Dreamer
Garibaldi Course
2001-2002 SSX Tricky World Circuit
The place was old, to put it nicely. Anciently dilapidated would be more accurate. Bricks were falling off of the primeval façade, the glass panes in the windows had been shattered. There was no working door. About ten or fifteen boards were nailed over what had to be the double-door frame, and bits of a navy blue, ragged, wool blanket stuck out of the holes. Psymon walked up to one filth-swathed window, and tried to peer in, but found he couldn't. He moved to another window, one with a big hole in it, and caught a glimpse of the interior. Fire-burnt sticks of wood, resembling chair legs and bed posts littered the floor, and a thick layer of grime covered every imaginable surface. Psymon could see small tattered rags, slightly resembling child's clothing scattered across the blackened wooden plank floorboards, and a few play toys and kiddie reading books.
Psymon suddenly had a powerful recognition of the place. Harldon's. His childhood home, the place where he and Evan Johnson had grown to become brothers. It was a charred version of Harldon's Orphanage. Instantly curious upon this newfound identification, Psymon walked around the large building until he came across a window that had most of the glass broken out already. Carefully grabbing edges of the window that weren't sharp with the broken pieces of window, he hauled himself inside and gingerly set foot on the decrepit floor. He was in the kitchen, a place with big cutting blocks and razor-sharp butcher knives. Also a place of numerous small sweets that could be found in the huge freezer. But there was nothing there; he even checked.
He prowled out of the room and down the hall, to another room, this one in the front of the building, the one he had looked into from the window. There was almost a tangy scent of burnt wood in the air, but it was drowned out by the stench of burning wool. And suddenly the room was engulfed in flame in a circle around him, and the tattered children's clothes on the floor, the small sweaters really were burning. Psymon jumped out of the ring of fire and turned towards the front door: to be confronted by a huge monster. The thing towered over him, even though it was hunched over. It had huge hands and scraggly claws…beady red eyes the color of blood with yellow cat-eye irises. Its skin was deathly pale; white as a ghost. He could see the monster's organs through the transparent layer- the fast-beating heart, the stomach that was still digesting its last prey… Psymon felt nauseated, and took a step back.
The demon stepped forward, and in that single instant, Psymon was completely freaked out. He spun on his heel and ran…and the beast followed. The hall Psymon was running in ended, and he made a quick right, not even knowing where he was headed. At least, not consciously. His subconscious led him to the room that he had once shared with Evan. Third room of the West Hall on the third floor. Right next to the bathroom. Psymon's breath came in spurts now, he was out of shape a bit, after taking it kind of easy over the break from the Tricky circuit. He knew that he had to be faster than the demon…just one more door…Psymon reached his door, and noticed the small wooden sign that still hung on it: Psymon & Evan's Room: Lexie, KEEP OUT! Nowadays, he regretted that. Grabbing the door handle, he turned it, swung open the door, and- the albino demon was upon him.
The clawed fingers grabbed Psymon's biceps, squeezed them so tight he could feel his bones breaking. A scream of pain escaped his lungs, and Psymon knew this was the end…it was going to end right where nearly everything had begun. He grabbed at the clawed hands on his forehands; tried to keep them from moving across his chest. Something shook his shoulder; it wasn't the demon. He could hear a small, soothing voice, but it was drowned out by the shriek of his own pain and the screaming victory cries of the demon. And then, being raised up high into the air, his skull connecting with the ceiling, Psymon was dropped back to reality.
***
Psymon's eyes flew open. His hands were grabbing at the shapely arms entwined around his waist. He was holding them tightly…too tightly. He looked down at them, saw the short, not-so-perfectly self-manicured nails, covered in black nail polish, and let go as fast as possible. He flipped over, from his left side to his right, to see a pair of large green eyes staring at him in concern and curiosity. The eyes were framed by long lashes, and were placed in an oval face, of a fair tone. The face was bordered by voluminous auburn hair, messy and wildly tangled. The body that the heavenly face was attached to was petite, but toned. This girl wasn't slim, but curvy, and he noticed it only because she wasn't wearing any clothes whatsoever. How the hell did I get here? Psymon asked himself. The girl began to talk, and the words were nearly lost on Psymon's ears, because he was mesmerized by the lyrical tone that matched the one in his dream.
"…and I'm getting worried, over here, Psy. Did you know that pigs could fly?" Alexia Johnson was getting fed up. Psymon had been staring at her in wonder, as if she were the first girl he had ever seen in the flesh. She felt like they were fifteen years old.
"Whaaa?" Psymon replied, startled when her tone became harsh. He looked up to her eyes and saw fire behind the green orbs. Angry fire. And then Psymon realized he was looking at a woman who was his girlfriend. He still had no name for her.
