by Matt Blake
Instead, I saw Ember crouching over James and holding him down.
And then I saw him fire three of those flames at Billie, knocking her down and loosening her grip on her power suppressing skills.
“Go!” Ember shouted. He was on the floor. He didn’t look like he was moving anytime soon.
I shook my head. “I can’t—”
The flares ignited on his hands. “You’re more powerful than all of us. You’re the one they’re after. Just… just get out of here!”
I didn’t want to get away.
I didn’t want to disappear.
I didn’t want another Roadrunner on my hands.
But before I had a chance to argue, I felt Stone grab hold of me and drag me away.
Ember was still inside.
He was totally surrounded.
23
After reluctantly teleporting us away, I felt myself being dragged higher into the sky and away from the Amazon rainforest by Stone and the rest of the Resistance.
I saw the compound below disappearing into the mass of trees. The humidity of the air dropped, and the breeze cooled me down right away. My stomach still wrecked from the goddamned spike I’d taken through it, but I was still here. I was still alive. I’d healed over, mostly.
But Ember…
“Teleport us outta here,” Stone said. Beside him, I saw Vortex and the rest of the Resistance members. “While you still can.”
I looked down at the Amazon rainforest below.
“Kyle? We need to get away before—”
“I can’t,” I said.
Stone groaned. “What do you mean you can’t?”
I pointed down. “Ember. We can’t leave him behind.”
“We had this debate when Roadrunner got stuck in this mess. We didn’t want to leave her, but we had to make that call in the end.”
“And I regret making that call,” I said.
I looked at Cassie. Looked right into her eyes.
“Ember is one of us. We can’t just give up on him. We can’t just leave him to… to whatever down there. We have to fight for him.”
Cassie opened her mouth to protest, like she always did.
Then she closed it. Nodded. “Kyle’s right.”
Vortex frowned. “What?”
“Yeah. What?” Stone echoed.
“Ember wouldn’t leave us behind.”
“You clearly don’t goddamned know him as well as I do, then.”
“We’ve made mistakes in the past,” I said. “We’ve—we’ve done things we aren’t proud of. But more than ever right now, I realize we need to hold onto who we really are. We’re the Resistance. And we need each other more than ever before.”
Vortex shook her head. “I hear you, Kyle. I really do hear you. But going down there isn’t keeping us together. It’s a suicide mission.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked below. “Then so be it.”
I flew down toward the compound. I didn’t feel comfortable about doing it alone. But I didn’t want to be responsible for the loss of someone else.
All I saw these days was loss. I clearly had to change something.
“Wait.”
I felt a hand touch my arm. When I turned, I saw it was Cassie.
She smiled at me.
“You don’t have to come, sis.”
She punched me playfully. “Yes. Yes I do. You’re right. I know it’s reckless, but you’re right. We have to stay together. We have to fight together. And that starts now.”
I glanced above at Stone and Vortex, who kept on hovering there, totally still.
Then I looked back at Cassie. “Let’s go get Ember.”
I activated my invisibility and so too did Cassie.
We flew down towards the compound.
The further we got towards the compound, the more the need to speak with Cassie grew.
“What’s on your mind?”
Her voice startled me. I turned around. She was completely invisible, so I couldn’t see her. “How do you know something’s on my mind if you can’t even see me?”
“Wait, you can’t see me? Guess I’m more powerful than I thought.”
I bit my lip and didn’t say anything.
“Wait. That’s what’s on your mind, isn’t it?”
“I just don’t get why you don’t embrace your abilities more,” I said.
“Kyle, we’ve had this—”
“You’re strong. Just as strong as Daniel and me, maybe stronger. But you’re afraid. Afraid of teleporting. Afraid of using the powers like I do. Afraid of something going wrong.”
Cassie was silent for a few seconds. Then, “When you’ve been through what I’ve been through, a little caution’s natural, bro. Maybe I’ll get to where you are, in time. Or maybe I won’t. But I use just enough. To me, that’s all that matters. Now come on. Let’s go get Ember.”
As we approached, I was surprised how quiet it seemed to have got. The humidity hit me again, and I started sweating right away. But I couldn’t see anyone outside the compound. And through the smashed glass of the roof, I couldn’t see anyone inside either.
I landed right in the middle of it. I noticed the people being forced to work here were still here, crying. They looked more distressed than ever.
I looked around, being careful to stay totally invisible. “You see him?” I whispered, no idea of where Cassie was but safe in the knowledge that she was invisible too.
“There,” she said.
It took me a moment, but eventually I saw exactly where Cassie was looking.
Ember was lying flat on his back. He was trying to spark up his flames, but they were simmering out without as much as a puff.
“Ember,” I said.
I walked over to him.
“Go away,” he said.
I stopped. Frowned. “What?”
His pained face stared up into my eyes. He struggled to breathe. “Go… go away. Bomb. Bomb.”
I didn’t clock what Ember was on about, as Cassie dropped her invisibility and walked closer to us. “What’s he saying?”
