The Distort Arc: Cape High Books 1-4 (Cape High Series Omnibus) (20 page)

I find myself drowning him out in my mind, my attention going back to the woman in the corner.  She's a super.  Yeah, when you grow up surrounded by them, spend a bit of your childhood playing in the Hall, you get to recognize them, but I don't recognize her.  Thing is, though, if I know what she is, she definitely knows what I am.  And I have no idea who would win. 

"Excuse me, Principal Matkins?" I say.  "I'm feeling a bit sick--I think I ate something ba--" I jerk, making gagging noises and cover my mouth.  "I gotta go--" I mutter, rushing out the door at a jog and out of the school at full speed.  Will she follow me?  I dare to glance back, but see no one, so I slow down, duck into a random store, and pull out my cell phone.

"Dad," I say.  "I shoulda skipped."

"What happened?" Dad asks.  I can hear rock music and construction work in the background, so he's working on the school.  I can't stand still, so I start walking through the dollar store, making sure to check behind me once in a while.

"Principal called me to the office--he had a cape in there with him.  Started asking me about the twins."

"A cape?" Dad asks.  "Who?"

"That's the thing, I don't know," I say.  "I’ve never seen her before, and I really think Frank would have told me if there was going to be a new super coming to my school.  I faked being sick and ran for it, but I don't know if she's followed me."

"Where are you?  I'll send someone to pick you up."

"Dollar Store on 89th," I say, pretending to look at something so I could check the entrance again.  "I don't want to lead her to you and having someone pick me up might do just that."

"Do you see her?"

"No."

"How about heading to Deep Rivers?  Your mom and Emily are there."

"Okay."  I look around--see a fire exit, and head out, much to the frustration of the people working there.  Times like these I wish I knew how to fly properly, I think as I race down the street and into the country.  It takes longer dodging things on the land.  I pull to a stop in front of a huge brick building, straighten my clothes and go in.  The lady at the counter looks up with a hint of surprise on her face.  "Trent!" she says.  "I thought you were at school today--your mother just showed up with a cute little redheaded girl."

"Hey, yeah, do you know whose room they're in?" I ask, stepping up to the counter.

"I think they're with Mrs. Hash," she says.  "They brought the most delicious cookies, by the way."

"Thanks," I say, heading down the hall to Mrs. Hash's room.  I can hear my mom laughing all the way down the hall.  I knock on the door twice as I peek in.  "Mom?  Can I talk to you for a moment?" I ask, waving faintly at Mrs. Hash and glancing at Emily, who's looking through pictures.  Mom looks a bit worried as she stands up and heads for me.

"I'll be just a second," she tells the others before I tug her down the hall a bit to explain.  Her expression gets more serious as the story develops.  When I'm done she's already pulled out her cell phone and tapped a contact, bringing it up to her ear.  "Hi, Frank," she says.  "Can you send through the transfer papers for Trent now?  No, just send it through.  We're going to need a new place to stay, too.  Yes.  Just in case.  Yes.  We'll explain everything soon enough," she says.

"Moving?" I ask, shocked.

"They've got your address at the school, honey.  We're going to have to move and put out word to the church that we'll be moving them, as well," she says.  "Ahhh, and I was so fond of that building, too."

"Don't you think you're over--" I stop, then shrug.  "Fine.  How's Emily doing?" I ask, looking suspiciously in the direction of Mrs. Hash's room.  Who's to say that wasn't the doppelganger?

"She's uncomfortable still," Mom says almost silently.  "I think she needs some counseling, honestly, but we have to get her to open up before we can get to that point.  I'm so glad that Frank gave her to us."

"We should tell Dad we're moving," I say, changing the subject.

"Okay, I'll call him, why don't you go on in and say hi to Mrs. Hash?" she says, tapping on her smart phone again.  I nod and head into the room, leaving her to explain things to Dad.  Suddenly I'm worried that we'll be too far away from Kansas City to go to Cape High.  That would suck.

"What's going on?" Emily asks as I come in.

