Discovery (30 page)

In an instant, he was rushing into Dave's cabin. “Grace!” Ben screamed. He flew down the ladder into the secret basement. It was empty. Cold and empty. Grace was gone. He had left her and now he had lost her.

Ben stood in the cold room. Still. Shock stealing the last of his breaths, his eyes unable to focus. He knew there was something he must do in this situation, something he had learned as part of his Guardian training. But his training had never taken into account his heart. It ached and the pain clouded his logic. So, he just stood there. Unable to move. Frozen to the cold stone floor.

“Ben!” Breathless, Dave stumbled down the ladder. He bent over, trying to catch his breath from his recent and rare run. “Ben!” Dave's panting voice was unable to penetrate Ben's shock. “Where's Grace?”

“Gone,” Ben's voice was no more than a cracked whisper.

“Gone? What do you mean gone? What happened?” Dave's heaving voice escalated, still unable to pierce through the shock that paralyzed Ben's mind. He grabbed Ben's shoulders and shook him. “Snap out of it, son! Ben, answer me! Where's Grace?”

“Star.” Ben mumbled.

“Star? What the — ?” Dave shook Ben again. “What are you talking about? Benjamin, wake up boy! We need to find Grace! Can you hear me? Find Grace!”

Ben's eyes looked through Dave, still unable to focus. “She's gone. I left her and now she's gone,” he whispered.

“Dang it, Ben! You are her Guardian! Get your head back in the game!”
Smack!
Dave reached across and slapped Ben's face as hard as he could.

Ben's eyes widened and finally focused on Dave. He rubbed his cheek and stepped back out of Dave's reach. “Oww.”

“Sorry about that,” said Dave, halfheartedly. “But I really need your focus right now. Forget you love her. What would her Guardian do? How would her Guardian find her?”

“Her Guardian — ”

“Yes, you, her Guardian.”

“She needs a Guardian now — ”

“Benjamin, she needs you now.”

Ben rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Yeah, me. Her Guardian. Okay.”

“Okay. Now, tell me what happened,” prodded Dave.

But Ben was beyond that now. His brain was reviewing facts, assimilating data, determining next steps. The phrase
‘Just be her Guardian'
kept playing over and over in the back of his mind like a theme song organizing his thoughts and canceling out his heart.

Eventually, his eyes cleared and he asked, “Where's the list?”

“What list?”

“You know. The list!” Ben called back to Dave as he bounded up the ladder.

Dave found him in the great room hunched over the coffee table. “Son, what are you doing?”

Ben did not look up. Finally, his finger smacked the yellow legal pad in front of him. “I knew I had seen him on Sarah's list. Who's Tracker? Tell me about Tracker?”

“Tracker? He's got a nose like a bloodhound but allergies that would kill an elephant.”

“So that's why he lives here.”

“Yeah. He's about as Misfit as they come. Why? What could … Oh!” Dave was now on the same page as Ben.

“Exactly. With his power, maybe he could lead me to Grace.”

“Maybe. So long as his spring hay fever hasn't kicked in full throttle yet.”

Ben and Dave zoomed out the cabin's front door to find Tracker but stopped suddenly when they reached the front porch railing. Below them, on the main road below, it was quiet. No screams, no sobs, no battle cries. No Anti-Powers. The fighting had ceased as quickly as it had begun. The Anti-Powers were gone leaving only mangled Misfit bodies in their wake. Some dead, some injured, but all being tended to by the few Misfits who had survived the short-lived attack.

“What the — ?” asked Dave, relieved to see Petra among the caregivers.

“It's because they have Grace now. This fight was just a distraction until they got Grace.” Ben's focus was clear now. He turned to Dave. “We need to find Tracker and pray he isn't one of those bloody bodies down there.”

They were over a mile from the Misfit community and Ben was growing impatient. He had decided to make this journey with Tracker alone, assuming two could travel the mountainous terrain faster than if Dave and the others had accompanied him. Unfortunately, his time estimations had not taken into account the limitations of Tracker's powers. Using Grace's old clothes, Tracker had easily picked up her scent leaving Dave's cabin and the Misfit community. But as they traveled deeper into the mountain's thick forest, pollen and spring's smells were taking their toll on Tracker and his sneezes began to outnumber his leads.

