Esper Chapter 7A Chapter by Angelo KingstonEsper Chapter 7: A trip through the dark Part 1 The cafeteria of Landon
Highschool was packed full of students running about and laughing as they escaped
the torrent of rain outside. Harper Wolf and Vergil Trask pushed past a group
of seniors as they made their way to a table. Seated at their destination were
a young African-American girl, short and with frizzy hair adorning her head; just
opposite to her was a curly haired, freckle faced young man toweling himself
dry. “Lefty…
Lefty?” Harper called out to the girl who
simply ignored him, her face growing more and more happy as she typed away,
enraptured with whatever was on the screen of her phone. “Pete, is Lefty on that fan fiction website again?” “Probably. Knowing her, it’s some kind of boy’s love
novel or whatever…” The
curly haired boy answered, tossing aside his bookbag to make room for Vergil
and Harper at the table. “You
know Lefty, once there’s
something to read in front of the girl, nothing stops her.” The
two joined the group as the lunchroom filled up to near capacity. “Hey H-Harper, let’s get
s-some food.” Vergil’s meek voice was barely audible in the commotion, but Harper was
used to it. “Sure! Pete, you want anything? I’m guessing Lefty wants the usual.” Pete responded by dismissively shaking his head, so both young men
walked off. Harper and Vergil weaved in and out of the numerus lines leading
toward the counter and placed their orders. While waiting, out of the corner of
his eye, Vergil noticed a familiar face. Maggie Prince, one of the most
beautiful girls in school, or at least in Vergil’s eyes. Her platinum blonde hair parted right up the middle
showcasing her narrow eyes, tiny nose and red lips could catch Vergil’s attention anywhere, even with the sea of bodies separating them. “Verg, if you want to talk with her, go ahead! Now’s probably the perfect time, since she’s not doing anything.” “Wha!?” The
sudden proposal from his portly associate caused Vergil to begin stammering
uncontrollably. “Wait!
I-I c-can’t j-just-” With a
sigh and furrowed brow, Harper grabbed the wrist of his less confident friend. Totally
self-assured, he strolled through a crowd of taller students. Upon noticing
them coming in closer, Maggie lowered her phone and gave a half smile. “Ah! Before you say anything Maggie, I’m just passing by. Verg, you finished the homework from last night,
right? I know someone…”
Harper openly glanced over to Maggie, who recoiled at his sneering. “…Hadn’t finished
her work for the next class.” “What? How on earth would you know such a…” The beautiful face of the young woman glowed bright red as she
began to shout at Harper. “Ehhm!” She cleared her throat and started again. “Harper, how did you know about that?” Maggie ineffectively attempted to force a smile, but it came
across threatening when coupled with the vein in her forehead. “Oh, does it matter? Here Verg, maybe you can help her out! I’ll grab our food.” Off
Harper rushed back to the counter just as their food finished being made,
leaving Vergil embarrassed, nervous and confused. “I-I-I…” Maggie
groaned. “Vergil, do you really have the
homework?” He nodded. “Can…I copy
it?” Almost losing what little
composure he had left, Vergil nodded vigorously, and shakily brought her back
to their table. At the
table, Harper happily greeted them alongside Lefty, who’d finished her reading, and Pete, seemingly confused as to the mere
presence of Maggie Prince. Throughout the lunch period, Harper had people come
over to the table asking questions, paying him compliments and even begging for
advice. The rain finally began to lighten up and the students were allowed to
leave the cafeteria. As everyone migrated back to their classrooms in between
buildings, Harper began checking his phone. “Looks like Nick finally got around to reading my message.” He pulled in close to Vergil, showing said text. Nicolaus’s longwinded message was written more like a debriefing, in which
he described the events from the preceding night. Explaining the phenomenon, he
wrote of it being like a miniature version of the Newtonville lights. Vergil was
so preoccupied with the message he didn’t pay attention to Maggie, who’d become curious of the two’s secrecy. She casually leaned over Vergil’s shoulder, with her face only being about an inch away from his.