"I'll tell you later," I say.  "Hi, Mrs. Hash," I add to the elderly lady sitting in the wheelchair.  "How are you feeling?"

"Much better after having such a handsome young man visit!" she says cheerfully.  I should be used to being hit on by old ladies, but I feel heat creep up my neck as Emily looks at me.  Awkward.

"While I admit, it'd be easiest to move you across country," Frank says a little while later, "with Trent and Emily still so new to their powers, I would prefer keeping them close to the school."  We're sitting in Technico's front room.  I'm sitting in my usual spot, right in front of Sunny, who's snoring again.  Sunny can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but since this is important stuff I jerk my head back slightly, hitting him in the thigh.

"Ow," he mutters.  "Man your head is hard."

"Wake up, I might be moving," I mutter.

"That'd suck."

"You can't move them," Max says.  "Trent and I have a battle coming up.”

"Unfortunately, Ken put their actual address on Trent's records," Frank says darkly.  "We've gone in and changed the official records, of course, but there's no knowing if they have it in paper form.  We're sending people in tonight to remove any physical proof, but for a cape there is no such thing as being too cautious.  So," he says, looking at Technico to finish his sentence.

"I'd like to extend my welcome to our new apartment tenants," Nico says with a sigh.  "The second floor is in working condition, but will need some cleaning up.  You can pick any of the apartments you want, they're all empty--in fact this entire building is.  You can even open it up into a penthouse style if you want to do the work.  I've been planning to expand into the apartment next door, myself."

"It's a bit dangerous, though, having so many young capes in the same building," Dad says, frowning.  "With Emily, that'll make four in one place.  Are we certain we want that?"

"It's either we spread them out into places with less of a security system," Nico says, "or we stick them into a highly secure area, surround them with full grown capes, and dare the enemy to come at us."

"I'm moving in," Liz says from where she's squeezed her way in between Zoe and Max (much to my amusement).  "And other than my rounds and any large problem that requires me, I'm free to stay here as security, too.  No one touches my nieces and nephews," she adds with a few sparks flying--literally.  Max yelps as his shirt catches on fire.

"Liz!" he says, "this is a brand new shirt!"

"Oh, sorry," she says, not sounding very sorry at all. 

"I don't have to stay here," Emily says.  "I mean, I'm the intruder here, right?  I barely know any of you, and it's going to be crowded enough as it is, right?"

"You're staying," Dad says in a firm tone.  "No running off, got it?"

"But like you said, it's dangerous to have so many cape kids--"

"Emily," I say, "It's an entire apartment building.  It should be big enough for two families.  And I made a promise, right?"  I'm ecstatic, I'm not going to lie.  Living in the apartment?  Awesome!  I won't have to risk running across town every day, getting to the new school will be a breeze, and I don't have to worry about Zoe blowing up Sunny's computer.  Besides, Sunny sucks at typing, and I swear he sometimes falls asleep while writing texts.

Huh... Emily's staring at me now.  Did I say something wrong?  She was probably just looking for an excuse to run again, I think looking at her closely.  Is this the doppelganger?  I glance at Frank, but he's not acting suspicious, so I can only assume it's the real her. 

"What did you promise?" Sunny asks me.

"I'll tell you later," I say, suddenly feeling everyone other than my parents and Frank staring at me avidly.

"And why is she staring at me, now?" Sunny whispers silently.

"I have no clue," I whisper back just as silently, although honestly in a room full of supers it's sort of a waste.

"I have one more thing to mention, since I'm here," Frank says.  "I'm not sure it's a good thing, honestly, but Emily, the daughters of your previous home are asking to be admitted into Cape High."

Emily's face turns white and she sways slightly, looking like she's going to faint.  I can't help but want to get up, but before I work up the guts she's already calmed down--and looking resolute.  Well... crap, I think.  She's going to run.

"They live too far away to come here, right?" I say instead.  "On top of that, they're part of the South Branch, which makes them out of our Hall's jurisdiction.  Right?"

