Chapter 31
Joel and Bobby were on their own now. When Bailey shouted something inaudible before literally bounding back up the boulevard toward midtown, Joel had a moment of weakness, and his thoughts turned dark.
“I’ve never been without her during a team challenge,” Joel muttered under his breath.
“What’s that?” Bobby asked, unable to hear his partner over the screams and yelling surrounding them.
“Nothing, nothing. So what’s the plan?” Joel shook it off. He was ready to step up. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a clue about what that meant in this circumstance.
Bobby surveyed the situation. Tons of beachgoers had yet to escape the area, and some new civilians had newly arrived, fleeing other areas of the city to what seemed to be a safer destination.
“Think a whale could help us save everyone?” Bobby laughed.
“What?” Joel wondered if his friend had snapped. “No! What are you even talki-”
“Nevermind, just had a little deja-vu,” Bobby got his chuckling under control. “But I do think I have an idea. Do you think you could…”
Before Bobby could continue, a shadow fell over the two, prompting them to stop talking and look toward the sky. Way out to sea, a giant tidal wave loomed, covering their line of sight to the descending sun. Am I psychic? Joel thought.
“Well, that changes things a bit,” Bobby said gravely. He was fairly sure that mother nature couldn’t form a wave that monstrous on a day like today. He looked frantically up and down the shoreline until he spotted it. A villain so far unfamiliar to him stood about 20 yards away from them with his hands above his head, focusing intently on his creation. Bobby wasn’t entirely sure, but the evil-doer looked to be an old man with thinning gray hair wearing a light blue wetsuit. He pointed at the villain, “Put that asshole to sleep, I'll hold back the wave!”
Joel wasted no time. He took off in a full sprint toward the waterline with Bobby right beside him before veering off to take down the evil bastard who threatened to flood the entire city.
He ran as fast as he could, images flashing through his mind. Instead of a villain standing at the shoreline, he saw a haunted Bobby staring out at the sea, ready to meet his maker. “The waters are death.” No! Not today! In the vision, Joel was powerless. But in this moment, he had all sorts of power. He was overflowing with power. He was a goddamn meta, a potential Herald. He was Eclipse’s fucking heir! “The Reaper is here.” Joel closed the distance in mere seconds and glanced over his shoulder at Bobby, who had conjured a gigantic brick wall made entirely out of words, a small egg man sitting atop. The first wave crashed against the bricks, forcing Bobby to grunt and step back in pain and concentration. Joel dug deep down within himself to call forth his ability. He attempted to emotionally center himself: to create the circumstances needed to calm the minds of those around him. “I can feel it in my bones.” Joel was out of time. He closed his eyes and let it all go. Every ounce of energy that he held within his core flowed out into the world around him.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Joel opened his eyes and smiled. It didn’t matter who the tidal wave-conjuring villain was now because he lay on the wet sand in front of Joel, asleep and unconscious. Unfortunately, before he could celebrate, the force of a speeding train pounded into him. He had the presence of mind to hold his breath as the wave struck but was unable to anchor himself and was pulled forcefully out to sea.
The water was darker than he expected as the waves stirred up all the sand, dirt, and plant life around them. Plus, the churning bubbles and tidal froth obstructed his view of the surrounding area. He needed to find Bobby. The wall was down. That meant that either the effort to hold back the tidal wave was too much, or Joel had put his friend to sleep.
Joel started to paddle. He didn’t even know which way was up, but he had to move so that he could find Bobby and save them both. This was all his fault. Then, without warning, he crested the wave, his head bursting through the surface into the life-giving sea air. Joel looked left and right, searching for any other bodies floating in the ocean nearby. Before he could see much of anything, he sensed another wave about to hit and took a deep breath before being forced back under.
When Ariella had told Joel that he needed to enter the competition, he imagined it would be lonely, difficult, and competitive, which it was. But he had also met some truly remarkable people. He thought back on his first night in the dorm with Bobby, intuitive as he was, distracting Joel so that his anxiety wouldn’t overwhelm him. He remembered Jax sitting on the couch in the common room, going easy on him in their favorite fighting game. He pictured Bailey’s smile and heard her voice heckling him. “You put your own ally to sleep? You dingus. Fix it!”
Joel bumped into something. In the dark depths, he wasn’t entirely sure what had obstructed his movement. If he put Bobby to sleep, that meant that he likely also put some of the other people on the beach to sleep. The wave was huge, and any number of souls could have been pulled out to sea with the two of them.
He felt around frantically until he touched something hard and pointy, wrapped in cloth. He made doubly sure, but when he was, he nearly sighed in relief. It was definitely Bobby’s book: the book of stories that Bobby always carried under his arm in case of an emergency.
Joel fumbled in the waistband pocket that the PR consultant had insisted he add to his costume and gripped the panic button. He grabbed Bobby’s wrist, still hoping that their team would win. But it didn’t matter. Their lives were definitely in danger. He pushed the button. Joel and Bobby were officially out of the trial.