It Gets Worse Pt 4 (Patreon)

Taylor

Dad's face got even more serious. “Taylor, talk to me. Why do you think you might be a cape?”

Dropping my bag on the floor, I started to pace back and forth; I had too much energy in me to stand still. “Because weird shit's been happening all day. People trying to get at me and failing.”

He frowned. “Get at you?”

I gestured vaguely. “Prank me. Bully me.”

“Christ.” In two long strides, he was across the room, lifting the phone off of the hook.

“Dad!” He started pressing buttons. “Dad!”

Pausing, he turned toward me. “What?”

“Who are you calling?”

“Who else? The police. And the school. I should have known. Nothing's changed, has it?”

I shook my head. “It's not the way you think it is.”

Slowly, he put the phone down again. “Explain.”

I began to pace once more. “For the last two days, they've been trying to prank me again. And it's been backfiring on them, dramatically. Yesterday, I thought I was just lucky. Today … it was more than luck. A lot more.”

“What do you mean, a lot more?”

“Come on, I'll show you.” I headed for the stairs.

“Show me what?” Puzzled, he followed.

“You'll see.”

<><>

Emily

“Renick. A word, if you will.”

Deputy Director Paul Renick looked up from his terminal; beside him, a half-eaten sandwich rested on a paper plate. “Director,” he greeted her, rising to his feet. “I'm glad you're okay.”

She nodded briefly. “Thanks.” Closing the door behind her, she approached his desk. “I need to run something past you. Get your input. I don't need doubletalk and I don't want you to tell me what you think I want to hear.”

“Well, of course.” He pulled the chair out from behind his desk and offered it to her. “Have a seat.”

She took it, lowered herself into it; it creaked under her weight. “Thank you. Now, you know the basics of what just happened to my office.”

“Well, yes. I'll be speaking to Aegis very firmly when I get the chance.”

A shake of the head. “There's more to it than that. Shadow Stalker was coming to me about something. Trying to give me some information.”

“What was the information?”

“That's just it. She was prevented from giving it to me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Prevented?”

“She came into my office, very agitated. Told me she wanted to warn me about something. Began to speak. The following things interrupted her.” Raising a hand, she ticked off points. “Phone call. Phone call on my mobile that was a wrong number. You came in to ask if I wanted anything from the canteen.”

He blinked. “I was hungry.”

“And you've done it before, yes.” Her voice was impatient. “The point is in the timing. After you, there was that email on S-class threats and then the Endbringer siren.”

“Wasn't that a computer glitch?”

“It was, but again – timing.” She raised a finger. “While I was on the phone to Ops, she decided to write me a note. Her pencil broke. I gave her my pen mug. She picked two pens that didn't work and one that put ink all over her pad. Then I gave her my pen.”

His eyes flicked to the pocket of her jacket. “Uh, where is it?”

Her lips compressed. “It came apart in her hand. There are bits and pieces all over my office. The people cleaning up have orders to retrieve all the bits intact.”

“Okay, that's a bit beyond the normal.” He rubbed his chin. “What happened next?”

“She took a permanent marker and started to write on the wall. And that was when Aegis came through the window. He put her through the same bit of wall she was writing on.”

“That's got to be more than a coincidence.”

She nodded. “Precisely what I was thinking. And this also happened with perfect timing. I even had time to duck out of the way.”

Now he had a frown on his face. “This is starting to sound like far more than random chance.”

She heard a certain note in his voice. “But … ?”

“But it would also be extremely difficult to set up deliberately, with that sort of timing.”

She nodded. “Yes, the timing. To have any one of those incidents, or even two or three in a row, are understandable. We've had days like that. But.”

“But all that bad luck, one bit after the other, precisely timed to prevent her from telling you … what?”

“I'm beginning to get an idea of the shape of it,” she growled. “Something that can manipulate both people and random events. A cape who's almost certainly got it in for Shadow Stalker for some reason.” She shook her head. “But they don't want her dead, just not telling me what she knows. Two feet either way and Aegis would have put her through a wall brace. Broken back, fractured skull, at the very least. She could be dead right now. But she's only in the hospital.”

“Well, maybe …” He paused.

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe she was trying to warn you about whoever was doing this to her. And that the cape was doing it to stop her from warning you. But like you said, they didn't want her dead.”

