Electrify: A Superhero Thriller: THE ELECTRIFY SERIES, #1

By J. M. Irving

Brandon Curry, a Mexican American scientist, lives in a world where there are enhanced, caped superheroes and supervillians called the Altered. They can fly, shoot lasers from their eyes, shoot fire from their fists, and so much more.Three years ago, there was a rebellion against the superhero team, The Assembly, a group of that consists of the world's most powerful heroes. The Champion, The Sonic, Firestar, The Aboriginal, The Falcon, and The Warrioress. The insurrection claimed the lives of both Altered as well as the humans-with one of them being Brandon's Abuelita, Sofia De Martin. After another devastating turn of events, Brandon, becomes what he hates the most, an Altered. The question is: "Will he use his powers for the good of mankind?" or "Will he unleash hell on those who took his Abuelita away?" J.M. Irving delivers another dark, riveting novel, that combines thriller, horror, and the superhero genre together with twists and turns that yield for an unputdownable story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. M. Irving
• Release date: Jan 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215821381

J. M. Irving

J.M. Irving is a 25 year old author, born in Clovis, New Mexico, but currently lives in the great state of Texas. He's written the thrillers, "BRITAIN'S BAY" , "MR.POSTMAN", and the latest novel, "ELECTRIFY: A SUPERHERO THRILLER". If J.M. is not writing, he's cooking up a storm.

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ALSO BY J.M. IRVING

Britain’s Bay

Mr. Postman

This is a work of fiction . Names, characters, events, and incidents are all a part of the author’s creativity and imagination. The places that are named and used are for fictional and creative purposes only. Any similarities to an actual person or persons,  alive or dead, are completely coincidental. Any particular events that happen in this book are solely for fictional purposes only.

Text copyright © May 2022  by J. M. Irving

Cover art copyright © 2022 a collaboration with Canva

Publication Date © July 22nd, 2022

All right reserved. This book was self-published in the United States of America.

The text of this book is written in 12 point Droid Serif.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without the consent of the Publisher, J.M. Irving–except  brief quotes or reviews.      

For Dad. Thank you for electrifying my life.  

⌁INTRODUCTION⌁

I stood on the cliff of St. Ignoramus, eating my fruit-filled cheese bun from Sonia's Cafe & Bistro when I saw the building where my Abuelita worked, fall before my eyes. My bun fell from my hands and into the ocean below as I turned to run to my car. I made my way through the trail that I had walked on, and when I saw my car, I pressed my car fob to start the engine.

I immediately hopped in and sped toward my Abuela. I made the call to the cops to report what I had just seen, but no one answered. I threw my phone in the passenger seat, yelling things that weren’t impressionable. I tried to remember to breathe, but the image of my grandmother’s building falling made me hyperventilate. My heart beat loudly in my chest like a gong, and with every beat, it throbbed in my eardrums.

As I drove, I heard a loud swoosh go over me, so I looked through my sunroof to see one of the Altered flying above me. When I put my eyes back on the road, a boy stood in the middle of the road crying and gripping his teddy bear tightly to his chest. I screamed at the top of my lungs and jerked my wheel sharply to the side so that I would miss him. I swerved uncontrollably then struck a nearby tree. My heart continued to pound in my ears, drowning out all sounds until I noticed that my horn was blaring. I sat up, immediately tensing with pain. I realized that I was bleeding when I saw the large gash across my forehead in my rearview mirror. My left arm was broken, and my hip seemed to be out of place(or more just uncomfortable because of the position that I was in).

I went to open the door, but someone tore it off of its hinges. A man with chocolate brown hair stood there and extended his hand. I trembled, unsure whether or not to take his hand. He nodded, so I took it.

He pulled me out, laid me on the curb, then started taking off his clothes which made me really uncomfortable. As he continued, I realized that he was an Altered. He wore a red bodysuit with bright blue stripes that went from his neck, down his arms, and down the sides of his legs. He brought the golden ring he wore to his chest, then it expanded around his collarbone and turned into a white cape with gold trimming. I gasped in astonishment which caused him to smile and nod his head.

