by RB Stutz
“I don’t know about you guys, but I am starting to get a bit cabin feverish being locked up with you three each night. Don’t get me wrong, I like you guys, but come on. There are three girls who are more interesting and definitely more attractive than any of you just across the hall, probably as bored as we are. What would it hurt to just wander over and see what there up to,” I proposed to the guys.
“Come on. You just want an excuse to go see Sara at a time she’s not kicking your butt on the range or all over the ring,” accused Alex.
I shrugged not denying the allegation.
James piped in. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Yeah, there’s a reason we’re not supposed to be out,” added Brian.
“Like what?” I asked.
No one could provide an answer.
“Well I’m in,” said Alex. “Besides, what are they going to do? Fire us?”
“Just don’t get caught. I’m going to bed,” said Brian.
Alex shrugged. “Your loss man.”
James didn’t say anything else, but looked irritated. That wasn’t unusual for James. He’d made comments on several occasions about our cavalier attitudes, as he put it, about the training. He felt most of us weren’t taking the training seriously enough. He couldn’t see how we could joke around so much in such a serious situation.
The truth was jokes and lightheartedness were all we had to keep us sane. I’d lay in bed most nights, not able to shut off my thoughts which turned and spun in wonder about who I really was and all I’d lost. I was being trained to be a soldier. Soon I’d been sent out on missions. The consequences of that scared me. I needed humor and sarcasm to keep my thoughts as occupied as possible.
“Are you coming?” I asked James.
“No thanks. I take this training seriously. Going on a panty raid doesn’t fall under my definition of serious,” he said and walked into the bathroom.
Alex flashed a wide grin. “Panties? You never mentioned that part. Let’s get going.” He set off in an exaggerated stride to the door.
James was an okay enough guy. He just didn’t know how to loosen up. He was always so tightly wound which made it hard to get close to him. Also, I thought he had a thing for Sara and was a little green-eyed of how she and I, for lack of a better word, interacted with one another.
Sara and I had developed a closeness, a real bond with each other. It wasn’t that I hadn’t developed a friendship with everyone, we were kind of forced to by how much we were together every day, but Sara and I had a little more than that. I understood her and she understood me. We’d clicked early on and were drawn together.
The unfortunate thing was all our time was taken. There was little to no opportunity to be alone with her, to be able to talk with her, just us. All we had was time during training or meals, with the rest of the group. The only way we had to communicate our affection was in the way we interacted with or looked at each other while in the company of others. There’d been no verbal proclamations of our affection, but it was something understood in our playful interactions.
No one ever said anything, except for random comments from Alex, alluding to the relationship, but I think it was quite obvious to the others how we felt for each other. Alex was right; I did want to get some time with Sara. I really wanted some time to just talk with her, alone. I was hoping to get the opportunity that night.
Alex and I went across the hall and knocked on the girls’ door. I felt like we were sneaking over to the girl’s cabin at summer camp. I had no memory of going to summer camp, but thought I must have had that experience at some point in order to be able to draw upon it, or at least I saw a movie about it.
“Who is it?” asked a voice. I recognized it as Emily’s.
Before I had a chance to answer, Alex said, in his deep voice, “we come seeking asylum from the utter monotony of our bunk mates.”
Alex wasn’t at all what my initial impression of him had been. He was hilarious and helped keep everything tolerable.
There was a laugh from behind the door and when it opened Emily peered out. “What are you guys doing
“We just needed a change of company,” I said.
She looked hesitantly thoughtful. “I don’t know… if Batton catches us…”
“Batton, smatton. It’s unnatural to not let us interact with each other. We’re all hormonal teens needing the company of the opposite sex to stay sane. It seems reasonable to me,” I said dismissing her concern.
Another face appeared at the door. It was Sara’s. “What’s going on? Did you finally work up the nerve to sneak me out of here?” she asked not beating around the bush.
“Well, that depends on what your response would be if I had.”
“Well, let’s just say you propose that Alex come in here and entertain my bunkmates while I accompany you to the training room. Let’s also say I agree to your proposal,” suggested Sara.
“What are we waiting for then?” I said as I took her by the hand and headed towards the main training area.
I looked back to see if Alex was okay with me abandoning him and his grin and thumbs up confirmed he was just fine. I think that was the first time I’d ever seen Emily looking irritated though.
Sara was a beaming light of beauty, cutting into the dimness of the corridor. She was wearing the same grey uniform as I but she wore it so much better. She’d look great in anything though. Her wet golden hair was put up in a ponytail and her face was still a little red from the hot shower she must have just had. Since the facility was underground, there were no windows to let in light from the moon, but at night the corridors and different rooms were kept lit by dim emergency lights. We didn’t say anything as we walked, but her touch and smile said all I needed.
We ended up at a far corner of the main training area and had a seat on a stack of soft mats. Since it was a large room, the light was dimmer, especially in that particular corner.
