Chapter Sixty Seven
...
Cara paced up and down the short distance of the cell she'd been put in.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will land me in prison for a fucking week.
"Harland, your bail's been posted," a guard said, the prison door swinging open.
Surprised, but not stupid enough to question it, Cara left the cell quickly and headed to the processing area to get the fuck out of there sooner rather than later.
Cara knew that she hadn't been well-liked by the other women in Edith's societal circle, but she thought that maybe one or two might have agreed with her. Would they have agreed with her enough to get her out of jail, though? In all honesty, Cara thought that they'd just agree in quiet whispers while she was left to rot and languish in prison; better her than them.
Stepping out into the prison's waiting area, Cara looked around to see who her mysterious benefactor could be. Her stride faltered when she recognised someone: Greta Auden.
"I saw your little rant on the news; I thought we could help each other," Greta said with a smile.
Greta had figured out that as long as she didn't hurt or think about hurting Layla personally, there were no phantom thorns, no anguishing pain in her body. As long as someone else could do her dirty work, Greta herself would be fine.
It had taken a while to come up with the money for Cara's bail. While anti-super words weren't illegal, insulting the son of the Commander and Jetstream meant Cara's bail was greater than her sentence. Greta had needed to sell off several priceless paintings to get Cara released.
Cara hesitated. She'd seen how Greta had been cast out of high society faster than a speeding bullet and she knew the same would happen to her, if it hadn't already, of course. At the time, she had thought nothing of it, Greta was no one and nothing to her. She'd only cared because it had freed up a top rung on the unofficial society ladder, and Cara craved, needed, that spot for herself. Now, she couldn't even see the damn ladder, let alone a single rung of it. She'd been cast out, she was alone without a family, without friends, and even her own mother hadn't come to see her.
In fact, the last Cara had heard, her mother had decided to go on a round-the-world cruise since she couldn't handle the pain of seeing her husband in jail. Cindy probably didn't even know that Cara had been arrested as well.
Still, from what she knew of the woman in front of her, Cara knew that her bail would come at a price. She wondered how much she was truly willing to pay for her freedom.
"How can we help each other?" Cara asked, leaving with Greta.
On the way out, they passed a blonde and brunette couple who were so unremarkable that Cara didn't even glance at them. If she had, she would have recognised Grant and Jewel from Heidi's party, the two normal people her brother had lusted over in front of everyone.
Grant and Jewel, however, recognised Cara leaving the police station. They didn't recognise the woman she was with, so they took a quick photo of the two women and returned to their car, Jewel fuming at their missed opportunity.
"I was going to have so much fun turning that bitch to stone. Damn it," she snapped, making sure her gloves were on tight before taking the steering wheel.
"We should follow them," Grant said, though he was annoyed as well.
He'd even bought a sledgehammer. He still hadn't worked out how to get it into the prison, but Grant was sure he would've thought of something if Cara hadn't been bailed out earlier than they expected.
"No shit," Jewel muttered, reversing out of her parking spot and following the car.
Grant snickered at her response, then sent the picture through the group chat he and Jewel had recently been added to.
Who's this with Cara?
Warren: Layla's great aunt. Where are you?
Grant: Maxville police station. We're following them.
Warren: Adam, can you get them out to the Hive?
Adam: I can get them in that direction with traffic lights
Adam: doesn't mean they'll end up at the Hive though
Warren: try. I'll meet you there
"What's going on, Grant?" Jewel asked tersely.
"Adam's going to try to direct them out to the Hive; Warren said he'd meet us there," Grant replied, though he didn't know how Warren would get there with the bus not running for another hour and Warren without his license.
"Follow them or go straight to the Hive?" Jewel asked.
"Follow them, just in case."
Jewel nodded and kept driving. She stayed a few metres back from the car in front, ensuring that she followed the proper procedure they'd learnt in Driving for Heroes.
Across town, Warren looked at the photo of Greta and Cara. More specifically, he looked at Layla's brooch that Greta was still wearing. Calling Mrs. Woo to let her know he'd be late for work, Warren left the house and jogged down the street to the nearest manhole.
He wasn't missing this chance.
...
