Avalon

Chapter 3

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 04:14:00 +0000

Medical instruments whirled around him. A specialist had been sent over from the clinic, to check out Tim's ears. The doctor tried a hearing test, where Tim wore large cartoon like ear muffs. No luck. There was no sound. The doctor, whose name had so many vowels Tim was unable to pronounce it in his head, did not show any signs of concern. He wrote down on the tablet, and handed it over to Tim.

Temporary hearing loss, most likely. What exactly happened again? It read. Tim thought of something to write. He took the pen and clicked it for several moments, not hearing the sound that would have annoyed himself For a second more, he waited. The doctor put his hands together in his chair, impatiently. Tim wrote: pogo accident.

He stood up, took his paper work and filed out. The doctor still waited in the chair, looking at the tablet with the obviously wrong answer. Tim hustled out of the ER, looking for Ash. When he found him, Ash was looking out the window, apparently lost in thought. Tim thought about saying something to him, but he decided to go on by himself for now. He didn't want Ash to be voluntarily involved in what was about to happened next. Tim was heading to Steck's house.

Tim walked down the street, and he saw a bus stop out behind the hospital. He took a seat on the bench, next to a man who was wearing baggy jeans and had long yellow hair. Tim paid him no mind as he sat down. As he sat, he looked over to the bench post which had the schedule. The next bus was at 1:45. He didn't have a watch. He was going to ask the man next to him for the time, but he realized that he wouldn't be able to hear the answer. Like an invisible wall, yards thick, sat between him and this other person, there was no way to truly communicate, without pen or paper. Tim decided to glance over at the long haired man's watch, and try to sneak a peek from it. He craned his neck as far as it would go, and he finally saw the digital read out saying: 1:34. But the man noticed Tim leaning over him. The man gave Tim a disgusted look, gathered his back pack, and went to stand at a distance. Tim tried to shrug it off, but the man wasn't looking. Tim yelled: "I just wanted to know what time it was."

After yelling this, he realized that it was probably louder than his usual tone. The man said something back to him. Tim nodded and smiled. The man had probably just called him a boot licker, but Tim had to nod and smile, cause it could have been something nice.

The bus came, and Tim checked the routes. He would unfortunately have to make a route connection, but the next bus would put him blocks from his neighborhood. Blocks from Steck's home. His fists shook when he thought about it. But then he thought of his Aunt and Uncle, and how they needed to be warned of the attack, and told to leave town. Perhaps he would stop by there, giving them a head start before he opened World War 3 with Steck. He sat on the bus, staring out at the passing buildings. The bus's gears and exhaust screamed and groaned, and Tim didn't hear a thing.

The Hunter

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:10:00 +0000

It was a misunderstanding. But from what they knew, the conflict could not be avoided. Fortunately Scott's ability to manipulate reality ended the battle before it began. He has vanished once again and now he is putting everything back in place. The 2 story ranch house that Scott wanted to call home melted into the earth. The trees that had given cover spread across the dirt road, reclaiming what was once theirs. The gentle rustle of branches is all that remains. But then, there is movement. Gasps from the edge of the forest. Its Caleb in the tussle of his life with...a bush. I hate when he does that. Caleb says to himself while pulling vines out of his mouth. He eventually makes his way back towards the detective's car. Walking the now leaf laden path, he notices the other 2 police cars are gone. He had not seen them during all the gunfire and believes they must have gonein pursuit of the flying silver man. He finally arrives at the car and holsters his PDW. When he opens the passenger door he sees Detective Stanton just sitting behind the wheel, drinking a Red Bull.

"Well it looks like this was a bad lead" She says calmly.
"What do you mean? We almost had him." Caleb protests.
"Really?! Is he in the woods? Why didn't you call for backup?"
"No he was right here, you were in his house, there was a man with a sword who was carried away by a silver flying man. And then it was all gone."

Samantha stares at Caleb. One eye is crossed and one eyebrow is raised. She sips the energy drink.
Caleb realizes how insane he must sound. He now knows that none of this happened in her reality. Its like trying to tell goldfish they live in a bowl. That castle in your tank has always been there, and when a hand takes it away it is as though it never existed. Scott can have that effect on people, but for some reason Caleb can see right through it. He will not stand by while someone manipulates his world. But it is clear to him that, once again, he must take care of things on his own.

"I had you going there detective, you should see your face."
"Yeah, right. Well I'm going home now, we will work on this another day."
"OK you go on, I'm going to stay here a while, there may be something to this location." He grabs his silver breifcase and cell phone and closes the door.

Detective Stanton rolls down the window, "Are you sure Captain? Seems pointless, you out here alone with just a briefcase. Do you have any shelter? Should I send an officer out here for you later?"

"No thank you detective..." Caleb turns to look at Samantha one last time, as if trying to hold onto a fading picture. Her dark hair was pulled back in a messy half ponytail, the way his wife used to wear. "I have everything I need."
--------------------------

Caleb sits alone in the forest, tinkering with a large GPS device he assembled from his breifcase. He turns his cell phone on and once again attempts to contact the last missed call he had. He didn't recognize the number and has yet to receive an answer. If it was Ash why wasn't he able to leave a message. Again there is no answer but he is able to track the signal. He taps into the unknown phones database using satellite messaging. He is then able to link directly to that phone with his own. He begins texting the last 10 calls made from that location. Each number brings up its own GPS location, except for one. He dials that number and hits send.

At a car dealership in Junction Texas, a phone vibrates the leg of a surprised young man. Scott pulls the phone from his pocket. The faceplate says caller unknown, but he knows exactly who it is. He could easily redirect the call to anywhere in the world, or send the phone to the moon. But he is curious, and angry. So he answers the phone.

"Get off my property" Scott says eyes gleaming with blue energy.

"Your property? Yeah I'm sure you spent your hard earned dollar on all this land you stole from thin air, and the hours of manpower you must have labored and sweat building this home. Don't patronize me, remember I know who and what you are."

"I just want a normal life, but you guys will not let me! Maybe I should just eliminate you, all of you!"

"NO! We both know you don't want to do that. Look all I want is my son. Please just send him back to me safely. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. None of this was in the plan."

Scott pauses for a moment, the energy in his eyes dissipates. "Your son?" He thinks about who Caleb could be talking about and as angry as he is with the man who forced him to live the nomadic lifestyle he abhors so much, he sympathizes.

"Come on, I know you were there that night he was taken. My informants even placed your vehicle near town square after the explosion. I told you I didn't want it to end like this Scott. Now just tell me what you did with my son, and nobody else has to get hurt."

It finally occurs to Scott that the football player kid is the son of this madman. That is why the kid's mind was blocked from Scott. How could he have been so careless, he thinks. First to let himself get tracked down and now this. "This is the last time I tell you Caleb, I don't have your son. I dropped him and his friend off at the hospital. Now leave me alone."

"Or else what Scott? Maybe I don't believe you, you have lied to me before... "

"OR ELSE..." Scott interrupts, his hand shaking as he musters enough energy to blast equipment into metal dust. "I will finish what we started!" his hand continues to shake while holding the phone to his ear. He is not even sure if he could pull that off again but he has to at least make Caleb fall for his bluff. "And neither of us wants that. After all I would hate for a good kid like Ash to grow up an orphan. We both know what that is like, dont we brother."

Caleb stands shaken up a bit from the shock, he can't believe Scott has manifested that much power and preciseness. Surely he can't do more than that, but Caleb does not want to underestimate him again. So he backs off. "Alright Scott.....I'll go check out the hospital....but if something has happened to him....I'm coming after you...and I'll bring more than a few Mayberry Sherriffs next time.

Caleb ends the call. And sits there for a moment in his own thoughts. If Scott is telling the truth then I have overreacted and possibly set in motion a series of events that could end in disaster. He cannot allow the project to get into the wrong hands. But it may already be too late. The Man with the Sword has already arrived, which means the elders are not far behind. I just need to hide the evidence and keep a low profile. If nothing has happened to Ash, then thats all that matters. We can continue to live our lives as if nothing has happened.
Caleb picks up the phone and places another call. "The rabbit is back in the hat, and the eagle has taken the bait." He hangs up.
Moments later the sound of propellers is heard overhead. Leaves blow everywhere but Caleb just looks up at the sun sinking below the horizon. A shadow slowly covers him as the helicopter sets down in front of him. Caleb steps onto the rail and a silver arm grabs him, hoisting him into the seat.
"Your chariot has arrived boss, what do we do now?"
"Now we get my son, and go home."
"Where's that?"

Caleb looks out the side of the copter over the peaceful trees and endless country. "Avalon"

State Of The Blog Address

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:05:00 +0000

Took all our posts, plugged them into a word document--found a lot of typos by the way, but I wanted to share with you what our story looks like, all together.

It is just over 40 pages, and about 25,000 words. It is quite a lengthy short story at this moment, but if we keep contributing, it can turn into something even longer, better.

We have learned that sometimes things get tricky when trying to write with other people, but I think overall we have avoided any major plot holes.

Right now we have about four subscibers to our feeds, and I have just started monitoring our stats, and we are getting some visitors. Most of our hits obviously come from Texas and Florida.

So, keep the words coming, keep the story expanding, and hope all is well you your worlds.

Take Care,

JT

Upping The Ante

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:53:00 +0000

Man boobs, no crime Lord should have them, Mike thought to himself. He would have to go for a few more greens instead of his pub's normal fried sandwiches. He stood in front of the mirror, sucking in his gut and turning back and forth.

He walked back over to his birds and fed them, with his mouth. He would carefully place a pellet between his teeth, lean over to the cage, and let the albino parakeets reach over and snatch it. They didn't seem to care how they got their food, but he loved it. He rarely left his office because of them.

He walked back over to his desk to check his phone. The last email had been sent letting him know that there was a shipment of High Definition Players sent to the warehouse, to be sold at black market prices for a 100 percent profit. A drop in the bucket, he thought to himself. As much as he loved hearing about new merchandise coming in, he had much bigger fish to fry, and he was also worried about Bannon, a former associate of his. McGee had been sent to take care of him, and Mike knew McGee's chances, but he still had to send him anyways. The last email stated that McGee had found his house. Nothing after that. Logic would conclude that nothing went right.

