Program: Superhuman *ON HOLD*

Chapter 19: Mom at the Bookstore

Mom drove us to the bookstore. Arden had a better sense of direction than I did, so he sat in the passenger's seat while I stayed in the back. He told her where to go. I noticed her muscles go taut when we entered the downtown area, but Mom didn't say anything about it. She just set her jaw and continued on.

Eventually, the car stopped, parked on the curb right next to The Last Novel itself. I glanced inside with worry gnawing at my insides. Caspar sat at his desk, as usual, typing on his computer. Macy also perched herself in clear view of the window, on a beanbag with a book about quantum mechanics. However, Forge, Gale, and Timber were nowhere in sight.

"This it?" Mom asked, though she was already turning the ignition off.

"Yeah," Arden said.

The woman nodded, unbuckling herself. I followed suit, as did Arden, then grabbed my black purse. All three of us got out of the vehicle almost simultaneously, but Mom took the lead from there. She strode right up to the front door. I could almost see the anger bristling in her muscles with every step and I wondered what got her so worked up. The woman walked inside the bookstore with my brother and me trailing. Caspar and Macy looked up at the jingling of the bell. Mom set her palms against Caspar's desk and leaned over.

"Where's Forge?" she demanded.

"Uh..." he stammered, leaning back. He cast an uncertain glance to Arden and me, but we just shrugged. Clearly, this one was on him. "You must be-"

"Mrs. Summers," Macy interrupted, stepping in front of Caspar's desk next to Mom. She turned to the teenager, suspicion overcoming her face.

"You're Maria Castilla's daughter."

"Macy," my friend confirmed.

"Macy," Mom repeated under her breath. Then, louder: "You brought Willow and Arden back to the house after the fire. You go to their school. You're a superhuman, too?"

"Close enough," she shrugged. "Genius intellect. I help around the place. This is Caspar Riverton. He's a superhuman."

Caspar gave a small wave.

"If you're not a superhuman, then what are you doing here?" Mom asked. I'm almost certain she didn't mean to make it sound accusing, but it came out that way nonetheless.

"Hey, just because I'm human doesn't mean I can't do feats of extraordinary measures. If not for me, Caspar would have never been able to control his powers."

"We don't know that, Macy," the African-American growled under his breath.

"Macy, can we just see Uncle Forge?" I interrupted.

It was Forge himself that answered. He stood at the top of the spiral staircase at the back, looking down. "Up here. Kylee... good to see you."

"The feeling isn't mutual," she retorted, striding towards the back.

"Your mom acts different when you guys aren't in life-threatening danger," Macy murmured.

"Yeah," Arden whispered back. "It's kinda scaring me."

Caspar stayed back while Macy, Arden, and I followed Mom upstairs. Her feet clanked against the metal staircase, and her wedding ring made a painful ring in the ear whenever it hit the railing, but she took no notice. The pitifully small living space my uncle lived in greeted us. Seeing it made me suddenly wonder where the other superhumans lived. Did Timber spend all her time downstairs? Uncle Forge said that when he was out of town, Gale was kept the bookstore running, so did that mean she lived here when he didn't? I decided to ask about it later.