Don't Call Me A Hero

Chapter 13

“Well, this was a waste of time,” I said as we stared at what used to be the radio station. The building was a thin, three storied building that looked far older than those beside it. Police tape blocked off the doorway and it looked like it hadn’t been occupied in some time. The large fence that blocked it off held many “No Trespassing” signs and ringed barbed wire covered the top of the fence.

It was definitely an eyesore.

“I wondered what happened,” I asked, mostly to myself as I folded my arms across my chest. The street was quiet, quieter than I was expecting but that didn’t mean there weren't eyes on us. Sure, I knew I was being paranoid but rightly so. 

“Does it matter?” Charlie asked as he let out a sigh, “come on.”

“What?” I asked.

“Oh, don’t tell me that you lost your sense of adventure,” Charlie said with a grin. I watched him walk forward. He stuck his hands into the chainlink and yanked it away from each other. The metal pieces rained down on the ground and clinked onto the asphalt below. He kept pulling the metal away from each other until it was open enough for the both of us to slip through. 

“I don’t think-” 

“C’mon,” he laughed, interrupting my perfectly sound argument, as he stepped into the crumbling parking lot, “we’d be safer in jail, right?”

I groaned and threw my head back toward the sky dramatically. He paid me no mind as he headed toward the door. I hurried after him, easily sliding my thin form through the hole he created. He stepped toward the blocked off door and I jumped when he kicked the closed door off its hinges. I glanced around the quiet street and stepped inside. 

“Okay,” Charlie said, peering over at me, “there are three stories. Want to split up?”

“No,” I snapped, remembering the day we had been taken, “we aren’t splitting up. That is how people die.” 

“Fine,” he muttered, seeming to remember that too. We both let out a sigh as we stepped forward though neither of us knew what we were looking for. 

The first floor was as filthy as an abandoned building could get. We couldn’t even get to the left side as the roof had collapsed some ago. The thick layer of dust and grime made it impossible to truly hide their presence. There was more covering the elevator doors. I slowly made my way past them in search of a staircase. 

“What should we be looking for?” Charlie asked and sighed loudly. He raised the dull light of his phone but that barely helped them see in the dull light that barely showed through the spaces in the boards that blocked the windows off. I considered moving to rip off the boards that blocked off the light but I doubted whoever actually owned this place would appreciate that. 

“Ugh,” I sighed as I raised my right fist. I hardly ever called upon my mother’s power. Ironically, it was more uncontrollable than my father's shadow power. 

“What are you…” Charlie trialed off as I slowly opened my palm. He watched, captivated as a ball of white light hovered over my pale skin. Light flooded the room, reminding us of how dirty and wrecked the whole place looked. 

“Wow,” he muttered.

“Forgot about my mom's power?” I asked him as I found the door we needed.

“I’ve never seen it in person,” he answered.

“I think we should try and find a storage closet,” I said, changing the subject as we slowly made our way up the staircase. 

“There might be old tapes lying around,” he nodded, kicking open the door as we made it to the second floor. I winced at the sound and glanced below me, looking for anything we could have disturbed. I’ve always hated going into abandoned places. 

They reminded me of my time with Lutsfy. 

The second floor was a line of conference rooms, each more grimey than the last. I jumped every time Charlie kicked open a door, even when it wasn’t necessary. At first I thought he didn’t want to get his hands dirty but I could see his hands trailing the walls and leaving long lines through the grime. 

Maybe he just didn’t like the heavy silence this place imposed. I didn’t like it either, it felt like something was smothering me. That was how it was, though, when you entered quiet, dead places that used to hold life. I could just imagine these conference rooms filled with high and mighty men trying to figure out how to raise their funds. 

“You coming?” Charlie asked, a few yards ahead of me. He stood holding a door open that led to what I assumed was another staircase. I let out a sigh and followed after him. 

The third floor looked like it had just been used as storage. There were several rooms just filled with boxes and I groaned at the thought of going through every one of them. I moved through the hallway and nearly slammed into Charlie after a sudden stop. I only narrowly moved my hand with the white ball of energy, glad to have missed starting his clothing on fire. 

“What?” I asked.

“Get rid of the light,” he asked. I lowered my hand and the ball of light disappeared as I released it. I looked forward, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness, and gasped. There was a closed door at the end of the narrow hallway. There was a line of light underneath it. I stepped past Charlie, stepping carefully over the debris that covered the discolored carpet. I glanced back at him as I neared the door. He paused, staying back and looking down at the floor.

I raised an eyebrow at him as he hesitated before turning toward the door. He’s trying not to make noise. If he steps forward, the ground would literally shake. I guess I had already gotten used to it in the short time I’ve been around him. I grabbed the door knob and took a deep breath. I tried the knob and let out a sharp breath when I realized it was locked.

