Past Catches (eBook)

C.J. Easley (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
192 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-9389-2 (ISBN)

Infos

'The Past Catches' is an enthralling superhero crime thriller with filled with politics, revenge, and suspense throughout. Ben Marcus is the greatest hero the world has ever seen, but he also has a dark past that has come to haunt him. In this exciting and action-packed book, Ben must confront his past and come to terms with the damage his actions have caused. He is painfully reminded that the past, no matter how buried it seems, will always catch you later in life.

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"e;The Past Catches"e; is an enthralling superhero crime thriller with filled with politics, revenge, and suspense throughout. Ben Marcus is the greatest hero the world has ever seen, but he also has a dark past that has come to haunt him. In this exciting and action-packed book, Ben must confront his past and come to terms with the damage his actions have caused. He is painfully reminded that the past, no matter how buried it seems, will always catch you later in life. Long since Ben's deadly confrontation with the maniac Orson Johnson, he has let go of the morals that had made him weak. Without those lost values to hold him back, Ben has become a far more effective hero than ever before, even if the people don't want him to be. Armed with the amazing abilities of flight, super strength, abnormal speed, and a near limitless healing factor, Ben must now face his greatest adversary yet - a terrorist with unexplained connections to Ben, and he's not alone. Over years, he has been collecting victims of Ben's heroics, and grooming them into an army with Ben in their crosshairs. The mysterious attacker's identity and his connections to Ben are completely unknown. In this compelling story, Ben must look to the past to solve the problems of the present. Get ready for a thrilling superhero adventure that reminds us to never overlook the ghosts of the past!

Textauszug

Prologue

 

 

Orson Johnson killed another, and it was brutal.

Ben Marcus flew over to the crime scene allowing the wind passing by his ears to wash away all doubt and worry. This was his way to calm himself because there was no better feeling than flying through the sky unimpeded. It was the feeling of complete freedom from everything that bothered his mind, and kept negativity from gaining any foothold in his head. It was in the sky where he put himself in the headspace of being Vanguardian, his heroic alter ego.

He slowed to a stop above the crime scene. For a few moments, he lay suspended in the air above. Ben didn’t quite know how his abilities worked. Flight seemed to be a different muscle in his body and mind than floating, and both were somewhat linked to manipulation of gravity but not quite wholly based on the concept.

The anatomy of his abilities was a bunch of almosts and kindas, and he vaguely knew he’d never figure it out.

Ben gently floated down into the alley in the early morning. It was so early one would mistake it for midnight. The only light came from the cops’ flashlights causing him to blink rapidly against the sudden light; for all Ben’s abilities, he still needed to adjust his eyes to the dark.

He glanced at a policeman emptying his stomach onto the building wall next to him. Orson didn’t need to mark his crime scenes. Anyone who saw it would do it for him. One body this time. Just a head on top of a heap of blood, bone, and guts. The head had sunk into the mass of disgust to its nose. The eyes above them were staring in a permanent look of fear and shock. It was impossible to tell how long a victim was alive after meeting Orson Johnson, but it was obvious he kept them alive for some of it.

Written in blood on the dumpster right behind it was REVENGE.

Orson Johnson didn’t care who knew that it was him who killed these men, and that’s why it was easy to determine his identity. A quick check into his background revealed that he had a wife who was killed by an attacker that Ben failed to stop early in his career. In Orson’s grief, his first victim had been the criminal who killed her; his second, his accomplice. The media began equating Orson with the same kind of vigilante Ben was, but looking at his handiwork, no one would mistake that for justice.

Above the body, written in blood, was R for his first victim. RE for his second. The next was REV, the lawyer who absolved Ben of wrongdoing in his wife’s murder. Every dead body somehow connected the murder, and with another letter added. Now, the word was complete and his message delivered.

Ben had been tracking Orson since the early days of the investigation. That was almost six weeks ago, and he became obsessed with stopping him for one main reason. He was connected to the murder, and that put Veronica and their unborn child at risk.

With every letter, Ben became more nervous and irritable. Danger was coming, and it would destroy everything if he didn’t do something. Nevertheless, Orson stayed ahead of him. All efforts to catch him amounted to nothing, and Ben was still at page one. Powerless for the first time since getting his powers.

He walked up to the lead investigator in Orson’s case; he wore no mask. The media attention and court orders had negated the need for a secret identity. The world had already found out who he was; everyone knew about the struggle between Ben Marcus and Orson Johnson, and they were waiting to see what happened next.

“Anything?” Ben asked matter of factly, trying to keep desperation out of his voice.

“Nothing we don’t already know.” The cop sounded disappointed, but Ben expected the answer.

Ben glanced around the scene in a quiet panic attack. Trying not to show the police any weakness, but desperately trying to find something, anything, that could get him face-to-face with Orson.

