Helpful Starters

T   e   n

Helpful Starters

 

Jesse

            “Avery, she was shot!” I yelled trying to get a better handle on her collapsed body. The stunned visitors had scattered in various directions now, but Becky’s mother was huddled in a corner on the phone with the police. The shooter had ran to the left and then outside after he had done his duty. I wanted so badly to follow him, but I couldn’t leave Claire alone in her condition. I already lost Becky; I couldn’t let Avery lose Claire as well. “We need something to stop the blood flow.”

            “I know!” Avery said running over and in the process tearing a piece of fabric from his shirt sleeve. He wrapped it tightly around the bullet wound in Claire’s arm and I laid her in his open arms gently trying to avoid her injured arm. “Is the locket safe? Does she still have it?”

            “Yes it’s safe. I took it from her for the time being.”

            “Let me have it. I’ll deliver it to her safely when all this has passed.” I reached in my pocket and took the chain out. 

            “What happened back there?” I asked.

            “He escaped and came here before I could finish him off. Where’s Irena?”

            “She went to go find some bandages.”

            “Ok, I need you to find the traitor and take care of him. He’s headed to the old warehouse on Westward.”

            “I’m on it!” I yelled as I ran off to find the mongrel who would dare try to mess with us.

›š›š›š›š

 

Titus

            “Where is he? He should be back by now!” I shouted out in frustration. My impatience was getting the best of me, just like the Majesty’s let his get the best of him, as I paced back and forth in the dark of this old rundown shack of a warehouse. I don’t know why I bother with these ignorant humans as it is. The door opened hastily and light flooded through illuminating the darkness, with a human silhouette leading. In an instant the door was shut again and I could feel the presence of my little helper ahead. I still felt the unused flashlight in my hand. I pointed it at him and turned it on. He squinted as its beam penetrated into his eyes.

            “Please, it’s bright.”

            “What? Oh, you want me to put it down?”

            “Yes, please.”

            “Did you accomplish the small task I asked of you?” I lowered the flashlight despite my preferences.

            “Well, not exactly. The Protector was right on my tail the whole time. I didn’t have time to do what you wanted, but you should be happy to know I shot her.”

            “You what!? You shot her?”

            “Yeah.” He shrugged it off casually as if it were no big deal which flared my anger even more. It was a very big deal. I was probably never going to hear the end of this. I closed my eyes and inhaled then let it out once I opened my eyes again.           

            “You can shoot her, but you can’t get the freakin’ Transporter from around her neck?”

            “I didn’t have time. I told you, her Protector was right behind me!”

            “Where did you shoot her?”

            “I didn’t stick around long enough to find out, but unfortunately I don’t have good aim so for all I know I could have hit her anywhere. I just know I did because I saw her fall.” He smiled a big smile as if he were just rewarded a large prize. I lost it. My hand struck the side of his face in a hard blow. He covered the side I hit with his own hand to try and make the new pain subside.

            “I don’t have time for foolishness.” I then heard the hard pattering of footsteps against pavement. One of the Protectors was not far off; he would be here in a matter of fifteen seconds. “They say if you want something done you have to do it yourself. You’re both a lucky man and a very unfortunate one. You would have suffered greatly if you were to have died under my hand, but my time is short so I’m giving you to my enemy as a consolation prize who will mercifully gift you with a quick death instead. Farewell.” I tipped my imaginary cap and then disappeared filling my existence with a fog of red smoke just as the door swung open to deliver the fool his last momentary thoughts regarding his end.    

 

 

›š›š›š›š

 

Avery

           

            It had been twenty-four hours. She was still lying in her hospital bed asleep. She had taken a hard blow all because I wasn’t there in time, but the doctor said she would be fine and would just have to wear a splint for a few weeks. Although I knew that looking at her disabled arm would bring back the painful memory, I was still relieved to know that she didn’t have a severe amount of blood loss.

            I stood up abruptly when Irena and Jesse walked into the room. I hadn’t seen Jesse since he went after the shooter and Irena had been in and out much of the past day trying to clear up some things. They must have had some news.

            “Were you able to contact her mother?” I asked Irena.

            “No, she doesn’t have a registered cell phone number and there’s no answer on the home phone.”

            “That doesn’t seem right how a mother wouldn’t be concerned at all with the absence of her only child.”

