Just as I began drifting down toward the back of the shop, I heard something crash through the atmosphere, and very suddenly grab me by the back and neck. I hardly even had time to be scared, it was so sudden.
We careened down into the street, lined with a number of small buildings– banks, bars, and a one Giardino’s. I crashed into the road, and kicked whatever had tackled me off onto into a parked car.
There were a couple cars driving down the road ahead of and behind me, and they all screeched to a halt, watching in shock at the very strange second sighting of me, and some alien creature.
“What the hell, dude…?” I groaned, getting up and rolling my shoulder around. I looked at the challenger, and it snarled back at me as it crawled to the top of the car I’d just kicked it into.
It was a Blackback, from the looks of it. Facial features kind of similar to a wolf, but covered in quills, rather than fur. It was bipedal, probably only five feet tall and some change. It had razor sharp claws on its feet and… hand-like things, and a nasty set of teeth.
It was also all black, so I don’t know why only the back got recognition.
“Alright, well from the looks of it, you can’t fly, so how did you–?” I questioned, looking up into the sky. As I did, foolishly, the Blackback lunged at me, and wrapped its entire body in between my legs and arms.
It pierced its talons into my suit, and bit into my neck. Thankfully, this thing seemed to be pretty thick on the outside, so nothing really cracked through, but I could feel it trying to wrap around me more tightly, constricting my movement.
“Listen man, nos really isn’t a good time!” I said. It growled back at me. “I was kinda trying to…! I-I need some me-time, alright!?”
I flew up into the air, and slammed down onto the street again, trying to shake it off of me. I struggled getting a good grip on it with my hands, and it just wriggled all around, biting and stabbing into my armor; a few of them actually started to hit my skin, and it did not feel great.
I glanced over at a woman in her car, still sitting nervously in her seat, waiting for us to clear the road. Without thinking, I took off into the sky, and went back up above the clouds.
“Okay, I don’t have time for this; you’re putting the lives of the people on hold, your putting my life on hold… I’m ending this.”
I managed to grab onto the Blackback’s neck, and I pulled it out and away from me. It writhed around, trying to escape my grasp, but somehow my grip had turned weirdly solid. Like I couldn’t help but overpower it like that.
There may have been something to do with all the anger I was feeling; all the anxiety, and stress, and negative emotions. I felt awful, but I also just felt… stronger.
I reared my free hand back, ready to punch this thing’s lights out, when it kicked at my chestplate. As I swung at its head– and hearing a gross crack come from it, by the way– it kicked the button on my suit, and it retracted.
The Blackback went soaring off through the sky, dead, and I started falling back toward the ground, not dead. Not dead, but very frightened. I still hadn’t gotten a serious grip on flying without the suit, after all.
I managed to maneuver myself a little, but I still fell at a pretty alarming rate toward the earth. I bet you’ll never guess where I landed.
I crashed through the vent on the roof of Mr. Giardino’s, and landed on top of… Well…
“Oh no,” I groaned.
“Wha–!? You!” Mr. Giardino yelled, leaping back from behind the counter. “You break another pretzel maker! I just get that installed this morning!” The heavy italian accent it was scared me most, I’ll be honest.
“I, I didn’t–!” I tried to argue. I stopped myself though, because after all, what was I going to tell him? That I’d just been fighting off an alien, and fell from the sky? Plus… I mean I was coming in here to steal stuff.
“You did!” he shouted. “That’s it, I call the police on you, again!”
“Mr. Giardino, please, that’s not–”
“No more words from you! You stay there until the law arrives!”
I sighed, and leant my head down into the shattered remains of a new pretzel-maker, waiting on a police officer to come and sweep me off into my chambers.
It took a while, but thankfully, it ended up being Officer Clements again. Well, kind of thankfully; he was pretty pissed. We didn’t talk the entire ride to the station, and he slammed the door shut on me as I walked in.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked, locking the cell door.
“I’m not–”
“I told you, Jason, stay out of there! Isn’t that what I said?”
