Aiden shouted in pain, cursing my father the entire way.
“Now I have been shot because of you. How much more must I go through?” Aiden grunted. He reminded me of a child crying over spilled milk.
“There comes a time, Aiden, when you have to take blame for the things you have done. There comes a time when those more powerful than you finally win.” My father didn’t elaborate. That was what my father did best. He spoke in circles that no one could keep up with it.
“Father. Enough.” Aiden screamed harshly at him. My father stayed stoic.
“Aiden. It is over. Give up already.”
“Give up. Oh, give up?” Aiden was going mad. “I will never give up. I won’t give up until my last breath.”
“That is what is wrong with the world. It is why I tried to change things.”
“Change things? By what? Forcing people to follow you. You pathetic, old man.” He spat at his feet. Lena held her breath beside me. Her chest stopped moving against mine. He had been in her head for months. She knew what would piss him off. This was one of those things that would anger him.
“Corruption. Men like you. Angry at the world. Blaming everyone but yourself. You are the root of all evil. They say money is, and yes money is evil, but not as evil as mankind. I am the bad guy because I tried to overturn that evil. I stand by what I did. Nothing can change the world, except love. I see that now.” I was in awe at his words. He always captivated anyone who listened. He talked in riddles. He was mad, but you could never forget that he was a genius too.
“Can you just stop talking, father?” Aiden was cringing at my father’s words.
“Maybe you should remember how weak you are right now? Without any weapons.” Gabe finally pointed out to him.
“You hide behind your robots. You hide behind my father. You are nothing without that mind control. Your control died with that island back there. What are you without it?” Aiden shouted to them both. Gabe’s face said it all that Aiden was right.
“Then I have nothing to lose right?” Gabe pulled the trigger. As soon as the bullet went off, missing Aiden completely. There was crash as Gabe toppled on his back.
He landed right beside Holland. It was almost symbolic. They were together. Soon to be two bloody corpses, instead of one.
The dagger was sticking out of Gabe’s chest, where Aiden had just hit him square on. He gagged on the ground, reaching for Holland. Aiden stepped forward, jerking the blade from his chest, causing Gabe to sputter blood. Aiden took the gun from his pale hands.
My father cried out at the sight. “Aiden, please.”
“Yes, father. Beg for me to stop. This is your entire fault. Every last death is your fault. You’re next.” It was a bloody massacre on this island. No one could stop it. The villains were killing one another in front of our eyes. The blood was off our hands.
“Kill me then. I couldn’t change anyone. I made the mistake of letting crooked men in on the plan.” My father shouted.
Aiden didn’t hesitate. The shot rang through the air. I wasn’t sure where my father was hit, and I didn’t care. He was my father.
I dropped to my knees beside him as soon as he landed. Lena grabbing my shoulder to stop me but I couldn’t be stopped, even if I wanted to be.
I reached my hand to hold his cheek. Aiden made a sound behind me, and for a moment I thought he would come after me. The weight on my shoulder lifted.
There was a sound of a crack. Lena hit Aiden one more time. His arm was completely broken. The bone was sticking out of his skin, and the gun lay on the ground beside them. Lena jerked it up and faced Aiden. “Don’t you ever try to kill my boyfriend again,” she was furious. Aiden had tried to take me out when my back was turned. “Take him away.” Lena commanded, as a mass of people surrounded Aiden.
“Jared.” My father moaned. “Please. Know how much I loved you. Your mother. Jared, I did this all for you.” My father was delusional. He was. He hadn’t told me he loved me in years. I might have even loved him deep down.
“Jared.” He reached for my hand. I let him.
“There is something you must know. Please.” His voice was fading.
“What is it?” I whispered to him. I squeezed his hands. “Father?” I called out to him, but his breaths were shallow.
I was losing him. I was losing him before he could tell me his truths. His faults.
“Father?” I put my head against his chest. His breaths were no longer. He was gone. I would never know what he had to say to me.
I didn’t sob. Even though my heart should have felt empty when it came to him, I still loved my father. He had done such wrong to the world, but it didn’t matter at the moment. Death was everywhere, and I couldn’t stop it. I had lost three people in a matter of minutes.
I turned slowly as Gabe heaved on the ground. He kept repeating my name over and over. It was crazy how the people who betrayed me, needed me as they died. They didn’t deserve me, but I wouldn’t turn my back on them as they had done to me. I reached him on the ground. “Jared. Please. Forgive me. Holland.”
I didn’t truly mean it yet, but I would give him peace in his final moments. “I forgive you, Gabe.” Perhaps one day I would truly mean it. His eyes shut at the sound. A serene look passed his face. He was gone.
There was hissing coming from the ground and I turned to find Aiden struggling for breath. He killed Holland, my father and Gabe. Yes, two of them were almost dead to me before, but they were a part of me all the same.
“Jared, help me.” Aiden whispered. Last one to call out for me in their deaths. He was being held up by a girl I didn’t recognize, but by the look on her face, I knew that my brother had used her in one way or another when she was under control. Lena watched with pride in her eyes. She wanted Aiden hurt too. I didn’t blame her.