Two men lost to the super freak. That was not good for business, good help was hard to find. That would mean he would have to someone above, which he hated to do, because once you went to him, you were wrapped around his finger until he decided you could be let off, until he was done with you. He would have to place a call to Stanton, and ask for his assistance.

Mike hated to do it, but Bannon left him no choice. You couldn't kill a ghost, which was basically what Bannon was, in theory. Sure, he was flesh and bone, but he had no family, no connections, no hope in his life. Mike thought back to years ago, when he first met Bannon, at a basketball game. Bannon's name had been thrown around in the right places, so Mike had set up a meeting, at a Bull Dogs game, courtside.

"They tell me that you can...control the weather so to speak. If that's so, we can use that instead of playing the numbers, we can approach this whole racket like an entirely different animal." Mike said. He was eating popcorn, trying not to drop any buttery kernels on his 1300 dollar suit. Bannon didn't reply to this for a while, but kept watching the game, which had already put the Bull Dogs up by 20 points, and had become quite unwatchable. "I can understand why you would want me--with what I can do--but why not just pay one of these players to do it, with the amount of money I heard that you are going to offer me, any one of these guys would gladly take a dive." Scott answered back, clearly not feeling comfortable about the situation.

"Well, 2 reasons," Mike answered. "One is that these professionals make so much money, the league makes sure of that, that for me to offer 1/19th of their salary to play a couple of horrible games, it just isn't in their best interest. The league is set up for performance, and the better you perform, the higher you are paid--Capitalism at its finest. Also, I'm not talking about 3 games, but more of a whole season. If you can do what my people can tell me you can do, then one player or one team in my pocket won't be worth what you are. So I am going to offer you a lot of money, more than you ever dreamed of. But I need to see what you can do. I need a demonstration."

Scott nodded. "Before I do, I need a figure." Mike offered it, and Scott accepted it, without negotiation. Scott then asked, "How do you stand to make the most money tonight?" "I need the visiting team to beat the spread, but not to win. The spread is 12, right now they look like they are going to lose by 30." Scott leaned forward and put his hands underneath his head, folded and tucked under his chin. The Bull Dogs' next five minutes were disastourous. They couldn't get the ball out of the back court, and the San Francisco Scorpions had 7 unanswered baskets, cutting the lead to 8. Scott made sure it was close all game. Unforced turnovers weren't even a word for it. When the Bull Dogs would go on a run, the point guard would dribble out of bounds with no one around him. Scott was not only raising the Scorpion's score, but the Bull Dog's coach's blood pressure. His rant and tirades that night were shown news shows nation wide for a week.

When the final buzzer went off, Scott looked over to Mike, to see if his new partner approved. Mike's2 stone face was not what he expected to see on the large man. "You are going to have to learn not to make it so obvious. Subtlety, google that word, will ya? I'll be in touch." Mike told him as he walked out of the stands.

Bannon did learn, and later on he made Mike more money that anyone else had ever made him. But things later went bad, but Mike didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think how Bannon had defied him, and now is taking out some of the best thugs west of Texas. Mike would go to Cromwell, the mythical Cromwell, and all things would come out in the wash. Including Bannon's head on a plate, with parsley to add some color.

Julian "The Man with The Sword"

noreply@blogger.com (Brandan) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:58:00 +0000

The Man with The Sword

noreply@blogger.com (Brandan) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:56:00 +0000

Stephen Mcgee had travelled a long way to this back country wasteland called west Texas. He had followed his intel on Bannon to this dirt road just north of a hick town called cedar bluff falls. According to some townsfolk this is where Bannon lived. Stephen was sure he was in the right place, and it was time he end this and get back into Mike's good graces. He cocked his gun and checked to make sure he had his 10" knife with him. He walked cautiously down the winding road when he came around a bend and saw a man in a black trench coat, long black hair walking down the path ahead of him. He yelled out at the guy. "Hey, hey you!!" Stephen ran over to the guy as he slowly turned around, it was apparent this guy was Japanese and probably not from around these parts. "Hey, man. Did Mike send you to check on me?" Stephen asked. The man just looked at Stephen with a slight smile.

"Look man, I don't need any help taking this Bannon guy out, so you can go back and tell Mike I got things perfectly under control here. "With no reply still, Stephen became angry and with a look of disgust and poked the man. "Hey, you deaf? I said tell Mike I don't need any help!" Now the man just looked at where he was poked and back up to Stephen. Very calmly the man spoke. "My name is Julian. However most people know me as The Man with The Sword." At this point Stephen was caught off guard and was curious to know who this guy was and if he was friend or foe. The man continued to speak. "Forgive me if I am being rude, but I am in no way connected to .... "Mike" and apologize but I am very preoccupied at the moment." At this, Julian swept aside one side of his coat and drew a sword and with one swift movement, cut Stephens head clean off his shoulders. Stephen's body collapsed and Julian, put his sword back into his coat and continued down the path.

******

Scott was inside his house. Boxes surrounded him as he was previously packing up to move out of this town. Now it was apparent that he was in deeper to this town than he thought. Apparently there were people on his property, what they knew and why they were there, he had no idea. Could it be more goons from Philly? Scott paced around his house while thinking of what was best to do. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Scott froze and waited, ..... nothing. Scott stared at the door. Slowly he went over to the door and put his hand on the knob. He waited and then took a deep breathe. He slowly opened the door and there in front of him was a Japanese man in a trench coat standing in front of him. Half way relieved and curious Scott asked if he could help the man. The man said " Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Julian, however most people know me as the Man with The Sword." At this Scott was no longer relieved and tensed up. This guy just said he has a sword. Scott started feeling that rush of power he was so familiar with. At this Julian said. "I wouldn't do that if I were you Scott, at this distance I could cut you in half before you could summon any of that energy of yours. Fortunately, I am not here for your death. I am here to deliver a message from my lord. Your presence is required at the base of my lord. I am not required to take you now, but let me assure you, you have only two choices in this matter. You can either come willingly, in which case you will be met in the park three days from now and we will transport you to the base. However your second choice is to defy my lord. In which case we will most definitely take you by force. The result of course will not be to your tastes I'm afraid. "

Scott was terrified at this point. He wasn't sure if this guy was for real so Scott decided to search his mind. When he linked he could tell that the guy was being honest. Scott moved along in this strangers head probing for more information. Deeper and deeper he went into the part of a man's mind where the deep secrets of the soul swirl around the subconscious until he came upon dark images. Pain. Death. Wailing. Utter Destruction. Images flashed of murder, this man was in the images, some of him cutting down people with his sword. However there were many others in these visions, Scott recognized the silver flying man and the monstrous thing he had vaporized that night after the football game. Along with many other strange characters. The more Scott saw the more terrifying it became and he realized this guy was for real. When Scott came out, Julian still stood there. Satisfied? Julian said. Just as Scott was going to speak a voice came into the air loud from a megaphone within the trees. "This is Detective Stanton... Step out of the door and towards my voice with your hands up, SLOWLY!"

Julian didn't waste a moment. He turned, jumped off the porch and headed away from the porch and away from Stanton. Just then Caleb came running out of the trees after Julian with his MP-5 blasting. Julian was too quick and was going up a tree. Just then the silver man flew down and grabbed Julian up and both flew away before Caleb could shoot them down! "Dammit!" yelled Caleb as he turned around as quick as he could. He saw Stanton running in the house and he ran after her. "Where is Bannon?" "I don't know!" Yelled Stanton he ran inside the house after you started firing on the mystery man! "Search the house!" Caleb Yelled. They searched the whole house and there was no sign of Scott anywhere. Elsewhere in Junction city Scott was at the Honda dealership purchasing a new Acura. He was going to need transportation after all, a whole new bag of problems were at his doorstep....

The Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:33:00 +0000

Detective Samantha Stanton clutches the wheel in front of her as she anxiously drives down the bumpy highway leading north out of the city. She thinks about her husband and her child still waiting for her to come home. She glances over in the passenger seat at the surreptitious military captain and she wonders how she managed to turn a part-time temporary gig into a matter of national security.

Captain Caleb Fitzpatrick just sits stone faced staring at the window in front of him. He watches as the dispersed, neatly trimmed trees become more rough and irregular as suburbia turns into rustic backwoods. He feels they must be getting close so he pulls out a steel case and opens it on his lap.

"What's that?" Samantha asks, "More mysterious evidence?"

"Not exactly detective, but I am hoping this is what will get us the evidence we need and my son with it." Caleb responds coarsely as he begins to assemble the weapon. "This is an MP 5-k PDW. It has the power of the US military's M-4 but 2/3 the weight. Like the M-4 it fires up to 300 meters but it's stub nose and short dorsal makes it most capable for close range combat like the 9mm sub machine gun. It fires faster bursts of 10 bullets per second at 5000 psi. This is the future of combat in Personal Defense Weaponry, and if we are lucky it will bring Bannon in peacefully."

"That's nice." Detective Stanton turns around, grabs a Red Bull from her duffel bag and turns to Caleb. "Can it open this bottle for me?"

Caleb is not amused. Without emotion he puts the gun down and opens the bottle. "You should take this more seriously, you know I have some other items in here, flash grenades, tear gas, timed dispersion bombs...you are welcome to anything. " He hands the exhausted detective her bottle of Red Bull.

"I think I will be fine thanks." She is surprised to see this side of the captain, she had no idea she was teaming up with Rambo. "We are just going to take him in for questioning right? I don't know what all you guys did to him but he isn't guilty in Cedar County yet. And we don't know if he has your son, so we are doing this by the book." She takes a sip of her energy drink and checks her bullet proof vest.

"You do things your way, I'll do things mine." Caleb turns his head apathetically back to the window, staring at the trees. "And don't worry about your vest, it won't help anyway."

Several minutes later the vehicle slows down, there is a break in the red and orange covered leaves revealing a long dirt road. The car turns in slowly followed by 2 other police cars that were trailing them. Non of the police officers remember ever driving by this road, but their brain tells them that it must have just gone unnoticed...it was after all in the county directory. So they slowly roll over the bumps through the woods until they reach an opening. A large 2 story wooden home the kind that Paul Bunyon would be proud of. Samantha gets out of the car and goes to the door another officer accompanies her while the 3rd vehicle holds position near the front. "Now we want to bring him in peacefully, but be cautioned he is dangerous and force may be necessary". She knocks and shouts her name and rank but there is no answer. The second officer searches the premises and finds no vehicle. "I guess we wait," she says as she motions the officers to take defensive positions. Caleb meanwhile has vanished into the trees, the last sound they heard of him was radio contact on a frequency not of their own. As the wind rustles in the changing leaves, they can only wait.

