Chapter 28

Michael

When I opened my eyes, I noticed a beautiful angel smiling down at me. I died and went to heaven! I thought. But, then the angel’s smiled transformed into a scowl and she slapped me across the cheek.

“Wake up, Michael!” Angela said. “We’ve got to talk.” The tone in her voice was very stern, like a parent who was about to tell her child what punishment lay in store for him for burning the curtains down.

I groggily sat up in her recliner and winced. My chest throbbed with pain. My powers may have sped up the healing process, but not at the rate that I’d hoped. I noticed that my powers were off—I guess you can’t keep your powers on while you’re sleeping. I surged my powers, letting the tingling sensation wash over me. I sighed in relief. It was like a natural painkiller… well, except that it wasn’t natural at all. It was a superpower granted from the stone in my pocket. That’s not natural. Or is it?

Angela stared at my glowing eyes, her expression cold. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, and just glared at me.

“What?” I said. “You didn’t tell me you had superpowers either.”

“You never asked,” she said. “I did. And you lied to me! Multiple times!”

“If I had known you had superpowers too, I would’ve told you!”

“Why would that make a difference?”

“Because…” I stammered. “I didn’t know if you would share my secret with the world, like what Doug Cooper did to Ray!”

“You really think I would do something like that? Don’t you trust me?”

“Well I don’t know. I just found out—” I looked out the window. Night had fallen. We’d slept through half the day. “—several hours ago, that you can summon force-field wings out of thin air! Yeah, I think keeping a secret like that from me lowers your trustworthy status!”

She looked hurt. “I wouldn’t share your secret, Michael! I wouldn’t sell it to the news stations like Doug! I know more than you will ever know about how to keep a secret!”

Angela got up from the couch, done with the conversation, and left the living room. I tried to do the same thing, but the pain in my chest kept me from standing up. I just sat there, fuming.

How could she blame me for not telling her the truth when she kept the same exact secret the whole time? She was being hypocritical. This could have all been avoided if she’d just told me that she went and found the third stone. Why did that have to be kept a secret? She knew I had a stone too and had already deduced that it gave me powers. Probably because her stone gave her powers too.

After a few minutes, I slowly stood up and looked for her in her house, stepping softly to keep the pain down. She was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window. It was still raining. Water drops drizzled down the window. Angela folded her arms and kept a stern expression.

As I gazed at her, my mood lightened. Memories of the first time I met her at school flooded into my mind. When she made fun of my eye. When we went stargazing together. When she challenged Ray to a fist fight. I smiled at the thought. A couple weeks had passed since then, but it felt like months, with everything that’d happened.

“Hey, Angela,” I said slowly. She didn’t look at me. “Something I really want to say is… thank you. For saving my life today.”

She turned to me.

“I know you were mad at me for lying,” I said. “But, thanks for stepping in anyways. I would’ve been toast without you.”

I saw a hint of a smile on her. “You’re welcome,” she said.

“That was pretty amazing, what you did. With the bird wings and all. You showed Ray a thing or two.”

“Swan wings,” she corrected. “Cygnus, the swan. That’s my constellation. And yours is Orion, right? That was you who saved that missing girl last weekend?”

I nodded sheepishly.

“That’s pretty cool,” she said.

I tried to hide a blush. “And Ray told me his is Draco. That explains the fireball.”

Angela nodded. We both looked at each other for a moment. She suddenly got a huge grin and sat down at kitchen table. “Oh, Michael, I’ve been waiting years to finally share this with someone! I still can’t believe this is happening! You! And Ray! Both of you have powers like me! It’s all so bizarre and… magical at the same time!”

“Yeah, it’s—” I stopped myself. “Years? You said you’ve been waiting for years?”

“Pretty much my whole life,” she said. “Nobody knows about my powers except for me and my dad. And now you.”

“Your dad knows? I—” Something wasn’t adding up. “Angela, didn’t you just find the third stone a little while ago?”

She tilted her head. “Third stone?”

“You know, the third meteorite that landed the night we went stargazing? One landed near Ray, one near us, and a third one not far from where I found mine.”

“Oh yeah. I was definitely going to check that out, but I wanted to wait for my dad to get back. So, I was right then, wasn’t I? The glowing meteorite you found—it gave you your powers?”

