“How much is that?” John asked with a look of shock upon his face.
“Quarter of a million dollars,” Andrew smiled. “The real deal.”
“How!?” John questioned him.
“You may have heard about a bank robbery on the local news,” Andrew told him. “Dan and I did that.”
“WHAT?” John half yelled before lowering his voice. “You robbed a bank!?”
“We did it last night,” Andrew said as he closed the duffel bag. “Dan and I went to the bank a little after midnight. We wore masks. We used our powers to first rip the glass door open. Once we were inside the bank we focused together and easily ripped the vault door off its hinges. We got away with half a million dollars and split it fifty-fifty.”
“What the hell do you do now?” John asked.
“I get as far away from here as possible.”
“Dan too?”
“After the heist, Dan and I decided to go our separate ways. He mentioned something about becoming a race car driver.”
“NASCAR?” John asked.
“No, the formula one racing type stuff. He said he was really into that. I didn’t ask him anything else. I don’t need to know.”
“And where are you going?” John asked him.
“First I’ve got to find a way to break this to my mom. Then I’m moving my family far away. I think we’re going to Florida. My dad left our family years ago. My mother’s been raising four kids by herself and now that can change. I can help.”
“Wow,” is all John could say.
“But I really appreciate you stopping by,” Andrew told him. “It really means a lot to me. Thanks.”
“No problem,” John said softly. “I’m going to miss you.”
“And John,” Andrew continued. “Don’t tell Clark. You know how he gets. No one else can know this.”
“Yeah,” John said. “Your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell anyone else, especially not Clark. But this does add to the list of things I’m keeping from Clark.”
“What else?” Andrew asked curiously.
“Well I was at Charles’s place and he overheard his dad mentioning the crystal. It apparently used to be at Bio-Tech. No one knows how it got to the barn but we’re going to find out what it is and where it came from.”
“Fascinating,” Andrew said. “But not compellingly so. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter that much about where the crystal came from or how it got where it was. All that matters is what happened and how our lives have been affected. Some people just want to continue living the same life but I can’t do that. So this is goodbye, John.”
“One more thing, Andrew.”
“Yeah?”
“I’d like to show you something. Take you someplace I’ve never taken any other friend.”
“Sure, John. I’m up for it.”
“Great,” John said solemnly.
“When would you like to go?”
“Now,” John said.
“Okay,” Andrew replied. “Just make it quick.”
Andrew opened his bedroom door and John walked out.
“Wait,” Andrew said. “One more thing, John.”
John walked back into Andrew’s room and Andrew unzipped the duffle bag. He tossed a large wad of cash to John and stuffed the bag back under his bed. Without hesitation, John placed the cash into his deepest trench coat pocket. Then they exited the room and headed down the steps. They left out of the house and John informed Andrew that they would be flying to the spot he wanted him to see.
“Where can we go without being seen?” John asked.
“Follow me,” Andrew said. “Around this way.” He opened the gate on the side of his house and Andrew followed him into the backyard. The grass was tall and looked as if it hadn’t been cut for a very long time. John and Andrew stood tall side by side in the middle of the back yard and looked up toward the sky.
“So you’ve flown before?” John asked him.
“Yeah,” Andrew answered. “It’s how Dan and I made our escape from the bank. They didn’t stand a chance.”
“Alright,” John said as he raised his hands into the air. “Try and keep up.”
John shot into the air and Andrew followed right after. They sped through the air as fast as a bullet train. The cool afternoon air blew against their cheeks and flushed their faces. John suddenly went faster and veered to his right. Andrew had to quickly make the same turn in order to keep up.
“You’re going fast!” Andrew yelled through the sky.
“I said keep up!” John looked back and yelled. “We’re almost there!”
For another minute they continued soaring through the sky until John quickly came to a halt and Andrew followed suit. They changed the positioning of their feet to firmly land on the ground when Andrew turned to John and asked a question.
“Aren’t we across the tracks?”
“Yeah,” John answered, “The barn isn’t too far from here. Just one more mile away. Something like that.”
They dropped to the ground in an unoccupied area. The ground was gravely and litter blew in every direction. Right ahead of them was the old abandoned train station.
“This is the old train station,” Andrew said.
“Yeah,” John told him. “It shut down about two years ago. Everyone now visits Union Terminal for the train but this is where they use to come. I visit here now and again.”
“Why?” Andrew asked.
“Follow me,” was all John responded.
John approached the door of the old train station and pulled it open. He went inside as Andrew followed behind him. The inside of the train station was old, rusted, and dusty. The only source of light came from a large hole in the middle of the ceiling. It was enough to light up the entire, albeit small, train station.
“Why do you come here?” Andrew asked.
John walked over to the barrier that led to the lowered train tracks. It was similar to a New York subway.
“Because this is where my life changed forever,” John said. He sighed before speaking further. “My life use to be pretty decent, believe it or not. My dad was an O-8 major general. It’s a pretty nice title. He was stationed in the Afghanistan War for a while. By all accounts, he was a brave man who’d have given his life for his soldiers. One day, when he was over there, his truck drove over a field mine. It blew his left leg off.”
