Meta (Book 3): Rise of The Circle (2 page)

"And what about your dad?" I ask.

"He's fine," Sarah tells me. "He's been better, obviously, but aside from a fractured elbow, he's okay. There's something else though ... he doesn't know about what happened with Midnight."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Because if he knew what actually happened, he'd never let me go back to work for The Agency. The only reason he's even letting me come back, I think, is because he doesn't know what else to do with me, and he's too busy to think about anything else. It's really a mess out there right now."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," I say before hearing a sound toward the front of the house. It's the doorknob on the front door being slowly turned. My powers aren't back to what they were before all of this, so I didn't hear anyone walking up to the house.

"Expecting company?" I ask Sarah, readying myself for whatever is on the other side of the door. If it's Alpha Team, I can't imagine they'd use the front door.

The door swings open suddenly and reveals Halpern standing in the doorway, his hand on his unclipped gun holster. He sees me and smiles before putting the clip back in place to secure his weapon.

"Losing your edge, huh? You're not someone I ever expected to be able to sneak up on," Halpern says to me with a smile on his face.

"Well it's been awhile since I've suited up, in case you haven't noticed."

"Oh no, believe me, I've noticed. The Bay View City wing of The Agency might be shattered into splinters currently, but I don't think there's a person in this city that doesn't know what Alpha Team has been doing to the metas they find," Halpern says.

"I only turned these on for protection," I say.

"From Sarah?" Halpern asks with a chuckle. "Sorry, honey, no offense." The look on Sarah's face says she doesn't appreciate the apology. "As nice as it's been catching up, we really don't have time for chitchat, unfortunately. We're just here to grab a few things, and then we're gone."

"You can't leave here. This city is your home, both of you," I say.

"This city isn't
home
to anyone other than Alpha Team. There's no way to stop them right now, and I'm not waiting around here to find out what else they're capable of."

"So you're just giving up?"

"Just giving up? No, kid. But you've got to realize that there are some battles you just can't win. This is one of them for The Agency. We'll find a way to deal with this eventually, I promise you that, but right now there's not much any of us can do waiting around Bay View City to see what they've got planned next."

"So where are you going then?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, but we're both going to places where we can continue to fight the good fight. There's still a lot of good The Agency can do, and this little war is far from over if we have anything to say about it."

"You said you're both going to
places
, as in plural."

"Very perceptive, kid. That old guy you hang around with must be rubbing off on you. Don't think that's going to mean you get any more clues from me, though. You know as well as either of us that the less you know the better it's likely going to be for everyone involved."

"Well that old guy I've been hanging around with hasn't been seen since Silver Island, so you don't have to worry about that anymore," I say to Halpern, knowing that it's not entirely true, since I just found out that Sarah has actually seen him since then.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but he's been through worse before. I'm sure he's fine. It'll take more than four or five of the most powerful metas the world's ever seen to put him down," Halpern says, waiting for a reaction before continuing. "That was supposed to be a joke. Guess it wasn't a very funny one.

"In all seriousness, though, kid, I'm sure the old guy's fine. He's probably just laying low for a little bit, just like most of us are. It's a dangerous place out there for anyone who hasn't picked these Alpha maniacs as the side they're going to throw down with if push comes to shove."

"And what about you? Who are you going to side with if it comes to that?" I ask.

"Me? I'm going to stay on the side I've always been on: neither. There're good metas, there're bad metas, just like any other group of people. You try to help the good ones while trying to stop the bad ones from hurting anyone along the way. That's all anyone can do. These things aren't going away any time soon. When they disappeared ten years ago, a lot of people thought that was it and stopped preparing for the day they might come back, and look how that turned out."

Outside I hear footsteps approaching the house. They're faint. Whoever is making them is going out of their way not to be heard. If it weren't for my guard being up so high after Halpern was able to sneak up on me, even I wouldn't have noticed them.

"We've got company outside the house. Expecting more guests?" I ask Halpern and Sarah. Both look back at me as though they have no idea what I'm talking about.

