Bad Jack ((Ascension: Book 1))

by Adam Moon

  Jack wasn’t sticking up for God at all. He actually understood why some people might want a change of management.

  But he got where she was coming from. She assumed he’d been brainwashed into thinking God was good and anything that stood against God was evil. But being an atheist, he found both scenarios reprehensible. The notion of a great overseer was what had Jack’s brain doing back flips. But if he had to accept an eternal supervisor then he’d prefer one who gave a shit over one who ignored him, at least he thought he did. Was Lucifer that God? He didn’t know. But that was important; he had to decide or else why bother trying to free Jessie?

  Then he realized his train of thought had gotten derailed by Oliver’s mumbo jumbo; he had to free Jessie because he was a human being and because he was his son. That was clear now. Everything else, all of Oliver’s plans were secondary.

  He just didn’t know if he had it in him to stand up to the overwhelming military force that would surely kill them all given the slightest provocation.

  He said, “I’m done here. I want to go get some rest. And ten or twelve stiff drinks.”

  Oliver went red. “We’re almost out of time Jack. We need to formulate a plan.”

  Jack shook his head. “I’m not sure I’m going to help you. If I help get Jessie out it’ll be on my own terms and also when I feel like the time is right. Your scheming and planning isn’t important to me.”

  Oliver looked like he might faint or cry but Melanie interjected with, “Oliver, you’ve been thinking about this for a year and you still don’t have a working plan that doesn’t scare the crap out of me. What do you think an extra day will give us? Let the man get some sleep. If it’s destined to happen tomorrow then we’ll deal with it then. Until then, try to be decent.”

  Oliver capitulated. “Sorry Jack. I’ve devoted my whole adult life to this and it’s so close. I’m just excited. I can’t believe it’s really happening.”

  Chapter 59: The Last Night of Semi-Normalcy

  The clones watched Jack as he walked past. They seemed more alive than before. Melanie caught up with him and grabbed his elbow. He turned his head enough to acknowledge her presence but otherwise kept walking.

  She asked, “Do you mind if I join you for a drink?” He almost told her no but he was a sucker for a pretty girl, even one that wanted him to release Lucifer from hell.

  Billy wasn’t at his usual post outside the elevator doors which was odd but Jack was thankful for it. Billy was far too cheerful and Jack didn’t know if he could put up that level of a charade right now.

  He unlocked the door to his apartment and let Melanie take a seat in the living room. He slipped the shot glass, now full to the top, out of his lab coat pocket and stashed it in the fridge for safe keeping. He grabbed three bottles of beer, two for him and one for Melanie. He chugged the first one to death in seconds and let out a throaty belch. Melanie didn’t say anything shitty about it which was for the best. Jack was half way through the second one before Melanie had the courage to speak. Her voice was croaky and trembling.

  “I’m sorry this is happening to you Jack. I chose to be here and so did Oliver but you’re stuck in this situation and I wish there was something I could do to make it all better for you.”

  He tipped his beer back, afraid to talk just yet. Melanie suffered the silence. He got up and grabbed two more beers, giving neither to Melanie.

  Finally he said, “You know I’ve never done much with my life. I’ve never really had anyone to love or care about. Now I have a son and a purpose. I even have a pretty girlfriend. Life should have gotten exponentially better this past week but it hasn’t. I’m sorry if I seem mad at you. I’m not. I’m mad because I feel like a puppet and it seems like too many people are pulling on the strings. I’m angry because if this prophecy of Jessie’s is true, then I’ll kill people tomorrow. I’m mad because I know we could all die for an old man’s pipedream. I’m just mad.”

  Melanie scooted over beside him and put her head in his lap. She looked up into his eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry.” He ran his fingers through her hair and felt himself relax instantly. He dozed off.

  Chapter 60: Fucked

  He awoke to a crashing noise. His heart was hammering a hole in his chest. Melanie jerked awake and sat up, alert. There were footsteps rushing down the hallway. Men in military uniform surrounded the sofa and when Jack tried to stand he was pushed back onto his butt.

  There were seven jackbooted men around them. When the General strode in they made a hole for him.

  “Stand down men. As you can see he’s unarmed. Wait outside. You too miss.” He was talking to Melanie.

  She looked to Jack and he nodded for her to do as the General said.

  The General paced frantically until the door of the apartment closed. “Do you know why I’m here?”

  Jack might have answered - because you found out we were going to make a daring escape in order to help my son turn me into Lucifer - but he was sure it wouldn’t roll off the tongue the way he’d like. Plus, he was sure if the General knew about it he’d have shot him already. He certainly wouldn’t have let Melanie out of his sight.

  He shook his head in silence.

  The General took a seat on the coffee table so he was leaning just inches from Jack’s face.

  “I’m here because William returned an artifact way too late. It was the small shot glass and it had been gone for almost six hours. This grabbed my attention so I decided to do an inventory check and guess what I found?”

  Jack already knew.

  “I found out that one of those deadly red balls was missing. You were downstairs so I took the liberty of checking your quarters. I didn’t find it. I got called away so I had William finish up searching your office. Well guess what? He found it. And he touched it. And he’s dead.”

