Chapter 39

Woop Woop. My favorite party place.

The day finally came. The Hero Hotel opening was tonight. I dressed in my suit back in my old room. We had moved back in a few days prior. David walked in with a suit Rylan got for him. Silver contacts covered his usually bright blue eyes. “Do I look related now?”

“You don’t need contacts to do that.” He smiled brightly and looked at himself in the full length mirror.

“I look sharp though, don’t I?”

I walked up behind him and helped with tucking in his cape. “Stunning,” I whispered. I looked at him in the mirror and he looked back up at me. “I’m glad you’re coming. I don’t think I could’ve done this without you.”

David’s white teeth sprouted between his lips. “You think I would miss this?”

We both laughed. David always had a fascination for super heroes and that didn’t change after he was adopted by some.

We all hopped into the limo with Phoenix, Justin, and Abigail. I directly went to her side. Her small hand rested in mine comfortably. Excitement bubbled inside my chest as we drove closer and closer to the hotel. Sweat beaded on my palm and Abigail smiled up toward me. “The only heroes I’ve been around are our families.”

Her head nuzzled up into my arm. Her mask was pulled over her eyes. Rylan and Phoenix didn’t make eye contact with anyone. Phoenix pretended to look out the dark tinted windows. Rylan’s gaze stayed on the floor. This would be harder for them than it would for me.

Little did they know I had planned something myself. Abigail and I pulled our heads together to somehow make the task a little easier for them. Music is in charge of the soul and she and I both knew that.

The limo stopped and the door flew open. The second it did, lights flashed into the back of the car. One by one we each started to get out of the limo. When finally it was my turn I looked up to see cameras in my face. Phoenix was on the red carpet halfway through the paparazzi.  I pulled Abigail out with me. The men behind the camera’s started yelling, “Abigail, Abigail.” She smiled brightly for each individual picture. I followed her lead and showed off my bright white teeth. She wrapped her tiny arm around my waist underneath my cape. We stood and posed for picture as long as we possibly could.

Rylan walked out and gave us the look to get ready and get inside. We walked down the rest of the carpet into the hotel. As we walked in I lost my breath. It was beautiful. The large lobby was full of gold marble from ceiling to floor. Red curtains hung down the walls. I looked to my right to see a huge hole in the wall. It had been roped off and glass had been strategically put so that water wouldn’t get in. Abigail pointed, “Justin overcame my grandfather’s powers and crashed through the wall to free everyone.” A red rope was placed in front of the glass and people stood all around looking at it. On the wall next to it was, a big metal plate naming everyone there that evening.

I pulled Abigail along with me as we pushed through the people to get to the sign. I looked over the names and found both of my parents. At the bottom it read in italics “*of all the guests only one passed away.” I followed the star up to my father’s name.

“I’m indebted to your father.”

Abigail looked up at me, “I think he’s more indebted to him. He saved Collin and that’s all Phoenix seems to care about.”

I smiled and looked at the big hole in the wall. “Justin was pretty amazing then.”

She nodded, “Although Shiloh was the real hero of the night.” She pointed up towards the ceiling. Another large hole was in the ceiling. It had been filled by the same glass. “He was shoved through the roof and scraped off, with no powers. My dad tells me it was a gory and bloody mess.”

I thought of my father trying to protect as many people as he could. Abigail pulled me along the red velvet rope. I continued to look at the ceiling trying to think of what it must’ve been like. “This is where Rylan was stuck against the wall.” The large discus missing from the statue behind me was on the ground. Behind it a small indent where a body could fit. In that indent, blood.  I quickly looked away as I felt the pain swarm through me. It wasn’t my pain that I was feeling but the pain of both my fathers. Suddenly images in my mind took over. 

Rylan was stuck behind the discus. Blood was draining from his face quickly. Shiloh stood next to him trying to remove the large marble. There was no sound yet. You could tell they were yelling at each other. Rylan took Shiloh’s hand and looked deep into his eyes. Shiloh took one step and then another. Without taking their eyes off of each other Shiloh ran off.

My mind turned back to where I was. Blood was still dried to the marble wall. Abigail had left my side and Rylan was standing next to me. His grey eyes looked at the discus, “That damn thing hurt like a b***h. But what hurt worse was, knowing I wouldn’t be able to see Shiloh again.”

“But you saved him one last time? Someone saved him when he fell off the roof.”

Rylan nodded, “The minute I hit the ground with him I’d lost all sense of life. I couldn’t hear I couldn’t see there was nothing left of me.” He smiled, “It may not seem like it but it was a more simple time. I would go back any day. I would rather be dying behind the discus then of a broken heart.” His lips pursed together and he looked at me. “He’s almost here.”

I nodded and he stepped back. I watched his shoulders slump as he walked away. Abigail again came to my side. She smiled and led me over to where the small symphony was playing. Outside we heard reporters screaming and yelling. The flashes filled the room and Collin stepped in. He was the golden child of this night. Many say that if he wasn’t there everyone would’ve died. That’s my dad, the hero. But that wasn’t my dad. His hair was almost completely blonde at this point. A cocky smile covered his mouth and he walked proudly into the room. Dark black eyes were centered in the middle of his face.

Where had my father gone?