The abandoned apartment on Chicago's South Side resembled a cold tomb, the cold wind and snow pouring in through the shattered windows, causing dust to fly around on the floor.
Jace Raven leaned against the wall gasping for breath, his arm was cut with a knife and bandaged with a strip of cloth from Lucien's trench coat that he had torn off, the bleeding had stopped but the pain burned like a blazing fire.
He stared at Lucien Storm, who stood by the window like a shadow, shutting out the outside world.
Though he could not make clear the stranger's true intentions, it was clear that he needed him at the moment.
The room was shrouded in a barrier of shadows, the air shimmering vaguely with black light, like an invisible net that cut off the wind and snow and the roar of the motorcycle.
Jace clenched his teeth, his thoughts in turmoil. Water God's bloodline? Shadow Clan? Guardians?
These sounded like crazy talk, but the scars on his arms and the foresight of the L-car made it impossible to disbelieve.
He gasped, his eyes locked on Lucien, "You say I'm of the Water God bloodline, then prove it or I'll think you're crazy."
Lucien turned and glanced at him coldly, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as if mocking his stubbornness, "Prove it?"
He stepped forward, his boots shattering the glass on the floor with an ear-splitting sound, "You pulled the brake lever and saved an entire busload of people, that wasn't luck, that was power."
He paused, his gaze sharp as a knife, "You have not yet awakened, but they have caught your scent."
Jace clenched his fists, wanting to retort, but the words wouldn't come out.
Brad's crash, and the derailment of the L-car, those images were too precise, too real to be believed.
He gritted his teeth, "So what am I supposed to do? Sit around and wait to die?"
Lucien grunted, "You must learn to control it or you won't survive the night."
Before the words left his mouth, there was a loud bang outside the window, like a bomb crashing to the ground.
The barrier shuddered and the black light flickered a few times, almost dissipating.
Jace jerked his head up, only to see a drone smash through the window and rush inside in the wind and snow, its red camera scanning the room like a prying eye.
Lucien cursed, "Damn, they're coming too fast."
He waved his hand and the dark light flashed, but the drone reacted faster, dodging the attack with a sidestep and charging straight at Jace.
Jace gritted his teeth and rolled to the side as the drone crashed into the wall, splattering bricks.
He climbed to his feet, gasping for breath, his heart beating as fast as a drum.
Lucien quickly rushed forward, his dark glow coalescing into a razor-sharp blade that slashed at the drone.
However, the drone was unusually nimble and buzzed up, the red light then locking onto Jace.
Just at this critical moment, the door of the apartment was kicked open violently, and two dark figures quickly rushed in, their short knives flashing coldly in the wind and snow.
"They broke through the barrier!" Lucien roared, turning to meet the two dark figures.
Jace backed into a corner, his thoughts racing, knowing he had to escape, but his legs were weak as if they were cotton.
The lead dark figure swung his blade at Lucien, the blade as fast as lightning.
Lucien nimbly sidestepped and dodged it, the dark glow slicing through it as the dark shadow let out a scream and fell to the ground, blood staining the snow.
Another black shadow pounced on Jace, the tip of the knife pointed straight at his chest.
Jace gritted his teeth and barely dodged it, the blade grazed his shoulder, the bodysuit was cut open and blood began to ooze out.
He sucked in a breath of pain as his body slammed into the dark shadow, the two of them falling together into the broken glass strewn across the floor.
The dark figure pressed against him, knife raised to mid-air.
Jace gasped, his hand groping in panic, touching a broken brick.
In a fit of rage, he slammed it into the black shadow's head, and with a muffled grunt, the shadow let go of the knife in his hand, the blade crashing down.
Jace struggled to his feet, breathing heavily, his hands shaking so that he could barely hold the brick.
Lucien rushed forward and kicked the black shadow away, which crashed into the wall, bringing down a patch of bricks with it.
He turned his head to glare at Jace, "You really can't fight?"
Jace gritted his teeth, "I told you, I can handle it."
