Lightning Girl

by Alesha Dixon

  “I can’t see Aunt Lucinda though. And trust me, in the dress she’s wearing, you can’t miss her.”

  We continued to desperately search the crowd until someone tapped my shoulder. I spun round hoping it might be Mum but it was only Alexis and Clara.

  “Dad’s speech is about to start,” Clara informed me, her book tucked under her arm.

  “How are you feeling?” Alexis raised his eyebrows, looking me up and down. “You don’t look ill to me.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m feeling fine. Have you seen Mum?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Great! Where is she?” I asked, gripping his arm.

  “You tell me,” he said, shaking me off and giving me a weird look. “She was with you.”

  “No, she wasn’t,” I said, as the others gathered round me.

  “How come you were allowed to bring friends?” Alexis grumbled, crossing his arms. “And did you guys not get the black tie memo?”

  “Alexis, it’s really important that you tell me where Mum is.”

  “I already told you, I don’t know. She was with you. And Mr Mercury.”

  I felt Kizzy gasp at my shoulder.

  “What do you mean?” I squeaked. “Mr Mercury was here? With Mum?”

  “OK, I don’t know what is going on,” Alexis sighed, holding up his hands. “All I know is Mum was standing here with me a while ago, complaining about feeling dizzy, and then Mr Mercury came out of nowhere and told her that you were really ill. He took her to go help you out. I thought it was probably the crab cakes, they smell really weird.”

  “Aunt Lucinda must have had one of those too, then,” Clara shrugged. “She felt odd and Mr Mercury offered to escort her to get some water.”

  “Where did they go?” I practically yelled, causing Alexis to look at me, completely taken aback.

  “Whoa! I don’t know, they just disappeared into the crowd. Don’t worry though, they’ll be back in time for Dad’s speech.”

  I turned around to huddle with the others.

  “This is not good,” I hissed. “What do we do?”

  “He’ll have wanted them out of the way,” Kizzy replied, as we all nodded vigorously. “Does your Aunt Lucinda have superpowers as well?”

  “Yes. I don’t know if he knows that too.”

  “He’s smart enough not to risk it.” Kizzy looked thoughtful. “Where would he take them? He can’t have got far, not if he plans on stealing the precious stones tonight.”

  “We should tell your dad,” Georgie suggested. “He needs to get the stones out of here.”

  “Georgie’s right, the stones are at their most vulnerable when they’re out on display,” Kizzy agreed. “Then we go rescue your mum.”

  “But he can’t take the rocks in front of all these people,” Suzie pointed out. “There would be a load of witnesses; he’d be stupid to try it with everyone here surrounding them. He’d be stopped by those hot, muscly security guys as soon as he stepped past the rope.”

  “Not if they couldn’t see him,” Fred pointed out. “He’s the Blackout Burglar, remember?”

  “We don’t have much time.” Georgie nodded towards my dad, who was tweaking his bow tie and glancing for the last time at his notes. “We have to go tell him now to move them.”

  We broke apart and had just begun to make our way through the bustling mass of people to get to Dad when there was a loud bang and the entire museum was plunged into total darkness.

  Were we too late?

  17

  It all happened very quickly.

  As the room fell into pitch black, there was a ripple of gasps across the crowd. My dad immediately called out for everyone to remain calm, but I could hear the sense of confusion and worry in his tone as he tried to work out what was going on. Kizzy felt for my arm in the darkness.

  “He’s here,” she whispered fearfully.

  I heard the sound of Fred’s bag being unzipped behind me and the rustle of him scrambling around in it, grabbing what he could.

  “We’re going to fix this as soon as possible,” my dad called out as the whispers of the guests began to grow more panicked. “There must be a fault with the electricity. Try not to move, we don’t want any injuries!”

  Suddenly there was a loud crash of glass and everyone began screaming. It was complete chaos.

  “The gems!” I heard Georgie gasp.

  “Why did they take our phones?” Suzie wailed. “We could have used the torchlight.”

  “We don’t need phones,” Kizzy replied in the darkness. “We have a much brighter light. Aurora, quick! Before he gets away.”

