GodMode

by O. K. Mills

  And destroy it did.

  The walls of the laboratory exploded into millions of pieces of debris. Brynn’s hair stood on end like the wings of a condor, her eyes rolling backwards into her head, the whites turning solid black.

  Silas’ body began to float in midair, but not because he wanted it to. Piece by piece he bursted into blue flames until he was completely engulfed. He twisted and wailed like a poltergeist, as agony penetrated his very soul. His skin dissolved like candle wax as it shed from his form in a chorus of wounded magnificence until all that remained was a charcoal, smoking husk.

  Underneath them, the floor rumbled, as large pieces of sharp rock began unearthing themselves. The door to the lab ripped off its hinges and flung itself out of place. Before long the entire room was consumed in a mountain of blue fire.

  Brynn blinked and her eyes returned to normal. Only then, when she saw the flames and the devastation surrounding her did she understand what she had done…again.

  With her concentration broken, Brynn let the shell of Silas—covered in third degree misery—fall to the ground and crumple. She rushed over to Spade to stir him. She shook him, pointing to Heather and Colonel Norris, who were unconscious as well. Spade started to wake, but could not move.

  Brynn closed her eyes and concentrated with everything she had. When her eyes reopened, they glowed a soft, ambient white. She placed the palm of her hand on top of Spade’s head and pressed down as hard as she possibly could. His body glowed pearl white and was healing at an extremely rapid pace. His legs and arms tingled as bone and tissue knitted themselves back into place.

  Brynn smiled at him as he opened his eyes.

  And then suddenly, she collapsed.

  Panic immediately hit Spade, and he knew then that the child had used whatever power she had left to save his life.

  “No!” Spade screamed as he held her in his arms. All around, he noticed the growling flames growing hotter and stronger. Spade’s eyes locked on Brynn’s lifeless body.

  “Come on, Brynn, wake up baby, please!” Spade begged.

  Brynn did not respond.

  Tears welled up in his eyes when all of a sudden he heard a sound behind him: that of Silas’ body healing itself with the very ability his friend desperately needed right now. He got up calmly, walked over to Silas and grabbed him by his ears.

  SNAP!

  Spade shrieked like a wounded animal as he twisted Silas’ neck so devastatingly hard that, upon completion, it looked as if the man could actually see directly behind himself. Silas’ body stopped healing itself and came to a final rest.

  He went back to scoop Brynn into his arms. Something was different, however. The flames were there, but he didn’t feel hot. His body should have been tired, but it felt fresh and renewed.

  Effortlessly leaping through growing wall of flames, Spade went to Heather. He reasoned that it was Brynn’s ability empowering him, as he lifted her over his shoulder as effortlessly as one might a bath towel. He felt quicker, stronger and faster than he had ever been before.

  Once he had successfully gotten Colonel Norris, Heather and Brynn out of the building, Spade returned his attention to Brynn. He tried everything he could think of, but she remained lifeless. He begged, pleaded and cried, but Brynn did not move.

  The realization that the child had literally given her life to save his caused Spade to plead with all his might to God.

  “Father … please … you can’t take her from me. You took my brother; you took my dad; please, Lord … I’m begging you!”

  Spade rested his hand on Brynn’s head as he continued weeping for her. Then, without warning, his eyes shined bright white, and healing power went out from him and into Brynn!

  Spade gasped and watched as Brynn opened her eyes and smiled warmly at him. He hugged her and cried like a newborn baby. He thanked God repeatedly as he stroked her hair. Brynn was alive, and he would make sure that no one else could hurt her.

  17: Ultimatum

  One week later, Spade, Bear and Heather gathered at the outskirts of Arlington cemetery, as the funeral proceedings for Winter Harlin came to a close. Sadly, it was only one of many funerals they would be attending over the next several weeks. None of them was sure how they would respond when Spade had to bury his father and his brother at a joint funeral only days away.

  Bear caught Heather checking her watch for the fifth time. Looking apologetically at him, she was about to ask his forgiveness, but he held up his hand.

  “It’s all right, Heather; I know we need to leave for DC. I just hope they don’t put us in federal prison because somebody decided that Damien Silas needed to have his head face the wrong way.”

  Spade didn’t make eye contact. Instead, he adjusted the sling on his arm and looked over his arm cast a final time.

  “They’re not going to buy that fake cast, brother,” Bear declared.

  “He heard you the first hundred and six times you told him, Jitters,” Heather replied.

  “I’ll say it until he takes the stupid thing off. There is no way they aren’t going to know Brynn gave you what was left of her powers, man. How else are you going to explain how you got out of there alive?”

  Heather shook her head. Spade finally made eye contact with Bear and responded calmly, “If they were going to arrest us, they already would have. And if they knew what I had in me, I’d already be on a laboratory table with a needle up my ass.”

  Bear raised his arms signaling he was done arguing. Spade was not.

  “I want to know what they plan to do about Brynn? I haven’t seen her in a week. Her ability to heal is completely gone, and now we certainly know why she never talked.”

  “I saw images of that lab and the autopsy report on Silas. It was like she melted the skin off his body and detonated the man’s eyes. I still can’t believe she did it just by speaking,” said Bear.

