Mole got done with his classes for the day. His back was starting to throb so he decided to sit down on the park bench. He caught himself watching people around the promenade, admiring the different activities each of them was doing. He saw the girl from his dorm this morning across the way. She was talking to a group of her friends as she kept on sneaking a peek at him. The girl waved to him after she realized she was caught. He returned the smile and waved back politely. Dan joined him after getting done with his accounting class.
“What’s going on, big guy?” Mole asked. “Scoot those big cheeks on over here.”
Dan sat down next to his friend, “Man, who knew accounting would be this difficult? T-brackets, debit this, but over here the same number is a credit…ugh!” He slammed shut the book and went to his sandwich. “This, my friend, this is what it is all about.”
“The sandwich?” Mole asked while studying it.
“You know it. With every bite a person gets all four food groups. Dairy, grains, meats, and veggies; what more could you ask?” He took a big bite of food.
Mole adjusted his body, trying to get comfortable.
“You okay, dude?” Dan asked with a mouth full of food.
“Just trying to get comfortable,” he answered. Mole sat back, looking into his bag for a banana he had left over. He found it all black and squashed over his paper. “Well, damn it.” He held up what was left of his snack. “Thank God all I have to do is reprint my paper.”
“Who’s that?” Dan asked.
“Who?” Mole asked in return. Dan pointed to the blonde girl who smiled at Mole in the hallway. “I don’t know. She came out of some guy's room early this morning.”
“Well, she has been looking over here quite a bit trying to get your attention,” Dan said, waving at her. She politely waved back but Dan knew she was hoping Mole was the one waving.
Mole looked up at her and she smiled, waving again. Mole smiled and waved back again. He turned to Dan who raised his eyebrows at him. “Don’t even suggest it,” Mole told him.
Dan replied, “Somebody got it bad for the Molster.” Dan was making kissy faces at Mole.
Mole pushed his face away. “Well, there’s a sight I hope to never see again,” Alex said coming up behind Dan and Mole. “Mole, does Anne know about you and Dan?”
“She likes to watch,” Mole instantly returned.
“Hey Alex,” Dan said. He offered her a sandwich.
“Actually, I’m a bit hungry,” Alex said, taking half and taking a big bite of it. “What are you guys doing?”
“That girl over there has a crush on Mole,” Dan said, wiping parts of his sandwich from his mouth.
Alex looked over at the girl who was staring at her. She must have thought Mole and Alex were dating because the girl gave her a look of disappointment. “Who is she?”
“No idea,” Mole said, looking at his phone.
Alex peeked at Mole’s phone. The background had a picture of him and Anne snuggled underneath a blanket. “That’s a cute picture of you and Anne.”
Mole just stopped what he was doing and looked at Alex. “Alex, there is no way I would cheat on Anne.” He put his phone down. “I would have to be the stupidest person in the world.” He stood up to put his backpack on. “Besides, the way you two have grown over the last three years, you would kill me if I did anything to screw it up.” Alex noticed he was pretty stiff. “I need to get going.”
“You guys want to go to Distance Saturday night?” Dan asked.
“Sounds like fun,” Alex said. “Can you and Anne go out?”
“I’ll ask her if she wants to go,” Mole said, grabbing his keys. “I gotta get going. Talk to you later, sis.” He gave her a quick hug and punched Dan in the arm. “See ya, lover.”
“Later,” Dan said, finishing up his sandwich, blowing him a playful kiss.
Alex watched Mole walk over to his scooter. She could tell he was hurting. Feelings of guilt always rushed to her when she saw the moments he was hurting, not being able to do what he loved to do. He put his helmet on and drove off.
Dan gathered his items up as well. “I need to get going as well.” He put his jacket on. “I’ve got to get to work. See you at the bar on Saturday.”
Alex nodded in agreement and waved good-bye. She just wanted to sit and people watch as Celestial and she did earlier. It was a lie; Alex just wanted to stay and see who this girl was. To her surprise, the girl came up to her. “This will be interesting,” Alex thought to herself.
