by Peter Hartz
A county deputy and a city police officer hopped into the front seat and turned on the sirens and lights, trying to get out of the parking lot with their prisoner before, in their mind, something else really bad happened.
After they’d cleared the lot and pulled out onto the main road, Daniel turned and saw that several cars were following them, from different jurisdictions around the city and county. He was certain it wasn’t all of them, though, and was glad that several had stayed behind to take care of Alana and her family. It was not going to be easy for them with the live news feeds capturing and transmitting her return to the living. She would need protection from the crazies that inevitably flocked to supernatural events like what just happened. Daniel was certain that he could take care of himself, but he expected to be unavailable to protect the college girl that had been dead for over a month now.
The silence inside the car was a palpable thing when he broke it by clearing his throat. The deputy driving nearly jumped out of his skin and the squad car swerved briefly before the well-trained instincts of the veteran law enforcement officer righted the car once more.
“What?!? What do you want?” The city police officer knew his voice was a little strained, but it was understandable. His worldview had been turned upside down in mere minutes. He was happy the girl had been found, or whatever what happened was called, but there were so many unanswered questions. Was the kid in back involved? Is that how he knew where to find her? How the HELL had he done what he just did? It was obvious that she had been dead and dismembered, but now she was living. How the hell had that happened? What were those different colored lights that had come from him? What was that barrier he had erected? And how had he shook the ground, and why? The questions were making his head spin, and he drove onwards on instinct, trying to keep his speed down somewhat to give him a better chance to recover in case he lost control.
“I just wanted to say thank you for getting me out of there before the people got unruly. I hope that your fellow officers will protect Alana and her family from the craziness that is about to descend on them. This will not be easy for them, but I am certain that they will be happier in this situation with her than without her.” The words were quiet, and sincere, but the deputy glanced at the city officer riding next to him, not saying anything. He had no idea how to proceed with this, and decided to turn the kid over to anyone that would take him as soon as possible. Then he was going to go home and hug his wife and his two sons and his daughter a lot, and probably never let go again.
The ride was quiet and uneventful after that, but the transition to the interview room in the sheriff’s station didn’t go as well. Several cops were hanging around, some of whom had been at the search and witnessed what he had done. They had parked and hustled into the building first, to be on hand in case something happened that they were needed for. They had stood quietly in the garage along the way from the car to the doorway into the building. It was one thing to think you are ready for a supernatural event, and quite another to be confronted with it when it does.
Daniel stood with the assistance of the deputy as he was pulled from the back of the car, and looked over the officers in the indoor parking area used for the transfer of arrestees. On a whim, he called what Sekur had named his Physicker Sight up, looking over the officers. The resulting glow from his eyes caused more open mouths and some Oohs and the like, startling even the hardened officers.
Daniel winced at what he saw. Several were alcoholics, to be expected in such a challenging and difficult line of work. There was the usual collection of age-related ailments and the like, but one man in particular stood out.
With his hands cuffed behind him, he was unable to point or wave, but he jutted his chin out at the man, and said, “Sir.”
The officer looked uneasily around at his fellow officers, before saying, “Me?”
“Yes sir. Can you please come here for a moment? I’ve had all my shots, and I am completely house-broken. Not to mention I have these lovely bracelets someone graciously gave me. It will be alright. Honest.” There was a titter of nervous laughter at that, but the officer drew a deep breath and steeled himself. Then he stepped forward.
“What is it?”
“Have you known about the cancer? It is spreading fast. You don’t have much time.”
He gaped at the young man.
“How do you know about that?” he demanded oppressively.
“It is one of my abilities. You can see my eyes glow, right? My Physicker Sight is one of the things that lets me see things like that. My teacher told me about it, and why. Do you want me to heal you? Do you all want me to heal all of you?” He looked around at the gathered officers in the immediate area, a gentle smile on his face.
“What do you mean, ‘heal us’?” The deputy holding his arm spoke up now, and Daniel turned to look at him. The deputy flinched as those glowing eyes focused on him, but he didn’t let go of the young man’s arm. He spoke up again.
“What do you mean? What is wrong with me?” He tried to make it sound gruff, but his voice came out strained, and a little high pitched. Those glowing eyes were incredibly distracting.
“You have liver problems, you are missing two teeth, and you have suffered a couple of bad concussions over the years. Your knees are almost completely worn out, and your left hip needs work. And you have abdominal problems, among other things.” His eyes turned and looked over the other officers, and no one moved as that unearthly gaze swept over them. He singled out one younger female deputy, and nodded towards her.
“You are unable to have children.” Deputy Dee Carlton’s eyes filled with tears as he said that. It was the reason she was currently going through a divorce – her husband Brad wanted the kids that she was unable to give him, and he was going to move on from her while he was, in his words, still young enough to be a father. Personally, she thought to herself again, anyone that abandoned their promises that quickly would make a very poor father. Before she could respond to the kid in front of her, though, his gaze swept on.
