by Nye, Laine
Adele continued to struggle to change his precarious position even as the others were shrieking in terror after two of their group had fallen into the hole. Adele grabbed for Frank who easily pushed Adele’s hands away from his person. That struggle caused Adele to drop his remote control, it was tumbling toward the hole as well. He was already partially out of the gravity field and in his panic, had not detected how much more severe his position was. The drone was his prized possession. Even in the-midst of his blind panic he did not want to lose the remote control and made a small reactive lunge for it. That motion tipped him out of the gravity field just far enough that he lost his balance, so to say. He fell in to the hole face first. His scream lasted until it could not be hear above the noise of the water. The drone just kept hovering and videoing.
It had not been Steve’s intention that anyone fall into the hole. Even though they had done it to themselves, he still felt terrible that three of them had already tumbled in. He didn’t want to kill.
Then Josh came around from the other side of the van and saw Steve standing there still tied up. He saw the group of guys including his brother Frank hovering over the glory hole. He saw the water from the hole no longer going into the funnel but instead actually rising gracefully into the into the air in a circular pattern that was a mirror image of it going over the spillway. The water was licking at their feet, their legs and then their bodies. The anti-gravity that held them in the air was lifting the circle of water that was supposed to flow down into the hole.
“Let them go.” Josh demanded.
“No.” Was the angry retort.
“My brother is out there. Bring them back to the shore.”
“Ask them how they like being that close to the hole. Ask them how they would like it if they fell in.”
Frank had the presence of mind to reach into his waistband and grabbed his .45. He aimed it toward Steve and began pulling the trigger not having the presence of mind to realize how dumb the idea was, making the same mistake that the cop had done with Brad in Fairfield. Bullets plinked off the rock and dirt of the hillside that was on the other side of the road behind Steve. Killing Steve would not improve his odds of escaping but would only lead to his death.
The others who still hovered there helplessly yelled at Frank, “Stop shooting at him you idiot.” It was too late.
Steve ducked as much as he could while tied up. Then, in self-defense, before he had even thought about it, perhaps with a developing instinct much like his father had, the anti-gravity underneath Frank failed. Frank fell onto the rim landing hard. He had one arm and leg inside the hole. The other arm and leg were holding onto the wet slick surface of the cement. His gun fell in the lake. The water was all around him. In his area, the water was no longer going up but had returned to its normal trajectory.
The water flowed over the top of him pushing him toward the hole. He couldn’t get any air. He was quickly weakening. He tried to roll himself up and off the rim to fall into the lake. Could have done so if not for the lack of oxygen that was weakening him. Finally, he could hold on no longer. With his last bit of air left in his lungs, he slipped into the hole cursing savagely; His last earthly words spoken harshly before death would claim him at the bottom of the void.
“That was my brother.” Josh screamed loudly and then he charged Steve and hit him in the mouth.
Steve went down hard. He hit his head on the ground. He was dazed. He lost concentration. With the sedatives still trying to put him to sleep, and unlike the time in his living room when these goons attacked him, he could not hold the gravity force in place. In his weakened lethargic condition, and with the double blow to his head from fist and ground, unintentionally, he let go.
The remaining men fell. The last three men slammed down roughly on the rounded top of the funnel. One of them immediately tipped over the edge head first, screaming as he went. Others began to slowly lose their grip and fall over the edge until there were none left.
Josh stood there stunned. Everyone was gone but he and Jeff. This kid had killed them all. Even Josh’s own brother.
“I’m going to kill you kid.” He said through gritted teeth, as he made his way toward the van to grab a gun. “I’m going to shoot you to pieces.”
But Steve had recovered from being knocked down.
“You made me kill those guys.” Steve yelled with tears in his eyes. “I wasn’t going to kill them. I just wanted them to know what it felt like.”
Suddenly the van shot into the air before Josh could reach the door. It held there in the air like it had done once before but staying upright, not tipped onto his front end. Then Steve dropped it. It bounced hard on its wheels, and then he rolled it onto its side; Onto Josh who was pinned underneath. Josh groaned in agony.
“It’s your fault they are dead.” Steve said quietly with tears streaming down his cheeks.
∆∆∆
Brad’s father Steve had easily snuck up to the guy who had been hidden on the same side of the parking lot as him. He had watched the guy when he and his partner on the other side of the lot had first showed up. Using the stealth training and experience from his DIA years, he had no trouble sneaking up on the guy. He hit him hard in the kidney which caused the man to grunt loudly, then the pain set in and he yelped as he turned to face this unexpected enemy only to catch a blow to the head hard enough to knock him down. His gun fell loose. Then Steve’s gun was pointing at his face. He was made to roll onto his stomach where he was quickly hogtied with cord that Steve had in his pocket.
“Make a sound to warn Jeff and I will shoot you dead. Comprende?”