As soon as Vergil noticed, he animatedly jumped back, tossing his books onto
the damp grass surrounding the loggia. “Ohp! Sorry, didn’t mean
to freak you out.”
Vergil began stammering, unable to put together a sentence from a mixture of delight
and mortification. “I was
just wondering if whatever you two were talking about had to do with Harper’s recent rise in social status.” “Yeah…Harper,
what’s up? Why’s everybody so nice to ya’ all of a sudden?” Lefty
inquired, jabbing at Harper’s rib
in jest. “Haha! It’s
pretty obvious that everyone just noticed how cool I was after…the uh…incident…” That statement took the air out of the group. “Ugh! Stop thinking about it, guys! Let’s just-" “Yooo…” A
laidback and extremely unenthused call cried out to the group. In the distance,
a red cap wearing, platinum blonde man approached, while shifting his eyes between
the doors. “Long time no see, Vergil, Harper,
Lefty and Pete! You guys are still hanging out? That’s f*****g sweet.” The
man scratched at the stubbly goatee on his chin. “Warren! For what possible reason did you come here?” Maggie stepped in front of the group, taking immediate charge of
the conversation. “You’re going to get in trouble for being on school grounds.” “Relax. I can’t
check on my little sister from time to time?” Warren reached out to pat Maggie on the head. She swatted his hand
away with prejudice. “Leave! Now!” She
said, the vein in her rather pronounce forehead beginning to show. “Dude…you’re just like Mom. Even got the forehead! Hahahahah! I’m just happy to see you hanging with the good kids! Don’t end up like me!” The
group watched as Warren walked away laughing to himself, all the while Maggie shot
him dirty looks. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group however, Harper was sent
a message on his phone. It read [Meet me after homie] Harper sighed, dropping
his phone back into his pocket. “W-We should get t-to class.” Vergil pointed out they’d wasted far too much time and were late. The group rushed off to
class just as the storm began picking up again, just barely making it on time. Part 2 Across
town in a lavish hotel room, Katie Vang was cleaning makeup off her face and
clothes. (Told Spike, I’d call
him, but I’m too tired now. Those b******s
wanted to party all night! I just wanted to go home, but at least this should’ve changed his mind a little.) She walked into the front room,
filled with tens of people in various stages of undress or adorned in leather
straps and belts. They were either sleeping on the floor, in the large bed or,
in the case of the top reviewer in the city, handcuffed to a post in the room.
(Now then…let’s make sure.) The man laid with his back against post, out cold
drunk. “Wakey-wakey Mr.Critic!” Katie drew her slender finger down his chest to no reaction. (Oh
right, this guy is one of those types…ugh! I hate doing this.) She stood back up and cleared her throat. “Wake up you piece of trash!” Katie slapped the man awake. “Huhh…Miss…Vang…” He
quickly realized where he was seated and instead of growing fearful, grew
aroused. (Gross…this guy is gross.) Katie thought, but put on a smile. “How about we finish what we started last night…” “Oh yes! Yes! Right here, step right here!” The critic lowered his head and Katie looked on with disgust. (…I should just stomp until there’s nothing left. That’d be a way to make the world a better place.) “Not that finish…” Katie
cupped the man’s chin. “Your promise…the
review.” “Oh, right…” She
released him from his cuffs and the man staggered over to the bed, pulling out
a laptop. “Just like we said, ‘The entire play carried by it’s masterclass of acting by the main heroine.’ And it continues on from there. How’s that?” “Perfect!”
