Probably the same thing happened to my future self. Letting them capture me to save the others.
“I have a few questions to ask you,” he added.
“Sorry, I’m late for class,” I finally replied, noticing the crowd of students dimming away.
“If you go to class, the principal will notify your teacher for you to see me. And your principle is already informed about my presence in this school. So, I strongly suggest that you remain here, with me and answer my questions. Do we understand each other, Mr. Trevor?”
Definitely a stupid dumbass.
“Walk with me,” he ordered.
CHAPTER 28
I followed Detective Shelby out the school’s main entrance, then walking further outside, heading to the end of the building, toward the yard’s high hedge. He held a sarcastic grin, inhaling a deep breath of fresh air.
“Have you come in contact with a man who calls himself Thomas, a man claiming to be your brother?”
“No!” I snapped.
“We all know that’s not true,” he said, swiftly shoving a metal stick to the side of my neck, injecting something through my skin.
I drew away, dropping my books and putting a hand to the left side of my neck.
“Don’t worry, Derek,” he said, walking forward. “This man is not who he says he is. You have to trust me. I’m trying to protect you from falling into the wrong hands.”
“I know you’re not a detective. You’re an Elite,” I spat, trying hard to transmit myself elsewhere.
“An End what?” he said, smiling. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Besides the mild mosquito-bite feeling to my neck, I was unable to get away. Still moving away from him, I kept concentrating, seeing weak blue flashes and sparks, without anything happening – not caring if there were any civilians watching or not. I just had to escape.
Then a blue flash of light finally occurred, but soon realizing that it didn’t come from me. Thomas appeared next to me with a massive handgun, immediately shooting at Shelby – tiny white luminous balls.
“Stay behind me, Derek,” Thomas requested.
Shelby moved incredibly fast, dodging most of the white balls as others only pierced through his long coat. He then quickly activated some control from his watch – one different from ours.
“Damn it!” Thomas yelled, still shooting.
Shelby kept running and dodging the shots as he soon vanished into a fiery-red flash.
Thomas immediately put his gun away, into his long coat. “That’s pretty much what I do all day,” he explained. “I just don’t see how I let this one slip out of my sight! I thought I had appeared right on time, before he’d get to you.”
“He was one of them … right?” I asked.
Thomas confirmed with a nod.
“I tried getting away, but it wouldn’t work,” I said.
He slipped out a metal stick, similar to the one Shelby had.
“Where did he sting you?” he asked me.
“Right here on my neck,” I pointed the spot.
Placing the device against my neck, I suddenly felt a faint sensation of a tiny grain being sucked out of my skin.
“He shot you with a micro emitter chip,” Thomas said. “It keeps you from transmitting by sending contradictory signals to your brain.”
He held up the device, viewing the tiny chip, from a small glass compartment.
“Thanks,” I said, rubbing my neck. “I’m late for class. How am I going to explain this?”
“Explain the truth, just go to your principal and tell him about a crackpot lunatic entering the school. But spare the excessive details.” Thomas smiled.
“Yeah, right …”
“All right. Just go back in time a few minutes ahead,” he said. “Walk back into the school through another entrance. Be subtle and you’ll be able to get to your class on time. If anybody has any suspicion whatsoever, just turn it into a joke.”
“Sure,” I said.
“See you tonight.”
CHAPTER 29
Strapping my suit on, I stood in the simulation hall, ready to continue my training. Thomas and I stood at the center of the hall as I listened to further explanations.
“Remember, Derek,” Thomas began. “Don’t be afraid to escape by transmitting yourself. If anything happens to your friends and loved ones, you could often go back and save them. But if something happens to you, most likely you won’t be able to escape, with a micro emitter chip. And along the numerous troubles of trying to locate you.”
“Whoa!” I exclaimed. “What do you mean by ‘you could often go back and save them?’”
“Depending on some consequences, it’s not always possible to save people.”
“I don’t like that.”
“I’m sorry, Derek. But sometimes destiny kicks in and nothing could be done about it,” Thomas justified.
I was staring back with my eyes like daggers, although, it was nothing against Thomas, but against the situations that might occur – such as destiny.
“Are you ready to proceed?” he asked me.
I nodded.
“All right.” He drew a few steps back and began. “It is possible to create, what we call, a semi-transmit. This is what we use for our power of flight as I previously mentioned.”
“So, we can actually fly?” I yearned.
