James Knight: Teenage Superhuman - Book One

Eleven

"James! James!" a familiar Australian voice called out my name. I groaned, rolling beneath the sheets until someone forcefully turned me over. "Wake up, mate!" he exclaimed. His fingers dug into my side, and before I could react, my eyes fluttered open. I found myself drenched in sweat, the room momentarily bathed in a purple hue before fading away. With his hoodie pulled back, the masked face of a young boy stared at me while a concerned super-vigilante observed from the corner.

"Son of a bitch," I growled, swinging my legs off the side of the bed as I lunged at the guy, pinning him against the wall. He raised his arms in surrender, pure fear etched on his face.

"Calm down, mate. I won't hurt you," he pleaded. I locked eyes with the masked Superboy, my grip loosening around his neck as I realized he posed no threat. Slowly, my fingers released their hold, allowing him to stand firmly on the ground. "You're strong," the boy remarked, brushing himself off.

"Good to know. Now, who are you?" I asked, assessing him. He stood about my height, maybe an inch taller, with deep brown eyes and a mask obscuring most of his face. His eyes had an almost innocent look as he silently pleaded with me. Was this Noah or Max I was facing?

"What's with this bloody family? Do you think I'll reveal that information to you?" he retorted, ruining the moment.

I threw him against the wall again, and he reluctantly raised his hands in surrender. "What do you want?" I clenched my fist, ready to strike, but the boy shielded his face.

"Hey, whoa! Easy there, Mighty Mouse," he protested. Loud footsteps approaching the room diverted our attention. Swiftly, the boy swept his foot under mine, causing me to stumble and fall to the floor before he escaped through the window.

"I'll see you around, Knight," he called out, tipping his hoodie's brim before disappearing into the night. At that moment, Sam turned the corner.

"Are you alright?" Sam's gaze locked onto mine as I pushed myself up from the floor. He extended his arm, helping me to my feet. "Son of a bitch," he cursed.

"I should have taken care of him."

"You know killing him won't solve our problems," Sam said. "You don't want to live with the guilt of having killed—" Sam paused momentarily, hesitating. "I'll drive you to the mall. Matthew and Derek had an emergency meeting this morning and had to leave early, and you need to get out more."

"Fuck," I muttered.

"Just let me know when you're ready. It would be nice to see you act like a teenager for once, James." I rolled my eyes, observing as he approached the doorway. "You have ten minutes, maximum. I mean it," he warned, tapping his wristwatch before leaving the room.

∆∆∆

The nearby mall was the last place anyone would expect to find me, yet I was leaning against an empty glass store window with Derek, enjoying bites of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from a cone.

"Those two new kids in my class, they're supers," I mentioned, slurping the melting vanilla ice cream off my thumb. Derek raised an eyebrow, sucking on his mint chip cone.

"What?" he inquired.

"I find it strange how they appeared out of nowhere. Besides, the accents of the new boys match those of the supers," I explained. We sat in silence for a moment, savoring our ice creams.

"I can't do much without solid evidence, but maybe you should trust your instincts," Derek suggested. "Your Spidey senses might be tingling," he chuckled before taking another bite of his ice cream. Who does that? "Are we almost done here?" he asked.