“Who?”
“No time. Let’s go.” He placed his hand behind her back to nudge her toward the hallway. “Go grab our emergency bag.”
“No. I—”
“Yes! We’re leaving now, no questions asked!”
“Wait!” Angela pushed away from him, picked up my blue stone off the table, and raised it up to her father’s face. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you know about this stone!”
He looked at the stone. And then at me. He shook his head, grabbed Angela by the wrist, and pulled her toward the door. “WE HAVE TO LEAVE RIGHT—” he was cut off by a burst of wind.
Angela had ignited her powers, sped in front of Mr. Johnson, and now stood in front of the door, her arms spread out. Her eyes glowed for only a second longer, and then faded to brown. She didn’t pass out, but looked winded. He seemed to get the message. He would have to force her out. And that wouldn’t be easy; she was no ordinary teenage girl.
He looked at her for a moment. And then turned back at me. I still stood in the kitchen, my eyes still glowing, not because I thought he was a threat, but because my ribs were still killing me. He turned back at Angela, and they glared at each other for a while.
“You know…” Angela said accusingly between labored breaths, sweat beading down her forehead. “You know where my stone is, don’t you?”
Mr. Johnson’s mouth gaped open. The thought hadn’t occurred to me until now. Why had he overacted when he saw my stone the first time? He knew exactly what it was. He knew what it would do to me. He must’ve seen a stone just like it before.
After a tense moment, he huffed, placed his briefcase on a small desk in the hallway, and unlatched it open. Inside was something like a jewelry box, except it was larger and made out of a more lustrous metal than any jewelry box I’d ever seen. “It’s made out of lead,” her father said. “Its density is the only thing strong enough to block the energy transfer.”
He somberly handed it to Angela. She held the box in her hands for a moment, looking excited and scared at the same time. She opened it and gasped. With wide eyes, she pulled out a white, opaque stone. It was rectangular in shape, though its angles were slightly flawed. Mine had more of an oval shape, a perfect skipping rock.
With the meteorite in her hand, Angela’s eyes began to glow. There was a tangible energy that coursed through the room. Her breathing calmed, and she stopped sweating. She laughed to herself as a tear seeped out of one eye.
I couldn’t help but smile for her. She had been living with very limited powers her whole life. It had to feel so good for her to embrace her powers without the fear of excruciating pain or unconsciousness. I understood the invincible, infinite power she was feeling at this moment. It was like nothing else in the world.
The moment was short lived, however, as she returned her attention to her father. He’d been undaunted by my glowing eyes, but when she looked at him with her piercing expression and simmering eyes, he wilted before her. “You told me I was born with my powers!”
He lowered his head. “It was to protect you,” he said. “Though, now, with everything that’s going on, I thought it would be a fitting time to finally return it to you. That’s why I went back to New York; to get your stone.”
“You left it at our old house?” Angela said.
“No. No—it was where it’s been for the past decade.”
“Where?” she said. “Why? Who are you trying to protect me from?”
Mr. Johnson looked like he was in too much of a rush to answer all her questions. He finally sighed and sat down on the bottom steps of the staircase. I hobbled into the hallway to get a better view, holding an arm around my ribs.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s start from the beginning. But, this’ll be the condensed version. It was when you were a toddler, Angela; just under two years old, too young to remember. Your mom and I took a family trip to Italy. We were at one of the campgrounds near Mount Etna, and we were being a little careless and let you wander around one of the picnic areas. You came across an over-crusted lava formation that had long since cooled over. You played around with it, and found a glowing meteorite inside. The one you now hold in your hands.”
Angela glanced at her white stone, and then back at her dad, listening intently, her expression emotionless.
“By the time we’d noticed it, you’d already touched it. You suddenly fell unconscious, which completely freaked us out—you being so young and all. And then you woke up, just fine. We thought it strange, but we were completely floored when we saw your eyes glowing later that day. And next thing we knew, you were running faster than cars and lifting objects ten times your size. As a toddler!
