Hero Rising Read online

  “Open it,” Tommy said.

  Carefully, I unwrapped the packaging and opened the box. Something was carefully wrapped in deep red velvet and stashed underneath a piece of paper that was folded in half. I picked up the paper and saw that it was in Sion’s handwriting.

  “Friends,” it read, “I’ve come up with something that one of you might use. I hope it’s not too late to help. I’m sure you can figure it out, but if you can’t, this is something that should help quench your appetites and help with the challenges before you. Yours in service always,

  S

  Relieved that it wasn’t some kind of sabotage, I opened the velvet wrapping as Tommy watched.

  Four silver shells and a pair of strange-looking gloves popped out onto the table. I drew back at the sight of the silver, as did Tommy. We both studied them from a few feet away.

  “Sion must have sent the gloves so we could handle them,” Tommy remarked.

  Nodding, I put the gloves on. Immediately, my nausea and weakness eased, and I picked up one of the shells. They were all curiously shaped, and I was trying to figure out what they were for when Tommy said, “Holy crap! Give me your gloves!”

  Still trying to figure out what in heaven’s name they were, I handed Tommy the gloves and he put them on. He hissed as he picked up one of the silver shells. “They’re for me,” he said, “but I can only use them when I’m a werewolf.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Don’t you see?” he asked me. I could tell he was really excited. “They’re longer fangs! Prosthetic fangs! Man, I’ve got to try them on. Help me, Josiah.”

  Now, I could see what Tommy was talking about. There were four silver shells, and they did look like they could fit onto fangs. Not human fangs, but wolf fangs.

  Tommy looked around, as he always did before he transformed into his werewolf self. “You’ll have to use the gloves to put them on me,” he said. “I won’t have any fingers but you can do it. I won’t bite.”

  Tommy didn’t even wait for my reply. It was always so breathtaking to watch him transform from a handsome man into a wild and vicious werewolf. His mane was full and thick and he was huge, but he was one werewolf who maintained logical thinking while in his werewolf form, which was a rare skill among werewolves.

  Another thing about Tommy in his werewolf form was that he could telepathically communicate with me while in that state. He opened his huge jaws and said to me silently, Put them on. Use the gloves.

  I put on the gloves and despite a mild case of nausea from the proximity of the silver, I was able to insert the shells onto his giant wolf fangs. They fit perfectly. He bared his teeth at me, not savagely, but to show off his new grille.

  I actually laughed. “You look like a gangsta!” I teased him.

  This was one hell of a weapon that those vampire outcasts would never count on. A werewolf with fangs long enough to pierce a vampire all the way through the neck was a formidable foe.

  Also, the fact that they were silver fangs would be an easy kill against a werewolf, too. One sleek silver stake through the heart was one of many ways to kill the werewolf.

  The tooth covers didn’t seem to bother Tommy at all and he pranced around the room, making a huge ruckus. He was as “diva” as an animal could look, strutting around stiff-legged and snarling at nothing. His mane was even standing up, as was the ridge of fur along his spine. Tommy was so funny sometimes. He came across as this fierce, no-nonsense dude, but underneath that entire cocky exterior was a drama dork who was just dying to act out.

  I couldn’t help myself, I decided to wrestle and have fun with him. I transformed into my werewolf state and tackled him. We had wrestled a lot back when I’d first learned I had the werewolf gift. Tommy and would train together and we even had practically fought to the death one time in MMA. Tommy had taught me just about all he had learned from being a werewolf for as many years as I had. He lunged at me playfully and we were suddenly falling on the floor, trying to get each other pinned down as if we were in a wrestling match.

  He snarled and I did it back.

  He feinted biting me and I gave him a wallop on his nose at about half-strength that made him sneeze all over me.

  “Ewww!” I said. “Gross! You got werewolf snot on me!”

  It was then that we heard the cry from above us. We both froze and looked up to where the cry had come from and saw Harold—poor Harold—peeking in through the patio door, which was partially open.

