The Last Superhero (52 page)

And we can all tell this is
going to be no ordinary standoff.

56

Salvatore Jr. raises his
hands to the sky.

The windows on the upper
floors of the house explode, sending a shower of glass over all of us
underneath.

We hit the ground, taking
cover.

“
Ross!” I cry,
getting no answer.

A look at Simon and he's off
to check on it.

Look up and see Frances
lying on the ground while Salvatore Jr.'s scampering to his feet
beside her.

Young Steven stands his
ground, staring directly at Salvatore Jr., one of his hands still
pointing at his older self.

The older version of Steven
hasn't gotten up when Salvatore's pulling his child to safety with
his mother.

That's our cue to charge.
Daphne and Dad by my sides, Wyatt behind me, we leap off the top of
the steps that lead to the lower part of the backyard.

But he's quick and he sees
us and we're pushed in different directions. In my case, I'm hurled
against the large tree to land next to the boy who, once I open my
eyes, just smiles at me, carrying on with his toys.

Creepy. I know.

Why can't I get up?

Watch Salvatore wrestling
the older version of his son to the ground as young Steven leads his
mother away through trees that, now that I think about it, don't
exist in the present.

Wyatt and Daphne are lying
on the ground, hurt.

A wet nose nuzzles me. “Your
leg.” It's Dad.

“
Hurts,” is all
I can say as I feel the blood soaking the lining of my armor.

“
Come on. Think it
away,” he growls.

That's when I feel the boy's
hand on my arm and he repeats, “Think it away.”

His touch is so soothing,
it's like it has the power to heal me.

And I don't know if it was
him or me, but the pain is gone and I'm on my feet as he goes on
playing, like nothing's happening.

“
Try to get Steven and
Diana,” I tell Dad and he's off.

Go to Daphne, check on her
and she whines, blood on her upper back.

Wyatt, on the other hand,
keeps losing his balance every time he tries to get up.

Take his bow and arrows and
approach the two Salvatores exchanging punches with each other.

Shoot arrow after arrow as I
stand next to the now-stirring Frances, but even when my aim is
perfect, it's like they're encapsulated inside a shield.

See Simon sprawled on the
grass on the other side, his eyes blank.

What the hell happened
here?!

Was I out for long?

“
You okay, Frances?”
Kneel beside her, help her sit.

“
Jake?”

Look over the two men
wrestling and see Jake face down on the grass.

By the time I'm about to
answer, Frances's on her feet again.

“
Stop this madness!”
Salvatore cries. He's on his back, holding his son at arm’s
length above him. “Don't turn into me!”

That makes Salvatore Jr.
pause before closing the fist in the air that makes the older man
scream.

“
No!” It's
Frances who reacts, hands in front of her, a ball of energy appearing
between her palms that she's quick to shoot at Salvatore Jr. and he's
off Salvatore so we can pull him to safety.

But she's also quick to go
to Jake and rouse him from whatever it is that has him glued to the
ground.

“
Watch out,”
Salvatore mumbles under me.

A look around and everyone's
scrambling for purchase.

Out of the house come Ross,
Fletcher, and Wells, their feet splashing on the water that's coming
from inside the house, cascading into the backyard.

Feel the moisture under us.

Coming up. Rushing up.

Water. Everywhere.

The scene flickers.

“
We've got to move!”
Ross screams.

And then the water's
covering us and we're inside a lake or something.

And night has fallen.

This is not the first time
he does this.

Fuck fuck fuck – even
when I know how to swim I'm scared of dark waters. I panic just
thinking of the kinds of monsters that can be lurking in the depths.

A phobia I've always shared
with “Daphne!”

Try with all my might to
stay afloat and see her pawing her way around the water.

Feel something grab my ankle
and tug me down.

“
I've got you.”
Simon's arm around my waist does nothing against whatever is trying
to get me.

Streaks of light travel
under us from both sides.

Another tug and I'm
underwater and see Powell swimming to me, shooting whatever's got me.
From the opposite side comes the Mecha, sending torpedoes that burst
like fireworks once they come close to what I now see is Salvatore
Jr. trying to bring me into the darkness with him, having tied a rope
to my ankle.

Oh, he's smart. Very smart.

Simon dives, tries to use my
naginata's blade to cut the cord while Fletcher and Wells hold me in
place, but it proves impossible.

So I'm sucked further into
the dark and my lungs are starting to burn and everyone who reaches
out to me fails in being able to hold onto my hand as it slips.

Is this it?

Is this the end?

Close my eyes because the
darkness of my lids is less unsettling.

