AN: I do not claim ownership of the song used in this chapter.
"How Could This Happen to Me" -Simple Plan
-Misguided Sons of Ipswich-
Monday 9:27 p.m. The Varsity
Durnom was a small town like Ipswich and the club was not hard to find. It was one of the only buildings still lit up. The faint sound of music could be heard as they pulled into the nearby parking lot. There were dozens of cars and as they entered the club, Caleb couldn't believe how packed the place was. He could see a large lighted room and music blared deafeningly loud. There were people dancing, drinking, and just all around having a good time. The current song ended and cut off altogether. The voice of a guy speaking on a microphone sounded out, coming from the center stage which was opposite the door they came through. Caleb recognized that voice. It was Chase.
"Hey. Is everybody having a good time tonight?" Chase asked the crowd and cheering broke out. They were definitely enjoying themselves. "Okay, well the regulars already know me, but for those of you who don't, my name's Chase Collins and I'll be singing you a song relating to my own life."
The Sons and girls were surprised. Caleb never figured him to be the singing type. They got as far as the bar before it was too packed to get any closer and stopped there, watching Chase raise the microphone and begin to sing.
"I open my eyes. I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light. I can't remember how, I can't remember why, I'm lying here tonight."
Chase put the mic close to his lips and shut his eyes as the music flowed.
"And I can't stand the pain, and I can't make it go away. No, I can't stand the pain."
A brief pause and he started the chorus.
"How could this happen to me? I've made my mistakes. Got nowhere to run. The night goes on as I'm fading away. I'm sick of this life. I just wanna scream. How could this happen to me?"
Caleb got the feeling this song was strongly relating to the night when he and Caleb had been in a fight to the death. Did the guy regret the things he had done? Could he believe that?
"Everybody's screaming. I try to make a sound but no one hears me. I'm slipping off the edge. I'm hanging by a thread. I wanna start this over again. So I try to hold, on to a time when, nothing mattered. And I can't explain what happened, and I can't erase the things that I've done. No I can't."
The music pounded as it grew loud again. Caleb began to feel slightly sad but it wasn't him that was sad. He began to wonder if Chase's power was somehow subconsciously mixing with his voice, letting his own feeling and emotion spread to his listeners.
"How could this happen to me? I've made my mistakes. Got nowhere to run. The night goes on as I'm fading away. I'm sick of this life. I just wanna scream. How could this happen to me? I've made my mistakes. Got nowhere to run. The night goes on as I'm fading away. I'm sick of this life. I just wanna scream. How could this happen to me?"
He trailed to silence and the music ended. Chase thanked everyone and as he did so looking out at the crowd, he saw them. He paused for a moment and then said goodnight to everyone before walking off the stage and coming over to the Sons and Sarah. Kate wandered to the bathroom right after Chase reached them.
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me." It was a statement, not a question.
Caleb answered. "You were right about the smoking guy. He came to see us. Somehow he knows where I live and where we hang out."
"We want to know everything you've got on this guy," Pogue added. "What does he want? Who is he?"
Chase hesitated. "I don't know."
Reid laughed in disbelief. "You don't know? This is just great. I'm so glad we came here."
Caleb glanced at him and back at Chase. "Well at least tell us how you heard about this man. How did you know he would come looking for us?"
Chase averted his gaze to the floor.
"Chase?" Sarah questioned.
Finally he spoke. "You won't believe me. It sounds crazy."
"As crazy as the fact that our family bloodlines all pass on power to the firstborn son? How much crazier could it be?"
/
Kate stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had been so ready to see Chase, to be able to talk to him again. Even after all he did to her and her friends. She had forgiven him and moved on. Kate sighed and turned the tap, placing her hands under the stream of water. She turned it off and grabbed a few paper towels, drying her hands.
She had begun to realize once she heard Chase sing that song, he hadn't moved on yet. It wasn't normal to be over something like that this quickly. She wasn't normal. Maybe she was just letting this get to her too much. Kate rolled her eyes and turned, exiting the bathroom. A man approached her. He appeared to be in maybe his mid-forties and his gaze sought her attention.
"Hi. I was wondering... I thought I saw you with Chase Collins. Is that right?"
Kate met the man's eyes. Gray blue color. Pretty. "That's right. You know Chase?"
He nodded. "Yeah. My name's John. I'm Chase's father."