“Excuse me,” she said to Alex.
Alex just stared at her, “Yes.”
“Who was that?”
“Dan,” Alex said watching him take off in his truck.
“No, the other guy,” she corrected her.
“Why?”
“Well, I don’t think the two of you are dating,” she said to Alex.
The girl was starting to get an attitude with Alex, “Why do you think that?”
“He did not kiss you good-bye. It was a quick hug like a sister would get,” she pointed out. “So, you’re not dating or the worst girlfriend in history. Plus, you’re really not his type.”
“Really,” Alex said, tightening her lips. Alex could use a pre-warm up fight before going out on a hunt tonight. Komptin came to Alex’s side and barked at her. She just looked at him. “No, I’m not his girlfriend.”
The girl smiled, “Good.”
Alex wanted to wipe that pretty little manipulative smile off her face, “His girlfriend for the past three years is my roommate. So, I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Besides, I really don’t think you’re his type,” Alex waved her off.
The girl smiled at Alex, “I’m everyone’s type. It’s getting dark out soon, so I’m pretty sure your type should be getting out of their coffin anytime now.” She turned around towards her friends, “Witch.”
“Excuse me,” Alex said, getting up.
Komptin barked again at Alex. She stopped to turn to her dog. “I wasn’t going to hurt her…too badly.” Komptin squinted his eyes at her. “Party pooper.”
***
Mole went back to the dorm room to change to go to the gym. He put on a pair of shorts and his shirt but he needed a jacket because it was getting cold out. He went through his closet and noticed his Ironman Finisher Jacket hiding in the closet. He pulled it out to look at it. He had just realized he hadn’t worn it since the night he got jumped by Roger.
Flashes of that night leaped into his mind. He quickly shrugged them off. He walked over to the mirror and put the jacket on. It still fit, and surprisingly, it was just a little loose. He was checking himself out when he heard the key in the door. Mole quickly took the jacket off and shoved it underneath his desk before Kameron came in.
“Didn’t think you were going to be here,” Kameron said. He went into his closet and put his jacket away.
“Class ended early,” Mole said.
Kameron nodded, “Those are the nice days.” He grabbed his books. “Well, I need to get moving if I am to graduate this year.”
“Have a good study group,” Mole said to him.
Mole got to the gym. He went into the pool where the swim team was finishing up their practice. Mole watched the team dive into the water and do practice drills. He changed into his swim gear and jumped into the lane that was only four feet deep. He carefully walked down the ladder into the water. He could only manage to walk up and down the pool for about 30 minutes before he would start to hurt.
He completed his workout and walked over to his scooter. He caught himself staring at the cross-country team running along with their coach on a bike yelling at them. He jumped onto his scooter. He had to drive the scooter because it didn’t require him to push down with his feet. He had tried driving a car but pushing down on the gas hurt his back too much. Doctor said it was from the reconstructive surgery on his knee. Some tendon was pulling on another that was hurting his back. He tried a normal motorcycle, but he was having the same issue switching gears. So, his only other choice was a scooter. He strapped the helmet on and took off towards the room.
***
Anne got home before Alex and Brenda. She decided to take advantage of this time alone and jump in the shower for a nice, long, hot one. She was in the shower thinking about what Brenda said to her that morning. Would it be the fact that they haven’t really had a serious relationship with no one other than each other that causes Kale to stray?
Anne’s thoughts entered her mind. She had never thought like that, never in the past three years. She quickly changed her thinking. She knew she was most happy when she woke up next to him. She knew sometimes it hurt him, but when he put his massive arms around her, she never felt so safe.
She had never been able to depend on another person before, but Kale was something different. She finished washing her hair and body. She stepped out of the shower, drying herself off.
She wrapped the towel around her and opened the door to a big guy in front of her. Anne screamed as she kicked the guy in the crotch. He went down, in pain holding his groin. The guy slowly got up, grabbing the towel, almost yanking it off Anne. She screamed as loud as she could.