  We instantly stopped and transformed back into our human forms.

  “Whoops!” I said. Tommy started moaning as he still had the fangs on and I tried to talk Harold down as I pulled the silver shells off of Tommy’s fangs and gave him a good scratch behind the ears, like he liked it.

  “You guys are weird!” he said. “Really weird! I don’t know if I should hurl or scream.”

  “Harold, please don’t be scared,” I said. “And don’t hurl.”

  “Fuckin’ A, dude, let me out of here!” Harold was trapped between us and the door to the hall. That was good, in a way. I didn’t want to scare him more than I had to, but now that he knew, I had to get a handle on him.

  “Wait a minute,” I said, holding my hand out in peace. “We’re not going to hurt you, I promise. Believe me, you’ve done us a huge favor. I would never harm you. Or my friend here.”

  “Right,” was all Tommy could say. Tommy was so happy to have a customized weapon just for himself; he was still in ecstasy over it.

  “Okay, okay.” Harold was shaking and ready to lose his mind.

  “It is okay,” I said.

  “I gotta go, man.”

  “Hang on. Please let me explain all this.” I had adrenaline in my veins but I needed to calm myself in order to calm this kid. I never meant to let him know who I was. It was my mistake; probably the pressure of worrying about Hector made me want to cut loose a little and grapple on the floor with Tommy to release some tension. But now, I had Harold to deal with as well. I thought about it, and decided the truth was always the best option.

  “Harold, do you watch Youtube?” I asked.

  Harold looked up at me like this was the craziest question in the world. “Of course,” he answered. “Who doesn’t?”

  “Good. Well, there’s something you should know. I’m the Superhero,” I told him. I could only hope that was enough information for him to trust me.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Harold looked at me with disbelief. “You’re the Superhero?” he asked. “The one on all the YouTube videos?”

  “I am,” I said as I went to my belongings and pulled out the red wrestling mask. I put it on and, trying to make him believe me, I threw a few air punches and acted tough.

  “Wow,” he said. “You’ve got professional MMA moves.” I could tell he was dumbfounded.

  “Yes, I do. So,” I said, “now you know. But I need this to stay confidential, if you know what I mean.”

  Harold was in awe of my presence. And he only knew that I was the media’s Superhero, he didn’t know I was the Chosen One or anything about the supernatural wars I had won before all of this.

  “I’m trying to help a friend,” I told him. “He’s at the hostel I asked you to stay at. And I still need a little help, if you’re willing.”

  Harold was excited. He seemed to have a sense of purpose and I could see a glimmer in his eye. “Sure,” he said enthusiastically. “Whatever you need.”

  “Thank you. I need for you to go to the nearest department store and get some stuff, maybe at a Macy’s or someplace like that…”

  “You’re going to pay me, to shop at Macy’s?”

  “Yes, if you would…”

  ***

  Within a couple of hours, Harold came back to our hotel room with two large suitcases and a nice duffle bag. By now, he was so excited that he could barely contain himself. However, he had sworn an oath of secrecy that I bound him to, and I was fairly sure he hadn’t told anyone he was in con
tact with me. Maybe I leveraged my powers a little to get him to do exactly what I wanted.

  “Now, all we have to do is wait,” I said, checking out the suitcases. I didn’t know exactly how much money Hector had altogether, but I hoped it would all fit into the suitcases. My plan was to withdraw the money from each bank with the duffle bag, and then stuff it all into the two suitcases. Not for a moment did I think the kidnappers would really get this money, but I had to play along. I had to go through the motions and make it look like they were all there, waiting for my reckoning.

  “What are we waiting for?” Harold asked. He was still there, and now he didn’t want to leave. He knew he was into something big.

  I sighed, and thought about it. I didn’t really want Harold to be a part of this. He was really an innocent bystander, after all. My heart always told me to never involve innocent people in my crazy affairs, but Harold had helped me out, and he wanted to stay.

