The 6th Power (13 page)

I knew that was true, but I smirked and said, “I’ll take your word on that.” 

We sat there for a bit, processing what we’d learned, not speaking. My mind was swirling. Robert with a girlfriend? Could things get any weirder?

The sun was higher in the sky now and it was starting to get warm, but there was still a nice breeze. It smelled like someone was starting up a charcoal grill. Strange. Bit early for a cookout.

“When did Chet get out of the hospital, then?” Hannah asked.

“Hmm? Oh, late last night. That’s when he told me he was, you know, coming after you.”

“And because of that, you went looking for the pill at some point, and I’d say you found it.”

I nodded and told Hannah about my game with the twins in the field. Hannah stared at me as I talked, a strange look on her face. I couldn’t tell if she still thought I was crazy or if it was something else.

“So you went and found the pill,” she said. “and you just took it? Despite the danger? Despite what happened at Mr. Magellan’s house?”

I squirmed. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t really have any choice. I couldn’t let them,” I gestured towards her, “you know… Besides, the pills haven’t hurt me so far, so I figured…”

Hannah interrupted me by grabbing my hand and squeezing. “Thank you,” she said.

I tried opening my mouth to respond, but a nod was the best I could manage.

After a bit, she let go and said, “What are you going to do now?”

It took me awhile to answer. The breeze picked up. The smell of smoke was stronger. “I’m not really sure,” I finally said. “I took the pill to warn you. Now that I’ve done that, I think… I think I’m going to leave town.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. I’m leaving. I am taking to the skies and I am going to get as far away from Coralberry and my family as I possibly can.”

She folded her arms. “What will you do when you get to wherever it is you’re going? Do you have any money?”

“Uh, no.”

“How are you going to eat? What will you tell people? Usually, if there’s a kid wandering around on his own, he gets picked up by the police. The moment they find out who you are, they’ll send you back here.”

“I know,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll think of something.”

Hannah didn’t look convinced, but I didn’t care. I’d thought about running away from home for years, but I had known that it would never work. With the flight power, though, I could do it. I didn’t have all of the details worked out, but I’d be gone. That was what was important. Before I could stop it, my mouth opened and words tumbled out.

“You could come with me.”

Hannah jumped to her feet and turned away from me. Okay, I’d obviously gone too far. We’d only known each other for a few days, after all. Heck, this was our first, real conversation.
Hi! Pleased to meet you! Grab your suitcase!

But actually, it felt like I’d known Hannah for forever. Maybe it was because of all of the times that she’d stuck up for me, even though I’d been oblivious to most of it. Maybe it was because we seemed to have a lot in common, what with us both having horror movies for families. Maybe it was because I’d just shared more with her about myself than I had with any other person on Earth. Still, even if she did possibly kind of maybe think of me as sort of a friend, and even if it seemed impossible that she’d want to stick around Coralberry and live with her demonically rude step-father, that didn’t mean she’d just want to drop everything and fly off with me.

Away in the distance, the siren started up, calling out to all of the volunteer firefighters in town. Probably a traffic accident or some senior citizen with chest pains.

Hannah turned back to me and said, “I can’t go.”

“Sure,” I said, struggling to stand. “Sorry, it was stupid of me to ask.”

She frowned and her eyes started to get glisteny. “I mean, I would, but… my mom. My stepdad’s a creep, but my mom… I can’t leave her.”

Wow, she actually considered going with me. Hesitantly, I put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. I understand.”

“I mean, if I wasn’t there, she wouldn’t have anyone, and he’s so…”

“I get it,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.” And I did get it. I mean, Chet and Robert were jerks and Mom and Dad were oblivious, but I still cared about Kiki and I’d miss her and...  

That train of thought screeched to a halt as a new thought hopped on the rails. What would happen if I did leave? Sure, Mom and Dad would be sad, but they’d have Kiki. I was pretty sure that they’d get over it. Robert would be… well, Robert would be Robert, whatever that meant. But Chet. What would he do without his favorite victim?

He’d have to find someone else to pick on.

“Nate?”

