League of Titans: A New Era

By Lane Smith

Jaycen Alan Ford was an ordinary rich teenager living an ordinary rich teenager's life... until he wrecked his brand new Corvette. Not only did he total his car, but he escaped the vehicle as it was in mid-air and watched the rest of the devastating crash take place in slow motion. As it turned out, Jaycen was fast. Really fast. And he wasn't the only one. Soon afterwards, his parents, along with many other people, were killed in a mass murder by another speedster. On a quest to take down his parents' killer, Jaycen learns of an entire secret society of people with special abilities, and through thick and thin, has to work with them and the U.S. government to bring down a man who moves twice as fast as he does, and somehow knows twice as much about his life - past, present, and even future - than he should.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Jan 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781489732736

Lane Smith

Lane Smith is the creator of a shelf of books, including the New York Times bestselling It's a Book and its companion, It's a Little Book. The beautiful Caldecott Honor-winning Grandpa Green can also be found there alongside his brilliantly quirky collaborations with Jon Scieszka including The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. He has also illustrated Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach and collaborated on the conceptual design of the Disney movie adaptation. In 2012, the Eric Carle Museum named him a Carle Artist for "lifelong innovation in the field of children's picture books," and in 2014 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Illustrators. In 2017 he won the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for There Is a Tribe of Kids. Lane Smith and his wife, the designer Molly Leach, live in a small town in rural Connecticut, USA.

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Copyright © 2021 Lane Smith.

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-3272-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-3271-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-3273-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021900940

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 01/22/2021

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Poetic

Chapter 2: Roadkill

Chapter 3: Inertia

Chapter 4: Area 52

Chapter 5: Lose Control

Chapter 6: Close Friends, Far Secrets

Chapter 7: Flex

Chapter 8: Broken Union

Chapter 9: Civil War

Chapter 10: Crosshair

Chapter 11: Half an Instant

Chapter 12: The Society

Chapter 13: Going Back Again

Chapter 14: Holographed

Chapter 15: Something Different

Chapter 16: Good Friends

Chapter 17: Penitentiary

Chapter 18: Hiking

Chapter 19: More of Us

Chapter 20: The Traitor Among Us

Chapter 21: Stability Pills

Chapter 22: Date Night

Chapter 23: The Shade

Chapter 24: Uninvited Guest

Chapter 25: Evelyn Grace

Chapter 26: Too Slow

Chapter 27: Dear Miles

Chapter 28: A Man In Uniform

Chapter 29:, Cumberland road

Chapter 30: The Mole

Chapter 31: Snake in the Grass

Chapter 32: Team Player

Chapter 33: Storming the Castle

Chapter 34: Castle Defences

Chapter 35: Taken

Chapter 36: Family

Chapter 37: Broadcasted

Chapter 38: Public Enemies

Chapter 39: Kate

Chapter 40: Things You Can’t Outrun

Chapter 41: Paraplegic

Chapter 42: Making History

Chapter 43: Biography

Chapter 44: One More Day

Chapter 45: Behind the Mask

Chapter 46: Counting Down the Hours

Chapter 47: Boy Meets Girl

Chapter 48: Stand Still and Die

Chapter 49: Cavalry

Chapter 50: A Barry Short Story

Chapter 51: Face to Face

Chapter 52: The Race

Chapter 53: Without Him

Chapter 54: The League of Titans

Chapter 55: A Decade Away

Dedication

For Kay Gibson. You got me started on writing, and you never let me stop.

Other Dedications

Miles Long - to Luke Smith.

Jay’s Corvette - for Pop.

Kate Smith - to the real Katelyn Alice Smith, for obvious reasons.

