Zolok

The Revelation

Chapter 6: The Revelation

It was a cool evening with beautiful weather conditions. Most students could be seen from one end of the sporting arena to another. Most of them had already started playing some games by themselves while still waiting for Mr. Bryson’s instructions and guidance. Mr. Bryson had already arrived at the arena before most of the students but he had been in a meeting with his co-sports masters on how best to achieve a greater result within the shortest period available. Mr. Bryson was a smart looking man in his late 40s but he looked like was in his 20s. He was a no nonsense man who would not hesitate to discipline anyone who didn’t follow his guidance and instructions irrespective of where such person was coming from. He had been the school’s sports master for several years without being replaced because he was very good at what he did. When he was done with the meeting with his crew, he blew his whistle as he mounted the podium to address the expectant crowd.

“K and Q!” Mr. Bryson shouted the school slogan.

“Setting the standards” The students replied in unison.

“I am very happy to see each and every one of you today. Your presence here means so much to me and I’m grateful to you all for your willingness and great sportsmanship to come out in such magnitude to represent this great institution. As we all know, it’s another wonderful opportunity for us to show the world what we are capable of and why we are always the kings and queens of this great country. We are always the front-runners, setting the standards for others to follow. On the podium with me are great personalities who are no strangers to all of us. As we all know they are specialists in several track and field activities and I indulge each and every one of us to give them his maximum cooperation in order to achieve our aim. Each and every one of you knows what he or she is good at and we should all go towards our respective training grounds as your coaches come to brief you on what to do. Thank you once again and have a wonderful evening. K and Q!”. Mr Bryson shouted again as he finalizes his address to the students.

“Setting the standard!” The students shouted as they dispersed and each and every one of them went towards their respective training grounds.

James had pondered on the advice his mother had given to him the previous day and had decided to put all his fears and challenges behind him as he had come dressed with his training outfits. His main challenge at the moment was that he didn’t know exactly which place to go. He didn’t know the area he was good at and he decided to sit and watch others as they prepared to know if he could actually find something he would be interested in. Danny on the other hand was very good at playing football and was, in fact the team’s captain. He tried to persuade James into joining the football team and had been telling him how interesting the game was just to get him to join the team but he was not interested in joining the team as he didn’t want to steal his friend’s glory or challenge him. He continued searching for a particular sport he could actually pick interest in till he heard a loud shout at the track activities. The coach, Mr. Max who had been disappointed that no one was able to either impress on long distance races nor was anyone fast enough to do the sprint races. Everyone seemed to be fatigued and he was shouting at the top of his voice, expressing his disappointment with the boys. Actually the champion of the racing activities was Jack Dwayne, but he didn’t come for the first day of training just as he always did just so everyone would call and beg him to come to the training. He felt that no one was as fast as he was nor was anyone capable of replacing his importance to the team and this gave him so much pride. Just then Mr. Max decided to give them one last chance or he would tell Mr. Bryson that no one was near ready to do the races and they might as well forget the races and focus on the other departments.

“Alright, I’ll give you guys one last try to show me what you got or we call it a day” Mr. Max said as he went back to his position and gestured the students to be at the starting line. He was going to do the 100m sprint race and had to monitor the time at which each of them get to the finish line. As he blew his whistle, the students took off again and this time, James had decided to join them. He ran so fast that he got to the finish line twice as fast as the time it took the second person to get to the finish line. Mr. Max looked at his stop watch and was stunned that he finished the race in 8 seconds; which was 9 seconds faster than the second person. He couldn’t believe it so he called the racers back to repeat the race. This time James finished the race in 7 seconds. Mr. Max’s whistle fell from his lips in amazement. Everyone was applauding James but he didn't actually understand the reason for the applaud considering the fact that he didn’t put all of his energy in the race. It wasn’t long before almost everyone left their different stations to see what was happening.

“What’s your name boy?” Mr. Max asked James still amazed as he had never seen anything like it before.

“James McCall, Sir!” James replied as he was already uncomfortable at the attention from the intimidating crowd.

“Boy, you’re a revelation. Welcome to the team!” Mr. Max said as he put out his hand for a handshake.

“Oh, Thank you so much sir” James replied with a smile on his face as he put out his hand to receive the handshake.

“At least I have something I can hope on after a shambolic performance by the rest of you. I wouldn’t have to go home looking like a failure after all. Now let’s do this one more time.” Mr Max said as he waves the students to get back on the track for another race. Just then an angry boy named Allison, who wasn’t so happy about James’ new found fame and who was also a friend to Jack Jr., shoved James and gave him a look to inform him that he was not welcomed.

“I know what you are, FREAK! Watch out!” Allison said to James as he went to stand on the track. This was a stigma to James’ confidence coupled with the massive crowd. He didn’t do so well in the next race as he came 3rd while finishing the race in 15 seconds. Allison who was the first to finishe the race in 13 seconds gave James a smirk having succeeding in demoralizing him. Mr. Max wasn’t so impressed and decided he should call it a day.

