Heroes 'Til Curfew

  “No I didn’t.”

  “Sorry, that was me.”

  I sat up, banging my head on the roof. “Who is that?”

  “Hey, stay down here where the air is, okay?” Dylan pulled me gently back down. “How’s your head?”

  “Not good, I think.”

  “Um, okay, so you hear me. Heather’s right, you do think loud. I mean, I’ve never heard you before, but my Talent seems to be a lot more selective than hers. But now that she’s got me tuned in to you—”

  “Who are you?”

  “It’s still me, Marshall. It’s Dylan. I’m right here.”

  “My name’s Joel.”

  “Joel?”

  “Joss, what are you talking about?” He took my face in his hands. “Who’s Joel?”

  “The voice in my head, I guess.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Yeah, Joel. I’m a friend of Tim’s. We met at that other fire. Look, I was at his house when that guy Rob called and Tim said I could come along. And you don’t have to talk out loud. I can hear what you think. You know how that works. Just like Heather. She’s right here next to me.”

  Heather’s here?

  “She’s right here. So are a bunch of other kids. They’re trying to put out the fire, but we need to know where you are.”

  We’re in the attic. Who’s here?

  “I don’t know everyone. Hold on.”

  “Heather and some other kids are here. They’re trying to get us out.”

  “There’s Tim, Raine and Lakota, and Heather says Rob, Eric—”

  “How do you—”

  “Hang on,” I interrupted, “I’m listening.”

  “To the voice in your head.”

  “Joel. We met him the other night. I guess he’s a telepath.”

  “Didn’t we already cover this?”

  Not for Dylan. Okay, so a bunch of our friends are here. Do you think they can get us out?

  “Tim’s going in. He can draw some of the power out of the fire, but I don’t know if he can handle this much. Raine wants to go in with him, but he says no and they’re arguing. She says it’s too hot inside. He’ll be burned. She can probably bring the temp down, but he’s yelling at her that the structure’s not sound. Rob’s agreeing that it’s not safe for either of them. Okay, wait, I think he’s giving up and letting her follow him in.”

  “Tim and Raine are coming in.”

  “Are they insane?”

  “Apparently.”

  We lay there and waited for several minutes.

  Joel, are you still there? What’s going on?

  “The big kids are fighting.”

  Who?

  “Um, Heather and Kat want to go in and find out what’s going on. Eric and Rob aren’t letting them.”

  Tell them I said stay right where they are or I’m kicking ass when I get out of here.

  After a moment, Joel’s voice came to my head again. “Oh, nice job. Heather heard that, dissolved into tears. Kat wanted to know, so I told her, she started crying. Wait, hang on. Heather says I need to tune in to Tim.” A pause. “Tim’s thinking the stairs are no-go, but he and Raine are on the back side of the house, in the kitchen area. That’s where you guys should be, right? From the outside that looks like where the attic would be.”

  “Um…would you say we’re on the back side of the house? Kind of over the kitchen?”

  “Yeah, I think so, why? What’s going on?”

  Yeah, Dylan thinks that’s where we are.

  “Okay, well I hope so. Tim’s got the fire under control on the back side of the house, but I don’t know how much more thermal energy he can absorb right now. His brain’s going like he’s on crack or something. The stairs are shot, and parts of the floor are gone. They’re trying to figure out how to get up to the second floor.”

  If Tim’s used up his Talent, they need to get the hell out of the house.

  “Hold on. He’s stubborn. He’s boosted Raine up so she could freeze the ceiling. They broke off part of the banister and used it to break through. They’re trying to find enough furniture to stack so he can climb up, but a lot of it’s burned and it keeps falling.”

  Tell that stupid kid to get out.

  “Heather just said Raine’s thinking the fire from the front of the house is creeping back toward them.”

  “Tell him to get that girl out of the house. Right now,” I said aloud without meaning to.

  “Joss, what’s going on?”

  I gave Dylan a quick run-down of the situation.

  “Crazy kids.”

