The Supervillain and Me (Morriston Superheroes #1)

Chapter Five

Isaac hacked up a cough. "Ummm . . ." His eyes searched the subway car, landing on the door leading to the outside platform. I could make out his friends on the other side of the glass, waving him forward. His face paled. "I have to go. Nice talking to you, ladies."

He shimmied across the platform, arms spread out wide to brace himself; then he disappeared into the next car.

Sarah huffed. "Was it really that bad? I didn't think it was really that bad."

I couldn't bring myself to shatter her musical dreams. "It was . . . really, really close."

"See? That's what I thought." Sarah looked smugly around the train car, practically daring a young couple reading newspapers beside us to try and outsing her.

"You know, Abby . . ." she said. "I think I get why you like this whole musical thing. It's fun, and we get to wear costumes—almost like we're superheroes!"

I nearly choked. Superheroes. Right. I didn't enjoy musicals because of the thunderous applause, the sense of accomplishment when nailing a high note or difficult dance step, or the sensation of genuinely feeling alive.

No. Clearly I only did it for the costumes.

I didn't bother to correct her. Instead, I glanced at my phone when it buzzed in my lap. Another self-defense video from my dad. Not surprising considering Sarah and I were venturing out at night, but he could have at least sent a text along with it. A nice How's your day? would have been fantastic. Rolling my eyes, I dropped my phone in my purse out of sight and stared out the window.

The train tracks flashed by at a dizzying speed, running parallel to the freeway before beginning their descent into Morriston's famous floating tunnel that traveled under the river and emerged downtown. The pinkish hue of twilight disappeared as the dark hole swallowed us up.

The subway car swayed, screeching over the rails. I tried not to think about how many tons of water rested above us. Too bad parking in the city was so scarce because I would have much rather had Sarah drive into town. Honestly, I would have rather walked into town.

I closed my eyes, trying to think of song lyrics, but nothing would come to mind. Nothing except Angeline's death hymn at the end of act 2, and singing that seemed like a bad omen.

The subway screeched again, slowing its momentum. My eyes snapped open, and I craned my neck to look out the window and down the tunnel. There was no glow of an approaching platform. There was nothing.

The entire car screamed as the lights flickered, winking out in a dull buzz of electricity.

There was only darkness.

I felt Sarah's fingers dig into my wrist. "What just happened?"

"Power," I mumbled, riffling through my purse for my phone. The dark always had a terrifying ability to make my body constrict, growing smaller with each second. Like anything could be lurking inside the black.

The light of fifty cell phones flooded the car, and we all watched as the subway came to stop in the middle of the tunnel.

"Well. That's not good," Sarah said. Her face was covered in a blue glow from her phone screen. "Do you think we'll miss the movie?"

"I don't know. Maybe someone will . . ." The flashlight on my phone bounced around the car, stopping on the wall of the tunnel. I pressed my face against the glass, watching a thin stream of water trickle from the ceiling. Drip, drip, drip. I jerked my flashlight to the left. Another hole. And another. And another. And another. At least a dozen, covering the walls and ceiling, dribbling down onto the tracks.