Layla had spent the morning helping Ethan, Zach, and Heidi pack their belongings. Craig had helped, since he'd taken what he needed already and Victor had promised to buy the rest. They had to study anyway; with finals only a week away, the stress of trying to remember a year's worth of work mounted and lifting heavy boxes helped Craig de-stress. Zach wished he hadn't packed all of the baking trays away already.
"Guys? I think we should have left our phones on loud," Ethan said, scrolling through all of the messages they'd received in the group chat.
"What's happened?" Layla asked, even as she reached for her phone.
"Greta bailed Cara out of jail; Grant and Jewel were there for whatever reason and followed them out of town; Warren wanted them taken to the Hive; Adam tried... no, wait, he actually managed it. Apparently there's construction going on in the paddock next to the Hive?" Ethan said, looking up from his phone to see both Layla and Craig looking pale.
"Obviously, something else is going on; what did we miss?" Zach asked, looking between them.
Craig licked his lips nervously. "Jewel kind of... promised to jewellify whoever had hurt me?"
"That's so sweet of her," Layla said.
"I know, right? I totally thought she was just saying it, but if they went to the prison, I mean... they were really going to do it," Craig said incredulously.
"Uh huh. And Warren?"
"Greta's still wearing my mother's brooch; Warren's probably going to get it back through whatever means necessary," Layla said, shrugging.
"We can't just kill everyone who pisses us off," Ethan muttered. "Where would it stop? Someone cuts you off in traffic, someone says something behind your back, what, their lives are forfeit?"
"I killed someone who was rude to Warren and hit on him."
"One of Mr. Phillips' friends? Ha, knew it!" Zach crowed, then looked contrite when Ethan glared at him. "What? I've been trying to think of the reason why them for months."
"Am I the only one who has a problem with this?" Ethan asked incredulously.
"In this room? Yeah, probably," Craig snorted.
Ethan sighed and shook his head. "We need to be smart about this."
Layla stood up. "You're right. But either way, I want to see what's going on," she said, grabbing her bag.
"We're not asking my mother to drive us to what's potentially a murder scene," Ethan hissed as he grabbed his bag and followed her, Zach and Craig hurrying after them.
"Oh, I wouldn't ask Anita to do that. I know a shortcut," Layla replied.
"We're, uh, just taking a break, Ma," Ethan called. "Going for a walk around the neighbourhood for some fresh air. We'll be back later!"
"All right. Take your keys with you, I'll take Heidi paint shopping with me; I think we need a break too, don't you, Heidi? Yes, Richard, you can buy paint for your creepy little people," Anita added, rolling her eyes fondly at her husband.
Grabbing his house keys from the hook at the front door, Ethan hurried after his friends and hoped that he wouldn't become an accomplice in whatever was happening at the Hive.
A witness was different to an accomplice, right?
...
"You know, these last few weeks have been really interesting," Jewel said in a conversational tone, smiling pleasantly. "Even just three-odd weeks of practising with my powers, actually being allowed to use them, it's been exhilarating. I still don't have full control, but I have enough," she said, taking her glove off.
Cara flinched back at the sight of her sparkling unnatural skin, her mind screaming not normal, freak, freak, freak!
"Grant's been telling me for weeks to be patient; patience isn't my forte, so this is like torture to me. Of course, for you, it's actual torture," she said, pressing her hand on Cara's and watching with vindictive pleasure as Cara started to turn into a jewel.
The process was made slower with Jewel's control, and she smirked as Cara screamed in pain behind her gag.
"Stop!"
Curious, Jewel stopped the transformation, and watched the doorway as Ethan approached with their friends. "Why?"
"Oh, not you, Jewel. Where's Warren and Greta?" Ethan asked.
"A few combs down. Follow the smell of burning," Jewel said, grinning.
Cara's eyes widened when she saw her brother there, and behind her gag, she started begging for help.
Craig entered the room, curious and cautious, his eyes widening when he saw his sister's hand had taken on a shiny rock-like quality. "You really meant it, didn't you?"
"Of course we did, babe. Jewel's been having fun monologuing; Cara insisted on screaming for help when we took the gag off, even though I told her that the machinery in the next paddock is drowning everything out," Grant said, smirking from where he was sitting, a sledgehammer resting beside him.
"I should've brought the twins to watch her bounce around. Super restraining order," Craig added.
