by Jon Davis
I sighed. “That’s going to be the thing, isn’t it? Legends, myths, and made up stories.”
I felt her touch my arm and I looked back. She said, “No, Vaughn, I think we can keep Alex human. Never forget that, Vaughn. I won’t forget him. BJ won’t forget him. Alex always had such wondrous potential, and, for one moment in time, it showed. And what he did was all too human. Even if he wasn’t—”
Dana stopped talking and put on a smile, looking over my shoulder at someone. I glanced over my shoulder and saw my mom coming up to join the two of us. To Dana, she said, “Dana, that was such a beautiful song. So poignant and sad—wherever did you get it?”
Dana gave my mom a smile tinged with sadness and said, “The song was something I came up with while I was grieving for Alex. Somehow, it didn’t feel right to use something from a book.”
I nodded. I had to agree. My mom said the same, and then the two started talking about Alex. But I began to feel out of place as they went from talking about him to talking about general stuff going on in Riverlite. The courthouse was still a mess, while the library needed volunteers to help until a few of the librarians returned. But I held myself there when I realized that while the talk was completely mundane, it was also something that I needed to hear. Again, the normal was working to keep me grounded from the odd feelings I’d been having all day.
I could’ve stayed there until the end of the reception, listening to them. But then my stomach growled. I looked at the munchies on the table. They had put out plenty of potato chips, cookies, and sodas. But what I was looking for was something like hamburgers or pizza; I was edgy, and I needed something more solid than what was being offered here. I decided to walk around to get past the hunger growls. I nodded to my mom and Dana and passed by dad as he spoke with Jim Houseman about, of all things, Dungeons and Dragons. Jim waved me to come closer.
As I went up to him, he asked, “Vaughn, have you ever heard of a tunnel existing under the school? When I was going to school here, I looked for it. But nothing came of it. But I hoped somebody had found something after my time here. I wanted to show these guys what a ‘dungeon tunnel’ might look like to give them a feel of the game.”
I stared at him for a moment. Jim Houseman, big time Marine and football fan, was also into Dungeons and Dragons. Wow, this must be the day for me to discover new things about people. I considered his question. After a moment, I shook my head and said, “Uh, it’s a rumor I’ve heard, but from what’s been said, I don’t think anything ever came of it. Sorry.”
He gave me a disappointed shrug and then went back to talking about dungeons and fighting in magical lands. I smiled and moved on with a shake of my head. Poor Brand, he was going to be mortified. Heh.
I walked a circuit around the room, but I still felt unsettled. I think I was waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop after I made that speech. It didn’t help that my head was starting to buzz incessantly. I decided to lean against one of the large columns near the hallway leading towards the atrium and rest for a moment. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and let my thoughts settle.
Dana commented to my Mom, “Amazing, after the Day, I found myself drinking a Mountain Dew and thinking how much like nectar it was. Not because it was, mind you.”
“But it was something you never expected to do again?” Mom said with an amused voice. I heard her open a can of soda as Dana did the same. With a clunk of the cans, they toasted to caffeine and carbonation and then laughed.
I opened my eyes and looked over towards the food table. I never realized that the acoustics were so good in the room. Then to my surprise, I heard even more. To add to it, along with the sudden change in my hearing, the buzz in my nerves increased from a low level tingling, to a strong thrum of power.
“I just don’t see how the Avatar, that gift from God himself, could have been gay! Why it’s not possible!”
“Oh Maude, maybe it’s time you got past the fact that Charlie was gay and he turned you down in college…I’ve never understood your fixation against gays!”
“Did you really see the way she moved when she sang? Man, if I could have her sing like that in my bedroom…ooh.”
“Dude. She’s the Police Chief’s daughter! Cool it down or your next traffic stop will end with you in a jail cell! And that’s just for having a bad brake light!” said one of Brand’s friends to another. Next to them, I could hear Brand talking about an engine to a 1957 Thunderbird.
