“And… they’re best friends?” I asked. “Were, best friends?”
“Yeah…” Will nodded. Sam just grimaced, and tried to reach for more of the vodka. “No! You’re cut off, man. Doctor’s orders,” Will said. “Here, Greg, do me a favor? Take this downstairs, give it to Alex. I gotta make sure this one doesn’t vomit all over the kitchen.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine…” Sam insisted.
I took the handle, and looked into it. It was already mostly empty. Damn dude, Will wasn’t kidding; Sam really did have too much. He was a pretty big lightweight as it was, this was… I mean I’m sure he didn’t drink all of it by himself, but the level of swigs he was taking a second ago? Dude was messed up.
“Are you?” Will asked, trying to look into his eyes. “Goddamn… Jason was always so much better at this,” he muttered to himself.
“Here,” I said, stepping closer. Internally, a firestorm of wildly instant regret. “Let me see.”
“I… alright. Sam, look at the man,” Will directed. Sam looked at me, right in the eyes. They opened a little wider, and I had to pull away before he confirmed anything it looked like he was about to suspect.
Luckily, I was the best at telling when Sam had to pull trig, so it only took me a second to tell that this man was in fact on his last legs unless he took a quick trip to the bathroom. Give him a few minutes and another water, and he’d be right as rain.
“Yeah, he’s gotta pull it,” I said. “In my opinion, anyway. Eyes are too glassy, face is drooping, mouth’s just a little too open.”
“J…Jason…?” Sam said, staring at me confusedly. I tried to laugh it off, and stepped over to the basement door off to the side.
“See, he thinks I’m your buddy now,” I chuckled. “Anyway, good luck with that uh… what was your name again, man?”
“Will,” he said.
“Will,” I repeated. “Best of luck, Will. Nice to meet you both!”
Before they could give me a wave or headnod or anything, I booked it through the basement door, and shut it tight behind me. I took a breath, and tried to slink down the stairs, when wouldn’t you know it? Alex started walking up them.
“Oh, hey man…” I said, trying to keep my voice all deep and gruff and stuff. “Your friend Will told me to give you this. Said your friend Sam had too–!”
So here’s the thing. Alex was a huge know-it-all, and it bothered the hell out of everyone. But, the guy was actually pretty smart, and being the host of the festivities on this night, he was also stone-cold sober. My point being, no matter the disguise and voice change and everything and anything else, he knew it was me right off the bat, and rushed up the stairs, skipping a couple steps, and slamming me into the wall.
I’m not going to lie, it scared me half to death. I dropped the handle of vodka out of pure fear, and it dropped on my foot. It didn’t hurt, but it did start to roll and spill down the staircase.
Weirdly, Alex didn’t care. Instead, he just put one hand over my mouth, and with the other he ripped off my glasses, slung my hood off, and tossed the hat against the basement door.
“Jason!?” he said, his voice hushed but furious. “What the hell are you doing here!?” I just stared at him, and pointed at the hand on my mouth. “If I take my hand off, are you gonna talk? Or are you going to half-ass your way to a lie?”
I crossed my fingers, and after a second, he released me, and we stood on a single step, facing each other.
“Hey buddy,” I said. I know I shouldn’t have, but I kind of couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Hey, dickhead,” he spat. Alright so we weren’t back to a hundred percent yet, no problem, we’d get there. “Where have you been the last three months?”
“It’s…It’s hard to explain, Alex, really,” I said. He tensed up, and I held my hands in the air defensively. I know he couldn’t actually hurt me, but… old habits, you know? “I want to tell you, believe me man, I do. Maybe I can, soon, but… for now, just know I’m trying to help here.”
“Help? What do you mean help?” Alex said. “You said the same thing to Sam before you just took off on us, didn’t you? What are you trying to keep us safe from, Jason!? Seriously, what aren’t you telling us? Aren’t we supposed to be honest with each other? Isn’t that what a family does, Christ sake!?”
