by Marc Lindsay
‘Don’t stop,’ she whispered. Even though she couldn’t really see, Selene was sure Jason was smiling coyly back.
The first movie was amateurish and cheesy, but in a good B movie way. The second was a solid thriller with mind blowing special effects. So for the next four hours they laughed and screamed with the rest of the audience. Selene gripped Jason close during the really scary moments and in-between they kissed and made out. At the end of the show they remained behind waiting for the throng of noisy kids to exit the theatre. They were in no rush, wanting only for the night to last as long as possible. Eventually they were chased out by an elderly usher wielding a vacuum cleaner. Outside there was only a small number of patrons loitering around. They didn’t linger, instead they walked off hand in hand in the direction of the park.
‘How good were those movies,’ Jason beamed.
‘Yeah, something about seeing the classics on the big screen gets me every time,’ Selene said.
‘No matter how many times I see The Thing, I can’t help but think how inevitable their doomed conclusion is from the start. The moment you hear the music and the introduction of the world weary characters, you just know that they’re on a path they can’t hope to change,’ Jason said. They walked on in silence, then suddenly Selene stopped dead in her tracks, a thoughtful slightly dark expression on her face.
‘Is everything okay?’ Jason asked concerned.
‘Do you think that maybe that’s us too?’ Selene said.
‘What? Do you mean The Thing?’ Jason said jokingly.
‘I’m not joking, think about it.’
‘I think that the movies got you down is all,’ Jason said, trying to coax her along.
‘I’ve been thinking on this for a while now. What if everything that’s happened, or going to happen, is somehow preordained,’ Selene said struggling to make her point.
‘I don’t believe that at all, stuff happens, we deal with it, we move on,’ Jason said casually, clearly just wanting this line of conversation over with. ‘Our lives just seem to be moving along some kind of planned path, you moving here, your heritage, my future with the guild, us meeting, the Harvest Festival and my becoming the champion,’ Selene said, frustration evident.
‘You’re not happy?’ Jason asked frowning.
‘No, not at all, I guess I’m just worried we don’t have a choice in all this. And what if there’s something bad on the horizon for us,’ Selene said.
‘Of course we have a choice, and as for trouble, I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you,’ Jason said smugly, pulling her close in an embrace attempting to alleviate her fears. Selene knew she was being manipulated but was comforted regardless by his warmth and presence.
Selene suddenly jerked her head from Jason’s chest, looking around sharply, their surroundings pitch black.
‘What’s the matter?’ Jason asked, looking around as well.
‘I heard something!’
‘What? What did you hear?’ Jason hissed. Selene continued to scan the area, then wrinkled her nose in disgust.
‘Something? I’m not sure. Now I can smell it, whew, bloody awful,’ Selene said. Jason made subtle changes to his physiology, increasing the intensity of his senses, hearing, vision and smell after which he sniffed the air then wrinkled his nose in disgust like Selene.
‘Crap, what is that smell,’ Jason complained. Selene’s gaze stopped as she squinted against the night.
‘There!’ she said pointing off into the distance. Jason strained to see what Selene had found. Despite his excellent night vision, it was a starless night due to the heavy cloud coverage and the fact that Perigord Park was thick with vegetation, the figure they spied was almost indistinguishable.
‘It’s small whatever it is?’ Jason remarked. The unidentified creature realised that it had been spotted, let out a hiss then scurried off into the night.
‘It’s trying to get away,’ Selene cried.
‘Not if I can…,’ Jason replied his voice cut off as he transformed, his body seemed to shrink in size as he fell to his hands and knees. His clothes melted away and was immediately replaced with a thick orange fur, a fluffy tail sprouted forth from his lower back. Jason’s facial features now gone and in their place a sleek canine head with large ears and eyes and finally small nimble paws padded the earth. Jason’s human form was completely gone, now standing before Selene was a handsome fox, the change took but a second. Jason regarded Selene then let out a feral growl and before she could respond he took off in pursuit of the fleeing creature. Without thinking Selene followed swiftly behind into the darkness.
