The Vigilante's Handbook (Misfits #1)

Thirty Seven: We Weren't Friends Then

As it happened, the next step was a grueling interrogation about everything that happened after I left with Mona on our routine night patrol. My story was close enough to the version Elliot told when he and Miguel returned from the fire for Lucia to decree that I was not under Eleanor’s influence. 

When I confided that Eleanor had visited me before Miguel showed up at the motorhome, the room fell silent. When I mentioned the static that had filled my skull, the room shuddered. And when I told them how much her words affected me, Stitch took his turn at the confessional. 

Aside from myself and Miguel, no one knew of his relation to the villain of Paramount Lake Academy until that moment. He kept his words concise and careful in classic Elliot fashion. “She’s my sister. Everyone should know that going in. It might come up.”

I thanked the stars that no one made a big deal of it. Even better than that, no one accused him of aiding his step sister in this elaborate set up. I had determined to trust Elliot as wholeheartedly as I trusted Miguel. I had seen the kid lie almost as well as me before. He had all the makings of a master manipulator, just like me. And I had no doubt that his skill was honed by Eleanor in the same way that she had used her Gift to make my fellow students more susceptible to my word. She needed someone like us to be useful. I could trust that Elliot was smart enough to see that. 

When no one made any objection to his familial declaration, I continued my story. Eleanor left, Miguel appeared, and I kicked his butt. I left the details mine and Miguel's talk out. Those were between just the two of us. He must have agreed because he stayed as mute as usual. His only reaction to my exclusion was the furtive way he took my hand and gave it a thankful squeeze before breaking the connection. 

The next step was rest. 

Diana called her parents to tell them that I had missed my shift because I was uncontrollably puking and that she thought it would be best if she slept over to make sure I didn’t choke on my own vomit in the middle of the night. It was a disgusting and frankly too detailed excuse, but it did the job. It would have been dangerous for her to go home now that she had agreed to help us. Plus, if something happened, we could need her technological expertise at any moment.

The rest of us locked the doors and snuggled into our beds to try and catch whatever sleep would come to us. The air was full of tension. It had taken Eleanor months to launch her first attack. Even then it had been through Mona. If we were lucky, it would take her another few months to regroup. 

I prayed we were lucky.

Instead of our usual nightly patrol, Lucia decreed a night watch within our apartment. The enemy team knew where we were. They knew our usual schedule. The best we could do was make sure we weren’t caught off guard. Just like old days, I was excluded from the rotation, but only because I was dealing with the aftermath of severe Gift burnout.

Lucia took first watch. She said she was still trying to shake the twitchy energy that came with chugging three energy drinks while searching for the co-leader of her vigilante band. To work off the energy, she sat by the front door and quietly went through her favorite superhero exercise regiment. Lifting a few weights, crunches, pushups. Really anything she could do to distract her body that wasn’t loud enough to wake the rest of the apartment up. 

Once again the only sound in the apartment was the sound of the storm outside--this one might permit a snow day tomorrow, according to Diana--and the faint heaving of breath as Lucia exercised. 

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I slipped off my covers and let my sock covered feet rest on the old floorboards. The wood didn’t creak when I placed my full weight on it and stood up. No even Val flinched in her sleep. And I knew from some late nights with Julien that she was a notoriously light sleeper.