Darker Elements E-Book

Jesse Wilson

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Ten years after a team of chosen completed their last mission, the world is in a bad state all over. They haven't spoken in years and have no purpose in the world.

After a a chance encounter with a bunch of thugs, William decides enough is enough and plans to get even using Gabon, the ring of fire. This sets off a signal that attracts the others to go investigate, and also wakes up an old lab in Las Vegas that unleashes their last challenge to track them down.

One last time, the team reluctantly decides to join forces to take on the challenge, only to discover the problem was a whole lot worse than they thought. Now, five have-been heroes will need fight to save a dying world... and rediscover themselves in the process.

Leseprobe

DARKER ELEMENTS

JESSE WILSON

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

About the Author

Copyright (C) 2023 Jesse Wilson

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2023 by Next Chapter

Published 2023 by Next Chapter

Edited by Terry Hughes

Cover art by Lordan June Pinote

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.

CHAPTER1

Everything has an expiration date.

The milk in the fridge, the person you like. The planet you live on. William closed the fridge door. The expired milk in the plastic jug reminded him of all these things and more.

“Waste of money,” he said and poured the rancid stuff down the sink, turning the water on to wash it down. It was three in the morning and the glow of the streetlights lit the place up well enough so there was no need to turn on the light. He tossed the jug into the trash without thinking and moved back to the fridge to see what else there was.

An old can of beer was there in the back and he wasn’t interested in water so he grabbed it. The thing still opened with a hiss. It was still good. The term good was relative – the smell was bad. He wasn’t even sure where this thing came from.

William walked the short distance back to the living room and sat down in his old chair. Sleep didn’t exist these days. Too many thoughts running through his mind. The television turned on with the click of the remote.

The news. Fires, mass shootings, plague, economic turmoil and riots filled the screen. William took a big drink and did his best not to gag. “For all the good we did,” he said and switched channels. Some cartoon from the late nineties was playing on a channel he never watched. It reminded him of a time when things made sense. Or they felt like they made sense, anyway.

A car drove by. The headlights illuminated the room for a second and he winced, wondering for a second about who’d be out there this time of night. He supposed it didn’t matter. Then the power went out.

“Damn it,” he said and took another drink in the dark. There was nothing he could do about it but wait. At least it wasn’t too hot in here but, with no air circulating, that was going to change. Worse was the quiet.

The silence washed over him like an oppressive wave, heavy, even. He could feel it and hated it, too. William took a deep breath, finished the beer and set the can on the cheap table beside him. He was awake and he couldn’t stay here. It was time to just go for a walk.

“You’re not going to leave me here, are you?” There was more than one reason to hate the quiet.

“Yeah, I’m leaving you here, you’re nothing but trouble,” he replied to the voice. “It’s been so many years,” it replied. “I’m stuck here in this box. I belong to you. Use me. Think of everything we could do together.”

William put a shirt on that was hanging off the back of a chair and slipped on a pair of old shoes. The shorts he had on would have to do.

“Like I said. You’re nothing but trouble. Shut up,” he replied, walked to the front door and left the apartment before it could reply.

CHAPTER2

William was hit by the night air and it woke him up. There was always something magical about the night, he couldn’t put his finger on it. He locked the door and after that, didn’t have any idea where to go next. No plans in mind, he turned left and started walking. Hopefully, by the time he got home the power would be back.

Half the streetlights were still on. It was strange to him but not worth thinking about too much. He started to walk at a slow pace. It wasn’t safe to do this but he didn’t care. There wasn’t much left to live for any more. The way he saw it, no one had much left to live for. The world was dying a long, slow death and safety wasn’t a concern to most people. Just making it to another midnight was his only plan, midnight always seemed so far away, no matter the time.

He wandered in the orange light across a parking lot and down the street with no ideas on how far he’d go before turning back. Lost in his own thoughts of misery, he heard voices behind him. It snapped him out of his thoughts, back to attention.

“Just keep walking,” he said to himself, but prepared himself for anything. Will was regretting coming out here more by the minute. Voices at three in the morning were never friendly.

“Hey old man,” a voice said and he cringed. Was he really that old? He must have looked it. “Hey you, stop,” the voice repeated and he did. Taking a deep breath, he turned around, having no idea what to expect.

