Awakening A God (Demon Boys Series Book 1)

by Troy Snyder

Antonio tilted his head wondering what he was talking about. “Since?”

  “Since Brittany.”

  Antonio’s gaze dropped to the floor. He stared at his hands as if there was blood on them. “Almost two years now,” He said, barely a whisper.

  “I don’t mean to be rude bro, but you need to move past it. It wasn’t your fault. The roads were terrible and it could have happened to anyone. She wouldn’t want you to blame yourself and you know it. The crazy shit you do, are you honestly trying to get yourself killed?”

  Antonio looked up at him, his face was the mask of unreadable emotion it had been since the accident, but his voice betrayed him, it cracked with sadness. “You try losing everything because you made a mistake.”

  It hurt Trent to see his friend like this and hurt even more to think he did not realize his friends, his brothers, were there for him. Not all was lost to him, but he supposed Antonio still needed time to realize that.

  The rest of the ride was in silence. When the vehicle came to a stop they all looked toward the door. When it opened the bright light assaulted their eyes and they quickly shielded them. After exiting the vehicle, the three men noticed they were on an airfield, but they saw no planes taking off. Instead a single plane, larger than any they had been on, sat there waiting for the them. Antonio was amused that such a large plane was meant for so little.

  It was when they approached the plane Frank appeared once again, dressed in the same suit and wore the same serious expression as he always did. He was flanked by his two comrades dressed in military uniform but wearing no ranks, the Franks, and James. All three Franks looked angry at the world to Antonio.

  “This Super Hercules will be taking you to Alaska, a nonstop trip. There will be a brief midair refueling when you get close, at which point you will start to prepare for a quick jump.” Frank said, the last part sent James’s face white.

  “Did he say jump? Who the hell would want to jump out of a working aircraft?” James pleaded.

  “The Demon Boys,” Trent said patting him on the back. “Welcome to the family.” Trent walked toward the plane saying nothing more.

  Antonio watched his two teammates board the plane through the opening in the back. He then eyed Frank and considered whether or not he should go, “What exactly are our orders when we get there?” He asked.

  “To neutralize and/or capture all extraterrestrial enemies and to capture and hold all enemy assets for scientific study.” Frank replied.

  “You mean get their weapons so we can use them? You want me to risk my life because you want a bigger gun? Well Mr. Compensation, I might not be so inclined to agree to this.” Antonio said mocking Frank’s manhood.

  “We’re at an extreme disadvantage, Corporal.” He said emphasizing Antonio’s rank. “Don’t question your orders, unless you wish to be charged with insubordination.” Frank’s stare remained calm and collected, but Antonio was practiced in the look already. His fractured mind giving him cold detachment.

  The two remained locked in a battle of wills before Antonio shrugged, “We’ll see how things go,” he said and walked toward the place before Frank could question his meaning.

  Onboard the aircraft Antonio and Trent threw out all protocol and were playing poker in the middle on the plane sitting cross-legged. They had the situation well in their mind, but with Alexander going rogue they decided they did not much care about things without their leader and friend. James sat hunched over in his seat, his legs bouncing from his nervousness while Harrison watched the game unfolding.

  Trent leaned back on his hands and let out a sigh, “How long have we been on this crate?”

  Antonio looked at the cards before him while replying, “Quite a few hours. I’m guessing we were in Florida.”

  “Ahh, Florida. What I wouldn’t give for a day at a beach side resort.”

  “You say that like you could afford it.”

  “I will after all this shit; I’m writing Uncle Sam a big ol’ bill.” Trent laughed hoping to see his friend smile, but he was met with the same serious stare.

  Moments passed and there was a sudden jolt in the aircraft. James quickly grabbed his seat so hard his knuckles turned white and he clenched his eyes shut.

  “What the hell was that?” He asked, his voice shaking and his eyes clamped shut.

