Red Masked Heroine

by Dee J. Stone

  “Good!” But as soon as the words leave my mouth, I’m hurled a few feet back, my face on fire. Shoot. I rub it, which only makes the fire spread to my hands. Ouch! Being burned alive is one of the most horrible things in the world.

  Maddie bends down to me. “This isn’t working.”

  “Quick,” I tell her. “Get rid of the fire before I heal.”

  “What if I only make it worse?”

  “I trust you.”

  She must be hesitating. I can’t see a thing because my face is in flames. “Hurry, Maddie!”

  Her hands touch either side of my face. For a second, it seems to burn even more, but then this coolness washes over me. The pain vanishes.

  Maddie exhales a breath she must have been holding in. “It worked. I…I did it.”

  I finger my face. “Any scars?”

  She brings her face to mine and softly kisses me on the lips. “Nope. You’re as dorky-looking as you were before.”

  I laugh and pull her close. Resting my cheek on hers, I feel just how hot hers is and I flinch.

  “What?” Maddie asks.

  I shake my head. “Was nothing.”

  Her hands go to her cheeks. “I burned you, didn’t I?”

  “No, it was just a little hot.”

  She frowns. “I can’t even be a girlfriend.”

  “Stop that. You’re getting better at this. Soon, you won’t even have to focus, it’ll just happen. Trust me.”

  “Did it take you long to control yours?”

  Actually, it didn’t. My powers came so naturally it’s like I was born with them. Maddie’s just having a harder time. It happens, right? Not that I know anything about these powers.

  “You were able to control flying pretty smoothly,” I point out.

  She rolls her eyes. “Babies can learn to fly.”

  “I crashed into things when I was learning to fly.”

  “That’s different. I’ve had this fire power for three years and I still can’t control it.”

  I rest my hand on her shoulder. “You will. One day. Heck, maybe even tomorrow.”

  She shrugs. “Sure.”

  ***

  “So who is he?” Matt asks the second I walk into the house. My entire family is standing in the living room with wide eyes.

  “Huh?”

  “The Red Masked Hero,” Matt says.

  Mom gives me her famous disappointed look. “I’ve called you all afternoon and you didn’t answer your phone. You weren’t at Maddie’s because I called and her mom said you and Maddie weren’t home. Where were you?”

  I was so busy practicing with Maddie that I forgot to check my messages. “I was with Maddie at the park. We sat on the swings and talked.”

  “And you made kissy face!” Kaylee squeals.

  Mom turns to her. “Go to your room, Kaylee.”

  “But I wanna know why he changed his uniform and why he didn’t tell us he has fire. It’s so cool!”

  All four of them look at me expectantly. I rub the back of my neck. “He’s not me.”

  Mom sighs heavily.

  “What?” Kaylee’s face falls. “You don’t have fire?”

  I bend down to her and pull her to me. “Sorry, kid. He’s not me. I was in school when that fire was going on.” I face my parents. “You can ask my teacher.”

  Kaylee still looks disappointed. I tickle her stomach, but that doesn’t do any good. She’s like a statue right now.

  Mom sighs again. “You have no idea how relieved I am. It’s bad enough you have powers, but to add fire to that?” She shakes her head. I know why she’s so worried. It’s because Red burned some people today. I bet she’s scared I’d hurt a family member. Maybe I’d burn the house down.

  I place my hand on her arm. “No fire will ever come out of me. I swear.”

  Matt says, “Do you know who he is? Red, I mean.”

  I shake my head.

  “But he’s like you,” Dad said. “Surely he’s going to want to contact you if he hasn’t done so already.”

  I shake my head again. “Haven’t heard from him.”

  Mom lowers herself onto the sofa, her face pinched with worry. “I don’t want you to ever talk to him.”

  “Mom—”

  “He’s dangerous. Some claim he purposely burned those poor people.”

  Really? Man, the media sometimes…

  “And I don’t want you to go near him,” Mom continues. “I won’t let anyone hurt my babies.”