Feel movement in the water
around me. What I believe to be hands traveling up.

Open my eyes and I'm facing
the man with the purple mask and the hazel eyes.

I can breathe underwater and
so can he.

It's as if we are suspended
in the air and he's peering into my eyes and it's Steven. The tender,
the sweet, the
I
need you
Steven.

A hand comes close to my
face but doesn't touch me, just caresses the water around me, and I
can't help but lean my head into the touch.

He removes the hand,
cautious.

And it's as if it hurt him
to have to pull it away.

“
I love you,” I
manage to whisper.

His eyes turn down and when
they come back up they're black again and I'm starting to drown and
desperation sinks in because I'm fucking underwater!

Ripples, one stronger than
the other.

A separation of the waters
in a straight line and I find myself gasping for air, face down, on
all fours, on dry land.

“
I don't want to kill
you.” A voice behind me.

“
You can't kill me
twice.” Another in front of me.

They sound so much alike.

“
I'm sorry for all I
did. I'm sorry for what I did to your mother. I loved her. As much as
I loved you.”

Should I do something?

Should I stay or should I
go?

“
You beat her day in
and day out.”

“
I'm sorry.”

“
You put her through
an immeasurable amount of suffering and, even then, she'd beg me not
to hate you.”

Feeling like a third wheel
here.

Cough a bit, get all that
water out of your system but stay there.

“
I'm so sorry.”
Salvatore's voice is breaking. “I wasn't myself.”

I try and get a glimpse of
what's happening and my eyes find Simon, in the water, pointing his
wand at what appears to be a wall that's separating us from them.

Check the other side and
there's Daphne and Wyatt doing the same.

A flash of light on one of
the sides and it was a blast someone sent.

It's like they're in a fish
tank, but it's just water, columns of water on both sides and they
can, apparently, breathe in it.

And us, in the middle, can't
hear anything.

“
All I wish is for you
not to do the same. Not to be the same as me.”

“
I am not!”

“
What is this, then?
She tells you she loves you and you turn violent!”

“
I'm not like you!”

“
Then stop tormenting
yourself! Stop making the same mistake I did! Stop hurting the ones
you love like this!”

Raise my eyes and Salvatore
Jr. looks utterly insulted.

“
I'm not like you!”

“
Stop this. Don't wait
until it's too late.”

See the color on Salvatore
Jr.'s face drained.

“
I'm not like you.”

Broken record, anyone?

Sense footsteps and see
Salvatore's closed the distance between him and his distressed son.

A hand is proffered and I
take it and I stand and I hold on to it.

Salvatore.

See the frightened hazel
eyes behind the mask so perplexed.

Steven.

Salvatore smiles at me, says
“it's okay” as he takes his son's hand and everything
around us starts to spin, harsh winds blowing around us and we're in
the middle of a whirlwind.

Images. Strobes of light
like an old movie reel. Faces and places I've only seen in pictures.

They say when you're dying,
you see the movie of your life.

Am I watching Steven's?

There's his mother having a
picnic with him. Showing him a tenderness beyond belief.

There's Salvatore teaching
him how to control his telekinetic powers.

The times when they were
happy.

Jump to times when he saved
people. One by one. Stopping cars, bringing ships back to shore,
helping planes land safely, pulling people out of fires, of
wreckage...

Genevieve. With the frail
smile and loving eyes.

Ross's father sitting at the
manor's living room, having a drink with Steven, chilling and talking
like friends do.

Me. Whoa. That's weird. It's
me and I'm seeing myself through Steven's eyes and it's like my
insides are turning to mush.

Because I feel what he's
feeling and it's a happiness that envelops us both.

And a house. And so many
smiles. And a garden. And a small hand that traps his finger and it's
bliss to see that little face become the boy I've now come to know
from the nightmares.

It's him. It's our son.

And it's all so good, so
peaceful.

And I know Salvatore's
silently telling him: This is what it could be.

This is what it can be.

If only you let it.

If only.

The wind softens.

The spinning ceases.

The water's gone. Everyone
else is gone.

Daze.

Push away the mental fog and
Salvatore Jr.'s got one knee and one hand on the grass because we're
back in the manor's backyard. His other arm propped on his other
knee, as if contemplating the green brushstrokes springing up from
the dirt floor.

Look behind me and there
they are. Everyone. Even Morgan and Hudson and Cane. Not Briggs,
though, I wonder where he is but whatever. And Dad. Where did he go?

They're all standing in a
half-circle, Salvatore in the middle, overlooking.