The First Superhero (Novella): Richter Read online

“No, this was pretty important, I’d say. You probably never would’ve gone to the police station if I hadn’t dragged you there.”

  Patrick rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “Yeah, whatever. Don’t give yourself too much credit.”

  “But anyways,” Victoria said, bringing the conversation back around. “I’m not going, but Ben is.”

  Patrick gave her a sideways look. Ben was Victoria’s younger brother, a freshman in high school. He was just beginning to hit his rebellious streak, which would explain why he’d be going to a party in the woods instead of spending time with his mother after not seeing her for a couple of weeks. “How did Ben get invited to the party? He’s a freshman.”

  Victoria shrugged as she swallowed another bite of food. Her eyes wandered to the corner of the room, and she was clearly thinking about Ben. “I have no idea. I’m worried about him, though. He doesn’t need to be hanging out with the seniors. He thinks he can hold his own, but I really don’t think he can handle himself.”

  Patrick could see where the conversation was going, and decided to beat her there. “I’ll keep an eye on him if you want me to.”

  Victoria sat back in her chair, relieved. “Thank you so much, Patrick. Although I’m not sure you should even be going,” she said with a smile, knowing she was getting under his skin.

  Patrick sighed. “Trust me, it’ll be fine. It’ll probably end up being boring and I’ll just leave early.”

  Victoria laughed and shook her head. “That’ll be the day.”

  4

  Everything Surreal

  “Ah, shit,” Ben said as he stopped to look at his shoe.

  Patrick stopped walking down the trail in the woods and turned to see what was wrong with Ben.

  “I kicked a rock and scuffed my new shoes,” Ben said as he tried to wipe the white mark off.

  Patrick looked around while Ben fixed his shoes. They were deep into the woods, much deeper than he thought they’d have to be. He felt worry and fear tickling inside of him. He didn’t know what he was going to do if he was lost. He didn’t have any cell service, and he wasn’t one hundred percent sure how to get back to his car. He’d parked it next to a bunch of other cars, but he was beginning to worry that maybe those cars were all there for something else.

  The wind blew through the trees, creating a whispering sound that Patrick found unsettling. The smell of pine needles wafted up his nostrils, and while normally that would be a comforting smell, it only reminded Patrick that he was in the middle of the woods—possibly lost—which only worried him more.

  “Alright, ready to go?” Ben asked as he stood. He brushed some dirt off his khaki pants and straightened his blue gingham shirt.

  Patrick nodded. “I think it’s this way,” he said, taking his best guess. He really wished he’d paid more attention when his friend Wendy had invited him. All he knew was that no matter what, he couldn’t not show up. This was going to be a huge party, one that people would talk about at every class reunion. Victoria was taking a huge hit by not showing up. Although, if he was being honest, it really didn’t matter. They were in the two weeks of purgatory between school getting out and graduation, and there wasn’t much Victoria would be able to do to hurt her reputation. Which also meant that there wasn’t much Patrick could do to help his.

  Going to the party isn’t going to hurt it, at least, he thought. He gave a sideways glance to Ben. He knew he was going to have to ditch him as soon as he got to the party. He couldn’t be seen walking up with a freshman, no matter how much the seniors liked him.

  “So, who invited you to the party?” he asked, trying his best to not sound accusatory.

  “Some of the guys on the football team did,” Ben replied. “They said it was going to be an awesome one. They’ve got a lot of stuff planned.”

  Patrick didn’t like the sound of that. “Did they mention what kind of things?”

  “They didn’t say, just that I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

  Patrick felt his heartbeat pick up speed. “Was one of those things a church service?” he asked with a nervous chuckle.

  Ben looked over at him, confused.

  Patrick looked him up and down. “Your clothes. Is there a wedding planned or something?”

  Ben laughed and shook his head. “Nah, just trying to look nice. You know, wanna impress the ladies.”

  “Any lady in particular?” Patrick asked, teasing.

  “Wendy Simmons,” Ben said with confidence.

  Patrick fought hard the urge to laugh. “You know, I’m good friends with Wendy.”

  Ben looked at him, his eyes wide. “No shit? Are you serious right now?”

  Patrick nodded. “Yep. She’s the one who invited me to this party, actually.”

  Ben let out a nervous sigh and began straightening his already straight collar. “Damn, Patrick, how’d you become friends with her? She’s way too popular for you.”

  Patrick shrugged as he scoured the tree line for any sign that they were going in the right direction. “We’ve just always been friends. She’s really nice, if a bit…”

  “Slutty?”

  “Well, that’s no way to talk about the girl you have a crush on. But, yeah, she can be a little promiscuous.”

  “Has she ever—”

  “Let’s not, okay?” Patrick said, getting short with Ben.

  They continued walking in silence, having lost the trail they’d been walking on a long time ago. The sun was almost finished setting, and it got darker and darker with every minute that passed. Now they were simply wandering in the woods, although Patrick supposed Ben had every right to believe he knew where he was going.

  Just as Patrick was about to tell Ben that they were lost, the sound of lots of teenagers whooping and hollering reached his ears.

  Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, he pointed to where the sound was coming from. “It’s this way,” he said.

