The Symmetry of Life- Book 1: To See, To Know, To Be Human - 10. Chapter 10: Responsibility

Chapter 10: Responsibility

Brian’s warning was in the back of our minds throughout the remainder of the weekend. Bobby and I knew he was right, but we didn’t care what the costs might be. Bobby wanted to stop his stepfather’s reign of terror and I wanted to end the pain that he felt from his experiences. It was more than just infatuation; I owed it to Bobby. However, the hard part was, “how do you catch a predator?” Seriously, this bastard was a true predator, using his civic image and influence as a police officer; he hunted his prey in young children that he “adopted” for his sick consumption. He’s got the protection of the law on his side and what did we have? We had two emotionally scarred teenage boys, three emotionally scarred preteens, and one preteen with the power to smash the creep into atomic particles, but he cannot bring himself to do it. I knew Brian was walking a fine line, so I didn’t pressure him further into helping us. I felt like he had something else that was troubling him.

When the weekend ended, we were no closer to coming up with an idea than we were at the beginning. Bobby didn’t go home at all during that time and it was only a matter of time before his stepdad came looking for him. At that point, I really just wanted to grab a gun and shoot the bastard dead, but I didn’t know how to shoot, either. We had hit wall in terms of ideas by Monday morning.

The days flashed by quickly. Bobby and I shared my bed for the next few days. We went to a Jordan Marche store to buy some clothes for him. Every day, we rode back home, keeping a close eye on our surroundings to make sure no one was following. I was scared for him, scared what would happen if his dad found him, and scared about what would happen to what we had.

On Thursday, Bobby’s stepfather came looking for him at school. He told the school officials that he believed his boy was truant and falling in with the wrong crowd. They believed him after he flashed his badge and gun. When Bobby saw him, he was frozen in fright. All the color in his face disappeared as a shadow of painful memories passed over him.

My first impression of his stepfather was one of ominous dread. He held himself upright and laughed every other minute in front of the adults, but there was something else about him that was far more dangerous than they could perceive. I didn’t know what it was at first, but I came to recognize it later. When he glanced over In Bobby’s direction, I saw him putting his hand towards his holster. I was standing right next to Bobby and my heart was jumping. Was he going to use that gun on Bobby? What can I do to stop him if he did?

I was completely helpless, when he grabbed Bobby and took him out to his car. We took one last glance at each other before he was pushed out the door. I felt sick at my inability to stop him, why couldn’t I have superpowers like invulnerability to bullets or super speed? Moments after Bobby was taken away, I fainted.

In my mind, I saw myself again, but this time I also saw my father and Brian, who waved me to join them. I was angry at everyone there, the “First” for sending Bobby to live like a human being, Brian for holding back, and myself for my cowardice. I could have stood up to him and fought the guy, even if he killed me, I’d at least have tried something, anything really.

My dad began speaking, “Well, let’s see, you’ve gotten into quite a pickle here.”

I glared at him, “He’s your kid, too. You and Uncle Frankie created his species; don’t you feel even a little bit of anger from what that bastard has done and is going to do to him?”

My dad nodded with an expression that I couldn’t figure out, “I do feel his pain, but you don’t know the complete story.”

I screamed, “Tell me, it won’t make a difference on how I feel about that creep.”

He began telling the story, “Eric Latimer wasn’t always a creep as he is now, he grew up in the Midwest like your mom during the Great Depression. Those were hard times and people made hard choices. A man from the west coast with a Model T truck came to their small town, making promises of factory jobs and work, but only for young kids. He explained that the factories needed small hands and bodies to help them oil the machines. The kids would get paid $100 dollars a day, much more than any of them had ever thought possible. He told the town that they were giving their kids futures outside of hunger and poverty, if they let him take them west. After so much suffering and desperation, they thought this man was a godsend. He could quote bible verses like no one else and was very free with his money, giving away silver dollars to anyone that passes his path.”

I interrupted impatiently, “So, they were conned and he was tricked into doing some hard work or whatever, it doesn’t give him the right to…”

Brian had came over to my side and gently punched me to draw my attention, “They weren’t just tricked by anyone; they were tricked by a demon, a real one, not a Drake. Remember, when I told you about how humans may become hosts to demons, who don’t need advanced technology to do their work. Well, his job was to infect pain and hatred in order to breed more of his kind. Demons aren’t all fallen Angels.”