A pack of teenagers who looked as if they belonged in a video game, or a different time. Weird bright-colored hair, shiny clothes. Idiots.

“What?” William asked the four of them. “How much money you got?” the one wearing the sunglasses asked. Sunglasses at night, this one was special.

“Nothing, just out for a walk. Didn’t bring my wallet,” he replied and turned out his pockets as proof. There was nowhere else to hide any money. The leader, if that’s what he was, let out a high pitched laugh. William winced at the sound.

“Old man didn’t you know about the tax? This here is our street and you owe us for being on it. This late at night, the tax doubles, see?” he said and the man child next to him pulled out a knife.

“Death and taxes, a constant problem,” William replied. “Well, I don’t have any money so what are we going to do?” he asked. The two men looked at one another. The two women grew more excited about what was coming next. William might have been old, but he didn’t get this way by being stupid.

“You pay in blood,” the leader said and drew his own knife from a sheath on his belt. The thing looked like it belonged in a game, too. Where in the world did people find stuff like this? William found himself wondering things that weren’t important. Maybe he was getting old, after all.

“Blood payments, they seem a little useless. What do you get out of that?” William asked.

“It’s not what we get, it’s the message we send, bitch,” the leader replied and with that out of the way he rushed William. It had been many years since he was in a fight with anyone, but he hadn’t forgotten how.

He shifted his left foot back and as soon as that fancy blade swung forward, it missed. He grabbed the arm, took a step forward to shift his weight, then with a quick twist brought the elbow into the knee, snapped the arm.

The kid screamed as William tossed him into the street. Then he felt a sharp pain in his other arm. The handle of the blade was sticking out, the other one just threw his knife but it hit nothing and landed on the pavement. “God damn it,” he said, ripped the blade out and threw it to return the favor. The knife landed in the right side of the teenager. William wasn’t sure if he got through that shiny jacket or not.

“What kind of freak are you?” one of the women yelled and started to run. The rest of them were doing the same. “I’m the freak now?” he asked and held his bleeding arm. “That sounds about right,” he added, cursing his luck, and started to make his way back home.

CHAPTER3

He pushed himself inside after struggling to unlock the door. Thankfully, he kept his keys in his back pocket. The blood made it hard to hold anything and he was feeling it now.

“Oh. What happened to you?” the voice asked. William rolled his eyes. “Got into a fight with a park bench, lost. Happens all the time,” he replied. “You’re going to bleed to death. Put me on. I can fix this.”

William looked at the cabinet. “Nothing wrong with a little death by blood loss, I’ll be fine. Or dead. What difference does it make?” he asked.

“All the difference, you lazy bum. Don’t give up, there has to be some of the old you left in there somewhere.” William wasn’t so sure. “No, all dead, all gone. Just like the rest of me will be soon. It’s fine,” he replied and almost sat down in the chair.

“Why are you being such a loser? Just put me on and I can fix you. I don’t remember you being this pathetic.”

“Lots changed, pathetic is in style these days. Don’t you watch the news?” William asked. “Listen. You don’t have to die tonight. Please, let me help you. I’ll be here alone. I can’t stand the thought of that. Do you want me to end up like you, too?” That was enough to convince him.

“Damn it,” William said and walked to the cabinet, pulled it open. There was a small red box in the back. He grabbed and opened it. There was a silver ring with a deep red jewel in the center of it. “No one should end up like me,” he said and put the ring on.

The red jewel burned bright. William winced in pain as his wound closed on its own. “See, was that so hard?” William did feel better once it was finished. “Thank you, now back in the box,” he said and went to take it off again.

“Wait, Will. Please. I have seen the state of the world. Don’t you think it’s time for a comeback, get the old team together. Clean up the world a little?”

“Gabon, listen. The world is beyond repair. We can’t fix it. Remember what happened when we tried last time? It was worse, everything just got worse. How many people died because we thought we could fix it?”

“I was there. We were all there.” William nodded. “Then you know there isn’t anything we can do,” he replied.

“That’s a load of snorb and you know it. All you have to do is try again. We can find the others. We can make a difference. I promise we can,” Gabon said as William walked to the television and turned it on. At least the power was back like he hoped.

