Beyond Tomorrow

by Leigh Vernon

  ---

  "Did we lose them yet?" Justin asked as he turned to check behind. The truck was still very much in view. "What the...That driver is good!"

  Sarah snickered. "We'll see about that. Gem! Create a diversion."

  The girl nodded and closed her eyes. Huge clouds quickly settled over the truck behind them and lightning struck its roof once.

  "I don't think it's working!" Justin called out from where he was.

  "Why don't you shut up and let her do her thing?" Sarah howled back at him.

  The girl gritted her teeth and lightning struck again, this time, more intense. The roof flew open, exposing those inside.

  "Now!" Gem shouted at Sarah.

  "Get behind the wheels, Justin," Sarah said quickly. He didn't have enough time to respond as she had crossed over and was hanging out the window of the car.

  Justin grabbed the wheel quickly before the car spun out of control. He watched as Sarah bent low to the ground and screamed loudly. The sound was enough to blast through the concrete road and hit the truck from under. It sent it flying into the air, lightening catching two of the occupants as it did. Justin couldn't keep his excitement and surprise to himself. He hit the steering wheel twice and the car spun out of control. He quickly steadied it again and turned to see Sarah glaring at him. She was about to stay something when they heard a thud on the roof of the car. A fist pounded the roof twice before they saw a hand melting through. Sarah got under the car seat and grabbed her shotgun. She rained two shots into the roof, and the hand jerked off quickly.

  "Make a turn right there!" She shouted at Justin as she fired into the roof again.

  Justin steered the car in the direction he was instructed to. When the turning was nearly complete, Sarah watched for the hand to return before she shot the other side. Their assailant fell to the ground heavily. Sarah looked out the car window to see a disheveled woman glaring at them as they drove off.

  "It's that woman again," Justin remarked. "How is she even following us?"

  Sarah turned to Gem who nodded and zoomed out of the car immediately.

  "Uh... How many things can she do at the same time?" Justin was forced to ask.

  "Concern yourself with more pressing issues," Sarah answered him. She took back the wheel and asked him to move over. "We need to get off the road."

  ---

  Gianna watched the car speed off and cursed her luck. She had had them in her sight twice and she had lost them each time. It seemed she was underestimating these two way too much. She pulled out her cellphone.

  "Why did it take you this long to pick up?" She snapped angrily at the person on the other end. "Meet me at the rendezvous point in five minutes. Don't be late!"

  After she hung up, she looked to her side and saw that a group of people had gathered and were looking at her. She realized they were looking at her arm, which was hanging by just a few threads of skin. She grabbed the arm and held it back in position. When they saw what she had done, the people scattered in many directions. Only a little girl remained, staring at her intently.

  "What are you looking at?" Gianna asked. When the girl didn't say anything in return, she rolled her eyes at her. "You wouldn't know the best place to get a bus back to the outskirts, would you?" she asked.

  The girl pointed in a direction. As soon as she had done so, she walked away slowly. Gianna picked herself up and walked towards the direction the girl had pointed.

  ---

  Sarah parked the car and waited. She was humming a tune Justin found uninteresting and disturbing, but he didn't say so. He was more irritated with the silent wait.

  "What are we doing here?" He finally asked. "We've been waiting for minutes now."

  She didn't answer him. She continued to hum to herself, this time, louder than before. Justin looked away from her. He was becoming angry with what she was doing and as much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn't react. Something zapped past him and he looked beside him to find Gem back in the car. Sarah watched her from the front mirror.

  "Why is he sitting at the back?" The girl asked, throwing a look towards Justin.

  Sarah ignored the remark. "Did you find anything?" She asked instead.

  Gem had her eyes settled on Justin as she answered. "They're meeting at the outskirts. Looks like she brought more men than we thought."

  "Great!" Sarah chirped. "Now, let's go get backup."

  She eased the car into gear and drove out. Justin remained silent as Gem continued to stare at him intently.

  They drove for more than two hours around the city before they finally came to an old road. Sarah stopped the car and got out. Gem followed suit and Justin did same, seeing that it seemed the best thing to do.

  "You didn't even get to see the city," Sarah said to Justin as they trudged on.

  "There isn't much about it from what I can see," he responded.

  "A lot of people only hear about the tales that surround this city, and when they do, they begin to dream about visiting the city where everything started. What they don't know is that a lot of things have changed over time. The Central no longer cares about this place, since most of the more advanced Powered have moved to West Michigan."

  She fell silent for a while, deciding whether to tell him more or just keep quiet. She chose to be quiet instead.

  "We're here," Gem announced.

  The trio was standing before a large building with two doors. There was a disturbing silence around it that made Justin nervous. He looked towards the others, but they were already walking towards the entrance.

  "Come on," Sarah called to him. "Not like we have the whole day to ourselves."

  Justin sighed and walked towards them. As soon as he got to the entrance, he felt something surge towards him. He stood back for a while, looking at the others, who were now smiling. He realized he had come too far to back out at this point. Despite his fear and reservations, he needed to get back to his normal life. The way he saw it, there was no other way about it.