Of course it was. 

I rolled my eyes as I glanced back at Charlie. He started to step forward but I shrugged and knocked on the door. I heard him chuckle as I waited. I heard shuffling behind the door and some loud whispering before the door was pulled open by a short, plump man. He only pulled it open enough to see his dirty face.

“Hello?” he asked, clearly as confused as we were.

“I’m looking for Pedro?” I offered as Charlie walked up behind me.

“Who’s asking?”

“Alex and Charlie,” I answered.

“Why would you tell him our actual names?” Charlie whispered and punched my arm. I yelped and stepped away from him. He looked down at his stoney hand and muttered an apology before turning his attention back toward the short man.

“Experiments,” the man whispered, “you’re like him.”

“Like who?” Charlie demanded. The man stepped aside and pushed the door open. Charlie gasped as he stepped past him, his dark eyes wide as he disappeared into the room. I slowly edged forward, holding my arm that was bound to be bruised, and let out a gasp of my own.

What the hell? 

“Arthur,” the man answered, though I had already suspected who he met. I gazed over the walls that were full of pictures and writings tacked to the wall. The writing was crazed and large, there were large red ‘X’s over some of the young faces. I scanned over them until I found my own face. Underneath it was a paper labeled as ‘Guesses’ and potential powers were scribbled out below. 

None of them were correct. 

“Arthur told you all this?” Charlie asked, spinning slowly as he too looked at all the pictures. I jumped when he lunged forward, the ground vibrating slightly as he yanked a picture off the wall. 

Amanda. 

“You have a red X over her face,” he said, shoving it in the man’s face, “why?”

“They have her,” he answered, his crazy dark eyes darted between us, “she’s bound to be dead soon.” 

“Where is she?” 

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “he didn’t show me that.”

“Arthur,” I said, stepping toward him, “you mean Arthur?”

“Who else?” he asked, as if there were no other possible answer.

“You’re Pedro,” I stated, placing a hand on Charlie’s shoulder in an effort to calm him down, “he came and spoke with you but he did something to you too, didn’t he?”

“Y-yes,” he nodded slowly.

“His abilities,” Charlie spoke up, “what are they?”

“Mind manipulation,” he answered, “and teleportation.” 

“s**t,” I said, “he was there.”

“Where?” Charlie asked.

“He was one of my almost kidnappers.”

“Any idea where he is now?” he asked Pedro.

“No.”

“Look,” Charlie said and grabbed Pedro’s collar, “give us something. Any ideas?”

“Water,” Pedro said, “water, water, water…”

Pedro slowly grew louder, chanting the same word over and over again. Charlie stepped back as Pedro’s dark skin started to turn translucent. Charlie and I shared a look before darting into the hallway. We heard one more scream before something heavy started chasing after us. 

I moved to look back but felt Charlie’s arm on my back as he shoved me toward the staircase door that we had propped open. I bounded down the stairs and stumbled to a stop when something heavy landed below me. I stumbled back up a few steps as I faced what I could only describe as see through glob of blue and red. I could even see bones floating through the mass, even in the dim lighting we had. 

“s**t,” I muttered, as I fell back against Charlie. He looked as terrified as I felt as we both stared at whatever that was before us. It didn’t seem to care about Charlie, though. No, the eyes floating through the mass were focused on me.

“Arthur told me about you, Alexander,” a horrid voice sang. It sounded like someone was trying to speak while they were drowning, “he told me how weak you are...oh, he’s going to be so happy when I deliver you to him!” 

“Nope,” Charlie said as he lifted me up over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. I snatched my glasses as they flew off but I wasn’t even able to celebrate my amazing catch. No, instead I watched as the Pedro blob thing rolled and twisted after us with insane speed. He was gaining on us no matter how fast Charlie thought he was. 

Ugh. 

I braced myself on Charlie’s back with one arm and raised my other. I took a deep breath as I willed a ball of light to appear in my outstretched hand. I felt the strain of energy flow through my arm as I focused on it. That’s why I never used my mother’s power. When I conjured it up, it always seemed to ache for more. 

Oh, it looked even grosser in the light. He, I reminded myself, that thing was human.   

I brought my hand back and threw it as if I was throwing a baseball. The ball of energy sailed through the air and Pedro didn’t seem to notice or care. It flew past him and toward one of the conference rooms. I prepared myself as we neared the other stairwell. If we didn’t make it through before the energy ball touched ground, we could have a serious issue.             

I watched as it touched the ground almost in slow motion. The light traveled over the dirt and grime like a fire. I could see the energy start to lift and expand, slowly at first before the light started to travel. I raised both my arms up and hardened the shadows. I formed a black ball around me and Charlie just as the whole area exploded.