I turned to fly back down, but Selena called out for me to stop. “Kane! Wait.”
I turned, and she flew over to me. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m just really frustrated. I’m taking it out on you when I should be taking it out on Raven.” She smiled as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “Come on, let’s go kick some ass.”
I nodded, a smirk growing across my face.
“I’ll be over here cheerleading!” Samantha said.
The two of us laughed, then we flew down towards the city, ready to take on Raven.
* * *
As we flew towards downtown Johannesburg, I scanned the skyline for the Carlton Centre. When I found it, I pointed it out to Selena, and the two of us flew faster and faster towards the top floor, our minds on the same page. Fly in fast and hard, and make sure Raven didn’t know what had hit him.
I flew fast towards the windows, the smile on my face growing. I couldn’t wait to get started.
I got closer and closer.
I was flying slower and slower.
I looked behind me, confused. I definitely wasn’t trying to slow myself down. Selena was trailing behind me, the gap between us growing.
I felt something within me waver. I looked down, and my stomach dropped. My head felt light, and my palms grew sweaty.
I began gliding down. I tried to direct myself upwards, to stop, to do something. Instead, the gap between me and the building kept closing, but I was no longer in control. Instead of flying, I was now falling.
I closed in on a window about a dozen stories from the top. I smashed into the glass, and it shattered around me as I fell inside, slammed to the floor and rolled across the room. Then I hit a desk, which brought me to a sudden stop. I lay in a heap on the floor, letting out a shout of pain.
I turned to look to my left, and saw Selena flying towards the window, out of control. Just like I had, she crashed to the floor and skidded across the room. She was stopped by a pile of boxes, and she wasn’t getting up.
I gritted my teeth, trying to push through the pain. I pushed a hand beneath me to brace myself, but it gave out. I let out a shout of agony and looked down at my wrist; the pain grew even more intense when I realized it was broken. I pulled it in close and let out another groan of pain.
A thought shot across my mind. Why am I not healing?
I looked back down at my hand, waiting for it to pop back into place, every tendon and bone placing itself in just the right spot. It should’ve been healed by then. My hand should’ve healed itself a millisecond after I fell through the window. I shouldn’t be in so much pain.
Panic tore through me. I coughed hard, hacking up some blood. I felt my ribs with my good hand, and nothing felt right. One of them—at least one of them—must’ve broken and punctured a lung.
“What’s happening?” I asked out loud, but nobody answered. “Selena?” I said, craning my neck to try to see her. I could only see the pile of boxes that she’d fallen into. “Selena!”
No reply.
My whole body shuddered with pain. My adrenaline was pumping, but it wasn’t doing much to keep the agony at bay.
I looked down at my wrist and stared, as if it to tell it that it could start healing itself now. “Come on,” I whimpered. “Come on—” I tried to shout, but couldn’t finish. The pain was too much. It was excruciating.
I didn’t have time for this. If anybody had heard or saw me and Selena crash, they’d be on their way. I had to get us out of here, or we’d be in even bigger trouble.
I placed my good hand up on the desk above me, and with a shout of pain, pulled myself with all my might. The desk creaked under the pressure of my strength, but it didn’t crumble. I could have destroyed the same desk with a flick of my finger before. But now all I got was a creak and a groan?
Using the desk to support my weight, I took a tentative step towards Selena, but the pain rocked through my body and I had to stop after a single step. My breaths were short and painful. I felt another cough creeping up, and before I could stop it, it exploded from me, blood shooting across the small office we were in.
The force I was putting on the desk to support myself during my coughing attack proved to be too much. The desk collapsed, and I fell across it to the floor. An involuntary shout escaped from my lips, and I suddenly wondered whether or not I might actually die.
I looked down at my wrist once again, and it didn’t look quite as bad as it had earlier. A wave of joy and relief rushed through me. I was healing! Not as fast as usual, but still, I was doing it. I felt my wrist moving into place very slowly, and very painfully. It felt as if an army of ants were crawling beneath my skin, working as slowly as possible to get my body back to normal.
I looked around and saw a sweater that somebody had left on a couch in the corner of the room. I reached for it, but it was too far away. Summoning all the willpower I could, I crawled across the floor to the couch, grabbed the sweater, and crumpled up one of the sleeves. I placed it in my mouth and bit down as hard as I could. Then I lay on the floor with my eyes closed and the sweater in my mouth, waiting for the excruciatingly slow and painful healing process to be over with.
23
INTO THE DARKNESS
It took almost an hour for the pain inside of me to subside to a dull roar. I lay on the floor of the office, pieces of a desk and shattered glass all around. A cool breeze blew in from the broken window as the sun began to set in the distance. I breathed heavily, appreciating the fact that I could once again do so without feeling excruciating pain.
It was time to get out of there.
I crawled to the couch and used it to help myself stand. I was a bit shaky on my feet, and my head spun for a few moments. I almost fell back down, but once I got my bearings, I was fine.
I took a step towards the pile of boxes that had caught Selena. My legs were sore and unsteady, but after taking a few more steps, I had already begun to feel almost back to normal.
