I'm keeping up my record of about one update a month. Just for an idea of how many more chapters I have planned, I'm estimating somewhere around five and probably a short prologue. I have to admit, I hated writing the back scene. That's probably why it needs a little help. But since I have recently begun an original story (as in not a fanfic), I'd very much like to get this done as soon as possible. That's a good thing for all of you, I suppose. And the tiny flashback in here is from the night Nikki ran away. I don't know if that would confuse you, but it's an awfully long time to make you all go back and remember. Hope you enjoy it!
giveGodtheglory – Thanks so much! I love cliffies!
Xaris of the Fish – Thank you!
Trekkie in a TruckerHat – Thanks so much! It makes me feel really good when somebody points out something specific that they liked!
Moonjava – Thanks a lot!
Yyunesprith – So you have read The Archives of Anthropos, eh? Actually, don't know if you've read them all, but Suneidesis gets married and has a son. I see where you're coming from about the whole "angst" thing, especially after reading my one-shot. This story was kinda inspired by that, hence the similar theme. And I hate to tell you this, but as I mentioned in my AN last chapter, Skylar is just an RP charrie stuck in there for fun. She, unfortunately, has nothing to do with the story. She does, however, have much to do with Thorn's past. But I won't be going into much, if any, detail about that in this story. Thanks so much!
Moonbeam – Original name…lol. Where did you ever get it? Made me laugh. You had better review again! Hehe!
Griselda Banks – First and foremost, I want to say that I'm horribly sorry about not being able to have you beta this story. I really wanted you to. I will continue to read and review your story! Please don't hate me! I loved your comment about surviving past the 13th chapter…although it IS an unlucky number…haha, jk. It seems like you're on the right track about her powers. Nikki's a bit confused about them too. Thanks a lot!
An Old Friend of the Parkers'
If she hadn't already been screaming, Nikki suddenly emitted an ear-piercing shriek. A cold fury swept through her. She was not going to die so close to having all the answers. She was not going to die because of faulty abilities.
She was not going to die.
With a vicious swipe, her fingers caught around Warren's flailing arm and clung on for dear life.
Nikki looked down, or more correctly, straightforward. Their soon-to-be crash site appeared to be the sidewalk in front of the Empire State Building.
People were screaming and running about chaotically below them. Everything seemed to be growing at an uncontrollable rate. The cars were no longer cute little miniatures. They were very much life-sized and deadly.
She threw her left arm up over her face to shield it from the life-crushing view. Warren was shaking her wildly about as they fell together, but she refused to let go. This was it.
Closing her eyes in the utmost concentration, Nikki willed her abilities to kick in. It was like trying to start up an old engine that just wouldn't go. C'mon…c'mon…
"YES!" A spark of blue that began at her scar flickered. Then it raced up her arm, splitting when it met the rest of her body, and spreading out to encase her in blazing azure.
Onlookers saw two people plummeting toward them. They ran, screaming, out of the way and watched in amazement as one of them seemed to catch fire – blue fire.
Warren looked even more terrified than before. His eyes bulged as her brilliant light began to extend past her fingers and over him.
He fought like a rabid dog to pull away, but this masked woman was using some sort of inhuman strength to hold on. They only had about half a second before they hit the ground anyway.
They connected, but they didn't stop.
Fantasma numbly saw the solid line of sidewalk pass her eyes as she plunged through it painlessly. Well, not completely painlessly. It was almost as though she had just hopped into a pool. She felt the air around her instantly snatched away.
Warren had stopped fighting to get away from her and had begun trying to claw his way out of the all-consuming blackness. He couldn't breath. He could barely think. Fantasma changed their direction and started pulling him; pulling him through something thick and fluid like water.
Consciousness was beginning to elude her. Bright red dancing lights entered her blackened vision. Fantasma felt a warning prickle in the back of her neck. She knew she was going to suffocate if she didn't get to the surface soon.
The only thing keeping her going was the knowledge that she had to get away to a place where she could question Warren. The taunting red sparks in her vision multiplied; their dance became more frenzied.
Just as she began to slide back into utter blackness, Fantasma burst from the earth and a rush of air filled her heaving lungs.
Mostly through her peripheral vision, she observed that they had ended up in some sort of storage room, complete with a couple of scattered boxes.
Turning, she wrenched Warren out of the ground by his shirt. The sudden light nearly blinded him as she slung him down onto the floor a few feet away.