“Well, technically you said to take a walk instead, but I guess that’s–”
“And you didn’t listen!” he shouted. “Why, every time I give you another second chance, Jason, do you have to let me down?”
That one actually kind of hurt, I’ll be honest. Because yeah, I did let him down– just add him to the list, I guess. I let Sam down, I let Alannah down, I let myself down. That didn’t mean I wanted to. That didn’t mean I was proud of it; I wasn’t, I hated it! I hated that I couldn’t change. It didn’t help being told of by one of the few adults who gave a damn about me.
“I wasn’t robbing the store,” I said through gritted teeth. Clements put his hands on his hips, and looked at me in disbelief.
“You’re really going to try and sell me that? You fell through the vents, Jason! You broke Mr. Giardino’s pretzel-machine, again, and you broke the top of his store! I mean how do you even manage to do that!?”
I could feel a couple tears welling up in my eyes. This had been an exhausting day, to say the least, and it was only like day 5 on the job as the Wanderer. Only my second battle with a challenger, and my like fifth big problem with Sam this month. I couldn’t really handle all the beratement right now.
So, I just sat there, trying to hold back the tears, and stiffen my quaking chin. I think Clements noticed, because he closed his eyes and sighed, shaking his head. He took a step back, and thought for a few seconds, while I just continued trying to compose myself.
“I’m not holding up the Rhodes tax this time,” he said solemnly. I shot my head up at him, shocked.
“What?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“I’m putting in a bailout, and I’m setting up a court date for you– a mandatory one.”
“Officer Clements, I’m being serious: I didn’t do anything!”
“Even if that were true, Jason, you vandalized Giardino’s. You broke the ceiling vents, and you smashed another pretzel machine. You’re tearing this man’s livelihood apart, and I can’t just let it slide,” Clements said. He didn’t even sound angry anymore, he just sounded disappointed. Damn it if that didn’t hurt so much worse.
“I-I can’t– you can’t!” I shouted. I was getting frantic, but really, this was a big problem, and for more than just my reputation. “Please believe me, a lot of people could be put in danger if you keep me here!”
“What are you talking about, Jason?” Clements asked, shaking his head in exasperation.
“Clements, please, I just… I need you to trust me!” I said. “I can’t… I can’t explain it, but I’m trying to– I’m trying to do the right thing here. I need you to trust me.”
“I did, Jason. Time and time and time again. I can’t keep doing it if you’re gonna keep betraying it like this.”
And with that, Clements walked back off into the station, and left me to rot in my own self-loathing. I laid on the stone bench, and just let out a good few tears to myself, wallowing in the anxieties and pains this whole day had brought me.
A few hours later, I got a knock on my cell door. It was something like 5:00 or 6:00 in the afternoon, and the sun had long since dipped below the treelines.
I looked up from my phone, still texting Alannah and Julia simultaneously over what was going on– excluding all the super-stuff, of course– and saw two grown men standing before me
.
One of them was this big, burly dude. Probably a few inches taller than me, and built with an uncertain mix of muscle and fat. It seemed like it was mostly muscle, but there may have been a little belly there, too. He had short cut brown hair, a hard-looking face, and a very not-friendly scowl on stuck it.
The other guy was shorter. A little shorter than me, and a little older than the first guy. He had greying hair, and he was pretty average in build. Still, he looked professional– he stood that way, anyway. Like every move was a regal one, and one that was planned and coordinated long beforehand.
They were both in black suits, the older guy’s with a couple stripes and emblems on it.
“Hello…?” I said, placing my phone down on my chest.
“Jason Rhodes?” the older guy asked. I nodded. “I’m Director Peter Bell. The gentleman next to me is–”
“Bentley,” Bentley said. “Sit up, kid; show some respect.” Wow, did not like this guy very much, I’ll be honest. Still, I did sit up. In fact I stood up, walking over to them from the other side of the bars.
“Okay…” I said, eyeing them both up. “What do you want, exactly? Did Officer Clements send you over here to berate me more? Tell me all about my upcoming court date?”
