AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I close my eyes as I run through the dimly lit tunnel. I breathe in and breathe out, rinse and repeat. Times a million. After a while my mind is clear and free from all distractions. I do not think about Aurora, Dad, or Evan. Topics that anger me will only hinder my body’s ability to run as efficiently as possible.
My suit breathes against my skin, holding my muscles tight in all the right places, allowing my arms to swing with the rhythm of my steps. Every stitch on the suit works in perfect harmony on the mission to get me to Central.
Turns out I don’t need a map. The first intersection I come across is the one I need. I take a right next to a line of parked KAPOW pods and jog past the stairway to SLAM. My Zen moment of jogging is interrupted as I remember meeting Evan here that day I tried to train without Max. His pod was parked right there. It was only a week ago but life was so much different back then.
The tunnels are eerily quiet as I slow from a run to a jog and then to a walk. My own footsteps echo off the walls in a constant reminder that every soul is in lockdown. I am all alone. That genius plan of action I had back at Evan’s? It has more holes than Swiss cheese.
I can’t just snap my fingers and find my impostor. Aurora will be hiding somewhere so the Heroes can’t find her. But I won’t need to find her if she finds me. She did request for me to turn myself in.
I stop in the middle of the tunnel. “I’m here,” I call out. “It’s Maci Might. Come get me.”
Nothing happens.
I venture closer toward the center of the tunnel web, walking this time so I can take in my surroundings. Dad said four villains had infiltrated Central. The last thing I need is one of them sneaking up on me.
I consider going home but the Atrium seems like a better choice. Everything worthwhile happens in the Atrium. Maybe that is where I’ll find my imposter.
I know I’ve made the right choice when I reach the Atrium. The unmistakable sounds of fighting leak through the impenetrable steel doors in front of me. It sounds like an all-out war behind those doors and my body itches to join them. I stand before the tall steel doors in the same place I stood on the day of my Hero exam. I was nervous then, but I’m ready now. This time it’s not a test.
As expected, the doors do not swing open when I press my palms to them. But they jiggle, and that’s not at all expected. I push harder. Soundless, the door gives away beneath the weight of my push. The system is disabled.
In my wildest imagination, I never imagined this. A mass of bodies tangled in a fight, blurring and yelling and filling the air with the tingle of power. I recognize several Heroes—probably the entire Hero Brigade, each one locked in a one-on-one fight with a masked villain dressed in solid black. I glance around the room—any one of the villains could be my imposter.
The Atrium, a vast and elaborately designed common area, is now a circus of chaos. The white granite floor peppers with drops of blood as Heroes and villains blur together in a chaotic struggle of good versus evil. Commotion fills the room, making it impossible for me to recognize anyone in the crowd. The decorative archways that line the room and dip into the floor, form columns that block people locked in battle the moment I try to focus on them. I look up at the massive domed ceiling that’s incased at the top with a skylight about fifty-feet wide. The sun was out when I left Research. Now the darkening sky casts a purple-orange glow onto the Atrium below.
This all takes a matter of seconds but I feel it in slow motion. A sickening thought occurs to me as I stand in the opening of the doorway with no freaking idea what I should do first. On the day of my Hero exam, I stepped through these same doors not knowing what to expect. What if this is all some elaborate scheme the examiners have contrived? Some kind of a second chance Hero exam?
A Hero in a bright blue suit is face down near the door. I rush over to him, kneeling beside him and scanning the area to ensure I haven’t been seen. “Hey,” I whisper as I shake him. “Get up. I’ll take you to safety.”
He’s an older Hero, one on the verge of retirement but still in the Hero Brigade. I don’t know his name but I recognize the retro-style suit he’s wearing. He’s been around longer than my dad has been alive. It doesn’t register right away when my hands shake him and don’t feel a surge of power beneath his skin. It isn’t until I roll him onto his back and see his crystal blue lifeless eyes staring straight ahead, forever frozen in a look of horror, that I realize he’s dead.
This isn’t Hero Exam Take Two.
I allow my anger to fuel me. I do not let it control me.
I take a few steps backward to gain momentum and then I catapult myself into the fray, arms and legs moving so fast they swoosh through the air. A guttural scream bursts out of my throat as I grab the nearest villain by the neck and slam him into a concrete archway, leaving the Hero he was fighting gaping in surprise.
“Who are you?” The surprised Hero wears his mask, but I’d recognize him anywhere. His name is Griz, and he’s one of Dad’s poker buddies. Thick waves of power emanate off him and, as he approaches me, his lips twitch like he’s planning to attack. Guess that’s to be expected; I am dressed primarily in black after all.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I don’t tell him who I am. I rip off my eye mask and toss it to the floor. “Maci,” he breathes. “Are you on our side?”
A solid black figure appears from the nearest archway and advances toward us. Griz and I lunge at the same time but it’s me who kicks the villain’s kneecap, hearing it crack as he collapses to the ground in agony, his knee bent the wrong way. I turn to Griz. “Of course I am.”
He looks as though he’s not entirely convinced, but a villain pounces on him and takes his attention away from me. This may be arrogant, but I’m immediately annoyed when no one seems to notice that I’ve arrived.
Hello, I think as I punch a villain in his kidney and slam my knee into his back. I’m here! Why doesn’t anyone care?
Justification comes in the form of a familiar male voice. “Maci!” My brother’s voice has me swirling around so quickly, my black hair obscures my view. A sharp pain slams across the back of my head. I let out a silent scream as my vision blurs. Another kick to my ankle sends me toppling forward, but not before I reach up and grab my attacker’s fist. I twist it as I fall, using my weight to pull him down with me.
“Die,” the masked villain hisses. That’s when I realize she’s a woman. I roll on top of her and crush her skull into the floor.
“Not before you,” I hiss back as a pool of blood drips from her ear.
A silver suit catches my eye as Nyx makes his way through the chaos, eyes focused on me. I break into a smile and give him a slight wave as I deliver a swift kick to the villain on the ground who’s trying to bite my ankles. Nyx lifts his hand too, only instead of waving he points at me. “There’s Maci,” his thin lips say the words loud enough to catch the attention of most people in the room. My smile wavers. I pull myself to my feet. Nyx breaks into a run. “Get her!”
Oh no.
A large body practically falls out of thin air and crashes into the column I’m attempting to use as a s