  Antonio looked up from his card game that had scattered over the floor with the jolt. “Seems we’re refueling. My guess is we’re somewhere over North Dakota, Montana, or Canada depending on where the pilot decided to go.” He said.

  “Well someone is talkative today, even though you really have no idea how planes work or how far they can travel on a tank of fuel.” Trent said.

  Antonio gave him another one of his neutral looks. “I’m in a good mood.”

  “That’s his good mood?” Harrison said looking at them from his seat.

  “Best you can hope for from him,” Trent responded.

  A man stepped out of the cockpit and approached them. He walked as if scared the men sitting on the floor would cut his throat for speaking to them.

  “D-demon Boys?” He asked.

  “That’s us,” Trent said, adding a smile to try and calm the man.

  “Right,” He said mentally berating himself over the question, as if someone else were on board other than them. “We’re refueling now. We’ll be at Anchorage in a couple of hours at our current speed. We were told to do a quick drop then bail out of the area. So, we have to ask you to prepare now.”

  “We’ll do that, thanks. Keep us updated.”

  “Of course,” the man seemed confused, not only by the niceness of the men themselves, but from the sheer lack of formality and protocol.

  The four members of the Demon Boys got themselves ready in their jump gear. They held off on their parachutes and helmets to stay comfortable a little longer. James kept going back over his gear and checking things constantly, more to keep his mind off the coming events than anything else. He had never been a fan of planes and jumping out of one just seemed insane.

  James marveled at how calm Antonio and Trent were. They told him they had never jumped out of a plane before, but neither of them seemed phased in the slightest having gone back to their cards, go fish this time at Antonio’s suggestion, and James wished he could have their sense of confidence. In his stomach it felt like a fist was clenching and not letting go. His mind swam with everything that could go wrong.

  A little over two hours after the man told them to get ready he came back out and gave them the signal, the jump was within minutes. The four men all got on their parachutes, helmets, and their weapons and prepared mentally for the jump. They were given none of the normal kit for a jump into enemy territory, just weapons. Apparently if it went on long they would need to scavenge food.

  Wind blasted in as the hatch on the back of the aircraft began to open. They were flying right over snowcapped mountains, and had it been another time James would have stared at the magnificent sight in wonder, but at this particular moment his stomach churned and he felt as if he was going to lose it.

  As they moved along the mountains they could see two crafts, the alien’s ships, tiny looking from where they were resting at the base of the mountain in a huge area cleared of forestry. Destroyed tanks, helicopters and other military vehicles laid scattered all around the ship. One of the recently downed vehicles still smoked from the destruction, but at their altitude it was barely was noticeable. However, a little way off a larger craft still burned brightly and sent plumes of smoke into the air.

  Antonio tied his three small cases onto his waist and slung the elongated case onto his back. On his way to the exit hatch the man from before stepped in front of him.

  “I can’t let you jump like that,” he said gesturing to all the cases he had.

  Antonio pushed his way past. He turned around walking backwards with his arms stretched out, challenging the man, “Stop me.” He yelled over the noise, and with that he fell backwards off the plane into
nothingness.

  James heart skipped a beat seeing him fall off, but next to him Trent let out a loud cheer. “Oh, hell yeah!” He yelled slapping James on the back. “See you on the ground.”

  Trent ran straight for the edge and leapt out with another howl of joy. James stood there for a moment, it only now occurred to him why these men were so calm and collect no matter the circumstances, they were all completely and utterly insane. However, it was also at that moment he remembered, he was a Demon Boy now, it was time to live up to the standard. He bounded toward the edge of the plane, but at the last second had his doubts and tried to stop himself. It was too late, he tumbled over the edge.

  “Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiit,” The man on the plane heard James scream until he was out of range.

  “Harrison, watch these men carefully. Frank has given orders not to let them do anything not set out in the order’s guidelines. If they do, terminate them.” The man that signaled the jump said.

  “Yes sir,” Harrison replied, and leapt out of the plane after the others.

