When Zack returned to his house, he saw Perry already waiting for him by the door. Fortunately, he didn’t see any sign of Blake with him, so that was one less thing to worry about. What Zack was about to tell Perry was for his eyes only.

Zack nodded at his friend and unlocked the door. Perry immediately whistled upon entering his sparse house.

“So this is what off-campus housing looks like,” Perry said. “Must be awfully nice being about to stretch your arms without hitting a wall.”

Zack could also offer a shrug. “Yeah, well, the dorms were all filled up when I registered so this was all I could find in a pinch.”

“And your dad was fine footing the bill?” his friend asked with casual curiosity.

Zack struggled not to react to the rather obvious question. He knew Perry was quite perceptive and he didn’t want to give anything away. Truthfully, Zane would have never sprung for anything extra at college. He practically balked out at the equipment cost for all of Zack’s football, and made Zack work it off in the garage.

“Well, he wasn’t happy about it,” Zack lied. “But he didn’t want me to miss an entire semester.”

Perry seemed to buy it. His attention was elsewhere, presently admiring the space of Zack’s household. Zack wondered if Perry’s microscopic vision could detect his quickening heart rate.

Best not to find out.

“Seems reasonable,” Perry said, apparently buying the excuse.

“Maybe I’ll try out dorm life next semester,” Zack said with a shrug. “After all, I want to sample the full college experience.”

This was another lie. If all went according to plan, he’d be long gone after he found his father’s killer. He’d let his friends fill in the blanks to his subsequent disappearance with whatever theories they came up. He would feel guilty about it, but he could live with it.

“You’re honestly not missing much,” Perry said, as he studied Zack’s rather spartan living conditions.

“What did Blake say about you hanging out with me?” Zack said. Perry suddenly paled a bit and looked away.

“You did tell her right?” Zack inquired.

“Not in so many words,” Perry squirmed a bit.

“What did you tell her?” Zack asked.

“That I needed to attend to a matter during office hours,” Perry said. “Which is technically true. It’s someone’s office hours somewhere.”

Zack chuckled but his expression grew serious a minute later.

“Why didn’t you just tell her?” he finally asked.

“Because she’s not your biggest fan right now. And I didn’t want a fight,” Perry said. “She can be quite….passionate in her arguments.”

Zack nodded. “I’m just surprised you and her are, you know, together. She’s just not…not how I pictured you ending up with.”

Perry looked confused. “Why would you say that? She’s an attractive woman…”

Zack already didn’t like where this conversation was going. “I won’t argue with you there…”

“Who I engage with in very passionate lovemaking on a regular basis,” Perry replied.

“Oh that’s enough!” Zack put his hand to his temple. “I forgot how weird you make conversations on a regular basis and for the life of me, I don’t know why I thought that would change in two years.”

“You did inquire,” Perry said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“That was my first mistake,” Zack said, looking around his house.

He checked the indoor thermometer, which read about sixty-five degrees. It didn’t feel too bad inside, but Zack kept scanning the room suspiciously. He wandered from one room to the next, checking the hairs on his arm for any sudden change in temperature.

“Are you…cold?” he asked Perry.

Perry seemed to take mental and physical inventory of this question, pondering much longer than Zack would have liked. He then shook his head in the negative.

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Zack still wasn’t satisfied.

He really, really didn’t need Icer to see what he was about to show Perry. It would be bad on so many levels.

“You’re sure?” Zack asked again.

“I’m sure,” Perry said, this time noticing Zack’s deposition.

“You could try turning up the heat if you’re cold,” he noted.

“I’m not cold,” Zack said. “I just…need to check something again.”

Zack did one more once-over of all the rooms, checking for any signs of Icer drinking beer in the next room, smugly listening to the whole conversation. He found no trace of the supervillain. He should have been comforted by that fact, but the fact that the villain wasn’t presently here just meant he was elsewhere on campus, doing who-knows-what.

When Zack returned, he led Perry down an empty hallway.

“Is everything okay?” Perry asked.

“It will be,” Zack replied before he opened a walk-in closet and flipped a nearby switch. With a whirl, the wall at the end of the hall folded upward, revealing a set of stairs extending downward in the darkness.

“I did notice the molecular structure of this wall was different then all the others,” Perry said..

“Well, now you know why,” Zack said as he walked down the stairs.

Zack walked downstairs towards the basement. He needed Perry’s help on something. He would take the risk of letting Perry in on part of his problem, even if he needed to hold some things back.

Perry suddenly stopped midway down the steps.

“Another reason for your disappearance suddenly occurs to me,” he said.

“What’s that?” Zack said.

“You have secretly been a serial killer this whole time,” Perry said. Zack pushed a button, with the wall closing back to its original position behind Perry.

“I’m not a serial killer,” Zack said.

“Of course not,” Perry said. “You probably define yourself in a different term, like artist or collector.”

Zack rolled his eyes. The only thing more annoying than Perry’s questions, usually, were his conclusions.

“See I’ll prove it to you,” Zack said as he turned on the basement lights. The bright light gleamed off of the limestone floor. A musty odor permeated the nostrils.

In the center of the room was a long wooden crate.

“I have revise my theory,” Perry said.

“That’s good,” Zack sighed.

“You are not a serial killer. You are clearly a vampire’s familiar,” Perry said. “Which isn’t much better.”

Zack was starting to regret this already.

“I’m not a vampire. There are no such things,” Zack said. “At least….I don’t think there are.”

That was the problem with being a superhero. You quickly lose track of what’s real and what’s not. At least, Zack couldn’t remember his Dad mentioning a vampire.

Zack opened the crate. He could feel Perry tense behind him until he saw the contents.

The Knightbrand armor lay within. Zack was keeping it here until he could make repairs.

“It’s just my dad’s armor, see?” Zack said. Perry gazed at him, and then looked up at Zack.

“Where is your father?” he asked.

Zack tried not to squirm. “He’s…indisposed.”

Perry didn’t seem convinced. Fortunately, his gaze lay on the armor, and not Zack hoping his friend bought this excuse.

The sooner he buys it, the better.

No.

The sooner you tell him the truth, the better.

Zack knew that wasn’t an option. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

“Look, you know he has multiple versions of his armor,” Zack said. “This is just one of them.”

Already, Zack could see the wheels turning within Perry’s sharp mind.

“The Knightbrand that’s been spotted around campus,” Perry said. “That’s been you the entire time.”

Zack hadn’t counted on Perry putting that together as quickly. He moved quickly towards his friend.

“Look, you can’t tell anyone. You can’t even say it aloud, understand?” Zack said. He really didn’t want Icer to overhear that.

“So it’s true?” Perry kept his gaze leveled at him.

“It’s complicated,” Zack answered. He leaned down and opened up the crate more.

“It got damaged in my last fight with Icer,” Zack said. “It needs repairs.”

Perry looked at the armor’s shoulder. After fidgeting with it for a little while, he stood up and moved away.

“I’ll need my tools,” Perry said.

Zack nodded.

“And eventually I’ll need answers,” Perry said.

Zack knew Perry was inquisitive. This was turning into a big risk already.

“I’ll tell you what I can,” Zack said.

Perry sighed. “Later. Let’s get to work. I’ll bring what I can tonight.”

Zack smiled. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”

Perry looked up at him. “Just don’t lie to me. I hate it when people lie to me.”

Zack regarded his friend and nodded, while trying his best to ignore the inevitability hanging over that statement.