Don't Call Me A Hero

Chapter 10

 “So,” Peter groaned, “you haven’t told me any of this because…”

“I was scared, Peter,” I whispered. Owen, Carl (Arthur’s brother), and Tom were talking in the same hushed voices as we were across the room. I watched them for a moment before continuing, “I didn’t know who to trust. She told me not to go to the police and you’re basically the police!”

“Okay,” he nodded, “I see your point but you can’t really expect me not to report this.”

“You can’t, Peter,” I begged him, “they have ties to the police and we don’t know who else. We need to make sure she is safe before we tell anyone else.”

“Even Tom?”

“Even Tom,” I answered. I had already told too many people as is. It was getting harder and harder to keep Owen out of the loop. Luckily, he was kind enough not to pry or question what was happening here. Was that kindness or stupidity? The world may never know...I sighed as I spoke up again, “I’m trusting you, Peter. Please don’t make me regret it.”

“Okay,” he nodded slowly, “I will keep quiet until things get crazy. As soon as things go off the rail-”

“Deal,” I relented. 

“Good,” he nodded, “what’s the deal with Carl?” 

“Arthur’s brother. Apparently someone has been trying to kill him.”

“Arthur?” 

“We suspect so.”

“Cause he isn’t dead.”

“Yep, you’re catching on.”

“The funeral is on Tuesday, by the way,” he sighed, “but I suggest both you and Carl skip it.”

“What?”

“It is the perfect time for Arthur, or whoever else, to try and kidnap or kill the both of you. We can’t risk it. You still have Carl’s clothes?”

“In the trash can,” I pointed at the one in the corner. Peter grabbed the entire trash can and headed for the door.

“I’m going to try and see what we can get off of this. Don’t go anywhere without Tom. You may not trust him, Alex, but I do.”

“Tom!” I called out as soon as Peter left, “are you as resourceful as your partner?”

“I hope so.”

“I need you to find some people and get them to meet us somewhere. Can you handle that?”

“Consider it done,” Tom turned to leave and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I didn’t even tell you who to find.”

“Oh,” Tom paused and spun toward him, “right. Sorry. Who am I getting?”

“I’ll write it down,” I muttered as I found a notebook. I scribbled out the names of my old friends and handed it to him. I watched him leave and groaned as I noticed the blood on my blanket. I wrapped it up in a ball and threw it toward the door before plopping down on the stiff mattress. Owen sat by my feet and Carl sat across from me on Owen’s bed. He looked small in my clothing though I wasn’t much bigger than he was.

“Do you love your brother?” I asked suddenly, surprised at my own question. Carl’s eyes widened slightly before he turned his gaze toward the shaded window. I could see his fists clench and unclench as he struggled to answer. 

“Yes,” he spoke barely above a whisper, “I suppose that’s strange. He killed my mom and he’s trying to kill me but…”

“He’s still family,” I finished. 

“Okay,” Peter burst in, “I have found you a safehouse to rest in until we can figure out what to do. Carl, a car is waiting for you by the doors. It’s self driving so there will be no one but you in the car. Alex, let me talk to you in the hallway.”

Carl left quickly and quietly. I slowly followed Peter out of the room and waited for him to continue. He glanced up and down the hallway before shoving me into what I assumed was his room. 

“What’s up?” I asked simply as I regained my balance. 

“Carl is not as innocent as he’ll make you think,” Peter said, “the blood on his clothes was not his own. The blood matched a Megan Peterson, a reported missing person from a week ago. She was part of Lutsfy’s experiments just like you.”

“He’s part of it,” I groaned, “where are you sending him?”

“To a safe house that’s heavily monitored. Anything he does there, I’ll know about it. He is still the best thing we got to find Arthur. Don’t worry, Alex, this isn’t on any official report. ”

“Thank you,” I muttered as I ran a hand through my tangled hair, “you could get fired for doing this, can’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you risking so much for me?”

“Because,” Peter thought for a moment, “I trust you and you trust me. I’d never want to break that.”

“Same,” I muttered as I went for the door. 

“One more thing,” Peter said, “I would watch out for Owen.”

“Why?”

“Doesn’t he seem a little off to you?” he asked, “like, he’s too willing to help even though he has no idea what is going on? A normal person would question it. Hell, a normal person would demand to know what’s going on. He hasn’t asked one question. He hasn’t seemed fazed by the explosion at all. Doesn’t that seem a little strange to you?”

“I’m way ahead of you,” I promised, ignoring the instant urge to stand up for Owen.

“Good,” Peter nodded, content with how things were ending. I offered a small smile back before stepping into the hallway. There was a man standing beside the doorway with a tool kit and a new door leaning against the wall beside it. I sighed as I walked in the opposite direction. I didn’t want to see Owen, especially when my fears had been validated from someone else. 