Gleefully, Katie patted the man on his head as she pulled out her phone and
began typing away. “Great, now for round 2?” “2? Sorry, but I’ve got
things to handle. Maybe later…” With
a mischievous wink, Katie backed up toward the door, grabbing an umbrella near
the entrance. “Take care!” And with a wave, off to her job Katie rushed. (I swear, between
this and Matthew, if I don’t get
any more notoriety, I’m
going to lose it. Oh right, did Spike actually read my message? Not like it
matters, I could barely make it through half of that boy’s diatribe. He’ll
just tell me again once I see him anyway.) Katie walked onto a crowded train
platform and waited as the eye of the storm held in place overhead, only
slightly drizzling. (First work, then rehearsal for the next show, then I’ve got put up with Matthew for a while…ah, I forgot about damn training!) As the train began to close in on
the station the sound of a high-pitched whistle caught her ear. Three
hooded figures hopped over turn-styles with police officers in hot pursuit on
the opposite platform. The group weaved in between patrons, their beige
and black hoodies being visible amongst the crowd. Just as the train pulled
into the station all three of the hooded people jumped onto the tracks. The
train horn blared as the conductor tried to come to a stop. They quickly leapt
over the gates and began climbing up onto the opposite side of the platform
near Katie, leaving the officers stuck beyond the train. “Let’s go, keep
running!” One called back to the other figures. Katie took a minute and
assessed the situation, then began to focus her powers. (I wonder if…I can…)
The three sprinted past Katie, paying no mind to her as they pushed bystanders away.
Suddenly one tripped, falling flat onto the ground. The others kept going as
the person looked back; from the ground a pitch-black hand sprouted forth,
wrapping its grip tightly around the person’s ankle. “What the hell!?” They
tried kicking the ghastly hand hoping to escape, but it remained unaffected,
solid and without the hint of fragility. The other two halted, prepared to
assist until the police had successfully crossed on from the other platform. “Just run! Forget about me!” They heeded their partner’s words and fled, leaving the trapped person alone. As soon as the
police came up to them, the hand shattered and vanished into thin air. When the
officers forced the person down onto their belly and removed their hood, it was
revealed to be young woman in her late teens. “Hey, wait, what happened to that hand!? Didn’t you see that!?” She
was pulled up to her feet as the officers began to drag her away. “The police are protecting human traffickers! Beset’s
sword won’t be sheathed!!” Were her last words as she was taken off the platform and placed
into a police car. “…What was all that about…?” Katie said to herself in a hushed
tone. (Another conspiracy theory person? I’ve had more than enough of that with the incident at Newtonville.)
She’d grown annoyed with all the interviews
and questioning that’d
taken place after the incident. (At least I learned something new about my
power.) Katie smirked as her train pulled into the station and she rode off to
work. Part 3 The storm
finally subsided right on time with the second school bell, signaling most
students could leave for the day as they filed out of Landon
Highschool’s main building. Harper and his group of friends all sat down on the
bleachers nearest the football field. “Wet bleachers suck!” Pete bellowed
across the empty pitch. “Well, why ‘er we here
right now, Pete?” Lefty said sarcastically. “…” Pete remained quiet. “Because someone here
wanted to smoke! Who would that be?” “Not I!” Said Harper
enthusiastically while Vergil chuckled under his breath. “Okay, I get it Mama
Lefty!” Pete said mockingly. “Quit it with the Mama
Lefty s**t! People will think weird stuff.” Lefty replied while covering the
mouth of her overly loud friend. The group continued to banter for a few
minutes until Harper got up with his phone in hand. “Sorry guys. Business
calls. We can talk more tomorrow.” He began walking down the bleachers but
stopped for a second. “…Verg…no, never mind. See you guys later!” Off Harper
ran, his stubby legs carrying him as quickly as possible across the damp and
muddy field. “Where’s he going?” After
pushing Lefty off, Pete tossed his cigarette butt into a puddle. “He’s bein’ real’ weird lately,
since da’ incident. I guess that’s ta’ be expected though. Verg, d’ya have any
idea what’s up?” The southern draw from Lefty was always amusing for Vergil to
hear since she would slip in and out of it unconsciously. “I don’t k-know…” Vergil
checked his phone, looking at the time with a growing pit in his stomach. “Welp, I may as well head
home too.” Pete got up and walked down the stands. “Lefty, you want a ride?” “Hmm…yeah. I’ll see ya’
later Verg!” “Ah…” And like that,
Vergil was left all alone on the cold, damp bleachers. (Now what…) He checked
his phone again, seeing that even though the day was done he still had plenty
of time before he could leave the grounds. (I’ve got to wait for Wilhelmina to finish
with after school activites.) It was then that Vergil looked at the message
he’d received from Nicolaus. (Oh! I forgot to answer this! I should reply.) The
message that he sent read… [Hey, sorry about replying late. All that new info
you wrote about was interesting. Do you want to talk more about it?] After a few minutes,
Nicolaus replied with gusto. [Absolutely! Where are you? I’ll fly by! I just
left Amala’s place.] The two agreed to meet up just off the school grounds at a
local comicbook café known as ‘Paige Turner’s Page Turner’. Vergil came into the half
full café feeling uncomfortable with the amount young people sitting around.
