by Wesley King
Avaria climbed back to her feet, smiling. “Well done,” she said. “Your first kill.”
* * *
Lana jolted upright. Her sheets were soaked with sweat. Even though Septer had lived, Lana still had constant nightmares. She knew she had almost killed him.
She lay down again, staring up at the ceiling and telling herself that it was over. She doubted she would sleep any more that night.
At seven thirty, Lana’s mom came into the bedroom to wake her and found Lana sitting up in bed, reading. She shook her head. “You didn’t sleep again.”
“Nope,” Lana said quietly.
Her mother sat down on the edge of the bed. “Was it the same dream?”
Lana nodded.
Because of Lana’s attempted escape from the Vindico, her mother knew more about what had actually happened at the Baron’s mansion than any of the other protégés’ parents. So Thunderbolt had sworn her to the same code of secrecy that the kids themselves had taken, with punishment of a life sentence in the Perch if broken.
Her mother rubbed her back. “Septer’s okay, remember? Everything’s all right.”
“I still pulled the trigger,” Lana said, getting up and heading for the bathroom.
She inspected herself in the mirror. Her blond hair was tangled and matted from rolling around all night. Combined with the dark circles under her blue eyes, she looked exhausted. Grimacing, she combed the knots out of her hair and applied some makeup around her eyes. After she was finished, she threw on jeans and a sweatshirt and headed downstairs for breakfast.
Her father was already sitting at the kitchen table. He smiled hopefully when he saw her, but Lana just grabbed a granola bar and headed back to her room.
A few months ago she’d confronted him about his affair with the woman from his office that the Vindico had told her about during her training. Their goal had been to make her angry enough to forget about her family and become a Vindico member. And it had almost worked.
But despite the fact that her father admitted to the affair, her mother had chosen to forgive him. Lana was still coming to terms with that decision. She loved her father, but she was furious with him. They had barely spoken since she’d been home.
She passed her mother on the way up the stairs.
“Lana,” she said. “You have to forgive him eventually.”
“Maybe,” Lana replied, and continued walking.
She checked her emails as she ate the granola bar. Then she brushed her teeth, put on shoes and a jacket, and opened the front door.
“Have a good—” her father started.
Lana was already out the door before he could finish.
* * *
“Does my butt look good in these?” Alisha asked, looking over her shoulder.
Lana rolled her eyes. “Yeah, great.”
Alisha grinned. “I love this sport. I mean, I wear these spandex shorts under my skirt all the time. But I love being able to just wear them on their own. You think there’s a coed team?”
“I’ve seen you play volleyball,” Lana said. “You won’t be playing on any team.”
They were standing in the school gym, waiting for their gym teacher, Coach Reater, to finish adjusting the volleyball net. Girls were standing in little knots all around them, talking. Once, Lana might have wondered what the day’s gossip was. But now she couldn’t care less.
Alisha laughed. “Probably not. Look who’s talking, though. You’re not any better.”
Lana fought back a scowl. She’d been holding back in every sport for months now, and not just because of the League’s sentence. The last thing she wanted was for the rest of the school to know what she could do. She got enough attention now already.
Despite the official report, rumors about the bonfire and Kyle’s unconscious body in the woods were still raising questions around school. Lana didn’t hang out with Tasha anymore. She was afraid that she might run into Kyle, and she didn’t think she could stop herself from putting him through a wall.
“Yep,” Lana muttered. “I suck too.”
“All right, gather up!” Coach Reater called. She was a tall, thick woman and along with being one of their gym teachers, she was also the very strict coach of the girls’ volleyball team. She didn’t take any nonsense, and the gym class instantly stopped talking and hurried over. “Eight to a side!”
Lana went with Alisha to the far side of the court, where they took up positions in the back row.
“How are things with the BF?” Alisha asked. “Excited for this weekend?”
Lana smiled. “Yeah. It’s been a month since I saw him last.”
“Look at you. You’re in love,” Alisha said teasingly.
“I am not in love,” Lana snapped. “I just—”
“Quiet, girls!” Coach Reater shouted, glaring at them. “Pay attention or you’re gonna end up with a volleyball to the face. We’re going to scrimmage today. Lana, your serve.”
She rolled the ball to Lana, who scooped it up and backed up behind the line. Lightly now, she told herself. Holding the ball out with her left hand, she gingerly hit it with her right. The ball didn’t even make it to the net before it dropped to the ground and bounced to the other side. Giggles echoed around the gym and Lana flushed.
“Put some meat on it, Lana!” Coach Reater shook her head. “Give the ball back to her.”
Lana hit another overly gentle serve, and the ball hit the floor several feet before the net again. The giggles grew louder.
“Definitely not making the team,” Alisha whispered.
Lana felt her temper steadily rising.
“You’re hitting the weights after this!” Coach Reater called. She marched onto the court, snatched the ball with one hand, and forcibly threw it back at Lana. “My four-year-old can serve it over the net!”
Now everyone was outright laughing. Narrowing her eyes, Lana caught the ball. Her fingers tightened into an iron grip and she felt the ball’s material straining. She wanted to show them what she could do. If she served it at Coach Reater, the woman would probably fly through the far wall. But she couldn’t do that. Thunderbolt had been very clear: use your powers and risk going to the Perch.
