Fumbling so much as she tried to yank a phone from her pocket that she dropped it, Cassidy cursed frantically. “Damn it, damn it!” She went to grab the thing, but Lincoln Chambers was quicker, stooping to grab it and hold it out to her.
“Cassidy,” he started, “Take a breath, who are you calling?” Even as he said that, the man gave a quick glance to his wife, who was watching the street beyond the alley they had teleported into. Despite Joselyn’s words moments ago about telling them what was going on, the Evans’ daughter had instead focused on a mix of cursing and trying to get that phone.
“Izzy,” the girl immediately snapped, already hitting a button on the phone after snatching it out of Lincoln’s hand. “I have to call Izzy and tell her to get out.” She held the phone tightly to her ear, looking panicked and close to throwing up she muttered, “Come on, come on, come on.” It was only a couple of rings, but to her it felt like forever.
Finally, the girl in question answered. “Cassie? Hold on, Jefferson just texted, he needs to see me.” Even as she said that, there was the sound of the bedroom door opening as she started out into the hallway
“Izzy!” Cassidy blurted. “What--no, no, don’t talk to him. Get out of the house, now. My parents know I know. They might not know that you know, but they won't take that chance. Get out, right now! Don't talk to him, don't get in the car, don't do anything. Just go!”
“Oh, hey.” Izzy was clearly talking to someone else, someone right there in front of her. “Yeah, I got the text. I'm heading down right--” Her words were interrupted by the sound of rushing water and a startled scream, followed by running footsteps and a slamming door. “I’m going!” she informed Cassidy through the phone. “They just had some butler goon guy try to make sure I went to the--ugh. The balcony’s locked. I can’t--hang on.” There was a pause as she took a breath, followed by a cry and another sound of rushing water. This one was accompanied by a loud crashing sound as glass and wood exploded.
“Not locked anymore,” Izzy informed Cassidy with a bright chirp. “I’m out, I’m--ahhh!”
“Izzy!” Cassidy’s eyes had widened through that, gripping the phone even more tightly as she gave the Chambers couple a quick, panicked glance. “Are you okay? Izzy?”
“Tranquilizers,” came the response. Izzy’s words sounded as though they were coming as she ran. “They were shooting tranquilizers at me. It hit the door frame. I’m out. I’m over the wall, I jump-floated to get past it, but they’re right behind me. I think--I think I hear ATVs.”
“Keep running,” Cassidy insisted. “There’s a really dense section of trees if you--you went over the wall straight across from our rooms, veer a little bit left. If you’re running straight away from the house, that’s twelve-o’clock. Run at ten-o’clock. There's really thick trees there and you can't even get a motorcycle through. Just keep running til you get to the drainage ditch on the far side, then cut to the left through a big culvert there. It’s dirty but you gotta go right in. I--I’ll be there as soon as I can. I'll try to meet you at the other side of the ditch, but if you gotta run, you gotta--”
“Cassidy.” That was Joselyn Chambers, hand reaching out to catch her arm. “Come on, I’ll get you there. Lincoln, grab the car and meet us at that statue in the park we were talking about.”
“What?” Cassidy hadn't been paying attention to the two adults. Distractedly, she turned to ask how Mrs. Chambers thought she was going to get her there faster than she herself could go. But even as her mouth opened to speak those words, it stayed open, a noise of surprise escaping. All she could do was stand there, staring that way.
“Cassie?!” The blurted, worried question came from Izzy, still running through the woods beyond the mansion. “Are you okay? What happened?!
“I umm, I umm, we’ll be right there. Just keep running. Focus on running. We’ll meet you at the culvert.” Cassidy informed her flatly. “I’m coming with help. I’ve got help. But run!”
She disconnected then, staring at the woman in front of her. A woman whose appearance, specifically clothes, had changed. Now, Joselyn Chambers wore a black bodysuit that covered her entire body, save for her head. Various star patterns, like looking into the night sky far from the city, stretched across the bodysuit, and a silver, metallic mask covered the lower half of her face.
For a brief handful of seconds, all Cassidy could do was stare, mouth opening and shutting. Finally, she managed a weak, “Radiant. You’re Radiant.” One of the most powerful Star-Touched in the country, the American member of Armistice. And she was--she was right--she was right here. She was right in front of her, and Cassidy had been having dinner with her. She had-- oh. Oh.