  “I have some business to take care of after dark,” I explained mysteriously. “Then my friend and I are going to free someone from The Main Stay hostel.”

  “Free someone? What do you mean?”

  “He’s being held against his will.”

  “Oh, wow. That’s what all of this is about? A kidnapping?” He whistled long and low.

  “Yes. A kidnapping. And, Harold, I think that you would be in more danger than you could imagine if you stayed with us.” As I took out another hundred dollars for the errands, he ran to get me the suitcases.

  “Take this and leave,” I said. It was a command, and although he didn’t know exactly who I was, he was obliged to obey me.

  Harold took the money, even though he wanted to stay now and watch what was going to go down. He was really wound up about having met the new Superhero, and I understood that I had a friend in him now. Perhaps I would never need his allegiance again, but I was grateful for it.

  “I’m here for you… if you ever need me for anything,” Harold confirmed. “I just wanted you to know.”

  I gave the old man a quick hug and showed him to the door. “Also, Harold. It goes both ways. If you ever need anything from me, I’ve got your back, kiddo,” I said. “Just look me up on Facebook.”

  Harold looked up at me as if I was the son he had never had; it almost broke my heart.

  “I will,” he said. “Everyone’s on Facebook,” he said, fading out.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As soon as the sun went down, I left Tommy in the hotel room and began to do my rounds at the banks listed by the kidnappers. Before I even reached the first bank, I realized that I would die before handing over the kind of money they wanted from Hector’s account.

  Instead of going to the banks, I decided to go back to the hotel and fill the suitcases and duffle bag with the toilet paper and the newspaper.

  It was nearing eleven o’clock at night. This would be about the time I would be done. So, it was time to rock and roll. I stepped into the room and Tommy was pacing around the room. “Did you get it?” he asked.

  “Why?” I replied.

  “Because they will kill Hector if we don’t give it to them, that’s why,” Tommy stated. “This is the reason why we are both out here in New York.”

  “Think about it, Tom. It doesn’t matter if we have the money or not. We aren’t going to leave without it.”

  “All right, my man. I hope your plan works. I’m just thinking about Hector. These guys are serious. They know who you are and they don’t give a shit.”

  “But they don’t know who you are,” I said.

  “They don’t realize I have the toughest person in the world with me.”

  Tommy smiled. “Aw, shucks. I love you, too.”

  “I said you were the toughest. The most skilled fighter. That’s another story,” I smiled.

  “Not everybody gets every single gift from the Triat.”

  “You know I was a tough, smart fighter, long before any of this.”

  “I know, Josiah.” Tommy paused. “What’s the next move?”

  “There is nothing else to do but call the kidnappers,” I said. I took out my cell and dialed their number. “I’ve got the money,” I said into the phone.

  “All right,” said the voice. I was pretty sure I was dealing with Nevil on the phone. “Bring it here,” he said. “I’ll give you an hour.”

  “I’ll be there in fifteen,” I answered. “You will have Hector ready to release to me. And you better not have harmed him. ”

  “He will be delivered to you when we know we have our money,” the guy said.

  “No deal,” I declared. “I want you to hand over Hector when I deliver the money.” I didn’t think this was an unreasonable request on my part.

  “We will give you Hector when we’re satisfied you’ve given us all of his money,” came the reply.

  I was out of patience. “Do you know who I am?” I demanded once again. “Because if you do, you would think twice about fucking with me.” I didn’t want to play it too hard, but I wanted these guys to know who they were dealing with.

  “I understand completely who you are, Josiah,” he said. It was the first time he said my name and, although I knew what I was capable of, I also realized he knew that, too. “You have my word,” he said, “that as soon as we know you delivered the cash, you will get your friend back. After all, this is a business deal. Nothing more, right?”

  He said it so matter of factly that I realized I would have to take him at his word. It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to get my revenge, though. I just wanted Hector back, safe and sound.

