Unsung

Chapter Eighty-Six

I swallowed my growing fear and pushed forward.

"Austin, it may seem like Cain's to blame for everything that's happened to you," I called out, picking my words as best I could on the spot. I could tell that Austin was on the edge and all I needed to do was get him to remember who he really was. Who he'd been these past few months since we'd begun training together. Who his brother had been. "But Cain is also the reason for everything else you have."

"What are you talking about?" Austin shot back, sadly. "I have nothing."

"That's not true," I said quickly. "Because of Cain you have a purpose. You can help people. You can help to change the world for the better. That's what your brother was trying to do. And because of what you're learning here, you can do the same. You can build on his legacy. You can make a difference."

"It doesn't work," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, it won't if you're working with him," McKayla said sardonically, jutting her head in the senator's direction.

"I only did this because he said we could stop anyone else from getting hurt," Austin said. "I just didn't want what happened to my brother to happen again."

"How is that working out for you?" McKayla clapped back, her eyes drifting to the pile of bodies nearby.

"I told you, none of this was supposed to happen," Austin said getting frustrated now. Then he turned to Senator Bradley angrily. "No one was supposed to get hurt. What did you do to them anyway?"

"Relax. It's just a mild sedative," he said with a wave of his hand. "We couldn't let things get out of hand, now could we?"

"I think that ship has sailed," Ris muttered.
"You told me that if I helped you, we'd bring down Cain. Punish him for my brother's death. That's what the article was supposed to do. Bring to light all the awful things he's done and shut the program down for good," Austin said, staring at the senator. "But we looked into it. None of it was true, was it? He didn't sexually harass that girl or form death task forces did he? You made it all up, didn't you?"

The senator shrugged. "Does it really matter?" he answered plainly. "You got what you wanted."

"But I didn't," Austin argued. He gestured at the scene around them. "I didn't want any of this."

Austin paused to look over at McKayla, Ris, Ty and Garrick, and then turned his gaze to me. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "I don't want this."

Senator Bradley blinked. "Are you serious?"

Then he began to laugh. The sound made me shiver as it reverberated through the already ominous space, seeming to get louder as it wore on.

Austin crossed his arms over his chest defiantly and frowned.

"I don't want to be a part of this anymore," he stated, standing his ground.

The senator's laugh died down and he wiped at his eyes as if he'd been crying. "And how do you suppose that will work?" Senator Bradley asked him.

Austin didn't hesitate. "I'll tell the paper I made it all up," he answered. "Clear Cain's name. I can't make him pay for something he didn't do."

"And what about your friends here?" the senator asked. "You think they're just going to forgive and forget? After you betrayed them and set them up and endangered their lives?"

Austin's mouth dropped open. "I didn't send anyone after them. You did that!" he exclaimed. Then he pointed to the bruise that was blossoming on his cheek. "You sent them after me, too, remember? Why would I do this to myself?"

"Maybe you were crazy with grief?" the senator offered. "The motive doesn't matter much. The only thing that matters is that if you even think about implicating me in this, well, who's going to believe you? Why would I get involved in anything like this? It's absurd."

"Why are you gunning for Cain?" McKayla asked, cocking her head to the side curiously. "He steal the spotlight too much in college?"

Senator Bradley turned his eye on her and smirked. "Oh, little girl. It was nothing so juvenile," he said. "In fact, all of this is simply...just business."

He gestured to the room around him grandly.

McKayla wrinkled up her nose. "You want the school to yourself?" she asked, confused.

He snorted in response. "Please. I wouldn't waste my time on all this hero stuff. There's no money in doing good."

"Yeah, typically people do good just to...do good," Garrick said sarcastically.

"Well, I'm not in the charity business," the senator said plainly. "I'm in politics. And it's important that I keep my campaign supporters happy. And right now, they are not happy."

"Crime has gone down by fifteen percent since the center was opened," Ris said, pulling the figures out of thin air. I wondered if he was right or just making it up for the sake of the argument. "How does the hero school not benefit your financial backers?"

"I am well aware of the statistics," the senator said, a frown on his face. "Let's just say that my supporters...they're not looking for a crackdown on crime. In fact, they're looking for a little more leniency in their daily dealings."

"In other words, your supporters are just as crooked as you," Ty offered. "Typical."

"Cain always was an overachiever," Senator Bradley said to himself as he walked around the floor aimlessly. "If he wasn't so good at being good, then we wouldn't have a problem. But alas, he and his students have become my problem. The people I work with want him gone, and I have no choice but to give them what they want."

"So, you created the scandal to destroy him," Garrick said, filling in the blanks.

The senator nodded. "Only, it didn't work. At least not as quickly and efficiently as I'd have liked. And now I'm left having to answer for the...failure," he said with a scowl. "And I hate to grovel."

"Well, get used to it, because when people find out what you've done, you'll be doing a lot of ass-kissing," McKayla interjected. Then she smiled menacingly. "Maybe even more than that if we can put you in prison."

"Come now," the senator said, a grin breaking out over his face. "You must know by now that that's never going to happen."

With a nod of his head, the foxes surrounding them took out an arsenal of guns and pointed them at the teens.

"This time I'm closing the school down for good," he announced, before brandishing his own gun. "Class is out, and you've all failed."

Thenhe pulled the trigger.