Chapter 2- He Hated That

A Chapter by Ryanicus

Introducing Callus, 17 years after the prologue. Hopefully giving some character development, and some more background information to the world of Augmented.

This chapter is quite long. I expect I'll split it in the future, but I thought that on paper (in a real book) this might be normal length. :)

Chapter 2- He hated that

July 2064

"I still don't see how carrying the seven helps anything." moaned Riley, "It just gets divided right here, anyway, see?" pointing to his glossy green notepad, trodding at Cal's heels along the bustling 5th Avenue.

"Watch your step, dog poop doesn't smell as good as it used to." replied Cal, skipping casually over a brown lump, completely ignoring Riley's useless attempt at math. The duo passed through the school gates, striding carelessly through downtown Manhattan.

"Screw it, I give up." laughed Riley, cracking open a can of Dr. Pepper. "What's the worst that could happen."

Cal grinned, remembering the old commercial. He hopped a pothole, and lifted his head, gazing into the stretching streets of America's most glamourous city. The buildings were unpredictable; some were derelict, some were used commonly. Contractor firms never bothered themselves with the hassle of sorting something out. Flocks of ravens cawed aimlessly at thin air while perched in burnt out windows three stories up, and Cal noticed that the grey, uninteresting walls contrasted surprisingly well against their feathers. Dozens of ancient cars were parked carefully at the pavement because of the sheer recklessness of the New Manhattan drivers. If something was left at a ten degree angle, guaranteed within an hour it was in pieces. Since Aug-Industries had to assuage everything that was not weapons or medicinal, transport had not been the best experience.

In the distance, to Cal's North-West, the Aug Complex towered above everything in existence. Cal hated that. He hated being assumed superior to others. He hated that he could have whatever he wanted. He hated that all the poor kids at school begged him for friendship in the hope they would one day see the inside of the teriffic hourglass. He hated that people assumed he was always right. He hated, being an August. Cal did not want his father's money, and to be frank, Cal did not want his father, just as his father clearly, most definitely, did not want him. He had spoken to him, what, in the region of seven times in the last six months?

It did not sadden Cal, it just drove him insane. Yes, William August, owner of Aug-Industries, he had a lot to do... but too much to even speak to his child? Cal literally knew nothing about his father that a member of the general public didn't. He had to pick up a copy of the New York Times to find out whether he'd be home this week or not. If only Cal could somehow read his father's-

The peaceful cawing was cut off instantaneously by a terrifying shockwave, rippling horizontally like dominoes towards Riley and Cal. The air wavered, like being tortured by excrutiating heat and caving in to the sheer influence of it, while cascading towards the two seventeen year olds like a tsunami of air, who were standing legs apart, mouths agape and eyes fluttering.

With a swift gust of wind, trees bent and birds fell. The two teens staggered, as Cal raised his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding dust in the air. As quick as it had appeared, the wave of air was gone.

"Okay," R iley sounded strangely calm, bending down to scoop up his bag which was now six feet behind him, "I didn't imagine that, did I?"

Frightened women and children cowered on sidewalks, slowly rising from their positions as curled up balls of helplessness. Thick, brown-grey layers of dust and sand coated anything with a flat surface, and Cal was sure he could smell blood. Sirens transitioned in and out of Cal's hearing, as he staggered forwards flailing his arms attempting to break free from the horrible toxic dust. Everything faded from sight and Cal fell victim to a thick fog which had seemingly apparated from nothing. It rose from the ground up, completely obscuring everything except his own body parts. Cursing, Cal glanced around. Nothing. Worry had begun to infect his brain, as it set in that something was really, really, possibly wrong.

Everything's fine, probably just a car explosion up ahead. This type of thing happened all the time, but never in New Manhattan. Usually in the outskirts, beyond the security perimeter where Splice roamed freely, and there was no law for a five mile radius. Cal had never seen a Splice before. Only heard of them in news reports. Apparently they were normal humans, driven horrifically insane by Aug-Rejection; when one's body is Augmented with a glitched formula or without proper precautions, and when the DNA is bent, twisted and toyed with to provide the infamous abilities, the body remembers what the strand was like before tampering. Sort of. Cal recalled what had happened to Riley's uncle, and winced. It could be weeks, even months before everything starts going down the drain. Unexpectedly, in an instant, the body forces the DNA structure to snap back into it's previous form, or at least what it remembers it as. And it never gets it right. Disgusting mutations, varying from subject to subject, are so violently insisted by the body's interpretation of the old DNA structure, that bones literally rip through the skins surface. Tendons contract and expand to an inhuman shape. Internal organs are misplaced. You might wake up with an unfamiliar number of fingers, but that's the least of your concerns when your skull the wrong way round and your intestines are spilling from your forearm. Packs upon packs of them prowl together, screeching, moaning, their previously human brains are incapable of thought process, so rather they sprint aimlessly at anything that moves. That is, if they still have two legs.

