Super (21 page)

“You do have your powers!” said Eric.

“I didn’t at first!” said Louisa. “At the tree fort, that was for real. But the next morning they came back. I just … I don’t like being this way! I thought I could be normal. At least everyone would think I was normal.”

She looked up at Daniel and her eyes were glistening with tears. They were such pretty eyes.

“I’m sorry, Daniel,” she said. “I didn’t know you’d blame yourself. I really do hate lying, but it just … seemed so much easier this way.”

Daniel didn’t know what to say. He’d felt such shame about Louisa. He’d been carrying it around with him for weeks, and to learn now that she’d been lying all along …

Just as he’d lied. She’d had her reasons just as he’d had his, misguided though they might have been.

“It’s all right,” said Daniel. “I understand.”

“Well,” said Rohan, “that explains our outlier. That’s good, because with such a small sample, even one statistical anomaly can be—”

“Can it, Rohan,” said Mollie. “We get why you did it, Louisa. But why are you here now?”

“I don’t like my powers. I hate them. But I don’t want those … creatures coming for Rose. If I can help you, I will.”

“Of course,” said Daniel. “You’re one of us. Always.”

“Can we go now?” asked Rose. “ ’Cause if we wait much longer I’m gonna have to pee again.”

True to his word, Theo was waiting for them at the quarry. He joined them as Daniel opened his backpack to reveal flashlights, rope, and other pieces of equipment. It paid to be prepared when you were planning a late-night expedition to an abandoned quarry haunted by shadow monsters.

“So, you guys do this sort of thing often?” asked Theo. “Like a tween spelunking club?”

“Well, only …,” Daniel began. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

“And I thought I was living dangerously taking my dad’s car for a joyride.”

“You were,” said Daniel.

“And what do you think we’ll find? Old Uncle Herman in his super-villain’s hideout?”

“I know it sounds crazy, Theo. But yes, I do. Him or something else. It’s possible we’re facing something we haven’t seen yet.”

Theo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I gotta tell you, I know those things, those shadows, weren’t human. I mean I saw them with my own eyes, but I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around all this. How’d you handle it? When you first found out about all this … stuff?”

“I handled it worse than you,” Daniel answered. “You’re holding it together much better than I did.”

The older boy smiled at him. “That’s it. Appeal to my ego. I think you’ve got me figured out, Corrigan.”

The Old Quarry didn’t look abandoned anymore. The layer of loose, broken rubble had been cleared away and a complex scaffolding of support struts had been erected to shore up the unstable sides. As the sun went down and the temperature dropped, small trails of steam started to rise from the diggers and dump trucks that sat cooling near the edge of the quarry pit.

Soon the scientists would begin delving into the mountain proper, and Daniel knew what they’d find there. The only thing standing between Dr. Lewis and the Shroud’s lair was a few more feet of dirt and rock. Daniel was determined to get there first.

They stood at the edge of the pit, seven children on a monster hunt. Eric out front, Mollie by his side. Rohan wasn’t even looking down at their destination—he was scanning the line of trees or perhaps looking for something even farther away. Behind him stood Louisa, who looked like she might be holding her sister’s hand. Rose had turned invisible before they’d even reached the mountain, so it was hard to tell for sure. Theo and Daniel brought up the rear several yards back from the others, maybe because they were the ones least trusted, though each for very different reasons.

Eric gestured to the far side of the newly excavated quarry. “The caves were over there someplace, right?”

Daniel nodded and pointed to a tree on the far side of the pit’s edge. “See that split oak? Train your eyes on that and then follow it down all the way to the bottom. I used it as a landmark. The cave’s almost directly underneath.”

“Something’s moving around down there,” said Rohan. “It’s muffled beneath the dirt and rock, but I definitely hear it.”

“You sure you aren’t just eavesdropping on a family of moles?” asked Mollie.

“I hear voices,” he answered. “Whispers. I can’t make out what they’re saying.”

Theo gave Daniel a look. “Can he really hear that?” he asked softly.

“Don’t underestimate him,” said Daniel. “If Rohan says someone’s down there, then someone’s down there.”

“So Mollie and I will go first and check it out,” said Eric. “Rohan, you keep a watch; the rest of you wait here.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” came a little voice out of nowhere. Rose.

“And you,” said Eric, turning to Theo. “Are you up for this?”

