2019.

It was well after midnight — well after the time you “meet a man” called the Crimson Wraith — when Gracie got back to the 6th Avenue Metro station. The platform was mostly deserted, littered by the empty bottles and crumpled takeaway wrappers of other people’s revelries.

Her body felt warm and worn from the dancing. The catcalls she’d received on the way from Terpsichoria just rolled off her. How could they not? She had watched the biggest asshole she knew beg for his life from the top of the Snyder-Finn building. 

When Stephen held open the door of the Zephyr, she bowed. “Home, Jeeves.”

“Very good, Miss Chapel,” he replied with a sporting smirk. “Your day concluded in a pleasing manner, I take it?”

“You could say that, my guy. You definitely could.”

Back at Finn Manor, everyone appeared to be asleep and soon Gracie was too. The next morning she woke late, and saw a Tombstone notification on her phone. 

Last night was a success. Should meet once more. Like before. Same time. Same place.

That sounded just fine to Gracie. She wasn’t sure how things would proceed from here. How soon would she hear something from Hancock about Zack? It was good having a half-day at Sprang & Sons to pass the time. 

When she returned from her shift, she found Kevin and Danny side-by-side on the parlor couch, facing a flat-screen TV that seemed like it must slide in and out of the cabinet below. They had controllers in hand and were playing some kind of cartoon racing video game. Danny appeared to be winning.

“I told you!” he shouted, “Captain Monkey ain’t shit on the water level!”

Kevin protested. “But I love Captain Monkey. I grew up with Captain Monkey.”

“Well, the past is past, and that’s why I beat your ass!”

Then Kevin noticed Gracie watching. “You see what I have to put up with? Want to take the next round? Save me from my misery?”

She held up a hand, “Gonna pass tonight, boys. Got a bit of homework.”

“Understood,” said Kevin, “Stephen left a plate for you in the refrigerator. He made teriyaki chicken with snow peas.”

“It’s real good,” said Danny.

“Thanks,” said Gracie. She felt herself smile at the two of them, experiencing a warmth that surprised her. Was this what family was supposed to feel like?

They weren’t wrong about dinner. It was delicious. Gracie put in some work for her college classes, then scrolled mindlessly through her phone until it was almost midnight. The boys were done with their video game, and the house was quiet as she made her way back to the Finn Mausoleum.

She roamed around the headstones long enough to wonder if the Crimson Wraith might stand her up. After all, he had to be a busy guy. Not like her situation demanded some kind of special consideration. She had at least hoped to say “thanks,” though, to his face. Or mask.

Then Gracie noticed the smell of burning sulfur and felt the chill of fog curling around her ankles. “Do we still need the theatrics?”

His ethereal, echoing voice came to her from the dark, “The Infernal Mist can be a gentler way to announce my arrival. I didn’t want to startle you.” Then he stepped forward into a shaft of moonlight that made his blood-red costume blaze.

“‘Infernal Mist’?”

“That’s what some have called it.”

“Yeah, well,” she said, grinning, not knowing why seeing his mask made her feel as happy as it did. “You are late. I am on time. So, you got a lot to answer for there, mister.”

“My apologies,” he said. “Zack has moved out of Kristen’s apartment.”

“Get the fuck out.”

“Exactly. And he placed a call to the District Attorney, asking to meet as soon as possible. I am hopeful you will hear good news from Bradley soon.”

“Holy shit,” said Gracie. “So, I guess that’s that, huh?”

“A few things still have yet to unfold, but it does appear we are getting the outcome we were after.” 

It felt nice to hear him say “we.”

“Thank you,” she said. “You know, I thought you were an asshole at first, but… I was wrong. You really are a good guy. And that… It’s… It’s nice. It’s really… It’s really nice.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Um, well, I guess… I’ll be seeing you around…” Gracie brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.  “Or maybe I won’t see you… Maybe it would be better if I don’t…” 

She dug her hands into her jacket pocket. Her fingers found a small, folded piece of paper — probably an old receipt — its surface smooth under her fingertips. 

“Not that I don’t want to see you, just that seeing you probably would mean shit got fucked up again and… Yeah, wouldn’t mind doing without that…” 

She flipped the receipt over and over without pulling it out. 

“I understand,” he said.

The Crimson Wraith did not move.

“Guess you can’t make a mysterious exit if I’m here looking right at you.”

“That does make it more challenging.”

“You’d have to, like, point behind me and say, ‘Hey, what’s that?’ And I’d turn and see nothing. Then, when I looked back, you would be gone.”

His shoulders showed a chuckle. “Something like that.”

“Yeah… Okay… So, I’m gonna turn around now… And I’m gonna head back inside, and get back on with my life and stuff.”

The Crimson Wraith nodded.

“Cool… Cool…” 

Gracie didn’t want to turn around, and she didn’t know why. Something inside her screamed not to let him disappear, not to let him leave her. 

“Not like my life is going to be, like, normal,” she continued. “Because how do you go back to normal after this?”

“Maybe what comes next can be better than what you’ve known as normal.”