I winced as more voices hit my ears. I didn’t know what was going on, and I was starting to get frightened. I rubbed at the side of my head, trying to ignore what I was picking up. But it didn’t go away. Instead, every person, I looked at, began talking at a higher volume. I was beginning to feel like a satellite dish picking up television signals. And it got worse.
“You think Andrews really did abandon the Avatar?”
“Well, they never did accept the boy, he was a bastard of Claire’s after all…and he did move in with Brian when she died…why I talked with Brian Shaw myself—”
“You know, if I put the glaze on first, I think I can get the orange taste to stay in a little longer, otherwise if I do it after the roast cooks—”
“Damn but when do the vultures go away? This is a memorial! And man! Did you see Andrew’s face when Hagen stuck it to him? Wow! That’s gonna blow his plans for Avatar Day!”
“No it’s not. It’s a cover-up! Shaw’s family left him behind! Now the old man has to keep his son-in-law from burning for it! That’s what all this crap is about—”
“Think if we went around to the front we can get a pan shot of the redhead when she comes out? Damn but it is cold out here!”
“Tell me about it. Middle of freaking February and they have to keep us out! What’s that about?”
“Trust me; you don’t want to go in there. A big guy in there would… yeah, no.”
“Apples it’s great for hemorrhoids!”
“—coming soon to a theater near you! This movie has not yet been rated!”
“Hey babe, Lonnie just texted about the memorial and it seems that one of Shaw’s friends did a major number on the people who threw the whole thing together. Lonnie says it’s all over the Internet. I wondered if Andrews had pulled a ‘jump the shark’ moment. I guess they did—”
“You know, I talked to Shaw at the store all the time, he was just a nice kid is all, quiet, but nice—”
Explosions, screeching tires, big helicopters flying over—
“Yah!” I yelled.
Sweat popped out on my forehead as I pushed myself up against the column. The muscles in my body tensed against the white noise. It didn’t stop either. A metal on metal ripping noise, a car engine turned over and roared, two girls talked about waking their mom for cookies, a man asked for his hamburger without tomatoes, an old sounding woman wondering where her teeth were. Someone swearing revenge. Someone yelled in orgasm, a baby cried, suddenly a shot rang out, a maiden screamed—
“Vaughn!” A clear voice cut through the chaos in my head and the world snapped back to normal volume. My eyes flew open and the world around me collapsed back to the here and now. Dana had a hand on my shoulder. I shook my head, confused and wondering what had just happened. I found myself the center of attention—again. And it was not in a good way.
Dana asked, “Vaughn, are you all right? What happened?”
My mom was right behind her. She looked me over for a moment, and then said, “Damn it. You’ve only been out of the hospital for a day. We’re going back there right now. Kirksten needs to run more tests!”
I raised a hand and stepped away from the column. I didn’t collapse, and I was surprised that I didn’t. But my mom was worried, so I covered up my own fear by casually waving the idea of the hospital away. I said, “I’m fine, Mom! I just got dizzy. I’m sort of hungry, so maybe…”
Brand walked up to me with my dad, Jim, and his friends behind him. He said, “Hey, I had some dizziness earlier, too. Did you take yo
ur pills? That’s what got me back on track.”
I gave him an amused look and said, “Yes, Mommy, I did. Look, I’ll be all right. It’s just been a tense day.”
Murmurs of agreement passed around the room. The crowd relaxed and went back to talking with each other. I was relieved to find that I couldn’t hear anything more than indistinct talking. Dana said, “Are you sure you’re all right? You turned as white as a sheet for a moment. Do you need something to drink?”
I smiled and said, “I should be okay. Thanks, Dana.”
She gave me a smile and once more offered a bottle of water. At my nod, she walked back to the table for the water, leaving me with Brand. Still looking worried he leaned forward and whispered, “Are you really okay, or are you trying to play macho?”
I just shook my head as I noticed my parents talking in whispers. I heard some of what they said, and I spoke up. “Getting food does sound like a good idea. Maybe I can grab a pizza on the way home,” I said without thinking about it.