  Antonio was falling at an extremely fast pace when he saw two figures in the field of debris being surrounded by many others. Without a second thought he tore off his helmet and concentrated all his effort into the bracelet he still wore. The silvery metal took over his face and he made the display zoom in.

  One figure stood out from the others, he was standing next to a large figure in the same armor. The other surrounded them wore a different kind of armor, more war like. It glowed with blue lines all over and seemed to be forged, instead of the plain silver of the armor suits the two men in the middle wore. The men surrounding them were much shorter than either in the middle, but no less menacing.

  Shrugging his shoulder, the elongated crate swung around and Antonio removed its contents and tossed the crate aside allowing it to freefall. Antonio gripped the XM500 in his hands, the .50 caliber sniper rifle felt just right. He sighted using his silvery masked helmet to judge distance, wind speed, fall rate, and many other variables. In just a moment he was ready; he gently squeezed the trigger and fired.

  Chapter 7:

  Alexander and Raixo left the hospital stealthily in their suits. They easily passed the checkpoint guarded by the military police and got outside with no trouble at all. Alexander felt surprisingly comfortable in the suit and found it very simple to operate, as if he were born to it.

  Once outside Alexander looked around at his surroundings to find out where they were, almost every license plate around had Florida written on it, though where they were in the state he had no idea. Alexander looked next to him, because of his suits ability he could see the shimmering outline of the big alien next to him. Raixo was staring at everything as if it were all out to get him. His head quickly turned back and forth, he was ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

  “Relax,” Alexander said to calm Raixo. Their helmets were connected by their energy so only they could hear what was said.

  “In case you do not remember I am an enemy here.” Raixo replied with a wary sound in his voice.

  “True, but we are in stealth, besides you’re with me. Anyway, we need to find a way to get to Alaska. Don’t these suits fly?”

  “No, the suits use energy for space combat in a bind, but they cannot fly.”

  “Well then, look like we need a plane, but first, a car.”

  “What is a car?”

  “The wheeled things you see all around,” Alexander said gesturing Raixo to follow him.

  After several hours of walking Alexander got his bearings and managed to find out they were near the house of old friends. He quietly slipped into the neighborhood and walked with determination toward the house. He had not seen these people in many years but knew them very well. As they approached the house Alexander gave Raixo instructions to stay hidden until he said otherwise.

  It was a small two-bedroom house in the middle of a court. It was quite different from back home where they used to live before moving down here, more modern. Alexander uncloaked himself, but left the armor on, he was still only in his hospital gown under it. He hesitated before the green door. In all honesty he had no idea what he was going to say to them if they answered, but he overcame the thoughts and knocked.

  A few moments later a woman answered the door in a white apron. Her hair was graying and she seemed much older than she was. Time had not been good to her, but after what happened how could it have been?

  “Yes?” Brittany’s mother, Janice, asked.

  “Hello Mrs. Marios. It’ me, Alexander,” He said, his throat tightening.

  Her eyes widened in surprise before she pulled him into a hug a kissed his cheek. “Oh, Alexander!” She said with a hint of joy. “It has been too long, please come in!”

  He entered their house into a small kitchen that branched off into a dining room and living room. Janice was turned just long enough for him to hold open the door for the second figure to enter.

  “Phil,” Janice called up the steps from the living room. “Alexander is here, come down and say hi.”

  Alexander followed Janice into the living room and sat down on the small couch. He sat on the edge of the seat with his elbows on his legs and his hands clasped together. His mind was racing at what to say to them, he had not seen them since the funeral.

  Phil came down the steps and sat down in his recliner. Time had not been good to him either, his stomach had grown outward and he was beginning to bald. The sweater he wore seemed too tight and he seemed to have just woken up.

  “Alexander,” Phil said.

  “Hey, Mr. Marios,” Alexander replied.

  Phil looked him up and down before replying, “What the hell are you wearing boy?”

