by Kai Strand
Set glanced at him with raised eyebrows. “Do you want to stop to help, hero?”
Annoyance surged through Jeff as he glared at Set’s unconcerned profile. “I’m not a god-damned hero.”
Set raised his eyebrows again. “Temper, temper, Polar.”
Jeff clutched his knees as he quickly lost the ability to rein in his anger. The screech of bending metal made Set look around in concern. Seeing an outward bow forming in the door beside him, he said, “Okay, okay, never mind that. You’re not a hero.”
The only thing that could have doused Jeff’s rage at that moment was Set’s fear. He could almost taste it on the air, bitter and sour, and, at that moment, delectable. Jeff reclined in his seat and closed his eyes, feigning rest, but really just trying to get his emotions in control again.
During his sophomore year at his old high school, back before he learned he was a villain, they’d had a segment on Tai Chi in their gym class. The teacher thought a pack of hormonal teens could benefit from learning the calm, controlled movements of the martial art. Jeff felt incredibly stupid waving his arms back and forth and standing in a half squat in front of his classmates, but secretly had really enjoyed the inner calm the goofy motions gave him. As Set sped past the chaos of the small town, Jeff concentrated on finding his chi—his center of light—inside his body, centering it and then expanding it until he felt the tranquil warmth spread through his body. His inner tranquility felt an awful lot like waves lapping on a shore, which reminded Jeff of Oci. There she was, walking out of the depths of the ocean toward where Jeff watched from the flat sandy beach. Why was his ocean always dipped in nighttime? It made Oceanus seem like a pretty creature from the black lagoon.
Jeff looked up the beach and saw a figure approaching. He squinted, but couldn’t tell who it was. He glanced at Oci, who continued toward him, yet seemed further away than before. This scene seemed familiar to Jeff. He looked back and forth between Oci and the approaching person. When had this really happened? Or was this a déjà vu thing that would happen in the future? The person was closer, but it was too dark for him to see who it was. From the curvy silhouette, he knew it was a female. He looked back toward Oceanus. She was still walking out of the gentle surf, still impossibly far away, even though she’d never stopped walking.
“So what’s the deal with your powers?” Set asked.
Jeff jerked out of the dream or vision or daydream he’d been having. The sense of loss from realizing that the girl had never reached him drenched Jeff like a sudden downpour of rain. Jeff rubbed his face, but left it buried in his hands while he tried to get a hold of the strange sense of grief. It wasn’t Oceanus he’d hoped to see and hold. It was the other person. Finally, he raked his hands through his hair and growled, “What?”
“Your powers. They seem really unstable. What’s the deal with them?” Set asked.
Jeff shrugged.
“I’ve known a lot of new villains over the years. Newbies often have power surges when they are using their powers. They activate them and then can’t control them. However, yours seem to activate themselves, like that aggravating attraction that you pulse out. You weren’t even aware you were doing it.”
Jeff just stared out the passenger window.
“It’s like they are from so deep down inside you that you aren’t even the one in control.”
Jeff snapped his head and stared at Set.
“What?” Set asked, clearly unnerved. “Don’t make a pretzel of my car or anything. I’m not making fun of you.”
“No, I’m not mad.” Jeff stared at Set, but wasn’t really seeing him. He was replaying his words again and again in his head. There was something there that Jeff was missing, or maybe it just wasn’t connecting. He shook his head and stared out the passenger window again. He felt like he should know how to solve his problem, but he couldn’t figure it out. “Dude, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m thinking that it might be that Oceanus isn’t with me. I think she was the one balancing me.”
Set frowned as he stared at the road ahead.
“But, in all honesty, I think it was starting before she was taken. I feel like I’m unraveling.”
“Unbalancing?” Set asked.
Jeff stared into the dark night. “I was never balanced.”
“How long before…?”