The front door blew open as Alex came in with her fists glowing. Alex saw the guy attacking Anne. She didn’t hesitate; she grabbed the guy and picked him up, slamming him onto the floor. Komptin charged through the doorway in full gargoyle mode with eyes glowing. Alex was about to strike when she heard a noise come from Brenda’s room.
“Komptin,” Alex said. “Watch him.” Komptin morphed down to his dog state. Alex peeked into Brenda’s room where she saw her roommate getting dressed for a date wearing headphones. Alex quickly diminished her fists and motioned for Komptin to let go of the guy.
The guy regained his composure. “What the hell?”
Alex picked him up, “Yah, that’s my bad,” she said, wiping dirt off his shoulders. The guy just looked at her in shock that a little, petite thing such as Alex picked him up like a rag doll and then threw him to the ground. “Turbo Boxing,” Alex said to him, acting like a boxer. She went to check on Anne. “You okay?”
“Yah, I’m fine; he just scared me,” Anne told her. She peered over Alex’s body over at the guy. “Sorry.”
He just grunted out of annoyance, trying to regain his strength.
Brenda came out, “What happened?”
“Nothing,” the guy said. He got up and grabbed her hand to head out the door where he bumped into Kale. “Dude, wear a helmet?”
Kale played with the door, “Everything okay?”
Alex tried to think of an excuse, “Everything is good.”
Anne adjusted her towel, “I need a couple of minutes to get dressed.”
“Take your time,” Kale said heading over to the couch. “What are your plans tonight?” he asked Alex who was grabbing her last Apollo out of her bag.
“Just studying, maybe go for a walk,” Alex said, thumbing through one of Brenda’s gossip magazines. They were cheap and mindless; Alex secretly loved them. She put down her magazine, “You okay?”
Kale turned on the TV. “Yah, I’m good. I’ve got a lot on my mind with graduation coming up next year.”
Alex picked up her magazine, “Liar.”
***
Sanah walked into the Mosque. This was only one of two temples that he could find. He wasn’t surprised at the fact that this town didn’t have that many. He removed his shoes and knelt down to pray. He needed to pray extra today; he was missing his family and he knew he had a rough road ahead.
The mosque was nice, but it was too Americanized. He felt it was modernized unlike the authentic Middle Eastern mosques back in the Holy Land. After he finished his prayers he walked out to the streets. The air was chillier than what he was used to. He buttoned up his coat to keep the warmth close to him for as long as he could. It seemed to him no matter what he did, he always had a consistent chill in his bones.
He sat down on the bench in the park. The fall colors were turning the trees yellow with a hint of red trying to peek through. Sanah had read about the color changes of the fall. He would have to admit, the pictures he saw were truly amazing.
He made it back to his apartment where a little girl was playing in the hallway. The two just stared at each other. She was small and seemed to be very poor. He smiled at her, she smiled back. He grabbed ten dollars out of this pocket. He didn’t want to insult her parents, so he put the money on the ground. “I seem to have dropped this.” He winked at her. “I don’t have time to look for it. I guess whoever finds it can keep it.”
The little girl’s face lit up. She quickly grabbed the money like a coyote grabbing food from a pack. She went running to her mother, holding her prize. Sanah watched the two of them through the door smiling as they cherished his minor gesture of compassion. Sanah didn’t want to stare too long but seeing that moment of happiness was a rush of good feelings. It forced him on remembering how much he missed holding hands with his son walking in the goat fields. How he missed home. It was getting dark, as the streetlights were the main source of illumination. The air temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees. Sanah buckled up his coat and started to walk towards the abandoned industrial park. It was dark, it heightened his nerves, and it was a prime location for infiltrators to be resting.
The first building he went through was cleared. There were a couple of signs of remains of what appeared to a homeless person’s clothes. There were no signs of blood, though. There were no signs of any struggle. If the person allowed himself to be infiltrated, he would have stayed in the clothes he was in. The clothes were in a pile as if he or she had taken them off and left in that spot. He walked out of the building and walked into the main warehouse of a factory that had been left to rot for quite some time.
