Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Fantasy

Jake bolted awake. His breaths were heavy and fast. Sweat soaked his clothes and covered his skin. Nothing could stop the haunting nightmares of his past. Dreams filled with images of his mother, lifeless on the kitchen floor. His father standing above her, then slowly turning and walking out the door. No explanation. No remorse. Only eleven then, Jake could do nothing but stare at his caring, wonderful, loving mother, dead on the floor. Just staring, unable to grasp the reality of it all. Gaze unfaltering until the police showed up, and brought him to his aunt and uncle’s house.

Jake looked around at the tiny jail cell. The walls and floor were painted an uncomfortably dark shade of green. The bed was nothing more than a raised cement slab. A surveillance camera rest high in a corner pointed directly at an old metal toilet. The bars of the cell were a rustic iron, and gave view to nothing but a wall of a desolate hallway. Jake pushed himself into a stand and pressed his face against the bars.

“Please!” He yelled out. “You need to let me explain.” his heart was pounding in fear and frustration. “I didn’t do it. You need to believe me.” He knew they wouldn’t. Who could possibly believe a story like that. Jake let out a sigh as his heart sank a little more. He grabbed the bars and pulled into them more as he yelled, “This is Bullshit!”


CLANK


A night stick bashed against the metal followed by the night guard. “Shut the hell up, kid.” he said angrily.

“No, no wait,” Jake started before the guard could leave. “There was something there with me.”

The guard beamed at him with disgust. “I don’t give a damn what voice told you to do it. You’re sick, kid. And you will burn for this.” At that he walked out of view.

An hour and a half passed by with jake left in silence and thoughts. Thoughts of disgust, bewilderment, and flashbacks. His racing mind would have continued if it hadn’t been for a loud boom outside. Jake’s whole cell shook for just a second. He stood and slowly walked to the wall of bars. He placed one hand on the cold iron in front of him.he could hear the shuffling of the night guard down the hall.

Jake assumed the officer reached the door as the shuffling stopped. But the silence was immediately broken by a deafening blast. The entire hall was illuminated in a fiery yellow. The two steel doors from the entrance banged and crashed against the walls as they flew down the hall. They zipped past Jake’s view with great speed. His heart sped and jumped in his chest as fear overwhelmed him.

‘It came back for me.’ he thought. He muttered out a shaky whisper. “I’m going to die.” He stood frozen, staring out of the cell. Echoing, heavy footsteps began approaching from the end of the hall. As they slowly got closer, Jake looked around frantically. There was no axe this time. Nothing he could use to defend himself. Just an empty, gloomy cell, that was about to become his tomb. A black combat boot stepped into view. Another step revealed a tall, human figure dressed all in black. The flame’s reflection danced off of his skull shaped mask. Jake’s heart was at an all time high, as he waited for whatever was next.

“Jake Fox?” a raspy voice inquired.

“Who the hell are you?” Jake was relieved that it wasn’t the monster from the station, but still cautious to this stranger in front of him.

The skull man raised his hand to his mask and spoke into it. “This is Harper. I’ve got the boy.” He raised his arm and faced an open palm at Jake. Every muscle tightened in Jake’s body as he braced himself. A snow-like mist shot from the man’s hand. The powder hit a  steady stream directly on the bars in front of Jake. As the shower continued a heavy frost built up over the iron. Jake could hear the old metal cracking and popping as it got colder. The mist eventually stopped, leaving a big section completely white. The man brought his arm to rest at his side. 

“Back up.” he calmly directed Jake.

“What the...How the hell did…?”

“Listen kid, do you really wanna sit around and play twenty questions, or do you wanna get the hell outta here?” As confused as he was, Jake’s gut told him to trust this ‘Harper’ guy. He took a couple steps back slowly. Harper raised his thick soled boot, and brought it down hard into the frozen bars. Chunks of metal crashed to the floor, leaving a giant hole for Jake. He crawled through, one leg at a time. Harper was already making his way down the hall. Jake ran to catch up, and almost tripped over the night guard lying silently on the floor. He looked up at Harper.

“Is he dead?”

“Unconscious,” stated Harper calmly, not breaking his gaze on the hole where the steel doors use to be. Flashing blue and red illuminated them as the stepped outside into the fenced parking lot. Squad cars and black SWAT vans surrounded them. Numerous clicks and clanks echoed as handguns and rifles were trained on Jake and Harper.