"Normally I would use that," Frank says.  "But I've already brought in Emily and am planning on bringing in a few others from other branches.  There's one in particular in the West Branch that I'm intent on getting--another orphan.  If I claim that I can't take them because of their branch, I'll be shooting myself in the foot, to put it plainly."  He's looking at Emily now, and I wonder if he's saying something to her telepathically.  I also wonder if it will make any difference.

I glance at the people on the couch behind me, my eyes falling on Max, who's sitting next to Sunny and looking at the rather pale Emily.  He has a thoughtful look on his face.  "We don't have much to show them," he says abruptly.  "A few empty buildings and a high tech security system.”

"Emily--" I start out.

"They can come," Emily says.  Yeah, that's a look of someone about to do something drastic, I think.  "I won't mind at all."  That smile is definitely fake, too.  She might be able to make a perfect copy of herself, but she really sucks at hiding her emotions.  I can't help but think, though, that I'm being seriously underestimated.  A full grown cape chasing us down is one thing--two teenage girl capes is another.  This time I'm the one doing the staring.  She looks away.

"So I take it the two sisters are a problem from your old family," Nico says to Emily.  "Not the father or mother?"

"I don't need to tell you that," she says.

"Sure you do," Nico says.  "I'm your principal.  Who's going to vouch for Emily?" he asks, looking at us.  "If we're going to deal with this problem I need to know it's worth it."

"I will," I say. 

Frank is looking at Nico.  "I would appreciate you not breaking the code to deal with teenage girls," he says mildly.  "You're still on parole."

"I can deal with it," Max says.  "Like Nico said, I've been seen as the good guy a few times too many lately."

"Don't!" Emily says, making us all turn to her.  "You don't even know me, okay, so why are you all so intent on taking my side?  I could be a liar or a thief or--or anything!  You're all morons!"  She shoots to her feet, storming for the door.

"Don't go out of the apartment building," Nico tells her.  "You're not cleared to leave, it could be extremely painful."

I see her nod ever so slightly before she leaves the apartment.  I can't help but stare at Nico.  "You could have just made her stay," I say after a second.

"I'm getting too used to teenage girls storming off," Nico admits.

"I'll go talk to her," Mom says, getting up and following after Emily.

"So what was the promise?" Sunny demands, poking me in the back of my head.

"He promised to protect her," Frank says, "for as long as she lives with him or his family."

"That is totally cheating," Sunny says.

Nico looks at us.  "I didn't realize you two were like that," he says.

"He's offering up promises and all sorts of stuff before I even get to talk to her!" Sunny says, poking me in the head again.  "It's bad enough that he's half a foot taller than me, you know--man I'm never going to get a girlfriend!"

"Ooooh, that sort of cheating," Nico says.

"Yeah... wait, what did you think I meant?"

Max is snickering by this point, so I shoot him a dirty look.  "Shut it," I say, feeling my neck turn red.  Sunny might not have gotten what Nico was thinking, but I did.  "I like girls!" I add a bit too loudly.

"What--" Sunny stops, and I can swear I hear his brain catch up.  "My own father!" he yelps.  Max is laughing out loud by this time so I elbow him.

"Ow."

"Well anyway," Nico says, changing the subject a bit too blatantly.  "What about that other one?  The one coming from the West Branch?  That'll be another chance--"

"It's a male," Frank says.

And Max starts dying from laughter.  Jerk.

***

She wants to leave, Emily thinks, her hand already on the handle of the apartment building's front door.  It's just she sort of gets the feeling that that black haired guy hadn't been lying about it being dangerous.  She still remembers the strange footprint path that she'd had to follow to get inside--and it had changed with each person.  That was definitely a bad sign.

"You don't need to run off," she hears Jeanie say from behind her.  "Emily, honey, I think it's time we have a serious talk."

Emily looks at her, wondering why she feels the urge to burst into tears.  It's so frustrating, she thinks, everyone keeps pretending to be nice and she doesn't know what to do--she blinks as arms wrap around her, tugging her into a hug.  Absently she notices that Jeanie has much, much more chest than she probably ever will, and Emily is right at chest level on the older woman.