Then I saw it.
I saw the little flashing light right underneath Ember.
I saw the wires.
My body tensed.
“We have to—!”
I didn’t finish speaking.
An explosion blasted from below Ember’s body.
24
I smacked my head against the side of the building, hard.
After that, for a short while, I wasn’t aware of anything.
Consciousness hit me in the form of a thick smell of smoke. I was choking. The smoke was totally jet black all around me. I could taste it in the back of my throat, and I couldn’t breathe.
I tried to move but my body felt totally broken. I couldn’t see my legs, but I was pretty sure they were snapped in two. I closed my eyes and tried to heal them, but I hadn’t felt this weak while in possession of my powers since… since… well, I wasn’t sure since when.
I looked around the smoke. I couldn’t hear anything for the ringing in my ears. All around me, I saw rubble.
Then my gut turned when I thought back to my last memory before that explosion.
I’d been with Cassie. We’d searched the place for Ember, but it’d seemed empty. The group of Adam’s followers was gone.
Then we’d found Ember.
Only there’d been a bomb right underneath him.
And before I could do anything to stop it exploding, it’d blown to pieces.
I attempted to heal myself again. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I snapped my legs back into place. The pain was so intense that I was screaming at the top of my voice.
When I’d finally done, still weak as hell, I leaned back against the broken wall and let the smoke fill my lungs.
“You’re not just gonna sit there, are you?”
I looked to my left.
Ember was right beside me.
“Ember?”
He half-smiled at me
. His clothes were ripped and damaged. He was covered in cuts and bruises.
But he was alive. And he was all in one piece.
He held out a hand. “Come on. Let’s get you to your feet and let’s get out of here.”
I grabbed Ember’s hand and got back on my feet. Slowly but surely, the memories of what’d happened before the explosion—literally milliseconds before the explosion—flooded back.
I’d managed to drag Ember away.
I’d thrown him to the other side of the room.
Then I’d flown into Cassie and knocked her out of the way of the blast.
Then, the explosion had ripped through the compound.
Then…
“Cassie,” I said.
Ember turned around. “What?”
“Cassie. She was in here. She came here to help.”
“I don’t see her anywhere.”
“I’m not leaving her behind,” I shouted.
“Whoah. Okay. I didn’t suggest leaving her behind. But let’s just… let’s just take this one step at a time. Okay?”
I was about to start searching for Cassie when I saw a body on the ground in front of me.
It was the woman who’d been crying not long ago. She was lying on her back and staring up at me in total fear.
“Demon,” she said, in Spanish, panting for every breath. “Demon!”
My skin went cold as I looked around and realized exactly what’d happened. Exactly what I’d been drawn into, again.
I’d been set up.
The bomb had been put in there not because they thought it’d kill me, but because they knew it would make me look even more reckless and dangerous all over again.
And I’d fallen for it. Again.
I wasn’t sure how far back Adam’s plan stretched. Maybe the group who’d come for their own vengeance were all part of the setup after all. One thing was for sure. Adam was powerful. And he was screwing with me. Big-time.
I just prayed to God my sister wasn’t a victim of that screwing.
I looked around the broken rubble in hope that I’d find her. But everywhere I looked there was just no sign of her. I looked up through the smoke and saw the bright sky above. It seemed so far away. I wondered how Stone, Vortex, and the other Resistance members were getting on. I couldn’t blame them for not coming down here. They’d been the ones with the bad feeling about this whole thing, after all. They hadn’t fallen for the trap like I had.
“Kyle.”
I looked around and I saw Ember standing right at the back of the compound.
I walked towards him. I wasn’t sure where exactly he was looking at first.
Then I noticed he was looking outside.
I stood at the back of the compound and followed his gaze.
Outside, I saw loads of trees had fallen. Further in the distance, I saw a small village burning away, smoke rising from it. I heard crying. I knew this was what I’d done. This was what my recklessness had caused.
I’d been on the scene. That would get back to the media, somehow. They’d use it against me, that was for sure.
“This is bad,” Ember said.
His words echoed my thoughts exactly. But despite all the chaos around me, I just felt totally cold. I saw the life I could be living right now if I’d never discovered my powers. I’d be at home, probably playing video games with Damon and Avi. Sure, I wouldn’t have had the courage to approach Ellicia, and sure, I’d probably still be bullied and a weak little dude.
But I’d still have my mom.
I would be living a safe life without this kind of responsibility.
That said, if I wasn’t here, then who would’ve stopped Saint?
Who would’ve defeated him?
Who would’ve prevented him brainwashing the planet?
I was the one who’d stood against him. I was the one who’d defeated him, together with my family.
I was the one with the responsibility.
I turned around and headed back into the compound.
Then, I saw Cassie lying there in the rubble.
Totally still.
25
I didn’t know what to do when I saw Cassie lying there in the rubble.
I didn’t know what to think, how to act.
All I knew was that I had to get to her, and I had to make sure she was okay.
“Cassie!”