*************

Ashley Fitzpatrick stands on the curb of the emergency vehicles only driveway. Confused, frightened, yet hopeful. He looks back at the hospital and wonders what the doctors are doing to his new friend Tim, and then turns back to the parking lot. A young man texting on a blackberry walks towards Ash. Ash politely addresses the man but the man just ignores him. Then Ash starts walking by him and asks politely if the man can help him real quick. Still no response. So Ash steps in front of the man and pleads.

"Please its an emergency I just need to call my dad!"

"Well if its an emergency your at the right place, just go on inside or get out of my way kid!"

The man pushes Ash aside and continues texting.This in no way has hurt Ash, and there probably is a phone somewhere inside he could use but that was the place he was trying to get away from and this man needs to understand how to be a good Samaritan. Ash feels this is the perfect time to teach him about the verse. So Ash walks up to the man again and this time grabs his arm. The man's skin turns pale, and then he falls to the ground. "Sorry about that but hey at least you are at the right place for an emergency."Ash would like to believe he feels bad about what he did, but he really doesn't. He picks up the blackberry and pulls the man inside. Ash then calls his dad's cell phone but it is off. He calls the home phone but it just rings with no answer and they have no voice mail. Ash then looks at the silver business card, with Scott Bannon's phone number. He dials the number.

**********

A black Escalade begins to turn on a dirt road. It takes the turn much slower on this day than usual. As it pulls up the road it stops suddenly because it knows that there are someone else's tire tracks already on this road. Inside the vehicle Scott's cell phone rings. But Scott is preoccupied at the moment, already anticipating his next move. How should he greet his visitors on this nice autumn day. He decides on a plan of action and the vehicle continues to its destination.

The Chosen

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:40:00 +0000

Ash and Tim walk up to the counter of the ER desk at Bluff Falls Baptist Hospital.
Tim, basically still deaf dumb and mute, has to keep a hand on Ash's shoulder as they navigate their way around. The front desk caretaker is anything but, her spiteful stares indicate that she has been doing her job well for over 20 years never missing a weekend rotation. She asks for insurance and identification. Ash tells her that Tim cannot hear or speak at the moment and asks if she can call his home for them. She sighs and points to the sign-in sheet with contact information. Ash gets a sign in form, hands it to Tim and then guides Tim to a seat nearby. They plop next to a wooden end table and an aquarium. Ash peers into the watery abyss behind him. A large blue and yellow florescent fish dominates the bowl. With her lips fat and puckered she seems to gallavant for the attention of anyone around. Ash taps on the glass and she darts away. Ash shrugs his shoulders and turns around, he figures she is too high maintenance for him anyway. He glances over at Tim who is still attempting to write out his information, he currently has a name and phone number the rest is jibberish. Its obvious they will be here a while, so Ash begins observing the room. The usual group of ill patients are sitting in the lobby, most are only there because their doctors do not take appointments on Saturday. Occasionally he sees a real accident with head wound or thumb laceration, probably weekend yard warriors gone awry. That makes Ash think about how Tim first looked when he found him at the Town Center.
How could he have recovered from those wounds so fast? Ash thinks to himself. I thought he was dead, all that blood around....I must have been soaking in it when I knelt beside him. And then he just leaps up after I...after I....what did I do. Suddenly Ash feels his seat shaking. He looks over at Tim who has begun convulsing.

"Nurse!" Ash shouts and receives immediate response. The nurse calls for some orderlies and moments later Tim is hoisted onto a stretcher, his feet dangling off the end vibrating like a propeller. Ash tries to follow as they go through a couple automatic doors that fold inward into a long cooridor. As he runs down the hallway after them, the walls start spinning. The lights seem to start flickering and the ceiling appears to raise. Flashbacks of the night before in the abandoned morgue come to fruition. Straps and needles... and a man in a lab coat...some other men coming in and out in military uniform.... something about an outbreak...everyone is gone but one man in the corner in a dark suit...he walks over stares at Ash and everything goes black.
Ash opens his eyes, the room is upside down. He hears a voice "Are you alright son?" A woman whispers from a bed behind a curtain. Ash realizes he is on the floor. He gets up and follows the voice. A delicate hand brushes the curtain to the side.
"You took quite the tumble" says the middle aged woman with long greyish blonde hair.
"Mom?" Ash responds. He stands in awe rubbing his eyes in disbelief. He opens them again, "Oh sorry ma'am, I thought you were someone else, how silly of me."
"Oh thats alright dear, I was just worried about you. As I'm sure your mother is too, so are you searching for your mother?"
"Uhm no, he looks away, that... wouldn't be possible"
"Now your being silly, anything is possible. I am certain she would want to make sure you are ok. That's what all us moms want you know."
"Well my mom won't be worrying about me anymore, she passed away a year ago."
"Oh I know. And that is a terrible thing to have to go through. But that doesn't change what I said."
Ash looks at her perplexingly. "What do you mean?"
The lady's face grimaces and she clutches her side in agony.
"Whats wrong? Should I call a nurse?"
"Oh no, that happens a lot now, just part of the chrones disease...it appears we didn't catch it in time. But thats ok I had a good life, a loving family, I wouldn't change a thing. Well, accept for this pain."

Without thinking Ash places his hand on hers, he closes his eyes, he can feel the disease, the deformity eating away at her. His hand starts glowing, he pictures the cells changing, reconstructing into normal perfect atoms. His charcoal discolored hand turns copper and spreads up his arm. He opens his eyes. The lady is still holding his hand with a glazed look over her eyes as tears begin to form.
"I'm, I'm sorry ma'am...I don't know, I just wanted to help." He gets up and backs away. What did I do, I've got to get out of here, he thinks to himself as he runs away.
The lady still sits there, holding her hands together peacefully. A single tear rolls down her smiling face and she whispers "anything is possible". But her soft words are lost in the echoes of the cooridor.

**********
While rushing out the exit of Baptist Emergency, Ash tries to get a hold on his emotions.

I did it again, what happened with Tim...but this time, its different. It's like I can feel it, see it, manipulate the cells. I must be crazy, maybe I got hit harder than I thought or maybe...
Maybe that Scott guy is right. There is something different about us. I knew there was something about that guy, I have always gotten these senses about people knowing their strengths and weaknesses but it seems to be getting stronger...especially after this morning. They must have done something to me. What did Scott say happened? I was shot with a dart? Man we should have gone to the police, no this is too weird they would never believe us. I hope Tim is alright, if what Scott says is true then we shouldn't even have come to the hospital. I need to find him.

Ash pulls out the silver card from his pocket, "I need to find Scott Bannon".

*****************

Not Alone

noreply@blogger.com (Brandan) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:10:00 +0000

"You teach Algebra, and you drive a Escalade? Isn't that kind of like a Hip Hop star driving a VW?" Ash asked, miles down the road from downtown. The small city landscape had already left them, and the SUV rattled along to the south of town, to the hospital. "Teaching has its rewards...er...so stay in school and all that." Scott answered back. His mind was racing fast, and he really didn't want to delve into any of his back story with a couple teeny-boppers. "Thanks for the P.S.A." Ash answered back.

Scott's plan was to drive up to the ER driveway, drop the kid Tim off, and let Ash deal with it from there. There was no reason in Scott getting caught up with all the paperwork, and any law enforcement officials who would be sure to be questioning the accident. If Tim had been hurt, that would have been another thing all together. But whatever drug this kid was on had already done enough damage. Scott checked his rear view mirror. No followers.

Ash began to play with the radio, and this was not something that Scott was used to. Nobody touched his radio. Ash scanned through the rock stations, past the country, and found the all news station, which was taking a break from the regular blah of the slow Cedar Bluff Falls News day to take calls on the singular events that had been happening around town. Scott didn't want to hear anymore. He turned the radio off, using his mind. Ash held his palms up in the air, still trying to get it to work. "Shorts out all the time." Scott explained. Ash looked at him with a curious look, as if he was trying to scan Scott's brain to see if he was telling the truth.

There was some shuffling in the back seat, where the kid Tim laid. Then he screamed. Scott slammed the breaks hard, and the SUV went into a fish tail slide across the highway. Tim kept screaming. When Scott looked back, Tim was holding his ears and shaking his head back and forth. "I can't hear.......there's nothing.....what happened?" Tim asked. He was beginning to panic, and Scott thought that he was going to have to use a sedative like force to slow the kid down, but Ash stepped in. "The grenade. It went off too close to your head." Ash said as he began doing big motions with his hands. Then he gave the thumbs up sign. "We will get you to the hospital. You will be O.K." He said. Scott started the SUV back down the road. There were still no cars either direction.

I can't believe this is happening to me, Scott thinks to himself. All I wanted was to live a peaceful normal freakin' life and all these weird things keep happening to me. I mean I know I have these powers and that to some that might predetermine that I wouldn't have a normal life, but it seemed here I almost had it. Who are you kids, and what are you doing alone downtown? The one named Ash babbles something about shopping for clothes and not having enough money. Wait a minute, he is familiar, Scott thought to himself. "Yeah you are the same kid I saw in front of the school that day and the same kid snooping around my car, wait you got hit with some kind of dart that night. Now you are wandering around downtown alone, and your friend appears to be in bad shape. I want some answers!" I scream.