“Wow,” was all Andrew said.
“Yeah,” John agreed. “Difficult crap to deal with. Major General Alexander Ahern. He was given a purple heart and sent home. But when he returned to us, he wasn’t the same. He suffered post-traumatic stress. He could never get to sleep, he couldn’t interact with people, and it got so bad that he refused to leave the house. He began to ask where his leg was.”
Andrew listened to every word that John was saying and looked at him with heavy eyes. John continued speaking as he stared at the train tracks.
“You see, he blocked out the day his leg was blown off. He could never remember it. He forced himself to forget it. The whole experience. So he wake up every morning, screaming, when he saw his amputated knee. That’s when he became an alcoholic.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Andrew said with a lowered voice.
“Heh,” John said. “That’s only the beginning. Things only got worse from there. My mother was named Josephine. She always cared for me, even when things with dad began to worsen. She was my rock. I was so inseparable from her. I looked to her for everything. But as my dad got worse, so did she. Mom began to see things that weren’t there. She complained of voices. But she said the worst part was the visions. She said she had a vision of a bright light that was going to kill her.”
Andrew placed his hand on John’s shoulder. John continued looking at the train tracks with his head lowered as he spoke further.
“Mom went to the doctor and she was diagnosed as being mentally illness. She was given medication and almost returned to normal. Almost. She acted okay for several
months. Then she refused to take anything the doctors gave her. She said the doctors were only prophets of the light whose job was to see that she died. Funny, most people are afraid of the dark. Mom was afraid was of the light. See, my whole life she was afraid of flying. When she was a kid she watched as a plane crashed near her neighborhood. That made her terrified of planes. But she loved trains. Trains were relatively slow and always touched the ground.”
John looked around the old train station that he and Andrew were standing in and he spread his arms out.
“This was the old Cincinnati train station that mom always used. Until she got ill. Just as dad became an alcoholic, mom swore that the light was after her. She said it came after her every day and wouldn’t stop until she was dead. Then one day she said she couldn’t take it any longer. She said she couldn’t outrun the light. She swore all she could do was embrace it and let it take her away.”
“Here?” Andrew whispered.
John nodded. “So she came here. It was the last time a train ever departed from these tracks. Right before everyone moved to the new Union Terminal. As the final train was pulling up, she jumped onto the tracks and embraced the light.”
“I’m so sorry,” Andrew said in a lowered voice.
“The city didn’t want to draw attention to it in the wake of a new terminal so they kept the story as quiet as they could. Most of the kids found out that my mom had died but they didn’t know how. And I’ve never told this to anyone before. Not even Charles and he’s been like a brother to me.”
“Thank you,” Andrew said. “For telling me your story. I know it must be difficult.”
“Yeah…”
“But John,” Andrew asked, “Why do you come here if this is where the incident happened?”
“Because I feel her here,” John said. “I can feel my mother’s spirit here.”
Andrew looked at him strangely but John didn’t notice as he returned to staring at the train tracks. So Andrew placed his arms around John and hugged him.
“Thanks for sharing this,” he said to John.
CHAPTER 7
Across town later in the evening, near Union Terminal, Clark and Sarah were darting through the sky, hand in hand. They soared together in laughter and smiles. Right behind them were Chloe and Donny who also flew hand in hand. Lastly was Charles who was flying through the sky and while doing flips and assorted tricks.
“Wooooooooo!” Charles yelled out. “Look at me! I’m flying! I’m on fire, baby!”
They flew to great heights before heading downward and gliding lower. Clark and Sarah got so low to the ground that they were able to touch a field of grass before soaring upward. The others followed their lead and did the same.
“I’m on top of the world!” Charles shouted through the sky.
Finally they slowed down, floating above the sky and enjoying the sights. Charles was doing cartwheels in the air while the others were feeling more tender.
“This is the most romantic thing I’ve ever done,” Chloe said to Donny as they kissed in the air. Their lips met with a passion beyond Donny’s own comprehension. After kissing her, he opened his eyes and exclaimed his love for her.
“Alright, you two,” Charles laughed. “Get a room! Or an unoccupied cloud!”
“You see them?” Sarah said to Clark as they looked to Donny and Chloe.
“What a pairing, huh?” Clark chuckled.
“It’s romantic,” Sarah said. “Wish you were that into me.”
“What?” Clark laughed, “I am. I totally am!”
“Prove it!” Sarah said.
She let go of Clark’s hand and flew far away from him.
“Come on!” Clark laughed.
“No,” Sarah yelled, “Catch me and prove your love!”
Clark darted after Sarah as she flew away from him.
“Come back!” Clark yelled. “I’m gonna catch you sooner or later!”
Sarah flew upward and downward, to the left, and to the right. Clark did his best to catch up to her as she tumbled around and headed back toward Donny and Chloe. Just as Sarah was heading towards Charles, Clark swooped up and grabbed her by the legs. She yelled and laughed.
“Got ya!”
“You win!” Sarah said. “I give up!”
Clark grabbed her by the waist as they flew back toward their friends.