"Do you know how long it took to find the secret tunnel entrance to this place? You'd better not have started anything without us," Donny snapped, leading Wendy through the comb to where the others were.
"You want to watch with me, babe, or do you want to have a turn?" Grant offered, smiling at Craig.
"I might just watch. For now," he added when Cara looked far too smug, even with a gag on.
Grant's smile turned to a wide grin and he held out his hand, tugging Craig down to sit on his lap. "Tell us the moment you need us to stop, okay?" he said, hooking his chin over Craig's shoulder and wrapping his arms around his stomach.
Craig's cheeks burned, but he relaxed back against Grant's chest and held his hand.
Jewel grinned and stopped controlling her power, letting the stone continue to crawl up Cara's arm. Bound and gagged in her chair, Cara screamed.
...
Jewel had been right about the smell of burning. The scent was overwhelming, and Ethan covered his mouth and nose, suddenly thinking that he might become a vegetarian after all this was over.
"Stop!" he called out when he saw Warren.
Greta was unconscious in her chair, burn marks littering her body. In stark contrast, Layla's brooch had been unpinned and set aside carefully where no harm would come to it.
"Why the fuck would I do that?" Warren snapped, his arms alight.
"She's put a contingency in place for something like this," Ethan said, holding his phone out for Warren to see.
Letting the flames dissipate, Warren took Ethan's phone to see the screen properly. "Motherfucker."
"I watched the footage Adam sent from the traffic; Greta didn't look surprised at anything that happened, she knew we were doing something to get her out here. I had Adam check over her files; he found this in an encrypted email. It's not all of it, some of the code wouldn't work, but it's enough. Greta just used Cara as bait."
"Shit. Get the others to stop," Warren said.
Ethan and Zach nodded, running back to the other comb.
Warren let out a growl of frustration, powering up until the flames covered him completely. Layla walked inside, smiling at Warren. Reaching out for him, the flames flicked across to her, and Layla kissed him, consuming him until the flames blew out around them in a flash. Warren opened his eyes to see the walls covered in soot and their flames gone.
"You were going to kill her for me?" Layla asked, smiling again and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Warren's hands fell to her hips, squeezing firmly. "She'd be dead already, if not for that fucking email."
Layla laughed, loud and bright, and kissed him again. "When Adam gets past the security, we'll be able to deal with her. Together, all right?"
Warren sighed, but nodded. "Anything you want, hippie. You get to keep your brooch, right?"
"Oh, definitely. It will fuck with her mind, if nothing else," Layla quipped, kissing his lips once more before pulling away to pick up her brooch.
"Can we come in or will we be incinerated?" Donny asked, looking into the soot-covered room.
"Whoa, what happened in here?" Wendy asked, staring.
"Found out that I couldn't actually kill Greta. I got a little pissed off," Warren said, shrugging.
"Super Jesus; what happens when you get a lot pissed off?"
The sound of a jewel smashing into shards could be heard from the other comb. Grant held Cara's forearm, stopping Jewel's power from working any further. With a wicked grin, Jewel lifted the sledgehammer and let it fall, smashing Cara's jewelled hand into pieces.
Warren rolled his eyes and carried Greta down to the other comb, setting her down beside Cara, who had fainted after her hand had been smashed. Zach and Ethan collected the pieces, gathering them into a bag to add to the rock crusher next door.
"I can deal with their memories, but that won't explain the injuries. Any ideas?" Donny asked, even as he erased Greta's memory of the past day.
"Greta's old enough to be at that age where she leaves a hotplate on and accidentally leaves a tea towel on it," Zach suggested. "Not sure what we can do with Cara now that she's lost a fucking hand," he said, picking up a finger.
"She escaped prison and cut off her hand to get out of handcuffs," Grant suggested.
"Her bail's already showing on the system."
"Not for long," Adam's voice came from their phones.
"Dude, that was creepy. What the hell?" Craig snapped.
"Speaker access works both ways, dude," Adam said, amused. "Okay, I've reinstated her bail, put the money back in Greta's account, and added a warrant out for Cara's arrest after escaping. Also, you can keep Greta knocked out and put her in her kitchen. The amnesia would be more believable if she supposedly fell over."
"Good idea. Donny, you've finished with Cara?" Warren asked.
"Yeah, I took her memories to this morning before she found out she was being bailed out of prison," Donny confirmed.
