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Gamma Accidents #2: Creatures from the Deep

  By Erin Sheena Byrne

  Copyright 2016 Erin Sheena Byrne

  License Notes

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorized retailer. Thank you for your kind support.

  Gamma Accidents #2: Creatures from the Deep does not contain any inappropriate material and is suitable for reading by all ages.

  Cover Image Copyright 2016 Jolie Byrne

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  For Mom, Dad, Jonathan, Melinda, Celeste, Jolie and Nibling.

  1

  "Okay, checklist time," Bella Sweet declared, reaching for the notepad and pen safely slotted into the glove compartment. She flipped through the scuffed pages, pen at the ready as she found the desired page.

  "So, we've tried Reserve Drive, tried the industrial park and the warehouse district," Jack Painter listed off locations, his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead as he focussed on navigating the streets of Crashton.

  "And there was nothing along Cliff Avenue," Caleb Black chimed in, leaning forward between the front seats.

  "Yeah, no surprise there," his brother, Ty, commented, rolling his eyes.

  "There's never anything along Cliff Avenue," Bella added as she crossed out the locations listed in order of proximity in the notepad.

  "Have we considered the possibility Hero High 2.0 might be built underground?" Ethan suggested. "Or, you know, in the air?"

  "Like in that movie!" Caleb said, characteristically excited.

  "Oh man, I really hope they don't build it underground," Bella groaned. "I'm going to be glowing non-stop if they do."

  "Hey, no need to give up hope just yet: we haven't checked everywhere," Jack pointed out, reasonably. "Where to next, Bella?"

  "Accidents' Cove," she announced, promptly.

  Jack frowned. "Seriously? Who would build a big fat superhero school there?"

  "It's not on the list," Bella amended.

  "We just really want to give this stupid search a rest and goof off," Ty explained.

  "Summer doesn't last forever," Ethan added.

  His friends were right: it was time to call it a day.

  Ever since summer vacation began (unexpectedly early for these particular teens), the friends had embarked on a daily search mission to find the location of the future Hero High 2.0.

  It had been an entire month since the crazy, chaotic string of events that led, ultimately, to vindication for a minority group of supers known as "gamma accidents."

  For decades, gamma accidents had been maligned; treated as trash while feared as villains. They were banned from enrolling in Hero High Schools across the world, banned from ever being a part of the Superhero Community, banned from standing up and being heroes.

  Jack, Bella and triplets: Ethan, Ty and Caleb, were just a few who had to live under those circumstances: never allowed to use their amazing abilities for good, even though it was all they ever wanted to do.

  Ostracized, they grew up, leading absolutely normal lives whilst keeping their powers granted by a random gamma ray burst from the sun a carefully guarded secret.

  Thankfully, they had each other. And, in very clandestine ways, they managed to still use their unique abilities (even if it was simply for pranks and other shenanigans).

  Their close bonds eventually paved the way for a new era to begin.

  The new Global Director of Hero Education and Training needed their help to weed out a traitorous Hero High teacher secretly coaching potential heroes to become superpowered felons.

  The friends would never forget what followed. The once legendary gamma accident hero, Rust Swift, begrudgingly agreeing to train them; their enrolment in Summer Valley Hero High; the moment they discovered the history teacher, Anthony Wepaynar, was the traitor who had also planned an attack on the school of supers; the race to find all the explosive devices Wepaynar's rebels had distributed throughout the school building; the unsettling discovery that Wepaynar was Jack's estranged grandfather; and the accidental detonation of a bomb lodged in one of the school's toilets that reduced the thankfully evacuated building to charred rubble.

  Urban Danger was able to lift the official bans on gamma accidents thanks to the bravery of the five friends from Crashton. And, as a sort of tribute, plans were made to build the new Hero High for the district in the teenagers' hometown.

  Of course, the building would not be complete until summer vacation had ended. But, curiosity has and will always be a teenager's most apparent flaw.

  So, Jack, Ethan, Ty, Caleb and Bella rode around their seaside town in the old, metallic-blue jeep, straying into outskirts and perusing any known spacious locations in an attempt to find the building site.

  Yes, their mentor, Rust, had informed them it was all "need-to-know" information, and that they didn't.

  No, that did not stop them.

  But weeks of no results meant the search was becoming rather tedious. Definitely time for a break.