Lucien laughed contemptuously and turned to face the drone that flew up again, the machine's red light locking onto them once more.
"Run!" Lucien roared, pulling Jace out of the apartment.
Squinting in the wind and snow, their boots crushed the ice as they raced toward the Chicago River.
The river was black as ink, the wind rippled the water, and the light on the bridge in the distance was dim, like a broken bulb.
The drone was in hot pursuit, buzzing, its red light sweeping across the snow.
Jace gasped, his arm and shoulder wincing in pain from the injuries, but he gritted his teeth and kept up with Lucien, with only one thought in his mind: to survive.
They sprinted to the abandoned dock by the river, the iron frames rusting and creaking, the wind and snow blowing harder.
Lucien stops, turns to face the drone, and says in a cold voice, "You need to use it, now."
Jace comes up for air and glares at him, "Use what? I won't!"
Lucien said firmly, "You will, the water is in your blood."
The drone rushes over, a red light locking onto Jace.
Lucien swung and the dark light slashed through, but the drone deftly dodged it and charged straight at Jace.
Jace gritted his teeth and instinctively raised his hand, trying to block the repulsive machinery.
Just then, a whisper rang in his ears, cold to the bone, "Wake it up."
He froze, images of the L-Car flashing through his mind, then a strange sensation, as if something in his blood was boiling.
The river suddenly moved as if it had been brought to life, the water rushed out of the river and turned into a column of water that slammed hard into the drone.
The machine was smashed to pieces and crashed into the river with sparks and splashes.
Jace froze in place, his hand still in the air, gasping as if he'd just run a marathon.
He looked down at his palms, beads of water slipping silently from his fingertips, the blood on his arms mingling with the river, coloring the snow scarlet.
"Hell ...," Jace whispered to himself, a rumble echoing in his head.
He looked up at Lucien, the man stood still in front of him, his gaze cold as ice, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, seemingly with a satisfied smile.
Lucien approached slowly, his tone cold, "This is your power, descendant of the Water God."
He paused briefly, his gaze sweeping over the starlit river, "But this is only the beginning."
Jace gasped his thoughts in turmoil. Is the water flowing? How had he just done that?
He wanted to ask, but the roar of a motorcycle in the distance was like a bloodhound sniffing for blood again.
Lucien frowned and turned to look across the river, "They're coming, come on!"
He pulled Jace into a sprint towards the end of the dock, the wind and snow causing them to squint.
At the end of the dock was a dilapidated warehouse, the door half open, the tin clunking in the wind.
Lucien kicked the door open and rushed in, followed by Jace, his boots crushing glass and his breath coming in sharp dog-like gasps.
The warehouse smelled musty, the floorboards rotting and creaking, the walls coated in graffiti.
Lucien stops, turns, and closes the door, quickly blocking the crack with a broken metal bucket, agile as a machine.
Jace leans against the wall gasping for breath, blood dripping from his arm and shoulder and staining the floor.
He glares at Lucien and says indignantly, "What is this? I'm not Superman!"
Lucien turned to him, his gaze cold as a knife, "You're not Superman, you're a descendant of gods and demons."
He approached Jace, his tone still cold, "They want you dead because you can destroy them."
Jace's thoughts buzzed like a buzzer, gods and demons? It sounded utterly ridiculous, but the water column was so real.
He gasped and asked, "And what about you? Why are you helping me?"
Lucien stopped and swept his gaze over Jace's wounds, hiding a hint of imperceptible tenderness, "Because I owe you."
He turned and walked deeper into the warehouse, like a dark shadow blending into the darkness.
Jace clenched his teeth and followed closely behind, his mind in turmoil. Owe him? What was the meaning of this? The series of strange encounters had already left him completely confused.
The roar of the motorcycle grew closer, the wind and snow making the warehouse creak. He clenched his fists, the image of the water column flashing in his mind.
Maybe he wasn't an ordinary man, but what was he really? He didn't know, but he had to survive to find out.