Don't Call Me A Hero

Chapter 15

“A real stellar place we got here, Peter,” Charlie whistled as he plopped his bag down on the dusty floor. I chuckled as I dropped mine down beside his. He was, obviously, being sarcastic. The small house stood just outside the tracks that separated the higher district from the lower one. You could see the visible difference from where the city stopped caring. 

The house itself might have been pretty when it was first built. It was decently sized and looked to be built for a mid-sized family with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The walls were a faded blue and the grass was overgrown and dying. It blended in with the rest of the buildings around it and, I supposed, that was what we needed. 

Luckily, Peter had convinced Maria and Charlie that they should hide out with me.

They weren’t fond of the idea. 

“It’s the best we got,” he answered, “considering the fact that I’m keeping quiet about mostly everything. I’m sorry, guys, I can’t hold my tongue any longer. I have a meeting tonight with my superiors and-”

“You’re going to tell them everything?” Maria asked, “even if it means killing Amanda?”

“I will find her before they do anything to her,” he promised, “my higher-ups-”

“You don’t have to explain,” I cut him off as I looked around the small walk space, “we’ll be fine. Go do what you gotta do. I assume that there will be someone parked outside at all times?”

“Yes.”

“Noted,” I said as I started to move throughout the house. I could hear Charlie and Maria arguing with Peter back and forth. I made no move to join the argument. I knew I wasn’t going to change Peter’s mind. He had risked his job and life enough for us as it was. We could hardly expect any more from him. 

The walkway was small but opened up to the dining room on the left and a family room to the right that was complete with a broken television. The kitchen was connected to the dining room. I assumed the door directly across from the front door was the first bathroom. The staircase stood right to the left of the front door. I assumed all three bedrooms and the second bathroom were upstairs but I made no move to go inspect them.

“Can you at least provide cleaning supplies?” I asked, interrupting their ongoing argument, “this place is a mess.”

“A professional cleaning crew is already on their way,” Peter said, “just sit tight.” 

“Sit tight?” I turned back toward them as Charlie yelled out just as the older man slammed the door shut behind him. Maria and Charlie threw their hands up in exasperation before turning their attention toward me. 

“You’re fine with this?” Charlie asked.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked him, “throw a fit? The more we fit against them, the more willing they’ll be to use force.”

“We’re adults,” Maria replied, “we should be able to choose-”

“And I’m sure you guys can,” I shrugged, “but if I try to, they’ll send me back to the compound.”

"And that's more important than Amanda?" Charlie asked. 

"No," I snapped, "but it's better that I'm here and able to do something instead of stuck upstate. I'll find a way around Peter, I promise."

"Okay," he consented, "so, what's the game plan?"

"Why would I have the plan?" I scoffed. 

"Because you always used to," Maria was the one that answered, "except for when Arthur decided to take over."

Before I could retort, there was a soft knock on the door. We all jumped at the sudden sound and expected the worst as Maria stepped closer to the door.

"Don't," Charlie hissed through his teeth as she slowly pulled it open. She let out a loud sigh of relief as she pulled it open. The cleaning crew piled in. They each wore a bright pink jumpsuit and one came and ushered us out the backdoor. 

"This...is actually nice," Charlie said and it was. There was a large, towering tree that still held a treehouse. The wooden fence, though it needed repairs, blocked off any sight of the houses around us. The grass was in need of cutting but the backyard hid any reminder that we were the bad part of the city. 

"We could do so much back here," Maria said with a small smile on her face. For a moment, it was like the two of them had forgotten I was there. They shared a warm smile and I rolled my eyes as I turned away from them.

I had no right to be salty about their relationship. Yes, perhaps I was jealous. 

You will always fall for those that will betray you. 

I shook the thought out of my head as I started toward the tree. There were more important things to be worrying about than my lack of a love life.

There was a line of planks nailed into the tree. I grabbed one and yanked at it, smiling when it stayed put. The house in the tree looked big enough to hold me but it definitely wasn't big enough for me to stand in. I started climbing up and ignored the conversation happening behind me. 

I needed to be alone and this was how. 

I squeezed myself through the opening that was meant for a much smaller body than mine. I moved so that I was laying on my back. My feet hung out of the small doorway and I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes. 

“Come on, Amanda,” I muttered aloud, “come on. Be alive.”

“I’m alive,” I jumped at the sound. I opened my eyes and slowly pushed myself up. We were somewhere different than last time. Every surface of the room was padded and discolored. Amanda sat in the center of the room with her back turned away from me. She was in one of those straight jackets that kept her arms wrapped around her body. I hadn’t ever seen one of those except for in movies. 

“Amanda?” I said as I stepped toward her, “what did they do to you?” 