  “I can’t! Everyone will see!”

  “We don’t have any other option!” Kizzy insisted. “Aurora, your mum and aunt may be in trouble. We need to stop Mr Mercury; we can’t let him get away with this. You can do it, Aurora!”

  As much as I didn’t want to admit it to myself, Kizzy was right. I had to stop him, even if it meant revealing the secret I’d promised Mum I’d keep. Everything would change after this. But I didn’t have time to think about consequences.

  Even though it was already dark, I closed my eyes, shutting out the chatter of confusion around me and remembering everything Mum had taught me in those training sessions. My family needed me and no one else was here to save them, I had to do this.

  My superpowers came easily.

  I don’t know if it was because I knew how important it was to get it right, or if it was something to do with this place, but I’d never felt so powerful. My hands were already tingling and so I simply stopped concentrating on hiding the glow. I embraced the warmth spreading through my blood and the feeling became so strong, it was as though I could see it shimmering underneath my skin. Beams shot from my palms and the entire gallery was suddenly bathed in the shimmering radiance of bright sparkling light.

  It was different to the last incident in the museum, because I was completely in control. It took all my concentration to make sure that the surge of energy emanating from me was contained and no one would be knocked back by the force. Instead, it was as though the extraordinary feeling of magical warmth that tingled in my hands, and spread through my body every time I commanded my powers, was being transferred to all those around me. I could see it in their faces as they lowered their hands in amazement, having shielded their eyes from the first burst of light. They were feeling it too.

  “Wow,” Suzie whispered, watching me with awe. “This whole glowing look really suits you.”

  “You did it!” Kizzy squealed. “She did it! Go, Lightning Girl!”

  It wasn’t until that moment, that the whole “Lightning Girl” thing really hit me. I guess up until then, it was simply a name that my friends had randomly come up with and I hadn’t given all that much thought to. But, when Kizzy cried it out at the top of her lungs in front of a crowd of people who were depending on me to help them, it felt like more than just a name. I don’t know, it felt like my destiny or something, like I was supposed to play this part.

  And it felt BRILLIANT.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Clara staring up at me in wonder and Alexis frozen to the spot, his mouth hanging wide open. Suddenly Georgie pointed across the sea of guests whose eyes were glued to me in stunned silence.

  “There he is! Mr Mercury!”

  For a split second, Mr Mercury froze in panic, but then his eyes narrowed with determination and he furiously lurched forwards, barging his way towards the exit, knocking guests mercilessly to the floor as he went, sending canapés and champagne glasses scattering.

  “We have to stop him!” Fred yelled. “Georgie, here!”

  Georgie had already begun racing ahead to get in Mr Mercury’s path. Fred reached into his bag and, without hesitation, threw a can of hairspray high up into the air. She caught it with ease and ripped off the lid just in time. As Mr Mercury barrelled past, she held out the can and sprayed it in his face with all her might. He shrieked in pain as the hairspray stung his eyes, mom
entarily bringing him to a halt.

  He cried out angrily and pushed Georgie aside, sending her stumbling backwards into a group of guests who caught her.

  “Out of my way!” Mr Mercury roared, his eyes now red and puffy and streaming with tears.

  He darted towards the door, but while Georgie had been attacking him with hairspray, Suzie had rushed ahead and she now sprang into action. Poised perfectly with her arms stretched up in the air, she bent her knees gracefully and leapt upward, her knees tucking up and flying up into the air backwards over her head, her feet connecting with the centre of Mr Mercury’s chest, and knocking him to the floor as she landed. It was the best backwards somersault she had ever done.

  “Bummer,” she said crossly, as she regained her balance after a slight stumble. “I’d have lost points on that landing.”

  “YES!” Georgie gleefully cried. “TEN POINTS!”

