Young Adult Superhero Book Series
Forever Warriors by M.J. Sewall
Series Excerpt
Cody Nichols lifted the pads off his aching shoulders and let them drop to the floor. He thought briefly of putting them in his closet, but let them rest on the pile of dirty clothes instead, promising himself to do it later.
He combed his hands through his short brown hair and stretched. Hard practice, thought Cody. He stripped off his shirt, drenched with sweat. He thought of getting a beer from the hidden mini-fridge in his closet, but Mom was still home. He didn’t want her to worry. The bedroom door was ajar. From the hall, he heard a whistle.
“Looking good, son,” said his mom, smiling as she nudged the door open.
Cody smiled, “Don’t be weird, mom.”
She entered his boy cave. “I mean it, kid. Look at those muscles. The coach making you work out that much? Or are you doing it for the ladies?”
“Mom,” he protested, but smiled anyway. “No girls yet.”
“That’s from your own self-image. Son, look in the mirror.” She stood next to him facing the full-length mirror, “You are not the scrawny kid you were on that soccer field a few years ago. Newly sixteen, with all those manly muscles. You just need to see yourself as you are right now. Girls like confidence.”
“I guess,” Cody shrugged.
“Fair warning, I will automatically hate your first girlfriend. My only son is too good for those hoochy mamas.”
“Mom…” They both laughed.
Mom said, “Your dad never had muscles like that.” Cody lost his smile. “Sorry. I haven’t brought him up in a while. Anytime you want to talk about…”
“No, thanks. I know all I need to,” Cody said. “I have to shower.”
She took an exaggerated whiff, “Yes, young man. Yes, you do. Girls don’t like stinky boys.”
Cody changed the subject, “Do you work tonight?”
“Yeah, that’s what I came to tell you. I’ll probably be late,” she continued, “Two girls called in sick. You’ll have to make dinner yourself. I could bring you something, but it may be after midnight.”
“That’s ok. I’m going to the gym later. I’ll probably get a burger or something.”
His mom shook her head. “You just got back from practice. The gym? You’re ridiculous, number one son.”
“I’m your only son.”
“Got me there. Love ya, kiddo,” she said, closing the door on the way out.
“Love you too, Mom.”
Cody rubbed his shoulder, checking for new bruises. The coach announced loudly that no one would be left out of the fun, and had made them use the blocking sleds repeatedly at practice. He knew Coach was trying to make sure no one thought he was being treated special. Some of the guys resented Cody’s new position as quarterback, and the coach was trying to help with the heat. Maybe his mom was right, maybe confidence was the way forward. Fake it ‘til you make it, he thought.
He looked at his chest and arms in the mirror. The gym and football practice had helped slowly add muscle. He was getting bigger. Cody naturally compared himself to the biggest guys on the team, who were huge compared to Cody. He would just have to work harder.
In the driveway, mom tried to start the car. Cody listened to the engine try to turn over, and fail twice. He clenched his fist, and said quietly, “Come on Mom, try one more time.” The twenty-year-old Ford Focus tried to start again. Cody felt the tingle pass through him. He clenched his fist and the car roared to life.
Cody imagined his mom’s sigh of relief as the ancient car got her to work one more day. He didn’t know how much longer his weird little talent would help her. But it had worked for the last few months. That wasn’t the only weird thing that had happened of course, but he tried to push those thoughts from his mind.
Just about to head for the shower, he thought of that cold beer again. He didn’t like hiding stuff from his mom, but the beer did help after a hard practice. He knew a lot of the guys drank on occasion.
He stripped out of his soggy pants.
Cody glanced back at the mirror. But it wasn’t his room he saw. He froze. In the mirror, he saw a bookcase. He held his hand up to the mirror, but he did not see a reflection. The books, stacked in a haphazard way made him think of a shop from the Harry Potter films. Ok, I am going crazy. He swallowed and came closer to the mirror, changing his angle to try and see around the bookcase.
A small table was there, and a very old man. He was sitting, hunched over a large, ancient looking book. There was a laptop behind him and a painting that looked like a modern art piece. The man’s lips were moving, but Cody couldn’t hear anything.
With a start, the man looked right at him.
He seemed just as surprised as Cody. A chill went through him as the old man stared with pale blue eyes. Cody couldn’t look away. The man was on his feet quickly, moving faster than any old man should, coming up to the other side of the mirror. Cody blinked, is this really happening?
The old man smiled. Ice ran through Cody’s spine.
Cody picked up his shoulder pads and hurled them at the mirror. The image disappeared and it was just a pile of broken shards, reflecting his own room from a million angles.
He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily. A fresh layer of sweat covered him. He was glad his mother had driven away, not heard the breaking glass. He didn’t know how he would explain another broken mirror. But, I’ve never seen anything like that.
Cody couldn’t tell her what he’d seen, of course. In the past, there were strange images that shouldn’t have been there, easy to dismiss even though they scared him. Sometimes a landscape from somewhere else, sometimes a pitch-black void where his mirror should have been. That was bad enough, and had led to two other broken mirrors in the past year. But this was very different.
Cody shook off his fear. Fake it ‘til you make it. Careful not to step on any glass, he went to the smashed mirror, picking up a large shard. No old man, just his own face staring back. He would clean it up after the shower. Cody wouldn’t get a new mirror for his room. He didn’t need to see weird old men staring back.
He shook his head, trying to physically remove the image of the old man, wishing once again there was someone he could talk to. The other guys on the team wouldn’t understand. He thought of his dad for some reason, but angrily shut out the thought. This is probably his fault.
“I know one thing that will help,” he said aloud. He gave into his recently acquired habit and went into his closet. The can of beer was ice cold from his small, hidden fridge. Cody took two long gulps, putting the can down on the counter, before he showered. Feeling a small buzz begin, he let the fear of the old man fall from his mind.
As he stepped out of the shower and reached for the sweating can of beer, a small black spider skittered across the counter. A jolt of childhood fear knocked out his beer buzz. He grabbed the hand towel and smashed the spider. Cody wasn’t sure why, but the image of the old man popped into his head again.
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