Kate was stunned. "Really? Does he know you're here? He's right over there."
She started toward the group but John stopped her. "No."
She let him stop her, looking at him. "Oh?"
John seemed embarrassed. "Sorry. It's just, I haven't seen him for a long time."
Kate gave him a look of understanding. John reached into his jacket pocket. "Listen, could you give this to him for me?"
He held out a necklace with a pendant attached. A silver symbol which was like a curved line with another line running through it. Huh. New.
Kate accepted it from his hand and nodded. "Of course. Are you sure you don't want to see him? I mean, he is your son."
She shifted her eyes to watch Chase talking to the guys. When John didn't answer, she turned back but the man was gone.
/
"Well okay then," Chase said and it got quiet. "You want to know who told me about the smoking man. Well my mom did."
Sarah tilted her head, confused. "What's strange about that?"
"My mother's been dead for sixteen years."
"Then how-?" Sarah began and Chase cut her off.
"Part of my power when I ascended..is that I can sometimes sense the dead."
Caleb nodded, getting it. "When I ascended, I gained the ability to read the souls of people if I look deep into their eyes and wish to do so."
He gestured in the general direction of the other Sons. "Pogue gained the ability to heal people of physical injuries when he ascended. Reid can heal illness, like poison and stuff. We think."
"Yeah, well, something must be going down to make my deceased mother come see me after all this time," Chase put in.
Caleb noticed Kate returning from the bathroom. As soon as she was standing by them, he began to feel funny. The guys could have been feeling it too. He thought about bringing it up, seeing a couple creased brows and uncomfortable shifts.
Kate was studying Chase, saying his name in greeting and taking his hand. He stared at the necklace she placed in his palm. "Here. Your dad wanted me to give this to you."
Upon contact with the necklace, Chase gasped in pain.
"Chase?" Kate reached for his arm, concerned.
He gasped in agony and stumbled back against the counter of the bar. "Kate," he choked out. "Who gave this to you?"
"Uh, um, your dad did. Chase, what's wrong?"
"My dad is dead! He died months ago when he willed me his power. Who gave this to-?" Chase stopped short and collapsed on the floor.
"Get the necklace out of his hand!" Pogue yelled.
Tyler reached for it but when his fingers grazed the necklace, he flinched as if from pain and stepped back. The Sons recognized that necklace. It was the same one the smoker wore earlier. It was then three men in dark clothes pushed through the crowd armed with guns. Kate recognized one of them and identified him as the man who posed as Chase's father.
"He said his name was John!" she shouted, panicking and apologetic.
Two aimed their guns, ordering them to back away from Chase. A trio of girls standing nearby spotted the guns and one screamed. Panic ensued, people screaming and running in different directions. The fake dad, John, walked up to Chase, who was on his knees apparently feeling great pain. John grabbed him by the jacket and shoved him against the counter.
"Do you know why you're in so much pain, Mr. Collins?"
Chase's head dropped. He was losing consciousness and Caleb had to do something. John grabbed his chin, lifting his head back up to meet eyes. What did he want?
"This necklace is draining your power. Since you have so much of it, well..it hurts a lot."
Following this comment, he took the necklace and placed it around Chase's neck. Caleb saw his eyes roll to the back of his head. A groan of pain escaped his lips. John slapped him across the face to keep him conscious. He couldn't use his powers in public and that necklace was stifling.
"Hey, don't sleep on me now. I want you to feel it."
The Sons helplessly looked on. They couldn't use powers this close in proximity to the necklace and the other two men had guns pointed at them. Caleb searched around wildly for some way to help Chase. It was then the smoking man came into view. John turned Chase around and tied his hands behind his back, forcing him out of the club. The stranger blew out smoke and smiled at the Sons and girls.
"Thank you for helping me procure the extremely elusive Mr. Collins." He stood there for a moment longer, smiling at them.
He left and they eyed the armed assholes in their way. The other two lowered their guns and left as well. Caleb raced outside after them, his friends close behind. The smoking man's limousine was already down the street and soon gone from view. Pogue raced for his motorcycle.
"I'll catch up and follow!" With that said, he put on his helmet and was off.