I reached Selena and knelt down next to her, then picked up the couple of boxes that were on top of her and threw them aside. The first thing I noticed was her right arm. It was obviously broken, twisted in a painful-looking way. A small patch of dried blood was caked on the top of her head and in her hair. Her arms and torso were all scratched up from the glass on the floor, from when she had first tumbled in. I checked for her pulse, and there was one. Strong, too. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I reached down and placed a hand on her shoulder. I gave it a shake, but she didn’t respond. “Selena,” I said as I gave her another prod. “Come on. Wake up, Selena.”
Nothing.
Shit, I thought.
Thought. My brain. “Samantha? Samantha, are you there?” I asked. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of her sooner, but then again, why had she been so quiet? “Samantha? Can you hear me?”
No response.
A new volley of anxieties and fears launched themselves at my mind. I didn’t know what this meant, but it couldn’t be good. It was clear I still had some of my powers, although a very, very small fraction of what they normally were. So, why couldn’t Samantha contact me? If I had my powers, why didn’t she? Besides, it wasn’t like she needed my powers to talk to me. My parents didn’t have any superpowers, and she was still able to communicate with them.
Still, there was radio silence from Samantha.
It was time for me to come up with a game plan. I could worry about what was happening at home later; first, I had to get out of the tower. Selena and I needed to get to safety. There was no telling if guards came through this part of town, but if they did, it wouldn’t be long before they found the mess we’d made. I had every intention of being long gone by the time they did.
I reached down and grabbed Selena’s right wrist. I pulled her up, grabbed her torso, and threw her over my shoulder. I still had some powers, so her weight didn’t feel like much. Still, I could feel it pressing down on my shoulder.
I walked over to the office door a
nd opened it slowly. There were no lights, so I focused on transforming my eyes. They cast a very dim blue light. Even so, I had to give them a second to adjust.
I looked up and down the hallway, finding no sign of any guards, just doors that led to other offices. To my left, the hallway hooked right and seemed to continue on, leading to another corridor of offices. To my right, the hallway led into a large opening. I decided that would be my best bet for an exit.
I walked down the hallway, which led to what looked like a reception area. Next to a pair of frosted doors was a sign with an arrow pointing to the left and a cartoon character running into a stairwell while fire gave chase behind him.
I followed the direction of the arrow and entered another hallway that I assumed would meet up eventually with the one I had started out in. The first door on my right had a sign that said In Case of Emergency, Use Stairs.
Bingo.
I swung the door open, the creaking of its hinges echoing throughout the empty stairwell. The smell of stale air wafted up to my nose, and I fought the urge to sneeze from the dust. I stepped inside and let the door swing shut behind me.
Total darkness surrounded me, the only light coming from the weak blue beams of my eyes. I stepped off the landing, making my way down the first of many stairs.
I took each step with care, so I wouldn’t drop Selena. I looked over the edge of the stairwell, my beams only penetrating the darkness for a few feet. Had I fully had my powers, I could’ve just jumped over the edge and stopped myself before I hit the ground. While I still had a small fraction of my powers, I didn’t know the full extent of my situation, and didn’t want to risk me or Selena splatting to the floor.
Still, I thought that maybe I could make my situation a bit easier. I stopped my descent and concentrated a bit harder than usual. I felt my feet leave the ground, and although I did waver for a moment and it took intense concentration, I was able to stabilize myself a couple inches off the floor. With a small smile of satisfaction at such a minor victory, I floated down the stairwell into the darkness.
* * *
After a few flights, I felt a movement on my shoulder. “Selena?” I whispered.
She moaned.
I set my feet on the floor and crouched down. I slid her off my shoulder, settling her on one of the stairs with her back up against the wall.
Her eyes were slits, but I could see her pupils moving around. “Kane?” she moaned.
“It’s me, Selena,” I said. Exhilaration grew within me, and I fought off the urge to celebrate. “How are you feeling? You okay?”
“I feel sick.” She interrupted herself with a dry heave. She almost fell over, but I was able to keep her upright. Her head fell back against the wall, and her hands began to shake. “I feel so dizzy,” she mumbled. “I’m so lightheaded. My arm…my arm…”
“You broke it on your way in,” I explained.
Her eyes were open a bit wider now, and when I looked into her pupils, the light from my eyes created no movement from them. “Your eyes are dilated,” I said, more thinking out loud than talking to her. “I think you have a concussion. You took a pretty hard tumble. Thankfully, I took out that window for you, or else things would’ve been a lot worse.”
“I saw…I was losing control…aimed for broken window,” she said, her hard breaths interrupting her. “Concussion? Why…can not…heal?” she asked, circling back to what I’d just told her.
“I don’t know. Something’s happening to us. I don’t know if it’s this tower or what, but I’ve lost almost all my powers. I’m weak, but there’s still a little bit there. You, on the other hand, seem to have lost your powers completely,” I explained.
It took a second for Selena to react. Her eyes opened wide, and somehow she was able to speak without interruption. “ Will I get them back?” Panic flooded her eyes. “Kane, what’s happening to me?”