“Yeah. But, when…? Hold on.” I sat down at the table with her, determined to solve this puzzle. “How did you get your powers?”

“I was born with them. Can’t remember ever not having them.”

“So, you don’t have a stone of your own?” I pulled out mine. She reached for it like a cat to yarn, gazing at its blue, glossy surface.

“Nope,” she said. “It is strange, though. Random meteorites drop from the sky and give you and Ray the same powers that I was born with? I thought I would always be the only one in the whole world who had these powers. Always alone. No one like me. That’s why I was so shocked to see the news about Ray. And when I saw you stand up to him… with powers of your own… I could hardly believe it!”

I reflected on how alone I’d felt when I’d first discovered my powers. That loneliness only lasted a week until I learned about Ray. Angela had felt that her whole life. She was right when she said she knew more than me about how to keep a secret.

Still. If we both got our powers in different ways, then why were they so similar?

“Angela,” I said. “Why did you pass out after you saved me?”

“My powers are limited,” she said. “I can only use them for a short time before fainting. But when I was a kid, I remember using my powers all the time without hurting. I even remember flying. But, I don’t know if those are actual memories or just dreams.”

I thought for a moment. “Is that why whenever you make a wish, it’s always that you can fly?”

She smiled and nodded. “I’ve tried it a few times. It’s very dangerous. My dad gets ticked when I do it. I can jump really high, but I pass out after about twenty feet up. I attempted to fly a couple times over a lake and my dad had to swim out to get me after I fell into the water. It was pretty stupid of me. But I just can’t get the idea out of my head. Especially now, that I’ve seen Ray fly.” She looked up at me, an eager twinkle in her eye. “Can you fly?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think I could, but I guess I haven’t really tried.”

“And your powers aren’t limited like mine, right? Otherwise you and Ray would’ve passed out while fighting.”

“Sort of,” I said. “And that’s the weird thing, Angela. It all depends on my stone. If I have it with me, I’m fine. But, when I use my powers while my stone is more than a mile or so away, my body gives up on me, and I pass out.”

“Just like me when I use my powers….” She seemed to follow my thinking, her eyebrows knitted. “Michael, do you think that I have a stone—and it’s just too far away for me to use its powers?”

“Yeah. That would make perfect sense, but there’s a problem with that.” We were both gazing at my blue stone on the kitchen table. “This meteor shower happened just last month. You say that you’ve had your powers your whole life. If you have a stone… where did you get it? Was there another meteor shower like this before? And why don’t you remember?”

She shrugged. “Newell’s comet only orbits the sun every two thousand years. I don’t have any memories of a—.”

The front door burst open, causing us both to jump to our feet. A guy had barged in, wearing a wet, tan jacket, and he was aiming a gun right at us.

I raised my hands out of reflex, but then I remembered who I was and ignited my powers, ready to block bullets.

“Dad!” Angela said. “What’re you doing?”

Mr. Johnson lowered his weapon in a flash. I lowered my hands, feeling dumb for not recognizing him. He pointed at the splintered doorframe with his pistol. “Someone broke into our house!” he said, his voice booming.

“Uh. No sir… that was me,” I said. He glared at me, unfazed by my glowing eyes. I gulped. “Your daughter was hurt, and I was trying to bring her home, and the door was locked, and well… I—I sorta….”

He raised a hand to stop me. “Thanks for bringing her home, son.” He closed the door—mostly closed it; it was busted after all—and strode into the kitchen, metal briefcase in hand. His stomps shook the house slightly. I still think he looked too buff to be a scientist. He slipped the gun into his jacket pocket.

“Dad,” Angela said. “Some crazy things have been going on lately. We need to talk.”

“Yes,” he said. “But not now. We’re leaving. Moving again. They could be here any minute.”

“Who?”

“No time. Let’s go.” He placed his hand behind her back to nudge her toward the hallway. “Go grab our emergency bag.”

“No. I—”

“Yes! We’re leaving now, no questions asked!”

“Wait!” Angela pushed away from him, picked up my blue stone off the table, and raised it up to her father’s face. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you know about this stone!”

He looked at the stone. And then at me. He shook his head, grabbed Angela by the wrist, and pulled her toward the door. “WE HAVE TO LEAVE RIGHT—” he was cut off by a burst of wind.