“Yes, yes, but… this is really, really hard to explain, Alex,” I said. “I know I’ve been a complete and total ass, and I’m not asking you to forgive me or anything, but… I need you to listen to me.”
Alex waited, a scowl shifting around on his face. After a few seconds, he shook his head, and sighed heavy through his nostrils.
“Alright, fine, what’s up?” he said. “What do you need?”
“You need to start getting people out of here,” I said. “Like, right now.”
“What, like call off the party?” Alex asked. “Jason, are you nuts? There’s like, fifty people here!”
“Why did you invite so many people!?” I asked, baffled.
“It’s not my fault! It was Julia, and Will, and Alannah! They were all about having as many people here as possible to ‘brighten the mood’ over your sorry ass being gone!”
“You really still all missed me that much after three months?”
“Yeah, and you’re clearly wasting it all away now that I know you’ve lost your damn mind.”
“Alex, look, just… move them all outside. Tell them you’ve got fireworks or something, I don’t know! Call the cops if you have to, just get them out of here!”
“Is it seriously that bad?” he asked. He was getting kind of worried now, I could tell. Great…
“I…” I struggled, shaking my head in all kinds of directions, trying to find the words. “Yes,” I admitted. “Yes– yeah, it kind of is.”
“Oh Jason, what the hell…!” he groaned. “I…! Alright, fine, whatever. I’ll figure it out. You might want to go down there and at least let Alannah know you’re back, by the way. I don’t know what happened but she’s been a wreck the last couple days, and I’m pretty sure it has to do with you.”
“When does it not? The girl’s obsessed with me.” I joked. Alex snorted, and we quickly exchanged a little hug. “I missed you, buddy.”
“I missed you too, you idiot,” he said. God, I really did love these people. We pulled apart. “Alright, let’s get to work. Please try not to get anyone killed with whatever nonsense you’ve got going on right now.”
“You have my word,” I said. Alex nodded, and walked upstairs, shutting the door swiftly behind him.
I picked my fake glasses up off the stair, slid them on, and threw my hood back over my head. I hurried downstairs, and looked through the haze of smoke, strobe lights, heads, and flying ping pong balls to find Alannah and Julia sitting on the couch off in the back corner of the room.
And wouldn’t you know it, real Greg was standing above them, trying to talk up Julia again.
I pushed my way through the crowd, and watched from a safe distance as Julia gave the man absolutely zero time of day. She was my hero, forget Wanderer anything. The girl took no nonsense.
“Jules, listen to me, I’m really not that bad of a guy!” Greg argued. “People like me, really! Your group just has a bad rap with me because of Chodes, but he’s out of the picture now, right?”
“Shut the hell up, Greg!” Alannah snarled. “I-It’s Rhodes, and…and you know it!” Alright, so the slurred speech led me to believe America’s sweetheart may have been a little tipsy herself right now. I really hoped it wasn’t because of me, but if she were anything like Sam…
I don’t know, I didn’t have time to think like that.
“Greg, I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to tell you no, but if words aren’t working, maybe the problem isn’t with your thick skull,” Julia said. “Maybe it’s that tiny walnut of a brain you’ve got sitting inside it.”
“Okay, see that’s just being a bitch, right there,” Greg spat. He swung a red solo cup a
round in his hand– like an asshole; sorry a little bias right there, I won’t deny it. “I’m just trying to be nice. Friendly. What, are you into someone else? Everyone knows Will’s got the weirdo hots for you, don’t tell me you’re actually gonna give him a chance?”
“I swear to God, you’re like twenty words away from getting your ass kicked,” Julia muttered, rubbing her temples.
“Daniels?” Greg said, grabbing Alannah’s attention again. She looked upset enough as it was already. This dickhead was on some seriously thin-ice right now. “You still dying for that criminal freak? Or do you want to mix it up a little? Forget about–”
I stepped over, and grabbed Greg by the shoulder. I was maybe a little rougher than I should have been, but the guy crossed a line. That was my friend, after all. My girl. My… nope, nope I’m not saying it, you get the point.
