by Nathan Roten
“Stay away from them you freak!” Damien tried to use his chains as a weapon. He laced his fingers together and used them as one big fist to hit Silas, but one of the others fired a blast, sending Damien flying through the air and onto the edge of the pool.
Graham’s bands began to glow, and he fired at the man who hit Damien, but the man deflected his shot, sending it into the rock wall. As the blast hit, it made a small explosion creating a hole in the cavern wall. Small chunks of rock hurled through the air and fell into the pool.
Graham sprinted towards Silas, throwing his arm forward, sending a large wave of energy towards him. The blast hit him in the leg, causing him to fall forward onto his face. Graham sent blast after blast at Silas, not stopping until he could not longer see through the cloud of dust and rock. At least twenty shots must have been fired at Silas as Graham yelled in anger. He stood there with one hand still extended, panting for air. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he waited for the dust to settle, revealing the outcome of his attack.
Fifteen or twenty seconds went by. Graham expected to see Silas’s body laying on the ground, but instead he saw a shadowy figure dart from the rubble and fire a purple blast into his chest. Graham fell backwards, but let the momentum carry him over his head into a backwards roll, then scooting back on his feet. Graham braced himself for an attack from Silas, but nothing came.
Silas stopped his attack as he swept the dust from his black shirt. “You are strong. I will give you that. You have just begun, and you are already advanced beyond an average novice, but you are going to have to do better than that if you want to save your friends. You think that I will stop at a couple of hits?”
Silas’s voice grew deeper. His eyes seemed to have a flicker of madness in them. “I will do whatever it takes to draw it out, Graham. Whatever it takes.” Another purple wave sprung from Silas’s hands at Graham. Graham shifted his weight and ducked his head as the purple wave of light darted over his shoulder. He stood up straight again and looked Silas right in the eye.
“This will not work! I told you. Take me and leave them. As long as they are in danger, I cannot concentrate. I know that about myself. This isn’t the way.” Graham had a pleading tone to his voice, but what he was saying was true. He had to keep the others safe at all costs, even if it meant his own life.
Silas slowly walked over to Graham, lost in thought. He reached down to retrieve his cane as he weighed Graham’s words. He continued walking until his face was inches away from Graham’s. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we do this…”
Silas swiftly extended his cane and fired a purple ball from it’s tip into Graham’s chest. His teeth were bared and his eyes were lit up in a consuming rage. It was evident he was already tired of playing games.
Graham slammed into the stone floor. He held his chest with both hands. The pain was so intense from being hit point-blank that he could hardly move. He felt like he had just been hit by a train. He wanted to cry out, but the breath was knocked out of him. All he could do was gasp for breath as Silas walked away from him towards the others.
The other men in black anticipated what was going to happen next, because they all moved together behind Kel, Ailey and Damien. The men behind Kel and Ailey both grabbed a handful of hair and pulled their heads backwards so hard, that it made them fall to their knees. One of the others walked over to Graham. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up to his feet. Graham’s knees were weak. He did not know if he could stay standing, but somehow when the man let go, he stayed upright.
Silas grabbed Damien by the hood of his shirt, pulling him to his feet. He dragged him sideways over to the edge of the pool. Letting go of the hood, he then took a firm grip around Damien’s throat. Damien’s eyes widened in the shock of it, his heart beating faster as his air supply was being cut off.
“Enough of the games Mr. Dawson. It is time for your emancipation. Does your best friend need to perish, or will you break free?” Silas’ grip tightened even more. Damien’s mouth widened and the veins bulged from his neck as he struggled for each breath.
“STOP THIS! I will do whatever you want, just stop!” Graham barley managed to get the words out through the lingering pain in his chest. A tear fell down his cheek as he pleaded for his friend’s life.
“Just get out of here Graham! Save yourself! Owwww!” The echoes of Kel’s whimper hovered in the air as her hair was violently pulled back again.
