Twenty Nine
Dark Static, Golden Ace, and I fly to the Bridges’ house in a fashion I do not want to repeat.
D.S. zips against the wind, diving below gusts and surging through clouds.
I nearly hurl my dinner, which would be disgusting for any pedestrians below.
I make a note to figure out my own air travel after we save everyone.
D.S. plummets into Arielle’s garden, somersaulting over her tulips.
“I hated those flowers the most,” I say, dusting myself off.
D.S. brushes mulch off his legs. “Sorry about that. I’m not used to flying two people. Can’t risk a portal alarm.”
Golden Ace descends from the cloud cover and sticks a perfect landing. “Everyone arrive in one piece? Good job, team.”
D.S. squats on the dirt and taps the pebbled path through the garden. “She engineered her walkway into an irrigation system,” he says with awe. “Gound water drains through these pebbles to a sprinkler.”
“She had to. Have you seen the size of this place?” Golden Ace shakes his head. “The grass really is greener over here.”
The garden, or “grounds,” has eleven varieties of tree, though they’re all barren this time of year.
Elephant and flamingo topiaries line the path.
The twigs that remain in the garden make it look more like a graveyard than a butterfly’s paradise, but we’re hidden behind the hedges. Great choice of landing spot.
“Everyone got their mirrors?” Asks Golden Ace. “Madeline, I put one in a pocket on the back of your suit. Take it out when it’s time.”
I feel my back and sure enough, there’s a hidden pocket with a thin object. Golden Ace thinks of everything.
Dark Static takes the lead. “There’s an underground tunnel that runs from near here to inside the estate.
I think it was built in an earlier century.
We could use that to get inside undetected, but I’m not sure about all this irrigation.
The tunnel could collapse under the water. I don’t want us to get trapped.”
I stare at him, annoyed. “Seriously? I’m standing right here. That sounds like a job for Madeline Roberts.”
D.S. brushes my elbow. “I just wanted to hear you say that.”
“It did sound cool,” says Golden Ace.
We follow D.S. to a boulder plunked in the middle of the garden, another strange decoration.
“You need a Super name,” says Golden Ace.
D.S. puts one foot on the boulder, testing it with his weight. “Unfortunately, that’s the one thing we can’t help you with.”
“Supers rarely name themselves,” says Golden Ace. “Usually, the first time the media sees you, someone offers a name and it sticks. Who would ever call themselves Superman?”
“Ahem,” says Dark Static. “You can pick your own name. You just gotta get it out there before anyone else. I picked mine.”
Of course he did.
I have powers, the best costume, and my very own mask… But a Super name? Awesome.
Dark Static and Golden Ace drag the boulder over Arielle’s flowers. Underneath is a metal door, which creaks open.
“Uh…” says Golden Ace.
“You’d better come over here, Water Girl,” says Dark Static.
I approach the passageway. “Seriously?” The cellar clearly has never fully drained, and water reaches its ceiling.
“Back up.” I crack my knuckles. The Supers back away.
Three… Two… One. I focus on draining the passageway, soaking up the water myself and taking even more energy. Within a minute, the three of us can go underground.
“Nice job.” Golden Ace goes first. The tunnel is pitch-black, but luckily my fancy mask comes with night vision, and every detail of the tunnel is visible… especially the mold and water spots on the cement walls. D.S. pulls me behind him. We fly through before can we get sick.
~
Of all places the secret passageway could lead, the other door to it is in the Bridges’ dining room, right under their expensive table and hardwood floor. The floor we are now stuck underneath, according to Dark Static.
“Why are we here, again?” asks Golden Ace.
D.S. defends himself, “This is the only passageway I found without cameras. There used to be cameras, but the water took them out. It’s entirely possible that the Bridges gave up on this passage and tried to seal it off.”
“ Entirely being the key word,” Golden Ace grumbles.
“Anyway.” Dark Static touches his temple. “It’s laser time.”
“There’s no one in the dining room,” Golden Ace says before Dark Static can use his powers. “But I can hear thoughts from farther up. Can’t tell whose they are. Do whatever you need to get us in.”
D.S. shoots red lasers at the ceiling and the floor rips apart, landing at our feet. I cover my nose to block the smoke.
“Boom,” says Dark Static.
Golden Ace leads the way up the final steps, entering the mansion.
“Can we cover this?” I ask. “What if we need a secret way out?”
When all three of us stand in the ornate dining room, D.S.
shoots lasers at the rest of the floor, making it seem like a tornado had gone through all of it, rather than just a tiny part.