I ran over to her as fast as I could. My legs were still painful after snapping in two. Sure, I’d managed to heal them, but try breaking your legs and healing them then telling me it wasn’t painful.
I landed by her side, coughing back some of the smoke. Ember was somewhere behind me, but I didn’t really have any sense of him right now. All that mattered was Cassie, as selfish as it sounded. All that mattered was that she was okay.
“Cassie.”
I put my arms around her and felt the warmth of her body seep through. Her eyes were closed. She was battered and bruised, just like the rest of us. But she looked like she’d taken the brunt of more of the explosion than any of us.
I squeezed her limp body tighter and pulled her closer. I felt my tears trickling down. “Please, sis. Not now. Not after everything. Please.”
I knew Cassie had healing abilities, like me. She was powerful. She didn’t believe she was as powerful as me, but I knew if she really believed in herself that she could be.
But she’d been hit by the explosion before she’d had a chance to activate any of her shields or begin the healing process. Sure, it was possible to fight off wounds when you were unconscious. But Cassie looked in a deep state of unconsciousness right now.
Plus, she didn’t have the confidence. She didn’t have the belief.
She needed both right now, even in unconsciousness.
“We need to go, Kyle.”
I heard Ember’s voice and I didn’t want to accept that we were giving up. “I can’t let her go.”
“Then bring her with us. But we need to get away from here right now. We’re not safe here. We’re lucky to even still be here in the first place.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked down at Cassie. She was out cold. Totally out cold. I couldn’t even tell if she was breathing.
“Please,” I said, holding her hand tighter. “Just… just, please. If you can hear me, come back. Don’t give up. Please. You’re strong. I told you how strong you were. You just have to hear me, sis. You have to believe me.”
I closed my eyes and I saw images of the pair of us when we were younger. I saw us playing together. I saw the happy times we’d had, the times we’d shared.
Then I saw the jokes and the laughter we’d had since. I saw Cassie’s smile. I saw the love between her and Dad when they were reunited. I saw myself introducing the sister I thought I’d lost so long ago to friends I never thought she’d meet.
I saw everything and I felt a warmth emitting from my body.
A warmth transmitting towards Cassie.
A warmth—
A cough.
I opened my tearful eyes.
Cassie was coughing.
“Cassie!”
I extinguished the smoke around us so the air was cleaner. Then I held my sister even tighter.
“What—”
“It’s okay,” I said. “You’re okay now. I’ve got you.”
“My chest. It’s…”
“It’s okay,” I said. “You don’t have to worry. None of us do. Not anymore.”
“Kyle, I think there’s someone coming.”
Cassie looked up at me with tearful eyes and smiled. “Thank you.”
I stroked her hair out of her face. “I didn’t do anything. You did it. You healed yourself.”
“I—”
“Kyle,” Ember repeated. “Seriously.”
“You did it, Cassie. You’re so much stronger than you think. You just have to keep on believing it.”
“Kyle!”
I barely acknowledged Ember’s voice. I wasn’t sure whether to belie
ve him at first. But then I saw the movement in the corners of my eyes, and I heard whoever was coming getting closer.
I felt the anger burning up inside. I felt my rage coming to the surface.
Cassie was alive, but Adam’s followers had hurt her.
Adam’s followers had tried to take everything away from me, again.
They’d taken my respect away, sure. They’d taken my standing with the public away.
But they weren’t going to take my family away from me.
I stood up, activated my powers, and felt ice stretch right across my hands.
I spun around and got ready to fire.
“Whoah. Hold it. Hold it.”
I narrowed my eyes and lowered my hands. “Stone?”
Stone grunted. Beside him, Vortex emerged. And behind them, a few other members of the Resistance. “Sorry for the nasty surprise. At least you three made it. Quite an ugly explosion ripped through this place, not gonna lie.”
I nodded. “Guessing we’re not in the good books of the South American people now?”
“We’ve never been in the good books. But yeah. We’re in the worst book, that’s for sure. The Chamber of Secrets.”
“What?” Vortex asked. “The Chamber of Secrets was my favorite.”
“Never had you down as a Potter guy, Stone,” I said.
He grimaced and blushed.
I knew I had him cornered.
We stood together, the group of us, and we looked back at the burning building. We looked at the debris. We looked at the rubble. But most of all, as much as we didn’t want to, we looked at the fallen people who were still inside the compound.
We went back in there. Pulled the survivors out. They cursed at us. Screamed at us. They did everything they could to get away from us.
The village in the distance wasn’t much better, either. When we arrived, they booed us, even when we helped people out who were wounded or injured.
It felt like there was nothing we could do to win back our reputation. Not anymore.
We’d broken it. There was no fixing it.
This was who we were now.
After two hours of cleaning up, we hovered together above the woods. We looked down on the empty space where the trees of the Amazon had once stood so proudly, for so many years. We looked at the gutted remains of the fallen compound. We looked at the smoldering village, and the approaching helicopters, no doubt media, who were heading over here to tar the name of the Resistance even more, and turn more people from us and to Adam.