We sat in silence for several minutes, side by side. The comfort I felt from the warmth of her body leaning against me was incredible. I could smell the soap we all used on her body and in her hair. It somehow smelt different on her, so much better, so enticing. We’d never been alone together and I was initially at a loss at what to say. Should I make a move?
“Does this all feel right to you?” she asked, breaking the silence. “I mean everything we’ve been told. All we’re doing here.” She clarified.
I’d never discussed my feelings about our situation. No one did. With as much time as we spent together and the friendly fronts put up, the truth was we were strangers, to each other and to ourselves. Sara and I were strangers as well, but somehow I felt comfortable discussing those thoughts with her.
“To be honest, I don’t know. It’s so incredible. Sometimes it does feel right and I’m so charged at being a part of this, at having such incredible abilities and being a part of stopping those who threaten the lives of so many, those who did this to us. This is usually when we’re training and doing things that are just so awesome. Other times though… at night… I don’t know, I start to think, start to analyze. Sometimes thoughts cross my mind, certain things, small things in what they say or do that just seem off, not quite right. There are some things that just don’t add up,” I said.
She turned to me. “I know exactly what you mean. I can’t put my finger on it, but something just seems… I don’t know. I guess you said it best, just off.”
“What I keep going back to though, in my head, is if we assume this is not what it seems, some sort of large scale ruse, what has really happened to us? True, what we currently know as the truth is pretty fantastic, but any alternative I can think of would even be more so. Also, why would they go through such a big charade? What wouldn’t they want us to know?” I said.
“Maybe they did this to us in order to have an army of super soldiers? Maybe they just forced this upon us,” Sara proposed. “What if we are just tools to them? Are they just manipulating us into what
they need us for?”
“I’ve thought of that. If that was the case though, we’re not stupid. We’ll eventually have access to the world outside and more information. We’ll be able to figure it out and when we do, how would they expect to control us? We’re stronger than them. Also, why use teenagers? Why not older more experienced soldiers?” I said.
Sara raised her eyes. “We think we’re stronger than them.”
She made a good point.
There was a pause and then Sara continued with a little bit of hesitancy. “Michael, I know we don’t know each other, I mean we don’t even know ourselves, but can we promise that whatever happens, regardless of any of the others, if we decide we need to leave this place, we’ll stick together? I’m not sure why exactly, but I know I can trust you. I somehow just feel it.”
I didn’t have to think about her question. Of course I’d make that promise.
I squeezed her hand gently. “Without question.”
I turned to face her more directly. “Why is it I feel such a connection with you? I have since the first time I saw you. You’re the only part of all this that’s completely right, perfect in the insane situation we’re in here. We haven’t been here for very long and our time alone with each other hasn’t even existed until tonight, but you always trump all my other thoughts. Each night when my mind starts to race with questions, fears, doubts, I come back to you. Thoughts of you, here with me, are what give me the calm I need to be able to sleep each night. Sorry if this sounds needy or sappy, but the truth is I do need you in here. You’re all I have to keep me going each day. I’ll always be honest with you and have your back.”
I paused for a second and added, “You’re my whole world. Whatever it was I had before is gone. I want you in whatever future we have.”
At that she leaned in and pressed her soft lips on my cheek, lingering for a few seconds.
She pulled away. “I like needy and sappy because I need you as well.”
“You missed.” I leaned in to kiss her lips gently at first. She responded in turn. My heart was pounding in my chest. Heat ran through my body as she held my lower lip between her teeth, released it and continued to kiss me with increased fervor.
We ended up falling back on the stack of mats as we continued kissing, lost in the moment and the flood of emotion and sensation. Our bodies were wrapped so tightly I could no longer tell whose heartbeat was whose. A floodgate was released, unlocking a wanting, no a need, that had been held back since I first met her. The warmth of her body against mine and the softness of her perfect lips were exhilarating.
She turned and pushed me on my back and we continued to kiss. Her body was firm yet soft as my hands moved over her. Our bodies moved as one, two tidal waves unleashed colliding into one powerful tsunami.
Sara and I were lost in each other for the rest of the evening. Time was of no consequence. All that mattered was I had Sara. We were together against all that would come.
CHAPTER 13
The funny thing about almost dying is all of a sudden things are put into a new perspective. The circumstances which led up to my near death experience were due to over confidence, carelessness and just plain stupidity. Not only did I almost get myself wasted, my inaction got others killed. I should have been able to save them, I had the power to, but I didn’t. My life was spared that day and whether it was divine intervention or dumb luck, what mattered was I was still alive and I needed to find purpose in that.
Sure, I’d spent the past year trying to stop horrible sickos and I’d helped plenty of people. Had I really done that though because I’d been given a gift and wanted to use it to help others, or had my true motivations been driven by something else? Was it maybe the strength and power I possessed that drove me, the feeling of power I had over those like the ones who took Sara from me?