I didn’t respond. My scalp was tingling and my stomach started churning. That was it. That was exactly what Chet would do. If I wasn’t there, Chet would have to go after someone else.

“Nate!”

Kiki. What if he chose Kiki? That seemed ridiculous. Even Chet wouldn’t pick on a baby. But she would grow up. At some point, Mom might think about going back to work, and who would be there to take care of his baby sister? The Good Son, of course, and he wouldn’t care that she was small and couldn’t defend herself. He’d make sure that she knew her place. Chet would teach Kiki that she couldn’t tell, that pain was the consequence of disobedience to the will of Chet.

Hannah grabbed my shoulder. “Nate, wake up!”

Was any of that likely? Probably not, if we were talking about a normal bully. But Chet was something special, and really, could I take the chance that I was wrong about him?

She gave me a shake and I finally looked at her and mumbled, “I can’t go.”

“What? Nate, look!” She grabbed my chin and turned my head. Only then did I see the smoke, thick and black, flowing up into the sky from the center of Coralberry. I realized that the sirens were still going, had been going for a while, which meant that the fire was bigger than the Coralberry Volunteer Fire Department could handle. Fire departments from neighboring communities were being brought in.

“It’s someplace downtown,” Hannah said. “and it’s a big one.”

“Yeah.” Downtown. Those old building all lined up in a row, pressed right next to each other so that you couldn’t tell where one stopped and the next began. If one of them went, the whole city block could go. I hobbled over to the edge of the water tower, but we were too far away to see what was going on. Fortunately, the firefighters knew their jobs and could take care of things. Certainly nothing I could do about it.

But looking at that column of smoke rising up out of my home, even if most of my time in Coralberry had been miserable, well, not to be all dramatic, but it made my heart hurt, and part of me just needed to know how bad it was.

I turned to Hannah and held out a hand.

“We should check it out.”

Chapter 17

W
e flew up over downtown Coralberry, trying not to be seen. Of course, the people down there had more important things to be staring at. It was just chaos. Emergency vehicles raced in from all directions. Pedestrians raced away, some trying to squeeze their cars out before they were blocked in by fire trucks, most abandoning their cars and getting out on foot. State police cruisers ringed the area, the officers trying to direct traffic. Firefighters were swarming, dragging hoses behind them.

My brain had a hard time registering all of this activity and panic in a place where a new coat of paint on the gazebo in the town square was front-page news. It didn’t look real. Clearly I was sitting in a movie theater in Westertonville, watching a big-budget disaster movie, and Duane Johnson would be coming along at any moment to save the day.

No, this was really happening. Even at our altitude, the heat was intense and the smoke was so thick that it was hard to tell what, exactly, was burning.

Hannah pointed at the end of the block, coughed and said, “That’s the card store on the corner. If the fire makes it down there, it’ll go up in about three seconds.”

I nodded, coughed, and tried to get my bearings. “There’s a realtor next to the card store and a lawyer’s office. Next to that is the 24-hour weight loss place.”

“The pizza shop is next to that,” said Hannah

“Yeah. Next to that is…” I stopped. Of course I knew what was next to the pizza shop. I’d smelled that pizza every Wednesday for the last five years.

I whispered, “The comic book shop’s on fire.”

“What?” Hannah asked.

“It’s Mr. Magellan’s shop! That’s where the fire is!”

Hannah looked, doing her own count, and put a hand to her mouth. “You’re right! All that paper. No wonder it’s out of control.”

You know that feeling you get in third period math class, when your cereal has burned off and it’s another half hour until lunch and you think that your stomach is going to eat itself? That’s pretty much how my everything felt when I saw the awning over Mr. Magellan’s shop burst into flame and black smoke pour out the big front window. The shop was the only place I’d ever felt safe and welcome. In my mind’s eye, I saw the destruction of the racks of new comics and the boxes of back issues, and I just ached. 

“Mr. Magellan,” I whispered.

“What?”

“Magellan. The lights were on in the shop this morning. He might be in there. I’ve gotta see if he’s okay.”

Hannah frowned. “The firefighters will get him out.”

I swept an arm over the scene. “Look at it. The fire’s getting out of control. What if they can’t make it in time?”