"Cal?" yelled Riley, from directly ahead. How odd, Cal hadn't noticed him pass by. Then again, he couldn't even see his own hand a few inches in front of him.

"I'm right here, Riley." Cal coughed, fumbling through the air for any sign of salvation. He tapped his wrist, and instantly a bright yellow beam of pure light energy emitted from the palm of Cal's hand, pointed upwards. Out of the abyss, a hand reached in and grabbed Cal by the wrist, yanking him into fresh air. Cal knelt at Riley's knees, spluttering out a horrible coppery taste.

"God." Riley said, "What the heck was that?" Cal could hear the shivering in his voice, and spotted it in his hands too. "LightFlow always comes in handy, right?"

"First use I've had for it other than night-time reading." Cal laughed.

"Unfortunately my Dad's FireWisp just burns my books, so-" Riley's voice trailed off into the sunset, as they saw it. The Aug-Industries building was a flaming mess, the entire penthouse engulfed in intense licking flames that gave no mercy to the terrified sky above, clouds fleeing the bellowing smoke.

"No." Cal whimpered, and without a second thought, dashed towards his home.

"CAL!" yelled Riley, hot at Cal's heels.

Cal didn't listen. He was panting pathetically, struggling to keep his legs from folding in on themselves while holding the exhaustion drool inside his mouth. He had never been physically fit. Cal wasn't overweight, either. He was tall, thin and handsome, but that didn't make him an exceptional gymnast. His high cheekbones showed similarity to a delicate female and his baby blue eyes resembled... well, a baby. He wasn't muscly, he wasn't by any manner of means what a girl looked for, but his charming personality often got him through. Often, it got him shoved through hard objects. Mostly the kind of hard objects that aren't very pleasant to be shoved through, by Damien. Damien. Damien Meadow was a bully, a jock, and and was Auged out of his face. Kids under eighteen weren't legally allowed an Aug, but since Cal's Dad had invented the stuff, people kind of turned a blind eye on his LightFlow. Damien's father, on the other hand, was the chief of police, so a 'blind eye' was an understatement.

Of course the police are corrupt, Cal had thought, it's New York City.

Cal's short, jet black hair was his thing, anyway. It was incredibly black. It always seemed to earn him a half-hearted smile from Ellan, whenever the conversation arose. Ellan was tall, dark-haired, curvaceous and stunningly beautiful, although Cal hated talking about her. Riley made sure to mention her just to get Cal to go red-faced. She was out of his feeble grasp, and there was nothing in his pathetic little reach he could do about it. He hated that.

Cal found himself at the foot of the Aug Complex, staring blankly ahead. His feelings were so harsh they couldn't even surface from his heart. He was at a loss. His entire life had been spent going up and down the single elevator in the centre of the steel monstrosity, heading to school, playing video games in his room, and now, and the click of God's fingers, it was burning. Cal had always wondered why things like this were possible. It takes so long to construct something, lay the foundations, plan it out and invest time, money and manpower into it... only for it to be struck down in the blink of an unrelenting eye. He hated that.

"Look, Cal, we need to get out of here. I don't know what's going on, but this is bad news." said Riley, clearly worried.

Cal didn't reply. Silence, other than security guards shufflling precariously at the bottom of the stairwell, choking on the faintest breath of smoke.Until sirens flared to life in the distance. Cal snapped back into reality, tears streaming down his face, but his expression showing nothing. It was as if someone had just squirted water at him, his face was iron, nonchalant about his entire childhood burning with a vengeance.

A flicker of emotion, the twitching smile.

"Cal, no." By the time he'd warned him, Callus had already dived into the lobby of his once-placid home, so many memories rushing into his head at once. Father, he thought. Why hadn't he thought of him until now? A wave of guilt rushed through him, which he then pushed down sharply with the thought that he William probably wasn't even home. He was never home. He kind of hated that.

Cal rushed relentlessly to the stairs, fifty-seven floors? He mashed the buttons on the elvator as a burly voice growled behind him, "Cal, son, it's not safe!" it was Grenn, the overweight security guard who had always taken the night shift. Why was he here?