Ash looked worried, trying to come up with a story. "How did you survive being hit by a car? Scott asked. Ash yells: "I don't know I just did!" That began the silence. Both sat in the car thinking to themselves. Ash thinking his life would never be normal again and Scott thinking he would never be able to have normal. Finally Scott said: "I know you are worried about your friend and what is happening to you, but let me show you something." Ash appeared more worried and yet curious now. Scott pulled out a quarter from his pocket. This is something I have never revealed to anyone before but I think it will help you. Scott held out his hand with the quarter flat in his palm. With no effort the quarter began to float and spin in circles in mid air about an inch off his palm. It spun faster and faster and then it came apart and turned into a silvery dust cloud over his hand, before suddenly sucking back together and falling flat into his hand as a quarter again. Scott looked at Ash, and Ash had a look of utter amazement on his face. He slowly picked up the quarter and examined it. "I don't know what is going on here for sure, but if I am right, you guys are something like me, and your lives are never going to be normal. The best I can do is tell you to lay low and hope for the best, apparently we aren't alone in this." Scott said. He stopped, but not at the hospital, in an alley near their neighborhood. "I am not going to take you to the hospital, that would be a disaster for everyone. I think you guys are ok, just get your friend cleaned up and act normal. I'll be around." Scott helped Tim, still dazed out of the car and let Ash take him from there. Scott got in the car and drove home, thoughts racing through his head, and now it seemed he was stuck in this town for longer than he had hoped.

Scott pulled the vehicle up to the drive way and nodded. "I got to be going. If there's any problem or any other serious inquiry by the police, give me a call." He said, and then he handed Ash a silver business card. The look on Ash's face showed that he disagreed with Scott not sticking around, but he helped his friend to the ER, which was still miles away. Scott drove away.

please read

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 08:56:00 +0000

Taking a little break in the action here. If you have any thoughts on where things should go please let us know. Also like 'LOST' there have been clues left in the past that have gone untouched perhaps even unnoticed. Some of these things have foreshadowed what may seem as a surprise others have yet to be unraveled.

The Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:20:00 +0000

Its high noon on Saturday at the sherriff's office.

A feminine yet strong hand extends cautiously and clasps the forbidden handle. Placing the object onto her desk she opens her fist to read the engraved name....SAMSONITE.

"What is this?" Detective Stanton asks.
"Its the proof you need, In your line of work I believe that would be called evidence." Caleb Fitzpatrick answers. "Go ahead open it"

She opens the briefcase to reveal some paperwork, a flashdrive and most mysterious of all, a protected vile of red liquid.

Would you like to explain this Caleb?

Those are the items I was told to bring to Bert at the coroner's office if I wanted to see my son alive. The information in that briefcase is everything my team has been working on for the past 5 years. XP-23 or the DNA Resequencing Experiment. I don't know who was pulling the strings I just want my son. But now Bert is dead and there is an epidemic being contained at the coroner building. So my only hope of getting to my son in time, is a plea for you to help me find him.

Detective Stanton stands frozen holding the briefcase open. She tries to digest the information that may change the scope of this quiet town as well as her own life, forever. The sun reflects off of the vile into her brown eyes. She picks it up.

"You said get to him in time?" She states while staring into the red liquid.
"Yes before something happens to my son."
"But you said it as though, as though you know what will happen to your son... "
Caleb is silent.
"I will help you but only if you are honest with me." She stares in his eyes as if trying to read his soul. "What is in this tube Captain Fitzpatrick?"

Caleb's head sulks down, trying to think of the right words, he finally utters "the cure".

***********

Detective Stanton sits at her desk placing a phonecall with dispatch to be on the lookout for any caucasion teenage male. With one hand holding the phone to her ear, she thumbs through the file on her desk with the other hand. There are several pictures of numerous individuals strapped to a table like cadavers. Some so grotesque that even she has to look away.

Meanwhile Caleb is uploading the XL-23 files onto her computer. A list of names and dates appears circumventing back to 1999, the origin. He tries clicking it but it is encrypted.

Suddenly a picture on Samantha's desk catches her attention. She recognizes one of the bodies, a young white man with dark hair and goatee. She swears she has seen that profile while working on some recent cases. She pulls out the file, several more pictures of experiments on this man fall loose. The age of the man seems to progress with time, as do the effects of the testing. The last of the pictures has a clear date at the bottom.

"Caleb do you know this man?"

Caleb leans over, glances at the picture, he recognizes him immediately....the one that got away.

"Yes he was one of the early test subjects, just another lowlife off the streets, he became unstable and dangerous so we had to cease his progression." It was a half-truth but enough for her to believe.

"Do you know where he is now?"

Caleb knew, thats why he was stationed at this desolate base near a small barren town. But he wasn't about to share that information, especially with a detective, no matter how good natured she seems. "Sorry I don't know, he is off the grid now probably dead or in jail. Why do you ask?"

"Call it a hunch but I don't think he is dead" She taps some buttons on the keyboard bringing up a report from late last night. "Witnesses from a motel and from the highschool football game both had descriptions matching a man who was hired to be the new teacher."
She runs a match search with fingerprints she had on file of a Mr Scott Bannon. After a few minutes it brings up an old mugshot from a misdemeaner in Philadelphia. Current Residence Unknown.

"Thats the same man alright." Caleb exclaims. "Detective your brilliant"

"I also think he had something to do with the bank tower murder, I just couldn't mak a logical connection of the two incidents, until now. If that DNA experiment stuff is true then... "

"Then your town has a huge problem on your hands, and my son could be in more danger than I thought. Can you find him Detective?"

"Yes I'm sure we have a home address and uh, hey where are you going!?"

"WE are going on a manhunt, I've just got to get my ammo and call in for some help."

"That's not necessary Captain, the police can handle it and..."

"Trust me Samantha" Caleb interrupts as he pulls out a Tech-9 from a hidden holster. "This man is more powerful than anything Cedar Bluf Falls can handle." He slams a magazine into the front clip of his gun and walks out.

The Meeting Of The Three

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:37:00 +0000

Ash and Tim took off around the corner. There was an old time department store there, which was hanging on to the business despite weak sales and the mega stores taking a huge chunk out of their customer cake.

Ash quickly darted inside, ran past an elderly woman working the cash register, who didn't seem to notice him due to her nose being deep in a romance novel. Tim waited at the front of the store, looking out the window for any sign of Steck, maybe coming back to finish what he had failed to do. Did a grenade just blow up besides my head? But, I am still here. There is so much I don't know.

Ash quickly came out wearing khaki shorts and a t-shirt, with flip flops on that he had taken from the men's shoe department. He walked over to Tim, who stood looking out the window. "Say, you don't have 30 bucks on you, do you?" He asked Tim. Tim turned around and saw that Ash would need clothes money, but the problem was that Tim only had 12 bucks, as he hadn't planned on meeting a nude friend in the middle of town. They decided to leave the 12 on the counter, next to the elderly woman reading, and they snuck out the door, which was void of any type of security device. Before they left, Ash checked to make sure the lady hadn't noticed that a semi nude teen ager had just come in and treated the store like his own closet. She had not. He didn't know what he would have done if she did notice, as he couldn't run around the square in his Fruit Of The Looms. "I'll have to come back later and drop the money off." Ash said, as they quickly jogged down the street, on their way to the police station.

As they rounded the corner, the sun blazed down behind the brick, causing them to shield their eyes, but they kept running across the street, Ash was hit by a car. He wasn't run over and squished, but the front panel of the vehicle caught Ash's leg, and sent him spinning end over end like a top in the air, looking much like an ice skater pulling a triple axle. If it weren't dangerous, it would have been a thing of beauty. Ash landed dead in the middle of the road. Tim looked over to the driver, who was getting out and running towards them.

**********************************

Scot was skipping town. The Crime Lord Mike had found him, and would be sending cronies after cronies to stop him. This wasn't a problem as far as physical safety goes, as Scott would not have a difficult time handling himself, it was just that it would draw too much attention to Scott, who was trying to live low key. Mike wanted something that Scott wasn't willing to give, and Scott had done him wrong before, it had been Scott's last chance.

Scott barreled down the road in his car, placing several phone calls on a coded phone that he had bought back when he was in D.C. As he was putting in the code's numbers, and coming close to down town Bluff Falls, there was a noise like a ham hitting a tin barrel. Scott slammed on the breaks and saw something flying through the air, end over end. Scott's heart sank. Not only was he trying to keep a low body count in this place, but hitting someone on accident could be the worse thing for him. There would be worse people than Mike looking for him, and then they might found out about the toxin that had been released in the city, wanting to capture that as well, and use both it and Scott for whatever they had planned.

Scott got over to the car and saw the square looking boy laying face up on the street. There was another child with him, looking at Scott as if Scott were the devil himself come to collect on a life wasted. "Stand back, I know CPR" Scott said as he put a hand on the tall one, pushing him back and away from the other. When he got down on his knees, he realized that the kid was still breathing, surprisingly. And there was no blood as well. Perhaps a freak thing, as he realized that stranger things had happened. He had once seen a video where a pedestrian walked through a crosswalk, and another car had flipped over the pedestrian's head, and he walked away, unharmed. Scott marked it up to that. "I need to get him to a hospital. Help me get him into the Escalade. "Scott said. The kid on the street looked up and said: "He needs to go to the hospital to, but he is too stubborn." Scott looked back at the kid standing up, who was still standing upright and not moving. The kid had a confused look on his face, as if he had just forgotten English, and everything Scott had just said just fell on an non understanding brain.

********

Tim watched as the man took a knee and found Ash breathing. The man, who wore a brown overcoat and glasses, looked back up at him, inquiring something. That's when he realized there was a problem. The man spoke, and there was no sound. But it wasn't just that as there was an absence of sound everywhere. There were no birds chirping, wind howling, or generators humming. Tim yelled out something, and he couldn't hear it.

He started backing away from Ash and the man. He tripped and fell on the curb, falling hard on his butt. He kept trying to talk, and he started to gag. He threw up there on the curb. The man had grabbed him by the arm and began to shake him. Tim couldn't hear and he went into shock. Tim lost consciousness, as the man lowered his head to the pavement.

*********

Scott stood with the two bodies sprawled out around his vehicle. This was not how he had planned things. The one he had hit began to get up, despite Scott's protest. He said that he was fine, and that he was worried about his friend puking on his clothes, as his friend only had 12 dollars, and that didn't get you far at the department store. The kid told him that his name was Ash, and that the other was Tim. They got Tim in the Escalade, and drove off to the hospital.

Ash was quiet during the trip. Scott tried to ask some questions, but Ash was not willing to say what they were doing there downtown, or why Tim's clothes had been burned black in some areas. Scott realized that there was more to these two, and perhaps it was not mere chance that he had bounced one of them off his grill.

Still Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 04:27:00 +0000

Detective Samantha Stanton and Caleb Fitzpatrick Sit in his Toyota Avalon in front of the police station.

