“The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 18: Reintroductions
Alex and the others awoke to a loud knocking on the door. It
took them a moment to figure out what was going on, but a second rapid knock
got them focused.
“Quick, get in the bathroom,” Gail insisted, as she quickly
grabbed her scattered clothes from the nearby chair. “I’ll answer the door, but
if it’s a reporter or something I don’t want them to see you.”
“Who the hell could it be this time of day?” Cate asked. “No
one even knows we’re here.”
Cate continued to look for her own clothing as Alex headed,
naked, to the bathroom seeking refuge. His sister followed him after she’d put
on her underwear and grabbed both of their clothes.
“Open up, sir, it’s the hotel management,” called out a gruff
male voice, following a third rapid series of insistent knocks. Cate closed the
bathroom door while peering out the sliver she’d left open, while Alex used the
opportunity to throw some water on his face to wake himself up.
Gail finally settled herself and, checking the bathroom door
one more time, unlocked and swung the door open. She could have checked using
the peephole, but she didn’t think it would reveal much. Member of the press
would know to stay clear of the door and she wouldn’t likely recognize anyone
anyway. They also had nothing to fear from any organized groups like the
police. She figured it was likely either innocent of a new follower had sensed
Alex but hadn’t wanted to approach him themselves.
“Surprise,” called out a familiar voice. Cate opened the
bathroom door without a moment’s hesitation, leaving Alex standing there naked
with a damp face.
There, standing in front of the door, stood Patricia and the
members of her band, a guy and two girls, plus two other women standing
nervously behind them. Alex couldn’t remember any of their names, but he didn’t
let either that or his nakedness prevent him from serving as a gracious host.
“Damn, I should have figured it was you,” he told her as he
strolled unconcerned towards the door to envelop her in a hug. The other band
members grinned, having met Alex before and having heard plenty of stories
about him. The two new girls looked more nervous than anything else. “I really
expected you last night. Whatever took you so long?”
“It’s a long story,” Patricia told him. “While it was true
that Jordan had an accident,” she said, indicating a tall dirty blond, “we
spent most of the day helping cover for you,” she explained. “That little
incident you pulled before you left took a bit of handling. Thankfully there
were quite a few people just hoping for the opportunity to help you out. When
everyone started pulling their cell phones out while you were curing that
woman’s daughter, they helped to block their view. Brian, Rose’s boyfriend who
you gave the job helping fix everyone’s computers, developed something just for
that scenario. It was just blind luck he happened to be there at the time.
“He fixed a powerful electro-magnet in the sleeve of his
jacket. He wandered around anyone who looked like they were taking pictures and
asked to see their pictures. Anyone with anything incriminating, he triggered
his device and it zeroed out the memories of the person’s camera or cell phone.
It was localized, so it didn’t impact anyone else, but a few tourists found
themselves without any pictures of their vacations.
“We spent the day sending out messages to the area
discussion groups, talking about how no one was able to take a picture of you,
that you’d cause any electronic devices to die. It won’t make those with dead
phones feel any better, since they didn’t know, but given enough time they’re
likely to mention it to people and they’ll do a search, and someone will
associate the behavior with you. Not only will it help establish your
reputation, hopefully it’ll prevent at least a couple of people from trying to
film you next time.”
“Wow, I’m certainly glad I’ve got so many resourceful people
helping me out,” Alex said, turning to acknowledge the others. “Come on in.
There’s no sense standing outside. Cate, do we have any coffee we can make for
our friends?”
“Yeah, you’d better all come in. Otherwise Alex will
continue flashing his junk for the entire neighborhood to see,” Cate teased.
“Don’t worry about drinks,” one of the girls said. “We
brought everything for breakfast. We’ve got coffee, Danish, omelets, the works.”
“Well hurry up and bring it in,” Gail told them. “We’ll get
this one dressed while you’re getting everything ready.”
The others brought in the breakfast goodies, closing the
door behind them, while Patricia gave both Cate and Gail welcoming hugs as well.
“So, I can tell you haven’t yet recovered from last night,”
Patricia said with a smile. “I imagine having done without for the last week,
that Gail and Cate must have been primed last night.”
“We sure were,” Cate confessed. “But we didn’t let him indulge
in any gentle lovemaking this time. Instead we had him raw and wild. I even got
to fistfuck someone for the first time,” she said with obvious delight and an
odd sense of pride in herself.
Patricia glanced at Alex and Gail before looking at Cate
again. “I’m hoping you’re talking about Gail, otherwise Alex is a whole lot
kinkier than I suspected,” she said with a grin.
Alex grunted as he fastened his jeans around his waist.
“Let’s just say I wasn’t the only one getting carried away last night.”
“What about Clara?” Patricia asked, as the others set their
booty on the table. “Did you get a chance to speak to her?”
“Yeah, she called the station out of frustration, trying to
defend me. She didn’t expect them to attack her, so she wasn’t prepared. As a
result she was fumbling. We’re just lucky they didn’t push her for anything
worthwhile.”
“Well, hopefully you convinced her to keep her mouth shut
from now on?”
“Yes, I think she’s learned her lesson. She no longer thinks
so highly of the Fox attack journalism now that she’s been on the receiving end
of it.”
“So you managed to skate away from trouble once again,”
asked the older bald guy that Alex remembered was Patricia’s pianist. Well,
actually he’d been playing a synthesizer, but that was close enough for Alex.
“Yeah, so far I’ve been lucky,” Alex said, reaching out his
hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t recall your name.”
“It’s Sammy Tipton,” he said, introducing himself as he
shook Alex’s hand. “If you’ll remember, I had a sister and an aunt who are
both—”
“Watchers. Yeah, I remember,” Alex replied as another girl
walked up with a cup of coffee.
“I’m Mac. I’m the drummer,” she said as Alex accepted his
drink.
“Mac? Not a typical girl’s name, but it’s fitting for a
drummer, I guess,” Alex told her.
“The real name is Mackenzie Schumacher, but that’s too long
for most people, so I like to keep it simple.”
She seemed nice, although she had a bit of a stark face. But
her eyes twinkled in delight at meeting Alex. She had long curly hair that
framed her face.
“So do you have any other affiliation with our
organization?” Alex asked.
“I like how you delicately phrase asking if I’m a Watcher or
have the gene in my family,” she replied with an easy smile. “No, I’m just your
typical musician. I knew Patricia from before, so when she said she was putting
together a rock band I was glad to join in. I was overwhelmed when she told me
about you and how her life had changed. Then when I started meeting the others
I could hardly believe it. Trust me, if you accept outsiders, then I’d be glad
to be a part of this movement of yours. This is bigger than anything else I’ve
ever been involved in. I’d always hoped I could achieve some small degree of
fame, but now it looks like I’m part of changing humanity.”
“Well, I don’t know about changing humanity,” Alex said,
“right now I’m just trying to keep everyone around me safe. You realize you
could be putting yourself in jeopardy if everyone discovers who we really are?”
“Yeah, I realize that. But then again it’s like helping the
first humans defend himself against the Neanderthals. There’s a lot more
involved than my own personal safety.”
“Well, I’m impressed by your dedication,” Alex told her,
“but please, try to keep yourself safe. For my sake, if for nothing else. I
like to look after my followers, and I certainly count you amongst them.”
