“Kane!” I heard Samantha scream, a bit quieter this time.
“Samantha!” I shouted. I flew towards the direction of the sound as fast as I could. The water—or whatever it was—below me shot into the sky as I flew above it fast. The fog continued to envelop me, revealing nothing new about my surroundings. I slowed down and looked around, searching for any sign of Samantha. “Can you hear me?” I shouted. “Call out again! I’ll find you!”
“Kane!” She shouted, even quieter this time.
I panicked as I realized I wasn’t getting closer, but had been flying further away. I flew back the way I came, forcing myself to go as fast as I could, although still being aware of my surroundings, trying to search for any sign of her. But there was nothing. I couldn’t find a single clue besides the few times she shouted my name.
I stopped, breathing heavily not because I’d exerted myself, but because I was panicking. She was slipping away from my grasp. I was losing the closest chance I had to finding her.
“Kane!” I heard her shout, barely above a whisper.
“Samantha,” I said, my eyes watering from frustration and disappointment. “I can’t find you, Samantha,” I admitted, each word piercing my chest like a knife.
“Kane,” I heard someone say behind me, clear as day.
I spun around, and saw her walking towards me on the white water below. The woman who I’d made a deal with. The woman who brought Doug back from the dead.
Athena.
She stood on the white water. It rippled around her feet, buzzing with energy. Her white silky robes floated around her, breezing in a soft wind I hadn’t even realized existed until just then. “Did you do this?”I asked her as I floated down. “Did you take Samantha?” I shouted as I reached her. I wanted to reach out and grab her, force her to tell me what I wanted to know. But something in my mind told me that probably wasn’t the best idea.
She smiled at me, her teeth were so white they were practically glowing. Her flawless tan skin shone with vibrance and youthfulness. She was the epitome of beauty and grace. “Of course not, Kane. I’m here to help you, just as I helped you before.” Her smile turned mischievous and she cocked her head at me. “You do remember that, don’t you? The fact that I’ve only always helped you?”
“You helped me once, that doesn’t mean anything,” I said, taking out the little frustration I had left on her.
“Hmm. I’d think that you’d be a little grateful after I brought back one of your friends. You’d think your mother would’ve raised you to know that,” she said, the smile slowly disappearing from her face.
I realized what I’d done, and did my best to recover. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just really frustrated right now. I have no idea what this place is, where my friend is, what’s going on…” I clenched my eyes shut, trying to get the thoughts straight in my head. I needed to focus. I couldn’t screw things up.
I felt a hand placed on my shoulder, and a buzz of energy shot through me. I opened my eyes and saw Athena had her hand on me, her maternal smile causing a warmth to wash over me. “Kane, do not fret. You’re safe here. As I said, I’m here to help you. You made an oath to repay me after I brought your friend Doug back from the dead. The time for you to pay your debts is approaching, but I believe we can do so in a way that’s beneficial for the both of us.” Her maternal smile changed to one that had a hard edge to it. The type of smile that said “you’d better agree with me or else.”
I nodded my head. “Of course, I made a promise. I mean to keep it.”
Athena took her hand off my shoulder and nodded. “Excellent. It seems your mother raised you well after all.” Without warning, she turned around and began walking away, back towards the fog. I wasn’t sure if I was to follow her or not, but when she paused and looked back at me, her eyes questioning, I had my answer. I flew towards where she stood, floating next to her as she continued to walk. “You asked me if I was responsible for the disappearance of your friend.”
“Yes,” I said, unsure of whether or not I was going to like what I was about to hear next.
“I am in no way responsible. However, I do know where she is located.”
Excitement surged through me like a bolt of electricity. “You do?” I all but shouted. I stopped and flew in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. “Where is she? You have to tell me where she is. Please, I’m begging you.”
Athena said nothing. She just looked at me, and then looked next to her where I’d just been floating moments before. I got the message, and returned to my spot by her side. “I will tell you, Kane, do not worry,” she said as she began walking. “But I’ve already given you one favor, one that you have yet to return.”
The excitement floated away, replaced with trepidation. Now it was time to find out what Athena really wanted. “What do you need me to do?”
“Soon you will get a call for help from your friends in London,” Athena said as she walked gracefully, her robes flowing behind her. She watched me out of the corner of her eye, and I did my best to keep my gaze forward. “I want you to go to them and do whatever it is they ask.”
“And leave Samantha behind? I can’t just abandon my search for her,” I said, shaking my head. Was Athena really asking me this? Surely she knew that giving up on Samantha was something I’d never do.
“Nevertheless, it’s something you must do. You said you’d do anything when we made our deal to bring Doug back,” Athena said.
“I didn’t mean that, though. I was just saying that in the moment, I would’ve agreed to anything,” I said, searching for a way out.
Athena nodded her head. “I know you would’ve agreed to anything, because that’s exactly what you did. Now you must honor your word, Kane Andrews.” She stopped walking and turned to face me. “You may think I’m just a woman trapped inside a bottle of asthenés plásma, but you’d be gravely mistaken. I have a reach that’s stronger than you could imagine.” The water beneath me began to pick up intensity, and the wind began to blow a bit harder. “Do not test me, Kane Andrews. I’m able to enter your mind even though we’re hundreds of miles away. Just think of what else I could do if I really wanted to.”