A loud voice filled the thick night air. “Cease and desist. Lie down on the ground and place your hands above your heads.” as Jake slowly brought his hands up, he noticed a tiny flicker of orange come from Harper’s hands. Harper dropped to one knee and flung his arms out in a circular motion as flames spewed out of his palms. A wall of fire quickly enclosed around them, separating them from the police. Harper quickly turned to his left. In the circle of fire with them, was an NYPD motorcycle. “Get on.” he said to Jake as he started to mount the bike. Jake ran over and climbed on the back. Harper kicked down and the bike roared to life. Then, without the slightest hesitation, Harper gunned it, bringing the front tire high into a wheelie. They broke through the fiery wall and past all the officers. The front wheel slammed back down, and Harper immediately brought the bike to a skid, almost completely on its side. They crashed through the chain link fence, then he brought the bike back up, hardly losing any speed. They soared down the streets weaving in and out of traffic and making dangerously sharp turns. 

A couple minutes of vehicles whizzing by, and Jake heard sirens. The cops had caught up. “Report.” Harper bellowed out.

“What?” Jake’s adrenaline was too high to process much.

“How many cops?”Harper asked in a frustrated tone. Clinging to the motorcycle hard, Jake turned his head to look.

“One squad car with three bikes behind it.” Jake told Harper. “ They’re gaining fast!”

Harper let go of the handles and stood, balancing the bike with just his legs. His arms went out and down, pointing his palms to the ground on either side of the bike. A thinner stream of frozen powder shot out. Upon hitting the road it instantly left a slick trail of ice behind them. Jake looked back in time to see the squad car’s tires catch the ice, and swerve out of control. It abruptly  crashed to a halt into the railing of the median. Harper plopped back down on the seat and quickly turned onto a ramp leading to a long bridge over the river. The front bike in their pursuit couldn’t make the turn in time. The others followed onto the bridge.

“Just two left.” Jake shouted out. Harper said nothing. They were a third of the way across the bridge when Jake heard the gunshots. He glanced back and saw both officers with guns aimed. A flash came from the muzzle accompanied by a loud crack as the air clapped back around the speeding bullet. “They’re shooting as us!” Jake cried out.

Harper threw his left hand back. “Grab my wrist,” he demanded. Jake did as instructed. “Aim at his tire.” Jake tried to steady Harper’s bouncing arm. He locked his gaze to the front tire of the closest officer’s bike.

“Got it!” Jake exclaimed. A ball of fire shot from his hand and successfully struck the tire. Chunks and strings of rubber flew from the bike as the officer lost control. The bike skidded to its side and disappeared from view. More loud cracks of gunshots came from the remaining cop. “He’s gonna kill us!” Jake yelled out.

Harper yanked his arm back. “When I tell you to, you jump.” Jake’s heart sank at the words. “We’re going to crash.” With that, Harper swerved the bike to the left. They whizzed through the lane barely missing the oncoming traffic. Jake readied himself.

“JUMP!” yelled Harper as the bike smashed into the railing. The two leapt from the bike and were propelled over the railing. Jake let out a long scream as the river got closer. In mid free fall, Harper reached over and pulled Jake in by the waist. He pointed his free hand to the water and let out the icy blast. The water froze in a large frosty circle as they got close to hitting. Jake closed his eyes tight and braced for the impact. The ice shattered like glass as the crashed through it.

Then Jake hit the ground hard. He caught his breath as the wind was knocked out of him. Confused, he slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on the sand. He looked around in bewilderment as he cautiously stood up. He found himself in the middle of a desert. The night sky was dark and starless. The only reason he could see the vast dunes around him was the glow of the sand. It shone a dim, luminescent orange. 

“Let’s go.” Harper spoke as he began to walk.

“Hold on!” Jake demanded. “I need some god damn answers. What in the hell just happened? Where the hell is this place? And who are you?” Harper turned to face Jake. He reached up to his mask and pulled it off, revealing a middle aged man. His hair was buzzed at the sides, and a slicked back medium length at the top. It was splotched evenly with bits of black and a dark gray that matched the scruff surrounding his cheeks down to his chin.

“I’m sorry, how horribly rude of me to not introduce myself as I’m saving your ass.” The sarcasm in his voice was thick enough to suffocate. He gestured one hand to himself and the other to the horizon. “I’m Greg Harper, and welcome to Sempratia.” With nothing else to say, he turned and began walking.