Jumper: Cent's Story

Okay, I am so sorry for the wait that I put you guys through. I guess I had writer's block bad this time. But I think I got it under control now.

Anyway, this chapter will fully focus on John alone. We will get to see a little bit about his origins and his first time meeting Travis Shaw. We will also get to meet his parents for the firs time too.

John begins to worry more about Cent, which causes him to have more nightmares about his parents deaths at the hands of Travis Shaw.

Okay, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. :)

Chapter Twenty-Four:

An Old Nightmare

John:

John didn't want to see Cent leave, but he knew that her parents felt safe with her under their roof. It hurt him to his very core to see her jump away. He hated being by himself. He could never shake the feeling of being alert. He also couldn't find peace inside this beach house, which always reminded him of the "what could have been".

John spent hours up, trying to avoid sleep.

One of the many things he hated about sleeping, was that the nightmares always came at any given moment. He was allowed to sleep in peace with Cent, but without her... that was a different story. It was the one dream that has haunted him since the day he witnessed his parents being killed by Travis Shaw. No matter how much he wanted to be free of that dream, he could never escape it.

Somehow, John knew that this beach house will trigger another nightmare. He could feel it as he tried to stay awake.

He tried swimming, jumping to other cities, and even driving cars through the streets of London. But nothing was going to stop it now.

As much as John wanted to jump to a Four Seasons Hotel, he didn't want to break his promise to Cent. He had promised to sleep and live in the beach house now. He didn't blame her for making him stay here. He would have done the same thing to her if she was in his position.

As much as a paradise as John thought of the beach house, he also saw it as a place of remembrance... and a prison too.

Finally getting tired, John decided to take his chances and sleep in the master bedroom.

Falling asleep was no problem for John.

It was the nightmares that were the real problem.

A twelve year old John was playing with his toys in his bedroom, making crashing noises as he pretended his toy cars crashed into each other.

"Honey!" came a voice from outside his bedroom. "Come on down! Dinner is almost ready!"

Throwing the toys to the ground, John got up and ran out of the bedroom, rushing down a flight set of stairs. When he came to the dining room, he saw his mother sitting up the table for dinner.

John's mother, Martha, looked at her son and smiled.

"You hungry?" she asked.

John nodded and said, "Very."

"Well, I hope homemade pizza will satisfy that hunger of yours."

His eyes widened and he immediately jumped into his seat.

Martha gave him the "eye" and folded her arms on her chest.

"John?" spoke in a calm, but serious voice. "What have I told you about 'jumping' inside the house?"

John rolled his eyes and said, "No one is here. Besides, what is the point of having superpowers if you can't even use them?"

"Because me and your father have agreed that we shall help you learn how to take responsibility for your powers, by teaching you when and where to jump. Besides, you can sit down like a normal human being."

John chuckled and said, "You saying that I'm not a human being?"

Martha smiled and waved him off.

"No," she took the pizza out of the oven and put it on the table. "All I'm saying is this, if you are to control your actions with this gift, then you need to learn to control the gift itself."

John rolled his eyes again and looked towards the pizza, waiting for the moment when he could take a piece.

From the entrance of the kitchen, came John's father, William.

"I smell homemade pizza," William walked over and kissed his wife on the lips, embracing her with his arms. "In speaking of smelling, I smell a beautiful woman right here."

Martha blushed and kissed him back.

"And I smell I handsome man," she responded back.

As near-teenagers go, all of them would look away or make stupid comments... but not John.

John watched as his parents held and kissed each other. He loved seeing his parents being so strong in their love for each other. It made him happy. He knew a lot of teenagers in his school who had separated or divorced parents. He knew he was lucky to have such loving parents who did things right.

Without looking at his son, William spoke directly to him, "Remember, John, always love the one person who will capture your heart. Hold her, kiss her, tell her you love her. No matter what, you always stick by her... and you always protect her. Only love her for her, not her body. And most importantly, you make her the one important person in your life. Nothing else can top her, because she is you true love and true love always comes first."

John smiled and nodded.

"Yes, dad."

Without another word, they all joined in on a family dinner and ate together.

The night was going so well for them. After eating, they all got to work on the dishes. William washed. Martha rinsed. John dried and put the dished in the covers. They all loved to do house work together. It gave them more time together and it also got things done much more faster.

The door bell rang.

"I wonder who that is at this hour?" Martha asked as she grabbed a clothe and dried her hands.

William stopped her and said, "I'll go see who it is, you and John can finish up here."

Martha smiled and kissed him.

John watched as his father disappeared from the kitchen.

Finally putting the last dish away, he wiped his hands dry with the small towel and faced his mom.

"Mom?"

"Yes," she smiled at him.

Swallowing hard, he asked, "What is true love like? How did you and dad find it in the first place?"

Martha smiled to herself and leaned against the counter for support.

"True love isn't just something that can be put out into words. It's more than words. It has to be felt in order to truly understand it." She stopped for a moment. "When I met your father, I was in college and still a little 'wild', if you know what I mean."

John and Martha chuckled together.

Martha continued on.

"Anyway, the first time I met your father, I was easily taken away by him. I couldn't help but fall in love with him. I couldn't speak, couldn't think straight. Heck, one time he caught he staring at him during lunch hour. Now that was embarrassing."

"How did you two officially meet?"

"Well, he met me, actually. After a few days of 'following' him around, he finally came up to me and introduced himself. At first, I was shocked and thinking that all of it was a dream, but then I came to my senses and introduced myself right back. Things fell into place after that. We couldn't stay away from each other. Every moment that we got, we used to spend together. I couldn't wait to see him again. Every time I saw him I just ran up and kissed him flat on the lips, in public even."

