Superhero Effects

24. HELP ME

Lucinda wanted to fly over to Archer's, grab him by his scrawny neck (her words, not mine), and demand that he help us. With frustrated red cheeks, I reasoned that calling him first would be better. She then gestured to Peggy's cell phone, sitting in the middle of us, ringing for the third time on speakerphone.

"You can't just go around breaking into people's bedrooms and grabbing them by the neck, Lucinda!"

"He's a Super! He can handle it!"

The line went to voicemail, and Peggy redialed as she sat crossed-legged in our sitting circle with her head leaned against her wrist. It went to voicemail again, and Lucinda threw me a pointed glare.

I snatched the phone up from the carpet and hit redial again. "Come on, Archer, come on!" Voicemail. "We are in the middle of a freaking crisis; who sleeps with their phone on silent!"

"Or," Lucinda started to counter.

I lifted a finger. "No."

Lucinda snatched the phone out of my head with lightning speed before I could press redial. "Hey!" I lunged, grabbing it, and she moved it too fast behind her back. Peggy sighed as I got up to my knees, moving my arms around my sister's back, hissing about being rash and difficult when the phone began to ring.

Lucinda brought it back around, eyeing it with fast reflexes as I dropped back to my bottom. "...it's...your brother?"

She tossed it to Peggy, who snapped away with a short holler. "Answer that. Tell him Tristan is sleeping over and is sleeping."

Peggy eyed me questioningly. Lucinda rolled her eyes as I nodded at my friend. Peggy yawned, answering the phone. "Hi, Lew—" Peggy straightened from her lean alert, eyes going wide. "Y-yes, Tristan is with me. We—what! How much blood?"

My eyes widened, and I looked at my twin as she went very still. "You left blood? I thought you make it look like I ran away, now—" Lucinda was shaking her head, face draining of color.

"I left no blood, Tristan," came her quiet reply, brown eyes moving to me with pity.

My heart began to drum in my chest as Peggy put a hand to her mouth, eyes starting to water. I snatched the phone from her. "Lewis! What's going on?"

A breath caught in my throat as I heard a sob catch in his voice. "I-I thought it was you. I thought it was you. You're so clumsy. Always daydreaming. Always falling or—"

"Lewis," I commanded, raising my voice, "what's going on?"

"...I think it's Mom."

I dropped the phone as I pushed myself up and turned back to the window. Lucinda shot up and grabbed me. "Tristan, no."

"Get out of my way."

"Listen to me. He isn't going to hurt her. This is a message. He's not dumb enough to hurt her!"

"THERE'S ALREADY BLOOD!"

"It's a show! I bet it's not even hers!"

Peggy picked up the phone and started stammering an explanation as to why my voice was shouting at my voice.

I shook my head, pushing past her. "I don't care. I don't care. Idon'tcare! I DON'T CARE, Lucinda! I'm going to kill him."

She blinked at me, blinked at the venom in my words. "There's the Mack way."

"Move. I know his weakness. I don't need to fly. I don't need to run fast. I just have to get close."

"This is not who you are, Tristan." She grabbed my shoulders. "Listen to me; he's provoking you. Think! What will this solve? We have to take them down, Tristan. All of them... You have to take them down. I was right about the answers lying with Aaron Fletcher. Look how far you got without me. You can do this."

My eyes watered. "What are you saying?"

"I'll take the bait. I'll find your aunt. And I'll see you in your dreams. Get to your friend—and end this, Tristan."

I started shaking my head again. "No, no, I'm not letting you—" she moved too fast for me to realize what was happening until I felt the pain, then everything went dark.
***
I knew I was knocked out. If I had a sixth sense about anything, it's that my twin knocked me out. And yet, something had gone awry.

I dreamed no dreams as consciousness slowly returned to me, not visits from my twin assuring me my family was okay. Just darkness and then—

I woke with a start, inhaling warm, dank air. I tried to stretch out my tucked-in limbs but couldn't. I inhaled again, the sound shaky as I tried again to stretch out, but the space was too tight. Too warm.

"Peggy!" My head throbbed as I looked to my left and right, seeing nothing but darkness. "Lucinda!"

There was a lurch, and my body bumped up and down as I screamed for my sister again. It was then that I realized where I was—the trunk of a car.

"LUCINDA! Help! Someone help me!"