  “Can’t you see it’s a biker’s outfit, dear?” Janice replied patting his knee from where she sat on the arm of the recliner.

  In fact, the armor did resemble a cyclists’ outfit, with the exception of the legs being longer and leading into metallic boots, and the circular armored plates on the shoulders, elbows, and knees.

  “It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Alexander started to explain.

  “Where’s that best friend of yours, Antonio?” Phil cut him off.

  “Yes, we haven’t seen that boy since…” She trailed off. “Does he still blame himself?”

  “He does,” Alexander said dropping his head. Antonio was his best friend and he hated seeing him tearing himself apart. “He’s been increasingly erratic. I think he’s trying to get himself killed.”

  “That foolish boy, if Brittany were here she’d kick his butt for being so dumb.” She changed subjects. “I hope you boys, what do you call yourself, Demon Kids?” Janice questioned.

  “Demon Boys,” Phil answered.

  “Yes, I hope you Demon Boys don’t have to fight those aliens again. Sheesh I heard in the news you almost got yourselves killed! If Antonio is acting the way you say I don’t want him doing something crazy. When you see him tell him we don’t blame him? Tell him to come see us as soon as he has time.”

  “Mrs. Marios, that’s kind of why I’m here,” Alexander stated.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The aliens are only fighting because we fired on them first.”

  “That’s not true; the news said Mexico City was destroyed by the aliens.”

  “No, Mexico City was destroyed by one rogue alien, who is more dangerous than the others. The ones we’re fighting came to stop him, but they arrived too late. We assumed they were back to finish us off and fired on them, thus starting this war.”

  “How do you know this?” Phil asked, suspicious.

  “One, I was there during the first alien encounter as you know. Two…” he trailed off.

  Raixo uncloaked himself, his large figure taking up the entire frame of the door into the living room. Janice let out a cry of alarm and immediately Phil bolted for his gun case in the corner of the living room, but Alexander got to it first. He blocked the way preventing Phil from getting to his
guns.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Marios, please calm down. He’s harmless.” Alexander pleaded.

  “You crazy boy?! He’s one of those aliens!” Phil yelled.

  “It’s all right, he’s here with me. We’re trying to stop this meaningless war.” Alexander attempted to keep his voice calm and collected.

  Janice was hiding behind the recliner breathing heavy and whispering prayers. Phil eyed his gun case with fire in his eyes.

  Alexander caught the look and cut off his thoughts, “Shoot him all you like, but your bullets won’t get through his armor, trust me.”

  “Boy in there is a double-barreled shot gun; I’d like to see that flimsy armor withstand that.”

  “We fired a rocket at an alien with almost the same armor, it didn’t even faze him. He laughed at us for it.”

  Phil opened him mouth and then closed it again. He looked at the huge alien with cautious eyes. The alien was near eight feet tall and was the size of a body builder. The armor he wore, exactly like Alexander’s, looked way too small and strange on it.

  Raixo removed his mask, melting back into his armor. His huge brown beard puffed out and his long brown hair fell down his back. He looked even more menacing now, like a giant green Viking.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Marios,” Raixo stared.

  “Holy shit,” Phil exclaimed. He bolted for his gun again, but Alexander caught him in a hug stopping him from reaching them. He continued to stretch out his arms, but to no avail.

  Janice began rocking back and forth holding her knees. Phil had finally given up and stood there, his eyes flicking from the alien to the gun case.

  Alexander held out his arms, “Please just stop. Listen to me, he’s a good guy.”

  “He’s an alien!” Phil spat.

  “What does that make us?” Alexander yelled back. “As far as he’s concerned we’re aliens to him!”

  Phil opened his mouth to reply, but before he could Raixo spoke.

  “I am sorry if I scared you, I mean no harm here.” He said.

  Phil looked at him and for a moment Alexander thought he was going to strike. “Then why are you here, Mr. Alien?”