Ascension (The Ascension Series) (25 page)

“Hope that didn’t hurt too much,” Chloe
snarked. “Now tell us who sent you to kill us!”

The man continued to
moan in pain. Before they could inquire any further, the sirens of police cars blared through the streets. Cops pulled up to the block, got out of their cars, and drew their guns.

“Put your
hands up and lie on the ground!” an officer with a megaphone yelled.

“We’re not the bad guys!” Clark shouted
back.

“I said hands up!” the offic
er yelled through the megaphone.

“We just stopped these guys from destroying the city!” Donny yelled.

“As masked vigilantes, each of you is under arrest,” the officer went on.

John placed his hand out toward one of the officers and the officer’s gun was immediately yanked out of his hands. The gun then flew into John’s hand.

“Fire!” yelled the officer with the megaphone.

Each of the officers pulled their triggers and fired off their handguns. Bullet after bullet shot toward the six masked superheroes but John was making
the bullets stop in midair.

“You gotta teach me that one, John!” Charles yelled.

Hundreds upon hundreds of bullets were suspended in the air between the six teenagers and the cops that were attempting to either kill or capture them. All of the cops’ guns jammed once they were out of ammunition. Then John placed his hand down. Hundreds of bullets dropped to the ground. The police officers were in utter shock.

John threw his hand
s out again and two of the police cars shot into the air. The cars came falling down as the officers ran out of the way to avoid being crushed.

“Come on!” Clark yelled. “Let’s go!”

The six teenagers lifted into the air and flew off as the police officers recuperated.

“Where are we going?” Sarah shouted as they flew east.

“Back to Mecha!” Clark said.

Minutes later they arrived back to the warehouse. They entered through the backdoor as they always did and took a moment to catch their breath.

“What the hell was that!?” Clark shouted to John.

“I was protecting us,” John said quietly.

“By lifting their cars into the air!?” Clark said as he removed his goggles.

“By stopping each of
us from being shot to hell and back!” John yelled as he pulled his domino mask off. “And now, Clark, you see how authority treats you when you try to do what’s right! It’s thrown right back in your fucking face! How much longer until you remove the blindfold that prevents you from seeing reality. I will no longer serve as a savior for those who reject me.”

“Calm down, John,” Charles said.

“I will not calm down!” John yelled even louder before addressing all of them in the warehouse. “Do none of you understand what we are capable of? These are the powers that grant us
immortality
and we squander it on the undeserved! I will no longer sit back in silence. I will no longer serve a role in this superhero nonsense. Don’t you see? We are
prophets
. We can do what others cannot. These powers are here to
guide
us. We are not meant to be the slaves of an unhinged society.”

John lowered his voice as the others looked on. He walked toward the exit and said to them, “We were made, not as equals, but as superiors.”

John slammed the door shut behind him as he left.

“Whoa,” Donny said. “Someone must’ve had a bad day.”

“I hope he’s okay,” Chloe said.

It was late and they were tired so they all agreed to separate and head home.
As he usually did, Clark snuck into his house through a window in the backyard. He removed his superhero outfit and lied down. He wanted to think about his football game on the following day and the event he planned for Sarah but instead he worried about John.

After Clark awoke the next morning
on Thursday, he gave himself a moment to really process the decisions he had made over the past several weeks. Sure, he had made mistakes along the way but he felt that most of his actions were done in order to help others. He didn’t believe what John said the night prior was true and only hoped that John would soon come to his senses.

With the fresh start of a new day ahead, Clark was happy to greet Sarah when she arrived to his house that morning. He grabbed her by the hand and led her up to his room. Although she
also voiced concerns about John, she was determined to remain in high spirits. When Clark promised her a big day ahead, Sarah told him she was happy to have things back to the way they once were. They enjoyed each other’s company as they spoke of where their relationship was headed. They were all smiles as they took to the air in rapturous flight a half hour later.

When they arrived at school, Clark kissed Sarah and told her he had business to attend to. Instead of spending the next few minutes together, they parted ways and Clark immediately headed for the room where band practice was held. It was a large room at the far end of the school
with double doors that were supposed to be sound proof. When Clark entered the room he found an array of students polishing their trombones, French horns, tubas, and drums.

“Hello, Clark!” said the kid who headed the band.

“Is everything set for tonight?” Clark asked.

“Yeah, it’s all a go.”

“Great!” Clark said. “I want it to be perfect for tonight.”

“Don’t worry,” the band leader told him. “Sarah’s going to love it.”

“Excellent. Then I’ll see you guys tonight,” Clark said as he shook the kid’s hand and hurried off. Clark went down another hall and walked into another classroom. This one was full of crafts. Students were using thick markers of various colors to decorate large posters.

“Hey Clark,” one of the students said.

“You guys still preparing the posters?” Clark asked.

“Yeah, we’re doing it just like you asked.”

“Great!” Clark said. “I can’t wait.”

“
It will all be ready for tonight’s game,” the student told him.

Clark thanked them and quickly left the room. He took a look at the digital clock in the hallway
and noticed that it was time for class to begin. So Clark went to his locker, grabbed the right book, and headed straight for his first period history class. He was relieved to see John when he entered the room. John was wearing his usual black trench coat and his pale face was largely obscured by his long blonde hair. Clark assumed John was brooding with his head held down─ and that wasn’t out of the ordinary for him.

