The Last Superhero (45 page)

“
Let
her go!” Ross shouts, bringing me back to the pressure on my
hand that is too much as I gasp for air.

Another
flash and I'm beside him, the stench of blood and sweat overwhelming
my senses as his bloodshot eyes meet mine.

“
Go
away!” Another voice thunders, shaking us both, and I'm thrown
several feet away in time for nightmare Salvatore Jr. to step between
us.

Look
at Steven, at the way his lips move, but no sound makes it out, his
pleading eyes say it all.

Salvatore
Jr. raises a hand and is about to hit me when Dad shouts, “Release
her!”

And
I'm brought back to Ross prying Steven's fingers as they soften, on
their own, and I'm dropped to the floor, on my back, crying in pain.

Dad's
hands grab my shoulders, dragging me out of the enclosure, and as I
sit in the midst of baffled stares I can only think of one thing:

“
We
have to do this fast or there won't be anything left to save.”

49

My
words are enough for everyone to assemble as if
we
were the superheroes and not the man lying unconscious on the
stretcher set in the middle of the sterile enclosure.

More
stretchers are brought in by the same two interns they had before,
Little Miss Sunshine and Bowie, I mean, Miss Cane and Mr. Wells.

“
What
is all this?” I wave my bandaged hand in the air and Dad's
quick to chide me. “I'm fine. The hand's fine.”

“
You
need X-rays.”

“
My
hand is the least of my worries right now. What I saw in that
nightmare was gut-wrenching.”

“
We're
going to set you on the stretchers and tie you up so you don't fall
or anything.” Dr. Hudson ushers me to the one next to Steven's.

“
Is
that really necessary?” Jake's observing all the movement
around us. “Did you have stretchers before?”

“
No.
They didn't. However, this time will be different. We want to control
what we can control.” Dr. Morgan's holding a clipboard, taking
notes. “Now, I really need to know if any of you are allergic
to anything.”

“
Penicillin,”
Frances says in what sounds like an apology.

“
Our
injuries were concussions for the most part.” Daphne puts a
hand on Frances's shoulder.

Not
the best way to make her feel better, though.

“
Agent
Suárez had water in his lungs,” Dr. Morgan says in a
matter-of-fact tone. “We don't know what can happen so we
better take all precautions.”

I
roll my eyes. She's making all this more complicated.

“
Hop
on.” And Dad's with her 100 percent, clapping on the stretcher
I'm supposed to occupy.

Doctors.

“
It's
like we're being connected to the matrix,” Wyatt whispers into
my ear, patting my back as he walks by to take his place on a
stretcher to my left.

There's
no point in fighting.

I
lie down and notice that if I stretch out my arm I can take Steven's
hand.

Not
falling for that again, don't worry. But it's still a bit reassuring.

“
Her
eating habits have changed,” I hear Dad speaking in the
distance and can't help but roll my eyes again.

“
It's
called heartbreak,” I whisper to myself.

“
It's
going to be okay.” Dr. Hudson's smiling face appears above me.
She heard me. “Do you have any previous medical conditions we
should know about?”

“
Apart
from the occasional cold, nothing else.”

“
You
do smoke, don't you?”

“
Who
told you that?” Wicked eyes look Dad's way. “I used to.
I've quit.”

“
Good
for you! I'm going to tie you now.”

Her
smile doesn't fade, not even while she's tying me down or when
setting the oxygen mask on my face.

A
kinda psycho move if you ask me.

Although,
I don't know what the last one's for since it's more bothersome than
anything else, but whatever, let's get this over with.

Once
everyone's set, the doctors and the interns retire and we stay there,
staring at our feet or the super high ceilings.

Waiting.

What
if I need to pee?

That
should be the last thing on my mind, but it's not and the more I
think of it, the worse it's going to be.

Crap.

“
Medication
administered,” someone says over the speaker.

So
we wait.

A
little more.

Someone
mumbles something, but the mask doesn't let anyone understand.

Something's
tickling my navel.

Dammit.

Anytime
now.

Feel
the shiver run from my head down to my toes and there it is, the
telltale cold.

