Red Masked Heroine Read online

  Five, four, two, three…

  “But Mommy!” And so it begins.

  I jump out of bed and scoop Kaylee in my arms. “It’s okay, Kaylee. Don’t cry.”

  “But I wanna fly!”

  “And you’re going to. It just freaks Mommy out. You don’t want to scare Mommy, do you?”

  Sniffing, Kaylee rubs her nose. “No.”

  Mom bends down before her. “Sweetie, Nick needs to get ready for school.”

  “I’ve still got some time, Mom.”

  She stands. “Really? Are you all caught up with your homework?”

  I frown. Mom slightly slaps my chest. “Then get to it.” She leaves my room.

  Kaylee looks up at me with wide eyes. “Want me to help you with your homework?”

  I laugh. “Maybe in ten years. Now get out of here and go back to bed.”

  She grumbles, then leaves my room. I know Mom told me to do my homework and I really want to, I’m just way too tired.

  ***

  I open my eyes and find Mom standing over my bed. She looks mad, really really mad. What the hell just happened?

  Right. I was supposed to get out of bed and do my homework. Shoot.

  Homework. School. I throw my covers aside. “I’m late!”

  I rush around, grabbing for clothes.

  “I told you.” Mom clicks her tongue. She says more, but I’m not listening to her. I’m looking for a clean T-shirt.

  “Nick, stop for two seconds.”

  I drop all my stuff onto the bed. “Yeah?”

  “What did you promise your father and me?”

  I push some hair out of my eyes. “That I’d catch up on schoolwork.”

  She nods in this way only a mom can do. “We expect you to keep your word.”

  “Mom, as much as I love talking about this, I’m going to be late for school.” I grab my Blue Masked Hero uniform and mask.

  “Uh uh,” Mom says, her light brown hair slapping her cheeks as she shakes her head.

  I face her. “What?”

  She wags her finger. “No superhero stuff. No more risking your life.”

  “Mom—”

  “I almost lost one child and I’m not going to lose another.”

  I groan. “Mom, seriously. No one will hurt me. I’m practically invincible.”

  She heads over to me and places her hands on my shoulders. “Practically isn’t enough. You can get hurt.”

  If she knew there are people after me, she’d flip. But I’m not going to hide in my room all day like some coward. “C’mon, Mom. I can move things with my mind, can go invisible. I can heal.”

  Her green eyes go to my uniform, then to me. “I said no.”

  Aw, man. Being fifteen sucks. I get that she’s worried, especially after the whole Kaylee thing. But I can take care of myself. I won’t make the same mistake of trying to save my sister myself. Plus, I’ve got Maddie now.

  “There’s no arguing with you, is there?” I ask.

  She shakes her head.

  “If I pull my grades up?”

  She plays with my shoulder-length hair. “Pick your grades up, then we can talk.”

  “Fine,” I mumble. “But I’m still flying to school.”

  Before she can say anything, I add, “I’ll be invisible, don’t worry.”

  She sighs. “All right. Get dressed and come down for breakfast.” She eyes the uniform. “And put that back.”

  “Okay.” Not that I need the uniform to be a hero, since the whole world knows my identity. Still, it’d be nice to wear it when I help people. Kinda makes me feel like a different person.

  Once I return the uniform to its place, I head downstairs for breakfast. The entire clan is there, including Dad. I guess he’s trying to spend more time with his family instead of rushing off to work since the whole Kaylee thing. I have a feeling things are going to be different now.

  Even Kaylee is sitting at the table. She’s got no school, but I bet she wants to prove she’s all grown up and can wake up early. On my way down here, I overheard her and Mom talking about baking cookies and running errands all day.

  I ruffle her light brown hair as I pass her to my seat. She giggles so hard cereal shoots out of her mouth. Laughing, I down some orange juice and toast.

  As I’m about to make my way to the door, I stop when I hear my name mentioned on TV.

