Open Your Eyes (Book 4): Broken City

by H. J. Rethuan

  “Yeah, yeah, I remember. Some people said The Blink did it, even Emma thought that. But it wasn’t me; I wasn’t operating at the time. Do you think he did that?”

  “Well, it sounds it might be a good place to start.”

  “I want to come too.” Lily speaks up at the doorway.

  “Huh, I thought you were at work?”

  “I have the day off. So what do you say Seth, I want to see this thing.”

  Seth looks to Hannah.

  “Fine by me.” she replies.

  “Ok.” Seth says to Lily. “We head out tonight.”

  The flash of light illuminates the grimy walls of the abandoned house as Seth, Hannah and Lily Blink into existence. Again plunged into darkness, all three turn on the flashlights on their phones.

  Swinging their lights around, they find the house empty, save for some graffiti on the walls and the signs of people squatting. They seem to be long gone.

  As they make their way down a corridor, they find bullet holes in the walls. Lily points her light on a splattering of red on another wall.

  “What is this? Blood?” she asks them.

  “No doubt about it.” Hannah replies grimly.

  “Let’s split up.” Lily suggests to the pair. “It’s a fairly big house.”

  “Can you take care of yourself?’ Seth asks her, a little patronisingly.

  “Of course I can take care of myself.” Lily scoffs at him.

  Parting ways, Seth and Hannah keep going while Lily heads off by herself. The pair soon find a door that seemingly leads down to a basement. Heading below into the darkness, a sense of cold envelopes them.

  Hannah feels around for a light switch on the wall. She finds it, and flicks it on.

  As the room suddenly illuminates, they find the lone figure standing in the middle of the room, his back to them. The apparition.

  “Seth?” Seth greets his doppelganger.

  “I found the last one here.” the ghost tells him. “He had a bomb vest on. I Blinked before he had the chance.”

  He turns to him.

  “I’m glad you came Seth. It feels that I don’t have long here...”

  “Who are you?” Seth asks him. “Are you me? Are we the same person?”

  “Yeah, I am you. But a different you. A dead you.”

  “Why did you want us to come here specifically? You wanted to tell me something?

  “Yes. I have to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Of how he really came to be.”

  “Who?’

  “Jahannam.”

  “You time travelled again?” Seth asked the apparition in hushed tones in case Lily was listening in, his rarely used ability to travel through time kept secret from her for her own sake.

  “I had to.” the ghost replies. “They killed Emma, they killed so many before I could stop them. I had to fix it, so yes, I went back in time.”

  The apparition looks around the room, currently devoid of anything of interest.

  “This room was once full of guns and bombs; their instruments of murder. I found this place, they were all here, the terrorists. I Blinked in and killed them, I shot them. I came down here and found that man in the bomb vest. Before he could detonate it, I took him and I Blinked to the man who was responsible for all of this: the terrorist known as the Scimitar. I let the bomb explode. I killed him. But no, I just made it worse.”

  He sighs.

  “When I awoke, he was gone, and I was this thing, a soul without a body. I could do nothing but watch and Blink. Watch and Blink. It was only a matter of time before I found him again, and the monster he had become. I followed him. It was the only thing I could do.”

  He pauses, as the memories come back to haunt him once more.

  “I could only watch his rampage, I could not stop him. I could not stop him from roaming around and causing all that death and destruction. I could not stop him from again bringing destruction to my own hometown. But then you fought him. You beat him. I was relieved that you did what I couldn’t do. But then I saw your life. It was the life I lost...”

  He looks to him.

  “I was so sad, I was so jealous. You, you had my life. I, I followed you, hoping that you would eventually see me, so I can tell my story, that you can save me, or give me some sort of peace. I, I just want to leave... leave this plane of existence. I want to die...”

  The ghost breaks down again, his catharsis clearly unravelling him.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” he mutters. “I’m sorry...”

  “Stand back.” shouts the voice from behind Seth and Hannah as Lily comes in, a plasma bolt charged in her hand and ready to fight.

  The ghost looks up to her, recognising her.

  “Lily...”

  “How the fuck do you know my name?

  “This is Seth, from an alternate timeline.” Hannah tells her.

  “Oh man.”

  The ghost moans in anguish, the confusion quickening.

  “Emma, Emma died. I did this all for her...” he mumbles.

  “No.” Seth tells him. “Emma’s safe. She’s safe.”

  “Forgive me.” the ghost pleads. “Forgive me, for what I have done...”

  Seth steps forward. He takes him in his arms.

  “I forgive you.”

  Seth hugs him, comforting him. The embrace causes a reaction in the apparition, as he begins to glow brighter and brighter.

  “Seth!” Hannah calls out.

  “Thank you...” the apparition tells him.

  “For what?”

  “For fixing my mistake...”

  As the spirit glows even brighter, he begins to fade away, the energy gradually dissipating into the walls around him. He disappears, his energy returned to The Pool once more.

  “He’s gone.” Seth mutters to himself.

  Six

  Seth stares at the blood stained, bullet hole riddled walls of the terror house, trying to imagine what really went on here on that fateful day.

  “He was me.”