She paused, thinking about it, then shook her head. “No, it doesn't follow. Whoever this is can manipulate, well, probability, on a very precise scale. The blatant way they did it almost ensures that I know that something's going on, and that I'll figure out what it is. That defeats their purpose.”

He glanced around the room. She frowned. “What?”

“Just waiting for something to happen to stop us from talking about this.”

“Maybe this hypothetical cape's got all his attention focused on Shadow Stalker.” She rubbed her chin. “If she wanted to warn us about such a cape … hmm. Could be that she's already encountered him or her. There was the duct tape incident, just after school.”

“I heard about that, but not the details.” Renick looked intrigued.

She pointed at his terminal. “You've got a computer. Call up social media. See what hits there have been on Sophia Hess over the last few hours. Because with something like that, there's almost certainly going to be pictures.”

<><>

Taylor

I sat at the computer in my room, bringing up social media pages. Dad leaned over my shoulder, looking at the images displayed.

“Christ, I see what you mean.” He tried hard not to laugh, but the pictures on the screen were just too funny. “How in hell did they end up like that?”

“Well, as far as I can tell,” I replied, “Emma and Madison were standing on the toilet lids, preparing to douse me in juice and soda, while Sophia held the door shut. Not sure what the pudding was all about, though.”

“And Sophia?” He indicated the third series of pictures. They were … weirdly compelling. Hard to look away from.

“They were chasing me with duct tape. Apparently you shouldn't run with that.”

“Apparently not,” he agreed, between chuckles. “Oh, man. I don't know if I could do that on purpose, let alone by accident.”

“Which is why I think I'm a cape,” I explained. “I think I bring bad luck to people who are trying to harm me.” Quickly, I sketched in what had happened on Monday.

“But not to anyone else?”

“Um.” I paused. “I overheard the janitor saying that he'd spilled coffee on himself and he was going to his office to clean himself up. That was the only reason he was going past my locker. And that police officer did say that they lost an important case just in time to get mine.”

He took his glasses off and began to polish them. “So … whatever this is, it inflicts bad luck to help you or to stop people from hurting you.”

“I guess.” I frowned. “But nothing good has happened. I haven't found any lost wallets full of money, or won a free trip to Hawaii or anything like that.”

“Hey.” His voice was severe. “You got out of that locker, right? All those pranks against you failed, right? Don't be greedy.”

Abashed, I nodded. “Right, sorry, Dad.”

"Though if you do find any wallets full of cash, I want half."

His expression was almost deadpan enough to fool me; I shoved him. "Dad, really?"

His smile broke through again. "No. Seriously, though, you have to remember that if you do find a wallet full of cash, it means that someone's lost a wallet full of cash. Okay?"

“Okay.” I sighed. “But now I'm worried.”

“Worried about what?” His glasses went back on his face.

“I didn't mean for this power to do any of that.” I pointed at the pictures on the screen. “I didn't even know I had powers, or that it was even doing that.”

“Huh.” He frowned. “What if you don't actually have powers?”

“What?” I was startled. “But – everything that's happened -”

“No, no, hear me out.” He raised a finger. “What if it's someone else around the school who's got the powers, and has decided to protect you with them?”

“What, without telling me?”

A shrug. “Secret identities are a thing. And if you're getting bullied that regularly, people might not want to be seen to be protecting you.”

I thought about that for a moment. “But … there was nobody around when I was in the bathroom stall. Nobody but Emma and Sophia and Madison.”

“Nobody that you saw. They could have been outside and you wouldn't have known.” He considered that. “Or invisible, or something. In fact, invisibility or telekinesis could probably do exactly what we're seeing here.”

“So wait,” I protested. “You're saying that I had some invisible person hanging around while I was in the shower? That's majorly creepy, right there!”

“Hmm.” He considered that. “Might be a girl.”

“Only makes it slightly less creepy,” I pointed out. “And this guardian angel's doing this stuff without asking me or being asked to do it. People could get hurt.”

“Only because they're trying to hurt you,” Dad pointed out carefully.

“Still, what if someone decides that I'm a cape because of all this? And comes after you? Or if the PRT decides that I'm a dangerous out-of-control cape and tries to shut me down?”