“Ah-choo!” Tracker sneezed for the umpteenth time. He awkwardly looked over at Ben. “Sorry about that.”

“Just go on,” Ben sighed and shook his head. He followed the diminutive balding man with the bulbous nose through a brier thicket and up a small hill. He wasn't used to being the follower and that, combined with Tracker's sneezes, was frustrating to the Council's preeminent Guardian. “Are you sure you know where you're going?” he asked impatiently.

“Her scent is getting stronger, sir. And since my allergic reactions are more prevalent here, her strong scent means we're close,” Tracker stated assuredly as he reached the top of the hill.

Just as Tracker was about to start his descent down the hill's other side, Ben suddenly yanked the little man to the ground. “Get down!” he whispered and pointed to the bottom of the descent directly in front of them.

Tracker strained his eyes down to the bottom of the hill but all he could see were trees and the leaf-covered ground below them. “What?” he asked.

“There,” Ben pointed to an area where the leaves on the ground appeared to be denser.

Tracker squinted even more. “But I don't see anything.”

Ben sighed, “You may have the nose but I have the eyes. Trust me. I think it's a cabin, a well-camouflaged cabin, but it's a cabin.”

Tracker's nose went up, aimed at the dense leaves. “She's in there. I can smell her.”

“Okay. Go tell Dave. Tell him to wait until DJ comes back with the full Powers then bring them all here. I'll stay here and watch over Grace.”

Tracker smiled and saluted, “Yes, sir,” before turning to leave. He took a few steps back down the hill and then turned around. “Master Ben?”

“Yes,” Ben whispered, his eyes never leaving the dense leaves.

“Thank you for allowing me to be of service to you.”

Ben looked back at the humble little man, not realizing until that moment how much the Misfits simply wanted to be part of their world. To work as a Power. To be useful. “No problem, and thank you for your help,” he smiled before refocusing his eyes on the dense leaves below.

With Tracker gone, the forest seemed quieter to Ben. No birds singing, no leaves rustling, no squirrels scampering. Just silent stillness feeding Ben's concentration on the hidden cabin below. In the forest's stillness, he tried to listen, but the cabin was silent as well. If she was in there, why couldn't he hear anything?

Ben's curiosity began to rip at his Guardian instincts and he decided to furtively make his way down the hill to the cabin. As quickly and as silently as he could, using all his Powers and skills, Ben inched down the hill, never making a sound, not even a ripple in the air. When he was closer, he could see the walls and roof of the cabin more distinctly and discovered two well-disguised windows facing out opposite sides of the cabin. He crouched below the closest window, listening for anything, and it was soon apparent to Ben that the cabin's walls and roof were soundproof, the intent of their design confirming Grace's presence within. But the window did not share that same feature and Ben's stomach turned when he heard the first sounds emanating from the cabin.

For in the middle of the forest's stillness, Gregory's voice etched up Ben's spine like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Ben's anger briefly derailed his focus and only when he heard Star's voice join in with Gregory's did he know what he had to do. She had taken advantage of him once but Ben had learned his lesson. He cautiously peered through a lower corner of the window and surveyed the inside of the hidden cabin.

On the opposite wall next to the other window was a door that presumably led outside. Star sat on a couch near the door, filing her nails as if waiting for her next salon appointment. The only other person Ben could see was Gregory, who was leaning against the wall beside Ben's window and talking to someone or something on his left. In the midst of his one-sided conversation, Gregory crossed to the other side of the cabin toward Star, leaving Ben a clear view of Gregory's conversation target.

Grace.

She sat in the far corner, hands and feet tied to a metal, ladder-back chair. She was in no obvious pain, but her blue eyes were anxiously wild and darting back and forth from Gregory to Star. Her face was dirty, hair disheveled and her shirt was torn, revealing a pale pink bra strap. Her darting eyes never left Gregory or Star and Ben thought he could actually see the wheels in her head trying to find a way to escape.