  "Accidents' Cove it is," Jack agreed, wasting very little time considering the proposal.

  ~~~

  Accidents' Cove was a little, secluded, out-of-the-way strip of beach the friends had named and claimed as their own back when they were nine years old.

  It was the ideal spot to hang when the teens didn't want to deal with crowds or people that couldn't understand them. Out here, protected by the jagged, rocky cliff-face and the mini forest of palm trees and other sub-tropical fauna and flora, these unique teenagers were free: something they could never be when in the middle of a crowd.

  They didn't have to guard their secrets on this little strip of untouched shoreline. They could be as loud as they wanted, they could use their powers freely (if they wished), and they never had to worry about how the world saw them.

  The trek to reach the beach alone was enough to keep all curious passersby away. You either needed a degree in rock-climbing or super-abilities to traverse the treacherous terrain. Luckily, these teens possessed the latter.

  Short, dark-haired, tan-skinned Caleb jumped from the edge of the road straight onto the sand below with ease. Sandy-haired, glasses-dependent Ethan, in his intangible hologram form, made the illusion of climbing down the rock-face, turning solid again as he reached the shoreline. Black-haired Ty shrank to the size of a fly and chestnut-haired, electric-blue eyed Jack held onto his miniature friend as he flew down, landing clumsily, as he always did.

  Bella stood, peering over the edge, as if pondering how she would herself make it down.

  Usually, she either rode piggy-back as Caleb jumped or allowed Jack to fly her down. But, this time, she rejected her typical modes of transport, optin
g for something new.

  During their few weeks of training with Rust Swift, Bella had discovered something useful about the powers she quietly loathed.

  All her life, a constant and very apparent glow had hung around her whenever she stepped into shadows or dark rooms or someone threw so much as a sheet over her. Thanks to this ever-present glow, Bella couldn't go anywhere public at night for fear of discovery.

  Although she hadn't learnt to switch off her colourful glow, she had learnt to concentrate it, to form it into hardlight that she could manipulate.

  The sun began setting, dragging daylight to bed. It wasn't yet dark enough for Bella's glow to break out. Breathing deeply, calming the trivial anxiety that came so naturally whenever she tried something new, she set her mind on the task.

  Down below, her friends watched in awe as a thick ribbon of jade-coloured light formed, curving it's way downward, like an elegant, curly staircase.

  Her heart jumping with joy, Bella stepped onto the path she had created. With every step, the colour faded into new hues, Bella's emotions manifesting in the colours. An ecstatic yellow; a content indigo; a warm, liberated magenta.

  The boys applauded her as she stepped off the curving light path that simply dissipated as soon as she released her control.

  "Not just a dumb glow anymore," Bella said, being sure to sound as smug as she could: she rarely ever experienced a triumph like this.

  "I say we celebrate," Jack declared. He turned to the triplets and winked, the action looking somewhat exaggerated.

  Bella should have taken that as her cue to turn tail and run.

  She didn't.

  "How are we -?"

  She never got to finish her sentence.

  Quick as lightning, Jack grabbed her, slung her over his shoulder like a rag doll, and started running towards the water.

  "NO, NO, NO!" Bella screamed, ironically shrieking with laughter at the same time. "PAINTER, DON'T YOU DARE!"

  The triplets followed along, splashing up water as they waded through the shallows, eagerly running until the salty water reached their waists.

  "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THIS, PAINTER!" Bella yelled, kicking her legs as a joking attempt to struggle free. She knew there was no way she could escape her friend's grip: his enhanced strength meant any effort to do so would be fruitless. Nonetheless, where was the fun in giving in quietly?

  "No one comes to the beach to stay dry," Jack stated, his grin contorting the matter-of-fact tone he tried to use.

  "I WILL END YOU!" Bella protested. "I SWEAR, I -"

  She never got to finish her threat as Jack dunked her into the water, careful not to force her down.

  She bobbed straight to the surface and stood up, water cascading off her short, curvy form.

  Jack laughed, mercilessly, at his drenched friend.

  Bella turned around slowly. Dark, wet curls framed her face and a dangerous look entered her denim blue eyes.

  "Run," she said through gritted teeth.

  If Jack hadn't known she was simply playing along with the joke, he would have been genuinely terrified.

  2

  Sunlight retired, graciously bowing out to let the sky begin its well-rehearsed night show. The moon shone down on the beachside town like a spotlight as stars shyly gathered in the clear, deep-violet sky.

  Calm waves lapped at the sand of Accidents' Cove as five lifelong friends lazed around the isolated little beach.

  "I wonder what this next year's gonna be like," Caleb mused aloud as he lay on a sandy towel, gazing up at the night sky.

  "I don't think anything can compare to last month," Jack admitted.

  "We only got one month at Hero High. Imagine what a whole year at Super-Freak School will be like," Bella said, half-heartedly contributing to the conversation as she focussed on fine-tuning her hardlight abilities, presently attempting to weave the strands of jade-coloured light into handcuffs.

  "I hope this year is anything but uneventful," Jack said, honestly.

  "Oh yeah?" Bella said, tearing her concentration away from her conjured, glowing handcuffs. "And why's that?"

  Jack shrugged. "I don't know, I just think... well, come on, guys, seriously. This is senior year. We've waited our whole lives to go to Hero High, now we have our shot, and it's only for a year. I hope it's a hundred times crazier than last month because I want memories that we will talk about for years."

  "I wonder if we're gonna have some big 'Hero High 2.0 Grand Opening' shindig," Ethan said, meticulously cleaning his glasses after an afternoon filled with sand and salt water.

  The notion was enough to make Caleb perk up with excitement. "Hey, if we do have one of those things, can Bella do special effects?"

  "Dude, I'm not that good," she humbly acknowledged.

  Caleb shook his head, dismissing her self-doubt. "Nah, you're definitely good enough. I mean, come on: if you really weren't good enough, how could you be making handcuffs and floating lights?"

  Bella frowned, the little concentration she had devoted to manipulating the light strands breaking. She turned to look her friend in the eye before bluntly stating, "I'm not making floating lights."

  "Then what are those?" Caleb questioned, unashamedly confused, as he pointed towards the far horizon.

  Assuming her friend was simply pulling some silly prank, Bella warily turned to see what Caleb was talking about.

  He hadn't been lying or joking. Far out to the horizon, hovering between ocean and sky were vibrant, glowing blotches of light.

  Bella quickly hopped to her feet and sprinted to the edge of the water, waves splashing softly at her ankles as she squinted, trying to get a better look at the strange lights.

  The boys, intrigued and curious, followed.

  "Is there such a thing as slow motion fireworks?" Ty asked, straining to see the distant phenomenon. No one bothered to answer his teasing question.

  "Jack, can you see what they are?" Ethan asked, well aware his friend's eyesight was second to none.

  "It's probably just some light show we didn't hear about," Jack said but narrowed his gaze, nonetheless, to gain a far more detailed look.

  Unlike his friends, Jack didn't need to struggle to see across the distance. Within moments, he could make out the defined edges of the individual lights.

  These lights weren't typical man-made light sources.

  "Jellyfish," Jack said, under his breath, sounding distracted.

  He peered closer, confirming to himself his own statement as he watched the lights move in liquid, graceful, dance-like motions, following their own volition.

  "Pardon?" Ty prompted, hoping he had misheard.

  "Those are... jellyfish," Jack repeated, staring, dumbstruck.

  Gelatinous bodies pulsed and delicate ribbon-like tentacles trailed along as the creatures floated in an unfamiliar habitat.

  "You mean they're jellyfish kites, right?" Bella tried to clarify.

  Jack shook his head, a small, almost imperceptible motion. "No, those aren't kites. I know a jellyfish when I see one and those are jellyfish."

  "Wait, do you mean, like, alien jellyfish?" Caleb prodded, his brown eyes widening and shining. "Because that would be kinda cool."

  Jack shook his head again, with more persistence. "No. Trust me, I know what I'm seeing and I'm seeing floating, bioluminescent jellyfish. Flipping, real life, floating, bioluminescent jellyfish."

  "Are they going anywhere?" Ethan asked. "They seem kinda close to Crashton Beach."

  "Nah, they're just hovering there. Actually..." Jack trailed off as he lifted himself off the ground, flying slowly over the water as an attempt to gain an even better appraisal of the outrageous phenomenon. "They look like they're leaving."

  "Should we follow them?" Caleb questioned, uncertainly. "I mean, what's the procedure here?"

  Jack returned to his friends' side. "Something tells me we better call Dean."

