Consuming Fire

Chapter 64

Hunter remained in the cafeteria until the crowd started filing in. She was so focused on her thoughts of Dr. Wolfe and Will and Eli and everything else that had overcomplicated her life that she didn't see Ella sit down opposite her until she was clicking her finger in front of her face and giving Hunter a fright.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, her energy too much for so early in the morning. "Earth to Hunter."

Hunter smiled. "Sorry. I'm a deep thinker."

"I can tell. How'd you sleep?"

Instantly, blush started to creep into her cheeks again. "Uh, not bad."

"My sleep was horrible," she moaned. Despite Ella being overly enthusiastic, Hunter very much liked the girl. She was kind and quite extraordinary, and obviously loved by everyone at the SSS. "But anyway, I have a couple of people who really want to meet you." She turned to the table nearby and waved at some people. Eagerly, they climbed out of their table and made their way toward her.

Despite her exhaustion, Hunter still found the energy to be incredibly shocked by the three people who were smiling and waving at her as they approached. The first was a large man with a weirdly-shaped beard. The second was a scrawny man with red hair. And the third was a girl of about sixteen whose eyes sparkled at the sight of her.

"Kate?" Hunter gaped.

She nodded. "I never did get to thank you for saving my life at the restaurant so ... thank you."

Hunter couldn't help herself. She swung out of the bench and wrapped her arms around Kate. The young girl seemed surprised. When she pulled away, she looked at the two men and almost laughed.

"You were there in the alleyway too – you helped pull us out of the building!"

"Oh my God," said the red-head. "She remembers us Peetee."

"I think I'm going to faint," said Peetee.

Hunter laughed. "How did you get here?"

"We knew you had a power," said Kate. "I mean, there was no way you could have saved me without your power. I was padlocked in the freezer."

"Yeah, and plus your skin was glowing when you came out with Kate," said Peetee. "Me and Andy couldn't stop talking about it for weeks."

"So we three got together," said Andy. "And then Peetee found the SSS website and we decided ... to hell with it. We joined."

"You changed my life," said Kate. "I'd be dead if it weren't for you, and I've waited this long to thank you for it."

Hunter felt tears brim in her eyes. She looked at Ella, who gave her a proud wink. I don't get to see this side of being a hero very often, she thought. It's kind of nice.

They sat down at the table as Hunter asked them to tell her more about their adventures since the restaurant fire in New York, happy to hear another story for a change. Others joined their table and by the time Ryo entered, all of Ella's friends were sitting with her.

"Look what I found," said Ryo as she placed a sketchbook on the table beside Hunter. "You won't believe what's in it."

Hunter put down her coffee – fourth cup that morning – and turned the cover. Inside were pages filled with sketches. Sketches of superheroes.

"Oh my God," she muttered. "Did one of you guys do this?"

Ella and her friends peered at the sketchbook, frowning.

"It's not ours," said Ella.

"That's because I found it at the cabin."

"Whose is it?" 

Before Ryo even answered, Hunter's eyes noticed the signature at the bottom corner of the drawings and felt her heart break in half.

"Benji," she whispered.

Zac and Marcus joined the table then. Zac snatched the book and started looking through it with Marcus peering over his shoulder. She should have cared that they were, in some sense, reading Benji's private thoughts, but somehow it felt right to show it to the world.

"Are you serious?" Zac exclaimed.

"Careful!" Ryo tried to pull it away from him but he held on tight. "Don't rip the pages."

"Relax, jeez. I can't believe little Benji drew these."

"He gave us names too?" Marcus gasped.

Zac's eyes went wide and he scanned through the book to find his own sketch. When he did, his face fell. Hunter saw a black suit with silver streaks running from the shoulder to the hip bone. There was a name scribbled along the side.

"Two-face?!" Zac exclaimed.

Every single person at the table burst out laughing. Even the SSS members thought the name was stupid.

"Something funny?" asked Jenny as she and Joshua joined the table meeting.

"We're looking at Benji's sketchbook," said Ryo. "He gave us all names and costumes!"

At that, there was a sudden screeching sound and all of the people in the cafeteria started to crowd around the sketchbook. Most of them were artists and designers themselves, or so she'd heard Ella say over her shoulder. They were intrigued by the book.

"Where's mine?" asked Marcus.

"Here," said Joshua and he turned the book around. Marcus' sketch was majestic, surrounded by bolts of lightning. It was titled 'Static'.

"Static," said Marcus with a nod of approval.

"That's a sick name," said a bearded guy who'd appeared behind Joshua.

"He called me Time Warp," said Ryo. "I like it."

A few of the newcomers nodded and voiced their agreements. Hunter couldn't get used to all of their faces.

"Your costume design is really great," said Ella who was sitting beside Zac. Her girlfriend Dakota was leaning over her shoulder. "It wouldn't be hard to make."

"There's one for Fearne," said Zac, his voice almost a whisper. "He didn't have a name for her, but her picture is beautiful."

At that moment, another member joined them. Hunter looked up in time to see Will's face go pale as he saw over Zac's other shoulder the pencil sketch of Fearne in a suit, a cape flowing out behind her, hair in ringed pigtails, sunlight beaming down on her. Her eyes were closed and a peaceful smile lit up the page as other faces surrounded her, portraying the power of her mind.

"Can I see that?" he asked, his voice thick.

Everyone was silent as Zac handed Will the book. He blinked a few too many times. He was handling himself incredibly well, considering.

Then suddenly, Will burst out laughing as he flipped the book around and showed everyone Zac's picture.

"He called you 'Two-Face'?"