His face was pure terror. It was strange to see it on his face. He was my brother. I wanted to help. But then I remembered he killed my father without a second thought. He killed Gabe without another blink. Anyone who I ever loved was gone and taken from me by Aiden.
The former robots were circling him. They were vicious. They were unforgiving. They would rip him apart for what he did to them.
“Take him away.” I said simply. His eyes widened at the sound. He deserved it. After all, he was a wicked man.
Chapter Twenty- Four: The Power You Keep
“Is it really over?”
“It’s really over.”
“I can’t believe they’re all gone. We are one of the only people left standing.” I said.
“That is true, but look around you.” I did. “Look at all the people we saved. Look at all those people that were robots just an hour ago. You did that.” She was beaming at me.
“No, kid. We did that.” I brought my lips down to hers. My heart swelled. She was my Lena. She would never be another Lena. She would never be controlled. She would live out her days in full control of who she was. She had herself to thank for that.
“Look what I can still do though.” She said as we broke our kiss. She lifted herself easily into the air.
“I know. I am still unsure how you can do that after Clementine blew up the control center.” I said in awe.
“Clementine. She was a mystery, but she sacrificed it all to end this war.” She looked wary, but changed the subject. “Try it yourself. Try to levitate. I saw you grab Holland and fly away with me off the roof.” She smiled down at me. I didn’t know what to do.
“Eh. What do I do?” I asked unsure.
“Well, how did you do it before?” she giggled.
“I was angry. I didn’t even think about it.”
“Exactly. Don’t think, just do. Just imagine yourself in the air, and will yourself to do it. Very simple.” She laughed at me as I jumped pathetically.
“No. Just think, and it will happen. Promise. Just close your eyes and concentrate.” She smiled that big grin at me and I closed my eyes.
Moments passed, and neither of us said a
word. “Are you ever going to open your eyes?” She snickered. I peered one eye open and to my surprise, I was right beside her. I looked down only to see the trees below us.
“See. I told you.”
“What is this? Why do we still have powers? I thought that died when the compound was destroyed.” I repeated. I was rambling, and she shook her head. “I don’t know how or why. I am not going to question it. I am just going with it.” She beamed at me.
“I guess Gabe and my father didn’t think that through.”
“No, they thought it through. They just never thought that they would be defeated.” She wisely told me.
“I wonder what he was trying to tell me there in the end.” I would never know what my father had been dying to tell me. I would never know what the last words were on his lips, and why they were meant for me to interpret and no one else.
“I don’t know. Maybe he was getting in one last insult.” I said as I shrugged.
“I don’t think so.” Lena spoke after a moment of hesitation. “I think he wanted to tell his son goodbye before it was too late.” I shook my head, but she continued. “Yes, he was an awful man but near the end there, I thought he was going to change his ways.”
“You’re right though. He was acting so strange all night. What was the deal about love, and Clementine? I will never understand.”
“Maybe we weren’t meant to always understand. Maybe we were just meant to live and be happy.”
“You sound so zen right now.” I laughed at her and she laughed back. The sound was glorious. I never thought I would hear our happiness again. I never thought I would stand beside her and not be her enemy. I was her equal again.
“What now?” she asked.
“We live. We live out the rest of our days together.”
Then I had a thought. I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
“Lena?” I asked bashfully. “I know everyone we love is dead. I know everything in the world is a little shaky. We are all we have. Truthfully, you are all I need or want. We are standing beside the dead, but I want us to live. Each day of our lives together. I know this is an awful time.” I got down on one of my knees, to her shock, and my own. “I know that, but would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
She was staring at me with her mouth agar. Shit, this was a terrible idea.
She didn’t speak for what felt like an eternity. “Well, where is my ring, Jared?” she broke out in a fit of laughs and my nerves slipped away.
“When there is a shop open for rings again. I will get you the biggest ring I can find.” I kissed her knuckles. And she got down on her knees in front of me so that we were eye level.
“Of course I will marry you. Hell, the world is practically under. Should we even have to have an official marriage?” She asked seriously.
“Hmm, I want it in writing.” Her eyes lit up at the sound.
“I love you, Jared.”
“I love you too, fiancé.”
She snickered, and the sound was music to my ears. I could die a happy man listening to the very sound.
Epilogue:
12 years later
“Mom.” Lily shouted into the air repeatedly. I frantically ran to the backyard. My heart speeding up with each step I took.
“What is it, Lily?” I shouted as I reached her. She had both hands in the air. She was facing the flowers in the garden. They had just died two days before. The pollution in the air made it hard for things to grow anymore.
It was hard for the earth to recover from such destruction. Dr. Ravana, and his followers had caused the world to lose a lot, because we were now under populated, and everything that grew, died days later. We made it work though. We had to, to survive.
“Where’s dad? He has to see this too.” She shouted over her shoulder to me.
“He isn’t home, baby.” I smiled and kneeled beside her. “You’re doing it.” I squealed. She smiled back at me as she raised her hands higher.