“Hey Greg, I’m Greg,” I said, pulling him off to the storage room on the other side of the basement, through a little wooden door. “Let’s talk for a second.”
“H-Hey, what the hell!?” Greg shouted. “Let go of me, dude! Get the hell off!”
He squirmed around a little, but I just tossed him in the room, and glanced over my shoulder. Julia watched curiously, and Alannah just stared down at the floor, lost in her own world.
I shut the door behind me, and stood in front of it. I was all ready to give Greg the ass-whooping I’d been dreaming of my whole life, but then I heard Alex shout something obscure from the top of the stairs, and I heard the mass of footsteps heading up.
And I don’t know, I guess it just sort of mellowed me out.
I just stepped outside the room, and locked it behind me as I re-closed the door. Greg banged against it, shouting to high heaven, but the music and footsteps just kind of… drowned him out.
I noticed that, as the basement cleared, Alannah still sat on the couch. Julia must have just left, because she was still staring at the last of the crowd making their way upstairs.
I walked behind her, my heart pounding out of my chest, and my legs shaking like they were made of paper, and made my way over to the couch. I took a deep breath, and vaulted over its back, sitting down and taking off the glasses, throwing my hood down.
“Hey–”
I didn’t even get that out all the way before Alannah turned around, petrified to see someone next to her all of a sudden, and she slapped me right across the face. That was an all around terrifying experience, and it really killed the moment, but… hey, that was us, baby.
“Ja…Jason!?” she exclaimed, putting her hand back on my face. She was getting a little touchy– she was definitely drunk.
“Hey…” I said slowly. “It’s me.”
“You came…” she whispered. “Even after I said all those… things…”
“Yeah,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been called worse by people I cared about a lot less.”
“H-How is that supposed to make me feel better?” she asked.
“I…I don’t know– look it doesn’t matter. Alannah, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner, and I’m sorry you found out about Sam and I the way you did, and…and I’m sorry I left you like that. You deserve a lot better than me.”
“I know!” she said. I smiled a little, and she did the same. “But… I don’t… I don’t want–”
And then, because life hates me so, so much, there was a massive crash from outside. Everyone out there screamed, and I shot up from my seat.
“What?” Alannah asked, jumping at the sound. “What was that, Jason? What’s…What’s going on?”
“Malek…” I sighed. I lost focus. I wasted time.
I fell right into his trap after all. I really hated to give him any credit in saying he knew me well enough to bet this would happen, but really, who didn’t?
“Alannah, stay down here,” I ordered. “I…I have to go deal with this.”
“Are you insane?” she asked, standing up. “Sorry Rhodes, last time I checked it was my friends out there, too!”
“Which one of us has super powers, and which one of us is–?” I stopped. Probably for the best.
“Yeah?” Alannah pressed. “Say it.” Definitely for the best. “Say it!”
“Oh my God, fine, you can come,” I said, grabbing her hand; call it a spur of the moment thing. “But we’ve gotta hurry, come on!”
Alannah nodded, and we sprinted up the stairs, heading outside for the battle of a gosh darn lifetime, and leaving Greg all by his lonesome, locked in a storage room.
14
The Defender
We stepped outside through the garage entrance, and boy oh boy, was there a sight to see laid out before us.
In the front yard– as well as the driveway– about 30 or 40 people stood around, chattering and fidgeting in their places. It looked like some people had managed to leave, but the majority were still trapped amongst the… well hold on a second.
“What the hell…?” I muttered, looking around. Yes, Malek was there, but we’ll get to that in a second.
There were also something like ten of these borderline ogre-looking creatures decked out in armor. They were sort of a pale green, each one carried a big hammer/axe looking weapon, and their eyes all moved in sync; a hard thing to notice, but this is what really confirmed that these were Horagons, or Hiveminds.
Now, there were probably something like a few hundred million of these things back on their home– wherever that was– but they were all connected. So, what I’m saying is that fighting ten of these things was still like fighting a few million, because they all acted together.