The guy nodded. Steve disappeared from him and made his way around to the other side of the parking lot. He spotted the second guy just standing there near the street all full of confidence and swagger as he stood with his gun at his side watching Jeff and Brad. Steve snuck up on him and put him in a headlock; A sleeper hold. Then he squeezed. This guy was strong however, Very strong. He grabbed Steve’s arms and locked them against his own neck then threw Steve over his head to slam him onto his back.
Steve made sure that it would be his feet that hit the ground first to break the hard impact. He bent his legs so that his feet hit the pavement with his powerful leg muscles flexed. He could not let his back or rear land first as the impact could be damaging. His legs took the shock. He couldn’t afford to be hurt. He wasn’t done with this guy yet. He hung on to the guys neck for as long as possible. There was a gun still in play. By hanging on until Steve hit the ground, it had the guy tipped forward so far that he couldn’t keep his balance. He stumbled forward before getting his balance and standing up straight. That would be when the guy would shoot his gun. Steve also knew that if this guy was trained in this kind of combat he would not wait until he stood back up before he started pulling the trigger. This guy wasn’t trained though. Just a tough guy. If the situation were reversed Steve would start shooting at the guy while he was still off balance.
All these thoughts went through his mind at lightning speed as he landed and started his counter attack. The fall had still stunned him. That’s okay. He had been stunned before. Despite his age and being body slammed, he sat up partially, spun around on his rear while the guy was stumbling to catch his balance as Steve knew would happen. Now he was facing his enemy and kicked the guy in the ankles with both feet.
There was a loud grunt of pain as the enemy’s feet were swept out from under him, then the brute fell on his stomach. He would have landed on Steve’s legs if not for Steve drawing them up close and then he unleashed his powerful legs again. The kick caught the guy on both of his shoulders. One of them made a cracking sound. Steve perceived it had come from the left side, so he double kicked that side again as the guy let out a sound of dreadful pain. There was a panicked look on his face as he tried to draw in air that had been knocked out of him when he hit the ground then kicked in the shoulder with such force that left his diaphragm spasming, not able to recover any lost oxygen yet.
He rolled away from Steve trying to get his gun up, but Steve was up too quick. He grabbed the guy’s gun hand and twisted with all his might. There was another cracking sound as the gun fell from his limp grip. He yelled in pain now that his diaphragm had recovered.
“There goes your other back up.” Brad said to Jeff when he heard the yells coming from the street side of the bushes. “You should have thought about my father being here tonight. You think I’m stupid?”
Jeff stood there watching his carefully laid plans fall apart before his eyes. All these years looking for Brad and planning for this day of retribution brought to a close because Brad’s father was here and because Brad’s son could do the same things his father did. Brad’s son was supposed to be drugged so that he could not use his ability. What had gone wrong?
Jeff looked up from the phone to Brad. Brad stepped up close to him after witnessing his son turn the tables on the bad guys so effectively. Jeff looked back down and saw the men, including his brother disappear down the spillway one at a time. It only took about twenty-five seconds for all of them to be lost.
Brad let Sherry fall for the third time in her life. She screamed all the way down. Then, just before she would have hit the ground, he stopped her fall. She was only three feet above the ground. Brad allowed her to touch down gently.
His purpose in doing this was so that while she fell screaming, Jeff would be distracted looking up and watching her. Brad had already seen the gun that Jeff was carrying, and Brad was certain that the gun would be used on him now that Jeff’s revenge had been spoiled.
While he was distracted, Brad stepped forward and slugged Jeff in the mouth hard. Jeff was a few inches bigger than Brad. He staggered back but quickly recovered. He grabbed for his gun. He did not know about Brad’s lightning reflexes. As the gun cleared his belt, Brad tore the gun out of his hand with a sideways twist and hit him again. This time he jabbed him in the throat with his knuckles. Jeff’s trachea was bruised and began to swell shut. Brad struck him again with considerable force, knocking him down.
Jeff laid there on his back, struggling to get air through a closing windpipe. He looked up at Brad with true fear in his eyes. Brad did not know if that fear was directed toward himself or the fact that his breathing was restricted. He kept sucking in air with a wheezing sound.
Brad stood there looking at his old friend.
“If you come near my family again, I will kill you. You have done enough harm. Stay away from my family Jeff. Don’t ever let me see you again.” Then Brad picked up the large cell phone and threw it down hard on the ground. The phone shattered into three pieces.
Brad turned and walked away not looking back at Sherry who was laying on the ground whimpering. He did not look back at Jeff. He called his wife on the cell phone while he approached his dad. Charlene came roaring up the hill until she was next to the church parking lot. Father and son got in. They drove away quickly.
Steve was still tied up. Josh was still groaning in pain. Asked Steve to take the van off him. Steve ignored him.
“Lucky I don’t send you over that spillway with your buds.” Steve told him.
A car was coming down the road. Steve lifted himself off the ground with his gravity control and planted himself on his feet right in the lane the car was coming down. If they did not see him or did not stop in time, he would just lift himself in the air above the car and let it go by.
The driver of the car saw the van on its side and Steve standing there looking like he was trussed up. The car stopped.