“We didn’t know what to do. We hid the stone from you for years, but you could still use its powers as long as you were within range. We tried our very best to keep your powers a secret from the world, but it was very difficult when you were so young. Finally, when you were about five, we came in contact with the Meteoric Anomaly Research Society, or MARS. Well, they actually found us. They’re a secret society who know about the stone and the powers it could give you.”
“How could they know that?” I said. “It’s not like there have been other super humans with glowing meteorites like us before.”
“Actually there have.” He paused for a moment, readjusting his glasses. “Sampson. Hercules. Achilles. Beowulf. Athena. Cygnus. Characters of fiction?” He let that hang in the air for a moment. “MARS has been around for ages, founded by Ptolemy himself, and they’ve kept hidden historical evidence that some of these heroes of legend had within their possession a peculiar stone said to have dropped from the heavens. The bible even talks about magical stones in the Book of Revelation.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “But, how could they have stones too? That was thousands of years ago.”
“Newell’s Comet orbits the sun every 2000 years. And, according to MARS’ theory, every time it passes by the earth, it drops dozens of glowing meteorites that contain the powers of the gods—or God himself, we’re not sure. Are you familiar with any extraordinary celestial events that were said to have happened around, oh I don’t know, 0 BC? Nearly 2000 years ago?”
I gasped, glancing at my blue stone on the desk next to Mr. Johnson’s briefcase. Powers of God? I shook my head. That was ridiculous. “So, if there were dozens of stones back then,” I said, “then where did they go?”
“Heard of the Dark Ages?” Mr. Johnson looked at me from behind his glasses. “The stones were either lost or destroyed somehow, we don’t know why or when. MARS scholars believe Angela’s stone is one of those lost meteorites. Used to belong to the real Cygnus.”
He looked up at his daughter, wearing a proud look. But he frowned as soon as he saw her face. “Why have you never told me this?” she said through gritted teeth.
“Believe me,” he said solemnly, “I’ve wanted to.”
Angela sniffled, tears coming to her eyes.
“MARS is... powerful, international, and funded by some very rich people,” he explained. “And they’re very protective of their secrets. They took your stone and kept it in that lead box in their headquarters in New York City. They examined you as a child, but tried to make it look like a routine doctor’s checkup. They told me to never tell you about them, and to keep your powers a secret from the world. If they ever heard about you using your powers in the news, they threatened to put me in prison and keep you at their headquarters.
“Your mother and I regretted ever working with MARS. We hated all the secrets and threats. She wanted to return your Star Stone to you, but I was determined to continue following their rules. I couldn’t risk them taking you away from us. MARS is part of the reason your mother and I got a divorce, Angela. It was really hard on our marriage.”
Angela wiped a tear from her eye, looking down at her white stone.
Mr. Johnson coughed and stood up, his anxiety returning. “When you showed me the meteorite that your friend, Michael here, ha
d touched, I knew that it was happening again. The Condescension. MARS wasn’t certain whether Newell’s comet was the right one or not, but I felt certain. And seeing Michael’s blue stone confirmed that. I knew everyone in MARS would go crazy when they found out about dozens of people getting superpowers. Because they would be focusing less on you and me, it was the perfect time to sneak into their headquarters and steal your stone from them. I’ve been planning on it for a while now. I wanted you to have your powers again. Especially now that the Condescension has happened. The world is going to change dramatically with real life super humans flying around. That’s why we will need Starlings like you two, who have their heads screwed on right, and can make sure the world doesn’t end or anything.”
I leaned against the wall in the hallway. This was a lot to take in. I gazed at my blue stone. Gods? Condescensions? A secret society who know about it all and was bent on keeping it a secret? I looked at Mr. Johnson. “I thought you were going to tell us the condensed version,” I said.
