Page 25 of The Library of Second Chances
Chloe reached into her bag, her pulse racing, her palms sweaty. She slowly slid out the comic book and opened it. She whispered a random line, praying this would work.
It was instantaneous. One moment, Hannah was fumbling with the money in the till, tears slipping down her cheeks. The next moment, a broad-shouldered man in a crisp suit and glasses was holding the teenager off the floor by the scruff of his neck, the young man yelping and kicking in fright.
‘Didn’t have time to change,’ said the superhero. ‘You are under arrest, my friend.’
‘Help!’ the boy yelled, flailing uselessly in the superhero’s arms while Hannah gaped.
‘Call the police,’ Chloe mouthed to her. Coming to her senses, Hannah backed into the backroom, pulling her phone from her pocket.
‘Thank you,’ said Chloe in relief. The knife had clattered to the floor. It chilled her blood to look at it. ‘You came just in time.’
‘Truth and justice for mankind,’ said the man grimly. ‘Do you have any handcuffs?’
‘No,’ said Chloe. ‘But I saw some zip ties.’
Hoping Hannah wouldn’t mind her borrowing them, Chloe found the zip ties behind the counter. The superhero plonked the boy down onto a chair and, quick as a flash, had his hands tied behind his back. The boy seemed to have given up; he slumped miserably in the chair as Hannah’s frantic cries to the police reached them from the backroom.
Chloe marvelled at the tall, chisel-jawed man who had come to them in their time of need. He adjusted his glasses. ‘That boy won’t be giving you any more trouble.’
Chloe nodded as a siren wailed in the distance. ‘I was so scared.’
Looking at the boy now, he didn’t look much older than a child. All of the pluckiness seemed to have left him. If she hadn’t witnessed it herself, Chloe wouldn’t have thought the boy capable of even trying something like that.
She still trembled, though. The sight of the knife, Hannah’s sobs.
‘Hannah,’ said Chloe softly. The shock on her brain was wearing off. Her friend would question how the hero got here so fast. Chloe turned to the superhero. ‘I need to send you back home.’
‘Right. But first, I need to have a talk with the boy.’ The hero took a seat opposite the slumped teenager. ‘What were you thinking, son?’
The boy didn’t respond. The siren was getting louder.
‘Just needed the money,’ the boy mumbled.
‘Was it worth frightening these ladies for?’ asked the man.
The boy looked away. ‘No.’
‘It’s always best to do the right thing, even when you don’t want to. It’s never as bad as it seems.’
‘What would you know?’ the boy grunted.
A police car pulled up outside. ‘It’s time for you to go.’ Chloe was still holding the glowing comic book. She heard movement from the backroom; Hannah was on her way back. ‘Thanks again, sir.’
‘Truth and justice.’ He rose and came to stand before her, behind the boy.
Chloe found the last line in the comic book and read it aloud. Hannah stepped into the room just as Chloe was tucking thecomic back into her bag. Hannah’s eyes widened in shock at the boy sitting at the table, his wrists tied behind him, her eyes travelling from him to Chloe.
The bell above the door jangled and a police officer wandered inside. ‘We got an emergency call. Is everything all right?’
There was a blur of a stammered report, questions, the knife being zipped into a bag and the shamed and slightly confused teenager being led outside by the police. Hannah rubbed her face, letting out a low breath as she collapsed onto the chair the young man had just vacated. ‘That was . . .’
‘Horrible,’ Chloe conceded, thinking about the superhero. It was like the library hadknownwhat would happen, knew they would need him. She shuddered to think what might have happened if she hadn’t had the comic with her. Not that the teenager seemed capable of actually hurting them, but you never knew what would happen.
‘Who was that guy?’ Hannah asked when she’d recovered a bit. ‘He helped us.’
‘Don’t know,’ said Chloe vaguely. Hannah didn’t need to know about the library’s magic. She’d had enough of a shock for one day.
‘Chloe, I’m sorry, but I need to go home.’
