Shattered (the Spellbound Series Book 2) (20 page)

Part Three: The Game

21

             
I’m not immediately sure what my next move is, now that I’ve made my presence known. None of the Lost knows what to make of me, and the man I’m trying to save is slowly edging away. Maybe getting him out of the way should be my first order of business. I grab his arm, and transport him to a nearby rooftop with a banishing spell. A confused murmur ripples through the crowd around me, but ceases when I draw myself up to my full height. I cast around for the more daring members of their group, and ask, “Who’s first?”

              I can feel someone behind me preparing a spell, but don’t bother shielding myself. Instead, I use a spell Krystal taught me that shifts my molecules at such a high speed, my body and everything touching it becomes essentially intangible. A ball of flame flies right through my chest, and hits three of the people in front of me, who start shouting as their clothes ignite. I concentrate even harder on slowing my molecules down amidst the confusion; I’m great at making the spell work, but reversing the effects is a difficult process.

              I’d been hoping that I could intimidate these people enough that they would run, and I could single one out, but it seems they’re still ready for a fight. Someone to my left tries to hit me with a different spell, but I fling them against a brick wall before they can release it. Another opponent swings at my face, so I duck, lift her arm a little higher, and slam an elbow into her kidney. She drops, and is replaced by the blue haired woman from earlier, who reaches for my hood, presumably to pull it back. I leap backward, into the waiting arms of another spellcaster, who tries to restrain me. I break free of his grasp, and kick him backwards into a chain link fence.

              The rest of the Lost begin to swarm around me, and I give in to my instincts as the world flashes by in a flurry of deflected attacks and well-timed retaliations. I almost break into a smile; the whole encounter is strangely liberating to me. I can’t tell if it’s because of the mask, the challenge, my lax restraint, or the life I saved, but I can’t help feeling invincible and free. It’s the most excited I’ve been in a long time.

              It isn’t until I take a few blows to the arms, and stop a kick aimed at my stomach that I decide to stop messing around. I shove away the spellcaster whose leg I had a hold of, and stomp once, a significant amount of power surging through my leg as it connects with the ground. A shockwave knocks down everyone around me, some of them stumbling forward into the small crater I’ve made. I leap onto the edge of a building above us with a spell-charged hop, and survey the situation.

              There are too many of them to tackle head on without taking some damage, I can see that now. If there were a way to separate them into smaller groups, or spread them out into a greater space, that would be ideal. The problem is, I can’t think of anywhere I could move the fight without entering the public’s view. I look out over the buildings around me for ideas, and consider taunting my opponents until they join me on the roof. A few seconds later, I notice the well-lit building set apart from the others by the surrounding park, and get an even better idea.

              “Hey!,” I shout down at the disorganized crowd of spellcasters. “I don’t have all night, guys. Try and keep up!” I race along the edge of the rooftop, and drop down to the ground, pleased by the angry shouts and hurried footfalls I can hear behind me. They’re taking the bait. Now, all I have to do is outrun them.

              I dart into the street, not even bothering to check if there are any cars coming my way. I roll over the hood of a cab that skids into my path, and keep running, barely batting an eye at my brush with death at the hands of a cab driver. It’s a hazard of living in New York that you come to expect. The few people in my path scurry out of the way as I approach the front entrance of the Museum of Natural History. It’s after hours, so the doors are closed, but I teleport onto the other side of them once I’m sure the spellcasters in pursuit can see both me and my destination.

              I twist the gold bangle on my wrist, and frown down at it. I hadn’t taken the time to test it out, so I’m not sure exactly how it works. I have no idea what’s stored within, so I’m going into this blind. I concentrate on summoning an item from the other side of the nexus, and it materializes in the palm of my hand. I grasp the tiny remote, and press the one button on it, hoping that it shuts off the security cameras in the building like it did at the clinic.

              I sprint away from the entrance as the Lost begin appearing within the building. One of them fires a spell at me, and I duck behind a counter just before I’m engulfed in flames. I extinguish the blaze with a spell of my own, then set my sights on the reason I brought them all here. I feel a slight pull on my energy as I work on animating the massive dinosaur skeletons on display in the main entrance. At first, I worry that I’m not doing this correctly, but the bones of the long-dead Apatosaurus shift eerily as it takes a few steps forward. The other skeletons follow suit, advancing on the confused spellcasters.

