by H. L. Burke
“Yeah, you do.” He leaned against the kitchen island. The ferret glanced at him warily before pulling his chunk of meat a little further away and continuing to gnaw. “I saw you using your powers today during the exercise.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yeah, I did,” he shot back. “Also, I had Prism asking me about Marco sneaking around the house at night—but not about you. Somehow she’s not tracking you like she is him. Only one reason why that might be.”
“Even if you’re right, why should I help you?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve been nothing but a jerk since we got here. Besides, I’m not a criminal.”
“Just in a disruptor cuff like one.” He rolled his eyes.
She tilted her head to one side. “Why do you want me to mess with your disruptor?”
He sneered. “You can’t be that dumb.”
She glared at him. “I just mean there’s no way you can actually escape. We’re miles from anywhere. Even if you don’t have the disruptor, you won’t get far. DOSA will track you down.”
“I can make it.” He shrugged. “I’ve been in worse spots.”
None that involved trekking through miles of wilderness on a cold spring night, in the complete darkness no less ... still, if he could just get somewhere with public computers—like a library—he could contact the gang and they’d send a ride. Even if he couldn’t, there was always hitchhiking.
“Whatever.” She closed the fridge door, plunging them in darkness. “I still don’t have any reason to help you.”
He steeled his determination. He’d practiced this next bit over and over in his head for the last several hours. It had to be believable. “Do you want to keep your freaky rodent?” He nodded towards the ferret.
Laleh stiffened before moving between him and the animal. “If you hurt Wherezit, Jake, so help me—”
“I’m not threatening to hurt him.” Jake held up his hand.
She relaxed a little.
He forced an evil smile. “I’ll just tell Prism that you have him and let her take care of him.”
Laleh’s hand strayed to her pet. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would. You already admitted you stole him. Plus I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to have pets here, what with us not having privileges and all—”
“But Wherezit ... it’s not like he can have another home. He’s an invisible ferret!” she protested. “He needs to be with people who can take care of him. With me!”
“And he will be with you.” Jake kept his tone nonchalant. “So long as you help me with my problem, that is. Otherwise.” He waved at the pet. “Bye-bye, Wherezit.”
Laleh snatched up Wherezit and clutched him close. The ferret gave an irritated squeak, flickering in and out of visibility.
Her dark eyes flashed between fear and rage. “You’re awful.”
“I’m a supervillain, remember?” He glanced behind himself. “I bet Prism would be especially cranky about the ferret thing if I woke her up in the middle of the night to tell her—”
He took a step towards the dining room.
“Stop!” She grabbed his sleeve.
They stood, glaring at each other in the darkness.
Her bottom lip quivered. “Please, Jake. He’s my friend. I have to protect him.”
“Not going to stop you—if you fix my disruptor cuff.” He glanced downward.
“Ugh.” She released him with a shove that didn’t even rock him. “I’ll do it. We’ll all be better off without you, anyway. I hope you end up in a holding cell like the monster you are.”
A sharp pang of fear cut through Jake.
In a holding cell ... like my brother ... like my father who died in prison ...
He pushed the thoughts away. That wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t get caught again. The gang would protect him. They’d help him break Caleb out. Everything would be all right. He simply needed to get back to the gang.
“Whatever.” He stuck out his leg. “Disruptor cuff?”
Muttering to herself, she loosened her hold on Wherezit who scampered up to perch on her shoulder before jumping to the island to reclaim his meal. Laleh crouched before Jake and held her hand out over the disruptor cuff. A spark passed from her palm to the device. The irritating energy he’d almost learned to ignore immediately abated. His powers flooded through him like cool, enlivening water.
“There.” Laleh stood. “I’ve turned off the disruptor field and set the GPS tracker to rebroadcast the same location on loop.”
Jake bent down and fiddled with the metal band, still stuck on his ankle. “Why didn’t you take it off?”
