“You’ll get no mercy from me now!” he yells. Then, before I can even move my arms to guard my chest, Flagrant slashes out with his hand and yanks the chain around my neck. It goes tight then comes apart, taking the Vestige with it.
I scramble to catch the necklace, but Flagrant it too fast. He twirls the chain until it is wrapped around his hand and the Vestige lands in his open palm.
“Yes!” he yells, his voice filling the room. “Yes! At last!”
I barely have time to blink before Flagrant’s name changes in the visor and now displays as The Drone. He then uses his first power. He is standing in front of me one moment, then in a blur he’s crouching in front of me, with his face itches from mine.
“Time to take care of your little friend,” he says.
Then, in a split second, his body blurs and he’s over at the stairs. Mae lets out another scream and Flagrant yanks her down the stairs. I can see that the bullet that was shot has struck her in the arm. Her shirt is all blood-stained.
“Mae!” I yell, getting to my feet. But, I feel absolutely normal now. There’s no way I can help her from here without the Vestige. My energy reading has gone down to zero.
Flagrant crushes her to his chest and pins her there. Then he laughs.
“I think it’s time for a dip in the lake,” he says. Then he zooms out of the house, taking Mae with him.
31
The Shard
“Call the police!” I yell to Grandma as I book it out the front door. It’s such a stupid idea since what can police do against a superhero? But, it’s the only thing we can do.
The sun is setting beyond the trees and in ten minutes it will be pitch black, which will make it hard to see anything going on. I will lose Flagrant.
Then I remember.
I rely on the visor now. I can see a huge spike in energy to my right. I turn and start to follow it. It’s out by the trees.
My modified shoes slam against the grass as I hurry to the tree line. I scan the area frantically, looking for any sign of Flagrant and Mae. The energy signal is coming from over here, but I see nothing. Could the visor be going haywire?
Suddenly Flagrant’s voice calls out.
“Looking for me?”
The voice is coming from above me. I tilt my head back and am shocked to see Flagrant up in the air with Mae. She’s struggling between holding onto him so as not to fall to the ground and also trying to get away from him at the same time.
“So, you can fly, too?” I shout.
“There are many things I can do,” says Flagrant with a grin. “How about I show them to you?”
He holds out his free hand and hooks his fingers into a claw shape. My eyes widen as I see a glowing pin of light appear between his fingers and grow until it is a shimmering orb of energy like the ones I can make.
“You’re not so special now, are you, Shaun?” says Flagrant, spinning the energy in the air like a basketball. Mae struggles beside him.
“No!” she says. “Leave him alone!”
This just eggs Flagrant on even more. He locks his eyes on me and yells, “Catch!”
Then the ball of light comes hurtling downwards at me.
If I had the Vestige I could have easily caught the energy. But, I’m normal now, so I have to sprint to the side to avoid being struck by the whirling purple ball. It slams into the ground where I was just standing and leaves a crater the size of a small jacuzzi in its wake.
Mae continues to scream as Flagrant launches another ball of energy. Then another. I’m running like a mad man to keep out of his path.
I find myself heading back to the house. I need cover, and that’s the only place that makes sense. Maybe if I can get Grandma and Grandpa in the basement they will be safe while I wait for the police to arrive. I want to cry out because I don’t know how long Mae will last in the hands of that madman.
“Grandma!” I yell as I hurry into the house. An explosion rocks the porch behind me and I barely have a chance to glance back and see the floorboards splintering apart under the energy blast. The roof starts to collapse in on itself. I continue running to the living room.
“Grandpa! Where are you?”
I skid to a halt at the entrance to the living room, but my grandparents are not there. I look around wildly.
“Grandma?” I call out.
My grandmother’s muffled voice is barely audible as another blast hits the other side of the porch.
“Shaun! We’re up here!”
I race to the stairs, taking them two at a time. When I make it to the top I see my grandparents at the end of the hall. I have no idea how Grandma was able to get Grandpa up there in the state he’s in, but I see him leaning on her shoulder.
“What are you doing up here?” I demand. “We need to get you down in the basement until the police arrive!”
Grandpa speaks up, his eyes half-lidded. It sounds like he’s exhausted.
“It won’t do any good,” he says, reaching a hand up to stop the bleeding from his forehead. “The police are no match for The Drone,” he continues. Then he takes his hand away from his injury and motions to the wall beside us. “Grab something - a chair - and break through this wall.”
“What?” I say, shaking my head. “Why?”
“There’s no time to explain now,” says Grandpa. “Just do as I say…”
I rush into my bedroom and grab the wooden chair at my desk. Then I hurry back to the end of the hallway and have my grandparents stand back. Once they’re far enough away, I swing the chair at the wall and break open a large gash in the sheetrock.
Without questioning I set down the chair and reach inside the wall. My fingers don’t go very deep because there’s a wooden plank dividing the upper and lower framing of the wall. As my fingers brush around in the dust I am shocked to suddenly feel something sharp. At first I pull my hand back, thinking that I just touched an exposed nail. Then Grandpa urges me on, so I reach back inside and pinch the sharp, tiny piece of metal between my fingers and draw it out.
