I nodded, understanding both his request and his comment. Uncle Alex’s blood had made this all too real.
My path took me around the building where I could see the Hawthorne Bridge looming ahead. There I found scuff marks in the dirt, as if someone was stumbling a lot while walking.
I started back to tell the others, but they were coming towards me, the street lights behind them casting their faces in shadows.
“Did you find anything?” Kevin darted ahead of the rest. As he came closer into the dim light, I could see the fear on his face.
“This.” I pointed the ground. “It looks like someone came through here. Possibly someone who was hurt and had to be helped.”
As a group, we all looked in the direction of the trail leading to the base of bridge. I’d always thought this part of the trail was oddly laid out because it ran under a low part of the bridge and was bracketed by bridge supports on either side that made me feel like I was walking through a tunnel. Between the walkway and the river’s edge was a large gravel-covered area surrounded by bridge supports and pilings. This created a cave of sorts, about the size of a house. It was fenced off, probably to prevent people setting up camp under the bridge.
The pseudo cave looked like a good hiding place, and the fence wasn’t a deterrent for a supernormal.
We slipped across the walkway, approaching the base of the bridge from along the water line. I narrowed my eyes, trying to see movement.
Lange said, “The ‘rents should be here soon.”
I tensed, catching sight of a dark shape coming towards us from the bridge. I started to tell Lange, but he’d already seen it; gripping his battle axe, he signaled for us to fan out. Zoe flicked her whip. I reached for my sword, and then dropped my hand, realizing I had a better weapon in my grasp – my ability. Ben and Kevin drew their swords, Ben raising his high while Kevin held his low.
The dark shape came closer, resolving into Hugh running with a frantic look on his face. He stopped in front us. “She’s got Dad.” He pointed back to the base of the bridge, his hand shaking with anger and fear. When he turned back to face us, I saw blood trickling from a cut on his forehead, and it looked like his right eye was swelling up.
“Is he still alive?” I asked, fearing the answer. Kevin shot me an angry, scared look but didn’t speak.
Hugh nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yes, but he’s pretty dazed, can’t seem to focus enough to heal himself.”
“What happened?” Ben asked, lowering his sword slightly but still holding it firmly.
Hugh spoke quickly, urgently gesturing us to follow him back the way he’d come. “We caught up to her over there.” He pointed in the direction of the building where we found Uncle Alex’s blood. “She punched Dad. We tried to get away, but she caught up and used her ability to get Dad away from me. She knocked me out after I called you.” He touched his eye carefully. “After I came to…” He pointed to the pseudo cave under the bridge. “She’s got him in there” – he swallowed hard – “tied up and, well, I can’t get close enough to see the rest, but there’s something around him, something big.”
As we drew closer, I could see the fence had been ripped from bottom to top and pulled aside, creating an entrance of sorts. Through the fence, I could just barely see a flickering light highlighting dark shapes.
“Well, well, it’s about time the gang arrived.” Everyone jumped when Emma suddenly appeared in front of us. Kevin raised his sword but didn’t attack.
She stood facing the light from streetlamps, so I could see her clearly. Her short black hair was disheveled, there was a rip in the sleeve of her coat, and her shoes were muddy. None of that was as disturbing as the lost and lonely look in her eyes. If I had to guess, I would say she was someone who felt she had nothing left to lose. I still couldn’t understand what had brought her to this point.
“Hey Emma,” Zoe said, slowly walking towards her. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” Emma flung her arms in the air, palms out. “Am I okay?” Emma repeated, dropping her arms and glaring at me with so much hatred that I was glad her ability wasn’t energy rays from her eyes. Emma stepped forward until she was directly in front of me. “I am sick and tired of you being a measure of my life. When we were kids, all I heard about was how everyone just knew Olivia was going to be the greatest supernormal in our generation.” I winced. “And then, after you decided” – she spat the word at me – “that you didn’t need us, well, then it was all, ‘give her time, she’ll come around.’”