I was confident in my abilities and felt good when I was able to take down monsters. If I was being honest with myself though, I thought my motivations first and foremost came down to revenge and the power to enact that revenge. Of course I didn’t want anyone to suffer. I wanted to stop any violence towards the innocent. I just didn’t think I’d had the balance right, being too focused on getting the bad guy and not on saving the victim. I decided that was going to change. The incident was three weeks behind me and I had renewed focus and purpose.
Outside of committing to a new moral direction, there was something else bothering me about that day in the clearing. I guessed Bobby and his girlfriend could have come from the HUB. That made sense, if they’d made it out like I had, but that didn’t seem right. They seemed surprised by someone else with abilities. Also, they hadn’t been writhing in agony from the sunlight.
If they were from the HUB, they would have known others existed like them. Somehow they were different. Where had they come from then? Were there more out there? Those were questions I desperately wanted to know the answers to, but hadn’t had the chance to spend much time focusing on. My time of late was occupied by other matters.
Finally getting the bullet out of my leg was an excruciating messy affair. My body burned way too quickly through the local anesthetic I’d stolen, which only prolonged the procedure. Once finished I was extremely grateful the rounds the super powered psycho put in my back had gone all the way through. I felt sorry for the maid who had to clean up the mess in my motel room. I left a generous tip.
I arrived in Seattle just a couple days later. The rate I negotiated at an old pay by the week motel near the down town area was very reasonable, though the accommodations were almost too unbearable for even me. I refused to touch the filthy floors with anything other than my shoes. I kept a pair of flip flops by the side of the bed for quick trips to the bathroom and next to the tub was another pair to shower in.
Sleep, shower, toilet and change clothes was about all I did in my so called home. I even refused to eat there. I didn’t trust any food that went into the cabinets. I wasn’t sure what crawled over it when the lights were out. I swore I could hear the roaches scurrying around when I lay in bed. “Blah,” I hated roaches. I’d invested in eight plug-in air fresheners so the awful smell I couldn’t identify smelled like an awful smell I couldn’t identify covered by a strong over-layer of cinnamon. The place was cheap and in the right location, so I stayed.
It was about the best I could do without any source of income besides what I took. Part of my moral compass reset included trying not to use the funds I had to steal to better my lifestyle. Even though I’d reconciled in my mind what I took was necessary, and I could live with myself, I didn’t want to dive even further into the depths of moral ambiguity. I was fine where I was for the time being. Also, there was plenty in the city to occupy me when awake to keep me from my home sweet hole in the wall.
The reason I was in Seattle in the first place was to try and help the police find who was behind the recent string of serial murders. Over the last couple months a dozen bodies had turned up. The murders all seemed to have the same M.O., someone in their late teens/early twenties covered in small lacerations completely drained of blood. All the bodies so far were found washed in from the Puget Sound, near the downtown area.
Because of the complete evisceration of the bodies, the killings were coined the ’Vampire Slayings’ and getting a lot of press lately. There’d been a total of ten bodies found over the last two months and the police had no real leads.
What I’d been able to gleam from the news articles was each of the victims had been in the eighteen to twenty-two year range and all were familiar with the Seattle night life. In addition to those found, there were another dozen or so people missing, similar M.O.’s. With that common thread I thought the attendance at downtown clubs and bars would have been down, but it wasn’t. They stayed booming with loud music, drinks and plenty of hormonal adolescent activity, despite the threat of death by evisceration.
I was able to jump in and borrow a few case files from the police for a few hours and got a few more bits of infor
mation. Of course, when I did this, the cards were once again stacked against me and an officer walked in to see someone in a black ski mask taking files. At least I was smart enough to wear the mask. I was able incapacitate him before he could draw his weapon and was gone before anyone else arrived. I kept the files only for a few hours and got them back to the police without any further incident.
According to the testimonies of those who knew the deceased or missing, most of the dead or missing were either known to be, or supposed to have been, in the Pioneer Square area. An eighteen and over live music club named the Cross was named in several cases. Other than that, the police files didn’t reveal anything more than what I’d found from the press and in doing my own research.
After three weeks in town, I’d become a regular to Seattle night life. There really were some great clubs that played great live music. Unfortunately I could only pass by the club’s that most interested me. There was one in particular called, Oi!, Oi!, that had live punk bands nightly. A few nights prior, I noticed a poster advertising a Glowing Jims show in a couple of weeks. I hadn’t known they were back together. Given that I was able to stop the killer by then, I planned on staying long enough to check it out.
I spent most of my time each night at the Cross. It was always so jammed packed despite the horrible bands that played the venue. Was one good band too much to ask for? It was like the music gods were out to get me. According to my ID I was nineteen year-old Michael Fox from Bellevue. The authenticity of the ID was never questioned.
Each night consisted of sitting, consuming several drinks and pounds of greasy bar food and simply scoping the room and looking for targets to focus on. There wasn’t really any one thing I looked for in a target, but a list of several qualities which prompted me to look closer. In truth, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but followed instinct and hunches.
After three weeks, it had become easier to identify those I needed to focus on. Both places had a significant amount of regulars that came in several times a week and once I‘d checked someone out I ignored them the next time I saw them.