The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by

by C. G. Roberts

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  gave a snort and chuckle, respectively. I gave a shrug of my shoulders, as if to say, yeah, what could I do about it. “You supposed to be some kind of writer or something”?

  Upon my non answer, he said, “Don’t matter, I have a butt load of questions for you”. Considering the size of his butt, I figured we would be here all night.

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  “beFore we get started, what’s with the hairdo kid”? It took a moment for me to understand his question, until I remembered looking into the hand mirror. “This particular style is called Nature’s Fury”. Not bad if I do say so myself. “Looks like that Looney Tunes Character, Oh, What is it? Oh yeah, Pepe le Pew, the skunk”. Both uniform officers had a good chuckle, and Detective Hargrove was looking at me to see what my reaction was. He was baiting me, But I wasn’t nibbling.

  “I guess the lightning did this, my hair used to be kind of blonde, I guess it does look kind of strange.” “You guess right”, The Detective sighed, in a disappointed manner. Evidently I didn’t give him what he wanted, when he made fun of my new hair colors. “I understand that there was a lot of yelling going on in your room”. “Most of the yelling came from outside my room, before the Doctor came in”. “But there was yelling between the two of you, correct”. “No, the yelling came from him, about how much money I owed the Hospital, and some lawsuit he was going to pursue”. Hargrove quickly interrupted,” So that’s when you pushed him out the window”? Stunned by that one, I said nothing for a second, and Hargrove continued. “You were pissed that he was going to sue you, and make you pay for the damage you caused, you couldn’t take it anymore and pushed him out the window”. A voice from the hallway

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  answered the good Detective.

  “He did no such thing, did you even bother to look at his foot, Not only was he struck by lightning, he lost two toes in the process, and hasn’t even attempted to stand on it yet, nor should he, it will take at least 2-3 days before the swelling goes down so we can put a walking boot on him. I hope that answers your question”? Nurse Mattie to the rescue, I will say she does have good timing. She brought 3 pair of rubber gloves, handing a pair to each of my 3 visitors. “What the hell is this for”, The Detective quipped. “For your protection, and you all would be wise to put them on”.

  “What do you mean, for our protection, I don’t get it”. “You try and touch him without those gloves, trust me, you will get it, jolted that is by electricity, the boy’s full of it”. Nurse Mattie stared at them waiting for them to put their gloves on. All 3 of them exchanging glances between them, them back at Nurse Mattie. “And you two”, Referring to each of the police on my left and right, “Need to back farther away from him, before your radios and phones get fried”. “I’ll be back in 15 minutes to take him to his new room, if you can’t ask all your questions by then, you’ll have to come back later this afternoon, Billy’s been through a lot”. She turned towards me, gave me a wink as she left the waiting room.

  Detective Hargrove was unimpressed by Nurse Mattie’s warning, tossing the gloves on the coffee table. The other two, Narcles and Officer too many letters, slowly backed away from me. “Hey Ned,” Narcles whispered, “What time you got, my watch stopped”? Annoyed, Ned replied, “I told you to quit buying those cheap ass five dollar Casio’s”. Ned looked down at his ever reliable Timex, looked back up at

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  Narcles wide eyed, “Mine stopped too”. At the same time both Officers backed up a good ten feet from me, almost to the wall of the waiting room.

  Hargrove watched his fellow officers put their tails be-tween their legs, whimpering in the corner. I doubt that’s how Hargrove would put it, but that’s what it looked like to me. “Where are you two Nancy’s going, get back over here”? They did as requested, but not before putting on the rubber gloves, which left the Detective shaking his head in disbelief. Hargrove sat back down in the chair next to me and leaned in. “So, you going to tell me what you did to the Doctor, we both know you did it. Probably rammed him with this wheel-chair, forcing him out the window, isn’t that right Kid”? This guy must have been a relative of the Doctors in some way, for he is pissing me off in the same manner the Doctor did. “Look I was in bed when he came screaming into the room, Nurse Mattie put me in this thing to take me down here. All I now is one moment he’s yelling at me, the next he started shaking uncontrollably and ran straight through the window. That’s all I know”.

  Unimpressed by my presumed innocence, Detective Hargrove leaned closer to me and whispered, “Don’t know yet how you did, but I soon will”. The smell of burning plastic invaded my nostrils. Looking down at Hargrove’s coat pocket, smoke was pouring out of it. “Aw shit”, he screamed, while putting his hand in his pocket, trying to retrieve his phone.

  Unable to retrieve his phone, Hargrove peeled off his coat, and patted it down until the smoke subsided.

  Looking back at me, he reached over to grab the rubber

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  gloves off of the coffee table. Putting his freshly gloved hand into his coat pocket, he slowly pulled out the remains of his phone. Parts of the phone was dripping on the floor, like molasses, then it gave a final sizzle, a small burst of smoke, then silence.

  “What the hell did you do kid, that was a 400 hundred dollar phone, my personal phone, you lousy”………, He darted over to me as if to go for my throat, but Narcles grabbed him and yanked him back. “Come on Hargrove stay back away from him, you know what the Nurse said”. “Screw that piss pan pusher”, He took off the glove he had on his right hand, tossed it on the floor and slowly walked in my direction. You could tell Hargrove was pissed, his face was the color of a tomato, and I could see a vein popping in and out of his temple.