  “Okay, Joss? Tim’s thinking he’s got enough of the fire on the second floor that you guys can come down. But he’s tapped and he’s choking on the smoke. Eric and Rob are going in to help them get out. You need to trust us. Come down out of the attic. It’s going to be hard to see, but just be careful. Find the hole in the floor in the hallway that’s over the kitchen, right behind the first landing of the staircase. Climb down or drop down or something. Come through the kitchen to the broken window. But you have to hurry. Without Tim there to draw the fire down, it’s just going to start coming back.”

  Okay, we’re on our way down.

  I quickly related Joel’s directions to Dylan as I pushed the trap door down. Smoke immediately flooded the attic, blinding and choking us.

  He went down first. “Floor seems solid right under the ladder. How you doing?”

  “Better, I think. Not as dizzy as earlier.” And that was actually true, not just for his benefit.

  He waited right under the ladder, to make sure I didn’t fall off, I guess, rather than looking for the way down. I didn’t have it in me to get too aggravated about it. I could hear the fire crackling around us, but it was so dark that I couldn’t really see it except for flickers of orange on the far side of the house. We dropped to our knees and carefully felt our way across the floor.

  “Here it is,” Dylan said. “Careful. It doesn’t feel too steady right here. Still looks okay down there, as far as I can see.”

  “You go down first.”

  “Shut up. I’ll lower you down, then I’ll be right behind you.”

  “No, really. Dylan, I said I feel a little better, but I’m still not steady on my feet. Just go down so you can catch me, okay?” I know it was stupid to argue. I know it was stupid to play up the damsel thing just to get him out of danger before me. Maybe we had some unspoken contest of who could be stupider, trying to protect the other.

  He squeezed my hand. “All right. We’re gonna be okay, Joss. Just a few more minutes.”

  “Yeah.”

  Dylan swung his legs around and dropped carefully down through the hole. One of the pieces of furniture crumpled and the pile fell with him.

  “Dylan?”

  “I’m okay!” He pushed the pile out of way and appeared under the hole. “We don’t need that anyway. Come on down.”

  I started to swing my legs into the hole when a voice screamed for Dylan to get down. Something exploded. I fell sideways from the blast, but when I dragged myself back up, all I could see below me was a wall of flame.

  “Raine!”

  I heard the scream, even over the sound of my own and somehow recognized Tim’s agonized voice.

  “Tim, make it stop!”

  “I’m trying, goddammit!”

  I tried to get closer, to get a better view of what was happening down there, but it was so hot.

  Please let him be okay. Please let him be okay.

  “Joss, are you okay?”

  I’m not hurt. What happened? Did Dylan make it out? Of course he didn’t make it out. He was standing right there, waiting to catch me.

  “Dylan didn’t come out. Raine got a phone call from Chelsea. Sometimes she sees things, you know? Raine dropped the phone and ran back into the house. Tim chased after her, but he was barely in the window before that explosion. It came from the front of the house. Rob’s saying maybe there was a gas fireplace.”

  Heather. Does Heather
hear them?

  “She says no. Just Tim. Tim’s in there.”

  I can hear Tim. He’s calling for Raine. But I can’t—

  Just as I was thinking I couldn’t see him, Tim moved into my line of sight. The flames cast an orange glow over him, and the heat must have been nearly unbearable. He kept advancing, both hands held out like he would embrace the fire. But it didn’t come to meet him, it receded. And as he continued to move forward, calling out Raine’s name over and over, the flames moved back away from him.

  And then I saw it. Right below me, something huge and crystalline.

  It was ice.

  Chapter 20

  Joss

  I dropped down through the hole, sliding off the ice and onto the floor. My ankle bent under me and I went all the way down on my elbow. Frantically I scrambled back up, clawing at the huge mound of ice, squinting to see the two figures trapped inside.

  “Tim! Get them out!”

  Tim brought his hands together in a resounding clap and the flames receded further. He turned to me, his face reddened under the streaks of black, sweat pouring, the orange glow of the flames flickering over him. His eyes seemed wild, and somehow he seemed to crackle with power. It was like he wasn’t the the same boy I’d been teasing about Pull-Ups just a few days ago.