My dad continued the story, “Eric was taken along with several other boys and girls to a special place, near Los Angeles. One of the girls will eventually be his wife Melissa. They were stripped of all their clothes that they brought with them. Then, they were made to do horrendous acts for this demon’s entertainment. It wasn’t just the cruelty or pain, but there was just an ounce of hope to make it a perfect living hell. They were placed in pairs, each supporting one another under the harsh treatment. The demon wanted the pairs to rely on one another, to feed off each other’s hate, and help spread their pain outward. What may have been love due to extreme conditions became self-fulfilling hate. For years, Eric suffered under this cruelty until he and Melissa were released back into society with back pay for all their years of suffering. It amounted to several thousand dollars.”

It seemed far too unnatural to be real, “That doesn’t give them the right to do that to Bobby or the others. They should know better than to harm kids like they were harmed.”

My dad continued, “No, it doesn’t, but the world didn’t believe they had suffered. They tried telling their stories about the horrible man and his house of horrors, but no one believed them. To all concerned, they were ungrateful brats for the kindness of the wealthy factory owner, who had paid them handsomely. You want to know why Eric wanted to become a cop; he wanted to prevent people like that from ever doing the same things again to other kids. Even after Melissa and Eric married, they found no peace from their experiences. First, Melissa found out that she could never have children. That drove both to self-destructive drinking, while Eric was still plagued by the pain of his childhood memories and secret desires. When Eric adopted Bobby, he wanted to be a better man and father, but his hopes were destroyed due to alcohol fueled rage and lust. He was still tormented and he did the same thing to Bobby that was done to him as a child. It gave him a sense of power, the same kind of power that you felt and saw firsthand, Josh. When you are bullying other kids, you felt that power course through you like you were invulnerable to fear and pain. The power of controlling your own destiny through the pain of others is a very dangerous illusion that few people can conquer. If you fail to conquer it and allow the illusion to mask the growing pain in your soul, you will become a host to your own demon.”

My jaw dropped, “Is that what you are fighting? Is that what mankind faces? Why did you not stop me or set me straight, when I started doing that? One word from you about what the costs were and I’d never have done those things.”

Brian reached for my hands, “Josh, you had to experience the power in order to understand and conquer it. There was no way you could help anyone before you knew what it was first hand. If you didn’t understand the feeling of holding such illusions, Bobby would never have been freed from the destructive path set for him either.”

My dad nodded, “Also, it is not the complete problem. It is merely one part of even greater dangers, which may be even more damaging than mere illusions.”

I looked over at my mirror self inside my mind, he was trembling, “Why am I scared? Why am I shaking? I can fight this; I can fight them.”

My dad shook his head, “Can you really? What will you do to Eric? You could try to kill him, but if you succeed, you will not stop his hatred from spreading to the children already infected, instead he would infect you. If you fail to kill him, then you will leave mankind undefended and unable to take on the challenges that await them through the knowledge I have given you.”

I spoke softer now in a pleading voice to my dad and Brian, “Tell me, what should I do?”

Brian nodded, “You already know, think back to Bobby.”

I awoke in the nurse’s office with an ice pack on my head. I looked over at the clock hanging on the side; it was just ten minutes after he took Bobby away. I thought back at what Brian had told me in my mind. What is it about Bobby? What did I do?

Then, it all aligned in my mind. The objective of the demon was to infect people with hatred and despair, but in order to perpetuate it; he needed them to keep some hope by pairing them up. The key to dispelling hatred was that spark of love that perpetuates it. His wife Melissa was the key to the entire puzzle. I just didn’t know where she was or how I would reason with her to stop Eric from hurting Bobby. I felt helpless again as I realized that Brian and the “First” had given me a key piece of information to protect Bobby, but I had no way of using it. I needed a miracle. I felt my body tingle as I heard familiar footsteps from the doorway.

The nurse came and told me that my guardian was here to pick me up. I looked up with surprise to see Maggie in her white skirt and purple blouse. She held a very serious demeanor as we left the school and we headed to the familiar black convertible of Uncle Frankie’s.

