, no.”

  “Jessie, please, let me—”

  I ran, pushing through the door and keeping my fists at the ready, but they dropped to my side the moment I saw my living room carpet. So much blood. “No, no. . .”

  “Jessie. . .?” a soft voice choked out. Sensei was sitting on a dining room chair. One of her eyes was blackened and her hands were bound behind her back. I took a step toward her and she recoiled in horror. “W—What happened to you?”

  “Yes, what happened to you, Ms. Flores? Last I heard, I was paying a ridiculous sum of money to treat you at UMass. I dare say, you seem to have made a remarkable recovery.”

  I turned toward the kitchen to see a person I hadn’t seen since that night in Boston step into the room. Oh crap, it was that vampire I kneed in the balls. What was his name again?

  “Colin!” Wyatt said, deciding to join the party. “What are you doing here?”