  “Mom, I’m sure burning those people was an accident. Why would he save them only to burn them? Makes no sense.”

  Dad sits next to Mom. “I’m with your mother on this one, Nick. I don’t want you hanging out with this supposed hero.”

  I can’t help the anger that starts to fill me. Maddie didn’t mean to hurt anyone. It just happened. Why do my parents and the world have to be so critical? She did her best.

  “I’m going to my room.”

  As I’m lying on my bed, pondering if I should be responsible and do my homework, Maddie sends me a text. Nicole’s blog is booming right now.

  Not interested.

  Okay, then I’ll tell you what it says. She claims to be one hundred percent sure that Nick isn’t Red. She was in class with you.

  Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard this over and over on the news. People will believe what they want to believe. Anything else? I ask Maddie.

  Well of course she blames Red for burning those people. She called me a wannabe hero. Whatever.

  Don’t let her get to you. She’s just one person.

  With a big following. But you’re right. I’m not doing this for the fame or attention. I’m doing this to help people. Okay, and to get the attention of the organization.

  Yep.

  I’m going to upgrade my uniform, Maddie says. I’ll add a tiny camera so you can see everything I see in case something goes wrong.

  Okay. But Maddie, are you okay with missing class and neglecting your homework?

  A few seconds pass before I get her response. I can do both.

  I thought the same thing, but if there’s one person who can get all her work done, it’s Maddie.

  We text for a bit while we both finish up our homework. There are some small things happening in our area, but the police can handle that. Maddie’s going to have to choose when to help and when to stay put. I hope the world doesn’t need her. Not because I don’t have faith in her, but because I don’t want anyone to be in trouble.

  There’s a knock on my door and Kaylee peeks her head in. I motion for her to join me on the bed. She bounces, dangling her ratty old stuffed penguin in my face. She’s had that thing since she was baby.

  “I don’t believe you,” she says.

  “About?”

  She lightly slaps me on the head. “That you’re not Red.”

  “Well, I don’t know how to prove it to you, because I’m not him.”

  She slams her hands on her hips. “You’re lying to me again.”

  “I’m not.” It took her a little while to forgive me for keeping the secret of being Blue. “I’m not Red, Kaylee. Okay? I don’t have fire power.”

  She thinks about it for a few seconds. “But you know who is.”

  I shake my head.

  “I wanna meet him.”

  “No way. You have to stay far, far away from him.”

  “Why?” I trust Maddie to be around Kaylee, I just don’t trust her power. Besides, if Kaylee meets Maddie, she might uncover the truth that Maddie is a girl. Plus, Mom doesn’t let any of us go near Red.

  “Because he’s dangerous. Promise me you won’t go looking for him or chasing him. You don’t want to scare Mommy, do you?”

  She quickly shakes her head. “Gimme a ride.”

  For the remainder of the night, I do whatever my sister asks.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Just like I anticipated, there are reporters all over my house for the next few days. Even the cops came to ask me questions. I told them
Red is not me and I have no idea who he is. Just because we both have powers, it doesn’t mean we know each other.

  It’s Friday evening and Maddie and I are sitting on my roof, watching the things going on outside. My parents shooing the reporters away, Matt chasing some nosey neighbors away.

  Even school has been torture, with kids and teachers demanding the truth. And I gave them what they wanted. I told him he’s not me.

  “I think I’m ready,” Maddie tells me. She and I decided that she wouldn’t do any heroics until we’re sure her power is under control. Luckily there haven’t been any major catastrophes and she wasn’t needed.

  “I don’t know,” I say.

  She gives me an annoyed look. “We’ve been practicing for days. How am I going to get better if I don’t try?”

  She’s right. I know that. I guess I’m just worried that once she officially becomes the new hero, her life will be in danger.

  “Nick, I’ll be okay. You’ll be watching everything and you’ll see things I might miss. You’ll help me.”