“That was wonderful boys. We’ll call it a day here and our next training session will be on Friday at 6 in the morning. Be there! And could someone please tell Jack Dwayne to see me immediately,” Mr. Max discharged the students as he walked up to James after he didn’t look so sharp in the last race to know what went wrong.

“Is everything alright, son?” Mr. Max asked James who was packing his stuff to leave.

“I’m alright sir” James replied as he avoided directly looking at his face.

“Excellent! We’ll be having another training session on Friday morning, hope to see you soon. You were great out there!” Mr. Max said as he turned to meet up with the rest of the coaching team who was already with Mr. Bryson to deliberate on the day's activities.

“Got that sir!” James said as he took off without even waiting for Danny, who had been waiting for him to finish up.

“Dude, wait up! What’s wrong with you? You were something to behold out there. We got to leave the football field just to watch you race. You’re a speedster. I think the only person who came close to that record was the famous Usain Bolt who did it in 9.69 seconds. You could be the new world record holder. Don’t you see? I told you this couldn't have been any better than it……..” Danny was still talking as he noticed that James wasn’t happy and wasn't paying attention to what he was saying.

“Jammy, what’s wrong? Talk to me buddy.” Danny said as he moved closer to James who was walking faster to get home as quickly as he could.

“This was a very bad idea and I shouldn’t have come here in the first place” James replied as he zoomed off with his bike.

“He’s so unbelievable. What’s wrong with him? I thought he should be happy that everyone was happy with him out there.” Danny said to himself as he was left stunned at James' behavior most times.

"Hope you have something different from everyone else, Max." Mr. Bryson asked Mr. Max as he had not received much of a positive turn up from other coaches.

"The turn up was not massive, the kids performed really poorly except for this one kid. He is a revelation and I've never seen anything like this my entire life. The kid did a 100m race in barely 9 seconds. I thought it was a joke and had to restart the race and he did it in 8 seconds. You wouldn't believe it, he was like the wind." Mr. Max tried to explain what he saw with James at the training ground.

"I wanna get to meet this kid on the next training session and see for myself" Mr. Bryson said as he hardly believed anyone could ever do such an amazing thing.

Allison had to stop at Jack's place to tell him that Mr. Max wanted to see him and most importantly alert on the new cult hero in town. Jack could hardly believe what Allison was saying about James and decided to come see for himself on the next training session. He decided that if it was true, he would have to do everything within his power to stop such a competition and make sure he remained the champion. In addition to being a stubborn and troublesome kid, Jack kept some very bad company who helped him do most of his dirty jobs when he didn't want to be seen.

When James got home that day, Neemah saw him wearing a long face for the second time in two consecutive days and she felt really bad for her son. She didn't want to bother him at that moment and waited until he had taken his rest and got ready for bed.

"It breaks my heart to see you this way everyday. All I've ever wanted is to see you happy and feel like every other kid out there." Neemah said as she stood by the door of James room.

"What is wrong with me, mum? Why do I do everything differently from everyone else?” James said with a cracking voice and one could hear how sad he was from his voice.

"You are different from everyone else and do things differently because you're special and different from everyone else. I knew this day would come and I have been thinking about it. you are my son and a special kind of being. There are many creatures in existence today, creatures you might have seen in story books or seen in movies."

Neemah brought a knife and cut her right wrist, blood gushed out from her hands. Within seconds the wound had closed up and the blood ceased. James was frightened and pulled back a bit.

"Mum, what did you just do, what just happened?" James asked as he stood up from where he sat.

"I heal as quickly as I bleed, I have super speed just like you, and I have superhuman senses too because I am one of those creatures you hear about. I am a true blood vampire, I was not turned but born a vampire. When I met your dad, he was human but things got frosty and he consumed a magical relic he was tasked to protect. This relic was like it chose your dad to continue the fight of its original protector, Michael , the alpha. We all thought it would kill your dad but it only made him better and stronger. Your dad became a hybrid as a result of the Oblisk but he lost his life while he was protecting us both. You were conceived with the power of this Oblisk in your father and that is why you do the things that you do and posses the strengths you have today. you can do so much more just when you are ready to embrace your true identity. There was a reason the Oblisk chose your father as it's host and I think that reason is you. If the power of the Oblisk had been in the wrong hands, the world would have already ended. You can be a weapon of destruction or salvation to the universe. The fate of the whole universe now rests on the decision you make tonight. I can only show you the way but you have to walk through it and I hope you make the right choice for the good of everyone. Rest up, you'll be needing your strength."

Just as Neemah had finished explaining to James, she left the room without him saying a word as all she said was too much to take all at a time. He knew he had to make a difficult decision that night.