by Pozel, Derek
“The parasite finally stirs from his slumber,” a graying well built man in a dark gray suit said when he entered the room.
Garrett’s tear soaked eyes grew wide when he saw the man close the door behind him. “Patriot,” the words escaped Garrett’s cracked lips. He watched Patriot grab a chair from the corner of the room and slide it over to the bed.
“You,” Garrett struggled against the restraints and let his arms fall back to the bed. The machine connected to him began to beep louder when his heart began to race.
“You should calm down. Yes, I am Patriot and you are Garrett,” Patriot said. “I’m glad the introductions are out of the way now. You’re the one who has been feeding on my people.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
Patriot leaned in. “I remember those dark blue eyes.”
“Parasite? Is that what you call me?” Garrett said.
“Yes and we treated your injuries, regardless of what you have done to us,” Patriot said. “I am surprised Crimson’s attack wasn’t fatal. You should be thankful Valkyrie came back with Aperture and saved you. Aperture created a portal and teleported him over the lake.”
“That moron could’ve wiped out blocks of innocent people,” Garrett focused on the wall ahead.
Patriot slid back into the chair. “He will be dealt with for his actions. Crimson had the right idea. Sadly, it would have meant your death. We do not trade one life for another.”
Garrett coughed. “I know fourteen families who would like to have a conversation with you. Do whatever it is you’re going to do to me. I don’t want to sit here and listen to any speeches from you.”
Patriot folded his hands in his lap. “I know those families. I pay my respects every year to those killed by my actions. It haunts me, like the death of Emma haunts the both of us. We all have our sins, even superheroes.”
“Don’t you dare say her name!” Garrett spun his head around to face Patriot and stared him down with bloodshot eyes. The two men locked eyes in a show of force.
“I am sorry for what happened to you,” Patriot lips curved downward. “I truly am. We both have scars from that day.”
“I have more than you,” Garrett raised his hands off the bed. “See these? I don’t see a single one on you.”
Patriot closed his eyes and shook his head. “You saved my life and stopped one of the most dangerous Afflicted we have ever encountered. There is good in you.”
Garrett rolled his head away from Patriot. “I was a kid back then, I didn’t know any better. Now I understand how the world works.”
“Do you truly understand?” Patriot said. “Is that why you saved two members of the Assembly? Were you trying to prove to yourself you’re not a bad guy? Guilt always has a way of creeping into our decision-making or is it because Valkyrie is a beautiful woman.”
“I picked the lesser of two evils,” Garrett said. “Maybe, I chose wrong?”
Patriot shifted forward in his chair. “For eight days, she came to visit you, to thank you in person. Of course, she did against my wishes.”
Eight days, the words echoed in Garrett’s mind. It felt like an eternity had passed and he had awoken in hell. A personal hell stuck in a room with the man who he hated more than anything, even himself.
“Is Cannon ok?” Garrett rolled back over to face his demon.
Patriot nodded and tapped his fingertips together.
“My friends?” Garrett asked.
“Ethan and Denise are fine,” Patriot said. “He’s denied everything of course, like you’ve most likely discussed.”
Garrett did his best to make sure Patriot saw the smirk on his face.
“He shouldn’t suffer for your actions,” Patriot said. “He is a normal human after all. This is your doing, even if he did assist you. You are the one who attacked us, not him. They are both free to go and do as they wish as long as they do not involve the media.”
Garrett breathed a sigh of relief. “But your people attacked him.”
Patriot covered his eyes. “It was an accident. Ethan made an attempt to attack Crimson and Crimson stabbed him out of instinct.”
“It’s always an accident with you,” Garrett lifted his body off the bed to get closer to Patriot. “Own up to it already. Quit trying to blame everyone else for your actions.”
Patriot ran a hand through his graying hair and did not respond.
“That’s what I thought,” Garrett said and lowered his body back to the bed.
“We’ve decided to keep the authorities out of this,” Patriot said. “Which was not easy after the collateral damage you caused. No need to complicate the situation any further than it needs to be. This is a matter between Afflicted. One of your neighbors did record the fight and uploaded it to YouTube. We did not get it down in time before people viewed it. I remember when I started and everyone didn’t have a video camera on them. It’s harder now with the extra attention.”
“Yeah, people can record you killing,” Garrett said in a cold voice. “This time you won’t get away with it.”
“I stood trial for my actions and I was found not guilty,” Patriot said. “I have made sure incidents like that do not happen again. I can’t have Granite stain our reputation by trying to kill you in cold blood. It is not how the Assembly functions. We are not executioners.”
The gravity of the situation crept up on Garrett, like a hero with a gun to his head. He was in the stronghold of the enemy and there was nothing he could do about it. He had failed in his quest for revenge. He had tainted the memory of Emma with the blood on his hands.
“Now what?” Garrett said.
“That is the question. What do we do with you?” Patriot said. “I don’t believe you will be coming over to help us. Even though you do have support from a couple of our members. With great hesitation, I agree with them. We could use an Afflicted like you. Your gifts are an asset and a threat to the Assembly at the same time. If one of our enemies or if the AIA got their hands on you.”
“It would be bad for you,” Garrett cut in.