CHAPTER 1

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POETIC

J AY ALAN FORD had rich parents. He was accustomed to his decent sized home in Birmingham but eventually, his parents seemed to get bored with it. He didn’t know why, though. It had a big TV in the living room, a big TV in every bedroom, a big TV in the bathroom for those annoyingly long sessions, and even a big TV in the kitchen so Jay’s dad had an excuse to not talk to his mother-in-law when she was over for dinner. It had really good A/C, which Jay had always considered a plus, and he had all the gaming consoles he could ever want, not that he was on them much. He gamed from time to time but usually he could be found playing guitar in his garage trying to write a song, which he seemed very good at. He had everything he needed there in Birmingham, including his favorite thing of all: friends. He had friends there in Birmingham.

Friends were something Jay didn’t get to hold onto long. He went to a private school in Bessemer, Alabama, though he had recently graduated, and between his parents moving all the time and going on those super long business trips he didn’t get to stay at one school long.

Jay had been to a total of seven schools in his life, and never liked a single one of them, which he always thought really tells you something. He despised math with every drop of blood in him. He really just didn’t see the point in how many solutions does twelve to the negative thirty-fifth power minus ten point one x have? On the bright side, he had friends in math class. He had friends in every class back before his graduation, and he did not want to leave those friends behind. But, here he was, sure enough leaving. He and his family would be catching a plane to Texas tomorrow, and not once did they ever stop to see what Jay thought of that, which wasn’t much at all.

So, what time do you leave? Miles Long, one of those friends Jay didn’t want to leave asked, sitting on the top of Jay’s amplifier in the garage.

The flight’s at eleven. Chances are we’ll never see each other again. Jay chucked a small rock from the floor of the garage out into the concrete drive at his own words.

That… I wish there was something I could do, ya know? Miles said. I’m sorry.

It’s alright, man. The only thing that could stop my parents now is if I ended up in the hospital.

Hey… that might work! Hang on, I’ll go get a hammer, maybe break some toes.

Miles! Jay exclaimed. Sarcastic, man!

I know. I was joking.

Better have been, Jay said. Besides, broken toes would be way too temporary. We’d need something more like a car wreck.

Dad’s got road spikes in the back of his cop car, Miles said. Whaddya say, Jay?

Jay let out a light laugh. Sure, maybe we’ll play some Dukes of Hazzard with it, he joked.

Or… Smokey and the Bandit, Miles said.

Jay gave him an agreeing nod and the two began to realize just how much they’d be doing without if one of them were gone; making fun of guys who didn’t know who Garth Brooks was, playing and singing for Miles’s garageband, taking rides in Jay’s Corvette, and drawing on substitute teachers’ faces with a Sharpie while they were sleeping would all be missed.

Miles, buddy, it’s been fun, Jay said.

Yeah, it has been that. It’s been lots of other things, too.

It was never boring though.

Jay, what if we took a walk down the road and talked to that girl you like, maybe make your last night here a little better?

Calista? No, she doesn’t want to talk to me.

That’s a load of crap, Miles said.

You think so?

I know so! She likes you, man!

Yeah, but I know how she looked at me when I told her I was moving the other day. I don’t want to see that again; she looked like she could have cried right there on the spot.

Jay, you know what you should do?

Mmmm… Jay thought. Then, he smiled. Drink. I should do that. Want a beer?

Nah. Not in the mood, I guess.

Jay went back to the fridge by the stage in the garage and pulled out a bottle. He came back and sat on the floor against the amplifier by Miles. Your loss, buddy.

I’m not the one drinking myself out because my girlfriend won’t talk to me.

I’m not drinking myself out, and she’s not my girlfriend, Jay said. We both know she doesn’t want to be. Maybe she did at one point but she hasn’t said six words to me since I told her I was leaving.

Yeah, and you haven’t said six words to her either.

Yeah… good point, Jay said, taking a sip of his drink. Miles looked at Jay with a sudden realization in his eyes.

You’re… you’re not twenty-one yet, He said, starting to laugh a little. You’re younger than me!

Not to your knowledge, if anybody asks, Jay said, smirking his partly - evil- look - at - me - I - just - committed - a - minor - offence smirk. That was what Miles called it.