Jeff glanced at Set and frowned. He didn’t think the pretty boy’s sculpted features could crease like that. Why was he so worried all of a sudden? Jeff tried to pinpoint the first time his emotions spun out of control. He remembered getting more and more mad each time he caught Oceanus with a faraway look. He had felt it whenever she had an excuse not to go out or let him walk her home. Thinking of it all at one time made Jeff’s heart heavy in his chest. He shrugged. “I don’t know. Awhile.”
The road stretched endlessly until it was swallowed up by the darkness. Jeff smirked at the irony. He felt like darkness consumed him in some leisurely months-long meal. He doubted there was much of him left. Soon, he’d lose control completely, and, without any supers to care, what would he unleash on the world? He hoped finding Oceanus would put an end to his path toward destruction, but would they find her in time?
Chapter 30
Jeff offered to drive a couple times, but gave up after Set refused repeatedly. Mumbling, “Just don’t kill us,” Jeff dropped into a light sleep again. The tanker fire took center stage in his dream, combined with an odd assortment of supers who had all flown in to save the day. Oceanus pulled water from a fire hydrant to douse the blaze. Desert Storm, a kid from Super Villain Academy who had the power to create sandstorms, kept thwarting her efforts by drying up her water supply. In the most awkward pairing Jeff could imagine, Source yelled coordinates at Set as they tried to pull a storm system closer in order to rain on the fire, but instead, Set brought in deafening thunder claps and bolt after bolt of lightning that managed to set nearby buildings ablaze instead of tamping down existing flames. Jeff had breathed so much ice over the fire that his head spun, and he had to grab onto someone to keep from collapsing. When he turned to the person to thank them, he found himself staring into Mystic’s eyes. He let go and staggered before finding solid ground.
“Hey there, polar bear.” Mystic slid the back of her pointer finger down his cheek and pressed up against him.
He had thought she was wearing clothes, but his hand slid along silky smooth skin when he pushed against her hip to get her away.
“What’s wrong, bear cub? Shy? With an intimate history like ours, you shouldn’t be ashamed. You’ve seen it all already,” she purred in his ear.
Jeff tried to close out her intoxicating scent. It was like freshly baked rosemary bread dipped in olive oil. He really wanted to sink his teeth into her shoulder or run a tongue along the inside of her wrist. “We don’t have a history, Mystic,” he growled through clenched teeth. “All my memories of us as a couple were implanted by you.”
“It’s the same thing.” She pressed her lips against his ear and he wondered when she’d slid closer. “Trust me.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
He felt her rumbling chuckle against his throat and he pushed her to an arm’s length away, but she kept trying to press back toward him. Though she was suddenly fully clothed, the implanted memories betrayed him as he remembered the curve of her shoulder and the dip in the small of her back. He longed to run his palm down the buttery skin of her thigh. He bit the inside of his cheek to refocus his thoughts. “What have you done with her?”
“She’s fine. So am I, thanks for asking. I’ve missed you though.”
“Have you hurt her?”
“I haven’t, no.”
He saw the smirk on her lips. “What does that mean?”
“I’m not currently with her.” Mystic opened her mouth like she was about to accept a bite off of Jeff’s spoon. She leaned toward him. When he straight-armed her to keep her at a distance, she snapped her teeth together and growled like a playful puppy. “Y
ou know how to find me.”
Jeff frowned at the sudden change in subject. “It’s not you I want to find.”
Mystic scowled like a petulant child. “Fine, I’ll go hang with your ex-girlfriend, but you have to find me.”
“Why are you doing this? It’s not ransom.”
Mystic’s expression heated up again and she pressed against him. When had she slid so close? “The thrill of the chase, Polar. Eventually, you’ll be begging me to be yours.”
“Not going to happen, Mysty.”
She jerked away and glared at him. “Don’t call me that.”
He raised his eyebrows and one side of his mouth curved into a smile. “Mysty.”
Her eyes sparked with anger. Her cheeks flushed and her shoulders rose and fell with each angry breath she panted.
“Mysty,” Jeff said again.
“Don’t call me that,” Mystic snarled. Her usually exotic features were pinched with anger.
