The Impossible Future: Complete set by Frank Kennedy (mini ebook reader .txt) 📕

he once admired as his coach. He saw himself on the ground dispatching Jennifer Bowman.

Jamie ignored the reality of self-defense, or that through his actions, Sammie and Michael were still alive. All he knew was that he had killed. Again and again and again.

And the Jewel wanted more. So much more. He heard it.

Fury. Unbridled, limitless fury.

Jamie understood. He knew what was coming, and he was thankful to Lydia for showing him beyond the physical world; it was a mistake he would make her regret. As the images of blood and murder wiped away the last of his best childhood memories, Jamie turned the wheel hard onto an unmarked side road.

Shadows fell beneath a canopy as the land continued to rise.

 

58

A GATHA MOCKED THE irony of the moment. The patrol car they commandeered after tossing out two wounded policemen would not be roadworthy for long. Steam poured from the hood; tires screeched against metal. She thought it fitting their journey finish inside scrap. In many ways, it was the perfect symbol of the last fifteen years of her life.

She saw the endgame and was pleased to have Christian with her at the conclusion. They were more than half a mile behind their quarry, but close enough to see the Jewel’s convertible take a sudden right turn far ahead, ducking off into the deep forest.

“Would you like to offer any regrets, Christian?” She asked.

Christian smiled as he took out a cigarette. “To die next to the mother who taught me everything? I’m good.”

They sat on a mix of glass shards and the blood of their latest victims. Christian slowed as they neared the turn-off. The patrol car moaned as he tapped the brakes.

“Die?” Agatha asked. “No, Christian. You and I are invincible. We hold the moral imperative. That superiority will triumph.”

Christian turned the wheel onto the forest road. Agatha held on.

“Our lives are not our own, Christian. They never were. Walter knew this is exactly where the road would lead us.”

 

59

9:27 a.m.

M ILES STRETCHED into light-years. The roads, though laden with bumps, washouts, potholes, and mud holes, provided a strange comfort for Jamie. They kept him focused on controlling the wheel. Each bounce and swerve reminded Jamie he was still alive and at some level, still in charge of his life. The aroma of the forest was deep and spicy, the air fresh and perhaps a tad cooler.

After driving more than four miles into this forest, after ignoring the questions and pleas of his friends, Jamie pulled the Caddy to the side of the road, threw open the door, and started walking.

He stopped at the edge of the forest and told himself not to be afraid. He stamped down the tall grass and made his way into the shadows of the deep forest. In his mind’s eye, Jamie saw the place his heart desired to be, and the image gave him peace. After two hundred yards, he gathered his emotions together, decided what he would tell his friends, and turned around.

Almost at once, he felt the tears arriving en masse. They were already plastered over Sammie’s cheeks, and he couldn’t bear Michael’s stern glare of confusion.

“I got no choice,” Jamie whispered. “I made my decision. I hope you understand.”

His gentle words satisfied no one. Sammie said he didn’t need to do this, that she read Ben’s flash drive and knew what he told Jamie. She insisted Ben’s revelation changed everything – even her own view of life – and Jamie could still be saved. As Michael screwed his eyes in confusion, Jamie insisted Sammie was wrong. Only when Sammie said Jamie didn’t “have to die,” did Michael’s eyes bulge. Jamie couldn’t look his No. 1 in the face. He despised keeping this secret from Michael, but now he saw no way out.

“I wanted to tell you,” Jamie said. “I knew you’d be even more stubborn than she is.”

Michael’s eyes filled with water as he shook his head.

“J. I ain’t the brightest bulb, but I ain’t a dimwit either.” Michael looked to both. “I knew. I just couldn’t admit it until I heard somebody say the words. She’s right. You got the power to beat this.  You healed both of us. We were goners. Why can’t you heal yourself? Do some of that hoodoo-voodoo thing with your hands.”

Jamie wanted to hear their pleas. He wanted to believe in Ben, in the idea of trusting in himself “when the time comes.” Reality, however, overcame any temptation for escape.

“You got to understand something,” he told them. “Healing ain’t part of the Jewel’s program. It’s more like a side-effect. I got this energy running through me – Caryllan energy, Ben called it. It’s the damnedest thing. Turns me into a miracle-worker right before it kills me.” He cleared his throat. “I reckon Ben was right about one thing. I do have a soul, and it’s been a pretty good one … for the most part. I mean, I love you guys and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I did what I could to keep you safe.”

“And that’s why you can’t give up on us,” Sammie said.

Jamie grabbed her hand.

“I can feel what’s happening to me. I can see so many things. This Jewel is turning me into something else. It’s like some dude opened the curtain and showed me the whole damn universe. It’s all coming to me … all the answers. But … but all these wild things, incredible things – they’re gonna be taken away. I can’t keep them.”

His knees trembled as a great wave of despair rose from deep in his gut. The words crossing his lips brought a stark finality tried to avoid. At last, he collapsed without letting go of Sammie’s hands. Sitting on his knees, Jamie convulsed in sobs, the incredible