Thomas brought his hands close together, suddenly creating a blue ball of energy, surging with electrical sparks. The light of energy grew as he moved his hands further apart. He then spread out arms as the energy surrounded his entire body – close to a silhouette of blue sparks.
He slowly levitated from the ground, hovering for a moment, then speeding across the hall, then up and below, to all corners, and finally landing to the floor.
“That’s pretty cool!” I stated.
“Your turn,” Thomas said. “You may want to fly with your helmet on, for a first try.”
I definitely agreed with that.
Bringing my hands close together, I first had a hard time getting it just right. I was either making huge lights, or merely tiny sparks. Indeed, it took me several attempts to be able to control the energy density. And I soon got it right, spreading out my arms and lifting myself from the ground.
I was actually flying!
Through some concentration and practice, I was able to fly to all corners of the hall, but I wasn’t yet able to control my speed as well as Thomas did. But I was doing it.
After spending some time in the air, I finally regained the ground.
My helmet folded itself away, noticing Thomas with a proud smile.
“Can I take the suit home?” I asked.
He sighed as if hesitating. “Yes you can, but remember to –”
“To keep a low profile, I know,” I cut in.
CHAPTER 30
Soon after my training, I transmitted myself to my room, dressed into my casual clothes, with my backpack to my shoulder, containing my suit. Even being an armored suit, it was flexible enough to perfectly fit in my bag.
I glanced out my window, at the nighttime sky. After learning something new, I felt like flying up high among the dark clouds and above the bright city lights. But I had to get to bed.
Then I took a glance at my alarm clock, showing close to nine-fifteen.
It’s not that late, is it? I could sleep in a few minutes more every morning, since I don’t have to take the bus.
I figured that I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night if I wasn’t going to give it a try.
That was when I decided to unzip my bag and pull out my suit.
No more than an hour. This is gonna be great!
Laying the suit on my bedroom floor, I lay my back on it, immediately strapping itself onto me. Then I stood up, now transmitting myself to the park, appearing between the slide and swings – an obscure location, away from the streetlamps.
Taking a deep breath of the cold night air, I threw my gaze upwards, viewing the c
lear sky and admiring the few stars.
I brought my palms close together, producing tiny sparks, soon growing to a ball of light. Spreading out my arms, I let the energy flit all around me. Then I shaped on my helmet.
As I was usually terrified of heights, I didn’t want to stand around and hesitate too long. With my gaze aimed at the sky, I suddenly shot myself upwards at an intense speed, with my fists tightly clenched above my head.
I suddenly felt free, glancing down, smiling frightfully, seeing the ground drawing away further – the houses disappearing into the nighttime’s obscurity, the streets becoming faintly lit lines made from the streetlamps, the vehicles became no more than tiny moving lights. But the whole scene quickly vanished as I flew into a thick cloud and emerged above it.
I remained hovering above the clouds for a moment, enjoying the breathtaking view of the bright moon and distant horizon. It was just beautiful as it brought a moment of peace and tranquility. I couldn’t keep myself from smiling from a sudden thought – imagining of having Samantha with me, holding her into my strong arms and share the thrilling experience of flying.
Swinging upwards, I then let myself tumble backwards, and pierce down through the clouds.
I beamed down, intensifying my speed, viewing bright city lights from far below and finally stabilizing my angle toward the west horizon, at the pacific ocean.
Flying incredibly fast, I twirled deliberately as my confidence grew, now having total control over my flight. I peeked down, now passing above the Vancouver Island, then soon flying above the pacific ocean.
I suddenly screamed hysterically, releasing both emotions of freedom and joy, as much as feeling thrilled and terrified, flying above the pitch-black water. Then I decided to tilt lower, speeding close to the surface. I looked down, seeing my illuminated reflection from the blue energy surging around me. I brought my hand to the water, sliding the tips of my fingers against the surface.
Then I made a half-turn and headed back toward my city – Surrey.
Soon arriving close to home, I remained high into the sky, immobilizing myself, slightly beneath the clouds. From there, I transmitted myself back into my room.
My helmet folded itself away.
That was amazingly awesome!
CHAPTER 31
Friday night.
“Reservation Trevor,” I said to the hostess.
“Yes, Mr. Trevor,” she replied, scanning through her list. She was a cute Asian woman: straight black, bob hairstyle, attired with a red silk blouse and black skirt.