When we were inside the car, Maggie told me, “Get your seatbelt on, we’re going to floor it to an old joint on the outskirts of town. Then, we got to rush back to Bobby’s home before he kills…” she trailed off, “…we just don’t have time.”

We were going fast, faster than I had ever thought anyone could drive. Maggie was an exceptional woman, but I never knew she was such a good motorist. Back in the 1950’s, women were a rare sight on the roads without their husbands driving, it was considered atypical for a woman to be in a driver’s seat, let alone passing 100 mph. However at that moment, I didn’t care how she learned to drive so well, I just wanted to save Bobby.

When we reached the bar, it looked like the place had seen better days back in the 1930’s, when prohibition was still enforced. It was a place Eliot Ness would have probably broken into with his Untouchables to break some barrels of moonshine. However, in 1955, the place was falling apart at the seams with the old faded neon sign on the door indicating, “Girls on call”.

As we neared the door, a heavyset man stood in our way, “No kids allowed in here.”

Maggie briskly grabbed his arm and twisted it, “Listen Charlie, the kid is coming in with me, if you don’t like it, I can make sure your kids have two mommies in a few seconds.”

The heavyset man screamed in agony, “Mackie, come on, I’ll let you both in, but don’t break anyone’s head, okay.”

As we were entering the place, Maggie whispered to me, “Josh, don’t worry, Charlie and I are old friends, he’s just playing hard to get.”

I scanned the room for the mental picture that I got of Melissa; I found her slouching to the side. She was wearing a pale blue dress and high-heels that could have doubled as lethal weapons. Her features looked fatigued and tired.

We approached her and I yelled out her name, “Melissa Latimer, we got to talk about Eric.”

She turned towards me in drunken anger, “You little slut, you think just because you got a tight ass and soft lips, you can take him away from me. He’s mine.”

Before she could do anything to me, Maggie had grabbed her; Maggie was displeased, “Look girl, the kid over there is a good friend of mine. I don’t want to hurt your pretty face, if I don’t need to.”

Maggie carried Melissa without any further struggle out to the car, where I continued, “Melissa, I know what they did to you two. I believe it, but you shouldn’t need to hurt Bobby or any of the other kids due to it.”

Melissa bitterly reproached me, “Why now huh? Why say you believe us now? Where were you when I was being beaten? Where were you when Eric was being poked and prodded in places that no boy should ever be? Where were you when they turned my ovaries inside out? To hell with all of you, I don’t care anymore.”

I knew we had little time and I tried reasoning with her, “Melissa, my mom was born in a small town like you were during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. She told me about the hardship that she endured and how she had to leave her family in order to find more work here in California. She sent back money to her family to support them like you were doing for your family. She struggled for years without a purpose except for survival, until she met my dad. He was the first man, who genuinely cared about her. She knew he didn’t love her that way, but she still loved him beyond everything else. You’re luckier than my mom, Eric loves you and you love him. You don’t need to languish over the past.”

Melissa began to grow softer and more sober as I spoke, when I finished she was sober, “Kid, I pity your mom, but what Eric and I went through is unjustifiable. Eric might love me, but I can never be the wife and mother to make up for what was lost.”

I shook my head, “The man, who hurt you, Eric, and the others, did not ever admit what he was doing to you. Your parents rationalized all their decisions as things that needed to be done for survival. Even with all that, you have to realize that you got a responsibility to those kids in your care now, just like you would your own flesh and blood. Would you have allowed Eric to keep going down that path with your own children?”

Melissa flushed with red at my insinuation, “No, I wouldn’t let him do it to our kids, but these kids aren’t ours. Bobby and the others should have kept themselves locked away, deep in a closet, to prevent Eric from going down that path and turning into one of them. They made Eric do it.”

I shook my head again, “No, they did nothing, except wanting a better life for themselves with a family that should have cared for them, not use them, just like your families. Eric made one mistake 6 years ago with Bobby, if he had taken responsibility for his actions, no one else would have been hurt. If you had tried to intervene on Bobby’s behalf instead of locking him up, things might have turned out differently for all of you. Both you and Eric made choices to hide from the past through torturing the present, are you now going to allow Bobby to die and cement your pain into murder?”

Melissa looked at me like I had just struck her with lightning, “I…We…messed up both our lives and those kids as well” she went over to our car, “We should head back before Eric does pull the trigger on Bobby, I owe him at least that much.”