"Alright Detective, I have told you everything I know and that's why I was going to see the coroner. Now can you help me find my son?" Caleb states with agitation in his tone.

"I understand your concern, I am a parent myself, but he hasn't even been missing 24 hours. Now I haven't had the joy of raising a teenager yet, but Its more likely that your son went out partying after the game than it is to believe that he has been abducted for a secret military research program."

"Listen to me detective, I have seen those symptoms on that corpse before. Rapid decay, discoloration, mutation. That is not typical radiation. I was the one who warned Bert about it, I probably saved your life."

"And that is exactly the reason I should hold you as the primary suspect in this contamination. But I have no evidence to arrest you or anyone else, not to mention I have not slept in over a day and well I am just plain tired. So if that is all you have then I am going home now and you should too your son is probably there in bed." She opens the car door and stands up.

"If its proof you need detective"..... He leans over and reaches under her seat. "You have been sitting on it all along."

-------

"You were blown up?!"

Tim and Ash lie on the ground of the Town Square surrounded by debris.

"Yes." Tim answers for the third time.
"Like coyote and roadrunner blown up or invasion Iraq?"
"Yes, well no, uh what? A grenade was thrown at me."
"A grenade? like acme or ...:
"Don't! don't start that again, yes a grenade. My friend or sort of friend not really, obviously not now, he threw a grenade at me."
"Your sort of friend? Who is this dude agent Codie Banks? Where does one even get a grenade...ebay?"
"I have no idea."
"Well, why did he try to kill you?"
"OH right that makes sense, music is the number 1 killer in teens these days right up there with drunk driving and suicide."
"Look I don't know, I don't even know how I am still alive."
"I was wondering that myself. If that grenade was right next to you, you would have more than some deep flesh wounds. Speaking of which we should get you to the hospital."
"Well uh I don't know about that, I am feeling alright now....actually better than alright. I would rather get home or talk to the police. A lot of weird things have been happening lately that I can't explain."
:You can say that again Timmy. Well I am just glad you are alright. Lets get going then, maybe there is a phone around here somewhere."

The 2 friends get up and start walking around the courtyard. Tim stops and stares at Ash.

"Hey Ash..."
"Yeah?"
"Why are you in your underwear?"

The Escape, Saturday Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 08:20:00 +0000

huff.....huff.......huff......huuuuu.......

Ash's lungs panted heavily as he laid on a cold steel table. His chest rising and falling rapidly with panic. His arms and legs strapped down. He looked at the black tape suppressing his limbs. He noticeed something peculiar, his arms were bare. He looked to the right and then left. There is no hair on the right side of his body, and the complexion is more pale than he remembers. What in the world happened to me? He wondered out loud.

He starts to think back to the last thing he remembers...the football game. He could remember the excitement, feel the bloodthirst, the andrenaline. As he lost himself in the moment his heart started pounding and blood began surging through his veins. Yeah the football game, we killed them, we were unstoppable....and then what? The parking lot... the man in the trench-coat...he's trying to kill me...a flash of light...NO!!! Ash jerked his right arm up tearing through the black strap. "whoah, I gotta get outta here" He then used his free arm to tear off the other straps like a rabid wolverine. He lept off the table and headed straight for that exit sign. It was a dark corridor like the pipe tunnels you would see in prison escape movies. How cliche, he thought. He ran down the corridor as fast and had as he could, his bare feet splashed in the dark puddles that dripped from above. He didn't think about where he was going or what was around each corner. Like a rat in a maze he just wanted the prize at the end of the tunnel. Finally he could see the crack of light making a border around a door. The closer he got the more it shimmered like the call of heaven. His hand reached out to the door and turned the handle.

Ash burst out of the darkness, the rays of the morning sun surrounded him like a baptism. I'm Free! he rejoiced in his head. "Now what?" He stared around aimlessly. He was in the back alley of a very wide building but only 3 stories high. Behind him were stacks of barrels, a couple dumpsters, and some large crates that read 'caution hazardous materials'. Behind those were some pipes that lead under a fence draining into a waterway surrounded by concrete. If the situation were different he would have chuckled to himself about stumbling onto the only water in Cedar Bluff Falls. But as it is, he just wanted to get out of there and find human life. He started to sprint down the alley to get as far away as possible from that building. He kept to the fenceline peeking through each narroway between the buildings trying to get his bairings. Cedar Bluff Falls, had more buildings than he had realized, sure they were small and probably mostly unoccupied but still there was more to it than meets the eye. And then, there it was. Peaking between the shadow of the buildings it eclipsed the horizon of the small downtown, The Bank of Cedar Bluff Falls Tower. In Ash's head, it was like a chorus rang out as he finally had some grasp of where he was. He dashed between the buildings towards his tall marker, almost stumbling along his way. He made it out to a sidewalk along a barren stretch of road. Apparently this town is completely dead on a Saturday morning, or at least downtown. When he didn't see anyone around he continued running across the street into an empty parking lot. Focused on his own agenda he almost didn't notice the loud booming sound nearby. It wasn't until the third echo that he finally realized how out of place that noise was, like an explosion.

Ash looked around, this must be Town Square. On the other side of the parking lot he saw a young man running to a parked car. There was no other activity around, no people, no vehicles, just this guy, his car, and a loud noise. Ash immediately knew something was wrong. But whats it to him, he just woke up on a disecting table. All he has on is a pair of gym shorts in the middle of November. He should be thinking about finding shelter not running into more danger. But he can't resist. Something inside him tells him he needs to go over there. Whether its a hero complex or just curiosity he veers towards the a building in the middle of the empty parking lot where that explosion must have occured. The car squeals away, maybe the man inside noticed Ash maybe he didn't, that didn't concern Ash at this point. He finally made it to one of the entryways of Town Square. There was dust in the air, he decided to follow the thicker clouds of dust to find the center. It didn't take him long as he saw debris leading up a short set of stairs. When he could see the top he was taken aback. The cold dewy air seemed to stagnate over his skin at the sight of a teenage boy tattered and bloody. He ran up closer to help shouting "Are you ok?" Its a stupid question he thought but what else is one supposed to do maybe it will stir up a little life in the boy. As he got closer he could see the scraped up face, it was Tim. Ash covered his mouth in shock. Why would anyone want to hurt Tim? Ash knelt by Tim's lifeless body. An icy chill went through Ashley's spine as he placed his right arm on Tim's wrist. The pulse was faint, but there. Tuff kid Ash thought. "Hang in there buddy!" As Ash held his wrist he began to feel the adrenaline rushing through his body again. Ash's left arm started to pulse and his fingers started going numb. A strange discoloration formed on the tips of his hand where he was touching Tim. An almost charcoal color spread from his fingers up Ash's arm. Ash's black pupils grew larger until they filled the entirety of his eyes. Suddenly a hand hit Ash's arm. Ash flew backwards onto the pavement. Then he lifted his head and looked forward. Tim's eyes popped open.

--------

Town Square With Steck, Saturday Morning

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:51:00 +0000

"Come on in." Tim said, after unlocking the door and plopping himself onto his chair at his desk. His uncle opened the door, with Steck behind him. Jeff, Tim's uncle, really didn't care for Steck. "He's here." His uncle said, as if Satan himself had just stepped out of a taxi and rang the doorbell.

Steck was a stick of a person. His slicked back hair and braces gave him a look of greasiness that matched his demeanor quite well. "What's up butt lips? I heard there's some jokers heading down to the square this morning for a live concert. Wanna come?" He asked. Steck then sat down on the floor and pulled out his cell phone and started texting someone else while waiting for Tim's reply. "I don't know. I gotta lot going on here." Tim answered. Steck looked up from his phone as if he just realized that Tim was in the room. "What do you mean you got a lot going on? I just saw you playing basketball down at the park an hour ago. Get yourself together and let's go." He said, as he walked out the door, with his nose still inches away from his cell phone screen.

Tim didn't want to hang out with Steck. It wasn't that he didn't like him, but that it was a friendship more of geography than anything else. Steck lived only a block away. Steck really didn't have any qualities that one looked for in a friend, but Tim still hung out with him time to time because Steck was always around. Also, Steck was going through his freshman year another time, so he had his license and a set of wheels.

Tim walked through his living room, where his Aunt was sweeping the carpeted part of the floor. "Auntie, why don't you get out the vacuum cleaner?" He asked her, while switching out his t-shirt for a going to see a concert in the park shirt. "Too noisy." She said back, still sweeping the carpet, which put the dirt and other small particles just deeper into the threads. He kissed her on her cheek, and she smiled. "Tell Uncle Jeff that I am heading to the concert at the square, with Steck." He told her as he started to walk out. "Be careful of the evil ones." She told him while still sweeping the carpet, again and again. He looked back at his aunt before leaving the front door. Could she know what was happening with him? Could she be the only sane person in the town instead of the only crazy person? He left.

Later on, both Tim and Steck stood at the bandstand in the square. The Bank Of The Hills was only blocks away, and looking up at its tower gave Tim the chills. "Where's the band?" Tim asked Steck. "I thought it was at 10:30, AM but the sign says here....10:30 PM. I must have heard wrong." Steck answered, running his hands through his greased hair and breathing a large sigh as if his dog had just been ran over. "Sorry I got you out of whatever you were doing." He said.
"No, I needed to get out of the house. I really didn't care about listening to some crappy high school band." Tim replied. "Path Of Broken Skulls is not a crappy band, bro. One day they will get a big deal, and I am going to be their manager, taking 10 percent right of the top of everything."

"You'd better learn to tell time then, cause most managers probably know when the band is supposed to play." Steck grunted at this. Steck looked around the square. For an early Saturday morning, even the regular crowd of Cedar Bluff Falls weren't seen. There were no shoppers, or walkers, or even any cars on the roads. Tim marked this up to the late game the previous night. He had read in the paper that Cedar Bluff Falls had blown out the other team. "Well, let's blow this grapefruit stand." Tim said, and he started back to the parking lot where Steck's car sat, alone.