              I hop up onto the counter to get a better view of the action, and order my new subordinates to attack. A few of the Lost try taking down the dinosaurs with a spell, but most of their attacks have no effect on the polished plaster making up the replicas of their skeletons. They don’t know what to make of the new threat, and that’s what it takes to finally break their morale. In the confusion, a few of them run for their lives, and I notice a solitary spellcaster sprinting towards the space exhibit. He’s the one I’ll go after.

              I leave my creations in attack mode, then teleport to the space behind my target as he turns into the empty exhibit. He seems to sense that there’s someone on his tail, because he picks up the pace, trying in vain to put some distance between us in the open space full of plaques, pictures, and models of objects throughout the observable universe. I single out a model of an asteroid buried in the ground, and concentrate on pulling the metal object out of its position. With an impressive
crack
and a hail of debris, it flies into the air, and I guide it towards the man I’m chasing as he approaches the exit. The asteroid slams into the side of his face, and he collapses to the ground, still breathing but most definitely down for the count.

              I place the asteroid back where it belongs, and kneel down next to the spellcaster I’ve singled out. He’s a little older than me, by the looks of him, and a little on the larger side. I’d have a little trouble carrying him with just my muscles, but thankfully, that’s not what I have planned. I touch his shoulder, and send his unconscious form far from here with a banishing spell, making a mental note to take care of him later.

              My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I groan as I pull it out to check who’s calling me. I barely even register the name on the screen before answering with a labored, “Hello?”

              “Hey!” Rachel’s voice comes in through the speakers, sounding a little tired, but cheerful. “Chase and I are going bowling later, would you and Nick like to come?”

              I pinch the bridge of my nose as I answer, “I’m a little busy right now, can I call you back?”

              “Um, sure? What are you doing?”

              I look up as I become aware of several sources of energy materializing in the exhibit around me. The rest of the Lost must have been drawn in by the sound of the asteroid model getting uprooted. “Nothing,” I tell Rachel in a hushed voice. “I just have my hands full with something. Text me the address, Nick and I will meet you there.”

              “Kay. Bye!”

              I end the call without responding, and slip my phone back into my pocket, glancing around at my opponents. There are less of them than before; I’m not sure if it’s because some were knocked out by the dinosaur skeletons, or the rest of them were too scared to face me. It doesn’t really matter.

              I stand up straight, squaring my shoulders as I reach my full height. Then I throw back my head enough for them to see beneath the hood, and smirk at the spellcasters waiting for me to make a move. “How many of you do I have to take out before you give up?”

***

              I pull back my hood as soon as I materialize in my room. I’m a little sweaty, and there are a couple of bruises on my upper arms, but I haven’t felt this good in forever. I fended off the rest of the Lost at the museum expertly, made sure the damage I caused would be nearly unnoticeable, and made sure the one I captured was taken care of. All in all, it feels like my first night donning the mask was a roaring success.

              I find Nick’s number in my contacts list, press “call”, and put my phone on speaker before placing it on my bedside drawer. It takes three rings for him to answer, but he sounds happy to hear from me when he picks up. “What’s up,” he asks right after we greet each other.

              “Nothing much,” I reply as I remove the mask. “I’m just coming home from an errand. How about you?”

              “Just reading. Work was horrible… I don’t understand why so many people think drinking a frappuccino at 7 P.M. is a good idea.”

              “Well, that sucks.” I unzip my hoodie as quietly as I can, and cover up the sound by asking, “Care to unwind with me?”

              “What do you have in mind?”

              “Double date with Rachel and Chase. We don’t
have
to go, but I figured it would be healthy for us to act like a normal couple once in a while.”

              “Sure! I’m in.”

              “Cool beans.” I shimmy out of the leather pants, and toss them aside, grabbing a pair of denim shorts and pulling them on. “Want me to text you the address?”

              “No, that’s alright. I’ll just meet you somewhere.”

              “Wait for me at the condo?”

              “You got it.”

              “Cool. Love you!”

              “Love you too.”

              I smile to myself as the line goes silent. Nick doesn’t sound like he suspects a thing. As long as I can keep my bruises covered, nobody will be able to tell anything out of the ordinary happened tonight. I peel off the black undershirt, and replace it with a pale green quarter sleeve shirt that Nick bought me a few months ago. I kick the Doc Martens aside as I look for my Converse, and slip them on as well, then run my fingers through my hair as I look at my reflection.

