Fen and Mara - Open Novella Contest 2019 Short List

Chapter 16

Mara presses the phone to her ear, walking through the hallway to try and get a better signal. When she finally hears her father clearly, he says he is now the one having trouble hearing her.
"Can you go outside, maybe?"

Mara pushes the door open to a stairwell, one she knows has an emergency exit behind the first stairs. There are windows up the entire stairwell and a door at the bottom. She pushes the door, jumping back as suddenly an alarm pierces the silence. The door falls shut with a klang.
"Shit! I triggered the alarm!"

Her father says something, though she can barely understand him over the blaring noise.
"That's better," she hears as the racket stops as sudden as it started.

"You can say that again," Mara says, massaging her free ear with her hand. She decides not to touch the door again. Her phone's reception is fine here by the window anyway.
"Why are you calling, dad?"

"Are you alone?"

Mara looks around her. The stairwell is deserted, she didn't see anyone in the hall either. All the students are either in class or at the jobs thing in the gym.
"Uh, yes. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. So, how's it going? Everything okay at school?"

"Yeah..." Mara drawls, confused by his questions. Why is he acting like this?
"Dad, I have to go back to my classmates. Mrs. Stewart is gonna wonder where I am."

"No, don't go back," her father says quickly. "Reginald is coming to pick you up, you can wait for him outside."

"You're acting weird, what is all this?"

"I just need you at home. I'll call the school's administration to tell them you'll be gone for the rest of the afternoon."

Her father really sounds like there is something wrong, so Mara decides to humor him. Maybe it's something he can't tell her over the phone; he has never been good at conversations that fall on the heavy side of the emotional scale. She tells him she'll meet Reginald outside the school and hangs up.
Trying to come up with reasons her dad wants her at home that don't involve the death of a close relative, Mara hurries back to the gym to get her bag.

She rounds the last corner and bumps into a tall man. "Woah! Sorry, I..."
The words catch in her throat. The man wears an all black uniform and a Halloween mask that covers his whole face. It kinda looks like Superman.

His hand makes short work of the beginning of a scream: he twists her with her back against his chest, painfully clamping down on the lower half of her face. He presses something small and hard against her side.
"One more word and you'll regret it," he growls in her ear.

Mara whimpers in fear, her panicked sounds louder when the man turns her around again and grabs hold of her hair, forcing her to walk with him. They go through the swinging doors that lead to the gym rooms and dressing rooms. The noise coming from the main gymnasium is off; something is wrong.

She doesn't have time to think about it, because she is pushed inside the room, past more men in black tactical gear. Her captor gives her one last shove, making her fall to her knees painfully in the middle of the gym.

Her brain works overtime. Above all the noise in the gym she can hear her name being called by multiple people. One of them is Fen, yet Mara can't turn to look for him. Not when there is so much going on right in front of her. The police officer - she remembers Fen saying his name was Larry - is floating in the air, a weird red glow around his body. He's unconscious. Or dead.

And Calexico is standing there, in black and red spandex and killer heels. Deep cleavage and gorgeous hair like always, yet this time she's not sporting a confident grin but a rather grim look.
"Well, well, what have we here?" the woman says tauntingly, slowly walking over to Mara. There's some more shouting of her name from the people around her.
"Shut them up, will you?" Calexico instructs one of her men and a loud bang startles everybody in the gym into silence. There's now a hole in the electronic scoreboard, the electronics fizzling and sparking before they give out.
"Very useful, airguns. No messy bullets left behind. Just nice, gaping holes." Her comment is casual, airy even. Though Mara can't help but think Calexico isn't that relaxed right now. The confident smile is back, be it a little strained.
"Now, what shall I do with you?"

"Leave her alone!" It's Fen, his voice closer than before. He's pushing his way forward, towards her.

"Fen, no!" Mara yells, but it's too late. Two men in dark clothes jump on him, tackling him to the ground. Fen puts up a fight, his telekinesis making some nearby folding chairs fly back, but he's no match to the two burly men. Especially not when one pushes the black stick against his back and electricity crackles; Fen's body spasms before it slumps to the floor.

Mara cries out his name and she's vaguely aware of his brother Vic roaring in anger, amidst all the other shocked cries. There's a loud bang again, this time directed at the backboard of the basketball hoop. The corner of the board disappears in a blast of splinters, raining down on the group of kids that is pushed up against the wall underneath it. They shield their heads with their arms, trying to cover themselves as well as possible.

Calexico walks over to where Fen is lying on the floor, one of the guards holding him down with a foot on his back. The supervillain crouches in front of him, turning his head to the side. Fen is conscious, but barely. His face is contorted in pain and he grunts when Calexico clicks her tongue at him.
"Aren't you that boy that was kidnapped a while ago? Looks like you have a way of getting yourself in trouble. Be a smart kid, and stay down this time."

Mara focuses all her attention on the female supervillain in front of her. Her blood is boiling with anger and her mind is racing. Something just doesn't feel right.
"What the fuck are you doing here? This is a school, there's only kids here!" Mara shouts with as much spirit as she can muster. She's shaking, yet she refuses to let it show. "Shouldn't you be out there, looking for superheroes you can unmask?"

Calexico grins broadly, standing up from next to Fen. "Oh, my dear girl, did nobody teach you yet that you should let the boys come to you, not the other way around?"
She saunters back to Mara and flips her hair back with her hand, her fingers lingering seductively at her throat before she lowers her hand again.

The woman's leotard has long sleeves, coming to a point over the back of her hand, all the way up to her middle finger. A gold ring with a large red stone glistens on her other finger. Mara immediately searches for the heart shaped birthmark on the woman's right collarbone, her heart leaping up in her throat. Calexico is a little too far away to be sure, and it's hard to get a clear look when she is moving around, yet Mara is willing to bet her right hand that she knows who Calexico is. It would certainly explain her father's odd call from before.

Mara is fed up with it all. Her father can go straight to hell. His fucking girlfriend right with him.
"You're nothing but an attention whore, Calexico!" Mara bites down on every syllable. "Or should I call you Ver..."

The ring flashes red.

Someone's shouting. Someone's screaming. Mara wants to be one of those persons, yet she can't force any sound out.

Red flashes behind her eyelids.

Her spine curves backwards involuntarily.

A sharp tingle creeps up underneath her skull, beginning at the nape of her neck.

Red flashes.

And then nothing...