Spark- Chapter 3

Chapter 3
Ignoring the pressing feeling he had, Seth walked to the back of the school and into the dark part of the parking lot. Phillip’s hangout. Phillip was sitting on the hood of an old Chevy, smoking a cigarette. Seth didn’t like smoke. It nauseated him. Trying not to throw up, he called out,
“Phil! Come on!”

“Yeah, I’m coming. Just get over here; I want to show you something.”

The feeling in his head was practically pounding his skull, begging him not to go.

“Sure.”

As he walked closer, he began to make out the outline of an object that was in Phil’s waistband. Black. Metallic. A gun.
“Hey, hey, hey! I didn’t do anything to you! Why do you have that?” Seth said, throwing up his hands in fear.

“Oh, this?” Phillip said, holding up the 9mm Garza and waving it absent mindedly “Just in case someone gets out of line.”

A look of terror was fixed on Seth’s face, like a deer caught in car’s headlights as he realized what his friend was talking about. At the exact same moment, Phillip’s face twitched and he burst out laughing.

“Damn Seth, grow a pair! You practically pissed yourself! It’s my dad’s, he was in the army.”

Seth sat down on the asphalt and tried to smile. Same old Phillip.

As he wiped the sweat from his brow, he saw something moving in the corner.

“Hey. Someone’s here.”

“Probably just the security guard.” He said, as he flung the gun under a car.

A big, rather portly man got out from behind a car and ran towards them brandishing a taser gun.

“Stop! You kids ain’t going nowhere. Bringing guns to school. The principal would see you expelled, that’s for sure.” The man yelled.

Seth and Phillip backed up against the wall. Seth whispered,” Run. You go right, I go left.”

“Okay.”

Then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Phillip broke right, sprinting across the parking lot, running around cars. Seth turned and started to run. The security guard, while he knew he couldn’t catch them, had another way to take the kids down. 200 kilovolts of discipline.

The security guard turned around and fired the taser gun’s thin filament wire at Seth. The wire flew threw the air at a blinding speed and struck him right in the chest, and with it over 200 kilovolts of electricity poured into his body.

Seth felt his body go rigid, the electricity coursing throughout his body. He felt his muscles spasm as he lost control of them.
Then suddenly, the control came rushing back. He stopped shaking. He could still feel the sting of the electricity running through him but he was conscious. He looked at the security guard who kept upping the current sent to his body. Screaming, Seth instinctively grabbed the filament.
He saw his hands glow blue and felt his stomach turn. A new current of electricity came rushing out of him, through the wire and towards the security guard. The security guard didn’t have time to blink. As the security guard was electrocuted, his body began to glow uncharacteristically blue. He shook for the last time and dropped to his knees. The wire fell out of Seth’s body and he too felt his mind shutting down. He closed his eyes and fell to the asphalt, unconscious.
******

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep. Seth opened his eyes for the first time in 3 days since his accident in the parking lot. What’s going on, he thought. Sky blue coloured walls, machines beeping around him, he made the connection quickly. He was in a hospital. As the events of that afternoon came rushing back, Seth stifled a cry as he realized something. He had killed that security guard. What happened to me?, he thought. He sat up and looked around.

Suddenly he heard someone run towards him and Lily burst into the room. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“Seth! Oh my god, Seth! Don’t ever -sob- do that -sob- to me again!” she sobbed as she held him close.

A few minutes later, Phillip and Matt walked in smiling, Phillip wiping a tear from his eyes. They all just stood there for a couple of minutes. Seth noticed Matt glaring at Lily and immediately drew back. Lily smiled and got off the bed and sat on one of the bedside tables.

“So what happened to me?” Seth said.

“The janitor found you and Mr. Kane just after nightfall. Seemed like Mr. Kane’s taser gun malfunctioned and electrocuted both of you.” Matt said.
“
Um what happened to Mr. Kane? He’s okay, isn’t he?” Seth said tentatively.

Silence. They all averted their eyes and Phillip shook his head.

“The electricity that killed him was definitely greater than the one which incapacitated you. Actually the doctor said you didn’t suffer any tissue damage.” Phillip said.

Seth glared at Phillip, murderously “Now you decide to use your brain.”

He continued to stare at Phillip, rage, hatred and guilt mixing in the cauldron called his soul. Phillip tried to avoid his eyes but he stared him down.

God, what is happening to me?, he thought.

A man in a white lab coat walked in a few minutes later, breaking the silence.

“Excuse me, “ he said. “I would like to speak with Mr. White alone, please.”

Matt was the first to get up. “You better be in school on Monday. Stay safe.” He said smiling and shook Seth’s hand.

“Yeah,” said Lily. “Get well.” They both walked out of the room, keeping each other at arm's length.

Phillip stood up and walked over to him, and whispered.

“Seth man, you know I’m sorry about what happened. I couldn't have known that guard would come. Get well, though.”

Seth looked at Phillip long and hard, deciding whether or not to forgive him.

Eventually, he smiled and said loudly, “Forget about it. I’ll see you later.”

Phillip flashed him a grateful look and left the room.

Seth sat up as the man in the white coat came closer. He could tell that he was a strong figure, one not to be messed with. He had big arm muscles and even bigger shoulders. Despite his form, he looked old. About 50. Seth eyed him warily as he sat next to him.

“Good afternoon Seth. I’m your doctor.” He said, extending a hand.

Seth kept mute as he shook the man's hand.

“So, was that the first time you manifested?”

His heart froze as he looked up, shocked. How could he know? No one else saw what happened.

“I don’t know what you mean. This is the first time I stayed in a hospi-“

“Please, Mr. White, I do not have time for your childish attempts to conceal the truth. You killed that security guard. You electrocuted him. You are lucky one of my associates was there to clean up your mess.” Mr. Nett said, cutting him off.

Who was this man? His associates? How could he know all that he did?

“Ah, explanations are in order.” Mr. Nett said. “You are an EAGLE. A genetic weapon.”

An EAGLE?, Seth thought. His heart raced as he remembered that fateful history class.

“Impossible! Those kids were killed! Either way, I’m too young to have been part of that project.” He argued.

There was a loud bang and someone burst into the room. Two nurses tried to restrain the person but she pushed through.
“Get out of my way dammit! My son’s in there! Oh Jesus! Oh Jesus, thank you! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she prayed as she sobbed into his shoulder.

Mom, Seth thought.

He looked up and the man in the white coat was gone. There was a card on the bedside table. It had an odd blue glow.