"It's the Blanks," Halpern says suddenly. "It's got to be. They're the only ones who could walk around the neighborhood without getting bothered at this time of night. If they find a meta in here, we're all done. You've got to teleport out of here."

"Okay," I say, and then think of home with the intention of teleporting there. But, I don't. Nothing happens. My body stays exactly where it is.

"Come on, you've got to go," Halpern says.

"I'm trying. I just can't. It's not working. I don't know why it's not working," I say, the panic in my voice starting to show itself.

"Then power them down," Halpern says calmly and seriously.

"No," I say. I can't just power down. If I power down and reveal who I really am to Halpern and Sarah, along with potentially whoever is on their way inside, not only could we all be in trouble, but Derrick and Michelle will be too. Too many peoples' safety relies on my identity staying a secret.

"There has to be another way," I say.

"The wine cellar," Sarah says suddenly as she moves toward a carpet lying on the kitchen floor. She takes the carpet in both hands and pulls, revealing a trap door in the hardwood floor below.

"How did you know about my wine cellar?" Halpern asks her.

"Don't worry about it. Omni, get down in there."

"Is this really going to work?" I ask.

"Do we have another choice?" she replies.

She's got a point. I pull open the trap door and quickly descend down the three steps into a very small area lined with wine bottles. There isn't much room, and before I have a chance to adjust my position, Sarah slams the trap door over me, hitting my head and pushing me farther down. It's a good thing I'm nearly invulnerable or else that would have really hurt. I can hear the carpet being replaced over the trap door seconds before there is a hard knock on the front door and the sound of Halpern's footsteps heading toward it.

The door squeaks open down the hallway, and I can hear footsteps from multiple people coming through the doorway and into the house. I stare up toward the sound and concentrate, trying to see through the floorboards to the room above, but all I see staring back at me is darkness. My ability to see through solid objects is gone. What is happening to my powers? Not being able to teleport before worried me, but the past few days have been the longest I've gone without using my metabands, so I tried not to freak out when I wasn't able to do it. I thought maybe this is just something that happens when I'm not used to using them everyday for a little while. Maybe they're
not
like riding a bike? But now, not being able to see through anything? That's causing me to start worrying and making me think that the problem is with the metabands, not me.

"Who's in here with you?" a muffled voice barks from the kitchen above me.

"It's just me and my daughter here," Halpern replies.

"We received a call from one of your neighbors that they saw a known metahuman through your living room window."

Dammit.

"A metahuman? I don't think so. Which metahuman do they think they saw?" Halpern asks back, lying.

"Why don't
you
tell me which metahuman they would have seen strolling around your house, buddy?" the voice asks back.

Michelle was right. It was stupid to use my metabands. Now Halpern and Sarah are getting grilled because I didn't listen.

"I'm really not sure what you're talking about, sir, but if it would make you feel better, you're welcome to look around. Actually, I'd feel safer knowing that you did if someone thought they saw a metahuman in here."

"You, check upstairs," the voice commands an unseen companion. "You, check the kitchen. You, come with me to check the bedrooms."

Footsteps spread out through the house, banging up a flight of stairs and down another hallway. Another pair are coming toward the kitchen. Whoever they're sending in here, I'm hoping that they're not the thorough type. Above me I can hear cabinet doors being opened and closed, curtains being moved, a pantry door creaking.

"Who exactly are you expecting to find in the refrigerator?" I hear Sarah ask. She's standing directly above me, on top of the carpet lying over the trap door. I'm guessing her choice of location wasn't an accident, and I feel a slight sense of relief that maybe I won't be found after all.

"You can never be too thorough, Sarah," replies the person rummaging through her kitchen.

There's a few seconds of silence before I hear Sarah's reply.

"How do you know my name is Sarah?" she asks.

"Uh, you said it, didn't you?" the voice replies back quickly, still opening and closing every conceivable hiding space.

