First Superhero 1: The Second Super Read Online Free PDF Page B

just think I’d go crazy being locked in the house. I need to see my friends. Try and feel normal, you know? Stay in the loop so I can try and figure out when it’s safe for me to start training.”
    Mom and Dad looked at me, shocked. Mom almost dropped her fork as she let her mouth hang open. “ Training ?!” she exclaimed.
    “What do you mean by that?” Dad asked.
    I chose my next few words very carefully. “Well, I mean Richter isn’t going to stop until everybody on Earth is dead. He’s just toying with us right now, having his fun because no one was a threat. Eventually though, you can bet that pretty much everyone would be dead. But now,” I looked off to the corner of the room, trying to best articulate my words. “I’ve complicated things for him. Now there’s a threat. I’m the threat. I have a feeling he’s going to accelerate his plans a little. He’s going to be looking for me, and I have to be able to stop him.”
    Dad stared at his plate of food and nodded. “You’re right, Kane. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right.”
    Mom pursed her lips and shook her head. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”
    “Do I really have a choice?” I asked her, looking her in the eye. “People are dying, Mom. I’m the only one who can stop Richter.”
    “Maybe the government is working on something that can stop him,” Mom said, frantic for an answer other than me, her baby, being put in harm’s way.
    “I doubt it. The government is probably just looking for me right now. I’m the only thing that’s proven to work against him.”
    “You’re not a thing ,” Mom said under her breath, her voice quivering. “You’re not a thing. Don’t ever call yourself a thing.”
    I sighed. “I’m sorry, Mom. You know what I mean, though.”
    Mom pushed her plate away and stood from the table. “I need some fresh air,” she said. She walked away from the table and out the front door.
    My eyes lingered on the door before returning my gaze to Dad. He looked at me, his eyes saying so much. He was scared, worried, confused, and whatever other things you are when you find out your son has superpowers.
    “I’m going to go check on your mom,” he said as he stood from the table.
    “Okay,” I said.
    He walked out of the room, and at that moment, I’d never felt more alone.

EXCUSES
    I TURNED my car off in the parking lot of the high school. I took a moment and closed my eyes. I breathed in and out slowly, trying my best to keep my hand from shaking. I looked up, and my eyes wandered to the caution tape around the part of the parking lot where I took off from. There was a small crater there, a stark reminder to what I’d done. I couldn’t help but smile a little. I had to admit, it was really freaking cool, even though equally terrifying.
    I got out of my car, and took another deep breath as I made my way into the school. I was scared at what might happen when I got inside. What if someone recognized me? What if Macy recognized me? The thought was scary. I didn’t know what I’d do.
    Speaking of Macy, I was so caught up in my own personal developments that I kinda forgot to be worried about her. However, that came to me in floods as I walked inside the high school, making up for lost time. It’d been a day since the event, and that definitely wasn’t enough time for her to recover. I questioned whether or not she’d even be at the school. I cursed myself for not thinking about that earlier, and began searching the crowd for her signature red hair.
    One thing that shocked me as I searched the crowd was how calm everybody was. I was expecting there to be a ton of commotion, unrest, something. Instead, everyone sat around in silence, a palpable sense of fear lingering in the air. It was the not knowing that scared them the most. Not knowing why Richter came to Ebon—which I myself wondered—or who I was, and whether or not I was bad. If only they knew that the man that was on the