“Because it has a manual fail-safe against that.” Laleh frowned. “If the circuit breaks—which it will if I disconnect it from you—the device powers down automatically. Once it does that, my guess is Prism will get an alert that one of her devices has gone inactive.” She knelt and traced her finger around the disruptor, brushing his ankle as she did so. Jake’s muscles clenched, unused to being touched. “There’s a manual override here. It only works when the device is in between active and passive mode, but if you push and hold it, it will let you remove it. You won’t want to do that until you have a good start because, again, as soon as you do, Prism will probably know.”
He slid his hand to touch the area she indicated. She immediately pulled her own hand away. As little as he actually wanted to be in contact with her, the suddenness of her movement, as if afraid he’d burn her or make her dirty somehow, still irked him. Pushing this aside, he found the catch: a slight bump in the otherwise smooth surface of the disruptor cuff.
“Simple enough.” He stood. “I’m leaving now. You should get back to your room so Prism doesn’t figure out you were involved.”
“Thanks.” She gathered up Wherezit, looking at Jake like he had two heads, and sneaked out of the room.
His face heated. Why had he said that? What did he care if she got caught up in this? Of course, her getting in trouble didn’t help him any. He glanced around the kitchen. Should he bring supplies? Nah. If he was in the woods long enough to need food, he was already in trouble. He needed to get to the road and hitch a ride to the nearest city. Money or something he could pawn would be helpful, but he hadn’t noticed Prism and Fade stashing any valuables within reach. It wasn’t like he could hike out of there carrying a TV or a computer under his arm.
When he got to the mud room entryway, he stopped to take his coat off the hook. It was a nice one, well-insulated, one of the things Prism had bought for him when he’d first gotten there. Guilt momentarily chewed at him, but then he saw something shiny hanging from a hook by the door.
Fade’s keys!
He snatched them up. He’d get out of there a lot faster driving. With the keys in his pocket, he unlatched the front door and eased it open. He stepped out onto the porch into the moonlight.
The chill night air bit at his skin. He shivered. The garage stood a short distance from the cabin. As he crossed the space, he glanced back at the darkened windows of the house. Was it far enough away that the sound of the car engine wouldn’t wake Prism and Fade? Well, even if they did wake up, he’d have their car. Sure, they might call in DOSA backup, but it would take time to mobilize that. By then he’d have a good head start. His feet crunched far too noisily on the gravel beneath him, so he used his powers to lighten them, floating just above the ground.
He reached the garage door and bent to pull it open. It wouldn’t budge. He strained against it for a moment then let out a long breath, drew up his powers, and dematerialized into a fine mist. His whole being now easily slid beneath the door.
It was pitch black inside. He materialized and fumbled about for a light switch, tracing his hand along the wall. His hand hit something on a shelf which crashed to the ground and shattered with the clinking of broken glass. He winced. Dematerializing again so he could walk without fearing the broken glass, he continued forward to where a square of moonlight coming from a small wi
ndow illuminated a small section of the garage. Standing near this until his eyes adjusted, he made out the outline of a smaller door a few feet from him. There would probably be a light switch next to that.
When he found the switch and flipped it on, the light momentarily blinded him. He blinked several times then grimaced at the broken camping lantern on the ground. Way to make a mess on his way out. He returned to the garage door and unlatched it. He bent to pull it open, then realized the light from the garage would shine like a beacon once he did that so he went back, turned off the lights, then started forward again. As he did, footsteps crunched on the gravel outside. He froze.
“Jake? Are you out here?”
Crap. Marco?
Jake hesitated. If Marco didn’t find him, he might go tell Prism that something was wrong. If Marco caught Jake in the garage with a broken lantern and Fade’s keys, he’d definitely squeal. Jake needed to get rid of the kid quickly and quietly. Using his powers, Jake slipped under the side door, rematerialized and walked towards the younger boy’s voice.