  Jack gasped and leaned back into the sofa. He felt numb. His whole world seemed to be conspiring against him. Billy was dead. His friend died because of him.

  The General smirked. “I should have wagered you’d get someone killed but I didn’t think it would be your only friend.”

  Jack said accusatorially, “Why didn’t you call for me? I would have brought it to you.”

  “Well Jack, because I just don’t trust you. You have no integrity to speak of, you’re a sexual deviant and you’re a thief. Would you call upon such a person for help? I don’t think so. I certainly wouldn’t.”

  Sexual deviant, thought Jack. Did he glean that bit of nonsense from the bio? Whatever, the General was a moron and a bastard. “Can I see him please?”

  “Of course not. The office has been sealed up pending a formal investigation. The only thing you’re going to be seeing is the inside of a cell and then, once I get the paperwork in order, the rifling down the barrel of my gun before it blows your God damn head off your shoulders.”

  Harsh, thought Jack.

  The General needed to be taught a lesson. Who the hell did he think he was fucking with?

  Jack stood up and the General nearly bowled backwards off the coffee table. He stumbled to his feet and pulled his gun. He said, “It doesn’t matter how important you are to the research happening downstairs. I’ll have you executed before anyone can object. And don’t think for a second that I care if it sends my career into the toilet. It’s been there ever since they posted me here. The Doctor has no jurisdiction when it comes to punishment so don’t go looking to him for help.

  Jack asked, “Why do you hate me so much sir?” He genuinely meant it.

  “Jack, you got one of my men killed. You stole top secret government property. Even if I liked you I’d have no choice but to deal with you severely. And I don’t like you.”

  He could see anticipation in the General’s eyes. He wanted Jack to make a move so he could defend himself and do away with all that boring paperwork.

  Once, Samantha had said she wished he was dead but he knew if he’d put a gun in her hands at that very moment she wouldn’t have pulled the trigge
r. It was quite humbling having an armed man before him who really did hate him and wanted to kill him more than anything else in the world.

  He thought, so much for your prophecy Jessie, the only person being killed tomorrow is your dad. He batted the thought away as soon as it appeared.

  “Can I have a last request before you inter me for execution?” He didn’t wait for the General to respond. “I want one last drink. You can join me if you wish.”

  “Have your fucking drink but I won’t be joining you. Make it a stiff one, you’ll need it.”

  Chapter 61: Unconventional Weapons

  Jack slowly walked over to the liquor cabinet, careful not to excite the General. He grabbed a bottle of vodka as a decoy. He then opened the fridge, grabbed the shot glass artifact he’d hidden in there and popped off the top. He knocked it back, hoping the General hadn’t caught on to his trick.

  The elixir started working immediately. Everything slowed to a stop and the very air became thick and laden. And then that familiar clarity swept it all away and left Jack standing there like a raw nerve feeling everything. This was what he needed more than anything now; the ability to know everything. It might help him get out of this jam.

  He tried to remove the shot glass from his lips but it wouldn’t budge. It had melded to his lips and it was refilling far faster than before. There was no way to hide it from the General. This was another stolen artifact and it was interacting with Jack.

  The General squinted, unsure of what he was witnessing.

  The liquid was gushing like an open faucet down Jack’s throat sending his emotions and thoughts higher and higher. He felt the glass move inward incrementally until it was at the back of his throat, touching his tonsils and then it slid down into his esophagus. He tried to pry it loose the whole time but it had a purpose. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stop it but he had to try.

  The General took a quick step forward and said, “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Just then Jack heard a commotion out in the hall. The General couldn’t hear it but then again, he wasn’t running on the go-juice like Jack was.

  So when Melanie came running in with armed guards hot on her trail, Jack was ready. His heightened senses ran a quick list of scenarios through and the only one that didn’t involve Melanie getting shot was one of madness. But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He had to act. A shot rang out and the General began to pivot his weapon toward the approaching footsteps.

  Jack needed the death ball. He could kill everyone in the room in seconds with it.

  His elixir heightened mind said, make it come to you.

  He could feel the tether between the ball and himself intensifying in strength. The ball somehow knew it was go time. He held his hand out and willed it to him.

  There were several cracking sounds that grew louder as the ball traveled through walls and doors and anything else that stood between it and its master.

  It was in his hand before any of the armed men could react.

  Chapter 62: First Strike

  Melanie was on the floor now, crawling toward him but the sight of the death ball didn’t register on any of the guard’s faces. They didn’t know that Jack was now a bigger threat. He saw trigger fingers move so he acted without thought. Melanie was going to be killed.

  The ball zipped through the air with astonishing speed and accuracy, bouncing and rebounding off each guard in turn. They dropped to the ground like marionettes without puppeteers.

  Not a single shot was fired at Melanie. Jack saved her life. He’d always secretly wanted to do something like that; save the damsel in distress and be her hero.

  But then reality hit him like a freight train. He’d just committed multiple murders.

