No Heroes Left Behind (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Scarlet Cheats Death

I stand on Landon's porch with my hand ready to knock on the door. But I don't just yet. I am frozen there.

Okay, come on Charlotte. You can do it. Just knock on the damn door.

I knock once, twice, three times.

At first I don't hear anything on the other side. Then I hear Suzy yelling.

"Landon, can you go get the door?" Her voice is muffled through the heavy door.

I hear someone bounding down the stairs. "Okay mum! I got it!" Landon yells back through the house. I inhale and hold my breath as the door unlocks and opens slowly. Landon looks at my feet, then his gaze travels up to my face. "Holy shit." He murmurs as he rushes towards me and pulls me into a tight hug.

I hug him back equally as tight, if not tighter. I bury my face in his shoulder and just relish in the moment.

After a long moment of happy silence he murmurs in my ear, "I thought you were dead, Charlie."

I shake my head. "Not yet." I laugh half-heartedly. We stand like this for a little while longer then we both telepathically decide to let go at the exact same time. He puts his arm around my shoulders and walks me inside.

I sit on the couch next to Landon. Suzy had to go to the store to go grocery shopping so I take this opportunity to tell Landon what happened to me after they all left.

"As soon as I brought the rest of them back to HQ, I immediately flew back over to get you, but by the time I got there you were gone. I thought he killed you and took you away, then we didn't hear from you for three days and I was panicking and-"

"-Landon. It's okay." I cut him off from his ramblings. "I told you guys to go. It's okay." I reassure him.

He shakes his head. "No it's not. We're a team now Charlie and teammates don't just abandon each other." He says in a stressed voice. I put a hand on his shoulder and he relaxes slightly.

"Seriously, Lando, it's okay. It's over now, and I'm fine. It all worked out okay." He nods his head and I proceed to tell him about what Sinister did to me and that I almost died after he whatever he did to me. Then I tell him about Ellie and Shawn and everything they did for me.

Landon listens and then speaks. "If I ever meet those two, I'd like to thank them. Not all heroes wear capes and have powers."

•••

"I called a League meeting." Landon says as he pulls his Rancor mask over his head. "Are you going to come? I'm sure people will be shocked to see you. You know, you coming back from the dead and all."

I smirk. "Sure, just let me get my suit on." I say and walk into the guest bedroom. I unzip the backpack and pull my suit out, looking it over. There's a small hole starting in the knee from when I fell out of the sky. I groan. Now I'm going to have to get it fixed, again. This is the fourth time in the past two months.

I super speed into my suit and look in the mirror as I put my sleek black mask on. I flick my hair over my shoulders and pull my red gloves on each of my hands.

I run out into the hallway and down the stairs, meeting Landon in the living room. He stops pacing when he notices me standing in the doorway and immediately comes to meet me.

We fly across the city, in between buildings and down alleyways, to avoid being seen by the public. By now the news has gotten out that I'm dead, consider I got a news bulletin on my "business" phone saying Scarlet Found Dead, accompanied by pictures taken of Sinister gripping me in his fist then dropping my "lifeless" body to the ground. The person must've run off from the scene before I had flown off. Otherwise the news would be saying Scarlett Cheats Death or some ridiculous attention-grabbing title like that.