  Mr Mercury scrambled to his feet with a face like thunder and instantly lunged straight for Suzie, who quickly edged away from his explosive roar. But she needn’t have worried because Fred was already right behind him and, before Mr Mercury could take another step forwards, Fred pulled the waistband of Mr Mercury’s trousers back and poured in the entire ant farm. A plume of dust puffed up into the air as his waistband pinged back, closing in the mound of sand and its inhabitants. Unsure of exactly what it was that Fred had shoved down his trousers, Mr Mercury’s alarmed expression changed into a mocking smirk as he reached down his waistband and let a handful of sand seep through his fingers.

  “You think a bit of sand and dirt is going to stop me?” Mr Mercury growled, towering threateningly over his student. “I’m disappointed in you, Fred.”

  “I think you’ll be a little more disappointed when I tell you that I ended up going against the advice you gave me at the beginning of term. You know, when I asked you what ants I should use for my ant farm?” Fred grinned back at him triumphantly. “As soon as you told me to avoid red ants because they can bite, I knew they were the ones for me.”

  Mr Mercury’s smile froze as Fred’s meaning dawned on him.

  “Apparently, they only sting in self-defence, so, whatever you do, don’t try and harm them because there are loads of them in your pants right now.”

  Mr Mercury cried out and began hopping up and down on the spot, wriggling around, twitching and flinging his legs out one at a time, as though he were attempting some kind of jig. Fred burst into infectious hysterics and I couldn’t help but crack a smile as Mr Mercury squirmed and twisted, crying out, “Oooooooh, aaaaaaaaaah, oooooooooh!”

  He quickly undid his belt and let his trousers drop to the floor, eagerly kicking them off into a pile, leaving him standing there in his socks, shoes and bright green pants with little ducks all over them.

  The security guards had by now got over the fact that there was a human light bulb in the middle of the room, and had raced over to help us, blocking Mr Mercury’s exit.

  “Stay away from me!” he barked, sweat pouring down his face. “I’m warning you!”

  His eyes quickly scanned the room for an idea as security slowly approached him. Spotting a fire escape to his right, tucked behind some of the exhibition cabinets, he sprinted at full pelt towards it, dodging some brave guests’ outstretched arms as they attempted and failed to stop him.

  I stopped breathing as I realized that he was going to get away.

  The light from my hands began to ebb and dim as I lost concentration. I desperately cried out for him to stop. It had all been for nothing.

  But just as he stretched outwards to push through the fire escape, a blurred object swept suddenly in front of him.

  There was a loud thud as he collided with Alfred at speed, before stumbling backwards dizzily, falling and landing sprawled out on the floor like a starfish.

  “Go, Alfred!” I cried gleefully as the ostrich ruffled his feathers indignantly.

  Considering he doesn’t like anyone except Aunt Lucinda touching him at the best of times, I can’t imagine the ostrich was all that pleased about a strange man hitting him square on in the chest. He didn’t seem too put out though and, after shooting an irritated glare at the whimpering Mr Mercury lying on the floor, sauntered off to eye up a display of Roman coins. I’m still not sure if he meant to stop Mr Mercury or not, but I will never speak ill of Alfred again. No matter how many items of my clothing he destroys.

  The room exploded with cheers and exalted whoops as the security guards rushed over to pin Mr Mercury down and get his hands behind his back, ensuring there was no chance of his escape. As they lugged him to his feet still in a daze, Kizzy reached towards the small pouch tied with black string round his neck, and held it upside down, tipping the precious stones into her hand. Among them was the Dream Diamond. She held them up in the air victoriously, prompting rapturous applause from the guests.

  “Yes!” Fred cried, punching the air. “Go, Burglar Busting Gang!”

  Suzie and Georgie both looked at him in disgust.

  “Burglar Busting Gang?” Suzie sighed. “Really?”

  “Fine. The name needs work.” He grinned at her. “Still. We were awesome.”

  Now that Mr Mercury had been safely captured, the attention of the room returned to me. Exhausted from having to sustain the light beams all this time, I let my hands drop, stopping my powers and causing the room to fall back into darkness, except for my left palm which continued to glow. There was an eruption of whispers as I crouched on the ground, feeling completely drained. Dad was suddenly at my side, his arm around me.

  “Aurora,” he whispered, his eyes full of grateful tears.