They weren’t the types he’d expected; far more women and trendy looking guys.
Off at one of the tables he spotted Nicolaus, leafing through a manga he
immediately recognized. “I-Is that Haruhiko?” Vergil took a seat as Nicolaus
smiled. “Yeah. I haven’t read the
latest chapters and this place has all of them. It started when I was a
teenager and it’s still going…kind of crazy.” The two laughed, seeing they had another
thing in common. A waiter came by and they placed their orders while chatting.
“I don’t know…I feel like the story went off the deep end around the 3rd
arc. Haruhiko started getting power up after power up and the writer started
forgetting other characters.” “Yeah h-he often d-does.
I really wanted to s-see more of Y-Yuki. But I t-think he hates h-her.” “Yuki, huh? Always seemed
kind of standoffish to me. I’ve always been a bigger fan of Miyako, since she’s
more forward and the strong type.” “Heh…your taste in
w-waifus makes sense…” “…I don’t like that
insinuation.” Vergil laughed. Their food arrived and as the two ate Nicolaus
got serious, explaining his findings. Everything from the weird reactions of
his power, the meeting with Aran and what he’d witnessed involving Vernon and
Raquel Childs, the police officer. “What do you think…?” “…” Vergil was taken
aback at the slew of information Nicolaus had presented. “W-Well…I’m not sure…do
the others…really not care?” “Harper said ‘That sounds
interesting, but if you didn’t catch anything on film, then what are we
supposed to do? We’ll check it out later’, were his exact words. Katie just
responded ‘Wow! Really?’, so it doesn’t seem like anyone is really too into
this discovery.” Nicolaus squeezed the bridge of his nose. “W-What about Amala and
V-Vernon?” “…Amala…I spoke with her,
but she was…a bit weird today. That doesn’t matter much though. All the stuff Aran
explained, if it’s true, then…we’ve got to be careful. If this is really a
government conspiracy, then the suppression of information makes sense. Like
how nothing has really come from…Kevin Greene and Niles Letterman…” “W-What do we do…?” “…I…want to keep
investigating. Maybe Aran could be of use.” Nicolaus pondered in silence for a
minute as an alarm went off on Vergil’s phone. “Um…Nicolaus, I-I need to
go.” Rushing to pick up his younger sister from school, Vergil got up and slung
his bag over his shoulder. “Oh, that’s fine. Hey,
let’s keep the stuff with Aran a secret for now. I…don’t know what’s going on
with Vernon and that lady officer.” Both young men exited the establishment
after paying the bill. Just before Vergil could run off down the street
Nicolaus called out to him. “Hey Vergil, I’ll message you later! We can talk
more about Haruhiko!” A very obvious smile came across the young man’s face
which he tried to hide. Wilhelmina waited eagerly
for her brother’s arrival as the other girls alongside her chatted idly. The
young girl sat on the steps of her of school furiously scribbling down
calculations and notes in her schoolbooks. “Wil, seriously, we already finished
that stuff. Why are you still doing schoolwork?” One of the other girls asked
as she glanced astounding detail Wilhelmina was going into. “Because we could’ve
gotten that rocket higher, I know it! I’m trying to do all this in my head, but
without testing it, I’m out of luck. Agh! As soon as I get home, I’m going to
launch it again!” A habit of twisting her own hair had caused Wilhelmina’s long
white locks to curl considerably at the ends. As soon as Vergil ran into view,
his younger sister spotted him. “Later girls!” She shouted while leaping from
her perch and dashing over to her brother with a hug. “Let’s hurry home, I’ve got
tests to run!” Part 4 Harper Wolf sat in the
backroom of a poorly lit, seedy bar alongside Warren
Prince with two very unsavory men. A dealer passed out cards to each man as
they kept their eyes cast down. A hushed tension blanketed the room, only one
of the men cracking his knuckles broke the silence. Harper eyed both men out of
the corner of his eye. Once all the hands were dealt, the players each checked
their cards. (…Oh, so it’s like
this today, huh? Doesn’t
matter. We’ve got a fair dealer at least.)