“It seems we have a lot to talk about,” Josely--Radiant informed her gently. “But right now you have a friend in trouble. So come on, and tell me where to go.” Even as she said that, the woman pulled Cassidy by the arm and turned her around. She hooked her arms around the girl from behind, pulling her up close against herself. Then her body grew warmer, shifting into her glowing energy form. The arms holding onto the young teenager looked like a pair of fluorescent lights.
The next thing Cassidy knew, they were launched into the air. This was far more than her paint was capable of. In an instant, they were a good hundred feet in the sky. That rapidly became two hundred, then three. Three hundred feet, reached faster than Paintball could have pulled herself to the roof of a one-story building.
Shocked as she was by this turn of events, the worry about Izzy and what would happen if her parents’ goons caught up to her was enough to make Cassidy focus. “North-east!” she called out. “That way, that way!” She was trying to point without wiggling too much.
Radiant didn’t hesitate for a second. Instantly, she was flying that way. Again, this was so much faster than paint-running. They went hurtling through the air. It was like comparing a prop plane to a fighter jet. The ground below Cassidy went flying past so quickly it was an indistinguishable blur. It only lasted for a few seconds, yet when they came to a halt in the air, she realized they had flown miles through the city.
“Your house is there,” Radiant informed her with a nod toward a recognizable building in the distance. “So that drainage ditch you were talking about--”
“That way!” Cassidy pointed. “The trees, they’re right there, and the ditch is--” That was all she had to say, apparently, because they were suddenly a blur of motion once more. The ground went flashing by beneath them so quickly, Cassidy had no idea how the woman kept track of where she was. It was all just a rush of colors and shapes to her.
The next thing she knew, they were landing on the far side of the culvert. Even as Radiant released her, Cassidy heard the sound of running footsteps splashing through the couple inches of water in the ditch. She turned, just in time to see Izzy come rushing out into sight. Immediately, she lunged that way, catching hold of the younger girl in a tight hug.
“Ri-right, right behind me,” Izzy panted as she clung tightly to Cassidy. “They're right behind me. I--I can’t… I…” She trailed off, staring past the other girl as her gaze had finally taken in the sight of who had brought Cassidy there, the glowing woman. “Uhhh….”
Radiant, in turn, held a hand out toward the culvert. A second later, another glowing figure appeared directly in front of her, identical to the woman herself. That figure went flying off into the tunnel, before abruptly exploding in a blinding flash of light.
“Didn’t put much power behind that one,” Radiant informed the two younger girls. “Just enough to make them think twice. Come on, let’s go.” She held a hand out to both of them. “It’s alright, trust me. Let’s get out of here. We can talk more when you’re both safe.”
“You can’t carry both of us,” Cassidy managed to stammer.
“She makes things weightless, right?” Radiant pointed out, nodding toward Izzy. “I think I’ve picked up enough to know who she is, anyway.”
The girls exchanged brief glances, before the sound of shouting voices through the culvert drew their attention to the reality that those men wouldn’t be slowed down for long. And while Radiant could clearly handle them, better to get out and escape before they even knew for sure she was there. Izzy promptly waved her hands to summon a rush of water, which soaked herself and Cassidy. A second later, the two of them began to float a bit off the ground.
As soon as they were suitably weightless, Radiant launched herself that way. She caught both girls by the arm, and then they were gone. Once more, the only thing Cassidy could see was a blur of color and motion, shapes of trees, houses, and other buildings entirely indistinguishable from one another.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
That continued for ten more seconds, before they abruptly came to a stop hovering above a small park on the far side of the city. It was barely large enough for a small playground that the younger neighborhood children played on, and a basketball court for the older ones. At the entrance, where the brick path led to either the playground or the court, was a bronze statue of Betty Shabazz, wife of Malcolm X.
Landing slightly behind the statue, far out of sight of the road, Radiant turned to the two. “Take out your phones. Throw them away. Get rid of them now, your parents could be tracking them. They will be tracking them, probably already are.”
“They don’t know about this one,” Cassidy informed her, already throwing the phone her parents did know about to the ground while holding onto the phone she used as Paintball. “But they’ll be here soon. I mean their people will. I mean you--you’re--you’re…” She was gaping at the woman again.
“Radiant,” Izzy finished for her, after throwing her own phone next to Cassidy’s. “She’s Radiant.”