A cute blond walked up and handed them both an omelet
sandwich. “I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I’m Erica Mayes. I’m the
guitarist, and a Watcher. When we played for your birthday and your prom, it
was all I could do not to stare at you the whole time. You’re truly amazing,
and I’m proud we’ll be spending so much time together. Anything you might need,
feel free to ask.”
“OK, Erica, tell me how someone your age ends up being the
lead guitarist of a big band. Isn’t there something about paying your dues or
maturing your craft?” Alex asked with a bit of a smirk, not being mean, but
just trying to get her to talk about herself. He noticed that the others were
sitting enjoying breakfast, listening to his conversation. He could see them
whispering to each other, but he was afraid to ask what they might be
discussing. He figured before they were done with their trip he wouldn’t have
any secrets left. It was then he remembered Patricia had commented about Cate
and Gail having had their way with him, and he realized they already
knew all of his secrets.
“Well, my father was a professional musician and a member of
a band for a long time, so I had a guitar in my hands practically my whole
life, and I had exposure to being on stage as well. I’d meant to play with
other groups long enough to get some decent exposure, then branch out into my
own career, but now I’m thinking it’d be better to stick with Patricia. Not
only does it look like she’s going to make a big splash, but it will keep me in
your sphere of influence for a while. I figure when I do go out on my own I’ll
do like Patty did, and orient each of my tunes around you.”
“Well, that’s a nice thought, but I think your typical
audience would like something a little more generic,” Alex suggested. “After
all, only a few people have the slightest clue who I am.”
“If we have anything to say about it, that’ll change. But
for now, Patty’s managed to wrap the songs about you in terms the ‘typical’
person will understand, concealing the actual meaning while leaving it for
those who’ll recognize the actual context,” Erica explained, showing she’d
already spent too much time thinking about the topic.
“That may be, but it still is a bit much for everyone to be
singing about me all the time,” Alex argued. “I might have a hard time dealing
with it. In fact, I may skip several of the—”
“Whoa,” Patricia said, standing up and poking her finger in
Alex’s chest. “Let’s just put that thought to rest right now. Natalie and I
have very carefully scheduled these concerts for maximum effect. Not only were
they arranged to reach the most people as well as to draw people to you, but
we’ve made arrangements with many of your followers’ families to seek us out
during the concerts. You don’t have to listen to the music if you don’t want
to, but you’ll need to be there for each one.” When Alex started to reply she
cut him off, continuing with her explanation.
“You can go searching for new followers while we’re setting
up during the day. But at night we need you there at the concert. We’ll be in
populated areas, which is a draw in itself, plus we’ll pull in a substantial
number of people. Not only that, but the advertising for the concerts is geared
to your followers. This is the ‘Trust Your Feelings’ Tour. So anyone that has
these sensations but doesn’t understand them will be likely to visit, just to
see if we reveal anything they can relate to. So it’s the perfect opportunity
for you.”
Cate was getting ready to say something as well, but Alex
knew he’d already lost the argument so he waved his hands in front of him. “All
right, I concede. You’ve made your point. I’d ask you to throw in a couple of
non-Alex songs, but I figure the arrangements were also prepared long in
advance, so I guess that’s asking for too much?”
Patricia and Erica both nodded, so Alex grunted at them, but
he clearly understood there was no way he could change it at this late date.
That was just one of the penalties in assigning others to arrange things for
you. They had a tendency to paint you into things that were good for you,
rather than doing it the way you liked.
“So, Erica, you say you come from a musical family, how do
they feel about you putting your musical ambitions aside to follow someone like
me around?” Alex asked, trying to move the discussion away from the current
impasse.
“Oh, I’m hardly sidetracking my career with this,” Erica
informed him. “Patricia’s going to be big. This album looks like it’s going to
hit the big time. But I’ve already told them about you. I’ve told both of my
parents that the genes that have made me a Watcher might originate with them,
so they’re both expecting to meet you when we get to California, and they’ll
bring my nieces and nephews as well.”
Alex groaned involuntarily at that idea, but caught himself
and put on a weak smile. The others knew how reluctant he was with what he had
to do, so it didn’t bother them. As long as he could do what he needed to do
they’d each try to help him wrestle with his unease with it, since they each
knew just how important what he was doing was.
Alex turned to the other two girls, both of whom were now
sitting on the bed with Gail and Cate.
“OK, I take it that neither of you are musicians, since you
don’t exactly look the part and I don’t recognize you from before.”
“No,” said the first, a fuller breasted dirty blond with a
big smile. “We’re part of the support personnel. Once the album is released
there’ll likely be many more of us, but until then Patty only has a single van,
so she was limited to who she could include. I’m Jordan Sterling, and I do the
make-up and help run errands. Chelsea here does the wardrobe. We’re relying on
each stadium to handle the sound, stage and lighting effects,” she explained.
“Pleased to meet you both,” Alex told them cordially. “Were
you both hired for your particular skills, or do you have your own association
to me?”
“Jordan’s known Patricia for some time, though she hired me
because I’m known for my work with traveling performers,” Chelsea explained. As
she spoke Alex gave her a once over. She was a cute brunette with a nice smile.
You could tell she took great pains with her own clothing, as it looked quite
nice while still being unique. Alex could also tell that both girls were likely
to be handfuls as well.
“Patty told us all about you when we first signed on,”
Chelsea continued, “knowing just how much time we’d be spending together. She
said she wanted to ensure we knew what we were getting into. She also told us
that the band and their music are only secondary, that anything you said takes
priority over anything else. We aren’t used to self-centered musicians telling
us something like that, so that got our attention.”
Jordan laughed, which really lit up her face even more. But
Alex warned himself to watch it. The last thing he needed was to get involved
with others besides his many followers. “Yeah, that told us just how serious
she was about this. We also spent time talking to the others in the community,
so we’re fairly well informed about what’s involved. I’ve got to say, though,
this really brings this whole thing into much sharper focus for us. It is one
thing being a part of a major act, but this goes way beyond that. This is,
like, something real. This could affect millions of people for the next
thousand years at least,” she said with a look of intense concentration on her
face.
“Yeah, anything we can do for you, just let us know,”
Chelsea said. “We’ve heard so many stories of what you’ve done and how caring
and protective you are, we’re anxious to learn even more than we already know.”
“And in case you’re interested,” Jordan said, glancing at
him with a raised eyebrow, “I can clean up those wild eyebrows for you, unless
you’re purposely going for a wild cult-leader look?”
Alex blushed, but Cate and Gail both laughed.
“He’s lived with it for all this time, he’s never once asked
me to clip them for him,” Cate told her.
“Do you really think it looks that bad?” Alex asked, having
never thought seriously about his looks before. “I know they’re a little thick,
but...”
“It does look a bit wild,” Chelsea offered.
“Well, I guess as long as you’re offering,” Alex hedged,
“but can you do anything about it long term, or would it need to be done
continually?”
Jordan walked up and played with his errant eyebrows. “I was
thinking of just trimming them. You’d have to get them trimmed periodically,
though. There are a couple that are longer than the others. If you were
interested, you could get them treated so they wouldn’t stick out by
themselves, but I’d still recommend trimming it. But then again, what you have
now is a unique look. It sort of says ‘I’m not a handsome rock star, instead
I’m an average man.’ So think of which look you want. Either way, I can make
you look good.”
“Yeah, like I need to attract any more women. Actually, if
you could make me look uglier it might make my life easier.”