When Tim looked back, Steck was standing still, as if he had other plans or hadn't yet realized that there was no one showing up and making the same mistake that he had. He looked down at his feet, and then Steck looked up and smiled. "I'll miss you buddy." He said as he put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small round object. He thumbed something on the black shiny ball, and then threw it underhand at Tim. Tim saw it in slow motion. The black shiny object floating towards him, as if in some kind of a dream. Steck had began to retreat, as soon as he threw it. Tim turned to run, but was too slow. The blast occurred when the small grenade was almost square with his head. The blast sent him hurtling towards the ground, face first. The fire scorched his clothes. He passed out.

Philedelphia, Mike's Pub

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:12:00 +0000

The smoke was like a smelly curtain that hung in the air with invisible tacks. The patrons were never in a good mood because the beer was watered down and the burgers were rarely cooked enough. An old man of extreme age and weathering worked in the back, hashing the food. A younger lady worked the knobs in the front. It was never too busy but never too slow. There was a steady intake of beer drinkers, sports watchers, and people who didn't want to be seen in a higher end joint.

In the back of the pub, where the real business of the establishment is done, there is only one door in and one out. The office sits attached to the pub like a tumor, totally independent but intravenously combined with the actual bar and grill.

Mike stood at his favorite bird cage. They were albino canaries brought in from Russia. He had paid near 10,000 dollars for them. He fed them some food pellets. They chirped with excitement. Stephen McGee sat on the sofa, hands folded between his knees, waiting to hear what Mike wanted him to do next. Mike took his time watching the birds. They chirped and danced around the food, sometimes in unison.

"So, still no word from Jackie, huh?" Mike said. Mike knew that there was no word, but he wanted to stress the importance of what Jackie was supposed to be doing. "No. Hasn't checked in, and there has been no word on a dead man." Stephen said. "Stephen, I pay good money for you all to have the best technology available. You all should be connected at all times, in all places." Mike said back.

"I know. Something went wrong, or he didn't want to do the job, and he took off." Stephen said. He was sweating. Mike liked to keep the office hot. Mike was a big man, and looked almost as wide as he was tall. Mike sweat profusely at all times in the tiny brown painted office with green carpet. "What do you think I'm going to ask you to go do?" He asked Stephen.

"Go find him." Stephen replied. "You're a bona fide genius, you are." Mike said with a smile as he turned from his canary cage. "And do them both. Jackie first, unless he's already dead. But regardless, take photos and send them to my phone. Your plane ticket is on the counter. I expect the job to be done in 48 hours, no less. I want reports every 5 hours, understand?" Mike asked, walking over to his desk and sitting uncomfortably close to Stephen, the henchman. "Of course." Stephen said. Mike nodded. "And next time I ask you a question, it better be 'Yes Sir' or 'No Sir', or I will pull your card and bury you in the next construction site downtown, you understand?" Mike asked him, still using a good natured tone.

"Yes sir." Stephen replied. His voice sounded as if someone had concreted his vocal chords, and the sounds were trying to escape through the porous holes. Stephen got up quickly, and Mike knew that he wouldn't want to hang around the office any longer, to avoid any more etiquette mistakes. "You'll hear from me in five hours." Stephen said, as he slipped through the steel door leading to the kitchen hall in the pub. Mike sat back down and opened his laptop. Still no message from Jackie boy. He checked his Blackberry, looking for any updated messages, but still no word. Stephen had come up with the idea that Jackie had cut and run. But Mike knew better. Mike knew that Jackie was already dead. And if that was so, if Jackie had taken the big pill, then this job they had contracted out would be much more costly than what they were getting paid, the organization. Cause Jackie was Mike's best. Everyone else was a step down. And if Stephen came up missing, Mike would have to go back to the contractor, and ask for some more funds to send in some nationals. Things would get much more pricey.

One of the albino keets chirped at him. Mike chirped back. He loved his birds.

Friday Night

noreply@blogger.com (Brandan) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 08:16:00 +0000

Scott spent most of the day unpacking the rest of the boxes from the move, he was finally completely moved in. He looked at the clock and realized he was running late for the high school football game. The stadium was crowded, everyone in town must have been there. The talk of the town the last week was about the loss they took against the Trojans the previous Friday night, that is when they weren't solving the murder case.

Tonight it was the Panthers they were facing, apparently a rival since they lost to them in the playoffs twelve years ago. The Cougars were ready for them this time, the first play of the game was a 70 yard run for a touchdown. That kid had good blocking, Todd Sanders was his name according to the announcer. That touchdown was only the beginning, the Cougars went on to score 3 more times, keeping the panthers to one touchdown, which came from an interception return.

By the end of the third quarter Scott was losing interest, the Cougars had begun to switch their starters out for the second string. Scott decided to have a little fun, so when the quarterback dropped back to pass this time he made him fumble the ball just before he threw, luckily a defensive lineman was running into him at that time, so it looked natural, the players piled on the loose ball, and the cougars recovered it. This allowed the Cougars to score quickly for a fifth time and they ended the game 49-10. Everyone in town was very pleased in that game, as their confidence was renewed in their team and playoff talk could resume. Scott was walking back to his car after chatting with a few of the locals when he noticed a kid, not just any kid, the kid he had noticed outside the school the day he was hired.

There he was again poking his nose around Scott's car. What was it with this kids fascination with Scott? Had he never seen a nice car before? The kid turned around and saw Scott heading his way and started walking. Scott followed him, the kid then seemed to get nervous and walked faster. Scott tried to catch up but the kid started running, Scott couldn't figure out what the kid was so scared of, but he was going to find out. The kid rounded the corner when Scott heard him yell for help. Scott quickly rounded the corner and soon realized it was trouble. A giant man was coming down on the kid. Not just any man, this man was easily 9 ft. tall and pure bulk. His hands were aglow with some kind of energy and his face, Scott recognized it.

Outside the window of the motel, he had seen the same face. A face of a man, but somehow reconstructed. He was bald with beady eyes and a mouth full of long sharp teeth. Scott reacted quickly and a surge of energy flowed through him as he quickly disentigrated the large monster into oblivion.

Scott was in shock at what he saw when all the sudden a dart hit the kid in the neck and he passed out. Scott looked around to see where it came from, when he looked to the sky and in the clear black sky was a silver man with large outstretched wings gliding through the air. Everyone in the parking lot was in awe pointing and chattering about the man as he flew up and away from sight. Scott couldn't be seen here with the kid like this, he was still the new guy, there was enough people out here that someone would find him. So Scott was on the road, in his car, he had never been next to that building. This was crazy, he had killed two people in less than a week and had possibly seen a kid murdered as well. On top of that, he was very aware now that he was not the only one with power in this universe. One thing was for sure, it was time to move on, too much action for Scott he would start packing as soon as he got home.

Ashley Fitzpatrick

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:07:00 +0000

Age: 16
Height: 6'3
Weight: 240 lbs
Born: St Louis, MO
Occupation: Student, Cedar Bluff Falls High Texas

Friday Night Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:19:00 +0000

Ashley Fitzpatrick spent most of Friday morning wondering why his dad was so concerned. Nobody at school was speaking of anything out of the ordinary. Just your regular chick chat, geek vernacular and sports talk. The sleepy town still seemed as normal as apple pie, as far as Ash could tell. That was until he arrived at his algebra class. He was once again late, and even though it was just by a minute he was ready to be admonished by the stodgy professor. But when he entered there was no monotone voice drabbing on about time and excuses, there was only the chitter chatter of students. As he went to pick out a seat he noticed there was not a teacher of any kind, not even a substitute. Probably just running late, he thought. So Ash took a seat and began to listen in on other people's conversations.

Now Ash was quite the people watcher, he considered himself a study of behaviorisms. However after ten minutes of having no adult in the room, Ash had to ask somebody what was going on. He saw one student who was not preoccupied with insignificant banter, who instead had spent the entire time staring out the window. Ash recognized this boy, it was the student who threw up during the test. Feeling somewhat responsible, Ash decided to go say hello. Maybe he could tell him why there is no lecture today.

"How's it going?" Ash asked the student as he took a seat in an empty desk in front of him. However he received no response so he turned his body more directly and tried again.
"Hey, are you feeling better today?" Ash said with a smirk.
"Who me?" he exclaimed as if startled from a dream.
"Ya, that was pretty cool how you just blew chunks all over the stairs. I hope your feeling better today."
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just one of those 24 hour things. Your the new kid?"
"Thats me, my name's Ash."
"I'm Tim"
"So Tim, do you know where Mr. Stewart is?"
"I have no idea, I was supposed to make up that test today"
"Oh sure, I bet you stuffed him in a bodybag huh? So now you don't have to take the test, heh"
"Ya right." Tim gave him a friendly laugh. "Actually I am a bit relieved. I have more time to study. I still haven't had a chance to really grasp the material. A + B over C, sign, co-sign...
"Sounds like an episode of Sesame Street huh," Ash interrupted bringing a genuine smile to Tim's face. "You know" Ash continued, "I aced algebra at one of my previous schools, but the credit didn't transfer to this one. I could probably help you study right now if you want."
"Ya? That would be great thanks"

The two spent the rest of the class time studying and joking around. A teacher never showed up. Nobody even gave it a second thought until at the end of class someone came by for the class roll, and realized a huge error had been made. The students finally started to discuss the elephant in the room. Someone spoke up about a news report that someone had died on the Bank Tower. Another said that it was a murder, and still another said that it had been so gruesome that it must have been someone really evil. The story became more unbelievable as the banter went on and eventually they had come to the conclusion that their teacher had been grabbed by ill tempered mutated monkeys with laser beams on their head. This must be what dad was talking about, Ash thought to himself and laughed.

Class ended before someone showed up to cover it and they all started leaving the portable. Walking down the freshly cleaned stairs, Tim turned to Ash and said "Thanks for the help studying Ash. You know my uncle told me about that news report today, This town hasn't had a true murderer before. We should probably take it more seriously."
"You're probably right," Ash answered and as they were going their separate ways he shouted "Catch ya later Barfing Butcherer!"