  “Dad. I’m fine. You need to find Mum.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Mr Mercury tricked her and Aunt Lucinda. They’re somewhere in the museum.”

  His eyes widened in horror, but then he got this determined look on his face and turned to instruct Alexis and Clara to stay with me.

  “Where are you going?” Clara asked.

  He puffed out his chest and straightened his bow tie.

  “I’m going to rescue my wife,” he said in this gruff, heroic voice as though he was in a Bond movie.

  If I wasn’t so worried about Mum, it would have been hilarious.

  “How will you be able to see where you’re going? The whole of the museum’s electricity has cut out,” Clara pointed out, glancing at the security guards who had now sourced some phones and were turning on the torches. “How will you be able to find her?”

  “I know this museum like the back of my hand. Trust me,” he said proudly, “there’s no one better for the job.”

  Alexis appeared unable to say anything and was still staring at me in complete shock. I swear he hadn’t blinked for about five minutes.

  “So,” Clara said, crouching in front of me, her face lighting up in the small but still distinct glow of my scar, “is it just me, or is there something you need to tell us?”

  18

  “It was an explosion of light. Like lightning! It came right out of her hands. Her hands...”

  “There were, like, sparks and beams and she was, like, glowing. I thought I’d had one too many glasses of champagne, but everyone else here saw it too...”

  “At first I was a bit scared, because a human shouldn’t be able to do stuff like that, you know? But she seems like a nice young girl. As for that ostrich… ”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was simply magical. And the light … it was the most dazzling thing I’ve ever seen. Something about it made me feel comforted. It made me feel happy… ”

  “I think I heard someone call her Light Girl, or Lightning Girl, maybe, but I still feel as though I’m in a state of shock, so I may have misheard… ”

  “It was WEIRD. What is she? An alien?”

  I sighed as we continued to overhear snippets of the various police interviews going on around us.

  “Why do people automatically assume I’m an alien?” I asked Kizzy, who was sitt
ing next to me. “Why isn’t the first assumption that I have superpowers? Or growing pains? That’s what I thought it was when it first happened.”

  Kizzy snorted. “You thought sparks flying from your fingertips were growing pains?”

  “It makes more sense than being an alien,” I said defensively.

  We hadn’t moved from the spot where I’d sat down in the middle of the gallery, except now the lights were back on, thanks to an electrician that the police squad had helpfully brought along with them. I was still feeling a bit strange, even though some time had passed, and the scar on my palm was still glowing. Mum insisted that I stay put for a bit longer, despite probably being in the way of the police and the forensic team and stuff.

  Mum should really have been the one relaxing considering she’d been stuck in a vault this whole time. Mr Mercury had led her and Aunt Lucinda down to the mineralogy storeroom and locked them in one of the large vaults at the back. It had been the first place Dad had looked when he’d raced off to find them.

  “I remembered that on the school trip Mr Mercury had asked me a few odd questions. One of them was how big the vaults were that I keep my future displays in,” Dad had explained when we’d all been reunited. “I told him that they varied, but some of them were big enough for me to be able to sit in quite easily.”

  “Wow, Dad,” I had smiled. “Quick thinking.”

  “You really were amazing,” Mum had gushed, making him blush ferociously.

  “It’s nothing,” he had mumbled, embarrassed. “Nice for you to be rescued for once.”

  Now they were standing nearby with Aunt Lucinda, talking in hushed voices as the police continued to investigate the crime scene around us. Georgie, Kizzy, Suzie and Fred had all given their version of events – “frankly, my red ants are the real heroes here today” – and were now sitting in a circle with me on the floor.

  I watched Mum talking animatedly to Dad, who was clutching the box containing the precious stones and nodding slowly, and Aunt Lucinda interrupting every now and then with dramatic “ooh”s and “aah”s. Earlier, Mum had admitted to me quietly that the real torture of being locked in the vault was that her twin sister was shut in with her. Apparently the ruffles on Lucinda’s dress took up most of the space and at one point she insisted on singing songs from musicals to lift their spirits.