“Yeah, that’d be pretty cool.” Then a thought struck her. “How do I pay you back?”

“You don’t.”

“That’s not… That doesn’t feel right.”

“Why?”

“Because all this, you and Kevin and Stephen and Bradley — it’s not nothing. It’s money. It’s time. What do I do with that?”

“What would you like to do with it?”

“I can’t just do nothing.” Gracie chewed her bottom lip. “I’m not that kind of person.” 

Then she remembered what Stephen had said on the night she arrived at Finn Manor, and it made her realize something about the Crimson Wraith.

“You aren’t that kind of person either. Or you weren’t. Not you the Crimson Wraith, but you… you.”

Thoughts started coming fast, and he stood, listening as she followed them.

“Because the Crimson Wraith has been around for, like forever, but, you’re not a hundred years old, and, I’m sorry, there’s no way I’m buying that you’re an actual ghost. You’re a person, whoever you are, and there was some other Crimson Wraith before you. He helped you out at some point — he had to — and you couldn’t just walk away from that either. No, that’s why you’re the one wearing the mask. The Crimson Wraith. The Scarlet Stranger. Defending the defenseless.”

“Look at your phone,” he said.

“Why?”

“Just look at it.”

“Promise you’ll be there when I look up? Would be a real dick move if you weren’t.”

“I promise.”

On her phone, Gracie saw another notification from Tombstone. There was a new file available to view, a video. Her fingers hesitated over the screen for a moment. Its timestamp gave a date that did not mean anything to Gracie at first. Then she opened it.

In the same night vision green as the previous Tombstone videos filmed from the Crimson Wraith’s perspective, Gracie saw herself facing off against Tight T-shirt Guy from up above street level. She watched him make his way around his car and lunge at her before being taken to the ground.

“That warehouse district can be dangerous at night,” said the Crimson Wraith. “So, I like to keep an eye on it. The roar of this man’s car engine caught my attention. And when I heard what he said to you, I thought he may need a forceful hand to keep from harming you. He did, but that hand wasn’t mine. You handled him very nicely.”

“Thanks,” she said, feeling confused, proud, and a little unsettled, seeing herself on the other side of the Crimson Wraith’s surveillance. He had watched her fight off her attacker but never said anything about that before this very moment. Why?

“After that, I wanted to see what else you might be capable of. That’s why I was following you the night of your fight with Zack.”

“You were following me?”

“Did you never wonder why I only appeared when I did, no sooner?”

“Not, really, dude! Kinda had my whole world turned upside-down that night, you know?”

“I do.” He pointed to her phone, where the video had looped back from the beginning and once again. “That woman right here is a fighter, and a damn good one.”

“Thank you,” Gracie said softly. Praise from a superhero felt wild to receive.

“So, I wanted to see more, and I found that when you fight to defend yourself, you are capable, but when you fight to defend someone else, that is where the passion comes out  — so much passion it might be dangerous.” 

“Guess maybe I need to work on my anger issues…”

“If you wanted to learn to control that passion, to train it to fight for the well-being of others, I think you could do a lot of good.”

Her eyes shot up to him. “You mean like, defend the defenseless?”

“There could be a place for you with me, Gracie, fighting at my side. I would consider it an honor.” 

“Shut up.”

“I’m not joking. This offer is sincere. Of course, I understand you might need time…”

“No, I mean ‘shut up’ like ‘hell yeah,’” Gracie said, grinning. “No sales pitch needed. I’m in.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything ever.” She was feeling electric and didn’t care if anyone back inside heard her. “Teach me! Be my sensei! Please! If this is an option for me, if this is something I can do with my life…”

“Why?”

“You know why! You probably had this exact same conversation with The Crimson Wraith before you!”

“I did. And that’s why I need to hear you say your part of it.” He took a step closer to her, hand outstretched, inviting her to take it. “Tell me why you want this, Gracie Chapel.”

“Ok.” She shook her head to try to quiet the thrilled buzzing there. “I want to do this, I want to fight like you fight, because…” She thought about her life, about the things she had needed before that she never received, and what a mysterious figure in a mask and cloak could have done for her. “….because there are people out there who can’t fight for themselves, and because they need someone to do the fighting for them. I know this because you’ve fought for me and, I got to tell you, it has been nice. It has been so. Fucking. Nice. It makes me want to be a better person. Maybe if other people had someone fight for them, they would want to be better people too. And if more people were wanting to be better, maybe eventually the whole world just sucks that little bit less, and — God, damn it — that would be great. That would be… everything.”

He did not say anything at first, and it made her feel naked and embarrassed to practically beg him like that. 

But then the Crimson Wraith reached up into his hood, carefully unclasped his mask, and slipped it off. Underneath, Gracie saw the smiling, proud, and very human face of Kevin Snyder — Kevin who had taken her into his home at Finn Manor, Kevin who had invited her to have microwaved popcorn and play video games, and Kevin who she first met when he showed up at her work asking for a book about — who else? — The Crimson Wraith.

“That was perfect,” he said.

Gracie smiled back at him. “You son of a bitch.”