Rise of the Dark Heroes (BOOK #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

DERRICK

IT WAS a frosty December evening, too close to curfew for my liking.

I wrapped myself up in a hoodie and coat, yet I still felt frozen as I made my way to Stevie's apartment with relentless wind pelting my face. Even the heat emitting from my veins was no help. Ever since I had yelled at her, I couldn't get the red shine to cease. I prayed that no Normals could see them with all the layers I sported and a padded hood covering my features.

I recited my apology in my head countlessly as I journeyed, but I knew when the time came to say it aloud, I would stumble on my words like a nervous idiot. I realized that I didn't deserve her acceptance, but I still wanted to be friends. I just wanted Stevie to know that.

Once I made it to Stevie's street, I spotted police cruisers parked outside her apartment, but no officers—odd. Shrugging it off, I entered through the front entrance. I'd remembered that she was on the sixth floor but had no knowledge of which apartment was hers. I headed to the first residence I saw after exiting the elevator. After knocking on the door, an older man answered. I asked if Stevie Jones lived there, and he pointed down the hall to apartment sixty-five.

I followed the man's directions, swallowing hard before knocking. My confidence was holding on by dental floss, and I wanted to turn back last second, but I knew that this had to be done.

After a while, a woman answered the door. She looked almost exactly like Stevie, but older. I knew upon looking at her that it was her mother. She wore tight activewear and long brown hair in a ponytail. Her eyes were swollen and weary as she looked up at me, possibly from crying. I couldn't tell. She opened the door wide enough to poke half her body out, no farther.

"Hello?" she asked. There was something strangely wary in her tone. Her voice sounded fragile and unsteady, like a castle of cards.

"Hi. Uh, I'm a friend of Stevie's," I said.

Friend was an exaggeration at this point.

Her mother's blue eyes suddenly widened. She opened the door farther, leaning against the frame. My stare was snared by the number of police officers and detectives walking around behind her. The apartment was infested with them.

"Have you heard from her? Do you know where she is?" she asked me, hope sparkling in her eyes.

My eyebrows furrowed as one of the detectives heard the sound of optimism in her voice, eyeing me askance from afar. "Um, no, ma'am."

Stevie's mother slumped, placing her hand over her heart and the other over her eyes. She took a moment to compose herself, wiping away oncoming tears. My heart ached at the sight of despair on her face.

"Is—" I uncomfortably choked on my words. "Is she missing?"

Feebly, her mother nodded. "I haven't seen her since this morning."

My heart raced as I finally grasped the situation.

"Did she say if she was going anywhere?" I asked.

Suddenly, one of the detectives appeared behind Stevie's mother, the same one who was eyeing me before. He placed a hand on the door, glaring at me admonishingly. "Young man, this is a private investigation. You're going to have to leave."

"Wait! Wait, please," I begged, stopping the detective from shutting me out. I turned to her mother, pleading to her with my eyes.

Stevie's mom sighed tiredly. "She had an interview at the FTS today. Oh, she was so excited to go." She sniffled away her tears. "She was supposed to be home by six, but she never came back. I called the FTS; they said she never arrived. She won't answer her phone. Are you sure you haven't talked to her at all today?"