“Alex, you could look like Quasimodo and it wouldn’t make a
bit of difference,” Cate informed him. Alex glanced questioningly at Gail and
Patricia.
“Hey, he has eyebrows? I never noticed,” Gail replied with a
laugh. Alex then glanced at Erica.
“I’m attracted to your power. Your looks are an added
benefit, but it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Power is like money, it
makes up for a lot of other things. It’s sexy in a way that looks just can’t compare
with. Why do you think women go for rich and powerful guys? It’s because they
influence and control a lot of people and things. You fill that category in
spades.”
Alex grimaced, but turned, spreading his arms, to appeal to
the collection of women in the room. “So what do you say? Eyebrows or not?”
“Personally, I’d trim it back so it’s a little more under
control, if I were you,” Cate laughed. “There’s eccentric, but then there’s the
Meth lab look.”
“Actually, you should think longer term,” Jordan advised
him. “While it doesn’t detract from your followers at the moment, you’re likely
to get exposed eventually. All it’ll take is a random photo showing up. When
that happens, you have to consider how you’ll appear to the public at large.
Looking like you do now, while not bad in and of itself, might foster the wild
cult image in people’s minds.” She regarded the looks she was getting and
hurried to explain further. “It’s part of my job to create the correct look for
public figures. It’s part of what I do.”
“All right,” Alex said, turning back to Jordan with a smile,
“I’ll let you do your magic on me. Just try to not make me too irresistible,
huh?”
“Well, it’ll probably be easier if we do it during the
evening, when we have some time,” Jordan said.
“Uh, yeah, I had something else to tell you,” Patricia said,
looking a little put out. “Although I told you that whenever we left was up to
you, well that was only true up to a point. We’ve got a schedule to keep. Our
staying behind to clean up details cost us more time than we really had. Our
first concert dates are tonight and Wednesday in Houston. So we need to get to
Houston in a hurry so we can go over the preparations. It’s especially
important since this is the first performance in a whole series.”
“Oh, do we need...” Alex started to ask before Patricia cut
him off.
“You don’t need to do anything,” she told him. “We
need to be there. But I heard how many stops you typically make, so we thought
it would be better if we headed off on our own. That way you can take as much
time dealing with new followers as you need to. As long as you make it there
before the performance you should be OK.”
“I guess that means you’ll be—”
“Leaving soon? Yeah,” Patricia replied. “We planned on
leaving as soon as we finished breakfast. I’ll give Cate the address of the
hotel so you know how to get there. You can talk to me when you get there and I’ll
tell you where to meet us.”
“Well, that was quick,” Alex said. “Though I appreciate
whatever time I can spend with you, I’m beginning to think you’re avoiding me.”
Patricia laughed. “As if I need to avoid you. All I need is
to wait a couple of minutes and you’ll have another bunch of women around you.
Besides, all you need is an old lady like me hanging around you.”
“Hey, enough of that. I wouldn’t put up with it from Anh and
I won’t put up with it from you. You’re the mother of my future child, and
you’re a huge part of my life. Yes, I’m busy, but if you need the time I’ll
make it for you. Now I don’t know what the next several nights will be like,
but I’m expecting to spend some time with you. I haven’t spent more than a few
spare moments with you since my birthday.”
“Don’t worry,” Patricia told him, kissing him on the cheek.
“We’ll spend some time together. I’ve been planning on it, but I wanted to give
the girls in New Orleans a chance at you. You take your time getting to
Houston. Do what you need to do, just be there in time for the performance. But
then I know you, you’ll be on time come hell or high water. You don’t let your
friends down. I may be busy the next couple of days, but I’ll make time for
you. I’ll always make time for you,” she told him.
Everyone said goodbye and they all hugged Alex, or shook his
hand in Sammy’s case, and soon they were on their way out the door again.
Once everyone had left and Alex and Cate had waved goodbye
to their departing van, Alex turned to Gail and his sister. “I guess we’d
better get on the road. We had an easy time of it yesterday, but I wouldn’t
count on that to continue.”
“You know, I’m really looking forward to the coming school
year,” Daniel informed his steady girlfriend, Grace. “Being seniors is going to
be a big deal, but with a little work I think we can both get into one of the
better schools together. That would be great. Can you imagine it, living on our
own in dorms where we can spend the night whenever we feel like it?”
“Yeah, I can imagine it,” Grace replied with a feral grin
all her own, “but I’m especially thinking of all the partying we can do next
year. The pressure will be off of us at school, and we can kick back and have
some fun,” she said with a smile as her eyes seemed to envision it in her own
mind.
“Yeah, but don’t forget there’s still a lot of work we have
to do, we can’t party all the time. Neither one of us has been accepted at any
universities yet, so we need extras to help push us over. We need to work at
our respective sports, some awards wouldn’t hurt, and maybe some volunteer work
or some other extracurricular activities. We can’t slack off. Although it’s
nice we both got summer jobs together this year, I’d like to see if I can get
into some form of internship next summer.”
“Man, you certainly know how to bring me down,” Grace
groused. “I’m just looking forward to taking it easy all summer and having some
fun with you. All that stuff will take care of itself. We’ll get serious about
life when we have to, but for now we’re just a couple of high school kids on
summer break, and aside from our part time jobs we’ve got no real
responsibilities. Don’t go spoiling that for me.”
“You always were the party girl, that’s partly why I liked
you so much, but I worked hard to get to where I am now, and I can’t take the
chance of letting good opportunities pass me by.”
“Ha, what we do now isn’t going to make that big of a
difference. As long as we graduate from college with a decent major we should
be able to get a decent job. Then we can get serious about life, but
there’s no rush to grow up. You’ve got to learn to go with the flow. Worrying
about your future makes you a dull boy, and while that intrigued me initially,
I don’t want you ‘harshing my mellow, man’,” she teased.
It was true; they had come from two different worlds. Daniel
was a hardworking overachiever who studied as hard as he played basketball and
track. School didn’t come easy for him, and since it meant so much to him he
worked hard at it. He knew he wasn’t likely to win any athletic scholarships,
but being involved in a decent sports team would give him a leg up, so he
worked hard to make the team each year, but it was a decent education that was
going to win him a good paying job.
But Grace didn’t quite see things that way. Everything
seemed to come easy for her. She was beautiful and she hardly had to work at
much of anything. If she didn’t get high grades right away, she’d flirt with
some nerd and he’d offer to tutor her for free. If she couldn’t get a decent
job, she’d flirt with the manager at a local store and he’d offer her one on
the spot. She was a social queen, and she really wasn’t ready to give that up.
She could afford to coast at this point, whereas Daniel couldn’t.
Still, they made an interesting pair. Daniel was intense and
serious, thoughtful and a careful planner, whereas Grace was fun loving and
impetuous. She could get Daniel to relax and let his hair down, while he could
get Grace to do what was necessary for her to succeed. She knew she had to do
well, and she’d used her charms on Daniel to help her do that, but he really
took himself much too seriously sometimes. If he kept at it like he wanted to
all the time, he’d be dead before he got very far in whatever job he wanted.
“You know, it’s great that we both got jobs at the mall
during the summer,” he said. “This idea of driving to work together every day
is great. That way our parents don’t question us spending so much time
together, and we can spend time with each other during our break.”
