The Rise of Dark Flame Read online

  Guardians

  — Book 3 —

  The Rise of Dark Flame

  Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  www.damienledoux.com

  Purple Spekter™ Press

  Copyright © 2018 Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the Author, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  KDP Paperback ISBN-13: 9781983152504

  ASIN: B07CGK45M2

  WORK OF FICTION

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  EDITIONS

  Paperback

  • 1.1 | Aug 26, 2018 | Typo Gremlins Fixed

  • 1.0 | July 7, 2018

  Kindle

  • 1.1 | Aug 26, 2018 | Typo Gremlins Fixed

  • 1.0 | July 7, 2018 | Kindle Launch

  Dedication

  Book 3: The Rise of Dark Flame is dedicated to Martin Ledoux, my science-fiction loving brother with whom I grew up watching fantastic eighties sci-fi shows like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Star Wars, Airwolf, Knight Rider, the Justice League and the X-Men cartoons, and more. Thanks to our amazing, geeky childhood, the ideas in my books mutate from twenty-years of amazing, tried-and-true science fiction.

  The Guardians series is dedicated to all LGBTQ youth and young adults everywhere who have struggled to love themselves, or struggle to love themselves today.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Author’s Notes

  1 | It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's a New Life

  2 | And I'm Feeling Good

  3 | You Make Me Feel Like Loving You

  4 | Heart of Glory

  5 | What Would Blue Spekter Do?

  6 | Leveling Up

  7 | The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend

  8 | Interogatoriilor

  9 | Goodwin Park

  10 | Unpredictable and More Dangerous

  11 | RuVeal

  12 | His Eyes Opened unto Darkness

  13 | 88 Miles Per Hour

  14 | These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends

  15 | Clash of the Titans

  16 | Frenemies

  17 | Aftermath

  Guardians will continue in…

  If You Enjoyed this Book…

  About the Author

  The Purple Spekter™ Shop

  Acknowledgements

  My husband and handsome hero Tim, for his constant encouragement and willingness to share in this part of my life. I truly appreciate your support as I jockey between our lives, work, and several novels. I love you, through all of time and space…

  Editing

  My husband, Tim.

  Beta Readers

  My team of beta readers who pre-read the novel and provided feedback and suggestions to strengthen the story. Thank you.

  Victor Freeman

  David Pruette

  Jay Wong

  Contributors

  These fine superhero supporters added something to the story, such as an idea, a character, subject matter expertise, or simply shared their thoughts with me about something I was working on.

  Amie Borst

  Jeremy Menefee

  Ron St. Germain

  Typo Hunters

  Richard Barton

  Jim Bohlin

  Michael Miller

  Bob Silverstein

  Author’s Notes

  On Chronology

  I believe you may be accustomed to reading the chapters of a book in order with the expectation that each chapter chronologically moves the story forward toward its climax and resolution. That being said…most of the time, Quinn and Blake’s storylines run in parallel chronology, but occasionally, a subchapter may take place at a different point in time. When it matters, I’ve been explicit about it. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter.

  The Guardians Series Novels and Cliffhangers

  Although this book has an ending, it is part of a larger work and isn’t meant to stand alone. Thus, I’ve decided the book has a sufficient ending many would consider a cliffhanger ending.

  To be more unclear:

  My writing style is inspired by the J. R. R. Tolkien sense of a book series. The primary books are not separate books only related by a series or collection, but rather the characters and stories in each book are part of a larger story that spans several novels.

  Make these Superheroes More Enjoyable

  Let's be honest for a moment: extra stuff can be cool. That's why I created free, bonus content for you to enjoy on my Web site about the Guardians series. It contains additional details about characters (spoiler free) and the unique places Quinn and Blake visit, such as the Orgonon Reactor Core. You can access it here:

  http://damienledoux.com/the-guardians-series/

  On Findeing Typohs?

  If you found a typo, please let me know. Despite the many editing passes and multiple sets of eyes, typos, like nasty gremlins, creep into the text. It’s extremely frustrating but with your help, we can eliminate all typos, everywhere—or at least in my novels. Use the contact form at the link below to submit a typo or other textual error. Thank you so much for helping me improve my stories!

  http://damienledoux.com/typohunters/

  1 | It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's a New Life

  Quinn

  “Look at those people over there!” Ravone exclaimed, looking up from her phone and excitedly pointing through the crowd of cheering onlookers at the Portsmouth Halloween Parade. “I wonder if one of them is really Blue Spekter?”

  Quinn put his hands on Keegan’s shoulders to balance himself as he pushed up onto his tip-toes to look over the crowd. He thought about hovering but thought better of it because of the people behind them would probably notice—especially the family with the little kids in Marvel’s Avengers costumes. In front of them, people of all ages marching in the parade had dressed in costumes of various scale that resembled Blue Spekter, his superhero alter-ego.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me! Those costumes are wicked awesome!” Quinn said with wonder. Some of the costumes were simple and consisted of a blue bedsheet with the words Blue Spekter spray-painted on it, while others had wired blue LED lighting into reflective puffs of fabric that gave the appearance of a glowing person, complete with a homemade mask with blue-lit eyes. Another person wore a shoulder harness with a long black pole that suspended a flying, illuminated Blue Spekter costume several feet above the crowd.

