Ashley Jason

7. CHAPTER FOUR-1

Jake and I stood in the backyard of our parents’ house, our duffel bags and backpacks slung over our shoulders. It was fairly early in the morning, just after seven, and it was a little cool out, though not cold enough to require wearing a coat or anything. I comfortably wore a t-shirt and jeans, while Jake had a red shirt and shorts.

Mom, naturally, was fretting over us. She seemed to teleport at will, appearing here and there, asking questions like, “Are you sure you packed your Super Pills?” and “Did you forget your underwear? I can go into the house and get it if you guys need me to.” and “Don’t forget your socks, either. Those are important.”

“It’s fine, Mom,” I said, waving my hand to get Mom off us. “We remembered to pack everything for school. We’re fine. Or at least I did. I can’t speak for Jake.”

Jake pouted. “Hey, I packed all of my things, too. Just because I only need one bag while you need three or four doesn’t mean I forgot anything. It just means I’m better at packing things than you are.”

“You really only need one bag, anyway,” said Dad, who stood a few feet away with baby Ronny, who was sucking on a pacifier, in his arms. “Then again, men don’t require nearly as much makeup as women do, so that’s probably why we need only one bag.”

I hefted my bags over my shoulder. “It’s not makeup, Dad. It’s extra clothing. You know, practical things.”

“Packing extra clothing really doesn’t help your case, sis,” said Jake. “It would be like if I packed an extra bag full of guns and bacon. Hmmm … actually, that would be a good idea, although I wonder if the Academy would let me take guns and bacon on campus or not.”

I rolled my eyes and looked at my watch. “It’s just after seven. When are we leaving for the airport to catch our flight to Washington?”

“Flight?” said Dad. “Didn’t we tell you? We canceled your flight last night after you two went to bed.”

“What?” I said, looking at Dad in alarm. “How are we going to get to the Academy if we can’t fly there? We’re not driving again, are we?”

“Are we gonna run?” said Jake excitedly. “Because I’ve never run from Texas to Washington before. Sounds like fun.”

“We’re not driving or running,” said Mom, taking a step back from us so she stood next to Dad. “We’ve arranged alternate travel arrangements for you two that are much safer than flying, driving, or running.”

“Why?” I said. “We had our plane tickets reserved for weeks.”

“It’s because of last night’s attack from the Guardians,” said Dad. “Now that we know that the Guardians are specifically targeting us, it’s likely they’ll attack us again. Flying, driving, and running would leave us vulnerable to Guardian attacks.”

I smiled nervously. “Surely the Guardians wouldn’t try to attack us while we’re on an airplane or in a car, right?”

Dad looked at me seriously. “The Guardians have been known to down airplanes and cause huge highway pileups just to kill supers. They wouldn’t hold off trying to kill you two because you happened to be flying in the same plane as a bunch of normals.”

“Remember that huge plane crash last year that killed a few NHA members?” said Mom. “That was caused by a Guardian, who had murdered the pilot the night before and impersonated him long enough to get the plane in the air and crash it, killing everyone—super and normal alike—on board.”

My jaw fell open. “Oh.”

“As I said, the Guardians are a serious threat,” said Dad. “Now that they’re targeting us, we can’t just keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. That’s why we’re going to transport you two in the most secure way we know how.”

“And what would that be?” asked Jake. He looked around eagerly. “Are we going to be using one of Grandpa’s old Teleportation Disks? That would be so cool.”

“It’s not exactly teleportation,” said an amused female voice behind us. “But good guess.”

Jake and I whirled around to see an unfamiliar woman and a man standing just beneath the shade of the big oak tree in the corner of our yard. The woman seemed to be close in age to Mom and Dad, though she somehow looked younger than either of them. Her short, dark hair stood out sharply against her pale skin, while her dark eyes sparkled with amusement. She wore leather combat gear with a patch that had a bald eagle on it, with the words ‘G-MEN’ imprinted on the design. She was very thin but also in good shape.

The man had a similar patch and uniform to the woman, though unlike her, he had a g*n holstered securely at his side. He was black, with a short crew-cut haircut partially covered by a red bandanna and goatee on his face that made him look rather intimidating. He was a good deal taller and bulkier than the woman and wore thick leather gloves over his fists. He was leaning against the tree with his arms folded in front of his chest, an unfriendly scowl on his face. He also had a patch over his right eye, making him look kind of like a pirate.

“Huh?” I said. “Who are those people and where did they come from?”

“Bet they’re more Guardians,” said Jake. He tossed his bags on the ground and thrust his hands out behind him. “Stay back, everyone! I’ll give ‘em the ol’ one-two!”