“How come I--I didn’t throw up?” Cassidy found herself demanding. “We were--you yanked us so fast. I didn’t--my stomach didn’t even react. How--why--huh?”
With a smile that was hidden behind the metal mask, the woman simply replied, “My power compensates for that feeling, even in people I’m just touching. Now there’s a lot more for us to discuss, but--” She cut herself off, looking to the side as the lights of an approaching vehicle grew visible. The other two tensed, yet Radiant simply gestured for them to follow as they stepped closer to the road.
It was Lincoln Chambers, in a dark red jeep. He pulled the vehicle to a stop, before gesturing for them to get in. “Pretty sure I heard sirens start up back there, so let’s not dilly dally too much.”
In response, Radiant held her hand out. “Scanner,” she requested before catching the large flashlight-shaped device the man tossed. When she flipped it on, no light emerged. Yet there was a steady clicking sound. She waved the device up and down both teenagers from head to foot before clicking it off. “They’re good, no trackers.” With that, she handed it back to Lincoln before gesturing. “Time to go.”
The two girls exchanged brief looks, both of them still completely reeling from the entire sequence of events. Cassidy, at least, had some actual context to what was going on, but Izzy had almost nothing. All she knew was that the other girl had called her out of the blue to say her parents knew that she knew everything and Izzy had to run. Then there were people with tranquilizers chasing her (which had not done anything to help her mood, given the trauma of being chased by those men who had worked with Handler), and she was running through the woods. Now Radiant was here for some reason, along with some guy she didn’t recognize at all.
Yeah, to say that Izzy was confused was an understatement. She was utterly and completely lost. Not to mention scared. Before moving another step, she focused on Cassidy. “W-what’s going on? What happened? Why--how?”
Rather than answer right away, the other girl turned and looked off into the darkness, as though she could actually hear those distant sirens. Then she turned back to Izzy, blanching. “Tell you on the way. Come on, we don’t wanna be found here. Or anywhere. But especially not out in the open like this, not right now.” She took the younger girl’s hand and tugged her to the back of the jeep.
Together, they climbed inside. Radiant took the front passenger seat, and Lincoln pulled away smoothly. He didn’t speed, though he definitely wasn’t taking his time. Nor did he turn as flashing red and blue police lights rapidly approached. Instead, the man glanced over to his wife and asked, “What do you think, old couple?”
“Better than the surfers around this place,” she replied simply.
“Fair,” Lincoln agreed. As the approaching police car drew close enough to make out its shape, he reached out to touch a button on the dash. The jeep was filled with a low humming sound. In the next moment, the police car passed them, slowing as the cop inside turned his head to look straight at Lincoln and the costumed Radiant before simply moving on.
“Holographic glass,” the man explained to the girls in the back. “Our friend back there saw a nice old lady behind the wheel while her doting husband held a cute little labradoodle.”
Staring that way, Cassidy managed a weak, “You people already have holographic illusions to hide from the cops?”
“Well,” Radiant corrected, “not usually the cops, no. But it helps maintain a secret identity. And it’s a good way to disappear when a certain reporter annoys the wrong subject.”
“The point is, we’re not new to this sort of thing,” Lincoln put in. “Uh, I mean, this is pretty new. But when you do this for long enough, you either fall real hard, or you prep for things.”
At that, Radiant turned to look at him. She took off the mask, revealing the rest of her face. “Speaking of preparing for things, the kids?” Despite how cool and collected they had been throughout all of this, when she brought that up, there was the slightest hint of worry in her voice.
“They’re good, already made the call two seconds after I left you,” Lincoln assured her, taking a turn to get off that street as they heard more sirens. “I gave them the code phrase, they got out of their friend’s place and made sure they weren’t followed. They’re holed up in hideaway motel number three on the list. It was the closest one.”
“Hideaway motel number three?” Cassidy blurted from the backseat. “You rented rooms at three different motels for your kids to go hide in if they needed to, just in case? You have code phrases to make them do that?”
Radiant shifted a bit to look at the two of them in the backseat. “We rented rooms at five different motels, actually. All under different names, of course. And all ahead of time on different days. Like he said, we prep for things. Especially going on a trip into a new place where we might end up poking a hornets’ nest or two.”