Just as he was about to fly off, I called out to him, Sir! Sir, please!

He turned attentively at me, eyes fierce. Yes?

He sounded like an angel when he spoke(or I was probably delusional because of all the pain that I was in). He knelt in front of me and listened.

MY-MY-MY- I BEGAN coughing, unable to complete my sentence.

The Altered placed his hand to my forehead and closed his eyes to concentrate. After a few seconds, he turned and took off, heading straight for my Abuelita’s building. Did he just read my mind? I asked myself.

The boy that searched for his mother earlier had found her because now he was in her arms. He made eye contact with me which made me smile.

Then the boy pushed himself out of his mother’s arms and ran up to me. We stared at one another for what felt like a few minutes, then he held out his teddy bear. I looked at the bear, back at him, shaking my head, not understanding what he wanted me to do.

He smiles then gestures for me to take it.

He’s giving it to you. His mother said, walking up behind him.

I...I couldn’t take your bear, little guy. I smiled, then coughed.

It’s yours now. He smiled, beckoning me to take it. Trust me. I have a lot at home.

I NODDED AND TOOK THE bear from him. He smiled widely, as did the mother.

Do you need help? The mother asked, pointing to my broken arm and the gash on my forehead.

N- As I began to speak, someone/something landed a few yards from us.

Everyone that was standing around it began to scream and run for cover. I struggled to stand but kept falling. I looked over at the creature, and studied its features. It was nothing but rock-as if  someone had thrown rocks at him, and he absorbed them into his body. He roared, causing the boy, his mom, and I to cover our ears. Then the unthinkable happened. The boy grabbed a metal bar from the ground, ran up to the creature, and started hitting it. The mother screamed for him to come back, but the boy kept striking the creature until it got annoyed.

The creature roared in the boy’s face hoping to scare him away, but the boy did it right back. He raised his fist to crush the boy, but, suddenly the creature was blasted away by a couple of white lasers and into a nearby building. I looked to see who it was to find another caped man.

His bodysuit was predominantly white and had gold–trim on his cape, and along his body, in a similar design the way the previous Altered had his. And this man was a lot bigger. This man had a wider jawline, jet black hair, and bright, piercing blue eyes.

He was holding something...no, a person...a woman. Her hair was curly brown hair like mine, with the same colored skin, lying limp in his muscular arms. When I managed to get to my feet, I realized who the woman was. My Abuelita. Sobs erupted from me as I ran towards her and the Altered One holding her body. Once I reached them, he knelt down and laid her at my feet. He looked up at me sadly as if he was going to cry.

I tightened my fists at my sides and glared at him angrily. He had tears forming in his tear ducts, but I knew he didn’t truly care about my Abuelita. She was just collateral damage–she just so happened to "be in the way." The Altered stood, put his hand to my shoulder, and said,

I’m so sorry, he said, wiping away his tears. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.

I glared at him then said, This! I yelled, pointing at my dead Abuela, This is all your fault! You killed her, you freak!

I went to punch him in the face, but he stopped my fist and put it at my side easily–despite me using all my might.

As I said, I’m sorry. He stared into my eyes once more, then flew off and went back into the battle that raged in the city.

I yelled after him, You’re a MURDERER!

I SOBBED MORE AS I fell to my knees and took in the state of my Abuelita's body. She was soaked from head to toe with blood, glass shards all over her body, and one of her arms was missing. I put my head to her chest and sobbed, hoping and pleading for her to wake up, but there was no heartbeat, no breath in her body. Nothing. I screamed at the sky until I realized I was screaming at the ceiling in my apartment...

⌁CHAPTER ONE: THE PRICE⌁

Ifell back onto my wide bed and used my arm to wipe the stress sweat that had developed on my forehead in my sleep. I rubbed my arm against my silky mahogany brown sheets, forming a damp spot. It was gross, but I had to get the sweat off me. I sat up in my bed, and realized that a woman was in my room. I covered myself immediately with wide eyes and asked her,

Who are you?