Her eyes radiated with power, and I could tell that she meant business. I nodded my head. “I understand,” I said.
Athena smiled and the seas and wind calmed. “Very good. Now, you will go to your friends and help them, like any good friend should.” The tone she had in her voice felt patronizing. This deal seemed all too simple. “Once you’re there, just do what you would normally do. You’ll hear from me when I need you to do something for me. I just have a few more things to take care of before I let you know exactly what that is.”
I didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “No, if I’m doing this for you, you’re going to have to tell me exactly what you need me to do.”
Athena shook her head as she turned to look at me. “I don’t think so, Kane. You’re going to do exactly what I tell you to, because that’s the deal that we made.” She smiled and placed an arm on my shoulder like she did earlier. She looked at me, her eyes comforting. “I’ve only ever helped you in the past, Kane. I’ve always looked out for you, even when you had no idea. Trust me, I’m trying to help you.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, not quite understanding what she was saying. “What do you mean you looked out for me even when I didn’t know?”
Athena chuckled to herself, shaking her head. “You think the only reason you weren’t totally affected by the asthenés plásma was because you were more powerful than all the other Supers around? No, it’s because I allowed you to have just enough of your abilities to give yourself an advantage over your enemies.” She took her hand off my shoulder, and left me standing there, totally taken aback.
She was helping me all that time. Taking away the powers of my enemies, and giving me mine just when I needed them.
“I want to defeat Atlas, Kane. I really, really do,” she continued. “But to do that
I’m going to need your help. If you trust me completely, and go to London like I’ve asked you, when you’re done with your task I will tell you where Samantha is located.”
My heart skipped beat at the mention of her name, and I knew exactly what I had to do. I nodded my head. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Athena clapped her hands together and smiled. “Excellent! I’ll ta—”
A bright flash of lightning striking nearby followed by the deafening crack of thunder interrupted her. I nearly jumped out of my skin as I ducked down, my face floating inches above the white water.
I looked up at Athena, who was searching around for the source of the blast. Another one cracked nearby, even closer this time. The sea below me picked up intensity, and the fog thickened. I looked up at the sky as it was beginning to turn gray.
“Kane, you have to get out of here!” Athena yelled as she ran to me, picking me up.
As I looked into her eyes, I saw fear that turned my insides cold. “I can’t protect you here. I’m losing energy. You have to g—” Athena flew backwards as if she had a rope tied around her waist and someone with super strength yanked on it as hard as they could.
“Athena!” I yelled as she flew backwards towards the fog.
“Go!” she yelled as she disappeared into the fog.
I flew to where Athena disappeared, flying as fast as I could towards her. I couldn’t find her anywhere I looked. “Athena!” I yelled, searching all around for her, but I couldn’t find any sign of her. Whatever grabbed her was long gone.
The world around me grew darker and darker. The sea became choppy and waves grew to be a few feet tall. I noticed the lightning begin to take on a greenish hue. The fog was beginning to turn a dark green as well.
Panic gripped my heart. Something was going very, very wrong. Even Athena was afraid. If something could take her away like it did, I knew it’d be able to take care of me easily. I had to get out of here. But how could I do that? Did I just fly and fly until I reached a door and just walk through it?
Lightning struck just a few inches in front of me interrupting my thoughts and sending me flying backwards. My whole body buzzed with electricity has I flew back, stopping myself just before I hit the water. I looked up, and couldn’t believe my eyes.
Floating above the stormy seas, right where the lightning had struck just moments before, was a man. His body radiated a beautiful green light. He eyes shone a radiant green, piercing through the fog. He turned and looked right at me, and my body felt cold to its core.
“Kane!” the man shouted in a booming voice that shook my bones.
He floated towards me, and I panicked. If that was the man that could scare Athena, I knew he meant nothing but trouble for me.
That’s when it hit me. This was all in my head. I mean, I believed it was all real, but I mean Athena came to me after I fell asleep. Just like when I made the deal for Doug’s life with her and my body was actually just lying in a storage closet, not standing above Doug’s body in the gymnasium.
I knew that my body was just lying in bed back in the house we called home.
I closed my eyes as the glowing green man was just a few feet away, and when I opened them, I was in my bedroom.
The whole place was lit up in a bright white light.
10
WHITE EYES
I had no control over my body.
I jumped out of bed, and burst through the bedroom door, leaving it hanging on its hinges in splinters.
I tried to stop myself, but my body moved against my will. The hallway was lit up by two beams of white light. My head turned to look at myself in the mirror, and two white lights looked back at me. I screamed inside my head, trying to fight against whatever it was that was causing me to have no control over my body. But whatever it was wouldn’t give. I couldn’t do a single thing.
A door opened to my right. I turned to see Drew looking out his bedroom door at me. He shielded his eyes from my blinding white-eyes. “Kane?” He asked, squinting his eyes. “Is that you?”
