Masked (Superheros Undercover Book 1)

by J. D. Wright

  Henley flipped her brown hair back behind her and repeatedly checked herself out in the rear-view mirror in a way that was a little vain for even her. Vada’s eyebrows rose at the peculiar behavior.

  “It’s a dress,” Henley replied. Her voice was tinged with annoyance. “Obviously. It’s new. And the shoes are too. Oh, and the earrings. Pretty much everything including my thong.”

  “That’s TMI, Hen.”

  “Well, you asked.”

  “What did your dad do this time? Is this another bribe gift?”

  Henley snorted. “Umm, no. He didn’t buy this stuff. I didn’t either, really.”

  Vada instantly gasped. “Henley, no! Please tell me that you didn’t steal it!”

  “Ugh! What in the hell, Vada! I did not steal anything. I didn’t need to. Some guy in the mall just…gave it to me. It’s no big deal, really.”

  “Gave it to you? Why would someone just—”

  “Look,” Henley said, pulling into her parking spot. “I don’t owe you an explanation. Didn’t we talk about this at the party? I already have parents, Vada. You aren’t one of them. Stop acting like you’re better than me just because your parents are happily fucking married!”

  “I didn’t…” Vada was stunned and lost her words. “I’m just worried about you, Henley.”

  “Yeah well, don’t. It’s not your job to worry about me. Worry about yourself.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Vada rose from the car and watched her friend walk around it.

  “Nothing, Vada. Let’s just drop it, okay?”

  Henley didn’t wait for Vada to argue or agree before she flittered straight over to a group of boys, who each gave her an appreciative look while she modeled her new outfit for them.

  “Whoa,” James said, having seen the display on his way over. “What has gotten into her?”

  “I have no idea.”

  The first bell rang before Vada could tell James about the strange conversation she had just had on the drive there. The pair of them walked into school and to their first class while she prepared herself for another day of fighting to stay awake.

  Fortunately, first period was anything but boring, but for unfortunate reasons. Only ten minutes into the one class that Vada shared with Henley, and Vada was struck in awe when she witnessed a strange event. One that left her head spinning.

  Miss Hines, their usually incredibly strict English teacher, had instructed everyone to turn in their assignments. Vada had walked up to place hers on the desk and stopped behind Henley.

  “Yes, Ms. Abernathy?” Miss Hines asked, looking up with a firm expression on her face.

  “I don’t have my assignment today. Can I bring it to you by…Friday, maybe? And get full credit too, of course.”

  Vada held her breath, sure that Miss Hines was about to go on a rant in front of the whole class about the importance of hard work and her intolerance for laziness and late assignments. However, that isn’t what happened.

  Instead, Miss Hines simply responded in a flat voice, “Yes, you may.”

  Henley turned and bounced back to her seat with a satisfied smirk on her face. Vada stood there for a moment, stunned by what she had heard.

  “Well?” Miss Hines barked. “Are you going to stand there all day, Ms. Lawson?”

  Vada snapped out of her stupor, laid her paper down, and quickly returned to her seat. For the rest of class, she tried to shake an uncomfortable feeling that something was terribly wrong with Henley. Why would Miss Hines have agreed to that? Turning an assignment in practically a week late? And without docking any points from her grade? That was just ridiculously unlike Miss Hines to do, for anyone.

  The bell rang and Vada barely had time to pick up her books before Henley was already flying out of the room. Shaking her head, Vada walked alone to Math and sat down. She tried to pay attention to the lecture, but ended up staring at the clock instead. Her 10:30 meeting with James couldn’t come soon enough.

  Nick couldn’t take it anymore.

  The entire morning had been one shock to his system after another. The nice long weekend in his giant but silent house had made him all but forget about the weird run-in with Janet. He’d spent the entire time working on his homework and enjoying the peace and quiet.

