“Seriously? How many different ways are you going to think of to call me an ass?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Eh, I’m positive I can think up a few more.”
He arched his brow as he fought off a grin. “Don’t think I forgot what we were originally talking about, Bell. You can curse me all you’d like in your thoughts, but I’m not going to let you head off on your own again.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware you had stepped into the role of my father,” I groaned. “I’m an adult, Cole. I’m more than capable of making my own decisions. I suggest you learn to do the same. Staying here is only going to get you killed.”
T
wo days later...
I sat perched atop the building, crouched as I glanced over the brightly lit streets. The warm night air beat down upon me, instantly making me regret my choice to wear a leather ensemble.
Gwen and I used to always sneak out to the Keers building after training to getaway from my father’s watchful eye. Not that it ever made much of a difference, given the fact that the Keers building was only a block away from Bilson Corporations.
But it at least offered a false sense of freedom – just for a little while.
Now? The Keers building offered me a chance to relive those memories.
I rose to my feet with my arms spread at my sides, and closed my eyes.
Part of me wanted to jump, to experience the rush it would bring.
But I knew better than to draw attention to myself.
A person couldn’t disappear if they left behind a trail
, I reminded myself.
My phone sounded from my pocket again. I didn’t have to look to know that it was Cole. I had to give it to him, he always managed to find a way to be incredibly annoying. Maybe that was another power of his?
I moved towards the back of the building, careful to make sure that no one was around before I leapt from the edge and landed soundlessly on my heels. As much I dreaded serving my father’s nonsense company, I couldn’t deny that I appreciated the benefits of having superpowers.
“One of these days you’ll surprise me and actually answer your phone.” Cole pushed off of the wall across from me and nudged me in my shoulder. “You do realize we were supposed to be back about twenty minutes ago, right?”
“Our mark isn’t going anywhere; Mara can wait.”
“You’re going to cause that woman to explode one day.”
I smiled at that as I reached inside of my pockets and pulled out my gloves. Apparently the cops weren’t much fonder of what my father had us doing than I was, so we had to be sure not to leave any evidence behind, which was why I always made it a point to pin my long hair up in a tight bun and hide as much of my face behind a cowl as possible. Also? I kind of enjoyed getting to play dress up every night.
“Probably, but wouldn’t that be quite the sight to see?” I tossed a wink back at Cole as I moved through the dark alleyway.
A bright flash moved in front of me as Cole caught up. “You have way too much fun with my powers,” I mumbled.
“Well, I have to take advantage of them while I can,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Sure, make it seem like you don’t follow me around all day, Cole.”
“Oh, but whatever will I do with myself if I can’t be with you twenty-four-seven?” he teased. Cole’s personality had definitely been one of his more tolerable traits. It made it easier to deal with the fact that he was basically my watcher.
Seriously, I was in my twenties, and I had still been deemed incapable of making decisions of my own free will. The whole “for your own safety” crap never helped to make matters much better, either.
The fact of the matter was that, if someone genuinely wanted to attempt to create their own version of us Supers, what was there to stop them? What had been there to stop my father and Mara from creating Project X? Why was it that we were allowed to exist – people forced into being Supers – but no one else could? What the hell made us so special?
Those were all questions I’d tried asking both my father and Mara, but when it came to questioning their methods and their programs, they had a tendency to tune me out. Apparently, I seemed to be the only Super that wanted more out of their life.
And that was just pathetic. It was almost as though they forgot that, underneath everything, they were still people; which, honestly, would not have been that difficult to do – considering we were treated as lab pets.
We stopped at the end of the alleyway, right before a tall brick building, hidden underneath the night sky. I went to reach for the handle but stopped once I took note of a small sticker beneath the handle – at the blood coated cyborg head with a large H covering the face. There were few things that ignited such hatred in me as that symbol.
“I thought this was supposed to be a standard recovery mission?” I glanced over my shoulder at Cole. Without another word, I reached inside of my utility belt – it was one of the few things I never left the building without because I didn’t trust the Horde bastards – and pulled out a few shock discs. The effects of the discs only lasted a few minutes, but a few minutes would be more than enough to help me figure something out.
The Horde knew most of my powers by now, so I knew that whatever we were about to walk into would be far from easy. The smart thing to do would have been to turn away and walk away, but we’d already come this far. And honestly? I wanted to know what was on the hard-drive.
What was it that my father and Mara were desperate to protect? And that the Horde were so eager to get their hands on? And perhaps, most importantly, how did Cole and I fit into all of it?
Cole moved in front of me; his brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of my words. “It is. Why? What’s going on?”
“Well, last I checked, standard recovery missions didn’t involve the Horde.”
S
ix months ago...
“You know, I used to think that these kind of movies were crap. Until they became my life,” I muttered, leaning back against the couch with the ridiculously large bowl of popcorn – which I had every intention of devouring on my own – accessible in my lap.
“So you mean to tell me that you’re an Avenger now? When the hell did that happen? And where can I sign up?”
“Sorry, you’re not cool enough to join us, buddy.”
“In all seriousness though, Bell, how many times have you seen this movie now?”
“A few times,” I said, shrugging. We both knew that had been a bullshit answer, but I wasn’t in the mood for him to give me crap. I spent most of my free time locked away in the Bilson Corporations building reading through my stacks of comics and binge watching movies on Netflix. Was it the best way to spend my free time? In actuality, no. I probably could of done something far more productive, but I liked to pretend that I lived in the fictional worlds that my comic books offered because those stories showed that it was possible to both be a hero and a person.
They showed that it was possible to still be
human
underneath it all.
“It’s getting late; I should probably get going before Mara flips.” Cole rose to his feet and reached for his black leather coat that lay folded atop the coffee table.