Over the next few minutes, while Lincoln drove through the dark streets of a more suburban area of town to look for a safe place to park for a little while, Cassidy gave Izzy a quick rundown of what exactly had happened during the dinner at Caishen’s place. As she confessed about losing her mind when it had sounded as though her parents were trying to get their hands on Lightning Bug, there was obvious guilt in her voice, the girl flinching a bit. “I should’ve held it together. I just--I lost it. I was thinking about her and… and the way they were obviously grooming you and…” Trailing off, she swallowed hard. “I really fucked up.”
By that point, Lincoln had found a dirt road that ran up behind a school, overlooking a bike trail. Pulling the jeep to a stop, he shifted into park, cut the engine, and looked to his wife. “Okay then,” he started, “I think it’s time we get some answers of our own about what just happened.”
“Hold on,” Cassidy blurted, “first, you’re Radiant?!” It was clear that it had taken everything she had to hold that in. Now, she was staring open-mouthed at the woman in question. “I mean, I’m sorry. I just--I know there’s so much other stuff, and you just found out about my parents running this town and all the gangs in it, and all the running away and everything, but you’re Radiant?!”
It was the two adults’ turn to exchange silent looks in the front seat for several long seconds. Then Lincoln looked back to the girls and gave a short nod. “We trust you know how important it is to keep that secret. Then again, it seems you've been keeping a lot of secrets already.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a thing,” Cassidy muttered. “At least until I freak out at my parents and give away what I know like an idiot.”
Joselyn’s voice was gentle. “It sounds as though you were under a lot of pressure. Even more than we thought at first, if your parents were able to say enough to those police to get them out there looking for you already.”
With a groan, Cassidy sank back against the seat while her head shook. "You don't know the half of it.”
“Well, let me see.” Lincoln spoke up. “Your father is Silversmith. Your parents have access to someone named Kent Jackson who can do something to people’s memories. Erase them, at the very least. They did that to you at least once before and you recently found out. Probably around the same time that you Touched, given you haven’t been active long. Your parents also secretly hold some measure of influence over the authorities in town. Through their money, if nothing else. But I suspect more than that. And, given his own secret identity, I would imagine your father has a fair amount of sway over several Star-Touched. And, well, you did just say that they run the gangs in this town. They’re playing both sides.”
Izzy snorted at that, folding her arms. “You could say that.”
So, over the next ten minutes, Cassidy told the two adults everything about her family and the so-called Ministry, how they operated, and how much control and influence they had over nearly every organization in the city, good and bad alike.
“My parents are rich,” she informed them, “but when I say they own this city, it’s a lot more than that. They own this city. Maybe even the state. And now they want to find me, us. Izzy, me, and both of you. Probably your kids too.”
“Well,” Lincoln started while taking his phone out, “I don’t think they can stop--” He paused, squinting at the screen. “Apparently they can stop cell service. I’ve got no bars and no internet connection.”
Cassidy and Joselyn both checked their phones to find identical situations. Hearing that, Izzy made a noise in the back of her throat. “What’d they do, shut down cell service and wi-fi for the entire city?!”
“They’re desperate,” Cassidy muttered. “They know you’re a reporter, a famous one. They can’t let you send any messages back home. They can’t let you--any of us get anything out of the city. Here, they can have people watching any of the news stations or whatever to shut us down if we try to go on the air. At the police stations too. And… and probably anywhere else we might go.”
Lincoln was nodding. “Yeah. And if they control as many Touched as you say, even Radiant might have a problem getting around if you’re not careful. Something tells me they won’t be very subtle about siccing as many Fell-Touched as they need to on any new Stars who aren’t supposed to be here right now.”
The words made Cassidy flinch, though she couldn’t dispute them. “You’re right, they--”
In mid-sentence, she was interrupted by a series of loud alert sounds from all three phones as they lit up simultaneously with an emergency broadcast message.
“Abduction alert,” Cassidy read aloud. “It’s… us, both of us. They list everything about us. And… and it says you abducted us. It says you’re part of a…” Her eyes widened.
“An Abyssal Cult,” Joselyn muttered. “They want people to think that we’re going to try to sacrifice both of you to an Abyssal. Gets them riled up and out looking. They’ll be watching all the exits out of town too, and I don’t think our glass hologram will fool the people they’ll have there.”
“Wha… what are we gonne do?” Izzy asked in a small voice, trying to comprehend the magnitude of what was happening.
“First, we’ll get Zed and Lexi,” Joselyn informed us. “Then we’re going to do exactly what your parents are afraid of.
“We’re going to expose them.”