Warren lay there in a heap, gasping and choking. It was at least a minute before he could struggle into a sitting position and try to focus his blurring vision. The first recognizable thing he saw was a thin black boot.
Fantasma glared condescendingly down at him. Her feet were planted resolutely and her hands rested on her hips. She watched Warren squinting stupidly up at her.
He started out intelligently enough, and it went downhill from there. "Wha-?"
Fantasma lunged forward, gripping his shoulders tightly, and pinned him up against the plain white wall. His face inches from her own, she spoke calmly but with a haunting threat in her voice.
"How do you know Spider-Man?"
Of all the things Warren had been expecting the terrifying costumed woman to say, this question was not one of them. "Wha-what are you talking about?" he stammered.
She let go of his left shoulder and raised her hand to strike him. Warren shrank back from her as much as possible, cringing pitifully. A narrow emotion that could have been interpreted as satisfaction crossed her face beneath the deep violet mask.
"Now," Fantasma continued in that same composed tone of voice. "How do you know Spider-Man?"
Warren blinked at her like a deer caught in headlights. "You mean that weirdo who runs around in spandex?"
Fantasma bit back a retort. "Yes, to put it that way, 'the weirdo who runs around in spandex.'"
He hesitated briefly, as if he was waiting for more explanation.
"Well?" she said.
Warren looked confused. Fantasma had to wonder sarcastically just how difficult it was to do that to him. "What about him?" he asked, clueless.
"How do you know him?" she snapped. "How do you know Spider-Man?"
"I don't."
Something in her finally lost it. Fantasma threw him across the room furiously. She was practically radiating frustration as strongly as she could glow.
"LIAR!" she screamed.
Warren scrambled to his feet and hurried to cower in the corner as she advanced. Her eyes seemed to be shooting sparks. "I don't know! I don't know what you're talkin' about!"
"What do you mean? Of course you know! You fought with him in an alley back in June! I saw it!" Her eyes were blazing now.
Warren tried to become small, curling up into the fetal position and whimpering a continuous stream of: "IdunnoknowIdunnoknowIdunnoknow!"
Fantasma stared at him. She stopped moving and let her arms hang listlessly at her sides. Was it possible that he was telling the truth? Maybe she had mistaken him for someone else. Her fury and determination was replaced with uncertainty. Perhaps she was interrogating the wrong person.
"Look at me," she said quietly. Warren remained in a ball on the floor, still sniveling. "Look at me," she said more firmly.
He finally raised his face to stare into her black velvet rimmed eyes.
It was him alright.
Fantasma sighed and turned away. For all his crudeness and self-centered behavior, he was really just a big, dumb brute. Something wasn't lining up, but it wasn't his fault. He was telling the truth.
"Go," she said dully.
Warren peered around his hands fearfully at her, but her back was to him now. He sat up slightly.
"I said go," she snarled without looking at him.
He didn't need to be told twice. Warren leaped to his feet and bolted out through the door, still howling like a wounded puppy.
Fantasma waited only a few seconds before crossing the empty room to the wall opposite the door. She ghosted her head through, checking to make sure the coast was clear.
She found herself gazing about a busy department store. People were bustling about, shopping, completely oblivious to the random head in the wall that was looking around.
Fantasma stepped backward into the storage room and turned to look at the boxes. She ripped one open and was greeted with a very last-season pile of shirts and jeans that were missing tags or had some sort of flaw.
"Eh, it'll have to do, I guess." She rummaged around until she found some things her size.
In less than two minutes, Nikki looked perfectly normal in a pair of civies, out of fashion, but clothes nonetheless. Stuffing her mask into her pocket, she ghosted through the wall into the store and wandered casually outside.
The moment she hit the street, all her previously frozen emotions came back to her in a rush. Nikki was frustrated that she was no closer to solving the alley mystery than before and had probably ended up with even more unanswered questions.
When she returned to the Empire State Building, it was crawling with security personnel and official-looking military people.
Nikki slid through the crowd, cautiously using her ghosting abilities whenever she hit a particularly tight spot. The place where she and Warren had ghosted into the ground was roped off and being well guarded. Helicopters zoomed overhead.
She attempted to go inside but was turned away. Nikki knew she shouldn't have been surprised, but couldn't help feeling suddenly frightened. What a thing to have to explain!