The flowers started to bloom before my very eyes. “Oh honey. They’re beautiful.” She could make anything dead grow once more. Her powers were very subtle before, but now they were growing more intensely. Her powers were finally in. I often wondered if her power could apply to humans, but was too afraid to try the theory out.
“Where is Noah?” she asked in a hurry.
“Hold that thought.” I got up quickly and ran into the house. “Noah. Your sister wants to show you something.” When he didn’t answer. I hurried down to his room. We lived in my old house. It was one of the only houses still standing all those years ago. We redecorated, rebuilt, and made a family here.
My father’s lab was now Noah’s lab. He got the genius gene from my father. I was so glad. He was so smart. I saw parts of my father reflected in Noah everyday.
“Noah?” I asked. I knocked on his lab door. The door was locked, so I beat on it once more. Mid knock, Noah opened the door. “What did I say about locking the lab door? If something were to go wrong, who could get to you?”
He ignored me and continued, “Mom. I can’t be disturbed. I am having a breakthrough. Right now.”
I rolled my eyes. He was having a breakthrough every few hours, if we were being honest. “Honey, your sister is making the flowers grow. Her powers are coming in. I know you remember how excited you were when your powers came in.” I added. He didn’t so much as smile at that.
The world was very different now. When Clementine blew up the control system, and there was no longer mind control, the people who were once robots, including myself, retained many powers. I passed them down to my children. The world now had many problems, but along with that there were many superhuman running around. Thanks Dr. Ravana.
“Come down, now. Show me what you’re working on later.” He finally sighed and turned to me. He slammed the lab door shut behind me, and locked it.
I held my hand out to him, and he took it. We ran down the steps and into the backyard. He was turned with his back to me. I felt the butterflies all over. He was home.
“Daddy!” Noah yelled, releasing my hand, and reaching his father in an instant. Super speed. Noah had super speed. It came in handy when he was working on his science projects.
Jared picked Noah up into a bear hug. He kissed his forehead, and took two strides forward to reach me. He kissed me while the children yelled “ewwww.”
“How are you, my love?” he murmured.
“Great, now that you’re here.” I whispered. “Look what Lily is doing.” I pointed to her, and his face lit up instantly with satisfaction.
“Lily! You’ve got the flowers to grow. Look at that.” He said cheerfully, causing Lily to squeal in delight.
She smiled and finally released her hands. “I’ll have to come back and check them to make sure they don’t die on me. Just think how much I could save.” She was delighted with herself. Jared rustled her hair.
Noah clapped his hands together. “My turn!” he took off running into the house and we tagged along after him.
“Tada.” He said as we entered the lab.
“What is it, buddy?” Jared said with a smile.
He pointed to the rabbit on his desk. “This morning, this rabbit had cancer in his eye, but after I injected him with medicine, that I created, he is all better.” I felt my smile freeze on my face. My heart was pattering loudly. I could hear Jared’s heart beating faster too. Noah continued.
“I have discovered the cure for all diseases. Cancer included.” My heart did a little tumble. I felt my face sinking. Jared simply smiled, but I could feel the tense air in the room.
“Son, I couldn’t be more proud of you. I think it is time though. We have something to tell you. About why the world is the way it is now.” Jared said softly.
Lily raised her hands. “Oh, oh. Let me tell him.” She laughed her little giggle. She didn’t know anything. It seemed that she was too young to know such things.
“Jared, take Lily downstairs. I’ll be there soon.” He nodded, and g
uided Lily out of the room as she shouted she wanted to hear the news.
“Noah, let’s sit.”
***
After I finished telling Noah everything, and I mean everything that transpired, he understood why this could end badly. He just wanted to help people. I told him that he would. He would do it the right way, but I told him to trust very few on his endeavor.
I left Noah to his lab, to his project to save the world. He would save it the right way as he vowed to me. He promised to perfect the medicine he created, and that he would share it with no one, and that money would not drive his experiment.
As soon as I entered the kitchen, my heart felt content. Jared was there. His arms were crossed, as he leaned against the counter, just waiting for me. He was my rock. He made me steady in this very unsteady world. “Well, crisis averted.” I smiled and kissed Jared’s cheek, but he was distracted.
“I heard the whole thing. You did wonderful, Lena. Lily is outside attempting to grow the bushes back now.” He said, but his attention was distracted.
“What’s wrong? You seem a little stressed.” I asked.
“I found this in the mail.” Jared held out an envelope to me. There was no return address, but instead read, “open when you’re ready.”
“Ready for what?” I asked curiously.
“I have no idea.” Jared was shaking his head in confusion.
He opened the envelope with one swift movement. At the sight, he dropped the envelope.
“What? What is it?” I panicked, as he pointed to the letter. I picked it up.
Inside was my necklace, burnt to a pulp, but still there, and two scraps of paper. I felt like I couldn’t breath. I was happy to see my necklace. It represented my family, but still. I couldn’t shake the uneasiness I felt.
“Clementine?” I felt chills all over. She was the last person to have my necklace. It had to be her.
“I don’t know.” He regained his composure, and opened the tiny letter first.
Antidote Trilogy: The Complete Box Set Page 45