I stepped outside and was about to take off when a strong hand yanked on my shoulder. I spun, my fist raised and ready until I found myself looking into the face of a teenage girl that was still in high school. She was vaguely familiar and I couldn’t figure out where I knew her from until she spoke up.

“You,” she growled, her hands clenched in fists at her side.

“You,” I copied her greeting and tilted my head, “how’d the presentation go?”

“I failed because of you. I’m going to have to wait a whole semester before trying again.”

“You didn’t fail because of me,” I sighed, “your failure is your own fault. You made a poor presentation, not me. Did you really come all the way to campus to harass me?" 

“Well, you-”

“Alexander Blackwell,” a booming voice called out. I slowly spun toward the sound and frowned at what I found. There were three people in black standing with their arms folded across their chests. One was a female but that was the only difference I could tell between them. Their clothing looked like tactical gear police wore and they wore big helmets that covered up their faces.  

I just couldn't get a break, could I?

"Should I know who you are?" I asked, pushing the girl behind me. She didn't complain but peered around my shoulder.

"No," the middle one said, "but we'll get to know each other soon enough."

“I’d rather not,” I shrugged, “no offense.”

“I’m not giving you a choice,” the middle man sang out, “there is no escape from us. There’s three of us and one of you. What could you really do against us?”

“I guess we’ll have to see,” I said. I glanced back at the girl with a sigh, “get out of here, kid, this is going to get ugly real fast.” 

“No,” she said, stepping out from behind me, “this is exciting. Let me help!”

“Are you kidding?” I called out just as the three lunged forward. 

The girl didn’t wait for another reply. She tackled the female of the group and they went tumbling off to the side. I took a step back as the other two slowly walked toward me. I looked back and forth between them, waiting for whoever decided to attack first. 

I knew they weren’t going to kill me but I had no guarentee that they would spare the girl. I sucked in a breath as the one on the right disappeared. His power was either teleportation or invisibility. 

Either way, I wasn’t going to wait around to find out. 

I lunged toward the one I could see and hardened shadows around my fist. My blackened fist slammed into his gut. He hunched forward and stepped around him. I moved to hit him in the back of the head when I was thrown to the side. My back collided with someone’s car and I fell to the ground with shards of glass raining down on me. 

I pushed myself back to my feet, shards of glass cutting my palms as I forced myself up. I felt the blood sliding down my hands as the two men stepped toward me once more. Just like before, one disappeared while the other kept coming. I sighed as I took a deep breath to calm myself. I raised my hands and shadows formed around me as I did so. I pushed them out and smiled when they didn’t move over an extra form. The other guy seemed confused as the shadows passed over him. 

I got what I wanted. The other guy was a teleporter. I could work with that. I kept the shadows around me as I stepped toward the other guy. I had no idea where the teleporter was, however, I’d feel him in my shadows if he drew near. I raised my fists and hardened the shadows around him. He started to kick and fight against them as I lifted him off the ground.

That was when the teleporter decided to come up behind me. 

I threw back my elbow and caught him hard in the chin. He stumbled back and I turned to face him as I dropped the other guy. The man straightened up and regarded me through the dark helmet he wore. 

“You know,” I smiled as I raised my fists, “I have never fought a teleporter before. This is fun.”

“This is what you call fun?” he asked. His head tilted slightly upward and I dove to the side as a large metal box slammed into the ground where I had just stood. It used to be the large metal box that held the map of the campus.

Damn it, I needed that. 

They stepped forward again and I frowned when the strong one fell back. Peter stepped up beside me with his pistol raised. He opened his mouth to speak before the teleporter grabbed his downed friend and disappeared. I rushed over to where I saw the females fall and sighed in relief when the teenager walked toward us. 

“Are you okay?” I asked. Her shirt was torn to reveal her tight undershirt and she had blood trailing down her nose. She nodded and noticed the dented side of the blue car I had been thrown into.

“Are you kidding me?” she complained, “that’s my car!”

“A friend of yours?” Peter asked. 

“Not really,” I shrugged, “I think she just likes to fight.”

“Kidnappers?”

“Yep.”

“For you or Carl?”

“Definitely me,” I said and looked down at my red hands. 

“s**t, Alex,” Peter shoved his gun into his holster inside his jacket. He grabbed one of my hands carefully and started pulling out the pieces of glass, “what happened exactly?”

“They wanted me to go with them,” I shrugged, “maybe I should have.”

“Why would you think that?” 

“I could have found Amanda,” I said, watching as the girl’s sanity slowly broke. She let out a scream of frustration and kicked at the wheels. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. I winced as he yanked out a deeper piece of glass. 

“What’s her deal?” he asked. 

“The freakout right now or just in general?”

“Both.”

“I have no idea.”