Dan waved and rolled up the back window of his taxi. The taxi driver drove through the gates after they slowly opened. On the other side of the gate sat numerous mansions that were adequately spaced from one another. The lawns were freshly manicured and shrubs were perfectly organized and cut in order to look like tulips.
“That one there,” Dan said to the taxi driver as he pointed to the mansion nestled in the center of the acreage.
“Yes, sir,” the taxi driver said as he pulled up to the appropriate mansion.
When the driver parked the taxi in front of the mansion, Dan stepped out of the backseat. Without asking the driver for the price of the ride, Dan simply pulled out a large roll of twenty dollar bills and handed it to him.
“Thank you very much, sir!” the driver said happily as he grabbed the roll of money and sped off.
Dan walked up to the double doors of the mansion and rang the bell. Moments later a maid opened the door and greeted him.
“You must be Daniel LaRent,” the maid said.
“That’s correct.”
“Then welcome to Casa De Lockman. Come on in.”
The maid stepped aside as Dan entered the mansion. The foyer contained a large white staircase. There were golden vases decorated about the passageways and on the floor laid a large tiger fur rug.
“Hello dear friend!” a voice called out.
Dan turned to his left and watched as Andrew entered the room. Andrew was wearing tennis shoes, a baseball cap, khaki pants, and a polo shirt. And over his shirt was the same rosary that he rarely took off.
“Andrew!” Dan said as they hugged one another.
“You look great, Dan. Nice suit.”
“Thanks, Andrew. And I see you cut your hair.”
Andrew removed his hat to reveal a short buzzcut.
“Yep,” Andrew said. “I thought it would be a little more professional. My new haircut suits the sport well.”
“I saw you on the sports channel at the par four, Tiger,” Dan told him. “What a hole in one.”
“I think it was a new record,” Andrew grinned.
The maid approached them. “Mr. Lockman. Mr. LaRent. Would either of you care for refreshments?”
“Yes,” Andrew said. “That sounds good. How about some lemonade?” He turned to Dan. “Lemonade sounds good to you, Dan?”
“Yeah,” Dan shrugged. “Sounds good.”
“Alright,” Andrew turned back to the maid. “Two cups of lemonade. We’ll be in the Moroccan room.”
“Right away, sir,” the maid said before scurrying off to the kitchen.
“Come on, Dan,” Andrew gestured. “The Moroccan room is right this way.”
They walked past the foyer and into a large room with a glass ceiling. The room was filled with expensive furniture and minimalist paintings that hung on the wall. There was a large great glass coffee table in the middle of the room. On the coffee table was a single book: The Once and Future King.
“So what brings you to Florida?” Andrew asked his friend as they each took a seat on a plush sofa.
“Have you had any trouble lately?” Dan asked him.
“No,” Andrew said. “Not at all. Everything’s been going really well.”
“Well I’ve had some trouble lately. A few days ago a man showed up at my house.”
“Uh huh.”
“And he tried to blackmail me. He researched the speeds of the Formula One race cars. He realized they were going slower than usual. He realized mine was the only one going at an accelerated rate. Then he said he dug into my background. He realized I was from Cincinnati.”
“Ooh.”
“He heard about the reporting and sightings of young people with extraordinary powers in Cincinnati. Something about fighting crime and lifting a school bus up. He put two and two together and I guess I accidentally revealed myself to him.”
“Mistake number one,” Andrew said.
“He came back and I pinned him to the ground using my mind.”
“So you revealed to him what you were capable of?”
“Yeah,” Dan admitted.
“Then that’s mistake number two.”
“I know. I told him I’d destroy him if he ever spoke about me to anyone.”
“I suppose the threats of a man with psychokinetic powers would be taken more seriously than most.”
“Now I don’t know what to do,” Dan said. “So I guess I’m here to get the advice of the only other person on the planet who knows what this feels like.”
The maid walked into the glass dome room and handed both of them glasses of lemonade with tiny umbrellas inside. They thanked her and she bowed and left.
“Don’t let it to get to you,” Andrew said as they returned to their conversation.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, don’t worry about it. Just never do it again.”
“Why?” Dan asked. “I didn’t handle it well?”
“First off,” Andrew told him. “You are to never reveal your powers to another human being. Hell, aside from the golf course, I never even use my powers─ period. It not only allows me to feel normal but it stops any crazy accusations from popping up.”
“I should have known,” Dan said.
“My mother and siblings live here with me,” Andrew told him. “I managed to make life as easy for them as possible.”
“I send money to my parents each month,” Dan informed him.
“Good,” Andrew said. “Always look out for your family.”
“But what about this guy that tried to blackmail me?”
“It sounds like you scared him off well enough.”
“And if it happens again?”
“You deny it as if your life was on the line. Who’s going to believe an athlete really has super powers? It’s absurd.”
“But he had the connection between me and Cincinnati.”
“That means nothing,” Andrew told him. “Cincinnati is a big city with a lot of people. Does that mean anyone from Cincinnati who ever accomplished any feat did it with the help of super powers that came from a giant crystal?”
“I guess you’re right,” Dan sighed.