She could just see it now:
Well, Mrs. Hoffman, I was just leaving the building without telling anyone when two people dropped out of the sky. Of course I had nothing to do with it; and the fact that I was talking to someone on the observatory less than five minutes before it happened doesn't make any difference… Oh yes, that would go over well.
Nikki threw the 86th floor observatory a worried glance. How was she supposed to blend back in with her class when she couldn't even enter the building?
"Nicole? Nicole!"
Nikki paused and twisted around. Her teacher, Mrs. Hoffman was tripping down the steps in her high heels past the police officers, her great bangles clanging together and her unzipped jacket flapping behind her.
"Oh my goodness! Nikki!" She threw her arms around Nikki, practically sobbing. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright! We were so worried." Nikki patted her teacher awkwardly on the back and looked around embarrassedly.
As a policeman stepped up to them, Mrs. Hoffman managed to gather some of her wits and let go of Nikki. "Officer," she began before he could question her. "This is one of my students. I'll take her back in."
She grabbed Nikki's arm and steered her past the curious bystanders and through the great doors. "Come along, dear," she said, sniffling.
Nikki obeyed wordlessly. She had sensed her teacher's slight surprise as the woman had clamped her hand onto Nikki's unusually muscular arm. The moment they were inside, she gently detached Mrs. Hoffman's fingers from around her elbow.
The class was waiting in the lobby, huddled close together like a group of cows on a hot day. Several girls she didn't even know rushed over to them.
"You're okay!"
"Where were you?"
"How'd you get past all the police?"
"Did you see what happened?"
"Oh my gosh, Nikki!"
"What is going on?"
Nikki backed slightly away from them, feeling overwhelmed and nervous. What had happened? Ha, she wasn't about to explain that.
Mrs. Hoffman tried to calm them down, but she looked nearly hysterical herself. After shoving Nikki over with the rest of her class, the teacher resumed speaking anxiously with a group of security personnel. She kept wringing her hands nervously, making her bangles jingle loudly. Nikki was surprised she hadn't dropped any yet.
She tried to catch Allie's eye, but the other girl was making a point of not looking at her. Nikki tried to spot Claire's class. Finally she caught sight of the familiar tomato-red hair as the group of juniors was escorted out.
About an hour later, after Warren had turned up, babbling about some crazy lady who knew Spider-Man and wore purple, the class was allowed to leave.
Odrade met them outside. He was furious. Nikki could tell because he kept flipping his cell phone over and over in his hand and running his hand through his hair. He wouldn't speak to her or Allie; just walked them home in a horrible silence.
Back in the basement, Jake greeted them cheerfully from the couch, his leg propped up on the coffee table. It wasn't broken, just badly sprained, and the doctor said that he would need to stay off it for three weeks or so. Jake planned on making it no more that two.
"Yo!" He motioned toward the TV. "You're on the news."
Nikki watched herself falling hundreds of feet with Warren right behind her. A coat, probably hers, fluttered down after them. It was weird to see the whole thing from the perspective of an onlooker on the ground.
Jake turned the volume up so they could all hear. A reporter was doing a voiceover.
"What started as a fun field trip to the Empire State Building for a group of sophomores quickly turned into a nightmare as one of their number and a mystery person plunged the 1,050 feet to the ground. This footage was taped by a pedestrian. The teenage boy was identified later as Warren Bennett, but the other girl remains anonymous. As you can see here…"
The camera, which had been following their progress, zoomed in on the two as they neared the ground. The person holding the camera began swearing and running backward to get away. Then she and Warren vanished into the concrete.
"…they appear to have fallen through the sidewalk, leaving nothing but - get this Dennis - a glowing blue silhouette where they should have landed. After about five minutes, it had completely faded away. Miraculously, Warren Bennett turned up about an hour later, but he is still in police custody and no further details have been released."
The footage was replayed several times. As they finally returned to the newscasters to discuss the mysterious costumed girl who had yet to be identified, Jake flipped the TV off.
"Do you think they'll figure it out?" Nikki asked in a small voice.
For a long time, no one said anything. The room was very quiet. Allie and Odrade exchanged looks.
At last Jake bit his lip. "I don't know, Nik," he said gently. "I don't know."
"I'm so tired." Fantasma yawned, rubbing her eyes and feeling extremely grateful that she didn't have to endure contacts at this time of night. "How long will this take?"
Krystelle frowned and shushed her. "Be quiet!"