  “Look kid, I’m only going to ask you one more time, how did Dr. Bangor go flying through the window”. I threw my hands up in the air, to imply I don’t know and I already told you that. He appeared to be calming down a bit. That’s when he went for my throat. With cat quickness he put his hands around my neck, that’s when I became aware of two things. One, his eyes were bulging, his body shaking, the second was a hint of burning hair. I could see little sparks of electricity darting in and out of Hargrove’s head. Narcles partner ran over quickly to pull Hargrove off of me, the only problem was, he had taken his gloves off, and so when he grabbed Hargrove, he became part of the shock treatment. While the two of them were buzzing and unable to let go, I can honestly say, I could feel absolutely nothing, while they were getting fried, it was like I had a protective shield around me. Finally

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  Narcles , while his gloves remained on, grabbed his partner and Hargrove away from me without getting shocked. I was amazed, not a thing happened to me, but the other two were producing rather foul odors, with just a hint of smoke. What was next for me, the circus? Come see the electrical man shock you into crapping your own pants. I was ready to leave this place, but go where?

  Don was getting back in the van, though not in a hurry to tell Frank he couldn’t find the camera. “You got it right, let me see it”. Holding his hand out awaiting delivery. Shaking his head Don replied, “Don’t have it, I searched everywhere within 50 feet of where he came flying out the window, somebody must have”…… A rapping sound came from out-side the van. Frank checked the side mirror from the pas-senger seat. “Shit”, as he rolled down the window. A female face came up to the window, “Nice to see you again Frank, You too Don”.

  “Wendy, always a pleasure, and you’re a nurse this time. Did the Seattle field office run you down here to check on us”? “No, my orders are to make sure you two follow yours”, she reached into her nurse’s smock, pulled out the contents, and handed it to Agent Landers. “Here”, she dropped the remains of the camera into his hand, “I’v
e got him going into another room shortly, and he should be out of here in the morning, so get ahold of Evans to get another camera”. Wendy pointed up to the corner of the Hospital. “He’ll be in room 239, last room on the corner”. “I need to get back up there and get rid of those idiot locals they brought in, See you boys later”. Don watched Wendy walk away, but his attention was drawn to some smoke coming out of the second

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  floor windows. “Uh, Frank, are we really supposed to, you know, kidnap this kid”? “It’s not kidnapping, we’re just delivering him to some people that want to see exactly what he’s capable of”. Don had seen firsthand what Billy’s capable of, and wanted no part of it.

  As Nurse Mattie walked down the hallway of the second floor, she was almost run over by Detective Hargrove, followed by the two Officers. “That kid’s a Demon”, hollered Hargrove, as he stumbled, ran, and stumbled some more. The two officers offered no insight of their own, as they tried to catch up to Hargrove. Around the corner in the waiting room there sat Billy Speer, alone in his wheelchair, surrounded by the smell of a loaded diaper, and burnt hair, none of which was his.

  The look on Nurse Mattie’s face said it all, as she scanned the waiting room, noticing bits of melted phone, leftover smoke that had not yet dissipated, then to me. She gave me a look like I was a puppy that just wet the carpet. “Are you ok Billy Speer”? A bit of relief came over me as I was sure I was going to get yelled at. “I’m fine, but I can’t say the same for our rude guests that left without saying good bye”. She held a hand up to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the laugh, which came out anyway. “What happened to make them leave”, trying to restore a sense of normalcy. “After you told them about the gloves, backing away from me, and all, I overheard the two cops say that their watches had quit work-ing. Then Detective Hargrove, ignored your request, put the gloves on the table, and sat right next to me to I guess get me to confess to the murder of Dr. Bangor. After I didn’t, he went for my throat, and all hell broke loose”. Mattie reached

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  into her smock pulled out a pair of rubber gloves, snapped them into place, and proceeded to check my neck. Turning my head back and forth, checking my eyes, and my pulse, she seemed satisfied with whatever she was looking for.

  “It’s amazing that you don’t have any marks on you at all, did you notice if any of them had any marks, burns after you were touched”? “Not that I remember, just that god awful smell”. “I’ll agree with you there, it does smell like a bucket full of dirty diapers, among other things”. “So my friend, let’s get you some new digs, and if you’re careful, we might maneuver a little TV viewing”. I was starting to feel better already, Mattie wasted no time wheeling me to my new room, and hopefully this one doesn’t have a window.

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  the new room was as boring as the other one, except that the window was intact. Nurse Mattie helped get me situated in bed, put a fresh dressing on my foot, and a pain pill for my foot, it was throbbing a bit. I had asked if I could get something to eat, why I felt hungry escapes me, but I was. Mattie cheerfully wrote down my request. “I don’t know about 2 cheeseburgers and fries, but I’ll see what I can come up with, and when I get back, we’ll have us a good long chat. Don’t you worry it’s nothing bad dear, I’m here to help”. I was glad of that, I’m going to need all the help I can get.

