The Next Generation (FIRST DRAFT)

Chapter 8

As Talon, Lucy, and Ben left the park, Ben was suddenly struck with a thought. 

    “Guys, if we’ve already met three people with abilities in this area alone, just how many of us do you think there is?”

Talon stopped. “I hadn’t really ever thought of it like that before, but now that you mention it, there has to be more.”

    “Didn’t the suit guy say something about five bodies going missing?” Lucy mentioned.

    “Now that you mention it, yeah he did,” Ben replied.

    “Then where are the other two?” Talon asked. 

    “I don’t wanna find out.”

    “Here’s another strange thing,” Lucy added. “Why did they choose teenagers? Wouldn’t it make more sense to do it for young adults or older people?”

    “Maybe they just picked the next five people closest to passing away.”

    “Does that mean there is a superhuman grandma or buff newborn out there then?”

    “If it were me, I would choose the five subjects within a certain age range. Having a senior citizen or newborn could cause a lot more things to go wrong,” Talen said. 

    “Well then how old are you guys? I don’t think it would make much sense to pick everyone with my same age?”

    “I’m twenty,” Talon replied. 

    “Seventeen,” said Lucy.

    “And I’m sixteen,” Ben answered. 

    “So they were sticking with younger people,” Talon analyzed. “Then what were you guys suffering from? Maybe it had to do with that.”

    “Cancer,” said Ben, looking at the ground, deep in thought. 

    “Car accident,” Lucy said.

    “Motorcycle crash for me,” Talon said. “What’s wrong, Ben? You look troubled.”

    “I just realized that my mom probably thinks I’m dead,”

    “Well, yeah. The same is true with all of us Ben,” Lucy added, laughing nervously.

    Ben looked at them, his mind made up. “I need to find her,” he stated.

    “Woah, woah, woah,” Talon said, floating in front of Ben. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

    “Why not?”

    “Ben, think about it. If you were a parent and lost your kid, how would you feel? What if they came back looking like…,” Lucy trailed off, gesturing towards his metal skin. “You?”

    “I don’t care,” Ben said. “I was her whole life before I got sick. She needs to know I’m okay.”

    “What do you mean you were her ‘whole life’?” Lucy asked.

    Ben sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “My dad...wasn’t the best guy I guess, so my mom saved me and herself and ran away when I was young. After that, she focused all efforts on making sure I had the best life I could possibly ask for. That’s why it broke her heart when we found out about my diagnosis. As it turned terminal, she would always tell me that I needed to fight because she couldn’t live without me,” he said and pushed past Talon. “That’s why I’m going to find her. Nothing you say can stop me,” Ben stated, looking over his shoulder back at Lucy and Talon. He then turned back and took a deep breath. He then took off at top speed in the direction of his old house. 

    As Ben ran, he found his sight being blurred by tears. He needed to know that she was okay. He needed to hear her voice again and see her look at him with love again. This wasn’t negotiable. 

    Ben ran frantically, going any which way, not caring who he bumped into. It wasn’t long before he ended up downtown, pushing through crowds of people walking to their destinations. Ben stopped running and leaned against the wall of a shop, holding his head in his hands. His breath was shaking and he tried to stop the tears from streaming down his half painted face. He needed to think. What was he doing? What would he say to his mom when he saw her? How would she react to his new look? Ben wasn’t sure he was ready to see her react to him like that, but he still had to see her regardless. Ben took a deep breath, stepped away from the wall, and walked at a normal pace in the direction of his apartment. 

    It wasn’t long before Ben finally reached his old home. As soon as he got to the complex, he walked inside, keeping his head down. He then went into the elevator, avoiding strange looks from the front person at the desk with the glints of the skin on his neck. He then proceeded to spam the close button, trying to close the door before anyone else could get on and cause the most awkward elevator ride of the century, but as history would show, Ben’s luck ran out as someone ran through the door right before it finished closing. It was a woman. She was panting hard and put her hand against the side of the elevator

    “What floor?” Ben asked her, gesturing towards the panel.

    The woman whipped her head up, staring right at Ben’s face. 

    “Ben?”