Red Masked Heroine

by Dee J. Stone

  She stops laughing. “Thanks for everything, Nick. I don’t know how I would get through any of this without you.”

  “Same. It’s getting late and I’m wiped. Stay safe and keep everyone you care about safe.”

  “Same with you. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  ***

  Being stared at in school is an understatement. No, the students aren’t staring. They’re gawking. Like we’re movie stars who were just dropped out of our million dollar helicopter with our designer clothes and boots and sunglasses.

  “It’s them,” a girl says. “Blue and Red.” A few take pictures with their phones, probably proud that we go to their school and they can post the pics online.

  A girl rushes to Maddie. “My little sister loves you!”

  “My dad’s a producer,” a guy says. “He said you should call him if you want to be on TV. Both of you.”

  That’s the second person to offer me to be on TV.

  Maddie looks lost in the crowd, like she doesn’t know how to deal with this. Sure it’s fun, but it’s not what we want. We just want to be normal. To go to school and hang out, and yeah, be heroes sometimes, too.

  A few kids ask for our autographs. They mostly ask Maddie, but me, too. She’s way too overwhelmed with this. Like I was when I was first found out. She gives me this look, like begging me to save her. I steer her out of the crowd, to our lockers. A mass of kids follows us.

  “You two are so cute together,” a girl says. “The powered couple.”

  Maddie’s forehead wrinkles. “Thanks, I guess.”

  “Can you guys sit with us at lunch?” another girl asks.

  Maddie and I look at one another. So now they want to sit with us? All because we’re famous? That doesn’t seem right.

  “We’ll see,” Maddie says. She hisses to me, “How do we get rid of them?”

  “I don’t think we can,” I whisper back. She sighs a long and deep one. More kids gather around us, and Maddie sticks her head in her locker until the bell rings. I’m in the middle of signing my last autograph before the halls empty out.

  “It’s safe now,” I tell Maddie.

  She pulls her head out. “And this is why I wanted to stay hidden.”

  I pat her back. “It’ll get better.”

  “Will it?”

  I don’t think so, but I’m not going to tell her that. As we turn the corner to head to our first class of the day Vice Principal Grady walks down the hall, and invites Maddie to see her in her office.

  The VP turns to me. “Do we need to go over the rules, Nick?”

  I shake my head. “No, I’m very aware of the rules.” About no powers in school and not harming anyone with my powers, blah blah.

  She nods slowly, then gestures for Maddie to follow her. Maddie frowns at me before reluctantly following the VP to her office.

  ***

  During lunch, Maddie knocks her head on the table. She and I are sitting alone because we didn’t want to offend anyone by choosing who to sit with. Besides, it’s nice when it’s just the two of us. Many kids have tried to squeeze into our table, but once they learned we’re not talking about anything interesting, they left.

  “Did you check out my blog?” a voice says from a few tables away.

  Maddie lifts her head and we both turn to Nicole’s table, where she’s got her phone in everyone’s faces.

  Maddie rolls her eyes. “Seriously.” Many more kids have gathered around.

  Maddie stands up and marches over. I quickly follow. “Give up, Nicole,” Maddie says. “Are you really that jealous of us? You know everything on your blog is a lie. Do you really want the world to see what kind of person you are?”

  She covers her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Me? Jealous of you?” She scans Maddie’s ponytail and clothes. “Right.”

  Maddie narrows her eyes at her.

  “She actually wrote something good this time,” one of the girls says. She hands Maddie her phone. “Look.”

  Maddie and I read the post. Nicole gathered a poll of what the public thinks of having two superheroes, and most people said they love it, the more the merrier. Many people especially love that one hero is a girl. On the bottom of the poll, Nicole wrote her own thoughts on the situation.

  I know my words sometimes come off as harsh, and I’m sorry for the lies I spread. The truth is that Maddie Randall and Nick McGuire are good people. They care about others and would do anything to help. We’re lucky to have them as our heroes.

