November: I Might Be A Superhero

013: Can This Be The End?

Stacey Calhoun woke up in the arms of her mother. It was the last thing her four-year-old mind expected to happen. She had thought it was a dream the whole time she woke up and saw herself tied to her brother's back. The four-year-old thought she'd never get to see her mom anymore as she was told.

"Mommy?" She raised her head from her mother's bosoms and tipped her head up.

"My baby.." Harriet Calhoun sniffed, hugging Stacey so tight that the kid murmured she could not breathe.

"I'm sorry baby.." Harriet Calhoun tucked her hair behind her ear as she blinked back the tears blurring her vision. "I thought I lost you.."

"They were bad, bad people, mommy." Stacey blurted out, wrapping her hands around her mother's neck, "told me I wouldw't see you or Nowem-ber anymore. They laughed when I cwied and hit my head with a..a gun.." 

"Oh, my god." Harriet Calhoun gasped out as she stood with her kid, rocking her back and forth even though she was old enough for that. "I promise I'll never let anyone hurt you...I promise," Harriet Calhoun vouched. Her body trembled violently, stirring up a rough shoulder jerk as she began weeping again.

"Did you see me cwying, mommy?" Stacey gave a soft sigh after asking Harriet this question. She pulled back to examine her mom's face.

"No, why?" Harriet asked, puzzled for a second.

"I don't like you cwying..makes me wanna cwy too." Stacey pouted and squeezed her.

"Mommy's sorry and she won't cry anymore." Harriet Calhoun dried her eyes with her free hand, but the tears just fell out even more. And she hugged Stacey so the kid would not see her crying anymore and feel bad over it.

It was ten and they were still at the black market, with the cops cuffing Penny MacFarlane and her men. Several police vans were in front of the market and the uncaught notorious men watched from afar.

 Even the Arabs who had come to buy Stacey were as well handcuffed. November locked them up in their car when they arrived. It was incredible how one boy could trap eleven men and a woman, while he waited for the sheriff and cops whom he had phoned to arrive.

Their president was sending a national chopper to come get them so they would be locked up for good. And the Dubai skip tracers and private investigators would return the seven kids whom Penny MacFarlane kidnapped during her one-year stay in Indianapolis.

A very shirtless Charlie Wang-Holder was still tied to his chair as he was interrogated by cops. He would face the same charges as Penny MacFarlane but only less tough.

November has his arms folded across his chest as he rested his back against a police van. He was still wearing what he wore yesterday and people were casting weird glances in his direction, but he didn't mind. He felt a heavy body lifted over his shoulders because Stacey was found and her kidnappers were going to jail.

"November!" He heard the voice of Macey Brightside and then snapped his head around. She had her father's jacket over her shoulders and she was holding two bottles of water.

"Here!" She threw one at him when he wasn't expecting and he held it still for some moments, before composing himself to grab hold of it.

Macey went to join him and together they watched the whole scene, drinking water straight from the bottle. It was a Friday and they didn't even care about school.

"Do you think my mom's gonna look at me the same?" November asked Macey and she shook her head no.

"She'll worry, but don't bug yourself about that. If it weren't for your powers, Stacey would've been sold and none of these men and Penny would've been caught. So I say it's not so bad." Macey pointed out, taking one big gulp of water.

"You might be right," November heaved deeply and messaged his forehead, after having thought over this.

"Poor Charlie Wang-Holder looks like he's getting a death sentence," Macey murmured and November stared ahead to see some cops taking the ropes of Charlie Wang-Holder. His body was shuddering unendingly like he was having a convulsion.

"He'll probably stay in jail for a few years since he faked being an imposter's grandson so as to eat out of the money made from selling off kids," November said with a frown. He didn't get why Macey felt sorry for Charlie Wang-Holder, because he did not.

One of Penny MacFalane's men tried to escape after kicking a cop in the ribs and doing a backflip so his cuffed hands were in front. He dodged the bullets being fired at him and was close to jumping off through a fence when his body stiffened like a molded statue.

It was November, holding him still until the cops finally caught him.

Macey smirked, totally enjoying the whole thing and she gave November a soft jab in the shoulder.

"You were amazing. Everything you did to save Stacey was amazing," she rewarded him with a small smile. "Having such quirks is a different kind of cool."

November gurgled his water instead of giving Macey a reply. He has never had a girl look at him like that, not to talk of Macey Brightside who found him unattractive in every aspect. And no one had used the word, 'amazing,' on him before. It was foreign. 

And everything might have been fifty percent fun for Macey, but none of it was for him. He almost lost his younger sister. The ten hours of disappearance messed up his entire emotions.

He could recall handing a sleeping Stacey to his mom when she arrived in Sheriff Brightside's car. The look of relief on her face was priceless. He never wanted his sister to get kidnapped again, or his poor mother to be in such a state where she'll be worried to death. Thankfully things would adjust back to normal and they'd keep watchful eyes over Stacey Calhoun than before.

"You have no right to treat me like this! I was only doing business! Business! Nobody's good in this modern day, the world is full of selfish assholes just like you and me!" Penny MacFarlane was yelling at Sheriff Brightside as she was shoved into his car by a cop. Her hands were handcuffed at her back like a criminal. To November, she was worse than a criminal. Human trafficking was a big offense, mostly when it hard to do with toddlers.

November and Macey walked over to the exact spot where Penny MacFarlane was hauling insults at everyone, mostly Sheriff Brightside who had his hands akimbo.

