The Secret of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 4) (7 page)

T
he future looked far worse
than Athena had imagined. She walked among the destroyed city, both in awe of the technological and architectural advancements, while at the same time in shock over the fact that it all laid in ruins. She stepped across broken glass and over twisted metal beams. The shoes she wore were a pair of blue and white ones that had a check mark on them. She’d found them amongst the rubble, in awe of how comfortable they were.

In the time since she’d discovered her powers, she’d traveled to the future many times. But never this far. Something terrible had obviously happened, and Athena felt a sadness grow within her. She’d seen many amazing things, gone to many beautiful places, but this was not one of them. Death and destruction surrounded her for as far as the eye could see.

What type of place had the beautiful Earth she called home turned to? She had the immense blessing to see it from many different places, and many different times. But this was the first place and time that she wished that she never saw. She knew it was going to color everything she saw, everyplace she went, from there on out. She’d never again be able to look at a beautiful landscape without thinking that all the death and destruction that now surrounded her would be what it would all come to. She wouldn’t be able to look at someone’s beautiful child without thinking that his or her descendants would one day inherit this Earth, an Earth marred by decay and destruction. An Earth that didn’t live up to the beauty and standards that she’d experienced for herself firsthand.

As she looked out upon this desolate future, something flew down from the sky fast and hard, landing nearby. Athena took a step backwards, her mind ready to go back to her time just in case danger was approaching.
What was that?
She wondered. She looked up at a nearby building that she imagined once towered tall into the sky, was now nothing more than a pile of rubble. Something must’ve fallen from the top of the pile, which was still a long ways up.

“Who are you?” a voice said from behind her.

Athena practically jumped from her skin. She spun around, almost tripping on a piece of rebar that sat next to her foot. In front of her stood a young looking man, probably almost twenty. He stood before her, his clothes tattered and eyes glowing. She opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come.

“Are you real?” the man asked, taking a step forward.

“Y-yes,” she answered, moving back. “I’ve never seen another one like me before.”

The man cocked his head. “Like you?”

Athena concentrated on her eyes, and they began to glow.

The young man’s eyes grew wide, and Athena was shocked when she saw tears actually coming from them. “You’re like me?” he said. “You’re like me!” he cried out.

Athena wasn’t sure what to do. “Yes, it seems that way.” She looked around her at the destroyed buildings that lay as far as the eye could see. “What happened here?”

The young man wiped his face. “I destroyed everything,” he said. “I killed everyone. It got out of hand, I couldn’t stop myself. They all wanted me to die but they couldn’t stop me. I…I didn’t know what to do,” the young man said, fighting the tears. “I’ve been so lonely. I’ve been so lonely.”

Athena took a step forward, a motherly instinct she didn’t know she had rising up within her. She placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Shhh, it’ll be alright,” she said, comforting.

“I thought I was going to be alone forever. There was never anybody else like me. Never anybody to stop me. But now you’re here. Now I’m not alone,” he said looking up at Athena, wiping a trail of snot from his nose.

Athena nodded. “Yes, I’m here now. What is your name?”

The young man turned his head away, as if Athena had asked a shameful question. She began to wonder if maybe it was a taboo question in the future.

“I used to go by Richter, but you can just call me Patrick,” he said.

Athena held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you Patrick. I’m Athena.”

I
finished unloading
my clothes from my suitcase. After agreeing to help the British, Selena and I flew back to Texas to get everybody’s luggage. We would’ve brought it in the first place, but our hands were a bit full seeing as we had to get three people over the ocean who couldn’t fly.

I shut my drawer, and looked around. The room was identical to the one I spent the night in the last time Selena and I paid our friends an overnight visit. The walls were plain, and there sat a bed in one corner, and desk in the other, a clothes dresser, and a door that led to the bathroom.

I went to the bathroom and got out my toothbrush and toothpaste, setting them on the counter. I looked at myself in the mirror. Despite the fact that I looked fine thanks to my healing abilities, they did nothing to help ease my mind. I felt tired and stressed, like a heavy cloud was sitting on top of my head. I looked down at my toothbrush, thinking about what it signified. It meant I was unpacked. I’d moved into this new home. It meant we were going to be staying in London for quite some time.

