The Harlequin - 2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

-Lo siento. Lo siento, no.-

 

-My father’s name was Shepherd. He was what I am, a Harlequin. A protector for those like you. He took his name from his grandfather, a famous Harlequin who saved the lives of many people when an operation went bad. But in the end my father didn’t deserve the name. He betrayed us, he sold our secrets to the Tabula, and he was killed for it. Not by my hand, but if I had known...I think I might have done it myself. At the time he was still training me to be a Harlequin, why, I honestly don’t know, and after his treachery was discovered and he killed, I started to train with another Harlequin, Valkyrie. She trained me harder and better then my father ever did. After my training was done and I earned my sword I waited for word of another Traveler like yourself. And now here we are.

-I started my training at the age of five. Back then I was doing simple things like keeping track of entries and exits, quick counts of the amount of people I was around and recalling them at any moment. When I got into middle school it got harder. I remember Shepherd waking me in the middle of the night and driving to a secluded lot. He dropped me off with a stiletto- I took it from my back pocket to show him -this one- and put it back -and left me there. A few minutes later a car pulled up and two men and a woman got out of the car and headed straight towards me. I assumed they were under the impression I was a kind of snitch for one of the gangs in L.A. because they came at me with knives and a bat. I took them down, but it was not easy…-

I absent mindedly rubbed the side of my head as I remembered the fight. It started with the bat coming out of nowhere to the left temple and smacking me to the ground. I blacked out for a second and when I came to, the men were standing over me. They unzipped their flies and pissed on me, while the girl laughed and laughed. As they did it, they yelled things at me. Maricon and snitch. As it was happening, I thought back to what they looked like and gave them names.

One wore all black baggy clothes with white sneakers, and had a large scar on his forehead just above his right eye. The young woman had large gold hoop earrings and a gaudy gold and white purse. Long blonde with brown tipped hair, and no eyebrows. The last guy, the one with the bat whose hit came out of nowhere, wore a black wife beater and baggy jeans. Scar, Bitch, and Bat. Not great names but they would do.

Afterwards, the men tucked themselves back into their pants, and turned to leave. That was their mistake. I got to my feet as silently as I could and quickly moved to take down Scar.

First, I wrapped my right arm around his throat and pulled back, quickly. With the stiletto in my left hand, I stuck the blade as far as I could into his spine and twisted it. Hard.

His muffled scream alerted the others and I dropped him to the ground, already forgotten. Bitch screamed and almost ran to Scar on the floor, but she stopped herself, looked at me with seething hate in her eyes. She came at me then, screaming, arms swinging with abandon. I dodged every weak punch she threw and punched her as hard as I could in the stomach. The screaming died instantly without any air in her lungs. She had doubled over so I grabbed her hair and slammed her face into my knee. A crunch of her nose and she was on the floor, out. For the few seconds I fought her I was watching Bat. He was the one that caught me off guard, he may be better then these clowns.

He looked to his fallen comrades on the ground and looked back up at me. He dropped the bat to the ground and we circled each other for a moment. Then he came at me, he tried to fake with his left and punch with his right, but he was so obvious it was laughable. He also had no stance at all, no balance. I easily blocked that and the next few punches he threw at me. I was sad that he was nowhere at my level, that we could fight proper. He threw more punches and I dodged and blocked them.

After a few more rounds of this but before he got too winded, I decided to end it. I faked to the gut and threw an uppercut to the jaw. He was dazed and I took this time to back up a few paces and kick him as hard as I could in the chest. He landed a few feet away with a thud. I went for the bat and walked towards him.

He was mine and he knew it. I stood on both his arms, pinning him to the ground. He flailed his legs for a second, but I took the bat smacked the ground next to his head. Dirt few all over his face and he got the idea. I let the bat fall from my hands and stood over him, in complete control.

He didn’t understand what I meant to do at first, but as soon as he did he tried to turn his head away. I yelled at him to be still and he stopped and looked up at me, cock in my hand.

-Lo siento. Lo siento, no.- He whispered.