Angela had ignited her powers, sped in front of Mr. Johnson, and now stood in front of the door, her arms spread out. Her eyes glowed for only a second longer, and then faded to brown. She didn’t pass out but looked winded. He seemed to get the message. He would have to force her out. And that wouldn’t be easy; she was no ordinary teenage girl.

He looked at her for a moment. And then turned back at me. I still stood in the kitchen, my eyes still glowing, not because I thought he was a threat, but because my ribs were still killing me, and the powers eased the pain. He turned back at Angela, and they glared at each other for a while.

“You know…” Angela said accusingly between labored breaths, sweat beading down her forehead. “You know where my stone is, don’t you?”

Mr. Johnson’s mouth gaped open. The thought hadn’t occurred to me until now. Why had he overacted when he saw my stone the first time? He knew exactly what it was. He knew what it would do to me. He must’ve seen a stone just like it before.

After a tense moment of silence, he huffed, placed his briefcase on a small desk in the hallway, and unlatched it open. Inside was something like a jewelry box, except it was larger and made out of a more lustrous metal than any jewelry box I’d ever seen. “It’s made out of lead,” her father said. “Its density is the only thing strong enough to block the energy transfer.”

He somberly handed it to Angela. She held the box in her hands for a moment, looking excited and scared at the same time. She opened it and gasped. With wide eyes, she pulled out a white, opaque stone. It was rectangular in shape, though its angles were slightly flawed. Mine had more of an oval shape, a perfect skipping rock.

With the meteorite in her hand, Angela’s eyes began to glow. There was a tangible energy that coursed through the room. Her breathing calmed, and she stopped sweating. She laughed to herself as a tear seeped out of one eye.

I couldn’t help but smile for her. Her whole life, she had been living with powers that felt more like a curse than a blessing to her. And now, she could embrace her powers without the fear of excruciating pain or unconsciousness. I understood the invincible, infinite power she was feeling at this moment. It was like nothing else in the world.

The moment was short lived, however, as she returned her attention to her father. He’d been undaunted by my glowing eyes, but when she looked at him with her piercing expression and simmering eyes, he wilted before her. “You told me I was born with my powers.”

He lowered his head. “It was to protect you,” he said. “Though, now, with everything that’s going on, I thought it would be a fitting time to finally return it to you. That’s why I went back to New York—to get your stone.”

“You left it at our old house?” Angela said.

“No. No—it was where it’s been for the past decade.”

“Where?” she said. “Why? Who are you trying to protect me from?”

Mr. Johnson looked like he was in too much of a rush to answer all her questions. He finally sighed and sat down on the bottom steps of the staircase. I hobbled into the hallway to get a better view, holding an arm around my ribs.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s start from the beginning. But, this’ll be the condensed version. It was when you were a toddler, Angela; just under two years old, too young to remember. Your mom and I took a family trip to Italy. We were at one of the campgrounds near Mount Etna, and we were being a little careless and let you wander around one of the picnic areas. You came across an over-crusted lava formation that had long since cooled over. You played around with it and found a glowing meteorite inside. The one you now hold in your hands.”

Angela glanced at her white stone, and then back at her dad, listening intently, her expression emotionless.

“By the time we’d noticed it, you’d already touched it. You suddenly fell unconscious, which completely freaked us out—you being so young and all. And then you woke up, just fine. We thought it strange, but we were completely floored when we saw your eyes glowing later that day. And next thing we knew, you were running faster than cars and lifting objects ten times your size. As a toddler!

“We didn’t know what to do. We hid the stone from you for years, but you could still use its powers as long as you were within range. We tried our very best to keep your powers a secret from the world, but it was very difficult when you were so young. Finally, when you were about five, we came in contact with the Meteoric Anomaly Research Society, or MARS. Well, they actually found us. They’re a secret society who know about the stone and the powers it could give you.”

“How could they know that?” I said. “It’s not like there have been other super humans with glowing meteorites like us before.”

“Actually, there have.” He paused for a moment, readjusting his glasses. “Sampson. Hercules. Achilles. Beowulf. Athena. Cygnus. Characters of fiction?” He let that hang in the air for a moment. “MARS has been around for ages, founded by Ptolemy himself, and they’ve kept hidden historical evidence that some of these heroes of legend had within their possession a peculiar stone said to have dropped from the heavens. The bible even talks about magical stones in the Book of Revelation.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “But, how could they have stones too? That was thousands of years ago.”