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, well they probably said it on the call on the way over. Sometimes they give us the names of the people in the house before we check 'em so we can make sure everyone who is supposed to be there is there."

"I don't believe you," Sarah replies. It's quiet above me. The cabinets are no longer being checked. There's a reluctant sigh followed quickly by a gasp from Sarah.

"Jim?" she asks, seemingly unable to believe what she's seeing.

"Sorry," a voice I now recognize as Jim’s, no longer being muffled by a mask, replies back.

"What are you doing? Why are you working with the Blanks?"

"Because we're doing the right thing. We're trying to save this city from what it’s started to become: a playground for metas or those rich enough to buy them off."

"You can't be serious. A meta saved your life before. You wouldn't be here if it weren’t for Omni. You're just going to ignore all of that now?"

"I'm not ignoring that. A meta did save my life, but from another meta. It wouldn't have needed saving if they didn't exist in the first place. We all got along just fine for thousands of years without them. Now people have to worry about whether or not an idiot with superpowers is going to drop a car on their heads while they're just trying to go about their lives. You call that progress? These are the people we're supposed to look up to as heroes, and why? Because they can do things we can't? That doesn't make them above the law, and that doesn't make them welcome in Bay View city anymore as far as we're concerned."

"And who is 'we,' Jim?" Sarah asks.

"He's in the kitchen," a voice from down the hall says, preceding a pair of footsteps, which grow louder as they approach. I hear some brief shuffling above me and realize that it must be Jim replacing his mirrored mask in anticipation of whoever is coming through the kitchen door.

"Well I'm glad that you can see there's obviously no metahumans here, sir," Halpern says to what I presume is one of the Blanks walking alongside him.

"You, why does it seem like you’re anxious for us to leave? Do you have somewhere more important to be?" one of the Blanks asks Sarah.

"I already told you-" Halpern starts.

"Quiet. I didn't ask you. I asked her. I already heard your answer. Now I want to see if she gives me the same one."

"We're going to stay with family," Sarah says confidently. This isn't her or Halpern's first lying rodeo, and it's going to take a lot tougher questions than that to trip up either of them.

There's a loud crash that sounds like it came from outside the house, followed by commotion in the hallway leading to the front door. A new pair of heavy footsteps enters the house and marches into the kitchen to join Halpern, Sarah, a masked Jim, and at least one other Blank. Footsteps come from elsewhere throughout the house, the rest of the Blanks reconvening.

"Have you found anything?" a voice asks above me, and I recognize it immediately as belonging to Charlie. Of course. It all makes sense now, and I feel like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. Alpha Team is working with the Blanks. “Working with” is probably too strong of a term. Alpha Team doesn't seem like they're taking orders anymore. Now they've got the Blanks taking orders from them.

"No, sir, the house seems to be secure," Jim replies to Charlie, his voice now distorted behind a mask.

"So you called me out here for nothing?" Charlie asks back.

Um ... no, sir. We received word that a meta was at this location. We wouldn't have called you for backup if we hadn't."

"Backup? You think that I'm backup for you? You work for me, not the other way around. What good are you if a team of five can't even take out one metahuman, let alone if you can't even see if one is actually here before you come crying to daddy to help?"

"You're right, sir. I apologize, sir," Jim says.

"Are you in charge here?" Charlie asks.

"No, sir. He is in charge here."

The floorboards creek as Charlie walks across the room toward the person Jim has indicated. It's quiet for a brief moment; then there’s a loud snap and a heavy thud against the floorboards above me.

"A man who doesn't speak up and take responsibility for his own mistakes isn't a leader. Congratulations, young man, you just got yourself a promotion. Now, if we're done here, I imagine you all have places you can be of more use than a kitchen. I suggest you find those places," Charlie says. There's a popping noise, which I recognize as the sound of air being displaced by someone moving incredibly fast. It's followed by the hurried footsteps of the Blanks as they exit the house. Outside, faintly, I can hear a truck's engine start up, followed by tires squealing as they drive away.