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March 7th, 2082. 8:41 pm. The New University of Toronto stood tall and silent between the high-rises of downtown. Janitors had left many hours ago, performing only a quick sweep before locking up for the night. Not much thought was put into the security of public buildings. As long as they remained empty through the dark hours of the night, they would be untouched come morning. And since its restoration and opening to the general public, N-UFT had always remained empty come sundown - no one crazy enough to remain in such a unprotected building after curfew. But tonight, the ring of pacing footsteps against tile sent rats scuttling, a burning cigarette glowing brightly in the shadows. Travis Avery’s eyes were shifty and uncomfortable, glinting darkly with hidden resentment. He didn’t want to be here tonight, alone, vulnerable in a risky and unfamiliar building. Then again, he thought bitterly, it never really mattered what he wanted. He was a sheep - just like the rest of them. Travis took the liberty of flicking his cigarette ashes into a open locker, just to give himself a bit of satisfaction. The night was making him jittery, and feeling jittery made him all the more irritable. Dressed in black from head to toe, a wool cap pulled down over his ears, Travis blended right into the shadows of the hall. Nondescript clothing was not his thing, nor was keeping his long hair tied back. But rules were rules, and night meant a certain level of self-restraint. Did he have to be happy about it? Of course not. Pushing up the sleeve of his black turtleneck, Travis took a sullen look at the glowing faces of his many watches. The watch with twelve numbers and two hands read 8:43, while a strange, blank watch buzzed urgently. Seventeen minutes. Would she be late? Would she show at all? Travis blinked, his irises taking on the glow of night-vision goggle as he peered through the shadows. No sign of the rookie either. Travis leaned against a locker, weighing his options. If he left now, he could make an easy five blocks before hell let loose for the night. If he stayed, he faced the possibility of dying alone, surrounded by the stench of teenage sweat. Now... how much did he trust his partner’s credibility? It was as he was thinking this that Travis felt a tap on his shoulder. Instantly, his hand went to his gun. “Easy there, Travis. We don’t want any mishaps tonight.” His mouth twisted in half-smile, though his Glock hand relaxed only slightly. “Katya. Thought you wouldn’t show.” The blond woman returned the smile, patting him playfully on the cheek. “No, you didn’t.” Katya stood at least a head shorter than her partner, but could easily kick his a**. So she was tolerated. Travis raised his eyebrows. “Says you. For all I knew, you could have hung me out to dry, just to watch me squirm. Not like it hasn't been done.” “You think I’d do that?” He shrugged, peering over her shoulder. “If the rookie with you?” “No. I haven’t seen him.” “Time’s almost up.” “He’ll be here. He’s a good one.” “Right.” They lapsed into silence. Travis pulled out his gun, checked the bullets, then shoved it back into its holster. “It’s going to be a rough night,” he said. Katya nodded pensively, fiddling with the white Yang pendant hanging from her neck. “Mm.” “We shouldn’t be out here. It's dangerous - stupid.” She sighed. Travis was in one of his moods. “This needs to be done, Travis.” “You do know that a couple of new recruits aren’t going to-” “We’re trying.” He raised an eyebrow, turning to look her in the eye. “Are we? Are we really?” He kicked at a loose tile. “We’re falling apart, Katya. We're out of ideas. And no one wants to admit it. Just send in hoards of new recruits, everybody! These kids will save us! ” “Travis.” He didn’t hear her. “And what about Joel? Don't act innocent, I'm not completely stupid. I've heard the whispers.” “It’s just a possibility that we’re following up on...” “Christ," Travis spat. “A possibility. Have you people already forgotten who this guy is? You know what he's done. What makes you think he'll do anything different this time? Trust me. The moment you let the nut out of his cage, we won't even have to worry about the breach anymore. It'll be the end. 2012 all over-” “Travis!” Katya burst out. “I don’t need this, alright?” She raised a hand to her forehead, taking a calming breath of air. “Not tonight.” Travis opened his mouth again, then wisely shut it. Neither said anything more on the subject. When the front doors of the school burst open, Katya snapped to attention. She leaned over to Travis. “Is it the rookie?” He turned his glowing eyes down the hall. “Yup. Just made it.” The gangly boy with