Okay, well, seriously man, do you know what you should do?

"What, Miles? What should I do about Calista? What could I do?"

Try, Miles said. You haven’t done that yet.

Jay paused for a moment. What makes you say that?

Well, for starters, her house is ooooooverrrr there, Miles said leaning out the garage door opening and pointing down the road to a neighboring home. And you’re right here.

Yeah, well, some things are easier said than done.

You didn’t use that excuse the time I dared you to jump off my roof… or… did I even have to dare you?

That’s a lot easier to do than talk to Calista while she’s mad.

That’s a lot easier to do than talk to any female while she’s mad.

You make a good point, Miles, Jay said. And that’s exactly why I’m not talking to her.

Because I make a good point?

Yeah. You’re right; girls are hard to talk to when they’re mad. Never met one that wasn’t. Calista is mad, so I probably shouldn’t talk to her.

She might not be mad anymore. It’s been a few days, Jay, Miles said.

She’s pretty good at holding grudges.

A few days worth?

Jay laughed at his friend’s underestimation. A few months worth.

That’s… scary, Miles said.

"Nah, she just likes the drama a little too much. Believe it or not she’s one of the better girls about it."

Wow, Miles said. But either way, you’re telling me you’d rather jump off a roof and break your leg than talk to Calista. Do you not see the issue with that?

I didn’t break my leg!

You could have! Really should have! Honestly it’s weird that you didn’t.

I’ve never broken anything, Jay said. So it’s not that weird.

Actually, that just makes it weirder. Man, you got hit in the face with a baseball the other day and didn’t break anything. Your nose was even perfectly fine. Miles nearly laughed recalling the incident.

No, now that I think about it, that hurt for about three seconds there.

Maybe you just heal fast, Miles joked. Which means, if Calista beats you up, you’ll be fine. Might as well go talk to her.

Jay sighed, and after a pause, finally obliged Miles. Come on then, he said, let’s go if we’re going.

Miles smiled and got up to follow Jay. Third wheel mode initiated.

Bet I could beat you running in boots, Jay said.

Awww, now that you’re taking my advice, you’re just trying to get to her faster, Miles said, doing his best to pick on Jay while he still could.

Shut up and run.

Jay had always been fast. He used to be a track star for his old school and he was right, he could beat Miles running in boots… all the way up until Calista walked out on her front porch and he saw her, causing him to find a way to trip over the air. Then Miles was faster.

I win! Miles yelled back at Jay, who was climbing back to his feet. You alright?

I have no idea yet. Once I get the feeling back in my arm I’ll let you know the answer to that.

Miles went over to help Jay up, and assisted him in walking to Calista’s front yard.

Jay looked up at her. Hi.

Are you okay? She asked.

I don’t know, I can’t feel it yet, he said. But I think I’d be better if I could talk to you for a minute. On Jay’s words, almost as if it had been programmed into her genes, Calista turned and walked back into the house.

Well, maybe she really doesn’t want to talk to you, Miles said.

Told you.

Yeah, well, we came this far. You’ve officially tried. Now go succeed. Miles pushed Jay to the stairs leading up to Calista’s front porch.

I’m not so sure this is a good idea, Jay said, walking up the stairs.

When has doing anything with a girl ever been a good idea?

That’s funny. That’s what my dad says about my mom. Very comforting!

Just do it, Jay! Miles exclaimed. You’re leaving tomorrow, it’s not like you’ll ever have another chance at this!

Fine, Jay said. He walked up to the front door and picked his hand up like he was going to knock, but dropped it. Instead, he just opened the door and walked in.

Jay found Calista sitting on the couch in her living room surfing Netflix. She was pretty, very pretty, and how she managed to still look just as pretty surfing Netflix as she did dressed up for a date was far beyond Jay’s comprehension. All he knew was that she was pretty, and that was all he really needed to know.

Calista… why are you doing this? He asked.

Doing what?

Nothing.

Nothing?