  Yesterday, she gave me these goggles so I can see everything she does. I can even see what she can’t, like long distances. The goggles have a 360-degree view of the area around her. Another thing she snagged from a website. Pretty cool stuff.

  Maddie also gave me a watch that beeps every time someone calls 911. In case she’s not around and I’ll need to tell her if someone needs help. It’s kind of weird to be in opposite roles, but she’s happy to do this and I want to make her happy.

  It does sting, but I can’t let it bother me.

  Maddie snaps her fingers in my face. “Space in. I was talking to you.”

  I blink. “Sorry.”

  “I know this hurts you, but I’m not taking your place. I’m just doing what needs to be done.”

  I take her hand. “Don’t worry about it. It’s important to you.”

  She swallows, nodding. “Making up for all the lives I took.”

  Quiet.

  “Do you think the secret organization is shaking in their boots now that there are two of us?” she asks.

  “I really don’t want to talk about them.”

  Quiet again.

  “We can go for a fly,” Maddie suggests.

  I shake my head. There’s something calming about sitting up here in the cold wind. And having Maddie next to me makes me feel even better. Though I’m worried about her. I guess this is what my mom feels like—afraid of losing someone you care about. It kind of makes me guilty for all the worry and pain I caused her.

  Maddie sits up. “You hear that?”

  I strain my ears. “Sounds like someone calling for help.”

  She unzips her hoodie, revealing her uniform. I had no clue she had it on under there. “Nice,” I say.

  “You never know when you’ll need it.”

  Mine is stuffed in a drawer in my room.

  Once she’s got her mask on, she tells me she’ll be back, and she zooms toward the sound. I get my goggles from my room and slide them on. The view is crisp and clear, even better than my regular vision. Maddie attached the camera to her mask, so I can see everything she sees, and I can zoom in and out. On the right side of the goggles, there’s this button I can press to look behind me and to the right and left. I’ve got to periodically check and make sure no one is after Maddie. I can also use it to check if someone else is in trouble.

  Maddie reaches the place where the sound is coming from. It’s an elderly woman yelling and pointing to the house next door. A teen guy’s on the roof, too close to the edge.

  Oh, man. He wants to jump.

  “Maddie,” I say. “He’s gonna kill himself.”

  “On it.”

  She swerves to the house and hovers a few inches away from where the guy stands. She holds out her hands. “You don’t want to do this.” Maddie doesn’t sound like a girl because she installed a voice modifier into her mask that changes her voice to a guy’s.

  The guy doesn’t look at Maddie. He’s around fourteen or fifteen. His body shakes and he’s got tears in his eyes.

  “Please,” Maddie says. “This isn’t the answer.”

  The guy runs his sleeve across his eyes.

  By now a crowd has gathered in front of the house, including the police, fire department, and the guys’ parents, who are clutching onto each other.

  “Things seem hard now,” Maddie says. “But they’ll get better. Trust me.”

  “You don’t know me,” the guy says. “Get the hell away from me.”

  “Ted,” the mom calls. “Please don’t do this. We love you.”

  The guy snorts.

  “Listen to your parents,” Maddie tells him. “They care about you. A lot. Whatever you’re going through, you can talk about it. Trust me. I know what it’s like to feel like you have no one in the world and that no one cares. But more people than you think care.” She motions around. “No one here wants to see you get hurt.”

  The guy snorts again. “You’d better stand back. I’m going to do it.”

  “Just think about this for a few minutes. Once you take that step, there’s no going back. Think about all the people who will miss you and cry over you.”

  She says more. The guy backs away from the roof and a breath escapes my mouth. But the next minute, he leaps off the building.

  “Maddie!” I yell.

  She swoops down and catches the guy in her arms just in time. The crowd claps. I exhale another deep breath. She did it.

  She lowers the guy to the ground and at once, the cops, firemen, EMTs, his parents all gather around him.

  Maddie makes a move to zoom off, but one of the onlookers says, “He could have died.”

  “I did the best I could.”

