Late Night Intruders

An officer comes over and questions us about what happened and blah blah blah I tuned out since Samuel seemed to be answering all the man's questions. I took out my phone and texted my mom that we might be late. The officer volunteered to drive us home to which we accepted.

The car ride was silent. Neither Sam nor I knew how to approach the topic of what just went down. This must be a sign. Am I not supposed to ride in any kind of vehicle anymore?

We reach my house a few minutes later and unload the car. The cop wishes us farewell as we make our way inside to find my mother passed out on the couch. Michael was just coming down the stairs and freezes when he spots Sam.

"Well shoot man! Never thought I would see you again!" They also do the bro hug and start chatting as I start making the pizza.

I unload the bags first because duh. I don't want my precious ice cream to melt! That would be terrible! I quickly make the pizza and toss it into the oven and set a timer. I hear the boys still chatting in the hallway. When they spot me, their conversation instantly stops.

I look between the two boys, "What?"

"Nothing. Just guy stuff," Michael says as he leads Sam up to his room.

I listen as their footsteps echo through our house. When I hear Michael's door slam close, that's when I call Colten. I reach for my phone only to find it missing. I check the kitchen again to see its not anywhere on the counter top.

I pass the hall mirror and stop. My eyes have slight eyebags under them and my hair is in a mess. I tie it up into a messy bun, making myself look more presentable. I nod in satisfaction until my eyes linger on blood. I touch right under my ear to feel warm liquid. I look at my hand to confirm it is blood.

I make my way to the laundry and grab a rag. I place it on my neck, trying to slow the blood. After a few minutes, it finally stops. I take my hair out of the bun and do a side braid instead to hide it. I must have got the cut when Sam broke the glass earlier.

I toss the rag into a bin with dirty clothes and start looking for my phone again. When I come up empty handed, I make my way upstairs to the boys room to see if they saw it. I knock on Michael's door and slowly open it. Samuel is the one who answers.

"What do you want?" Sam says blocking my view into the room. I stick my hand out to him and his left eyebrow raises.

"Give me my phone."

"We don't have your phone."

"Who said we?" Sam freezes. I push past him into my brothers room to stop in my tracks.

My brother is laying on the bed holding my phone in his hands. I lunge at him, knocking us both clean off the bed and onto the floor. He lands with a grunt and my phone falls out of his hand. I grab it and push off of him.

"Why the heck did you have my phone!"

"I had to make sure you weren't texting any bad people!" My brother tries to defend himself. I glare at Sam who has his head down, eyes trained to his feet.

"Why didn't you stop him." Sam looks up at me.

"I did but he said he wouldn't do anything bad." I release a sigh and make my way out of the room.

"The pizza is almost ready. Wake up mom when it is done. I'm not hungry."

I slam my door closed and throw myself onto my bed. I look through my phone to make sure he didn't mess with anything. I lastly check my contacts and see that he changed Samuel's name back to Sam. My fingers hover over his name to change it to Samuel again but decide against it.

I take out my braid and wonder into my closet. I grab a set of pajamas and take a long shower. I let the warm water run over my body, calming me down from todays experience. I wrap my towel around my waist and wring out my wet hair. I change into a pair of comfy sweatpants and an old t-shirt I had lying around. I walk out my bathroom to hear a loud bang come from my window.

I toss my old clothes into the hamper and slowly make my way to my window. I hear another bang. I turn and grab my History book off of my desk, tiptoeing my way back to the window. I unlock it and push it up. My eyes quickly sweep the front yard to see nobody there. I grab the window sill, and pull downwards only to be stopped by a hand. I release a squeal, shutting my eyes and swung the book with all my force, which isn't much.

"What the hell was that for!" I open my eyes to see Shadow rubbing his arm.

"Shoot! I'm sorry!" I rush out. I step back, letting him into my room. "You shouldn't go around knocking on girl's windows at 9 at night. Especially on the second floor. You could have gotten seriously hurt."

His lips twist up in a smirk as his eyes flicker to the textbook in my hands.

"Yeah. I think I will be fine." I groan and toss the book back onto my desk.

I collapse onto my bed, looking at Shadow. He seems slightly uncomfortable. His tall build makes my room look tiny compared to its actual size. Shadow stands stiffly by the window as he looks around my room.

"You can sit you know," I point to my swivel chair by my desk and he sits down with his legs spread and arms draped over them.

"How's your knee," He says breaking the awkward silence.