Maggie was speeding faster than before, if that were even possible. I could see steam rising from the engines and smell rubber being lightly crisped by the friction. It took 2 hours in total from the time Bobby was taken by Eric to the time that our rescue party reached Eric’s home. It was a simple ranch styled home with only one level. I saw two boys outside pacing back and forth like they were trying to determine if they should go in or not. There was also a girl on the side, a brunette with a face that could launch a thousand ships, if you were into girls. We pulled up by the curb and ran towards the kids. They held curious looks as they watched us running towards them. Then, they saw their stepmother behind us and instantly ran.

I screamed to them, “Please, Greg, Patrick, Sarah, all of you need to stop running. I’m Josh, Bobby’s friend; please tell me where your stepdad took him.”

They slowed down and turned towards me, Sarah was the first to speak, “When he brought Bobby home, he started hitting Bobby. It was really bad, worse than before. Bobby kept calling for you, Josh, until he had too much blood coming out of his mouth to speak.”

I had to hold back my anger and remind myself of the innocent kid Eric used to be, “Where are they now?”

One of the boys, Greg spoke up, “He took Bobby to the cellar in the back. We want to go save Bobby, but we’re scared, because he’s got a gun.”

Patrick tugged on Greg as he tried to hide himself from his stepmother’s gaze. Out of all three of them, Patrick was the smallest and youngest, probably no more than 8 according to Bobby. Greg was 10 and looked like he was starting to have a growth spurt. Sarah was the oldest at 13 and tallest of the three standing before me.

Melissa ran off to the Cellar, I followed her and yelled to Maggie, “Please keep them safe, I’ll be back soon.”

When I got there, the cellar door was open, but I could not see what was happening below due to the darkness. I knew that was not a good sign, but I had to go down there. I felt my body shake and my legs could not move. It was just like my vision from earlier, I was scared of what I may face in the darkness. There was something primal and dark in there.

In that moment of panic, my thoughts turned to Bobby, it turned to all the times I was mean to him and all the times that we shared together in the last week. The bad times were many and I deeply wished I could have more time to make it up to Bobby for doing all those horrible things to him. The good times were few, but they were the best time of my life. A question came to my mind; did I want to let Bobby die in there? I was afraid that not only will I fail him, but I could turn into Eric if I took this step into the darkness. Yet, I could not let my fear hold me back, so I went in.

When I reached the cellar, a figure appeared in the corner of my eye, I screamed “Bobby, is that you?”

The light was dim with only a few candles creating shadows in the darkness, but I could discern Bobby’s figure. He was handcuffed to the pipes, his body was naked with apparent new bruises, and blood covered every spot. I was shocked to see him like that, but something else shocked me even more. I felt another presence in the Cellar towards my side and I turned to face it.

Eric Latimer eyes glowed fiery red like the fires of hell itself, he smirked at me: “Welcome Protector, I see you have conquered your human fear of darkness with your love, now let that love turn to hate.”

I stiffened my resolve, “You’re a demon, a real demon.”

Eric Latimer laughed maniacally, “Oh you must have spoken to the “First”, you know the word “demon” is such a negative term. I prefer the technical concept for me, a psychic manifestation of hatred. I was born into this world through excessive hatred with a hint of love just for flavoring. I should thank you Protector, if you had not imbued Bobby with love, he’d just be an above average treat due to being an Agent of Death, now he’s a gourmet incubator.”

I ignored him and looked for Melissa, I found her lying on the floor at Bobby’s feet covered in bullets, “Melissa get up, Eric needs you” I looked back at Eric, “Eric don’t let yourself fall any further, you know this is not you. Your hatred was born out of love for Melissa and your inability to protect her from her abusers. Look what your hatred has done; you just shot your wife.”

Eric’s eyes flickered black for a moment, but then turned blood red, “Nice try and good speech by the way, my hold over Melissa was broken easily, but my hold over my own body cannot be ended so easily. I’m not some outside alien force like the Drake, you met years ago. What simple fools those Drake are, believing in their technology, when the human soul is far more powerful. They seek to subjugate mankind, while my kind seeks to possess. Yes, Bobby told me everything you and your brother have told him. Too bad, Brian never told you the source of demons and our knowledge. No, we don’t come from Lucifer or hell, we’re born from human emotions and human souls corrupted by pain and hatred. We service the enemy as the inside man in every human being; we know everything normal human beings keep secret inside their souls. For beings like you and Bobby though, we have to break down your barriers to create demons, but if we do succeed, we would get the most powerful demons in the universe that no one could take out except the “First” and God. You cannot defeat the hatred Josh coursing through my veins. Why not surrender your defenses and make this easy on everyone?”

