Diary of a Jumper
(Fan Fiction)
Disclaimer: JUMPER does not belong to me and no copyright infringement intended
On a cold, wintry night, somewhere in Chicago, a figure stood vigil, watching, waiting…
He's freezing, but he doesn't care. He's been sitting on the same spot for the last three months. He likes what he sees.
He's watching the building across the street where she works. In one of the windows he sees her. She's working on her night shift tonight. She looks tired, the blue scrubs she had on paid no compliment to her raven black hair, fair complexion and sweet almond brown eyes.
Not so many patients tonight, so she sat at her post and typing away on some report.
I wish I could see her... Right now, at this instance… And tell her what? Tell her what?
"You know you could just jump over there and say HI to her"
"What- -… who are you?"
"Come on William, how many times you been up here, night after night whenever she's on her shift, you watch her?"
"Look, Ma'am… I'm sorry I think I should just go."
No, wait…I apologize. I didn't mean to invade your private little space here. Or shall I call it – Jump site?"
"Jump site? You're a …"
"A jumper? Yeah, you could say that, but I'm a different kind of Jumper. I can teleport just like you and go pretty much everywhere and anywhere… in fact just yesterday I went to… Oh, I'm sorry, I'm being rude. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Sierra, fellow jumper. How do you do?"
"I'm Will, what do you mean you been watching me? Are you some kind of a stalker? Whoever you are, you leave my family alone, because if you so much…"
Sierra jumps closer to Will, he towers over Sierra but it was Will who took a step backward, he felt intimidated by this tiny woman who seemed to have the same power as he is but she jumps faster than he could.
"Hey, relax. Your family is in good hands as I like to believe that you've been doing a good job taking care of them. You want to know something? You're not like the other jumpers I used to know."
"There are others, like us?"
"Of course, there's you, me and a few more others. But our numbers are dwindling rather quickly. No thanks to the Paladins.
"What are… Paladins?"
"They hunt people like us. Kill us before we go badly, or so they say."
"Are they jumpers too?"
"No, they're all humans. But boy, they've got all these cool toys. Brrr, it's awfully chilly up here. May I suggest we go somewhere warmer? I think it's kind of toasty in south of Provence at this time of the year, a little French café awaits us there. Shall we…"
With that, Sierra held on to Will's arms and within seconds if not milliseconds they arrived in an empty lot behind a café and noises of the traffic and people can be heard from the walls of the building.
"Ah, this kind of weather always does wonder to my lungs. I have bad lungs, you see. Courtesy of our adversary, the Paladins"
"You're not well? Maybe we should see a doctor or something…he can take a look…"
"Nah, I'm fine, totally fine. Nothing but a good cup of coffee, some crispy croissants and a fellow jumper to make me feel all better. Let's sit here"
As they settled down to sit, the waiter approaches and took their order. As Sierra relaxes and taking in the view around her, they sat on the terrace overlooking the garden below them…blooming flowers were everywhere. The fragrant of fresh flowers and leaves filled the surroundings; Sierra immersed herself in the tranquility. Will couldn't help to notice this familiar stranger in front of him. He scanned her face, looking youthful with few lines on her tanned complexion. He had no idea how old she is, she may as well be older than he is but her eyes showed signs of fatigue. There are scars on her forearms, visible when she rolled up the sleeves of her deep blue shirt. On her knuckles, there were still healing scratches. He couldn't help but to wonder.
"If you're wondering about these, I had a rather close encounter with a Paladin last week. You heard about the explosions in the Caribbean, it was all over in the news?
"Yes, they reported some kind of underground volcano."
"Huh, volcano, yeah right. Almost blew my head into million pieces that one but I took care of the Paladins."
"They tried to kill you? What's all this? If they know about you, then they might know about me. I hate to see my family getting hurt!"
"Will, you're making a scene. I know you're worried but I like I said before… you're not like the other jumpers I know. Now, if you could sit properly, I'll tell you what you need to know." (coughs deeply)
"Sierra, are you… all right?"
'Yes Will, I'm wonderful. Our food's here so let's be cool and enjoy our coffee and if you promise to behave, I'll tell you a story"
Once the last drop of coffee had been consumed, Sierra takes in how fragile this man who sat across her. He stood a little over 6 feet tall, dark haired like the night sky in the Sahara and his brown skin like the sands of the Maldives. His eyes were in the colors of the blue sky of the Arctic. He sat there, his brow deeply furrowed but diminishes slowly with every sip of the black gold. When his feature had finally loosened up, she even caught him smiling, probably reminiscing on a favorite memory.