  The General took off at a run but Jack let him go. Where you going tough guy? He thought. No wonder his superiors never promoted him, he was a stinking coward.

  Melanie stood on shaky legs. “They were out there joking around about how the General was going to kill you. I had to do something.” She didn’t mention his ball skills.

  Jack nonchalantly tossed the ball in the air and caught it. He loved it. It felt right.

  He said, “I know. It wasn’t your fault. I guess it’s time to get to work.”

  She pointed at the microwave clock and even with the elixir pumping into his stomach it took him a second to understand. Then it hit him. The digits read that it was twelve minutes after five in the morning. They’d been asleep much longer than he’d have guessed. Tomorrow had come and the prophecy had come true.

  She said, “The rest of the guards will be alerted any second. We need to move fast if we’re going to get Jessie out.”

  Jack agreed. They had no choice but to take action now. Jack had just committed murder and he’d be executed post haste; Melanie would meet the same end for helping him.

  He sprinted down the corridor and stopped when he reached the elevator door. He hit the call button and waited. Melanie caught up, breathless.

  “How did you do that? You’re way too fast. I mean really fucking fast.”

  He said, “I drank the elixir.” He neglected to mention that it had attached itself to him like a greedy parasite and now rested at the bottom of his stomach pumping him full of its power. “It slows the world down and speeds my mind up. It must do the same thing to my body.”

  The doors pinged and slid open. They were halfway down when the sirens erupted.

  Shit, thought Jack, Brett will be ready and he’ll be eager, especially since he already wanted to perforate me with bullets for what I did to him.

  The elevator was a kill box. But he knew what to do.

  The elevator pinged again and the doors started to slide open. They were about six inches open when Jack launched the death ball through. At the exact same moment there was the rat-tat of gunfire. Melanie grabbed him and they fell to the floor as bullets whizzed overhead, clinking against the back wall of the elevator. The gunfire halted immediately. The sound of an object striking the floor followed by a heavy thud meant Jack’s plan had worked. He had killed again. This time, like the last, he knew it was the only option.

  He was pleasantly surprised by the total lack of guilt associated with it. Maybe it was because he knew deep down that Brett was a cruel, vicious piece of shit.

  He helped Melanie up and then beckoned for the ball that was hovering silently over Brett’s dead body. It shot to his hand like it missed him dearly.

  Melanie didn’t ask questions, she ran past Brett’s prone form, rounding the corner toward the clean room door at the end of all the snaking corridors. Jack almost picked up Brett’s rifle but he decided against it; the ball was his best option for defending himself. He followed ten feet behind Melanie to keep a watch on their rear.

  When she arrived at the door she banged on it hard with her palm. The door opened a few seconds later and Oliver met them. Jessie was with him, still in his pajamas. He looked terrified and Jack wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him everything was ok but that would have to wait.

  Everything was not ok.

  Oliver wheezed, “As soon as I heard the sirens I knew you were coming. I locked the Doctor and the guards up in the surveillance room. They aren’t getting out for a long time. I had to be quick to disable the gun turret above the door before you guys got here.”

  Thank God thought Jack. He’d completely forgotten about that. They’d be dead right now if it weren’t for Oliver.

  Oliver continued, “I disabled the elevator overrides too.” By way of explaining how he’d gotten so much accomplished in such a short amount of time he added, “I’m spry for an old goat.”

  Jack knew there was more to it than that. How much of this scenario had Oliver played out in his head over the course of the past year? There was just no time to dwell on it.

  Oliver said, “You guys get topside first and I’ll meet up with you.”

  Melanie pleaded, “You can’t. Jack can protect us. You need to come with.”


  Oliver’s eyes twinkled when he said, “I’m going to throw them a curve ball. I’m going to open all these cages down here and see what happens.”

  Jack smiled. “They won’t be expecting that. I’m not so sure they are geared for combat though. Maybe the werewolf, but yeah, give it a shot. Maybe that’s what they were brought here to do, help us escape.”

  Normally he wouldn’t have agreed to something so reckless or dangerous but the elixir hinted that it might work. He might have questioned why he was taking instructions from a magical elixir that had taken hold of him like a hostage but there was no time. They had more important things to deal with like staying alive and getting away.

  Oliver jimmied the safe room doors open with screwdrivers and then started opening cages one at a time.

  Melanie took Jessie by the hand and they followed Jack back to the elevator. None of this daring escape was going to be easy but he knew this next part might be the hardest. Once the elevator doors opened up on the research level there would be a cluster of guards waiting for them. He tossed the ball in the air and smirked. He was up for the challenge.

  “When these doors open you two hit the deck.”

  Melanie nodded and Jessie was already starting to crouch. Jack reared his hand back and got ready.

  The doors started to slide open and he immediately saw the folly of his plan. There was a human wall outside the doors, heavily armored and armed to the teeth.

  He prepared for the inevitable. He was about to die but Melanie and his son stood half a chance if he could take out some of these men.

  The ball shot forward from his palm and at the same time he felt an invisible presence brush past his shoulder.

  He felt a quick dab of moisture on his cheek.

  He was so startled he almost forgot about the ball.