Hunting Heroes: A Superhero Novel (16 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Nimble fingers raced over the keyboard and created a symphony of clicks and clacks. The muted television evoked colors, which washed away in the radiant sunlight. The distant noise of the city life loomed outside the open window. It brought with it a gentle breeze that whipped the wooden blinds against the wall. Ethan slumped in the pillowed white sofa, transfixed on the blinking line as it moved forward and left a trail of letters.

The front door squeaked open and Ethan sat up from his comfy position on the couch. His right hand rubbed the stiff fabric of his t-shirt which gnawed on his left shoulder. A scar remained from the last night he saw Garrett, over two years ago.

“Denise,” he said. “Is that you?”

“Yep, it’s your beautiful wife, home from work,” Denise said.

Ethan threw the laptop on the empty spot on the couch, which was once Garrett’s. He walked over to his wife with a smile on his face.

“Have you been bumming around all day?” she said. “It smells like you have.” She crinkled her nose.

Ethan gave Denise a kiss and caressed her tummy. “Yeah…everything ok in there?” He planted another kiss which lingered, one she returned.

“He or she is fine,” Denise said. “You spent all day on the computer emailing Walter, am I right?”

A smile tugged on Ethan’s lips. “You know me too well.”

“Whenever you’re off from work you spend all day trying to find a clue of where he is,” Denise said. “It’s been over two years and not a single word. Maybe the Assembly is telling the truth and he escaped. He could be living on a beach somewhere, far away from all of this.”

“You think Garrett is the beach bum type?” Ethan said.

“Not at all,” Denise said with a grin. “He’s more like an untrained indoor cat.”

“If he escaped he would be going right after them again,” Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. “Even Walter doesn’t believe it and he was one of them. Garrett’s too stubborn to walk away and I love him for that.”

Denise pulled Ethan in and hugged him. “He’ll turn up sooner or later. Maybe we should invite Walter out for dinner. He doesn’t have anyone after Garrett took his powers. I feel bad, his friends turned their backs on him and he has been there for us through this. What kind of superhero team does that?” She wrapped her arms around Ethan even tighter.

“Yeah we should. I don’t know what I’d do without him,” Ethan said and stared at the once broken window Crimson jumped through.

“Wow, thanks a lot. You appreciate your wife so much,” she said.

“You know what I mean,” Ethan leaned back and gripped her shoulders. “You’re what keeps me sane.”

“You’re right, I do,” Denise said and grinned.

“You think he escaped?” Ethan asked.

Denise touched Ethan’s chin and directed him to look into her eyes. “Not a chance. I have told you hundreds of times I saw them drag him away. You’ve seen the video.”

“I know, I’m hopeful I guess,” Ethan glanced out the window. “We’ll keep looking until we find him.”

“We will find him. He’s a part of the family,” Denise said. “He’ll show up at the wrong time like always.”

“Yeah, he is,” Ethan turned back at his wife. “We spend years looking for him and he’s going to turn up like nothing happened.”

“Ok, I’m going to go shower and then we’re going to go grab dinner,” Denise pushed away from Ethan and gave him a seductive smile. “Maybe you should shower too.”

“Maybe I will,” Ethan said. “What would I do without you?”

“You’d be in jail. But you’re my problem now,” she said.

“You’re right, I’m lost without you,” he said.

“I know you would be. Now hurry up,” Denise moved away from Ethan and gave him a wink when she looked over her shoulder.

“I’m going to finish my email to Walter. I’ll invite him to dinner,” Ethan said and plopped back on the couch with a toothy grin across his face. Then the phone rang.

Chapter Nineteen

Gray fog surrounded him and it never seemed to break. It shielded his eyes from the darkened faces. His body had grown numb to the pokes, prods and the doses from the endless supply of godforsaken needles.

There were no thoughts of his own, yet, his mouth moved when the unknown faces interrogated him. The truth always flowed forth from his lips. Voices came and went, he listened but he did not hear what they said to him. One voice stood out, the voice of his true enemy, the man with the first needle. Since then there was constant haze and darkness. 