I smiled, and pissed in his big, stupid face. After I was relieved, I grabbed the bat and knocked him out with a quick blow to the temple. Thirty minutes later I heard a car pull up. The smell of urine filled the car. He did nothing, and said nothing the entire ride home, and neither did I.

I snapped out of the memory. For a second I didn’t know where I left off, but then I continued -Shepherd set up fights like that often and at times when I would not expect it. Paying people to follow me after school and other things like that. Valkyrie continued that practice after I moved in with her, and I learned that it was a regular tool used to train all up and coming Harlequins. Last year on my 19th birthday, I earned my sword and became a Harlequin. You are actually my first mission.-

-So that’s my story.- Mostly. -The Evergreen Foundation is the publicly known corporation, but they go by another name. Tabula Rasa. You may know that tabula rasa means ‘blank slate’ in Latin and was coined by philosopher John Locke. The Tabula is an international corporation whose sole purpose is to bring about “social stability”. What they truly seek to insure that every man, woman, and child in this country and the world is identified, watched, and controlled. That is their goal. Their ideal model for society was coined by Jeremy Bentham. Called Panopticon, it allows for a singular person to watch everyone, without their knowledge if they are being watched or not. Nearly every prison in the world already uses this design, and many cities, including London and New York have quietly introduced this technology over the last few years. We suspect that in the next ten years, every major city in the world will have similar technology. But that’s just the cameras. The internet is almost as heavily monitored by surveillance programs as we are on the street. The FBI created a sniffer program called Carnivore. Its purpose was to monitor all electronic communications. It was shut down in 2000, but after 9/11, the Department of Defense created the Total Awareness Office. “Total Awareness” included not only personal e-mails, but the tracking of social network sites, phone calls, medical records, and credit card records, all without any requirement for a search warrant. There was controversy in 2003 when it was discovered, but they changed the name and no one thought anymore about it. The Tabula works like that. They are gathering information on everyone and storing inputting it into one huge supercomputer. If that happens...we’re lost. But that why we’re here. To fight them.

Harlow looked stunned. I think he was finally beginning to understand the scope of our mission. -I think that’s probably enough for today.- The clock read half past midnight.

-Get some sleep. We have work to do tomorrow.

It took a while, but he fell asleep and soon after, so did I.

Over the next week we moved around, from motel to motel around L.A.. The money I spent on places and gas alone was beginning to become a worry, so I had to find somewhere I could stay for free, that would be safe. Which meant doing something I never had before.

In major cities around the world there are places where a Harlequin could leave messages to civilians who are sympathetic to the cause. The only problem with depending on civilians, is that we would depend on civilians.

There are two boards to leave messages in L.A., one at Pasadena City College, the other on the boardwalk of Venice. Pasadena was heavily monitored with surveillance cameras and would be more difficult to safely move around in, so Harlow and I headed to Venice.

We pulled into a parking lot and, after paying, headed to the board. It was 5:30 pm, and was crowded as usual on a Friday afternoon, which was both a blessing and curse. More people to watch out for, but more difficult to be found.

The board was a maintained by a vendor. He had three giant chalkboards and allowed anyone to write anything on them for a small fee. But after looking closer at the boards, the one on the left had a small symbol on the bottom: an oval with three lines through it. This was the hastily scribbled harlequin symbol I was looking for.

I erased what someone had written next to it, and wrote a simple message: 2 travelers looking for a place off the grid. I added an email address and the date then headed back to the car.

The next morning I awoke to an email from a man who was willing to help. We emailed each other a few times, then set up a place to meet, an English pub on Sunset Blvd called The Cat and Fiddle.

At 6:13 pm Harlow and I packed up our stuff at the motel and headed to check out the bar.

It was a nice place with a big dimly lit outdoor patio where people could smoke in front of the bar. It reminded me of the pubs from home. I was in the building across the street to be able to survey the people coming in and out of the place. I people watched for an hour, and nothing had piqued my interest. I had scoped out this place before and had made a note of it, mostly because there were no working cameras in or around it which made it perfect. At 7:42 I spied through my binoculars a man with a lute on his back. This was the one I had emailed.

