Heroes (On Hold)

Chapter 13: Alive Again?

When we landed in the courtyard, Travis was gone again in a blink. Around us, tables and chairs stood empty, and a small garden filled with animal statues waited for children who weren't there to play. Behind us, stores and a small restaurant had tired "closed" signs on display; in front of us, the massive LA Cathedral loomed, the gigantic cross and golden doors staring out at them. Waiting.

It was eerie. No one was there. Only the distant sound of police forming a perimeter around the gates gave any indication they weren't standing in the heart of a ghost town.

I believe the perpetrators are inside, Lizzy stared into my mind. I do not think they know we are here. If we stay quiet, perhaps we can catch them by surprise.

I nodded, then stepped forward towards the gigantic doors- left open, like someone was just waiting for us to step inside. The sound was cringeworthy, the noise echoing in the empty space. Immediately, I began floating Lizzy and I forward on a small air pocket. The sound of our steps would give us away- best to eliminate that variable before it was part of the equation.

A sense of unease shuddered through my mind. The open doors... it was too easy. Something felt off.

Unable to voice my concerns and maintain our stealth, I shoved away my trepidation. We moved slowly through the doorway, then up a series of stairs. Nothing moved in the long corridor ahead of us.

Drifting past images of different buildings and people, I tried my best not to get distracted by all the items on display. I had no clue what most of it was, and curiosity niggled at the back of my mind. All the same, we had a mission to complete. I could research this place later.

As the thoughts passed through my head, a sound echoed through the vast cathedral, the main portion of the building just coming into view between small, individual chapels. Lizzy and I looked to each other, eyes wide. Silently, I signaled toward the huge open area, filled with benched oriented towards the massive cross and stone altar.

Lizzy nodded, catching my meaning. We floated towards the center of the building, over rows of pews, under the watchful eye of the cross in the window. Again, the space was empty- hauntingly quiet.

Until suddenly, it wasn't.

A sharp sound broke the silence, echoing through the rooms, off the walls, through my head. With the acoustics of the cathedral, it was near impossible to tell where it came from; yet somehow, Lizzy pointed towards the opposite end of the chamber, a faint whirring sound emitting from her. I didn't question how she knew where the sound had come from- she seemed sure, and that was good enough for me.

So we moved forwards.

More empty benches, more alcoves and openings. On this side, spaces were filled with artwork of all kinds, and again I had to resist the urge to stop and admire. I scanned the space as we drifted along, checking one alcove after another. Empty, empty, empty...

There. A slight blur in the corner of my vision. Anyone else would have ignored it, taken it for their imagination, or an insect flying a tad too close. But I wasn't just anyone- I had spent the past year at a school where blurs like that didn't mean insects. They meant-

Super speed, I mouthed to Lizzy, gesturing in the general direction of a descending staircase where the blur had been.

Lizzy furrowed her silicate brow, a faint clicking sounding as she turned her head sideways. I do no understand. I am not detecting any super powers in the vicinity, other than yours. I should be able to sense them.

I frowned, my sense of unease growing stronger. This felt wrong. Not just suspenseful or nerve wracking like the last mission had been, but truly wrong. I couldn't shake it.

Wordlessly, we drifted down the stairway, and were greeted by a faint sound, like words. As we reached the bottom, I realized what we were hearing: a news broadcast on a radio.

"Reports of the beloved superhero Blink falling ill have just come in. As of this morning, he is seeking treatment at a secure facility and taking a small break from protecting the world as we know it with his invisibility. However, the nature of this illness is still unknown. Joining us now is a witness who saw Blink in action yesterday before his announcement."

A new voice spoke on the radio now as we made our way forward slowly, past stained glass windows and other assorted items. "It was the strangest thing," it said. The sound came from behind a set of thick glass doors, within a maze of stone and text.

The Mausoleum, Lizzy intoned. A maze indeed- one not just of stone and writing, but of the dead, sealed away under the cathedral.

"He was fighting against a group of bank robbers, but whenever he reappeared, it looked like something was wrong with his right arm. It was just flailing around uselessly, like a limp noodle! Honestly, it was so distracting I couldn't even appreciate that I was seeing an actual superhero in action..."

We were moving down aisles now, between rows and columns of names. How many bodies are buried here? Lizzy wondered to me. I didn't bother to tell her that I could probably answer that question. I could sense each body- the death entombed in these walls, the spirits hovering around us. Watching.

We turned a corner and I sucked in a breath. I broke my silence to whisper an answer to her rhetorical question: "One too few, is seems."

One of the slabs of stone used to encase someone's remains was lying on the floor, leaving the space behind it open. The horrible stench of rot and decay hit us a moment later, but I didn't avert my eyes like Lizzy did. My mind flashed to the Haven, flashed back to that empty grave.

This was my second one in twenty four hours.

Ella, look. Lizzy drew me away from my thoughts of graves and the walking dead, her slender finger pointed down one of the aisles at the source of the sound.

A janitor stood, mopping the stone floors of the mausoleum. A small, portable radio was clipped to his belt, the sound of news reporters debating Blink's sudden illness echoing against the walls eerily. It reminded me of something I had seen in a horror movie with Ben last year.

I shook off that thought. One thing at a time. What was this man doing here?

Lizzy shot me a worried look, then turned to the janitor, his back turned to us. Sir? This building has been evacuated. You need to leave immediately!

Dread settled in my stomach. This was very, very wrong. I recognized something that was off the moment Lizzy started "talking": the man didn't flinch. Most people jumped almost out of their skin the first time Lizzy spoke to them in her strange way. This man didn't so much as turn.

Instead, he just set his mop back in his bucket. Then turned, so slowly, to face us.

My mind jumped into overdrive, analyzing every detail. The many open spaces on the walls around him; the ID badge clipped to his belt; the picture of a man with clear blue eyes; the eyes now trained on us, a freakishly vibrant green.

I knew that green. I had seen it on a rooftop in New York, in the eyes of a girl who should not have had powers, but did.

"It's about time you showed up. I've been waiting." His voice was many tones at once, equally melodic and rasping.

Bad bad bad bad bad.

The man smiled. "We all have."

            🌜🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌛

Heeeeey guys! Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I've been struggling with writers block a bit on this story.

I really appreciate all of the comments and votes you guys leave, and I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. That said, I won't be able to update all the time. I'm slowing down a bit on this story to give myself time to get back into it. I burned out on Heroes a little bit, and I'm trying to keep writing it. Please be patient with me!

In the mean time, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please vote, comment, and share with your friends if you did! You guys are the best.

Good night everyone! Or should I say... Good Knight?
Emily ❤️