  “The Blue Masked Hero’s sister has been safely returned home,” the reporter is saying. “Officials are still investigating why—”

  “Turn that off, Matt,” Mom says, her gaze flicking to my sister. We all look at Kaylee. She’s too busy playing with her cereal. When she senses us staring at her, she asks, “What?”

  “Nothing,” Mom says. “Nick, Matt, get ready for school.”

  I say goodbye to everyone—and reassure Mom that I’m going to be okay—then go to the door. After making sure I’m invisible, I slip out of the house. Oddly, there aren’t any reporters around. I guess the cops are sticking to their word and keeping them off our backs.

  Floating in the air, I fly to Maddie’s window. I stretch my hand toward the ground and fling a small rock at the window. A second later, her head peeks out.

  “Hey,” I say, still invisible.

  She grins. “That’s kind of creepy.”

  “Booooooo.”

  She laughs. “Come here so I can shove you.”

  “Let’s see you try.”

  Her smile drops as she peers at her phone. “Shoot. We’re going to be late.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get there in no time.” Maddie’s all about getting to school on time because she wants to make good grades to get into a good college.

  Making one hand visible, I hold it out to her. “May I have this fly?”

  She climbs out and I hold her close to me. She’s not scared of heights, but things feel different now. It’s like I’m a little protective of her more than I was before. Probably because she’s my girlfriend. It’s stupid, I know. Maddie doesn’t need anyone to protect her, but still.

  “You’re quiet,” she says as we zoom toward school.

  “Yeah.”

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Just stuff.”

  “Family stuff or superhero stuff?”

  “Neither.”

  She’s quiet, probably waiting for me to elaborate. I’m not sure I should. Girls don’t like to be told they’re being protected, do they?

  I sigh. “Was thinking about you.”

  “Oh.”

  “About…us.”

  “What about us?”

  We’re closing in on the school now. Many kids are loitering around the place. Some are rushing to get there on time. I spot a girl and guy making out in front of the building. I’d recognize that girl anywhere. Golden hair. Nicole.

  “Ugh,” I say without thinking.

  Maddie looks around. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  She’s quiet for a second before, “Nicole?”

  “Yeah, I can’t believe I liked her. What was wrong with me? Now when I look at her I wanna puke.”

  “Can we forget about her?”

  “I can’t forget what she did to me and my family. If not for her exposing me, then those people—whoever they are—wouldn’t have kidnapped Kaylee.”

  “You’re right and I’m sorry about that. But I really don’t want to talk about her. I wish I could make her pay for what she did.”

  The tone in her voice worries me.

  “Mads, what are you going to do to her?”

  “Nothing. Don’t worry.”

  I squeeze her shoulder. “Good. Don’t. You’re right and we should forget about her. She’s just a speck of dust. No, not even that.”

  She breathes out through her nose. “That’s not so easy when she practically rules the freshman class.”

  Even though she can’t see my small smile, I say, “But she can’t hurt us, remember? Hey how’s the tracking device thing going?”

&
nbsp; “Come to my house after school and we’ll talk about it.”

  “Okay. You’re awesome.”

  She punches my stomach. “Ow!”

  “Sorry! I meant to playfully hit your shoulder. This invisibility thing is really inconvenient.”

  Tell me about it. “We’d better descend.”

  We lower ourselves to the bushes and I quickly make us visible. We’ve only got a minute to get inside before the bell rings.

  As I’m running through the halls to get to history, my leg gets caught in something and I fly to the other end of the hallway. Chuckles and snickers break out all over.

  I look up and find the guy Nicole was making out with. He’s the one who tripped me. I don’t even know his name, only that he’s Matt’s friend. “Not so tough without your powers, are you?” The whole school probably knows I’m not allowed to use them here. Vice Principal Grady warned me.

  As I get to my feet, Maddie steps in the guy’s face. “Leave him alone.”

  “Nice, McGuire,” he says. “You need your girlfriend to protect you.”