C-Cat giggled softly. Thorn said nothing, as usual.
It was 1:30 AM, the same night of the incident at the ESB. The group, minus Jake, was standing behind a small bank in the suburbs. The lights were all off inside, but none of them had any doubt that the security guards and cameras were still awake.
Fantasma yawned again, adjusting her mask which had the annoying habit of sticking to her face. Secretly, her insides were churning wildly. Not only nervous excitement, but guilt also racked her brain. She was scared, and the weary façade was only a disguise to cover up these emotions.
The four people carefully slid through the shadows to the outer wall. Fantasma felt her heart thumping out of control in her chest. She half expected echoes in the darkness, it was so loud. Pressing one hand to her heart, she tried to calm it by willpower. It wasn't working.
She felt Thorn give her hand a squeeze and jumped. Looking up into the woman's mask (Thorn's covered up her entire face and was black along with the rest of her costume); Fantasma remembered what she was supposed to do.
Now she was really nervous. She was expected to ghost them inside, one by one.
Tightening her grip on Thorn's hand and begging her body to calm down, Fantasma turned around. First, she took a great breath, exhaling slowly. Then she pressed her head through the solid brick wall.
Fantasma could sense Thorn's impatient incredulity at the bright glow she was leaving. Hey, it's not like I can do anything about it, Fantasma thought, an irritated blush creeping up her cheeks. She forced herself to focus on scanning the room inside.
Odrade was right; they had come into a meeting room and there wasn't a camera to be seen. The lights were all shut off, but her glow lent a pale light to the otherwise black room. "Good," she said aloud.
With a jerk, she pulled Thorn through with her a little roughly, still feeling a tad miffed at the woman's obvious lack of faith in her abilities. Thorn stumbled in, unnerved by the peculiar sensation of not being able to breathe inside the wall. Fantasma gave her a smug look.
As soon as Thorn was on her feet again, Fantasma stuck her hand blindly back out through the wall and waited for Krystelle to take her hand. She ushered her inside and finally ghosted C-Cat through.
"Whoa," breathed Thorn. It was the most Fantasma had heard her say all day.
Krystelle looked winded, but C-Cat was grinning broadly. His white teeth sparkled in the dim blue lighting.
Thorn led the way to the door. Leaning up against the wall and motioning for them to do the same, she reached forward. Her hand couldn't quite touch the door, but a clump of silver tendrils shot out and laced themselves around the knob. The spines twisted it silently. It was locked.
Fantasma wished she could see Thorn's face. The woman's countenance was probably screwed up in concentration beneath the mask.
One spindly metal thread released its hold and poked into the lock. A few seconds later, there was an audible click. Thorn gave the door a light push. It swung open silently.
Thorn waited a while before sidling out. The rest of the group followed her single file, casting nervous glances at the shadows that hung about like enormous black drapes.
They saw several security guards and cameras but managed to duck out of the way just in time. The only close call came when Fantasma, already very edgy, completely lost her head and ran directly in front of a sleepy guard.
A bundle of metallic spines pinned him up against the wall while Krystelle knocked him over the head with a large chunk of pink crystal before the poor man could scream.
Fantasma gave the unconscious man a sympathetic look. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Krystelle wrinkling her nose scornfully.
A fleeting spike of resentment mounted in Fantasma's chest, only to sink back to a grumble as she thought of what was to come. C-Cat just smiled.
The climax of their raid was to be her job.
"Dude, you can walk through walls! Just march right in and snag the gold,"Jake had said. Easy.
"Or not," she murmured with a sigh.
"What?" said Thorn as they neared the safe.
Fantasma dropped her eyes. "Nothing"
They reached the safe too quickly for her. It was at the end of a hallway that seemed incredibly short and inside a small room that looked awfully exposed.
Thorn motioned her forward. "Ghost in and I'll follow behind you." She pointed Krystelle and C-Cat to guard the two hallways. They positioned themselves on either side and Krystelle gave Thorn a thumbs up.
Fantasma walked right up to the door, hesitated, then gathered up her wits and swept through it. The small room was very dark, but for her shining silhouette. Turning around, she saw Thorn duck inside the ghost residue.
The dark-haired woman nodded at the metal safe. "Go ahead. It's all you now."