Lana didn’t want to be within one hundred miles of Avaria, never mind locked up next to her.
So she slowly released her grip, smiled, and hit the ball just hard enough that it made it over the net. But it took all of her restraint not to spike that ball into the floor every time it came her way. Just for a moment, it would have been nice to show what she could really do. Two more months, she told herself. Then I can stop pretending.
* * *
As soon as she got home, Lana tossed her backpack in the corner and grabbed the cordless phone off the base, dialing as she walked upstairs.
A bleary voice answered. “Hello?”
“Can you go online?” she asked. “My mom’s making me pay the long-distance charges now.”
“Yeah, just a sec.”
Lana hung up as she entered her bedroom and then dropped into her computer chair. She signed on to video chat and a few seconds later, Hayden appeared on the screen. His messy brown hair was standing on end and his blue eyes were only partly open. Patchy stubble lined his cheeks.
“What’s up, babe?” he mumbled.
“Stop calling me that,” Lana told him. “I just got home from school. I almost cracked today. The teacher was giving me a hard time in gym, and I almost popped the ball right in my hands. If I’d served that ball like I wanted to, I think I might have killed someone.” She shook her head. “It’s so hard holding back all the time.”
“I wouldn’t worry about using your powers,” Hayden said casually, rubbing his eyes.
Lana frowned. “Why not?”
“The League has bigger problems,” he said. “Didn’t you hear the news? Renda was abducted out of one of their bases. Emily told me last night.”
“Really?” Lana said. “No, I didn’t hear that. That’s terrible.”
/> “I know.”
“They’re still locked up, right?” she asked quietly, glancing at the window. The thought of Avaria on the loose made her forget all about gym class.
He nodded. “Yeah, they’re still in the Perch, thankfully. Besides, they’d probably come straight for us. They do know where we all live, after all.”
“That’s comforting,” Lana muttered. “Did you skip school again today?”
Hayden hesitated for a moment. “No.”
“Then why were you asleep when I called?”
“I wasn’t,” he said. She continued to stare at him, and he shrugged. “Okay, maybe a little. But it’s a different time zone. No school here today.”
Lana sighed. “We’re two hours apart. It’s one thirty there, and it’s Thursday.”
“It’s Thursday already? Nice. Only one more day!”
She cracked a smile. “Yeah, I’ll be at the airport around seven. Do you know when James and Sam are coming?”
“Sam comes in an hour later, so we’ll just wait for him at the airport. James is coming in on a later flight, so he’ll take a cab to my house. He called last night to tell me he was bringing his ‘very annoying’ younger sister, so that should be fun.”
“Great,” Lana said sarcastically. But the excitement of seeing them all again was starting to bubble up now. “Is Emily there?”
“Yeah, I think she’s asleep, though.”
“Well, tell her I say hi when she gets up and that I can’t wait to see her.”
Lana leaned back, already feeling better. Hayden always seemed to have that effect on her. Maybe she did love him.
“So,” he said, with a sly grin, “what are you wearing? I can only see your head.”
Lana sighed. Sometimes.
3
HAYDEN SWITCHED OFF THE COMPUTER AND TIREDLY CLIMBED TO HIS FEET, stretching his arms over his head.
Guess it’s about that time, he thought, and with a flick of his hand yanked the curtains apart. Light spilled across his computer desk, glinting off an old picture frame. In the picture, a three-year-old Hayden was sitting in his mother’s arms at the park. Some passerby had taken it for them. He took a moment to look at it.
His mom had showed up at his house about a week after his return. It had been over a year since he’d seen her, and she looked different. She was wearing expensive-looking clothes, her hair was done up, and there was a diamond ring on her hand. But her blue eyes were watering when he opened the door.
“Hey,” she said quietly.
“Hey,” he replied, not meeting her eyes. He wanted to ask her where she’d been. Why she hadn’t called. But he couldn’t even bring himself to speak.
She looked at him, her lip quivering. “I saw you in the news. A few days after you were taken. I thought . . . I thought you were gone.”
Hayden looked at her coolly. “I was gone.”
She obviously sensed the venom in his tone. “I know,” she murmured. “I never said I was perfect, Hayden. I was just so desperate . . . for someone to finally take care of me. When your father left, I felt abandoned. I needed somebody, and when George came along, I couldn’t pass up the chance. And I was scared that he might not want me if I told him about you.” The tears were pouring down her face now.
“So you abandoned me,” he said. “Thanks for checking in, Mom. I’m fine. I will be fine. Do me a favor—abandon me for good this time.”
He’d closed the door on her. And then, for the first time in a long time, he’d cried.
Turning away from the picture, Hayden stumbled toward his bedroom door, which flew open before he reached it. He traipsed to Emily’s room and poked his head in.
“Rise and shine!”
Her bedroom window was completely blocked by an overlarge shade, so no light of any kind could get in. Something stirred in the darkness.
“What time is it?” a muffled voice asked.
“One thirty. Didn’t you say you had to do something today?”
“Yes. School.”