  “Done,” I said, and I meant it. Unseen at first, Tommy would be waiting at the back door of The Main Stay hostel. While Tommy hunkered down in the shadows, I would bring the money to the guy I assumed would be Nevil. Even if these dicks knew who I was, they didn’t know that when Tommy was in his werewolf form, that we could communicate telepathically. And they didn’t know that we had a plan. A smokin’ plan!

  Chapter Nineteen

  The time had come, and we were finally going to get Hector back. I took the two suitcases and duffle bag with me. In my Mani form, and accompanied by my best friend, I set out for The Main Stay. It was only a couple of blocks. I walked down the street with an air of confidence. I wasn’t afraid of anything. Not even this band of vampires. Plus, I had Tommy by my side. He was always game to fight and he always had my back. Plus, I didn’t think they knew about him, or at least, weren’t accounting for him.

  We reached the back door. I didn’t want to walk around the front because that would put Tommy and I on blast to whomever was watching the door. I knew stuff was about to go down and very quickly, too. I could feel it in my bones. I looked at Tommy and asked, “You ready, bro?”

  “Do you have to even ask?”

  The sign on the door read “Closed.” That’s good, I thought to myself. They had probably kicked out everyone who was staying there. I smiled, and still in my vampire form, I kicked the door open.

  At first, we couldn’t see anything. I had a hunch that he had at least ten guys with him that were vampires. Along with his crew, we were going to deal with about 15 of these jerks.

  I stepped through the door and Tommy followed. Straight ahead and with the door slightly ajar, there was a room with a light on We could hear voices coming from inside the door.

  They were waiting for me. They had to have heard me kicking the door in. I had Tommy stay out in the dark room while I stepped into the room holding the suitcases and duffle bag. I stood there staring at the four individuals in the room. There was a reasonably attractive vampire that was to the left. She must have been the one they called Ice. She was wearing a glove on her right hand, which meant she had some sort of silver weapon in her possession. Then there was Frenchie; he was on the right. Right smack in the middle was their leader, Nevil. He looked as if he was in really good shape. Things could get interesting in a tussle.

  In the far corner of the room, an Asian gentleman had a big, heavy cro
ssbow pointed at me.

  “Why does the kid have a weapon pointed at me?”

  “That kid is two hundred years old,” Nevil said.

  “No, he’s not. He’s not one of us,” I said, looking in his direction. “If he was two hundred, he wouldn’t need that goofy crossbow.”

  Nevil knew I was right. “Is that the money?” Nevil asked.

  “No, it’s my luggage. What do you think?” I said sarcastically. “I brought the money. Now release Hector.” I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, but a superhero had to try, right?

  The Asian guy looked at me and I decided to blow a kiss in his direction. It’s rather unsettling having someone point a crossbow at your head for five minutes.

  “If you’re going to point it at me, you might as well fire it.”

  “Why would he do that?” Nevil asked. “You do have the money in those bags?”

  I walked over and placed the suitcase and duffle bag right outside the door. I saw Tommy waiting. I gave him a wink and whispered, “Transition. Now.”

  I stepped back in with Tommy behind me in his gray werewolf form. I knew we needed to act superfast. Hector’s life depended on it. The jig was up. Hector was in another room and we needed to stampede through these guys to get to Hector.

  The man holding the crossbow was preparing to shoot an arrow in my direction, but I was quick enough to hurl one of the suitcases at him

  When the suitcase hit him, he lost his aim and the crossbow released the arrow. Instead of me, he hit the girl, Ice, who was to my right. She got drilled right through the neck by her own man. She wasn’t pierced fully through the neck, but it brought her down in a rage I had seen from few women. She cried out in pain and fury. Before she collapsed, she attacked the man who’d accidentally shot her by running across the room and stabbing him in the stomach with a silver spike before she hit the floor—a silver spike that had likely been intended for me.