Twenty One #2
I run through the tall hallways, sprinting to feel any kind of fire.
Because if there’s a fire, the water part of me may want to put it out.
Maybe that’s how I exploded the bottom of city hall.
I race down the halls until I can’t remember where I’d come from, or how to get back to the ballroom, and I’m lost in Arielle’s house. Alone.
This is why Fox wanted to come with you. Carpeting keeps me from hearing any footsteps; my own. Or Arielle’s. Classic that all of this spookiness is happening on Halloween.
A flirtatious shriek rings around the next corner, and I jog to find its source. As my eyes adjust to the dim hallway, I make out a figure.
“Zane, stop.” A second laugh. Make that two figures.
“Arielle?” I whisper.
They break apart, but neither of them is Arielle. It’s two tuxedoed men—one I don’t recognize, wearing a green tuxedo and mask, and one wearing a bright red mask and bow tie.
Damian.
Damian.
“I’m sorry.” I say, “I was just looking for Arielle.” I turn and hurry away, not expecting this at all.
“Wait, Madeline.” Damian follows me, and I let him catch up.
This whole time, I thought Damian might be D.S. But he said stop to Zane, who must be Zane Milligan, in the green mask.
Now I understand why he broke up with Molly. Now I see what was going on in the comic shop.
“I’m sorry.” I say, “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I won’t tell anyone.”
“No, it’s okay,” he says politely. “Why are you looking for Arielle?”
“Phil can’t find her, but it’s fine, I doubt she went far.”
“Good luck,” says Damian, sounding like he means it.
“Thanks, you too,” I reply, shuffling away. Why did I say that? I pinch myself as I find yet another staircase.
I can barely believe what I saw, but some events from the past 24 hours have fallen into place.
Damian’s parents don’t consider that love can exist between two men, and I can’t imagine the lengths Damian has had to go to keep that secret.
Does Molly know? Is that what they’d been arguing about at Brynn’s party?
And. If he was with Zane… Damian isn’t D.S.
On the fourth floor of the mansion, my palms sweat, moisture beading near my wrists. In my clammy state, a faint idea of a destination forms, and I visualize the last drops from a jet falling into a bathtub’s basin. Maybe…
As I concentrate, something at the end of the hallway pulls me past another 2,000 portraits and wasted rooms. DRIP. DRIP. DRIP. I find a door left slightly ajar, as if someone had wanted to close it, but was in too much of a rush.
I push the door open to discover what it’s hiding. Dizziness overwhelms my entire body as I step into the room. The color pink dominates every centimeter of space.
Pink couches, pink chairs, pink coffee table, pink shelves with pink trophies on them.
Yep, I’ve found Arielle’s suite. Inside the room is an adjacent bathroom, which is immaculately tiled with faint blue and purple checkers, and built right into the corner is Arielle’s massive jacuzzi.
There ya go, Mads . I revel in my triumph.
Despite this, Arielle is nowhere in sight.
“Arielle?” I shout, peeking around the jacuzzi.
Click. The bathroom door swings shut. I have company.
“Shhhhhhh,” whispers D.S. “Roberts. What are you doing?”
Dark Static has changed into his super suit, his spandex armor showing off his athletic figure, and his long boots making him look lightning fast.
I lean against the jacuzzi for balance. “Arielle’s missing, or haven’t you heard?” Wait, D.S. can track people. “Can you find her? With her phone?”
“No.” He frowns. “She left it behind. This is what Bridges asked me to do,” he replies, “to create a diversion at the pool so Arielle would have to address it, and no one would know where she went. People would freak out and assume she was kidnapped, chaos would ensue, yada. Only, I didn’t create a diversion, and she’s missing.
Madeline, it’s stupid to come up here by yourself and start yelling about it. Bridges knows about your powers.”
Oh no. For the first time, it hits me that I should do more than play pretend with my powers. Arielle is actually missing. She disappeared from Hallowfest, her favorite party of the year. Phil can’t find her, and neither can Dark Static.
I look to Dark Static, who always exudes confidence, to find he’s standing far away from me with his arms crossed. He’s on guard.
“What do we do?” I ask. “Do you think she’s okay? Do you think Phil’s behind this? Or her friends from that conversation we overheard?” Phil’s gotta be behind this.
D.S. lets out a long breath. “Calm down, Madeline.”
What? My hands numb, and now I’m scared for a new reason. He’s not pulling the rug out from under me, is he?
“Don’t tell me to calm down.” The words feel wrong on my tongue.
Dark Static looks at me, and I hate that I can’t see as much of him with his real mask back on. “Hey,” he finally says, but a quiet knocking raps on the door.
“Static, let’s go,” someone calls through it. “She’s not here, and we’re running out of time.”
The room fills with a loud silence when D.S.
doesn’t reply. He can’t answer; he’s too busy staring at me.
Not the “I think this girl is beautiful” kind of stare that I want from him, but a stare like he wants to get a point across and expects me to read his mind.
Unfortunately, that’s not a power I have.