John chuckled.

Suddenly, they heard William's voice rise from the front door.

"No, you cannot come inside!"

Martha shot John a look and immediately ran from the kitchen.

John couldn't help but follow her.

Just as he reached the hallway that lead directly to the front door, he stopped and looked on.

Martha reached William and took his hand.

At the front door were a couple of 'Men-in-Black'.

"Sir," one of the men spoke. "I'm afraid that you have to let us enter. We have orders to speak to your son about something."

"And what is that?" William asked.

"We cannot say," another man spoke.

"Then I'm afraid that we will have to take this up with your superiors!" William fought back. "I will not allow you to take my son, until you tell me what you need him for!"

John was impressed with how his father handled his anger. He could tell that he was angry, but he was using it in a professional matter.

"Is that so?" came a voice that frightened John to his very core.

The voice came from behind the 'Men-in-Black'.

The men moved out of the way and allowed a new figure to move towards the door.

John couldn't get a good picture of him from the sunglasses that he wore. But just from the sound of his voice, he could tell that he wasn't just any ordinary man. Every muscle in John's body yelled at him to run, but his own body was refusing to listen to him.

The mysterious voice spoke again.

"My name is Travis Shaw," the man smiled. "These men and I are from the FBI. I do apologize for not introducing ourselves directly. We have gotten use to having our suits do the talking for government work."

He smiled again, this time at John.

"We need to see your son immediately," Travis tried to enter the home, his eyes still locked on John.

William stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

"You are not going anywhere with my son!" he said in a calm, but serious tone. "Come back with your superiors and then we might talk."

Travis looked at him and sighed.

"Always have to do this the hard way," he said and reached to his side for something.

Before John could realize it, Travis pulled out his handgun and aimed it at William. He fired a single bullet into his chest.

William went backwards and fell on the ground, with blood beginning to spill all over the floor. His eyes closed.

John felt himself go numb and every slowed down.

Martha screamed as she ran towards her husband and took his hand into hers. She screamed out his name as she cried.

Travis walked forward and aimed his gun at Martha. He fired another round into her head.

She fell next to William, hands intertwined together.

John felt tears running down his cheeks as he watched his mother and father die right in front of him.

Travis and his men walk on through the door, their eyes trained on John.

Turning his attention to his parents killer, John felt a rage of anger run through his body. He began to feel his face turn red and his hands formed fists. He positioned his legs for a sprint and gathered up all of his energy.

Then, without hesitation, he ran forward.

Just as the men had pulled out their knives, John jumped forward. He knew that if he was going to die, then he was going to die by killing the man who took his parents.

Suddenly, just as he appeared right in front of Travis, he felt a hand grab him by the throat and yank him off the ground and into the air. Then he felt the same hand bring him down towards the ground. Pain rushed through his back as he crashed against the ground of the floor. His entire spine felt like it had broken into two. The same hand that had brought him down, tightened its grip around his next and began to choke him.

Getting back his vision, he stared right into the eyes of Travis Shaw himself and felt his body shiver as he looked at him.

Finally, John realized that Travis had anticipated his move and had planned for him to appear right where he was. This guy had to have faced people like him before. His eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

Travis smiled, as if he read his mind.

"Yes, John," he spoke in a very evil way. "I know who and what you are. In fact, you have been on our radar since that little video of you was posted on the Internet. It wasn't that hard to find out about you."

"How do you know my name?" John barely spoke.

Travis chuckled and said, "We're the Syndicate. We know everything."

"Why did you kill my parents?"

Travis looked at Martha and William and chuckled again.

"I wouldn't have, if they had only listened to me. But then again, I think I would have killed them. Just for fun."

Anger once again rose inside John. He wanted to kill this guy so bad.

Travis reached out his hand and one of the men handed him a very large blade.

John's eyes widened.

"Don't worry," Travis smiled. "Syndicate wants you alive. The chemical inside this blade will only stop you from jumping for a matter of hours. We don't want you getting away."

Without thinking, John somehow managed to bring his arm around punched Travis in the face. He felt his hand loosen its grip and come right off his throat, allowing him to breath again.

And before anyone had the chance to grab him, John jumped away.

Before John knew it, he had landed on the sand of the lake that he always came to with his parents. He allowed himself to fall to the ground and roll up into a tiny ball. He cried and cried, not caring if anyone came looking for him. He allowed the darkness of the night to consume him and allowed the little waves of the lake to mask his crying. He knew that he would never see his parents again. Just like he will never be able to have a normal life again.

Only one face appeared in his mind... Travis Shaw.

John's eyes shot open and he leaned up in bed.

He was breathing hard and sweat was all over his bare chest, face, and arms. He put his head in between his hands and controlled his breathing, allowing himself to calm down.

It was like this almost every single night. The nightmares never left him alone, except when he was with Cent.

Getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom, John stripped off his boxers and got into the sauna. He turned the knob to full heat and allowed the water to burn his body.

He was used to pain now. After all of the scars and battles from Travis, a little burning hot water was nothing to worry about.

John knew that his worst nightmare has yet to come. Travis Shaw was always going to be a threat to him as long as one of them lives. As much as John hates to admit it, he knows he has to kill him. If he truly wants to be free and live a normal life with Cent, then he has to end the one problem that has been causing him trouble since the day his life was changed forever.

He has to kill Travis Shaw.

Who liked this chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed the flashback/dream setting. I thought it was important that we got to see what truly happened to John and what every night is like for him.

Please review! :)