Big City Villain | BOOK ONE

Chapter Ten: Visitors and Stupid Plans.

When I finally stumbled down the stairs the next morning and into the living room, I glanced at the clock and groaned. It was almost noon. Great. I had that history test I'd been studying for today.

"He's alive!" my father said much too loudly, slapping my back and smiling at me, but then he frowned as concern marked his face. "You sure slept in, especially on a school day. Not feeling good?"

I thought back quickly. After that annoying growing pain tapered down a bit, at least enough for me to recognize the warm kitchen I found myself in as that of my most reliable underground connection, we swapped information for an hour until I had enough to follow a lead on the mysterious City Sweeper.

Did that lead take me anywhere? Nope. Not even a skinny chance.

So, after several long hours of roaming the alleyways, I went about looking for my archenemy and fellow villain, Catastrophe, to terrorize him some since I was too wound up to go to bed. Unfortunately, the brat caught wind and stayed up in the skies while I tried to get him to come down.

I didn't get home till almost five in the morning. Probation was so totally broken, but Ben was out like a light and didn't seem to notice. When I finally did lay down to sleep, I was hit hard with another power growing pain that had left me writhing in pain for what seemed like hours.

"No, I'm not," I mumbled, stumbling into the kitchen and to the coffee pot. I poured the cold coffee into my favorite mug. Dad walked up behind me just in time for him to catch me heating it up manually.

"Coal," he said, his voice laced with warning. "You're banned."

"You know, at this point, I could care less," I grumbled. "If your favorite son throws me back into the Solitary Bin, well then fine, at least I can sleep."

Dad cocked an eyebrow at me. "Is that what you did in the Bin, sleep? I know I couldn't."

Images of being in the Bin flashed through my mind. He was right. Sleeping was almost impossible to accomplish in there. It was too cold and, as hard as it is to imagine, uncomfortable. Just the mention of what it was like in there was enough to make me shudder as the memory flashed through my mind.

"And you know, even if I had a favorite son you'd be the favorite," he said, giving me a side hug. "I mean, come on you've got some serious points since you've followed in my tracks as a super villain."

I jerked myself out of his arms, a weird sense of disgust sending a shiver down my spine at his words. "Yeah well, maybe I don't want to be," I grumbled, taking my coffee with me as I went back up to my room. I stopped on the last top step, I forgot to get food. How could I forget something so important?

Not feeling like dealing with my parents, I went to my room anyway and crashed back on my bed, forgetting entirely about my coffee and falling back asleep.

****

"He's asleep."

"Well, that's fairly obvious."

What? I sat up awkwardly and opened my blurry eyes. My room was somewhat dark, and it took a moment before my head cleared enough to understand that there were two people in my room. The second voice I recognized, but the first voice made me frown.

"Hey, Coal, glad to see you up," Charlie said, sitting on my bedside. "How are you doing? Did you have an episode?"

I shrugged, I could feel a pulsating pain through me, but I could manage. "Yeah, but I'll be fine."