Fantasma stood before it, shuffling her feet apprehensively, but didn't move any further. She twisted her finger around her brown ponytail and bit her lip. Now that it came right down to it, she wasn't sure she could go through with it. Her mind was spinning. This is wrong…I shouldn't be here…But what can I do?
Nothing, another of her jumbled thoughts said. Absolutely nothing.
Thorn broke into her musings. "What are you waiting for?" she said with annoyance. "We'd like to get out of here sometime this year."
"Yeah." She was drawn out of her trance. "I'm going, I'm going."
"Good," said Thorn, settling back against the door window but looking just as taut as ever. "For a minute there, I thought you were gonna get cold feet."
The girl laughed humorlessly but didn't move. Somehow she just couldn't make herself walk into that safe. To steal.
They might have stayed there like that all night if a guard hadn't stumbled upon the body of his insensible comrade. He let out a shout of fear and surprise.
The whole building came alive with that yell. The few guards were scurrying around looking for intruders, setting off alarms, and stalking about the hallways while trying to look big and intimidating.
Thorn swore loudly. "Fantasma!" she said, squinting out the window beside the door. "Get in there now!"
Fantasma lunged forward like a spooked horse, remembering to ghost at the last possible moment. Although the safe had sealed itself and the usual security measures had been put into effect, she reemerged a few minutes later, hauling several sacks of bills that a sixteen-year-old girl should not have been able to carry.
"Let's go!" Thorn shouted.
But Fantasma had frozen up. Her danger sense was screaming and her conscience was riddled with guilt. The spinning lights everywhere almost made her sick. She stared around in wide-eyed trepidation.
Without a word, Thorn grabbed a sack out of her arms and yanked the terrified girl to the door. A horde of metal tendrils burst from her hands and smashed into the door, splintering it and sending wood shavings flying.
Fantasma covered her face with her hands as Thorn kicked the remainder of the door down and, grabbing her arm, dragged them both out of the wreckage.
They were met by only frantically grinning face of C-Cat – which was his way of showing fear - and Krystelle.
"I sealed off that hallway but left the other one as an exit." She yelled over the scream of the alarms and sirens. One hallway was indeed blocked by a wall of glinting pink crystal. Then she said, stating the obvious, "I think the police are here."
C-Cat's wide, grinning mouth suddenly screamed and disappeared.
Through the screen of crystal, Fantasma could see a group of police officers pelting toward them. The flashing alarm lights winked off gold colored badges. They were carrying guns; big, nasty looking firearms.
"Go, go!" shouted Thorn. She waved the two girls down the other hallway. "The crystal will buy us time!"
Indeed, the police had screeched to a halt before it. Most were running their hands over the smooth pink surface in amazement. A few were trying to find a way to break through. But the rest had turned around and were attempting to head off the thieves before they could reach an exit.
Krystelle complied with Thorn's command at once. Without a backward glance, she sprinted off, disappearing around a corner.
Fantasma watched her go. She couldn't believe what she was doing. The heavy bags felt like they were full of nothing more than worthless bricks. What was this ill-gotten gain to her?
Before she had a chance to completely rethink this whole "job", a blinding warning streaked across her vision. Everything around her had slowed to a crawl. She was used to her danger sense by now, but it had only been this strong once before: that miserable night of running away…
A man with a gun was holding up a cashier and looked like he had already knocked out the only other worker in the small shop. He waited as the terrorized lady began shoving some money into a bag for him.
Just then, the woman's gaze caught sight of her through the rain streaked window. "Hey! Help!" She screamed frantically.
Startled, the robber spun around and fired through the window at Nikki.
Even in the unearthly slowness, two inches of lead was still racing toward her. Fantasma, startled but not completely thrown into disarray, used her best tactic for bullets; she let it plunge into her side, coming out quite harmlessly and quite blue.
Her eyes watched it fly into the wall, probably lost forever, and turned to stare at the crystal. But it was a solid as before. A horrible suspicion crept up her spine. Whirling around to the open hallway, Fantasma came face to face with the muzzle of a gun, inches from her face.
For what seemed like ages, she could only gape at the endless black hole, open-mouthed. Then, out of the corner of her wide green eyes, she noticed Thorn waving her arms wildly. She wants me to just ghost through him, Fantasma thought dully. She didn't move. She'd never been in this situation before.
The dark-skinned police officer who held his gun in her face ordered her to put her hands up. She could see that he was shaking a little bit. He was young. His stocky frame was muscular and energetic. His crew cut black hair glistened with sweat in the flashing lights. Maybe this was his first day.