Silas turned his attention back to Damien. He loosened his grip, allowing Damien to take a few deep breaths before constricting his grip again. With teeth still bared and eyes wild with anger, Silas said, “I hear you’re an Aquatic. It is a pity your salvation lies in wait at your feet, waiting to be commanded.” The water still had ripples lapping at Damien’s foot, caused by the fallen rocks. “These chains are a bit of a block to your power, I’m afraid.”
Damien’s eyes locked on Silas, trying to decide whether he was more afraid of the threat of imminent death, or of the calm and collected voice that traveled through a face engulfed in such anger and evil. Silas continued.
“You like the water, don’t you. You are like a fish, drawn to it’s natural habitat.” While he was speaking, Silas took his free hand and cupped it over Damien’s mouth. Purplish-black steam rose from his hand, and when he removed it, a large black seal was covering Damien’s lips. Damien yelled and murmured, but could not get this thing off his face. Damien grabbed Silas’ arm as he was being lifted off his feet. Silas held Damien up in the air by the throat.
In a dark and sinister voice he said, “Swim…..little fishy.”
At that, he threw Damien into the water and watched as his writhing form sank towards the bottom.
“NO!” Graham yelled. He struggled with all his strength against his captor, but his grip was too strong. Graham felt a boot slam into the back of his knees making him fall to his knees, just like Kel and Ailey.
Graham was screaming at the top of his lungs. “Let go of me! Damien! Come on, swim!”
Kel and Ailey also struggled to get free, but a blast hit them both in the small of the back, making them crumple to the ground.
“Time is ticking Mr. Dawson. How long do you think poor Damien can hold his breath?”
Graham was wild eyed. His entire body went numb. Panic flowed through his veins. He continued to struggle against the man behind him, wishing his bands would illuminate, but nothing was happening. His friend was going to die, and he could not save him. He held his breath and strained so hard that the veins in his head began to protrude. He wanted so badly for the power to surface, but it was no use. Graham looked over to Kel and Ailey with a look of sorrow and defeat on his face. They looked back at him with tears in their eyes. It was hopeless. They knew that they were next, and there was nothing to be done about it. This was the end.
“Tick-tock….Tick-tock. One minute has passed by. I think poor Damien’s fate may be sealed,” mocked Silas.
Graham’s eyebrows arched in sorrow. His breath was rapid and shallow. He looked over to the water where he saw a cluster of bubbles break the surface of the water. Damien was drowning. For all he knew, that was Damien’s final breath escaping his body. Graham held his breath again for one final attempt to strain, when all of a sudden the numbness melted away. The storm of panic inside subsided, being replaced with an eerie calmness. His breathing slowed down and deepened. A spring began to well up inside. It felt as if liquid energy rushed throughout his entire body.
“Let go of me,” said Graham in a slow and calm tone.
“Let go…or what exactly?” questioned the man behind him. In irritation, the man fired a blast into Graham’s back, knocking him onto his hands. Graham grunted, but did not retaliate. Now on all fours, he calmly repeated his request.
“Let go.”
Electric sparks began to fire all around him. Gusts of wind emanating from within, stirring the dust around him. His fingernails dug into the stone surface beneath him turning his knuckles white.
The force around him was so intense, that the man behind Graham started to get nervous. The small pebbles and debris around Graham began to hover all around him like the dust ring of Saturn. A perfect collision of righteous anger and love for his new family collided within him creating a perfect storm that shattered the wall of self doubt and restraint. In a flash, a blinding yellow light shown all around him as he screamed,
“LET GOOOOOO!”
The light around him exploded in an inferno of energy, hurling his captor into the cavern wall. Kel and Ailey ducked their heads, trying to shield themselves from the intensity of the explosion, but it was too much. Both of them, along with the men behind them, were also sent crashing to the wall behind them, knocking them all unconscious.
