10
The Grave Soul
Bronson walked in the front door of Cindy’s apartment, noting the open laptop on the couch. Cindy saw him looking, shut the lid, then tossed it on the end table.
“That’s personal,” she said.
They continued into the kitchen where she poured them each a glass of lemonade.
“So this is where you live, huh?” Bronson said.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I don’t hang out here much, though. Too quiet.”
“Where’s your parents?” he asked.
“My dad? No clue. Mom’s at work. If she’s here when I’m awake she’s usually sleeping.”
“Where does she work?”
“Erin’s Pub, over by the fish market.” Cindy said, leading Bronson back to the living room. They sat down beside each other on the couch.
“So, what’s up? Heard your alter-ego was running around last night,” she said, tossing him her wrinkled copy of that morning’s edition of the Herald.
“That’s why I’m here. I figured your buddies at the TV station might have some inside info.”
She leaned forward, her eyes shining with the spark of adventure. “No-go, bucko. My internship doesn’t start back until August, but lucky for you I don’t need them anyway. What’s got you stumped?”
“I think the killer is an old friend of my dad’s. In fact I’m sure of it.”
He took a scrap of paper out of his pocket then handed it to Cindy.
“I managed to lift this from his bag, but I don’t think it’s gonna help much.”
Cindy took the paper. “What am I supposed to do with this? Only thing I can make out is Liberty Pier,” she said.
“Yeah, but it’s pretty suspicious, right? We have to figure it out. Some men kidnapped him this morning. They tried to run me over. They even shot a gun at me. If they’ll do that to a kid imagine what they’ll do to him. Mr. Morgan seems like he’s in all sorts of trouble.”
“You sound like such a goof sometimes,” Cindy said, smiling at Bronson to let him know she was only half serious.
“He’s my dad’s best friend. He deserves a real trial.”
“The kid who personally took out the Guild of Thieves thinks this guy deserves a trial. I don’t buy it.”
Bronson’s hand glowed orange for a moment, then the orange aura collapsed in on itself, shrinking back into his hand.
“I think he might know something about where these powers came from,” he said, “which means he might be able to tell me why they aren’t working right. He’s my best shot, anyway.”
“Who cares?” she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. “You don’t need them anyhow.”
“If you could do amazing things, things which only happen in dreams and comic books, you wouldn’t let them slip away.”
Cindy withdrew her hand then turned away from Bronson.
“I… I wouldn’t care,” she said.
Bronson sat there for a moment with his hands clasped in his lap as Cindy ignored him. He tapped her shoulder.
“Stop being weird,” he said.
“I know,” she said, turning back to look at him. “My life has been kind of crazy lately.”
“So did—?” Bronson said.
“I don’t—” Cindy said over him.
“Was it the kiss?” he asked, his heart pounding. “Because I was totally okay with everything before the kiss. Let’s just forget it.”
Cindy laughed, sliding over then putting her arm around the boy. “No, no. It was really nice. It was… kind of… you know, the excitement of the moment… it felt like we should or something… I dunno.”
Blood rushed into Bronson’s cheeks. “It was bad, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. I’ve never done it before. I’ll get better.”
“Shut up, jerk. It was fine… Better than I thought it would be for sure. It wasn’t the kiss.”
Bronson had enjoyed it too, so this seemed like as good an opportunity as any to see if it could become a more regular occurrence. He leaned over, his lips puffed out like he was sucking on an invisible straw.
“Whoa, buddy,” Cindy said, smooshing her hand over his mouth. “Can you imagine what my mom would do if she showed up? Me? Alone? With a boy? Making out? She’d flip.”
“Well no, that wouldn’t be good,” Bronson said, sliding a few inches away from her. “Well, if it wasn’t the kiss what is it?”
Cindy grabbed his t-shirt, balled it around her fist, then pulled him closer.
“Look, pipsqueak, lay off with the questions. If I wanted to be interrogated I’d call the cops and leave it to the professionals.”