“The word is complete,” another cop said absentmindedly.

Ben took a peek at the crude writing on the wall of the dumpster. A few trails of blood had slid further down, and eventually dripped onto the ground, but the blood had long since dried. With the cop’s statement still in his head, Ben took to the skies. The rushing of air that usually calmed him had lost its power today.

Orson’s revenge was complete, and Ben Marcus failed. Now, he would pay the price.

 

Orson watched. He tried to learn everything he could about his enemy. It was nearly six months, maybe, since his revenge had begun, and between adding a letter, Orson observed Ben with intense hatred; he had no vast powers like Ben Marcus had, but he had determination and a dream. His wife avenged, and a world without the so-called superhero.

Ben’s address was learned long ago, but Orson needed Ben on edge, and he went through the process of creating that edge within him with the murders. His careful watching had told him that it was working; the hero’s emotions were off, and he was becoming increasingly nervous and afraid. This Ben Marcus he cultivated would panic and make mistakes.

Orson had him where he wanted him.

Was it six months? Longer? Shorter? I can’t remember anymore.

The constant watching him for a weakness had finally provided one, and it insulted him. Ben Marcus had a wife. Veronica Marcus was pregnant.

Front row seat to the preparation for their bundle of joy. A private moment invaded on when he snuck in their house to look over the ultrasound pictures late one night. The couple never knew that their child’s bed had been touched by Orson; they never knew that he also was in the child’s room, and how could they know? Ben was away. Veronica never woke.

Tonight, it’s over, he snuck in one last time, having already learned their security system, with a .45 handgun.

He had studied the layout of their house, and knew exactly where to go to get to where he wanted. Knowledge first learned from blueprints, but then from sneaking in while no one was home. Orson had already invaded Ben’s life. Already turned Ben’s privacy into his mistress.

He walked across a hallway, turned the corner, and raised his gun. Fired once. That was all that he needed.

 

Ben saw it happen in slow motion. He was talking with his wife one moment. His Veronica. They’d been laughing and smiling. The next moment, he turned the corner. He’d seen the picture of him before, Orson Johnson. Gun muzzle flashes. Ben could see the bullet moving through the air.

He ran as fast and desperately as he could. The same thing continued repeating in his head.

Please, God.

He reached with a desperate hand, and his world seemed to freeze. Everything froze except the bullet, and it was hurtling toward its target. It seemed to mock him. As if speaking to taunt him. All your power, it said.

Still, closer.

 

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed suddenly. Ben’s head shot over.

“What? What’s wrong?” He had crossed the room and had his hand around her head. Her eyes did not speak of trouble, and her smile was bright. She took his hand and placed it on her slowly growing belly. Ben felt it. A movement. A baby. His baby.

“She’s early!” He could think of nothing else to say, and he wouldn’t dare move his hand. At the same time, he was astonished that the kicking started a month early.

“Well, his father is a superhero.”

 

The bullet still moved. His hand was almost there. Stop the bullet.

 

Her embrace was sweet and exactly what he needed after a long day of being a superhero. Ben was still getting used to his abilities, and they even now exhausted him after over a year of using them to save lives. He still hadn’t figured out how to turn it into profit, and probably never would. He still had to maintain a secret identity so he could provide.

For now, he didn’t worry about the money, or anything else. He didn’t even think of his powers; he just felt love and secure. As he drifted off, he sleepily wondered how he got so lucky.

 

Just inches away from the projectile. His finger touched the bullet. Middle finger burst with blood, and he felt it collide with his bone. Both bone and bullet broke apart.

 

“I love you more than anything,” Veronica said to him with a gleam in her eyes. She always looked so beautiful when she said she loved him.

“I love you too, Veronica. I will do everything to protect you.” She laughed at that.

“Who do I need protection from?”

 

The shards remaining of the bullet tore into Veronica’s stomach, and she screamed in pain. Wallowing in anguish. She bled profusely. Ben caught her as she fell to the floor. Tears came down fast.

She didn’t cry for the pain.

“Ben …”

He tried to shush her, and apply pressure to her midsection. He was crying his own tears. Ben knew what she was trying to say, and he mentally willed her not to say it. She did against his mental protests.

“Ben … The baby.”

Ben’s tears fell on her stomach as he looked over all the blood leaking out. There was no chance. He openly sobbed over the remains of his child, and when he was done, there was Orson Johnson standing there.

He was smiling.

 

Orson did it, finally. His grin was unstopped, for he finally avenged his wife. It is over now. He could see her in front of him when he closed his eyes. Her black hair and green eyes were thankful in his imagination.

“Thank you,” she said.

Eyes still cold, he held his arms out and let in the wave of...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 6.8.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-9389-9 / 1098393899
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-9389-2 / 9781098393892