“But mostly,” Andrew said. “You weren’t thinking when you started planning your career in the first place. You weren’t careful enough.”
“What do you mean?” Dan asked.
“I mean that I did it right.”
“How?”
“Before I signed up for my very first golf tournament in January, I had all of my school records altered. There’s nothing tracing me to Cincinnati. Nothing. And if that weren’t enough, after altering the records, I had them labeled private so not just anyone can find them. As far as the world knows, I was homeschooled by my single mother and have lived here in Tampa, Florida for my entire life.”
“Why didn’t I think to do that?” Dan asked rhetorically. “You’re a genius, Andrew.”
“Always plan ahead, Big Dan.”
“So what’s next for you?”
“Another big tournament later this year,” Andrew said. “Aside from that─ gorgeous girls, endorsement deals, signing autographs for legions of fans. The usual superstar stuff.”
“It is nice, isn’t it?” Dan laughed.
“And to believe that Clark and his buddies are still in Cincinnati fighting crime,” Andrew said as he finally picked up his lemonade and took a sip.
“And playing football at a high school,” Dan laughed. “What Clark needs to do is to take his football talents pro.”
“Exactly!” Andrew agreed. “Why place so much stress and pressure on yourself for nothing. This, my friend, is life as it was meant to be lived. Clark, on the other hand, could never see the forest for the trees. He’s a good guy. But he never understood the importance of these powers.”
They kicked back and continued talking about their fun, fascinating, and fast lives. Dan was glad to have someone to confide in after being blackmailed by a shady journalist and Andrew was happy to see one of his ol
d friends. He told Dan that he was welcome to stay at his house for the night. Andrew told Dan of a marvelous steakhouse that catered to the luxury elite. They agreed to have dinner together and just as they were getting ready to leave the great room, Dan’s phone rang.
“Hello?” Dan said as he answered it. “Yeah… Clark?”
Andrew looked on but hardly listened as Dan spoke to Clark over the phone for the next several minutes.
“What’s he want?” Andrew asked when Dan finally ended the call.
“That was Clark,” Dan told him. “He said Charles was shot last night.”
“Wait, what?” Andrew said. His expression of not caring quickly turned to shock.
“They were fighting crime last night,” Dan told him. “And Charles was shot in the back.”
“Oh no,” Andrew said. “Jesus Christ,” he lowered his head and held his rosary.
“But Charles is alive,” Dan told him. “He’s holding up.”
“I knew nothing good would come of that,” Andrew said. “I tried to tell them.”
“And John sort of went mad,” Dan continued. “His dad died and he threw a doctor out of a window.”
“What?” Andrew said, dismayed. “No way.”
“But that’s not all,” Dan told Andrew. “Clark said he needs our help. He wants us to return to Cincinnati.”
CHAPTER 14
It was late Saturday night, back in Cincinnati, and Clark was lying alone in his room. Sarah had left a few hours ago in order to return to her parents’ place. Like Clark’s mother, Sarah’s parents were justifiably paranoid after Charles was shot. They─ her father, especially─ demanded that Sarah come home by nighttime and she obliged.
Clark’s face was buried in the palm of his hands until he looked up at the television.
“This morning saw the accidental death of Dr. Ken Hewer at St. John’s Hospital,” said the newscaster. “Reports indicate that he tripped and fell out of an open window. The hospital has issued a press release stating their condolences for the doctor’s family. He leaves behind a wife and son.”
After that small blurb, the newscaster turned to a completely different topic as the show went on. As Mr. Walsh predicted, the news coverage was sparse and lacked the true details.
“Alright honey, I’m coming,” Clark’s father yelled down the hallway. Up until that point, Clark was so out of it that he had not realized that his father was home. He looked outside his room and saw his father speaking on the phone.
“For the last time,” his father said to someone over the phone. “I don’t know anything about a crystal missing from your damn lab. Get off my case.”
Clark watched as his father hung up the phone, sighed, and placed his hand to his forehead.
“Dad?” Clark said as he walked into the hallway.
“Yeah, son,” his father quickly resumed a normal posture.
“I overheard you on the phone talking about a crystal. What’s that about?”
“Oh, just something that went missing at work. They keep asking me about it.”
“You don’t know anything about it?” Clark asked his dad.
“Well, uh, why do you ask?” his dad said.
“Because I know what it is, dad.”
“What?” his dad said as he quickly approached Clark. “What do you know about it?”
“I touched it, dad. Some of us touched the stupid crystal.”
“Christ,” his father nearly wept. “Are you okay? Are you feeling alright? We need to get you to a hospital.”
“No, dad,” Clark asserted. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” his father asked.
“Dad, you have to tell me what you know about the crystal.”
Mr. O’Sullivan entered his son’s messy room and whispered.
“There was this small crystal at Bio-Tech,” his father told him. “It was found to have these otherworldly properties.”
“Yeah, I know all of that, dad.”
“Well I moved it, Clark.”
“What!?” Clark said, surprised.
“I moved it from the lab. They did a bunch of tests and people were being cured from diseases. Then the dumb crystal grew after they poured water onto it. Other people touched it and died. That’s when they put it in a vault and ceased further testing.”