“That…” says Grandpa. “Is what you need…”
I blow off the dust that has caked itself onto the tiny sliver of metal and my eyes widen as I see the pointy shape of it, broken off at the thicker end.
“Is this what I think it is?” I ask.
“A shard from the Vestige,” answers Grandpa. “Use it to take down The Drone. You’re our only hope now.”
His energy is all used up now because suddenly he collapses to the floor and Grandma kneels beside him.
“Stay here,” I command them. “And stay safe!”
I fix the visor on my face, tuck the shard of the Vestige in my back pocket, and hurry down the stairs and back out to return The Drone’s attack.
32
Vortex
The visor tracks The Drone’s energy signature, coupled with Mae’s flickering one, and leads me down the wooded path and out to the lakefront.
The sun has set so far now that everything is bathed in a purple hue. There are no swimmers on the opposite shore now. The lake is deserted and the only sounds are the chirping of frogs and the rustle of the wind through the pine trees.
My visor cuts out a few times while I look around. It must have become jostled when I ran through the house. I shake it a few times, but it starts to become intermittent.
I abandon it on some large rocks and continue running along the sandy shore.
“Mae!” I call out. “Mae, where are you?”
“Here she is,” says a familiar voice and I look up to my left to see The Drone hovering twenty feet above the rippling surface of the lake. He’s holding Mae away from him, gripping her by the neck. She struggles, her feet kicking back and forth, and her hands are clamped around The Drone’s wrist.
“Don’t you dare hurt her!” I yell.
“You’re in no position to make demands,” says The Drone. His trench coat billows in the wind. “If you had come quietly, maybe I’d take it easy on you. But, because you made things dif
ficult, your friend will pay.”
I grind my teeth as Mae screams.
I can’t stand down here on the beach much longer. The Drone doesn’t know that I have a shard of the Vestige, but he will shortly. It’s time for him to pay for the destruction he’s brought down upon my grandparent's home.
“I’m warning you for the last time,” I call up to him. “Put her down gently, or suffer the consequences.”
The Drone just laughs, throwing his head back.
“I think I’ll just do what I want,” he says, then he throws Mae out to the middle of the lake.
“No!” I cry out as I watch her body go tumbling head over heels and splash head-first into the center of the dark lake. With her injured arm it will be difficult to swim.
Now’s the time to make a move. Hopefully this shard will give me powers comparable to the ones the full Vestige gave me.
I focus my energy and within seconds I’m shooting up into the air, using my hands to navigate to the frothing water where Mae just disappeared. I’m inches from diving in after her when it feels like a locomotive strikes me in the chest, sending me veering off course. I gasp for breath and crash into the water, far away from Mae.
When my head breaks the surface I see The Drone hovering over me, laughing.
I send two large bursts of energy out of my hands and the water bubbles around me, beginning to boil. I go flying upwards and swipe at The Drone. He goes to streak away from me, but I catch his jaw only moments before. I watch his streak zig zag through the air and he comes to a stop not far from me.
“That was a lucky shot,” he says. “I’m not sure how you’re able to use your abilities still, but that won’t last for very long.”
Beneath him, Mae breaks the surface, gasping for breath.
“Shaun!” she cries out. “Get me out of here!”
This makes The Drone chuckle.
“That’s easier said than done,” he says. Then, before I can do anything, he’s zipped down to the surface of the water. His hands dip into the cold, dark water and he begins to fly circles around Mae.
She gasps for breath as the water becomes a whirlpool, taking her around in circles just as The Drone increases his speed. Mae is pulled deeper and deeper towards the center of the whirlpool.
It gets to the point where the water is spinning on its own and The Drone returns to the sky to observe his handy work.
I make a dash for Mae, soaring towards her, but again I’m caught in the middle.
The Drone is so fast that it feels like he’s teleporting around me. Super speed was always a skill that I wished I had, but instead my mortal enemy has it. Super speed is such a monumental advantage.
All around me The Drone appears, batting me with his fists. A few times his feet connect with my chest and send me crashing backwards through the air, only to have him appear behind me to do the same attack once more.
My breath is forced from my lungs. Down below us, Mae is struggling to stay above the surface. If I don’t get to her quick, she will drown.
The image of her floating at the bottom of the lake sends rage ripping through my bloodstream and suddenly a burst of adrenaline gives me a second wind.
Instead of lashing out, I wait for The Drone to attack me once more. This time he appears at my front, which is just what I want him to do. He expects me to shoot burst of energy at him, but instead I lunge ahead, wrapping my arms and legs around him.
“What?” he says as I tighten my grip on him.
If I hold on tight enough, even if he uses his super speed, I will be taken with him wherever he goes.
He tries to shake me off a few times, but I’m holding on for dear life.
“Aaargh!” he cries through gritted teeth. “Get off me!”
“No,” I mutter, taking a chance to reach one arm into the front of his jacket. He might want me to get off of him, but there’s something else that I need to get off him in order to win this fight.
My hand goes to slip into his jacket pocket where he tucked the Vestige. The Drone must have figured out what I’m doing because he tries to wrestle me off, sending a few blasts of energy shooting up into the sky.