“It wouldn’t be good for any Afflicted,” Patriot shook his head. “I think you need to disappear. I think it would be best for everyone.”
Garrett let out one long chuckle and turned to face Patriot again. “You better kill me, because I will hunt you down for what you did. We are not even yet. You will answer for Emma’s death.”
“I answer for it every day,” Patriot said. “I wish you would use your powers for good. A few have seen the good in you. Sage saw it, Valkyrie saw it and so did I when you were a boy.”
“I thought you were Coldfire when I attacked him,” Garrett said. “Too bad he wasn’t.”
Patriot sighed. “You’re a hurt little boy who lost his first love. Some move past it, some do not, like you. No one has a gift like you do though. It’s what makes you too dangerous.”
“I’m here to stop you,” Garrett pointed at Patriot with his chin. “And I will.”
Patriot took a deep breath. “You leave me no choice.” Patriot rose from his chair, reached into his suit pocket and produced a syringe.
“Coward,” Garrett did not struggle when Patriot stepped forward and hovered over his body. Garrett locked eyes with Patriot and noted the sadness in reflected back at him. He did not flinch when the needle jabbed into his left forearm above his bandages.
“This is for the best,” Patriot said in a hushed tone.
Garrett’s body began to grow hotter with every breath, his pulse raced and he broke out in a cold sweat. “I’m sorry mom and dad. I’m sorry Ethan and Denise,” Garrett’s mouth moved but no sound escaped. His vision blurred and his body felt heavier than it should be.
Patriot leaned in closer to Garrett’s ear. “Goodbye, Garrett. The lives you have ruined have been for nothing. She is alive,” he whispered.
Garrett attempted to struggle against his restraints. His body betrayed him when it did not respond. Patriot’s last words echoed in his mind
until the darkness took him away once again.
Chapter Eighteen
Nimble fingers raced over the keyboard and created a symphony of clicks and clacks. The muted television evoked colors, which washed away in the radiant sunlight. The distant noise of the city life loomed outside the open window. It brought with it a gentle breeze that whipped the wooden blinds against the wall. Ethan slumped in the pillowed white sofa, transfixed on the blinking line as it moved forward and left a trail of letters.
The front door squeaked open and Ethan sat up from his comfy position on the couch. His right hand rubbed the stiff fabric of his t-shirt which gnawed on his left shoulder. A scar remained from the last night he saw Garrett, over two years ago.
“Denise,” he said. “Is that you?”
“Yep, it’s your beautiful wife, home from work,” Denise said.
Ethan threw the laptop on the empty spot on the couch, which was once Garrett’s. He walked over to his wife with a smile on his face.
“Have you been bumming around all day?” she said. “It smells like you have.” She crinkled her nose.
Ethan gave Denise a kiss and caressed her tummy. “Yeah…everything ok in there?” He planted another kiss which lingered, one she returned.
“He or she is fine,” Denise said. “You spent all day on the computer emailing Walter, am I right?”
A smile tugged on Ethan’s lips. “You know me too well.”
“Whenever you’re off from work you spend all day trying to find a clue of where he is,” Denise said. “It’s been over two years and not a single word. Maybe the Assembly is telling the truth and he escaped. He could be living on a beach somewhere, far away from all of this.”
“You think Garrett is the beach bum type?” Ethan said.
“Not at all,” Denise said with a grin. “He’s more like an untrained indoor cat.”
“If he escaped he would be going right after them again,” Ethan crossed his arms over his chest. “Even Walter doesn’t believe it and he was one of them. Garrett’s too stubborn to walk away and I love him for that.”
Denise pulled Ethan in and hugged him. “He’ll turn up sooner or later. Maybe we should invite Walter out for dinner. He doesn’t have anyone after Garrett took his powers. I feel bad, his friends turned their backs on him and he has been there for us through this. What kind of superhero team does that?” She wrapped her arms around Ethan even tighter.
“Yeah we should. I don’t know what I’d do without him,” Ethan said and stared at the once broken window Crimson jumped through.
“Wow, thanks a lot. You appreciate your wife so much,” she said.
“You know what I mean,” Ethan leaned back and gripped her shoulders. “You’re what keeps me sane.”
“You’re right, I do,” Denise said and grinned.
“You think he escaped?” Ethan asked.
Denise touched Ethan’s chin and directed him to look into her eyes. “Not a chance. I have told you hundreds of times I saw them drag him away. You’ve seen the video.”
“I know, I’m hopeful I guess,” Ethan glanced out the window. “We’ll keep looking until we find him.”
“We will find him. He’s a part of the family,” Denise said. “He’ll show up at the wrong time like always.”
“Yeah, he is,” Ethan turned back at his wife. “We spend years looking for him and he’s going to turn up like nothing happened.”
“Ok, I’m going to go shower and then we’re going to go grab dinner,” Denise pushed away from Ethan and gave him a seductive smile. “Maybe you should shower too.”
“Maybe I will,” Ethan said. “What would I do without you?”
“You’d be in jail. But you’re my problem now,” she said.
“You’re right, I’m lost without you,” he said.