  Quinn smiled, feeling proud at what he had accomplished so far. Most of the citizens of Portsmouth, New Hampshire appreciated his efforts as the vigilante superhero Blue Spekter and the protection he provided the city. But, that glory came with its stark downside, too. Chief Applegate of the local police department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) repeatedly tried to apprehend him over the past months, an annoyance he hoped would soon be a thing of the past.

  Quinn leaned his head against the left side of Keegan’s Batman mask and watched as his diehard fans passed them by. Maybe I’ll give them a little flyby tonight.

  “That flying one looks cool,” Keegan said, pointing to the illuminated Blue Spekter costume that hovered over the crowd.

  “It’s not as cool as you,” Quinn responded softly. Keegan chuckled and turned his head; the two boys briefly kissed.

  “Glad you guys finally gay-shipped Batman and Superman,” Loren said, smirking at their kiss. The four friends had agreed
upon a superhero theme for the Halloween Parade and dressed up as costumed heroes from the DC Comics universe; Quinn as Superman, Keegan as Batman, Ravone as Wonder Woman, and Loren as Black Canary because she wanted to avoid a gender-identified superhero name.

  “Loren! There are children around!” Quinn teased, winking at her.

  “It would be so cool if he showed up, wouldn’t it? Even if he just flew over the parade? People would go nuts.” Ravone said as the Blue Spekter fan club passed by.

  “I guess so,” Keegan said, shrugging.

  Quinn frowned. Although Keegan seemed okay with the superhero at first, he had come to disapprove of Blue Spekter over the passing weeks, siding instead with the police and the DHS. Keegan repeatedly argued that anyone with that much power needed to be kept in check, believing that Tony Stark in Marvel’s Civil War movie had the right idea by cooperating with the Superhuman Registration Act known as the Sokovia Accords. Quinn ignored it, but it bothered him whenever Keegan spoke against his alter-ego.

  This is not going to go well when I decide to tell him I’m Blue Spekter.

  Moments later, an elaborate, one hundred-foot long replica of the sand worm from the movie Beetlejuice snaked along the wide parade route. It was followed by a larger group of Star Wars characters, led by a red lightsaber-wielding Darth Vader and a handful of various stormtroopers. Behind them, a group of Jedi and other characters mimicked lightsaber battles and Force powers.

  In the mix of Jedi, Quinn saw his costumed dads, Aren and Timothy, wielding blue and green light sabers. “Daddio, Dad!” He waved frantically to get their attention and they waved back.

  “I’m surprised Daddio got Dad to dress up as a Star Wars character and walk in the parade this year,” Ravone said, looking up from her phone again, smiling.

  “Yeah, Dad secretly loves Star Wars, but he’ll deny it if you ask him,” Quinn answered, laughing.

  “Why aren’t you walking with them?” Loren asked.

  Quinn looked at her and shrugged. “When the four of us talked about going as a superhero group, Keegan and I sorted out our superhero costumes and…”

  Loren raised her hand. “Enough said. You chose the boyfriend over the parents, I get it.”

  Quinn laughed and winked at Keegan. “Of course I did. Hey, I need to pee, so I’m gonna run over to BNG and use the bathroom there.”

  “Okay,” Keegan answered, winking at him. “We’ll be right here. I’ll text you if we make our way up Daniel Street to Market Square to watch the Thriller group dance again.” They kissed, and Quinn made his way through the crowd toward the coffee shop.

  As he ran past Kaffee Vonsolln, where Blake once worked, he peeked inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of his friend. Unfortunately, the shop was closed and the only place he had sensed Blake’s proximity since their fight at the Rangeley facility a month ago was at school. He had even made a point of running through Atlantic Heights, Blake’s neighborhood, but he didn’t sense Blake’s presence at all.

  Through friends at school, Quinn learned that Blake had run away from home and was living in an undisclosed location that he suspected The Order’s Agent Victor Kraze arranged for him. In the three weeks that followed Blake’s disappearance, Ralph and Stella Hargreaves, his parents, appeared at Quinn’s doorstep—drunk—and tried to pick a fight with Quinn’s dads, to sue them for encouraging Blake to run away. Their illogical assertions made no sense to Quinn, but they refused to believe Blake would want to leave their perfect family for any reason.

  Quinn turned on Penhallow Street and cut across the parking lot behind Breaking New Grounds and the Irish pub. With everyone’s attention focused on the parade, no one noticed when a teenage boy dressed as Superman became invisible. He gathered up the red cape in his arms so it wouldn’t be seen trailing behind him and then launched himself into the air, flying toward the Memorial Bridge so he could fly over the parade route.