Yes, nothing. You won’t talk to me, you won’t be around me, you won’t even look at me! You’re doing nothing!

What makes you say that? She asked.

You.

I make you say that?

You make me do a lot of things. Overthink stuff, lose sleep, worry too much, you name it.

"Okay, but what specifically did I do to make you say that?"

For the past few days you haven’t said a word to me, you wouldn’t come around me, and even now when we’re talking you won’t take two seconds to look at me! You’re too busy reading the guest stars list on Netflix!

Calista got up, put the remote on the table in front of the couch, and turned to face Jay.

Satisfied? She asked.

Not yet. Jay wanted her to realize just exactly how much he cared about her and just how much he would miss her. He didn’t quite know how to show her, but he was going to do it. I’m leaving here tomorrow. Everything I’ve got here will be gone. No more grilling in the yard, no more garage band, no more showing off in the Corvette, no more Miles, Jay’s voice went soft. And no more you.

Lucky you, she said. Now you don’t have to worry about hiding important stuff like oh, I don’t know, moving away from me anymore!

"Well, I figured the sooner I told you, the sooner you’d do exactly what you’re doing right now, and I wanted to keep our friendship under the still exists category!"

Yeah, well, you suck at that! Jay dropped his head at her words.

Yeah, I guess I do. With that he walked out, not hesitating to slam the door behind him. "At least I tried to fix it! It’s more than you can say!" He yelled as he jumped down the stairs of her front porch.

Miles was still standing out in the yard, waiting for him against a tree. Sounded pretty rough, he said, following after Jay as he walked by.

It was your idea.

Well at least now we know!

Maybe if this was the turnout, I didn’t want to know! Miles briefly froze in place at Jay’s words. He had never really looked at it that way, mostly because he never expected that to be the way Calista would react.

I’m sorry Jay, he said, starting to follow after him again. I know I can’t exactly fix this but at least we tried, man. It’s the best either of us could do.

We could’ve done nothing. That would’ve been better. He was mad. He was completely fed up with it and he wasn’t going to deal with it. He didn’t have to deal with it. He didn’t have to do anything except live, pay taxes, and die.

Jay stormed off into the road and back down to his house, and Miles wasn’t far behind him. Miles knew better than to talk any more about it or Jay would begin to feel obligated to turn around and put his lungs where his appendix should be or something. He knew that once Jay was mad, he was mad, and that was all there was to it. You just don’t try to tell Jay what’s best when he’s mad, otherwise he’ll intentionally do the dead opposite.

Once they got back to the garage, Jay stormed into his house for five seconds and came back out with a key ring full of keys for each door to the house, a key to his grandparents’ house, a key to Miles’s house, and a key to a 2018 Corvette zr1. Miles knew exactly what that meant. Jay was going to drive off some steam.

Don’t follow me, Jay said as he got in the car and started it up. With a roar of the engine and a squeel of the tires, he was gone, playing modern day Bo Duke. The only problem was, he wasn’t Bo Duke, and Miles knew it. He had a pretty good idea that Jay would total the car, get thrown in jail for going way too fast, or die, but he wasn’t going to follow him. Something told him not to. Maybe it was the fact that he had more faith in Jay than he thought, maybe it was the fact that he drove a Yugo. Either way, he wasn’t following him.

Miles could still hear the Corvette engine once it got to the end of the road, and he had a feeling that that engine was the only noise drowning out Calista’s voice in Jay’s head besides maybe some George Strait heartbreak songs thanks to the bluetooth feature. He figured since Jay’s parents weren’t home he probably shouldn’t hang out over there and decided he would go back to his house. He had just begun to walk out when his foot and Jay’s empty beer bottle became best friends.

Ding.

He smashed the bottle into pieces and the glass cut the sides of his tennis shoes. They were Kevin Durant signature shoes and they cost him over 200 dollars. Crap! He muttered to himself as he looked down at his mess. Now I have to get new shoes! He gradually began to pick the pieces of the bottle out of the sides of his shoes and up off the ground. He had them all up in one hand and walked over to the trash can to throw them away. He raised the lid and dumped them in over a paper with cursive writing all over it and Jay’s signature at the bottom.

