I turn sideways and hold my left hand out. He hits my hand in a heartbeat. I jab him hard with my left, then follow through with a right uppercut. I connect with his jaw and send him up through the ceiling. I aim at the hole he made and fly up after him.
He’s still hurtling upwards, legs kicking frantically in the air when I grab a leg and keep climbing.
“Where is he? Where’s Devlin?” I shout down at the man’s angry face, as he tries to kick me with his free leg. “Do you really want me to drop you?” I ask angrily.
“I’ll take my chances.” He growls back at me.
“Hey, what do you know, it talks.” I say as I continue to climb into the night sky. Soon we’re through the clouds, but I don’t stop.
“You’re all dead. You know that?” The man yells.
“Funny. I don’t look dead.” I say and kick him in the back, making him yelp in pain. “Do I?”
“He’ll get you eventually. He always gets what he wants.”
“So, take me to him. If he wants me, he’ll reward you, right?”
I look down at him, and his eyes betray him. He looks scared, despite his bravado.
‘Aaarrggghhhh!’ I hear Beth’s scream inside my head so loud that I clamp my hands to my ears in pain.
The goon makes his own scream as he plummets to the ground. I shake my head, before retrieving the container, pulling out a blue pill, then putting the container back and zipping myself up. I pitch forward and race to the ground. I pop the pill into his open mouth while he screams, then clamp my hand over his mouth. I catch him with my free arm and stop in the air.
The sudden stop makes him swallow the pill. We’re only a few hundred feet up, so once he goes limp, I let him go.
Beth? Beth, can you hear me? I think as loud as I can.
No answer.
“Oh, shit.” I blurt out, before getting my bearings.
As I fly off towards Beth’s house, I pull out my cell phone and call Bill.
“Bill. We’re under attack. There are two super-goons asleep at my house. There’s trouble at Beth’s house. Get people over here ASAP.” I say breathlessly while checking the brightly lit streets below.
“I’m on it.” Bill says curtly before hanging up.
I slip the phone into my right boot and begin to descend towards Beth’s street. The lights are not on in her parent’s house. All is dark.
My heart sinks.
Their car is still out front in the street, unharmed. My heart is racing as I drop from the sky like a rock. I land heavily on the sidewalk. It cracks slightly, but I don’t care.
In the front yard, the words ‘Secret’s out!’ is burned into the concrete driveway.
I rush towards the front door and shoulder it. It breaks from the hinges and lands in the dining room at the back of the house with a loud crash.
“Beth?” I call out loudly. “Mr. Williams?” I shout, then float along the hallway and look inside the living room.
“NO!!!” I scream as I discover the carnage.
I rush to Beth, as she lies on her side with her back to me. There’s blood everywhere. Beth is in her normal clothes. Hard to tell what she’s wearing. Everything is red with blood.
“Oh my god. Beth? Can you hear me?” I say as I try to turn her over on to her back. Oh my god! Her face.
It’s been burned away.
No. Dear god, no!
I see her chest move. She’s alive?
“Beth? Stay with me. Hang on. Help is coming.” I grab my phone and dial 911. “Please, I need an ambulance, immediately.” I cry out desperately down the phone. I give them the address.
Beth’s blistered hands claw at me. I want to touch her, but I’m scared that I’m going to hurt her now.
“Is.......he......” She says sluggishly, her voice rasping, pointing behind me. I turn and notice a prone figure sitting down on the floor with his back to the window.
I go over and check his pulse. Nothing. I recognize this one. Bald head, demonic tattoos. Walter.
I go back to Beth and kneel by her side.
“He’s dead.” I say gently, and take her left hand lightly. Her red fingers find my arm, and they tighten for a second before releasing me and falling limply to the blood stained carpet.
“Beth?” I say and pat her hand gently. “Beth?” A little louder and I shake her shoulders softly. Her burned and blistered head rolls back. A single breath escapes from what’s left of her lips.
“No. No, Beth? Don’t do this to me. Don’t leave me. Beth?” I say and cradle her head in my lap. “Come on. Stay with me. Please, stay.” I groan, before bursting into tears. I rock her gently and kiss her blistered head, as heaving sobs threaten to rob me of every breath.
I barely look up when the medics finally arrive. They pull me away, and I eventually let them. They check her pulse, try and give her an injection, but the needle buckles, then they zap her a few times with a portable defibrillator.
I feel dead inside as they busy themselves around my fallen friend.
The F.B.I. and men in white overalls arrive. One of the agents pulls me to my feet and leads me outside.
The street is cordoned off on both sides. A white tent is being erected in the middle of the street. Some neighbors are standing in their front yards, still in pajamas. I hear gasps as I’m led to a black F.B.I. van.
Someone wraps an orange blanket around my shoulders, then a medic is shining a light in my eyes as I stare off into space.
My best friend is dead.
Her parents are brought out in several black body bags.
Someone is talking to me, a medic I think. But I can’t hear him right now. I just hear Beth’s last rasping breath echoing inside my skull like a ghostly whisper.