Our passageway is hidden under the chaos.
Unfortunately, Arielle’s long polished table got caught in the crosshairs—previously seating thirty guests, it looks like it now only comfortably seats two.
The mansion feels too quiet, and we have to hold our breaths so Golden Ace can listen for thoughts. “I found Mr. Roberts,” he says. “I think he’s the only person here. I’m not hearing any other thoughts on the entire property, only ours and Mr. Roberts’.”
“That’s either very lucky or too good to be true,” D.S. muses.
“Where is he?” I demand.
Golden Ace strains, as if reading something invisible. “Upstairs. Third floor. In the library.”
“How do we get there?” I ask D.S., who has the place memorized from studying the blueprints. I’m essentially useless with directions due to hardly ever visiting Arielle.
“Easy. Straight up the staircase, only two cameras.”
“In that case,” says Golden Ace, “how about you both check on Mr. Roberts, and I’ll fly downtown to help Arielle?”
“Good idea,” says D.S. “If we’re alone here, she could get in trouble fast.”
“That’s my cue to leave then.” Wasting no more time, Golden Ace lifts a singed square of floor and disappears.
“Gold,” D.S. calls. Golden Ace’s yellow mask pops back up from the floor. “Watch out. They could have the stuff you’re allergic to.”
“Duh,” replies Golden Ace. Then he goes to help my sister.
Dark Static’s shadowy costume blends into the dim dining room. With the smoke from his lasers, so does mine.
“Water Girl,” he says. “I hate to do this, but do you think there’s any chance, even a tiny one, that Arielle could have set us up?”
If he had asked me that yesterday, I would have been furious. But after everything I learned about Arielle, about myself, and about the power of secrets—I know that:
1. D.S. has to ask me that question, and
2. No way Arielle set us up.
“No,” I answer. “But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a trap.”
“If it is, better to be with your dad than without him.”
We race up the grand staircase and D.S. shoots silent lasers at the well-concealed cameras.
Anyone watching the footage will know we’re here, but not what we’re up to, though surely they could guess.
It’s obvious, in hindsight, that Phil knew Arielle wasn’t in the mansion when he asked me to find her at Hallowfest. The idea of having cameras in your own house makes me gag.
Arielle said she married Phil to stop him from putting cameras in my bedroom, and I can’t fathom what she did to stop him from spying on her.
D.S. gets to the third floor library first. The entrance is down the hall from the stairs, marked by carved double doors. He pauses. “Fair warning, you might not like what you see in there. It’s possible that a worst-case scenario awaits.”
I nod, and we enter.
The room is about the size of the entire upstairs in my apartment, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves spanning each wall.
I have to wonder if the books on the shelves are real, or if they’re cutouts.
Any space without a shelf is filled with a long window or a giant portrait of someone from Phil’s family. My family too, sort of.
“Over here,” says Dark Static. Not far from the entrance, my dad is tied to a metal chair. He is bound and gagged.
Dark Static disintegrates the binding with two precise lasers, and I grab the cloth. Somehow, my dad knows it’s me. He exhales my name with his first breath. “Where’s Arielle?” he asks with his second.
“She’s coming,” I answer. Given how hard it would be to breathe through a gag, we’re lucky we found him conscious.
D.S. crouches and removes his D.S. 6000, which he straps over my dad’s wrist. They both stare at the green numbers on its screen. After several seconds, D.S. reads, “80 over 60 blood pressure. 65 glucose. You need a hospital. How long have you been here?”
“Since last night. Where did you get the suit?” he asks me. “Don’t tell me you’re wearing it without knowing what powers you have.”
My toes curl in my boots. Did everyone in our family know about my powers except for me? I want to scream.
“When are they coming back?” D.S. asks, re-applying his watch. He clicks to the GPS screen.
Dad answers in a raspy voice. “Last night, Madeline said you all were safe, and later in the evening, Phil came to visit. I figure it’s to find you, but next thing I’m here. When nothing happened after a few hours, I realized they wouldn’t hurt me. I’m bait.”
“We have to go,” D.S. says, helping my dad stand. He puts his arm under one of my dad’s shoulders and I take the other. “I can portal to a hospital and come back for Madeline.”
Something occurs to me.
“I can’t leave yet,” I say.
D.S. stops in his electric tracks. “We have to.”
“We need answers. This is the only time we can get them.”
My dad coughs, and my entire body softens. We don’t have time to search for the mayor’s lair.
“I’ve looked here before,” says Dark Static. “Phil keeps his files somewhere else.”
“No,” coughs my dad. “They’re here.”