He asked himself what it could be a few times before deciding to dig it up out of the trash can. He held it up and raked the pieces of broken glass off of it and back into the bin. It had a few little spots on it that looked like someone had managed to drip water in that specific spot, and as he read over it, he realized they could’ve only been one thing: teardrops. There was now official, physical evidence that Jay Alan Ford had cried at least once in his lifetime.

The paper read MY ANGEL up at the top like it was the title. The rest of what it said blew Miles’s brain out of his head. Jay was a poet.

Roses are red

The sky is blue

There’s angels up there

They’re looking for you

How would they guess

You’re down here with me

And your beautiful face

Is all I can see

An angel on Earth

Seems to be pretty rare

But they’re looking for you

I wonder if they ever stare

Down here on Earth

Just to know that they see

Their missing angel

Down here loving me

-Jay Alan Ford

It had to have been for Calista. It couldn’t have not been for Calista. If she knew he had written that for her she would probably cry and fall in love with him all over again, if she wasn’t still in love with him and just too afraid to admit it.

Miles felt like he had ruined what was left of what Jay had with Calista. He was the one who had him try to talk to her, and so he thought it was partially on him for what Jay had heard Calista say. He figured he could at least try to make it up to him, so he picked a rose from one of the many rose bushes along the walkway to Jay’s front porch and took it and the poem over to Calista’s house. He laid the paper down at the foot of her front door and put the flower on top of it. He knocked, and then took off.

From behind the same tree he had propped himself up on earlier in Calista’s front yard, he watched as she came to the door and opened it, noticing the flower and the paper. She picked them up and went inside, and that was it. Miles’s job was done.

About that time, a certain Corvette engine could be heard in the distance. It was officially time to get out of there so Jay didn’t see him, so he cut directly across the street and ran behind the houses all the way down until he was across from Jay’s house, which meant he was at his house, and as Jay pulled back into his garage, Miles made the walk across the street look as casual as possible like he was just going to see his friend again now that he was back. You’re not dead. Good, he said. …Or… is it really?

I can drive, Miles. I’m not going to die because I broke the speed limit.

Well… some of us here think you drive worse than my uncle Wayne so dying while driving seems like a decent sized possibility for you.

Wayne Thompson? That guy? Dude, nobody drives worse than Thompson. Nobody.

Except you.

That is some crap. I drive infinitely better than Thompson.

I wish you could, Jay. I really, truly do.

You want to put your theory to the test here? Get in the car, I’ll prove my point.

No, I’d rather not. Some of us don’t work for Barnes And Unstable.

And others of us have enough talent to drive something better than a Yugo.

It was official, Miles had lost that one.

Then, there was a knock on the wall to the side of the open garage doorway.

Jay… I… that was sweet. It was Calista, standing there in the garage door like she was waiting for permission to come in.

What was sweet? Jay asked, raising an eyebrow. Miles hadn’t quite thought this part through.

Your poem. It was sweet. She was crying. She was actually crying. Jay walked up to her and wrapped her in his arms. She was crying on his chest, and he had no idea why. He wasn’t about to ask either. I didn’t realize you felt that way, she continued. I was waiting for you to tell me you liked me. I’ve felt the same about you since we met.

You have? He asked, still holding her in their hug.

Yeah, she said. I have.

Jay looked back at Miles and nodded as he realized what must have happened. Miles just nodded back.

For a good solid few minutes, Jay and Calista just stood there at the garage door opening holding on to each other, confessing things about how long they’d been in love and why. To Miles, it was truly boring, so he went in the house to get a Dr. Pepper or something, and ended up introducing himself to Jay’s Xbox.