“That was the condensed version. And the point of it all is why we should leave now. I just stole one of MARS’ most prized possessions.” He pointed at the white stone in Angela’s hands. She was still staring at it, no more tears in her eyes. “I’m sure they are on my tail right now,” he said. “Willing and prepared to kill me to get it back.”
Mr. Johnson placed his hand on Angela’s shoulder. She looked up at him with dry, bloodshot eyes. “That’s why we need to leave,” he said. “Now.”
She didn’t respond. Just kept glaring at him, obviously hurt by his lies.
“Starlings…” I said. Mr. Johnson turned away from his daughter and glanced at me. “That’s the same thing Ray Simmons called me today before we fought.”
“That football player the news has been going on about?” he said, pacing and rubbing his chin. “So, he actually is a Starling? I had a feeling. And I have no idea how he would know that word. It’s strictly used within MARS members, referring to super humans, like you.” He stopped pacing. “You said you fought him?
Before I could answer, there was a loud thumping on the front door.
All three of us jumped, reacting fiercely. Mr. Johnson even pulled out his gun.
“This is the police!” a male voice yelled from the other side of the door. “Angela Johnson is under arrest! We have the place surrounded!”
Chapter 29
Ray
I just stood there for a long moment, watching where Mark had driven off on his motorcycle. Well, I thought. Now what?
I was in rough shape. I needed some time to recover from the fight with Stoner and what’s-her-face-new-girl. Alexandria? Angela? Who knows? I wanted some food, water, and more sleep. My head still ached even though I kept my powers on to dampen the pain.
There was one place that seemed to be beckoning to me to rest my weary head.
Home.
I stoked my powers, and leaped into the air. I redirected my power emission, just as Mark had taught me, and launched higher until I was flying just below the clouds. I kept my speed slow to save my head from throbbing so much.
Watching the lights pass below me and feeling the wind blow around, my mood lightened, but only a little. Flying was awesome, but I still felt sore about losing that fight. I’d been humiliated.
Beat up by a girl! Right in front of everyone at school! Ugh! It made me want to puke just thinking about it.
Not only did I humiliate myself, but I’d also disappointed Mark. And now he went and ditched me by finding himself another Starling to train. Was Mark still going to teach me more about the Second Degree? Because I wanted to learn. I understood now what it felt like, and I wanted more of it, but I still didn’t know how to tap into it on purpose.
I spotted my house far below, and plummeted toward it. Lights were on inside, except for my bedroom.
I landed with a thud in my back yard, next to our pool. I looked up at my second story, bedroom window, and hesitated, rubbing my aching head, and then jumped through it, sliding it open as I entered. First thing I did was collapse on my bed, heaving a huge sigh.
Before I could drift off to sleep, I heard footsteps approach my bedroom and the door swung open. Lights were turned on. I weakly lifted my head and opened my eyes.
My mom stood at the doorway, her eyes wide and her lips pursed. With her short frame and her curly short hair down to her shoulders, she looked intense and… scared?
“Hi mom,” I said mid-yawn. Last time I’d seen my mom was at the football game when I’d crushed that news reporter’s cell phone. Since then I’d snuck into the house every night to sleep, but I’d spent most of my time during the day training with Mark. She probably knew I had powers now, especially if she heard about my fight with Stoner today. I wasn’t looking forward to this encounter.
Mom softly closed the door behind her, barely making a click. “Ray, you need to get out of here,” she whispered.
“What? Why? I’m too exhausted to move…”
“The police are here.”
That got my attention. I sat up, groaning as I held my head. “Why are they here?”
“I don’t know.” Mom continued to whisper. “They say it’s because you broke Coach Jones’ collar bone and sent him to the hospital, and that you knocked down a few walls at the high school.”
I lowered my eyes, rubbing a hand through my hair. “Yeah…. I guess that’s kinda against the law, huh.”
“Ray!” Mom said with a gasp. “Don’t tell me you actually did those awful things!”
“Coach Jones deserved it,” I said. “And so did the walls. They were coming down anyways.”