Suddenly I gasped and clutched at my cheek. It stung from a slap, and I saw Zoe wincing beside me. Emma stood in front of us again but in a slightly different spot.
Emma smirked at our expressions. “Meanwhile I got stronger. I got my ability. And, yeah, it’s a common one, but still I found a way to use it in a way that’s better than anyone else who has it. I thought, hey, maybe I’m the one who will be the most powerful.”
Her eyes glittered in the light from a streetlamp, and I realized it was fully dark now. And I could hear the sounds of people on the Upper Esplanade walking above us, innocent people. I knew we had to stop this fight or take it somewhere else, away from normals, but my mind was a blank. All I could do was snap at Emma, “You think it’s powerful to do something horrible like blowing up a bunch of statues? Hurting people? Killing people?"
Suddenly Emma was in front of me, gripping my throat and lifting me off the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zoe rear back and punch Emma in the ribs. Emma gasped and dropped me. Emma snarled at us and ran towards the bridge.
I dropped to my knees, coughing. Ben and Kevin hauled me to my feet and we all took off running after Emma.
I managed to shout at Kevin, “Use your ability, bounce – don’t let her get ahead of us.” I knew she could stop time long enough to run further in front of us, far enough ahead to do more damage to Uncle Alex.
Kevin nodded and disappeared. I saw him appear in front of the chain link fence.
Emma was suddenly in front of us, blocking our way. This time, Lange didn’t give her a chance to try anything; using his supernormal ability, extreme speed, he simply ran towards her and knocked her down before she could react. He grabbed her arm and yelled, “Dammit, Emma, why are you doing this?”
She tried to pull away, but he held her too tightly. I wondered why she didn’t stop time and escape, but Zoe said, as if reading my mind, “She can’t stop time while someone is touching her.”
Hugh slipped through the opening in the fence. I heard him shout for his father and Kevin.
Lange dragged Emma towards the chain link fence, his battle axe still in his other hand. I followed, with Zoe and Ben taking up the rear.
Kevin stood waiting for us. Even in the dim light, I could see he was pale and shaking. He glared at Emma. “You – you bitch.”
Despite being in Lange’s death-grip, she smirked. “Found my little display, did you?”
Kevin started at her with his fist raised, but I lunged forward to stop him with a hand on his chest. “Kevin, what is it? Show us.”
He looked at me and swallowed hard before turning without a word and leading us into the enclosed area. Gravel crunched under my feet as I stepped through the rip in the fence. A car rumbled across the bridge overhead. It was much darker under the bridge, and it took my eyes a moment to adjust. Light glinted off discarded aluminum cans and broken bottles. I jumped at movement to my left, but it was just the wind blowing a torn wrapping across the dirt.
Emma laughed as she pointed with her free hand towards the flickering light. “Look and see, little ones.”
Kevin gave her a hard look before gesturing in the direction of her pointing finger. We stared toward the waterline and the pilings supporting the bridge at the water’s edge.
All at once, the scene snapped into focus, as if my mind was just now ready to accept what I saw in front of me. A low spotlight sat in the dirt, illuminating the horrible sight of Uncle Alex hanging from a lo
ng chain by his arms. I could just make out where the chain was looped around the support at the top of piling just below the bridge. Uncle Alex’s arms stretched above his head, wrists held together by the chains, his body about three feet from the ground. The chain continued down Uncle Alex’s back to wrap his feet together like a trussed chicken. It was driven into the ground by metal stakes. He was passed out, his head lolling to one side, blood dripping from his mouth.
There were lots of small, bundled objects around Uncle Alex’s feet at the base of the pilings. In the flickering light, it was hard for me to see more.
The light was flickering because Hugh was running between it and the chains, frantically trying to break them.
When he looked up and saw us, he yelled, “Emma, you bitch, where did you get armored chains?”
Armored chains? I looked at Zoe for an explanation.
“Specially treated chains. Normal chains, we can pull apart like taffy, but these,” she glared at Emma, “these take a lot longer. I have no idea where she could have gotten them. They’re really rare.”
