Chapter 34: Unchained!
After the black suited men had taken custody of Adrian and Tessa, they started to hurry through the streets towards a deserted area.
The black van sped down the highway, its windows tinted so dark that the outside world was barely visible. Inside.
Adrian and Tessa sat silently, their wrists strapped with high-tech cuffs. Despite the stillness in the air, a storm was brewing beneath Adrian's calm exterior. His blue eyes glowed faintly, a sign that the restraints were doing little to suppress his power.
Adrian's stoic demeanor and his clenched fists and slightly glowing eyes were contrasting features of an enraged super alien.
The agents in the front seat exchanged glances, speaking in low tones as they discussed their "cargo."
Tessa, leaning against Adrian, tried to find comfort in his warmth, but the weight of their situation pressed down heavily on her.
"They won't let us go," Tessa whispered. Her voice was steady, but her eyes betrayed the fear swirling within her. "Not after everything they saw."
"They may even be SSG agents, pretending to be government officials. We don't know what they intend to do to us, but judging by the direction the van is heading, I can deduce that they are up to no good!"
Adrian didn't respond immediately. His eyes flicked toward the rear-view mirror, catching sight of the two agents. They were too relaxed, too confident that their prisoners were under control. They had no idea what was coming.
'I mean, these idiots used high tech electric cuffs with high voltage implanted within it to restrict us, and they think they have done the job. Seriously, I'm a freaking alien who manipulates Earth's electrical gradient for breakfast, what do you take me for?
If you don't have salt bars, then everything else is a waste of time, and will eventually prove ineffective and futile.' Adrian pondered as an evil grin blossomed on his previously stoic face.
With a sudden jolt, Adrian leaned forward, causing Tessa to look up in alarm. The air in the van seemed to shift, thickening with an electric charge that made the small hairs on Tessa's arms stand on end. Adrian's grip tightened on the seat in front of him.
"Tessa," he said softly, his voice calm but laced with a warning, "when I move, stay close."
Before she could respond, Adrian's legs shot forward like a whip, his foot slamming into the reinforced metal divider between the front and back of the van.
The impact was explosive. The entire van shook as the metal crumpled inward with a deafening crunch, sending both agents flying forward.
The agent in the passenger seat groaned, his body limp from the impact as it slammed fully against the dashboard, while the driver struggled to maintain control of the steering wheel, with his chest pressed firmly against it, and barely remaining conscious. The van swerved violently, tires screeching on the road.
"NOW!" Adrian yelled.
In one fluid motion, he snapped his cuffs with ease, as though they were made of paper. The door at the back of the van was already swinging open from the impact force of the crash.
Without hesitation, Adrian grabbed Tessa by the waist and leaped out, their bodies plunging into the rushing air without the slightest of resisitance.
They landed on the asphalt, rolling across the road before Adrian lifted her effortlessly into his arms, his feet already moving.
Tessa clung tightly to his neck, her heart racing, not out of fear, contrarilly, the thrill it brought her made her excited. Adrian, on the other hand kept focus through out, right from when they exited the van to when they landed on the tarred road, although he had to bear the full weight of Tessa in his arms, his pace never wavered.
He ran as though the wind carried him, each step faster than the last, blurring the world around them.
Behind them, the van swerved off the road, colliding into a row of bushes. The agents were left inside, motionless and unconscious.
"We can't leave them to come after us," Tessa murmured through the rush of wind. Her hair blowing backwards as if it was a soap opera recording.
Adrian's eyes narrowed. "They won't."
Before she could question him, Adrian sent a single pulse of energy back toward the van. It hit with a thunderous boom, and the van crumpled further in on itself, trapping the agents inside.
The shockwave sent tremors through the ground, but Adrian didn't even give it a second glance, he kept running, the scenery a blur of trees and open fields around them became more apparent.
"Where are we going?" Tessa asked, her breath hitching as the world raced by.
"Anywhere, but, at least it has to be eway from here," Adrian said, his voice calm despite the chaos. "Far enough that they can't find us."
