Short Story

BOOM! The sound of the gunshot roared across the field like a lion in his cage! Complete chaos and pandemonium filled the room as all 100 guests began to run for cover! He blew it! Jason most likely blew the most important job he had to do. His career of crime- fighting and bringing justice to this town was under big jeopardy already. Jason could only watch from his view as the V.I.P. of the party fell to the floor. There was nothing he could do now to stop them…

Two years ago...


BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP...THUMP! Jason smashed his alarm clock with great force. “9:30?” he gasped. “Shoot!” He threw the sheets and ran to get dressed. He was running late for his interview at the accounting firm. He hoped to get an internship for the year, so that he could get a head start for his financial career. He ran out of the apartment complex and into his new 2006 BMW 325i. He sped out of the valet parking and across State Street, into the parking lot of the accounting firm. At the front desk, the secretary appointed him to the correct room. He met his boss, Mr. Jacob C. Sweetney.

“How are you doing sir?” Jason asked as he shook MR. Sweetney’s hand.

“I’m fine thank you. Please have a seat.” Jason took a seat and they began talking. They talked continuously about everything there was to the internship. About one hour later, Jason along with Mr. Sweetney came out of the conference room.

“Congratulations Jason, on becoming the new intern for our company.”

Jason smiled and shook his hand. “Thank you Mr. Sweetney you won’t be disappointed I promise”

“I will call you tomorrow evening to discuss your work schedule. Till then, celebrate and enjoy.”

Jason laughed. “Sure thing, sir. Have a good day.” He walked out the doors of the firm, ecstatic that he got the job. He drove back to his apartment where he shared the good news to his roommates.

“Really? That’s amazing!” exclaimed Connor, one of his roommates.

“Yep, and I start tomorrow! Time to celebrate!” I screamed. We both rejoiced with our clap-pound handshake and began to set up a party. We called all the people we knew from Northwestern University and people we met from the city last summer. In total we gathered 40 confirmed guests for the evening’s festivities. The first doorbell rang. It was the DJ we hired.

“Yo what it do fellas?” he said.

“Yes, you made it. We got you set up right here dawg.” Connor took him to a corner, near the patio and speakers we set up for him.

“Allright allright. Lemme get this thing goin’, and we’ll be partying in no time!” he exclaimed excitedly.

About a half an hour later, the DJ was spinning and all the guests were dancing to the tunes. Jason counted about 75 people coming in through the door, but it didn’t matter to him. The more the better! They partied all night, juking girls left and right till they couldn’t stand any longer. Everyone left around three a.m.

“Damn I’m tired as hell” said Connor, lying on the floor.

“Me too, man. That party was sick.” Exclaimed Jason from on top of his bed. “Let’s go get something to drink, dude I’m thirsty.”

Connor got up. “Allright man, let’s go.” The two of them walked out of their dorm and into the streets of Chicago. They stopped by a bar, where they ordered a few beers. They sat down and drank for fifteen minutes when suddenly two big guys with black jackets and skull caps came up to them.

“Hey you’re in my seat.” said the hairy one.

Jason, who was a bit tipsy, responded in a very rude manner. “Screw you man, get a better seat. This one’s too small for you.”

Both guys became furious and lifted both Connor and Jason from their collars. The two thugs turned around and threw them onto a table, cracking it on impact. They approached Jason and Connor and began to beat them constantly in the face. They didn’t stop until a minute later when the two thugs were broken up by the Chicago Police.

Jason and Connor, their faces gushing with blood, were escorted to the hospital by an ambulance that came by. Connor was treated in a separate room from Jason. Connor was treated by a professional doctor working in the Chicago land area for over 20 years, while Jason was exposed to a rookie in the field.

The doctor was a tall man, with thin glasses and a receding hairline. He quickly mixed some chemicals and injected Jason with a needle.

“What are you doing” said Jason.

“I’m giving you some painkillers to help you relax.” The doctor took the needle out of his arm.