To some, a guy with a lute would merely be strange. What they would not know, is that the Harlequin symbol, the oval with three lines was simplistic drawing of a lute. This was the guy.

Harlow was sitting, silent as usual. He had remained silent for over a week, ever since I explained to him what he as a Traveler and I, his Harlequin are up against.

I packed up my bag and headed across the street to the bar arriving at 8 pm, exactly.

In the courtyard was the man I was looking for, Scott Bogosian. Internet searches revealed Scott was a half Russian, half Czech American male. Born in Glendale, both parents died in an automobile accident when he was 11. Attended Cal State Northridge for a while before realizing his true dream of becoming a funeral home director. He has a few outstanding parking tickets, but otherwise he’s harmless. He now works in a funeral home in Venice and works part-time in a coffee shop owned by some friends from college.

He was attractive though. I had a picture that had been taken for the school newspaper at CSUN, and while the picture was a years old, Scott was a handsome man. Tall, standing at 6’1 and had an average but slightly muscular build. Pale skin he got from his Russian father and thick dark hair and dark eyes which could be from either side of his family. He was classically attractive, and would look at home in a suit from the 50’s.

Harlow followed behind me while I walked straight up to him.

-Mr. Bogosian.

He looked up from the book he was reading. He seemed surprised before answering -Yes. Yes, that’s me.-

I continued to stand and stare with Harlow behind me. Scott looked at the chair, back to me, and said:

-So…you’re-

-Yes.

Scott looked again at the empty chairs at his table and looked back up at the two of us. -Oh...You want to go now?

-If you please.

He left some money on the table and the three of us left. As we were walking out I told him that we would follow his car to his place, an apartment in Panorama City.

The building was a four story high thin grey rectangle cramped in between several other thin grey rectangles that spanned nearly the entire block save a parking lot near the middle. But the building and apartment were deceptively larger than expected. From the outside the building looked like it only had studio apartments, which it was, but the studios were far longer than I had assumed they would be.

He lived on the third floor, in the studio next to the elevator. And they layout of his place was simple. After entering the door the kitchen was on the right, bathroom beyond it, and the rest of the place was a big room spread before us. A king sized bed was directly under the two large arch windows on the opposite wall facing the alley, and a closet to the left of the beds, and duvet posing as a couch along the left wall facing a TV opposite it and in between the beds and TV, was a desk and a laptop. I liked the simplicity of the place.

I dropped my stuff off along the right wall, asked him to get bedding ready for wherever we would sleep, than left to memorize the place and look for escape routes.

The building had a basic layout, a staircase next to the elevator that led to the parking lot underneath the building. To get into the building you would need a key, as the area was known for gangs and drugs. But the streets were clear after 10 pm as people were scared of being outside late, with would be a blessing. After looking around the place and deciding it would be adequate, as it was exactly as described, I headed back to the room.

Muffled voices inside the studio made me pause, and I noted that one could make out almost every word. They were talking about me.

I opened the door and they immediately shut up, making this moment even more awkward then I predicted. I lingered at the door before audibly sighing and saying just loud enough so they could hear me -Ya know, this awkwardness will probably dissipate once I leave again.- I could feel Harlow and Scott exchange a look of panic and resignation before I went to Scott’s closet, grabbed a towel and my stuff, and left.

While Scott and I were trading emails, he once told me of the pool on the roof as something that might entice me to stay with him for a while. When I walked onto the roof it was how he had described, beautiful in the night with the stars above and no one around. I went for the jacuzzi, got naked and got in.

The bubbles and hot jets caressing, my everything, were exquisite. I knew what was about to happen. I could feel it. The Tabula were going to show up. That was a no-brainer, they were going to find us, it was only a matter of time. But for the moment it all slipped away. I put my arms behind my head and relaxed back against the concrete while the silky suds lapped against my chest. I got the vague notion I should concentrate on my hearing, to stay alert and present, but the water was too good to ignore. I closed my eyes and rested there for just a moment…

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through the darkness

 

-Hey Roland!