Tessa rested her head against his chest, trusting him as they tore through the open landscape.
---
Back at Riverdale Academy, Principal Hammond sat in his office, his hands shaking slightly as he held a phone to his ear. Across from him, several men in dark suits stood stiffly, their faces grim.
The SSG organization who once made fun of Mr. Rudbick's hunches as bloated theories, delusions and fruitless hunts, are now firmly invested in the situation. In the face of irrefutable evidence, they decided to reveal the full power of the SSG.
"Mr. Hammond, we need answers," said one of the agents. His voice was sharp, demanding. "The footage is everywhere. We can't contain it, and people are starting to ask questions. How did an alien end up in your school?"
'
"I mean, these aliens couldn't have just dropped from the sky, well they technical came from an alien planet, which most likely is from beyond the sky, but they didn't appear here for no reason, why were they drawn to this school. What are you people hiding?" The agent shouted in frustration.
They blame themselves for ignoring Mr. Rudbick, if they had taken him seriously, this situation would not have gotten this bad.
Principal Hammond swallowed hard, his throat dry. "I... I didn't know. Adrian East, he's just a student. A normal kid—well, at least I thought he was. Until yesterday, there was nothing to suggest..."
"Nothing?" another agent cut in, his tone laced with frustration. "Nothing at all? You expect us to believe you never noticed something was off? His abilities, his speed? The way he took down an entire group of thugs by himself?"
"Even his unnatural abilities on the field of play should tell you that there were so many unanswered questions about this boy, and don't get me started on the debate about talent, no one can be that talented."
The principal wiped the sweat from his forehead, his hands trembling slightly. "They were good kids... Adrian, Tessa... They never caused any trouble, so no, I didn't suspect anything."
The tension in the room was palpable. The agent nearest to proprietor Hammond leaned in, his eyes narrowing. "Your school is now the focus of a national investigation, Mr. Hammond."
"The media is relentless. Parents are pulling their kids out of classes. We need to get this under control before it turns into a full-blown panic, and to do that, we need answers that we can work with, not excuses."
At that moment, Mr Hammond's phone buzzed again. Another message, this time from a concerned parent demanding answers.
"Mr. Hammond, you have such powerful and dangerous beings in your school, yet you let my child, my poor baby be exposed to them, what if he was killed?" The message read.
--
The students outside the building had gathered in small clusters, whispering amongst themselves, exchanging nervous glances as the rumors spread like wildfire.
The pressure was mounting. The government, the parents, the media—all of them wanted someone to blame, someone to explain how an alien had been sitting in their midst.
---
Coming all the way from Fiver Academy with a group of friends, Bridget appeared just outside the crowded gate of Riverdale Academy.
At the entrance of the school, Bridget Mills leaned against the gate, her arms folded smugly as she watched the chaos unfold. "So," she muttered to a group of her friends nearby, "this is what happens when you let aliens into a school."
One of her friends shot her a confused look. "You really think Adrian's dangerous?"
Bridget smirked.
"Of course, we know he is a cool guy and only attacks those who try to harm or undermine him. But who cares, besides if one was to get on his bad side, what is your chance of winning? Doesn't that make him a wild uncontrollable card?"
"Also, Tessa got away with that win, if one considers her alien abilities, she could easily beat a professional sprinter in any race at any time, this is my payback time, and I'm not going to miss a chance to make this all about me." She glanced back toward the reporters hounding the school's gates. "Riverdale's golden boy isn't so perfect after all."
--
Meanwhile, in Ms. Caldwell's home, the phone rang incessantly, but there was no answer. She paced back and forth, her mind racing.
Tessa and Adrian had vanished, leaving behind nothing but silence.
Mr. Thompson sat across from her, worry etched into his face. "We have to find them."
Ms. Caldwell nodded, her expression determined. "We will. But if they left their phones behind... It means, either they don't want to be found or their phones have been confiscated?" sigh