  That post got many hits.

  Maddie and I exchange surprised glances. “Why would you suddenly change your mind?” Maddie asks. “You hate us and you especially hate Nick.”

  Nicole’s eyes lower to the floor, then back to us. “I know. I hated Nick for a while. I felt hurt and betrayed that he kept a huge secret from me. But I’m over it. I…” She hesitates. “I saw all the good things you guys have done. I was at the football game and I nearly burned to death. Me and my brothers. But Nick held back the flames and Maddie blew them out, and from then on I knew I had to stop with the lies. My brothers and I would be seriously injured if not for the two of you.”

  Maddie and I look at each other again. She was at the game? I guess with all the people around, I didn’t notice.

  “So thanks,” Nicole says. “We owe you our lives.”

  “You’re welcome,” Maddie and I say, still stunned.

  Nicole isn’t the only one with a change of heart. Her boyfriend Brandon is nicer to us, and Mrs. Landon didn’t stop praising us in class.

  It’s nice and all, but I really just want to be treated like a normal student. That may not happen, though. I guess I’m okay with that.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  After school, I tell my parents I’m going to Maddie’s house to do our homework. As soon as we enter her house, we find it empty, except for her mom who’s making dinner. It’s a good thing Maddie’s stepdad and stepsister are out of the house. We can have privacy now.

  “Mom?” Maddie calls.

  Her mom steps out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “Hi.” There’s this coldness between them. I guess she and Maddie haven’t talked about Maddie being the Red Masked Heroine. I wonder if she remembers being kidnapped. Doesn’t seem like it.

  “We need to talk,” Maddie says.

  Her mom nods once. “Yes, we do.” Her eyes go to me. “Alone.”

  Maddie slides her hand into mine. “I want Nick to be here.”

  Melissa doesn’t say anything, just keeps her eyes on her daughter. Maddie motions toward the sofa. “Can we sit?”

  “Sure,” her mom says. “Let’s hear what else you’ve been lying about.”

  Maddie rolls her eyes at me, probably thinking, yeah and all the things you’ve been lying to me about?

  We sit down. No one talks. We look at each other, at the floor, the windows, the furniture, the TV.

  “You lied to me,” Melissa says. “I asked you if you were the Red Masked Hero and you lied to me.”

  Maddie’s on her feet. “And what about the fact that you’ve been lying to me, huh? About JQ Laboratories. What about that?”

  Maddie’s mom’s eyes lower to her hands that are clasped on her lap. “I was waiting for you to ask me about that.”

  With wide eyes, Maddie lowers herself back on the couch. “What are you talking about?”

  “Why do you think I insisted you move to the attic? I was hoping and waiting for you to discover the documents.”

  Huh? Maddie and I exchange confused glances. “You wanted us to know you were part of an organization that experimented on us?”

  Melissa slowly nods. “I’m not proud of what I did. I felt like you—and Nick—deserved to know the truth. But I couldn’t tell you. I just couldn’t. I was too ashamed. It was easier for you to find the documents and ask me about them.”

  “Is that why you asked me if I was Red? You wanted to talk about it?”

  Her mom tilts her head to the
side. “Yes and no. I suspected you were Red, but I wasn’t sure. I also wasn’t sure if you found the documents. Everything was as I left it years ago.”

  Maddie and I were careful to put it back the way we found it.

  “One night,” her mom continues. “I checked on you when you slept and I could have sworn I saw your skin was red. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but then I realized there was a high chance you were Red. You were always good with technology, and disguising your voice was something you could easily do.”

  Maddie nods. She still looks a little disappointed with her mom about being part of the organization, but it’s not as much as it was before.