Hayden smiled. “Oh yeah. Well, no one ever said playing video games until three in the morning on a Wednesday was a good idea.”
“You did. Last night.” Emily emerged from the shadows, not even bothering to brush aside the black hair that was matted across her face. “Are we having people over again tonight?” she asked, shuffling to the bathroom.
“Of course. We always have people over on Thursday. It’s tradition.”
“No school tomorrow either then,” she said resignedly.
“Not likely. You know, moving in was probably the end of your academic career. You’re lucky you already have a job waiting for you.”
“Which is still two months away,” Emily complained. “I wish the League would just let us in now.” She closed the bathroom door. “I want to be a member already!”
“I don’t know how I feel about talking to you while you’re peeing,” Hayden said.
“You talk to me while you’re peeing all the time,” she replied.
“Yeah, but I’m a barbarian.”
She opened the door again, drying her hands on her shirt. There was a hand towel in there, but it hadn’t been washed in about two years. “True. What time are people coming?”
“The usual. Eight or so.” He stretched his arms again, blinking sleepily. “Well, I suppose I’ll put on some pants.”
A pair of faded jeans flew out of his room, rounded the corner, and landed in his outstretched hand.
“You’re lucky the League hasn’t caught you yet,” Emily said. “You use your powers for everything. I still think that girl saw you float a bag of chips across the room last weekend.”
“She was practically asleep on the couch!” Hayden protested.
“Her eyes were still open,” Emily said. “You have to be more careful. You don’t want to do anything to mess it up when we’re this close to joining.”
“Pssh,” Hayden scoffed. “I’m always careful.”
He lifted his right leg and the jeans started to pull themselves on. But they tugged just a little too hard, and he toppled over, smacking into the wall and landing flat on his back.
“Don’t even say it,” he muttered.
Emily just sighed and pulled him up again.
“Lana called earlier. She told me she almost used her powers today.”
“What?” Emily asked. “Why?”
“A teacher was giving her a hard time. Apparently Lana wanted to make the world’s greatest volleyball serve and probably kill one of her classmates,” Hayden told her, rubbing his back. “That kind of hurt. We should get some carpet.”
“We’re moving to League headquarters in two months,” Emily reminded him. “Well, I’m glad she’s holding back, at least. If Thunderbolt ever hears that you’re using your powers to put your jeans on—”
“Speaking of Thunderbolt, did you look into Renda’s disappearance any more?”
Emily had broken into the League’s network so frequently over the last few months that Thunderbolt had finally just sent her a pass code.
She nodded. “Still no leads. Renda was alone at the base, and she never even sounded the alarm. Whoever it was, they must have gotten in very quietly.”
Hayden lifted his arms as the jeans pulled into place and zipped themselves up.
“Do you think we’re targets?” he said.
“Possibly. They could have easily accessed the network from the base. Our files are on there, so they would know what really happened with the Vindico. If so, they might want to take us out before we can join the League.”
Hayden glanced at the hall window. “Super.”
“We’ll just have to keep our eyes open,” Emily said, heading downstairs. “And stop using your powers! I would like for all of us to get into the League!”
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and glared up at him. “Hayden, why is there a frying pan floating toward the stove?”
He smiled. “Sunny-side or scrambled?”
4
/>
THE NEXT MORNING, EMILY STROLLED DOWN A TRAMPLED DIRT PATH THAT CUT through a grassy meadow on her way to the woods. She plunged beneath the oak leaves and smiled as a breeze swept along after her.
Emily came here often, sometimes straying from the path and finding her own way among the knotted trunks. Some days she would just sit on a tree stump and listen to the leaves rustling in the wind. But today she had come for a different reason, as she did every Friday.
She heard water bubbling and picked her way toward the sound. Gently pushing the overhanging branches out of her way, she emerged at the bank of a creek. It was mostly lined with long grass, but a few trees strayed right up to the bank, their tangled roots exposed as the ground abruptly dipped away. At one of those roots lay a bouquet of wilted flowers.
Emily wandered over and removed a package from under her arm. She crouched at the base of the tree and pulled off the wrapping, revealing a fresh bouquet of brilliant summer flowers. Placing the new bouquet under the tree, she tossed the previous bouquet’s wilted flowers into the creek and watched as they were swiftly carried away by the current.
Since she wasn’t able to visit the cemetery where her grandpa was buried now that she lived with Hayden on the other side of the country, Emily had made her own memorial here instead. She sat down and leaned against the knotted trunk.
“Well, Grandpa, it’s been another week,” she said. “They go faster here, it seems. It’s fun, but there’s not much purpose, I guess. I still haven’t been going to school regularly. I know you’d want me to, but it’s hard to motivate myself. I’ll be joining the League soon, so it seems that school is less pressing now. I’ll be fighting crime instead, so I think you’d be just as proud.” She looked at the water. “I have to admit . . . I’m a little nervous. Not about the danger or anything, just about fitting in. The others all actually have superpowers—they’re real superheroes. What if the other League members don’t think I belong? If they wouldn’t let the Baron in, why would they want a nerdy high-school girl just because she’s good with computers? What if they send me home? I can’t go back there. Not without you.”