              I may not look very different, but I feel brand new. There’s a new light shining behind my eyes, something I haven’t seen since I first found out I was a spellcaster. I’m no longer fighting to survive, or fighting to protect my loved ones and friends. I’m fighting for the greater good, a childhood dream come true. I’m becoming the sort of hero that I always wanted to be. And it feels better than I ever dreamed it would.

              I grab all of the clothing that made up my previous attire, and arrange it on my bed. Weeks of work, months of restraint, and a year and a half of training have all led up to this point. I grab the box from the back of my closet, and ceremoniously pack away what I’ve started to consider my suit. And with every item filed away, I feel the euphoria fading again. By the time I’m done packing, and the box has returned to its proper place, I feel like myself again; still extraordinary, but in hiding, as if my skin is even more restricting than the leather outfit that once covered it up. I’ve gone back to being just the same old stubborn, resilient, reserved Heather.

              I check myself in the mirror one last time, then head out the door, opting to walk so that Nick can have time to get ready. When I arrive at the condo, he’s waiting for me in the lobby, and he steps through the revolving door as soon as we make eye contact. “Where to?,” he asks as his fingers lock with mine.

              “Bolwmor Lanes,” I reply as we walk in the direction of the subway. “It’s a little out of the way.”

              “That’s fine.” Nick examines me closely for a moment, and asks, “Is everything alright?”

              “Yeah?”

              “You seem a little… on edge.”

              I roll my eyes at Nick, even though he’s right. I’m still riding the high of a job well done. “I’m great,” I answer honestly. “In fact, I’ve never been better.”

22

              It takes a lot of effort to convince Nick to head home on his own when the double date is over. He seems particularly insistent on spending more time with me now that we’re keeping the baby, but I refuse to let him convince me. I’ve got plans of my own for the rest of the night.

              “Why don’t you wanna sleep over?,” he asks as we come to a stop in front of his building. “You usually don’t mind.”

              I fold my arms across my chest, though I’m neither angry nor cold. “I haven’t seen my mom in three days,” I lie. “I should probably sleep in my own bed for the night.”

              “Then I’ll come over-“

              “NO! No… it’s fine.” I wrap my arms around Nick’s neck, and pull him in close for a tight hug. “I love you, okay? But not tonight.”

              “Are you sure?” Nick sounds so crestfallen, it almost breaks my resolve. I don’t like hurting him any more than I like driving a nail through my own foot.

              “Yes, I’m sure. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

              “Okay. Goodnight.”

              “Goodnight.”

              I feel a little guilty as I watch Nick retreat into his lobby, but it had to be done. Where I’m going tonight, Nick can’t follow. Aside from the fact that he would flip if he knew what I was doing, the spot I’ve chosen would drag up some bad memories for him. And there’s no one else I would trust to help me with this, so for now, it has to be a solo mission.

              It takes me roughly five minutes to change back into my suit, but the feeling of invincibility returns instantaneously. It’s addicting, in a sick way. I want to hit the streets, find more people in danger, perform heroic feats. But I started this project with a particular mission in mind, and before I turn my attention to the rest of the city, I have to see it through. I owe it to myself, to Krystal, to everyone the Lost have terrorized in the past few months.

              I vanish from within my bedroom, and reappear just inside the warehouse in Red Hook that Jenna’s family owns. There’s no light, so I illuminate the space with a spell that cloaks my entire hand in a brilliant white glow. I walk silently towards the center of the warehouse, where I’ve dragged a new chair, holding a new occupant; the man I captured during the skirmish at the museum. He’s unconscious, but only just, and stirs a little as I draw near.

              I grab his chin with one hand, and pull it closer to me so that he can’t look anywhere but at my face. “What’s your name?,” I ask as my prisoner’s eyelids flutter open.

              “Paul,” the man answers groggily.

              “Hi, Paul. I’m…” I almost introduce myself as Heather, but am again stumped on what to call myself. It’s a problem that I’ll have to figure out later. “Nevermind. My name doesn’t matter.”

              “Where am I?” Paul’s eyes widen in fear as he takes in his surroundings, and he tries to move his arms. “Holy shit, what do you want from me?”

              “Relax. We’re just going to learn a little bit more about each other. You’re gonna answer my questions, and if I’m feeling generous, I’ll answer some of yours.”

              “Let me go! HELP-“

              “AHHHH! SOMEBODY HELP!,” I scream along with him at the top of my lungs. Paul watches me warily, but silently, and I explain, “There’s no one around. No one you can call. So if you’re hoping to get saved, you’re shit out of luck. Are we clear?”