Suddenly, pain exploded through Jeff’s head. He screamed and pressed it between his hands. He tipped back and forth as if the ground shook from an earthquake.
“Polar, wake up!” Set grabbed Jeff’s arm and shook him.
Jeff slowly came out of the dream, but didn’t lose the stabbing pain in his head. He was tipped at an awkward angle in his seat, pitched forward against his seatbelt. He became aware that he really was holding his head in his hands, and slowly dropped them.
“What was that all about?” Set asked. “I don’t think my car can survive you.”
“What are you talking about?” Jeff mumbled. Set had pulled off the highway; the front tire of the car rested over the shoulder, tipping the car at a precarious angle. Jeff pushed himself against the back of his seat and rubbed his face. Pain still jabbed in his head like an obnoxious child was poking at his brain with the pointy end of a compass.
“The doors might blow off if you have to sneeze,” Set said. He backed the car up onto the roadbed and then accelerated onto the empty highway.
“Mystic isn’t with Oci,” Jeff said, before he had a chance to think about the logic of saying it aloud.
“What?” Set asked.
“Um,” Jeff ran his fingers through his hair. It had only been a dream. Why would he even share the information? It had just been a dream. “Mystic isn’t with Oci.”
Jeff rolled his eyes at the same time that Set scoffed.
“Are you a psych?” Set asked, clearly aware of the fact that Jeff hadn’t ever shown any psychic abilities.
“No, of course not.” He wanted to dismiss the idea that his dream had been true, but instead he said, “It’s just that Mystic and I do have a connection.”
Set raised his eyebrows. He looked almost hopeful. About what, Jeff didn’t know. Suddenly Jeff was embarrassed about his admission.
“She…” He swallowed audibly. “She built my defenses. She’s been in my head.”
The mustang drifted to the side of the road and came to a stop on the shoulder again. Set closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then slowly turned to look at Jeff. “You didn’t feel this was important to mention before? Like, say, when we first started trying to find Oceanus?”
Jeff felt like a complete idiot. He actually hadn’t thought about it before. “You think it’s important?”
“I don’t know!” Thunder rumbled outside the car. “But it’s probably more relevant than cell phone records.”
Jeff let his head fall back against the seatback. “Dude, I didn’t think it would be important. I’m sorry, already. Can we just keep driving?”
Set mumbled something at the same time the tires spun, kicking a fan of dirt and rocks behind the departing car.
“What?”
“Fool’s errand,” Set spit out. “We’re on a fool’s errand if Mystic isn’t even with Oceanus.”
“Wait, you believe me then? It was just a dream.” Wasn’t it? Jeff thought to himself.
“It doesn’t matter; we’re almost there anyway.” Set clamped his mouth closed, appearing to bite back more words. His jaw clenched, but he stared at the road in front of him running parallel to a brightening skyline.
Within half an hour, Jeff started seeing billboards advertising casinos. Within an hour, Mom and Pop restaurants, fast food joints and gas stations dotted the roadside. Set stopped to fill up the gas tank, and Jeff tossed several twenty-dollar bills at him.
“It’s still too early to go to the hospital,” Set said, sliding back into the driver’s seat after filling the tank.
“Hospital? Why are we going to the hospital?” Jeff asked.
Set shot a disgusted look at him. “To interview the crazy people.”
Jeff blinked. “Oh, that hospital.”
“Why don’t we get some breakfast? I’d like to sit on something that isn’t this seat for a while.”
“I can’t wait to stretch my legs,” Jeff said. As if to prove a point, he raised a knee and pointed and flexed his foot before repeating with the other side.
They sat in their booth long after they were finished eating, both either staring stonily into the distance or texting. Set pulled up a GPS application on his phone and looked up directions to the mental hospital. The waitress, who looked like she might have been a card dealer at one of the casinos about fifteen years ago, had given up flirting with them and just kept their water and coffee cups full.
“How are we going to talk to these people? How are we even going to know who to talk to?” Jeff asked.
“That’s why I brought you,” Set said.
“What does that mean?”