There was similar talk the rest of the day about the murder in town, but mostly it just went by pretty casual. With one big exception, today was an early release day for fall break. So before Ash could even get hungry, school was already out. As Ash was heading to the bus he saw Tyler.
"Hey Tyler."
Tyler glanced over. "Oh, hi Ash.
"So we got the big game tonight huh? Do you think you will start?
"No, they gave it to someone else, but I'm supposed to be mixed in." He said sullenly as he pulled out his car keys.
"Oh sorry to hear that, well I have my uniform ready, the line coach said I was dressing out tonight."
"Ya ya, I got to get going see you later."
"Later" Ash muttered as he walked to the bus, thinking about how nice it would be to have a car.
---------

Later that night, the entire town crowded into the high school stadium pumped and expecting a dominating show by their Cougars. In the locker room, the players were going through their pregame routines when the head coach entered.
"You have waited all week to get last Friday's loss out of your system and out there you have everyone ready to see what Cougar Football is about. Now lets take a moment to reflect on Brock, he is doing fine now and sends his best to us. He wants to see you kill the Panthers, your parents want to see you kill the Panthers, everyone in that stadium wants to see you tear up the Panthers. Now get out there and get you some!!!!
Ash was finishing tightening his pads, most of what he heard of that speech sounded like barking. But he was excited. Running out there amongst the crowd, children putting their hands out to slap the shoulders and hands of the players. The marching band piping an inspiring tune, cheerleaders doing back flips and the biggest crowd he had ever seen at a high school game chanting. There was a thirst for blood in the air that night.
The fans got immediate satisfaction on the first play from scrimmage. A couple crushing blocks opened a hole up the middle for the fleet of foot halfback who took the ball 70 yards for a touchdown. The only thing the defenders saw was the name on his back, Sanders. The pounding continued throughout the game only letting up briefly for the half-time show. By the time the color guard and band took the field the score was 28-7, Cougars.
Near the end of the third quarter the head coach started siting the starters. One by one Ash saw his peers getting off the bench. He started to get both excited and nervous. He only had a week of practice and he still didn't know the plays. Surely they wouldn't put him in. After the offense was forced to punt the lineman coach yelled out, "Fitzpatrick!" Ash ran down the sideline. With one eye on Ash and the other on the field he turned and shouted, "You got yer britches on straight Patty?"
"Yes coach!" Ash responded.
"Get in at left end for Kawalksi!"
Ash buckled his chin strap and sprinted onto the field. The first play by the Panthers was a run to the opposite side. They had been getting penetration to that side and was the same this time gaining several yards. Ash had hit his man hard and fast and came around the backside and caught up to the running back tackling him from behind. Adrenaline pumping he went back to his stance for the next play. They looked to be going right again. Ash blitzed the gap this time to grab the ball carrier from behind. But this time it was a fake to the right and before he knew what was coming a pulling guard from the right had came full speed under him breaking the buckle on his over sized shoulder pads and knocking him sideways. Ash learned right there to be patient. On the next play he leaned over to the defensive tackle, "Lets stuff them together this time". The tackle nodded, the ball was snapped. The QB dropped back this time, it was a pass. Ash waiting for the tackle to hit first, taking both his man and the offensive tackle in front of Ash. Meanwhile Ash did a stunt around him to the middle colliding with the guard trying to block the DT and getting picked up by the center as well. But this freed up the DT who pushed by heading for the QB. As the QB sensed danger and shuffled to the right, this enabled all the defensive linemen to break their blocks and they were barreling down on him. The QB made a heroic effort dodging Tyler coming at him from the right side. He stepped forward to throw when suddenly Ash dragging the center on a half broken pad hanging off him, reached his arm out knocking down the QB's throwing arm. The ball bounced lose and rolled backwards. Everyone jumped on it. Whistles sounded from all over the field. Piece by piece the players were removed from the pile until the final person could be seen face down ball in chest. His pale stick arm lifted up. It was Tyler clutching the ball victoriously.
Ash, Tyler and the rest of the backups played the rest of the blowout. The fans stayed to the end cheering at every little moment. The horn blew to end the game and the players did their school song in unmelodious fashion. There was a lot to be proud of that night but most agreed that fumble was the most memorable.
Walking out of the locker room, Ash joked around with his new friends as they waited on their rides home.
"You wanna go out and celebrate, Fitz?" a couple guys shouted.
"Oh, no thanks. Just waiting on my dad, maybe next time"

When the guys left, Ash looked around for Tyler. He hadn't seen him in the locker room and wanted to congratulate him on that fumble recovery. Ash started to walk around the parking lot, maybe he didn't notice him slip out. There were still several cars in the lot, which is odd since the stadium had its own parking that seemed huge. Amongst the cars Ash recognized a couple. The pickup with the rebel flag was still here, and there was that black Escalade again. This time nobody was in it but he hasn't seen many of those so he went for a closer look anyway. Nice leather interior, GPS system, a couple DVD players in the rear. And a lot of clothes lying all over the back. Ash suddenly got an eerie feeling. In the corner of his eye he could see a reflection in the window. It was a man wearing a trench coat. Ash started to walk away. The sound of footsteps followed him. Ash started moving faster, he could feel the man keeping afoot with him. Then around the corner of the building he saw another figure. It wash shadowy but looked like a large behemoth man holding two flashlights. He started to shout at him for help and the figure came towards him, much bigger than he first anticipated. Suddenly he heard a loud crackle from behind, he turned his head back to see a blue specter and quickly turned forward again. The figure in front was gone. Suddenly there was a flash of burning light and Ash felt a surging pain. And then the pain was gone. There was only darkness.

Scott Bannon

noreply@blogger.com (Brandan) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:30:00 +0000

Saturday Morning, 9 A.M., Glenn Park

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:16:00 +0000

Dribble, dribble, dribble.....clang. Dribble, dribble, dribble....clang.

Time and time again, Tim tried to reproduce what had happened at practice earlier on in that week. He would take 4 steps back, and then go up, but would come up short each time. Frustrating wasn't the word for it. He had been out on the neighborhood hoop for too long. His palms were dark from the blacktop. It was cold, but he had long ago shedded his sweatshirt.

Another kid walked up to the park, basketball in hand. "Mind if I shoot around?" the other kid asked. "No, go ahead." Tim thought it was a better time than never to have a seat for a while. The wind was blowing and that was bringing even more difficulty with him trying to dunk. While he waited the kid shot around some more. "Let's play some 1 on 1." The kid said.

They started playing. Tim lost quickly. The other player had a jump shot. "What high school you go to?" The kid asked.

"Cedar Bluff High, where else?" Tim asked him. "I don't go to any school man."

"How old are you?"
"Old enough." The kid answered back.

They played another game. Tim lost again. "What do you mean you don't go to school? Tim asked again. The kid stopped dribbling, and tucked the ball to his side. "I don't go to any school. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that what is happening to you, and what is happening in this town that you don't even know about. And you need to keep this in mind. The more you bring attention to yourself, the more your family is in danger, understand?" The kid asked. His black skin hadn't broken a sweat. He was in much better shape than Tim.

"How do you know who I am? How do you know what is happening to me?" Tim asked. He was yelling now, in between deep breaths.

"I was sent by a friend. That's all you need to know now. But in the next few weeks, this town is going to be dumped out on its head. But keep under the radar, or you will be bringing death to your head.' The kid said. After this he turned to walk away. Tim tried to stop him, but the kid wasn't having it. He walked on past the trees in the park, and disaseared out of sight.

Tim walked home while his head raced. He wished that he had some sort of context as to what was happening to him.

When he got home, his uncle was outside.

"Do you know what happened to the wall outside Tim?" Jeff asked. He was already using an accusatory tone. Tim didn't know where to being.

"The inspector came out to see if there is anything that needs to be fixed, and there sure is. There is a whole wall that needs to be fixed. What happened?"

"I got mad the other morning. It was the morning when I heard about the house selling. I punched the wall--"
"You punched the wall?" Jeff asked.
"Yes, and when I pulled back, I saw that the bricks were busted. I saw the indentation."
"Tim, either you stop lying to me right now, or you are grounded for the year. You'd need a sledge hammer to do that, now what happened?"

Tim didn't answer. He wasn't even sure how to explain it. He walked into the garage and bypassed his uncle. His uncle stood with clenched hands.

Tim went into his room and locked the door. If he was putting his family in danger, maybe it was better to leave. Maybe it was better if he didn't make the move after all. That way there would be no risk. Because, although the kid told him to keep a low profile, it wasn't as if he had chosen these last two incidents to happen. He laid down and thought about what to do next. There was knocking at his door.

Fan Base

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:16:00 +0000

I have sent blog links to a couple close people and so far they like the story. So I just want to say thank you for reading, I hope you are enjoying what started out as a story telling game and is becoming a book that will sweep the nation! Just kidding, its just a hobby and if you have comments you can put them under this heading. Perhaps even you, yes you, will be able to write in a supporting role. Keep watching for your name to appear after the jimmy buffet song cheeseburgerse in paradise.

Awakening

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 07:53:00 +0000

Saturday morning, 5 am. Ash wakes up to the smell of acidic bleach and the feel of cold steel against his uncovered back. It is apparent immediately that this is not his normal sleeping arrangement. He tries to get up but can't move. Some kind of black electrical tape is holding his arms and legs to the metal table. He looks around the empty room, a green exit sign provides the only lighting but its enough to see a chemical table, medical equipment, and what Ash can only interpret as an open freezer. He has no idea how he got here, how long he was out or even where he is, but he has seen enough movies to know that he needs to get out.

----------
Meanwhile there is a lot of activity going on for a small army satellite base south of Junction Texas. Inside one of the bases private sectors, Caleb Fitzpatrick is going through his engineering files. He finds a project dating November 2003, titled XL-23 also known as the DNA Resequencer. He locates a code in one of the pages and enters it in his computer. He then saves all information regarding Project XL-23 saving it to his flashdrive. When he has what he thinks he needs he then puts the flashdrive in his briefcase. He leaves the room, walking diligently down the corridor almost forgetting to return the salute of a couple E-7s whom he outranks. A few feet further he stops. A lab coat is exiting a classified room next to him. Caleb exchanges pleasantries as the scientist shuffles around the large Caleb. When the scientist begins to walk away Caleb tosses a key card on the ground in front of the door.
"Excuse me sir I believe you dropped this" Caleb exclaims in a cordial manor.
The scientist didn't think he dropped anything but then again he was caught off balance, he doesn't often see a 300 pound science engineer...military or otherwise. So he politely walks back to see what Caleb has found.
"You may need this later" Caleb puts the key card in the mans hand and as he tries to get his hand away and looks at the card, Caleb slips his other hand into the side pocket of the lab jacket retrieving the real key card.
"Th-Thank you" the scientist studders and once again heads on his way.
"Heh civilians, it always works." Caleb says to himself with quiet enthusiasm.
Caleb then enters the laboratory and visually scans the containers and shelves until he finds a 4 oz cylinder of liquid. He places it in his eyeglass case and leaves. As he exits the room he slips the key card into a spare labcoat hanging by the door. Walking down the corridor to the exit, breifcase in hand, he places his bluetooth behind his right ear and pushes the button. It rings 5 times before a voice on the other end answers.

