Page 11 of Ghost
It always came down to one thing forhim: fate. Fate had always been a vicious four-letter word inGhost’s world; nothing was left to chance, the future foretold. Ithad been used as a weapon, as the reasoning for events unfoldingaround him or for horrible things done to him. As the scientistsput it, it was his destiny for these events to occur. The things hesaw haunted him at times, but intervening opened a whole new can offucked-up worms.
The scientists had placed a wristrestraint on him to protect themselves from what he could do. Then,hope had come along in the men who came to save him and the others.Now, he found himself at a new beginning here on FireLake.
His chameleon abilities had becomemore prominent in the past six months; the other one had beenfloating around in his consciousness since childhood. He’dexhaustively researched Greek mythology to understand what he wasand find some way to control it, but to no avail.
“Here,” Julia said from hisleft. He hadn’t seen her approach; he was so wrapped up in histhoughts.
Ghost looked over from the stack ofpaperwork he was sorting through to find Julia holding out a mugfor him. The aroma of chamomile tea filled his senses, making himsmile.
“You sure you don’t have abit of mutant ability?” Ghost asked as he took the mug, careful notto touch her hand.
“No, why?”
“You always seem to knowwhat everyone needs before they even realize itthemselves.”
Julia laughed and sat down on thecouch beside him. “I’m a mother. That’s my superpower. I can coddleand fuss over people in a single bound.”
Picturing Julia with a red Supermancape flying through the air with hot mugs of tea and cozy blanketsto wrap people in made Ghost smile even wider.
“That might be the bestpower to have,” he said, meaning every word. “The team is lucky tohave you.”
“Thank you, and I’m luckyto have them. Brick saved my son and me at a time in my life whenit only had two ways to go.”
“Two ways?”
“Yes. Either it got better,or I’d lose everything I held dear.”
“He has the habit of doingthat. Saving people. Has anyone ever saved him?” Ghostasked.
“Good question. I guessRoman would be one.” Julia looked reflective. “I also know of onetime Stryker knocked a poisonous snake off his chest with a rockduring a mission. However, they chalk that up to teammates doingwhat needed to be done, the brotherhood effect they called it.Other than that, Brick tends to do the saving.”
Ghost couldn’t agree more. He’d beensaved when Brick and the team broke them out of the cells he andother survivors were held in by the Noah Group back on the EastCoast. They were given a place to live and hide under Brick’sprotection while the team continued to fight the Noah Group andsave more people. That’s why it was so important for Ghost to getcontrol over his ability to help the team in their work.
“He’s a good person,” Ghostsaid.
“They all are,” Juliaagreed. “Though I doubt they’d ever tell you thatthemselves.”
“No, I imaginenot.”
People, men like Brick and his team,seldomly viewed themselves as heroes. Dangerous, unpredictable,fucked up, beyond redemption, destroyer, fighter, serviceman,soldier, slayer, brute, savage, and deadly. Those are the wordsthey’d use. Not hero.
Yet the world they lived in was noteasy. A warped sense of truth drove many into seclusion, left withtheir own thoughts and memories replaying in their minds. And thenthere was the percentage who took their own lives, believing theyhad no other choice to escape their demons.
Everyone serving in the armed forcesdeserved to know the difference they’d made in countlesslives.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ray
I’ve never had to fight sohard to stay on task.He was becomingfrustrated about the level of distraction Ghost was providing. Raylooked down at his list of leads and tasks and cracked hisneck.Time to have a break from all thisinvestigating.
“Let’s leave this here fornow and pick it up in the morning,” he said as he collected hispaperwork. The team looked as relieved as he felt. “I’ve got a fewcalls to make and created a list I’d like Spencer to take a crackat, as he’s the best choice for hacking into a fewdatabases.”
“You got it,” Spenceragreed before walking over and taking the list from Ray’shand.
“We’ll meet back up in themorning and set up plans for the next few days,” Brick said. “Inthe meantime, get some rest.”
The team started to pack up whatthey’d been working on and began to disperse to their bedrooms orcottages. Ray was staying at Elias and Fletcher’s home in theirspare bedroom and had already stowed his gear there. He gatheredhis notes and looked back up to see Ghost standing on the oppositeside of the kitchen table, holding a piece of paper.