We went out last night? It’s me, Leslie. She smiled, wearing my blue satin robe with my favorite coffee mug in her hand. You’re quite the partier.

Flashes of the party flashed in my head, making me wince and hold my head. The hangover really kicked in after recalling the night.

Did we-? I asked, looking through my hands.

She sipped her coffee, No.

I SIGHED AND SHOOK my head, then looked under the blanket. Then how did I get down to my underwear?

Chill, big guy. She said, smirking and setting her coffee on my island in the kitchen. We had a little afterparty here with your friend Fobbs, and whoever was on his arm, then you crashed. That’s it. She threw up her hands in surrender.

I REMEMBERED STRIPPING down to my boxers and passing out because I was so drunk. I sighed and rubbed my face,

I remember, I mumbled.

That’s good. I made breakfast-if you don’t mind-for everyone.

I already felt so embarrassed-then she went and made breakfast? I never had a girl make breakfast for me before. That was really nice of her.

Yeah, thanks. I’ll be right in there. Anyone else awake? I asked, hoping that we wouldn’t have to sit in awkward silence.

Yep, everyone’s awake..especially after your outburst. She said, side-eying me.

OH, YEAH. SORRY ABOUT that, I said, laughing it off, even though it wasn’t something that I should be laughing off.

It’s quite alright. I have nightmares too. She said, making eye contact with me.

Before I could say anything else, Fobbs came around the corner with his lab coat on,

Bro, what the heck? You’re not even dressed! We’re gonna be late! He exclaimed, walking past Leslie.

I sighed, putting my hand over my face, and laying back down on my bed.

"Bro, I’m so hungover. Can’t we just go to tomorrow’s conference?" I whined.

Fobbs crossed his arms like a disappointed mother. "No! This is what I-what we’ve been waiting for, Bran. We can’t miss this. Tomorrow will be too late. Trust me. We need to go to this one. He turned to Leslie, Do you need me to call you an Uber? Uh.."

No, Leslie responded, shaking her head. Keep your money, and the name’s Leslie.

Right, Fobbs said, smirking at me. "Well, my company has already left, so I’m going to head to the lab. You got fifteen minutes, Bran. Fifteen minutes. Don’t be late." He pointed at me.

AS MUCH AS I WANTED to go to the conference, my body was telling me otherwise. It wanted at least five more hours of shut-eye. I flung my comforter off me and placed my feet on the floor. I put my elbows to my knees, dropped my head in my hands, and sighed deeply.

Don’t worry, I’m leaving, Leslie said from the restroom.

No, you’re fine. I responded. It’s just this dang hangover. It’s really bothering me today.

"Not to be all motherly, but you need to eat your breakfast before you go wherever you're going."

Ugh..you’re probably right. I got dressed for the lab then warmed up the breakfast she made. She had made eggs, bacon, sausage, and even biscuits.

Eating this reminded me heavily of my Abuelita. She used to cook for my cousins and me

just like this. My mouth began watering as I ate and I groaned with pleasure.

I looked at her and said with my mouth full, Are you a chef or something? This food is exquisite!

The hangover that I had seemed to be dissolving with every bite that I took.

I dibble and dabble here and there. You should see me at dinnertime. I make a mean Chicken Piccata. You should come over for dinner, she said. I could hear the genuine smile in her voice as she spoke.

I only met her last night, and I didn’t remember much. But what could it hurt? I needed more people around me other than Fobbs. He was my best friend and all, but he could be a little too wild when it came to partying.

I smiled, Sure, that sounds great. When?

Suddenly, I began hearing sirens blaring outside of my condo. A huge fire had broken out across the street at Langston’s Bar & Grill. I instantly had a flashback of last night. On our way back home we stopped to grab some nachos because Fobbs had the munchies.

I snapped out of it, noticing that I never got a response from Leslie. I walked towards the bathroom

and pushed open the cracked door. She was gone. Taped to the wall was a note it read:

Hey big guy. Sorry I had to jet all of a sudden, my Uber pulled up. Call me tonight. 747-357-9423.