Jason could barely keep sight of his prey as it moved with blinding speed, he was only able to catch brief glimpses of movement. Jason was running at top speed, his surroundings going by in a blur as he ran through bushes, jumped park benches and weaved between trees, but no matter what he did, he was unable to close the distance. Jason could sense Selene following close behind and wondered how on earth she was able to keep up with him. The creature led the pair through the park for several minutes, always able to remain one step ahead of them its identity never revealed.
They had now reached the edge of the park where one of the main roads that ran parallel with the park lay. Without any other thought than the pursuit, Jason left the cover of the trees and directly into the headlights of an oncoming car. Disorientated by the sudden rush of light Jason barely had time to register the vehicles presence, instead he stopped and stared blankly as the car bore down on him. At the very last moment the car swerved, missing him by mere inches. One second he was staring directly at the car’s front grill and the next it was a fading blur in the distance, by the time he had gathered his wits the creature was long gone. Jason attempted to locate its whereabouts by increasing the range of his senses, but with no success.
Selene ran to his side just as Jason was reverting back to his human form. ‘I lost it,’ Jason said disappointed.
‘Not your fault, whatever it was, it moved like lightning,’ Selene said.
‘Speaking of which, how the hell did you catch up. There’s no way you should have possibly caught me, let alone found your way in the dark so easily,’ Jason queried.
‘I’ve noticed changes in the past couple of weeks, my senses are sharper, I feel super fit as well.’
‘No kidding, speed, increased strength and something more, a warrior’s instinct,’ Jason noted.
‘I guess it’s a part of becoming the champion, right?’ Selene said.
‘More than likely, we need to talk to Ulysses about it. I want to know if this is the norm and if there is anything else you, we should be made aware of.’
Being a Saturday Jason was able to sleep in the following morning, something with which he intended to take full advantage of. Ten o’clock was the limit to his guilt as he dragged himself reluctantly from his bed and made his way downstairs where he found his mother drinking tea over a newspaper.
‘Morning sleepyhead, how was your night at the movies?’ Helen asked.
‘How did you know about that?’ Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.
‘Not much is a secret in a small town,’ Helen said.
‘You’d be surprised how many secrets this town actually holds Jason thought to himself.
‘So what are your plans today?’ Jason asked.
‘Well for the first time since I’ve arrived, my schedule is completely free, and with coaxing from Mrs Andraste, I’ve agreed to take a sabbatical,’ Helen said.
‘That’s great, what are you going to do with your newly won freedom?’ Jason asked.
‘Well I was thinking that we might go to your place of work, and you could show me around,’
‘The library! You finally have a day off and you want to go to the library?’ Jason asked surprised.
‘Of course. My son is taking a serious interest in turning his part time job into a full time career. I want to have a look for myself,’ Helen said equally surprised by her son’s response. ‘I�
��m just sorry I haven’t found the time to come sooner.’
‘It’s not your fault, we’ve both been busy since we arrived. If you really want to waste your day, then of course I’d love for you to meet my boss and see the library for yourself,’ Jason offered.
‘Well since you’ve so graciously asked, let me get ready and we’ll go.’ Helen said. Jason smiled but felt apprehension grip him, an uncertainty of what her visit may uncover.
They stood at the entrance, Jason hesitating near the door, all the way over Jason dragged his feet, deliberately wasting time, anything to delay their arrival. Before he had left Jason had texted Selene and explained his mother’s desire to come in with him. So when they finally entered Perigord library, he wasn’t sure how his mother was going to respond to its deceptive interior.
As they walked down the steep staircase into the inner sanctum, Helen appeared to take in the décor with great interest.
‘Well it seems you weren’t exaggerating. This place is amazing. I’m very intrigued to meet this Mr Walker,’ Helen said. Jason didn’t answer only nodded, a cold lump of dread filled his stomach as they reached the reception desk where Selene was waiting for them.
‘Ms Page, it’s great that you’ve finally come to visit,’ Selene said.