"Go ahead and cry, sweetie," she says softly.  "Just let it all out."

"I--I am!" she says, a tear trickling down.  "I'm a liar!  And a thief!  And--and I should never become a hero!  Mom and Dad must ha--hate me!" she wails as the tears start to fall freely.  Why?  A part of her is stepping out of herself, watching as this pathetic display goes on--literally.  Her doppelganger appears behind her, more out of instinct than anything else.

"I see," Jeanie says, looking at the doppelganger.  "I think," Jeanie goes on, "that that is a very wonderful doppelganger, indeed.  You have great talent, don't you?"

"We don't want to trust you," the doppelganger says.  "Our last family was nice at first, but then they turned out to be nasty."

She isn't telling the doppelganger to say this, she realizes.  The doppelganger is speaking for them both.  She wants to protest, but it's hard to speak when you're sobbing your heart out.  Instead she's being picked up and carried to the stairs like she's a child, where Jeanie sits down.

"I know," Jeanie says quietly, "that you feel alone.  That both of you do.  But sweetie, we won't hurt you.  If you're afraid of Ken, or Trent--"

"It wasn't the father," the doppelganger says.  "It was the daughters.  They... they beat on me," she goes on, looking at Emily.  Emily can feel her eyes on her.  "While she starved in the streets.  We--neither of us--were happy, or safe.  This is the happiest she's been since before her parents died."

"Sh--shut up," Emily finally gets out.  The doppelganger disappears.  It's creepy, in a way, because she hadn't realized that the doppelganger was starting to think for itself until now.  She should have, she realizes.  She'd left the doppelganger to live her life for her, it had to make decisions when she wasn't paying attention, otherwise it would look strange.

"Oh, sweetie," Jeanie says, rubbing her back.  "Your parents absolutely don't hate you.  What you did, you did because you felt you had no choice.  But right now you have a choice, Emily.  You can choose to trust us.  I know that your... those girls coming here is traumatic for you, but you aren't alone this time.  Trent made a promise, right?"

Emily nods against Jeanie's chest, not looking up.  "But lots of people don't do what they promise to do," she mutters.  She sounds pathetically nasal.  She hates that.

"Trent will do it," Jeanie says.  "He's a lot like his father.  But you know what?  I don't think you
need
Trent to do it.  In fact, I think it's high time I offer my assistance to the next generation--starting with you and Zoe!"

"Wh--what?" Emily asks, looking up at Jeanie blankly.

"We're going to have some girl power training!  If they're going to let the boys play, I see no reason that the girls can't too!  And sweetie, once we get you and that doppelganger working together, I bet those two won't see what hit them," she adds with a wide smile.

Emily sniffles, hope starting to sneak into her expression.  "Re--really?"

"I wouldn't agree if they were norms, of course," Jeanie says, "but supers!  They should know better than to pick on a girl just coming into her powers!  I'm tempted to go and talk to their parents, too!  They need to know what little monsters they've raised and take responsibility!"

A little smile pulls at Emily's lips even as someone from the stairs steps into view.  "I like this plan," the white haired female says.  "Can I play, too?"

"Oh, I would say so," Jeanie says.  "What do you think, sweetie?" she asks Emily.

Emily looks up at the tough looking white haired woman on the stairs.  She's got muscles, she notices, and a sharp, wicked look on her face.  "Yes, please."

***

We start cleaning up the apartment on the 14th floor.  There's a lot of work, but with everyone working at full speed we get it clean rather quickly.  I've got my own room, and along the way some of the assistants from the Hall brought out stuff from our home, so I get to work putting the room the way I like it.  It includes several trips downstairs and out of the building (and on the glowing footsteps each time) to get everything up, but I manage.

Soon my new room looks a lot like my old one did--just smaller.  "Hey Dad?" I say, sticking my head out, "can I get my own apartment?  I got too much stuff!"