“Several of you are alcoholics. There are various other things wrong with most of you here. I can remove them all. Here, hold these for a moment.” He turned and handed the handcuffs that had been on him to the now-shocked deputy, and took a single step forward. He closed both eyes, which cut off the glow, then swung both hands up in an arc.
A red light flashed from him to wash over all the people in the room, quickly followed by a yellow light, then a green light, and finally a blue light as he moved his arms three more times.
The transformation was quick, and several of the officers found themselves reaching desperately for pants that were suddenly some sizes too large as the extra weight they had been carrying around, some for decades, was suddenly erased as if it had never been there. A few who were holding up their pants to protect their modesty with one hand also had to reach up with the other to remove glasses that were no longer needed.
Daniel looked around and nodded once at his handiwork, and then turned back to the burly deputy who was also holding onto his pants with both hands, his glasses now in one of those hands. He reached out and gently removed the handcuffs from the shocked deputy, then reached behind his back. After a moment, he turned and showed the deputy that the cuffs were back in place, and he was ‘restrained’ once more. With a smile, he said, “Should we get going? Where am I supposed to be headed again?”
Chapter 34
FBI Special Agent in Charge William Nelson looked at the security footage from the station garage once more, unable to understand what had happened. He had arrived from the main office a half hour before, only to find a police station in shambles. Several officers were wearing uniforms much too large for them, for some reason. And everyone had a strained, credulous look on their faces, as if they’d seen a ghost or something. Given that he had seen the live footage from the search scene before leaving the local FBI office to investigate, he could understand that. One of the shocked officers, still hold
ing his pants up with both hands, had stared at him as if he had two heads for a moment. Then he shook himself.
“Sorry, sir, what did you say?”
“I asked you why your uniform doesn’t fit. Can you tell me about that?” He asked it gently, trying not to overwhelm the officer, who was clearly on the edge.
“Ah. About that. I seem to have misplaced some fifty, sixty pounds that I woke up with this morning. I mean, it was like, flash-flash-flash-flash, and suddenly my pants are heading south on me. And the kid just stood there, you know?” The officer’s head shook once more, and the SAIC just nodded. He would figure it out eventually.
Now, having looked at the excellent quality video image of the event that the officer referred to, he had no idea what had happened. He sighed.
‘I guess I need to go talk to the kid,’ he thought to himself.
Daniel looked up when the man in the suit entered the interview room. It had been a few hours since he had been left here, and the cuffs were getting uncomfortable. He could, obviously, remove them at any time, just as he had in the garage, but he was going to be respectful until it was no longer a good idea.
The time alone had been well spent, as he’d closed his eyes and communed with Sekur, his teacher. The teacher had no complaints about what he’d done so far, and encouraged him to continue. He still had no complete idea who Sekur was, but he trusted him implicitly. He owed the being for the incredible skills he had trained into and brought out of Daniel in all those nights of endless dreaming.
Now he smiled at the man in the suit, and spoke up. “Can you remove the cuffs? They are getting uncomfortable on me.” He twisted slightly to show the cuffs to the agent, who snorted.
“No, I think we will leave them on for now. What’s your name?”
“You can call me Daniel. Everyone else does.”
“Smart-ass. What’s your whole name?”
“I am protecting my family for now.”
“Oh, we know all about your family. Your friend Rachael said you were her classmate, and we found your picture in the school records.”
“Well, then why did you ask? Do you always ask questions that you already know the answer to?” The tone of voice was innocent, but the question made it anything but.
“Listen, kid – “
“Daniel, please.”
“Whatever. Listen, kid,” emphasizing the word this time, “I want to know how you are able to do what you’ve done. And right now, there are several people who are wondering if you were the one who killed that girl, just so you could pull your little stunt out there in the park. So tell me what I want to know, and we won’t have to get ugly with this.”
“Well, if you know who I am, you also know that I am a minor. I’m sixteen, which means that I have a right to have my mother here when I am questioned. Go fetch her now. Take these handcuffs off. You know that they won’t hold me, but I’m trying to be civil about it. And the fact that I am being questioned brings up another subject. Am I being charged with a crime?”
The tone of voice had changed, the agent realized. He was not dealing with a scared, confused teen. He had rarely heard that confident tone of voice in even hardened criminals.
“Who are you? What are you?”
“Ahh. More questions. I refuse to answer until my mother is here. And I want a lawyer as well, since you seem to be making a federal case out of this.” The last sentence came out in a perfectly level tone of voice, and Daniel turned his head and closed his eyes, his mind elsewhere.
The agent slammed his hand down on the table, hoping to startle a response out of the young man in front of him, but he didn’t open his eyes or even flinch, but the agent didn’t stop there.
“Listen, you little...” That was as far as he got before the agent, and the people in the room monitoring the video cameras in the room, jumped in shock.