  "I hope I don't regret this any more than I already do," he muttered as he stepped into the building.

  ---

  A little girl walked into a cake shop in West Michigan. She held a plastic pony in her hand and kept stroking its fake hair. She walked towards an array of cakes and pointed at one. The shop owner smiled widely at her.

  "That's a big cake, honey. Are you paying for it or are your parents?" The owner asked as he strained to see if anyone had come in with the girl.

  "Nobody's paying," a voice thundered.

  The man watched as the girl transformed into something else before him. He screamed loudly and made for his shotgun under the counter. He was too late, as the thing grabbed his arm and pressed itself against him. He howled in pain and stepped back.

  "Please, take anything you want. Just don't hurt me," he pleaded.

  "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to save you instead," the thing said to him.

  It rose up slowly and filled his mouth. Then, it found its way down his throat and he fell to the ground. When he got up again, his arm had been restored. A customer walked into the shop and went to him excitedly.

  "Uh... Good afternoon," the customer said.

  "Good afternoon, Martins. I've been waiting for you," the shop owner answered in a dead voice.

  The customer's smile disappeared instantly. He was about to say something but it got stuck in his throat as he saw a shotgun being pointed at him.

  "No! Please don't!" He pleaded before the shot rang out.

  The shop owner picked up the phone and dialed the emergency number.

  "Hello? Please, come quick. I just killed the bastard!" He said into the phone.

  ---

  Sam stared at the three men before him. Two of them had powers, according to what he had been told, and they had proved to be very difficult to capture alive. The third man was just a man who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  "Well, well. You lot are rather formidable," he said t
o them. "I must tell you this - I'm impressed by how you managed to get away from those soul eaters. It's really a big deal to me."

  They were all silent. Each of them studied him quietly, unsure of what was coming.

  "I'm really sorry they had to do that to you," Sam said as he pointed to the powered ones. "But I told them they needed to bring you in alive and that's why they had to cut you this deep."

  The third man saw an opening and took it quickly. "But I'm not one of them," he said.

  Sam turned towards him. "Of course, you're not one of them. Them, they had the advantage on their side and could have gotten away from those eaters easily. But you, without any advantage, still managed to escape through. I'm more interested in you."

  As soon as he had said this, Sam rose to his feet and walked to a table. There was lots of surgery equipment strewn all over it. He snapped his fingers and two men dragged an elderly looking man into the room. Sam threw his left arm around the man.

  "Doctor!" he called out loud. "I'm pretty sure you said you had evidence of - what did you call it again, unfathomable deaths of your students that came here to study. And now, I'm going to show you what really happened."

  He turned the man towards himself and forced his mouth open. He mumbled a few words, making sure the man was unable to move away from him as he took his soul. The body dropped to the ground when he was done. He turned towards the doctor, who had turned his head away.

  "Much as I'd like to oblige you further," Sam continued, "I'll be keeping these two alive. They have very important roles to play in the next couple of days."

  The doctor cringed. He had heard of the one who would bring the wrath of the Seventh on them all, but he didn't expect it to be the Mayor of West Michigan.

  Chapter 10

  Sam quickly cleaned the blood off his hand as he walked into his office. The new Governor had assumed office earlier in the day and he had requested to see him first before anything else. Sam was surprised that the man had wanted to see him first. It wasn’t like they hadn't seen much of each other in the past couple of days.

  "There he is," the Governor shouted as Sam walked in, "the hero of the city!"

  A round of applause greeted him warmly as Sam walked into the office. He was surprised that there were that many people waiting for him, and he had had no inkling of what was going on. Nonetheless, he warmed himself into the cheers and applauses.

  "Mr. Governor, what a surprise!" He admitted loudly.

  The man smiled back at him. Just as they hugged, the other man whispered something into Sam's ears which made him freeze a bit. He drew back and the smile crept back to his lips.

  "Thank you all for coming," he said to the others. "Please, enjoy yourselves."

  The Governor took him aside. When they were sure others were not looking, they slipped away and entered into a room.

  "Are you sure about this?" He asked when they had bolted the door shut.

  The Governor nodded. "It seems they want to start from the office. Of course, I told them they'd have to let me speak with you first."

  "How many men will they be sending?" Sam asked. There was something else in his voice that made the Governor cringe.

  "I don't know. Ten, twenty maybe."

  The Governor moved towards him quickly. "Let's not do things that way, please."

  Sam looked at the man with resentment. "And what else would you have us do? What?"

  "We could arrange to have them changed before they get here. I don't know, route their vehicle somewhere else and let your men do the dirty work instead. If they get here and anything happens to them, you'd be fingered as a suspect."

  The smile returned to Sam's face. "I like how you think. Let them come."

  The Governor smiled back at him and they headed to the office. The others had opened a bottle of champagne in their absence, celebrating something they didn't know about.

  "Please, gentlemen and ladies," Sam announced as he walked in. "Each and every single one of you are going to be witnesses to a new beginning - a new world where everything is possible. Where of course, death is defeated."

