Mrs. North approached from the other side of the lawn. "I told you no," she repeated. "Why didn't you just listen to me?"
"You're crazy," I said. "You won't even give your daughter the help she needs to get better."
"I can take care of her at home," she said. "You have no idea what's really going on, Jay."
"Enlighten me," I said.
"Cassie can't go to the doctor because they'll find out about her alterations."
"Alterations?" I said. "What kind of alterations?"
Mrs. North looked at me, not saying a word. Her mouth was shut, a thin line that told me she didn't want to spill her secrets. But I was still hovering in the air, and she hadn't let me go, so I was still in danger.
"Years ago, before Cassie was born, we had her tested, just like every other unborn baby. She checked out healthy, but there was a problem. Her powers were already manifesting- inside of me, before she was even born. The doctors hadn't ever faced a case like that before, so they were split on what to do about it. Kill it, or let it live?" Mrs. North chuckled, recalling the memory. "They argued amongst themselves for a while, but in the end, they settled on letting it grow and deciding what to do with it once it was born. And when my little baby Cassie came out, she was the sweetest little thing. I couldn't have been happier."
Then, her tone grew bitter. "They took her from me right after her fifth birthday. I had no idea what was going on. I just thought she was in for a mandatory checkup, but when I took her in, they snatched her up and she was just gone."
I was seriously debating how much of this story I should actually believe. After all, Mrs. North, who had seemed like such a nice person at first, was now holding me ten feet in the air against my will.
"That still doesn't explain to me why she can't go to the doctor."
"Because they will take her again," Mrs. North said. "The only reason they gave her back to me in the first place was because I threatened to sue them if they didn't. Now, they have a liable reason to take her away, and this time, I won't be able to get her back."
Tears started to stream down her face. "I can't lose Cassie again," she sobbed. My feet gently came to rest on the ground.
Mood swings, much?
"How else do you suggest we help her?" I asked her.
"I don't know," she said.
I called Jake to tell him what happened. He didn't pick up. I would have to talk to Cassie in person.
"Look, Mrs. North, I have to make sure your daughter is okay," I said gently, not wanting to get hurled across the lawn again, "so I will make sure she goes to the hospital. But I'll also protect her. No doctor will take her as long as she's under my watch, I promise." I slowly approached Mrs. North to see f she was alright.
A vise-like grip began to form around my neck. I fell to my knees, clawing at my throat so I could breathe.
"Please..." I struggled to say. "Killing me...won't solve anything. But...I will make sure...nothing happens...to Cassie."
The grip intensified for a short moment, then eased. "If you let anything happen to my daughter, next time, I won't stop," Mrs. North said, her back still turned away from me.
"Then it's a good thing I'll be there." I saluted her with my first finger and my index finger and hightailed it out of there before she could change her mind.
I took the fastest route to the hospital, hoping that Jake went the same way and was still on his way there.
I caught up to them about two minutes away from the complex. I slowed down so I could run evenly with the van.
I knocked on the window and pointed down to the lock on the other side of the glass. Jake stole a quick glance at me and reached over to unlock the door.
I took the opportunity to open the door, hop inside, and close it back again. Once in the passenger's seat, I buckle in and debriefed everyone on what just happened.
"Do you think the Master may have been behind it?" Jake asked me.
"Maybe." I hadn't even considered that option. "But what would he want with Cassie? And if he needed her that badly, then why hasn't he been trying to go after her?"
"Cassie moved here from another city," Jake said. "But where was she born? If she was born here, then that would give us every reason to believe that the doctors that birthed her were under the Master's control. But if she was born somewhere else, then..." He trailed off.
"Jake, why do I get the feeling we're missing something?" I asked him.
"We are," he said. "We're missing one giant piece of this whole puzzle. And if we don't find out what it is, it just might cost us."
"Why hasn't Cassie said anything?" I looked into the back of the van. Her head was resting on the side of the wall of the van, her body laid on the floor.
It was then that I realized something was wrong. Blink and Que were nowhere to be found.
"You know how the Master can control anyone, at any time?" Jake said, a grin beginning to form on his lips. "Well, surprise." He turned the steering wheel sharply. The van started to flip over.
I slipped into hypermode before the van had turned over completely. I unbuckled my seatbelt and Jake's and grabbed him and Cassie before running out the back doors and leaping onto the ground. I went back to normal time and the van flipped end over end into a light pole several yards away.
I groaned. The impact on the ground had scraped my knees. Cassie had a few cuts as well.
Jake got up and laughed lightly. "That was fun. I thought you actually wouldn't make it that time," he said.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked him. "And I'm not talking to Jake. I'm talking to the Master. Why are you doing this?"
"Because I can," he spat. "Stop meddling in affairs that have nothing to do with you, boy."
That sounded really weird coming out of Jake's mouth. "I'm not meddling. You took my mother and put her in another dimension, the one we're supposed to be in. You put my father in a coma," I said with a finger outstretched towards him. "You took over my friend's body."
"Careful," he said. "When you point at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you."
He was right. I was the reason Metagor, and by extension, the Master, could come into my house and attack my family in the first place. I caused this. But I couldn't let that deter me now, in the face of all of my problems. Sure, the Master was a lot more powerful than me, but I wouldn't let him kill me that easy.
"Why now?" I said. "Why now, when I've had two years to gain control over my abilities? You send everything my way after I have a better chance of getting through it, not counting my power reboot."
"As I said, stop meddling," Master-Jake said. "This is my game. I have to have a challenge for it to be fun, right?"
This guy was a madman. He actually thought this was a game- a game he created, where I was the hero trying to do...something, and he was standing in my way. He wanted this to be so much like a game that he even went so far as to give me a fighting chance. Well, as much of one as I could get under the current circumstances.
But why did he care so much about me if he wanted me to stop 'meddling'?
There were too many unanswered questions.
"Look, all I want is for life to be the way it was two months ago," I said. "A normal-like family, with a not-so-normal-like school, with some normal-like friends. I couldn't care less about what you do."
"How about I make you a deal to make things a little more...interesting?" he said. "If you give me Cassie, I'll give you your life back, simple as that. But you'll have to forget her and everything that has transpired since the attack on your parents."
I looked over at Cassie lying on the street, her innocent face gazing up at me, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling evenly.
No. I wouldn't sacrifice Cassie's life for my own selfish gain.
"Never," I said.
"You would die to protect her? You aren't really in the position to bargain here," Jake said. "You should just take my offer."
"No." I moved to stand in front of Cassie, ready for whatever the Master was going to throw my way. I shifted into my diamond form. The moonlight reflected off of my clear skin.
"So be it." Master-Jake moved into a
fighting stance, preparing to attack.
Then, he lunged.