I shook my head, scooting forward on the stair to place my hands on her shoulders. “I don’t know, but believe me, Selena. We’re going to figure out what’s going on. I promise you, you’ll get your powers back. As soon as we’re out of here, we’re going to bring Holocene back, okay?”
Selena sealed her lips tight and nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.”
I lifted my hands from her shoulders and stood up. “I’m going to pick you up and put you over my shoulder now, okay? I’ll carry you down the stairs.”
“But your powers…you said you’re…weak…” she said, her labored breathing returning.
“Don’t worry, I can still carry you.”
She nodded and lifted up her good arm. I picked her up, once again laying her over my shoulder. I considered putting her on my back, but I wasn’t sure she’d have the strength to hold on.
“You ready?” I asked.
I felt her nod up and down.
“Okay, let’s get out of here.”
24
ASTHENÉS
I lost count of how many floors I’d gone down. I took it slow and steady, trying my best to keep Selena comfortable. Thankfully I was able to float the whole time, making the descent smooth and easy on her and her broken arm.
I stopped to look over the edge, feeling a sense of euphoria when I saw that my beams of light were hitting solid ground instead of infinite blackness. “We’re almost there, Selena!” I said, excited. “I can see the floor.”
“Thank goodness,” she said, her voice a little bit clearer than it had been earlier.
“Are you feeling better?” I asked.
“The lower we get…” She stopped for a breath. “The better I feel. I still don’t feel…good.”
“Well, any improvement is good,” I said. “Let me know if your arm starts—”
A sudden cry of pain erupted from Selena. She clamped her mouth shut with her good hand. “Ah, ah, shit,” she said under her breath. “Oh my god, Kane, I feel—” Another cry of pain was quickly silenced.
I stopped, throwing a fleeting glance to the next landing as I turned and set Selena down. She grasped her broken arm with her good one, whimpering in pain.
“I can feel—ah—moving,” she said through gritted teeth.
“It’s healing,” I breathed, smiling. “Selena, your arm is healing! Your powers are coming back.”
“They could come back a little faster,” she said, leaning her head against the wall, her breathing picking up speed.
I racked my mind, trying to figure out where this new development fit in with the whole mystery. “You said you were feeling better the lower we went, right?”
She nodded, not opening her mouth so she could keep another shout of pain from escaping.
I turned and looked behind me at the stairs below. I turned back to Selena with a plan in mind. “Okay, listen. I’m going to pick you up and take you down to the bottom as fast as I can. Hopefully your arm will heal faster when you’re down there, and the pain will go away.”
She shook her head.
“Selena, I know you’re in pain, but if we do this, it’ll stop quicker.”
“No. They could hear us if I’m down there. I’ll stay here—” She stopped herself, tensing up her good left arm, then struck it on the stair next to her. She breathed hard through her nose, trying to process the agony. The pain seemed to subside for a moment, and she continued. “Do it—I—I can’t…just do it.”
I picked Selena up without hesitation, holding her across my arms. I took the risk I hadn’t taken earlier, and jumped over the edge of the stairwell. I fell rapidly, Selena clutching my shirt, her mouth open but no sound coming out. The remaining stairs whooshed past me, and after just a few seconds I was inches from the floor.
I put all my concentration into stopping my rapid descent. I slowed down fast, like somebody slamming on their brakes to keep from hitting an animal in the middle of the road. I stopped less than an inch from the floor.
I quit flying, and my feet hit the ground with a quiet tap. I set Selena down, and her whole body tensed up in pain. She obvi
ously wanted to scream in agony, but couldn’t. I looked down at her arm, and could see the broken bones slowly moving into place beneath her skin.
I wanted to do something to help, but there was nothing left to do. I just sat there on the floor, breathing heavily, watching someone I cared about writhe in pain.
After a few more moments, Selena no longer had the energy to move. She lay on the floor, her eyes vacant, letting out sharp gasps of pain every couple of seconds. It was almost unbearable to watch, but I didn’t have the energy to look away. Using all that power had taken a lot out of me, and I found myself breathing heavily.
After another minute, Selena let out a final sigh of pain, and then her breathing returned to a more normal pace.
“Is it over?” I asked.
A few seconds passed, then she nodded. “I think so,” she said through her heavy breaths.
“Can you move your arm?” I asked.
She lifted it a couple of inches before letting out a sharp gasp of pain. “It’s sore as hell.”
I sat up and crouched over her. “Here, let me help you sit up.” I hooked my arms through hers and pulled her up to a sitting position. She slouched up against the wall, finally able to get some rest.
“Do you think you could walk?” I asked.
A weak laugh escaped her lips. “I highly doubt that. I feel so weak, Kane.” Her eyes met mine when she said my name. Fear and sadness flowed from them. “What’s happening to me?”
I had no answer. “I’m so sorry,” I said.
“What for?”
“I shouldn’t have been so cocky. We flew in here thinking this was going to be as easy as the pub in London. We should’ve been more careful,” I said. Regret washed through me, accented with guilt. I looked away, unable to look her in the eyes. I couldn’t believe I’d been so foolish.
The War of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 3) Page 10