Dad rubbed his chin. “Well, there is one thing we can do.”

<><>

Emily

Renick tried to hide a smirk. “Okay, I'm convinced. This isn't random chance.”

Emily repressed the urge to laugh; the images were indeed highly amusing. But that wasn't the point. “You're correct, of course. This is the work of outside forces. What happened to those other two girls, as well as Shadow Stalker, is definitely worth looking into. Every instinct is telling me that there's a cape at the bottom of this.”

He frowned. “Are you thinking Master?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Shaker. What happened in my office was the work of something that could manipulate random incidents to give them precise timing. Probability manipulation. All aimed at preventing Shadow Stalker from saying what she wanted to say.”

“And she kept trying to say it, which put her in the hospital.” Renick's expression was grim.

“So whoever this is, they don't care about the people they hurt,” she replied. “This could be a problem.”

“No, this is a problem.” Renick pointed at the image of Sophia Hess, bound in duct tape. “Whoever this is targeted her in both civilian and heroic identities. He or she knows who Shadow Stalker is behind the mask. And isn't worried about attacking her either way.”

Emily grimaced. “Damn it. If it's not one thing …”

Her mobile rang; surprised, she glanced down and hooked it from her pocket. “Director Piggot here.”

“Director, this is Lieutenant Bronson, down in the lobby. Two people just came in, a girl and an older guy. The girl wants to talk to you. She says it's about what happened at Winslow today.”

She stared at Renick, her eyes full of surmise. “Escort them up at once.”

<><>

Taylor

About five minutes out from home, the Endbringer sirens started wailing. I turned to Dad. “That doesn't sound good at all.”

He leaned down and switched on the radio. Soft country music spilled out of it. No bulletins, no warnings, nothing. Just the music. “That's odd.”

“Maybe it's a drill or something?”

“Well, just in case it isn't, I'll head for the Central Library shelter. It's closest.”

“Good idea.” We kept listening for anything Endbringer-related on the radio for the next few minutes, but nothing came up. Traffic was beginning to get hectic, with multiple small collisions and snarls, but nothing came near us; it was almost as if the road were being cleared for us, giving us a clear path. I didn't say anything and nor did Dad. Neither of us wanted to break the spell.

And then the sirens just quit sounding. I looked around, confused. “Maybe it was a mistake?”

Dad shook his head. “They don't make mistakes with that sort of thing.” Soft music continued to roll from the speakers.

“Right,” I stated. “So, uh, yeah, the PRT building?” I had been almost relieved when the sirens went off, because that would delay the inevitable. But there was no Endbringer. There was just me and Dad and my guardian angel. I had to see this through.

<><>

Emily

Two people were escorted into the conference room by the PRT soldiers. The first was a middle-aged man, tall and skinny, with a weak chin and a balding head. His glasses gave him a slight air of bewilderment. Emily assessed him with a glance, then turned to the girl.

She was also tall and skinny, wearing sneakers, jeans, a T-shirt and round-lensed glasses. Long dark hair spilled down her back, but she had his eyes. If these aren't father and daughter, I will eat my desk.

Emily rose and held out her hand. “Director Emily Piggot. And you are …?”

The man stepped forward, accepting the handshake. “Danny Hebert. This is my daughter Taylor.”

“Mr Hebert, pleased to meet you.” She shook his hand. Have a seat.”

Each of them drew out a chair and sat down; she took her own seat once more. Lacing her fingers before her, she eyed them closely.

“Thank you for seeing us so quickly.” That was Hebert; his daughter seemed to be just sitting, quietly nervous.

“I will admit, the happenings today at Winslow have certainly gained my attention.” Piggot's tone was grimly amused. “I did not expect someone to turn up on my doorstep about them.” She paused a beat, focusing her attention on the girl. “Why are you here, by the way?”

The girl glanced at her father, then back at Emily. “All of this … it's not me. I'm not controlling it. But things are happening. I wanted to warn you before things got too far out of control, before someone got badly hurt.” She blinked. “Wait, you already knew about this?”

A single nod. I love moments like this. “We're aware of what's been happening. However, you say it isn't you?”

