Hero's Revenge (Keepers of Justice, Book 2) (18 page)

We’re all seated around the living room table, eating the grandest meal we’ve ever had. Samson and Cindy went wild, hiring the greatest chefs and caterers to celebrate Kale’s recovery. Loud music plays and some members are dancing around the table, conga style. Tonight, the entire mansion is alive.

Kale is sitting at the head of the table, a place reserved only for his parents. Lindsay is on his left and I am on his right. He’s answering questions—where was he all this time (he doesn’t remember), could he hear us (no), did he feel close to death (he doesn’t remember), what was it like to wake up (awesome
!).

Kale slings his arm over Lindsay’s shoulder and press
es his mouth to hers. I tear my gaze away. It’s selfish of me to think about myself and my lack of a girlfriend when Kale almost
died
. I can’t help it. She’s still haunting me. I look around at anyone and anything, just to keep her out of my head. But all I see are more couples kissing and smiling.

I need to get out of here, but
it wouldn’t be right. I’ll have to endure this.

Kale gets to his feet. He clears his throat, his eyes moving around the
room, focusing on each member. “I just want to thank everyone for coming and joining me in celebrating. So thanks.” He laughs. Then his face turns serious. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my mom and X.” He grins to Cindy and me. “I know it wasn’t easy,” he continues. “I know they risked their lives, and for that I am forever grateful.” He looks at me. “X, when you found out you had the formula in your head, you could have destroyed it or done nothing about it. But you gave it to me. Saved my life, man. Thanks. I owe you.”

Everyone claps
, a few cheer. I wave my hand. “You don’t owe me. There was no way I’d let you die.”

He smiles and holds out his cup of Coke. “To awesome family and friends.”

We all raise our cups.

A
loud noise comes from the foyer. It sounds like someone slammed the front door. Lowering our cups, we exchange confused glances.

I use my eyes to check out what’s going on, and I leap to my feet. Because the person who walked through those doors is wearing Stretch’s
yellow uniform. It’s covered with dirt and mud. So are his sneakers.

Both Kale and Cindy turn sharply to me. They’ve seen it in my mind. Cindy must have sent the image to Samson, because he jumps to his feet, too.

The imposter is heading toward the dining room. He pokes his head inside and gives a small wave.

Kale’s mouth falls open. “It’s
really—”

“Hi,” the guy says, pulling off his eye mask to reveal familiar green eyes. “What’s going on?”

He looks like Stretch. Identically. The room spins. I grab onto the table to support myself.

His thoughts…
Kale says to me.
He’s him.

Impossible. He died. Kale and I were there. We had a funeral. He was
buried
.

The room is dead silent as we all gape at him. At each other.
Confused, shocked, horrified. Some people who were in middle of eating have their forks in midair, not noticing the food dropping onto their plates and the table.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” Stretch’s twin says, twisting his fingers around each other.

Samson clears his throat. Open his mouth. Shuts it. His eyebrows knit. No one moves.

Twin Stretch’s eyes fill with fear and confusion as he continues to look around the room. When they land on the table, he says, “Dude, food!” He rushes to the table and begins to stuff his face. No one stops him, we just watch like we’re frozen. The only sound in the room is from Stretch gobbling the food. “I don’t know why,” he says between bites. “But I’m starving.” He continues to stuff his face like he’s a vacuum cleaner.

Cindy and Samson eye signal one another to do something. They don’t seem to know what. Finally, after a few seconds, Samson says, “
Andrew…please…can I…can I see you in my office?”

Stretch’s
face smeared with food, he raises his head. “Why?” He looks around again, studying each League member. His eyebrows furrow. “Everyone’s here. Except…where are my folks?”

“Now, please,” Samson says, then he turns to Kale, Cindy
, and me. “I’d like you to join us.”

Stretch’s eyes go from Samson, to Kale, to me, and finally to Cindy. His mouth hangs open. “How’d Cindy get out of her coma?”

Samson motions for us to follow him into an elevator. As we head toward it, Kale and I exchange glances. Stretch lingers behind us, his back hunched in the shape of a question mark, gaze glued to the floor. He must be trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

X
, Kale says.
How can he be alive?

I don’t answer, because I can’t.

My blood rushes through my body. Does Vlayne have anything to do with this? Did she clone Stretch?

