Page 87 of The Not So Super Hero
Your pasts.
Bailey swallowed hard.He bit through his lip when Antoine leaned forward to whisper, “Poor little Rose Mary.She burned because her big brother didn’t have the strength to save her.”
Bailey couldn’t breathe for a much different reason.
“If only you were a mutant, huh?If only you weren’t pathetic and weak.”
Tears streamed down Bailey’s bruised cheeks, his whimpers escalating when Antoine got up to run his fingers through Bailey’s hair.He felt disgusting, his body trying to pull away from the touch but incapable of doing so.Antoine smiled, a relishing kind of delight.
“You’ll never be the hero, and your sister?Her death will always be on your hands.”With that, Antoine left Bailey, the room filled by the sound of his cries.
CHAPTER 26
Antoinehadgiveninformationabout their location during the video; speaking of the fall of Rebirth and sets of papers on the desk in the background containing adoption records.They concluded it was one of the safe houses used by the children who were taken from Rebirth after its collapse.One of the first things that happened was their relocation across the country from California to New York.After they all found homes or returned to their families, the government shut the place down.It was almost like a sick joke, fitting considering it was Rebirth.
The home now sat as an abandoned building outside of Ringgold, remote and quiet.There weren’t many neighbors nearby, especially not any nosey ones, so it was doubtful anyone noticed any sort of strange activity.Knowing Rebirth, the place was a decoy.It wouldn’t have taken them long to set up a base.
Of course, that meant more trouble.They were nearly there and Zane was positive they were being followed by a red car that has been in sight since they left the base.They would either be ambushed or their vehicle would never make it due to an accident.Obviously, that meant they had to do something before either of those things would happen.
“Let’s just walk in,” Zane suggested.
“Excuse you?”Natalia huffed.
“We pull over and let them take us in.”
Nate scoffed.“You aren’t that cocky.What next?When we get in there, you go berserk on their asses and somehow we make it to Bailey before Antoine does something crazy?”
“Chris called for backup,” he countered.“We’ll get there first.The backup arrives and causes chaos outside, but we’re already in there, so problem solved.”
“Not solved,” Chris argued.“If Antoine wanted us here, then it’s for a reason.He’s confident that he’ll get his hands on you.”
“Or he’s bluffing, taking a chance because he doesn’t give a damn about losing pawns in his game.”
There was always the chance that Antoine wanted to get under Zane’s skin or even see for himself what Zane was capable of.All this could have been a ploy, or they were totally fucked.Either way, it was a critical situation that none of them had the right answer to.
“I vote we go in guns blazing.Minutes before we arrive, let’s destroy that stupid car following us.”Nate gestured to said car that kept a safe distance.“Scatter after and attack this place.”
“And if Bailey isn’t actually there?”Natalia asked, bringing up exactly what no one wanted to think about.“We know this is a trap, but the question is, what kind of trap?We’re going to a damn orphanage, but in that video, Bailey looked like he was in a hospital.Did they decide to re-furnish, do a little home decorating?”
“Or they made some extra additions,” Nate added.
If they wanted to stay under the radar, they chose a good place to do it.They could have easily done something similar, made their own underground facility to hide in plain sight.
“Listen, we can talkWhat If’sall day, but the fact remains that the only thing we definitely know is that Antoine wants to get his hands on you.”Chris pointed at Zane, who looked away while gnawing at his bottom lip.“That is the only definite in this situation.He wants you.He wants to hurt you.I have no doubt that where we’re going, we will find Bailey because Antoine is going to want you to see him, want you to see what he did, and what he may do.”
Zane shivered, hands clutching his trembling biceps, pressing hard enough to bruise.His eyes flickered black.All he wanted was to get his hands around Antoine’s neck and squeeze until the light left his eyes.
“Our job is to make sure that you get in there and find Bailey before anything else happens to him,” Chris explained.He looked at the twins for confirmation.Both nodded.“Now, you may not like it, but when you find Bailey, don’t bother looking for us.”
“What?”Zane growled, facing Chris with an expression that screamed he would do no such thing.
“The longer you’re there, the more of a chance Antoine has of getting to you and Bailey.You get him and you get out.If we can, we’ll follow and if not, we’ll hold out until backup arrives.Do you understand?”
“No way in hell.”
“Don’t argue about this,” Natalia hissed, sending Zane a sharp glare.“The three of us have been going up against assholes like this for years.We have way more of a chance of surviving this than you.Don’t think because you’re Mr.Hot Shot Level that it knocks off our experience.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” said Zane.