“No, I don't think it is,” Taylor told her. “You see -”

Emily held up a hand. “One moment.” Taking a digital recorder from her pocket, she placed it on the table and pressed the button to start recording. “This is Director Emily Piggot of PRT East North East, commencing interview on … the eleventh of January, two thousand eleven. The time is … five fifteen. I am interviewing Danny and Taylor Hebert regarding potential cape-related activities that have being going on at Winslow High. Taylor claims that while the events are connected to her, she's not responsible for them. Taylor?”

“Okay, um. I first started noticing weird things happening yesterday. I've been getting bullied, kind of a lot, and I had to spend a week away from school, but when I came back they tried to start it up again. But it all started going wrong.”

Emily leaned forward slightly. “Define 'going wrong'.”

<><>

Taylor

I took a deep breath, tried to think back. “Um, on Monday, they were trying to target me in dodge ball, but they kept hitting each other. And then Sophia tried to steal my clothes when I was in the shower -”

“Hold up a moment.” Director Piggot's tone was mildly curious. “For the record, what's this Sophia's full name?”

“Sophia Hess. She's one of the three people who's been really bullying me the most.”

Piggot tilted her head to one side, very slightly. “And the other two?”

“Uh, Emma Barnes and Madison Clements.”

A nod from the Director prompted me to go on. “Thank you. Proceed. What happened when Sophia Hess tried to steal your clothes?”

“She stepped on a bar of soap and fell over. She was too winded to stop me from getting my clothes back from her. And then later when all three of them tried to ambush me with water balloons, they somehow ended up falling all over each other and getting themselves with their own water balloons.”

A stifled snort from the Director made me pause; I could see that the woman had her lips pressed tightly together. Piggot took a deep breath through her nostrils, then nodded. “Go on. What happened next?”

Feeling more confident, I went on. “Well, they left me alone for the rest of the day. But today, they tried to get me with juice and soda in the bathrooms. Standing on toilet seats and pouring them over the top of the partition.”

“And they somehow slipped and ended up in those ridiculous positions,” filled in Piggot. “I've seen the photos.”

“Both toilet seats came off at the same time,” I clarified. “I saw them.”

Piggot raised an eyebrow. “Impressive. For a coincidence, that is.”

“I was starting to wonder, even then,” I admitted. “But it wasn't until Sophia tried to chase me down with some boys that things really started getting bizarre.”

“This is the incident where they managed to tie themselves up with the duct tape, correct?”

I nodded earnestly. “Yeah. But it's the bathroom incident that's got me worried.”

The Director leaned back in her chair. “Worried?”

“Well, if it's not me, and I know I'm not doing it deliberately,” I explained, “then there's got to be someone else doing it. A guardian angel. Which is why I'm here.”

“A guardian angel.” There was a certain amount of scepticism in Piggot's voice.

“Well, that's what I'm calling whoever it is,” I told her. "Personally, I'm thrilled that I've got a guardian angel. I haven't had to watch my back in school for two whole days. If he'd just tell me who he was, I'd thank him from the bottom of my heart. But I'd also ask him to ease up a little. So far he hasn't gone too far over the top, but I'm scared that he might hurt someone badly.”

“Too late,” Piggot told me flatly. “Someone has been hurt badly.”

My stomach felt as though it was going to drop to about the level of my sneakers. “Oh god. Who? How?”

“Your friend Sophia Hess.” I wanted to correct her, inform her that Sophia wasn't my friend, but Piggot was going on. “She's in the hospital right now with a broken collarbone, several broken ribs and what may turn out to be a severe concussion. All due to your so-called 'guardian angel'.”

“No, that's impossible,” I protested. “I saw her when she got duct taped. She was fine. Maybe a little gravel rash, but that would be all of it.”

<><>

Emily

It was possible, Emily assumed, that the Hebert girl was good enough at acting to fool her. Possible, but very unlikely; the look of shock on the teen's face would have been hard to counterfeit. So she's telling the truth. Or thinks she is. A huge point in her favour, of course, was the fact that she had come in to tell the PRT what was happening. Or what she thought was happening. In my experience, capes don't usually just go around secretly helping people for the fun of it. There's always a price to pay.

"That's not where she acquired the injuries," Piggot told the girl. "She figured out there was a cape involved just a little bit before you did, and came in to tell us about it. Or at least I'm guessing that's what she was trying to do."