We enter the elevator
and no one utters a word. I see Samson and Cindy exchange telepathic messages. As I stare at the floor, I notice the mud stains from Stretch’s shoes. My eyes scan the dirt on his uniform once more. It looks fresh.

Kale follows my gaze. Our eyes connect.

Either Stretch walked out of his grave or the Blades
do
have something to do with this.

The elevator doors open and we walk toward
Samson’s office. Once inside, Samson tells us to sit down. I remain standing, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed.

Once they’re seated, Samson clasps his hands together and bends forward. “Andrew
, why don’t you tell us what happened?”

“What do you mean?”
Stretch asks.

Remaining composed as always, Samson
continues. “You entered through the front doors. Where did you walk from?”

Stretch’s eyebrows furrow. “Dunno. I woke up in front of the Tower. Figured I was sleepwalking or something.”

He has done that a few times, but we all know that’s not the case here.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Samson asks.

Stretch’s eyes flick to Kale and me before returning to Samson. “Us three in the warehouse. Hey, how we’d get free? And, hey, what about…” His voice trails off as his eyes widen to the size of the exercise ball in the gym. “I lost my memory.”

“Andrew, you were killed,” Samson says.

Now Stretch’s eyes practically pop out of their sockets. Words and sounds escape from his mouth as his body stretches all over the office. His arms tangle around the chair, his legs sweep across the room.

Cindy stands up and wraps her arm around Stretch’s shoulders, or what’s left of them.

“Please, relax,” Samson says. “I need you to try to remember. Did you see anyone? Did anyone talk to you?”

“No. We were in the dungeon. We were talking about stealing the keycard from the guard to warn you about the Blades.”

Which all happened minutes before Lightning killed him. He has no recollection of his death.

“Where are my parents?” Stretch asks.

Samson leans back in his chair. “After your death, they couldn’t bear living here and left.”

Stretch stares at the floor as his body slowly retracts.

“It seems as though you have been…brought back to life,” Samson says. “Are you sure you have no memory of this?”

Stretch shakes his head, his eyes still shocked. Samson gets to his feet. “I’d like Healer to check you
out and make sure everything is okay.”

Stretch nods.

“I’ll call your parents and let them know you’ve…returned.”

S
tretch looks up at him. “How’d I die?”

Samson intakes a sharp breath. He exchanges glances with the rest of us. “You’ve had enough shocking news for one day.
Please excuse Cindy and me for a moment.”

“Okay…”

He steps closer to Stretch and hugs him. “Welcome back. If you remember anything, please let me know immediately.”

“Okay…”

After giving his shoulder a pat, Samson leaves the room. Cindy hugs Stretch tightly, then follows her husband out. I watch them enter the Conference Room and sit around the table, most probably discussing all of this. From their lips, I read that they want to perform tests on Stretch to make sure he isn’t a fake.

“Wow.” Stretch puffs air out of his cheeks as he rests his elbows on Samson’s desk. “Dude, what the heck happened to me?”

We don’t answer.

“C’mon guys
. Don’t be like that.”

Kale turns to him. “You don’t get how weird this is. You’ve been dead for four months. Lightning murdered you. And now you just show up out of nowhere?”

Stretch’s eyes grow big. “L-Lightning m-murdered me?”

We slowly nod.

“How? Why? What happened?”

“You don’t want to know,” I say. “Trust me.”

“I do,” he says. “Really, really do.”

Kale shrugs. “There’s a lot you’ve missed. Just sit back and
watch.” Kale closes his eyes. He must be sending Stretch his memories of that night and the months following.

“Since when did you become a telepath?” Stretch asks.

“Just watch, man.”

Stretch’s eyes are dazed, lost
, as he views the events that took place that day in February. His face fills with horror, probably as he witnesses his death. He tears up at his funereal.

A few minutes later, his eyes return to their usual state. He gapes at us, his jaw practically sweeping the floor. “Dude,” he gasps. “That was intense. Did all that really happen to me?”

We nod. He slinks down in his seat, scratching his brown hair. “Then how the hell am I here now?”

“Good question,” Kale says.

“Someone resurrected you,” I say.

Stretch twists his fingers, biting his lip. “I guess, but
who? Why? How?”

I shrug while Kale says, “Don’t know.”