“How long?” I couldn’t stand the sight of my favorite uncle hanging like a butchered deer. “How long to break them?”
“An hour or so.” Zoe’s voice was rough, and I realized she was furious.
I rushed forward to help Hugh. The rest weren’t far behind, with Lange still dragging Emma along. She’d grown quiet.
“It gets worse.” Kevin’s voice was tight with suppressed emotion as he came up behind me.
He was right. Now I could see what supported Uncle Alex. Several tidy bundles of explosives were stacked around the nest of chains below Uncle Alex’s feet. The spotlight was aimed at the explosives as if proclaiming “Here be bombs.”
Chapter 34
I jumped at the sound of laughter from Emma.
“You should see your faces. So amazed.” She imitated Zoe’s clipped delivery. “Emma, how could this be? How could you be so deviant?” She sneered at Ben, imitating his calm tones. “Emma, you need to know yourself better before you can date anyone. Jerk.” She said the last word in her own voice before switching to her father’s voice. “Emma, Emma, you are not measuring up. You must do better.” She giggled and continued in her own voice again. “Well, how do you like me now?” She tried to pull away from Lange again, but he held her tight. “It’s been so awesome watching everyone run around, trying to figure out what was going on.”
“She’s gone crazy,” Zoe said, hefting her whip.
“Not yet.” Ben spoke for the first time, startling me. He was so quiet, I had almost forgotten he was with us. He didn’t elaborate, just kept watching Emma closely as if he was waiting for something.
I couldn’t speak. My cousin, once my best friend, was capable of this horror? Even though I’d agreed with Zoe and Lange earlier, I hadn’t really believed it until now.
At the same time, a part of me, the supernormal part I guess, was busy wondering why there were bombs here – the other sites hadn’t been blown up with bombs. In fact, no one was sure how the other explosions had been caused because there weren’t any bomb remnants. I’d heard the police were afraid it was a new, undetectable bomb. Aunt Kate wasn’t saying that, though now I knew she thought it was Mountain of Ash doing it. Moreover, the stick found at each site was a part of it. Maybe Emma hadn’t blown up the monuments after all; maybe she was just imitating the other sites. A tiny flare of hope that Emma wasn’t lost to us lit my heart.
“Why bombs?” Echoing my thoughts, Lange jerked Emma’s arm to get her attention. “You didn’t use them at the other sites.”
Emma looked irritated. “They didn’t give me enough to blow up a bridge, so I had to improvise.” As my hope in her redemption died, she frowned around at the scene. “They only thought I could do small potatoes destruction.” She smiled fiercely. “Guess they were wrong.”
“They? Who’s they?” I managed to ask while a frisson of shock went through me at her confirmation and at the news that she was working with someone else. “Enough of what?”
Emma just rolled her eyes.
Hugh yelled, “Stop talking! You’re wasting time. We need to get Dad down.” He stood next to one of the bundles, pointing at it with a trembling hand.
I ran over to Ben with Zoe following me. Hugh pointed to the timer tucked in amongst the explosives – it read 50 seconds. I shivered as it ticked down to 49 seconds.
“I think she’s got the kill switch in her pocket,” Hugh said as he fruitlessly pulled at the heavy chain with both hands. As if he heard us, Uncle Alex groaned and raised his head a little. Hugh called up, fear making his voice shake. “Dad, Dad, can you hear me?” Uncle Alex blinked at him and then slipped back into unconsciousness. I suspected Emma had hurt him enough to force him into a light healing coma: good for him to heal, but it kept him out of the action effectively.
I saw a way to free my uncle, but I hesitated, uncertain if I was ready for such precise work with my newly emerged ability. I took in the scene: Hugh and Kevin terrified for their father, Zoe and Lange dragging Emma closer so they could see, and Ben crouched down to look at the bombs. I looked at Uncle Alex; he’d always been kind to me and believed I wasn’t capable of something like this.
40 seconds.
“I have an idea.”
“What is it?” Kevin had pulled out his sword and was trying to break a link with it.