  “The Pool must have created him, as well as Jahannam.” Lily tells him. “His powers, reacting to the explosion... I wish Doug was here, he’d straighten this out.”

  “Who’s Doug?” Seth asks her, unaware that they had already met.

  “Never mind.” Lily replies.

  “I still can’t help but feel somewhat responsible...”

  “Why should you?” Hannah says to him, slightly annoyed. “That guy, Ghost Seth, whatever you wanna call him, he made that choice. He is solely responsible for everything that happened. He admitted it, it was his mistake. Don’t beat up yourself about it Seth, like you always do.”

  Seth nods.

  “You’re right. His mistake.”

  He sighs.

  “Do you think it was all worth it?”

  “If it was my family I would have done it.” Lily tells him. “We should go, this place gives me the creeps.”

  “Yeah.”

  Emma pushes open the front door of the house. It is still dark inside.

  Seth had told her earlier that he was heading out with Lily and Hannah, but didn’t say where. She wanted to tag along, but they didn’t let her. She was busy meeting a client anyway, and the meeting had finished late.

  Still, she was still quite curious where they had gone to.

  “Seth? You back?” she called out as she turned on the lights. “Huh, I guess not.”

  Entering the still dark kitchen, Emma reaches out for the light switch. Spying the back door open in the dim light, before she can do anything the figure suddenly grabs her from behind, covering her mouth with his hand.

  “So where is your friend now huh?” Pete growls, the smell of alcohol again on his breath.

  “Let go of me Pete.” she mutters, her voice muffled by his hand.

  “You made a mistake Emma, leaving me. You didn’t give me a chance.”

  “You were the one that left me.”

  “I said it was a mista
ke!”

  Taking her chance, Emma shoves Pete backwards into the fridge. Maintaining his grip on her, Pete fights back and throws Emma head first into a cabinet door, the impact hard enough to daze her as she crumbles to the floor.

  “I want you Emma, and nothing will stop me from getting what I want.”

  Picking her up by the collar, he pulls her up on her feet. Regaining composure, Emma punches him in the face, forcing him to loosen his grip on her. Pulling away, she retreats to the living room.

  Chasing after her, Pete lunges and again drags her down to the ground. Pinning her down, he slaps her as she tries to protect herself by raising her arms. Shoving them aside, Pete thrusts his hand forward and pushes down on Emma’s throat, choking her.

  Slowly losing consciousness, she closes her eyes.

  The roar of the jet black dragon erupts behind Pete as it slinks out of the kitchen, a desperate manifestation of her powers.

  “What the hell?” Pete shouts as he stares at the monster coming for him.

  He’s seen this before. On video...

  “You’re one of them? One of those fucking heroes?”

  “Yeah...” Emma croaks.

  The dragon roars again as it lunges at Pete, snapping its jaws at him. Jumping off Emma, he takes the fastest way out of the house by leaping through the front window, showering himself in an explosion of glass. He runs off down the street to his car and speeds off.

  As Emma loses consciousness once more, the dragon disappears in a flash of light.

  In a flash of light Seth, Lily and Hannah reappear inside Seth’s bedroom. Opening the door, they find a crime scene and a house swarming with cops.

  “What’s going on?” wonders Lily as a policeman spots the three making their way into the living room.

  “Hey, how’d you get in here?” the cop asks them. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

  “This is my house.” Seth tells him. “What happened?”

  “Suspected home invasion.”

  Seth looks around. Signs of a struggle. The blown out front window.

  “Where’s Emma?”

  He turns to the cop, desperate.

  “Where’s my sister?”

  Seven

  Hannah waits patiently while a detective interviews Seth in the corridor of the hospital.

  “Do you know anyone who might hurt your sister?” she asks him.

  Seth shakes his head. “No.” he answers.

  “Do you have any enemies Mr MacGuffin?”

  “No.” he replies.

  Emma opens her eyes to find Seth and Hannah waiting for her in the hospital room.

  “Where am I?” she mumbles.

  “You got attacked.” Seth tells her. “You got hit in the head pretty hard. Did you see who did this to you Emma?”

  She hesitates.

  “Pete did.” she tells him. “It was Pete.”

  Seth is taken back by the revelation.

  “Pete? Your Pete?”

  She nods.

  “I didn’t want to drag you into this. It was just between us.”

  “I didn’t know Emma. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Where’s Lily?” she asks him.

  “We don’t know.” Hannah tells her. “We lost track of her on the way to the hospital.”

  Wild eyed, Emma turns to her brother.

  “She knows, Seth. She knows about him. You have to find her before she does something to him.”

  Lily had found his address amongst Emma’s belongings. A swanky block of apartments in one of the nicer parts of town, one lucky enough to be spared Jahannam’s wrath.

  But not hers.

  Dressed in her red vigilante jacket, she pulled her hood down over her head as she stood in front of his doorway, banging loudly on his door.

  “Fuck off!”

  Pete took another swig from the bottle as the banging continued.

  “I said fuck off!”

  It doesn’t stop.

  Pete groans as he makes his way to the door.

  “I said, fuck...”