“I’m not along for the scintillating conversation,” answered Theo. “I’ll do my part.”

Eric nodded. Then he and Mollie began floating down to the quarry floor. As they went, snippets of their conversation echoed back to Daniel and the others.

“What the heck’s
scinti-whatever
mean?” Eric was saying.

“Just drop it,” answered Mollie.

The two flew slowly, doing cautious circles around the quarry’s perimeter. The last time they’d come here to fight the Shroud, the whole place had been overgrown with years of underbrush, even a few small trees. Now at least the area was freshly cleared. There was no place for anyone to hide. Or so they thought.

Rohan, of course, spotted them first. The shadows that were too long, that were moving on their own. They snaked across the quarry floor and up the walls until they began pooling together in Mollie and Eric’s path. If Rohan hadn’t shouted a warning, the two of them would’ve been caught surprised. As it was, they had only a few seconds to pull up before flying into a pocket of darkness that had assembled in front of them.

Mollie and Eric sped away from the sudden ambush, but another group of wriggling, menacing Shades had formed on the opposite wall. And another, and another. Every shadow in that pit was now moving of its own accord. Groups of them were peeling away from the walls now, fluttering about the quarry like a flock of panicked birds. Eric and Mollie were in the middle of it all.

“Get out of there!” Daniel shouted. They weren’t prepared for this: there had to be hundreds of them down there. Hundreds.

“No! Leave them alone,” shouted Theo, pushing his way past Daniel. “Stop! I command all of you to stop!”

Theo’s voice echoed across the empty quarry and the shadows heard him. In an instant they stopped swirling
about Eric and Mollie, but they didn’t retreat either. Daniel’s friends were boxed in by Shades, but at least they’d broken off their attack.

Theo looked over his shoulder back at Daniel and chuckled. “Looks like I’ve still got the touch!”

Daniel joined Theo at the quarry’s edge. A couple of the Shades had drifted off from the main pack and were hesitantly approaching, but they appeared submissive, even docile, in the presence of their new master.

“Easy, boys,” said Theo as two of them got a bit too close for comfort. “That’s far enough. Now, I guess, take us to your master.”

In answer came the sound of wind rustling through dried leaves. It might have been their voices, but there was no way they could make it out. Even Rohan shook his head in confusion.

“Too many at once,” he said.

“Theo, on second thought this might not be a good idea,” said Daniel. He’d expected a handful of these creatures to deal with, not an army.

But Theo waved him off. He was too busy getting into the part.

“This isn’t decision by committee!” he shouted down at the Shades. “I said I wanted something done and I want it done now!” Theo turned and winked at Daniel. “That’s my dad’s corporate-speak.”

It seemed to be working. One by one, the Shades drifted away. The two nearest to Theo turned and flew down to the
base of the quarry and began to dig up the earth directly below Daniel’s split oak tree. The rest of the creatures formed a semicircle around the Supers, urging them down the sloping trail that led to the quarry floor. They weren’t being attacked, but the Shades weren’t ready to let them run free either.

By the time Daniel and the other walkers made it to the bottom, the Shades had finished with their hole, exposing a half-buried cave entrance beneath. Eric and Mollie were waiting for them on the floor, nervously eying the Shades that stood nearby, observing—or more likely guarding—the two kids.

The Supers stood at the bottom of the Old Quarry, surrounded by an army of Shades, and prepared to enter Herman Plunkett’s Shroud-Cave. Surrounded by a hundred Shades, Daniel thought again that maybe his plan wasn’t so sound, but they had no other choice but to follow it through. These Shades were obeying Theo, but only up to a point. They hadn’t relaxed their guard, and though Theo was ordering them around like a pack of whipped dogs, to Daniel’s eyes they looked more like hounds straining against their leashes. He was afraid what would happen if they broke free.

This time Daniel went first. He flicked on his flashlight and peered into the freshly dug hole. Several feet down he spotted the giant stone door that marked Herman’s Shroud-Cave. It was split down the middle, one half of it missing. A moist breeze blew out of the darkness beyond. Daniel remembered that breeze. He remembered the smell of these caves, the chalky air, and what it felt like to be held prisoner
in the darkness, bound and helpless. With an effort he willed himself to relax. He took a deep, calming breath and pushed that terrifying memory away. They had a purpose to focus on, and he needed to stay calm.