/
Pogue trailed the car for about thirty minutes. He kept his distance with the car barely in his sights so he wouldn't alert them to his presence. For a moment he lost the car and as he passed a large warehouse which was seemingly abandoned, he nearly missed it. The black car was parked in the back of the building, barely in view of the road. Pogue kept going so he wouldn't get spotted and pulled to the side of the road, well out of range of the warehouse. He tugged off his helmet and concentrated, his eyes clouding into blackness.
"Caleb," he spoke out, calling to his friend. He could feel that Caleb could hear him and continued. "I found Chase. They've taken him to a warehouse about a half hour outside Ipswich. It's a straight shot. I'll wait for you here."
He sat astride his bike, waiting for them.
/
Chase had been taken to some kind of a warehouse or storage facility. The necklace stopped hurting him after a while but he could feel it heavy. Like a large weight hung around his neck. He could feel his body was completely drained of paranormal power. When he wore the necklace, he was normal.
After the car parked, he was forced out by two men. "John" switched places with one of the men holding Chase's arm. The man who switched with John stayed outside, standing guard. He was brought into the building and the smoking man followed. It was one big room and brightly lit. Brick walls and concrete flooring.
Waiting for them inside was a man possibly in his thirties with brown hair and green eyes. The eyes reminded him of his own eyes. The man wore blue jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, and a brown jacket. He crossed the distance to them and smiled at Chase pleasantly.
"Chase Collins. It's wonderful finally getting to meet you after all these years. Based on your previous actions, I see you've turned out just like your father."
Presumably judging by the blank stare he gave the guy, introductions were in order.
"My name is Shawn Austin. I'm your uncle, Chase."
Those words threw him for a loop. "What?"
"Your dad was my brother. Oh, but don't worry, I hated the bastard." He waved his hand in the air, as if to dismiss the topic. "So anyway, now that we're acquainted, I would really like to apologize for how you were brought here. I just couldn't risk anyone stopping us from meeting. As to why I brought you here, it's quite simple. I have a proposition."
He motioned to one of the men flanking Chase and he untied his hands. Austin peered into his eyes. Unnerving.
"I want you to join me. Together we can make this world a better place. All you have to do is will me the power of authority to the covenant. Yes, you do have the power to do that. Any existing member of the covenant can will someone with power, authority over the covenant. You simply say the words and it won't even kill you. Think of the good we could do for the world."
He paused when a grin broke out across Chase's face. Shaking his head slowly to display his disappointment at the pathetic speech, he scoffed.
"I can't believe how cliché you are. It's just like the typical villain to claim taking absolute power will be for the greater good. The only person it will serve is you. I know better than anyone how addicting the power can be. Though I am intrigued you have power too. I thought that only went to the firstborn son."
Despite his annoyance at Chase's mockery of him, he answered. "You heard wrong. The Sons of Ipswich are a misguided bunch it would seem. I am not a villain who wants to take over the world. I really do want to use it for the benefit of the people. Think of the crime we could stop with these powers. We'd be unstoppable."
Chase was quick to reply. "See, there you go again with the self-gratitude. I know how to lie. You have yet to master that technique. I can read the hunger for the power in your eyes. Once I willed you the power of authority you would immediately expel all members of the covenant, stripping us of our powers and taking them as your own. What I did a couple months ago? I was an idiot and that kind of mistake isn't gonna happen again. In fact, I think you know you won't be able to talk me into it. You just love to hear yourself talk, don't you?"
Austin's eyes narrowed. "You're a smart ass. Like your father. Let me get this straight. You're saying..?"
"I'm saying no, never. I've learned how destructive this power can be and what it can do if you let it consume yourself. I won't let that happen again."
"Disappointing," Austin said and took a few steps closer to Chase, studying him. "I have had three people will me their power."
Chase was once again surprised. There were others with powers like his own? Others not of the bloodlines? How could this be possible? Unless there were other bloodlines he and the covenant Sons had no idea existed. This seemed very probable right about now. Disregarding the fact there were others like them, Austin had three people will him their powers? Chase stared at him, his eyes widening. The first remnant of fear entered his consciousness. If that was true, this man was extremely powerful.
"So you see, I generally get what I want, Chase. I need you to say those words. Will it to me. Now."
He made the demand lightly but it was thick with threat. Chase pushed the fear away. He didn't have time to be afraid. Maybe this was the price to pay for what he'd done to the Sons. He clenched his fists tightly and glared at Austin.
"No," was all he said, but it seemed like the air in the room went still.