Harper thought to himself. (Let’s see…what’s this
dude thinking.) Harper set his gaze on the man who cracked his knuckles. (Not a
good hand…this is my first time playing with
these b******s, so they shouldn’t know
my tells though, so I’ll
bluff.) Harper smiled to himself. (Know
your ‘tells’ huh? Sucks to be you today, guy. What about mister tall and
gruesome?) The other man, arm wrapped in tattoos, grizzly face and large
stature, would’ve kept Harper away in normal
circumstances. (These
dopy brats were here last time too. They must be trying to win back what they
lost. I’m going to make a killing. They’ll fold, easy.) The man began stifling a smile. (Alright,
so we’ve got two trying to fake it till
they make it. Warren’s
freaking out, as always.) Harper peered over to his partner who was sweating
bullets. (Chill out, man. They’re
both expecting us to fold. I’ll do
it, you play up the big victory.) Warren tried to calm himself down as Harper
called for two more cards, then openly sighed and folded. “I’m out.” “…” The other man also called for a card, his face immediately losing
color. “…crap, I fold.” The
large man called for one card as did Warren. Both locked eyes for a second. (…Smile, Warren. Not a big one. Just a small smirk and we win!)
Warren did so, as Harper assured victory while picking up on a tiny flinch from
the large man. “Fine, I fold.” He gave
in. Both young men had to hold back their excitement as the dealer began to
hand out the winnings. (Something ain’t right here. That kid looked like he was
up s**t’s creek and then out of nowhere, confident?) (Warren, we shouldn’t
play here again. We’ll have to find a new place again.) Warren collected his
winnings and left before Harper; who waited around for another few minutes,
then left on his own. The two met up blocks away from the scene and drove back toward
the cul-de-sac. “It’s a good thing we don’t hit up any of the places near my
house. Those guys keep looking more and more killer.” “Dude! Who cares!? This
is so great! We made 200 dollars from one game!” Warren tossed his red cap in
the back and leaned over to plant a kiss on Harper’s cheek. “Ew! Dude, stop that!” As
the two arrived in their neighborhood, the darkened cloudy sky beginning to
part overhead unveiled a clear night. “Well, that’s enough for…” Harper
suddenly stopped dead as he exited Warren’s car. “…I think Juan is looking for
us.” “Really? What makes you
think…? Oh right, ‘think’. You can hear him. Where is he?” “Not sure. But he’s about
to text you.” A message tone sounded off in Warren’s pocket. “He’s probably
telling you to come and meet him somewhere.” “Yeah, says to meet him
out in the woods behind that one ratty place.” Warren pointed toward Vergil’s
house. Harper was hesitant but followed his partner into the woods. Surrounded
by the leafless trees was a waiting figure, a shady young Hispanic man pacing
about. “Y’all know that I’m in
hot water whenever you don’t hit me up, right? Trey don’t play around!” Juan
handed Warren a bag filled with pills and was given a large sum of cash. “Man, you need to
seriously relax. Harper here is the ultimate poker partner. We’ll clean out
every single place in Arizona before the end of the year at this rate; so why
don’t you take some of this s**t for yourself and calm down?” The men chatted
as Harper messed with phone. “Why is Trey getting so antsy anyway, bro? It’s
not like he’s hurting for cash.” “Yeah, well if you keep
messing with his cash, he’ll be hurting us…” Juan counted the money. Harper suddenly
picked up on something. (These guys really don’t understand how serious this
is…) Out of nowhere, an object
flew careening into the side of Juan’s head, blasting the man off his feet. A large-scale
bottle rocket had launched into the woods with enough force to just about KO a
grown man. Harper sensed a person coming in close (…Should’ve waited for Vergil!