“Yeah, well don’t count on it today, Romeo, as I’ve got some
shopping to do. Ramona told me that that Casual Girls got a new shipment of
these darling fashions in today, and we’re all heading over to check them out.”
“You do that,” he told her, “and I’m sure you’ll drag me to
yet another party where you’ll get the chance to wear them, but I’m going to
focus on making an impression on Mr. Lopenso. I think he could give me a great
letter of recommendation, and I want to make sure he thinks highly enough of me
to lie for me,” Daniel answered with a smile, glad that Grace was comfortable
enough for him to joke about such things with.
Grace came from a much different background than Daniel did.
Both she and her mother were young, thin and gorgeous, and knew how to ‘work
it’ to get ahead. Not only that, but her father was already a professional with
a good job, unlike Daniel’s immigrant parents. True, they were second generation,
but they hadn’t made it up the corporate ladder yet. That was Daniel’s job.
Everyone in his family expected him to get a good education and win that high
paying job that made all the difference in America. And Daniel knew he couldn’t
let his family down. For Grace, her father actively encouraged her to take it
easy. With any luck she could win a rich husband so she wouldn’t have to work
and slave like her father did. Their parents had very different lifestyles
planned for the two of them. Though each had aggressive plans for their
children, they had a different roadmap for how to get ahead in life.
“I think I could get you one of those…” Grace unexpectedly
halted mid-sentence, seemingly staring off into space, which was so unlike her
that it make Daniel turn to see what was up.
“What is it, babe? Think of something you forget?” he asked.
“No, I think there’s something we should see ahead of us.
Can you step on the gas a little? We need to move faster or we might miss it.”
“Miss what? If I drive any faster I could get a ticket, and
you know that jobs and colleges check out insurance rates and police records.
If I get pulled for speeding my insurance would go up, and then I’d have to
explain why I’m such a ‘reckless youth’.”
“Uh, I really don’t know what, but whatever it is, it’s
important. Much more important than avoiding a damn ticket,” she said with a
stern note to her voice.
“Yeah, and what’s so important it’s worth getting a ticket I
can’t afford?” he asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but you’re aware how I always seem
to know who to avoid and who to follow at school, well it’s like that. I just
have this feeling that we should move farther up in traffic. There’s
something or someone that we should see if we can get close to them. You know
how I got you involved with that silly choir group, because I told you they’d
have good connections. Well it’s like that. I just know there’ll be a
positive outcome if we get up there now,” she insisted.
Daniel certainly couldn’t deny her that. Despite her having
no clue who anyone on the men’s choir was, she’d insisted he join, even
pointing out whom to establish friendships with. It had certainly worked out
well, as the job he was heading to now had been won by the connections he’d
made. She’d also warned him about a variety of her friends. She’d told him that
some of her friends were cutthroat, despite their pleasant demeanors, and she’d
warned him away from some of the popular kids, something that had saved him
from several embarrassing situations. So if she said to do something for some
unexplained reason, he wasn’t about to argue. She’d proven her worth on that
front several times over.
Daniel pressed on the gas a little heavier, watching the
road ahead for any hidden police cars. He knew it was unlikely they’d encounter
any, but they just loved to sit out on the highway during the warm summer days,
and he really didn’t need that hassle right now.
His car maneuvered between a couple of others, slowly
working its way through traffic. They both started work later in the day,
meaning they didn’t have to worry about traffic. These hours were ideal for
them, they meant they could sleep late yet still have an excuse for the
parents, they’d work into the early evening, thus having a handy excuse for
getting home late and skipping dinner with the family. They’d get home in time
to dress at which point Grace would drag Daniel to whatever crazy parties she
found for them to crash.
As they moved forward, though, Grace seemed to get more and
more anxious, actually leaning forward in her seat. At one point she actually
started biting her nails, something she never did. Her nails were always
perfect, looking like she she’d never worked a day in her life. For someone as
laid back as Grace was, it must be pretty important to upset her this much.
“There,” she said, pointing to the back of an older car
ahead of them. “That’s the one. See if you can pull up behind it. I don’t know
who or what’s in it, but I can tell it’s very important. We need to at least
see who it is. I don’t know how I know, but I can tell that whoever is inside
is incredibly powerful. I think if we could identify who it is and follow them
for a while, we could arrange an accidental meeting which would help us both.”
That got Daniel’s attention. She’d set him up with some
important people, telling him they’d make a difference in his life, either
directly or indirectly, but she’d never actually told him they’d been that
powerful themselves. With what they’d managed to do for Daniel, he was sure
that whoever they were following could help him tremendously if they could work
the same magic they’d worked before.
As Daniel pulled in behind the older car, he noticed there
were a couple of people in it. There was an older professional looking woman in
the back, though she wasn’t dressed like a business woman, but David just knew
from her attitude that she was good at what she did. There was also a young
girl in the front, but he couldn’t see the driver. He figured the important
person must be the woman in the back, but why they were riding in such a crappy
car he had no idea.
“Maybe your intuition is off this time,” he suggested. “That
woman doesn’t seem so impressive to me.”
“It’s not her, it’s whoever is driving. I don’t know why
someone that important would be driving an older car like that, but he’s the
important one. The woman in the back, while she looks more imposing, she’s not
as influential, though I still wouldn’t mess with her,” Grace told him,
speaking as if she knew these people she’d never met before. “I think she could
put you in your place in record time. She’s one tough lady,” she told him with
assurance, even though it sounded a little like a warning.
As they drew nearer the woman in back, the one with the
close cropped black hair, turned and looked back at them, then leaned forward
to say something to the couple in the front seats. She turned and looked back
at them, which made Daniel uneasy. They’d obviously been spotted tailing
someone who was trying to travel incognito, but Grace didn’t seem to be
deterred.
“Look, she’s waving. I think if they didn’t want us to talk
to them I’d know. I think we should follow them to wherever they’re going,”
Grace suggested.
“That’s just crazy,” Daniel countered. “They could be
driving cross country. Our exit is coming up in a little ways; it would be
irresponsible for us to miss…”
“Daniel,” Grace said as she quickly turned on him, “it would
be irresponsible to pass up an opportunity like this. There are important
things that only happen to you once in your entire life, and I can tell that
this is one of them. Whatever we do, we’ve got to talk to these people. It will
affect our lives in a way that nothing else ever could. We aren’t just talking
about a possible summer job here, we’re talking about a ‘changing your life’
type of event.”
Daniel glanced at her just to make sure she wasn’t teasing
him, but he knew before he saw the expression in her eyes that she was serious.
She’d never sounded this serious the entire time he’d known her. Just as he
returned his eyes to the road ahead of them, he saw the woman doing something
in the back of the vehicle ahead of them.
“What’s she doing?” he asked.
“She seems to be attaching something to the rear window,”
Grace told him.
“What?” he asked simply.
“Well, we won’t know unless you get closer, now will we?”
Grace replied a little testily. So Daniel edged closer, tailgating much closer
than he’d normally allow himself. He had visions of accidentally rear ending
them if they stopped suddenly. He was sure that would make a positive
impression.
“It’s a sign,” Daniel said, trying to read what it said. “It
says, ‘Follow us’.”
“Do it, Daniel,” Grace insisted, looking at him. “Follow
them wherever they drive.”
