Child of Recklessness (Trials of Strength Book 2)

by Matthew R. Bell

  ‘What the hell!?’ I shouted, anger firing in my stomach.

  ‘You’re strong, fast. Advanced in ways I’m not, but still,’ Chris said, ‘I have you on the ropes. If it was your enemy, you’d be dead.’

  I got back on my feet, and before I could take a breath, Chris threw himself my way. I saw his fist coming and ducked, lashing my own at his stomach. He caught it though and twisted, bringing my arm behind my back, before kicking me back to the floor.

  ‘Come on, give me a second,’ I said.

  I moved to stand, but Chris kicked my legs from beneath me.

  ‘You think your enemy will give you a second?’ Chris chided. ‘You think that if you need a timeout you’ll get one?’

  I cursed and pushed myself up. Using my speed I moved in close to Chris, bringing my knee up at his chest. He bounced back and pushed it away. I gave chase, throwing my weight into my right fist as it sped towards him. He reacted as if he’d known my play. He grabbed my arm and my neck and threw me to the ground.

  I sighed, frustrated. I pushed him off and spun, using my own legs to take away his. He jumped, kicked me onto my stomach and pinned me down. I felt his breath on my ear.

  ‘Strength and speed aren’t enough,’ he panted. ‘You can be the strongest and quickest, in fact, you probably are, but if you can’t anticipate your opponent’s next move you’re a goner.’

  Chris untangled himself and stood. I hesitantly got to my feet, my pride a little damaged.

  ‘Greystone was different,’ he said. ‘Those creatures lacked foresight. They didn’t plan an attack, we were lucky.’

  Lucky?

  ‘You need to learn to fight, to be prepared,’ Chris carried on. ‘Otherwise all those nifty gifts you have are useless. Manage your own strength too, otherwise when you do manage to connect a blow to someone, you could kill them.’

  If I’d felt drowsy before, it was gone now. I hadn’t entertained the idea my strength could kill someone, and the thought made me sick. I had killed before, the people who’d been turned into monsters in Greystone anyway, but they were already on death row, the drug my father gave them and the fact they had resisted it created a battle in their bodies for control, a battle that would eventually wear them out and kill them. Plus, we hadn’t had a choice.

  For the next hour, Chris proceeded in teaching me to anticipate. He taught me how to punch and kick, to block both and limit the amount of strength I used. I listened without interrupting. I wanted to put my abilities to good use, to use the thing my father had killed hundreds to create as a force of good, a force that would be used to bring him down.

  ‘Faster,’ Chris shouted as I blocked a punch. ‘Use your speed over your strength. Defend yourself before you attack. Be prepared. Catch your enemy off guard.’

  It was in the middle of a routine like that that Chris started on what he’d really brought me there for.

  ‘Is it worth it?’ he asked.

  ‘What?’ I said through gritted teeth.

  I threw my fist at his stomach, but he blocked and stepped to the side.

  ‘Hunting down your Dad?’ Chris panted. ‘Is it worth it?’

  I stopped.

  ‘Of course it is,’ I said. ‘He needs to be stopped.’

  ‘And how do you plan to do that, Lucas?’ he replied. ‘Kill him?’

  ‘I-’ I started.

  I didn’t know. I had come to blows with my father before we’d escaped, but I hadn’t been able to stop him. It was then that he told me about my twin sister, if she existed. Of how I had been the only one he had planned to use in an experiment, until he found out he’d fathered two children. I hadn’t met her, and no doubt he was lying through his teeth about it, but I hadn’t killed him. I could blame it on what he’d told me all I liked, but I knew it wasn’t that. I just couldn’t kill him.

  Chris waited as I sifted through my thoughts.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘He still has to be stopped.’

  We started training again.

  ‘I think we should stop, Lucas,’ Chris said. ‘We need to stop and run. Things have gotten too complicated.’

  What!?

  ‘We can’t run!’ I spat. ‘What the hell has gotten into you?’

  ‘We’re up against two extremely powerful organizations,’ Chris reminded me. ‘Two practically untouchable groups and we don’t even know where to start!’

  ‘So we run?’ I growled, my temper flaring. ‘Then what?’