spiky black hair barreled down the hall, a half-dozen duffle bags hanging from his narrow shoulders, a full arsenal of weapons slipping around in his arms. He skidded to a stop a couple of feet from the pair, his arms buckling, and dozens of handguns, rifles, swords and daggers raining to the floor. He turned his wide eyes from Katya’s relieved smile, to Travis’ disgusted scowl. “I brought the stuff!” the boy gasped. Katya instantly bent down, gathering up the dropped artillery. She shot a look at Travis, who exhaled noisily, but dutifully relieved the rookie of some of his bags. Once everything had been collected, Katya pushed into a nearby science room, and the two men followed. Dumping everything on a table by the window, Katya and Travis gravitated to behind the teacher’s desk, and the rookie found a seat. Travis found a meter stick, and wrapped it against the blackboard with an air of great irony. “Hello,” he said, his voice low and dramatic. “and welcome to Beasty Busting 101. My name is Travis, and I’ll be your wise mentor tonight.” He took a sweeping bow, gesturing at Katya to continue. She rolled her eyes. “Alright. I’m Katya...” “I know you!” the rookie piped up. “My teacher talks about you all the time. He says you’re a real hero.” Katya blushed prettily. Travis raised an eyebrow, but didn’t speak. “Well, thank you very much," said Katya, "but we really need to get going. We only have-" “Ten minutes,” Travis supplied. “Ten minutes before we need to head out. Now, I trust you’ve been through the weapons training program?” The rookie nodded. “Top of the class,” he said proudly. Katya smiled. “Very good.” Travis rolled his eyes, turning to the board with chalk in hand. With a few quick strokes, he formed a crude picture of a stickman blasting at a generic monster with a machine gun. “This,” he said, pointing at the stickman, “is you, fighting one of the beasties. Very heroic. Nice stories to bring home.” He erased the figure, drawing another one, this time with x-eyes and a tongue hanging out. “This is you is about five seconds flat if you ever try that.” The rookie sat with saucer eyes. Travis continued. “Rule number one. Don’t confront the beasties. If you came here excited to go all Buffy the Vampire Slayer, go home now or get killed out there.” The kid looked blank. “Buffy the...” Katya grinned. “Travis here has been around for a long time.” The rookie fell silent for a moment, then raised his hand. “I don’t understand. I mean, we have all these weapons, we did all this training, but you said we don’t confront-” Travis snorted. Katya cleared her throat. “Yes, we have weapons,” she said. “You need to know how to use them. If worst comes to worst, they buy us time. But we don’t go picking fights.” “We save the damsels in distress, but we run like hell when the dragons come,” Travis clarified. The rookie looked indignant. “What do you mean? We aren't going to fight these guys? How are we going to get rid of them?” Silence. "Get rid of them?" Travis stared, then started to laugh. "Get rid of them? And how do you propose to do that?" "I don't know. I thought that's what we were learning to do at the academy!" Travis was tossing around a plastic apple from the teacher’s desk. “Yeah, everyone wants to be a hero. But really? Pure propaganda, kiddo. Would you have tried so hard if you knew what you were really going to do all night?” Katya gave Travis a scandalized look, then turned to the rookie. "I know we all want to get rid of these things. And we try, when we can. But right now, we just don't have the power for that." She walked over to him, patting his shoulder reassuringly. "That's why we need people like you." The rookie was silent. After a moment and some thinking, he said, “Well, I suppose we're still doing people good, right? Protecting them. You still get to be a hero. Right?” Travis chucked the plastic apple at the rookie’s desk. It bounced high, smacking the boy in the chest. “That’s the spirit!” Travis said.
His voice had drifted down to me through the one night, sleepy and slow. “Joey, what do you want to be when you get bigger?” I studied the nightlight by my wall, thinking hard. “I dunno. I think I want to help people.” “Help people? Like a police man? Or a firefighter?” “No. Maybe... Sorta like a... a superhero.” He’d laughed then, and I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. “Yeah?” he said, “Well, I wanna be a unicorn.” I lowered my eyes, twisting at the corner of my blanket while he continued to chortle. He laughed and laughed until he finally fell asleep, leaving me lying quietly in the dark.
Twisted Black Roses · Sat Sep 19, 2009 @ 08:55pm · 0 Comments |
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