There was a hint in his voice, a quality that I couldn’t place, until I opened my eyes and realized that he was standing opposite me staring…intently. And I was naked. I didn’t mind. He could look all he wanted. He could not help himself, and it was cute watching him trying to keep his eyes level with mine.

-Yes? I asked.

-We…just got worried for a sec. You’ve been gone almost two hours.

-Huh. Ok. Thank you.

His eyes dropped again for just a second. -And uh, Scott is gonna order some food.

-No. Don’t order something for delivery. Have him pick something up. And have it be something he doesn’t normally get.

-Oh. Ok.

We were both silent for a second. He seemed to give up on his fight to not stare as his eyes roamed the water. I watched his reaction to me, fascinating I thought, and out of nowhere I said -Thank you.-

This snapped him out of his reverie and he replied:

-What?

I nodded to his crotch, and met his eyes again. -Thank you.-

His reaction was twofold, a blush instantaneous, and turning around so he could adjust himself.

I gave a slight laugh and said it was fine and that I didn’t mind. He still was turned around when I thought it best to move on.

-Harlow, can you grab my clothes and towel over there? I got so excited that I wasn’t thinking when I got in.

He quickly ran to my stuff and brought it over.

-Appreciate it.

-Anytime.- He then quickly turned away toward the elevator.

I pretended not to notice him looking back at the moment I got out of the jacuzzi. He had been embarrassed enough.

I had a smoke, wanting to give Harlow a few moments without me before I toweled off, dressed, and headed back toward the place.

Scott had already left and again we were alone together, but whatever moment we shared had passed and he busied himself with things to do while I played music and browsed the net for information.

When Scott came back with food, Japanese, we sat and ate mostly in silence. Afterward I explained to Harlow something that I had mentioned to Scott early this morning, that they would both have to undergo rudimentary training. He seemed surprised, but nodded with understanding.

They watched movies and eventually fell asleep next to each other on the bed. I surfed the net trying to find information on why Valkyrie had betrayed me. But after checking out her finances and travel patterns, I still had no idea.

But other Harlequins had to know that Valkyrie was a traitor. I hacked into the La Monde, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times and implanted a story:

 

COO Val Kyrie of Harlequin Travel Agency Sides with Competitors

By John Smith

In a press release today from Harlequin Travel Agency, COO Valerie Kyrie announced that she was stepping down effective immediately as COO of the company. In the release, she says that she has had a wonderful time serving with Harlequin, but that the small travel agency was losing the war against consolidated larger companies and that it was time to move on. She also announced that she had taken a position with Evergreen, one of the largest travel agencies in the world. Her son, Roland Kyrie, who also worked at Harlequin had this to say, “I wish my mother best of luck on her new endeavors, and look forward to doing battle with her in the boardroom.”

 

It was simple and inconspicuous, getting what had happened across while letting people know she was off limits. It also would let her know, as she should expect, that I was coming for her.

I didn’t feel good about it, but it had to be done. I turned off the computer and laid down to get some rest.

Over the next few days the three of us fell into a routine. Scott would head to work in the morning while Harlow and I would spar and exercise in the gym. After Scott would come home, Harlow would teach him some simple but effective moves to put someone down, while I would surf the net.

It took nearly two weeks of searching but I had finally found who I was looking for. And when I did, I announced that we would very soon be leaving the city so Harlow could get the training he needed. Harlow, Scott and I went back and forth, but after a few hours we came to an agreement. Scott would not accompany us.

The night before we left I quickly fell asleep on the couch. I was used to getting sleep where and when I could, so it wasn’t a problem for me that it was only 10 pm, besides we would be on the road by 4 am at the latest.

Something woke me up. I looked around the room without moving but it was still and quiet. I waited and waited, straining to hear and see in the darkness but nothing was there. Figuring it was nothing, I got out of bed to get some water. The digital clock on the cable box shown it was 1:30 in the morning and I stretched my aching body before laying down. I had nearly closed my eyes before I heard the noise again. I was up with my sword and on my feet in an instant. I was alert and I mentally chided myself for not paying close enough attention. Two months ago I would have been up and aware before I heard whatever was coming. Something had dulled me.

