Villains Rise

Chapter 10 -- Hey Rapunzel

Any sane person might run away upon realizing how dangerous Owen is. All this time, I thought my brother was the one setting the buildings on fire, helping Red Raven. It was Owen. I had never even heard of Trident until the past few days.

"Della?" Owen's voice snaps me out of my distress. I look up but I refuse to respond. He sighs and closes his eyes.

"Pick out some clothes and we'll go." Great, pick out some clothes and get in a car with a pyromaniac. Then drive over to meet with Drake, a regular maniac.

In my rush, I decided on a few ordinary t-shirts and some jean shorts. If I wasn't so afraid of what would happen to my family if I ran away from the Undergrounds, I would have been out of Owen's grasp the minute he took the cuffs off.

If I could get a hold of those cuffs again, maybe I could use them against Black Light or any of the villains. It would be great to have some back up from my friends, the people that I trust. Would they even help me? I fear that if I told them Owen's plan, I would be pushed aside while Mason and my dad went to go fight my battles.

Red Raven is my battle. I may not have been the best hero in the past, but I am going to prove myself to everyone. Who's to say Red Raven is a threat anymore? Maybe Owen just wants me to defeat the Undergrounds. I'm fine with that idea too. But it's time for me to start investigating things on my own. Owen isn't a sharing kind of guy. I'm in this by myself.

"Are you two finding everything okay?" A sales clerk comes up to us. Owen nods for the both of us. I decide to take revenge on Owen for keeping such a drastic detail of his life from me.

"Uh, yes, I'm fine, but he needs some help." The guy looks to be a little older than me but has a full beard. Owen's eyes throw daggers at me. Suddenly, I'm not in a rush to get out of here anymore. A smirk comes to my face.

"Oh, well, the men's section is on the other side of the store." The guy resembles Owen in an uncanny way and ushers Owen to the opposite side of the shop. Good riddance.

I skim through the clearance rack a bit further, then I hear the jingling of the bell on the door. Someone else is in this small shop at seven in the morning? It surprises me as it is that there is more than one employee working.

My eyes quickly dart to the door to view the other costumer. In walks none other than Sophia Brown. My eyes widen in panic and I immediately start to plan where I'm going to hide. Should I hide? Maybe she hasn't heard about me running away and won't have any reason to confront me on the matter. She might confront me without having a reason, though. That's just Sophia for you.

Nonetheless, I consider ducking behind the rack, but decide against it. I try to act nonchalant and skim through the clothing, but my heart is beating rapidly and I'm afraid I'll draw attention to myself if I'm not careful. This is no time for you to have one of your clutz moments, Della.

I grab a shirt from the rack that stands out to me and watch as it hooks onto another shirt. Taking a deep breath, I tell myself to carefully unhook the shirt and put it back.

Fate, destiny, call it what you will, did not want to make this situation easy on me.

I pulled the shirts apart and then observed a few other items of clothing fall to the floor. Della you're the clumsiest person on earth, I mentally scold myself. As I'm scurrying to pick up the clothes, Sophia makes her way over to this section.

Abort mission! Abort! I toss the clothes on top of the rack and hustle to hide in the changing area. I peek my head out from the door once I've hidden myself. The wicked witch sticks her nose up at most of the clothes she places her hands on.