"Mr Grenn, sir, my dad, he's-"

"He's safe outside. Quick, we need to hurry," he sounded desperate. Too desperate. As if dreading something going wrong, "The smoke'll be down the elevator shaft in minutes."

Cal's eyes darted across Grenn's massive, wide figure worryingly, there had to be a way. There- at his belt-a package with the Aug-Industries logo imprinted on the brown paper covering, two circles overlapping with a large, metallic silver "AUG" cutting through the middle. Not just that, Cal noticed a blinking red light glinting through the thin layer of brown bag. A bomb? A detonator? Cal didn't care, he sank his heel right into Officer Grenn's crotch. He doubled over immediately, crying out in sincere pain. The man spat viciously at his feet, unable to warn his colleagues of this badass seventeen year-old bandit, who was exceptional at kicking fat men in the privates. Cal snatched the brown paper parcel and dashed for the elevator door, now open, beckoning him into a cloud of disgusting smoke.

He lay flat on the floor, gasping for the last pockets of air. Cal had to hold his breath. The smoke was unbearable. One deep breath and he was rolling around vigourously taking spasms and welping as his lungs refused to inhale any more putrid black fumes. It wasn't hot, there was no fire. Something wasn't right here either.

Ding.

The iron doors flew open, a robotic voice proclaiming that Callus August had now arrived at the fifty-seventh floor and that he had four new E-Mails. He had probably won another couple of iPads.

Only, this didn't look like the fifty-seventh floor. The roof was gone, furniture and wooden splinters lay strewn across the circular plane of destruction, and hungry flames licked at the cracked former-beauty of the city overlook. No other floor was damaged, and nobody downstairs was dead.

Well, s**t, thought Cal. This wasn't good at all. And that's when his emotions finally sank in.

Callus fell to his knees sobbing. Hands on his face, wiping away tears as they came. His handsome, slightly tanned complexion had been annihilated by the soot, he looked like he'd been dragged through a chimney by an army of hungry lions. Why had this happened to him? Of course he knew why, he was the son of the richest man in world, obviously, but why? What had William August ever done wrong? Cal was surprised with himself, he didn't think he would care in the slightest, he barely knew his father, yet here he was; sobbing at a broken house. The August's had money, they could build something new, right?

Cal didn't know what to feel. Was it anger, because of how little he actually knew his only living relative?

Was it disappointment, because of how much more William would have expected of a puny little brainiac like Callus? Was it guilt, because... Cal had let this happen? Cal barely knew himself, let alone anyone else. He wouldn't trust anyone, with anything, except Riley. Riley was his only friend, and best friend. He didn't hate that.

************************************************************************

Everything was surreal. Cal couldn't tell where his room once was. The wreckage was so multifarious, it reminded him of the pictures of battlefields from World War Two... only without the bodies.

Spoke to soon, thought Cal, distraught, he bound over to a slump of white cotton. His father's favourite suit.

He was in it.

"DAD!" he bawled, diving to the ground, grazing his joints on unrestricted metal, "Dad..." Cal fell silent. He sprang back in horror, noticing deep pools of blood beneath his feet. Cal shut his eyes and yelled at himself.

No, no, no, no, no. He thought. Sure, people die, but...

There was a sharp metal girder impaled right through William August's ribs, opening a large gaping wound where his heart should have been. Cal thought it has started raining, but it was just his rapid tears pelting on his father's cold, still face. And then it hit him. Not a girder like his father, a thought.

We don't have girders in the ceiling of the top floor. It's all glass.

A wave of newfound horror sweeped Cal's body. If he wasn't covered in soot he would have been mistaken for a ghost. Someone had murdered William August. The explosion didn't kill him, othwerwise he'd be lying in ten different places with a couple of limbs missing. Cal's father had been targeted separately. Maybe he had escaped the fire but finished off by someone send to clean up... maybe that person was still there. Cal glanced behind him, he was a few metres clear of the edge, telling himself wearily to make sure not to move backwards. The potent clouds moved quickly across the titnted green sky teeming with smoke, pollution and sinister growls from within the city. The sun had now set and Cal's whole body seemed to suddenly plunge into darkness like an extinguished flame. A shadow.

"Oh, hello there." teased a deep, smooth, innocent voice from behind.

"WHA-" spluttered Cal, whirling round on the balls of his feet, astonishment on his face, only to meet the gaze of a tall, hooded man standing an inch away from him. Cal welped, and recoiled in fright.