Gosh forbid Mr. Perfect ever get a wrinkle in an article of clothing.
“You do realize that you’re twenty-three, correct? You’re more than capable of making your own decisions, Cole.”
“It’s not about that, Bel.” He slipped his jacket on as he made his way over towards the door that led out to the hallway.
“Oh yeah? Then please, tell me, what is it about?”
“Respect, Bell. Respect.” And with that, he closed the door, cutting off the conversation.
Part of me wanted to run after him – after all, his living quarters were only three doors down – to bitch at him for acting as though I lacked the ability to showcase respect. But I was way too comfortable on the couch.
So I decided to do what any rational person that had no intention of getting off the couch would do, I texted him.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Ah, there it is.
Answer the question, ass-hat.
Note to Arabella: I don’t think ass-hat is a real word.
It is now. Now answer the damn question.
Why? We both know the answer already.
At that, I tossed my phone on the couch, choosing to ignore the dinging noises that filled the air with every unanswered text. Because I knew that he was right.
We both did know the answer, and the only reason I was annoyed at him was because he had been right. I had a tendency to act childish at times and purposefully go out of my way to piss Mara and my father off, and Cole was always there to help rein me in. And as much as it pained me to admit as much, more often than not, I needed someone to rein me in.
I was a walking disaster. Plain and simple. I was too stubborn for my own good; too hell bent on a life completely separate from my own, too closed off to form any real relationships with anyone outside of immediate family and Cole.
I was a disaster, but I was a pretty damn awesome disaster. I mean, I did have super powers, so I couldn’t completely hate my life or who I was. There were some rather spiffy aspects of my life, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t hope for more.
I remembered one of the last conversations I’d had with Gwen before the night that she died. I’d told her how I wanted to experience what the world had to offer outside of Bilson Corporations. She told me that it was normal to want more.
“It’s human instinct,” she said. “To want more; to believe that the grass is greener on the other side, but that doesn’t mean your way of going about things is correct.”
Many things haunted me in my life. The lives that I’d taken. Those that I’d changed. The choices I’d made. But nothing had haunted me as much as Gwen’s words that night.
S
ix months and two days later...
“That doesn’t mean your way of going about things is correct.”
I’d made plenty of made decisions in my life, but none as bad as the decision to go on that recovery mission that night.
I should have known that something was up when I took note of the location. The black market buyers usually stuck to business buildings – like McVeigh at Vesta Corp and Wilson at Covera Corporations – whereas, the Horde usually kept to the shadows.
And the building we’d found ourselves in front of? It screamed Horde quarters.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Cole muttered. He leaned back against the wall beside the building entrance. “I think we need to get out of here, Bell. We don’t know how many Horde members are in there.”
“Excuse me? You bitched about me being late, and now you want me to run home scared because we don’t know what’s on the other side of that door? Not happening, bud. I’m here. We’re doing this. And then I’m going to be sure to give Mara hell the moment we get back home.”
“Arabella.” I could sense the annoyance in his tone, but I drowned it out.
When the full name came out? It was Cole’s way of admitting he didn’t agree with me. Then again, when did he? “Don’t try and talk me out of this. We’re here to get the hard drive, and we’re going to get it. Either you’re going to follow me in there, or you’re going to wait out here. Either way, I’m not waiting around here any longer.”
“Always so reckless,” he groaned.
“Always so safe,” I responded. “Some risks are worth taking.”
“And are you sure that this is one?”
I shrugged my shoulders as I neared closer to the door. “I’m not sure about anything right now, Cole, but I know that I want to know what’s on those hard-drives. If it concerns us, don’t you think we deserve to know what information they contain? And better yet, why the Horde sought one out?”
“Maybe,” he countered. “But maybe there’s good reason Mara and your father have kept that information from us.”
“Really? Please, feed me your bullshit excuse for why they’ve hidden that information from us, Cole, because I’d really love to know.”
At that, he rolled his eyes, not that I blamed him. I was pissed, and he knew it, but I’d crossed the line from being pissed to just being a plain ass. Not that I would ever admit that aloud. “You don’t get it. The air is buzzing with thoughts, all filled with visions of death and pain. If we walk in there, Bell, there’s a damn good chance we’ll be walking to our deaths.”
As a Super, I was expected to risk my life to protect those of innocent people. I was supposed to see to it that I operated out of pure selflessness. But at that moment, faced with the possibility of death and discovering the truth, I’d decided to give into my selfishness.
“Like I said, some risks are worth taking.”
A
t the Horde quarters...
I knew that this was a bad idea.
And yet, I allowed myself to go through with it. Like usual.
Maybe I should have listened to Cole when he warned me against this plan
.
“Really? Now you decide to consider my opinion?” Cole arched his brow at me as I glanced over at him. “A bit too late for that one now, don’t ya think?”
“Shut it, would you?”
“Fine, but just know that this conversation isn’t over.”
I wanted to scream at him, but the approaching Horde members moving towards the center of the room, away from the shadows and into the lights? They kind of made it impossible to fight with Cole.
“Distractions are deadly.” My father’s words replayed in my head as I crouched down, the shock discs already well within my grasp. “Let’s get this over with, shall we, boys?”
One of the Horde members lunged forward, his face hidden behind a red cotton mask, his eyes and mouth covered with black bits of fabric. It was hard to take the fools seriously when they looked like bad Deadpool cosplayers.
Before he could grab hold of me, I spun around and launched one of the shock discs at him, hitting him in his side. Maybe it was the cynic in me, but I couldn’t help but to smile as he fell to his knees in pain, a shrill scream escaped through his lips as he clutched his side.