BLOODY HORIZON

CHAPTER SEVEN

°°° Behind the Scenes °°°

     The tweeting of birds up in the trees and the calm winds built an atmosphere of calmness in him. Sean had been jogging since he left the house. In sixty-five minutes, he had visited every route connected to the one Dan had asked him to take. He figured that not only was Jason inconsistent with his runs, he was also a lazy runner. He never spent more than fifteen minutes on any route, going to and fro, at least according to Feet.

"Deactivate in-ear instruction," Sean said, sitting under a tree. The electronic voice went silent, and at his command, the sound of 50 Cent’s "I don’t know officer" track ended as well.

      He opened his bottle of water and drank from it, steadying his breathing pattern. The arm band suddenly beeped, and he looked at the screen.

           ||Your sugar level needs a boost||

     The words kept flashing with an annoying beep. He sighed, as it was at least the fifth time, and the beeping was much louder and the light brighter despite the presence of the rising sun.

He stood up and said, "Convenience stores are close by."

      He had listened to the user manual fifteen minutes into his run. The app apparently had a map of the registered location and was capable of finding any place on its map, which automatically updated itself daily. He had given it a few tests, and the app seemed legit. The one thing he didn’t believe in though was the health features.

          ||Route Recalculated||

      The electronic voice came into his ears again after he reactivated. He looked at the screen and saw a blinking blue light with a green line leading from where the app said he was to where the store was.

Sean scoffed, impressed, and ran in that direction.

After ten minutes of switching between running and jogging, the store was in his sights.

The bell rang as he walked in.

"Good morning," he whispered a greeting to the lady at the front desk.

She raised her head, looked at him, and ignored him, burying her head back in a novel.

"That was nice," he muttered to himself and walked on.

     It took him a minute, but he soon found the candy isle. After searching for the recommended chocolate bars without finding any, he took the ones his judgment decided were the best.

"Five chocolate bars?" He looked at the items in his hands and then at the grumpy teen at the counter. "She’s going to kill you with her eyes," he told himself.

He sighed and opened a fridge, took out an energy drink, and slammed it. Although he still felt it wasn’t enough, he couldn’t afford any more.

"Hi," he said again, but she ignored him. "Okay," he stretched his response to her silence, feeling a bit awkward.

She told him the cost of the bars and energy drink, gave him his change, and he walked out. Immediately he stepped outside the doors, he let out a sigh of relief.

      He tore open a wrapper and tossed it in the trash can outside. He took a few bites and gulped down a third of the energy drink, then stashed the other chocolate bars in his hoodie pocket.

"Uhh… Feets?" He said he was unsure of the name or if it would activate the app like the artificial intelligence in movies he’d seen.

            ||Hello Jason||,It replied unexpectedly in his ears, causing him to flinch.

"I guess it’s not advanced enough for voice recognition," he laughed inwardly.

"What’s the time, please?" he asked politely.

||Nineteen minutes past seven in the morning || the electronic voice replied.

‘Heh… I sure could get used to this,’ he smiled at the thought of an artificial intelligence assistant, but then realized that no one would put an AI in a running app, "At least not in this era," he voiced out with a sigh.

"Hey! "Give it back!" a scream came from a distance. "Hey… STOP!!" It was the voice of a girl.

He turned in the direction of the scream and saw a guy running across the street. He was confused until he saw another man running after him.

"A guy screaming like a girl?" He was taken aback momentarily. Both guys looked young, a bit older than him, but they were teenagers. They were both clad in black track suits. He wasn’t sure what was going on until he heard the same voice again, but it was from the same bend the guys came out of. The person following the voice was a girl.

      Seeing her, he immediately understood what was going on. The streets were empty, and coming from a city with a high crime rate, Sean knew this was the perfect time to steal from careless people.

He instantly broke into a sprint, running into the road and tossing his drink away.

The girl from the store he’d just left ran out.

She’d seen the dude that just left the store and was running carelessly into the road. "Does he want to commit suicide?" she quizzed.

     She had seen what had happened between the girl and the running boys, but running into the street, to her, was foolish. Cars moving at that time of the day would move at high speeds because the roads were usually empty. If a car were to burst out of a corner, he’d surely be hit.

"Stupid hero kids," she scoffed, taking out her phone, ready to capture the scene of a teen getting crushed while playing hero.

      Sean was moving very fast. He had trained himself to be fast on his feet. While Jason was light on his feet and quite agile, he had more balance, stamina, and strength, but he knew speed would be a huge drawback. For months, he’d been building speed and durability. Short bursts of speed drained his durability and endurance like a child sucking up the last drops of their favorite drink through a straw. But with his present training, he could maintain high speed for a while as long as there were no reasons to stop.

     He was about ten to fifteen seconds away from tackling the second boy, the one carrying the bag they’d snatched, when he saw a bright light and heard a loud honk.He turned to his left, and a car was pulling into the road, blinded by a building.

     The driver panicked and tried to dodge Sean, but made the wrong move, blocking off the road completely.Sean leapt into the air just in time. Airborne, he bent forward, initiating a forward roll.

