Jumper : A Way Out

David

It was no use. Sleep was not going to come tonight. Her mind was running rampant with thoughts of David. She smiled softly. How handsome he had grown. How tall. How beautiful he was. He looked pained, hurt and came to her looking for some answers she could not give. It stabbed at her heart to see him hurting. She wanted to bring him into her arms, hold him to her as she did when he was little. She wanted to ... but knew she couldn't. She turned her head to look at the clock. The red numbers shone like a beacon in her darkened room. It was very early. A perfect time. The shallow breathing of her husband told her that her he was in deep sleep and will not be disturbed. Silently she slipped out of bed and out of her bedroom. She crept down the hall stopping briefly at her daughter's room. It, too, was quiet. She had asked who the handsome young man was at the door. But Mary could not bring herself to answer truthfully. The truth hurt too much. Then again how do you explain?

Moving on she decended the stairs and picked her way through the living room to her adjoining office. It was dark and she only turned on a side table lamp to illuminate the room. Her office desk hid a small key she took to unlock a small filing cabinet nearby. Inside another key and another box revealed a picture. David. It was a photo she looked at often on nights like these. No one in the house other than she knew about David or her "other life" as she spitefully called it. Not her husband of 17 years or her daughter, Sophie. Poor Sophie. How desparately she was wanted to make up for the pain of leaving David behind. And most of the time it was enough to dote on her. Every kiss, every hug came in two's. "Why do you always give me two kisses" Sophie had asked once. "Oh," Mary answered, "one for you and one for you to give away. You know Sophie you are very lucky. You have a mommy and Daddy who love you very much. It makes me very sad to think that there are little girls...and little boys who don't get hugs from their Mommies." She hugged the little girl to her thinking of her beautiful David, then felt the liquid welling in her eyes and spilling over. "Mommy what's wrong?" Sophie asked a little freightened to see her mother's tears. "Nothing. Nothing Sweetheart. Mommy's ok"

Close, so close the Paladins were to catching David. She did all she could to slow them down but in the end she knew it was getting harder and harder to do so. Also, Roland was on to her. More than once she considered leaving the Organization, a very dangerous thing to do, because she could no longer defend it. But she stayed thinking the best way to protect David, the best way to love David, was to keep an eye on the Organization sworn to kill him.

It was easy at first. At first he was unaware of his power and she hoped it was all a mistake. She trained in the Organization, studied their text and rose through the ranks. She believed in the cause at first. She believed she was in an army for God, believed everything they told her. Until she ran into Regan, a former Paladin. He showed her revealing things about the Organization they were hiding. She asked questions and then discovered she herself was being spied on. Bitterly she realized Regan was right about alot of things about the Organization. She was in a dangerous position and powerless to stop it. She did her best to let the Organization think she rejected everything Regan told her. She geared her training to tracking and in this way was able to hide and cover David from the Organization as much as possible. But David made it very hard when he was jumping so frequently. It was only a matter of time before Roland caught up with him. It was only a matter of time before Roland found out about everything.

Roland would suspect her of treason against the Organization. She had to throw him off somehow. He expected every Paladin in the Organization to be as dedicated as he was, he had killed his own son, the boy was fourteen. Mary couldn't bring herself to do that. But she knew now she was trapped and David was in terrible danger.

"So you're a Paladin and I'm a Jumper. What happens now?"

"I'm giving you a head start, son, because I love you" They were watching her, what else could she say? David left hurt and betrayed. She was left hurt and betrayed. Then she was angry.

She was angry because they had used her, lied to her. Made her leave her son and her husband. Made her believe what she was doing was in God's name. And she knew they would hunt her down and slaughter her before they would let her leave. There had to be a way to save them both. Putting the picture away she headed back upstairs. Her thoughts turned to someone else. Regan. Regan offered to help her once. Maybe she could still go to him. She had come to a crossroads and now was the time to make a decision. She had to make things right. For David. For herself. She had to find Regan.