“Whoa!” Rocky said, hopping off the crate and examining the new hole. “How’s that even work?”
“Dunno,” James said breathlessly. He descended the stairs, his pulse quickening at the sight of light filtering through the door at the bottom. He put a hand on it and glanced back at Rocky, who nodded. James threw open the door.
The room was empty.
James surveyed the bunker, confused. The lights were on, but otherwise, it was completely empty. Papers were still sprawled out on the table, every can of food was still on the shelf, and even the laptop from before was still sitting on the small table by the TV. The place appeared untouched since James had last been there.
James sat heavily on one of the chairs, letting out a sigh. Of course they weren’t here. Why would the Supers be in the middle of Derek’s home city, in a tiny bunker? He’d been blinded by hope. It had just been a waste of his and Rocky’s time.
“So... they’re not here,” Rocky said helpfully.
“No,” James said. He gripped the edge of the table, feeling the depression of the past few days coming back. “No, they’re not.”
Rocky walked toward the edge of the room, examining the shelves on the wall. “There’s got to be something. Did Derek give you any sort of hint when he brought you here?”
“No,” James said. He smoothed out one of the old, crumpled pieces of paper on the table, but it appeared to just be an old legal document. Derek’s signature swirled at the bottom, and James felt a twinge of sadness at the sight of it. “This is ridiculous, Rocky. We’re not going to find some riddle from Derek that’ll lead us to him. I don’t think he’s smart enough to come up with a riddle.”
Rocky put his hand on his chin as he walked slowly around the room. “There’s got to be something.”
“Oh my god, Rocky!” James said, anger flaring. “This isn’t the Hardy Boys. We’re not going to find some hint and solve the mystery. He’s just gone.”
“I know, I know.” Rocky held up his hands. “But it doesn’t hurt to look, right?”
“Whatever,” James grumbled. Still, he stood and followed Rocky around the room as he examined it.
There wasn’t much to see. Most of the papers lying around were old newspapers showing headlines about the Supers. Some photos, like the one Derek had shown James a few days before, were scattered around. One particularly faded one caught James’s attention. It had the unsaturated, yellow tint of most photos from the ’70s or ’80s. It showed Tonitrus and Calico standing side by side. Tonitrus held up his hand, and electricity danced between his fingers. His blond hair was longer than he wore it now and he wasn’t as bulky. It must’ve been when he first joined the Supers, decades before Derek, when the Supers were still expanding, establishing themselves as protectors.
“What’s this?” Rocky said. He reached down and grabbed another photo, which sat alone on the lowest shelf.
It showed Derek and James sitting on a swing set. James’s feet didn’t even touch the ground, while Derek was slightly too large for his swing. It was from before Derek knew he had powers. James took it from Rocky’s hands, smiling despite himself. They looked so young, so innocent. Back then, Derek would still try to protect him. Not because he had powers, but because it was what older brothers did.
On an impulse, James flipped over the photo. There, written in black marker in Derek’s blocky handwriting, was a single sentence: Go to the beginning.
Rocky whistled. “Now that looks like a clue.”
“I hate you,” James muttered, staring at the sentence. Could it be? There was no way to tell when it was written, but the ink looked fresh, not faded or smeared. “What does it mean?”
His mind raced. The beginning of what? The town they were both born in, a small place in North Dakota? It could be a good spot to hide, secluded in the woods. But no, that didn’t seem right. The beginning...
James dropped the photo, heart pounding. “I know where it is.”
He raced out of the bunker, Rocky hot on his heels.
“Where are we going?” Rocky said as he jumped in the driver’s seat of his Jeep.
“Back by my house. You know the woods that start at the end of the street?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Go there.”
Rocky obliged, driving quickly back into town and James’s neighborhood. They passed his house, and Rocky pulled over at the end of the road. A forest marked the edge of the neighborhood, extending for several miles. As soon as they came to a stop, James jumped out of the car.
The path was overgrown with ferns and bramble from years of neglect, but it was still visible. James plunged into the woods, branches slapping him and catching on his clothes as he pushed through.
“Okay, come on,” Rocky said as he ducked a swinging branch. “Tell me where we’re going.”
“You’ll see,” was all James said as he followed the almost nonexistent path.
After winding their way deeper and deeper into the forest, pushing through branches and climbing over roots, James let out a triumphant yell.
They emerged at a clearing in the woods overlooking a small lake.
“Wha... How did I never know this was here?” Rocky said.
James shrugged. “Derek showed me when we were younger.”
“Is this ‘the beginning’?” Rocky asked.
“I think so.” James picked his way down the side of the overhang, toward the lake. Lying on the jutting rocks immediately below was a broken branch and a length of rope. After all these years, it was still here. He climbed over the rocks and knelt next to the rope.
“This is where it began,” James said quietly, rolling the length of rope in his hand, remembering that day so many years ago. “This is the first time his powers showed, though we didn’t know it at the time. Or at least I didn’t.”
“Okay, so this is the beginning,” Rocky said. “Now