Now
I
really
need to pee!

No
time for that, though, as we appear in that same forest I saw before.

Survey
my surroundings and see everyone's in human form.

“
We're
in.” Ross will apparently become Captain Obvious during this
particular nightmare.

Daphne's
the first one to morph, bolting ahead of us after what we now see is
a silhouette running through the trees.

“
I
saw this already,” I comment, not realizing everyone else is
morphing into their characters until some heavy footsteps bring my
companions to attention. “What the fuck?!”

There's
a robot as tall as a building standing some feet away. Some gigantic
metallic beast says “This is awesome!” in Jake's voice.

Look
through the glass at what's supposed to be the face and see both him
and Frances inside, controlling the thing.

Frances
waves and I wave back.

“
We've
got to move.” Elf Wyatt touches my arm.

Concentrate
on morphing, think of the painting Frances gave you.

“
It's
him!” Suárez and Powell start on their pursuit of Daphne
and the silhouette.

Wizard
Ross calls on a dragon that descends next to him and Wyatt while lion
Dad nudges me and roars, “You ride with me.”

Why
the fuck haven't I changed? I did it in that last nightmare!

No
time to think as we charge through the darkness, catching up with
Powell and Suárez.

“
We
went into a cave. When he grabbed my hand,” I shout Jake and
France's way, hoping they hear me.

“
There
are no caves here,” Jake answers. “Daphne's caught him.”

They
advance. Dad speeds up until we make it to a river where Daphne's
wrestling the dark figure we were pursuing.

“
No!”
The figure screams, “I don't want to hurt you!”

I
jump off Dad and run towards the water. I think I see who it is.
“Wait! Daph!” The rocks are slippery and my balance is
shit, but I make it close enough for Daphne to hear me. “Leave
him!”

She
steps back, her eyes locked on the man who’s parting the water
while trying to push himself up.

“
Salvatore?”
I ask, reaching a hand out to him.

A
hand that he examines with his penetrating dark eyes through the
purple mask.

“
You
have to find him,” he says.

“
I
will find him. And I will save him.”

That's
when he takes my hand and it feels as if I've been struck by
lightning. My whole body aches and everything goes dark as my limbs
are set on fire and things akin to scales start popping out.

I'm
morphing.

A
samurai armor coming out of my own skin. A bright-colored full-body
armor covering from my head to my feet that look so much more
sophisticated than the one I wore before.

Salvatore's
gaze settles on me, his smile settles on me.

And
he's off again.

Right
then the whole place changes, the rocks and the water I'm in turning
into sand so thick I have to fight to get my leather-booted feet out
of it.

“
What
the hell?” Frances exclaims.

We're
surveying the scenery and there's nothing to see but miles and miles
of sand.

The
dragon lands on it, letting Ross and Wyatt get off its back.

“
I'm
sorry.” Daphne's sitting beside me. “I thought it was
him.”

“
It's
okay.” Have to pause because the wind's blowing my hair into my
mouth. “It's easy to get confused. They all look alike.”

I
keep sweeping the area with my sight and there's nothing.

“
We
can't stay here.” Powell approaches me, his rifle secured
against his chest. “I say we keep moving.”

“
But
what way?” is the first thing that comes out my mouth. “Where
should we head?”

“
Giana!”
Wyatt jumps, grabbing my arm and I don't know why. “You're
sinking!”

Look
down and see the sand's covered my boots again.

“
Fuck!”

We're
all suddenly aware that the sand is sucking us in.

“
We've
got to move!” Powell shouts, shaking us all, and we first have
to pull our feet up in order to start walking and it's hard.

It's
like stepping on a vacuum cleaner's hose mouth every time you set a
foot down. It pulls you and doesn't want to let go.

“
Get
on!” Ross calls me out from his dragon and all I can think of
is Dad and Daphne. We can't all get on.

A
shriek is all I hear when, all of a sudden, Ross's dragon is hit by
something we can't see, but it's falling backwards from the sky and
landing on the vacuum.

Did
I mention Ross was still on?