“Jake,” said Dad, holding out a hand toward him, “wait—”

But Jake, of course, didn’t listen. Jake darted forward, his super-speed allowing him to rocket across the backyard faster than my eyes could follow. I almost looked away, knowing that a couple of normals, even fully-grown adult normals, stood no chance against Jake.

But I was glad I kept looking. If only because it showed me that I should have been more concerned about Jake’s safety than the safety of the people he was attacking.

Neither the woman nor the man moved. The woman just smirked and flicked her finger forward.

Without warning, the shadows cast by the oak tree stretched and curled. They rose up from the ground and wrapped around Jake’s ankles, causing him to trip and fall face-first onto the dewy grass. Gasping in surprise, Jake raised his head and looked over his shoulder at the shadows clutching his ankles. “Huh? Are those tentacles?”

“Nope,” said the woman, shaking her head. She looked—and sounded—greatly amused by Jake’s predicament. “Shadows.”

Another flick of her finger and the shadows rose, lifting Jake off the ground and causing his shirt to fall down to his chest. Jake let out a surprised yelp as the shadow tendrils rose higher and higher into the air until soon he was about ten feet off the ground. Jake’s arms flailed around uselessly as he tried to free himself, but it was clear that Jake was pretty well trapped.

“Hey!” said Jake. “This is stupid! Let me down now, you crazy lady!”

The woman smirked. “Wow. Not only do you look like your dad, but you sound just like him, too. It’s unsettling.”

Although the woman did not seem to be harming Jake, I had to admit she was getting on my nerves. I stepped forward and summoned a light hammer in my hands, which I held up and pointed at the woman. “Let my younger brother go. And if you even try to hurt him, I won’t hesitate to bash your brains in.”

The woman smirked and suddenly disappeared into the shadows of the tree. A second later, I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked over my shoulder to see the woman rising partially out of my shadow, an amused grin on her face.

“Boo,” said the woman.

I started and swung my hammer instinctively at her face, but the woman disappeared into my shadow before my hammer could land. The woman reappeared under the shadows of the oak tree, looking for all the world like she hadn’t moved an inch.

“You have fast reflexes,” the woman called from the oak tree, “but not fast enough. Certainly not as fast as your dear old dad.”

I gritted my teeth, but then Dad stepped forward and said, “Shade, that is enough. Put Jake down and stop trolling my daughter. That isn’t what I asked you to do.”

The woman, apparently named Shade, looked at Dad with a fake innocent expression on her face. “Oh, hi, Bolt. Sorry about that. I was just having a bit of fun with the kids. You know how I am. I just love kids so much that I can’t help but mess with them a little.”

The tendril holding Jake lowered slowly until Jake was about a foot off the ground. Then it dropped Jake onto the grass, where he landed flat on his back, while the shadow tendril shrank and turned back into a normal shadow. Jake quickly got back to his feet and zipped behind me and Dad, watching Shade with more than a hint of fear in his eyes.

“Dad, do you know this woman?” I said, looking up at Dad in confusion. “You act like she’s your friend or something.”

“She’s not a friend,” said Dad. He grimaced. “I do know her, though sometimes I wish I didn’t.”

“Aw, come on, Bolt,” said Shade. “That’s not a nice thing to say. We’ve been on tons of adventures together. And if it hadn’t been for my actions, Blizzard would have died all those years ago.”

“Your people also manipulated and ruined my family a long time ago, too,” said Dad. “Plus, I seem to remember you and I fighting each other more often than not.”

Shade shrugged. “We were both kids back then. Kids do stupid things. I mean, look at you now. Home, five acres, two kids—”

“Three,” said Dad. “I have three kids now.”

Shade waved a hand dismissively. “Three kids, two kids, whatever. It’s all the same to me. The point is, we’ve both grown and matured a lot. Besides, if you really didn’t trust me, you wouldn’t have asked me to protect your kids, now would you?”

“You’re going to protect us?” I said. “I’m not sure I like that idea. I don’t even know who you people are.”

Shade looked at Dad in surprise. “You mean your dad has never told you about me before? I’m hurt. I thought we had something.”

Mom stepped forward, glaring a death glare at Shade. “You never had anything with Kevin. Ever. Got it?”

My eyes widened in surprise. Mom was usually a nice, calm person who rarely got angry with anyone unless they did something like threaten her family. Yet now she looked at this Shade lady like she was trying to kill her through nasty looks alone. It definitely made me trust Shade less.

“I was just joking, Blizzard,” said Shade, holding up her hands. “I know your husband and I never had anything. Take a chill pill. Geez.”