Secret Super (Book 1)

8. Escape

The flashing red lights and screaming alarms were driving needles into Zadia's brain. She ran after Kara, feeling like she was trying to claw her way out of an endless maze of hallways.

They reached the EXIT door and Kara stopped abruptly. "We can't leave through that door, there's too many guards out there. . . ." she said. "Where did you come from?"

"The tunnels," Zadia said, fidgeting with her jacket. She hated standing still in one place. The alarm was still complaining about intruders and she felt like she needed to run away, hide, just do something other than stand there waiting to be caught.

Kara frowned. "You mean they led right into the building? That's convenient. Where?"

"I don't know if I can find them again--" Zadia hated herself for the slight high-pitched edge that crept into her voice. She felt hot sticky panic spreading through her body.

"Just find it!" Kara pushed her forward.

Zadia stumbled and started running in the opposite direction. Her sneakers pounded against the floor and she heard Kara's footsteps behind her. She paused at a fork in the hallways and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember which direction she'd come from.

"Which way?" Kara said breathlessly.

"I think it's that way, but I'm not--"

Kara took off running in the direction she'd pointed out. No choice but to follow, Zadia ran after her, heart hammering.

As they turned the corner, a door slid open at the end of the hallway. A tall woman with white hair and icy eyes stepped out.

Zadia's breath caught in her throat. This was the woman she'd followed from the EPA. She can't recognize me. If she did, everything was over for Zadia.

Zadia stepped back, starting to walk in the opposite direction. Cold fingers closed around her wrist. She looked up and met Kara's burning gaze.

"I'll take care of it," Kara said, sounding a little too excited.

The super's eyes swiveled towards them. Zadia ducked behind Kara and kept her head down, desperately hoping that the super wouldn't recognize her. She heard shouts and felt flashes of cold. She squeezed her eyes shut and instinctively reached for the energy inside her. The air around her thrummed. She imagined herself as the first person who came to mind.

That person happened to be a crazy, shiny superhero with purple force-fields at her fingertips. She concentrated on the image until it was burned into her mind, ignoring the sounds of ringing alarms, shouts, and crashes. A cold shudder ran through her, draining her of energy.

When she opened her eyes, the air was shimmering. She looked down at her hand and saw the illusion she'd created, blood-red jacket sleeves hanging from her wrists, her skin now deep bronze. Her hands were shaking.

"What the f-"

Her head snapped up. Kara was looking at her with wide eyes, frozen.

Then her head snapped back and she dove to the side as the super threw a blast of ice in her direction. Zadia shrieked and held her hands over her face. The ice shattered into the wall. Her illusion flickered.

Kara blasted a force-field in the super's direction. The super threw herself against the force-field and a web of ice and wormed into the glimmering purple wall. The ice webbed in every direction. In a few seconds, the force-field froze solid. Zadia flinched as it shattered into a million glittering shards that scattered across the floor.

"Turn yourself in!" the super snarled. "You can't escape from the supers!"

"Help me!" Kara mouthed at Zadia. "Distract her!"