              Paul nods, his lips pursed tightly. He struggles against his bonds, but the chains around his wrists are ones that I enchanted myself. They’re not just cutting off his circulation; they’re restricting his energy flow, which prevents him from zapping his way out or using any spells whatsoever. It’s a dirty trick, but he has information I need, and I plan to get it.

              I pull up a chair of my own, and position it right in front of Paul before taking a seat. “Alright. First question: why are the Lost attacking innocent spellcasters?”

              “For fun.” I frown at Paul, until he continues, “We can’t find Krystal at all, and the Conduit is too much for us to handle, so we’re practicing on smaller targets.”

              “Krystal, I understand. She killed your leader. But why the Conduit? What do you want with her?”

              Paul licks his lips, and it looks like he wants to say something, but refrains from doing so. At long last, he relents, and shouts, “I don’t know! None of us wants anything to do with her, but the boss wants her badly enough to keep throwing us in her direction.”

              I lean back in my seat with my arms folded. “Fair enough… where are these orders coming from? Who leads the Lost?”

Paul just closes his eyes, and shakes his head violently. It’s a strange reaction, and it makes me fear for his sanity, but I
need
him to talk. I reach forward, and smack him as hard as I can across the face. “
Fuck!
,” he shouts as he calms down. “What was that for?”

“Answer me. Who. Leads. The Lost?”

“I can’t say…”

“Do I have to hit you again, Paul?”

“No, I literally can’t say! We were cursed, each of us, when we joined the Lost. We were branded with sigils that would burn up and kill us if we ever spoke, typed, or spelled out our leader’s name.”

I lean forward, and pull down Paul’s shirt to inspect his chest, and I can see what he means. An unfamiliar symbol sits just above his heart, and I have no idea what it means, but I can
feel
the dark energy radiating from it. “Dammit,” I mutter as I fix Paul’s shirt. “Can you at least tell me where I can find this leader of yours?”

“If I do, will you let me go?”

“Yes. I promise.”

“By the Whitestone Bridge. Right across from the Pepsi bottling plant, there’s a graveyard. You walk up to the mausoleum marked
Martin
, you knock four times, and then you step inside.”

“Thank you, Paul. You’ve been very helpful.” I stand, and stride towards the entrance, satisfied with the tip about the graveyard. It’s not quite what I was hoping to get out of him, but it’s better than nothing.

“Hey, wait! Let me go! You promised!” Paul yells, and strains against his chains, nearly toppling over his chair in the process.

I turn to face him, a cruel smile creeping across my face as we lock eyes. “I did promise I’d let you go… But I never promised when.”

***

It takes an incredible amount of effort to open my eyes in the morning, and keep them open. I don’t know why; I’ve gone to sleep at more ridiculous hours and woken up fine afterwards. Could last night’s activities have really tired me out that much? I rub my eyes, and start to roll out of bed, but an image of Paul comes to mind, unbidden, and it gives me pause. That’s what’s going on, then. I feel guilty about what I’ve done to him.

I roll over just enough to face my closet, and stare at it, my stomach sinking like a stone. It
felt
like I’d been doing the right thing last night, but in the light of day, I’m starting to think I’m taking things a little too far. I want to put a stop to the Lost and their deeds, but I never thought I’d resort to kidnapping and interrogation to do it. Hell, I might have even stooped to torture. I’m not quite sure how far I would have gone to get something useful out of Paul.

I roll onto my back, and stare up at the ceiling. I’m a good person, or at least I’d like to think so. But can I be all that good if I’m capable of treating other human beings this way? I’ll fight anyone I need to if I feel threatened, but that’s different. Paul’s just the first terrified spellcaster I could get my hands on. And he’s probably starving right now, if he’s even conscious. I promise myself I’ll bring him some food and water later today. It’s the least I can do.

I hardly even flinch when my ringtone starts blasting near my ear, and I answer the call before the song gets very far. “Hello?”

“Heather!” Krystal’s voice comes through on the speaker, sounding a little breathless. “Where are you?”

“I’m home… why?”

“Get dressed, and get to the meeting place. We have a situation on our hands.”

“What-“

“Now.”

“Why are all these emergency meetings in the morning?,” I ask. But there’s no answer; the line’s already gone dead. I groan, and drop the phone onto the bed next to me. Krystal sounded like she was in a hurry, so I probably don’t have time for a shower. I’ll just have to wear last night’s clothes. I grab my shorts and shirt from off the floor and throw them on, then stop to brush my teeth before teleporting to the abandoned subway station.