            “We’re getting the feeling she may be out of town. She hasn’t reported in to work for the past two days so her boss said she might have gone out.” Jesse plopped down onto the chair that accompanied the one I had recently been sitting in. He looked exhausted, but relieved so I figured he must have taken care of the scoundrel.

            “Did you get any information out of him?” I asked Jesse.

            “Not much, but I did get something. He knew all about Protectors, Outcasts, the Transporter, you, and Claire – everything. The strange thing about it was he had no Outcasts following him or for that matter even a Protector.”

            “Than how would he know all of that?” Irena’s brow was scrunched together in thought.

            “Just because he wasn’t followed doesn’t mean one of us or them didn’t have an influence on his knowledge.” I said.

            “True, but who would have had a part in this?” asked Jesse. I looked down in thought and I could tell Irena and Jesse knew I was hiding something.

            “Avery?” Irena questioned, but I didn’t respond. “Avery? What’s going on?” My eyes were wide open when I finally looked up at her. “What aren’t you telling us?”

            “I ran into Titus. Well, actually he ran into me.”

            “You ran into Titus? Whoa! Did you finally teach him a lesson? Did you use that jab punch that I told you to use? Like I said those things really pack a punch!” Jesse rambled and then started laughing. “You get it? A jab is a kind of punch and it packs a punch! I swear that was unintentional.” Another roll of laughter burst from his abdomen and I couldn’t help, but chuckle a little myself even with the stupidity of it all.

            “Enough!” Irena yelled. Claire began to turn in her sleep and I was afraid she would wake up to the three of us arguing and conversing about the situation.

            “We’re going to wake her! Let’s go out in the hall to discuss this.” I whispered harshly. Jesse shut the door when we were all out. I took a deep breath and began my explanation.

            “Titus got the hint that Claire would be imprinted on by a Protector soon so he started watching her and trying to motivate the decisions she made through other sources until she had a Protector. Since that’s now happened he has become her Destroyer and he intends to harm her even more than his job entitlement if I don’t back off.”

            “Well, don’t you think this might be some important information for us to know?” Irena pointed between herself and Jesse.

            “It is now, but at the time it was insignificant to anyone else besides me and Claire.”

            “Things have changed, Avery. Things are continuing to change and they always will.”

            “I know.” I said hanging my head.

            “Since there’s this new information that surfaced, I have to go check on some things. I will be back when I can.” Irena said walking away leaving Jesse and me standing alone.

            “What now, brother?” Jesse asked staring at me questionably. I looked at him trying to think of anything that might be helpful to the situation, but nothing was coming to mind.

            “We wait.”

›š›š›š›š

 

Claire

           

            My body ached everywhere like I had been thrown back and forth. My arm was sore no doubt and it throbbed occasionally. I let my eyes flutter open to see a typical hospital room lying before me. I smiled when my vision landed on Avery who sat in the corner chair. His head was down staring at his lap. The teenager from the funeral home was also here. He was sitting in the chair opposite of Avery with his head back asleep. I took a deep breath wondering if there was anymore damage done to my body other than my arm. Avery’s head shot up and he looked directly at me.

            “How are you?” He asked sympathetically. I looked down at myself lying in the hospital bed, unable to help noticing the splint on my arm, and then back up at him.

            “Well, I’m in a hospital because I was shot in the arm, but setting that fact aside I’d have to say I’m fine and I’ll live. No worries.” I smiled slightly. He returned the smile and got up to come sit on the edge of the bed. We just stared at each other for a while. For the first time I was able to take everything in, all of him. He had midnight black hair which was messy and fell forward into a diagonal slant across his forehead. His complexion was milky and clear as day. His eyes were as always bright and alive, but he had dark circles under them today. He wore dark blue jeans, a white tee with a light navy blue jacket complimenting him. It was hard not to believe he just stepped right out of a celebrity magazine. “How long was I out for?” I finally asked when I felt like I had been looking at him too much.

            “A good day.” He responded in no hurry.

            “So that means today’s Sunday.”

            “It would seem so.”

            “Will you tell me?”

            “Tell you what?”

            “Everything you were planning on telling me.”

            “You haven’t told me what it is you exactly want to know. Everything is a broad term.”

