Savior by Jordan Wilson (ebook and pdf reader .txt) 📕

after slash forced their swords to cause sparks between them. Jason was attacking as Jackson used all his strength to keep up with each hack. The sword clanked against each other, sending a ringing sound through the air. Jason could hear the voice laughing as he made every move.
“Jackson! I can’t control it!” Jason cried.
“Fight it, Jason! Fight it!” Jackson prompted.
Jason tried to hold back whatever was inside him. It was strong. Stronger than he was. He could do nothing but watch as Jackson slowly began to lose the fight. Jason no longer had the desire to kill him. He wanted that voice out of him. It was in control. He fought hard against this evil. He wanted to push it back inside him. He wanted it to go away. Nothing he did was suppressing the power. There was no hope for this to end without death. Jason knew that this demon in control would not stop until it killed Jackson or it itself was killed.
At the same time this all occurred, back at Jason’s home, Josh had arrived with important news. After knocking a few time, he let himself in to find that Jason had already left. Pissed off, he threw the file of papers he’d brought onto the counter. Papers slid everywhere. He’d been too late to stop Jason. He cursed a bit and slammed his fist on the counter. He picked up the phone and dialed Matt’s number. He told him the news and agreed to meet at the house with Tony. He kept thinking that if he’d only left a little bit sooner, maybe he could have stopped his friend from making a grave mistake.
Jason, still unable to control his body, fiercely attacked Jackson. He had no way of knowing what was controlling him or why it suddenly took control. All he knew was it wanted to kill Jackson. Its laughter still echoed through his head. Jackson was struggling to keep up now. Every move he made was countered with another three. Jackson had his back to the edge of the rooftop now. His face was sweating and he was breathing hard. Jason, on the other hand, couldn’t feel a thing. He was neither tired nor relaxed. Everything was falling apart. It was as though he were watching a movie take place. With a backhanded strike, Jason hit Jackson’s sword from his hand. It spun off the roof and fell to the ground. It happened in a mere second. All the planning of revenge and action that Jason had sworn to do was finally happening. Jason hadn’t realized it, but he’d been in control at the end of the fight. The anger that he’d held inside was his own. It had blinded him from reality. His actions up until this point were only influenced by the voice in his head. He only obeyed. Now was the final moment. He chose the next move. He was in complete control. And he just listened to the darkness.
He drove his sword forward and pushed it through the left side of Jackson’s stomach. The blood spilled out onto the blade. Jackson cried out in his tremendous pain. Jason pushed forward causing them both to fall off the building. The voice in Jason’s head laughed as they fell. His mind was jumbled. He again couldn’t control his body. He tried to tell himself it was all in his head, but nothing worked. His eyes began to shut as Jackson fell below him with the sword still stuck in his side. He felt the thud as he hit the ground and everything suddenly went black.
~
Jason opened his eyes and took a deep breathe. He had no sense of how much time had passed or what had happened since he’d fallen. He sat up in a hurry and looked around. He was back home on his couch. What had happened? Where was Jackson? He looked at his hands. The darkness was suppressed again. He’d returned to his normal self. He heard a noise behind him and jumped up ready to attack, but saw Matt looking back at him with an ice pack in his hand. The other two were sitting at the table.
“W-what are you guy doing here? What happened?” Jackson asked in confusion.
“We came here looking for you and when you were gone, we knew you could have only gone one place.” Matt said.
“When we got there, you and Jackson were both laying on the grass behind the building. You seemed to be hurt somewhat, but you were breathing.”
“What about Jackson?”
“He’d lost a lot of blood and had a deep wound in his side. H-he was stiff and cold when we checked him. He was close to dead if not already.”
“Why were you looking for me in the first place?” Jason asked, “You knew I was going after Jackson,”
“Yeah, we knew, dumbass,” Josh muttered, “We came to frickin’ stop you.”
“Stop me? But why?”
“Jason, we…” Tony started, but Josh interrupted him by throwing Jason the file he’d brought over. Jason caught it and opened it up.
“Jason, we’re sorry…we should have gotten this sooner.”
Jason read the file through and felt his stomach drop. The empty feeling he now held began to tear him apart. He felt sick. He wanted to scream. Nothing could have described Jason’s pain as he read the name Jackson Shard at the top of the file. He’d just killed his own brother.