"You're Callus August, yes?" smiled the man. It wasn't a friendly smile.

Getting a good look at the man, Cal saw he was wearing battered, ripped jeans and a jet black hoodie, hood up of course, the same colour as Cal's hair. He was extremely tall, maybe around seven feet, with heavy broad shoulders that looked like they could charge a bull. His face was completely shrouded by shadows, he must have taken extra care to ensure Cal didn't see his face, or anyone, for that matter.

"Wh-what is it to you?" Cal whimpered, he had absolutely no idea what was going on. Why was there a hooded maniac standing next to his father's dead body, smiling murderously?

In fact, that's not a very good question.

He just wanted to wake up, this was all a dream and when he pinched himself he would be walking home once again with Riley.

The man grinned, revealing perfectly white teeth, otherwise invisible if it weren't for the position of the sun; an inch more south and it would have been gone completely, swallowed by the horizon, eager to begin the moon's watch. "If you'd step aside, little August." he shrugged, "I'd like to get on with my evening stroll."

"You're kidding, right?" gasped Cal, "It was you, wasn't it? You killed him."

"Did you figure that out by yourself, little one?" He tilted his head, mock proudness spreading across his face. Cal's eyes squinted, trying to get a look at his features, when he noticed the man spinning a glowing syringe in his right hand by his waist like an old west revolver. "Well, you're not running. Usually people run when they see me."

"Why would I run? You're a tall, murderous, hooded figure. I see them every day in New Manhattan." countered Cal, eyes trained on his hand.

"And I see lanky idiots with a bladder problem every day at the old folks home." the man laughed, then hesitated, "I don't go there, by the way. I just wanted to let you know that you've pissed you're pants."

It was true, Cal glanced downwards and saw a yellow puddle circling his trainers. He hardly had time to frown in embarrassment, in front of a hooded serial killer, before the man leapt forward like lightning. He shoved Cal to the ground with almighty force, he tumbled across the debris slowly and painfully. He sat up, dazed, catching the mysterious man; who was crouching above Cal's father, wiggling the glowing syringe around inside his eye-socket. His eye-socket.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Yelled Cal, springing to his feet. He didn't feel injured, just wet with urine on his chest and legs. Then he realised that his chest shouldn't have urine on it, and that it was actually blood.

"Oh." mumbled Cal, staring at the gaping hole where a single rib nuzzled it's way into the outside world.

Suddenly, his lungs began to go crazy. His body was terrified, hurrying to figure out what the hell had happened to it, heart beating rapidly as blood seeped into his green v-neck jumper.

"Oops, I broke you." smirked the stranger. "I also stole lots of things from your Dad. And I killed your house too, didn't I. Terribly sorry." He plunged the syringe into his own forearm, winced, shuddered, squeezed his eyes shut, and let out a relieved sigh. He sagged blissfully and opened his mouth to say something. But he didn't. Instead, he smiled a most menacing smile and lifted his hand to point directly at Cal's face, his veins began glowing a sky blue while radiating light in the dim moonshine. With a ripple of air, an invisible force slammed into Cal's side, knocking all wind out of his bleeding chest, and splattered blood on the rubble. It couldn't get any messier, he supposed.

Cal flew towards the edge of the building, six feet above ground. He tumbled in mid-air, twisting, churning, allowing more ribs to pop out of his chest. The pain had gone now, everything was slowing and his eyes half-closed. He sighed in relief. Then remembered he was about to fly off the edge of a fifty-seven story building.

The last thing he saw before clearing the edge was the hooded man standing upright, facing Cal, smiling and waving happily. Windows passed infront of him rapidly, flying upwards. Screams echoed from below. Pedestrians had probably seen a seventeen year old falling through the air with his limbs twisted in strange directions and blood trailing above him. Cal wondered where Riley was. He didn't even get to say goodbye.

Everything went black, with thirty floors still to go.

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© 2013 Ryanicus

Author's Note

I know you all have things to do, if you don't want to read it all that's fine. It's pretty long, lol.

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Erin DeLis

Oh. My. God! What just happened? Totally did not expect Sage to be there. Plus the whole burning building thing, super cool. The pyro side of my thinks that it would be super awesome to have watched it burn while the sane side screams at it to shut up before people call me a psychopath. So, yeah, I got major respect for any scenes with fire. :) That chapter was amazing and action-packed. Not too long, actually a really good length for a chapter. It flows naturally and might be kind of strange if you did split it into two chapters. Can't wait for the next chapter!