Open Your Eyes (Book 4): Broken City
Page 5
“I couldn’t just let you fall, even if it meant breaking my cover.”
“Well I’m glad you were out there. I think you should all be out there, you heroes. You do good. You should be all doing good.”
Seth chuckles.
“And all I needed to change your mind was to save your life.”
“Thank you my friend. Let me shout you a drink.”
Jake opens the door, leading Seth back into the bar.
“By the way, I don’t think I’ll be able to come back tomorrow.” Seth tells him. “Or the day after that. Or forever. I think I’m ready to move on after what happened.”
“Well, I guess we’ll miss you Seth. Any idea what you’ll do next?”
Seth laughs.
“Yeah, I kind of have an idea.”
In front of the mirror, Seth pulls the hood down over his head. He turns to Emma, watching him silently.
“It’s good to see you put that thing on again... again.” she tells him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join me?”
“No.” she answers softly. “I don’t feel ready enough yet.”
Seth nods.
“If you need me Emma, just call me. I’ll be home in a blink of an eye.”
“I’ll be fine.” she says to him. “I’ll be fine.”
Seth smiles. He closes his eyes and Blinks away.
Leaving the room, Emma heads to the back of the house. She pulls the rear glass door open and steps outside into the backyard, onto the soft grass of the lawn outside.
Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath. In her mind she conjures up an image, of that black dragon that had protected her that night all those weeks ago. She yelps as the pain strikes like a bolt of lightning inside her head. She opens her eyes to see the bright burst of light manifesting into a creature, a chaotic manifestation with broken wings and burnt flesh, screaming for death. A corrupted, dying abomination she has made, she immediately puts it out of it misery by wishing it away in another burst of bright light.
Alone once more, Emma breaks down crying.
Twelve
The crew loaded the shipping container onto the waiting semi-trailer as quickly as they could. Every minute that passed was excruciating - they had no business being at the construction site this time of night.
They were thieves.
Working for a crime syndicate, the container and its contents would be destined for the black market, the boom in construction making many sites like these prime targets. While they had paid off the security guards guarding the site, they still came prepared for trouble.
The Blink was back, they had learned.
Seth threw the driver of the semi-trailer out of the cabin, Blinking in and dumping him outside. Stamping on the brakes, he stopped the vehicle as he stepped out to confront the others.
Their van quickly circled back, disgorging the other thieves from the side door. The burst of machine gun fire loudly rang as one of the men sprayed the semi-trailer with bullets, forcing Seth to dive back in for cover. Soon they all join in, advancing on the truck and ripping it to shreds.
Pinned down inside the shielded cabin, Seth could see no way out. He had underestimated the number of men he would encounter, and he didn’t expect them to be so heavily armed. Overconfidence got the best of him tonight, but he didn’t want to flee and see them get away. But he had no other choice...
Out of nowhere the man in black drops in from the sky and on top of two thieves, knocking them out with his legs. Jean swiftly moves to the next target like a spirit, dispatching him with a pair of quick strikes. He moves like a kung fu hero, moving effortlessly as if wires held him up, taking out the gang too fast for them to even get him in their gun sights.
Watching on from inside the cabin, Seth is gobsmacked as Jean singlehandedly takes down the gang of thieves. Spying the last thief managing to raise his gun and actually get a bead on the martial artist, Seth Blinks out of the cabin and reappears behind the thief, disarming him and throwing him to the ground.
Surrounded by a pile of unconscious criminals, the two heroes look to each other.
“Hey, thanks for the help.” Seth says to him.
“No problem man.”
He holds out his hand.
“I’m Iron Hawk.” he mumbles, again his voice muffled by the bandana over his mouth.
“What?”
Frustrated, Jean pulls it down.
“I’m Iron Hawk.”
“Oh, like Iron Monkey.” Seth smiles. “Great movie.”
“Yeah...”
He shakes his hand.
“Well, nice to meet you Hawk. I’m Seth, but some people call me The Blink.”
Jean grins.
“I can’t believe I’m shaking hands with The Bli...”
Behind them, the click of a gun breaks the silence as a straggler raises his weapon, takes aim and squeezes the trigger...
“Die you motherfuck...”
With a loud clonk the girl in the scarlet tracksuit and headscarf whacks the gunman in the back of the head with a pipe, knocking him unconscious. She confidently approaches the two heroes, neither knowing who she is.
“She with you?” Seth asks Jean.
“No...”
“And who might you be?” Seth asks the girl.
Bowing, she lowers a mask that covers her mouth. She greets them with a cheeky smile.
“I’m Farrah.” she giggles. “Fastest girl in Port City.”
Seth grins as he recognises her. That Muslim girl and her mother.
“The fastest girl in Port City?” he repeats.
“Yeah. Fastest.”
“Well, you were kind of late.”
She does a lap around them. Just a blur.
“Sorry, but I had my own rogues gallery to take care of first.”
Seth looks at the both of them.
“We need to talk. We all got to talk.” he says to them.
“About what?” Jean asks.
“Your powers, where you got them. The fact that there’s more of us now...”
Farrah turns as approaching sirens wail down the street. She shrugs.
“Well, you gotta catch me first then!” she giggles as she runs off in a flash.
Seth turns to Jean. He nods.
He takes off into the sky, leaving Seth below. He stands there, contemplating.
Two new heroes, both with powers, willing to help their city.
He smiles.
As the police burst into the construction site Seth closes his eyes.
Blink.
***
From his vessel the Commander watches the three heroes meet on the screen in front of him. He is left impressed by their powers, their actions and their camaraderie.
Still, it was not enough to change his mind. He knew that the Earthlings would one day sweep across the universe and bring their need for conflict off their world and unto others. They had to be stopped, now.
But his old friend is making sure it wouldn’t happen.
“Who do you introduce yourself as?” he asks him, held captive in chains. He smiles.
“Doug.” he replies.
“What a stupid name.”
About The Author
H.J. Rethuan hails from the sunny city of Perth, Western Australia. A long time writer, his first short novel, the romantic thriller “The Runaway Assassin”, was released in May 2013.
Other Books and Short Stories by H.J. Rethuan
The Runaway Assassin
The Man From China The Sky Is Falling
Rocket Rider The Hunt For The Demon God Warrior
The Girl Between The Blooms The Young Designer
Dragons & Machine Guns The Commander of Time and Space
Gorgeous! Linger Lights
The Zombie Who Followed Them Home
The Open Your Eyes Series
Open Your Eyes Blink
Con Girls Broken City Toy Soldiers
For more information, visit
h
jrethuan.com
Table of Contents
Zero. 5
One. 6
Two. 10
Three. 14
Four. 18
Five. 25
Six. 30
Seven. 33
Eight 37
Nine. 40
Ten. 43
Eleven. 48
Twelve. 51
About The Author. 55