"It doesn't hurt if that's what you are worried about." He nods his head. His feet start to move in a horizontal pattern, making him twist in the chair.

"Why are you here exactly?" I chose to just get straight to the point because what other reason would he show up to my house. His gaze is fixated on his hands as he speaks.

"You might be in danger Hope."

I look at him with a hard look. His eyes lock with mine as we stare at each other.

"Your joking right?" He shakes his head. "Please tell me this is a sick joke right now,"

"I'm not going to lie. You might be next on his list."

"Whose list?" He tenses. Guessing he wasn't supposed to say that.

"Punishers list."

"Punisher? That sounds like some old WWE star," His lips twitch up into a grin before its gone.

He reaches into his suit pocket and pulls out a necklace. Shadow stands and makes his way over to me. Double grabs my wrist and opens my hand, placing the necklace into the palm of my hand.

"What's this for?" The necklace it very pretty. It has a purple jewel in the center shaped as a small diamond. The silver makes it more stunning.

"It's a tracking device."

"Wait what?"

"The stone is a button. Press it."

I do what he says. I hear a faint click and not seconds later, Shadows wrist starts to glow purple. I watch as he touches it and it shows my location on the small screen. My address flashes back at us and he flicks his wrist, turning it off.

"So why would I need this?" I question. Shadow takes the necklace from my hands and moves my hair aside. I grab onto it so it doesn't get in his way.

"If you ever think you might be in danger or are in danger hold the button and one of us Supers will come to your aide." His fingers brush the nape of my neck as he clasp the chain together. He pauses.

"Where did this scratch come from?" I feel his gloved hand circle the small cut. I play with the necklace with my fingers for a bit before looking back up at him.

"Scratched myself." I lie. I try diverting the topic, hoping he buys my bluff.

"Why am I on Punishers wanted list exactly?"

"Red's going to kill me" He mutters out. "Okay look. All I can say is he wants you because I took you to 'My base.' He thinks its some high tech place where he could control the whole world in just the palm of his hand."

"But could he?" Shadow goes quiet. "Oh."

"That's why you have to keep the necklace on at all times. Golden, Red, and I are going to be watching you from afar at times to make sure your not in danger. If you are and don't realize it," He fiddles with the watch on his arm and a light purple hue glows from the pendent. "I will be able to tell you and you can leave. Understood?"

"Yep. Pretty self explanatory." I hear a soft thud from upstairs and both Shadow and I look up to the ceiling. I glance back at Shadow to see him place a finger over his lips as he makes his way to my window.

"For a second I thought you teleported in," said Golden as he jumps through the window. I sharply exhale, not realizing that I was holding my breath. Shadow doing the same. Double smacks Golden upside the head with a scowl on his face.

"Shit man!" Thunder can be heard from nearby, making me flinch. "Oh whatever!" Golden shouts out the window, looking up at the sky. Shadow shakes his head, sitting back down on my swivel chair.

"One day you are going to get struck by lighting."

"Eh, shouldn't hurt that bad." He shrugs. Golden plops onto the edge of my bed, starting to kick his legs like a child. "So did you tell her about the agreement yet?"

"What agreement?" I shift my focus to Shadow. His leg started to bounce up and down. Only if I could grab his leg and stop him from twitching.

"We uh," Shadow stumbles over his words, his eyes fixing on everything but me.

"We need your help." Golden blurts.

"How in the world would I be helpful? I don't have powers!"

"It's okay! We can train you in combat! You can become a badass!" Another slap of thunder can be heard as he glares at the roof.

"That still doesn't explain how I can help." Goldens' eyes glaze over.

I steal a glance at Shadow to see his eyes also have that blurry tint. Whatever they are arguing about, is seems to be annoying Shadow. His gloved hands are now in tight fist. His leg started to bounce again and he places his hands in his lap. I look over to Golden and take this time to actually observe him.

Golden's suit is a mix of yellows and silver. He has GW right on his chest in black lettering. Wing doesn't have a cape like Shadow. It almost looks like he is wearing a golden and silver ski mask. Golden on the other hand has a small utility belt. Golden looks like he's about to rob a store.

"Okay whatever!" Shadow roars. Golden flinches at his words but smiles at me.

"Alrighty! Your going to help us rob a store!" I pale. Golden's face flatters for a second before he awkwardly chuckles, scratching his neck.

"No no no! Not like that! I mean your going to be ours eyes."

"I'm sorry, what?!"