His enemy appeared too many times. They shared more than a few words and even stomach wrenching laughs on occasion. Soon after, screams filled his ears from unknown sources. He could never place where they came from or from the mouths they escaped. Some, he realized were his own.

In the haze over his eyes, people cowered when they forced him into the room. They issued the command, something within him stirred and his body responded. A hunger under the beck and call of monsters. With a touch, they screamed and their powers flowed forth into his body. The brief rush of power was the only reprieve from the agony. For a second, the world brightened, then the needle came and darkness followed.

Time stood still. Minutes, days, months, and years, jumbled together into an endless flow.  His eyes creaked open when he felt something crawl up his spine. The hair on his body stood on end. Pressure reverberated around him, followed by a bloodcurdling howls, then pure silence.

A soft touch on his hand startled him. Goosebumps ran up his arm, a sensation he never thought he would miss, until today.

“Please mister, help me,” the mousy voice said into his ear. A face buried itself into his neck, warmth spread throughout his body.

Garrett took a breath. A breath he seemed to hold in for far too long. He finally awoke from his nightmare.

Chapter Twenty

Patriot waved away a thick cloud of smoke when he strode through the vacant warehouse. His eyes focused on the man ahead who emitted the toxic fumes.

“What happened?” he asked his second in command.  Patriot coughed when Bloodhound blew another wall of smoke in his direction.

“What do you think happened?” Bloodhound said. “One of them woke up. Walter warned us this would happen. You chose not to listen as usual.”

Patriot narrowed his eyes, his lips a thin sliver on his face.

Bloodhound pointed with his head to the petite teenager. She sat behind him, cradling her knees, her eyes sealed tight.

“She’s exhausted from whatever happened down there,” Bloodhound said. “Everyone is gone, nothing but ashes. She’s the only survivor.”

Patriot walked past Bloodhound and crouched low to view the raven-haired girl who slept against the steel wall. His eyes turned to the stairwell, which descended into the secret Hotel.

“Damn it,” he said. “There is no one else? Are you sure? You checked everywhere?”

“He’s gone,” Bloodhound flicked the cigarette away. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit another.

“Who’s gone?” Patriot asked from his crouched position.

“You know who I’m talking about,” Bloodhound said with the cigarette attached to his lips. “She told me a man with black hair and dark blue eyes helped her. She said he took away her curse before she passed out.”

Patriot gasped and shut his mouth tight.

“You kept him hidden from us,” Bloodhound’s voice echoed in the empty warehouse, “I can’t believe you would hide this from us.”

Patriot inhaled the musty air through his nose. “I had no choice.”

Bloodhound shook his head and crouched down next to the young girl. He brushed the hair away from her soft face. “Sorry about this angel. You deserved better than this. I promised you nothing would happen to you when I found you. I’m sorry, you’ll be fine now. I will make sure of it.”

Patriot stood in silence, stroking his chin while he bit his lower lip.

“At least he freed you from your curse,” Bloodhound told her and stood to face his friend. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

“It had to be done,” Patriot said. “We can’t let him escape. He’s too valuable to us. Can you track him with your powers?”

“No, he’s immune to us remember. He’s long gone. I guess your story’s true now isn’t it?” Bloodhound took another drag of his cigarette. He exhaled a smoke ring and broke it with his finger. “I wouldn’t track him if I could. I watched the video logs on him stored on the mainframe. I don’t agree with what he did to us, but you lied to me. I told you he would be a problem and you chose not to listen. I told you to turn him over to the AIA. This is your mess, you clean it up. Both of you dragged the rest of us into your little war. The rest of Assembly should have no part in it.”

Patriot turned away to face the vast emptiness of the warehouse they referred to as Hotel Harvard. “He is our problem. What do you think he’s been doing all these years? The good ones down there are free because I decided to use his powers. I did it for the greater good. It’s why I hid him from everyone, except for the five people down in the bunker. I made the call to protect the Assembly and the Afflicted.”

