Jackson Humes is Not a Superhero

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

"Yes, son." He nodded and smiled.

"Wait, what?" Marv asked bewildered.

"But I thought you and mom were killed in the accident?" My whole body began to shake involuntarily.

"Your mom died in the accident, but I survived. The government has been hiding me all of these years. When I found out Diego was coming into town, I knew he was coming for the scientists' children he injected. Diego is not who he says he is, Diego is Doctor Norman. He's been lying to you all of this time. I can get you to safety, but you have to come with me, and we have to leave now before his men find us."

Coming face to face with my dad after thirteen years was an incredibly surreal experience. I tried to take in everything about him all at once. A hard lump formed in my throat. Until that very moment I had never fully understood the hole my parents had left in my life. My dad pulled me into a hug. I began to sob uncontrollably.

It took every ounce of strength I had in me to finally pull away. Even then, I couldn't entirely let go of him and held onto his arm. I was afraid if I let go he would vanish from my life again.

My dad squeezed my shoulder. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Marv had transformed himself into Graham's doppelganger during my ugly cry. The three of us exited through the side of the house and scanned the surrounding area, but there was no sign of Doctor Norman's super villains. Luck was definitely on our side because it didn't appear as if we had caught the neighbors' attentions, which was a miracle given the giant tidal wave we'd unleashed when crashing into the pool. 

I reluctantly released my dad's arm when I saw a woman tending her garden. Between the giant unleashed dog and me being soaking wet, we looked pretty out of place. Unsurprisingly, she watched us with open hostility as we passed by.

"Hey," Marv said, his doggy face was lined with worry. "What about Diego and his goons? Should we call the cops or something? We can't just leave them wandering around, they might hurt someone."

"Help is already on its way," my dad said casually, several paces ahead of us.

Marv looked up at me startled. It took me a few seconds to realize why. My dad had understood what Marv had said. Had he taken the serum? Did he have a special ability as well? Something felt off. He seemed entirely too chill given the situation. I mimed to Marv to keep quiet.

"What about Aunt Margaret? She doesn't even know that Tanner was taken."

"Don't worry about your Aunt Margaret," he said over his shoulder, a hint of impatience in his tone, "we'll get in contact with her later and explain everything."

I stopped dead in my tracks. My aunt's name was Marigold not Margaret. She'd hated the name ever since she was a little girl and had told everyone to call her Margie when she was seven. Only a few people knew, or even remembered, her real name. She'd told me stories about my dad calling her Marigold whenever he wanted to annoy her. Even after all of these years, I was sure it wasn't something he would've forgotten.

"You're not my dad," I said. The range of emotions I was feeling was threatening to overwhelm me.

The man who was not my father stopped and turned to face us. He tilted his head to one side, a twisted grin on his face. Goosebumps ran up my arm and down my spine. It was the same gesture the Silhouette had made when he had tried to kidnap me. Marv let out a low growl. It was more animal than human. The man put two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

"RUN!" Marv shouted.

The two of us bolted down the street. An engine roared behind us. I caught a quick glimpse of the white van speeding towards us. What appeared to be an enormous hairy tarantula was perched on top of the roof of the van. We turned the corner and ran into someone's backyard.