Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (19 page)

Philip didn’t understand to correlation between the fact and Jennifer’s comfort and had to ask, “Why?”

“Simply put, if there is a point in the universe where I can go and look back and see dinosaurs then surely there is an infinite amount of points where I can go and see my father being born, going for his first day to school, meeting my mother,  teaching me how to ride a bike and, sadly, an infinite amount of points where I can go and watch him die. It comforts me to know that these places exist, and there is no denial of this. It is a solid fact. But one more fact remains, sadly I will never be able to go there.”

This incredibly deep and profound thought hit Philip deeper than anything had in such a long time. Struggling to put into words how he felt he let the thought flow through him.

Eventually gearing up to say something, he was cut short by the float on the end of Jennifer’s line disappearing under the water. Jumping up excitedly and grabbing her rod she shrieked at Philip. “What do I do?” Talking her through exactly what she was to do, Philip helped her land her first fish and that night’s dinner.

Lee returned to the cabin to find it still empty, as he stepped back onto the porch he was greeted by Philip carrying all the equipment and by Jennifer with dinner in hand.

“Oh my god, you actually caught something. It took me ages to ever catch anything!”

Jennifer ran up placed her lips on his and said, “I hope you are good at cleaning fish.” All three laughed as Lee took the fish inside to prepare. Jennifer stopped before entering the cabin and turned to Philip. She didn’t have to speak, but each offered the other a subtle nod and that was all they had to say. They knew that the other would keep the conversation private as they didn’t want to affect Lee’s happiness.

CHAPTER TEN

A few weeks after the trip to the cabin Jennifer had to stay late at work to do a stock take in the coffee shop. Lee decided to surprise her with a nice romantic meal, spending hours working in the kitchen on what he hoped to be something special for the two of them. Jennifer was always the one looking after him, so he was looking forward to the opportunity to do something nice for her.

Time passed and Jennifer was late. Aware she should be back but feeling no sense of panic he continued to prep the food in the kitchen. He heard the front door open, which was not unusual, but the slam that followed it was. Walking into the sitting room expecting to see Jennifer coming his way, he was only met by her disappearing shadow as she went straight into the bedroom. Following her in, he asked, “Are you ok? Did something happen?”

Looking back at Lee through tear-filled eyes, all Jennifer could muster was, “They took it,” and she broke down crying. Lee rushed over and threw his hands around her. “Who took what?”

Choked up and emotional Jennifer needed to compose herself to answer Lee. “I was mugged, and they took my locket. It’s the only thing I have left from him.”

Lee both saddened and angered asked once more, “Your father’s locket?”

Jennifer whimpered, “Yes.” and broke down again.

Panicked, Lee pleaded, “Did they hurt you?”

“Not physically,” she answered.

“Did they take your phone?” Jennifer was unable to answer. “Please Jennifer, did they take your phone?”

Confused Jennifer answered, “Yes, but I don’t care about that.”

Lee stood up, walked over to his laptop and opened it, his fingers furiously tapped at the keyboard and his eyes were transfixed on the screen.

Jumping up and proclaiming, “I got the bastards!” He grabbed his coat and disappeared out the door. Jennifer didn’t understand what Lee was doing and felt hurt that he left her when she needed him the most. She would never have done this to him. Not moving from their bed Jennifer was emotionally drained and just lay there for hours, falling in and out of sleep.

Night time set in and Lee was nowhere to be seen when the house phone rang. Unable to regain her strength she let it ring out. The ringing only stopped long enough for the person on the other end to punch in the number again. Once more Jennifer did not answer. The phone rang a third time, heartbroken and drained Jennifer pulled herself up from under the sheets and picked up the phone. When she answered she was met by a solid questioning voice, “Is this Jennifer Patzner?

“Ehh yes,” Jennifer replied and before she had the opportunity to question the man on the other end of the line, he spoke.

“You need to come to St. James hospital, Lee Sopota is here. He is ok, but he is asking for you.”

Panic set in as Jennifer grabbed her coat and ran straight out the door, jumped in the car and left for the hospital. Jennifer abandoned her car right at the entrance to the hospital. She ran to the reception where an unhelpful nurse pointing to the elevator. “The ER is in the basement.” Jennifer jumped in the elevator banging on the buttons as the door closed and made her way down. She ran to the counter and asked, “Where is Lee?” The man who spoke to her on the phone was sitting behind the counter and asked, “Are you Jennifer?”

“I am, where is Lee?”

“It’s ok, there is no panic, he is fine.” The man said reassuringly. “He only has some bruising and a few cuts along with a couple of cracked ribs.”

“Cracked ribs?” Jennifer shrieked, “How is that fine?” before the man could answer she demanded, “I need to see him!”

The man came out from behind the desk and said, “No problem, follow me.” Jennifer did as the man asked. Walking down the corridor he said, “We had a call from a local drug house that there was a disturbance and we needed to send an ambulance. He really is very lucky, I don’t know why someone like him would be in a place like that.”

Rounding a corner, Jennifer could see Lee sitting in a chair being attended to by a young doctor. She ran up to him throwing her arms around him once more seeking reassuring comfort. “Are you ok? What happened?” she squeezed Lee a little too tight and he winced with pain.

The doctor said, “You will have to go easy on this fella, he has been through quite an ordeal.” He handed Lee a painkiller and some water. “Take these and get some rest,” and he left the room.

Jennifer waited for the doctor to leave and demanded from Lee, “What the hell?”

Lee simply opened his hand and inside there was the locket. “Be more careful with it next time,” and laughed, although it was cut short by pain.