  ‘We live, Lucas!’ Chris replied with a jab. ‘Tell me, why do you want to bring your Dad down?’

  ‘Were you all there in Greystone?’ I said incredulous. ‘Isn’t it obvious!?’

  I blocked one of his kicks, and moved in with one of my own.

  ‘No, that’s why I asked,’ he replied. ‘What is it you want, Lucas?’

  ‘Justice!’ I shouted, confusion spreading.

  ‘Justice?’ Chris asked. ‘Or revenge?’

  I laughed.

  ‘Is there a difference?’ I said.

  Chris took me down and rolled off, getting back to his feet. He glistened with sweat, and his chest rose and fell heavily. Even with my abilities I was out of breath, my skin moist but not gleaming like Chris’s was.

  ‘There’s a big difference!’ Chris shouted. ‘Revenge will get you killed! It’ll get Anna killed, Brian, Paul, me! I won’t watch while we all get killed by some lunatic!’

  ‘So we should run?’ I spat. ‘We should live the rest of our lives in constant fear, when we might be able to end it now?’

  ‘It’s better than nothing,’ Chris panted.

  ‘We can’t!’ I screamed.

  ‘Would you listen!? I only want us to-’ he started.

  ‘Anna’s pregnant,’ I blurted.

  That stopped him in his tracks. His eyes widened and his mouth gaped. I looked at the floor and shook my head.

  ‘We can’t run,’ I whispered. ‘We need to end this. We need a better life for my child.’

  Before he could reply I brushed past him, and left the room.

  *

  I marched past Brian, still typing rapidly on his laptop, and past Anna lounging on a couch. She must have sensed that something was wrong, as she shot up and followed me into our room. I growled, knocked a picture frame off of the nearest table, before throwing myself onto the bed. Anna walked over and sat beside me, wrapped her arm around me and took one of my hands.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

  ‘I told Chris,’ I said. ‘I told Chris you were pregnant.’

  ‘And he didn’t like that?’ Anna prompted.

  I shook my head, ‘No, not that. Anna, he’s different. Before I told him, we were training and, he wants to run. He wants to ditch the hunt for my Dad and just live our lives on the run.’

  ‘I see,’ she replied.

  ‘Really? Because I don’t. I mean, what happened to the tough and unstoppable leader in Greystone?’ I gritted my teeth. ‘What happened to bringing them down? They took his wife’s life! They took our lives.’

  Anna squeezed my hand then tilted my chin towards her.

  ‘I see because I understand,’ she whispered. ‘Lucas, it’s because we’ve lost all these things he wants to run. To try and get as far away from this as possible, he may be strong and intelligent, but he’s human too. Do you want to die?’

  ‘Of course I don’t,’ I muttered.

  ‘Neither does Chris,’ Anna said. ‘I’m with you, 100%. I mean, we have a baby on the way. I won’t bring our child into a life of constant fear. Plus, they have my brother. I will not leave until he is with us, I will be at your side and help you tear them to pieces.’

  I nodded and placed my lips to hers. I knew how lucky I was to have her, a constant pillar of support and strength. It was funny though. The worst experience of our lives had given us the greatest gift, a gift that people spent the majority of their lives searching for, and more often than not, they never found it; a powerful connection that was unbreakable.
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br />   We sat for a few minutes and rested our foreheads against one another’s before standing up. I laced my hand with hers, and we trudged back into the main room. The sun hung higher in the sky, breaking through the dust-smudged windows and lighting the place up. The city below reflected the light, twinkling with a fresher radiance than when it was lit up with electricity.

  Paul had entered the room at one point, and he sat on a single chair near his son. Brian remained glued to the laptop’s screen, his glasses reflecting the confusing array of letters.

  ‘Brian, Paul?’ Anna said, before she called out for Chris.

  He entered the room, avoiding my eyes.

  ‘Lucas and I have something to tell you,’ she raised her voice. ‘I’m pregnant.’

  Brian’s fingers stopped in mid-air, and Paul’s mouth dropped open. Chris, having already known, looked composed. I realised I was more nervous than I’d thought I would be. These guys had more on their plates than most people on the planet, and we were giving them one more thing to add to that. Thankfully, Brian broke into a smile.