We’re quiet, each of us staring at different things. My eyes penetrate the walls to watch Samson and Cindy, who are still discussing Stretch. Kale stares at his father’s desk, and Stretch at the floor.

“Well,” Kale says after a few minutes. “It’s awesome you’re back, man. We really missed you.”

I nod.

Kale tilts his head toward me. “He went nuts attacking random villains trying to find the Blades and avenge your death.”

I look at him and raise my eyebrow. “And you begged to join me.”

“Yeah, I did.”

Stretch smiles. “Thanks. But don’t get yourselves killed.”

Kale turns to me. “He’s kinda right. I mean, with everything that happened, we didn’t find the Blades’ headquarters.”

Yeah, all because of Stealth.

“She totally screwed us over,” Kale says.

“Who?” Stretch asks.

Kale’s
gaze moves to me like he’s not sure if he should tell Stretch about her.

“We’ll talk about it another time,” I say. “I don’t want to go after the Blades
anymore. Yes, Vlayne killed Glen and my parents, but I think we should leave this to the Elites. We’ve caused enough trouble.” Plus, I’m drained. For four months, I was obsessed with revenge and now…nothing. Stretch is back, so all the guilt that pushed me forward is gone. Sure I want her dead, for my parents and Glen, but I’m not burning for it like I did with Stretch. Her time
will
come. I know it. I just don’t have to drive myself crazy like I did.

“
Wait, huh? What? Your parents?” Stretch asks. “And Premonition died?! What?” His eyes fill with grief. “How?”

“Vlayne had him captured like we thought,” Kale says. “She screwed up his brain.
”

“Wow
.” Stretch turns to me. “And your parents?” His eyebrows scrunch.

“We’ll tell you about that later,” Kale says.

“Man, I
did
miss a lot.” He frowns. “So…what else?”

Cindy returns to the room. “Andrew, please come with me to the hospital.”

“Okay.” He gets to his feet. “See you guys later.”

Once he’s gone, Kale and I exchange a glance. “My parents aren’t sure he’s the real Stretch,” he says.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been in his mi
nd before, but from what I read he seems to be the real guy.”

I watch Stretch
and Cindy enter the hospital. Samson is already there, with Healer and Brain. Stretch lies down on a bed and Healer injects something into him, which causes him to fall asleep. After that, the scientists perform different tests on him.

I pull my eyes away.

The tests are complete. Brain and the other scientists have confirmed that Stretch is not an imposter. Some members have checked his grave. It was dug up. Somehow he has risen from the dead. He’s not a zombie or a ghost. He’s as alive as he was before.

He, Kale, and I are sitting in my room, like we’ve done many times before. Except now, we don’t have much to talk about. Things are still a bit awkward between us.

“Everything turned out okay in the end,” Stretch says. “Kale saved the world and Samson wasn’t assassinated.”

“And now that you’re back, yeah,” Kale says. “Everything turned out great.”

He’s right. Everything
did
turn out great. Except for Glen, but like I said, Vlayne will get what she deserves. But where do I go from here? The feeling of emptiness is growing, since I have no purpose anymore. No goals, no girlfriend. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.

Stretch frowns, his hand buried in a bowl of nachos. “
Everyone’s acting weird around me.”

Most of the members here don’t know what to make of his resurrection. Some embrace him like nothing happened while others avoid him like he’ll contaminate them. Or put a curse on them
or eat their brains out.

“It sucks,” Stretch continues, mouth full. “But the worst part is Furball. She doesn’t, like, even look at me.” He sighs, his shoulders hunched.

“She’ll come around,” Kale says. “She’s just shocked and weirded out. We all are.”

“Hope so.”

Quiet.

“So…” Stretch
wiggles his eyebrows and pokes Kale in the chest with his long finger. “Tell me stuff. X’s parents, how you saved Lindsay.”

As Kale begins to tell him everything, I walk over to the window and peer out. So much has changed for me these past four months. Hunting Vlayne,
having Stealth join the Nightmares, falling in love with her, discovering she’s Vlayne’s daughter, learning a past I never knew about, Kale’s brain deteriorating, entering my mind to search for the antidote, and Stretch’s resurrection. It’s too much and makes my head spin. Not to mention the sleepless nights I’ve been having. Most of it has to do with Stealth, but a large part revolves around my parents.