I stood in the middle of the living room when I suddenly realized that whatever I had heard it was coming from the bedroom, the door was very slightly ajar. I felt an unfamiliar drop in my stomach. I knew exactly what was going on but just to be sure I slowly went over to the large arch windows and examined the world outside. No movement.

I put my sword back and looked at the door 10 steps away. I tried, but I couldn’t help myself. I ever so slowly walked to the door, eyes downcast the entire time. I prepared myself for what I was about to see, and though I desperately didn’t want it to be true, I peered inside.

I gave myself 5 seconds to look. Through the darkness it was difficult to see what exactly was happening. Two bodies engaged in something private, emotional, and deeply physical. I couldn’t see who was who at first, one behind the other and both in a space that I had never been. But then Harlow looked up, and moonlight shown down on his chest and face, which was marked with pleasure and concentration, Scott on all fours in front of him gritting his teeth and moaning beside himself, and suddenly it was too much. I turned from the door, disgusted and ashamed with myself for getting excited, got in bed.

Calm yourself. Rip out your heart and cut it in two. What do you see? Jealousy. They have found each other and you will stay alone, because that is how it is, and that is how it should be. You are jealous. That is all.

I did not fall back asleep.

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partway executed

 

Dr. Jonathan Fitzpatrick watched from behind the glass as Michael shot the young kid in the chest and left him to die. He monitored his own heartbeat, and was pleased to note it never went above 120. It was the inhibitors that did it though, not his ability to stay in control. Besides, Roland’s plan was only partway executed. The rest was up to the doctor. And they only had minutes left to get out.

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little plastic zippers

 

-Jon! Jon? Come on babe, I have to get going!

-Coming!

Nona was thirty-six years old. Thirty-six and three quarters, her young son Jon would say. His mother Nona was leaving for the airport again, which meant that he would be spending the time she was away with his father.

Jon didn’t understand quite what his mother did, she was in sales she would say, and he didn’t always mind that she had to leave so often. Or, he tried to make himself not mind.

His mother Nona picked him up and grabbed his backpack, the little plastic zippers bursting from the pressure of being stuffed past its limit.

-Come on! Jesus…

Jon said nothing. He knew it wasn’t about him, that she was worried about this sale. It was different than her normal jobs because this was all her own. She had been finally, after 4 years of killing herself for this place, been given an opportunity. There was talk of a regional manager position opening up soon. But that was only if she did amazingly well.

She put Jon in the car and ran back to the house. Nona was about to lock the door when she suddenly remembered something, or more accurately, the notion of things remembered, and instead, pushed the door open and ran inside the house.

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through his chest

 

After Shaun Harding and Ms. Saticoy walked out of the interrogation room to their respective offices, Dr. Fitzpatrick entered the room. He did nothing that would make anyone suspicious. He wrapped out put the body on the gurney, and walked it out towards the elevators. After pressing the button, he did nothing that would set off one of the many systems of control on him. Those monitoring his body temperature, or his heartbeat. That’s not even including the many cameras covering every angle of the entire building. But the biometric sensors were only on the floors that housed the Evergreen Corporation’s specialty divisions. There was one in the floor designed to analyze the stance of the people who stood on top of it.

He made sure to stand with his legs shoulder length apart with his weight evenly distributed. He breathed calmly and evenly. He did nothing to indicate how he truly felt inside. But he was sweating. He was nervous. Jon thought his heart could be heard through his chest, and the more he focused on these things, the more nervous he became.

When the elevator arrived there was a noise, a perfectly measured ding, not too loud to disturb anyone not near the elevators, but loud enough that needing to use it would hear. It had a crisp, yet happy, if here were one to describe a tone as happy. The doors slid open, simply, measuredly, and Dr Jonathan pushed the gurney through.