He couldn’t really see what the products were made of in here, but there were chunks of metal and plastic all over the place. He slowly entered the room. He knew at least one of the horrific beasts was in there. He lit his blue fists when the two sets of red eyes appeared. He quickly prayed his supportive chorus and attacked into the darkness.
***
Alex took a shower before she went on her hunt. She liked to feel refreshed before she went out to find some of Vandor’s minions. She wondered why she hadn’t seen or heard from him since high school. Not that she was complaining. His very presence had made her want to vomit. She knew that someday she would have to face him, plus she wanted to pay him back for what he did to Osiah.
The thought of Osiah made her feel kind of lonely. She was in this alone, but she was grateful for Komptin. She sat down on the bed next to her dog and scratched his head. “Shall we go for a walk?” Komptin lifted his head, flashing his eyes at her. “That’s my boy,” she said, playfully roughing him up.
Alex tied her long, braided hair in a ponytail and put on a black coat that reached down to her knees. She double checked her makeup because “a person cannot go out hunting looking like trash,” she amused herself. She grabbed the collar she liked to wear to hide the scar from her battle with Sara’s dad. She rubbed her fingers along the scar before covering it up with her black, studded collar.
The two hunters headed out into the urban jungle. It had taken Alex some time to teach herself to hunt in the city. For starters, she couldn’t let Komptin go ahead of her and she really couldn’t use her powers freely in fear of people seeing. Poor Komptin had to stay in his dog form for the majority of the time unless she came across some infiltrators.
The Council was very adamant about keeping their secret safe. Her only liaison to the Council was in D.C. now. She only contacted him briefly and in code via email or text messaging. Father Tom Altomer; she had to give him reports on a daily basis. He monitored her spending, and she had no idea who he was. She had never met him, and his messages were far from welcoming. Sometimes, Alex thought the Catholic Council was ashamed of her. She wished Father Joe would have stayed in contact. He was so nice and patient. The last time she saw him was at Osiah’s funeral.
It was a nice little service that included herself and Father Joe, Celestial with Ariel and Devine, and another mystic figure named Malkaroy whom Alex had never seen before, but he was generally sad to say good-bye to Alex’s former mentor. The ceremony didn’t last long at all, but she remembered everyone had a sip from Osiah’s flask and Celestial poured a little into a baby tree they had planted in the forest in honor of Osiah. She recalled Ariel and Devine didn’t say a word during that time. They were there supporting Celestial who was maintaining her emotional strength. Alex herself broke down crying. She remembered being consoled by Komptin and Celestial. She had never felt such warmth run through her body like that night. It was as if Celestial had pushed a sense of love and content into Alex. That was the last time Alex saw Father Joe.
Alex and Komptin decided to get a bird’s eye view of the land. She didn’t really like hunting from up above because she couldn’t really get into the feel of it. Tonight, was a different story; she wanted to look over the city at night. She got to the roof of a random building. The city was truly peaceful from up above. A couple of pigeons were roosting on a nearby sign. Komptin jumped on the ledge so he could see the streets below.
He nudged Alex to come see what he found down below. Alex looked down to see Anne and Mole walking out of the restaurant. Alex watched; Anne was holding onto Mole’s arm, tightly placing her head into it. Mole stopped and stared into her eyes as he leaned for a kiss. Alex observed the two embrace each other. Mole must have said something funny because Anne was laughing, hitting him in the chest. Alex caught herself smiling at the two of them. She was truly envious of their relationship; it would seem as nothing would get between them. “Come on, you peeping Tom,” Alex said to Komptin. “Let’s not be creepers.”
Alex came across a church along the walk. They were hosting an AA meeting in the basement which meant the building was open. She walked into the sanctuary where she sat down in the middle of the pew, looking up at the crucifix. She just stared at it.
“Excuse me,” someone said behind her. “Can I help you?”