  But after only five minutes at school, he was rudely reminded that he must be losing his mind. The voices came like a whirlwind into his head, one after another. So many that he couldn’t decipher whose thoughts belonged to who. He couldn’t even separate his own thoughts from the others. There were so many, and every one of them was as loud as the other, washing over him like waves of pounding noise.

  Being in class gave no relief, either. The other students may not have been talking aloud, but every one of them was thinking, loudly. Nick heard too many things that he never wanted to hear and a lot of mundane thoughts that no one cares about.

  …I wonder if I forgot to lock the door this morning…

  …Oh, man. I’m not sure if I’m ready to do this. What if I get pregnant? But Luke is so cute, though…

  …Mrs. Yates has such nice tits…

  Nick actually agreed with that last sentiment, but he couldn’t be sure who had said it.

  …Only thirty minutes left. I really need to pee…

  …Nick is too good for Scarlet. What does he see in her? She’s such a bitch…

  …This class is about as useless as my stepmother…

  There was just so much noise. Nick pulled his hood up, but it did nothing to block the sounds. Every single thought that crossed someone else’s mind entered his. He didn’t give a damn about someone’s new pet lizard. And while he appreciated the girl’s across from him glances and thoughts of admiration—at least, he was pretty sure those belonged to her from the way she watched him—he didn’t want to know what other people were thinking.

  What had caused this? Was it some sort of mental illness? Was he imagining these things? He couldn’t be sure he was even hearing real thoughts. He considered quizzing someone, but he was almost too afraid to confirm what he suspected.

  He was reading people’s minds. Hearing their thoughts. Without even trying.

  And it was excruciating.

  About halfway through second period, he had taken about all he could handle. He needed a break and some quiet. He had to get out of here.

  “Mrs. Yates?” Nick raised his hand but spoke before she called on him, anyway.

  “Yes?”

  “I need to use the restroom.”

  “That’s good to know, dear. But I think you meant to ask if you could go?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. Can I go?”

  “Sure. Take a hall pass.”

  Nick jumped up from his seat and sprinted out of the room. He forgot to grab the hall pass from the wall by the door, but he didn’t care. He would take whatever punishment he got if someone found him in the hall without one. It was a stupid rule, anyway. It was fucking high school, not kindergarten.

  He walked toward the bathroom, intending to lock himself in a stall, but he stopped when he heard someone inside, talking. Damnit! If he went in there, he wouldn’t be alone. Worse, he would be in the same place as people who were using the bathroom. Did he really want those thoughts running through his head? Umm, no.

  Instead, he turned toward the next door he saw. The janitor’s closet. It had to be empty and a safe place to hide. He turned the doorknob and sighed in relief when it opened. Without looking behind him, he quickly ducked inside and used the glow from his phone to navigate to the back of the room. He found a large lidded crate and sat down on it, leaning his back against the wall. Then he shut off the phone, dropped his head in his hands, and closed his eyes in the darkness.

  The silence of the room was the greatest noise to ever hit his ears. It was like Christmas fucking morning to Nicholas Grayson. He felt the pressure in his skull begin to ease up the longer he sat there. At least ten minutes must have passed before he realized that his teacher had probably sent so
meone to look for him by now. He didn’t care. He was considering staying in here for the rest of the day.

  A small squeak sounded on the other side of the closet and the door opened. Shuffling of feet could be heard before the door closed. Nick froze and listened, hoping that whoever it was would just grab what they needed and go. Preferably without turning the light on. He was a little worried that someone had snuck into the room to make out, and he definitely didn’t want to hear sloppy kissing and thoughts of groping one another.

  But while he did hear a pair of voices, one boy and one girl, they weren’t kissing. They seemed to be discussing some other girl’s erratic behavior that morning. They didn’t say her name, but they did say a few things that caught his attention.

  “She started acting weird Saturday morning,” the girl said. “She said she didn’t feel good and flew out of the house.”

  Nick straightened up at her words. Saturday morning was when he began to hear Janet’s thoughts. Could the timing be a coincidence? He focused on their conversation, hoping to hear something else of value.

