Open Your Eyes (Book 2): Blink

by H. J. Rethuan

  “Fire.” she whispers.

  The missiles lock onto Jahannam, enveloping him in a massive explosion as they hit him.

  “Fuck yeah!” she shouts, rejoicing as it appears that the villain had finally been taken down. Seth however, has his doubts which soon prove true when Jahannam steps out of the flames, again no worse for wear.

  “No...” she whispers. “No!”

  “You cannot stop me you dogs!” he shouts. “I will destroy this place, this place you call home... but not before I kill the both of you!”

  He fires off a blast. Streaking barely above the siblings’ heads, it levels another building.

  Another. Then another.

  The city is collapsing all around them.

  “We have to get him out of here.” Seth shouts as they dash towards increasingly rare cover as another blast brings down a building almost on top of them.

  “We have to contain him...” Emma mutters. “Hamster ball!”

  “What?” shouts Seth.

  “I’m gonna contain him.” she tells him. “Then you get him out of here.”

  “I won’t have much time.”

  “I just need enough.”

  Seth nods. Emma raises her fingers to her temple, and concentrates.

  The huge plastic ball suddenly begins to form around Jahannam, encasing him like a human hamster. It already starts to melt away as he fights against it. Still, it’s almost close, almost finished...

  “Go!” Emma shouts as Seth bounds up and blinks, reappearing almost instantaneously at the base of the increasingly deteriorating ball. Reaching out his hand, he touches it just as the villain is about to break free.

  Blink.

  Eighteen

  As anyone who had lived in the city for any number of years knows, the garden was once the site of a vast slum. Across from the massive port that lent Port City its name, the sprawling garden was built on top of it just ten years ago as a deliberately engineered open space, where all Port City residents could come out enjoy themselves and relax, to get away from the bustle of everyday life of living in this big town.

  A place known for its lush beauty, a peerless collection of botanical specimens and an ornamental forest of huge tree-like steel towers, it is now the place where Seth and Emma will try to contain the monster trying to bring the entire city down in front of its very own citizens’ eyes...

  Both Seth and the human hamster ball reappear in mid-air, quickly falling towards the green grass of the centre field where it shatters into two upon impact. Almost immediately Jahannam breaks free, lunging at Seth with a fiery claw.

  Again he blinks away.

  The villain howls as he realises he’s been taken away from the centre of town. Still, he continues on his path of destruction, taking his anger on one of the towering artificial trees that dominate the park.

  Blasting away at its base, it collapses as Seth returns with Emma, watching his fury from the cover of a nearby grove of eucalyptus trees.

  “He’s fucking tearing up the place.” she tells him, upset by the senseless destruction. “I used to love this park.” she frowns.

  “At least he’s away from the centre of the city. It’ll give us time.”

  “Time for what?”

  Suddenly the villain pauses. He turns, as if he could sense something, someone. Them.

  He raises his arm again, and fires.

  “Fuck!” they scream.

  The two dash for the cover of a ruined toilet block as Jahannam lobs another blast towards them, splintering their former hiding spot into matchsticks. Again he follows up with another blast. Another. The whole grove is alight.

  He now comes for them.

  “Distract him.” Emma tells Seth as they cower behind a concrete wall.

  “Distract him how?”

  “I don’t know. Get out there, be an asshole!”

  He nods. “Okay.”

  He blinks. Seth reappears, out in the open behind the villain, jumping up and down like a maniac and screaming at the top of his lungs.

  “Hey you, cocksucker!” he shouts, trying to get the attention of Jahannam. “Yeah, you. You want me? Come and get me!”

  The villain turns, finding his presence irresistible. Moving away from Emma, she steps out into the open. Putting her fingers to her temple, she again looks to the sky...

  In bursts of light that explode across the blue, Emma conjures up a cloud of missiles from out of nothing. Bringing her arm down, with her mind she throws them at Jahannam.

  All of them.

  Turning his attention above, he blasts at them, blowing most of them up in mid air. Still, a few manage to get through, smashing into him with explosion after explosion.

  Again, he appears unscathed, but Emma isn’t finished quite yet...

  A horn blares as she conjures up a diesel electric locomotive and five rail cars, again from out of nowhere, hanging vertically in the sky above the villain. Raising her hand up high in the air, with a twist of the wrist she lets the whole thing drop right on him.

  However, this time he’s ready, blasting the engine and rail cars away, flinging them all over her head. One smashes straight on into one of the huge tree-like towers behind her, the force of the impact weakening its structure and causing it to begin to topple right on top of her.

  Without a moment to spare, Seth blinks Emma away. They reappear only to be caught up in the blast of an explosion, knocking them both off their feet.

  As he lies dazed amongst the grass and rubble, Jahannam slowly marches towards Seth. Again his raises his hand.

  “It is time for you to be destroyed...”

  He grins.

  From out of nowhere the bolt of energy suddenly smashes the entity right in the face, whacking him off balance. Another bolt blasts him, knocking Jahannam right off his feet. Another keeps him down.