Bronson pulled himself free then went to the front door. He grabbed the door knob then turned back to Cindy.
“Sorry. I thought you could use a friend.”
“I’ve got plenty of friends,” she said. “You don’t even know half of them.”
“Yeah? Where are they?”
Bronson turned the knob and walked out the door, darting down the hallway before he lost his nerve.
While he waited on the elevator the apartment door opened. Cindy stepped out then walked over stood next to him.
They both looked at the numbers above the elevator as they counted down the floors: 23— 22— 21—
“Hey,” Cindy said, bumping Bronson with her shoulder. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I have been acting pretty weird. If you want to know what’s going on come back and we’ll talk about it. I understand if you want to go, though. I can be a real jerk sometimes.”
Bronson kept his eyes on the numbers, fighting the urge to head back to the apartment. He glanced at Cindy out of the corner of his eye. She didn’t look sad exactly, but she didn’t look as tough as she looked most other days.
“Fine,” he said, “but you owe me a do-over at the arcade.”
“Done,” Cindy said. They walked back to the apartment together. Once inside, Cindy took Bronson by the shoulders.
“Before I tell you anything I need you to make me a promise. I need you to keep an open mind, okay?”
Bronson nodded his head.
“Good. Okay. Are you ready for this? Totally ready?”
Bronson smiled at her then cocked his head to the side. “I think?” he said.
Cindy sat Bronson down on the couch then took a couple steps back.
“Here it is,” she said. “I have a superpower too.”
Bronson chuckled, leaning back into the pile of decorative pillows behind him.
“Yeah, right,” he said.
Cindy chucked a magazine at Bronson, who leaned a few inches to the left to dodge it.
“Flash forward,” he said. “Remember, I have an actual power.”
“I’m serious,” she said.
Bronson recalled his fight with Andrus and how Andrus had used his own powers against him.
“Did somebody give you my powers?” he asked.
Cindy shook her head then walked over to her purse and pulled out Chester’s key card.
“The mayor kidnapped me, along with a bunch of other kids. A few of us are planning on fighting back.”
“The mayor? Why would the mayor kidnap people?”
Cindy sat down next to him, taking his hands in hers. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. We bugged his office computer this morning. Hopefully, it’ll lead somewhere.”
“Why haven’t you asked me for help?” Bronson asked.
“We… we weren’t sure you’d be okay with what we’re gonna do.”
“I’m Public Enemy #1 according to the mayor’s office. Why would I care? Are there still kids there? Busting them out would be a good start.”
“We will but not until he pays for what he did to us.”
“The powers?” Bronson asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
“So what can you do? Show me,” he said.
“I can wipe people’s memories. Make them forget anything I want.”
Bronson considered the new information for a moment, running scenarios in his head.
“Well, I’m not too sure how we could use it to fight crime but it’s still pretty neat. How does it work?”
“You want to see?” Cindy asked.
“Sure, but you can’t have my memories. I’m pretty attached to them.”
Cindy put her arms around Bronson’s neck, looking into his eyes like she had that night in Dixon Park.
“Trust me, you won’t even know they’re gone.”
Bronson chuckled again, this time with a little tremor in his voice.
“Stop messing around,” he said.
“I’m not messing around. I can’t let you leave here knowing about this.”
“Why?” Bronson asked as he attempted to push her away. Her grip tightened.
Cindy hugged him then whispered in his ear. “I’m glad I could tell you about this, but you’d try to stop us if you knew everything. And I won’t let you stop us.”
Bronson told his arms to push her away, but they didn’t listen. Burning, in the back of his brain. Acidic, crawling up his scalp.
“Don’t do this,” he said. “We can catch him then put him in jail forever.”
“For a guy like him that’s barely even a punishment. We’re going to make sure he can never kidnap anybody else again,” she said.
“How?” he asked.
“Sorry, kid, but you’d never approve of what comes next. Forget I said anything.”
She kissed him, turning his world into a black and silent nothing.
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