  Becoming visible again, his eyes and body glowing blue, he flew up Bow Street over the parade at about twenty-miles-per-hour. Seconds later, when the crowd noticed him, cheers and thunderous applause erupted from the sidewalks below as people shouted his superhero name and waved at him. Even a few police officers walking with the costume parade waved at him while others stared at him with wide eyes. The police force had become unofficially split. Some officers maintained a rigid adherence to department policy while others appreciated his efforts and applauded with bystanders when he saved someone.

  As he flew over the crowd toward his fan club, he spotted Keegan and his friends. He made sure to wave at them, so they’d have something to brag about when he returned from using the restroom. When he flew over the Blue Spekter group, he hovered for a moment and waved at them. Then, he pushed on and made his way down the parade route, waving until he disappeared over the buildings near the coffee shop.

  Thunder rumbled above him. He looked up and saw heat lightning flashing through the clouds. How is there thunder at the end of October?

  Shrugging and becoming invisible again, he returned to the spot he had lifted off from and double checked his surroundings to make sure no one would see him suddenly appear. Certain the coast was clear, he let his red cape hang normally and ran back to his friends, ready to join in the excitement of seeing his alter ego fly over the parade.

  “I can’t believe you just missed Blue Spekter!” Ravone whined when he rejoined the group.

  “Oh, no I didn’t,” Quinn responded, grinning. “When I came out of the coffee shop, I saw him flying over Market Square. It was so cool! Did you guys get pictures?”

  Ravone shook her head. “It happened too fast.”

  Loren held up her phone and showed him a picture of a luminescent blue smudge. “I tried, but the stupid camera wouldn’t focus in the dark, so yeah, it’s blurry.”

  Quinn looked at Keegan, who shook his head. “Sorry, handsome, but Batman doesn’t have pockets and my phone didn’t fit in the costume’s fake utility belt.”

  They laughed. “Well, someone must have gotten a photo. I’m sure it will be on Instagram or Facebook tomorrow…maybe even YouTube if someone saw him coming.”

  “I’m getting hungry,” Ravone said, watching as the last of the costume parade passed by.

  “Me too,” Keegan added.

  “Maybe we should make our way to dinner before the parade ends and all the restaurants jam up,” Loren suggested.

  “That’s a great idea, let’s do it,” Quinn chimed in. Hand-in-hand, Quinn and Keegan followed Loren and Ravone through the crowed to the River House restaurant.

  ❖

  Blake

  Blake awoke as the early morning sunlight filtered into his bedroom through the semi-transparent window shades. He opened his eyes and stretched, his toes pushing against the loose covers of his bed. Yawning, he tossed the covers off his body and sat up, stretching his arms over his head.

  Pulling on a pair of boxer shorts, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen, enjoying the smell of freshly brewed coffee that filled the main level of his condo.

  His condo, he thought, pouring himself a cup of French vanilla coffee. Although Victor had secured the luxury condo on Badger Island in Kittery for him, Blake paid a meager rent from the generous salary The Order now paid him. Victor suggested it would be a good idea for Blake to learn about renting property because he believed it would grant Blake autonomy and control in their arrangement.

  He shoved a cold brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tart into his mouth and made his way back upstairs to shower for school.

  Living under his parents’ house and their lax rules, Blake was often left to fend for himself. This simplified his transition to living on his own. For the first time in his life, Blake didn’t wonder about how he would pay for his next meal, new clothes, sports gear for school, or other basic necessities. Now, he could more than afford whatever he needed.

  After using the restroom and showering, he dressed for the day in new jeans and a white t-shirt, opting for black Doc Martens instead
of his usual Converse All Stars. To finish, he sprayed cologne on the back of his head and his wrists. He had never used cologne before, but the woman at Macy’s convinced him to try and buy a woodsy fall scent she felt suited him.

  Satisfied with his appearance, albeit only heading to school for the day, he grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys from his dresser and made his way back downstairs. At the interior door, he pulled on his new, all-black motorcycle jacket. It had white stripes down the arms on the outside of each sleeve. Then, he picked up his book bag and track bag from the floor.

  A moment later, he dropped his track bag to the floor. I’ll run on my own today around town.

  He shut the door to his condo and the electronic doorknob beeped and locked behind him as he walked down the short hallway to the elevator that led to the private garage under the condo complex. As he approached, he noted a young red-headed girl—no, a high school girl—waiting at the elevators.

  “Hi,” she said, turning to giving him a salacious head-to-toe once over. Her eyes met his and she smiled. “Did you just move in?”

  “Yeah, a few weeks ago,” he answered.

  “And do you go to school?”

  Blake looked at her funny. “Do I look like I don’t?”

  “Well, I haven’t see you at Traip Academy,” she said, referencing Kittery’s high school.

  Blake smiled. “That’s because I don’t go to Traip. I go to Portsmouth High.”

  “Oooh, you’re one of those kids,” she responded, smiling, a nervous tease evident in her voice.