The girl from the store and the one who was robbed covered their mouths in shock. Whoever the guy chasing the thieves was, he was about to lose his life.

     The thieves stopped at the sound of tires screeching and looked in that direction. A boy in a gray hoodie was airborne; the same boy they noticed was chasing them.

      The audience watched as Sean flipped forward in the air, successfully crossing over the car, and with a second flip seemingly landing on the tarred road shoulder first.

Sean felt his shoulder hit the ground. His landing was flawed.

     He had watched students above him practice such landings before and had tried them a couple times. Now that he really needed it, he wasn’t able to make the landing, but luckily, he had gotten virtually everything else right, so there would be no fractures or shifted bones. Any such thing would ruin his visit, as his mom would be there the next morning to bundle him back to Philadelphia.

      He landed on his shoulder and rolled forward, standing up immediately. He took a second to quickly inspect his body, and nothing was broken. He smiled and raised his head. The boys snapped out of their shocked state, and we’re once again on the run.

     He shot after them, closing quickly on them as they had wasted a lot of time standing. The one closest to him was the slowest and looked like he should be the fastest as he had less body mass as compared to his accomplice.

      Sean made a quick calculation. Two boys. He only had one shot at stopping them. The one with the bag was ahead. If he ran past the slow one, he’d have to watch his back, and if he spent too much time tackling the one behind, the one ahead would escape.

      He held his breath and jumped for a fire hydrant. He slammed his left leg into it, using it to push himself higher to the right, aiming for a tree. His right leg connected with the tree, and he pushed himself forward and downward, throwing himself into the knees of the slow one from behind and drop-kicking him to the ground.

     In his dive down, Sean had grabbed the lid of a garbage can on his path. Immediately after touching down, he flung it with strength and precision, hitting the second thief at the back of his head and sending him tumbling down.

     Sean quickly got up and ran for him. The guy, after rolling to a stop, scrambled up to his feet and ran away, leaving the school bag behind. The one Sean had drop-kicked also got up and limped away.

Sean grabbed the bag and casually jogged back up the street, towards the stunned ladies.

"Hey kid, you alright?" the guy who had now properly parked his car asked as Sean came up.

"Yeah… "I think I’m okay, sir," he smiled.

"That was crazy what you did." "Risky but really cool," the man said while searching his pockets as both girls ran towards them.

"Thank you so much," the girl who had been robbed thanked Sean.

"Are you hurt?" the girl from the store asked, her green eyes laced with curiosity. "That was a scary flip you did there. "It was as though I were watching a movie," she exclaimed with excitement."Yeah," he laughed, handing the bag back to the owner. "I am fine."

"I... one second," the man raised a finger, drawing their attention as he ran to his car. "You have martial arts knowledge, right?" he half-yelled, searching his car for something.

"Uhh… yeah?" Sean answered, unsure of what was going on.

The man turned around and ran towards them with a black, reflective wallet.Sean was about to refuse whatever the man was offering when the man spoke.

"Oh… no… I’m not offering you... look kid. "You look like you've got talent," he started explaining, pulling out a card and handing it over to Sean. "I have a martial arts dojo here in town, and there is a little competition that will be held before the end of summer." If you are interested, I can sign you up as one of my pupils. "The rewards are massive, kid, and... you know what, I’m late for a meeting," the man said hurriedly, pulling out his phone. "Can I get your number?" "Or your parents?" he asked.

Sean looked confused. The information was hitting him really fast. Just before he could process one bit, ten more were waiting. It was just overwhelming.

"I’ll give you mine," the girl that was robbed said, seeing as Sean was quite dazed."Alright," the man shrugged. He was hesitant at first, but it was better than nothing. "The name is Kelvin," he said after collecting her number.

"Karen," she nodded as his call came through. "I will save it now," she smiled.

"Thanks," he said as he walked away, then turned around. "Hey… "I didn’t get your name, kid."

"Hey," the girl from the store gave him a gentle nudge, snapping him back to reality.

"Huh? Sorry… "It’s Sean," he scratched his head shyly.

"Alright Sean. I look forward to your call," Kelvin said, walked to his car, and drove off.

"Dude I don’t really say this a lot, but damn, that was insane. "Like how old are you?" the girl from the store asked.

"Uhm... thanks," he replied, and he ignored the question about his age.

"Well, I've got to run." "If you decide to go for that competition, whatever it is, I’m your biggest fan," she gave him a peck and excitedly ran off to the store.

"That was…" Karen started but stopped after realizing she’d been holding her breath for a while. "I’m Karen," she stretched out her hand for a handshake.

"Yeah, I’m Sean," he smiled and took her hand. He looked at her with more intention for the first time, picking up the details he had left out. She was average height, and her amber-colored eyes glistened in the light of the sun. Her long, sparkling amber hair with curly tips reached down her shoulders, resting as a mark for the rough mid-point between her waist and shoulder. She was clad in a plain white long-sleeve collar shirt, tucked into a black skirt. A blue necktie with white stripes hung loosely from her neck.