Confusion stifles my ability to talk. I thought we were both here to help Arielle, but why do I feel like that’s not the case?
Stiffly, D.S. opens the door to the bathroom and his counterpart, dressed in yellow spandex with the boots and mask to match, hops in. “C’mon let’s go—” says Golden Ace. He stops when he sees me. “Wait, Madeline’s coming too? You said—”
“That’s what we were talking about,” D.S. says.
“Oh.” Alone, Golden Ace is athletic and lean, but adding him in the room feels like placing a giraffe in a hiding hole for mice.
“Yeah,” D.S. says. “I’ll be ready soon.”
“Great.” Golden Ace mutters sarcastically. He leaves to wait on one of Arielle’s pink armchairs, and the door clicks shut behind him.
D.S. blinks. “I think it would be a good idea if you did not go looking for your sister.”
“Excuse me?” If voices could bite, D.S. would need a band-aid.
“Madeline. It’s dangerous and you don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“Oh my gosh,” I say. “Do you hear how cliché you sound? The big brave hero won’t let the girl come, so she protests and goes anyway? Do you want to finish this conversation, or should we find Arielle?”
“You don’t know what your powers are yet. What if we get into real trouble? You don’t have a mask or extra water or anything. Trust me,” he says, almost pleading. “This is way too dangerous for you. Gold and I will find Arielle. We’ll fix this.”
My dad would be devastated if he found out Arielle was missing. And, despite how awfully she has treated me, discovering that Arielle had kept my powers safe earns her a lot of sister points. I need to help find her.
“So what? I’m supposed to leave finding my sister to the real Supers? I thought we were a team.” I get that I don’t know my powers yet, but I need to find my sister. My dad and I can’t lose Arielle.
“Gold is on my team. You’re…”
When D.S. doesn’t continue, I click my tongue. “I’m what?”
Dark Static studies the tile floor, then the ceiling, debating whether he should take back his comment or double down.
“Look, Maddy. Maybe this isn’t such a great idea right now.
I feel bad saying no to you, but I can’t let you come with me.
It just isn’t a good time for us to be… involved… that way.”
I cannot believe this is happening. This entire conversation feels so stupid and unnecessary, yet here we are, having it.
“I’m sorry, Maddy.” He sounds like he genuinely means it, but also like he thinks that “sorry” is the easiest way to end the conversation.
“It’s Madeline . ” I move to walk past him and he lets me. I could boil water with the anger at my fingertips.
“You’re not coming?” Golden Ace asks as I scurry out of the pink explosion that is Arielle’s suite.
“No, she’s not,” says D.S.
“No, I’m not.” I have my own powers. All I require are water and a plan.
But before I can get either of those, I need to find another unoccupied place in Arielle’s mansion, just for a moment, to cry.
I walk away from Golden Ace and D.S. and neither of them follows.
I run into the next room in the hallway, which seems to be where Arielle keeps her shoes.
An entire room for footwear. Despite what one might expect from such a space, it smells outstanding, like calming citrus.
I sink against the wall, my dress splaying around me and realize I will also have to change.
At least Arielle and I are almost the same size.
I fling off my heels and look for a pair of sneakers I can borrow without permission.
Again, there’s no mirror in her closet, and I can’t know if I look like I’ve been through a blender or not.
Are there any mirrors in this house? Arielle often checks her peach lipstick in a compact, and maybe it’s the only mirror she owns.
Dark Static could be right about it being dangerous to look for Arielle, and I could be walking into a trap. However, Dark Static did not need to hurt me to get his point across.
One of the best things about feeling dejected and confused is that it’s all energy. Energy I can work with. I grab a pair of sneakers and return to Arielle’s suite for a change of clothes. The boys have left, and I find a pair of workout leggings and a sweatshirt in a wardrobe.
Downstairs, the party continues to rage. I dig out my phone and text Kristen that I need to find Arielle and will find my own way home. I text my dad, Arielle is missing, I’m safe, be careful, then turn off my phone.
I grab two water bottles from the bartending station and rush to exit the party. Before I can ask the valet for a cab, however, someone catches up to me.
“Madeline.” Fox’s blond hair sticks up from his blue mask.
His gaze vacillates between me and the road.
“Last chance to get some help.” Maybe it’s because D.S.
wouldn’t let me help him, or maybe it’s because I’m done arguing with Fox, but I nod.
Fox has a strange way of figuring things out.
I just have to keep him from figuring out about my powers. And, Fox has wheels.
“You good going in a suit?” While I’d been able to change, he’s still in his tuxedo.
“If I can take this stupid mask off.”
We step in the driveway. I have a long list of places to search for Arielle, starting with her friends that I’d overheard with D.S. I down a swig of water and consider if there will be water near where I want to search. I hope so.
“Please do,” I say, after the haziness clears my brain and my legs feel strong again.
“I knew it. You enjoy looking at my face.”
We fall into step together as Fox leads me to his car. A wet mist remains from my storm earlier, and I wonder if D.S. had noticed that too. I ask Fox to turn off his phone. He doesn’t ask why.