Jennifer was visibly shaken by what was happening, “Why would you risk yourself for a locket?”

“It was never a risk, I was never going to lose,” he proclaimed.

“But what if you did? I don’t know what your power is but how can you expect to beat everyone?” she asked.

His lip curved and he answered, “Well I always have.” Reaching out his hand he wiped away a tear from her cheek declaring, “Look Jennifer, I will never stand by while someone I love gets wronged. It’s not in my nature. I don’t bow down before bullies. Not now, not ever. But the thing you need to trust is that I am smart about it. If there was even a remote chance I would have not got your locket and got back to you in one piece I would not have taken the risk.”

Accepting this, Jennifer asked, “Will I call your father?”

Emphatically Lee responded, “No! Let’s just go home.” 

              CHAPTER ELEVEN

Growing
comfortable
in
his
life
with
Jennifer,
Lee
failed
to
see
that
his
brother’s
life
was
beginning
to
unravel
.
Tom
was
growing
distant
from
him
and
his
family
and
eventually
stopped
coming
to
share
the
holidays
with
them
.
This
new
routine
did
not
sit
well
with
Lee
and
Philip,
so
after
some
discussion
Lee
decided
the
pair
would
pay
his
brother
a
visit.

The
two
drove
to
Tom's
apartment,
but
his
brother
was
not
to
be
found.
Lee,
knowing
Tom,
understood
that
the
most
likely
place
for
him
to
be
was
in
his
father’s
cabin.
It
was
also
a
good
place
to
go
if
a
person
didn’t
want
to
be
found
as
it
was
secluded
and
private
and
paired
with
Tom’s
survival
skills
it
was,
for
the
most
part,
self-sufficient.

They went to the cabin where they found the door ajar. Philip looked at Lee.

“Well at least we know he’s here.”

Pushing the door he went inside and Lee followed. The first thing that hit Lee was the stale smell. It smelled like someone had been there drinking for days. Lee looked over to the sink and it was full of dirty dishes and surrounded by empty beer cans. His eyes scanned the room for any signs of his brother. Lee looked over to the table and there was a man doubled over asleep, surrounded by more empty beers cans. Lee thought to himself,
this could not be Tom
as he had never seen him in that kind of state before, but Lee’s loyalty to his brother was wrong. It was in fact Tom and he was still drunk.

This
was
not
something
either
of
them
expected
from
the
highly
disciplined
soldier
that
Tom
was.
Lee
sat
and
spoke
softly
and
candidly
to
his
brother,
a
man
who
he
truly
looked
up
to, with
the
knowledge
his
brother
only
had
his
best
intentions
at
heart
and
being
able
to trust
him
with
any
secret.
Tom
began
to
speak,
opening
up
to
Lee
all
about
his
true
role
in
the
army,
the
things
that
the
government
were
doing
in
order
to
maintain
the
balance
of
peace.
He told
him
about
his
reconnaissance
missions
and
what
they
were
truly
in
aid
of, speaking
of
how
the
government
really
dealt
with
crime
factions
loyal
to
the
Old
World
Alliance,
with
a
bloody
and
cruel
iron
fist.

Anyone
who
stood
in
opposition
to
the
world
treaty
would
be
suppressed
in
the
name
of
a
higher
peace.
Before
the
government
wiped
out
its
enemies
it
would
perform
experiments
on
the
individuals
in
order
to
learn
their
weaknesses
so
the
government
could
better
quash
future
uprisings
and
maintain
the
balance
of
power.

Lee had long
suspected
that
the
reason
the
stories
of
this
nature
got
pulled
from
his
newspaper
was
governmental
interference.
All
of
Tom’s
stories
then
culminated
into
one;
the
government
used
Tom
to
recon
all
the
enemies
of
the
states,
then
used
a
weapon
against
the
opposing
factions
to
eliminate
them.

“I
never
knew
what
the
weapon
was,
until
one
night
on
a
mission
I
got
delayed
from
his
extraction
and witnessed
the
army
using
the
weapon.
What
I
viewed
was
not
what
I
expected. The
weapon
wasn’t
a
what
it
was
a
who
.”

He went on to explain further.
“I viewed
the
target
compound
for
about
six
hours
to
get
an
accurate
and
detailed
report
of
all
inside
and
I
also
had
to
make
sure
that
the
main
target
was
inside.
After
five
hours
I
reported
back
to
base
that
there
was
a
positive
ID
on
the
target.
I
also
stated
that
the
target’s
families
were
in
residence,
including
women
and
children...”

“After waiting
an
hour
I
radioed
back
to
base
that
they
were
clear
to
engage.
As
I
maneuvered
my
way
to
the
extraction
point,
I
found
myself
pinned
down
between
a
tower
and
a
patrol
vehicle,
which
had
stopped
to
check
the
perimeter.

Being
careful
to
go
unseen
I
hid
in
a
shallow
drain
on
a hill
overlooking
the
compound.
It
was
this
delay
and
vantage
point
that
allowed
me
to
see
what
was
going to
happen, being
able
to
view
the
courtyard
to
the
compound
and
the
buildings
that
over
looked
it.
Along
the
perimeter
I
was
able
to
see
the
two
watch
towers
that
had
guards
concealed
within.
It
was
then
I
heard
a
large
explosion,
as
one
of
the
towers
burst
into
violent
flames and
the
guards
within
screeched
with
agony
from
the
flames
burning
them
alive
. But the
screams
were
short
lived
when
another
explosion
echoed
out
from
the
other
tower. This
time
there
were
no
screams
and
the
compound
fell
silent
for
a
moment
that
seemed
to
last
an
eternity.