Leslie

Iexamined the note , trying to understand how she had the time to write this. It had only been a few seconds between the time the sirens started and when I responded. I don’t remember hearing the door. It was probably the hangover still trying to wear off.

I looked at my watch and panicked, realizing that I only had five minutes to get to the lab. I threw on my lab coat, grabbed my ugly bifocals off my nightstand, my phone, key fob, and darted out the door. If I was late Fobbs wouldn’t let me hear the end of it. I darted down the stairs, saying hi to Charlie, a homeless dog that always sat at the front of the building of our condo. He was pretty much everyone’s dog. We all pitched in and took care of him. There were times when I would even let him sleep in our condo(and when the manager was off duty). I double tapped the ignition button on my key fob, so I could drive right out of the parking lot. I looked down at my watch again; lo and behold, I was late. There was no time to waste.

I sped through the stoplight, hoping that a cop wouldn’t pull me over. I was now about ten minutes late to the Meeting of the Century, even though they had it every year. I had only been to one; this would be my second.

I  transferred from San Angelo, Texas, all the way up here to Seattle, Washington, just to be a part of the science program. Yes, I may be a little naive to think that a twenty-six-year-old Mexican American like me could enter into a predominantly white community and obtain a high-ranking position. You didn’t really see faces like mine, but I was here to change that. I wanted to become the first young Mexican American to be up there with the big dogs. I had one advantage though I was popular.

There was a scientist by the name of John Caesar Collins. John helped spread technological sciences to help us fight the Altered that was another reason why I wanted to join this community, specifically to help further and advance the technology just in case one day it came to that. You may be wondering what the Altered are, and I’ll tell you. The Altered are enhanced human beings or humans with superhuman abilities. Some had the power to level a whole state with their voice, while others had the ability to lift a tank like it was nothing. No matter, I hated them. 

As I sped down the road, a tear fell, cascading down my cheek as I recalled my horrible nightmare.

It was starting to get worse. I was having it every night now. I thought that the partying and the drinking would help fix everything, but it only made it worse. I couldn’t shake this feeling that I was missing something, and that’s why I kept having the nightmare.

I shook those paranoid thoughts out of my head for now and mentally prepared myself to get an earful from Fobbs.

I turned into the Collins Science Center-nearly hitting someone(which I got the finger for) and parked in my favorite parking spot by the exit. I jumped out of the car, swung my white lab coat back on, put on my embarrassing bifocals, and sprinted towards the building. Before I opened the door, I gently tapped my car fob, making my car jingle, stuffed it in my pocket, then ran inside.

Everyone was jumbled together in a large huddle surrounding John Caesar Collins, the John Caesar Collins, as he spoke. Seeing him sitting there was like seeing your favorite celebrity walking down the street or getting your jersey signed by your favorite athlete. I tried not to stare at him, but he was...oddly mesmerizing. His skin shimmered, seemed to glisten, and his eyes were bright-welcoming-which made it feel they were sucking you in. I managed to look away to try to find Fobbs, when suddenly, I felt eyes on me. When I located the pair or pairs of eyes, I glared back, giving them the ugliest look that I could give them. Richard Green, and his racist friends Clark, Samson, and

Homer(yes, like the Simpsons). I wasn’t one to always pull out the racist card, but there was no other reason why they didn’t like me. I was kind and friendly to them, but they still hated me. I held my gaze until they got uncomfortable and turned back to listen to John Caesar Collins.

Humph, I said, continuing my search for Fobbs.

Someone tapped me aggressively on my shoulder, so I whipped around to find Fobbs standing there with an angry look on his face.

You're late, Curry! He hissed.

A crease formed between my eyebrows-sighing, "I know, I know. I’m sorry."

He stared at me for a second, then chuckled. You should’ve seen your face, man.

I rolled my eyes and punched him in the shoulder. Jerk.