“I think I can get the chains off your dad.” I held out my hand with a flame dancing on my palm. “If it will work on armored metal?” I held my breath hopefully.
Kevin stopped prying the tip of his sword into a link. “That’s brilliant!” He jumped off the rocks and dragged me over to his father. “I forgot that people with your ability can break armored metal.” He gripped my hands tightly.
“Wait,” Hugh said. “There are a few little things to consider.”
“I know, I know,” I answered, pulling out my phone. There was no reception under the bridge. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Zoe, go find Aunt Kate and Uncle Dan. They’ve got to be near here by now.” She nodded and ran out from under the bridge to make the call. “Lange, search Emma for the kill switch so we can stop the bombs from going off. Ben, help him.” I turned to Hugh and Kevin. “Stay near so you can help your father down.”
Lange dropped his battle-axe, shoved Emma to the ground and kneeled on her while he patted her down for the kill switch. She tried to squirm out of the way but his knee held her down.
30 seconds.
“Ollie, have you considered what will happen if fire falls on the bombs?” Hugh asked, his face a picture of torment.
“I have.” I stepped closer to the horrible display and pointed to one of the chains at Uncle Alex’s feet. “See that one? It’s far enough away from the bombs and from Uncle Alex that I should be able to burn through it safely. You should be able to pull it through and release Uncle Alex.”
“Can you control your flame that much?” Hugh asked.
25 seconds.
“Got any better ideas?”
He rubbed his hands over his face. “No, I don’t.”
“Okay, then.” I stepped closer and tapped into my ability. I focused it all in one finger, trying for a single flame. My whole hand caught fire, and I jumped back from the bombs, breathing hard. I let the fire go out and shook my hand to release the tension caused by tapping into my ability.
“Ollie.” Kevin’s voice was a plea.
20 seconds.
I nodded and stepped forward again. I thought I understood what I’d done wrong – I’d asked for all my ability at once. This time I thought of the shimmering wall and then of a tiny hole in it, letting fire out in a narrow stream. I pictured it flowing through my pointer finger, which I placed on the chain I held out and away from the bombs. Despite the situation, I felt pride when the flame came out of my finger in a focused stream.
10 seconds.
I heard yelling and scuffling behind me, but I ignored it.
8 seconds.
It seemed to take forever, but finally the chain weakened and bent under my fire.
5 seconds.
With suddenness that startled me, the chain broke. I barely manage to extinguish my fire so I could grab the hot ends of the chain to prevent them from touching a bomb.
Hugh and Kevin both shouted with relief and began unwinding the chains from around their father. I stepped back, exhausted and sweaty. The timer was frozen at 2 seconds. How?
Lange came up closer, pulling Emma with him. Ben was at his side, carrying a device that looked like a tiny remote control. I glanced from Ben’s hand to the timer on the bomb.
Ben came to my side. “We managed to get the control from Emma. She was angry and distracted by you using your ability.”
I looked back at Emma. Lange and Ben were smiling as they watched Hugh and Kevin pull Uncle Alex down from the chains and gently lower him to the ground. Uncle Alex revived enough to push himself to his hands and knees.
Emma must have sensed their inattention because she gave a great yank of her arm. Lange was surprised enough to release his grip. With a triumphant yell, Emma spread her arms dramatically and was suddenly standing next to the pile of bombs, holding something in her hand.
It was a stick of wood just like the ones Aunt Kate had found at the other sites of destruction.
Chapter 35
Emma pulled a lighter from her pocket and held it in one hand with the stick in her other hand. “Idiots, I don’t need a stupid timer to light the bombs on fire. The Mountain of Ash only needs a stick of wood to cause destruction.”
Mountain of Ash? Her words reverberated in the air like a gong. Why would my cousin be working with the people who killed my mom? I couldn’t take my eyes off the stick.
“I just wanted to be certain all of the bombs went off.” She waved the stick at the piling, looking annoyed. “Guess I’ll have to settle for just some of the bombs going off. I hope it’s enough to destroy this stupid bridge.”
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