Within a few minutes, Jay’s Corvette engine could be heard once again, drowning out the Xbox in his bedroom. Miles took off, not wanting to miss whatever was about to happen. For some reason or another, he just felt like he had to go, like something really amazing was about to happen, and he wanted to see it. He darted out of Jay’s bedroom, found his way to the garage door, and ran out to the passenger side of the Vette. He opened the door and started to get in when he realized he would be sitting on Calista. Oh, he said. I see. I’ll go get my car.

Hey! Miles! Jay said as Miles started to close the door. Come on. Jay got out of the car and ran into the house, Miles hot on his heels. The two went into the kitchen where Jay opened up a drawer and pulled out another set of keys. "The last thing I want is for her to see my best friend riding around in a piece of crap Yugo. These are the keys to my dad’s Silverado. It’s out back and it’s mean. Go easy on the gas pedal, otherwise you’ll find out what a piece of real bad driving looks like, Thompson."

YES! Thank you!

Oh, and one more thing, Jay said.

Yeah?

Why were you going through my trash?

I put your beer bottle in there and happened to notice the paper.

Jay hesitated for a second, gathering his thoughts at Miles’s words. So… you’re telling me that none of this would’ve happened had it not been for beer?

Miles thought on it for a second. …More or less, yeah.

I gotta’ start drinking those things more often.

CHAPTER 2

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ROADKILL

M ILES PULLED THE blacked out 3500 Chevrolet out from the back yard and around the house. He stopped in front of the garage door as Jay climbed back into his Vette. What does your dad even use this thing for? He yelled through the rolled down window over the Duramax engine and the Vette reving.

Fun! Jay yelled. And danger. He uses it for that, too!

So he doesn’t haul anything with it?

I guess he will tomorrow, Jay said. "Unless maybe I write him a poem."

The three of them all laughed, realizing again what they’d be missing out on. Miles and Calista didn’t quite understand how Jay could make a joke about anything and everything like that, especially when it was something serious, but he could, and they liked that. They assumed that most people would.

Hey, I still don’t know where we’re going, Miles said.

I’m taking her to go eat right now. After that we’ll come up with something else. She said she wanted to go out with me somewhere before I left, Jay said.

"Yeah but where?"

Well, Jay said as he put the car in first gear. I guess we’re going to get some steaks. That’s what I’m in the mood for.

Let’s do it then, Miles said, pulling out of the driveway and putting the Duramax to good use with smoke flying out of the dual stacks in the bed. That truck was loaded with every kind of expensive modification known to man, both under the hood and on the body, which Miles figured out the moment his foot touched the go pedal. He decided at that moment that rich parents are fun.

Jay looked over at Calista in the Corvette as they pulled out after Miles. I never actually thought I’d get to do this with you, he said. It’s pretty nice. She blushed at his words.

I’m glad we could, even if we were a little late, she said. I’ve been wanting to for a while.

The radio in the Vette happened to be playing I May Never Get to Heaven, an old Conway Twitty song to match the moment. As far as the two of them were concerned, said moment was perfect.

You should’ve said something, said anything, really, Jay said.

I wanted to. I wanted to a lot of times but for some reason I never did, and now that I have, you’re leaving the state. See how my luck works?

Mine seems to work pretty well, personally, Jay said, flying down the road behind Miles. Take what’s happening right now for example. Me, you, Corvettes, and steak. I couldn’t get any luckier.

Jay intended to put all he had into that night. He wanted to make Calista feel like she was special to him while he still could, and he wanted to pull out as much laughter and smiling from her as humanly possible. He wanted this night to be memorable for her, something she wouldn’t ever forget. In spite of all that, he was pretty sure that Calista was everything he did want to forget. He was hopelessly stuck on her and there was no way around that, and here he finally had her for a date, but like she said earlier, he was moving away. What was the point in remembering? Why even try? All it would do is serve as the memory that kept him up at night, that brought him nearly to tears from missing her. He was in a sort of mental dispute over it. Part of him was glad this was happening, and part of him wished he could stop it all to just… forget.