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muffled words and movement

 

It fell silent at 2:30 and I got up to take a shower, pack all of our belongings and wipe the place down a bit. I wrote simple instructions on how Scott could be helpful now, simple tasks that will make him feel less like another pathetic drone but a soldier. By 3:28 I was done, and it was time to wake up Harlow. I walked in the room without hesitation before waking them both up and saying simply, but directly -Harlow, you have 20 minutes to finish packing and getting ready before we hit the road. Scott, thanks again for letting us stay here.-

The shocked look on both their faces was comical. -I can also give you a few minutes to say goodbye.- And with that, I walked out of the room and closed the door firmly behind me. Stunned silence gave way to muffled words and movement, and I sat on the couch waiting with a cigarette.

Scott came out first, no longer naked, wearing pajama bottoms. I couldn’t tell in the dark, but as he stood before me without a shirt I realized just how hairy he was.

-Look, I’m….

-There is no need to say anything, Scott. I thank you again for your accommodations, and I’m sure, Harlow enjoyed them as well.

He said nothing, and I was glad for it.

We stood like that for a second before Harlow walked through the door, hair sopping wet with jeans, an unbuckled belt, and a shirt all askew.

They both seemed embarrassed that I caught them in a naked embrace and said nothing, not moving. I took the opportunity to take all my stuff to the truck. By the time I got back to the studio they were talking in hushed tones and smiling at each other. I had walked in during another intimate moment but this time they didn’t seem to mind. I tried to give them space and couldn’t help but overhear part of their conversation.

-I really don’t know when I’ll be back, where I am going, or…anything really.

-I know, I know, I just…I don’t know. I feel something here, ya know, or maybe just the beginnings of something between you and me, and I know you feel it too.

-Scott, I do, really, I do. And whatever happens I want you to know that I’ll be back, ok? I’m coming back.

-Yeah?

Harlow smiled. -Yeah.-

They embraced. They kissed. I checked my phone for the time. When I glanced up again, they were still going at it. I sighed. -Harlow.-

My voice ended their moment and Harlow and Scott from withdrew from each other. I walked out of the room and a few beats later, Harlow followed.

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long stretch

 

It was 8 in the morning when Harlow awoke. He had been asleep most of the trip. We were headed up the 5 from L.A. and were on the long stretch of highway with nothing around us. Just farms as far as I could see. He awoke and said nothing, just stared out of the window.

-Are you hungry?

He still said nothing.

-I’m sorry that we had to go, I know you felt something about him. But…

-Can you please not say anything, please? Can you just not…say anything, please.

I sighed and continued to drive.

A few hours later he said: -Yes.-

It took me a second but I realized that he finally answered my question. We were in nearly out Sacramento so I pulled off and found the first place I could: Skip’s Pizzeria.

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standing idle

 

Nona stood there, for a long time, just looking. Staring at the stuff, the actual stuff that surrounded her. Material things, worldly possessions. She wasn’t bothered by it. She actually loved it. She loved the idea that she could have something. That it was hers and that no one could take it, these things, from her. They belonged to her, she thought.

Then she thought about what her parents would think if they saw her. But she was long retired. In fact, she rejected what her parents wanted her to become years ago. Almost, my God, almost a deca-

Then she remembered what it was that brought her back into the house. About five minutes ago she was running through the house trying to get all of her things and when something made her pause. A crunch it sounded like to her, almost like boots over broken glass. It had barely registered and she kept running around, packing her car of bags of stuff she might need. But when Nona was sitting in her car turning the key to start the ignition, something made her pause. Something had made her jump out of the car and run into the house. Boots over broken glass.

She was now standing idle in the middle of her living room, toys and clothes strewn about the place, but that was normal, that was another day being a single mother. But what was it that bothered her…

Nona looked back, through the kitchen windows to the driveway where her beat up Dodge Dart sat, but she couldn’t believe what she was looking at.

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-No.-

 

We took seats in the far back so I could see everyone in the place and ordered a pizza. I wanted to try to get Harlow to talk, but he ate quickly and kept his eyes outside on the window.