  Her mom goes on. “I suppose I should start from the beginning.” She takes a deep breath. “I was in college and wanted to be a lawyer, but I couldn’t afford law school. A friend of mine told me about JQ Laboratories. Her brother worked there as a scientist and she told me they were looking for…for young kids.” She swallows and looks away. “I was very good at being sneaky. I used to hide from my family and teachers and everyone all the time. And when I promised something, I always delivered. When I went to JQ Laboratories, they must have seen what an asset I’d be to the team and they hired me on the spot. For about a year, I gathered babies and small kids for them. At first I didn’t know that they were experimenting on them. Call me naïve, but I thought they were helping these kids. Giving them food and clothing and finding them families to live with.”

  I hold out my hand. “So you kidnapped kids?”

  She shakes her head. “I would go to hospitals and organize babies to be ‘adopted’ to the organization. I don’t remember what they called themselves, but they pretended to be an adoption agency. Many young moms couldn’t keep their babies and chose to adopt. That’s where I came in.” She turns to me. “Your mom was one of these young mothers.”

  “Samantha Gilbert. It said that on my file.”

  She nods. “Yes. Samantha Gilbert. A very sweet, but very young and innocent girl who made a mistake. She really loved you, but she felt you’d have a better chance with parents who could take care of you.”

  “Did she know she was giving me up to be experimented on?”

  “Of course not. None of the parents knew.”

  It makes me feel better that my mom didn’t purposely give me away to be someone’s Guinea pig. “Any idea what happened to her?”

  Melissa shakes her head. “Unfortunately no. Once the baby was in our custody, the mother had no contact with the child.”

  Does that mean I may never find my biological mom?

  “When did you find out what they really did with the babies?” Maddie asks. “And did Dad know about any of this?”

  Her mom holds up her hand. “We’ll talk about your father soon. I was only allowed in certain areas of the building. I wasn’t allowed to see what was happening on the lower levels. But one day I got curious and went for a look. I was caught by the security guards and was brought to Mr. Hiram’s office.”

  “Who’s he?” Maddie says.

  “Director of JQ. The brains behind all the experiments. He’s very old now, but I’m sure he’s still in charge.”

  “What did he do to you?” I ask.

  She hesitates. “He threatened to kill me. I begged him to let me live. I promised I would never tell a soul about what I saw. He must have been in a good mood that day because he let me go, but I had to give him something in return.”

  “What?” Maddie and I both say.

  Again, she hesitates. Pain is written all over her face. “I was pregnant with Maddie. Your father and I met in college and we got married the day after we graduated. I got pregnant shorty after that. Mr. Hiram wanted my baby for experimentation.”

  Maddie just stares at her. “So…he threatened you?”

  She nods, looking anywhere but at Maddie. “If I wouldn’t give you to him once you were born, he would have hurt you, me, and your father. I had no choice.”

  Maddie swallows, looking away.

  The room is dead silent.

  “Did you…” Maddie clears her throat. “Did you know there was a chance I’d die?”

  Her mom nods with her mouth pressed in a tight line. “Yes there was a chance, but had I not given you over, he would have taken you anyway and hurt or killed your father and me. I was hoping…” She shuts her eyes. “To break in one day and free you. Stupid, I know, with all that security around. But I was desperate.”

  “Dad knew about all of this?”

  She’s quiet before slowly shaking her head. “Your father thought you were stillborn. He never knew about the organization. He thought I actually worked for an adoption agency.”

  Maddie’s eyes get wider than her head. “You lied to him? For years?”

  Melissa winces. “I was just trying to protect him.”

  “Let me guess,” Maddie says. “He found out the truth when I was ten and divorced you.”

  Ouch. I get she’s upset and hurt. But she didn’t have to be so harsh with her mom.

  Melissa nods again. “I loved your father. More than anything. But yes, he found out and wanted nothing to do with me.”

  “And with me?”

  “No, he loved you and wanted to continue having a relationship with you. But he was so upset with me he wanted nothing to do with me. And indirectly with you, too. I’m so sorry, sweetie. Just know that he loved—still loves—you. I’m sure he’d talk to you if you reach out to him.”

  Maddie doesn’t respond.