She didn't miss the flare of fear in Taylor's eyes. It wasn't hard to decipher; from the moment that Sophia Hess had been named as a bully, pieces of the puzzle had begun to click together. She still didn't have the whole picture, but there was enough there to guess at the rest. She thinks that Shadow Stalker wanted to bad-mouth her to the PRT. Which is possibly correct. She was certainly angry enough. And if Shadow Stalker has been bullying her enough to get the attention of this 'guardian angel', then the duct tape would definitely make sense.

"So what did she say about me?"

Piggot gave her a wry smile. "Absolutely nothing. Every time she tried to pass on whatever information she had, she was interrupted." She paused, thinking about it. "About a dozen times, all told."

"So how did she come to be injured?" That was the father, Danny.

"The last interruption came as she was trying to write it on my office wall," Piggot explained. "Aegis was distracted by a flock of seagulls and crashed through my office window. He then put Miss Hess through the wall she was writing on."

<><>

Taylor

I stared at Dad and he stared at me. “Okay, there's two things that really worry me about that,” I told the Director. “First, the fact that this was happening while I was still at home. The second thing is that I don't see how that could have been done with telekinesis.”

“Unless Aegis was pulled through the window?” Dad suggested.

The Director shook her head firmly. “I spoke with him at length and he confirmed that he was just coming in too low. Plus, the timing was incredibly precise. It was with everything that happened to her. There is no way that anyone could have manoeuvred them into just the right positions at the right time, not to mention have two different people call me up at just the right times, without something far beyond simple telekinesis.”

I was lost. “Beyond …?” I asked blankly.

“Probability manipulation,” she explained briskly. “Changing the likelihood of some specific event happening until it's either inevitable or impossible.” She laced her fingers together and looked at me over them. “Now, from your description and from what I understand of the events so far, you are correct in being worried abut your 'guardian angel'. So far, he's only escalated events, turning the tables on your bullies. But what if he decides that someone poses a threat to your life? Will he kill to protect you, even if it turns out that he's wrong, later on?”

“I don't know.” I shook my head. “I don't even know who might be doing it. I don't have any friends in Winslow.” Well, maybe Greg Veder, I amended silently.

“Are you certain?” the Director asked.

“Okay, there's one guy who kind of likes me,” I told her, “but he's a bit of a creeper. Also, he was nowhere near me any of the times it happened.” I paused. “Except once, in World Affairs class. But not any of the other times. Also, if he was protecting me, he'd be calling me up and telling me about it. The boy can't keep a secret.”

“I'll have to take your word about his lack of discretion,” she replied thoughtfully. “But the questions to consider are twofold: what does your 'guardian angel' consider sufficient reason to use his powers on your behalf, and what level of surveillance does he have on you in order to know when to use them?”

“Well, if this Sophia was affected by his powers while we were still at home, he must have been focusing on her, not on him,” Danny suggested. “Which means he can switch surveillance targets. And that he can tell if someone is about to do something to affect Taylor adversely.”

“Well, she could have been trying to talk about something else altogether,” I pointed out. “Although, knowing how vindictive she can be, I'd say that's not totally likely.”

“Just as a side-note, I'll need full disclosure on her bullying activities, so that I can pass them on to the appropriate authorities,” the Director noted casually. “I may not have jurisdiction over non-parahumans, but that doesn't mean that I'm willing to let something like that slide.”

“Don't forget Emma and Madison too,” I told her. “They're just as bad.”

“Oh yes, of course,” she agreed. “So, regarding your 'guardian angel'. Does he seem to be willing to strike at innocent targets, or bring disproportionate punishment on people trying to prank you?”

I thought about that for a moment. “Not that I could see, in either circumstance. But the janitor had spilled coffee on himself and the police had lost an important case. Those two incidents worked out to my favour, but it involved other people having bad luck.”

She frowned. “I didn't think the police were involved in this situation. And what does the janitor have to do with it?”

I blinked. “Uh, you didn't know?”

Her frown deepened. “Didn't know what?”