-I’m sure you’ll see him again.

He looked up from his empty plate and looked at me. He sighed and looked to the ceiling. -I…don’t know how it happened. I really don’t. I think I’m in love with him.-

-Seriously?

He laughed -Yeah.-

-Well…congrats, I guess.

He smiled and looked, for the first time in a long while, happy. I smiled back.

-You should smile more. It suits you.

His eyes softened and he replied -You too.-

I rolled my eyes -Sure.-

-It’s true. You are a really attractive guy, Roland.

-Thanks.- I took a sip of iced tea.

-Have you ever had a boyfriend?

I choked and cleared my throat, and he smiled again. -No.-

-Why?

I sighed and decided to tell the truth.

-Because I do this. Because I have a duty to protect people like you and I take that very seriously and that means that there are parts of my life that I have…fallen by the wayside I guess.

-Are…are you a virgin?

I blushed. -No.-

His eyebrow hitched just fraction.

-…Yes. Yes, if you must know. I have never had sex. Are you happy?

He smiled. -I’m sorry. I was just wondering. That’s crazy, you’re a virgin!

-Will you keep your voice down!- I looked around and more than a few people were staring. -Oh, Jesus Christ…-

He started to laugh again, throwing his head back. I was mortified, but it his laugh was a nice sound to hear.

-What can I say? My enthusiasm for Onanism takes precedence over many, many things.- I said with a smile.

He smiled back -I can guess.-

I broke eye contact and looked out the window. He looked down at his food for a second. Something strange was happening.

-I haven’t told you what we are doing have I?

He rolled his eyes. -You aren’t very…talkative. I’m just, along for the ride.-

-I’m sorry about that. Truly. I’ll work on it. The truth is that you’re going to see a Pathfinder. Someone to help you realize your gifts.

-Which I’m still cloudy on…

-Yeah, I know. Give it time, soon you’ll get it. You have a gift to change the world, Harlow. Truly.

He looked up at me. -I don’t even…

-I know. We will be there soon. You’ll see.

We talked for a while later, than paid the bill and left. Harlow complained about how much he ate and resigned decided to take a nap.

It was 11:00 when I was confident with our progress. I pulled off the highway and we made our way to a motel. Harlow had been no-so-subtly complaining of his need to get out of the car and stretch his legs for a while and was amenable to the notion, evident when I pulled off the highway.

There were several motels in the area and used my RNG to decide which to stay at.

When I got out of the truck and the cold Montana air first hit me was when I realized how tired I was. We grabbed our stuff and made our way inside. The night manager at the concierge gave us a disapproving look before giving us our room, but Harlow and I were not in a mood to argue. He could think whatever he wanted.

The motel room was as depressing as I thought it would be. No bugs, thankfully, but I was sure I has seen a version of the room in some 80’s horror B-movie. No matter. We both took showers and got in the bed.

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past the elevator threshold

 

He reached over the side of the gurney to push the round button that would lead down, toward the basement. Dr. Jonathan was aware, as he always was, of the four cameras in the elevator, of the monitors that the cameras were connected to, and the men and women whose job it was to sit at those monitors and watch, day after day. There was no motion sensor though, nothing to monitor the temperature, or the weight or stance, because it was decided by the Director that with the amount of traffic the elevators get, such instruments would be useless.

Dr. Fitzpatrick tried to think about something else though he knew it was useless. If he was caught, there would be no trial for him. No, he would be taken down and drugged by his own drugs How ironic is that? until he gave up all the useful information that he knew, and then he would be killed.

This isn’t helping. He nearly thanked God when the door opened and no one was waiting for him. The gurney that Roland laid on pulled to the right for a second when he pushed it out of the door. But it pushed it past the elevator threshold and tried to make it seem as if he wasn’t trying to make up for

lost time. Time is muscle his old professor used to say, and Roland’s brain was dying.