"I have the information and I am on my way now, just don't go anywhere and don't let anyone in there." Caleb states and then ends the call.

20 minutes later Caleb arrives at downtown Cedar Bluff Falls. He illegally parks his car in front of the Courthouse Annex Building and rushes in to get to the Coroner's office. However it looked like somebody had beat him to it. And if the sound of emergency state vehicles was any sign, then Caleb was already too late. He ran up to the glass window of the sealed coroner's door. And there was Bert lieing on the floor. Caleb's heart dropped. His eyes now saw the fear that was in his soul. "It is out" Caleb uttered.
Coming down the hallway the HAZ-Mat crew was geared up and rushing behind him. But before he was brushed aside he could see a glimpse of a body on one of the tables. Is that Ashley? He thought as a couple men pushed by him. Hoses and carts were being shuffled around in front of him. He grabbed two of the crew and created his own path to the window. With arms all around grabbing him he stuck his face against the glass and wasn't budging. The body on the table was tainted and decayed but obviously a young caucasion male about six feet tall, he looked closer and saw black tape holding the arm down and on the shoulder was a cougar tattoo. "Thank you Lord, its NOT him". He stepped away and let the crew do their job. Bert had said he knew where Ash was, if he isn't here then where?

Caleb returned to his car and rememberd amongst all the chaos he completely forgot about his breifcase. Hurrying back inside he was met at the door by a stunning brunette.
"Is this yours?" she asked him.
"Yes Miss. It is my briefcase thank you, I must have left it amongst all the commotion."
"Its Mrs. Sir!" she mock-saluted. "Mrs. Stanton, or Detective. I saw you looking in the coroner's office. Mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"Well, Detective....I am kind of in the middle of some very important business right now."
"Don't make me arrest you for parking in an emergency vehicle only spot." She answered half joking. "I need to get home myself but trust me, there is nothing more important than this right now Captain..." she glanced at the name on his chest above the display of medals.
"Fitzpatrick" he answered "Caleb Fitzpatrick. And if you insist, then maybe we will be able to help eachother.

Saturday Morning, After The Vanishing Fire

Austinjt34@gmail.com (JT) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:34:00 +0000

Detective Samantha Stanton waited for the final M.E. report on the body. Her office looked bare and temporary. There were no paintings on the walls or pictures of her family. She did this deliberately because she knew that this was only temporary, and as soon as the higher ups decided to un-suspend a few detectives for insubordination, she would be back down to deputy.

She read over the statements from the cleaning crew of Bank Of The Hills a 17th time. And now she was cross referencing it with the statements of the Motel 2 incident. She knew that on paper, the two incidents had nothing to do with each other. But both were so bizarre. The latter involved 7 residents seeing a large fire occur at the end of the motel. And before they could call emergency services, the fire was gone. Now there was a missing person. Right now he was a John Doe. All the manager could say was that he checked in and paid cash, as so many of their clients do for various reasons. So there was the corpse, the missing man, and the vanishing fire sitting on her desk. She looked over all the statements again. She knew the report so well she could probably recite it on queue. The phone rang. It was her husband.

"When do you think--"
"I don't know. As soon as I get the coroner's report, I can put this all together and come home."
"Have you found any leads yet?"
"No. And if I did find it out, it is such a public case that I couldn't tell you. I would have to kill you if I did." She said with a smirk.
"Well, just make sure that if you do have to kill me, it is a quick two shots to the head. And clean the carpet when you do." James said.
"How's Tracy?"
"She's still asleep. Decided to bypass the normal Saturday morning cartoons I guess. Well, I will be home working on my laptop. Let me know when you are coming home."
"I will. Love you."
"You better."

She hung up the phone and decided to walk over to the coroner's office to check the status in person. It had been three nights since the body was taken down off of the bank, and that made it unlikely that made it possible that it was the John Doe from the motel, as he checked in only a night before. The coroner's office was not the most efficient. It had taken 3 days before they were willing to tell her that they had the autopsy done and was going to release the report. They hadn't called. As she walked down the white halls she wondered if she wanted this job on a permanent status. She decided that the jury was still out on that one.

The coroner's office doors were locked at this hour. She banged on the door with the meaty side of her fist. She got a glance of herself in the window that ran along side the door. Wow Stanton, you need a shower and an espresso, She thought to herself.

She waited for a few more moments. But there was no answer. She had only called 50 minutes ago, so she knew that someone should be there. She took out her ever useful department key chain, that had a key to most of the doors in the building, besides the jail. She tried one after another for a long time. It was like some kind of bad game show, except for the prize wasn't anything spectacular, just more work to do.

When she found the right key, the door opened into the darkened coroner's office. The main table sat in the middle of the room. The body was there. It was old and mummified. There was no flesh still on it. Just old leathered hide wrapped around bones and hardened joints. There was no sign of Bert, the coroner. "Bert?" She yelled. He probably fell asleep, the old codger. She walked over to the light switch and flipped it.

Bert was on the floor. He had his hands around his neck. He looked to be choking. She ran over. He screamed from a garbled voice. "GET OUTTA HERE." That took her aback. She couldn't figure out why he would be yelling for her to get out, if he was choking. He kept waving his large arm at her, telling her to leave the room. "IT....DID....THIS." He said. Tears were rolling down his eyes. "SEAL THE ROOM."

That was enough for her. She ran out the door, holding her breath. She slammed the doors shut and got on her cell phone to call for back up, and the Haz-Mat team. There was some kind of reaction happening. And Bert was trying to save her life. Hopefully they could get him help before it was too late.

She waited in the lobby of the department. After only an hour, officers in Haz-Mat suits, flown in from Austin, were at the door. She let them in. They sealed Bert in with the corpse. They checked her to see any sign of contamination of infection. There was none. She wanted to stay and help. But she was going on 27 hours of no sleep, and she needed to see some people she loved. So, she filled out a report, and went home.

Time to disapear, for good....

noreply@blogger.com (Brandan) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:47:00 +0000

Scott sat on the edge of his bed in the dimly lit room. Dusk was coming on, and Scott had been thinking deeply about his life. Power, he thought. So many people strive for it, live for it, kill for it. What do they know? Nothing. Most people in the world live in an imaginary world. If they knew what existed, what really existed, well lets just say it would be a hard cup to swallow. Why? That was a good start to many questions. Why him? Why was he given power? He surely didn't ask for it. Cruel twist of fate if you asked him. He was the type of guy that could get lost in the middle of a crowd, hell, he could live and die in the middle of a crowd and be happy. So why would he be, as far as he knows the only guy with real true power? He got up from the bed, put his clothes on, and grabbed his trench coat.

The weather was cold, the kind of cold that takes your breath away as the cold air enters the lungs and forces the warm air out. On top of that it was drizzly. Cold and drizzly. Didn't matter anyway, tonight Scott was on a mission. A mission to find Jack Munroe. A weaselly waste of a man that had apparently decided this was the one promise in his totally useless life he was going to keep. The promise that he would find Scott and follow him wherever he went. At the time Scott shrugged it off, Jack was nothing more than a greasy gofer for the Irish crime lords back in Philadelphia. Jack claimed he knew Scott's secret and that together they could make it big in the city. Scott figured that there was no way this guy knew anything, and that it was some sort of sick blanket blackmail attempt to get him to get him to do some suicide mission for the mob. Whatever it was, Scott figured it was time to disappear, he was tired of the city anyhow. That's when Jack made his promise.

Now, because of Scott's carelessness, an innocent man was dead ,hung on a bank tower, which from what Scott knew about Jack was just his kind of flamboyant style, and would be easily pulled off by even a lackey like Munroe in a small unsuspecting town like Cedar Bluff Falls. Finding Jack was easy enough, a couple phone calls back in the city and he knew where Jack was holing up. Scott drove up north to outside junction where there was a rundown motel off the highway.

This was the place, he could already tell Munroe was here. Scott walked into the motel through the back, around the corner to room 144. This was it, Scott could already feel it building inside of him. Time to make things right again and disappear for good. Scott took a deep breath and a couple steps back. Then with a mighty kick, he busted the door open. Jack jumped up off the bed, spilling a box of Chinese noodles on himself in shock at what he saw. Scott entered the room, eyes ablaze in a white blue energy, arms outstretched to both sides. Munroe immediately grabbed his magnum and fired off several rounds at Scott. All the rounds disintegrated once they reached Scott's body. The gunfire did the trick. Scott felt the familiar rush of what seemed like adrenaline but it's hard to tell what it really was. It was a feeling like you get just before you get into a fight or nearly avoid a car accident, a sort of wave of energy that pours over your body and lights your senses on fire all at once. As this was happening you could see the same white blue energy from Scott's eyes start to form spheres on Scott's fingertips.

The building began to shake softly and then vibrate more and more until the whole building was shaking violently. Scott's hands lit up completely with the energy and suddenly almost in slow motion the building seemed to come apart and float and the energy from Scott burst out and disintegrated Munroe, gun, clothes, everything. Then Scott started to come back to his senses, and pull things back together. The pieces of the motel sucked back together completely as he found them and then the energy was gone. Scott stood in an empty motel room, noodles all over the bed, and no Jack Munroe. Killing was not Scott's way, but he didn't necessarily feel bad about one less cretin in the world, and now he could finally disappear for good and Cedar Bluff Falls was once again safe.

On the drive home, in the dark, cold, drizzly weather, Scott recalled the events of the night. He never got over the power that he had, it would never feel normal to him, it was a burden. However, another burden that Scott was dealing with was what he thought he saw outside the motel window just before he vaporized Munroe. He couldn't quite recall what it was, things were a bit hazy at that moment, but he hoped it wasn't what it seemed, because it was terrifying.....