“Help you?” the driver asked.
“Please.” Steve said. “Some guys kidnapped me and tied me up.”
The guy got out of his car warily, looking around in all direction but especially at the van. He wondered if someone could be hiding behind it. He was about fifty years old and quite overweight. He had reached inside his glove box before getting out and now approached Steve with a knife.
“Small, but very sharp. You’re not going to do anything if I cut you loose are you?” He asked Steve.
Steve shook his head. “No. I promise. I’m the victim here. One of the bad guys is still over there under the van.”
Then he cut the cords that bound Steve.
The man could hear Josh groaning. He looked over that way but couldn’t see anyone.
“Somebody hurt over there?” He asked.
“Yeah. He’s hurt. Like I said, he’s under the van. Can you call the police? They can send paramedics to get him out just before he’s arrested.
The man looked at Steve and said, “Sure son.”
Steve was trying not to cry. Several men had just died due to his gravity control-or lack of it at the critical moment. This was nothing like the bomber in the library when he was fifteen. Everyone had lived then except for the bomber. A few had been seriously hurt, but not killed. Steve stood there with tears in his eyes while the guy who stopped to help was looking at Josh, he was beginning to understand a little of what his father had been through. Steve did not know that he had killed Timothy Mann. He had been unconscious from the ketamine when Tim had died.
∆∆∆
“We have to find a place called lake Berryessa. That is where they have Steve.” Brad told his wife and father.
“I was there a long time ago, but I don’t know the way. How are we ever going to find him in the dark?” Charlene asked. “And are you sure he’s safe now?”
“Well, he got the upper hand on the bad guys with his gravity control. I’m sure no one will get close enough to him to drug him again.” Brad’s father was silent for a time. Listening. Agreeing with his son by nodding his head. Then he spoke. Brad had already told his dad briefly what happened before Charlene arrived back at the church.
Then Brad’s cell rang. He didn’t recognize the number. He tentatively answered.
“Hello?”
“Dad. It’s me. I got away from those guys. Can you come and pick me up?”
“Yes. We are on our way right now. And son, I saw you get away from the kidnappers. Good-job.”
“Thanks. But Dad It was terrible. “All those guys are dead. All but one. They fell into that hole in the water. I put them over the funnel and they fell in.”
There was silence on the phone. Then Brad quickly recovered, knowing that he could not afford to have his son bear the weight of the deaths of others in trying to defend himself much like Brad had been through. It had been hard enough when Steve had interfered with the bomber. Brad could hear his son’s voice choking, holding back his emotions.
“It’s okay son. Not your fault. Put it to the back of your mind until we can talk. Focus on getting out of there. We will talk when we are together again. Stay put. We’re coming. Your grandfather is here too.”
“Okay. I will stay right here. The police are coming to arrest this one guy. I accidentally killed the rest of them. I didn’t mean to.” Then he sobbed.
“I know you didn’t mean to son. I saw what happened. We’ll talk about it later. Steve, you can’t stay there if the police are coming. They’ll find out who you are, and they will detain you for questioning so that they can find me. They want to arrest me.”
“The police want you?”
“Yes. We will talk about that later also.”
“What should I do? This guy stopped to help me, and he called the police. I’m using his cell phone right now.”
“Is his car still running?”
“Yes.”
“Take it Steve. Just get in and drive away. Go down the road about a mile and dump the car. Run into the hills and stay away from the road. Keep his cell phone too, so we can call you when we get close.”
“Dad, this doesn’t sound like you. I’m taking his car?”
“I know. But it is necessary if we are going to prevent ourselves being captured. Go now Steve, before things change and you can’t do it.”
“I don’t know which way to go. Should I head down past the dam, down the hill?”
“
Give us a moment to figure it out.”
There was a minute of silence. Steve glanced at the guy whose phone he was using and whose car he was about to steal. He was talking to Josh trying to comfort him. Steve couldn’t see Josh from the roadway, but he could see the guy who stopped to help.
“Okay son. We got it. You need to go the opposite way from the dam. That will put you on the same road we will be on.”
“Okay. I’ll go.”
“If you run into any trouble, call to let us know.”
“Bye Dad.”
Then he was off the phone, in the guy’s car and driving away in a hurry. Of-course the man was yelling and protesting which made Steve feel guilty. But not nearly as guilty as the lives that were lost.
Charlene pulled the car off the road so that Brad could take the wheel. They hurried on to the road that would take them to Lake Berryessa using the phone GPS to navigate.
When the navigation said that they were two miles from Lake Berryessa, they knew they were nearing the area where their son would be. Steve had been smart enough to move a good distance from the car he left abandoned. He had seen the police cars going by with their flashing lights. He saw Paramedics and an ambulance. He stayed in the woods up on a hillside awaiting his Dad’s call. The phone he had taken rang. He looked at the caller number. It was his dad.
“Where are you son?”
“I walked about three quarters of a mile from the car further from the lake.”