The hole in the door was just big enough to squeeze through. A grown man probably wouldn’t have been able to manage it. Once upon a time this door had rolled on hinges, but that mechanism had been destroyed in the cave-in. The tunnel was wider on the other side, and two people could comfortably stand side by side, but Daniel was still startled when Mollie appeared next to him. He’d expected Eric to take the lead, but Mollie must have beaten him to it.

“Just like old times,” she said. They’d been the ones to first discover this cave together, although the memory didn’t exactly inspire confidence. They’d barely escaped with their lives.

Eric came through next, followed by Rohan.

“Theo’s barking orders out there, and those Shades seem less and less happy about it,” said Rohan. “He’s getting a little
too
into his role.”

“Then we’d better hurry,” said Daniel, and they began creeping along into the darkness.

They’d traveled only a few yards when Daniel heard movement, a kind of shifting sound, and his first thought was that the tunnel might be unstable after the cave-in. But then he realized that the sound was actually coming from shapes that were moving alongside them. Shades were tracking them, escorting them farther into the darkness. They
were pulling him and Mollie along but seemed to be slowing Eric and Rohan down. The Shades were keeping them a safe distance apart from each other.

Whispers as soft as rustling sheets echoed around them as they went.

“They’re saying my name,” Mollie said, her eyes wide.

“Don’t be silly,” said Daniel, although he too thought he heard someone calling to him. But he wouldn’t admit it. Their minds were just playing tricks on them.

They were nearly to the first chamber, the wide cave where Herman Plunkett had held Daniel captive, when Mollie cried out. She was pointing at the dark and saying something, but she was speaking so fast that her words were little more than buzzing to Daniel’s ears.

“Slow down! Mollie, what’s wrong?” Daniel shone his light at the Shades, but they continued to float harmlessly by. They kept pace with them, but there was nothing new or threatening that he could see.

Mollie was crying. Daniel wanted to reach out and reassure her that everything was okay, but he dared not risk touching her. Even a gentle pat on the shoulder could leave her powerless.

“Mollie?” he asked.

“One of them … got close,” she said as she struggled to pull herself together. “Oh, Daniel! It showed me its face! I saw its face!”

Daniel aimed his flashlight’s beam directly at the nearest Shade. Nothing but indistinct blackness.

“Mollie, I don’t see anything.”

“I did! The Shade … it was the one saying my name. It was Michael!”

Michael. Michael had been Mollie’s best friend before the Shroud had stolen his memories. Daniel had spoken to him. He was a sad case, a little lost perhaps but physically fine. Daniel even shared gym class with him, and he’d seen him that very day and he’d been perfectly normal. Michael wasn’t a Shade.

“Look, Mollie …”

“Don’t say it!” Mollie wiped her nose. “Don’t you dare say that I’m imagining things, because I saw Michael! Somehow … he’s one of them. He’s out there!”

She meant it. Whatever else was going on, Mollie wasn’t prone to hysterics—she believed what she’d seen. Daniel nodded slowly. Whether she was mistaken or not, there was nothing they could do about it now. The Shades were gathering around them, urging them on, deeper into the cave. Behind them, Eric and Rohan were calling ahead, asking why they’d stopped. Obviously, they hadn’t seen anything either.

The tunnel opened into the Shroud-Cave itself. An eerie green glow shone through the opening, causing real shadows to dance among the slithering Shades. This large chamber was left over from the prehistoric people who’d made these caves their home—the large wall of cave paintings was proof of that. But Herman Plunkett had colonized it, adding his own pictures to the ancient mural. The cave paintings
were a history of a people who’d been seduced and then destroyed by the power of the Witch Fire meteor—a hunk of the same comet that had passed by Noble’s Green when Herman had been just a little orphan child. Herman’s contribution to this ages-old mural was to record his own history with a photo of every child he’d ever robbed. Picture by picture, it was a wall of shame and terror.

Now, as Daniel entered the room for the second time in his life, he saw a new addition to the mural wall. Tied up in a web of what looked like solid darkness—Shade stuff—hung Herman Plunkett. He was bound up like a fly, dangling helpless in a web of shadow that stretched the length of the large chamber’s ceiling. Herman’s beady eyes squinted against the glare of the pulsing green pendant around his neck as he tried to focus on Daniel and his friends.