“I know you would be. Now hurry up,” Denise moved away from Ethan and gave him a wink when she looked over her shoulder.
“I’m going to finish my email to Walter. I’ll invite him to dinner,” Ethan said and plopped back on the couch with a toothy grin across his face. Then the phone rang.
Chapter Nineteen
Gray fog surrounded him and it never seemed to break. It shielded his eyes from the darkened faces. His body had grown numb to the pokes, prods and the doses from the endless supply of godforsaken needles.
There were no thoughts of his own, yet, his mouth moved when the unknown faces interrogated him. The truth always flowed forth from his lips. Voices came and went, he listened but he did not hear what they said to him. One voice stood out, the voice of his true enemy, the man with the first needle. Since then there was constant haze and darkness.
His enemy appeared too many times. They shared more than a few words and even stomach wrenching laughs on occasion. Soon after, screams filled his ears from unknown sources. He could never place where they came from or from the mouths they escaped. Some, he realized were his own.
In the haze over his eyes, people cowered when they forced him into the room. They issued the command, something within him stirred and his body responded. A hunger under the beck and call of monsters. With a touch, they screamed and their powers flowed forth into his body. The brief rush of power was the only reprieve from the agony. For a second, the world brightened, then the needle came and darkness followed.
Time stood still. Minutes, days, months, and years, jumbled together into an endless flow. His eyes creaked open when he felt something crawl up his spine. The hair on his body stood on end. Pressure reverberated around him, followed by a bloodcurdling howls, then pure silence.
A soft touch on his hand startled him. Goosebumps ran up his arm, a sensation he never thought he would miss, until today.
“Please mister, help me,” the mousy voice said into his ear. A face buried itself into his neck, warmth spread throughout his body.
Garrett took a breath. A breath he seemed to hold in for far too long. He finally awoke from his nightmare.
Chapter Twenty
Patriot waved away a thick cloud of smoke when he strode through the vacant warehouse. His eyes focused on the man ahead who emitted the toxic fumes.
“What happened?” he asked his second in command. Patriot coughed when Bloodhound blew another wall of smoke in his direction.
“What do you think happened?” Bloodhound said. “One of them woke up. Walter warned us this would happen. You chose not to listen as usual.”
Patriot narrowed his eyes, his lips a thin sliver on his face.
Bloodhound pointed with his head to the petite teenager. She sat behind him, cradling her knees, her eyes sealed tight.
“She’s exhausted from whatever happened down there,” Bloodhound said. “Everyone is gone, nothing but ashes. She’s the only survivor.”
Patriot walked past Bloodhound and crouched low to view the raven-haired girl who slept against the steel wall. His eyes turned to the stairwell, which descended into the secret Hotel.
“Damn it,” he said. “There is no one else? Are you sure? You checked everywhere?”
“He’s gone,” Bloodhound flicked the cigarette away. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit another.
“Who’s gone?” Patriot asked from his crouched position.
“You know who I’m talking about,” Bloodhound said with the cigarette attached to his lips. “She told me a man with black hair and dark blue eyes helped her. She said he took away her curse before she passed out.”
Patriot gasped and shut his mouth tight.
“You kept him hidden from us,” Bloodhound’s voice echoed in the empty warehouse, “I can’t believe you would hide this from us.”
Patriot inhaled the musty air through his nose. “I had no choice.”
Bloodhound shook his head and crouched down next to the young girl. He brushed the hair away from her soft face. “Sorry about this angel. You deserved better than this. I promised you nothing would happen to you when I found you. I’m sorry, you’ll be fine now. I will make sure o
f it.”
Patriot stood in silence, stroking his chin while he bit his lower lip.
“At least he freed you from your curse,” Bloodhound told her and stood to face his friend. “Anything else you want to tell me?”
“It had to be done,” Patriot said. “We can’t let him escape. He’s too valuable to us. Can you track him with your powers?”
“No, he’s immune to us remember. He’s long gone. I guess your story’s true now isn’t it?” Bloodhound took another drag of his cigarette. He exhaled a smoke ring and broke it with his finger. “I wouldn’t track him if I could. I watched the video logs on him stored on the mainframe. I don’t agree with what he did to us, but you lied to me. I told you he would be a problem and you chose not to listen. I told you to turn him over to the AIA. This is your mess, you clean it up. Both of you dragged the rest of us into your little war. The rest of Assembly should have no part in it.”
Patriot turned away to face the vast emptiness of the warehouse they referred to as Hotel Harvard. “He is our problem. What do you think he’s been doing all these years? The good ones down there are free because I decided to use his powers. I did it for the greater good. It’s why I hid him from everyone, except for the five people down in the bunker. I made the call to protect the Assembly and the Afflicted.”
Bloodhound curled his upper lip. “You drugged him and used his powers against his will. That’s the greater good to you? Who are you to make that decision?”
Patriot spun back around on his heels. “I’m the leader of the Assembly. It’s why I made the choice. We need to keep the AIA in the dark until we have recovered him. If they find out he’s alive, they will do everything in their power to capture him. We can’t give them the option.”
“It was never your choice to make,” Bloodhound said.
Patriot walked away. “I didn’t ask for your opinion.”