Now I’ve got to find it alone.) The minute he recognized those thoughts as Wilhelmina’s,
Harper put down his phone and ducked behind a tree. “There! ...huh?” The ever-inquisitive
young girl ran into the woods, confused to see anyone in the clearing.
“…Uh…hello, my rocket…that’s mine.” She pointed innocently, simply wanting what
hers. Juan shot up, anger in
his eyes and grabbed the rocket. He towered over the much smaller girl who
recoiled in fear. “You got a f*****g problem!?” Juan grabbed the girl up by her
hair, tugging so hard she stumbled to ground. The little girl was
paralyzed with terror as tears welled up in her eyes. “Whoa, whoa, chill out
Juan.” “F**k you, man! You don’t
get what’s going on! I’m on my last leg here and I ain’t got no time to play
around some kid! How much of this did you see? What did you hear!?” Still
tugging the much smaller Wilhelmina by her locks, bringing her down to the
ground through the mud, Juan’s hysterical and crazed eyes terrified the adolescent
girl. “What did you hear!?” Juan yelled as Wilhelmina began to openly weep. (That’s definitely
Wilhelmina. This has gone way too far!) Harper began to focus his thoughts. (If
Warren won’t get in there and do something, I’ll ‘suggest’ that he should!) A
sudden feeling over took Warren. Words began flowing through his head. Move,
help, save, protect, action, hero, the words played back again and again until
before Warren knew it, he’d tackled Juan down to the ground freeing Wilhelmina from
his grip. The young girl scurried over to her rocket and then took off as fast
as possible, disappearing from sight. Part
5 Vergil
kept checking his phone, waiting to hear back from Nicolaus who hadn’t sent him
a message as promised. In the short time since they’d met, Vergil had grown to look
up to Nicolaus. “Vergil!” The gruff voice of his caused the young man nearly to
lose his composure. A thick smell of cigarettes and unwashed clothes entered
through Vergil’s bedroom door before his father. “…boy don’t close my doors, in
my house, understand? Where’s your sister?” Was said in between slurred speech. “Oh…I-I
forgot. She’s outside.” The phone was smacked from Vergil’s hands. “Don’t
leave your sister outside. You’re her older brother, stop acting like some
b***h playing on her phone and go watch her.” Vergil meekly walked past his
clearly drunk father. Outside, in their backyard, was just the rocket stand
with no Wilhelmina in sight. “Wilhelm-mina!?”
He called out for his little sister, with no response. (Did she fire off the
rocket? Where is she?) Vergil was blasted from the side being sent to the
ground. “Ouch! Wilhelmina?!” Before him was his sister. Wilhelmina sat caked in
dirt, clutching her rocket with tears streaming down her face. “Vergil…”
The younger sister hugged her brother, shaking, feeling violated as she cried
loudly. “W-What?”
Vergil’s father burst through the backdoor of the house. “What
the f**k happened?” He crouched down and picked his daughter in his arms. Vergil
was so flustered he didn’t know what to do. “I f*****g told to keep an eye on
her! What happened?” “Some…some
guy…in the woods…” Wincing and completely beside herself, Wilhelmina just
pointed toward the forest near their home. “I’ll
call the police, come on.” Absent mindedly Vergil followed behind his father.