Alex turned around to see an older man holding a tray of cookies. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Alex said. “Am I not supposed to be here?”
“Not really,” the man said. He walked up to her. His bright gray hair was emphasized by his dark skin. “Are you here for the meeting?”
Alex shook her head. “No, I just didn’t feel like being alone tonight.”
“Is everything alright? Do you want to talk?” the man asked. He had gentleness in his eyes. He must have been the minister of the church.
Alex shook her head no. “I just like the feel of the sanctuary, makes me feel safe as if no harm can come of me.”
The man smiled, “Are you having scary thoughts?”
Alex laughed, “No sir, I’m not suicidal. I just feel a little lonely.”
The man felt a little embarrassed and handed Alex a cookie. “Well, you don’t look like you are going to cause any damage. You can stay here until the end of the meeting, which will be about an hour and half.”
“I won’t be that long,” Alex informed him. “I just needed a second.”
He nodded in acknowledgment. “I will be downstairs if you need to talk.”
“Thank you,” Alex said.
The man left for the meeting. Alex sat there closing her eyes. She wasn’t tired, she was just enjoying the peacefulness. The light from Komptin’s eyes caught her attention. She turned around to see Celestial sitting behind her, with Ariel and Devine in front of the church praying.
“Are they all right?” Alex asked. Celestial was watching the two guardians.
“They are just thanking Him for all He has given them,” she said. “We all must do that once in a while.” Celestial thumbed through the Hymnal. “He sometimes likes to know we still care.”
“Will I ever meet Him?” Alex turned to her, still sitting on the pew.
“My child, is there something on your mind?” Celestial asked, putting the Hymnal down.
“It’s stupid,” Alex informed her. “I feel dumb just thinking it.”
Celestial put her hands on Alex’s arm which was lying on the top of the pew. “Please, you might feel better if you say it out loud.”
“Well, I’ve known a lot of guys,” Alex informed her. “I mean a lot.”
Celestial smirked, “I know you have.”
Alex just realized that was almost the first time she had seen her laugh. “Do you?”
“Do not ask questions which you do not want the answer to,” she playfully replied.
“Fair enough,” Alex said to her. “Anyway, they had never lasted more than a couple of nights before I ended the relationship.” Alex looked down on the floor, “Am I incapable of love as a Sentry? Is it something I will never know?”
Celestial gazed up, trying to formulate her words, “I promise you; you will find a love in your future that you will not see coming.”
“You know, don’t you,” Alex said.
She didn’t answer. All she did was stand up and motion for Ariel and Devine to join her. Alex got up when Celestial did. Celestial put her finger on Alex’s chest where her heart was. “Strongest I have ever seen,” she told Alex. Alex watched her leave and then caught herself feeling lonelier than she did when she entered the church. Celestial stopped in her tracks and paused before turning around. “You will not see it coming,” she smiled and went out the door followed by Ariel and Devine who just nodded to Alex as they followed their mistress.
Alex looked down at Komptin who was sitting up next to her, “Damn it, why the hell are you “all powerful” beings so damn cryptic?”
Ariel and Devine popped their heads around the corner of the doorway, “Language,” they both said.
***
Salamor floated along the sides of two infiltrators. He walked into the warehouse where he had felt the Lite Sentry’s presence. He sniffed the air. “She was here,” he said to the infiltrators. Salamor knew there had been a battle, but he did not see the remains of the Sentry, which meant she had won the fight. Salamor was shocked she managed to take on the infiltrators that were there. He knew there must have been at least four of them in the building alone. The two infiltrators that were at his side were scuffling near the corner of the wall. Salamor commanded them to move. The two of them scattered in fear as he approached a small pool of human blood. Salamor put his face close to the blood and sniffed it. “This is Lite Sentry blood.” He told them. He put his finger in the blood and placed it in his mouth. “This is not her blood.” He floated to the window and looked outside to the window where he saw a man extinguish his blue fists walking down the parking lot. “Sanah is here.”