  Maddie’s fists clench at her sides. I notice they’re getting a little red. Oh, no. She can’t lose control now.

  I leap in front of her. “I don’t need anyone protecting me because no one is going to get hurt. Got it?”

  The guy only snickers. Nicole and her posse snicker, too.

  Suddenly, Matt comes out of nowhere and shoves the guy into the lockers. “You mess with my little bro, you mess with me.”

  The guy’s eyes pop out. Matt’s got like thirty pounds on him. Plus he’s his friend. At least, I think he is.

  “S—sorry, man,” the guy sputters. Matt lets go and the guy fixes his shirt. “Didn’t know he was your brother.”

  He slings his arm over Nicole and leads her away from us. The rest of them follow.

  “Thanks, man,” I tell Bro. He nods once, then walks off to his class.

  Maddie’s gaze follows him, her eyebrows knit. “What just happened? Did Matt stick up for you?”

  “Yeah. He’s had this new personality makeover after what happened with Kaylee.”

  “Oh. Wow.”

  “Yeah.”

  The bell rings. Maddie and I dash to class before Mrs. Landon can…never mind. She’s already in there.

  “Mr. McGuire and Miss Randall.”

  Here we go again. I swear this woman’s mission in life is to make mine miserable. Detention here I come.

  “Please take your seats.”

  “Huh?” I say.

  She tilts her head toward my desk. “Please take your seats.”

  Maddie and I sit down, completely shocked. Mrs. Landon continues with the lesson, giving me small smiles. She’s been different ever since I saved her niece from that collapsed building a few weeks ago. I guess she’s going to be nicer to me now.

  Chapter Five

  “Okay,” Maddie says as she sits down at her desk chair in her room. “Let’s talk about the tracking device.”

  I peer into the empty hallway. Her mom and stepdad aren’t home. They’re always out working and she’s got the house to herself. “When are your parents going to be home?”

  She shrugs. “Could be minutes, hours. Days.”

  “Days?”

  She shrugs again. I never knew Maddie stayed home alone some nights. Any idiot can tell it bothers her. I’d ask her about it, but Maddie doesn’t like to be seen as weak. So I let it go.

  “I was thinking we should go snooping around the house for info about the organization,” I say.

  “I guess we can, but I need to take care of something first.”

  I lean closer to the computer, but she gives me a look. I sit back. There’s no getting between Maddie and her stuff. There are a lot of things she doesn’t want me to know about. Apparently if I knew the way she did things, I’d get us both in trouble. That cuts me deep, but she’s not wrong, though. I would mess everything up.

  “What do you need to take care of?”

  She bites her lip. “Actually, you need to get something for me.”

  I lift an eyebrow.

  “The tracking devices.”

  I nod for her to go on.

  “I bought them and you need to pick them up.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you bought them? How? From where? When?”

  Sighing, she pushes the laptop to me. It’s a website where you can purchase tracking devices. I scan it. “Seems complicated. And expensive. Mads…how could you afford this?” Her mom and stepdad have no money.

  “I charged them to the CEO of the company.”

  “What?”

  She clicks on a tab on the site and this guy in a fancy suit is in my face. “He’s the CEO and super rich.” She shrugs. “I hacked into the company, bought the tracking devices, and charged it to him. It’s not like he can’t afford it.”

  “Are you insane?”

  She shrugs. How can she be so calm? “It’s not like they can track me down. Nick, relax. It’s okay. I was careful. You know I’m always careful.”

  “Of course I do.” She’s, like, the most amazing hacker I’ve ever met. “So what do you need me to do?”

  “To pick them up. I couldn’t have them deliver the package to my house. They’re going to drop it off at an abandoned building. You need to go invisible and get it.” She checks the time. “They should be there by now. You have to hurry before a homeless person or kids get hold of it.”

  “Where?”

  “Jersey. I’ll write the address for you.” She scribbles it down on a piece of paper. “Put on your uniform and go.”