And I highly doubted we were going to find Samantha in London.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got my eye on her,” a voice behind me said, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.

I looked up and saw no-one in the mirror. I turned around, and standing in front of the door, was Athena. “What are you doing here?” I asked. I looked at her and back at the mirror. Her reflection still hadn’t appeared. “Are you a vampire or something?”

Athena let out a beautiful, warm laugh. The kind that made me feel proud, as if I’d just told my parent a joke that I came up with, and they were genuinely laughing at it. “No, Kane, of course not,” she said. Her tan skin was flawless. I began to wonder how old she was. She looked like she couldn’t have been any older than forty.

“How come you’re not in the mirror?” I asked.

“It’s taking quite a lot out of me to appear to you in a vision like this. I can’t waste unnecessary strength by making sure I show up in a reflection,” she said with a chuckle.

“So this is all in my head?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m appearing in your mind. I could hear that you were thinking about Samantha. Don’t worry, I’ve got an eye on her. She’s fine,” Athena said. I could tell she knew more than she was letting on, but I also knew that there was no way she was telling me what that was.

“Well, we’re in London like you asked. What now?” I asked, leaning back against the bathroom counter.

“Yes, you’re doing excellent so far, Kane. You’re living up to our deal.” Athena took a step towards me. “I just wanted to let you know that you need to be careful,” she said.

“Careful?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “About what?”

“Careful that you don’t lose sight of what I want you to do. You’re constantly worrying about Samantha, I need you to not worry so much about her. Don’t let her get in the way of doing what I ask of you.”

I didn’t like what Athena was saying. She wanted me to not worry about my best friend that was missing? What kind of request was that? “I’m sorry,” I said. “I want to do what you’re asking of me. I want to live up to the deal that we made. But I can’t just
not
worry about my friend.”

Athena smiled. “That’s one of the things I love about you, Kane. The care and compassion you show for your friends is astounding. But don’t be
too
trusting. After all, if you put all your trust in someone, they’re bound to let you down.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

Athena smirked. “Just be careful, Kane. Stay on guard, even when you’re amongst friends. You never know when there’s a wolf amongst you.”

I shook my head. “Was your goal in coming here to confuse me? Because you’re not making a lot of sense right now.”

Athena’s form flickered, and I thought I heard someone calling my name. “I think I hear someone calling for me, I should go see who it is.”

“Yes, I must be going as well. My energy is waning. I can’t keep this form up for much longer.”

I was about to walk away, when something came to mind. “Oh, before you go,” I said, stopping Athena. “Who was it that took control of me the other night? Right after you got taken away, I saw a man with green eyes, and when I woke up mine were glowing white and I had no control over my body.”

Athena’s gaze went cold. “Do not fret, Kane. I am taking care of that situation as we speak. You just worry about getting rid of Jigsaw and his gang. Once that’s complete, I will tell you exactly what you need to do in order to repay your debts.”

With that, Athena disappeared, and I was left alone in my bathroom. I shook my head and scoffed with frustration. What was the point in Athena even appearing? All she did was talk nonsense for a few minutes, tell me I shouldn’t care so much about Samantha, then only leave two seconds for me to ask about what the hell even happened a couple nights ago.

I walked out of the bathroom and to the front door, opening it up to see who was calling my name earlier. I saw Selena walking away, and called out to her. “Hey, were you calling for me?” I asked.

Selena turned around and shook her head. “No, I was walking to try and find something to eat.”

“Oh, I’ll come with you,” I said as I walked out of my room, locking the door behind me. Selena stood there and waited for me to jog to her side.

We walked down the hallway, neither one of us speaking. We really didn’t have the chance to in the past couple of days, even when we flew from London to Texas and back to get our luggage. I just couldn’t find the right place to start.

We turned left down another hallway. This was a short one that led to a large open area where people were sitting at various booths and tables, looking at papers or chatting to one another over a cup of coffee.

“Looks like there’s a cafe over there,” I said, pointing to a small coffee shop and cafe that had a small line leading from the cash register. We walked over and stood in line, waiting for our turn to order.