  ‘Congratulations,’ he said. He stood up and walked over, placed a hand on Anna’s stomach and gave us both a hug. ‘When, how?’

  Anna laughed, and Brian corrected himself, ‘I know how, sorry. Um, when will the little guy be here? Or girl.’

  ‘Well,’ Anna answered, glancing at me, ‘I think I’m just over a month, and well, my lady time hasn’t come yet so.’

  ‘But you know for sure?’ Chris spoke up.

  ‘I can hear it,’ I answered. ‘I can hear the baby’s heart.’

  Chris nodded and sighed, but he failed to suppress a smile, ‘Congrats.’

  I smiled, and then someone returned to form.

  ‘You’re keeping it?’ Paul muttered. His face was void of any emotion.

  ‘Yes, we are,’ Anna frowned. ‘That isn’t even a question.’

  ‘Why?’ he blurted in response.

  Anna opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off.

  ‘You’d bring a child into this kind of life?’ Paul blustered, standing up while his face turned red. ‘Knowing that around every corner there’s death?’

  ‘It won’t be like that,’ Anna said. ‘We’re going to stop all this.’

  Paul laughed, his face verged on purple. The veins in his neck started to pop, and I flashed back to an image of him in Greystone. The real man had finally come through.

  ‘Both of you would be so selfish!?’ he screamed, advancing on us. I moved myself defensively in front of Anna, the hairs on my body tingled.

  Chris appeared at Paul’s side, something I thought I’d never have to see again. He grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him away. Before we knew it, Chris spoke into his ear, and Paul charged out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  ‘I am so sorry guys,’ Brian whispered as he stared after his father, his forehead wrinkled with concern and confusion.

  We all stood there stunned, watching the door, as if Paul would burst back in. He never though, and Anna walked over to the couch and sat down. Brian returned to his task, and Chris wandered over to stare out the window at the city below. I stood awkwardly, before deciding to shower.

  I informed Anna and headed back into our room. I grabbed clean clothes and opened the bathroom door. As I turned on the shower, and took off my shirt and trousers, I cast my mind back on my whirlwind morning. With a little help from Anna I understood Chris’s change of heart. I couldn’t blame him, but I was surprised at my own reaction, it scared me. Was he right? Was I marching myself and the rest of us toward destruction?

  I closed my eyes and let the water wash away the tension. The government wanted my gifts, they wanted us all dead, and they had even gone so far as to pin the hundreds of deaths in Greystone on us. I had no idea what my Dad was up to, what his plans for us were. We had nowhere to start looking for him, and absolutely no idea on how to deal with any of our problems. But they had to be solved. My father, the government, they all had to pay for what they had done.

  I made another promise to myself. They would all be stopped, and the baby Anna and I would bring into this world would be safe. They had to pay.

  The Information

  I was up early the next day. Chris and I had arranged to set up more training sessions. The sun hung low in the sky, the city’s residents just beginning to wipe the cobwebs from their eyes and start another normal day. I envied them. Snow had started again, light drifts of sparkling white. I stared out the windows that covered the entire wall, in quiet thought over the beauty before me. The hotel as well was growing on me, and I couldn’t help but feel sad the place had been shut down.

  If only I could enjoy this day like the rest of the world.

  I sighed and headed for the door. Anna lay on the bed, snoring lightly, and I did my best to move as slowly and quietly as I could. I couldn’t imagine the stress she was enduring, stress she couldn’t share with any of us. All I knew was that her and my baby’s safety was all that mattered, and to do that, we had to solve every single problem that faced us.

  The main room was empty. Surprisingly, Brian wasn’t at his laptop, but a steaming cup of coffee sat beside it. My body screamed for caffeine, and I wandered over to the kitchen area to the right of Chris’s bedroom door. I grabbed a mug, poured sugar and instant coffee into it, and waited for the kettle to boil. It was then I honed in on the voices.

  They were hushed, and came from the corridor outside the room. I moved silently, carefully placing each foot on the ground and held my breath. I reached the door that led out to the hallway where the elevator was. I was wrong. The voices didn’t originate from the corridor, but the room parallel to ours, Brian and Paul’s room.

