Stolen Powers: Rise of the NGZ

Chapter Twelve: The Murder in the Cockpit

The dream I had was something I've never experienced before. It was something that would most likely follow me for the rest of my life. In a way, it was similar to the dream I had before when I was in a jungle and found my friends dead.

It was dark. Very dark. I couldn't even see about five feet ahead of me. Of course, I was alone, with no sense of direction whatsoever.

"Guys...?" I called out. No response.

I walked forward for a few feet, and I found it odd that it was deafeningly quiet, especially in a jungle. No crickets chirping, no animals calling for their partners or packs, nothing.

My ears later picked up a sound from behind me, and I quickly wheeled around to face it. "Who's there?!"

I waited for a response, but I never got it. It was quiet again, just like it was before. Slowly turning away, I continued forward with a mix of emotions. Fear, confusion, and anxiety rushed through my mind. It felt so surreal.

"Mason Powell..." a voice whispered into my mind.

Instead of turning around, I began to pick up my pace. The thing was, I wanted to turn around because something about that voice; it seemed all too familiar.

But why?

"You can't come," it said. "You will only put your life in danger."

I broke into a jog, away from the voice. "No, I don't have a choice..."

It spoke louder as it beckoned to me. "Yes, you do. Please, turn around and live your life without me. Because of my selfish actions, your mother is dead."

"IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!"

I knew who it was from the start. Someway, somehow, my father found a way to speak to me, even though I couldn't see him. It was a brutal memory.

"Once you think about it, it is my fault, Mason," he said. "And you have suffered way too much at the hands of AJ Lin. It's time for you to return home, son. If you love me, you'll do it."

I stopped running a long time ago, but it just now felt like I did. I turned around to face the sound of the whisper. "If I loved you, I would do anything to rescue you. And that's what I'm going to do. Because I love you. If Mom died for you, then I'm willing to do the same."

It was quiet for a few seconds before the whisper came again. "Your friends..."

I sighed and looked at the ground in front of me. "I never said that they had to do it, especially Quentin and Landon. I've told all of them that over and over again, yet they're still here. If Donovan's father was taken from him, I wouldn't hesitate to do the exact same thing he's doing for me. I know it in my heart."

Suddenly, my legs felt like jelly, and the dream collapsed under itself without much warning. As I fell through the forest-like ground, I heard my father say one last thing.

"Just be ready for him..."

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When my eyes opened, it took me a few moments to collect my bearings. The plane was dark and quiet, and I figured that we were probably somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Alas, it was hard to tell of course.

I sighed and looked around the plane. Bailey had her head rested in my lap, but my legs were desperate for a stretch. I did so as much as I could without waking her up. Beside her, Quentin was laying in an uncomfortable-looking position, still fast asleep from before.

My senses picked up, and I instantly knew that something was off. I looked closer, and I still found nobody looking at us from afar.

No, nobody was looking at us. Something else was going on inside of the plane. I needed Landon's help to find out what it was.