“This feels so weird,” she said, breaking the silence.

“What does?” I asked.

“
This
,” she said, gesturing in front of her. “A line. Standing in it. Trying to decide what food I want to order. It feels so…normal.”

I hadn’t thought about it, but now that she mentioned, a strange feeling washed over me. Almost nostalgic, really. She was right, it did feel very, very weird. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m used to eating food we find scavenging, or when Drew goes out hunting.”

“He’s a really good hunter,” Selena said with a smirk.

“Yeah, he’s not that bad. He used to come over to my parent’s farm all the time and hunt coyotes on the land behind our house. I’d go sometimes, but it never really was my thing.”

“I don’t blame you,” Selena said as we stepped forward in line. “Hunting was a huge deal where I grew up in Texas. I never really got into it.”

We stood there for a few moments. I wasn’t sure what to say next. I knew what I needed to, and I knew what she wanted me to, but I wasn’t sure how to do it. I’m not sure why I was expecting Selena to get mad. I mean, why would someone get mad at an apology? I guess it was just my guilt and shame getting in the way of what I needed to do.

Finally, I just blurted it out. “Look, about the other ni—”

“—Kane,” Selena said, interrupting me. “I get it. You weren’t in control. It wasn’t you. I understand. I was just really pissed off because you messed up the house, you were hurting Drew and Eddie, and you were hitting me. My adrenaline was still running high by the time you woke up, and when you turned out to be okay, I needed an outlet for my emotions. So that’s why I was being so stand-offish towards you. But I get it. I know that wasn’t you.”

I didn’t know what to say. After all that time I thought she was being pissed off and avoiding me, when really she understood what I was going through. “Well, thanks for understanding. And I totally deserved anything you dished out at me, so it’s totally fine.”

A smirk appeared on Selena’s face as we stepped forward in line. “That was a pretty good fight though. I think it’s safe to say I was winning it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right. I was about to stick you with that fence post, and that probably would’ve been the end of that one. That hurt like hell, by the way. I couldn’t heal properly with that thing skewering me.”

Selena let out a laugh. “Good! You deserved it, asshole.”

It was our turn to order, and we both got a sandwich and a water. When it came time to pay, however, we both realized that we didn’t actually have any money. Paying for things with cash was a concept we’d abandoned surprisingly quick.

“Don’t worry about it, you guys have done plenty of good,” the young lady cashier said, her accent thick and voice quiet.

“Thanks,” I said.

“We appreciate it,” Selena followed.

We both found a booth to sit in and began eating our food.

“Did you see what some of the soldiers are carrying around?” Selena asked.

I shook my head as I chewed my sandwich.

“They’ve got a ton of Eximus rifles.”

“Really?” I said, shocked. “How’d they get their hands on Eximus gear? Did The Legion bring it over?”

Selena shook her head. “Drew was talking to Ellie about possibly getting his Eximus implants removed, and she said that they’ve gotten a bunch of gear from the STF, so their scientists know a lot about the stuff and think it might be possible.”

I didn’t know what to say. There were so many topics I wanted to know more about. “So Drew is really thinking about getting his implants removed? Why?”

“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it came from people that want all of his friends dead. Besides, who knows what kind of health effects that stuff has.”

“Well, I hope they can remove them if that’s what he really wants,” I said. “But that’s strange that The STF is sending gear. You’d think they
wouldn’t
want to help a government who has Supers as a part of their arsenal.”

Selena nodded, taking a sip of water. “Yeah, it’s kinda strange. At least we know that they’re still around and active. Apparently, even have operating boats and planes if they were able to get gear over here.”

“Which means that if they’re still active enough to be doing stuff like that, then their bases are still safe, which hopefully means my parents are as well,” I said, staring down at my plate. A pit appeared in my stomach, swallowing my appetite. I didn’t want to think about what my parents could be going through at that moment. They could either be perfectly fine, or doing really, really bad, and I had no way to find out.

“Kane and Selena, please report to Ellie Montgomery’s office immediately,” a voice said over the speaker.

Selena and I exchanged a glance as we stood from our booth, and walked down the hall towards Ellie’s office.