My fears were rising again and I looked all over the room for something to protect myself with, then I saw he had left his gun just lying there on the ground near Bobby. I didn’t know how to shoot, but I’ve seen enough cowboy movies to know that you aim and pull the trigger. The problem was trying to distract him long enough to grab the gun.

Then, Melissa’s voice echoed towards Eric, “Stop it, we can’t keep doing this Eric. What happened to us cannot be repeated. We made a mistake, when we first went down this path. You were drunk, when you fucked Bobby, instead of hiding it, you should have turned yourself in. Instead of repeating it, you should have stopped. I allowed my own selfish need to keep you in my heart to blind me. We need to take responsibility for what we have done.”

Eric turned to face Melissa and I ran towards the gun; I was about to grab it, but I stopped. This was not the right way to end it, killing him was what he wanted me to do, so I could be more like him. He wanted me to feel the power of taking a life, having the illusion that I was the Master of Death. In my mind, I finally admitted that truth to myself, I wanted to be like Brian. I wanted to have his power, his authority over so many things, and his brilliance.

Instead of grabbing the gun, I went towards Bobby and caressed his scarred body, “I don’t just like you Bobby, I love you. There will never be another guy like you and I would willingly go through hell to be with you.”

Bobby with face and mouth covered in blood tried to reply, “I…love…you…”

Eric cursed, “Damn you Joshua Cross, you would’ve been the biggest conquest any demon on earth has turned. Though, you may have conquered your own inner fears and reflected on your secret desires; you have not changed my mind. I am just going to add another body into the final crime scene. Your death will have no meaning.”

He telekinetically grabbed the gun from floor and took aim at me, but suddenly Melissa stood up and attacked him, “I am not going to let you do this, Eric.”

Melissa had somehow overcome her injuries and launched herself against Eric, who cried out, “Melissa, get off me. Why have you betrayed me too?

Melissa was breathing heavily and her last ounce of strength was leaving, “I love you Eric, I don’t want you to be like him. You wanted to protect kids like Bobby, Greg, Patrick, and Sarah from what we faced. Look at what you have become and look at what that demon inside you has made you do. Josh was right, we were victims, when we were kids, no one took responsibility for what happened to us. We were abandoned to our own fates by parents, who were desperate to feed and nourish our families. We couldn’t do anything about that, but we needed to take responsibility today for the actions we’ve both done to these kids.”

The darkness in the room was fading, until it had completely left and the candles burned brightly removing the shadows. Then, I saw someone familiar; it was the Agent of Death from almost 8 years ago. He winked at me and Bobby. Then, he looked over the damage caused by Eric.

The agent of death nodded, “Josh, you really have grown up. I haven’t seen a demon exorcising executed so well, since Bobby over there was doing it. Anyway, I have to do my job soon as Melissa is about to die and I can sense Eric is not far behind her.”

I nodded and looked over at Eric, who seemed older and more mournful as he lifted keys to me for the handcuffs on Bobby with one hand and grabbed his gun on the floor with his other hand, he said these last words to me, “Take good care of Bobby and the rest of those kids. They’re now your responsibility. I know you have it in you kid to fight the demons within and outside. Also, tell your brother, the Drake has a man on the move in Washington and your brother has a traitor among his twelve. Give him my thanks for giving me and my wife this chance of release.”

He shot himself in the head at point blank. I quickly unlocked the handcuffs holding Bobby and went off to find Maggie, who was waiting with the rest of the kids. When she saw Bobby bruised and beaten, she winced instantly and grabbed the first aid kit that she had brought with her.

Sarah came over to me, “Are they both dead, now?”

I told her the truth, “They have released themselves from the pain that their lives had become and released you guys from it, too. I think they wanted to tell you…sorry for not living up to their responsibilities as your parents and not giving you the life that you deserved.”