You know, for a month, it wasn’t so bad. Henry stayed clear of me at school to protect my ‘secret identity,’ and life went on. But, sadly, all good things must come to an end.
Henry’s tray hits my otherwise empty lunch table so hard it makes my mole disappear in surprise. “I want the scoop.”
Quickly, I raise a hand to my face, covering my cheek as I bring it back. “What?”
“We need to talk about the shifting.” At the desperation in his voice, I glance up at him only to stop short. A bruised eye and busted lip accompany his GI glasses today, and out of the corner of my eye I can see Jim Daniels and his cousin, both seniors, sneering in our direction from across the cafeteria. “Please, Vicky?” He stares at me, blinking his swollen puppy-dog eyes. Finally, I sigh. This is why I’m not allowed to go to the pet store by myself.
A few hours later, after mom helps sign him into the base, I quickly barricade us upstairs as Mac, my black lab, pokes his nose out suspiciously from under the bed.
“Nice place.”
I shrug off the complement, turning to stare at him. “You’ve got five minutes.”
He bites his lip. “So… I started thinking about this whole superhero thing… ”
All it takes is one look at his black eye and I know where this is going. “I’m not a revenge tool, Henry.”
“What? Of course not! Revenging and avenging are two very different things.”
“And why on earth would I avenge you?”
“Two reasons. One; because it’s a superhero’s duty to protect the innocent.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And two?”
An unsettling grin spreads across his face. “Because… I’m the only one who knows your secret.”
My stomach drops. “You wouldn’t.”
His grin widens. “Call it a little extra motivation to follow your heroic duties.”
My thoughts flash from school, to my parents, to my dad’s already suspicious coworkers. There is no way I am letting this dork ruin everything we’ve worked so hard for. “What’s the plan?”
***
“Escape rooms?” I question, looking at the sign as Henry leads me into a building downtown the next day.
“It’s the family business,” he replies, grinning sidelong at me. As we walk through the main room, I glance at the signs advertising some of the rooms: Star Trek, Star Wars, Trek Wars, and Star Dudes. Suddenly, the GI glasses make way more sense. “This is the one we’ll need,” he continues, taking me around the corner to a web-covered black door with words scratched across it.
“Cavern of Evil?”
“Every October we turn it into a Haunted House,” he says, unlocking it. “It’s full of memorabilia from all sorts of famous villains.” As we enter, my heart skips a beat. The labyrinth inside sports every nerdy knick knack and mannequin from the Phantom of the Opera’s mask to a life-sized Gollum crouched in the corner. “This is how we can get those jerks back!” cries Henry, excitedly. “With your shifting powers and my dramatic flare, we could teach them a lesson they’ll never forget!”
As his words sink in, I can’t help but feel a strange excitement growing inside. If there was ever one place, one place in the whole world where I could push my powers to the limit… it would be here.
When I don’t respond, Henry hesitates. “Vicky?”
When I finally turn, even I can’t stifle the giant grin spreading across my face. “I’m in.”
***
You know, I almost wish I could say I didn’t adore those next few weeks, but I did. Every day after school I went with Henry and his dad to ‘help out,’ and every day, as Henry and I tested new ideas on unsuspecting customers, we nearly died from laughter as they ran and screamed for their lives.
By the time Halloween arrives and the boys come in with the vouchers they ‘found’ for a free scare, we’ve perfected every moment. I stifle my glee as their faces grow pale, but it doesn’t last long. Just as I shift into my ghost persona, the finale of our show, Henry leaps out from his hiding place and collides with me, merging into my form. A moment later and the two boys turn to find the tall form of a ghost towering over them, eyes glowing red. Their screams distract me just long enough for Henry to take control. As they dash away and burst through the emergency exit into the alley, he pushes us racing after them, shrieking hauntingly in the open night air.
Stop! My heart pounding, I try desperately to pull back the control, screaming at Henry in my head, but he keeps us going, chasing the two towards Mainstreet. Terror blurs my vision. We can’t be seen. Just as the two boys make it to the street lamps’ light, I finally manage to hurl us to a dark corner behind some dumpsters, jolting us apart in an instant. Stunned, we lay on the pavement, panting.
“Why did you stop us?!” Henry shouts, glaring at me.
“Me?! You almost got me caught!”
He leaps to his feet, livid. “You’ve got to merge us back. Now!”
“No.”
“Then I’ll tell your secret!” He blurts it out without thinking, but the words sink into my skin, burning it. When I don’t respond, he turns to look at me and takes a step back at the fire in my eyes.
When I manage to speak, my voice is shaky. “That was too far.”
He stares at me, his eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Vicky.”
“It doesn’t matter what you meant!” I snap, feeling a hot tear escape and burn down my cheek. “Because it wouldn’t matter to you if we ran out there and got found out, but I’m different. Do you have any idea what it’s like to live your whole life in fear you’ll be rejected? To spend every moment jumping from person to person in hopes of living up to something you’re not? And when one mistake, one stupid mistake messes everything up and terrifies you that it was all for nothing… do you know what that feels like?!”
When Henry’s voice finally comes, it’s softer than I expected. “No… but I’d like to.”
***
I told him. I’m still not sure why, but I did. No superhero stuff, no romanticizing, just the truth, as strange as it is.
When his dad drops me off at the base, Henry gets out of the car too.
“You won’t tell anyone… will you?”
He holds out a hand, grinning conspiratorially. “Cerberus himself couldn’t drag it out of me.” As we shake hands, I smile ever-so-slightly in spite of myself. “See you tomorrow, Vicky.”
I turn to leave, but I hesitate. “Advika,” I say, locking eyes with him. “Just Advika.”
In the light of the headlights, his grin widens. “Advika.”
Am I sure I did the right thing? No, not by a long shot. But as I sit on my bed, scratching Mac behind the ears, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, I may have traded a liability… for a friend.
Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/lantern-dark-cavern-glow-metal-556852/