“Not you! You figure something out! For f***s sake, can’t you do anything
right!? Just like your damn, mother, I f*****g swear!” Off he stormed into the
house, leaving Vergil alone distraught. That last line drummed up sad memories
in an instant, sending a crack through the young boy’s psyche. Suddenly
a loud pop noise exploded out from the woods. Unconsciously, Vergil ambled
toward it, finding Warren held at gunpoint by a man covered in dirt and grime.
“You think this is a f*****g game!? If that girl tells someone what she saw,
what do you think Trey will do to us!?” “Bro…you
just fired a gun! We need to get out of here! The police…” Juan fired again,
breathing heavily and with his eyes darting around. “S-Shut
up! Where’s the other one!? I knew this was a bad idea! F*****g….f*****g…” Juan
continued to grow more desperate, the whole time Vergil remained hidden behind
a tree. (That
guy…is he the one who hurt Wilhelmina? What’s going on? Why are they arguing?)
The harsh words of his father replayed in his head over and over again, each
time, digging into his subconscious as the boy dug his fingertips deeper into
tree bark. “Get
the f**k out here, you fat piece of s**t! I know you’re hiding!” Harper shook,
dreading that Juan would shoot him on sight. (Should
I just wait? No! There’s no promise anyone even called the police yet. Should
I? I’ve got to call the…wait…who’s thoughts am I hearing? Vergil! Why’s he
here?) (My
phone is still with Dad. What do I do!?) (Can
I…his powers…can I use them to stop Juan?) (I
should run and get my phone to call the police!) (No!
He can’t run! Vergil…if I get him to use his powers…) Harper began suggesting
phrases in Vergil’s mind. Sister, protect, hero, fearless, powers, strength,
those and many more began floating around in his mind. (What
am I thinking!? I need to run!) (No!
No! Get back here and do something! Just stop him!) Harper got even more
intense! Cowardice, weakness, loser, p***y, and ‘like your mother’ which he
pulled from the deepest dredges of Vergil subconscious. Before he knew it, Vergil
had leapt from his hiding place and charged Juan. “F**k!?”
Juan opened fire on the meek looking young man, but Vergil manifested a fantasy-like
shield construct made of his hazy power, deflecting the bullets to the side. He
crashed into Juan full force, knocking him off his feet and sending the gun
flying. “You little…” Vergil had fallen to the ground too, and not being the
most physically fit, couldn’t get back up fast enough to avoid the much larger
Juan climbing on top of him. The man wrapped his hands around the boy’s throat and
began squeezing tightly, cutting off almost all airflow immediately. (Help!
Someone!) Vergil pawed at Juan’s hands desperately. (F**k! I don’t want to die!
Someone! Anyone! Dad! Mom, please! Harper! Nicolaus!!) In his mind, he called
out to his friend, who sat, crouched hidden down a slope, wanting to run away,
but frozen in his tracks. (Please! Anyone…) His vision began to blur. (…what
do I do? I…holy crap…what do I do!?) Harper started trying to figure out a
plan, but under stress he like he’d never felt before. (Vergil needs to use he
powers! No! He can only make blunt stuff, right? No! Has he ever made anything
else? How do his powers work? F**k! Get over there, Warren! Grab the gun! No!
He’s terrified!? F**k! Move, Vergil, kill him!! Kill Juan!!!) A
spike! That’s Vergil thought about, he wanted to make a spike. With a last gasp
of power and air, Vergil constructed a spike and drove it past Juan hand,
nearly it off cutting. “Agh!!!” Juan wailed as the piece of flesh hung limply,
nearly every metacarpal and tendon torn asunder from his right hand. Vergil
hacked away, trying to breath again while backing away from his attacker…only then
comprehending the spike had kept flying and shot right through the neck of
Warren. Warren Prince held the gun, aiming it right at the back of Juan’s head,
planning to shoot him dead, but was skewered by the glassy white energy weapon. Both
Harper and Vergil were dumbfounded. “I-I-I d-d-d…” Vergil scurried, like a roach,
his legs totally failing to lift him. (F**k…f**k!)