“Yes, but what will you be able to do?”

I shook my head, having no idea. “Let’s get a little closer.”

We floated down, the heat and smoke increasing as we approached. I looked around, hoping to see Mr. Magellan near one of the ambulances that littered the area. No such luck. Some of the firefighters were gearing up with oxygen masks and axes, but the front door of the comic book shop had been replaced with a wall of fire. No way was anyone getting in there.

Hannah yanked on my hand. “Look out!”

I turned and there was a freaking helicopter heading right for us.

I jerked in surprise, instinctively raising my hands as if I could ward off a couple of tons of flying steel.

Hands. Oh, crud.

Hannah was good. She didn’t make a noise. She just looked up at me as she plummeted towards the street below, and I could swear that she was arching that eyebrow again.

I flipped over and dove. Quick quick quick. Plenty of time, plenty of time.

“You jerk!” Hannah shrieked, reaching for me.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, reaching for her.

Plenty of time. My hand wrapped around her wrist, the power flowed, and we were swooping up, dodging tree branches, accelerating. Just a big bird flying by. Nothing to see here, folks.

“Jerk, jerk, jerk,” Hannah wheezed, shaking.

“Sorry,” I said, “but I did warn you.”

“Jerk.”

Before we put the pillar of smoke between us and the helicopter, I saw that it was the news chopper out of Westertonville. Pretty sure it’s never hovered over Coralberry ever. We floated there, out of sight, recovering. The wind was to our backs and the breathing was easier.

My first hug from a girl. Circumstances could have been better, but still.

“You okay?” I asked.

She nodded.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “Look, this is getting too dangerous. I’ll get you down on the ground.”

Hannah looked at me, eyes watery and fierce. “Don’t you dare!”

“But…”

“What are you going to do about Mr. Magellan?” she said, her jaw set.

I recognized that she was just trying to change the subject, but it was a good question. I had no idea whether Mr. Magellan was still in his shop. I mean, wouldn’t he have gotten out when the fire started? Maybe, but what if he couldn’t? I had a lot of questions for the old man, and after the nightmare at his house, I was a little afraid to ask him. But despite that, he’d been my friend for years, and he was a human being. He didn’t deserve to get burnt up, no matter what he may or may not have done to me. Nobody deserved that. Not even Chet deserved that. If I could help...

“I need to get inside the shop,” I said, more firmly than I felt. “I need to see if he’s there.”

After a moment, Hannah nodded. “Okay. How?”

I worked through things as I spoke. “Part of this flying power, it protects us. You know, so that when we’re going fast, we don’t burn up or blow apart. I think that’ll work down there.”

“Really? Why?”

I shrugged. “Don’t know. It just makes sense that it would.”

“Well, that fills me with confidence,” she said with a sigh. “What about the smoke, genius?”

“Um, I’ll hold my breath?”

“Brilliant.” Hannah looked around and pointed at the south side of the square. “Head down there.”

“Why? Look, we don’t have the time to mess…”

“Trust me,” she said.

Way to throw that in my face. I nodded and we went up, over the column of smoke, over the hovering helicopter. Yup, just a big bird, news people. Nothing to see here.  

She pointed at the sporting goods store and said, “Land behind it.”

We hurtled towards the ground, pulling up at the last possible moment. Hannah landed gracefully. I staggered, my damaged leg giving out, my knee going into a puddle of something nasty-smelling beside the store’s dumpster.

“Yuck,” I said.

“Yeah,” Hannah said. “Don’t move. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I did move out of the puddle, found a non-slimy place to sit, leaned up against the back of the store, and waited. Forever, forever, forever. I tried not to think about whether Mr. Magellan was dead or alive. I tried not to think about how unlikely it was that my plan would work.

She finally came back around the corner, carrying a bag. “Sorry it took me so long. All of the cashiers were gawking at the fire.”

Hannah pulled out an orange mask, the kind used by deer hunters on cold mornings, and a bottle of water. She handed me the mask and poured half the bottle on it. Then she took a swig of what was left and handed me the rest. I gulped

Water is so awesome.

“Put it on,” Hannah said.