Anyway, there were about ten of them surrounding the front lawn and driveway of Alex’s house. People were locked in this weird circle they’d formed, and Alex and the rest of the gang stood by the stairs at his front door.
Malek, meanwhile, stood in the center of the crowd, spouting all kinds of nonsense.
“The Wanderer, ladies and gentlemen, is here tonight!” he expressed. The crowd was shocked; their nervous murmurs turned to shocked, maybe even excited whispering.
“People still don’t know it’s me, right?” I whispered to Alannah. She shook her head.
“No, I haven’t told anyone,” she said. “Have you?”
“Not so far, anyway. I have a feeling that might change, though.”
“And you see, while you may not quite understand it, he and I have a rather complex relationship,” Malek continued. “One which requires for the both of us, really, to make a decision. One which, ultimately, must be solved tonight.”
I waded through the crowd, Alannah right behind me, and we made our way over to Alex and the others. It would seem that the fearful reality of the situation had sobered them all up– well, more or less.
“Jason…” Alex muttered, not looking away from Malek. “Is this what you were talking about?”
“Jason!?” Julia said, covering her mouth before she shouted. “What are you doing here, you idiot! Why didn’t you say anything to us?”
“Jason?” Sam asked. He stood the farthest away, and I just sort of awkwardly waved at him.
“Uh… yeah, this is about it,” I said to Alex. He looked over at me slowly, and I think the pieces sort of fell into place for him right then and there.
“You son of a bitch–” he said.
“It would seem, my friends, that the Wanderer has in fact arrived,” Malek said. I glanced over at him, and we only locked eyes for a moment before he turned back to the crowd.
He wanted me to out myself, not him, that much was obvious.
“Jase,” Will said under his breath. I looked over to him, and he stared back anxiously. “Are you… I mean, are you seriously telling us that… you know?”
“I…” I stammered. I didn’t want to do this now, not like this! “N-No, not this isn’t–” I tried to backtrack. Much to my dismay, however, Malek as making it increasingly difficult to do so.
“Wanderer,” he said, “we’ve discussed this
ad nauseam; I’ve got very little patience left for your incessant need to hang on to these people.”
I still did nothing, and the whole crowd grew equally quiet. You could hear every panicked breath, every accidental footstep; the sliding out of every phone and camera on deck from those daring enough to try and film this calamity.
The stinging humidity hung in the air, passing by every sweating forehead and undershirt, masking the cold drops of fear dripping down my face. There were a few crickets chirping off in the distance, the occasional bird passing by, and the rolling wheels of normal life passing just a ways down the road.
But still, no one said anything. No one tired to run, or fight, or do anything to disturb the insane reality everyone here was forced to be a part of. For me, I suppose it had become a part of the everyday, but still, with all this tension I even felt rattled.
Malek rolled his eyes, and waved his hands up in the air. It was as if I’d just passed up his last peace offering, and he had to resort to… crueler measures.
“Fine, if that’s really how you insist on playing things out,” he said. “I suppose maybe we are on the same page, after all; you realize that these people need to die in order for your full evolution. Okay. I’ll take care of it for you– for us.”
“Jason…” Alannah whispered, grabbing my arm. The others glanced over at us, confused.
“Jason…?” Alex muttered. I turned to him, and God, I hated the fear in his eyes.
They all looked scared, but if I revealed myself like this, in front of all these people… Just imagine how badly it could spread! The whole school would know about me, the whole town!
It would ruin my life, and slowly but surely it could ruin the lives of the few people who mattered in it. It could put them in danger.
But weren’t they in danger now? Could I really afford to let anyone, get hurt, let alone one of my own people? Sure, I was a bit of a dickhead, and yeah I didn’t like very many of these people, but I didn’t want to see any of them die.
Malek turned to the crowd over by the driveway, and singled someone out. I don’t even know who, because before one of the horagons could step closer, and before everyone could start losing their minds, Julia went and did something stupid.
The Wanderer (Book 1): The Wanderer Page 17