Free Caped (Book 1): The Burdens of Fate by Kerron Streater Page A

Saturation. Begins at a quarter
past nine; Facebook, Twitter, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, etc. All because nothing was
going in or coming out of Los Angeles,
it had gone dark and no one knew why. It was as if had been erased from the map
and the only sliver of information pointed to an incident at one of the E.C.
right protests.
    Iris and I watched from the couch as we
finished a rather late breakfast; and with that unmistakable look of concern on
her face, it was all too obvious what she was thinking. The letter was still
fresh in our minds, even if the last thing we expected was for something to
come of it.
    "Be a hero," it said, and I knew I could,
but just what was he expecting of me? Oh boy was I going to find out...

Edward Otep (Cont.) -
    ...Michael’s fiancé wasn't too thrilled by his
decision to come or with the ski-mask he'd decided to wear.
    I'm still envious of his ability to fly.
    I was just smothering a second cigarette into
the dirt when I spotted Michael overhead. I waved him down and formally
introduced myself for the first time.
    He wanted more answers than I had time to give.
It was time for me to speak and him to listen. He hadn't gotten to know me like
Laurie had and I was anything but his superior, however, I had a mission for
him and he needed to trust me.
    I knew he might have a problem with gender
politics, after all it's not every day a random stranger asks you to knock out
a seventeen year old girl, but as the old adage goes, "It's easier said
than done."
    Her name was Kaylie Horn and can move the earth
itself. He would find her on the beach in a rage filled trance.
    "What do we do about the others?" he
asked. "How do we knock them out?"
    A good question. I told him not to worry, that
"I know a guy."
    "Is he psychic?" he asked.
    I told him no, "just fast."
    The ground jolted and I pressed myself against
a car for leverage.
    "Is that my cue?"
    His cue was a minute ago but I didn't push the
subject, just nodded.
    He chuckled, "Forgive me, I'm nervous.
Will I be seeing you later?"
    I smiled at the coincidence and gave him the
same confident affirmation I gave Laurie.
    There was another jolt that knocked me to the
ground but by that point he was gone.
    I could see the pillars of smoke rising from
the city and the rapidly expanding fires, mostly the cause of one man making
devastatingly effective use of his ability. In another fifteen minutes he'd be gunned
down along with three others in front of a crumbling Millennium Biltmore Hotel,
or at least what remained of the structure, lost beneath the unrelenting flames
and thick smoke.
    Moments after their death, Laurie, firmly in
the grip of the winged creature, would come crashing through the main tower of
the Biltmore Hotel, and tumble into one of the lower levels of the The Gas
Company Tower; a building already littered with flames that came crawling out a
variety of windows on multiple floors. The hotel's tower ripped and twisted off
of its already weakened frame and went crashing into the building adjacent to
it, where Laurie and the creature wrestled around without restraint, too
preoccupied to have any regard for their surroundings or concern with the
collision of the buildings. They exchanged one thunderous strike after another
until, Laurie, landing a significant blow on the beast, managed to send him
barreling up through multiple floors, out of the building, and tumbling across
the burning Los Angeles skyline before crashing
into the US Bank Tower.

 
    Laurie Stahl -
    I know this is going to come off as cocky and
arrogant but it must be said; I'm one tough motherfucker. I can't even believe
all the damage me and that thing did in that poor city, but whatever that thing
was it surely wasn't a challenge. His hits came wild and fast but felt more
like love taps. I should have killed it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do
that to an innocent man.
    Through the US Bank Tower, the AON Center,
Macy's Plaza, and down into the busy streets; pulling, scratching,