He pondered on it for a minute, letting the radio play them into a sentimental silence. Maybe he should’ve stopped himself from ever walking to her house. Maybe he was wrong to write that poem for her. Maybe despite the fact that she and Miles were his next-door neighbors, he should’ve never made the kind of relationships with them that he had. But the fact of the matter was, he did. It had to go for something.

He kept thinking, and so did she, it seemed as he pulled onto the main highway, trying to remember where a good steakhouse was. He hadn’t focused on the road much, but instead made himself at home in his thoughts of How did I let myself do this? Or How could I have thought this was a good idea? Mostly, they were questions he didn’t have the answers to, and probably never would because deep down, he knew from the start that he hadn’t once thought that it was a good idea. He knew he would lose his friends the moment he made them. He made them anyway.

Then, the alarming sound of a car horn rang through his ears as he pulled onto a side road off the highway. The horn woke him up, pulled him back into the world and out of everything in his mind, only so he could hear a follow up blow. Then, it happened.

WHAM!!!

His brand new Corvette shot up off the road, flipping in mid air. Jay noticed his dad’s Silverado in front of him out the windshield. Miles had made the turn in the nick of time without a scratch. He turned and looked over at Calista, her mouth wide open in a scream.

He reached out to her, putting his hand around her arm as the nerves in his body nearly exploded. Then it hit him: his hand was wrapped around her arm. He shouldn’t have even had time to reach over to her, let alone find a stable grip around her arm while his car was flying through the air upside down. It was only a few feet above the ground, about to land on it’s top. Then he saw that the ground wasn’t getting any closer, and his dad’s truck wasn’t moving any farther away. Calista was still in the same position, and even the car that had hit them, he could barely notice looking out the passenger window, was still in the same spot. Everything was perfectly still, frozen in place, as if time had slowed down… or he had sped up.

CHAPTER 3

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INERTIA

J AY UNBUCKLED HIS seat belt and reached for the door handle. He opened his door and slid out of the Vette, catching a view of it up in the air from the ground. He ran around to the passenger side, jumping up off of his running start to reach the window. He used his newfound velocity to punch as hard, or rather as fast as he could through the window and reached down to unlock the door. He pulled the door open just as he felt something sharp hit him in the back. Then, the pain became much sharper to match the object as it cut through and lodged itself into his skin. He turned his head back to see what it was, and his immediate fear was confirmed. Glass.

Small shards of glass from the other car’s headlights had been shot into the air upon collision, and as he looked he saw that there were maybe a hundred little pieces, all waiting to find their way into his body. He reached up and knocked the slow-moving glass out of the air and watched it change direction and fall, the first movement noticeable to him so far. That was either because he had been the one to move the glass at a high enough speed, or because he was slowing back down.

He ignored the glass that had already stabbed through his back and jumped up to unbuckle Calista and pull her out of the car. He landed on the ground with her in his arms. She was completely unscathed.

Suddenly, the pain in his back made a sharp increase in its level and he set Calista down on the road to try and pull the shard out. If anything, he had made it worse. He winced in pain with every move he made until pain became agony. Despite it, he got Calista and himself out of the road and into the grass to its shoulder. Then, everything began to move again. They moved slowly at first, and then faster, including the glass tearing into his back. He threw himself face first onto the ground as everything around him found it’s normal speed again.

AHHHHH! He screamed out as the glass finished its job digging into his back. As Calista finished her scream from the start of the wreck, she saw that Jay was hurt there in front of her and noticed the blooded piece of glass that was sticking out the back of his shirt. Within seemingly another instant, the Corvette smashed down onto the ground and glass from the windshield flew everywhere. It pierced Calista where she sat there on the ground and cut through Jay as he rolled in the dirt in agony. The car that had hit them swerved off the road in a panic toward Calista to avoid the smashed Corvette in front of it, only to ram into a power pole, stopping it instantly and destroying its front end.