  “It was surreal,” Spade admitted. “I’m lying there with my arms and legs shattered, looking at a nine-year-old child with the power of a god staring up at a man. And all she does is say ‘leave us alone,’ and the entire room exploded.”

  “Explains how her parents died,” Heather said.

  “Explains a lot of things,” replied Spade. “And yet, I have more questions now than I did before we started.”

  “I’m thinking she should have lead with the whole ‘voice of doom’ thing from the beginning,” said Heather.

  “Thinking we’d all be dead right now if she had,” Spade replied.

  “Excellent point,” said Heather before checking her watch again.

  “Okay, we really have to get going.”

  Bear took one last look toward the gravesite just as the casket was lowered into the earth. Heather and Spade were already sitting in the car waiting for him. The three friends drove away once Bear was seated inside and headed for the White House.

  “Mr. Bowden, Mr. Spade, Ms. Wolfe, the President will see you now.”

  Spade, Heather and Bear made their way into the Oval Office. Seated behind a large oak desk was the first female President of the United States, Helen Clint.

  President Clint was an attractive woman with shoulder-length hair, model-like features and a presence about her that was extremely intimidating. When she ran for office two years prior, very few gave her a chance of being victorious. She won the office by the narrowest of margins, but win she did, nonetheless.

  Standing directly in front of the President’s desk, in his formal military attire, was Colonel Norris. He held the three of them at bay with a press of his palm and a nod toward the President, who was completing a phone call as they walked in. They stood patiently and waited until the call was completed.

  “Have a seat, lady and gentlemen,” she said as she stood to her feet and joined the four of them on soft couches that adorned the center of the Oval. Spade, Bear and Colonel Norris sat opposite of each other as President Clint seated herself next to Heather, directly in the center chair at the head.

  “Th
e debris from an M1A1 tank crashed into the Department of Commerce. A third rail was activated in Federal Triangle Metro station that knocked out half of a city grid, and less than 10 minutes away from this building, there were more fatalities in a single evening in this city than any other during my term.”

  She let that marinate for a moment and crossed her legs to sit more comfortably, resting her hands on her knee.

  “Now, I acknowledge that this office authorized a stealth mission, lady and gentlemen. Get in, get out, complete the extraction and make certain that no one knows you were there. That sound about right?”

  They nodded.

  “Why then, lady and gentleman, does everyone know you were there?”

  The question hung there, rhetorically and the President did not wait for a response. She stood and paced the room before stepping back on top of her proverbial soapbox.

  “I have a 67 percent approval rating; or at least I did before all of this occurred. I have been keeping the press corps at bay, but I still have to provide answers to my constituents, and right now, I don’t have those answers. This is where you all come in.”

  “What are the questions, ma’am?” Colonel Norris asked.

  “Well, for starters I need to know why I am not looking at Damien Silas,” said the President.

  Norris remained stoic. Heather and Bear kept silent as well, but Spade decided to answer the question.

  “You’re not staring at him because he’s dead, Madame President.”

  Norris stared wide-eyed at Spade, stunned that he would even think anything sarcastic to say in reply, much less speak the words.

  “It was a rhetorical question, Mr. Spade, I am fully aware that you twisted the man’s neck; I need to know why. I need to know why orders were not followed. I can explain an explosion destroying a building in downtown DC if my explanation starts with America now has ‘super soldiers.’ But my explanation does not have that, does it, Mr. Spade?”

  “No ma’am. But your explanation does have that we did the right thing. We saved a young child’s life, ma’am.”

  The President laughed and patted Colonel Norris on the shoulder.

  “Where did you find this one, colonel?”

  Spade looked away to keep the President from seeing his anger bubbling up.

  “Look at me, Mr. Spade. You don’t get to look away in this office,” the President scolded like a mother would her children.

  Steadying himself, Spade returned his gaze to her.

  President Clint continued.

  “Yes, Mr. Spade, you did save one child who apparently can kill us all if she so much as sneezes. And you killed the one man who had figured out how to heal our bodies and make our military virtually invincible.”

  “Invincible is not the word I would use, ma’am,” Spade said.

  “Oh really? And what word would you use?” the President asked.

  “I’m not sure but it wouldn’t be that one. If Damien Silas were invincible, you’d be looking at him right now and not me. And if you were looking at him, ma’am, you’d likely be sitting in his new office,” said Spade.

  “You’ve got balls, Mr. Spade, I like that,” the President said as she laughed and walked back around to her desk. “And because I like that I am going to offer you a choice.”

  “A choice, ma’am?”

  “A choice, Mr. Spade. You, special agent Wolfe and Mr. Bowden infiltrated a heavily fortified military facility and took down a man with the power of God. The three of you also eliminated a supernatural terrorist threat.”

  Spade perked up as he heard the accolades.

  “Don’t get too excited; it was hardly the cleanest of operations. Still, I want you all to work for this office, seeking out more of these people with the God Mode ability and bringing them to justice.”

  “Justice, ma’am?” Spade asked.

  The President raised her hand to stop Spade.