Daniel knew better than to contradict her, especially when
she was this emotionally involved with what was occurring, but he couldn’t
imagine following some stranger home would work out very well, no matter how
impressive the people were. But they’d already put their turn signal on, so
Daniel felt safe that they wouldn’t be following them indefinitely. Hopefully
they’d either meet the people soon, or they’d pull up in front of a police
station and have them arrested. Either way, they’d be able to get on with their
day afterwards.
After getting a late start due to having spent so much time
entertaining Patricia’s entourage—Alex, Cate and Gail had gotten up late to
begin with, with Alex finally having relaxed—they missed most of the early
morning traffic. After they stopped for lunch it was even slower, thus the trio
hadn’t encountered as many new faces as they had on the rest of their trip.
Sure, they’d stopped for a couple of people, but they were pretty few and far
between.
They reached Beaumont, Texas, without attracting too much
attention, but just before they reached the turn-off where Route 10 merges with
69/96 Gail alerted them they’d gained another follower.
“I’m guessing this one may be a Seer,” she said. “They seem
to be a bit more aggressive in following you. Keep your eyes on the road ahead
and don’t glance back in the rear view mirror. All we need is an accident
because you let your eyes wander while driving.”
Alex did as she suggested, but Cate immediately turned back
to look.
“It’s a young guy and a girl, both about our ages,” she told
her brother. “The guy’s driving, so you should be safe.”
“No, Gail’s right. Someone’s first activation is too
important to screw up by being careless. We need to wait until we can control
the situation better. Gail, could you…?”
“Already on it, Boss man. I put Cate’s sign to work. Take
the next exit,” she suggested.
“There’s an exit coming up, I’ll just pull off here,” Alex
told them.
“No, don’t take that one,” Cate corrected him. “That’s 69/96
North. They have it labeled as the ‘Texas Forest Trail’. That’s the opposite
direction we need to take, and I don’t think there will be any nearby exits.
Just stay in this lane until you see a place to pull off.”
“We seem to have another one,” Gail warned them. “This one
is further back. I don’t know if they can see us yet, so slow down a bit so
they can catch up.”
“I’ll put on my blinker so they’ll know we’re exiting soon,
though it’s likely to annoy the other drivers,” Alex replied.
Alex ignored the turnoff he’d considered, leading to route
96, and continued on Route 10, his right blinker flashing the whole way despite
his not taking the turnoff. He’d slowed down enough that little old ladies were
passing him on the left, but since he didn’t see any immediate exits he sped up
again. Then he saw one, marked Laurel Avenue.
“Let me know if they can both see me exiting,” Alex called
out.
“You’re fine. The second car is following the first. I don’t
know if they can see my sign, but they’ve slowed down to stay behind you so I
feel confident they’ll stick with us.”
Alex turned off and pulled into a small store complex on his
right, where he found a parking spot as far away from the shops as he could
get. Keeping his eyes hooded, he glanced back in the rearview mirror to gauge
where the two cars were, not overly worried if the passenger behind them saw
him now that they were safely off the highway.
“All right, since this is another guy-girl combination let
me get out first so I can protect you if I need to,” Gail advised, so she and
Cate both exited the car, while Alex rolled the window down.
“The other car has a lone woman driving it, she’s older and shouldn’t
be a problem,” Gail told him, so he figured he was safe enough and got out of
the car. As he did he looked down, watching the approaching feet of the people
nearing him.
“Uh, excuse me, we didn’t mean to…” the approaching guy
began speaking hesitantly, but the woman beside him showed no such hesitancy.
Looking up, Alex saw them both clearly for the first time. They were indeed a
young couple, both apparently dressed for work. The young man was trying to
hold the girl back but she was having none of it, shaking loose his grasp on
her arm. When she looked back she pulled up short, looking momentarily stunned,
but that only lasted for a moment before she fell to her knees.
“Are you OK, Grace?” Daniel asked.
“No, I’m not,” she hissed, which surprised him. “Bow
down. This is some major shit we just stepped in,” she whispered to her
boyfriend. “We fuckin’ stalked an angel!”
Grace suddenly noticed that they could likely hear her,
despite her attempting to whisper only loud enough for Daniel to hear, and she
blushed deeply, but she bowed down even lower to hide it. Alex was preparing to
say something to her, but the woman behind them who’d just gotten out of her
car saw the two sink to their knees so she rushed up to them, quickly doing the
same, apparently thinking it was the proper protocol for a situation like this.
Alex looked this woman in the eyes as she approached. Their eyes met briefly,
but she didn’t react any more than to drop her eyes in embarrassment. Alex knew
they must be making quite a sight, but the fact they were physically isolated
meant they’d only be observed by people passing on the street, so he wasn’t as
concerned about attracting attention as he normally was.
Grace was a thin wiry brunette with a fresh clean look and
an irrepressible smile. Her boyfriend, Daniel, was a somewhat clutzy looking
teen, with somewhat chunky cheeks despite his not being that overweight.
Overall it made him look a little geeky, which contrasted with Grace’s striking
vibrant look. The other woman was a little older, but not that old. She still
had a fresh faced look about her, and her smile lit up her otherwise shy geeky
look her glasses and her hesitant demeanor projected. She had dirty blonde hair
which was cut short, but only wore a nondescript outfit.
“You really don’t need to bow down to me,” Alex told them.
The young man looked up, taking Alex’s measure for the first time, since he’d
been afraid to previously. He was surprised to see the man they were
prostrating themselves before was no older than they were. He was surrounded by
two others, a younger girl, and an authoritative older woman who seemed to be
standing just outside of arms reach of him. Grace and the other girl, whom none
of them had met, were more reluctant to get up, but once Daniel started to
stand and didn’t receive a reprimand, they did too.
“OK, there’s a lot of information to cover and we don’t have
much time to do it. Just so you know; I’m not an angel or anything like that.
What I have is a weird genetic anomaly which allows me to access and activate a
related genetic trait both of you share. It’s complicated, but I think it’s
fairly clear.”
“So you’re just a normal guy?” Daniel asked him. Alex
started to answer in the affirmative, but Grace quickly interceded.
“He’s anything but, Daniel, can’t you see how he shines, the
immense radiance surrounding him?”
When Daniel didn’t answer she glanced at him, getting only a
dim witted stare in return. Confused, Grace turned to the other girl. “You can
see it, can’t you?” she asked.
“No, but I can feel it. I know he’s important, and I could
easily believe he’s an angel, but he looks normal to me.”
Grace turned and glanced at Alex, but seeing only a towering
figure of blazing light turned to Cate instead.
“Only certain people can see him like that,” Cate explained.
“It’s part of the ability he’s activated in you. You can see the life force in
people. If you look at your friend you can see it as various colors, which
we’ll explain in a minute, but in Alex his energy is so strong that all you can
see is a blinding light.”
Grace took a moment to look at Daniel and the others around
her, trying to piece this all together.
“Uh, what exactly did you do to Grace?” Daniel asked, not
sure he was going to like what he heard.
“My brother triggered an ability she’s already receptive to.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that she can pick up things about people? If so, it’s
because she could feel their energy levels. Now, because of Alex, she
can literally see it as a physical manifestation. He actually managed to
change a few things in her brain, both in the cognitive and the visual
portions.”
“Grace, you’re what we call a ‘Seer’ now,” Alex continued to
explain. “We call you that because you can see what the rest of us can’t. You,”
he said, indicating the other girl, “are a Watcher, so called because you can
feel the energy in people, but you don’t yet trust those feelings enough to
believe them, so you tend to stand back and watch.
