by Beth Hoyer
impatience while wearing a business suit and a hat covering his head and sunglasses covering his eyes. The elevator reached its floor showing a hallway with a checkered floor. He heard crying sounds in the distance allowed him to follow it to an open a bit doorway which he peered through to see multiple people gathered inside a room that appeared to be a sitting room from the looks of it along with noticing some had their backs to the doorway. He could hear the crying becoming louder from inside the room. Jinks felt his feet lead him away from the door to down the hallway to a door at the end that was ajar as if compelled. He peered inside putting away his sunglasses to see a massive bed with a canopy in the room and froze with fear hitting him seeing a female figure lying inside on the bed with white hair. He sighed willing aside the fearful feeling as the female opened her eyes as if detecting him aimed at the doorway staring at him watching. He gently opened the door wider and walked inside shutting it behind him.
He heard from the female in bed a raspy feminine voice speaking “Jinks Montreal, you came like you promised you would.”
He sigh recognizing Janel’s voice despite the raspy tone and went to the bed to sit on it taking her old gnarled wrinkled hand in his grip.
He stared at Janel who smiled a weak smile at him then she spoke “I told the others to come back when the sun rises. I didn’t want them to know of you visiting me.”
He nodded his head towards Janel who again spoke “A pity that death can’t touch you, Jinks. Oh well. At least I’ll be with Roo again. What a reunion it’ll be when I see him.”
Jinks sighed again softly at the nickname towards her deceased husband Roosevelt Knight as Janel gripped his hand and then she spoke “I have told the others to bury me where Roo is buried. Will you visit my grave from time to time remembering me?”
He spoke “Yes I will. I will come to visit and will be sure to remember you.”
He frowned as Janel gave off a raspy cough sound then she spoke “Jinks, remember me will you?”
He nodded his head as Janel closed her eyes and he heard her breathing become lesser and lesser followed by her breathing cut off which he felt Janel’s body gave up its life to death. Jinks raised a hand towards Janel in a salute then released his hold on her hand and then got up from the bed putting on his sunglasses. He left the room quietly walking pass the doorway where crying sounds were heard and went to the elevator taking it down to the lobby floor where he walked out of the building into the night as fear hit him unexpectedly a feeling that continued to remain with him.
Jinks blinked his eyes of the memory flashing in his mind of Janel's death from remembering that she always saw him as a good friend despite his unnatural mental Human abilities known by her and his ability to be eternally young while deathless, a friendship that continued her entire life from her babyhood to death of old age. He opened his eyes to stare at Janel’s gravestone and gave it a rub with his hand in a care gesture then he adjusted his position to lie down onto his back eyes staring at the moonlight sky while taking off his hat spilling his black long below shoulder length hair, onto his chest while continuing to hear faint roaring noises of domesticated dinosaurs sounding faintly. He sigh feeling himself safe from harm but the feeling of fear continued to stay with him as he willed away the Master. He sigh again eyes staring at the dome's round top as a memory of himself wearing his animal skin clothing living homeless off the streets of New York City flashed in his mind. He had lived there for uncounted number of time struggling to find a way to Wolf’s Howl a town that over too many leagues away from New York City till one morning he out of desperation came upon a policeman walking his horse on a deserted street. He snuck behind the policeman getting onto the horse from behind and thrust an arm around the male's neck in some choking hold making him gasp for air loudly. He kept onto the choke hold sensing the man's breathing become lesser and lesser till the man stopped moving and became limp in his arms. He pushed aside the policeman who fell onto the ground and he grabbed the reins and galloped it out of the city in the direction where Wolf’s Howl town lay. It had taken him all day of riding the horse to the dome's border surrounding New York City and its lands trying to find an way out and a place for getting an oxygen mask till he came upon an inn at the dome's entrance with a stable and found a stable hand sleeping in a stall with a horse appearing to be set for riding along with an oxygen mask found on the horse. Jinks recalling thrust a fist into the stable hand's face repeatedly seeing the male woke up but went unconscious from the fisting. He switched horses quietly and used the fresh horse to take him away out of the dome's entrance despite guarded by the machine guards there. He had managed to use the Master abilities to shut down the machines' attempts to keep him from leaving the dome by saying the command of machine out along with a mental order of getting the locked door to the entrance open and then once out used his powers to get it shut behind him. The travel had taken him many days with the horse to get to Wolf’s Howl using the items on the mare to survive along with repeatedly outwitting dinosaurs' attempts to target his ride as food till he reached the town at night. He recalled the horse stopping abruptly for the first time while he was riding to see group of horned Raptor dinosaurs came out of the bushes in front of him and acted hungry towards him indicating that they wanted the horse as food by trying to target her despite she kicking at them along with giving chase when he rode the horse away while still feeling the fearful feeling of fear. He frowned recalling that he had to get the horse into a river due to knowledge that the Raptors wouldn’t go in and swim which he had the horse swim in the river for a lengthy period till it was apparent the Raptors lost interests in chasing him for getting his ride as food then got her to swim out onto the bank then rode her towards where he wanted to go guided by his instincts telling him where the town lay.
