The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

16. Blank Space

{Sarah}

I come around slowly, feeling someone shaking me gently. There's a hard surface underneath me, and my head pounds. Not to mention my jaw aches when I move it. I crack open my eyes and see a super dressed in bright green hovering anxiously over me. I blink, and he comes into focus. It's Green Phoenix.

   "You okay, Campbell?" His brow furrows as he inspects my bruises. "Looks like you took a pretty good hit there."

   "Yeah." I try to sit up, and when I can't, he helps me. "Good right hook, what can I say."

   "Your head's bleeding over here," he says, fingers hovering above my temple. "You sure?"

   "Almost," I say as he helps me stand up. The ground rocks under my feet, and I stagger against him.

   "Whoa, Campbell. Steady." He catches my shoulder, keeping me upright.

   "So...how'd you get here?" I ask as he helps me walk to the sidewalk, where at least it's clear of snow.

   "Got a distress call from Pink. But when I got here, she was gone, and it was just you."

   I try to remember what happened right before I blacked out, but my head throbs when I do. Still, there's something nagging at me, and the fact that Kaelie just disappeared isn't like her either. She was usually so steadfast. And I know I remember the Red Knight. But why?

   When I get home, I see my parents, Ettie, and Raina all gathered outside. The second Dad sees us, he breaks away from the group and comes hurrying towards us.

   "Sar, there you are." He pulls me into a hug. "We were worried."

   "What happened?" A bad feeling starts to grow in my stomach. Pieces of memory start to come back. Kaelie hit in the face, then me too, right before I blacked out.

   "Well...Cam went to take out the trash, and he never came back. We searched up and down the street, but..."

   "You didn't see anything?" The Red Knight is kind of hard to miss, but I suppose if he was invisible, no one would even know until it was too late.

   "No." Dad's eyes go to my bleeding head, and he tilts my chin up. "You're bleeding, Sar. What did you do?"

   "I hit my head on something," I say, after a quick glance over at Trevor. He gives a minute shake of his head. "I must have not realized how hard."

   "Well, let's get you cleaned up, and then we'll figure out what to do next."

   As he cleans and dresses the cut, I wrack my brains to try and remember what happened right before I blacked out. I remember Kaelie, saying something about how she'd never want to go back to being evil, and how she'd rather be good and take down the Red Knight. Then there was fireballs, lasers, punches. That's when it hits me. Kaelie was gone because the Red Knight took her. Which means Cam...

   "Dad." I stand up immediately when he's done. "I have to go check on something."

   "Check on...?" He sounds confused. "What?"

   "It won't take long, Dad, I swear," I say over my shoulder as I hurry upstairs. I scoop up my phone and hit Trevor's number in my contacts.

   "Yo yo," he says when he picks up.

   "Trevor, have you heard any word from Zach?"

   "Unless he's hiding under my bed, Campbell," he says, and I can hear his naughty wink.

   "No, no. The Red Knight...I think he's captured Cam and Kaelie. And given that he works for HECKL and Mayor Green, I think he might have gotten to Zach too."