“You, sir,” he said addressing Daniel, “are what we call a
type 3. You don’t have the particular genetic features that allow these other
traits. I take it you’re her boyfriend, so you’ll need to help her out, because
this is a lot to take in and cope with, and she’ll need some help in dealing
with it.”
Daniel simply nodded sheepishly, not quite sure how to react
to all of this, but he was firmly convinced by how much it was affecting Grace.
He could see she was seeing a whole new world now.
“Now, as you may have guessed, my name is Alex. This is my
sister, Cate, and the other woman is Gail. She’s another Seer like you are. Can
I ask who each of you are?”
“I’m Daniel Vertiz, and this is Grace Barlow. We attend high
school near here during the year. We were just on our way to work at the mall,”
Daniel explained, since Grace seemed to be too preoccupied to say anything on
her own.
“I’m Morgan Kohler,” the older woman in the back told them.
“I was on my way to pick up my kids when I came upon you.”
“Well, then it’s important that we tell you everything
quickly so you can get back,” Alex told them, generating a scoffing laugh from
Cate.
“You still don’t get it, do you, Alex? There’s no returning
to a normal life for any of them. Once you enter a person’s life, their entire
life changes. Hell, even the guys that you’ve interacted with have changed
dramatically from the way they were before they met you.”
“Still, I’d rather they try to learn about it in their own
time,” Alex explained, not wanting to get into side discussions at the moment.
“I’d like to supply everything you need to survive, and then let you
contemplate it on your own. When you’re ready, we’ve got people you can talk to
and visit that will help you refine your abilities.”
“She’s going to have trouble surviving with this?” Daniel
asked nervously.
“No, no. I didn’t mean that. I just meant that she needs to
know certain things about herself in order to understand what’s happened. Once
you know that, you should all be able to return to your previous lives for a
few days while you process it.”
“So you aren’t an angel, then?” Morgan asked, clearly
looking like she couldn’t quite believe Alex on this one point.
“No, far from it,” Alex laughed gently, hoping to put them
at ease, but behind him, both Cate and Gail quietly shook their heads, telling
the others they didn’t agree with him. “I just happen to have the ability to
trigger these capabilities in others. I myself can’t see what you can.”
Alex and Cate then proceeded with the usual spiel about how
the various abilities work, as well as explaining about the communities in New
Orleans and Carbondale. Alex also handed out Shanna’s new business cards,
telling them to contact her when they were ready to travel to the other
communities.
“But for now, if you can spare the time, we’ll be in the
Houston House of Blues for a concert tomorrow and Thursday night. I’ll be
wandering around the concert, so I don’t know how much time I’ll have
available, but you can meet others from this area who are like you, so
hopefully you can form your own community here and support one another.”
“So wait a minute,” Daniel said, now that he’d gotten a
chance to consider what Alex had been telling them, “you’re telling me that
you’re just an average Joe, with nothing else to tell Grace or anyone else?”
“Well, I’m trying to tell them how to use their abilities,
but I’m not here to lay some religious trip on you about it,” Alex told him.
“You may be saying that, but I’m not sure the others with
you believe it,” Daniel told Alex, considering the view he had of Cate and
Gail. Alex turned and glanced at them as well, giving them a dirty look. They
returned a couple of innocent looks, but as soon as he turned his head they
shook their heads no again, while simultaneously making a shhing motion with
their fingers.
“The girls have an ongoing debate about me,” Alex explained.
“While I don’t personally believe in God, most of my followers do, they tend to
think I’m being guided by God, or spirits, or beings from a parallel dimension
or some such. It provides a nice sense of reassurance to believe that, but I
don’t quite buy it myself.”
“Alex doesn’t believe in the existence of the soul,” Gail
explained, “despite the fact that each of us Seers can see it, and can describe
it to him. He also doesn’t believe in a giant spirit guiding his actions,
despite his knowing there’s no other explanation. He likes to think he’s the
voice of reason here, but he’s mostly just shooting from the hip.”
“Well, I think I tend to believe his point of view, but it
begs the question. Why the hell should we listen to you?” Daniel asked with more
than a trace of disdain.
Grace spun on Daniel, wordlessly pleading with him to not
make a scene, but Daniel was on a roll. While he could see that Grace was
convinced she was seeing something that no one else could, he didn’t think this
kid had any more to tell them about it than they could figure out for
themselves. He thought they’d do just as well avoiding him and his ‘people’,
and continuing on as they always had.
“Frankly, I don’t see any need to either,” Alex told them
honestly. “I’m just here to provide some guidance. I triggered these changes so
I feel personally responsible to the people I activate, as well as the Watchers,
who can learn a lot from me as well. But there’s no reason to believe that I’m
any better than the next guy regarding how to react to this. You should each
decide on your own how you want to deal with it.”
Daniel scoffed, rolling his eyes in front of Grace and the
others, belittling Alex before everyone present. Grace couldn’t take it, and
she lit into him.
“Daniel, now just shut up before you embarrass yourself any
more than you already have. I can clearly see just how powerful Alex is. He may
not be ready to recognize it himself, but don’t you believe his
rationalizations about being just another guy for a second. Only someone given
great powers from God himself could have the powers that Alex does. Don’t
mistake humility and understatement for powerlessness or aimlessness. Cate,
tell me, has your brother achieved any miracles?”
Cate just smiled at this, enjoying watching the cat and
mouse play between the disbelieving boyfriend and the newly convinced
girlfriend. She’d seen this play out several times before in a number of ways,
but each time it did, it seemed to play out in a unique way. What’s more,
Grace’s responses echoed her own beliefs about Alex and his inability to come
to terms with what he’d become since he’d first discovered his abilities.
“He performs miracles all the time,” she answered honestly.
“He raised a man from the dead only several days after he first discovered his
powers. He’s healed people with incurable diseases, he’s healed people with
burns over vast amounts of their bodies, he’s cured people with kidney
problems, saving them the expensive treatments required for an organ transplant.
He even gave a blind woman the power of sight. He likes to think he’s normal,
but no one else believes he is.”
Alex shot his sister a dirty look, trying to tell her to be
quiet, but Gail spoke up then as well. “It’s true, he’s constantly telling us
that we’re free to believe whatever we want, that he doesn’t have any new
revelations or any scriptures to reveal to us, but then he constantly tells us
better ways to live, healthier and more productive behaviors. He always knows
how to achieve the best in anyone’s life, and is frequently making major
differences in people’s lives. You can take him at his word that he’s just a
typical teenager if you want, but you should be advised that he’s the only one
to take that particular position.”
“Ha, he doesn’t seem that special to me,” Daniel scoffed.
“What kind of miracle did he perform? He waves his hands over some guy with
gout and he feels better? That doesn’t prove anything.”
Alex started to say something, but before he could everyone
else started speaking for him.
“Has Alex ever showed any external signs of his power,
something besides his healing abilities?” Morgan asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Cate assured them again. “Each time someone
attacks him, and several people have, he’s always come out on top. One big
college football linebacker attacked him and Alex crippled him, despite the
fact he outweighed Alex by about twice as much. Someone pulled a gun on him,
pointing it right at his forehead, and Alex triggered a stroke so he was unable
to do anything.”
“Ha, unless you count getting shot in the neck,” Alex
countered, brandishing his scar as evidence of his fallibility.
