TIME LEAP
A TEEN SUPERHEROES SAGA
by
Preston Flint
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2016 by Preston Flint
This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment of the original purchaser only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To all my readers. To family and friends.
Thank you for all your great support.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
EPILOGUE
BIO
PROLOGUE
Everything changed. I don’t know how … I don’t when.
But all I did know was that the world I thought I knew, and the life I thought I had, completely vanished in the blink of an eye.
I was twelve when the first event occurred. Some sort of physical phenomenon, compelling my life to be a destined gift, as well as an inescapable curse.
Somehow, I already knew, with a certain gut feeling that it was all too tangible to be only a dream. That night, I remember going to bed, resting on my back and staring up at the ceiling until my eyes began to feel heavy.
Some time later, I slowly opened my eyes to a soft blue light from a high ceiling – illuminated tiles. Then I gently sat up from the hard-cold floor, rubbing my eyes. I was in a hallway that stretched, at least, a few hundred feet in both directions. The walls were all steel, so shiny almost as mirrors. The floor was as reflective except for being entirely black. Then I looked down at myself: barefoot and still wearing my black jogging pants and white T-shirt.
What is this place? I asked myself, glancing at every corner. How the heck did I get here?
I obviously concluded that it must have been a dream. And nothing else. But it all felt otherwise, without any concrete explanation, or understanding.
I decided to move and find a way out. I scuttled forward among the cold and dead-silence, looking behind at times, feeling dreadful about the place. After scampering the long path, I suddenly noticed an entry, at my right, to another long hallway. Wherever this place was, it just seemed endless. As I made my turn, I continued for several feet until I saw a large red door with a white frame and the words Transit Terminal, written in white bold-lettering. There wasn’t any handle, but only a large red button next to the white frame, against a black-and-yellow striped panel. I drew a few steps closer to the door, once again, looking both directions of the hallway, and lending an attentive ear for the slightest possible sound.
Nothing!
Being completely lost, this door was my only option, taking a guiltless risk of opening it.
Without any more hesitation, I decided to open the door, forcing my hand against the heavy button. The massive door suddenly unclasped and bulged out of the wall, then slid open to reveal many rows lockers. I carefully sneaked forward, entering the compartment. The walls and floor were the same as the hallways, except for the ceiling being slightly lower with the same blue-lit tiles. The locker doors were all black and lustrous, with a tiny red light next to the handle of each door.
The massive door closed behind me with Personnel Only, written in white. I turned around, also noticing a transparent plate instead of a button – I figured it was a hand plate only used by staff members to open the door from the inside. It couldn’t possibly have worked for me. I aimed my gaze beyond the several rows of lockers, toward a wide opening followed with faint sounds of rotating machinery and clamping. I was guessing something like a mechanical walk. Something about this place kept telling me to remain careful. With no people, or anything in sight, I proceeded closer to the last row, preparing myself to hide if anything would arrive close by. Partially hiding myself, careful not to be seen, although, I was probably monitored through a high-tech surveillance system without being aware of.
I ran deep into the last row, the moment I heard the massive door slide open. Startled, I simply hung by a locker door, as if I was preparing to open it. I heard gentle footsteps draw closer until I saw a man walk past the row I was in. A man attired in a gray uniform, also wearing a cap.
I emerged from the row and slowly took a peek to the right, suddenly seeing what appeared to be a waiting room.
The vast hall held many people sitting on comfortable benches, also, a few staff members in gray uniforms walking by – men and women. My guess of hearing a mechanical walk, were in fact tall and silver glistening robots walking among the crowd. Actually two of them. Broad shouldered and a large armored torso, with Security, written on their chest and back. Long hydraulic arms and legs, with black metal feet: a mechanism clamping the floor at every step. They had black five-fingered hands. Their cylindrical-shaped heads were small compared to the rest, with two eyes: round glass lenses, revealing nothing more than black emptiness. The robots spoke through a speaker, camouflaged against a black metallic texture, covering below their eyes and down their flexible necks.