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this far and no farther

 

Sharing a bed with Harlow was not my idea, he had figured by now that funds had been running low and suggested it. But there is a strange and indelicate intimacy that comes with two people sharing a bed we both had consciously acknowledged with slight smiles and small laughs, the entire strangeness of the situation not lost on either of us.

We lay like that, together, naked save for our underwear on the bed not talking for what seemed like hours, the budding attraction between us palpable, which kept me awake. I wasn’t sure if he was awake or not either until I finally gave into my curiosity and asked -Awake?-

He sighed. -Yes.-

-What are you thinking about?

-Oh- he said -everything. And nothing. My head just keeps going and going and can never manage to turn itself off.-

-I know what you mean. Plus this shitty blanket does nothing for me. I’m freezing.

-Oh yeah?

-Yeah.

I felt some moving behind me, before I felt a hand on my side. The hand moved from my side around to my front, and came to stop open-palmed at my abs. I felt his chest against my back and his breath on my neck and I immediately had the most raging erection that I had been attempting this entire time to quell.

-Wow. Your abs are like steel! That’s awesome. How do you do it?

His light stroking of my stomach was distracting, but combined with his bare chest against my back, skin to skin, and his hot breath on my neck I almost couldn’t form words to respond.

-Uhh. I-I just work out a lot.- I was finally able to spit out.

He was well aware of his effect on me, and if he was unsure, his accidental brushing of my crotch with his hand all but confirmed it.

-Oh! I-I’m sorry.

-No. It’s. fine…it happens, ya know?

-Yeah…

-We aren’t gonna have sex.- I have no idea where that came from. Where did that come from? -I mean, we just can’t. I have to protect you, and to do it well, personal feelings can’t get into it.

He said nothing. He stopped rubbing me and began to pull away and I felt like a complete idiot.

-I’m-I’m sorry. I just…ruined that didn’t I?

-It’s fine. I get it.

-No, you don’t.- I backed up a few inches and felt his hardness against my back as well. -Nothing physical may happen between us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves.- I could feel the makings of a smile behind me, and I continued. -So if you’re ok with this, then so am I.-

He pulled back, and then ran the entirety of his hardness against my back, before settling against my ass, while tracing myself with his wrist from base to tip.

-I always new you were big. And so hard!- We both laughed.

I pressed myself into him again. -Same to you, sir.-

We settled into bed then, having come to a comfortable new place in our relationship, yet understanding of the constraints that bound us. I was reminded of something I had heard once…this far and no farther. It sucked but it was true. And we knew it.

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big funny white suit

 

There was a man in a hazmat suit taking Jon out of the car. Jon seemed confused, but not scared, but the man in the suit blocked her view of him as he was taking him out of the car. She was about to run out to Jon when a bullet ripped through her brain and another obliterated her heart. She was dead instantly.

Jon wasn’t sure what he thought he saw that day. When Roland and he spoke about it, the doctor mentioned that he saw his mother in the living room of their house, when Justin, his father’s friend, dressed strangely in a big funny white suit said hello to him, and took him out of the car. While Justin held onto six year old Jonathan Fitzpatrick and took him to the grey van marked as Pete’s Painting Service, Nona was killed by a sniper across the street.

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Deathly shallow breathing

 

There was no one waiting for him when they turned the corner, not the first nor the second. And every time no one was there he allowed himself to feel a little hope as to succeeding.

Finally he pushed past the double doors of his lab and ran to the cabinet. There, where he left it four hours ago, was a large syringe full of dark yellow chemicals. .

He injected Roland with his own special cocktail, part adrenaline to bring his heartbeat back to normal, along with his breathing, plus an antiparalytic, and a few drugs that might stave off the side affects of the original drug. Of course, he wasn’t quite sure what they would be considering everything that Roland had been given in the past 24 hours was experimental.

Dr, Jonathan Fitzpatrick worked to hook up the machines designed to monitor Roland but they didn’t register any change. Deathly shallow breathing. Slow heartbeat. If he didn’t come out of it soon, he would die. didn’t move, he just laid there. Dr Jonathan Fitzpatrick waited. And waited. And waited.