“Aaaaaaah” screamed Jason. He was feeling excruciating pain. His body turned blue and he began shaking uncontrollably. The doctor hurried to get a more experienced medic. THUMP! Jason shook so much that he fell off the bed and dropped to the ground. Just then, the two doctors came in and began talking.

“What did you give him?” panicked the more experienced one.

“I mixed some HCL and these antiseptics. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”

The other doctor went to look at the ingredients. He turned to the rookie. “Oh my gosh! You gave him the wrong kind of painkilling chemicals! You mixed all these crazy chemicals!” The doctor, frightened, quickly picked up the resuscitators and shocked Jason a few times. “Clear!” he screamed. The fifth time it worked and Jason slowly open his eyes.

The next day, Connor and Jason were both released from the hospital, with their faces put back together.

“Damn dude what a night,” said Connor.

“Yeah, stupid doc couldn’t patch me up right. Let’s go home.” They both headed home. The two of them decided to work out before going to class 20 minutes later. Jason sat on the bench.

“175. Let’s see if I can do this.” With slight hesitation, he picked up the bar and began lifting it. He lifted it smoothly and easily. “Hey, this is easy.” He did fifty reps until he stopped.

“How did you do that?” exclaimed Connor shocked. “You maxed at 135 two days ago and now your benching that much! Are you on roids?”

“C’mon man, you’ve seen me for the past three weeks. I’m not taking any roids, I just feel relaxed and extremely strong right now.” Jason was shocked as well. What was going on with him? “Let’s put up all 300 pounds and see if I can do that. They both added all the weight and Jason sat on the bench. He slowly lifted it up, and began doing reps as if he were benching the bar. “Haha, easy stuff,” said Jason smiling.

“I am completely shocked. What is going on here?”

Jason lowered the bar to its resting position. “Maybe it was the doctor yesterday. I remember him giving me some weird medicine. I started having seizures until they put me to ease.” He paused for a few seconds. “Here, come with me.” Jason took Connor to the roof of the building. He pointed out at the sky. “For some reason I feel like I can fly.”

“Don’t be serious. You’re not actually gonna jump off are you?”

Jason stepped up onto the edge of the rooftop and turned back to Connor with a grin on his face.

“Oh no!” Just as he ran towards Jason, Jason jumped. He fell for a while until he maintained balance of his body. He soared into the skies at lighting speeds. “Woohoo!” He flew across the city, over the bridges, rivers, and towns. He flew for a good thirty minutes until returning to his dorm building. “Wow,” he said. “This is the best day of my life.”

For the next two years, Jason went around flying the city and concentrating on his internships at the accounting firm. It was not until this morning when he was met by someone who knew what he was all about.

RING…RING…RING. The phone in his dorm rang.

“Hello?” answered Jason.

“Hello Jason. I know who you are and what you can do. If you want to know more, come down to the coffee shop on Wacker Drive and we can discuss this whole situation.”

“What? Hello? Who is this?”

He hung up. Jason dropped the phone. He thought about the call for a while. Who would know about his ability to fly? He hadn’t been stopped or come close to being seen by anyone in the city. About 30 minutes later, he decided that he would meet the man at the coffee shop. Jason walked in and looked around. He saw a guy to the left, facing away from everybody else and reading a newspaper. Jason approached him and sat next to him. The man took his coffee mug from his face and placed it on the table.

“Ahhh,” the man said soothingly. “So you’re the boy with the capability to fly, huh?” The man had dark sunglasses and soft features on his face.

Jason hesitated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The man still looking at his newspaper. “Don’t be stupid boy. I know who you are. I’ve spotted you flying around this town for the past two years. You seem quite amused with your abilities.”

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be fun to fly around like I do?”

The man turned to Jason. “Yes, and that is why I called you hear. I want you to do something very important. Something that will make you feel honored in this town.”

“And what might that be?”

The man showed him his badge. “I work for the CIA. My name is David. The president is coming to the city today. He will be making a speech at seven o clock sharp at Millennium Park tonight. I want you to be part of our security team.”

“You want me to help protect the president?” Jason asked shockingly.

“Yes. We could use you to hover around the top of the park, searching for possible threats and terrorists.” David became much more serious. “This is a matter of National Security.”