"Great. Ethan, can you melt Cara down? I'll carry Greta back."
"I'll call emergency services," Layla said.
"You can't; it's too suspicious that you'd be there when she just so happens to have fallen and set her house on fire," Grant said.
"Anonymous tip?" Zach said.
"Use the voice changer I'm downloading to your phone," Adam said.
"Craig's right, that's totally creepy," Zach muttered.
"What about her car?" Ethan asked.
"It's a stick-shift," Adam added.
"I can drive stick, someone needs to direct me, though," Jewel said.
"I'll do that," Layla said.
"I'll carry her and I can start the kitchen fire, too," Warren said. "Hippie, you can get us inside, right?"
Layla nodded. "If she's changed the locks, I can just change the house's frame to let us in."
"What?" Craig asked, surprised.
"Oh, it's a timber frame, right?" Ethan guessed, Layla nodding in response.
"I'll drive your car after you," Grant offered Jewel.
"Park down the road so we're not seen hanging around when her house is on fire," Warren said.
"Don't leave without us; we're going to add this to the mixer next door," Zach said, taking the last of Cara's hand and hurrying out with Ethan beside him.
Taking a shortcut through the forest, Zach didn't even care when the trees tried to reach for his hair. Dumping the bag's contents into the mixer, Zach froze when someone called out, Ethan snatching the bag away and melting it down into his arm.
"Hey, what did you put in there?" one of the workers called out.
"Just some extra rock. It's handmade," Zach said.
"Shut up and run," Ethan said, grabbing Zach's hand and running into the forest.
Behind them, the trees blocked them from being followed, and they were soon downstairs in the hive once more.
"Handmade, Zach, really?" Ethan groaned, Zach snickering beside him.
"So where are we dumping Cara?" Craig asked, then his eyes went bright as he thought of his own answer. "She could be coming after the twins; she doesn't know there's a super restraining order on her yet."
"You're just doing this so you can see her bounce off the barrier, aren't you?" Adam asked, sighing.
"Damn straight. Can you record it, too? Edith's got a home security system."
Grant laughed and kissed his cheek.
"Dude, I know. I've been hooked into that all week; you think I'd leave you alone in there?" Adam scoffed.
"Aww. Creepy and sweet," Craig said, grinning.
"Nope, still just creepy. Eth, use the tunnels to take Cara to Edith's place. Adam, you can edit the security system footage if Craig and Ethan throw her at the barrier or something, right?" Warren asked.
"Shouldn't take too long," Adam confirmed.
"Come on, before people notice that Cara's missing or Greta wakes up," Warren said, lifting Greta and walking out of the comb and up to the Hive.
"See you later, babe. Drive safe," Grant said, kissing her cheek.
"Look after my car," Jewel replied.
"Of course."
"They get fresh air, we get the sewers," Zach said, scrunching his nose.
Layla had created stairs out of her vines and the rocks that Warren had blasted from the wall, so it was easier to get in and out now, but that didn't mean Zach had to like it.
"Remind me to get the sewerage system blueprints from the Council later. I don't want to end up on the wrong side of town because I turned left instead of right," Ethan muttered, even though he was already creating a map in his head.
...
Greta woke up in the hospital, her head pounding and her body aching. She frowned at her surroundings, trying to remember what had happened and how she'd ended up in hospital.
"Ah, Mrs. Auden, good timing. It's nice to see you awake. I'm your doctor, Dr. Samson. Do you know what happened?" he asked.
Greta shook her head, wincing at the pain that blossomed.
"You fell over while you were cooking in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the resulting fire destroyed most of your kitchen before it could be contained. Luckily, one of your neighbours spotted the smoke and called the fire department and ambulance. You've got quite a few burns, but they're mostly superficial; you'll be all right," Dr. Samson said with a smile.
Greta was silent for a long moment. Something wasn't right about this whole thing. Greta knew that it had to be because of Layla. Her boyfriend made fire, didn't he? It wasn't her fault. She wasn't stupid enough to fall over in the kitchen, like some old invalid.
"It wasn't me."
"You live on your own, don't you? There was no one else with you at your home," Dr. Samson said, frowning.
"I know, but it wasn't me. I don't remember what happened," Greta said, frowning as she realised she couldn't remember anything after going to sleep the night before.