  “Can I ask how you and Maddie left JQ?” I say. “Did you escape?”

  She says, “They let me go. Once they learned the experiments failed on Maddie, they had no reason to keep her there and threw her out. I was fired from my job as well. Since we were no use to them, they forgot about us and had no need to keep tabs on us or threaten us. A failed experiment was like death to them. Though they warned me not to tell anyone about what they did. If I would, then my family would suffer. I listened to them all these years and we lived a good life.”

  “Didn’t Dad wonder where I came from?”

  “We “adopted” you. But he now knows that you are biologically ours.”

  “What about law school?” Maddie asks.

  “I never went. I was so focused on you and on your father and keeping you all safe that I couldn’t finish. Besides, it felt wrong to use dirty money for school.”

  Maddie asks, “Is that why you have all these dumb jobs? You’re worried someone might find out about what you did.”

  “That’s partly it. I don’t have a high paying job because I don’t think I deserve one. I did terrible things. I caused so many little kids to die, and I’ll never get over that.”

  Maddie rubs her mom’s shoulder. “But you didn’t know.”

  “I did. When you were being experimented on, I was still forced to collect kids.” Tears fill her eyes. “I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

  Maddie wraps her arm around her mom’s shoulder. “I’m sorry all of that happened.”

  “Me, too.”

  Maddie looks into her mom’s eyes. “And it’s not true that you don’t deserve a good job. You only did what you had to do. You were just trying to protect your family. Is Ronald or Stacey involved?”

  She shakes her head. “All of that is behind me now. Well, it’s not really, now that the two of you are heroes and are trying to locate JQ.” She takes Maddie’s hand, then looks at me. “Don’t mess with these people. They’re more powerful than you can ever imagine.”

  “It’s not like we went looking for them,” I say. “They kidnapped my little sister and tried to get me to work for them. Maddie saved me.”

  Her face fills with fear. “I had no idea about that. They kidnapped you?”

  I nod.

  “I thought you were for sure involved,” Maddie says. “I also thought you were involved in the bank hostage situation.”

  “No, I have nothing to do with JQ anymore.”

&nbs
p; That would explain why she never had contact with them or anything like that. We were wrong to suspect her.

  “Did you bring Nick and me together?” Maddie asks. “What are the odds that we’re friends and we have powers?”

  Her mom holds out her hands like she’s got no idea. “It’s possible the two of you found each other. For a few years you were experimented on together. Maybe you were unknowingly searching for each other.”

  Maddie and I look at one another, and smile a little.

  “Nick, when I found out you were Blue, I figured you were one of the kids that was experimented on. I didn’t recognize you, but I was almost positive. I didn’t think the organization would go after you. I assume they’d have more powered kids in their midst. It’s been years and they must have had successes.”

  “Mom, were Nick and I the only successes from our time?”

  “I’m not sure. All the children were released as failures. It’s possible there are more successes that we don’t know about. There may be kids out there who are in hiding.”

  Maddie turns to me. “Do you think we should look for them?”

  “I think we need to focus on taking down JQ.”

  Maddie’s mom’s eyes are huge. “I told you not to go after them.”

  “But we need to. They have kids they’re experimenting on. We need to help them.” Not to mention our families will always be at risk as long as they’re around.

  Melissa doesn’t say anything.

  “Any idea where their headquarters is?”

  She shakes her head. “They’re constantly moving. Sorry.”

  Maddie sighs. I sink down in my seat. So much for that. We’re back to square one.

  Melissa tells me she wants to talk to Maddie alone. I get up, give Maddie a quick kiss on the lips, then leave the house and go to mine.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Tonight is the night of Kaylee’s play of the Wizard of Oz. The auditorium isn’t that big, but it’s packed. Parents, siblings, friends, neighbors. It kind of feels like the whole city is here.

  Kaylee’s backstage with all the other kids. I catch her peeking out of the closed curtain every so often, like she’s worried we’re going to leave any minute.