Harper ran down the incline, landing in a stream running underneath, and darted
away. Juan meanwhile staggered to his feet, gripping his bleeding stump tightly
and cursing the whole time, glaring a hole through Vergil’s back, as he
stumbled off. There
laid Warren, unmoving and slowly dying. The spike hadn’t killed the man
immediately. Vergil couldn’t bring himself to do a thing to help him, he just
backed away, further and further until he could stand up and ran home. Part
6 “Vergil!!”
After tucking an emotionally terrorized Wilhelmina into bed, Vergil’s father
went about searching for his wayward son. As he walked down the stairs, Vergil
pushed past running for the bathroom; slamming the door shut. “Hey!” He banged
on the door. “Open the door! What are you doing in there!? I heard gunshots, are
you okay!?” The distinct sound of Vergil vomiting into the toilet could be
heard. “…” Vergil’s father relented and allowed the boy some time to himself. After
an hour or so, Vergil left the bathroom and walked downstairs to see his father
sitting in his armchair, watching the news. “…I…” “Sit
down.” Vergil’s father put the television volume on low and offered his son a
seat on the couch. Slowly, Vergil sat down opposite his father, still shaking
with his eyes downcast. “…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say what I said. You know
how things have been around here since I got hurt. Money is tight and I just
want you and your sister to try your best at school. When I was younger,
because of the neighborhood I grew up in, I couldn’t get the education you kids
do now…” Vergil’s mind began trailing off. He’d heard his father ramble about
the exact subject before. More than anything, he wanted to know what was going
to happen to him. He’d never done anything like that before. He thought back to
what happened with Nicolaus and Amala, that they’d killed people before…just
like him. That thought made Vergil start hyperventilating. As he wheezed and
gasped his father got up to check on him. “What’s the matter, hey!” Banging
came from the door, and Vergil’s father had to check on it. “Relax and breath,
I’ll be right back. F*****g wait, I got ears! I’m coming!” Vergil
tried to find anything to focus on, something to think about and calm himself.
He settled on the television, watching the news caster in a low volume speak
about the incident involving the group known as Beset’s sword earlier in the
day. He saw the group, each dressed in beige and black hoodies, being chased
across the platform of a train, even noticing the familiar bright red locks of
Katie Vang. With the low volume, Vergil could only make out that they were being
chased from an incident involving a suspect earlier in the day. Some rumors had
spread online about Beset’s sword, but he had no idea they were an actual gang. “Vergil,
come here!” His father called Vergil to the front door. He’d calmed down
significantly, but almost had a heart attack when he saw the police officer at
the door. “You were outside, right? You must’ve heard the gunshot earlier. Ask
the boy.” “…”
Vergil’s brain turned off completely. He couldn’t say a word, just stood there,
petrified. “…” The
officer pulled out a pen and paper. “Sir, your name is Ronald Trask, right? And
your son’s name is…wait…Trask…why do I remember that name?” He began to recall.
“Ah! You’re from the Newtonville Rock incident.” Even hearing that made the boy
break out into a cold sweat. With all the conspiracies Nicolaus drilled in his
mind, the things he’d done alongside the group, and his own recent murder, Vergil
was at the end of his rope. He didn’t know what to do, he wanted anyone to tell
him. “…I…s-saw
these g-guys in b-beige and black h-hoodies running…around b-back…then got
s-scared and c-came inside…I-I think they h-hurt my sis-sister…” He lied. It
was the only option the boy could think of… End of chapter 7 © 2020 Angelo Kingston |
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Added on May 1, 2020 Last Updated on May 1, 2020 Tags: Esper, super powers, psychic powers, action, drama, comedy, romance AuthorAngelo KingstonPhiladelphia, PAAboutI'd like to hear what people think as much as possible, so please feel free to comment. I will finish every single novel I start! more..Writing
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