Chapter 13 : Lincoln (Past)

After dropping Naomi at her house, Lincoln took a shortcut towards his. By now his parents would be home, or at least on their way there. Lincoln wondered what made them call him at such late hours. Thankfully he was awake, or he won't be able to talk to them.

The roads were now busy as automated cars plagued them. He could still spot a few people still driving their cars manually, most of them were young adults who came to love driving. Most automated vehicles also had the manual drive function, but they were much expensive than the normal manual vehicles.

He walked on the pavement and watched the skies. Humans can control the weather now; they can choose when to make it rain but sometimes the rain would naturally happen and that can't be controlled. This world can't be completely run by technology, and Lincoln liked that better. Most of the people didn't however, there was no reason to want control over something that was built for people to live in. So why even try to control it? Why make structures bigger and better than the ones that were already here and then ignore the naturally made ones? They had no reason to, in Lincoln's opinion at least, to make such achievements.

He took another turn and ended up in his block.

He stopped in his tracks; his heart pounded in his chest. A few hundred meters in front of him was his house, the only car that was supposed to be pulled up in front of it was his parent's car. But instead, there were three vehicles, and none seemed to be his parents. By the looks of it, they were cops...

His heart wouldn't stop pounding, his breathing became uneven as he thought out his next actions. Should he check why they were in his house? What if his parents did something wrong? Wouldn't he be held accountable too? No, they would never do something wrong... I should believe in them... Lincoln thought to himself and ran towards his house.

And it happened again.

In a split second, he was next to a military vehicle.

He looked around, hoping no one saw him. Fortunately, no one did. What's happening to me? Lincoln thought to himself. No. I have more important things to handle. He walked through his house gate and went to the officer at his doorstep. "What seems to be the problem officer?" Lincoln asked. "I want to see the family that lives in this house. Do you know where they might be?" The officer asked in a calm voice.

Questions ran through his mind at the officer's words. Should he lie? What if he isn't supposed to reveal it? No, lying would only bring more trouble. "I'm the eldest son of the family living in this house." Lincoln found himself telling the officer while trying to keep a calm posture. The officer squinted at Lincoln, sighed and pulled out his holophone. The phone projected a hologram with images of Lincoln's mother and father. They were younger in those two photos, maybe it was the ones used for their national IDs. "They're my parents," Lincoln spoke quickly.

"I see..." The officer said after a short pause. "Why? Did something happen to them?" Lincoln asked and his heart pounded in his chest again. The officer sighed, "Recently we've been having sudden murders that happen to anyone at any time. I'm sorry son, your parents were a victim of it." The officer told him with a sad look and Lincoln's eyes went wide.

He couldn't cry, he didn't know why. He felt so emotionless, stunned, hardened and he couldn't feel the sorry or regret, emotions he wanted to feel. He was just shocked, shocked to the extent tears won't fall off his eyes.

"I'm terribly sorry son. They were killed at a restaurant, by four attackers who finished the job before anyone could spot them." The officer explained. "How?" Lincoln asked. "Throwing knives by the looks of it." The officer said, his expression mirroring Lincoln's confused one. "Why use such old weaponry?" Lincoln asked. "I'm not sure. But in all the recent killings, we've only seen throwing knives being used." The officer answered. Lincoln sighed and buried his face in his arms.

"And my parents were a victim of random killings..." Lincoln said.

He tried processing everything, but it was too much. His friends' words plagued his mind at the moment. "Not everyone is lucky to have parents like yours. They always come first." Dexter had said. Lincoln had been lucky to have such good parents. But he lost them now. Tears finally began falling from his eyes. "I'm sorry." The officer repeated, he hasn't yet left Lincoln's side. He seemed to be one of the good people, he did feel sympathy for Lincoln at that moment.

War...

It was the first word that Lincoln registered at that moment.

It was all because of this war that everyone has to lose their loved ones like this. Raged boiled inside Lincoln, he yelled and punched his front door, his eyes went wide as the door came off its hinges and flew to the staircase behind it. "What's this?!" The officer yelled and pulled out his gun. Lincoln stared at his hand and turned around.

Their eyes met, and the officer sighed and put his gun down. He must've seen Lincoln's confused look and wasn't able to attack.

But Lincoln didn't stop, his rage wouldn't fade. His fist connected with the officer's chest, sending him flying towards the vehicle and hitting its bullet-proof windshield. Lincoln's eyes went wide in shock. Shortly after, the other officers in the vehicle got out and started firing at Lincoln, he jumped backwards into the house, successfully dodging all the bullets.

"Get him! How did he do such a thing?!" One officer yelled from outside.

Lincoln's breaths became short, he had to think fast. The house was almost dark, he could escape from the backdoor but where would he go? I'll just keep running. Lincoln thought to himself. There's no way he would be kept alive with that show of strength if he isn't killed then he'll only get experimented on, which is worse. Why? Why is this happening to me? What is all this? Lincoln thought to himself as he looked around. It won't be long before they secure this house's perimeter, he knew they were smart enough not to enter the house, maybe they thought there was more to Lincoln's current ability.

Maybe there was, Lincoln had no idea.

Images of his parents appeared in his mind. How he was going to miss them... He wanted to so bad make sure that others won't be suffering like him. Maybe with these new abilities, he can bring good to this world. But he won't be able to do anything now, not without getting to the bottom of this. Lincoln sighed, there's a low possibility someone would give him a chance anyway, that's just how humans work...

He rushed to the kitchen, unlocked the door and ran towards the fence. If he ran now, he'll be able to escape and possibly be on the run for a while. As of now, he cannot trust anyone, not until he gets to the bottom of this ability of his. Images of his friends appeared in his mind, I'm sorry, Lincoln tried telling them, but they wouldn't hear him, would they?

He climbed the fence and suddenly was pushed to the ground before he could jump off. Lincoln coughed as a horrendous smell reach his nostrils, he tried screaming but nothing would come out. Gradually his body became weaker and relaxed, before getting knocked completely unconscious.

Is this it?