A Hero in the Dark: 2nd Edition

Chapter 12: Deep Admiration

"I don't understand," I finally croak, not looking away from the bunny. "Why? Why not tell her to find some other Garde and protect them? Why me?"

"I don't know," John responds, absentmindedly.

"There must be a reason," Henri adds, holding his chin.

"It is cool though," Sam adds. I give him a look. "What? Is it not cool? She basically just saw your Elder face to face. I mean, my guess is that not even you three had that chance."

"Ok, I guess it is kind of cool..."

John chuckles and Sam joins in. Six and Henri don't. "So, what now?" asks Six. "What's our next move?"

"Well... based on what I've read, there should be another Garde in Spain. Number Seven. We can go and find her if you guys want."

"Sounds like a good idea," John says. "Henri?"

"Yes, I think so too. I'll book us plane tickets and hopefully we can fly tonight."

"I don't know..." I add then. "I know Number Nine's being held in West Virginia too—"

"Wait, what do you mean being held? Are they safe or not?" Six asks.

"Yes. Well, I don't know," I say. "Number Nine—he's in a cell. The Mogadorians have a base there; one of the biggest on Earth, I think, and with that charm of yours broken, they can kill him any time. He's strong though; he might be able to handle himself until we get to Seven..."

"We can't take any chances," Henri says, as serious as ever I've seen him, which isn't saying a lot. "If they have a base swarming with Mogadorians, we should get him out ASAP."

"I know what the cave looks like," Six says. "I can sneak in and get him out no problem."

"So, we split up then?" John wonders.

"It would be more efficient," Sam admits.

"Might be the best call, but I don't like the idea of Six going alone. If something happens—"

"It won't."

"Still."

"I can go with her," Sam jumps in, a stupid grin on his face.

"Are you sure, Sam?" Six asks, rolling her eyes. "You know there's going to be bad guys, right?"

"Ha! I laugh in the face of those pale freaks. Besides, me going with you solves all problems. You can make two people invisible right?"

"Yeah."

"Boom! I go with you, we get Nine, and Emily, John, and Henri find this Number Seven girl," he says. "That's two Garde in one swing."

"Can't go wrong with the nerd's logic," John jokes.

"Shut up!"

"Alright, if that's what you guys want," Henri notes. "You can drop the three of us at the airport before you go on your way to West Virginia but call us every few hours or so."

"No problem," Sam says, doing a brief salute.

"Pfft," Six scoffs. "Ok, Mr. Confident."

"Take BK with you guys too."

"Can't. The base has a force field. Gas or something. Animals die if they go near it."

John, shocked, I think, then persists, "Just in case then. He can wait outside. Right buddy?" He pats to the beagle's head and the beagle slobbers into his hand.

***

It's 7:15 p.m. when our plane takes off. I've got the window seat. John has the middle. Henri has the aisle. I spend the next few hours talking to John instead of sleeping like I thought I'd be. I tell him about my home and where I grew up, where I went to school, how I found Pittacus Lore's story; the fact that my eighth-grade teacher read it to us as a class read-aloud and it hooked me since. I tell him about my commute to Paradise, the note I left for my parents, even of the first time I saw Pixie transform. He marvels at that the most and tells me of the first time BK transformed in front of him in Paradise. Huh. I don't recall BK ever shapeshifting until the attack.

I even tell him about how close I came to dying on the road...

After, John tells me how he met Sam and how Sam found out he was an alien, about the Halloween hayride and Athens and the post-it notes; he asks me if I know anything about them. I say I do, but I don't remember what the notes say specifically, so he shows me. He has pictures on his phone.

One of them says: 1–3 dead. Another just says: 4? The next: 7 trailed in Spain. Another: 9 on the run in SA. He asks if I know anything about what it all means, and I tell him, though I try not to speak too loud. I tell him that the reason why the guy wrote down his number was most likely because of the news about him from Mark's party. "That shit's probably going to go viral."

John says nothing. Maybe he's embarrassed? Ashamed? Oh, I hope not. I didn't mean to make him feel that way! But then he asks about seven, who she is, what it means by trailed.

"It's the whole reason why I think it's best to find Seven first," I tell them both. "See, her Cêpan kind of lost faith with what's going on with you guys and the Mogadorians. They've been staying in an orphanage for years after Adelina gave away all their gems for meals and necessities. She's joined the sisters there and refused to train Ma—Seven—at all."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, it's not that great, honestly." I feel bad about knowing so much about these people now that they're real. I've only ever treated them as characters—fictional characters—and now that they aren't—now that they're real—I don't like sharing so much about Marina's history without her permission. She should be the one sharing this, not me. "But anyway, it probably might not be easy to convince them to leave, or at least Adelina..."

Silence. John moves us on and talks about Thanksgiving at Sarah's house and how worried he was about Henri, which is how his telekinesis developed. I tell him I already know, but still smile as I say it. I tell him that I know telekinesis is usually the first Legacy a Garde develops but, as for John, he was a late bloomer. John blushes at that and runs a nervous hand through his hair. "I also know that you lifted Henri up to the ceiling because you didn't want to leave," I add, smirking.

"Oh, he did," Henri confirms, feigning upset but smiling anyway, I think.

"Yeah, well, of course not. Everything was great in Paradise," John explains and soon talks on and on about Lorien too. That's the best part. It's not what he says now; it's the way he says it.

The way he describes Lorien from his visions, what he saw, heard; it's like I'm there with him. He holds such a caring and gentle tone as he talks about his home. I admire it, and I know he misses it. It's sweet. Despite not really knowing John Smith all that well, and the fact that he's an alien, I feel like I can connect with him better than any of my friends in Kingston.