“Hey, John,” Clark said. “Are you okay, buddy?”

John said nothing. He did, however, look over at Clark and nod his head.

“Well, uh, John. I’m sorry about what happened last night,” Clark said. “I just wanted to make sure there are no hard feelings between us.”

John turned his expressionless face away from Clark and shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m no longer a part of your group, Clark,” John said with his head down.

“Okay,” Clark said. “That’s fine. But I still want us to be friends.”

“Sure, Clark,” John said
nonchalantly, his head still down.

“You seem to be a little melancholy today,” Clark tried to joke.

With his head still down, John chuckled. The history teacher, Mrs. Tessler, entered the room and began rummaging through various papers on her desk. The bell rang and she started her lecture.

“Today’s class will focus on the Wilmot Provisio,” said the teacher. “
The Wilmot proviso of 1846 was an ill-advised provision introduced in the House of Representatives that attempted to answer sectional confrontation as a response to the Mexican War.”

Clark, along with the majority of the class, began to take notes while John did nothing. He seemed to have zoned out as the teacher went on and on about a topic that interested very few of them.

Roughly forty-five minutes into the first period history class, the teacher was interrupted during her lecture when the intercom came on.

“Hello, Mrs. Tessler,” said the voice over the intercom.

“Yes,” said the teacher.

“We need John Aher
n to report to the front office immediately.”

“Okay,” the teacher said. “I’ll send him now.”

The intercom shut off and John stood up before grabbing his backpack. He looked at Clark and then his teacher before walking off and leaving the room. John walked slowly to the main office. He didn’t really care what any of the school authorities wanted him for. He did, however, think for a moment that he had been connected to the incident with the police. So moments later he entered through the glass door of the office and asked why they called for him.

“Am I in trouble?” John asked as he swept his hair to the side in order to keep it from blocking his vision.

“John Ahern?” the secretary asked. “No, you’re not in trouble. There’s just something we’d like to tell you in the principal’s office.”

The secretary pointed him to the office of Principal Hayes. John walked down the short hall and entered the office. Principal Hayes was sitting in his chair. A grave look was
etched upon his face and standing next to the principal was a law enforcement officer.

“John Ahern,” Principal Hayes said.

“Yes?” John answered.

“Please, sit down, son,” the principal said.

“What is this about?” John asked as he sat in front of the principal’s desk and dropped his backpack on the floor.

The principal looked up to the standing officer and then returned his eyes to John.

“I’m afraid,” the principal said, he gulped with a lump in his throat before continuing. “I’m afraid you’ve been called in here so we may deliver, with a heavy heart, some particularly bad news.”

“What is it!?” John asked.

The principal spoke slowly and quietly. “Your father passed away this morning.”

“What!?”
John asked. His voice cracked and his arms trembled.

“I’m sorry, son,” the police officer said. “He died this morning of an apparent overdose. His parole officer visited your home around eight fifteen and found your father convulsing. By the time he was rushed to the hospital, he
had passed away.”

“No,” John said
, his voice trembling. “Please, no. He was getting better.”

John’s body remained tense. He gritted his teeth in anger yet his eyes welled up with tears.

“I’m so sorry, John,” Principal Hayes told him.

“I have no one,” John said as tears streamed down his face.

“Records show that your mother is deceased,” the officer said. “And because you are a minor
with no relatives, I’m afraid that means you are now a ward of the state.”

“No!” John shouted with rage. He stood up and the entire room began to shake. The principal looked around in fear and held onto his seat. The desk in the office rose off the floor, papers and books began spinning throughout the room, and the chair John was sitting in lifted into the air and went flying directly at the police officer. The chair hit the officer and
knocked him off his feet.

Every item that was whirling around the room fell to the floor and John ran out of the door. He ran out of the room past the secretary and then out of the school building. The police officer who he knocked over with the chair ran after him. John ran
outside and into the woods and the officer followed after him. There was a loud swoop and John was gone. The officer looked around the woods and could find John nowhere. Unbeknown to him, John had taken flight.

With his arms outstretched John soared through the sky. The cool air had dried his face and wiped his tears away. But his
sorrow remained. He flew faster and faster as if he were speeding to reach his destination within a certain time. Minutes later John swooped down and descended into a field of grass. He was across the tracks and in front of him was the old abandoned train station. He looked at the train station for a moment and then lifted himself into the air. John levitated over the top of the train station and lowered through the hole in the roof.

The inside of the train station was just as worn and dusty as it was when John took Andrew to it.
John peered around the dark train station which was lit only by the light that shone through the hole in the roof. Then he wept once more. John closed his eyes as tears poured down his face. He dropped to his knees and begged for peace of mind.

“Please,” John cried out. “Why me? Why
, mother? Why did you have to die? Why did my father have to die just as he was getting better? He told me things were going to be different. I thought we were going to be a family again.”

He punched his fists into the ground
, creating a dent in the floor, and screamed as if he were in immense pain.

“Pl
ease!” John begged. “Listen to me, mother. I know you can hear me. Why do I have these powers if I can save no one? Why am I burdened with immortality if it means I have to sit by and watch everyone I love perish? I could have saved you, mother. I could have saved you. And I could have saved my father.”