The entire cave shook and the walls started to crumble and crack. Graham never shifted his gaze from the floor in front of him. All he could do was scream and allow the power to flow. As Graham continued yelling, the energy around him shot straight up blowing the ceiling to small pieces, as if mounds of dynamite had just exploded. The ground above erupted in light, sending dirt and rock mushrooming into the night sky. The cavern, though now open to the ground above, began to shake violently under the surge of power. The cracks in the walls grew larger as chunks of rock began to fall.
As Graham stopped yelling, his eyes began to cross. His body trembled as the dizziness made everything around him spin. He had nothing left. All of his energy was spent. The wall inside him had finally crumbled, but the outcome would be the death of them all. His arms felt like thin rubber. He tried to focus his eyes and find his friends. He could make out Kel and Ailey lying on the ground. They were still not moving, but their chains were gone, because he could see their arms sprawled out to the sides. Darkness faded in and out as Graham could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness. The sound of his blasts had made his hearing muffled, like a grenade had just gone off beside him. He fell to his side, completely exhausted.
“What have I done,” he whispered, as his eyes began to close.
Before Graham gave in to fatigue, the surprise of an object darting from out of the surface of the pool make him come back to life.
“D…Da..Damien?”
Graham’s eyes began to cross again. Dirt and rubble fell on his face. The muffled sounds of someone talking beside him made him open is eyes again. He could not make out the words, only bits and pieces.
“Am..go. Et up. It is…ime to go.”
Damien tried to pull Graham to his feet, but he was too heavy.
“ELP! Chase…..here!” yelled Damien.
Graham turned his head to see Chase run towards him. Chase was talking, but Graham’s ears were still throbbing. All he could hear was murmurs. Chase bent down and grabbed Graham under his arms and legs. He picked him up and ran away from the edge of the pool.
“Ch..Chase? What is happening? How are you here? I’m sorry, I-” Before Graham’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, he saw Cavaness running towards him with Kel and Ailey over each shoulder. The scene faded to black for a few seconds, then Graham returned to consciousness, looking up at the stars through the hole he created in the top of the cave. The scene went blurry again and the black velvet sky gave way to a haze of grey as Graham felt his body go limp.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Falcon HQ
Graham’s eyes slowly opened, blinking as the ceiling fan above his bed pushed dry air down onto his face. For the first time in years, he had slept an entire night without a single dream. He shifted his weight, rolling over on his side to see Damien asleep in the armchair next to his bed. He looked terribly uncomfortable all curled up in a ball, with one foot continuing to slip off the edge of the cushion. He had a small blanket that was hanging over him more like a cape than anything else. It was not even long enough to cover his feet.
“Damien!” said Graham, quickly sitting up. It was then he remembered what happened, because pain wracked his body, sending him back down into his pillow.
“There you are amigo! You had us scared there for a while. What on earth happened to you?” asked Damien.
“I thought you were dead! I thought I’d never see you again. How did you escape the chains?”
Damien thought for a moment. “I don’t know what happened. All I could see from the surface of the water was a bright burst of light. That light penetrated and lit up the entire pool. I watched the chains dissolve and my bands reappear. I tried to kick and swim to the surface, but I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. I inhaled a large gulp of water, gaging and freaking out, because I knew that was it….but it wasn’t it. I was floating there in the middle of the pool breathing water! I can breathe under water, Graham!”
Graham was still clutching his side. The pain was still pretty bad. “You’ve lost it. Are you sure it wasn’t a dream or something? You couldn’t use your powers, remember?”
“No, I completely forgot about being kidnapped, chained up and almost killed,” said Damien rather sarcastically. “Of course I remember. Weren’t you listening? The chains faded away and I was able to use my powers again. The light made the chains dissolve. What was that light?”
Graham’s head was still a little fuzzy. Bits of memory flashed through his head as he tried to remember what happened. “Um….I think it was me. I remember freaking a little when you were tossed into the water, and then freaking out more when Kel got hurt. I tried to use my power, but I couldn’t, not until I saw the bubbles come to the surface of the water. I thought I had just seen your last breath come to the surface.” Graham grabbed his throbbing head. “I just remember a very calming feeling, followed by an explosion and a lot of yelling. The last thought I remember having was that I finally broke free, and that I had just killed everyone in the process.”