  In the sky, the girl in the red hood continues her attack, firing bolt after bolt at him, seemingly affecting him. She fires one last bolt, a big one crackling with power. It smashes straight on into Jahannam, against all odds flinging him even further back and giving our heroes some much needed time to breathe.

  Floating down to the ground, the girl in the red hood reaches out to Seth, picking him up and out from the dirt and debris.

  He’s glad to see her.

  “Lily!” he grins.

  “Told you I’d see you again someday.”

  “How you get here?”

  “I flew.” She wiggles her fingers. “Hand jets.”

  “Okay. That’s cool...”

  “Little help?” squeaks the voice as Seth and Lily race over to Emma, lifting her up and back on her feet.

  “What is she doing here?” Lily asks him, confused by her presence.

  “She’s fine.” he reassures her.

  They turn their attention to back to Jahannam has he slowly begins to pick himself up. Giving them some time, Emma knocks him down again with a runaway wrecking ball.

  “So how do we do this?” Emma asks the others.

  “I blast, you... do whatever it is you do.” Lily tells her. Emma nods.

  “What about you Seth?”

  “I look after you two ladies.”

  Emma throws her arms forward, hurling boulders she had conjured straight at the villain. Seeing them coming, he swats them away only to be broadsided by one of Lily’s bolts.

  Screaming, Jahannam fires back with blast of his own. It flies over their heads, destroying another tower as he fires off another. Aimed right at them, Seth teleports them away from danger. Reappearing, Lily instantly blasts him again.

  This time, her bolt appears to peel away at him, shaving off globs of the entity’s fiery mass. Lily continues her attack, with each blast taking off just a bit more off Jahannam’s form, but not enough to do significant damage.

  “Lily, is there any way we can amplify your blasts?” Seth asks her.

  “I’m trying as hard as I can. I’m exhausted.”

  “Maybe I can.” Emma rep
lies.

  Again she places her fingers to her temple, furrows her brow and closes her eyes. Concentrating, she wills a cannon-like device into existence, the object building itself out of thin air right in front of their very eyes.

  “What is that?” Seth asks her.

  “It’s an amplifier.”

  Lily lines up behind it. There’s grips for her to hold on to. She hovers her hands above them.

  She isn’t sure.

  “How does it work?” she asks Emma.

  “Does it even matter?”

  “You just made it out of thin air!”

  “So?”

  “Guys, he’s coming...” Seth informs them as the villain again trudges towards them.

  “Are you sure it’ll work?” Lily asks again.

  “Yes. Just charge up the amp. It’ll take care of the rest.”

  She nods.

  “Okay, here goes...”

  Lily takes hold of the grips. Her fingers tingle and her hands glow as the machine begins to draw out and capture her energy. It hums as it builds up the charge, amplifying it exponentially as Jahannam approaches ever closer...

  “He’s closing in!” Seth shouts.

  “Fire!” Emma yells.

  Lily loosens her grip. The machine shoots the gathered energy, unleashing a huge bolt of charged plasma towards the entity. It misses him, flying over his head.

  “Fuck!” Lily shouts.

  “Go again!” Emma repeats.

  She tightens her grip, powers up again. Builds up the charge.

  “Fire!”

  Lily loosens. It strikes him, knocking a significant amount of mass off him, reducing the monster to almost a withered skeleton. Almost immediately he begins to reform.

  “Again!”

  Lily grips it again, manipulating her output so the device fires off a continuous beam. She fires, but this time the entity seems to fight against it, using his hands to push against the beam. It seems to overtax the device, and it begins to overload...

  “No no no no no!” cries Emma as she begins to doubt the effectiveness of the device. Increasingly malfunctioning, the amplifier finally explodes, destroying it and flinging Lily back. Seth catches her in mid air.

  “What the fuck happened?” Lily shouts at her.

  “It’s my fault.” she laments. “I thought about it not working, breaking.” She pauses. “Let me try again.”

  “It better work.” Lily barks angrily. “We almost had him.”

  Seth looks to his sister. “You can do it Emma.” Seth tells her.

  She nods.

  Emma closes her eyes, and once again concentrates. Conjures up the device again.

  “Go!” Lily again grips on, powers on. Builds up.

  “Fire!” It strikes again, a full continuous beam drilling into Jahannam. Again he tries to fight it off.

  Both Lily and Emma concentrate even harder, the device physically expanding as it becomes more powerful, to take on the full load.

  “It’s working!” Emma shouts as the beam finally strips Jahannam of all of his mass, leaving a bone dry skeleton in its wake. However, as soon as Lily lets go, stopping the beam from firing, the entity immediately starts to form yet again...

  With no time to waste Seth immediately dashes towards what’s left of Jahannam. Winding back his arm, he blinks and reappears next to him. Thrusting his fist forward, he punches the villain’s skull, smashing it into a hundred pieces, the bones of his body collapsing in a neat pile at his feet.

  “Is he dead?” shouts Emma.

  Seth kicks the remains of his enemy.

  “Yeah. He’s dead.”

  The smoke clears as the extent of the destruction of the garden is finally revealed. It lay in ruins, like the parts of the city Jahannam had destroyed. But it, like the city they had mostly saved, will soon rebuild.