My mom blinked and looked at me in surprise. “You heard us? From over there?”
I blinked. I had heard them. And I’d heard my dad trying to calm her down. The sharp hearing was back. Something was going on. But I didn’t have a clue what it was. But to deal with it, I needed to get away and think about what happened. And I needed to do it before I started hearing about someone wanting an aspirin in Kentucky.
So I said, “I did hear you, but I’m gonna just head home, if that’s okay.”
Brand said, “Okay, how about I go with him? It ain’t that I’m worried about you, but I feel like grabbing something to eat, too.”
My dad laughed. “Yeah—chips are great for snacking, but not for real meals. If you want to join us, I’ll cook a couple steaks just for you two.”
James and Karla Houseman came up as my dad made the suggestion. Brand looked at them to see if it was all right.
Jim said, “That’s fine. But I want you home after supper. I’d actually like to have you around instead of in the hospital for weeks at a time.”
Brand sighed dramatically. “Oh, damn. Vacation from the parents is over.”
“Smart ass!” Karla said with a laugh.
We laughed at that and went to grab our coats. While we put them on at the lockers, Brand said, “Dude that was just some stunt to get away from here, right?”
I stared at him. I said, “What? No! Seriously—no! I don’t know what happened!”
I told him about the voices and overhearing the conversations. Brand looked worried as I spoke of what I’d heard his friends saying. He said, “I heard them, but I just ignored it. I figured their bull just ended there, so I didn’t need to deal with it, but if you heard that, wow.”
“Tell me about it,” I said with a trace of fear. I took a breath and then grabbed my parents’ coats after I put mine on. Brand got his parents’ coats and we headed back to the cafeteria.
“You gonna tell them? I mean, why cover it up?” Brand asked. I looked at him, and, after a moment, I shook my head.
I said, “I don’t know, I’m not sure I know what to say.”
I stopped talking when I heard someone yelling down the hallway. Brand followed my gaze and said, “Really? Tell me that I’m hearing things! Better yet, tell me that I’m seeing things!”
He wasn’t. We saw Nathan Jessup pushing past the security guards just as they made a grab for him. He yelled, “You fuckers! You’re all goddamn assholes! Vaughn Hagen lies! His friend’s lying, too! The Avatar didn’t kill my brother! Vaughn Hagen and Brand Houseman did!”
Before he could get any farther, Sinclair and Gutierrez grabbed him. They almost had him cuffed when he looked down the hallway and saw the two of us. He went ballistic. Screaming with rage, yelling, “You are fucking dead, you sons of bitches! I’ll kill you for what you did to my brother!”
I started to back away out of reflex, but I didn’t need to. Hector moved with surprising speed for someone of his size. He moved past his boss and grabbed Nathan from behind. But, Nathan was just as fast. Hector couldn’t get out of the way of Nathan’s backhanded swing to his jaw.
Hector knew how to take a punch. All Nathan did was make him smile. Nathan was in handcuffs in less than a minute after that. Unfortunately, his words had caused enough damage. The reporters were yelling questions. They were demanding answers from Jessup, Hector, and the two of us as we went to watch the cops take Nathan away. Of course, the reporters wanted to know if Nathan was telling the truth.
“This is turning into a crappy year, so far.” I muttered.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Time passes; slow or fast, it passes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t pass easily. Thanks to Nathan Jessup’s attempt to come after us at the memorial, we became the center of the media’s attention. Don’t get me wrong—not all of them believed Nathan’s claim about the two of us murdering James Jessup. The news media looked over all the released testimonies and reported that Alex had confessed and signed his testimony. I learned a lesson about the media; they could do a good job now and then.
However, thanks to my speech—and Nathan’s ranting—reporters would call, come up to me on the street, even come to my home, and ask about Alex, and his involvement with Jessup’s death. While my dad was dealing with business problems in Chicago, I ignored the requests for interviews. But after weeks of constant prodding, by all the major networks, I talked it over with my parents. After almost half a night of discussing what to do, I decided to give them what they wanted.
