The Pale: Volume One by Jacob Long (red novels TXT) 📖

cover if it was needed. Adam quickly made it clear that it was needed. He walked to the open door with the gun.

Lamont’s hand drifted to the gun in his holster. “What are you doing?”

Adam listlessly fired two rounds into the dirt next to the front steps and turned back to the astonished officer.

Lamont sighed in relief. “You used that trick on me.”

“Cops are nothing if not careful,” Adam said. “Looks like it’s time for me to go. You gonna help me or what?”

Lamont shook his head. “You are as stubborn as the day is long, and your mom had your number, that’s for sure.”

“Dammit, this isn’t about being stubborn!” Adam barked. “I can do things you can’t! It doesn’t matter how many people they have! I can become strong enough to end them all!”

“That isn’t strength, Adam!” Lamont rebutted. “You can kill people with that gun in your hand! That is not special! That’s not worthy of the power you have! If you were really strong, you wouldn’t even be worried about taking their lives! That’s strength! That’s a hero!”

Adam very nearly smiled. “Is that why you shot me with a Taser?”

Lamont scoffed. “And look, here you are. You still have a chance to do good. I know you were in the Army Adam, and I know you were trained to kill. It can become a part of you that you can’t let go, but this isn’t war, Adam.”

There was a moment of reflection. Finally, Lamont said, “Maybe I’m wasting my words here. You go ahead, and take that . . . energy out of me . . . and you decide what you’re going to do with it.”

An officer outside got on the bullhorn. His voice boomed into the house. “This is the Farol Verde Police Department! Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up!”

“Out of time,” Lamont said. “Wait any longer and other officers will surround the house.”

Adam appeared amused by the tidbit. He bit his lip. “Okay. Let’s get this over with, then.”

Lamont and Adam stood across from each other. There was an immediate, awkward tension.

“Okay, uh . . .”

“Yeah . . .”

Adam took Lamont by both shoulders. “Maybe if I—”

“Don’t make it weird, man.”

“Okay, sorry. I just . . . I’ve never done this on a conscious person before.”

“Fine. Okay.”

“Just . . . maybe open your mouth.”

“Oh god. Do you have to do it with the mouth?”

“It’s the only way I’ve ever known it to be done.”

“Fine, okay. Let’s just do this.”

Lamont opened his mouth, and so did Adam. In a second, Lamont felt his life force crawl up his throat, entirely too much like a warm soda going the wrong direction. Adam drank deeply of this. Lamont gave and gave. His eyes fluttered.

The loud voice from outside chimed in. “If you do not cooperate, we will enter using force!”

Lamont’s legs grew weak, and Adam still took from him. It was a reaction Adam was counting on, and he didn’t stop until the officer finally collapsed. Adam caught the man in his arms and slowly lowered him to the floor. He even rolled him into a recovery position.

“That should buy me some time,” Adam muttered. “You can catch up when you’re feeling better.” Adam looked at his gun and then set it down next to the officer’s slumbering form.

Adam didn’t want to go out the front, so he moved to the back door, knowing it had been closed by the gangster he let get away. He motivated briskly down the hall, but when he passed Téa’s open storage closet, a face watched him pass. It stopped Adam in his tracks. When Adam looked inside the closet, he rediscovered the remnants of Téa’s fascination with Japanese culture. Sitting on top of a box of junk was a shiny red oni mask snarling up at some unseen enemy. Adam went to the mask and took it up. It was a demon. Adam regretted that, but it was all he had to work with.

Outside, the police were already getting impatient. The assailants in question were of unknown number and apparently had no problem shooting off guns in a residential area. The call had to be made. The one cop car out front was just a pretense, less than half of what had arrived to the scene. In the back of the house waited six more officers armed to the teeth with pistols and shotguns. They waited behind brush and among the other houses to pounce. When the order was given, they moved from their hiding places and converged on the back door . . . but not in time.

When the team came within a few yards, the backdoor swung open, and something unexplainable emerged. It moved so fast it was barely a black blur. The officers got the vague impression of a man, but the face was all wrong. The thing flew out of the portal and leaped over their heads, grabbing the lip of the roof of the building across the backyard. From there, it jumped again and landed on the roof of the house they were supposed to be assaulting. They were taken by such surprise that none of them even thought to fire. In fact, many just recoiled like they had been set upon by a swarm of angry spiders, tucking their heads into their shoulders and making themselves as small as possible. Luckily, the thing continued across the rooftop and jumped again, landing in the street, but continuing onto the house on the other side. It disappeared into the distance in that manner.

All the officers stood in place for a moment, exchanging befuddled looks.

“What the hell was that?” one finally said.

Adam couldn’t help but giggle gleefully as the wind whistled past his ears. The power was exhilarating, and so was bounding across the rooftops. He wished he could continue on like that, but he didn’t want to risk running out of power. Besides, it was the middle of the day and hardly inconspicuous. The display was good for escaping the whirlwind about to touch down on him back there, but the champion of the Wheel of Fate had to resign himself to the bus for the rest of the trip.

