Spectra

Chapter 25

Lucas

A leaf? There was a foot of snow on the ground yet this perfectly healthy leaf was laying on the window sill. Instinctively I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Something weird was going on with this girl and my brain was starting to put the pieces together.

My thinking was interrupted when I heard the news anchor talking about an update on the plant girl. I slid to a stop outside the bedroom door to watch. A new picture of her was shown. It showed her holding a man up by his arms using vines and plants. She looked oddly familiar.

Behind me I felt a draft of cold air and a loud thump on the floor. I whipped around and saw the very same girl in green laying on the ground. She slowly stood up clearly not seeing me and took off her mask. My mouth hung open as I stood watching her. Emily's sister was the plant girl.

"Oh my god! You- you're her?!" I walked towards her. She ran to me and put her hand over my mouth. I removed her hand from my face and whispered. "How long have you really been here for?"

"We came to Central City and started living on the streets in September but, then my dad was found and I was brought here." She explained unsure why that was related. "You cannot tell anyone. Not even Emily. And especially not my mom." Maddy said firmly. Then I realized, she's only twelve. She's only twelve and almost killed someone and probably others.

"I know what you're thinking. I'm too young but have you seen Spectra out there. She's not that much older than me and pretty much everyone supports her now. Except for my mom." She defended automatically. She had a point, Emily was only four years older, but that seems like a big difference. She seemed so passionate about it that I could see how she felt.

"But you almost killed someone. That's not saving people, that's attempted murder. They'll see you as dangerous and you'll be a criminal," I reminded her.

"They deserve it!" She balled her hands fists. "People like them could go to jail but they don't even deserve to be alive." I could've sworn I felt the leaf move in my pocket as she spoke.

"What they deserve is to go to prison because we can't just kill everyone who breaks the law," I defended stepping backwards to leave her room. "And if you don't understand that, you're just as bad as them." I turned around and took a breath as I entered the kitchen. Everything started to set in. Emily's sister who was raised by a criminal was a metahuman vigilante at only twelve years old. Why does everything have to be so complicated?

Loudly, I sighed as I dropped back down on the couch. Seriously, I wished I could've unsee everything I just saw. Now I had two huge secrets to keep and one was hard enough. Maybe Mom can make me a memory eraser and I can just forget, I thought even though I knew it wasn't possible.

The only way I could try and ignore this was to distract myself with TV. A woman droned on and on about news that seemed irrelevant at the time. Her voice lulled me to sleep within ten minutes of laying down.

Sometime later I was shaken awake. Confused, I looked around trying to figure out what was happening. Emily was standing in front of me practically shaking.

"Lucas. Lucas!" She exclaimed. I muttered an incoherent 'what'. "It's my mom. She needs help."

"What? Why?" I asked groggily rubbing my eyes.