“No, actually, quite the opposite,” Bell said. “Officer Clements doesn’t know quite we’re here, other than to pay your bailout, and deal with that little court date snafu.” Sorry, what?
“Excuse me?” I said. “What do you mean, ‘deal with it?’”
“Jesus Christ, sir, this kid’s really the one you’re looking for?” Bentley asked.
“I’m sure,” Bell nodded. He smiled a little, and I just stared at them both, very confused. “Officer Clements is going to get the key to unlock your cell, after which I’d appreciate it if you considered coming with us for a ride.”
“I mean… thank you for dealing with the– legal, stuff,” I said, “but I think when it comes to hitching a ride with two older gentlemen who have a– let’s be honest– kind of creepy fascination with me, I’m gonna pass.” Bell chuckled, and Bentley just rolled his eyes. Good chemistry, he and I had.
“That’s fair,” Bell said. “If it soothes your anxieties, though, we’re less interested in you, per say, as we are the… special things you can do.”
I felt my heart skip a beat, and I took a step back further into my cell. He didn’t seriously mean the Wanderer stuff, right? There was no way he could have known about that. I’d been so careful! And it’d only been like, five days!
“I… what?” I asked.
Just then, Clements showed back up, and walked over to the cell door, eyeing Bell and Bentley all the while. He opened it, and I cautiously stepped out, glancing around at everyone like they were a part of some huge conspiracy.
“Thanks,” I muttered to Officer Clements.
“Right…” he said. “Jason, do you… know these people?”
I looked at Bell. He stared right back at me, and he looked… oddly sincere. I mean, clearly this man had secrets, but he didn’t really give off an ulterior-motive kind of vibe. It was more like he was just doing his job– whatever that was– and had all the time in the world to get it done.
Bentley looked a little less patient, but whatever, who cares about him.
“Yeah,” I finally said. “Yeah, I do. I’m good.”
“Okay,” Clements backed off. “Well, listen, I’m still not happy with you, alright? I don’t know quite how you pulled this off, but I’m warning you, I won’t let it happen again if you don’t turn your life around in some major ways.”
“I know, I’ll… I’m gonna do my best, officer, honestly,” I said. He just nodded with pursed lips, and put his hand on my shoulder.
“Okay. I…I want to believe you, Jason. Give me a reason to,” he said. “He’s all yours, gentlemen.”
“Thank you very much, Officer Clements,” Bell said. “Again, I genuinely appreciate all the cooperation. It makes our jobs much easier.”
“Right, no problem– I get what you mean,” Clements said hesitantly, guiding me off toward these two total strangers.
I walked off with them, and right outside the front door, there was a black sedan, windows all tinted to the max, and still running, waiting for us. For me.
Bentley huffed over to the driver’s seat, and got inside without another word. I just glanced at Bell, and he shrugged, opening the back seat for me, and letting me in. He shut it behind me, and got into the passenger seat.
Bentley took off, and for a while– up until we were on the highway, really, way out of town– no one said anything. My brain was going about ten thousand miles a minute, what with the newfound ability to think so quickly, but I didn’t really know what to say.
“So, Jason Rhodes,” Bell finally said from the front. “A 16 year old, rambunctious teen with diagnosed A.D.D. and anxiety disorders. Living with your great uncle Vinny, who seems like a… an interesting man. A record that’s not exactly clean, and a a school attendance sheet that’s littered with tardiness and absences.”
“I don’t know if you want me to be impressed or scared, but I’m leaning toward the latter, just so you know.”
“Now’s not exactly the time for you to talk, kid,” Bentley said.
“Then why do you get a free pass?” I asked. I saw Bell smirk a little, and Bentley glared at me through the rear-view mirror.
“I’m not the one who just broke into the same store in less than a week, damaging property and store goods like a criminal,” he argued. “For starters, you brat.”
“Yeah, well, for the record, neither did I.”