            “Ok, for starters who shot me and why?”

            “Oh, they’re not sure yet. He escaped and the police are still out there looking for him. They have no idea why he came into the funeral home or why you were the victim.”

            “I can tell when someone’s lying.”

            “I’m not lying.”

            “You’re right, but you aren’t telling me the whole truth either.”

            “How do you know?”

            “I can read faces like a book, but it’s not your face; it’s your eyes that give you away.” I told him. He was taken aback by my answer for some reason and it took him a few seconds to regain himself. His eyes flickered and a chuckle slipped out.

            “Maybe I should get a pair of sunglasses then.” I wanted to laugh at his comment, but I just couldn’t. I had to find out why I was the one shot.

            “Please, be serious. For goodness sake, I was shot yesterday!”

            “Ok, you’re right. The truth is they don’t know who shot you or why, but we do.”

            “Who’s we?”

            “People like me.”

            “How do you know and they don’t?”

            “That, my dear, we will have to save for seven o’ clock.”

            “Fine. Do you know him?” I pointed to the teenager in the other chair who was still sleeping.

            “Yes.”

            “Is that all you’re going to say, just yes?”

            “For now it is.” I crossed my arms and drilled a stare at him. He burst out laughing. “Now, I want to ask you some questions.” He said.

            “Well, that depends on what they are. I’m going to play the same game you are.”

            “Fare enough. My question is, if you could have any one do-over or thing in your life you could change what would it be?” I wasn’t expecting that type of a question. My brow furrowed as I thought about it. Then it came to me. My voice came out in a small whisper.

            “Nothing.” He looked shocked just as much as I did by my answer.

            “Why?”

            “I know that my life isn’t perfect and there are things in it that aren’t always my first choice, but I wouldn’t change any of them. The decisions I made and that I make, whether for good or bad, are my decisions. I’m destined for failure and it’s the mistakes I make that I learn from so I can make a better choice the next time.”

            “You wouldn’t even change the time of your father’s passing?” He blurted. From the regret in his eyes I knew he noticed the pain that was written on my face in a bold expression.

            “I loved my father more than you or anyone else could ever know. He was my best friend. His death was an event that occurred when it did. For whatever reason, it was meant to happen and at that time, but by changing that it could mean changing many more things as a result. I would prefer not to mess with time.” I don’t know why, but at that moment I felt exposed as if the whole world knew my deepest secret. Then the feeling was gone. There was a grunt and two arms poked out in a stretching motion behind Avery. I turned to see the guy from the funeral home open his eyes and wink at me. I put on a brave face.

            “Well, hi Claire. You’re finally awake.” He said.

            “I should say the same.” I smiled. He got up and walked over to me.

            “By the way, I am Jesse.” He said shaking my hand. “I see you’ve already met my brother.”

            “Your brother?” I asked in disbelief. Avery glared up at him and he smiled sheepishly.

            “Yes, Jesse is my brother.” Avery confirmed remorsefully.

            “But you said you didn’t know Becky. How could you not know your brother’s girlfriend?”

            “I knew of her, but never met her.” His eyes were honest.

            “Why not?”

            “The chance was never available.” I looked up at Jesse to make sure Avery was telling me everything, but Jesse just stared out the window with a thoughtful gaze. The door opened abruptly and my frantic mother hurried in. Avery and Jesse both backed into the corner to give us room.

            “Oh, honey! I’m so sorry. I left a note on the counter explaining that I had to drive south for a family emergency. I wasn’t expecting anything like this to happen. Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

            “I’m fine – really - just a bit sore.”

            “Are these your friends?”

            “Yes, I’m Avery and this is, my brother, Jesse. I take it you’ve already spoken with my sister. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He jumped in, holding his hand out which my mother shook gratefully.

            “Yes. Irena has been most helpful and kind. It’s nice to meet such lovely young friends of Claire’s. She doesn’t bring them around often.” She turned her direction back to me. “Claire, are you hungry? I’ll be right back with some food!” She hurried out before I could protest. Just the thought of food made my stomach feel uneasy. I stared at Avery.

            “Your sister?” Footsteps followed and the pretty blonde that I met after the audition came into view.

            “Yes, Claire. It’s me, Irena, and I am Avery and Jesse’s sister.”

© By Amanda Gloth