I stepped towards him. I knew whatever was about to happen wasn’t going to be good.
Judging from the slow steps back, Drew sensed it too. “Kane, what’s going on? What are you doing?”
I wanted to scream for him to run. I wanted to yell that I wasn’t in control. I wanted to shout for Selena to come help.
But all I could do was watch.
I reached out and grabbed Drew right as he was about to activate the Eximus receivers in his arms that he had implanted back when he worked for the STF, all that time ago while I was trapped unconscious on the moon. I slammed him into the wall, and he fell back through into his bedroom. I stepped through the wall, busting a human sized hole through it, leaving drywall and debris all over the ground. Drew struggled to get up, and apparently my body decided to help him, but not in the way that he would’ve wanted. I grabbed him by his shirt, and threw him across the room. He slammed into the wall, and collapsed to the ground unconscious.
I thought I was going to throw up. I felt so sick to my stomach, disgusted with myself. I had no idea who or what was controlling me, all I knew was that I wanted for it to stop before I hurt one of my closest friends any more than I already had—or worse.
I felt a jolt of electricity hit my back. It was a small shock, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I turned around and saw Eddie standing on the other side of the hole in the wall I’d made, shooting electricity from his hands at me.
It was pointless, however. I walked towards him, the electricity running through me, jumping all around. He clenched his eyes as he put all his focus and energy into making the most powerful bolts of electricity as possible. But it was useless. The only electricity that affected me was the Eximus kind, and the only person who had any of that I’d just knocked through one wall and into another.
I grabbed Eddie, and pulled him through the wall. I wrapped my hand around his throat and began to squeeze. I could’ve snapped his neck in one swift motion, but who or whatever was controlling me wanted it to be slow. Eddie’s eyes begged for me to stop as he tried to get a word out. But I wouldn’t. I was struggling just as hard to get a word or two out myself, but my body wasn’t allowing.
The wall I’d thrown Drew and pulled Eddie through exploded as Selena came flying through it, slamming into my body. The force caused me to let go of Eddie and going flying through the wall behind me and out into the front yard of the house.
The moon was high in the sky as I came to a stop. I stood up, dirt and grass sticking to my sweaty, shirtless body. I looked at the hole in the front of the house I’d just been knocked through, and saw Selena standing there, her blue eyes staring into my white.
Please let this end. Just turn around and fly away, I pleaded with myself. My body, however, had other plans.
I launched myself at Selena, flying straight towards her. She was ready though. She grabbed my outstretched fist right before it hit her, and swung me around and through the wall on her right. I went flying through Drew’s bedroom wall, through my room, and slammed into the fireplace in the living room.
Selena was standing above me in an instant. She picked me up and pulled me close to her face. “What the hell is going on?” She shouted in my face.
I said nothing. I head butted her and she stumbled backwards. I swung at her face with my right hand but she dodged out of the way. My left fist was ready though, and singled in on her. It slammed into her with enough force that a small shock wave emanated from the connection. It had little effect on her, though, as she quickly countered with a one-two punch to my torso.
I had to tell her in some way that I had no control over my body. Although she of course knew that something was wrong given the fact that my eyes were glowing white, I needed her to know that I wasn’t the one responsible for attacking her, Eddie, and Drew.
We continued to fight, our punches landing hard and fast. Any normal humans would’ve been obliterated by the force of our attacks, but the two of us w
ere barely affected.
Selena grabbed my wrist as she dodged one of my punches, and kicked my legs out from under me. She swung me around into the couch on one side of the room. I tried to push myself up off the couch, but Selena didn’t give me the chance. She was on top of me in an instant, pinning my arms down with her knees. She punched my face over and over again, fast and hard. Her teeth were gritted and I could tell by the look on her face that she was very, very angry. “Just stop!” She yelled as she finished her volley of hits with two hard punches.
I wanted to. If only she knew how badly I wanted to.
But my body had other ideas.
I kicked my legs up and slammed my knees into her back hard. She went flying off me and straight through the wall behind us. I jumped off the couch, reached down, and picked up the coffee table in front of us. The glass fruit center piece slid off it, shattering on the ground along with the magazines and books that also called the coffee table their home.
Selena came flying through the hole in the wall at me. I held the coffee table over my shoulder like a bat and slammed it into her right as she flew at me. It exploded in my hands as she flew right through it, sending glass and pieces of wood flying all over the living room.
Selena grabbed me and picked me up, tossing me through the front door of the house. I slammed across the ground, sliding through the grass, sending dirt flying through the air. I hit a pipe and it cracked open, sending water shooting into the air like a geyser.
I finally came to a halt, and for a split, wonderful second I thought I was going to stay down. The hope washed away like the water on my skin as I reached up and grabbed a hold of the white metal fence that surrounded the front yard of the property. I pulled myself up, and I turned around just in time to see Selena hit me with a flying kick to the chest. I flew back through the fence, taking part of the metal frame with me.
The Secret of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 4) Page 4