Resentment


The room was quiet. No one said a word. Jason sunk into a chair, reading over the name on the file. Why hadn’t he seen it? They did look alike. He was a surviving Aspen. He knew Alfred. It all added up. All facts pointed to who Jackson was…but he’d been too blinded by anger to see it. How could he have let this happen? The darkness had been consuming him. He thought this power would lead to his success, but all it had done was make things worse. Now he was truly alone. He was the last Aspen…and he wasn’t even pure. He wanted to get angry at himself, but he knew what anger led to. Instead, he began to feel sorry for himself. Jason had always avoided this, but at that moment, he truly felt like he had reason.
Josh, Matt, and Tony all stood behind Jason waiting for him to say something. They couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain and guilt he was holding inside. They, too, felt guilt for telling Jason where Jackson was before they knew who he was. They were just humans. A few months ago, their only concerns were girls, parents, and what classes to take. Now, they each were part of something bigger, just watching from the sidelines. They couldn’t even get that much right. Josh took it all the hardest out of Jason’s friends. He felt as though he’d let his friend down. They all felt sick, but each knew that nothing could be done. Jackson was dead.
After about ten minutes of complete silence, Jason rose from his chair and tossed the file back onto his counter. He could now see that there was no light coming through the windows. He glanced up at the clock to see that it was nearly ten at night. He’d really been out for quite some time. He looked to his friends and felt as though they were wearing their emotions on their faces. He could see that they felt the same pain as he did. He wanted to say that he shouldn’t have involved them in the first place. At least then they wouldn’t have to share this burden with him. His friends expected him to be angry, but he was not. They did what they thought was right. They helped him get what he wanted and once they realized the mistake, they tried their best to correct it. They even carried him, unconscious, back to his house to prevent his identity from being revealed. Honestly, he couldn’t have asked for better friends.
“J-Jason, we’re s-,” started Matt, but Jason interrupted them.
“Don’t be sorry,” Jason said as he fought to show a smile, “You guys helped me get what I wanted. I made the decision. I’m the one who acted out of anger. You guys were just trying to help me.”
“If only I had been just a little quicker…just one hour,” Josh sulked.
“It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. We had no way of knowing that Jackson is…was my brother. Nothing can take back what I’ve done. They only thing we can do is move past it.”
“I guess you’re right,” Matt sighed.
“Of course I am. Don’t blame yourselves. There won’t be any Quixon or Aspen threats anymore. Now…there is just me…and I have a duty. I will continue as this city’s Savior.”
“And what of your Quixon power?” asked a slightly worried Tony.
“That power…isn’t me. I have no reason to use it anymore. Will it still be inside me? Yes, but it can’t come out unless I use it.”
“Well…then I guess there isn’t anything left to say,” Josh said.
“Yeah,” Jason said, “Things will be peaceful now.”
“I guess we’re gonna hit the road then.” Matt said.
“Alright,” Jason said as his three friends walked for the door. He stopped them for a moment and said, “And guys? Thank you. I would have to say I wouldn’t be able to get through this without you guys having my back.”
“Everyone needs help now and then,” Matt said with a small smile.
The friends bid each other farewell and Jason returned to his coach. He clicked on the TV and found the news. As he assumed, they were talking about the Anderson building. According to what the reporter was saying, the building was going to be shut down for the time being. They were going to be cautious with repairs because the building was very unstable. Jason waited for a few moments, partly hoping that they would say that’d found a body. Instead, they continued to talk about the Anderson building repairs and how hundreds of people were now unemployed as a result of the devastated building. Jason clicked it off and closed his eyes. Maybe Jackson had survived somehow. He knew not knowing wouldn’t help him. He grabbed a sweatshirt and set his sights for the Anderson complex.
He landed on the ground behind the building. The lights were all off and there were many signs that labeled the scene dangerous and prohibited. He surveyed the building, trying to relive the events that had happened. In his mind, he saw himself viciously letting the darkness overcome his mind. He could feel it as though it were all happening again. He looked up at the roof and saw him and Jackson falling. They fell straight down, so they should have landed somewhere nearby. Jason looked around on the ground and found no body. He found some dried blood on a patch of grass. He’d left a small indent in the ground from where he fell. He crouched down and examined it. He had lost a decent amount of blood. He could feel the sword wounds still aching on his body.
He turned to the side and searched the area for where Jackson had landed. He finally came across another small indent, but this one had a deeper slit as though something had been stabbed into the ground. Jackson had definitely landed here. There was a lot of dried blood and some torn clothing, but no Jackson. Had the authorities already found him? He couldn’t have survived an attack like that. Jason had stabbed him in a critical area. The blood loss alone should have been enough to kill him. Jason stood up and looked up at the night sky. Why did he have to let his Quixon blood get