“This is serious, Ray! You could go to jail!”
I chuckled. “I’m not going to jail, mom. And don’t call me Ray anymore; call me Draco.”
My mom turned toward the door as we heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She turned back on me with a stern look. “I don’t care what you think you are or what nonsense has gotten in your head. You are good, Ray. Deep down. You would never hurt people like that.”
Just then, the door to my bedroom burst open. Two cops, armed with guns, stood at the doorway. Once they saw me, they pointed their pistols at me. “Ray Simmons!” One cop yelled. “You’re under arrest! Get down on the ground with your hands up!”
My mom jumped to her feet, her arms raised out of reflex. “Ray, do as they say!”
I casually stood up and smirked at the two officers, and looked at my mom. “You don’t know the real me, mom. I’ve grown out of being good.”
“ON THE GROUND!” the second officer ordered. “WE WILL SHOOT!”
“You’re wrong mom. I’m not good…” I turned back to the cops, stoking my powers and glaring at them through glowing eyes. They both opened fire. I lunged to the left, dodging both bullets as time seemed to slow down. I sped toward them and yanked their guns out of their hands. Gusts of wind blew through the room as I ran, tossing the curtains around and my mom’s hair to the side. By the time the cops finally realized their guns we’re missing, they both gulped as they stared down the barrel of their own guns. I held both pistols and aimed them directly at their heads. They both raised their hands, fear spread across their faces. I turned to my mom. “… I’m a god.”
I squeezed. Instead of pulling the triggers, I crushed the guns in my fingers, like they were made of playdough, and tossed them to the floor. My mom held her hands over her mouth, looking shocked.
I strode up to the two officers, placed my hands between them, and scooted them to the sides, like I would with clothes hanging in the closet, and walked out of the bedroom. As I walked down the stairs, I realized something. I didn’t need this house. I didn’t need my mom. I could take care of myself just fine.
I opened my front door and paused. There was a barricade of police cars with their lights flashing. Cops stood behind their vehicles with their pistols and rifles aimed at me. “Get on your knees with your hands where we can see them!” a cop said through his megaphon
e. They’d apparently been waiting for me to return home, unable to find me until now.
I strode closer to them, my eyes glowing, not slowing my pace.
“We will shoot you!” the head cop said.
I kept walking, ignoring their orders.
They opened fire. The sound was deafening, like a hundred fireworks going off all at once and I had the front row seat. I hunched over, raising my arms to shield my face, and stoked my powers on to full throttle. The burning in my gut burned hotter, like a bomb went off inside me.
Hundreds of bullets pelted me. They stung my skin like the tiny grains of sand in a sandstorm. More irritating than painful. After half a minute, the sound of gunshots died down, and the stinging stopped. I stood straight, lowering my arms to my sides, and felt multiple bullets drop to the ground around me, making audible clings as they bounced on the sidewalk. My shirt and the bottom of my jeans had been ripped to shreds, but that didn’t bother me.
I stared at the cops, letting them see my glowing eyes. They gawked. A few cops stood up from behind their cars, looking confused. The head officer held his megaphone limply to the side, his mouth wide open.
I raised my arms to my sides and shrugged. It was a gesture that said, “Oh well. Nice try.” They are beneath me, I thought. Law enforcement is for mortals. They aren’t even worth my time or attention. I lifted my chin to the sky, and leaped into the air, leaving the police below in a gust of wind.
I shook my head as I remembered that I’d once regretted touching the glowing Star Stone that now rested in my pocket. I’d hated it for ruining my dream as a football champion. How shortsighted I was! The Hall of Fame was nothing compared to being a god! Touching that stone had expanded my vision to new horizons. New dreams. Dreams of immortality, power, and basically getting to do whatever I wanted.
My head still throbbed and my stomach groaned. I stopped my ascent and gazed down at Tucson. I was so hungry I could kill somebody!
Orion: A Heroic Novel Page 17