And Vlayne. Why hadn’t she killed me as a baby?

“X,” Kale says. “You okay?”

I turn to him and nod. He’s telling Stretch about my time in the sewers. I’m thankful he’s keeping Stealth a secret. Falling for her is not something I’m proud of.

I’ll tell him about her and the Nightmares at some point.

“Wait a sec
.” Stretch holds up his stringy finger. “Scar was friends with your mom? Wow. There’s, like, this whole past we don’t know about.”

“
I know, man,” Kale says. “I thought the same thing.”

“Weird,” Stretch says. “So your telepathy is gone?”

Kale smiles. “Nope. I’ve got full access to your thoughts.”

Stretch’s shoulders droop. “Well, that sucks.”

“Not for me.”

Stretch
takes my Rubik’s cube and hurls it at Kale. It slams him in the forehead and bounces on the floor.

“Geez, Stretch,” Kale yells, rubbing the sore spot that’s star
ting to swell and redden. “I don’t want to fall into a coma again.”

“Sorry,” Stretch says, stifling a
laugh. He dumps his hand into the snack bowl and hurls nacho pieces at Kale. Kale retaliates with grabbing my clothes that are strewn over the floor and throwing them at Stretch.

A shirt slaps Stretch in the face. He sits up sharply, dragging the shirt off. “Hey, where’s Speed? He’s not your roommate anymore?”

I turn to the window. “No.”

“Why?”

I slowly face him. “Because I was a complete mess after you died. I blamed myself for pushing you to get that keycard. Kale was right, but I chose not to listen to him. And because of that, you died.”

Stretch doesn’t say anything as he gazes at my carpeted floor. It’s covered in dust, dirt, and snack crumbs.
It still hasn’t been cleaned.

“X, dude,” Stretch says. “It wasn’t your fault. I pushed myself.”

I wave my hand. “Doesn’t matter anymore. You’re back now.”

Stretch nods. “Yeah.”

Quiet.

“Who’s up for some game?” Kale asks. “Stretch, you have no idea what you’ve missed. Come, man,” he says to me. “Let’s show him that racing game.”

I nod, and all three of us walk into an elevator and take it to the Game Room. Once we enter, all heads turn to us. The triplets and Furball are playing foosball in the corner. When H
2
O sees us, she whispers to Furball, who shakes her head.

Stretch raises his hand to wave, but when he realizes that Furball won’t ackno
wledge him, he lowers his hand.

Kale thumps his back. “Don’t worry about it, man.”

Stretch nods, but his eyes are sad and he twists his mouth like he doesn’t believe she ever will accept him.

As we sit down and start to play, Furball turns her head to us for half a second. She says something to the triplets and they exit the room. Stretch has his gaze glued
to them, which causes his car to crash.

“Man,” he mumbles. “You sure she likes me?”

Kale nods. “Said so at your funeral.”

He slinks down. “Maybe I gotta die again…”

Kale laughs, his eyes roaming the room. “Anybody seen Linds?”

We shake our heads.

Kale scratches the back of his head. “Weird. I sent her a message that we’re here. Wonder why she doesn’t want to hang out.”

“She
probably wants to give you some time to reconnect with Stretch,” I say.

“I guess.”

“Read her mind,” Stretch says, elbowing him.

Kale laughs a little. “Nah. It wouldn’t be right.”

Stretch scoffs. “Right. Kale’s moral now.”

Kale shoves him.
“I’ll just tell her to come…wait, what?” His eyes widen and he sits up. “Seriously?”

“What?” both Stretch and I say.

Kale has an incredulous expression on his face. “I was just telling her to join us, but her thoughts flew into my mind. She—she wants to break up with me.”

“
What
?” I say. Those two were in love. Their relationship was real and pure. “Why?”

His eyes are still wide. “She…she thinks she’ll
get me sick again. That’s crazy!” He jumps to his feet. “I gotta talk to her.” He rushes out of the room.

Stretch and I exchange a glance. “You think she’s right?” he asks. “Could she
get him sick again?”

“I don’t know.”

He leans back. “Man, this sucks.”

It does. I hope he doesn’t get his heart broken like me. No one should go through that, especially Kale. He’s been through a lot this year.