My chest hurts so much. If I cry again, I don’t think I’ll stop. I can’t breathe. I don’t cry, I scream instead.
All the pain, all the rage, all the grief, explodes from my lips like a hurricane. People start rushing indoors. The medic runs from me, and the Feds simply back away from me. Only one person stands nearby. I barely register his dark skin and black goatee before I begin to rise from the ground.
I launch myself towards the starry heavens while the scream keeps erupting from me like a tornado warning siren.
I keep going, even after ice forms on my body. I climb so high that I can’t breathe. Only then does my screaming stop.
I allow myself to fall, and begin to plummet towards the ground.
It would be so easy. End it all right here and now. Stop the pain I’m feeling, with one thunderous impact. I think, as I gaze up at the glittering stars.
Beth.
Then I realize something. Walter doesn’t use fire, he’s a shape-shifter.
Devlin.
He murdered Beth with his heat-vision.
Maybe Beth killed Walter before Devlin arrived? At least that’s another nut job we don’t have to worry about anymore.
Devlin. I hate him with every fiber of my being.
I want him dead.
I take a deep breath as I reach cloud level.
He will pay, Beth. I swear it!
When I begin to hear the city sounds, I stop and hover over the glittering metropolis.
Where is he now? His goons will know, and they will tell me, one way or another.
I pitch forward and grab my cell phone from my right boot. I hit speed dial.
“Hello?” Georgia’s timid voice answers warily.
“Suit up. I need you at my house in five minutes.” I say briskly.
Twenty Six
My eyes are stinging from all the crying. I rub them as I descend toward my street. Two black vans are parked out front, and another larger vehicle, that I can only describe as some kind of armored car. Some of the lights are on in our house, and I take a deep breath as I drop through the large hole in the roof. I hear voices, and someone crying as I land in the upstairs hallway.
“No. It can’t be true. Tell them, Mitch. They’re lying, right?” I hear Pau
l’s heartbroken voice.
There’s silence apart from some sobs as I walk slowly downstairs.
I swallow my rage and try to control my breathing before I get to the bottom, so I take my time.
“She can’t be.....Oh, god......why? Why her? Why not me?” Paul’s plaintive voice cries out in anguish. It sounds like they’re in the kitchen.
I stop on the last step and close my eyes.
I take some deep breaths as more tears start to streak down my cheeks. I try to walk, but my knees buckle, and I find myself on the floor with my face pressed against the carpet.
The pain in my chest is far worse than Devlin’s bullets. But there is nothing to ease this pain. No medication to ease my suffering.
Just one thought keeps flashing through my mind.
I caused this. This is my fault.
My obsession with Devlin has now taken the life of my very best friend.
I don’t have a single memory where Beth wasn’t there in some way.
The loss is too much. I can’t take this anymore. My wailing brings footsteps in my direction.
“Britney?” I hear Mitchell’s voice above me. He crouches down and raises me from the floor. I wrap my arms around his waist and cry into his chest. “Are you okay?” He asks quietly while he cradles me in his arms. I shake my head.
“We found your guests.” I hear Bill’s flat voice.
I look up at Mitchell and try and choke back the sobs so I can speak. “Is Ghost Girl here?” I ask.
He nods, and steps back and points to the living room. I pull away and place my hand on his chest briefly, then head into the living room.
Georgia is in her yellow catsuit, kneeling on the carpet, with her bare hand touching a goon’s forehead.
“Who is he?” I ask Bill as I stand and watch Georgia at work.
“Johnny Kessler.” Bill says next to me, then looks at me. “Explosives expert, apparently.” Bill adds.
“Why would he need an explosives expert?” I ask.
“Because he needs to bust a hole in Fort Knox.” Georgia says, while still kneeling with her back to us. “He knows they need to get in and out quick. Johnny here, has crafted a series of bombs, which they intend to use tomorrow.” Georgia says and then stands up. She turns to me, and her face is wet with tears. “They attacked us as a diversion.” She says, incredulous.
“So while we’re picking up the pieces, they make for Fort Knox, and the countries gold?” I say angrily.
“Hey, it’s not all ours.” Bill says with a hint of worry in his normally calm voice.
I turn to Bill, and point at the two unconscious men on my floor. “Well, those two are yours. Do with them what you want.” I say and head towards the kitchen.
Pamela and Mitchell are trying to comfort Paul as he sits in his costume at the kitchen table, crying into his black cape.
“I’m so sorry, Paul.” I say and place my purple gloved-hand on his shoulder.
“Ryan and Stuart are out scouting at the moment. They wanted to make sure the attacks were over.” Mitchell says, then sighs and pats Paul on the shoulder. “We’ll get them, buddy.”
“And we know where he’s gonna be tomorrow.” I say. Paul looks up, wipes his nose on the back of his white gloved-hand and stands up.
“Where?” Paul asks angrily.
“Fort Knox.” I reply.