No! Jay screamed. He wanted his speed back. He needed it. He could’ve saved those people in the car before it hit the pole, he could’ve possibly even saved his own car from total destruction. In the time it took for Calista to scream, he had saved her from a car wreck. Surely he could’ve saved those other people, too, but he wasn’t moving fast anymore. His speed was suddenly just a memory.

Miles drifted the truck into the grass the moment the Vette hit the ground. He heard the excruciating sound of metal against the pavement and saw the explosion in the front end of the car once it was all over. His first instinct was to pull Jay out of there, even being nearly certain that he was already dead. He dashed over to the car and dove onto the ground to open the driver door, finding it already ajar. Through the flames, he couldn’t see anything inside the car, he couldn’t even make out the silhouette of a person through the fiery orange and red.

No, he said, quietly at first, but then louder as he realized the full capacity of the incident. No. No, no, no, no, no! Louder. No! Louder. He wrapped his hands around his head and laid down on the ground, crying for his friend. NO!!!

MILES! MILES LONG! Someone yelled, a familiar voice. MILES!

Miles knew it anywhere. Look-at-me-I-just-commited-a-minor-offence was in everything Jay said, and there it was again, ringing in his ears like a cavalry horn, bringing back his hope. Jay! He yelled.

He followed Jay’s voice, finding both him and Calista lying in the grass, their bodies cut all over with shards of windshield glass still poking out of their shirts and pants. Jay had scrapes on his face where pieces of the glass had cut him, and Calista had cuts and shards all down her arms, as she had used them to protect her face. Her knees were badly cut, too, making it hard for her to walk.

Miles! Miles, I’m okay! Calista… is she alright?

Cut up as bad as you are, he said, drying his tears knowing now that Jay was alright. You’ll both make it, I’m calling an ambulance. He pulled his iPhone from his pocket and called 911, giving them the rundown of what had happened. A car wreck, people bleeding out. He didn’t bother to mention that his best friend seemed to be able to move a mile before someone could blink. He hadn’t even seen it.

Jay, they’re on the way, he said. Hang tight, buddy.

Miles, Jay could hardly bring out the word. Other car, he mumbled. He pointed across the field of green to the car that had hit the power pole.

Right, Miles said. He ran over to the car, a diesel Ford Excursion with a really big custom bumper. He threw the door open and pulled the driver’s face out of the airbag. Jay, this guy’s out cold, He said. What do I do?

How am I supposed to know? Jay could hardly force the words out. He felt so beaten.

Just checking to see if anybody knew more than I did. Calista, what’s your save-knocked-out-people experience level? He asked as he pulled the man from the car and onto the ground. No answer. Calista?

I’ll get her! Jay yelled at Miles, realizing she had gone unconscious from bleeding out. He scooped her up and tried to get his speed back again. He ran, ignoring the pain from the glass, but nothing happened. The surge, the energy that had dominated his body and mind was gone from him. It was like a drug. It gave him a high, a boost. It made him feel powerful, it made him feel strong. It lit him up like a fire that flashed in his eyes and burned the blood in his veins. It was energy. Pure energy. His energy.

He kept running, intending to get her to the truck and drive to the nearest hospital, pushing through the pain of the glass shards in him that got worse with every movement he made.

Jay, there’s an ambulance on the way! Miles yelled. Just wait!

I can’t wait! She could die!

You’re in no position to drive and the ambulance is closer to here than you are to the hospital!

Yeah, Jay said. But they don’t drive like I do. He threw open the passenger door and set Calista in the seat.

Jay, you won’t make it! Miles yelled, running over to cut Jay off at the driver door, knowing with all the pain he was in from the glass would make him slower now.

Get out of the way, Miles, Jay said.

I can’t let you do this. Neither of you will make it.

I’ve never not made it yet have I? Jay joked, reaching around Miles for the door handle.

Miles pushed Jay back.

I’m serious.

So am I, he said, shoving Miles out of