Ben stayed motionless, staring into Grace's prison while he weighed his options. He knew Star's glowing power was insignificant but her newly discovered deviousness needed to be considered. Gregory's strength would probably be a hindrance for Ben, and he was not sure what other powers his obvious nemesis possessed. As he pondered his situation, a familiar voice softly resonated in his ear.

“Hey,” Tom whispered. “Need some help?”

Relief flooded over Ben at the sight of his older brother. “How did you — ? Where are the others?”

“On their way,” Tom said. “So what's the plan?”

“Still working on it. I was a little outnumbered until you got here.”

Tom peered through the window. “Let's just take them. You can handle Gregory and I'll take Miss Glowworm.”

“You remember her?”

“Uh … yeah. Who could forget Star?”

“But what about Gregory? Do you think he has any powers other than his strength?”

“Bro, you're doubting yourself again. You can take him.” Tom slapped Ben on the back. “Come on.”

Tom started around the cabin to the door. He stopped and motioned for Ben to join him. Ben shook his head but crawled near his brother anyway.

“I don't know about this. There are too many unknowns. We should just wait for the others,” Ben urged.

“You saw the way Grace was in there. We don't have time to wait.”

Ben looked at the door and then to his brother. “Okay,” he said. “When you get in there, go left and take Star. Let me handle Gregory.”

“Got it.”

Ben took one last look at Tom before bursting through the cabin door.

Gregory looked up, not startled in the least. “Hey, Benny Boy. We've been expecting you.”

Ben's eyes narrowed at Gregory's response and he glanced over at Grace. She sat motionless, her wide eyes staring at Tom who stood behind Ben.

Ben stepped to the side, placing his back against the wall. He looked over at Tom now standing beside Star.

“I believe you've met my sister, Star,” Gregory smiled.

Star smiled at Ben and he instantly realized the resemblance to her despicable brother.

“And of course you already know my brother,” Gregory pointed to Tom.

Ben stiffened at Gregory's perplexing introduction of his own brother. As Ben stared at his older brother with questioning eyes, Tom's form shifted into the young blonde teenager who tried to smear Grace with the white pickup truck that fateful day. Then, as soon as the blonde girl fully appeared, she transformed into the familiar, bulky boy whose green eyes Ben had learned to hate.

Andrew.

Ben's heart raced. It was not Tom outside the cabin just now. The full Powers were not already on their way. It was Andrew. That stupid shape shifter messed with Ben's odds. He had been outnumbered all along.

“So what now, Greg?” Ben asked. When in doubt, stall.

“Now, we wait for our father to arrive. You see, Grace is expected at our lab for some testing and we wouldn't want to make her late, now would we?” Gregory walked toward Ben.

Ben glanced over at Andrew before turning his steel blue eyes on Gregory. “You know I can't let you do that.” Ben noticed his last words slurred slightly.

“Oh, Lover Boy, but you can and you will.”

Gregory was so close now Ben could hear him breathe. He felt tired suddenly, his head swirled. He looked over at Grace and the last thing he remembered was hearing her scream, “Ben!” Then everything went black.

Grace watched as Andrew threw Ben's limp body into the large square contraption of a chair. It had been hidden in the back corner of the cabin and, watching Andrew clamp the metal cuffs down over Ben's wrists, it reminded Grace of an executioner's electric chair. It had wires protruding from all sides like an electric chair but instead of being built from wood, however, the entire chair was made of some strange-colored metal that was not exactly shiny and not exactly dull and had a slightly reddish sheen to it. The chair was unlike anything Grace had ever seen and, while its harshness had scared Grace when she first entered the cabin, it was even more frightening with Ben's practically lifeless body lying across it.

“Don't move,” Andrew smirked at Grace before flipping an ornate silver switch on the chair and heading outside to join Gregory and Star. Grace could see the three siblings through the nearest window. Lounging by a large oak that towered over the cabin, they did not look like they had a care in the world. They were laughing and smiling and were obviously not worried about the two prisoners they were supposed to be watching.

“Ben!” Grace whispered as loudly as she could. She was in the corner opposite him on the same side of the cabin and only had to move her chair a short distance to reach him. But if she did that, she would lose sight of the window and her captors outside. Torn, she opted to maintain her vigilance at the window. “Ben!” she repeated. “Please wake up!”