But, I’m too close to lose.
When he goes to knock me in the face, I pull my hand back and slam it against his left eye. I flex my muscles and send a blast of energy erupting against his face and he screams, writhing in pain.
For a split second he’s distracted.
This is when I make my move.
I shove my hand into his jacket, close my fingers around the Vestige, and yank it away from him.
The Drone suddenly becomes heavy. His flight abilities wear off, as well as the rest of them. I pull myself away from him and let him fall.
He plummets from the sky like a brick. The pain from being blasted in the face must have worn off because his scream is terrified. Unbeknownst to me, our struggle in the air has brought us over the tree line and The Drone - now simply Bill Flagrant - goes crashing into the trees and lands on the ground with a sickening thud. The crunch that follows tells me that he’s not getting to his feet any time soon.
With the enemy taken care of, I tuck the Vestige into my back pocket along with the shard. Then my eyes dart to the lake where, to my horror, I see Mae floating face-down in the middle.
“Mae!” I cry and soar over to her.
She’s not moving.
33
Revival
Mae’s body is limp in my arms as I fly her to Grandpa’s back yard. I want to get her as far away from the water as possible.
Grandma and Grandpa are at the bottom of the porch waiting for the authorities to arrive. As I land on the grass I can hear the sound of sirens in the distance. They’re getting closer and closer.
Our porch is obliterated. It looks like a bomb has gone off. Bits of splintered wood litter the yard and there are mounds of dirt scattered in random spots. It will take a ton of work to get things back to the way they were before.
I lay Mae on her back in an untouched patch of grass and look her over quickly. Her skin is getting a blue tint.
“Mae, no!” I cry out, pulling the visor from my face and dropping it to the grass beside me.
There must be water in her lungs.
I ball my fists up and start pumping on her chest. The first few pumps do nothing. Her mouth is closed and her face unresponsive.
“Come on!” I say as the sirens get louder towards the front of the house.
I flex my hands against her rib cage and pulse a blast of energy into her chest cavity. Her limbs twitch and then go slack again. I try the same pulse blast once more on her and am about to lean down and breathe into her mouth when a spurt of water comes spewing out of her now open mouth. She coughs and splutters, reaching up to her chest.
Another few coughs send the rest of the water out of her lungs and she gasps for breath.
I crouch beside her, pressing my hand against her back as she sits up. Grandma comes hurrying over, leaving Grandpa sitting against the porch steps.
“Is she alright?” calls Grandma and she crouches on the other side of Mae.
Mae takes in a lungful of air and manages, “I am now,” in a raspy voice. She swallows a few times and I rub her back.
“Don’t worry about speaking,” I say. “Just get your energy back. The ambulance is here now.”
From around the side of the house I see a group of four EMTs carrying medical kits. They spot us and hurry over to Mae. I direct two of them to Grandpa and, with everything now in good hands, sit back on the grass and let out a shuddering breath. I pick up my visor and fold it, tucking it in my pocket.
The emergency personnel finish examining Mae as a few more people come hurrying across the grass with a stretcher for her. They lift her onto it and strap her in.
“You’re going to be fine,” says one woman as they carry her to the ambulance out front. Next the team does the same for Grandpa and carry him to safety.
Two police officers come walk
ing onto the scene and spot Grandma and me. They have their weapons holstered, but one of them has their hand hovering over the butt of their gun just in case.
“Are there any more injured people here?” he asks.
I don’t want to say anything, but in my heart I know it’s the right thing to do. I motion to the woods where Bill Flagrant is lying.
“The culprit is over there in the woods,” I say. “I think he’s hurt really bad. He’ll definitely need a stretcher.”
The cops sweep the area, their eyes widening as they see the state of the porch, and then hurry with a few of the EMTs to retrieve Bill Flagrant.
Before they can pull him from the woods, I take Grandma by the arm and walk her to the front of the house. We both get into an ambulance with Grandpa and are taken directly to the hospital.
34
Aftermath
It feels like Grandma and I are waiting in the lobby of the hospital for hours. We probably have been, but at last an orderly comes to get us.
“Ed will see you now,” she says. “He’s just resting. Follow me this way.”
We are brought into a softly lit hospital room and find Grandpa behind a thin curtain. He’s sleeping peacefully.
Grandma and I take turns sitting at his side. After a while Grandma decides to go and get something to eat, so I take over the watch. I’m just dozing off a bit when Grandpa stirs.
“Grandpa?” I say, sitting up.
His eyes open and when he sees me he smiles.
“Shaun,” he says softly and reaches out for my hand.
Grandpa grips my hand tightly, though not as tight as it might have been yesterday.
“Am I glad to see you awake,” I say, struggling not to let the tremble show in my voice.
Grandpa makes a smile, and it looks like it takes some effort. He’s got tubes coming out of his arm with bags of fluids dripping every few seconds. There’s a beeping that signals the monitoring of his heart beat, and outside the hospital room, beyond the blinds and the glass windows, personnel and patients hurry too and fro.
The Aberrant Series (Book 1): Super Charged Page 15