"Of course you don't, Mrs. Auden. You hit your head when you fell. That's why I told you what happened," Dr. Samson said, patting her hand.
Greta glared at him. "Your bedside manner fucking sucks."
Dr. Samson's eyes widened, then his jaw set, and he pressed a button on the IV connected to the back of Greta's hand. "Perhaps you'll feel better when you wake up, Mrs. Auden," he snapped, leaving her room.
Greta managed to give him the finger before she fell asleep.
...
Cara woke up in the prison hospital. She was strapped down on a bed, and could only move her eyes. Cara made a weird confused sound since her jaw couldn't move.
"Nice to see you awake, Mrs. Harland. Don't worry, the straps are only temporary. We can't have you escaping again, can we?" a voice sneered.
Escape?
"You got outta here and went straight for the kids. Home security video showed you screamin' that your husband took 'em away from you, that you were gonna make 'em normal."
"Of course, you didn't know he'd already taken out a super restraining order, did you?" another voice added, snorting in amusement.
Cara cried out at that. She'd seen the TV show, she knew what a super restraining order could do to people.
"Must've been a super-strong restraining order; it took your hand clean off."
Cara's eyes widened. The nurses, who were obviously sadistic bastards, undid a strap on the bed and lifted her arms so she could see that her left hand was completely gone.
"You're lucky we didn't have to amputate your arm completely, y'know."
To the best of her ability, Cara screamed. The nurses lowered her arms and strapped her back onto the bed. A sharp sensation jabbed in her arm and Cara's screams slowly tapered off as she fell to sleep.
"Y'know, it's always the anti-super citizens that make me sick. Supers, y'know where you stand with them: good or evil, ain't no pretence about it. Citizens'll pretend to be good even while they're stabbin' you in the back. Anti-supers, though? They're just all 'round stupid," the nurse muttered to their colleague, shaking their head as they left the room.
...
"You know that villain the Commander and Jetstream fought about two months ago?" Grant asked suddenly, everyone looking up from their finals study in confusion.
"Nocturne?" Ethan queried.
Grant shook his head. "No, before that. There were the three villains?"
"Oh, right. The sword, the car, and the... jazz-hands?" Zach said, frowning.
Snorting a laugh, Grant nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. Well, jazz-hands, Ursula, is my half-sister. Same father, different mothers."
"Your father's the Incredible Genius, isn't he?" Ethan asked, excited to be proven right. "Did he experiment on the sperm or the egg? And why were her powers not as developed as yours?"
"Yes, he is, though neither of us were meant to know that. It was easy to work out when we were older. He told me about Ursula after I'd gone to see him in the Super Penitentiary. I met Ursula to see what she was like. We both get our smarts from him, though he hadn't intended that after experimenting on our mothers.
"Ursula grew up in a very strict household; her mother told her what to do and when to do it. She was never allowed to think or do anything without her mother's permission; she controlled her every movement; she's the reason Ursula ended up the way she did. She's also the reason Ursula snapped when Jetstream told her to give up," Grant said.
"Why are you telling us this now?" Adam asked.
Grant shrugged. "I felt like it."
"I'm pansexual," Craig blurted out.
"Subtle, babe, really," Jewel said, patting his hand.
"Uh, okay, are we just going around saying things we already know?" Zach asked, looking around. "'Cause I'm stressed, and I need to pass Mad Sci. with more than a B-grade, or I don't beat Eric Takahashi, and I have money riding on this."
"It's a dollar, Zach," Ethan said.
"Wait, you knew?" Craig asked incredulously.
"Uh, yeah. You get flustered really easily, and Grant and Jewel don't call anyone babe," Wendy said, shaking her head.
"Dude, remember that thing I told you about subtlety and how you aren't?" Adam pointed out.
"Thank you for coming out to us, Craig. That must have been very nerve-wracking for you," Layla said, hugging him.
"Next time, we'll just tell you we know you're pan; that'll save everyone a lot of stress," Warren said with a grin, hugging Craig as well.
"Doesn't need to be a next time now, does there?" Craig muttered.
"Well, you still haven't admitted you're in a poly relationship with Grant and Jewel," Ethan said. "What?" he added when Craig went bright red.
"We're not?" Craig said.