  Ben clapped his hands together, his nerves visibly setting in.

  “Don’t worry,” Patrick told him. “This is going to be fun.”

  Ben nodded, and the two of them walked toward the party, aching for a good time.

  *

  It wasn’t very hard for Patrick to lose Ben. All he had to do was walk up to where Wendy was standing, sipping on her drink, and Ben ran away on his own.

  “I’m so glad you made it!” she said as she threw her arms around his neck. Her shirt was low-cut, and her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She was wearing black leggings and a pair of sneakers, both of which had spots of dirt on them.

  Patrick hugged back and then pulled away. “Yep, got just a little bit lost in the woods, but we made it,” he said. The partying mood began to set in as the stress of being lost began to fade away.

  “We?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

  Patrick shook his head and chuckled. “No, I didn’t bring a girl with me,” he said, knowing that was what she was insinuating. “It’s actually Victoria’s little brother, Ben. He’s a freshman, and she just wanted to make sure he got here safely.”

  “So, let me get this straight,” she said as she took another swig from her cup. “Instead of bringing the love of your life, you brought her little brother?”

  Patrick nodded. “When you put it that way,” he said with a shrug.

  “Ouch. Babysitter-zoned.”

  “It’s not that!”

  “It’s exactly that.”

  “Whatever. I need a drink,” he said. He scanned the area, looking for the keg.

  “Get me one,” she said, handing her cup to him over his shoulder. “It’s on the other side of the fire, in the back of Joshua’s truck.”

  The fire was roaring high into the sky, emitting an intense heat. Patrick had no idea why everybody always had such a hard-on for bonfires, especially at the beginning of summer. There was just something about the majesty of it all, attracting people to its heat. Still, he’d much rather be chilling in somebody’s basement than standing around a hot, d
angerous fire.

  He reached the back of Joshua’s white pickup truck and pulled a red cup off the stack. He filled his up, and then Wendy’s.

  “Thanks, bro,” somebody said as they took his beer from his hand.

  Patrick turned and saw Joshua standing there, chugging Patrick’s beer. He wanted to say something, but gritted his teeth instead. Calm down, Patrick, he thought to himself. Just chill. He knew there was nothing he could do about the situation, at least nothing that wouldn’t end in something painful or humiliating. Or both, even. He turned and made his way back over to Wendy, not daring to pour himself another beer while Joshua was standing there.

  More people had shown up in the time Patrick was getting his drinks, so he had to push his way toward where Wendy had been standing. Loud music began to play through the stereo system of someone’s truck. The party was really getting started.

  Patrick saw Wendy, but stopped when he saw her talking to Kevin Lee. He wasn’t about to make himself look like a fool trying to give her another drink, especially not in front of Kevin. Instead, he walked to the edge of the party and began drinking the beer he’d gotten for Wendy.

  He stood back, scanning the faces in the crowd, looking for someone he could hang out with. Specifically, he was looking for Steven Morris, one of his good friends. It was a long shot that Steven would be here though, since he wasn’t one for parties. Still, this was supposed to be one of the biggest and best parties of the year. There was a chance Steven would show up for one final hurrah.

  Patrick instinctively reached for his phone to send Steven a text before remembering that he didn’t have his phone. He grumbled a curse under his breath as he took another sip, the memory of being mugged not doing much to help his mood. He chugged the rest of his beer and eyed the keg. He looked around for Joshua and saw that he was a good ways away, talking to Savannah Weatherly.

  Perfect, he thought as he made his way to the keg, ready for another drink.

  *

  Patrick stood on his own, sipping on his third beer. He’d begun to feel uncomfortable, like everyone was staring at him. The party wasn’t going at all how he’d expected. Just like in school, everyone was ignoring him, too busy with their own friends. Friends they’d had for years. Patrick had let the friends boat pass him by early on in his high school career, and as he stood there all alone at his very last high school party, he had plenty of time to think about that.

  His only real friends were Victoria and Patrick, and neither one of them was there. He considered Wendy a close friend, but only when she wasn’t around anybody else and didn’t have her popular girl persona on. And of course, at the biggest party of the year, that persona was out in full swing.

  If only he had his phone on him to give him something to do. But of course he didn’t, so he just drank another beer, trying to figure out how long he had to stay there before it’d be okay to leave.

  *

  His vision swam. His spine tingled. His hands shook.

  Everything swirled. Everything became surreal.

  Everything changed.

  *

  “You made it, Patrick!” Steven said, patting him on the back.

  Patrick smiled, thankful to finally have someone there to talk to. He’d been standing on his own for what had to be an hour, just listening to the music, taking it all in.

  “Hey, you finally showed up,” Patrick said, his speech beginning to slur.

  “Yeah, buddy! I texted you letting you know I’d be late, but you never responded!” Steven shouted to be heard over the music and all the people talking.

  “Oh, that’s a long story,” Patrick said.

  “Well, let’s get a beer and you can tell me all about it!”

  *

  “So, you got the shit beat out of you?” Steven said.

  “Kinda, yeah, but I didn’t bruise or anything! My skin is as beautiful as ever,” Patrick said.

  “You know who did it?” Steven asked.