  He moves closer to her. “You’re not Blue. He would have stopped the boy before he jumped. We want him, not you.”

  He walks off, leaving Maddie staring after him.

  “Don’t listen to him, Mads,” I say. “You did good. Situations like that are never easy. You’ve got great reflexes.”

  Once again, she’s about to shoot in the air, but more people come at her. It’s too bad she can’t go invisible like me.

  They’re verbally attacking her just like that other guy. If they knew what was best for them, they’d get lost right now before Maddie’s anger and hurt cause her fire to come out. She saved that kid’s life. So what if she didn’t get him off the roof the way they wanted? She saved him.

  Ignoring the people, Maddie lifts in the air and flies away. When she reaches the roof of my house, she pulls her mask off and throws her hoodie and jeans over her uniform.

  She sits down next to me, hugging her knees. “I don’t want to talk. Can we please just be quiet for a bit?”

  I nod, wanting to wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her close, but she wouldn’t want that.

  We just sit there.

  “Why do people have to be so stupid?” Maddie asks after a few minutes.

  I hold out my hand, but she doesn’t give me hers. I drop it to my side. “Because they’re idiots. They expect us to be miracle workers. We’re just human.”

  She hugs her knees tighter. “I didn’t know it was so hard. All this pressure.”

  “Yeah. I thought the same thing.”

  Quiet again.

  “Do you think the guy is going to be okay?” she asks.

  “Hope so. You did good, Maddie. Don’t let other people make you think otherwise. You’re a great superhero.”

  She doesn’t smile like I wish she would.

  “It’ll get better,” I say. “People need to get used to you, that’s all.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I didn’t know I had to be in your shadow.”

  “They need time to accept you.”

  She doesn’t say anything for a few minutes. Then, “First I nearly burn people. Now I almost couldn’t stop a guy from jumping off a roof. What am I going to do next?”

  “No self-loathing.”

  “A
part of me wants to quit, but the other part wants me to go on. To prove to everyone I have their best interest at heart.”

  I nod.

  “I’m not in the mood to go home,” she says. “Stacey’s still in my room. I think she might be here to stay this time.”

  “She can’t live with your parents forever. She’s going to have to leave eventually.”

  She rests her head on my shoulder. “Eventually feels like forever. I can’t even sit in the same room with her. At the dinner table, she’s always bragging about her grades and how well she does in school. And how she can’t wait to graduate college soon.” She makes a face like she ate something sour. “Sometimes I wish I could shut her up by showing her what I can do.” She snorts. “Not that it would go any good anyway. She’d just call me a freak.”

  “Don’t forget your mom would probably hand you over to the organization.”

  “But why hasn’t she handed you over all this time?”

  I shrug because I have no clue. “Maybe they don’t want me anymore. Maybe they’re worried I have this fire guardian angel on my side. It’s weird that they’re not out looking for him. Oh, crap. Now they will be.” I smack my forehead. “Why didn’t we think about that? A fire dude saved me and now there’s a fire dude out there who’s the new hero. They’ll totally want information from me. They’ll kidnap Kaylee again.”

  She presses her hand to my chest. “Will you calm down? We have your entire family under surveillance. I check on it a few times a day. Plus didn’t they increase security at Kaylee’s school? She won’t get taken.”

  “These people are experts,” I mutter. “If they wanted Kaylee, they’d take her. And they’ll come after you, too. This was a bad, bad, bad idea.”

  She shakes her head. “I’m not going to sit back in fear. If they want me, then they’ll have to try to get me.”

  It’s great that she’s so confident, but I worry.

  “Besides,” she says. “I have you watching over me, don’t I?” She nods to the goggles, which I’ve still go on. I drag them off. “I’ll burn anyone who dares come near me.”

  “Okay, I guess. Just be careful.”

  “Always am. It’s better for them to come after me anyway. It’s what we want.”

  No, it’s what she wants. But I don’t say anything. “Let’s talk about something else. It’s been ages since we played a video game. Want to? It’ll help get your mind of everything.”