  It was a Hospital Cheeseburger, and only one at that, but it tasted so good. Perhaps the fact that I haven’t had anything to eat for two days made it taste that much better. Only a theory of course, but I had nothing else to go on. Nurse Mattie returned to my new room shortly after the delivery of my burger, pulled a chair up close to the bed, and waited for me to finish. She looked like she had a lot on her mind.

  Maybe after our talk, I could persuade her into another cheeseburger, strangely enough I was still hungry. I pushed my tray off to the side, of the bedside table and awaited our talk. I was concerned at first, as she was looking off towards the window, finally she turned back to me.

  “First thing we need to agree on is that our conversation stays between us, no one else, you understand Billy Speer”? I nodded in agreement as she continued. Mattie got up from

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  her chair to go close the door, even locking it, this can’t be good. I was confused about a lot of things right now, and this wasn’t helping. “I’ve noticed that you’ve spent a lot of time with me, so what about you’re other patients”? I must have hit a nerve, as indicated by the scowl she gave me. “Let’s just say that, you are my only patient”. Okay that didn’t help at all. “I thought nurse’s had numerous patients”. She sat back down in the chair next to my bed, reached into her smock and pulled out a small wallet of some kind. “Remember, just between us”. Nurse Mattie opened her wallet to show me a picture of her, but the name was Wendy Boling, and the rest of it, oh crap, the FBI. She flipped it around to the other side to show me her badge.

  My mind was full at the moment, I wasn’t sure how many more surprises I could handle. “So, am I under arrest or something”? She smiled, which was somewhat reassuring. “No ,but let me tell you there are people out there interested in you, but not so much your well-being”. “I don’t follow, who would be interested in me, and how are you a nurse and with the FBI”? Her smile never wavered.

  “I was assigned to make sure the other agents, monitoring you from the van out in the parking lot, were able to let’s say, complete their assignment. Our resources are vast, and I was a nurse at one time, so after a couple of phone calls, I am your personal nurse, specializing in special care patients such as yourself”. Almost yelling I reply, “I’m being monitored, why am I being”…… Trailing off in volume it came to me, somehow they have seen or heard what I’ve done even though I don’t know how I do it.

  “Billy Speer, you have been hit by lightning, can somehow

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  release bits of that electricity, and I’m starting to understand how you do it”. I’m glad she has a clue, because I sure don’t. “There have been reports of 3 other people, recently, having been hit by lightning, and survive, showing some of the same abilities that you currently possess. The first one was in Guatemala, he couldn’t be touched without shooting high amps through everyone trying to help him. The electricity left his body within 24hours. The second one was from Beijing, his powers left his body in 4days. The third from Canton, Ohio, electricity stayed with this man for almost 2 weeks. You need to understand the government’s interest in you as a possible asset, or weapon if you will. A special task force has been formed to research, and investigate how the body is able to retain so much electricity, of which I am one”.

  The government thinks of me as an asset, or a weapon, the weapon part I can understand, especially after I eat Taco Bell, you don’t want to be around me. I don’t suppose that’s the type of weapon she was referring to. “I’m still all sorts of confused, what would the government want me for”? “These are troubled times in a lot of places Billy Speer, if you maintain your abilities, you could be quite a useful force in numerous situations. That brings me to the other part of our talk that you need to be clear on”. A brief moment of silence, which I was going to need many of, to even start to absorb what Mattie was telling me. “What I’ve told you is confidential, and I could even be fired for discussing this if they ever found out……..But, I have also taken a new job. The FBI is not aware of it, nor would I want them to be. I will have 20 years with the bureau in 6 weeks, actually 2 days after you turn 18, which is when they can legally do with you

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  what they please. My new position is to make sure my previous employer doesn’t succeed with their assignment, and that you are safe”.

  I’m sure Mattie was trying to break it to me as gently as possible, though I was not thrilled with the phrase , Legally do with me as they please, just doesn’t please me. I had questions, quite a few actually, but could not get them out, I had a headache, with the probability that it wa
s not going away anytime soon.

  “As far as the bureau knows, I’m her for 6 weeks then start collecting my retirement package. I’ll be in communication with the two outside in the van in the parking lot, but also in contact with my new employer. I can’t stress this hard enough, but if you are approached by those two in the van, I’ll tell you about them later, make sure if the name Mattie is brought up, make sure that you refer to them as your nurse in the Hospital”.

  “Tomorrow, family services will be here to take you to the old coast guard site by the harbor. They have facilities set up for those who will be of legal age soon”. She noticed that I lowered my head. That news really hit hard, no parents, no home, and I get to go live in World War II billets. Not what I had in mind for my senior year in high school.

  “I will be by every couple of days to check on you as Nurse Mattie, to make sure you’re ok, and to remind the staff of your needs. And when those 6 weeks are done, and you turn 18, I’ll be there to make sure the FBI is lead in the wrong direction concerning your whereabouts”.

  That made me feel somewhat better, not much, but some. “Do I call you Wendy, Agent Boling, or what”? “For the next