  I crept into the hall and listened. I felt guilty about my intrusion, but the panic and desperation in one of the voices had my hair on end.

  ‘I need more,’ Paul whined behind the door.

  Brian sighed and started to pace.

  ‘We talked about this Dad,’ he said. ‘We were pulling you off of it, this has to stop. You know it does.’

  ‘Please, son,’ Paul begged. ‘Please, I can’t do it. I can’t do this without it. Just a little, please? I can’t be my best without it, you saw me yesterday. I don’t want to be like that anymore.’

  ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Brian whispered, resigned. ‘This isn’t good. It’s unnecessary Dad. The people I get this from aren’t the most trustworthy.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ Paul cried. I could hear the sobs that took him over.

  My brow was crunched in confusion when I heard Chris cross the room behind me and venture into the one Anna was soundly asleep in. Brian and Paul had finished their talk and had started to slouch towards the door.

  Crap.

  I panicked. Using my new advanced speed setting, I crossed the hallway and slipped back into the computer bay. Or was it called the War Room? I smiled, and flew across to the kettle that finally popped.

  ‘There you are,’ Chris grunted, exiting my room as quietly as I did. ‘You do understand that when I say six on the dot, I don’t mean quarter past?’

  I nodded innocently as Brian and Paul walked in. Brian looked haunted, his face shadowed and worried. He took up his chair and pulled his laptop to his knees. Paul hovered, his face glistening with sweat as he paced.

  I was staring when Chris grabbed my arm and marched towards the gym area. I groaned.

  I still hadn’t gotten my coffee.

  *

  It was fair to say I wasn’t in the best of moods as Chris jabbed and blocked and kicked at me. It was made worse by the fact he was a much better fighter than I was. I might have been quicker, but Chris was a master at anticipating my next blow, effectively blocking and moving away from my attacks. He was running rings around me.

  We danced that dance for over two hours, with mini breaks thrown in. I’d just been thrown to the floor when someone broke into song in the main room.

  ‘Yes!!’ we heard Brian scream.r />
  A few seconds later Anna came barging into the room. Her face was alight with joy, and she took one look at us and shook her head.

  ‘Is all this really necessary?’ she asked.

  ‘The boy needs to learn,’ Chris replied.

  Anna sighed and then broke into that wonderful smile again.

  ‘Are you gonna tell us, or should we guess?’ I said.

  ‘He got in,’ Anna said in a rush. ‘Brian cracked the USB drive, and you are not going to believe what’s on it.’

  I took one look at Chris then we both lurched forward, rushing into the War Room. Brian’s eyes were bright, and his smile almost travelled the full length of his head.

  ‘What have you got?’ I said.

  Paul opened the door to the hallway, and stepped inside with an apologetic smile. His cheeks were red, and he tore off his jacket and made his way over.

  ‘Where did you get off to?’ Chris inquired casually.

  I never saw whether Anna and Chris saw it, but I did. Brian’s smile faltered slightly, barely noticeable, and I could tell both his and Paul’s hearts picked up into a gallop.

  ‘Just nipped out for a smoke,’ Paul replied. ‘Sorry, Lucas, you too, Anna, I’ve been running low, that’s why I’ve been an arsehole lately, I really am sorry.’

  He was lying, Brian’s sharp intake of breath confirmed so.

  ‘It’s alright,’ Anna shrugged and smiled, ‘no harm, no foul, right Lucas?’

  I nodded, trying to shield my emotions behind a smile.

  ‘So,’ Paul continued, rubbing his hands for warmth, ‘what’d I miss?’

  Brian filled him in, and Paul instantly perked up.

  ‘Notes, you guys,’ Brian said. ‘The USB was filled with your father’s notes, Lucas.’

  I did a double take.

  ‘What?’ I blurted. ‘That can’t be right.’

  ‘Lends weight to Chris’s theory that your Dad sent that man,’ Anna said.

  I shook my head.

  ‘Then why did all those survivors die with Brian and Paul?’ I asked. ‘My father doesn’t have that level of control. It’s not him framing us for the murder either. It can’t be.’