  He reached out for the ice, his hands—his whole body—starting to glow. It only took a moment for the ice to break, going from solid to a flood of water in a blink. Raine lay facedown on top of Dylan, like she had thrown herself on top of him in that last instant before the explosion. Neither of them moved.

  “Raine?” Tim grabbed her, dragged her away from Dylan. He shook her hard. “Raine, come on!”

  “Tim, easy!”

  I found Dylan’s pulse. It was faint, but there. But he wasn’t conscious. I tried to stand while pulling him up and my ankle collapsed under me.

  Tim was still yelling at Raine.

  “Tim!”

  “I don’t think she’s breathing!”

  “Get her outside. Start CPR. You know how to do that.”

  Joel, Heather, send someone in to help us right now!

  Eric and Rob were coming through the window almost as soon as I finished my thought.

  “I’ve got her!” Tim snarled at them as he carried Raine past. It was almost like the fire could sense Tim leaving. It seemed to swell as he maneuvered through the window.

  “Over here!” I yelled at them. “I can’t move him.”

  “Okay, Joss, move out of the way,” Eric said. “I’ll get his head.”

  “Right,” Rob said, moving to Dylan’s feet. I stumbled back, out of the way, almost went down again. “Joss? You gonna make it?”

  “Yeah.” My voice came out all hoarse now. “I’m okay.”

  “Then get the hell out!” Eric snapped.

  “You guys first.”

  They had him off the floor and were already moving toward the back of the house. Eric grumbled, “For fuck’s sake. You’d better hope this guy doesn’t come to and realize we’re actually listening to you. But it is too goddamned hot in here to argue.”

  “Amen,” Rob choked. His glasses were already coated with grime. It was a wonder he could see at all. He went first, gingerly stepping over the windowsill.

  Yeah, yeah, I haven’t learned a thing.

  “Heather says she’s going to remind you about that later.”

  There was a horrendous crash behind us. I looked back. The second floor hallway was coming down, the fire closing in on us again.

  “Go!” I yelled at them. But it wasn’t necessary. Eric wasn’t wasting any time. Hands reached in and pulled at me. Heather, Kat, and even Joel were there, dragging me through the window and down the porch, away from the house. Into the cold night air that was pierced by the sound of sirens.

  * * *

  Joss

  I sat on my bed with my arms wrapped around my knees, rocking myself. I looked at the book I’d abandoned several times. I even considered going downstairs and playing Barbies with my sister. That’s how bad it was. Mostly I wanted to call Dylan, ask him to come over, or just talk on the phone. But I was trying to give him some space.

  I had been through all this stuff with Dylan. You’d think he’d just remind me of it. But I knew he was the only person who could take my mind off it, could stop the loop that kept playing in my head. Was it wrong to want him around for that? But maybe it was different for him. Maybe he wouldn’t want to see me right away.

  We hadn’t gone to school. Either of us. Lakota had fixed us up, and physically we were okay. Tim and Raine too, thank God. But Dylan and I were a little broken on the inside, and we’d agreed that we needed to take a little rest time. I couldn’t imagine having to sit in a classroom all day when all I could think about was this endless replay of brutality, hatred, and fire.

  I heard someone gasp and I looked up, startled.

  Heather was standing in my doorway with her hand over her mouth. She had tears in her eyes.

  Damn. She knew.

  “How did you get in here?”

  “Jill let us in,” Kat said, moving Heather out of the way so she could get into the room. “Nice to see you, too.”

  “I am so not up for company right now.” It was true, but it was still hard to put on just my usual leave me alone act.

  “You don’t come to school, your friends have to visit. It’s a rule.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since, um, always. If you’d miss school more, you would know these things. Now be gracious and appreciate the visit.”

  “Haven’t I suffered enough? Did you see Raine and Tim today? Did they seem okay?”

