The Last Superhero (35 page)

“
My
friend? Who?”

“
Mr.
Webb.”

Simon.

“
It
should be me, not him. I'm her daughter.”

Ross and Daphne exchange
glances.

What to do? What to do?

Pull out the phone and call
Simon and start crying the moment he picks up the call and don't know
why.

“
She'll
be okay. We're transferring her to my house as a security measure.”

“
Can
she speak? Can you put her on the phone?”

He hesitates but does it
anyway because he knows.

“
Go
help him,” she says with that signature wheezing of hers. “He
needs you more than I do right... now.”

“
I'm
the worst daughter in the world.”

“
No.
You're the best. Go.”

The verb, like a push from
that fantasy he gave me. A push in my own direction.

I go mine, you go yours.

And mine leads to Virginia.
To some secret government facility with the chain-link fences and the
barbwires and the dudes in camouflage holding rifles.

There's a woman waiting for
us once Ross recites a series of names that are without a doubt some
higher ranking people whose asses he's had to kiss for us to be let
in.

I can't feel my legs as I
jump out of the SUV and am met by her skeptical grin.

“
You
must be Giana,” she says, giving me a head-to-toe look. “I'm
Dr. Morgan.”

She's old enough to be my
mother, but that doesn't stop her from winning herself a ticket for a
free bitchslap.

Ross greets her with a smile
before making the introductions. She eyes us all and no, we don't
look like the kind of visitors a place like this gets on a regular
basis; we'd look better if she were the tour guide for a chocolate
factory. Or the owner, for that matter, and then we'd be lucky if we
made it out alive.

One thing we all know for
sure is we'll never come out being the same.

“
Please,
try and keep up,” she says before turning on her heels and
starting for the closest building's door.

“
Sure
thing, bitch,” I say under my breath and get a look from Ross
that I reply to with a shrug of the shoulders.

What we enter is an
underground bunker with narrow stairs, gray damp walls, and
flickering lights. It smells of mold and age and I find myself
instinctively wrapping my arms around my torso.

Dr. Morgan stays silent most
of the way, only telling us to watch our step every now and then
while she leads us through a series of tunnels until a walkie-talkie
she has hidden under her white coat makes a sound and she brings it
to her face.

“
Code
Blue,” calls a voice through the thing's speaker.

Dad perks up beside me.

“
He's
doing it again and he's locked us out this time!”

“
What's
going on?” I blurt as soon as the woman turns to us.

“
I
have to run. Stay here.”

The hell I'm staying here!

She
darts off and I trail her through the maze of semi-lit halls,
touching the walls so I don't lose my footing, following the
click-clack
of her shoes as we go through parts where I can't see shit until
there's a light at the end of the tunnel that grows bigger and
bigger.

And I feel it. I feel that
pressure that almost doesn't let me breathe.

And we've run into a room
flooded with artificial light that blinds me for a second.

Personnel in white coats
glued to the walls, their faces etched with features only horror can
draw.

In the middle of the
spacious room stands a metal and glass enclosure like a fish tank
from which a series of tubes slither out, connected to a series of
machines that are screaming a series of beeps.

Steven, sitting in the
middle of the enclosure. The source of all the tubes that once I give
a closer look reveal rivers of blood flowing away from him.

Dr. Morgan is pushing
buttons, shaking screens, but nothing works.

“
He's
trying to kill himself again.”

Panic.

Step forward. Hit the glass
with your hands and start shouting his name.

See him turn pale.

“
STEVEN!
STEVEN DON'T!”

His lips a shade of blue.

Keep hitting, keep shouting.

“
STEVEN!!!!
NO!! STOP!!!!!”

Feel the pressure as it
halts.

Watch as he pushes his
eyelids open, searching for the voice.

“
Steven,
please. It's me. I'm here now.”

I see him see me and see
that he sees I'm seeing him.

His sight locked with mine,
my face pressed to the glass. “Please,” hear my voice
break, “please, please don't do it,” know that if you die
I die.

Hold on to his hazel stare
with all your might.

Hear voices around you that
you can't discern because the color is making its way back to his
skin. Watch through the corner of your eyes how the rivers are now
flowing in.

Taste the tears, cling to
the cold, even surface and try not to slide down.

Wait for him to recover his
breath, for his eyes to shine again.

Feel the movement and the
sound of feet around you, let something click inside you, then go for
a door, an entrance.

He follows me with his eyes
as I search for a seam and someone shouts, “Let her in!”

A door pops open and I pull
it and I'm in and I'm embracing him, showering him with kisses even
before he can comprehend what's happening.

