Chapter 8: The Line Between

The sirens had drawn too close for comfort, their echoes bouncing off the alley walls, creating a tense, suffocating atmosphere. Levi and Jake ran, their breaths coming in short, sharp bursts. Levi’s pulse raced, not from exertion, but from the weight of what he could feel around them—the fear creeping into Jake’s mind, the growing sense that they were about to be trapped.

Jake’s powers simmered beneath the surface, and Levi could sense the low hum of energy pulsing around him. He knew Jake well enough to recognize the subtle shift—the danger of what might happen if his control slipped, if the power took hold.

“Jake,” Levi called out, his voice low but urgent. “We need to stay calm. Let me talk to them if it comes to that.”

Jake didn’t respond immediately. His jaw clenched, his fists tight at his sides, but he nodded, though the tension in his body told Levi just how hard he was holding himself together.

The alley narrowed ahead of them, and just as they turned the corner, Levi’s heart sank.

Blocked.

Two police cars had pulled up at the far end of the alley, their flashing lights casting a dizzying glow over the cracked pavement. Four officers stood behind the cars, guns drawn, their voices blending into one authoritative shout.

“Stop where you are! Hands in the air!”

Jake froze, and for a second, Levi saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. But it wasn’t the police that scared him—it was himself. Jake’s powers thrummed in the air, and Levi felt it ripple through the ground beneath their feet. Jake was losing control, and Levi knew that if something didn’t change, it wouldn’t end well.

“Jake, listen to me,” Levi whispered, stepping in front of him, his hands raising in a show of peace. “I’ll handle this. You don’t need to do anything. We’ll talk our way out, okay?”

Jake’s gaze locked onto Levi’s, his jaw tight. “Levi…”

“Trust me,” Levi said, his voice soft but firm.

The officers took a few steps closer, their guns trained on both of them, but it was clear they were on edge. Levi could feel their fear, sharp and heavy, mixing with the tension in the air. They didn’t know what they were dealing with, and that made them dangerous.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Levi could sense the rising panic not just in Jake, but in the officers too. He needed to defuse the situation before things got out of hand.

“Hey!” Levi called to the officers, keeping his voice calm but loud enough to carry. “Let’s just talk, okay? We don’t want any trouble.”

“Hands in the air, both of you!” one of the officers shouted, his voice betraying the fear Levi could feel in him.

Levi slowly raised his hands, glancing back at Jake. “It’s fine. We’re not going to hurt anyone. We’re just going to talk.”

One of the officers moved closer, his gun still raised. Levi felt the tension spike in Jake, the energy rippling through him again as he slowly started to raise his hands. Fuck, If Jake lost control now, everything would spiral out of control.

“Jake,” Levi said softly, slowly moving his . “I’ve got this.”

But before Levi could say another word, the officer nearest to them misread Jake’s tension and movements as aggression. Without hesitation,he aimed, then fired—an instinctive, panicked reaction.

The shot rang out, echoing down the narrow alley.

For a split second, everything was still. Levi felt the burning impact in his chest before he registered the pain, his body lurching backward, and then everything tilted. His vision blurred as he collapsed to the ground, the world spinning as he hit the pavement.

“Levi!” Jake’s voice cut through the chaos, raw and broken.

Levi’s body felt heavy, his chest tight, each breath a struggle. His mind swam, trying to piece together what had just happened, but everything was slipping away too fast. The cold started to creep in, and with it, an unfamiliar darkness.

He barely registered Jake dropping to his knees beside him, barely heard the officers shouting as they advanced. The pain was too much, the world spinning out of focus. Levi tried to move, tried to speak, but his body wouldn’t respond.

All he could feel was the guilt, the fear flooding Jake, and the rising anger boiling beneath it.

And then, everything went dark.

Jake’s Breaking Point

The moment Levi hit the ground, Jake’s mind went blank. The world around him slowed to a crawl, the sound of the officers’ voices drowned out by the roar of rage and grief surging through him.

He stared at Levi’s still form, his chest rising and falling in shallow, ragged breaths, blood pooling beneath him on the pavement. Jake’s heart pounded in his chest, the heat of the energy building inside him, too much to contain.

The officers were shouting, advancing, but Jake couldn’t hear them. He couldn’t feel anything except the raw, crushing guilt. Levi was just trying to help, tried to keep me safe, and now he was dying because of it.

Jake’s hands shook, his body vibrating with barely controlled power. He clenched his fists, feeling the surge of energy running through his veins, but he couldn’t stop it. His control was slipping, fraying at the edges.

The officers moved closer, their guns still trained on him. One of them shouted something—maybe a command, maybe a threat—but Jake didn’t care anymore. None of it mattered. The only thing he could think about was Levi lying there, lifeless, because of him.

Because he hadn’t stopped this.

“Back off!” Jake shouted, his voice cracking with the strain of keeping everything inside.

The officers hesitated, but their weapons stayed trained on him, and then they fired, and that was more than enough to push Jake over the edge.

The energy inside him surged, a tidal wave of power that snapped free from his control. His hands glowed with a blinding light, and with a single motion, Jake let it loose.

The wave of energy exploded out of him, slamming into the officers like a physical force. They were thrown backward, their bodies hitting the ground hard, their weapons clattering uselessly away. The ground beneath Jake cracked, sending jagged fissures through the pavement, and the air hummed with the intensity of the energy he was releasing.

But it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t stop. Jake couldn’t stop. Jake’s body trembled violently as the power fed on itself, quickly growing, spiraling out of control. The more he tried to pull it back, the harder it pushed forward, spreading through the city block like wildfire.

The streetlights overhead exploded in a shower of sparks. Cars parked nearby erupted into flames, their metal frames twisting and warping under the sheer pressure of Jake’s energy. The ground shook violently, splitting open as the force rippled outward.

And then, with an agonizing primal scream of anguish, Jake lost all control.

The explosion that followed was absolutely positively catastrophic, a blinding flash of light that consumed everything in its path. Buildings crumbled, windows shattered, and the very air seemed to split apart as the shockwave tore all through the city.