Set never looked away from the text he was typing. “All that gross charm of yours has to be good for something, right?”
Frowning, Jeff studied Set. He hadn’t even thought about why Set had brought him. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that Set didn’t need to bring him. Yet, now that he thought about it, he really hadn’t been a required element of this trip. He hadn’t helped with the driving. Set seems to have unlimited access to Daddy’s money. “You know, girls usually go for you, dude.”
“I know.” Set spared a glance at Jeff. Looking back down to his phone he said, “Guys don’t.”
“Wait, what?” Jeff exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the table and leaning forward. Restaurant patrons turned to observe his outburst. He scowled at a few and they looked away quickly. “No way. No way am I doing anything like what I think you’re thinking.”
“You will.” Set shrugged. “It may not be needed.”
Looking at his watch, Set said, “We can probably get going now.”
Jeff watched him grab the check on the way to the register. The smirk on his face made Jeff’s blood boil. Closing his eyes, he drew a deep breath until he felt his ice creep through his lungs. He didn’t bother to expel any; he just needed it to cool his internal inferno. With a growl, he pushed out of the booth and followed Set to the car.
Chapter 31
“This looks like a normal hospital to me,” Jeff said when they pulled into the parking lot.
“It is. They usually treat mental health as an outpatient, but had to create a separate ward after they had a sudden influx of psychotic patients.”
“I hate hospitals.”
“How cliché,” Set said. Suddenly, he beamed his most engaging smile as he approached the front desk. A hunched old lady, buffing her nails until they gleamed, was almost hidden behind the tall counter. “We are looking for the temporary psychiatric ward, please.”
The lady’s eyes bugged out when they rested on Set. Jeff shuddered when the lady licked her lips like Set was dessert. Finally she croaked, “Whatcha looking for, handsome?”
Set softened the expression in his eyes, and Jeff almost scoffed out loud. Secretly, he was envious of how natural Set’s charisma was. Jeff supposed his charm was natural too, but where Set acted like the male lead in a ballet, Jeff was like the prize bull in a rodeo.
“The psychiatric ward, please,” Set purred.
The
lady swiped drool out of the corner of her mouth. “Oh, we don’t got one of those, honeybun.”
Set’s eyes crinkled at the use of the pet name, and Jeff had to turn away from the saccharine display.
“It’s temporary. Hasn’t been here long,” Set persisted.
“Henrietta!” The lady yelled, startling Jeff into looking at her. “This living Adonis seems to think we’ve got ourselves a new psych ward. What’s he talking about?”
Henrietta stepped out from behind a row of file cabinets, and Jeff was suddenly very interested in the conversation. He rested an elbow on the front desk, leaned casually against it, and crooked a half grin toward the willowy young woman.
Henrietta’s gaze swept between Set and Jeff.
“Which is the living Adonis, Myrtle?” she asked with a sparkle in her eye that Jeff liked a lot. She appraised Jeff the longest and spoke to him. “The ward isn’t accepting visitors right now.”
Jeff turned to lean both elbows on the desk. “But my uncle was recently admitted. I was out of town when…” he blinked and feigned embarrassment, “… it happened. My uncle’s been like a dad to me, since my dad died in action.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw Set look at him, but refused to break eye contact with Henrietta. He briefly considered attempting the crinkle-eyed expression Set had just given Myrtle, but decided it was best not to risk simply looking constipated.
“I just need five minutes. Just to give him a hug and tell him I believe in him.”
Henrietta captured her lower lip under her teeth while she considered him. When her eyes misted over with a dreamy expression. He knew he had her. “Okay, five minutes.” She picked up a phone, pressed a few numbers and put it to her ear. “What’s you uncle’s name?”
Crap.
“Little,” Set said.
When Henrietta frowned at Set, Jeff stuffed his deionizer into the front pocket of his jeans and pulsed out some extra charm. When Set slid close enough for their shoulders to touch, Jeff slammed a mental guillotine down on his charm to cut it off. Luckily, it had already worked on Henrietta.