Contented, Will sat back and slowly taking in the beautiful sights and his company. He always wanted to sit down and drink coffees in a place like this; he just doesn't have anybody to take with him. He remembers his mom used to bring tea into the small backyard and put on her Italian scarf Dad gave to her. He remembers the colors and smell of grass, while he played with his dog Alfie. This lady is a Jumper too. Like him, only she appears to be worse for wear and he wanted to trust her. He has to trust her.
"Listen Will, I know a few Jumpers in my life time. They all have the same story: they discovered this teleportation power at around the age of 5 some even older. Parents would abandoned them, or gets mysteriously killed, they grew up, getting used to their powers, abuses their powers. Go on robbing banks, taking things, doing things, go anywhere everywhere. Completely isolated themselves from friends, away from remaining family members. I mean it when I said you were different because you still have your family. I know you haven't seen your father since your mother passed away but he's kind of OK – ish, the last time I checked. That girl, the nurse, she helped your grandmother recovered from stroke, right? You were touched by her kindness, her caring nature, and of course her beauty. You want to be with her. What else if you could stand up on that rooftop so cold night after night, watching her. You're afraid that she might found out who you really are, aren't you? Why is that?"
"This thing, it's a curse. I never wanted this POWER… yeah it sure was fun to jump the first time; I can never forget it. I almost rammed myself into a speeding train. I could go anywhere in this world but I can't tell her that, can I? She probably thinks I'm some kind of freak!"
"No, you can't. You know what, you're very lucky… with my help you have the most fulfilling life for a Jumper. The Paladins have no knowledge of you or your family. And with more luck - knock on wood, they never will. But, it's really up to you how you use this 'curse'. You deserve to have a happy life. And the only way I imagine is: You and that girl = together. Jeez, do you even know her name?"
"I don't remember…"
"Goodness me, her name's Elisa Carrington, only child of one George and Lisa Marie Carrington. Father's a building supervisor and mom's a Linguist in a publishing company. She was born and raised in Chicago, studied in Menard Master's School in Nursing. She loves cats and freesia, that should be a hint for you there, prefers vanilla ice cream. Hmmm, what else... oh yeah she's allergic to walnut. If I were you, I would choose the chocolate carefully unless you want to see boils on her beautiful face!"
"Hey you've been doing background checks on her…"
"She's a nice girl, it'll be a total lost if you don't go over there and talk to her. All I'm saying Will, I can't stay around forever to protect you. Just use your power only for good. If you don't want trouble, then stay away from banks. Stick to your day job and say hi to her. She remembers you, she remembers your eyes. As for me…"
"Wait, what do you mean you can't stay around forever, where you're going?"
"That last encounter I told you. There was something in the blast, making me sicker every time I jumped. They come up with the strangest tool to kill us all!"
"You're dying? Wait, isn't there anything we can do for you? Sierra, I can't…"
"Listen here. I've lived a long life and I have seen and done many things… sometimes we just have to pay the consequences. But not you, the Paladins won't be coming to you anytime soon if you promise stay out of trouble, you hear? You've a life ahead of you… with Elisa and your loving family. I think she'll fit in nicely. As for you…"
Both of them jumps back on the rooftops, Sierra quickly loses her strength, a cough escaped from her and Will was there to hold up as she regains her breath. He kept her close to his chest and held her there for a second, as to give a piece of his life to her.
"Will?"
"Yes, ma'am"
"You can let go now. Thank you… There look, she's still sitting there. She's not too busy and I think it's the perfect time for you to over there"
"Sierra, this power, it's not contagious is it? Will she get it; I don't want to harm her…"
"It's not a disease, it's a gift. One day when you're ready, and she's ready; you tell her, she'll understand. She's a nurse, for goodness's sake.
"I don't know, I'm a little scared"
"You're such a coward, you know that?"
With that Sierra jumps and returns staggered for a few seconds and handed him a book.
"What's this?"
"It's her favorite novel. Tell her it's a gift from your grandmother. She told her that her own grandmother used to read her passages from this book when she was sick. She'll love it, trust me."
"I do trust you, and I don't know how to thank you for… everything. I just wish we had known earlier…"
"And what, we'd rob banks together?" (laughs while trying to hide another cough)
"Well not that, but at least we could've jump together. Couldn't you stay?"
"You're such a flirt you know that, as tempting as it sounds I really got to go. You take care now… take her out for dates and I wish you best of luck."
Will hugs her ever so tightly as if attempting to stop her from jumping, with one kiss on her forehead; she jumps and disappears into the cold night.
On the chilly rooftop, the winds picked up by now. He has to do it, or never… Just go there and say hi to her. It's not so hard…
"I think I'll use the front door this time"
Fin