In less time than it takes to tell, the teen in front of him disappeared, the handcuffs were heard clattering to the floor, and in his place a massive male African lion stood up and put its front paws on the interview table and roared at full volume less than a foot from his face.
The color drained from the agent’s face as he suddenly found himself fighting for control of his bladder and bowels. He stumbled back into the chair on the other side of the table, and tried to scrabble further back as the massive form jumped easily up on the table, causing it to creak and groan under the nearly six hundred pound apex predator.
Daniel drew back his lips and roared again, satisfied that he had the agent’s attention. Then he cancelled the spell he had used, and jumped lightly off the table, sat back in the chair, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
“I said go get my mother. Don’t make me repeat myself. And please, don’t make me angry.” The tone of voice seemed completely calm and level, but there was a slight edge to the words in the last sentence that seemed to make the agent’s stomach clench. He stood on suddenly wobbly legs, and walked to the door, his eyes never leaving the teenager sitting quietly in the chair.
The door closed behind him, locking the kid inside, and he slumped against the wall, suddenly realizing he was sweating profusely, drops dripping off his chin as it ran liberally from his face and head.
A deputy turned the corner and looked at him, the look on his face indicating clearly he had been monitoring the scene remotely, and the agent snarled at him. “Well, go get this kid’s mother!”
“Right.” The deputy vanished, almost like magic, the mentally off-balance FBI agent thought with a hysterical giggle that threatened to break out of even his prodigious self-control.
It was no more than an hour later when the door opened again, and another person was let into the room. The door closed behind her, and she spoke up.
“Daniel? Why are you here? What did you do? The police wouldn’t tell me anything about what is going on. That unpleasant FBI agent said you were in a lot of trouble, but he won’t tell me any more than that. What is going on?” She was scared, and more than a little angry about being snatched out of her house and driven in a police car at full speed with lights and siren to this place, by a police officer who would only say she was needed to be with her son for questioning. The officer seemed almost to be scared about something. When she had arrived, she had been hustled into the building, then to this room, where she found her son, her only child, sitting alone with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.
Daniel stood up with a smile and walked over to her, hugging her. “Hi, mom. Sorry about this. But, the officers want to know a bunch of things, and I have a right to have you and a lawyer here when they question me. So…” He broke off as the FBI agent opened the door and stepped in again. The smile left Daniel’s face, and he stopped talking.
The agent stopped, just looking, then watched as Daniel took the chair from the agent’s side of the table and carried it to the other, so that his mother could sit next to him. Then Daniel reached down and picked the fallen handcuffs off the floor, and reached out and handed them to the FBI agent.
“Can you get those back to that nice Sheriff’s Deputy they belong to? I am sure he will want them back. Thanks.”
Daniel then escorted his mother to one of the chairs, helped her sit politely, and then sat himself. After a moment, he spoke to the agent.
“Can we please move forward? I want to go home.”
The agent looked for a moment, then turned and opened the door, only to be handed a chair for him to sit on. Flustered, he brought the chair in, set it down, and sat in it.
“Ok, let’s… what is it now?”
“Aren’t you forgetting a lawyer? Don’t I have a right to have one present if I’m being questioned?”
“You’re not being charged with a crime, so you don’t need one.”
“I still have a right to one, don’t I?”
“Well, not…”
“I guess we’re done here, then. Mom, shall we go?” He stood and reached out to help his mother to her feet, but she resisted, s
taying seated.
“Daniel, what is going on here? Why are you here? What did you do?”
“Well, you remember that I was going to help search for that missing girl?” She nodded up at him, confused.
“I found her. They want to know how. I think they believe that since I found her, I had something to do with her disappearance. So, they want to ask me a bunch of questions. I have a right to have you present because I’m a minor, and a lawyer, since it is my constitutional right. This FBI agent is intent on violating those constitutional rights, and is betting that I won’t call him on it. I am calling his bluff. We are leaving, or they are going to charge me with a crime. Which won’t go over very well.”
“Listen, kid, you are going to want to cooperate here, or we will put you in foster care, or better yet, juvenile detention, until you do.” The agent was convinced that the kid wouldn’t repeat something like his previous act with his mother in the room, unless she already knew about it. Based on her responses, she was most likely in the dark about her son’s abilities, which left him on pretty firm ground for the moment.
“Listen you, don’t you dare threaten my son!” Mama Bear suddenly made an appearance in the very frightened and very angry mother. She put her arm around Daniel and pulled him close, subconsciously turning him away from the Agent Nelson.
“I’d listen to her. Compared to her, I am just a little kitten. She’s the real lioness. Her bite is much worse than her growl.” The obvious reference to what happened earlier made him blush, but he tried push his way forward. He pulled out his cell phone and looked down at it as he started to look for a phone number.
“I think that a call to a juvenile court judge I know is in order… gwaaawk!” The agent squawked as the three people, the table, and the three chairs that had been in the interrogation room all appeared on a sandy beach on a beach next to the ocean, under the warm tropical sun.