"When you get released probably twenty years later, you'll be scared of kids," November told Penny MacFarlane who only gave off an incredulous chuckle.

"She's spending a lifetime in jail," Sheriff Brightside answered and Penny MacFalane's eyes widened as she gasped audibly.

"I'll have powerful men help me out, just you wait!" She screamed, struggling and kicking her feet in the air as she was pulled up by two cops, because of her refusal to politely hop into the back seat of the car.

"I'll be back!" She clamored when the cop slammed the door.

"Farewell Penelope MacFarlane or I should say, Mrs. Thompson." Macey waved with a mocking facial expression and the woman gnashed her teeth at the trio as the car drove off.

"And you two," Sheriff Brightside whirled around to face November and his daughter, wearing a grim face. "I'll advise you not to try this anymore. Leave the cops to do their job."

Macey's mouth parted as if she wanted to laugh while November shook his head in disagreement.

"I apologize for interrupting you, Sheriff Brightside, but the cops wouldn't have found my sister."

"We went through a lot," Macey butted in.

"That explains why you're dressed like sluts." Sheriff Brightside gestured at their clothes, and then he shifted his attention to November, "I get that you went out of your way because Stacey is your sister, but do not get yourself involved in issues like this next time. You're a kid and.."

"I'm sixteen, sir. Two years away from an adult." November interrupted Sheriff Brightside yet again and then murmured in a low tone that he was sorry for being disrespectful.

Sheriff Brightside stared at November's to Macey and Macey to November, in displeasure, before he puffed out a breath and threw his arms across his chest.

"It's dangerous to involve yourself in issues like this. It's my duty and that of my cops to tackle these kinds of situations because it can be deadly. Now Macey told me you were dodging bullets with the powers you sustained from that goddamned alien virus. What if you had gotten killed, kid?"

"So you're saying I shouldn't have gone to save Stacey, is that what you mean, Sheriff Brightside?" November fought against the urge to scowl at Macey's father, but he could not.

"I think your mom will be in the right position to talk to you about this since you tend to misquote me." Sheriff Brightside turned away from November and placed his hands on Macey's shoulders.

"This is me lecturing you as a parent and not Marion County's sheriff, Macey Victoria Brightside. And I don't want you to interrupt me as I speak." He said while Macey only nodded and cast a 'Save-me' glance at November.

November bit down on his bottom lip as he crunched the empty water bottle and threw it afar. He didn't like the way Sheriff Brightside spoke about what he did, although he understood the man was only looking out for him. As Marion County's Sheriff. 

"I don't want you to be disrespectful again. Your elder brother, Quentin can be rebellious but he listens to me when he knows I am serious. You taking off with November like that almost gave me a heart attack." Sheriff Brightside told his daughter, giving her shoulder a light squeeze.

"I'm sorry, dad," Macey apologized in a low tone, nibbling her lip.

"Do you have this alien virus? Infection-induced powers? Quirk or the heck they call it?" 

"No," Macey lied.

"That's a huge relief." Sheriff Brightside said and then he pulled Macey into a hug before pressing a kiss to her hair. "I want you to always be safe."

November watched the father and daughter moment with a thick throat. There was a wave of pain gusting into his chest because he thought about his father who abandoned them. He could still remember how they bonded.

"Nowem-ber!" Stacey's voice rang out, pulling him front his unsettling thoughts and he took a hard hurtful gulp before turning to his little sister who was running towards him, with his mother walking behind.

Stacey stopped and moved back to examine her elder brother before she rushed to hug him.

"Why are you dressed like a woman?" She pulled her head back and frowned at him.

"To make you laugh, Stace." November lied, ruffling her hair.

"Well it's not funny to me, you look ugwy." Stacey deadpanned and November chuckled. For the umpteenth time, he was elated; he rescued her just in time.

"November?" Harriet Calhoun called her son with worry laced in her tone.

"Mom?" He pulled to her side with Stacey. He sort of knew what she had to say and readied his heart for it.

But he was amazed when she threw her hands around him and wrapped him in a hug.

"Mom, I'm too old for this." He muttered and tried to pull away, but she held him still.

"Thank you so much for rescuing Stacey, I thought I was going to lose her forever," Harriet confessed and November felt the pain in her voice, so he stopped struggling and let her hug him.

"But you brought her back and now I feel elated," His mom pulled away from the hug and took both his hands in her as she looked at him, teary-eyed.

"You're infected with the alien virus and I don't know what to do about it. I feel so scared because I almost lost Stacey, and now I'm afraid I'm gonna lose you too. Because they'll come after you." She sniffed.

November had been avoiding statements like this, which was the main reason he lied the previous day that he wasn't infected with the alien virus. He just didn't want her to know, but she already found out when he used his super speed to disappear from the station with Macey Brightside. 

He didn't want his mom worrying over him. She was going through a lot, managing two jobs, struggling to put food on the table, and as well with Stacey's upkeep. She had so much on her plate already.

"I was close to losing my youngest child, but now I don't want to lose my eldest. Promise me you won't exhibit those powers anymore." Harriet Calhoun implored as he freed his hands to cup his cheek, "promise me, my boy." Her voice trembled at the last word.

"Mom, you don't have to worry about me." He said, clenching his fists because he was unhappy she found out. 

"Promise me," she iterated, pleading earnestly with her eyes.

"Fine."