But Samantha was mostly beautiful, wearing a chic black dress, revealing her perfectly shaped silhouette, along with her classy high heels. She held my hand, grinning at me, a sudden smile reaching all the way up to her powerful gaze, her amazing blue eyes filled with warmth.
“Reservation for two. Follow me, please,” the hostess demanded with a welcoming smile, carrying two menus.
We followed the woman as she led us to our table, covered with a silky white tablecloth. I charmingly pulled a chair, letting Samantha have the first seat.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“Would you like to start with a drink?” the hostess asked, already filling our glasses with water.
“Can you make a non-alcoholic daiquiri?” Samantha ordered.
“Sure, no problem!” the woman replied.
“I’ll start with water,” I said.
The woman nodded and smiled as she left.
Comfortably seated, we began scanning through our menus.
“You really look amazingly beautiful, tonight, Samantha,” I complimented her for the second time, since I arrived at her house to pick her up. I stood at her front door with a few red roses. She opened the door as I immediately glanced at her from head to toe. Her smile definitely took my breath away, handing her the flowers.
“It’s a very interesting menu,” she said. “Hard to make a choice, since everything seems delicious … and also quite pricey,” she added, frowning.
“Don’t worry about that,” I assured her. “Just take whatever you want. I’m thinking of taking the most expensive dish on the menu! It’s on me.”
Samantha seemed to hesitate, still viewing the menu and glancing back at me at times. “I heard many times that this restaurant is very high rated. I like it, it’s a nice place!” she said, looking around at the classy decor. “And I just love Asian food.”
“I know, so do I. I’ve been dreaming of coming here some day. Unfortunately my parents aren’t so much into exotic food. Besides Asian food, I’m a fan of fine cuisine, not afraid to taste and try new things.”
Samantha smiled. “I guess that’s another thing we have in common.”
She gave out her hand.
I took her hand, feeling her fingers gently caressing mine.
“Are we ready to order?” the hostess suddenly drew by.
“Yes … I’ll have the seafood fried rice,” Samantha said.
“I’ll have the General Tao and squid with rice noodles,” I ordered.
“Great!” the woman said, taking away our menus.
“This is gonna be good. I’m getting hungry!” Samantha cried.
I smiled back at her, soon taking my eyes down at my watch for hearing a sudden chirp.
Now what?
Tapping the green X, I quickly glanced at the displayed message: Come out the back door.
CHAPTER 32
Samantha took a few sips of her daiquiri. “I’ve been trying to look for a job, too,” she stated. “It would be better to get a good part-time job, with better money, instead of a tiny salary from babysitting. I’d be able to put money aside more easily, for a car.”
My watch chirped for a second time.
“Is that your watch making that sound?” she asked me.
“Yes … Can you excuse me for a minute or two?”
“Sure, no problem,” she said.
“Be right back.”
I stood up from the chair and crossed my way through the dining area, heading at the back of the restaurant.
Back door … back door …
Then I noticed a tiny sign from a hallway, indicating the washrooms. Entering the hallway, I obviously noticed an exit sign above the back door, at the end. I pushed open the door to a filthy alley, seeing old Thomas, leaning against a brick wall.
“What took you so long?” he breathed.
“Why are you whispering?” I asked him. “Did I make a wrong move by spending some money to take my girlfriend on a date, tonight?”
He shook his head. “Not at all!”
Then he pulled out a large yellow envelope from his coat, folded in half, seeming to contain a massive object.
“Here, take this,” he said, handing it to me.
I grabbed it as he kept glancing both ways of the alley. From the envelope, I slipped out a handgun, the same kind that Thomas shot at so-called Detective Shelby, the other day.
“Your gun?” I said.
“I got my own, this one’s yours,” Thomas explained.
Tilting the envelope, something else rolled out, falling into my palm – a metal stick.
“Use the top button, to pull out the emitter chip if they ever shoot you one,” he added.
“Are they in the restaurant, right now?” I asked.
“Maybe, or they could be roaming nearby.”
“Wait a minute, here,” I blew, putting up my hand. “Why do this now?”
“What do you mean, Derek?”
“If we know what’s going to happen, why don’t we go a few minutes ahead of time, kick their asses and come back.”
Thomas shook his head. “Derek, it’s not that simple. Every time you look into the future, something always changes. Even though we know that a certain event might occur at a certain time, it never happens exactly as you first look at it.”
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