“Newell’s Comet orbits the sun every 2000 years. And, according to MARS’ theory, every time it passes by the earth, it drops dozens of glowing meteorites that contain the powers of the gods—or God himself, we’re not sure. Are you familiar with any extraordinary celestial events that were said to have happened around, oh I don’t know, 0 BC? Nearly 2000 years ago?”

I gasped, glancing at my blue stone on the desk next to Mr. Johnson’s briefcase. Powers of God? I shook my head. That was ridiculous. “So, if there were dozens of stones back then,” I said, “then where did they go?”

“Heard of the Dark Ages?” Mr. Johnson looked at me from behind his glasses. “The stones were either lost or destroyed somehow, we don’t know why or when. MARS scholars believe Angela’s stone is one of those lost meteorites. Used to belong to the real Cygnus.”

He looked up at his daughter, wearing a proud look. But he frowned as soon as he saw her face. “Why have you never told me this?” she said through gritted teeth.

“Believe me,” he said solemnly, “I’ve wanted to.”

Angela sniffled, tears coming to her eyes.

“MARS is... powerful, international, and funded by some very rich people,” he explained. “And they’re protective of their secrets, very protective. They took your stone and kept it in that lead box in their headquarters in New York City. They examined you as a child but tried to make it look like a routine doctor’s checkup. They told me to never tell you about them, and to keep your powers a secret from the world. If they ever heard about you using your powers in the news, they threatened to put me in prison and keep you at their headquarters.

“Your mother and I regretted ever working with MARS. We hated all the secrets and threats. She wanted to return your Star Stone to you, but I was determined to continue following their rules. I couldn’t risk them taking you away from us. MARS is part of the reason your mother and I got a divorce, Angela. It was really hard on our marriage.”

Angela wiped a tear from her eye, looking down at her white stone.

Mr. Johnson coughed and stood up, his anxiety returning. “When you showed me the meteorite that your friend, Michael here, had touched, I knew that it was happening again. The Condescension. MARS wasn’t certain whether Newell’s comet was the right one or not, but I felt certain. And seeing Michael’s blue stone confirmed that. I knew everyone in MARS would go crazy when they found out about dozens of people getting superpowers. Because they would be focusing less on you and me, it was the perfect time to sneak into their headquarters and steal your stone from them. I’ve been planning on it for a while now. I wanted you to have your powers again. Especially now that the Condescension has happened. The world is going to change dramatically with real life super humans flying around. That’s why we will need Starlings like you two, who have their heads screwed on right, and can make sure the world doesn’t end or anything.”

I leaned against the wall in the hallway. This was a lot to take in. I gazed at my blue stone. Gods? Condescensions? A secret society who knew about it all and was bent on keeping it a secret? I looked at Mr. Johnson. “I thought you were going to tell us the condensed version,” I said.

“That was the condensed version. And the point of it all is why we should leave now. I just stole one of MARS’ most prized possessions.” He pointed at the white stone in Angela’s hands. She was still staring at it, no more tears in her eyes. “I’m sure they are on my tail right now,” he said. “Willing and prepared to kill me to get it back.”

Mr. Johnson placed his hand on Angela’s shoulder. She looked up at him with dry, bloodshot eyes. “That’s why we need to leave,” he said. “Now.”

She didn’t respond. Just kept glaring at him, obviously hurt by his lies.

“Starlings…” I said. Mr. Johnson turned away from his daughter and glanced at me. “That’s the same thing Ray Simmons called me today before we fought.”

“That football player the news has been going on about?” he said, pacing and rubbing his chin. “So, he actually is a Starling? I had a feeling. And I have no idea how he would know that word. It’s strictly used within MARS members, referring to super humans, like you.” He stopped pacing. “You said you fought him?

Before I could answer, there was a loud thumping on the front door.

All three of us jumped, reacting fiercely. Mr. Johnson even pulled out his gun.

“This is the police!” a male voice yelled from the other side of the door. “Angela Johnson is under arrest! We have the place surrounded!”