My dad wasn’t happy with the idea, but he accepted it amiably enough. My mom followed suit, telling me I was old enough for the responsibility. Brand however, thought it was a bad idea. To him, I was giving in to the bad guys.
I had known Brand wasn’t going to be happy. And it took a blunt demonstration to get him to back down. One night, after watching a news segment about a large political conference occurring between the nations of Africa, a segment about the Avatar came on. The segment featured a panel talking about religious arguments of Alex as the new messiah. After a moment of watching, I called and told Brand to turn to the channel and listen to what was going on. He did, he began to understand.
The arguments on the television were no longer about whether Alex was the new messiah or not, but rather how much of a messiah he was. Given the deaths and sicknesses his actions had caused, there were still arguments. The debate was over, and it was now a matter of what size pedestal to put him on. And not once did they mention his name. They only used the title, ‘Avatar.’ By the end of the show, Brand gave me his blessing, not that I needed it. But it left me with a good feeling, just the same. So off I went.
The pundits couldn’t wait to tear into me. But, even as new to this as I was, I still managed to hold my own in the first few interviews. It helped that there were production people sympathetic to my feelings. I was actually able to talk about Alex because of their influence with the interviewers. To my surprise, I became a popular guest. Producers and desk reporters said that I was photogenic and communicated well. Because of that, they asked me back as a guest ‘expert’ on Alex Shaw, the Avatar.
Weeks passed, and I flew from Chicago and New York City to Los Angeles and back repeatedly. All of it followed schedules set by producers. It wasn’t easy to do, and while my mom went with me to Chicago for the first interview, she couldn’t go with me to the others. She had a job, and I was on my own. At first, I was nervous. But once I got used to dealing with the news industry, I enjoyed appearing on shows. It made for some fun times.
I didn’t just go in and out of interviews; I also got the chance to see the cities. And I met new friends. Many of the production assistants were friendly and quite happy to show off their favorite local places. After the interviews were over, we would go out to some great nightspots. But that was when things turned strange. Instead of enjoying watching all the various women at the clubs, I kept seeing a certain blonde. Or rather, I kept seeing someone who looked amazingly like Angela. Wo
rse, I kept seeing her show up in clubs that I went to on both coasts. Yes, I was smitten, and weeks after the memorial, I was seeing her appear in places where she couldn’t possibly be. Wonderful, she was driving me insane!
But it seemed that all the interviews were for nothing. Once they knew me, I became a target for fanatics. And worse, people didn’t just attack my viewpoints; they used them to turn the Avatar craze into a full-blown movement. As the weeks wore on, I found myself sitting across from people who demanded to know why I hated the idea of Alex being the Avatar. I even had to back away from one blowhard when he decided that I was the devil incarnate. It got scary. But what frightened me more was that people really believed his assessment of me. I found that out when screaming crowds appeared outside the buildings where the interviews took place. And all of them were yelling for my head.
Worst of all, was the growing feeling that I was being spied on. Inside and outside of studios, on the street, even on planes, I would feel as though someone was watching me. It was especially strong whenever I talked on the phone. It became so pervasive that my dreams even had a mysterious shadow in them. The shadow woman dreams occurred enough times that I began to think all those comic books I read had returned to haunt me.
Finally, after some problems during my last interview, I went home for good. To my surprise, my parents had changed. For the first time since Yama and the Day, they seemed at ease with each other. The two of them even laughed at jokes about the divorce. And—dare I say it—I felt as if I were part of an actual family. I said nothing about it to them, though. I didn’t want to curse it.
But if I thought my home life was going to be easier, I was sorely mistaken. Total strangers stopped me on the street and demanded that I ‘grow up’ and ‘fly straight,’ lecturing me about my ‘bad attitude’ about the Avatar. It happened enough times that I started feeling just a tad paranoid. Then, after one particularly nasty encounter near the high school, I decided I had had enough. I stayed inside and hung out with online friends in Internet chat rooms.