  The villain has been defeated. The heroes are victorious.

  Emma grins broadly.

  “We. Fucking. Rock.”

  Nineteen

  Salt watched the drone footage of the three hooded individuals who stopped the rampaging fire entity from destroying Port City.

  She knew one to be Seth; the other who fired the blasts that brought down the entity to be Lily, the one whom he had known and had protected from her. But who was the other individual, this woman who can seemingly create things from out of thin air? Seth never even told Salt about her, and it concerned the agent greatly.

  It was now not only The Toy Shop who knew that these people existed, but now the whole world knew as well. Their heroics captured on camera, streamed live across the internet.

  It worried her, for who else might be out there, willing to come out of the woodwork after such a public display? Who else will make themselves known? These people...

  She grimaced at the sharp pain in her side. The wound she was given was taking long to heal.

  Much too long.

  “So you’re joining us in the superhero business?” Seth asks his sister as he stood at her bedroom door. She had left Pete for good; she was now back home.

  Good, Seth secretly thought to himself. He never did like that Pete, there was just something about him...

  “Yep. I guess am.” Emma says to him, cheerfully. “You always knew that I wanted to do what you do, and know I can. I can’t pass this up.”

  “So you got a name yet?” Seth asks her. Emma ponders the question. She smirks.

  “Haven’t decided on one yet.”

  “Dibs on Wonder Woman.” yells Lily from the kitchen, eating breakfast.

  “That’s a terribly unoriginal, copyright infringing name.” Seth tells her.

  “We’ll see about that.” she scoffs, stuffing more cereal into her mouth.

  “I don’t know about you letting her move in with us.” Emma quietly tells Seth. “Especially with me coming back home too. It’ll be kinda weird...”

  “It’ll be fine Emma. I’m sure you’ll be best buds in no time!”

  The loud shriek and even louder smashing of tiles interrupts their discussion. The siblings look to Lily, her palm still held straight out, caught in the act of having just blasted apart a chunk of their kitchen wall.

  “Sorry, I thought I saw a spider.”

  Only a skeleton crew remained on the rig. It was easy for Salt to gain passage back here.

  She popped the painkillers in her mouth before starting the procedure. The wound was finally healing. Good, but she couldn’t wait for it. She had a job to get back to.

  She groans as she sits down in the apparatus. Lowering the crown onto her head, she had already turned off the safety, allowing the machine to start the procedure automatically and without human intervention.

  She watched the countdown on the monitor as the apparatus powered up. She could already feel the buzz in the air growing, leaving a metallic taste in her mouth.

  These people, their powers. These superheroes. They were real, but they can’t be trusted. They can’t. Someone has to watch over them. It was meant to be her job.

  It is still her job.

  The countdown reaches zero. The first pulses punches through her skull.

  She screams.

  Another long weekend. Another long drive up the coast to see the folks.

  The car pulled up outside the house. The salty smell of the seaside air quickly wafted into the vehicle as soon as the first door was opened.

  Seth and Emma’s father beams as his children come to him. He takes his daughter first into his arms, before doing the same to his son. He then turns his attention to the other two women standing by, looking just a little bit nervous.

  “So who are these two lovely ladies?” he asks his children, trying to be a little suave.

  “Dad, I’d like you to meet Hannah, my girlfriend.” Seth answers, gesturing to her. He smiles.

  “Finally!” Dad answers, to Seth’s consternation. “You’re gorgeous!”

  “Thanks.” she mumbles, trying to hide a smile herself.

  “A
nd this is Lily.” Emma tells him. “She’s our super buddy.” Lily offers him a two finger salute.

  “It’s like a harem!” Dad exclaims. He only gets a few uncomfortable chuckles in response. Still, he seems unfazed.

  “Well don’t stand there. Come on in!” he shouts, leading the way.

  Again Seth and Emma’s mother had made the traditional Sunday dinner. Mash and peas and roast beef. Again it was delicious.

  As they ate and laughed and joked, drank and drunkenly sang, no one noticed the figure that watched them from the darkness of the ever increasing shadows. The one that had been drawn here, drawn to his own family.

  The ghost of Seth’s alternate future saw himself at the table, his sister still alive next to him. He was surprised to see Hannah too, the woman he loved, and whom he had said goodbye to on that tape. Even Lily was there; she was smiling again.

  What he did that day in the future, to stop the Port City bombers before they could even attack, to stop the mastermind before he had his chance to cause even more destruction, had saved all their lives, but in turn it also took his. And yet he was still here, stripped of his body but not his soul. Incorporeal. A spirit.

  Seeing their joy, their happiness, it filled him with regret. It filled him with jealously.

  It filled him with a sadness, infinite.

  He turned. He left.

  He slowly faded away.

  Blink.

  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 Two Killers The Hunt For The Demon God Warrior

  The Girl Between The Blooms The Young Designer

  Gorgeous! The Girl Who Flies Drones

  The Open Your Eyes Series

  Open Your Eyes Blink

  The Dragons & Machine Guns Series

  Dragons & Machine Guns