22

Téa was led into the Shredded metal club, flanked by Joshua Truong and four of his men. She was docile and unconcerned with resisting anymore. When Josh went into her cell and informed her that they had made contact with someone looking for her, the news was crippling. They dragged her out for accompaniment while they met the mysterious savior, and Téa just shut down. All her planning and fighting had been for nothing. It seemed they were going to get their hands on Adam, anyway, and that heroic fool was just going to hand himself over.

Téa found herself a seat at one of the tall tables. They were always too busy for Téa to sit there during the night hours, but that day, with the sun just swinging down from its zenith, there was no one else in the club at all. Joshua had arranged for the doors to be open when they arrived, so no one was there to see her plight or to finally save her from the nightmare she was living. That pain was so great that she actually considered trying for one of the henchman’s automatic guns or perhaps Josh’s pistol. She could end it before Adam had a chance to sacrifice himself for her, but he would still show up, and he would still die.

A tear escaped Téa’s eye, and she tried to hide her face from Josh, who sat across from her.

“Looks like reality is setting in,” Josh said callously. Téa didn’t respond. “Actually, to hear Davy talk, this is more how I expected you to be when I first met you. You know, shy, submissive.”

Téa gave Josh a terse look. She didn’t appreciate being associated with the term submissive.

Josh chuckled. “Whoa, sorry. He made you sound like a quiet nerd. I’m just saying, I ran into someone completely different. You pro—”

Suddenly the front door opened, and everyone turned to see. Sunlight shone through the crease, and then a funny-looking face poked out. Joshua was quickly confused, but Téa recognized her oni mask. A strange mix of hope and despair swirled in her heart.

Adam stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. Already the tension of combat was taking hold, but it only gave him focus. The situational awareness he’d developed from too many fire fights gave him a quick but detailed overview of his situation. The four guys standing about the room were not tightly grouped. That was good for rescuing Téa, seated behind all of them, but wasn’t good for hitting them all with his fists. They all carried the same machine gun, and while Adam wasn’t trained on them, he knew they were likely nine-millimeter types. That was good. It meant that the solid hardwood bar on the left side of the room would likely hold back more than a few bullets. The man seated across from Téa had quickly drawn his pistol and aimed it casually at Téa’s face. His wrist was limp, his posture relaxed. He had all the attitude of a man holding all the cards, not knowing Adam had an ace up his sleeve. Still, he would have to be fast.

This man, whom Adam knew to be the boss, started the conversation. “Nice mask. You the hero of this story?”

Adam fixed his gaze on his friend’s tormentor. “Yeah. You the villain?” he spoke in a gruff voice, knowing it would draw Téa’s ire. He saw her roll her eyes.

“I don’t think so,” Josh answered. “Heroes and villains are just points of view. It depends on who’s telling the story, really. I mean . . . the whole idea is just . . . old. I’m just a guy doing what I have to. I just don’t have any delusions of heroism like you do. I mean, what is with the mask?”

“I intend for you all to survive this, and I don’t want you to be able to describe me when the police pick you up,” Adam grumbled.

Joshua chuckled. “Dark hair, green eyes, Hispanic, bad haircut, anger problem . . . a lot of people have already seen you and lived to tell me the tale.” He wagged his finger at Adam. “Now, that’s the mark of a man not doing what he has to.”

“Oh, and I have to kill everyone who sees my face?”

Josh shrugged. “That’s how I keep myself clean.”

Adam and Téa exchanged glances.

“You should really be concerned about whether or not you’re going to survive this,” Josh added.

“You’re not doing that anymore,” Adam said. “Besides, are you telling me that you kidnap people and threaten them with guns because you have to?”

“You’re damn right!” Josh said. His voice raised the more he spoke. “You attacked my brother and put him in the hospital. And in my business, this business I do to pay these men and take care of my family, that kind of insult is unacceptable. I have to be strong. I have to be ruthless, because in this line of work, there is always someone looking for a weak spot . . . an opportunity to take my livelihood. This is the only job I’ve ever been good at, and I will take care of my family.”

“That’s why you wanted to meet here?” Adam asked. “That Asian kid I beat up was your brother, and you thought it would be cool to take me back to where it happened? What? Poetic?”

“I am the type,” Josh shrugged, casual as ever.

“If you need to punish someone, you should be trying to punish your brother,” Adam retorted. “He was going to date-rape Téa! I couldn’t leave that alone!”

“Uh, acquaintance rape,” Téa put in.

“Shut up!”

“Shut up.” Adam shook his head, refocusing on Joshua. “None of this would have happened if you’d just left it alone.”

Téa caught Adam’s eye again. The look she gave him was withering.

Adam sighed. “Maybe we both have just reached the point of no return. Fine. Release Téa, and I won’t have to hurt all of you.”

All the goons chuckled to each other as appropriate.

Josh was smiling. He indicated the building with a sweep of his hand. “The owners said you were weird. You sound real