‘Yes, I’m glad to be here too, its reputation so far has more than lived up to Jason’s praise,’ Helen said. Jason seemed to relax a little.
‘Come on mum, I’ll give you the grand tour,’ Jason said. Over the next half hour, they showed Helen around the public areas, she was amazed at the large variety of reading material as well as the art and statues that adorned the walls, shelves and tabletops. Jason was relieved to find that the library wasn’t acting in its usual strange and weird manner. They finally showed Helen the Persian exhibit, she was impressed with its meticulous presentation and attention to detail. After the tour they adjourned to the staff lounge where they found Ulysses and Ms Jax sipping tea.
Ulysses jumped to his feet and met them across the room.
‘Mrs Page, a pleasure to finally meet you,’ Ulysses said sincerely. Helen smiled back, but her eyes did a double take as she took in his size.
‘You must be Ulysses, Jason said you were big,’ Helen said. Ulysses blushed, coughed and laughed self-consciously. Ms Jax was the next to introduce herself, much to Jason’s relief no one did anything bizarre and his mother was sufficiently charmed. Ulysses offered Helen a seat at the table while Jason prepared more tea.
‘I must say, I’m very impressed with your establishment,’ Helen said.
‘I wish I could take all of the credit, a lot of the grand work goes to the men and women before my time, not to mention Amelia here,’ Ulysses said.
‘I wonder; how can the town support such extravagance?’ Helen asked.
‘We’re not chartered by the town Helen,’ Ulysses said. Helen gave him a puzzled look. ‘A special estate was established years ago by a wealthy benefactor that governs the operations of the Perigord public library. Much like a trust fund.’
‘That must be some trust fund?’ Helen remarked.
‘It is! In fact, it’s so vast that despite the number of years that it’s been in operation, the day to day costs to run, expenditures and wages have barely touched the original sum, let alone the hundred years of interest accumulated,’ Ulysses said.
‘Wow. So what exactly is your official title here?’ Helen asked.
‘In a nutshell I’m the caretaker and with the help from Amelia, we balance the books, hire additional help like Jason and Selene, preserve the integrity of this environment and receive meagre but satisfactory wages for our efforts. We also receive free accommodation and food as part of our employee benefits contract,’ Ulysses said finally with a smile.
‘I must ask as a mother, what sort of future could a job like this hold for my son?’ Helen asked.
‘Mum!’ Jason moaned, embarrassed by her brashness. Ulysses laughed out loud.
‘It’s fine Jason, your mum’s just looking out for your interests,’ Ulysses said. He then met Helen’s gaze square on. ‘I assure you Helen, I have great respect for your son and Mrs Jaegers grand-daughter, and they both have a job here as long as they want it. In fact, I have the authority to put that into a contract if you prefer,’ Ulysses said boldly. This remark clearly knocked Helen off guard.
‘I appreciate your candour. I can’t speak for Selene but as for Jason I feel that he’s still a little young to be putting all his eggs in one basket. But I assure you, both of us will be taking your offer into full consideration,’ Helen said.
‘Of course, there’s no rush, I just wanted to lay it all out in the open,’ Ulysses said. This seemed to satisfy Helen. Just then the door opened and in walked Kava.
‘Great,’ Jason muttered. Kava walked casually over to the group looking neatly dressed and as usual exuding charm and confidence, this coupled with his rugged good looks made him look the complete package. Jason watched his mother’s reaction, dreading what was about to happen next.
‘Ulysses, where have you been hiding this beautiful woman,’ Kava said boldly.
‘Steady on, this is Jason’s mother, Ms (Mrs?) Page,’ Ulysses said.
‘My apologies to the both of you, I sometimes forget that directness in your culture can come off as assumption and bad manners. I sincerely meant no disrespect,’ Kava said. This was directed at Jason but his eyes never left Helen.
‘It’s perfectly okay,’ Helen said, the whole room did a double take.
‘Oh no,’ Selene whispered.
‘What?’ Jason whispered back.