When I arrive, there’s hardly anyone around. I must have been one of the first few people Krystal called… either that, or the rest of the clan has an aversion to waking up this early. Alyssa is the next one to appear, looking around frantically until she finds me. “What’s going on?,” she asks as more spellcasters materialize around us.

“I don’t know yet,” I tell her. “What’s going on with you?”

“What?”

“You look like you’re about to panic.”

“Oh…” Alyssa rakes her fingers through her hair, and says, “I can’t find Lily. She disappeared early this morning, and she won’t pick up her phone.”

As she speaks, I recall last year, when Selene kidnapped Rachel to draw me in closer. Could the Lost, her last loyal servants, be pulling the same move? Just to try and rule out that possibility, I ask, “Are you sure she’s not at home, sleeping or something?”

“I checked there first. And besides, she said she wasn’t leaving the hospital until her mom woke up.”

“Then why not follow her energy trail to see where she went?”

“I can’t.”

“You did it with Rachel last year-“

“Heather, I tried.” Alyssa gnaws on her thumb nail for a second, and says, “The trail goes cold right in the hospital room. Both Lily and her mom are just… gone.”

I stare open mouthed at Alyssa. Lily “disappearing” sounds plausible, but why would someone have abducted a woman in a coma from her hospital room? It doesn’t make any sense to me. I pull Alyssa towards me, hold her tightly, and promise, “We’ll find her.”

Krystal appears at the top of the stairs before our conversation can continue, and she waves her hands to signal a request for silence. She gazes out over the still-growing crowd of Caelestia members with a disappointed expression. Whatever’s going on, she’s clearly unhappy about it. “Last night,” she begins, “I got a call from Dillon. He was being followed by the Lost, and he was worried they would corner him somewhere. And as it turns out, they did.”

I fight to keep my eyes trained on Krystal, though I’d rather be looking down at my feet. I think I know where this is going.

“By the time I called for help, and they arrived at Dillon’s location, they found him on a rooftop on 78
th
street. At first, they were impressed. They thought he’d taken care of the problem himself. But Dillon confessed that someone else saved him. A spellcaster wearing a skin tight leather outfit and a mask.”

The subway station’s so silent, I’m almost certain everyone around me has stopped breathing. Alyssa looks at me curiously, but I focus all of my attention on Krystal. I’m afraid that if Alyssa sees the fear in my eyes, she’ll know I was involved.

“That’s not all,” Krystal continues. “This morning, a security guard at the Museum of Natural History noticed that none of the security cameras were sending any footage to their monitors. After he reconnected the system, he caught a glimpse of people on the roof, and he called the cops. Now, twenty three people have been taken into custody for trespassing. Each of them were from the Lost.”

Someone down in front raises her hand, and asks, “What does that have to do with us?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Krystal says. “I have reason to believe this vigilante was one of us. And even if he weren’t, he poses a threat to our existence. He may have saved Dillon’s life, but by parading around on the streets, firing spells left and right, trespassing at the museum, potentially destroying both public and private property… whoever is behind this, they clearly don’t care if people know metahumans are real or not.”

I look down at last to see that my fists are shaking, and it’s not because of Krystal’s assessment of our exposure being at risk. It’s mostly because she assumes whoever rescued Dillon was a
man
. As if women aren’t capable of heroic deeds. Either she’s guessing, she’s accepted stereotypes as fact, or Dillon clearly wasn’t paying attention while I was busy saving his skin.

“It gets better,” Krystal says. “As it turns out, I’m not the only one to come to this conclusion. When I woke up, it was to an email containing a video message from an anonymous sender.”

A confused murmur cuts through the silence as a projector screen slides into place behind Krystal, and she steps down to join the crowd of onlookers. The screen remains blank for a moment, but is soon filled by a russet background, with a humanoid figure silhouetted against it. “Good morning, Andrea,” the figure begins, and I’m surprised by their use of Krystal’s birth name. I’m even more surprised by how familiar the voice sounds; it’s being masked digitally, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve heard it somewhere. “I’m sure that by now, you’ve heard about what happened at the museum late last night. I have to say, I’m impressed. One spellcaster against nearly half of my subordinates… and it seems they were hopelessly outmatched. At least, that’s what the consensus was when I bailed out twenty three of them this morning.