He remembered clearly in his mind Lance telling him "Jinks turn back now! It's not worth it risking your life traveling to Wolf's Howl!"
He remembered that he told off his father mentally by saying "I'm going period and you can't stop me so shut up now!"
Lance in response had stopped his chatter instead seemed silent during most of the duration of the ride only telling him from time to time to stay on the horse whenever he thought of getting off of her. Jinks continued to recall sensing the dinosaurs following but keeping their distance from him along with hiding from him as he rode the horse through the forest till some were brave enough to confront demanding his horse for feeding by coming out of the bushes. He sigh from the feeling of fear to hear an faint eerie roar sounding from his left recalled coming upon another group of raptor dinosaurs who howled the sound chilling him to the bone which his horse in fear ran with him clinging to the saddle and the dinosaurs were sensed not chasing instead were just hiding which he continued to recall himself and the horse finding those dinosaurs hiding in the forest by nearly coming upon them from their hiding spot on the way to the town. Jinks sigh and shut his eyes falling asleep feeling like he earned his rest and that he was safe for now but the feeling of fear remained.
He woke up sensing daylight shining opened his eyes to see the sun was peeking a little above the horizon while hearing silence from the forest to sense that the domesticated dinosaurs has gone to sleep at the time of day. He sat up putting up his hair and stuck his hat on his head and did some limber stretches before swinging himself up by an acrobatic move rare for male Humans to do. He walked to the airlock and shut off the electricity from the box then opened the dome entrance sliding it shut behind him. He went to the box and turned back on the electricity then walked towards the town’s entrance. Jinks could see the drawbridge was down with people wandering out all wearing oxygen masks over their faces and some of them were standing around chatting with each other by hand gestures towards each other. He walked by them hearing their chats become silent seeing him walking by making him nervous from their staring due to memories of people from the Master Organization staring at him obsessed while he was contained in a glass box. He entered the t
own through the airlock hallway after manipulating the door and showing a rack of oxygen masks.
He heard a computer voice speak "Adjusting oxygen wait."
Jinks frowned feeling himself impatient as the computer voice again sounded "Oxygen acceptable levels, mask can be taken off."
He obeyed yanking off the mask off his face held onto his head and facial area by straps of Velcro feeling himself relieved to have it off and entered the open doorway leading to the town. He wandered among the buildings reading the signs displayed outside them while noticed by town’s folk that appeared to have various lengths of black hair with tanned brown skin and eye colors of brown and blue some having both whenever they stared at him making him nervous.
Jinks saw a building with a sign that said “Wolf's Howl Town Library.”
He wandered inside looking around to spot flat screened computers in one section appearing to be for voice activated orders and bookcases filled with books in another section with a series of tables scattered around with arm chairs around the tables. He sighed and spotted a case holding the