“It was a flesh wound that he only suffered because he
stepped in front of a bullet to protect us, after he’d already incapacitated
the gunman,” Cate explained. “Even then, he was healed and fully functional
within days. He was dancing at his prom with dozens of potential girlfriends by
the end of the week.”
“You can’t cause someone to have a stroke,” Daniel argued.
“You might be able to screw their blood flow up if you hit them hard enough,
but the chances of doing just the right thing to do it are almost impossible.”
“He did it the same way he activated your girlfriend,” Cate
told him. “He created a portal in their brain, linking it permanently to his.
In the case of his attacker, he did the same thing, but in exactly the perfect
location to render him spastic and unable to function fully, but without
killing him. He claims it was accidental, but that seems pretty close to Divine
intervention if you ask me.”
“Daniel, you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about
here,” Grace sternly told him. “I’d suggest you stop embarrassing yourself. You
don’t need to be here for this. Alex is letting you stay just to be nice and to
allow us to remain close, but none of this concerns you in the least. But the
rest of us are here because we believe in him and want to help him.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel asked, finally turning on Grace
for not sticking up for him. “All you want is to party, what the hell are you
going to do for him?”
“I don’t know,” she responded. “I think I’m willing to stop
everything I’m doing and follow him wherever he might need me,” she insisted.
“No, don’t do that,” Alex hurriedly told her. “If you were
already planning on college, please, that’s where I need you. I need educated
people to advise me, and even more to help my people. It will take a lot to
avoid trouble in the future, and we need as much brain power as we can get.”
Grace turned and faced him head on, despite her being unable
to look at him directly. “Then what do you need me to do?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I don’t know what
your skills are in. Are you into science? Are you a talker? Can you lead
someone? I need to know your strengths. But I need skills more than I need
ready hands. I have plenty of people who are willing to simply help out. Once
I’m gone, I’ll need people who can help out for the next several generations.
That’s where I really need the help.”
“I’m good at motivating people,” Grace confidently told him.
“I can talk to people, I can organize events. I’m also sure I can master
whatever technical skill you’d need. Do you need a doctor or a lawyer?”
Daniel laughed from behind her. “Grace, you can’t even get
through a basic science class without assistance. How the hell are you ever
going to study for the ten years to become a doctor or a lawyer?”
She quickly spun on him. “Listen, don’t confuse my taking
things easy with my being a pushover. I can accomplish anything I set my mind
to. The problem is, up until now I never had anything that I needed to do.
However, now I do. I’ll do whatever Alex needs me to do. What’s more, I’ll do
an excellent job of it. And the only motivation I’ll need is knowing that I’m
helping him.”
“I agree,” Morgan concurred. “I’d like to help in any way
that I can. I’m just a housewife and a mother, but I’ll do whatever you need me
to do.”
“Well,” Alex began, considering how best to use two people
he knew nothing about, “the best I can think of is if you could come to the
concert tonight. What I really need right off the bat is someone to organize
and help the various new followers we’ll be developing in the next few days. If
you could help organize them it would mean a lot to me.”
“Consider it done,” Morgan assured him, not even waiting for
Grace to say anything.
“I’ll schedule everything,” Grace added. “I’ll organize call
lists, I’ll record everything you say and keep track of everyone’s abilities
and their job skills.”
Daniel again seemed to be unable to accept the new changes
in Grace’s basic personality, since it seemed to be so far from her previous
personality of only minutes ago. “You? You who can’t keep track of when your
next test is or your own assignments!”
“My class assignments aren’t important,” she assured him
with authority. “No one’s life is in the balance if I submit a history paper on
time. However, it will with what Alex is asking me to do. I have no problem
accepting responsibility. I’d only been delaying accepting it before, but now
that I find it thrust upon me and finding that I can make a real difference in
the world, I’ll gladly do whatever I need to do.”
‘Look, it doesn’t make sense to argue about this with
Daniel present, as he’s only getting more defensive the more he’s exposed to.
One of your new abilities is being able to speak to me telepathically whenever
you wish. You should take Daniel aside and return to your jobs. Just let him
rant and rave a bit and humor him a little. Give him time to come around. If he
doesn’t, then you may want to talk to him. But give him the benefit of the
doubt. This is a lot for anyone to take in all at once. You have the benefit of
being able to see the proof of it with your own eyes, but he doesn’t have that
benefit. Let me know if you’re going to be able to make it to the show. If you
do, I’ll put you to use.’
‘Holy shit!’ Grace swore
before she caught herself and considered just who she was swearing in front of.
‘I’ll be there come hell or high water. Count on it.’
‘Good. Now take care of your
boyfriend and think a bit more on what I’ve told you,’ he said mentally
before turning to each of them.
“Anyway, I’ve taken up too much
of your time as it is. If you could, could you give Cate here your telephone
numbers so she can get in contact with you? If any of you can get away to see
the show I’d appreciate it, but I can understand if you can’t. But it’s
important that you try to talk to others like yourselves to better understand
what you’re going through, and to help them as well.”
Both girls assured them they’d be
there, while Daniel merely grumbled, at least until Grace shot him a lover’s
death ray, daring him to say anything else. He was wise enough to not push the
issue after that, but only just.
They all gave Cate their information, even though Grace had
to correct Daniel’s information a couple of times. During this exchange Alex
walked back to the car with Gail, so as to not antagonize Daniel any more. He
figured that Daniel was having a tough enough time dealing with it, and didn’t
need to be challenged any more. Soon three cars were heading off in different
directions once more, each one fundamentally changed by the encounter.
The rest of the drive to Houston was largely uneventful.
They still met more people on the road, especially as they neared Houston, but
due to the hour they were driving they only met a couple of Watchers, and as
they neared the city Alex decided it would be less awkward if they could direct
them to the hotel rather than trying to stop and meet each one, so Cate, now
relegated to the back seat while Gail drove through the city traffic, put up a
sign telling anyone following them to meet them at the Four Seasons Hotel,
which was near the club. Despite the fact their first performance was unlikely
to do much for them, Patty and Gail had insisted on ‘decent’ accommodations for
Alex and those staying with him. However they both knew that what Alex
considered decent differed from what they felt he deserved.
Alex was impressed with Houston. It seemed larger and more
spread out than downtown New Orleans was. But the buildings were higher, the
traffic more intense, and the streets around the hotel more crowded. He was
glad he wasn’t driving as Gail swerved in and out of traffic, swearing at the
cabs as they cut her off. If he never had to drive in city traffic he’d be
glad, but he knew he’d be likely to need the skills, since they were planning
to have him travel to most of the major cities in the country over the coming
months.
When they arrived at the hotel, Gail refused to drop Alex
off in front of the hotel to drop their bags off, wanting to be with him to
provide any needed protection. They weren’t planning to stay for long, just
long enough to get their room which Patricia had already reserved, drop off
their gear and then they’d head over to the club to join Patricia and her bandmates
as they were getting ready for their first paying engagement of the tour.
There were three girls already waiting when they got to the
lobby, they’d apparently double parked in the street just so they could get to
Alex in time. Alex sat with them while Gail made Cate take the bags to the room
so she could watch over Alex. Cate mumbled to herself, but knew it was
unavoidable. She’d just have to be quick so she could get all the names and
numbers before Alex offhandedly dismissed them. That boy had no idea what it
took to keep all his followers accounted for!