Coming to her senses, Fantasma raised her hands and the bags of money gradually. The officer looked ready to blow her head off if she moved too fast, he was so on edge.
"You wouldn't shoot a little girl, would you?" she asked with the most charming smile she could muster.
"If you don't get over here now, I'll shoot you!" shouted Thorn from behind them. Krystelle stood beside her.
The officer's head snapped in Thorn's direction. He hadn't noticed her – or the rest of his comrades lying senseless on the floor. Pieces of crystal and weapons littered the hallway. Fantasma made a mental note to thank Thorn later.
The man gulped.
That was his mistake. In the split second of hesitation, Fantasma brought one of the sacks crashing down onto his head. He crumpled to the floor in a heap. His gun slid a few feet away across the shiny tiles.
"Never underestimate the power of a little girl," she quipped in satisfaction.
Her heart pounding in her ears, Fantasma dashed down the hallway, around a corner, and back through the door to the conference room. She ghosted the group out, including C-Cat who appeared just in time, and fled into the night.
Some one near her was cackling quietly as they ran. It was very probably C-Cat, but soon Fantasma could feel herself laughing with relief too as they neared the pick-up point.
They piled into the car. Thorn, after kicking a grinning C-Cat out of the driver's seat, started the engine up and Krystelle rode shotgun.
Fantasma threw the bags into the trunk, slamming it shut. She slumped exhaustedly into her seat in the back. C-Cat appeared a few minutes later in the seat beside her, hooting with laughter.
It had been an exciting night.
Christmas Eve.
Nikki shivered in the cold. Tugging her jacket tight about herself, she flowed along with the stream of shoppers down the sidewalk. From the rooftops, where she had been sitting less than fifteen minutes ago, the streets looked like a rushing river of hats and red, jolly faces.
She pulled out of the current and into Macy's. Getting away from the icy breeze by the doors, Nikki unzipped her coat and shook snow out of her wet brown hair. She took in her surroundings quickly.
The department store was decorated with brilliant Christmas streamers and fake fir trees. Red and green balls hung from the ceiling. Employees wore elf hats. Sale signs and Seasons Greetings and other pithy holiday sayings were scattered thickly about, as though some one had dropped them from above in a game of fifty-two card pick up. A thin sheen of muddy water coated the floor.
Last-minute shoppers like herself hurried by, trying to find the perfect gift before going home to a cozy home and a happy family.
Nikki felt a little homesick remembering that she would not be celebrating with her real family this year.
No, she told herself grimly, I don't have a family. And just to settle her little ongoing argument with herself: They've probably forgotten about you anyway.
Her callous side had won another battle. Woohoo. But the rest of the war was still awaiting her.
Wandering into the juniors, Nikki picked out a pink top that she knew Allie would love, whether she let on or not. She wondered distantly why she was getting her a Christmas present in the first place. Shrugging it off, Nikki felt her purse on her shoulder and was reminded of the fat wallet she was shopping with.
Her gift from Odrade.
She'd already picked out a videogame for C-Cat. Nikki didn't know what it was about, but the clerk had assured her that it was perfect for a ten-year-old boy. Nikki thought it looked violent.
And for Thorn, after much deliberation, she decided on a black tank top. One of ten that the woman already had, most likely, but at least it was something.
But what to get for Jake?
That question now rang in her mind. What on earth could he possibly want? For some reason, Nikki felt she ought to get him something that wasn't just another thoughtless Christmas present.
Chewing on one finger absently, she looked around the store. Her eyes fixed on a girl with bright tomato red hair and a good-looking guy walking beside her.
"Claire!" she cried, waving.
Claire looked for the person yelling her name. Seeing Nikki, she let out an excited squeal. "Nikki!" She came running over, a huge smile on her face. Her pearly white teeth gleamed.
Claire gave her a hug. Stepping back she said, "I haven't seen you in, like, three months!" They talked often on the phone. "You should have told me you were going to be here! Are you by yourself?"
Nikki felt her optimism slipping. "Yeah, everybody else had a party to go to. I'm just doing a little last-minute shopping"
"Last-minute Christmas Eve shopping!" said Claire. "I didn't know you were such a procrastinator."
"Not usually, but I've been really busy," said Nikki. What an understatement. She was still feeling the effects of being up all night at a bank in New Jersey two days ago. "You got your braces off. Looks good."
