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“Owen,stop,” Nick said, rising unsteadily to his feet, the spark pulsing weakly in her head. “You don’t have to do this.”
Owen chuckled darkly. “I know I don’t have to do this, Nicky. Iwantto.”
Burke didn’t go for his son. He didn’t go for his wife. Instead, he ran toward the doors as if he thought he could make it. He didn’t, a thick shadow wrapping around his ankles, flipping him up and over, head knocking against the ground.
Seth ripped off his helmet, falling to his knees next to Bob,whom Trey and Miles had turned over, letting him expel all the water he’d swallowed. He coughed roughly, eyes fluttering.
Dad moved around the shadows carefully, plucking the guns from the security guards.
Owen moved toward his parents, Burke upside down, Patricia lifting off the floor, the shadows wrapping around her as she tried to break free.
“Oh, look,” Owen said. “I’m stronger than you. How about that? Never underestimate the power of shadows.”
“Owen,” she pleaded. “We only want to help you.”
“Help,” he echoed bitterly. “You made me this way, and when I’d served my purpose, you threw me away like I wasnothing.Was it your idea? All those lights, always on? Do you know what that does to a person?”
He slammed Patricia into the ceiling, and then onto the floor, knocking her unconscious. As he raised her back up, her head lolled to the side, blood streaming from her nose and the gash on her cheek, splattering in the water.
The Burkes rose higher, moving slowly toward the opening left from the broken windows. Wind whipped, fireworks still going off, much louder now that the glass was gone, bursts of light that made the shadows dance.
Simon Burke cried out when shadows pulled them through the broken windows, Patricia hanging limp and silent. Burke’s legs kicked into nothing as he shouted unintelligibly.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment,” Owen breathed. “For so long. Look at me. I saidlook at me.” The shadows gripped Simon’s face, turning him toward Owen. “I’m your son!” Owen bellowed. “And you treated me like I was expendable. And she just stood by and let it happen. She did nothing to stop you from hurting me. Fromexperimentingon me.”
“I’m sorry,” Burke retorted, face red as he hung upside down.
“You’resorry?” Owen laughed. “You have no idea what sorry means. But I’ll show you. I’ll show all of you.”
“Don’t,” Miles said, taking a shaky step forward. “Owen, you don’t want to do this.”
“He’s right,” Bob said, pushing himself off the ground, Seth helping him up. “You’re only going to make things worse for yourself.”
“I don’tcare,” Owen snarled. “He deserves everything he has coming to him, and more.”
“Maybe,” Trey said, Bob leaning on him as Seth’s eyes narrowed. “But if you do this, you won’t be able to take it back. It’ll follow you for the rest of your life.”
“It’s not too late to stop this,” Dad said, casting a glance at Nick. “Parents make mistakes, Owen. All the time. I would know. You can be better than he ever was. Break the cycle.”
“Mistake,” Burke gasped. “They’re right. That’s all it was. A mistake. Please, Owen.”
Nick could see the gears turning in Owen’s head, as if he was listening. As if they were getting through to him. Taking a chance, Nick rushed toward him, Dad and Seth shouting his name. He dropped a hand on Owen’s shoulder, squeezing tightly. Underneath Owen’s shirt, movement, like he was covered in thousands of bugs. Nick recoiled, watching thin tendrils of shadow peek out from underneath Owen’s clothes. “They’re done,” Nick told him. “Everyone has already seen them for who they are. Let them go.”
Owen hesitated. “That’s what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Can you fly?”
Nick blinked. “What? Owen, why are you—”
Owen looked back at him over his shoulder. He smiled, the whites of his eyes filling with black. It leaked down like tears, crawling up and down his face, forming a black helmet with a thin visor across his eyes. His clothing rippled as it was swallowed by shifting shadows. It took only seconds, and when it was done, Owen stood before him in full costume, a glittering star symbol on his chest. “My name… isShadow Star.”
From behind them, Trey shouted, “Nick!Shakespeare.”
The shadows around Patricia and Simon Burke disappeared.
They fell.