“No, you didn’t, did you?” Bell said. “You were busy with something else, right? Something… alien.”
I stiffened up again. How the hell did he know all this stuff?
“I…”
“You don’t have to worry about lying to us to keep anyone safe, Jason. We know what’s been going on; at least, to some extent.”
“I…” I still stammered, trying to think of what to say. Which way I should play this. It seemed, though, that Bell was telling the truth. They really did know something was up, and it was most certainly alien. “They’re called challengers,” I admitted.
“Challengers,” Bell repeated, nodding. “Listen, Jason, why don’t you tell us about how you got these super powers, where you got this suit, and what exactly it is that you’re doing here.”
“Okay…” I agreed. “Can you just answer me one question?”
“No,” Bentley replied.
“Sure, what is it?” Bell asked, ignoring what I could only assume was his lesser.
“Are you guys like, kinda part of the government or something?” Bell chuckled.
“Yeah, we kinda are,” he said.
Because yes, of course the government had to get involved.
4
Introductions and Revelations
“The U.S.B., or Unidentified Specimens Bureau, is a mostly unheard of, secretive branch of the U.S. government that specializes in otherworldly beings and phenomena,” Bell explained.
We were pulling up to some building at the edge of the city, sitting by the bay. It looked like a regular old stone building, two floors and a few windows.
“So… you deal with aliens and… stuff?” I surmised.
“Wow, kid, you’re a natural,” Bentley scoffed.
“Sorry, which of us has an encyclopedia of knowledge on the galaxy in their heads? You or me?” I quipped. Bentley scowled, and Bell turned back to face me, a new hint of curiosity on his face.
“What’s exactly contained within this encyclopedia?” he asked. “How much information, give or take?”
“I mean, give or take… it’s like, a good hundred thousand some odd years,” I said. Even Bentley turned to face me now. We were parked at the side of the building.
I had an idea, to make all this a little easier, but I wasn’t totally sure it’d work. Still, confidence is key, right?
&nb
sp; “Here,” I said, extending my hand. I turned my palm face-up. “Put your hands on mine.”
They both did, and I closed my other hand on top of theirs. I shut my eyes, and tried to concentrate as best I could on everything that had happened since meeting Haltz. I didn’t want to give them all the information, as I imagine the only reason it didn’t melt my brain was because of the Wanderer title; I guess I wasn’t sure, but better to be safe than sorry. Still, what they did get was presumably enough to explain my situation as best I understood it, more or less.
I also left out the Malek bit that Haltz warned me about, because that sounded a little too end of the worldy for me, and I didn’t know how they would react to it.
I saw all the moments and images of the last few days so clearly, and I felt both their hands tense up a little, so I assumed it was working. Once it all caught up to just a few hours earlier, I let go, and sat back down in my seat.
Bell and Bentley took deep breaths, and looked at each other suspiciously.
“So, you get all that?” I asked.
“I think we did…” Bell said. “So, Jason, you were chosen by this…this Haltz, randomly, and now you’re some kind of protector or something?”
“Or a threat,” Bentley said. “If these challenger things are coming to you, then that means they’re coming to us. Why should we just let that happen?”
“Well, I mean to be fair, you can’t really stop me,” I said. They both turned to face me, suddenly a lot of intimidatingly than a second ago. “You know, what with the powers… and all…”
“No, in all likelihood we can’t,” Bell agreed. “Not unless we unleashed the full potential of which the U.S. is capable, I imagine. The question is though, Jason, are you something to be threatened of? I am warning you, if you are, this will not be a very fruitful relationship.”
“And if I’m not?”
“If not… then I imagine it would be best for you to work in close proximity with us, if nothing else, than for the time being,” Bell decided. Bentley looked at him in shock, and I had to hide a smirk as best I could. “It wouldn’t make sense for us not to keep an eye on you, and you’ve hardly gotten any training as it is. You’ve taken out two challengers so far, but who knows what might come next; you may well not be ready for it.”
The Wanderer (Book 1): The Wanderer Page 5