"Owwh. He said sarcastically, rubbing his arm and laughing again. We need to get you back in the gym bro. That punch was weak."

Shut up, I said, giving in and started laughing.

SPEAKING OF WEAK...I saw Richard and his klansmen giving you the death stare. He said, looking over at them as he spoke.

Yeah, but I stared back until they got uncomfortable and looked away, I said confidently.

Fobbs chuckled, Oh, that’s why they looked away?

I looked up at him. Yeah. I nodded.

Nah, brah, they saw me walking up. He chuckled again. You don’t remember me telling you that I threatened them? That if they ever messed with you again, they’d see the end of my fists.

I recalled him telling me while we were on our second or third shot.

Yeah, I remember. I rolled my eyes annoyedly. Fobbs was always coming to my rescue. He’s been protecting me ever since I arrived from San An. I never asked him to, he just did, and since then, we’ve been tight like brothers.

What’s wrong now? He said in a baby voice, bringing me closer.

I shook my head and pushed him away. You know I appreciate you helping me bro, but you don’t have to always save me.

Then who else is going to? He said, getting serious.

A lump swelled in my throat, making me unable to respond.

Exactly. He said, tightening his arm around my shoulders. You’re my brother Brandon, and there’s nothing that you can say that’ll make me stop protecting you.

My face reddened. Thanks, bro, same here.

Forever, until the sun burns out. He said, holding out his hand.

Forever, until the sun burns out, I repeated, grabbing his hand and doing our handshake.

Fobbs smiled, so did I. What we have as brothers is real. Honestly, if it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if I would’ve made it after my Abuelita died. She was the only family that I had(or that I was connected to). I said that I had cousins, but they stopped talking to us when we moved from San Angelo. My tios and tias never really accepted me for some reason, so that was that. My Abuelita treated me more like I was her

son rather than her grandchild. She always told me stories of mi madre and padre and how strong they were. She would always tell me that they loved me very much and how they wanted the best life for me; that’s why they left me with her. I knew they were no longer with us, but my Abuelita never told me how they died. Just that they were no longer with us. Which gave me some kind of comfort as a kid. I didn’t have to imagine the way they died.

My Abuelita said, They're amongst the stars, mijo. God placed them above you, so when you are feeling low, you can look up and see their lights shining down on you.

Now, she is amongst the stars, my Abuelita. I found myself going on the balcony of our condo and looking up at the sky full of stars, trying to figure out which ones they were. Sometimes I would doubt what she said about God(in whom I’ve never been much of a believer), but that was all I had left. The thought of them twinkling in the sky. The idea of a God caring so much about them after they’ve died and about me.

I found myself praying to Him for peace and receiving it. After losing my Abuelita, I honestly found myself believing more in Him. I found that believing in God made more sense than believing there isn’t one. Believing in the Christian God just made sense-not all of the time, but with the things

that I could understand-it did. Like the solar system and such.

Fobbs brought me out of my thoughts when he started talking again. I got the hookup.

The hookup? For what? Drugs? I smirked.

"No, Brandon. Not for drugs, he said, looking at me, the correct term for that is the plug, not the hookup. But anyway, I meant that I got the hookup for us to meet John. Caesar. Collins."

My eyes grew wide, Are you serious?

Uh-huh. He nodded, smiling.

That's awesome, man. I can't wait! I exclaimed in a low voice, smiled wide, and started our handshake.

When we were done, we started actually listening to John Caesar. He spoke very eloquently about his agenda, and that was to protect the normal human being from the Altered. Even though they were perceived as heroes, he foresaw that one day there’d be an invasion or a war like before but in the future.

I guess he was like a Batman or Iron Man in a way. And the man that he foresaw would be the leader of the future regime would be an Altered, by the name of Thaddeus Kahn(which was like our version of Superman). Thaddeus Kahn, or The

Champion, was the leader of the six, or their official superhero team name, The Assembly. John Caesar Collins was very vocal about his stance against them and how he didn’t believe that they were...good as they were perceived to be. And I agreed with him.

Two going