“Yeah…,” Clark said, asking his father to go on.
“I couldn’t just sit around, Clark. I know the crystal was doing harm but think of the power it had to heal others. When I was working one weekend and no one else was around, I cut the security camera and stole it. I stole the crystal from Bio-Tech.”
“That’s why they couldn’t find it,” Clark said, surprised.
“I wrapped it in a blanket and placed it in my bag. Back in January, you may remember I came home late one night. I said I was over the tracks getting lumber. That’s when I placed the crystal in an old barn over the tracks. I thought no one would go out there.”
“Then what?” Clark asked.
“It was still small when I placed it there,” his father told him. “So I poured water on it. The next thing I knew the damn thing grew to seven feet tall. It started glowing like a rainbow and I was too afraid to touch it.”
“Me and some friends went over the tracks, dad,” Clark admitted. “And we touched it. We didn’t know what it was.”
“But you’re alive!” his dad said happily.
“Because we only touched it for a second. I read the files, dad. Anyone who touched it any longer than that died.”
“You risked your life by doing that, son.”
“We didn’t know what it was capable of!”
“Well they’re on to me, Clark. They’re on to me. I’ve been saying for the past month that I knew nothing about the crystal but they’re still investigating. The only thing keeping me alive is the fact that there was a whole crew working that weekend. It could have been any of us. The guys at Bio-Tech don’t have a single person to blame it on─ yet.”
“Don’t worry,” Clark’s dad said.
“I can’t help but worry, Clark. The damn thing went missing from the barn.”
“That’s because we moved it, dad!”
“WHAT?” his father shouted.
“FRANKLIN!” Clark’s mother yelled for his dad from her bedroom.
“Sorry, honey, I’ll be right there!” he shouted back before turning his attention back to Clark. “What the hell do you mean you moved it!?”
“We moved the crystal to another location.”
“My God,” his father said. “How did you manage that?”
“Several of us did it. Don’t worry, there was no direct contact.”
“Well where is it?” his father asked.
“Don’t worry, it’s in a security locked warehouse basement.”
“So what did it do to you?” his father asked.
“What?” Clark asked as if he had no idea what his father was talking about.
“What did the crystal do to you? You touched it but you’re still alive.”
“It didn’t change us,” Clark lied. “We’re all the same.”
“Ugh,” his father finally let up from his tense questioning. “I guess that makes sense. It only cures sick people.”
“My question,” Clark asked his father, “is why did you take the crystal in the first place?”
“I told you son,” his father spoke low. “It has the powers to heal. And I’ve been keeping this from you─”
His father lifted up his right hand and Clark noticed his father’s hand shook lightly.
“It’s the onsets of Parkinson’s disease,” his father admitted. “I thought the crystal could help me. And it still might be able to.”
“No,” Clark told him bluntly. “It’s too dangerous. It may be able to help you but we’ve got to get it back to the lab you took it from. Then they can test it the right way.”
“How?” his father asked. “I can’t just hand it back to them. They’ll know I stole it.�
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“I don’t know,” Clark sighed. “We’ll have to think of a way.”
Seconds later, Clark’s mother appeared in his doorway.
“Franklin!” his mother shouted.
“Sorry, honey,” his father said. “I was busy. What do you need?”
“My contractions have started.”
“Wait, what?” his father said, startled.
“I felt one twenty five minutes ago.”
“What does that mean?” Clark asked.
“It means this baby is popping out really soon!” Clark’s father said excitedly. “I think you’re going to be fine for now. But that baby’s coming out soon.”
“The baby’s not supposed to be here for another three weeks,” Clark’s mother said.
“Yeah, that may be what the doctor told us,” Clark’s father chuckled. “But sweetheart, contractions don’t lie. Now from what I remember, once you feel contractions every few minutes is when we’ll need to take you to the hospital. It’s been a while since Clark was born.”
“Okay,” Clark’s mother said as she held her stomach. “Sounds good.”
“Okay, Clark,” his father told him as he guided his wife back to their bedroom. “Me and you will talk later.”
Clark drearily closed his bedroom door. He slumped over to his bed, lied down─ fully dressed─ and fell asleep. And that sleep was the only recent rest Clark had gotten. He had fallen asleep around nine o’clock and remained peacefully asleep for roughly eight hours. At five in the morning, when only the tip of the sun was in the sky, Clark was awoken by his father.
“Son, get up!”
Clark opened his eyes and yawned. He took a look at his alarm clock and told his father, “It’s only five! Give me a few more hours.”
“You gotta get up now, son! Your mother is about to go into labor.”
“What!?” Clark said half asleep.
“Come on, we’re going to the hospital.”
Clark wiped his eyes and slowly got out of the bed as his father exited his room. Clark stretched and finally came to. When he realized that he was fully clothed, he placed on his shoes and ran downstairs.
“Are you okay mom?” Clark asked.
“I gotta get to the hospital!” she said as she held her stomach and breathed heavily.
“Come on, let’s go,” his father said as he grabbed the car keys and walked outside with his wife.
Ascension (The Ascension Series) Page 25