  ~~~

  Dean was not the most popular student at Summer Valley Hero High.
However, he was well-known, just not for the reasons he would have liked.

  "The Notorious Dean Lightbody." He unintentionally earned the title through the careless rumours that spread like wildfire during his freshman year. He didn't know what sparked them, whether it was his tall and broad frame that intimidated his peers, or his reserved nature that many interpreted as hostile and surly.

  The rumours grew more and more outrageous each semester. Eventually, everyone just naturally feared him as if he were some kind of cruel villain. He walked the halls of Hero High, unsuspectingly catching snatches of careless and heartless whispers, trying to avoid the stares of his callous classmates. Even real bullies were afraid of him. Dean did not find that flattering in any way.

  But the end of his junior year changed all of that.

  By complete accident, Dean found himself caught up in assisting the Gamma Accidents with their mission to find a traitor hiding amongst the hero teachers at Summer Valley Hero High.

  Now Dean had relocated to Crashton in preparation for senior year at an all-new Hero High 2.0; a year he would face with his new friends.

  He was grateful to have friends, for the first time ever.

  He just wasn't so sure how to feel about the fact they chose to call him at quarter-past midnight.

  His cell phone frantically rang at full volume, the insistent tune penetrating his unconscious mind. (Considering how practically no one ever contacted him, Dean was not in the habit of turning his phone on silent. There would be no point).

  Abruptly awoken and suddenly alert, Dean lashed out and caught his phone before it managed to vibrate itself off the nightstand.

  "What's the big idea calling a dude when he's sleeping?" Dean answered the call, completely dispensing with customary niceties.

  "It's important." Dean instantly recognized the voice of Jack Painter.

  Dean groaned. He honestly just wanted to return to sleeping. "On a scale of wanting to know if your pet hamster secretly hates you to finding a lion that escaped from a zoo, how important are we talking?"

  "Why do you immediately assume I'm gonna ask you an animal related question?" Jack asked, sounding both curious and slightly offended.

  "If it were a plant question, you'd call Lacey Smallwood, wouldn't you?" Dean reasoned.

  Jack hesitated for a moment. "Fine, it's an animal related question," he finally admitted.

  Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine: shoot."