‘She’s playing with her hair,’ Selene said, Jason gave her a puzzled look. ‘It’s a sign that she may be interested. You really have no idea about women do you?’
‘This is a nightmare,’ Jason said, his head in his hands. Kava was now seated next to Jason’s mum, the combination of his swarthy good looks, accent and charm had her completely dazzled.
‘I’m glad we had the opportunity to meet Ms Page,’ Kava said.
‘Please call me Helen,’ she said with a warm smile. Jason watched on in horror, completely helpless as they flirted for the next half hour, during which he tried unsuccessfully to coax her away.
‘Give it up, he’s too good,’ Selene said pulling Jason aside.
‘I have to do something,’ Jason grumbled.
‘I think your best bet is to do nothing.’
‘What are you crazy?’
‘Let it play out, it may be nothing,’ Selene said. They both looked over to see Helen and Kava laughing about some joke he had just told her, Helen’s hand was touching his arm in a rather intimate manner.
‘Great, this is just great,’ Jason said glumly.
‘We really don’t know anything about him? This might not be such a bad thing,’ Selene said attempting to placate his fears.
‘That’s right, we really don’t know anything, and that worries me. His secret meeting with Mr Vert raises too many questions,’ Jason whispered. ‘Is everything alright?’ Ulysses asked from behind. Jason and Selene both jumped.
‘What,’ Jason said on reflex.
‘I just asked if you’re alright, you seem a little tense?’ Ulysses asked.
‘I’m fine,’ Jason replied defensively.
‘Kava and Helen appear to be getting along well,’ Ulysses said. Jason attempted to smile and failed miserably, Ulysses immediately picked up on in his unease.
‘Kava, I think we should let Ms Page get going, I’m sure she has better things to be doing right now,’ Ulysses said. Both Helen and Kava looked up disappointed.
‘Actually I don’t have…,’ Helen began.
‘Jason was just saying that he had plans on taking you out to lunch,’ Ulysses said.
‘That’s right mum, in fact we probably should get going right now,’ Jason blurted out. Helen nodded reluctantly.
‘Every mother’s dream,’ she said.
‘Great then it’s settled,’ Jason said quickly,
walking over and helping Helen from her seat, then protectively steering her away from Kava and towards the door.
‘Thank you for your hospitality,’ Helen said over her shoulder as Jason shoved her out the door. Selene too excused herself and chased after them giving Ulysses a brief and awkward glance before disappearing as well.
The three of them had lunch in a quaint little coffee shop that specialised in pastries. As they ate Helen asked a myriad of questions concerning Kava and seemed oblivious to the fact that the entire conversation was making her son extremely uncomfortable.
‘So, Ms P what are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?’ Selene asked attempting to steer the conversation away from Kava.
‘To be honest, I hadn’t even planned to take the day off in the first place, now after such an interesting morning, I’m thinking I might finish the day with a little bit of light reading,’ Helen said.
‘That’s great, a bit of alone time, recharge the batteries,’ Jason said. Selene gave him a dark glance from across the table that said ‘cut it out’. Jason nodded and fell silent.
‘And I’m sure Ulysses has plenty of work for you two as well,’ Helen said. ‘I’m sure he does,’ Selene said.
‘Well if that’s the case, this is where I’ll leave you two, if that’s okay,’ Helen said.
‘Perfectly fine,’ Jason remarked. Helen got to her feet and kissed her son on the forehead. ‘Have fun and I’ll see you later mum.’ After she left Selene gave Jason a disappointing look, one which he ignored.
‘I can’t believe how much she’s being taken in by that big phoney,’ Jason brooded.
‘Get over it, he’s only here for the week,’ Selene said. This comment seemed to alleviate some of his concerns. ‘She’s right, we better get back to work.’
They slowly trudged back towards the library, the streets were sparsely occupied, only a few individuals out braving the cold weather, something that didn’t bother the young couple, due to Jason’s adaptable physiology and Selene’s alien clothing, allowing them both to be comfortable in almost any climate.