  “What’s the point? Everyone knows who I am.”

  “In case. Not everyone is updated with the news, you know and—” She stops. “I can make you a new uniform. That way no one will know who you are.”

  I shake my head. “We don’t need the world thinking there’s another hero. I’ll skip the uniform and make sure I stay invisible.”

  Worry enters her eyes. “Be careful. No, I’m coming with you.”

  “Mads—”

  “You can keep both of us invisible. And if someone messes with us…” She lifts her fist. “I’ll fry them.”

  I lower her fist, which is a little warmer than it should be. “No. No frying anyone. Look, I’ll go alone. It’ll be safer that way.”

  “No way.”

  I hesitate. “You know you nearly fried that guy today at school.”

  She gapes at me. “What?”

  “I saw your fists. They were red. Like you were gonna fry him.”

  “I was not going to hurt him.”

  I hold up my hands. “Okay. It was just an observation. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “I can control myself,” she says.

  “Okay.”

  “I’m not some crazy person with powers who will burn everything in her path.”

  Call me stupid, but it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself, not me. If she sensed herself losing control today, she’s keeping it a secret. I’ll watch over both of us, make sure we’re always in control.

  “Back to these tracking things,” I say.

  She points to the paper with the address scribbled on it. “We’re going.”

  “Maddie—”

  “I’m coming with you. It’s not up for debate, so don’t bother trying to change my mind.” She grabs me by the shirt and gazes into my eyes. “We’re in this together, got it?”

  I pull free. “Got it.” I hold out my hand and she places hers in. Next, I make us invisible and we fly out the window. I keep my arms wrapped tightly around her, since it’s a little windy outside. We don’t have jackets on, but that doesn’t matter. Maddie’s worried the company will learn that someone hacked in and they might go to the building. We need to get there, get the stuff, and make a quick exit.

  It takes about twenty minutes to reach New Jersey and I steer us to the location. Maddie seems calm, but she’s quiet. I’m hoping things go well. I don’t wa
nt either of us to get hurt.

  “So what’s the plan?” I ask.

  “We go in, grab the package, and get out.”

  “I’ll use my telekinesis while you keep lookout.”

  “Okay.”

  We’re at the building now. It’s an old place that’s falling apart. I bet it’s infested with bugs and rats. I shudder just thinking about it.

  We hover in the doorway. I do a quick sweep with my eyes to make sure no one’s around.

  “There’s a small box near the door,” Maddie says. It looks like it was just thrown in, like the delivery guy didn’t know he was holding an item worth thousands of dollars.

  I stretch my hand for the box while Maddie keeps watch.

  “All clear?” I ask.

  “Yup.”

  I pull my hand toward my chest and the box flies into my arms. The second it touches me, it goes invisible.

  “Now get us out of here.”

  Clutching the package, I bring us back to her house. It’s still empty. Her mom and stepdad are still at work. Good.

  In her room, I turn us visible and stare at the package. The name of the company is printed on the front, but there’s nothing else on it.

  I look at Maddie. “Should we open it? I don’t know why it feels like there’s a bomb or something inside.”

  Maddie rolls her eyes. “Just do it.”

  I tear it open and peek inside. “Stickers? Is this some sort of joke?” They’re clear, with no designs on them. What the hell is this?

  Maddie takes the box from me and pulls out one of the sheets that the stickers are attached to. “It’s not just stickers. These are the tracking devices.”

  I just stare at her.

  “Didn’t you read the website?”

  “Uh, no?”

  She raises the sheet. “You stick this to the back of the person’s neck and they’ll be tracked. And it connects to your phone or your computer so you can track them.”

  “Um…won’t it come off?”

  She shakes her head. “It’s made with a special adhesive. And it’s water resistant and it’ll never come off.”

  “Fancy. Wait, never?”

  “We’d have to buy another product in order to take it off, but we won’t have to worry about that yet.”

  I take another sheet out of the box and eye the stickers. “Are we sure about this?”