Power (Book 1)

Chapter 11

I cleaned my locker out the next day. I avoided concerned looks in the halls, didn't talk to anyone. I purposely avoided Ben, Cassie, and Jake, making sure they weren't in the halls when I turned the corners.

Mr. Brown hid his smile very well for someone who spent most of the day watching students and laughing at their misfortune. He probably went out for a drink last night after giving me the bad news.

I had been at this school for little more than a year. The law said that you were required to attend a school that accepted metas for at least three years.

Which meant that either I was going to have to move out of the state...or get arrested for breaking the law.

Since it only took a couple of minutes for me to return my books and clean my locker out, I spent the rest of the day at the hotel.

So here I am, lounging on my hotel bed, watching TV, and really stressing about my life.

It would take about eight months for my house to be rebuilt. I couldn't stay at this hotel forever- I was paying for it. My savings account wouldn't even last for a month. The government wouldn't pay for my room since I couldn't prove that I wasn't the one who caused this mess. And since it was assumed that I was, then I would probably be arrested for multiple felonies in the next week or so, depending on if the meta police force had bigger problems than a stray teenager.

I finally got tired of watching soap operas after about the third hour and wanted to go for a jog. I opened the small cupboard and examined my clothes- or at least what was left of them.

I sighed. Unfortunately, none of them were joggers.

A knock at my door distracted me from my searching.

I paused. The police? Already? I didn't want to go to jail.

I crept silently to the door, looking through the peephole.

I relaxed. It was Jake. Not the police.

I opened the door and ushered him in, quickly closing it behind him.

"Yo, what's up?" Jake said, offering me his hand. He was completely oblivious to my paranoia.

"Sup," I said, shaking his hand. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "It's one o'clock. Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I am in school," he responded.

"Whatever," I said. He could do just about anything if he really wanted to, including skipping school, and no one would notice. He does it all the time. I don't know how he gets away with it, though.

Jake tossed himself onto my hotel bed, getting comfortable. I chose to sit in the chair near the door.

We're cool like that. We've known each other long enough to know each other's patterns. So it's no surprise when Jake shows up unexpected- and then takes my bed.

Jake turned the TV back on and started watching the news. I watched it with him for a second, but then a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, Jake," I said. "Have you seen Ben around lately?" Actually, now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen him in a while.

"No," he said. "But don't worry, he can handle himself." I knew what he meant. Ben was the only one in the world who knew what his powers were- he wouldn't even tell me and Jake. But whatever he could do, it was powerful enough to keep him out of trouble.

"Hm," was all I said.

"You ever wonder how that guy found you?" Jake asked me, his eyes staying on the TV.

"No. Why should I?" I said.

"Because you're going to need to know if you're going to keep it from happening again. And if you want to get him back for it," Jake said.

"Jake, assuming I even can find this guy, why would I want to square off against him? He beat me to a pulp the last time."

"Last time, you were cocky," he responded. "You weren't prepared, and you definitely didn't know what you were doing. Not to mention you were basically on your own. No offense."

"None taken," I said. "But that's the point. If I couldn't do it last time, what would make this time any different?"

"Because you'll have training," Jake smiled. "You'll know how to fight and how to win." He sounded confident.

"How? I barely know how to use my powers, much less how to fight with them." I didn't use my powers very often until the fight with Dick, under careful instruction by my parents. Now, I wonder if it was a coincidence that my family was attacked the day I used my powers.

"Alright," I said. "Since you obviously know something that I don't, why don't you teach me how to fight?"

"Oh, no. I can't teach you. But I know some people who can."

*****

When Jake said that he was going to take me to get help, I had no idea he meant an old closed shoe store.

As we pulled up to Shuggy's Shoes -ew- I asked Jake why he took me here.

"It's not here," Jake said, "more like what lies underneath here."

We both got out of the car and walked to the front doors of the store.

I tried to open the door. "It's locked," I said.

"I know," Jake said. He produced a set of keys from or of his pocket. "That's what keys are for." He inserted the key into the lock next to the handle, then twisted. The lock clicked, and we went inside.

The inside was repulsive. Mold covered the walls in every corner, and the space was dark and damp. My foot squished on something on the floor, and I had to fight the urge to not look and hurl.

" Look, uh...I think I'll go back to the car while you handle this," I said, turning around. "Call me when you need me."

"No, stay. I'm almost done with this." Jake had walked over to a door set in the back wall, hidden behind layers of the dark green mold. He flipped open the lid of a keypad and typed in a number key. Then he pushed open the door, holding it for me to go through.

Sighing, I trudged to the open door, muttering a quick "thanks" as I passed through. Jake followed after me, letting the door slam shut behind him.

We stood on a flight of stairs. A dim lightbulb hung above us, flickering every second or so.

"Are you gonna tell me where we're going?" I asked Jake.

"We're just about there," he responded. "Just wait another second."

He nudged past me and started walking down. After a moment's hesitation, I followed.

I really hoped he was taking me somewhere. After all, I would be really pissed if he took me all this way just to play a prank on me. Not the sort of thing Jake would do, but a possibility nonetheless.

After about 15 minutes, we reached the bottom, where another (hopefully last) door waited. After entering a code on another keypad, Jake opened the door.

A wave of light washed over me, and I raised my hand to cover my eyes.

"We're here," Jake said.

"What is this place?" I asked, my hand still raised.

"Well," he smiled. "This...is Afterlight."