Brent and I were snuggling in my bed, about to go to sleep, when I saw a flash of light in my backyard, bright enough for me to know what was going on.
“Okay, babe, I’ve gotta get myself untangled here,” I said, trying to extricate myself from his limbs—Brent was a lot larger than I was, and it took a bit of effort when he was refusing to cooperate.
“But we’re comfy. What’s up?”
“I think Holly’s outside.” I nodded towards the window.
Brent sighed and let go of me so he could look out the window and see the flashes, which were accompanied by small pop! noises. That really isn’t something you can practice stealthily. I shook my head. Hopefully, the neighbours would think we were watching TV.
I looked at the clock next to my bed and swore at the numbers that told me it was after three in the morning. Brent’s arm snaked over my chest again, but I stopped it and sat up. “I should really go talk to her, hon.”
Brent groaned, his eyes shut tightly. “Want me to come too?”
He was obviously hoping I’d say no—I was almost tempted to say yes just for the reaction, but instead, I leaned over to kiss him. “Nah, it’s probably best I go alone. You can get some extra sleep, and she’s probably going to be too weirded out by having you there anyway. Hell, she might be too weirded out having me there.”
He smiled, but it faded fast. It looked like he was asleep almost instantly, like the only thing that had been keeping him awake was waiting for me to tell him he was allowed to go back to sleep. I shook my head—Lord knew most nights I wished I had the ability to fall asleep instantly—and pulled on my pyjamas to go outside.
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs to watch Holly for a moment. She was facing away from me, and from what I could tell, she was trying her best to make a permanent scorch mark on the railing. Her bolts were getting more consistent, and she was hitting her target almost every time. Most importantly, she had a bucket of water sitting underneath where she was aiming.
I opened the door just after she’d shot off a bolt, hoping to catch her at a point where she wouldn’t freak out and accidentally shock me.
“Jesse!” She jumped but refrained from throwing a bolt in my face.
“Hey, I saw you from my bedroom.”
“Oh.” She scowled. “Shit.”
“Why are you even up?”
She shrugged. “I woke up to go to the bathroom and figured I may as well stay up. And then…this happened. She gestured and smiled meekly.
“And then this happened, indeed.” I raised an eyebrow, struggling not to laugh at how nonchalantly she’d said it. “I thought you were adamant we shouldn’t use our powers anymore.”
“I am! Was. Still sort of am. I dunno, I’m confused now, okay?”
I snickered, and she grinned back. This was more like the sister I knew and usually loved.
“Well, I’m not confused, and it looked to me like you’re getting a lot better.”
The colour drained from her face. “You were watching?”
I nodded and then shrugged. “Not for long. Wanted to see how you were doing. I was worried about you.”
She sighed, but the colour was starting to creep back into her cheeks. “Fair enough. I guess I invited that, didn’t I?”
I laughed. “Just a bit.”
She stuck out her tongue at me and turned back towards the railing. “Well, most of the time I can do this—” She jabbed forward, and a bolt of electricity shot out, hitting the black spot on the railing at the far end of the porch. There was also a collection of scorch marks around it where she’d missed.
“We’re gonna have to get a new railing,” I said, frowning slightly. Holly’s ears went bright red, but otherwise, she didn’t give any indication she’d actually heard me and continued with what she’d been saying.
“But if I try to do anything more than that, or in a different motion…” She lit up her palm again, like I’d shown her. I swallowed back an “Iron Woman” comment, filing it away for some time when I was around someone who would actually get it.
“…then this happens.”
She tried to shoot it out, but instead there was a loud bang, a lot of light, and it fizzled maybe a foot from her hand. It was also a lot more spread out than I think she’d intended.
Or maybe I was expecting Iron Man.
“Well, that’s something you need to practice, then,” I started, but she interrupted, raising her voice.
“What if I can’t get it, Jesse? What if I think I have it and try to do it to save someone’s life and end up killing them?” She turned to me, tears in her eyes, and I raised a finger to my lips.
“Listen, I’d love to argue with you about this, but how about we do it downstairs? I don’t even know why you weren’t down there in the first place.”
“I figured you never come out here, so you wouldn’t notice the scorch marks.”
I sighed. “I really do think it would be better for us to work together.”
“Like Batman and Robin?”
“I’m impressed! A comic book reference that was sort of relevant!”
She rolled her eyes and flipped me off. “I’m going to regret this, but—only sort of?”
“Batman and Robin aren’t really superheroes. No superpowers. They’re just heroes. And Robin is Batman’s sidekick, not his partner.” I bit back any other comparisons I could make between their situation and ours. “There’s more, but I won’t bore you.”
She gasped, mocking me. “I am shocked. Shocked! You’re—you’re learning! Wow, I—I’m floored, Jesse.”
I shook my head. “Anyway, back to seriousness.”
“Okay, now I really am shocked.”
“You’ve gotta stop hiding it from me, and we really should start training together.”
“I’ll try. I’m…I’m worried I’m going to end up being the villain, y’know? That’s what I’ve been doing so far, starting fires and killing people en masse—”
“—by accident,” I finished. “Not relevant. Don’t worry, when Marvel writes our comic books, I’ll be sure to tell them to paint you in a sympathetic light.”
She laughed. “You do that.”
I meant to grin, but my mouth decided to yawn instead. “I guess that’s a sign,” I said. “Some of us don’t have to leave for work in an hour, so some of us are gonna go to bed and curl up with their boyfriend.” I turned to go.
“Hey, you know that I’m cool with you two, right? I’m happy you’re happy.”
I smiled, my heart beating slightly faster, just slightly, and turned back. “Yeah, I know. I was never really too worried about it, but…I dunno. Family is always different. If a friend was an asshole about it, we could go our separate ways, but we live together.”
She nodded. “Makes sense, I guess. Anyway, go to bed.”
“Yes, Mom.” I wheeled around on my foot to head back indoors, looking forward to curling up with Brent again, although from the sounds of the bedroom door closing above me, he was awake again and probably wondering where the fuck I was.
I walked up the stairs, turned the corner, and felt a hand on my arm, the other looping around to cover my mouth. “Brent?” I said into his palm, but it didn’t feel right. Plus, there was an awful smell that made me screw up my face.
He spun me around to look at him. Not Brent! Someone else was in my house, and I had absolutely no idea who it was!
He was a larger man with dark hair and a scruffy beard. Before I could properly react, he’d shoved a balled-up sock into my mouth and started to tie my hands behind my back.
I tried to call out for Holly, but I couldn’t get much noise past the wad of smelly cloth that was keeping my mouth propped open.
It’s up to you now, Holly, I thought, trying to calm my breathing. Let’s go, supervillain-girl.