Jason looked out the window. He seemed very nervous. “I don’t know David. This is a big job. Are you sure I’m ready?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t know you were good. You’ve been flying for two years straight and you’ve gotten awfully good at it.”

“Well, what’s in it for me?”

David smiled. “Fame and money. You may even get to meet the President.”

Jason, still a little hesitant responded. “Ok, I’ll take on the offer.”

“Excellent, meet me at Millennium Park around 5:30. We have to get you caught up on the security for the night and what you will need to do to save the President. Good luck.” He placed the coffee on the desk and walked out of the shop. Jason sat there, thinking about what he had just agreed to. He finally had a chance to use his powers for the good of mankind. He was going to be a hero if he could do the job right.

5:00 came around quickly later that night, and he headed out to meet David at Millennium Park. David introduced him to the S.W.A.T. team, Chicago Police Department, and the Marines, standing by to help keep the President safe. “Ok, Jason. See this area over here?” He ran his fingers across the edges of Millennium Park. “This is where you need to fly, some 100 or so feet from where the President will be standing. Make sure you aware us of any kinds of aircraft coming in from the seas to the east and any signs of shooters or gunmen that are not in uniform.” He handed Jason an earpiece. “Wear this at all times. This will also be used to communicate with us if you have a problem. Got it?”

“Yes sir,” said Jason. He took his earpiece and plugged it into his ear.

An hour later, it was seven o clock and it was time for him to get into position. Jason flew straight up into the sky and then began to circle around Millennium Park as he was told. He checked the east coast of Lake Michigan, no suspicious aircrafts flying. He looked to the buildings on the left. He saw nothing but uniformed men. The scene seemed safe as the President came onto the podium. All the reporters and audience members cheered as he came to deliver his speech.

“Thank you, thank you,” said the President. He paused for a few seconds until he could no longer hear anyone clapping. He then began to talk. Jason could not hear what he was saying since he was so high up. Everything seemed to go well until five minutes into the speech. A loud gunshot noise echoed across the distance as bursts of people ran everywhere. Jason could see that someone standing near the podium fell to the floor. He quickly flew in and saw that one of the security members of the President had been shot. Jason felt obliged to find the man behind who shot him. He looked to his left. The building directly on the side of Millennium Park had a broken window in it. Jason flew down into the broken window. He saw the rifle, resting on a tripod peering out the window. He ran for the door and into the hallway. He looked left and then right. Jason saw a man turning the corner. He dashed after him at full speed. He turned the corner and saw the man run into an apartment room. Jason followed him into the room where he broke the window and started climbing up the pillar on the outside of the building. Jason looked up and then down. “Oh crap,” he said frantically. He jumped from the window and hung on to the pillar. He climbed the pillar and was in pursuit of catching the assassin. The murdered jumped off the pillar and onto the roof as did Jason. They were neck and neck until the murderer turned around and jabbed Jason in the stomach.

“Aaaah!” screamed Jason. A spew of blood flew out of his mouth as he clutched onto his stomach. The murderer swiped at Jason again, across the face this time and with greater force. Jason flew back a few feet and landed face down on the roof.

“What?” started the murderer. “You can’t get up? A woos like you shouldn’t be running after me. You have the speed to catch me, but you don’t have the strength to finish me.”

Just then, Jason became furious. He swung his foot around and dropped the murdered to the ground. Jason stood up and punched him in the face five times. He then picked him up from his shirt and threw him against the wall. Jason continuously jabbed the assassin in the stomach and finished him off by landing a punch square in the face. Jason stood over him, exhausted and relieved. The job had been done and the assassin was slain.

The next morning he was greeted by the members of the Chicago Police Department and David during a press conference.

“I’m glad to announce that the new hero of the town, Jason Bourne, finished the man in charge of killing the President’s security man.” David turned to me. “Good job, young man. You did well for your first time.” He rewarded Jason with a gold badge. Jason smiled and held it up at the audience to see. Camera flashes along with a throng of cheering and clapping began to fill the room. Jason was a hero now, and he would never forget this prestigious day.