“Six firefighters died in a blaze today in a California wildfire that is still under five percent contained,” the reporter said as the camera showed images of a whole mountainside on fire. Then switched to towns turned to ashes, people who had lost everything.

“That’s a sample. Where’s the spirit of the Earth now? Shouldn’t she be doing something about all of this? Betrayed by the one thing we were supposed to count on,” William said and turned the TV off. It was too depressing to watch.

“You know as well as I do, the balance is broken. Doctor Vagabond saw to it when he wiped out Las Vegas with the balon-tainted nuke. Xans was injured by it because of the balon crystals. You know as well as I do, she’s out of commission.”

“Yeah, Erik won and killed the world. We killed him but there is nothing left for us to do. Millions of dead and everyone else is about to die. It was ten years ago. No one cares anymore,” he replied.

“No, not true. I know your dreams. You care, you dream about that day, almost every night,” Gabon said. William took a breath. “I thought we agreed to stay out of my head.”

“Can’t help it, buddy. Your dreams are, well, loud.” William looked towards the window, then at his blood-covered arm. “I don’t know about the world but I do know what I want to do first,” he replied and made a fist.

“Get some payback on those punk kids?” Gabon asked. “Yes,” William said and stood up.

“Well then, let’s get some.” William made a fist and looked at the ring on his left hand, it was warm as he had always remembered it.

CHAPTER4

William stepped back out into the night. “I can smell their blood already,” Gabon said. The jewel glowed a little and a dim red line appeared in front of them. “Follow to find, you know the rest,” Gabon said, William hadn’t forgotten.

The line was an easy path to follow. Down the street, there was even a small trail of blood to follow. He didn’t need Gabon’s help to track these idiots down but it made it easier and he wasn’t in the mood for guessing games tonight.

He turned to the left, then to the right. Streets he’d never needed to go down before. A rundown – more rundown part of town. The thin red line moved right to a house, lights still on, right to the front door.

“Do we just burn the whole place down or go inside?” Gabon asked.

William thought about it. “Might be parents or kids inside, let’s take a look,” he said. William walked to the front door and turned the knob, door wasn’t locked. Weird for this part of town, or maybe the locals just knew better. Could have been anything, he supposed. He walked inside and to his amazement, they were still arguing over what to do next.

“We need to get your stupid ass to the hospital, both of you. You’re bleeding and your arm is busted.” One of the women seemed to have come to their senses after the injuries.

“Screw that. We’ll just take care of it here,” one of the guys said. Before anyone could ask how William tightened his left fist, his ring felt hot, it was just as ready for what came next as he was.

“The leading cause of death from wounds like that is infection,” he said as he walked around the corner, “it’s a long and painful way to die, actually,” he finished. “What the hell are you doing here, how?” the kid asked, used to have sunglasses on, guess he really didn’t need them inside.

“Me? I’m here to help,” he replied and looked around. The place was a mess. He was sure there was no one else living here. Hell, he was almost sure that they weren’t supposed to be living here, either. “Any kids in the house, parents, anyone who isn’t you?” William asked, looked around at the mess, it was more disgusting, the more he looked.

“Screw you, get out before--“William took that as a no and stepped forward. “I said I was here to help, just not you.” Then all the bottles of various liquid started to boil and the walls started to smoke.

“What the hell is going on?” one of the women asked, noticing the sudden change.

“In one sense you could say Hell is about to break loose, you’ve had your last victim. It ends today,” William said.

The man with the still bleeding arm stood up. “Wait. I know you, don’t I? That ring,” he said. William smiled just a little bit as the man’s eyes started to boil in his head. He fell to the ground screaming.

“We’ll keep it between us,” he said, lifted his left hand to his chest. The ring’s light intensified and the four of them burst into flames from the inside out. William took a step back. “Our work here is done, let’s go,” he said.

“Don’t put the fire out, just let everything burn,” William added. “Feels good to take out the trash, doesn’t it?” Gabon asked. William didn’t know how he felt about it, but he was sure the world was a little safer without monsters like these in it.

He walked outside and if anyone was paying attention, he didn’t see them. After walking a few steps down the street, he turned just in time to watch a jet of fire rip through one of the windows. “Good enough,” he said, turned and kept walking back to his apartment.