Dad cleared his throat. “Monday last week, Taylor was locked into her locker by some of the bullies. She can't prove that it was any of the three main ones, but by all accounts it was very nasty in there. The janitor who let her out had just spilled coffee on himself and only went that way because he was going to clean himself off. And the police have taken notice because they had a major case fall through just that day.”

Piggot's eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. “Well, that puts an interesting spin on matters. The locker was very nasty, you say?”

I shuddered. “Imagine sharing a vertical steel coffin with the worst toxic waste imaginable. Then square it. That's about one percent of what it was like. I still can't get to sleep with the lights off.”

“Hmm.” She rubbed her chin. “Excuse me a moment.” Standing up, she left the room, taking the voice recorder with her.

I shared a glance with Dad. “Okay, that was a bit weird,” I murmured.

“Well, at least she's sympathetic,” he pointed out. “And she believes you.”

“That is something,” I agreed, then paused. “Is it just me, or is she showing a tiny bit more interest in Sophia than Emma or Madison?”

“Huh.” He seemed to think about that for a moment. “It's possible. I didn't notice. Though I found it interesting that she was talking to Sophia in her office when Aegis came visiting. We had to come in with news of a potentially dangerous cape. She just walked in off of the street, and still got to talk to the Director face-to-face.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I -” The door opened again, and I shut up.

<><>

Emily

Having taken care of preparations, she re-entered the room and sat down. “So, where were we?”

“You were just talking about how what happened last Monday puts an interesting spin on things.” Dad looked interested. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“Well, it gives us more data points to work with, for one thing.” She smiled blandly. “I'm presuming you skipped school until this week?”

“Uh, yeah,” Taylor agreed. “Dad took care of me. I took a lot of showers, the first few days. At least now I can work up a sweat without wanting to run screaming.”

Emily looked directly at her. “Well, take it from me that experiences like that will change you,” she told me softly. “They will always be with you. There's no getting away from that fact. However, it's up to you what you do with that.”

Taylor opened her mouth to reply, but the words never came out, because at that moment the door opened. A PRT soldier stood there; incongruously, in one hand, he held a bright red plastic bucket.

Taking a step into the room, he hoisted the bucket and let fly with the contents. They were supposed to go all over Taylor – those were his specific orders – but at the last moment, he got one foot caught behind the other. The bucket turned, and Emily found herself deluged with cold tap water. The soldier ended up face-down on the floor, the bucket on his head.

For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the dribble of water from Emily's soaked clothing on to the floor. Then the soldier scrambled to his feet, fighting to drag the bucket from his head. “Ma'am, sorry, ma'am,” he blurted. “I didn't mean – I tripped -”

“Quite all right, Corporal,” she told him. “I kind of expected that to happen.” She rose to her feet and gestured to the other two. “Come on. The corporal needs to find a mop and clean up this mess. I, on the other hand, need to change. We can talk some more afterward.”

<><>

Taylor

“Okay, what the heck happened there?”

As I spoke, I took a sandwich and nibbled on it. Egg salad, not too bad.

Dad poured hot water into his coffee cup from the electric jug – we had been moved to a lunch room while the Director got changed – and added milk before stirring. He seemed to take his time about thinking over his answer, but he got there eventually.

“I think that was a test,” he decided. “A test for your guardian angel. She gave that soldier the order to douse you with a bucket of water. The prank rebounded on her for the most part, but the soldier tripped and got the bucket on his head for his part in it.”

“Yeah, I pretty well got that bit,” I agreed, finishing off the sandwich and grabbing another. “But why? She knew that it was all true. She would have seen it with Sophia. In fact, she expected more or less that very thing to happen. She even said as much.”

He sipped at the coffee. “I think it was a test for the guardian angel, not to prove that he exists. Emma, Sophia, Madison, they all had lots of malice toward you, so they got punished very thoroughly. Arranging for you to be doused in cold water required some sort of punishment, but there was no malice in it, so she simply got doused instead. Tit for tat.”

“Precisely.” The door opened and Director Piggot entered. Her suit, identical to the one she had been wearing before, was dry. She showed no other signs of the incident with the bucket. “I had my suspicions, so I set up the situation. Besides, there's something else that you need to know about your guardian angel.”

I turned to face her. “What's that?”

She waited until Dad and I were giving her our complete and undivided attention.

“He doesn't exist.” 

Part 5