“
Giana,”
he whispers when I hold his face in my hands. “How?”

“
Everything's
okay. Everything will be fine.” Kiss his lips, nose, cheeks,
forehead. “I'm not letting them harm you.”

“
How
did you get here?” His voice sounds raspy, as if having slept
for a long time.

“
I
threatened the president.” His eyes bulge. “Not
threatened, maybe talked with a bit of anger in my tone. But that's
not what matters now. Are you okay?”

I'm about to go for the IVs
when someone comes into the enclosure, passing by me and I think it's
Dr. Bitch, but no, it's some guy.

“
Let
me get that,” he says in a soft voice and I step back, yet
Steven grabs my hand like a drowning man grabs a lifesaver and I know
I made the right decision by following Mom's advice.

This is my way. This is my
path.

Now all I've got to do is
make it worthwhile.

37

They transferred Steven from
the enclosure to a cell that in no way would stop him from using his
powers to get out of there if he wanted to.

But that's not how he is. It
makes it harder to believe someone would think him a menace to
society when he doesn't even try to bend the bars that surround him.

I'm pushed into a corner
while he's taken to the cell and they only let me in after much
coaxing from Ross's part towards Dr. Morgan and we can all tell she's
not enjoying his presence at all.

Although that's a dragon I
don't want to poke... yet.

Steven sits on the edge of
his bunk. It pains me to take a long look at his complexion and see
how much he's aged in a matter of days. The lines around his eyes are
running deeper, the dark circles have taken over, and I swear even
his hair is looking whiter and not the gray color it was before.

“
What
are you doing here?” he asks the moment I try to close the
distance between us. “Why did you come?” His tone is dry,
I'd even dare to say angry.

“
I
needed to see you. I love you, Steven. I can't stay back and let them
do what they plan to do with you.”

“
And
what is that?” He's talking to his feet rather than me and it
bothers me to no end.

Didn't he hold my hand back
there? Wasn't he glad I came for him?!

“
They're
going to execute you.”

“
As
it should've been from the start.” The words come out through
his clenched jaw. “I should've never signed that contract.”
Now he raises his eyes to me. “I should've died that day.”

“
No.”
I can't stay back anymore so I walk up to him and go down on my knees
once I reach him, my hands on his thighs. “Steven, please,
don't give up so easily.”

His hands find mine, his
fingers caress their way up my arms until they reach the sides of my
face, where they change their course to curl themselves around chunks
of hair on the nape of my neck.

No pressure, just holding
on.

Whatever works to calm his
nerves.

“
I
would never give up on you, but you must realize what this means.”
He angles my head so we're peering into each other eyes. “It's
the end. It's my end. And I don't want to drag you with me.”

“
You're
not dragging me in with you, I'm dragging you out with me.” I
set my hands on his shoulders and he takes the chance to kiss one of
them. “I won't let them execute you, Steven.”

His glance softens, melting
my insides with the tenderness it exudes.

He pulls me to him, into a
hug, and all we do is tremble in unison for a while. When I pull
back, there are tears running down his cheeks.

“
Go.”

“
No.”

“
Forget
about me.”

“
Never.
I love you too much.”

A throat is cleared outside
the cell and it's Ross.

I guess our time is almost
up.

“
I'm
going to figure out a way to get you out of here.”

Steven doesn't answer, only
lets me kiss his lips and comb his hair with my fingers before I'm
exiting the cell to meet Ross, who puts a hand on the small of my
back and pushes me towards an office not too far from Steven's cell.

Dr. Morgan is there, so is
everyone else, all sitting around a conference table. I'm handed a
cup of coffee by the guy who took Steven's IVs and shown to an empty
seat next to Dad.

“
I'm
very sorry you had to witness that,” Dr. Morgan says over her
own mug. “This is the second time he’s done that. We need
him to stay alive for the next week, at least.”

“
At
least?” Dad's the one to react this time.

“
The
president giving us a week thing was bullshit, wasn't it?” As
soon as I ask all faces turn to me.

“
We've
been in constant contact with some very influential people who are
rooting for Steven. He, apparently, is owed a lot of favors,”
Dr. Morgan says.

That's good to know.

Ross steps in. “There
are many of us who owe him,” and his eyes travel to Dr. Morgan
and I kinda see the connection.

“
We've
kept him here, hidden from all the people who want to use him for
experiments because we want to help.” She watches the rest of
her team join us at the table. “The president is in with us,
but it won't be easy.” She takes a moment to sip from her
coffee and I realize I'd forgotten about mine until now. “Although
he appears to not want to keep on living.”