“One day,” Clark told her. “We’ll put on really heavy coats, pack our bags, and soar all the way to Paris, France. Just you and me.”
“Promise me we’ll fly to the tip top of the Eiffel Tower and kiss,” Sarah said.
“I promise.”
“Guys!” Charles yelled. “It’s getting cold. Let’s drop!”
“Okay!” Clark yelled back.
“Good idea,” Sarah said. “The sun’s going down.”
“I’ll keep you warm,” Clark said as he held her in his arms while they slowly lowered to the ground. They landed in a grass field near a set of train tracks.
Charles went over to Chloe and Donny and began flirting with Chloe. Donny objected. Clark jumped in and sided with him. Charles, continuing the jokes, told Chloe that she could do much better than the school’s biggest geek.
“How about hanging out with a real superman, baby?” Charles joked. “You’ve had your fun with the geek.”
“Charles, quit it,” Clark told him.
“I just want to give the girl a choice,” Charles said arrogantly. “A different option, so to speak.”
Out of nowhere, Donny raised his fist and punched Charles in the face. Charles fell to the ground like a losing boxer in the final knockout. He jumped up and used his powers to exert a blast, similar to a gust of wind, toward Donny. Donny fell back but quickly made it to his feet.
“I’ve had enough of you, Walsh,” Donny told him.
“Gimme your best shot, kid,” Charles said arrogantly. “I’ll break a tree across your freckled face.”
Suddenly, they both went airborne. Donny and Charles shot toward one another at incredibly fast speeds but failed to meet. Clark was using his powers to stop the two of them. He had created a barrier, a sort of force field that separated them. Finally they lowered. Clark went over to Charles while Sarah and Chloe met Donny.
“Come on, Charles, stop this crap,” Clark said.
“I was just joking around,” Charles said. “He was the one who threw the first punch.”
“You started this,” Clark told him.
“Look, if he wants to start a fight with Charles Walsh, I’ll be happy to finish it.”
Chloe was brushing grass out of Donny’s red hair when she asked him to calm down.
“Please, don’t fight,” Chloe said. “Charles is being a jerk and I don’t want to see anyone hurt. Especially not you.”
Donny sighed. He agreed not to touch Charles as long as Charles left Chloe alone.
“You’re the one that had to make this physical, man,” Charles said to Donny as he brushed his jacket off.
The sound of the train was getting louder as they moved away from the tracks.
“How about you stop being a jerk?” Donny said.
“Me?” Charles scoffed. “I’m just being myself.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I mean,” Donny said.
The train became louder as Sarah grabbed Clark by the hand and suggested they leave.
“Yeah, I think it’s about time we get out of here,” Charles said. “That’s the best advice I’ve heard all day.”
“Look!” Chloe shouted.
Ahead of them, the train was moving at a frightening speed. They looked closer and noticed that the train’s wheels were creating sparks against the rails.
“It’s not stopping,” Sarah said.
The train’s conductor blew the loud horn multiple times as the train continued speeding at an alarming rate. The five of them stood in the grass, not sure of what to do. Suddenly, one of the train’s wheels blew off and came flying towards them. Clark reached his hand out and the iron wh
eel stopped in midair before it could hit any of them. Seconds later, the train dived off the tracks and derailed. Debris went flying everywhere as the train began to tip over.
“Focus!” Clark yelled.
The five of them all placed their arms into the air. With all of their strength, they were psychokinetically preventing the vast train from tipping over. Though dust and debris prevented the five of them from seeing anyone aboard the train, they could hear the passengers within the train screaming.
“Now push!” Clark yelled to his friends.
The five of them stretched their hands out even further as the train was just shy of falling over. With all of their concentration in use, the train tipped back onto the tracks. They each put their arms down and stopped focusing. They were breathing heavily as if they had lifted far more than their strength allowed.
“My god,” Charles said as he stopped to catch his breath. “Remind me to never do that again.”
“The dust is settling,” Clark said. “We can’t let these people see us.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Sarah suggested.
They looked at one another and nodded. As debris and dirt stirred around the train, they shot off into the air and flew home.
Charles went in one direction, Donny and Chloe in another, and Clark followed Sarah.
“Your house is in the other direction,” Sarah said to Clark as she noticed him flying behind her.
“I wanted to see that my girlfriend gets home safely,” Clark said. “Lots of dangerous things out there. Although statistically speaking, flying is still the safest way to travel.”
Sarah smiled as they found the perfect spot to land, as not to be seen. Then Clark walked with her the rest of the way. When they got to her apartment, he kissed her goodnight.
“I’ll call you,” Sarah waved to him as they parted ways.
“Bye,” Clark waved back. “Hope your parents aren’t too pissed that you were out.”
“They’ll be fine!”
Clark walked away as Sarah entered her apartment building. He ran behind a tree, pretended to rip his shirt open and virtually shot into the air at the speed of light. The sky was finally dark and minutes later he arrived in his own neighborhood. Clark encircled an area that lacked a lamppost and made his descent. A minute later, he was on his family’s porch knocking at the door.
Ascension (The Ascension Series) Page 12