  A loud cheer rose into the air.

  Sam continued. "Now, I don't know if many of you really know me, but I can assure you, I would never promise you something that can't be done."

  He studied their faces, all of them. They had greed boldly written in those bulgy eyes and large lips. He counted; they were twenty-three in all, ten more than he had told the Governor they needed, but there was always room for more people.

  "Now, now. Let's not get carried away with what I'm promising you. You should all know that I'll be needing you to dip your hands into those fat accounts of yours as well."

  They all laughed at his joke. Afterwards, many of them brought out check books and began to sign them. A tray was passed round as they dropped the checks in it. Sam's smile never waned. He was studying them closely as they made those donations.

  “Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let's toast to a future that's yet to come!" He announced brightly. As glasses clinked and laughter filled the room, and he looked at the Governor who smiled gently at him as well. He raised his glass and drank the sweet wine slowly.

  ---

  A man zapped across his face as Justin walked in with the two others before him. He was surprised to see so many Powered people together for the first time in his life. He couldn't hide his surprise as more and more of them trooped out from different directions.

  "What is this place?" he finally asked, turning to Sarah.

  "Truth is, they tried desperately to make a name for this place, but since it was a secret hideout for special people like Gem here," she smiled at the girl behind them, "they decided it should have no name. That way, it was sure to remain a secret from the rest of the world."

  "Hey, Sarah!" Someone called loudly.

  They all turned to the direction of the voice and were staring at a woman who looked like she hadn't aged a day. Sarah sighed as walked towards her, Justin and Gem in tow.

  "Hello, sister," Sarah greeted as they finally got to where she was.

  "Is that any way to greet your own sister?" The woman asked with a soft voice.

  Sarah sighed and hugged her. She tried to pull away but the woman held her tightly.

  "I've missed you, you know?" She finally said.

  Justin turned towards Gem.

  "Trust me, they are the very opposites of each other," the girl told him with a grin.

  When they disengaged, the woman turned to Justin. "And you're the one carrying Shay, aren't you?"

  Justin nodded.

  "I'm sure he's quite a heavy thing to carry around," she whispered to him.

  Justin laughed. "Trust me, I can't wait to be relieved of this burden."

  Sarah butted in quickly. "Now that we're all here, can we please focus on something?"

  "Right, yes,” the other woman replied. "I'm Rachael, by the way," she said to Justin as they began to walk towards another area. "Our parents must have been really good Christians to name their twin daughters Rachael and Sarah."

  Sarah scoffed. She had heard enough tales already and wanted to get things done on time. "Rachael, please tell me you have a reason for coming to welcome us, unless you just felt bored and wanted to chat?"

  Rachael seemed hurt by what her sister was saying and she didn't hide it. "What are you saying? Of course, there's a reason we all are here. It's been what, seven years?"

  Sarah looked away. "Five years, Rachael. Five."

  Justin could feel the tension between the both of them as the exchange continued. He remembered how he used to be this difficult with his sister as well when she was still alive. As much as he willed it, he couldn't stop thinking about how she truly must be alive somewhere. After all, he was carrying the soul of another man around.

  Everything will become clear soon.

  Yeah, well. It better.

  Rachael stopped talking to Sarah after a while. It seemed the other woman
had come to terms with the fact that that her twin was never going to stick around for long. She swung open a large door and gestured for them all to go in.

  "This is as much as we could salvage from the wreck," she told them as she closed the door.

  Justin's eyes lit up at what he was seeing. He wanted to be sure about it, so he turned back to Rachael.

  "Yes, it's the old battle ship. The very one the Seventh had been sailing in."

  Whatever doubts he had about the authenticity of the danger they were in were automatically overridden by this very thing he was looking at. There had been rumors of how the ship had been destroyed and buried deep in the bottom of some ocean that no one knew about. Despite various efforts, no human expedition had been able to find out where it was.

  "How did you...?" Justin asked.

  Rachael shrugged. "One of my powers is being able to find things that have been lost for years."

  "But how? Wasn't it impossible to find before?" Sarah finally brought herself to ask.

  Gem snorted in a bid to stop herself from laughing. It wasn't very common to see Sarah ask about something, especially not from her sister.

  The other woman walked towards them. "I found the compass," she said.

  Justin, Gem and Sarah turned back to her at the same time. Justin, out of curiosity; the others, surprise.

  "Rachael!" Sarah nearly screamed out. "You found the compass?"

  The other woman dug into her purse and brought out a golden compass. The moment she opened it, a loud growl escaped from the ship, causing the others to jump back in fear.

  "Surprising as well, his beast is still very much alive," Rachael explained further. "Only, we don't know which part of the ship he's locked in. No one has been bold enough to go in, you know?"

  The others continued to stare at her in disbelief; only Justin was fascinated by what he was hearing. He walked towards the ship and touched it. The growl slowly became a whimper as the ship began to glow under his touch. Gem quickly tapped Sarah and Rachael. They all watched as Justin's clothes were burnt off from him, revealing a set of tattoos that they all recognized at once.