  “People die every day, Mr. Spade. It just so happened that your brother and father chose to do so on the same one. Regrettably, it happens.”

  “This office could have prevented their deaths, ma’am. You knew what Damien Silas was up to, and you did nothing about it. I lost my family because this office was more interested in power than anything else!” Spade semi-yelled.

  President Clint sat dispassionately.

  “I can’t deny any of that, Mr. Spade. I wish I could, but I can’t. The fact is there are more paranormal threats to this great nation of ours than someone in your position could even begin to fathom.”

  “I would beg to differ, ma’am. I think I can speak pretty accurately on the subject of the God Mode,” Spade retorted.

  The President laughed and looked over at Colonel Norris, who also laughed. Spade was visibly annoyed by their reaction.

  “How many people would you guess have the God Mode ability, right now? Take a wild guess, Mr. Spade.”

  Spade knew about the people who had been frozen in Silas’ laboratory, but other than that, every other wielder he could think of was dead.

  “I’m not sure; one, maybe two including Brynn? There weren’t more than 10 discovered over the course of a century; I highly doubt there could be more than two right now given what I know about the way the abilities manifest themselves.”

  “There are at least 4,500 documented cases in the known world of the manifestation of the God Mode,” said the President.

  “That’s documented with a ‘D,’ Mr. Spade. That means there are more out there that we don’t know about.”

  Spade’s mouth dropped.

  “I am sorry for your loss, Mr. Spade, but I don’t have the luxury of extended self-pity and self-righteousness that you wear so well. Unfortunately, I have to run the country.”

  Spade asked for that shot, so he took it in stride.

  The President continued.

  “Of that 4,500 there was only one person that had the ability to miraculously heal from injuries. So yes, Mr. Spade, this office allowed Damien Silas to go about his work as if we had no clue. Our hope was that we could use his research to further our studies and possibly replicate that ability for our military and eventually for the benefit of the world.”

  President Clint ran her fingers over one of the statues behind her desk as she pondered the possibilities for a moment.

  “Can you imagine if we never had to worry about health care again? Of course there would be the impact on the economy, the WHO, blah blah blah, and we would figure all of that out in due time, but still...”

  Her voice trailed off. She paused again.

  “When Brynn James opened her mouth and spoke, she destroyed everything and we lost it all, or so we thought anyway.”

  Spade looked at Bear and then to the President.

  “I’m not sure I follow?”

  “Brynn transferred her healing powers to you to save your life. This was something we didn’t know was even possible. You now have the same ability that she had; well, whatever was left in her, anyway.”

  “It obviously didn’t last, Madame President,” Spade replied with a look toward his cast.

  “Obviously,” the President stated flatly with a slightly raised eyebrow.

  Colonel Norris chimed in with his two cents.

  “You are proof that these gifts can at least be temporarily, if not permanently passed on.”

  The President echoed his sentiments.

  “You have also stood toe to toe with a powerful wielder of the God Mode and lived to tell the tale. I want you, Mr. Bowden here, Colonel Norris and Ms. Wolfe to reform the Black Daggers. Your focus will be on finding and eliminating supernatural terrorist threats. You will have unlimited resources, receive full reinstatement to the military, including those benefits you lost when you left, and you will report directly to me.”

  Spade looked at Bear who seemed very interested in the offer. He also looked at Colonel Norris who, though he did not appear as excited as Bear, seemed very interested in the opportunity. Heather seemed complete
ly indifferent, almost as if she were waiting to see what Spade would do before making up her own mind. After several moments of quiet consideration, Spade posed a question.

  “What about Brynn? Where is she? I haven’t seen her in a week.”

  “He doesn’t know?” President Clint asked Colonel Norris.

  Colonel Norris shook his head ‘no.’

  “Doesn’t know what?” Spade asked.

  “She is in isolation.”

  “Isolation?”

  “Yes, Mr. Spade, think ‘boy in the bubble’ or those see-through balls that you can put a hamster into and watch him roll around on the floor,” said the President.

  Spade could not easily hide his shock and rising anger. The President raised her hand again to prevent the emotional reaction.

  “Well, for now she is. We have to keep her isolated because she is a threat to herself and anyone that comes around her. If that child so much as coughs, then everything around her will burst into flames exactly the way they did at the Wilson building. The footage I saw from the surveillance cameras was unreal, but I don’t need to remind you of that—you were there. You saw the devastation with your own eyes.”

  Spade sat down at the news that his friend was essentially a prisoner. He looked at the President to plead his case, but Bear beat him to it.

  “Ma’am, we spent an entire day around Brynn, and nothing of that sort happened,” Bear said.

  “That was when her ability to heal kept her other gift in check. If you have miraculous healing, then you’ll never get sick; if you don’t get sick, then you won’t cough and accidently kill millions of people. Does that make sense?” asked the President.

  They nodded.

  “She did this for you, Mr. Spade. What do you plan to do for her? You want to get the boy out of the bubble? Find me someone else with her ability to heal, and we might be able to replicate the process that Silas started and use it to help her. However, in order to do that, you’ll need the resources of this office.”