"Thanks," blushed Claire.
"So," said Nikki, "aren't you going to introduce me?" She motioned to the guy standing a couple of feet back from them. He had curly cocoa hair and shining brown eyes. He was very tall. "This must be Luke, right?"
"Actually," said Claire, "this is Aaron Michelson. He's just a friend. Luke wasn't feeling very well today, so we decided to go by ourselves. Aaron, meet Nikki Parker."
Aaron leaned forward, taking Nikki's hand in a bone-crunching shake. Nikki allowed herself to put a little pressure into it too.
She had to crank her head back to look him in the eye. Despite being strong, Aaron still had a lot of filling out to do for a seventeen-year-old. But she couldn't help admiring that crazy hair of his.
"Whoa, quite a grip you've got there, Nikki. Do you work out?" he asked.
Nikki smiled mysteriously. "A little."
Claire looked between them. "Well, I can see you guys are hitting it off right away. Maybe Aaron should walk you home instead."
Instead of taking the joke, Nikki felt a tiny bead of sweat on the back of her neck. She always got jittery whenever she was afraid of her job being discovered.
Aaron laughed to fill in the awkward silence. "It was nice meeting you, Nikki. See you around, I hope?" He winked.
Nikki swallowed and tried to return the friendly gesture. His wink sent a flurry of butterflies erupting in her stomach.
"Goodbye, Nik!" called Claire as the two drifted away.
"Bye," mumbled Nikki, her eyes still on Aaron.
At the Parker household, several weeks later…
Snow was falling hard outside in chunks, rather than floating to the ground as delicate little flakes.
Mary Jane hardly noticed. She was too busy getting the house and dinner ready for company. As she poured a bag of chocolate chips into the bowl of batter, the timer screeched that the chicken was done.
She abandoned the desert momentarily as she turned the timer off and opened the oven. Savoring the smell of a whole cooked chicken, she didn't see Ben sneak into the kitchen. He scooped a handful of chocolate chips into his mouth.
"Mom, Ben's eating the chips!" said May from the table.
He gave her a dirty look. Chewing and swallowing as quickly as possible, he gave his mother an innocent face.
"Ben," said MJ warningly. She carefully hoisted the roast pan out of the oven. "Have you been eating the chocolate again?"
"Uh…" said Ben. A glob of brown leaked out from between his lips.
"Ew!" said May, leaping to her feet.
Mary Jane grimaced in disgust. "That's - "
Ben wiped his face and licked off his fingers with obvious relish.
" – gross." MJ sighed and raked one hand through her strawberry blonde locks.
She seemed to have aged several years in a couple of months. Her hair was still red, but she was no longer sure how much was her own gorgeous color and how much was a result of dye. The disappearance of her eldest daughter had taken its toll on Mary Jane Parker.
The doorbell rang.
Mary Jane panicked. "They can't be here yet!" She spun to face the clock. "It's only 4:30!"
But, just to be on the safe side, she started hurling orders around like a drill sergeant.
"Ben, go wash your face. May, get your homework off the table…No, don't put it on the counter."
She snatched the stack of papers and books up and shoved them at her daughter. "Go put them in your room."
Hurriedly untying her apron while, MJ ran to look out the window. There was no car in the driveway. She frowned. The doorbell rang again, twice this time.
She took a broom from the closet and began walk toward the steps. Living with a superhero had taught her to be suspicious of anything unusual.
Ben was already halfway down the stairs when Mary Jane crept out of the kitchen, a red broom held high above her head. "Mom…?" he started, but she shoved him behind her.
"Go into your bedroom and take your sister. Don't come out until I call you."
MJ stole down the wooden steps softly, her neck craning to see out the window beside the door and wishing that the steps weren't so creaky.
The chime of the doorbell nearly sent her through the roof. She stopped to calm herself, then wrapped her hand warily around the knob. Her face was almost as red as her hair. Adrenaline flew through her veins at an insane speed.
Raising her broom to a threatening position, she yanked the door open.
A mutilated mixture of dark blue goop and man staggered inside, collapsing on the floor.
Mary Jane gawked at him in shock. "Venom?" she gasped. She had completely forgotten that she was still brandishing a broom above her head.
Rolling over, the man opened one eye and gave her a crooked grin.
"That's no way to greet an ol' friend, MJ." Then he passed out.