  “Maybe she partied too hard,” the boy replied, laughing. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “I don’t know. I think it’s something else. She is acting like a different person, almost. Something is wrong and she won’t talk to me.”

  “She’s a teenage girl. What do you expect?”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t explain what just happened in first period. She asked Miss Hines for an extension on a paper that was due today. She said she’d turn it in on Friday and she wanted full credit for it too.”

  “That’s…brave.”

  “That’s not the surprising part. Miss Hines agreed to it! Without any argument, whatsoever.”

  “No way.”

  “Yes!”

  “I got a whole grade letter deducted last semester for one of my papers and it was only one day late, not four.”

  “I know. I thought it was weird too. And the story she told me about her clothes, how someone just gave them to her?”

  “I can’t lie, that’s strange. Maybe she fibbed about where they came from?”

  “I’m her best friend. I know all about her parents’ bribes. Why would she need to lie? This change…it’s so sudden. And the way our teacher just agreed to her request, I wonder…”

  “Wonder what?”

  “If it’s something supernatural. If maybe she—”

  “You know that’s unlikely, right?”

  “But not impossible.” The girl paused for a moment. “What about the S.U.C.? Can you check it for updates after school? See if there have been any reports of suspicious or strange activity from normals?”

  “Sure,” the boy agreed. “I’ll also sweep through the forums for clues too. I’m on it. Don’t worry. But it could just be a result of the divorce. You know kids tend to act out when that happens.”

  “I know that. I thought it was too. At first. Watch her at lunch and you’ll see what I mean.”

  The two people, whoever they were, left the closet right after that and closed the door behind them. Nick sat there for several minutes with the conversation running around in his mind.

  Normals? The S.U.C.? Suck? Ha! That’s a terrible name. What does it even stand for? Society of Unusual Children? Sports Unlimited Company?

  But Nick couldn’t dismiss what he had heard. The girl had mentioned something supernatural. Is that what was wrong with him? Something supernatural? He knew that some superheroes had the ability to read minds. He had owned a rather extensive super card collection as a young boy. He remembered at least three of the superheroes (or maybe they were villains) having some sort of mind reading powers.

  How was this possible? And better yet, how could he stop it?

  Chapter Six

  The cafeteria was full by the time Nick explained his prolonged absence to his teacher (with a lie about feeling sick) and gathered his things from the classroom. His gang of friends was sitting at their usual table, joking about something that happened at his party on Friday. He had been there, obviously, and enjoyed the party, but he wasn’t really in the mood to rehash every detail. His friends, however, seemed to be.

  “And then that dumbass tried to chug beer while holding his nose!” Travis said, laughing. “What was that kid’s name, again? George? Joe?”

  “Kyle, Travis,” Mitchell said, shaking his head. “He’s my cousin, and his name is Kyle. That isn’t even close to George or Joe. Geez…”

  Travis waved a hand. “Whatever, man. I liked that guy. You should invite him over more.”

  “I would, but he usually prefers to spend time at home with his girlfriend.”

  “You mean that really hot black-haired chick? The one with the anime shirt? Leslie?”

  Mitchell sighed. “Of course, you remember her name.”

  “Uh, yeah.” Travis gestured toward his chest. “She had a nice pair of ta-tas, if you know what I mean.”

  “Good grief, Travis,” Scarlet said, taking a seat beside Nick. “You’re such a pig. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

  Travis smiled. “I sure would kiss your mother with my mouth. And every other part of her perfect body.”

  Scarlet’s face turned red. “Eww! That’s disgusting. You are disgusting.”

  …I’d still sleep with you, though. Again…

  Nick’s head jerked up so fast that he thought he might have pulled a muscle. He looked beside him to where Scarlet was eating a bite of her salad. “What did you say?”

  Scarlet stopped chewing and frowned. “I said he was disgusting. You’re sitting right beside me. How did you not hear me?”