At Jake’s approach, Marco smiled so broadly his teeth caught the moonlight. He still wore his sweats, which he’d been sleeping in, though he’d put his jacket on over them. “I thought I heard you leave the house. What are you doing out here?”
“Couldn’t sleep. Decided to get some fresh air,” Jake replied.
“I couldn’t sleep either,” Marco said. “Too excited after the mission.”
“Excited?” Even conscious of his need to get rid of Marco, that was just too much not to question. “After that disaster?”
“I felt that way at first,” Marco said thoughtfully. “I was sad the whole way home because we’d screwed up so bad, and it was mostly my fault, you know? If I hadn’t set the tower on fire, we would’ve won. Easy.”
Even though Marco was technically correct, somehow Jake had never thought to blame the kid. It was easier to lay the fault on Laleh’s poor planning or his own laziness and lack of cooperation. “I don’t know. We were all pretty bad out there.”
“But we learned a lot! Remember Prism asking what we learned? I decided I was going to figure that out, and I learned that I’m fireproof. I’d never been brave enough to touch flames before, even the ones I make, so I wouldn’t have known that if not for today.” He held his hands in front of his face. “I’d been terrified to practice with my powers because I thought they’d burn me, but now that I know they won’t, I’m kind of excited for the training Prism says they’ll give me.”
“Yeah, it’ll be good for you not to explode every time you get a little spooked,” Jake said. “You should get some sleep though.”
“I’m not tired.” Marco glanced around. “I think it’s too quiet out here to sleep. Back home there were always cars or people shouting in the halls or something. What about you? What was it like where you lived?”
“It could be pretty quiet.” Jake glanced over the kid’s head towards the house. The windows were still dark. No sign that Prism or Fade were up. If they did wake up, though, and found him outside, they’d have questions, and he doubted they’d buy his “fresh air” excuse as easily as Marco had.
“Do you like it here?” Marco continued. “Like not the camp, but the forest, you know? I kind of do. I mean, it’s still too quiet, but the trees are super cool, and the other day I saw deer when I looked out my window. I’ve never seen deer before. I thought they’d be scared of people, but they were just hanging out, eating grass like it wasn’t a big deal. I told Fade, and he joked that he’d heard they were good eating, but I hope he doesn’t do that. They’re too pretty—”
Marco rambled on and on until Jake thought the kid’s jaw was going to fly off. Every so often Jake would glance meaningfully at the house behind Marco, hoping the kid would get the hint, but he never did.
“You never told me what your powers were,” Marco said.
“Nothing special.”
Marco laughed. “All powers are special. That’s what makes them super, you know? Man, I can’t wait until we’re done training and can be actual superheroes.”
Jake snorted.
Marco’s face fell. “I can be a superhero! I know I’m not good yet, but—”
“I’m sure you can,” Jake said quickly, though maybe the kind thing to do would have been to let the kid down easy now. He was far too naive to make it against real villains. They’d eat him alive. “Me, though? I’ve got villainy in my blood. It’s pretty obvious what side I’m going to end up on.”
Marco’s expression grew serious. “I don’t think that your family really matters. My mom’s not a hero. She doesn’t even have powers, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be one. People aren’t what their parents are, you know? Like my dad’s kind of a screw up. He’s never been around, never sent us money even when we really needed it, never taken care of us, but I’m not like him. I’ve taken care of my mom since I was little.”
Jake arched his eyebrows. “I don’t know a lot about families, but I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to work the other way around.”
Marco kicked at the gravel beneath him. “She tries, but she’s always had to work a lot plus ... you know, she gets tired, gets forgetful, gets ... busy. She’s got a lot going on, you know. Always had to work for a living. No one took care of her when she was little, so when she had me, she finally had someone to look after her.”
“What sort of things do you do for your mom?” Jake considered Marco. He was younger and smaller than Jake, didn’t seem like the type who could do much.