"Kingston High?" he asked, noticing immediately the similarity between her uniform and that of Jason and Andrew.

"Yeah," she smiled, surprised. "You know the place?" she asked.

"Yeah," he smiled. "I also know you’ll be late if you don’t get moving," he chuckled, withdrawing his hand.

"Oh, yeah." Her demeanor changed to a rather disappointed one.

"I’m actually going down that path. I could walk you there to ensure no one robs you on the way again," he joked.

Her expression immediately brightened at the offer. "Thanks," she smiled, and she pulled him along.

"I hope you didn’t break any bones," she asked after a while of silence.

"Yeah." He stretched a bit. "Well, just the arm band," he sighed, taking it off. The screen was totally broken.

"Let me see that." She collected it from him. After a moment of searching, she found the switch button and turned it on. It turned on, and all seemed okay. "Seems like it’s just the screen..." she started to say but stopped as it began to glitch.

"Heh… "All expensive toys hardly ever last," he laughed.

"What exactly is this though?" she asked, realizing how alien it was to her.

"I actually have no clue." "Was going to look into it when I get home," Sean sighed, collecting it from her.

"Aren’t you going to school?" Karen asked after a few seconds.

"Oh… I am actually not from around here. just came for a visit. This band actually belongs to a friend of mine. "His dad built it," Sean gave a proud smile.

"I’m sorry Sean. "I should have been more careful," she said, bowing her head."It’s alright. "It could have been anyone, really," he said sincerely.

"Well, I’d like to repay the favor," she said, and her expression showed she was deep in thought.

"Whoa... she’s serious," Sean’s eyes widened.

"Let me get you another one of those bands." Karen spoke up just before Sean could ask her not to make any offers.

"No… please. I was just doing what was right. "Besides I have already been rewarded by Mr. Kelvin," he tried to dissuade her.

"I insist. "Besides, Mr. Kelvin was investing in you," she tried to convince him.

"But…"

"You know what?" Don’t see it as me repaying the favor. "It's just me being nice," she cut him off.

"You aren’t going to relent, are you?" Sean shook his head, amazed.

"Nope."

"Well, I honestly can’t ask you to pay for it." "That thing must cost a fortune," Sean decided to use another method to dissuade her.

"I’m not complaining, am I?" she asked.

"Fine. "You can repay or be nice another way, but don’t try paying," he said with a tone that resembled that of a king issuing a decree.

"Diner, on Friday," she said almost immediately after his offer. It was as though she was awaiting the opportunity. She said it so quickly that it felt as though the offer would have escaped her if she had waited another second.

"Um... alright," Sean was stunned.

"Six pm," she added.

"I don’t really know places around Louisville though," he tried to say as the school came into view.

"It is my treat, so I’ll pick you up," she smiled. "Hey... where do you live?" she asked, realizing a loophole through which he could escape.

"Uhh… I leave with the Whites. I don’t know if you know any of their kids. They attend…"

"Jason and Andrew White. "I know them," she smiled. "Jay is in the same grade as me."

"Alright then. You can get their address from him. I don’t really know it off the top of my head," Sean smiled embarrassed.

"It’s alright. "Well, here’s my number," she said, taking out a book, ripping a sheet of paper, and writing down her number. "I will be expecting a call later tonight," she said as an instruction.

"I will call, I promise," Sean laughed. "What about Mr. Kelvin’s number?"

"I will give it to you on Friday," she smiled, showing him that she had trapped him in a situation from which he couldn’t escape.

He shook his head in surrender. Raising his head, he saw Dan’s Toyota Sienna pull up.

"Jay!" Sean waved at the car as he walked towards the entrance of the school with Karen.

Jason slowly opened the door, absentmindedly pulled out his bag, and shut the door, his perplexed gaze fixed on Sean.

"Hello, Jason," Karen gave Jason a brilliant smile.

"Hey Karen," he smiled nervously. He looked genuinely confused, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"So Sean," Karen turned to face Sean. She had anticipated Jason’s reaction, as she was one of the most popular girls in their grade. Even though she was nice and approachable, her status made most people afraid of approaching her. "I’ll see you Friday?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, Friday," Sean smiled at her, dipping both his hands in his hoodie’s pocket.

She nodded and walked briskly to a group of girls waiting for her at the stairs leading up into the school’s main building. "I won’t be able to breath for ten seconds without someone asking about the guy they saw me with outside today, would I?" she asked herself as virtually all eyes were on her.

"Sean?" Jason raised his eyebrows, asking for an explanation.

Sean opened his mouth to reply when Dan honked, calling Sean to hop in.

"I… "I'll tell you everything when you get home." Sean waved at Jason and Andrew as he hopped into the front seat.

"What was that?" Dan asked Sean as they drove away.

"Oh, it’s nothing." "I just made a new friend," Sean smiled. "Oh… "I also kind of mistakenly broke the arm band," Sean smiled nervously.

"What?" Dan exclaimed, worried, "Are you okay?" Were you injured? "What happened?" he asked, and Sean sighed and began explaining what happened.