Bloodhound curled his upper lip. “You drugged him and used his powers against his will. That’s the greater good to you? Who are you to make that decision?”

Patriot spun back around on his heels. “I’m the leader of the Assembly. It’s why I made the choice. We need to keep the AIA in the dark until we have recovered him. If they find out he’s alive, they will do everything in their power to capture him. We can’t give them the option.”

“It was never your choice to make,” Bloodhound said.

Patriot walked away. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“Let them have him,” Bloodhound said. “I told you to hand him over to them. You decided to you used him instead. Then you forgot about him and left him in that prison.”

Patriot stopped in his tracks. “We’ll catch him again. We don’t have a choice.”

Bloodhound groaned. “He’s too dangerous and we have too many green recruits. This hunter killed one of ours for God’s sake. He took out Sage and Shadow Guard. He held his own against Crimson and Obsidian. If he didn’t surrender, we’d have a lot more bodies from the night of the blizzard.” Bloodhound placed his hands in his pocket.

Patriot’s stern face flushed to red, a vein protruded from his forehead. “Walter gave away his powers because he was a drunk and couldn’t take the pressure anymore. Shadow Guard was the first to face him and he did not know what to expect. We did not understand the true extent of his powers, we do now.”

“You’re making excuses,” Bloodhound said.

Patriot lowered his head and clenched his jaw. “Things have changed. The members we have now will know every little detail about him.”

“We still need Walter and you’re too stubborn to admit it. He was the heart of the Assembly,” Bloodhound said.

“Walter turned his back on us,” Patriot said. “We’re fine without him and we’ll find the parasite. Next time, he won’t be getting out.”

“When we caught him, he was learning about his abilities,” Bloodhound said. “You decided to experiment on him. Now we have no idea how powerful you made him. How many people did you feed him in the hole you threw him into?”

“I don’t know,” Patriot said. “The scientists in the labs had all the information on him and the others. Like the child behind you.”

“Her name is Amanda,” Bloodhound shook his head. “I know you’re lying. I can hear your heart racing right now. She is going to be fine in case you were wondering. She deserved better than this. You had the one person who could have given her a normal life. But you didn’t. You let this little girl be drugged and hid her away down there. Why would you do that to her?”

Patriot looked away. “Her powers were too valuable and she was close to controlling them. We could’ve used her. The world is changing. This country and its people need us to lead them, to protect them.”

Bloodhound scooped up the girl in his thick arms. “You’ve changed. The man I knew would never use a little girl for her powers.”

“You think it’s easy to make these decisions,” Patriot thrust his index finger at Bloodhound. “Where are you when the AIA comes knocking on our door, or when the CIA and the NSA want to use our people. Where? I’ll tell you where you are. You are off on a cold case while I am stuck protecting the living. I keep the Assembly funded and functioning. You abandoned us a long time ago.”

Bloodhound bit his lip and glared at Patriot.

“Don’t you dare question my decisions,” Patriot said. “When I decide an Afflicted is too valuable to be stripped of their power, then they are. When you decide to help out again instead of questioning me, then you can decide the fate of the people in the Hotels.”

Patriot walked to the staircase into the Hotel. “Until then, keep your opinion to yourself.”

“I called the Afflicted Intelligence Agency,” Bloodhound said. “They are on their way. I’m not keeping this secret. It could destroy everything we built. I’m not going to clean up after you anymore.”

“You think they care about those people down there?” Patriot said. “They don’t, because they are under control and out of their hair.”

“She’s not getting the blame for this and neither is Garrett,” Bloodhound glanced down to the little young girl in his arms. “I will go to the press about what happened down there.”

“The Assembly will not protect you if you do,” Patriot said. “The choice is yours.”

Bloodhound let a hearty growl rumble in his throat.

“I thought so,” Patriot said and flew down the staircase to the secrets he had once kept buried in an old warehouse in Harvard Illinois.