Stolen Powers

Chapter Twenty-Four: Facing Death

As nighttime started to fall, my drowsiness began to get the best of me. The thing was, I couldn't afford to fall asleep. I was too anxious and afraid to close my eyes for a bit. As I was laying outside with Bailey, she nuzzled up against me and looked up with a concerned expression. "Mason, try to get some rest for a while before we go out there, okay? I can tell you need it."

"Can you actually tell or are you just reading my mind?" I asked.

Bailey pouted, which put a small smile to my face. I sighed and pulled her closer, which I could tell she enjoyed. "I'm alright. I'm just nervous."

"I am too," she said. "Do we even have a plan?"

"I was thinking that Landon could scout the place to find the best way in. Maybe the air vents or something."

Bailey pondered this. "What about Michelle?"

I had thought about that earlier, but came up pretty much empty, so I shrugged. "There's not much we can do. Besides, he could sense the others, right?"

I shrugged, unsure. "I guess so."

After a while of staring at the city below us, Bailey sighed again. I could tell that something was on her mind.

"You're right you know," she said matter-of-factly.

"About what?" I asked.

"I'm worried about Jamie," she said in a lower voice. "I'm afraid that she's going to let her emotions get the best of her. She could do something stupid because she could be so worried about Donovan."

I thought for a minute before relying. "Bay, she's smarter than any of us here. She knows what we're up against. You just gotta have a little faith. We'll pull through."

Bailey continued to stare out into the city. Even after the evening rush, it still looked as busy as ever. There was a light breeze in the air, and Bailey's hair flowed softly in the wind. It was photo-worthy. Soon after I thought that, she chuckled. I cursed myself, forgetting that she could read minds. She turned around to look at me, her eyes glistening. "You're cute, y'know."

I shrugged, blushing. "Whatever."

I heard the car door open, and I turned around to the vehicle that stood about thirty feet away from where me and Bailey were sitting. My mother was walking towards us, and both of us stood instantly. My mom stopped about halfway between the car and us. She looked stressed.

"It's time to go," she said, her voice breaking. "Landon and Jamie were scouting the headquarters. It doesn't look too good in there right now. He also says that there's no sign of Austin yet."

Hearing my father's name gave me some anxiety, but I kept my posture strong. "Then we have no time to waste. Let's go."

Jamie and Landon met us as we were climbing in the car. Landon looked shaken.

"Did everything go okay?" Bailey asked.

He gave us an uneasy look, as if he saw something that shook him pretty badly. "I saw Donovan."

"What's going on?" Jamie asked quickly.

"They're preparing the Death Wheel. We need to go. Now."

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As the handcuffs were strapped against Donovan's wrists, they shoved him forward as if he was reduced to nothing. "Move it!"

They also used a word that Donovan definitely didn't like, especially for his race. He wanted to drop them, right now, but the damned machine shocked him instead. He yelped in sudden pain. The two soldiers chuckled.

"Yeah, try fighting back. I mean, you'll die quicker anyways," he said.

He continued to obey their orders, and as he entered the basement, he saw it. The room was bigger than he'd ever imagine, even for a basement. The Death Wheel loomed before him, as if inviting him to his own death. It's basically what it was doing anyway. Donovan's stomach did a hundred somersaults and his pace began to slow. One of the soldiers threw an elbow into his middle back, throwing him forward.

"I said move it!"

Cursing him out in his mind, Donovan trudged towards the ladder that entered the Death Wheel. He looked up at the rails above him, where a crowd was beginning to form. There were many soldiers and scientists who came to watch him get cut into little pieces. Donovan looked at a window that contained Dr. Lin and a few of his Falcons. He saw the boy Mason dropped, Quentin he remembered, that looked a little uncomfortable.

He stopped at the ladder. Donovan figured that this would be his last day on Earth. Touching the handles, one of the soldiers unclipped the strap that held in together, and the machine came off. A huge wave of relief made him gasp, feeling the electricity swarm his body again. He fought the urge to pulse.

"Don't get too used to it, boy. One spark of electricity and you're out."

Why does it matter? Donovan thought.

"Climb," a soldier said. Donovan obeyed, seeing no other option. He began to wonder where his best friend, Mason, could be. Was he still looking for him? Is he even in Mexico City? Is he even alive at this point?

He missed Jamie. Donovan wanted to feel the warmth of her hugs again. Sometimes they'd be the only things keeping him sane. As he climbed in the wheel's chair, he regretted not saying the three words that always made her turn a dark shade of red,  no matter what the situation was.

"I love you."

Donovan began to feel like he took her for granted. He knew that Jamie loved him more than anything in the world, and so did he. When she told him about her powers, Jamie had claimed that she thought that he'd hate her. When he confessed about his, that only made them closer than ever. Then the day after the basketball game against Gatesville, and Mason showed him his electricity, that was when the switch flipped in his mind. Things weren't quite adding up right.

As the soldier finished strapping him up, an intercom screeched to life. Dr. Lin's voice said to him, "I truly enjoyed both your cooperation and your silent treatment, Douglas. I hope you have a wonderful afterlife. Now, I only have to flip this switch and turn a single knob, and your death begins. Have anything else to say? We can hear you."

He grunted and looked forwards, straight at the doctor's dark face. "I hope you rot in hell, Lin."

He simply shrugged and nodded, as if it didn't affect him at all. "Fair enough. Let's get this started."

The wheel began to jump to a start, and Donovan knew that this was it. This was how he died. He closed his eyes and began to silently pray, asking for forgiveness to anything he did wrong.

It started excruciatingly slow before it began to pick up speed. Donovan could see a meter that read the speed it was going in. It read "67."

The Wheel began to really pick up speed now, enough for his head to be picked up forward by the humid air hitting his face. Donovan could hear the cheers of the other soldiers, loving the show that was being put on for their petty entertainment.

Then reality became an illusion as the speed reached one forty-five and steadily climbing. He could see white flashes, even with his eyes closed. He heard a soft voice being spoken to him, almost at a whisper. Time seemed to have slowed down to him.

"It's not over. It's not your time to go. You're mission isn't over yet."

That was when the power went out. 
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