  The lock broken, the door swings open as Lily strides in, her fists aflame with blue plasma energy.

  “I told you to leave her alone!” she shouts as Pete stumbles back in fear, recognising the face under that hood.

  “Get away from me!” he shouts. “Get away!”

  Picking up random objects off nearby tables and shelves, Pete throws them at her, Lily dodging each one. Grabbing the bottle of whiskey, he ditches it at her. Raising her hand, she blasts it apart with a plasma bolt, the small explosion catching Pete’s alcohol soaked clothes on fire.

  “Shit shit shit!”

  Ripping them off, he throws his burning clothes to the floor and stamps the flames out. He stares at Lily as she continues to advance towards him.

  “No, no, no no...”

  In total freak out mode, Pete makes his escape the only way he can see how: out the back door and onto the balcony. Unable to see a way down, he starts climbing upwards on to the balcony above as Lily strides out of his apartment and takes to the air.

  Igniting the plasma jets from her palms, she hovers over him, stalking him as Pete climbs higher and higher, desperately trying to escape.

  “Why don’t you come face me, you chickenshit!” she taunts him. “You put my friend in hospital! You’re gonna pay for...”

  The bright flash erupts in front of her face as Seth drops onto her in midair, immediately abducting Lily away in a another flash of light. The two again reappear, crash landing on the lawn right below them, Seth pinning Lily down with all his strength.

  “What are you doing Lily?”

  “Get off me!” Lily shouts as she punches Seth in the face and pushes him aside. Igniting her plasma jets she tries to take to the air as Seth grabs her by the foot, pulling her down again.

  Elbowing him in the face, Lily thrusts out her hands and pushes him away with a blast to the chest. Seth slides across the grass, coming to a halt underneath an ornamental tree.

  “Stay down.” Lily says to him.

  Dazed, Seth slowly picks himself up.

  “Stop this bullshit Lily!”

  “No. He’s getting away.”

  “You’re going to kill him.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “What is your plan then?”

  Lily cranes her head skyward as she spies Pete climb ever higher, just a few floors shy of the roof.

  “I don’t know.”

  Staring Seth down, Lily charges up a plasma bolt in her hand. Throwing her palm forward, Seth Blinks but her action is just a mere feint. The bolt strikes him in the chest as he reappears trying to grab her, the second blast knocking him out for good.

  “Sorry Seth.” she says to him as she takes to the air once more.

  Pete finally clambers up onto the roof of the apartment building. His heart racing, he frantically glances around for any signs of his pursuer.

  She’s gone. He breathes a sigh of relief.

  “Shit shit shit...” he mumbles to himself as he paces, unsure what to do next. He rushes over to the rooftop door. It’s locked. He bangs powerlessly on it.

  Half-naked and with no phone on him, he’s trapped up here.

  Sitting down on the edge of an array of solar panels, he buries his head in his hands as Lily suddenly reappears, hovering above him with her hands aflame. Collapsing onto his knees, he starts begging.

  “What do you want? What do you want from me?” he pleads.

  “I want... I want you to...”

  Lily hesitates. What does she want? To hurt him? To get him to turn himself in? To kill him?

  Sensing her distraction, Pete bolts and heads for the opposite edge of the roof. Clambering over the edge, he starts to make the climb down but in his haste almost immediately loses his grip. Pete screams as he falls to his death.

  Lily finds Seth standing over his body, far down below.

  “What did you do?”

  “He fell.” she tells
him, her voice shaky. “I just wanted to scare him.”

  Seth pulls out his phone and calls for an ambulance.

  “We can’t stay here.” he tells her as he grabs her arm and Blinks the both of them away from here.

  Eight

  After his release from hospital, Jean was put in temporary accommodation, also generously paid for the charity that paid for his legs.

  Still undergoing rehab as an outpatient, Jean was making remarkable progress. He could walk, run, skip, and jump like a Paralympic athlete. His therapists were amazed.

  They knew he could do almost everything... but fly of course.

  Of course Jean was using his powers to speed up his recovery. He felt almost guilty at times; others had to put in the hard work and perseverance to get to the stage he was at.

  But he was the one who had this gift; it was hard for him not to use it. He found it harder to keep it a secret. He wanted to show the therapists, the nurses, the world what he could do; it returned to him those once lost feelings of feeling free, the freedom to go out and escape his troubles.

  So now, when he could, he took that opportunity to do so once again.

  He almost always flew late at night, when no one could see him. Again he took to the skies, flying high above the city. He could see it healing, rebuilding. The city getting back up on its feet.

  But it wasn’t all optimism down below.

  Hovering high above, he watches the men rush into the corner store; a gang he assumes. Jean watched them as they threw the owner out as they thrashed his business.

  He wanted to help him, but what could he do? Jean could fly but not fight.

  He needed to learn how.

  ***

  “You killed a man Lily! And you used your powers to do so!”

  Seth berates Lily as he paces in the darkened kitchen of his own house, the signs of his sister’s struggle against Pete still there for all to see.

  “I did not kill him, it was an accident.” she protests as she sits with her arms folded at the table. “He lost his grip and fell.”