“Making dinner. Keeping the place clean. Making sure she gets up for work on time sometimes ... and sometimes just being quiet so she can sleep in when she’s worked late.” Marco’s smile reappeared. It never seemed to be missing for long. “She says I make the best mac and cheese. I should see if Prism would let me cook dinner sometime. I think even Laleh could eat it if I left out the bacon bits.”
“Just tell her they’re ethically sourced bacon bits,” Jake said.
Marco laughed, so loud that Jake winced and shot a quick glance at the house, half expecting Fade’s head to poke through the window.
“Man, you’re funny,” Marco said. “I wish I could be that funny. I used to try and make Mom laugh all the time, but by making dumb faces and kid stuff like that. I’ve never been great at real jokes.”
Jake paused. He’d never been called “funny” before. A smart mouth, sure. All the time, by pretty much every member of his gang, but funny?
Marco yawned. “I’m kind of getting sleepy. What about you?”
Relief flooded Jake. Finally.
“Nah, I’m still not tired. You can go in, though. I’ll be all right out here.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not that tired. I can stay out as long as you can.” Marco stuck his chest out.
Jake’s relief drained from his body like air from a leaking balloon. He glanced behind him. The longer he and Marco stood out here, the more chance someone would catch them. If he could get Marco to go back to bed, maybe he could slip out again once the younger boy was asleep. It was worth a shot anyway.
He covered his mouth with his hand, faking a yawn. “Actually, you’re right. It’s really late. Let’s head in.” Jake kept his expression placid as they returned to the house. As he opened the door, Marco started to talk again, using his outside voice.
“I’m glad we got a chance to talk—”
“Shh!” Jake hissed at him.
Marco’s eyes widened.
Jake put a finger to his lips. “Don’t want to wake up Ruby.”
“Oh!” Marco dropped his voice down to a whisper. “You’re right. Let’s be quiet.” Marco hung his coat up on the hook beside the door but didn’t seem to notice that Jake kept his.
Once they reached their shared room, Marco pulled off his shoes and scrambled into his top bunk. Jake sat on the edge of his bed and removed his shoes. This accomplished, he paused and listened. Marco didn’t seem to be moving or talking for once. Had he alread
y fallen asleep?
I should wait. He needs to be really out before—
Marco’s face popped up right in front of his, the boy hanging over the railing of the upper bunk. Jake flinched back.
Crap.
“You gonna sleep in your clothes?” Marco frowned.
“Ugh, no.” Jake sloughed off his coat. “Don’t watch me undress, though, dude. It’s weird.”
“Oh, sorry.” Marco slid back into bed.
Jake took off his jeans but kept his shirt and socks on, also not bothering to put on anything over his boxers. That way as soon as Marco was definitely asleep he could simply pull on his pants and shoes before making a break for it.
“Do you think Prism and Fade will do another training exercise for us soon?” Marco asked.
Jake coughed. “After the disaster today?”
“I’d like a chance to prove I can do better next time.” Sadness crept into Marco’s voice.
“I’m sure they will eventually.” Jake softened his tone. “Prism doesn’t seem like the type to give up easily.” He pulled the blankets up to his chin. It was good to be warm, at least, warm and comfortable.
“Oh, yeah, I like her. She reminds me of the teacher I had in first grade, Miss Walters. She bought the class a pet turtle, and I used to get to take it home on weekends sometimes. I really liked that turtle. I mean, he didn’t do much but—”
“I thought you were tired,” Jake interrupted.
Marco fell silent.
Jake lay back, staring at the bunk above him. His muscles felt heavy and his eyes burned. Maybe he could rest them for a moment.
“Good night, Jake,” Marco’s quiet voice whispered.
“G’night—” Jake heard himself mumble then his eyes fell shut, and he forgot completely about escaping.
Chapter Thirteen
Something crashed to the floor next to Jake’s head, and he sat up in bed. He squinted at Marco who had apparently jumped from the top bunk. Marco stood from his crouch and flashed Jake a grin.
“Sleep okay?”
Jake rolled over to hide his face in his pillow.