“Okay. Where is that, anyway?” Paul asks and looks around at us all.
“Kentucky.” Mitchell says in response.
“Dude, I’m from England. The only thing I know about Kentucky, is that they do awesome chicken.” Paul says.
“Do you have a map, and maybe some images?” Pamela asks.
“Yeah. Wait here.” I say and fly upstairs and grab my laptop. I bring it down to the kitchen and place it on the table and open it up.
I Google Fort Knox, and that shows a map and some photos. “There it is.” I say and turn the laptop around so they can see.
“I can get us there. When do you want to leave?” Pamela says.
“Tomorrow, I think.” I say, then my cell phone buzzes. I reach down into my left boot and pull it out.
Big red seen flying over Springfield, Illinois. F.G.
“Tomorrow morning.” I say as I slip it back into my boot. “As soon as it’s light, we go.” I add as I look at them.
“Devlin’s mine.” Paul says and looks at us. “I take him down.”
“Not if I get to him first.” Mitchell says.
“Same here.” I say. “He’s going down tomorrow, or I am.” I add.
Bill takes Johnny Kessler and his friend, Troy Blueman, and loads them into the armored car. Johnny was the guy who created the fog in New York, and Troy was the one who could control water. Walter Schmidt is dead, so that only leaves the last guy, Kurt Kaplan and Devlin.
How are these two going to transport the gold?
Devlin should figure out that his boys won’t be returning anytime soon, within the next few hours, if he hasn’t guessed already.
Will he still go for the gold with just one other helping hand?
I shrug as I watch Bill climb into one of the black vans and drive off. I guess we’re gonna find out tomorrow.
Police officers are going from door to door, ensuring people that it’s safe now. The official explanation is that some very dangerous men had broken into my house, and that Cosmic Girl had intervened. Our family were away visiting relatives, so no one was home when it happened.
As the armored car pulls away, Ryan, still on fire, flies along the street and stops outside my house. There’s a sound of rushing wind, then a blue blur stops outside my house as well.
Stuart, in his blue and white unitard, looks up at Ryan as he drops to the ground and the flames go out. He’s wearing his new black flame-proof costume. They walk wearily up the steps.
“Hey.” Ryan says as he gets closer.
“Are you okay?” Stuart asks as he stops near me. I shake my head.
“Find anyone else?” I ask.
Stuart shakes his head as Ryan walks past and enters the house.
“Whoa. What happened here?” Ryan says as he looks up the stairs at the hole in the roof.
I close the door and then head into the living room. I take a deep breath, close my eyes for a second, then open them and pick up the receiver. I call Dad.
“Hi, Pumpkin.” Dad says, his voice filled with relief.
“I love you.” I mumble.
“Britney?”
“I love you both.” I say and hang up.
If I die tomorrow, I want them to know that I love them.
Everything I do, I do it for them, to keep them safe.
I’ll do whatever it takes. If it means laying down my life for them, then so be it.
Devlin knows who we all are now. I can’t let him live, not with that information.
Tomorrow, Devlin De Marco must die.
Twenty Seven
To say we all have a restless night, is the understatement of the decade. How can you sleep when you know your best friend was horribly murdered? How can you close your eyes, when all you see is her burned face behind your eyelids every time?
I lie on Dad’s bed clutching my photo of Mom, while I stare at the ceiling, wishing time would speed up. Mitchell lies asleep next to me, one arm draped over my waist.
I guess I fell asleep at some point, because I’m being shaken awake.
“Come on, it’s dawn.” I hear a voice say in the darkness.
I rub my eyes and try to focus. Whoever it was has already left, and I stare around at Dad’s room, feeling confused, anxious and angry.
I’m still in costume, so I roll out of bed and kiss the photo of Mom and place it on Dad’s pillow. I head into the bathroom and splash some water on my tired face.
I stare at my face in the mirror and adjust my pale pink glittery eye mask. I smooth my long brown hair and brush some dirt and dust from my costume.
“I hope I see you again.” I say and poi
nt at my reflection.
Then I take a deep breath and head downstairs.
Bill had given the army boys at Fort Knox the heads up. So I hope they don’t start shooting when we pop out of nowhere.
Everyone’s sitting in the kitchen nursing a mug of coffee. I pour myself a strong one and sit down next to Mitchell, as I pour in the cream and stir my coffee.
It’s still dark, but a sliver of light is shining through the rear window. We all sit there quietly, sipping coffee and looking at each other as if for the last time.
I finish my coffee and stand up.
“Ready?” I ask everyone. They all get up slowly. I extend my right hand. “Team Rock.” I say.
Paul places his white gloved-hand on top of mine. “Team Rock.” Paul echoes.
Stuart, Mitchell, Georgia and Ryan follow suit.
“I hope you’re all ready for this.” Pamela says and places her green gloved-hand on top and one underneath. “Team Rock.” She says and shrugs.
“On three?” Mitchell asks.
Cosmic Girl: Looking For Trouble: superhero series for young adults - Book Two Page 20