When Cate managed to make it back down nothing too untoward
had happened. No one had attacked or shot at her brother, so it looked like
Gail’s fears were once again unfounded. But Cate couldn’t hold that against
their friend, if Gail had been available that one night, maybe Alex wouldn’t
have been shot. The idea of how close she’d come to losing him gave her shivers
once again.
She hurriedly got together with everyone, catching up on the
stories and making notes, as well as recording who they each were, how and
where they met Alex, and a little something about them in addition to their
names, addresses and phone numbers. She’d taken to developing her own coded
shorthand, since she knew her records of Alex’s followers could get everyone
involved with Alex’s movement in a world of trouble if it ever fell into the
wrong hands. Like possibly those of the police or the government. She knew they
needed to become much more paranoid in the future, because it was only a matter
of time before they’d eventually be revealed. They’d need to be able to protect
themselves when that happened.
After she’d finished, Alex excused himself, telling the
women he’d meet them at the club tonight assuming they could still get tickets.
Alex didn’t think their first performance would be that big, but Houston is a
pretty big venue, so he couldn’t rule it out. Besides, he knew next to nothing
about the show. He didn’t know if there was anyone else on tour with them, or
if there were any other acts. Hopefully he’d learn about it before tonight.
After saying goodbye to the newest Watchers outside, the
three walked to the nearby club. The place certainly looked impressive, a
modern steel and glass building. It wasn’t overly large, so Alex wasn’t
prepared for what he’d find inside. As instructed, they wandered around the
back and knocked on the door. They’d alerted Patricia they’d be by shortly, so
Jordan met them at the door.
The inside of the club was nothing like Alex had expected. He’d
been thinking of a traditional smoky bar, but instead it was a nicely decorated
restaurant/bar/concert hall with many separate rooms and venues. Jordan led
them back to where they were still setting up, doing basic sound checks and
going over their routines.
“Oh, Alex, just the person I wanted to see,” Patricia
exclaimed when she saw him. “I think everyone else is ready, so I can spare
some time to go over what you need to know. I’ll need to get back here soon,
though, so we’ll have to make this fast.” She led them through the club as she
talked.
“This is the theater we’ll be performing in tonight. It’s
their largest theater, and we’ll be lucky to partially fill it, since no one
knows me outside of my usual haunts. But you won’t be here watching me. Hopefully
you’ll be able to listen to me tonight, but I’m not exactly counting on it,”
she told him with a gentle laugh.
She continued walking and talking as she walked out into the
outer hallway. “No, you’ll be spending most of your time here during the performance.
The idea is that I’ll attract them here. Since this was our ‘getting started’
session and since you didn’t arrive with us, it won’t count, but the idea is
that when we roll into town, anyone sensing you will notice the van and the
‘Trust your feelings’ messages, and they’ll come to wherever we’re performing
looking for you during the act. Thus you’ll spend most of your time walking
around either here outside the hall, or in the club itself or even outside,”
she explained as she walked them through the various rooms and passageways.
“This is a large club, set up in various rooms, so anyone
looking for you might be in any of these different areas, so you’ll likely have
to check each periodically. We certainly don’t want to miss anyone in the
confusion. If you need privacy, which I’m sure you will, these passes will ensure
that you can pass through any of the doors you need to. I warned the club
personnel that you’ll be wandering around on my behalf, so try to not walk in
on the club owner or manager, but otherwise you should have free rein.
“If you need to check on anyone waiting outside the club,
you can regain access through this door. There’ll be a doorman here, but I’ve
already given them your picture, and with the pass you’ll have no difficulty
getting inside. You’ll have problems bringing anyone inside with you, though,
due to fire regulations on the number of people in the club, so anyone you meet
outside you’ll have to arrange to meet either in the hotel or the van
afterwards.”
She continued to show them around, showing the different
access routes and the back room she’d made sure he’d have access to to talk to
anyone backstage. Alex looked it over carefully, impressed that Patricia had
planned everything so carefully.
“You’ve certainly investigated each detail,” he told her.
“You do me proud, though I doubt there will be many people following me
tonight.”
“No, I didn’t think so,” Patricia replied. “As I said,
tonight is mostly a dry run so we can get used to how we’ll work the crowds as
the tour progresses. But we’ll be in Houston two nights with two sets tonight,
so there should be plenty of time to work your magic,” she told him somewhat
obliquely.
“Don’t count on there not being a lot of new followers,”
Gail told them, “he’s been telling everyone we’ve met to come to the club
tonight, so I’m guessing that even if no new followers show up at the concert,
we’ll still have several people following Alex around.”
“I never doubted that for a second,” Patricia added
with a smile. “Anyway, I need to be getting back. If you need anything, just
ask any of my people, or even ask one of the club’s people to find me.” She
turned back and smiled at him. “Duh, look who I’m talking to. If you need
anything, you can always talk to me, even if I’m locked in the can, so I
don’t need to worry about your ability to track me down.”
“You’re ideas are great,” Alex told her before she could
leave, “but I have a few of my own. I’ll probably stay in one spot, outside the
auditorium, so that people won’t have to search for me all over the club. I’ll
also use some of the new followers to check around the other locations and
outside to round up anyone that looks out of place. We’ve found that the
Watchers won’t initiate anything themselves, but that they want to be involved
and will do just about anything once invited.
“That should cut down on the confusion and the traffic. Each
person can develop a rapport with the club personnel in each room, so they
won’t be disrupted by our coming and going. And afterwards I’ll probably bring
a bunch of the new people back to the hotel with us. Not for what you’re
thinking,” he cautioned Patricia when she cocked an eye at him. “Instead I’m
planning on appointing a couple of people to organize the local followers like
we did in New Orleans. That will help the community here develop over time.”
“That sounds good,” Patricia told him. “Also, don’t forget
that everyone in New Orleans with family or friends they suspect might be types
1 or 2 will have them show up here either tonight or tomorrow, so that will
account for more people.”
“More likely it will be both nights,” Cate said.
“Undoubtedly,” Patricia added. “Well, anyway, I can see you
have this well in hand. As I said, I’ve got to be getting back. Walk around and
familiarize yourself. During the performance tonight I’ll have Chelsea and
Jordan help you to round people up, since we don’t know when your people will
show up. Anyway, good luck and I hope tonight works well for you.”
“Hey, we should be wishing you good luck,” Alex
called to her as she headed off. “After all, it’s your big night
tonight. We’ll be fine, concentrate on your show tonight.”
“Hey yourself,” she called back when she paused by the door
leading back into the auditorium, “this whole tour was planned to help you. You
are the sole purpose of all of this. Don’t you forget it. I don’t care if I’m
successful or not, as long as I can assist you in your mission. You’ve been
talking long enough about this mission of yours, it’s about time you started
doing something about it. Now I’ve got to go so I can be sure I don’t embarrass
you too much with my own humble act.” And with that she blew him a kiss and
headed off.
Alex, Cate and Gail looked around one last time at the
silent hallway as they contemplated what they were about to get themselves
into. Previously, they’d mostly dealt with various individuals as they ran into
them, one by one on an individual basis. Now they’d have a circus like
environment surrounding them, with hundreds of screaming people all around
them. Whether that would make things crazier or help cover their own craziness,
they didn’t know, but whatever happened, this was bound to be a whole new
experience.