  “Yeah,” Heather answered me. “They’re fine. Well, sort of.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Heather pursed her lips.

  “Oh, it doesn’t take a mind reader, Heather, Geez.” Kat plopped down on the foot of my bed. “So last night, right, Raine goes all Ponyboy, runs into the burning building. Tim freaks all the hell out, goes in after her and starts absorbing thermal energy until his skin practically bubbles. He was probably about half a minute from stroking out.”

  “Thank you for that vivid recap,” I drawled. I was pretty sure she meant Johnny, not Ponyboy, but I wasn’t about to get into literary quibbling.

  She held up a hand. “Please, I’m not done. So then he carries her out of the burning building and the touching scene, a lot of which you missed due to your only have eyes for Dylan thing, with half burned Tim giving CPR—now tell me there’s nothin’ there.”

  “I don’t know, I’m guessing…there is?”

  “Of course there is! Trust me, it was movie quality. She comes to, she’s okay, but he’s all, like, toasted, right? You know that had to hurt. And she’s all there blowing on him with her frost breath until Lakota could get done with you two who sounded like you were going to hack up your lungs onto the lawn.”

  “Okay…”

  “You should have seen the way they were looking at each other. That’s the thing. Whew! In-tense. And then today at school? Nothing. I mean, she wouldn’t even look at him. And there he was with his puppy dog face and her talking with her friends and pretending she didn’t notice him.”

  “Kat…” Heather started.

  “I’m not judging. I’m just describing the scene for Joss. Who probably would have missed it even if she’d been there.”

  “Oh, thank you so much.”

  “Well you’re welcome. And thank you, because I’m going to find them a very entertaining couple to watch. I mean, now that you and Dylan are done with the dance of denial, I needed someone to fill that slot. Oh, and we came with newsy news.”

  “Uh huh…?”

  Heather was still staring at me, studying me, looking tragic.

  “It’ll probably be in the paper tomorrow that they found bodies at an abandoned factory near the river. Marco, Jeff, Corey, Nathan, Curtis, and Mr. Dobbs.”

  “Jeff?”

  “
Yeah, Jeff. Eric told me that after they dropped us off, Dylan asked him to go back to your dad’s store and move Jeff’s body to the factory. They threw it into the tank with Marco and Dobbs. I thought you knew that.”

  “No.”

  “Well, now you do. I guess Dylan didn’t want any more questions coming at your family or something. He said Marco did the deed.”

  “Yeah.” I couldn’t help but shudder. Marco losing his temper at that moment— I glanced nervously at Heather and broke off the thought. “Um, wow. That was really cool of Eric. We really owe him a lot. I. I really owe him.”

  Kat smiled, threw her arms out and sighed, “He’s fabulous,” as she fell back on my bed.

  Eric had come through for us. Multiple times. And Kat totally wasn’t rubbing my nose in it or anything like that. Which was cool of her.

  Heather was still standing there, watching. Watching me.

  “But that’s not all!” Kat went on. “What won’t be in the paper is that NIAC picked up Bella, Angie, and…Trina!”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yep. So you don’t have to worry about them anymore either. Seems like all the bad guys got it in the end.”

  “Yeah,” I mused. “Seems like. Did you hear anything about how NIAC knew about them? I mean, the rest of Marco’s crew getting picked up like that, after everything that happened…”

  “We’re thinking Dobbs said something, or sent them something, before he went crazy,” Heather said.

  “Or maybe Vivian—”

  “Nope,” Kat interrupted me, “wasn’t her. I almost forgot that part. Vivian and her guys? Mysteriously murdered while in police custody.”

  “Nuh-uh.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Damn.”

  “So that’s what you missed at school today. How’s your dad?”

  “Um, the same, I guess.”

  Kat nodded, looked at Heather. “Does she need a lecture on how that’s not her fault?”

  “If you’ve got breath to waste.”

  “Always. Honey, that is not your fault. Your daddy has problems, that’s all. And all that time you were doing just what he wanted, he still had problems, didn’t he?”