“They think I’m crazy,” she giggled, “but everything’s crazy here.” 

“Did you see anything when they moved you?” 

“No,” she shook her head, “I made sure I didn’t.”

“Why?” I asked. 

“Arthur can do these terrible things,” she explained, keeping her head bowed so I couldn’t see her face, “terrible, terrible things and he wants to do worse.”

“We need to stop him,” I said.

“No,” she shook her head, “he needs you but I don’t know what for. You need to stay away and stay safe.”

“Not if you aren’t.”

“If they get you,” she finally looked up at me and I gasped. She had thick bandages over where her eyes used to be, “more people will die.”

“When you said you made sure…”

“I had to make sure he couldn’t use me to get you,” she said, “I don’t matter anymore. His plans are bigger than any of us.” 

“Amanda,” I choked out as I kneeled in front of her. I had the urge to pull her into my arms but I knew I wouldn’t be able to physically touch her. She smiled softly as if she had known what I had been about to do.

“Stay safe, Alexander,” she said as the door started to open behind me, “I’m glad I got to see you again before I…”

“No!” I sat up and yelped as my forehead slammed into the ceiling of the small treehouse. The tree started shaking slightly and I couldn’t even register what was happening until I was being yanked out of the treehouse. I started falling but Charlie’s strong-arm caught me before I could make my descent. It wasn’t that far of a drop but it wouldn’t have done my ankles any favors. Charlie jumped down with me still in his arms and landed easily on the ground below.

“What happened?” Maria asked. 

“I…” I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn’t. I stood there with my mouth hung open like an i***t as I struggled to figure out how to tell them what I had seen. Amanda didn’t want me to save her, I was the key to Arthur’s future destructive plans, and she clawed her eyes out. 

How do I explain that?

“Alex?” Maria asked, her hand lifting my chin up to meet her eyes. I hadn’t noticed until that moment that I was crying. She softly wiped my tears away as her own bottom lip trembled. She grabbed my arm and led me away from Charlie. She pulled me up the steps and back into the house. 

I was surprised that the crew had finished so fast, though I had no idea how long I was up in the treehouse. She sat me down at the newly cleaned table and moved toward the kitchen. I paid her no mind as I slowly let my head fall against the hardwood of the table. I took a deep breath, replaying the breathing exercises in my head that they had taught me at the compound.

Learning to control your emotions was key to controlling your abilities.

“Head up,” Maria ordered softly. I lifted my head and she pushed a mug of warm liquid into my hands. I closed my eyes as I took a sip, smiling as the hot cocoa flowed down my throat. I opened my mouth to ask where it came from but Charlie asked before I could. 

“Peter came and dropped off some groceries. Maria had requested hot chocolate,” he answered, pulling out a chair and sitting beside me at the dining room table, “you were up there for three hours.”

I nodded as I sipped my drink and closed my eyes. All I could see behind my closed lids was Amanda and the bloody bandages that covered her eyes. I winced at the sight and glared at the dark mug in my hand. Maria sat down across from me with her own mug and sipped at it silently, though her eyes were on me. 

“Alex,” Charlie spoke softly. I straightened my back as I felt a weight on my shoulders but relaxed when I realized it was, in fact, Charlie’s arm, “what happened?”

“You don’t have to tell us,” Maria said, “but...is Amanda okay?”

“She’s alive…” I muttered, and I cursed under my breath as I felt tears brimming in my eyes again, “but…not okay.”

“What happened?” Charlie asked again.

“I...she...,” I took a deep, shaky breath and kept my eyes on the mug, “Arthur has this terrible power, she said. I think it has something to do with his mind manipulation ability that had messed up Pedro? She, uh, didn’t want to betray us as Arthur wanted so…”

“So?” Maria whispered her eyes on her own cup. She already knew something terrible had happened. Both of them already knew. 

“She...clawed...her own eyes out,” I choked out. I didn’t look up as silence fell over the room. I could feel Charlie leave my side and walk off somewhere. I kept my eyes down and wiped my tears off my cheeks as I forced myself to my feet. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Peter’s voice broke me out of my haze and I blinked up at him as he shut the door behind him. The look of annoyance slowly turned into one of concern as he rushed forward and grabbed my shoulders. 

“Alex?” he asked, “what happened? Where’s Charlie and Maria?”

“We’re fine,” Charlie spoke up from behind me, “Amanda isn’t. You have Alex convinced that you’d find her faster with whatever agency you work for. Tell me you have something new.”

“They took it out of my hands,” he said, “I’m no longer allowed to work on it because I waited so long to report it.”

“That’s just great,” Charlie snapped, “so we’re stuck here with nothing?”