  “Two dipshits named Tovin and Harvey.”

  “Tovin and Harvey? The hell kinda names are those?”

  “I don’t know. They’re dumb as hell. Drove a shitty red car, too,” Patrick said, his anger growing.

  “We oughta find them and get your shit back!” Steven said, standing tall.

  “Don’t you worry. If I ever see them, they’re gonna pay!” Patrick shouted.

  *

  There was a tightening behind his eyes. A warmth inside his chest. A heavy fog in his brain.

  *

  “Where’s Victoria?”

  “She didn’t come.”

  “Damn, that sucks.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “You ever gonna ask her out?”

  “I don’t plan on it.”

  “Pussy.”

  “Nah, just smart. Don’t wanna ruin a good thing.”

  *

  “You should go talk to Wendy.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “If you’re never gonna go out with Victoria, you might as well.”

  “What the hell. Not like I gotta see her everyday now.”

  *

  “You’ve had too much to drink, Patrick.”

  “I haven’t had much.”

  “You act like you’ve had a whole keg.”

  “I think something was in it.”

  “I feel fine.”

  “Come on, Wendy. Let’s just go hang out somewhere with some privacy.”

  “Get your hand off my shoulder.”

  “Sorry. I, uh…I don’t know…I don’t feel good.”

  “You look terrible.”

  “I think something’s wrong.”

  *

  A bully who’d had too much to drink. A victim who’d had the same. A push to the chest.

  Everything swirled. Everything became surreal.

  Everything changed.

  5

  Blood & Dirt

  When Patrick woke up, his entire body hurt. He lay there, groaning in pain. He was acutely aware of every sensation his body felt. The twigs and leaves digging into his face. The rock that jabbed into his side. The wind as it blew across his back. The heat from the dying fire behind him. The metallic, coppery smell that drifted up his nose.

  The only sounds he could hear were those of his own breathing, and the crackling of the fire. He felt something sticky on his skin. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, so he opened his eyes.

  Two beams of blue light cut through the air, the smoke from the fire making look like twin beacons. Patrick scrambled to his feet, and the beams of light moved in correlation with his head. He placed a foot beneath him, and slipped in something slick. He slammed to the ground with a deep thud, and cracks appeared in the ground around him.

  He looked to see what he slipped on, the beams of light still following his movements. The blue beams, along with the dancing light from the fire, lit up the ground around him, revealing a mixture of blood and dirt.

  Patrick reeled in fear and disgust, backing away from the puddle on his hands and knees. But the area all around him was wet as well. He looked down at his hands and screamed when he saw that they were covered in bright crimson blood. He looked all around, the two beams of light revealing the horrific scene around him.

  Everything was covered in blood. The vehicles, the ground, the trees at the edge of the clearing—everything. Red cups sat in a mixture of blood and booze. A sizzling sound was coming from the spot near the fire where the blood reached.

  Vomit rose in Patrick’s throat, and the next thing he knew, he was leaning against a tree emptying the contents of his stomach. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and when he opened them, the two beams of light were still there, lighting up the area around his feet. Patrick screamed in surprise again and backed away from the spot.

  His back slammed against a tree on the other side of the clearing. It creaked and groaned from the impact and began to fall forward, right on top of Patrick. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’
t even have time to scream again. He covered his head and closed his eyes.

  The tree smashed into him, and stopped.

  Patrick opened his eyes again. Now the beams of light wasn’t the thing that surprised him the most. Now it was the fact that he was holding up an entire tree on his back. He shifted to his left, breathing fast and hard. The tree completed its journey to the ground with a thud, sending vibrations through the earth.

  Patrick felt his back for any signs of wounds, but he felt nothing. The tree had done no damage.

  He had no idea what to think. No idea what to say. He couldn’t process any of what was happening. He wanted to believe this was all a dream, and that he was actually passed out drunk somewhere—but this felt nothing like a dream. He knew it was real.

  The beams of light. The tree falling on him. Somehow getting from one side of the clearing to the other in a split second. That had all happened. The most telling of all was the blood, though. Not even in his dreams could he come up with so much blood. Not to mention the smell. There was no way that even in the darkest parts of his mind he could come up with something so horrific.

  He just stood there, with no idea what to do.

  “Hello?” he finally called out, but no one answered him. “HELLO?” he shouted, feeling his vocal cords shake violently. “Hel…lo!” he said, his voice cracking. Tears leaked from his eyes, cleaning the blood from his face in small streaks. “Can anybody hear me?”

  Nobody answered.

  He was all alone.

  Terror was beginning to set in. There was blood everywhere, something really, really, bad was happening to him, and he had to get out of there. He couldn’t take the smell. He couldn’t take the sight. All he wanted to do was get the hell out of there, so he ran for the tree line.

  Within a second he was deep into the woods, nowhere near the bonfire and the apparent massacre, filled with fear and uncertainty.

  6

  Face Down

  Never in his life had Patrick been more disoriented. He shielded his eyes from the blinding sunlight that shone through the trees at just the right angle and blinded him. He turned and placed a hand on the ground next to him, where he felt something very wet and cold. He reeled backwards, afraid it was blood just as it had been the last time, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was just water.