  Nick had been pretending to read a book in his lap and doing his best to ignore all of the voices in the room. There were so many people it was actually a good thing. Their thoughts blended together to create a white noise sort of effect that he could suffer through much easier.

  But when Scarlet had thought her thought, it had come through as clear as glass. The fact she was sitting next to him might have helped, but he definitely heard her voice in his head and he knew that voice well enough to pick it out anywhere. She had just admitted, though only in her mind, to having slept with Travis.

  Nick forced himself to blink before his eyes began to water. Unbelievable. Travis was his best friend. He used to take baths with the damn kid when they were toddlers, long before either of their fathers made a name for themselves. Travis and Nick had shared a lot of things over the years, but this? Hell, no.

  “What is wrong with you?” Scarlet demanded. Her mouth twisted into a look of confusion and irritation.

  “Nothing. I have a headache.”

  Nick looked back down at his open book and tried to forget about what he had just heard. He and Scarlet hadn’t always been a couple. It was perfectly possible that she had been with Travis before that. But wouldn’t they have told him? Shouldn’t he have known, seeing as he hadn’t really left Travis’ side since they were three years old?

  The conversation continued around Nick, but he only concentrated on the one happening inside his own head. The battle between what he knew was true and what he heard. What he believed and what he felt. What the hell was happening in his life?

  …He wasn’t really that good in bed, anyway…

  Nick kept his head down and focused all of his attention on Scarlet’s voice in his mind. She continued to eat her food without a single inkling that her thoughts were being listened to. Nick knew this was absolutely a violation of her privacy, but at the moment he just didn’t care. He wanted to know the truth, and Scarlet’s thoughts seemed more than willing to reveal it.

  …Not like that hot guy from last summer. Now, that man had such a nice body…

  And it just kept coming. One thought after another.

  …Nick could never make me moan like that guy did…

  …Travis couldn’t, either. I need to start going after college guys again. They really know how to show a girl a good time…

&nb
sp; …Too bad that one guy this past weekend was engaged. He had such good skills with his tongue…

  That was it. Nick couldn’t take any more of this. He abruptly stood and knocked his book onto the floor. It landed with a loud thud that drew attention from a few nearby tables, but he didn’t give a damn. He had to get out of there. Sitting beside Scarlet for another minute might lead to confronting her, and the only way to explain the fact he knew about her lies would be to admit to reading her thoughts.

  He heard Mitchell ask if he was okay, but he ignored him, grabbed his backpack, and stalked out, leaving his book on the floor where it had fallen. The hallway was empty since everyone was either in class or at lunch. He thought about the janitor’s closet again, but he didn’t really want to sit in there for the rest of the day. He would rather just go home, but he doubted the ladies in the office would let him do that without contacting his father for permission first.

  Besides, he didn’t really want to go home and sit alone in that big, empty house. What he wanted to do was get some answers. He remembered the two people from the closet and their conversation about whatever the hell the S.U.C. was. And if it had anything to do with this supernatural business, he wanted to know more about it.

  So he turned left and went straight to the library, signing in at the desk and taking a computer in the back where he was alone and could have a bit of privacy. Then he opened the web browser, went to Google.com, and searched for ‘supernatural powers.’

  Just as he suspected, he found dozens of news articles about recent superhero activity. These were common in Cyper City, and he often read them just out of curiosity. He skimmed a few now but none of them mentioned the S.U.C.

  Next, he decided to go straight for it and search for ‘The S.U.C.’ Several things popped up, but none of them were remotely related to what he was looking for. After clicking through twelve pages of search results, he spotted something that caught his attention. It was a forum on a website where people reported eyewitness accounts of supernatural events.

  He had seen superheroes in action twice in his life, so he got caught up in reading other people’s experiences. One woman had been inside a bank when someone robbed it and a superhero had intervened, catching the criminal right in front of her. Another had been stuck in a burning building when Comet, a flying superhero, rescued him and his dog from certain death.