“Please remain awake,” a robot spoke to a man from a bench. “This is not a dormitory. We will not be held responsible if you miss your embarkment. Thank you for your cooperation.” Then the robot resumed its stroll.
I suspected that these robots were purposely built due to occasional hostile situations.
There were many holographic displays moving within the hall, featuring all sor
ts of animations. Some of them showing schedules and other statuses, while many others were about publicity: food and drinks, clothing, insurance and beauty. One panel remained immobile, at the front wall from the benches, for showing the date and time: October 17 – 11:45 p.m.
The year wasn’t marked.
“Embarkment for section B-12, will begin in twenty minutes,” a female voice echoed through an intercom.
There was a huge window, almost as large as the hall itself, to the right side of the benches. A breathtaking view of an unknown city. It was the vastness of a man made world. Many blue-lit multileveled roads. Flying machines rocketing their way around the colossal skyscrapers that seemed so immense.
A middle-aged woman stood up from the waiting crowd and drew toward the lockers. Attired in her sort-of business outfit, she made a turn into the row I stood in, but on the other side of the main pathway. She placed her thumb to a plate, followed by a chirping sound. She swung the door open, then pulled out a black duffel bag, which she immediately hung to her shoulder. On her way out, she quickly glanced and smiled at me, before heading back to the waiting room.
I want to get out of here, I told myself, walking back into the row and cramping myself to the wall at the end.
This can’t be real! I tried to convince myself.
There I sat, my back against the cold-steel wall, my arms around my knees. I closed my eyes, feeling terrified. I just wanted to get back home. Then I opened my eyes in fright as I felt myself fall backwards, even though having back against a wall. There came a split-second blue flash of light and sparks, as I fell into the darkness, until I felt my back bounce onto a mattress.
I immediately stood up from my bed, opened the lamp from my nightstand and gazed around my room.
This can’t be a dream!
I released a long joyful sigh for being back home. With so many questions flooding my mind, I knew I had to keep this a secret, for now. There was absolutely no way I could have explained this to anyone.
For the following nights, I was fearful that it might happen again.
Nothing happened for the few years to come … until recently. As I should have known, what happened that night was only a taste of what was about to happen.
CHAPTER 1
Surrey, British Columbia – Present
Out on the driveway, on a bright Saturday afternoon, I stood, shooting my ball into the basket, hung above the garage door. I was enjoying the autumn’s cool breeze, brushing against my dark hair. Nothing better to set my mind at ease. Just taking some time to relax. I pushed up my glasses and aimed the basket for several more shots.
I had spent the morning giving away copies of my resume to several places for a weekend job. The will of earning money to, perhaps, get a car. That’s right, Derek Trevor, seventeen, got driver’s license, but no car … at least, not yet.
I was trying to keep myself busy as much as possible, changing my thoughts by concentrating on the prospects of reality. Such as keeping a good focus on my shots, making the ball fall through the net. But it was getting more difficult with every pitch. No matter how hard I concentrated and tried to focus, the awful images kept flooding my mind, like a non-stopping roundabout.
Suddenly, I just had enough. I tucked the ball under my arm and headed to the front steps for a seat. For the first time in five years, the awful traveling experience occurred once again. Only that time, I immediately appeared in one of the rows of lockers. The time from the holographic panel showed: 00:05 a.m. of the same date – October 17. If it happened to be the same year, then I reappeared twenty minutes later from the time I was twelve years old.
All of this happening beyond my own control. Why? What was making me do this? Perhaps some sort of inexplicable force or technology?
The family SUV suddenly pulled into the driveway. My mom stepped out with a few grocery bags. Along with my energetic ten-year-old brother, wearing his soccer uniform. I sprang over, offering my mom a hand by taking the bags.
“Thank you, sweetie,” my mom said, flipping her black hair aside with her hand due to a sudden gust of wind.
“Hey Thomas! How did it go?” I asked my little brother. “Did you guys win the game?” I figured he must have, watching him jump around the driveway.
“No, we lost,” he replied.
