Apocalypse, Steve Harrington

Chapter Nine. Superpowers and Their Missing Friend

NINE
— superpowers and their missing friend

"SHE HAS SUPERPOWERS."

Her face twitched with an unreadable expression. First, confusion settled in. Thoughts swirled around wildly in her brain, eyes focusing on a spot in the sky as she made an attempt to digest Mike's words. It was like a blockage in her mind— superpowers weren't real. Superpowers, she read about them in comic books and watched them in movies. Then, her eyes flickered back over to the kids before her. Lips tugging into a smile, Lucy laughed. "Jesus, Mike. Do you think I'm stupid?"

He scoffed. "What?" the boy gave her a squinted look. "I'm not lying!"

"Superpowers, like Superman? The Flash?" Lucy settled her gaze on Eleven, who stood timidly. "Prove it."

Before turning to the girl besides him, Mike snatched a stick from the ground. He held it before them. "Show her, El," he nodded, handing her the item.

    She had her doubts. These kids, she had known them for years— they liked to play tricks on each other. They lived in a fantasy land, pretending someone had superpowers wasn't a far off thing for them. Arms crossed over her chest, Lucy watched as the young girl focused her doe eyes on the twig. She blinked, inhaled sharply, and dropped her hands to her sides; the stick stayed. She didn't process it immediately— the stick was floating in the air.

    Lucy's lips parted in surprise. Her hazel eyes followed the floating twig as it moved through the air and lifted higher, all before flying swift across her face. Her constricted test released all at once, pupils dilating in shock— El was using her mind to levitate that stick. "Ho-ly shit," the teenager shook her head. "Did she—"

    "See? I wasn't lying," Mike spoke, firmly. "She can do so much more than a twig, too."

    She laughed, and it was filled with a childlike wonder. "Lift me, El!" Lucy beamed.

    When Eleven's eyes moved to focus intensely on Lucy, Mike jumped forward. "No!" the boy shook his head. "Don't do that."

    After that sentence was uttered, a silence lingered over the group. The mood shifted, and the momentary joy fell— they remembered what they were out there for. The Party had gathered together for one reason, and one reason only— to look for Will. The sun was setting and the cool wind blew through their hair, crisp leaves scraping against the pavement as they stood, wallowing in that empty silence.

    With the gold painted sky illuminating in her eyes, Lucy extended an arm towards her bicycle. "Let's just start searching."

    She wanted to find something, anything, any sign of Will. Wanted to, not expected to. Lucy fully knew that this search, the one the Party was putting on, it was useless. It was a dead end, and they weren't going to get anywhere by biking around in an aimless attempt to find their missing friend. Even when the sun had disappeared and the sky was filled with stars, they were still looking.

They did have a lead, though, one that the police didn't— Eleven. Her small, possibly genius, super-powered mind was leading then somewhere. Somewhere Will could have been.