"We haven't talked about it yet," Jewel said.
"We were going to wait until after finals when we're not stressed," Grant added.
Layla rolled her eyes. "Go and talk about it now; there might not be less stress, but there'll be less sexual tension."
"Leave your phones up here, I don't want a record of this," Adam said, putting his headphones back on and returning his attention to his study.
"I guess they're right," Grant said. "You coming, babe?" he asked Craig, gathering a notebook and pen, and standing up with Jewel beside him.
"I wish," Craig muttered under his breath.
Jewel grinned and offered her gloved hand to him. Craig blushed, took her hand, and followed them into the lower hive, closing the trapdoor behind them just for good measure.
"Maybe I should ask Mum to buy more condoms," Warren said, shaking his head.
"We're going to a sex shop in two weeks; buy them yourself," Wendy said, rolling her eyes.
...
"Hey, we came down here to talk, remember?" Grant murmured against Craig's mouth.
"We can talk later," Craig said, kissing him again.
Jewel sighed and tugged them apart. "I can't believe I have to be the voice of reason. Talking then kissing."
Craig grinned and kissed her once. "You sure?"
"Unfortunately, babe. Come on, sit," she said, tugging him over to the lounge.
"What's there to talk about, anyway?" Craig asked.
"Lots. We want to be clear about everything and communication is important for that. For instance, you might not want to be with both of us, or only with one of us at a time."
"What? That's... not right," Craig said, shaking his head. "I mean, not right for you two. You love each other, and I wouldn't want to separate you like that."
"See, that's why this is important. I'd get jealous if you two went on dates without me without discussing it with me," Jewel pointed out.
"You might want to go on a date with someone else, so we'd want to talk about it first," Grant added.
"You might want to have sex with me, but only cuddle with Grant," Jewel said.
"We want to make sure you feel as loved and respected as you deserve. We don't want you to feel like you can't talk to us, like you have to hide from us," Grant added, pressing a fingertip to Craig's chin so his blush was revealed.
"We want you to be comfortable, even if it's comfortable enough to argue with us about trivial shit, like pineapple on pizza," Jewel said with a grin.
"Gross," Craig muttered, making Jewel laugh.
Grant grinned at both of them. "That just means more for me."
"All right, I get it. So, let's talk," Craig said with a nod.
Grant handed his notebook and pen over to Jewel. "Jewel's handwriting is neater than mine," he said with a wink.
"That's because you think faster than your hand writes," Jewel said, but took the offered pen and paper anyway.
...
"Warren? I got your text; I'm still only 95% sure it's not Adam pranking me. By the way, if it is Adam, I'm going to think of something awful to do to you," Layla muttered at her phone.
There was no answer from her phone or Warren, so Layla continued through the Hive and out to their oasis where Warren's text had said he'd be waiting for her.
She reached the willow after a few minutes, the branches parting for her. "Oh, before I forget: I'm going to organise one of the plans with Donny. We've got the final assembly before finals, so this will be my last chance to get the seniors," she said as she passed under the branches, only to come to a complete stop.
Warren grinned when he saw her expression. "Do you like it?"
Layla nodded mutely, walking over to the blue hydrangea Warren had grown. He'd shaped the usual bowl-like cluster into a heart instead, the individual flowers of varying shades to provide the heart with more depth. As the breeze played with the hydrangea, it looked as though the heart was beating a soft and calming rhythm.
"It took three hours to get it right, but I've perfected it now, so I should be able to produce more quicker," Warren admitted.
"It's beautiful," Layla said, reaching out to stroke the petals gently.
"I'm hoping customers think so, too," Warren said with a grin. He stood behind Layla, curling his arms around her body. "As promised, the first one's for you. I wanted to show you first."
"Thank you, Warren. I love it," she said, turning in his arms to kiss him.
"I'm glad. Now, I know I said we'd study together, but what was this about a plan with Donny?"
"Study and explanations later; shirt off first," Layla said, tugging at his shirt.
"Anything you want, hippie," Warren said with a laugh, pulling his shirt off as requested.
Layla grinned, her eyes dark with lust, and pushed him back onto the bed. She straddled his thighs, then tied her hair back with a vine before proceeding to kiss him senseless.
...
End of the sixty-seventh chapter.
Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!