Damien stared at the bed, processing the story. “Well…you didn’t kill us. You saved us. You saved me. If that light came from you, then you were the one who made the chains disappear.”
“What about Kel and Ailey? I saw Cavaness pick them up. They looked like they were in pretty bad shape.” Graham looked up at Damien, wearing a very curious expression. “Wait. What was Cavaness doing there, and Chase for that matter? Did I dream that up?”
“No, that was not a dream, Mr. Dawson,” said a gravely voice. Cavaness continued walking through the door and into the bedroom.
“Looks like you finally came through. That was quite the display of power you gave back there.”
“How did you find us? I thought you had all been crushed,” said Graham.
“We will get to that. First, let’s try to alleviate some pain.” Cavaness took hold of Graham’s wrists with his calloused hands. Cavaness closed his eyes in deep concentration, as if he were peering into a different dimension behind his eyelids. His wrists began to glow followed by his hands. Graham began to feel a wave of heat flow through his body. He took a deep breath in anticipation, flinching with pain. He slowly let out his breath and cautiously took another breath, this time, with a little less pain. A few minutes ticked by as Cavaness infused Graham with his energy. The light slowly faded. Cavaness opened his eyes and took a deep breath with Graham.
“It will take a few more sessions to get you back to normal, but your pain levels should decrease with each one. No-one should be able to sustain that much energy flowing through them. You are lucky to be alive.” Cavaness leaned in closer so only Graham could hear him. “You should not have any further reason to doubt yourself. You did it. You broke free. Well done.” Cavaness gave Graham’s shoulder a squeeze of approval and stood to his feet. “Now, let’s get you downstairs. Everyone is eager to know how you are doing.”
At that, Cavaness walked out the room.
“Not much of a talker, is he,” said Damien.
“No. No he isn’t,” replied Graham. “But I kind of like that about him.”
This was the third time Graham had seen a more caring side to Cavaness, even though one of those times happened to be just after Cavaness had almost bea
ten him to death.
Graham twisted his torso around, then tilted his head side to side. He felt like a new person. He still hurt, but not nearly as bad as he did when he woke up. He sprang from the bed and ran through the bedroom door.
“Hey! Wait for me, would ya,” said Damien, chasing after him.
Graham felt the smoothness of the wooden handrail slide beneath his hand as he made his way down the staircase, jumping from the stairs down to the landing at the bottom of the living room. Graham looked around at the strange new place. It looked like a mountain lodge because of the large wooden beams lining the ceiling. The posts that held the floor system in place looked like huge tree trunks.
“Whoa, what is this place?” Graham asked.
“Welcome to Falcon. It is our Regional Aegis Headquarters,” replied Alex, who was walking in from the other room.
“Alex! You are back!”
Graham never was a very outwardly affectionate person, but he found himself running to Alex without hesitation. Alex bent down and gave Graham a big squeeze.
“Yes, I am here. I am only sorry that I was not with you earlier,” he said in a tender voice.
The world of emotions were new to Graham. He had been so used to keeping others at a distance that he had a hard time controlling the new things he was beginning to feel. Focusing on these new emotions went against his natural instinct, but he was learning to embrace them. He didn’t know why he felt so safe around Alex. Logic would have told him to keep Alex at a safe distance until he could figure it out. Now, he was able to accept the fact that things don’t make sense sometimes, and he would enjoy the comfort until it did.
Graham pulled away enough to look at Alex. “Did everyone make it out of the Manor alive?”
Alex smiled, though it was not entirely filled with joy like it usually was. Graham could detect a mixture of concern. “Yes, they all made it out alive. Once I felt the quaking and heard the rumbling, I returned in time to help.”