“Oh!” I exclaimed.
“But I did make five goals!”
“Nothing ever gets him down,” my mom said.
That’s what I liked about my brother: seeing the cup half-full, noticing the bright side of things. From a very young age, he found ways of not letting gloomy situations get to him, and finding quick ways of looking at things from a different angle. He was a cute short kid with wavy chestnut hair. He often held up a smile, which lit all the way up to his dark brown eyes – like mine. I smiled proudly at him as we all made our way toward the entrance.
I had just stepped into the house, suddenly hearing a car eagerly pull in front of our house. I left the bags in the entrance as my brother helped my mom carry them to the kitchen. I spun around, seeing Jeffrey leap out of a sporty sedan, and running toward our house. I closed the entrance door as he drew closer, pulling out his wallet and slipping out his driver’s license, waving it right in front of my nose.
“I got it!” he said, almost panting.
“Congrats buddy!” I told him, giving each other a friendly handclasp. I then glanced above his right shoulder. “Nice car! Is it new?”
“Yup! My dad’s new one.”
“Pretty cool!”
“Doing anything this afternoon? I did promise I’d take you for a spin the moment I’d get my license.”
“Sure!”
CHAPTER 2
Jeffrey chewed his last bite of burger and fries, while I only had a soft drink. I gazed around, admiring the restaurant’s retro-styled decor, slurping the bottom of my cup.
“That was good!” Jeffrey said, with a sip of his soda.
“Didn’t you have lunch earlier?” I asked him, glancing at my watch, turning to two-fifteen in the afternoon.
He shook his head. “No … this morning’s excitement for getting my driver’s license, took away my hunger. I didn’t even have breakfast!” he exclaimed, his eyes as round as they could possibly be.
I was quite stunned myself, hearing that from him. Jeffrey was known to be always hungry, without being the chubby type, but rather massively built. He had the perfect shape to be a football player, but had preferences for playing sports between friends, such as hockey, soccer, or basketball. He was naturally blond with the blue eyes that many girls fell for. Known to be big and robust, along with a soft heart. We kept a solid friendship for sharing our passion for computers, video games and other geeky projects.
“It’s pretty awesome, your dad lending you his brand new car,” I said.
“Yeah … well … hm.” He grinned almost shamefully. “My parents had been out since early this afternoon. They’ve gone shopping for a few hours. Soon after they left, I sneaked around the house and found the keys to my dad’s car within a few minutes.”
“Seriously!” I tittered. “Where were they?”
“In the first drawer of my dad’s nightstand.” He snorted out a laugh.
I just couldn’t keep myself from laughing. “So? What happens next? Are your parents going to know about this?”
I knew that Jeffrey had acted impulsively, watching him giggle foolishly. It was a matter of fun and thrill for himself, doing something against the will of his parents, hoping not to get caught. And I knew Jeffrey wouldn’t have done anything purposely worse than that.
“I don’t think they’ll know about it. I’ll be back home before they do … I hope.”
I burst out laughing, even wiping a few tears, unable to tell whether I was tired, or his situation was hilariously funny. “You better get that car home without a scratch, Jeff!”
A few moments later, Jeffrey pulled in front of my house. He began feeling a little worried about his folks, mayb
e, arriving home sooner than he suspected.
“See you at school, buddy,” I told him, with a handclasp.
“Cool,” he replied, soon speeding away, then disappearing into another street.
My father was already working on our front lawn, raking some dead leaves.
“Hey dad!” I said.
“Wasn’t that Jeffrey?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Nice car he has there!”
“Actually, it’s his dad’s brand new car.”
My father rose an eyebrow. “I thought so,” he replied, grabbing a garbage bag next to him, and shaking it open.
I drew closer to give him a hand, filling the bag with dead leaves.
“Your friend seemed to be in a hurry!”
“He was in a hurry to get home, sure to arrive before his parents.”
He pushed up his glasses. “Oh! You mean taking the new car for a spin, without his parents know about it?”
Time Leap: A Teen Superheroes Saga Page 1