"You were screaming your head off for nearly five minutes." She looked at him impatiently, pulling the black flannel sheets over her nakedness.
"I… was?" Psymon replied. Rolling her eyes and heaving a heavy sigh, she crossed her arms and simply nodded. "Why?"
"Psymon, I don't know! You were dead asleep one second, and the next you were fucking shrieking like there was some monster under the bed and you were two years old!" She climbed out of bed, observing Psymon's sudden stiffness at the mention of the word 'monster,' and went to a tall armoire and began rooting through a drawer. "You tell me, Psymon. My guess is that you were having a nightmare."
Psymon let out a short laugh. "There was no nightmare," he scoffed. "Just… a bad dream, Lex." Where did that name come from? he asked himself.
"It's the same thing, Psy," she told him in a short tone. Psymon had no reply. "Look. When you woke up, you were practically detaching my hands from my arms. It kind of hurt. So…I'm going to sleep on the couch for a while, alright?" Upon Psymon's brusque nod, a sign of him taking offense, Alexia kissed him softly and sweetly on his sweat-ridden brow, and walked out of the room slowly, taking an afghan with her. Psymon cracked his jaw, his knuckles, and his neck, and flipped over a few times, settling in the middle of the mattress, with the sheets nestled loosely around his trim waist. This time around, sleep came more easily and more gently.
***
Alexia felt reason to be considerably worried. Her boyfriend of nearly five months was completely freaking out every time he was around her- this wasn't the first time he had acted strangely around her. He was becoming more and more introverted and distant, and a strange fear of loss was filling her. She was afraid he had found somebody else, was afraid that he was going to leave her. And right now, she didn't need that. They were back on the circuit now, and the last thing either of them needed was to be distracted by each other and a big fight. She remembered telling him that if they were going to fight, he'd better not do it in the open or ever mention it in public, because she didn't want the hype, the National Enquirer or the paparazzi to follow her around the world.
A memory of years past suddenly was triggered in her mind… the night that Simon Stark had become a whole new person. The night that Simon Stark had been replaced with… Psymon.
***
Seven years. They had been gone seven long years, had traveled across the country, all the way to Ferryland, Labrador, the eastern most city in all of Canada. And now it was time to celebrate. There were four of them, Simon and Alexia, Evan and the American runaway rich boy, Zack, that they had picked up somewhere in Quebec on their way home to Okanogan. They had made it all the way, there and back, with five hundred bucks, some fast thinking, and a whole bunch of hard work, mostly excluding Zack. Alexia knew that Simon didn't like the kid, never had. But she was interested… he was good-looking, smart, handsome and sexy. What more could an almost-fifteen-years-old girl want?
Alexia climbed out of the back of the pickup truck, in the middle of an abandoned field somewhere outside Southern Okanogan. They were at the bottom of a huge mountain of dirt, packed down stiffly. Alexia sighed softly, bored to death, all alone with the truck. She began walking to the trail that led up the dirt peak, a trail that was overgrown with weeds and wild shrubbery. It was an easy climb, not even very steep, and when she reached the top, she took note of a little lip that would make any fast-moving vehicle fly through the air. She then looked out to the sky in front of her…a sunset like no other was coming about; it was beautiful.
A large sun, a ball of yellow flame, was sinking slowly to the earth, and the skies were the colors of a neon sign in a pizza parlor window: hot magenta, various shades of bright fuchsia purple, deep violets and intense oranges. They mixed together, and the clouds matched them, the sky farther above fading into a deep navy blue. The only thing obstructing and ruining the spectacular sight was a set of large power lines, the kind that supported whole cities. The only metropolis around was Okanogan, but it was a good-sized town, maybe around a hundred thousand people in the valley altogether. The sight of those power lines only fifty feet away, level with Alexia's eyes, looked kind of menacing on their two hundred foot high towers. A buzzing sound behind her broke her train of thought, startled her.
Alexia turned to see two figures with wild hair on a small dirt bike flying along, shouting and cat calling. They had to be Simon and her brother Evan, as unkempt as they looked. That was something major that Alexia admired about Zack. Through all their trials, he had managed to keep himself clean and presentable…while Evan and Simon chose to shave only when their small man-beards became too unruly to comb, and they only showered when they stayed in a hotel. Their hair was too long, they looked like wannabe-thrashers at a heavy metal concert.
Alexia knew for a fact that Zack had taken baths in fresh water streams along the way, as had she. She had seen him…still blushed when she thought about seeing his bare chest glistening in the moonlight of midnight, small beads of water still rolling off of it. Thank god she had come across him when at least his lower half was covered. She wouldn't have been able to look at him ever again if she had seen more. Finally, with her walking to the bottom of the foothill slowly, and the boys racing up on their dirt bike, they met somewhere in the middle.
"Where the hell did you guys go? Where's Zack?" Alexia questioned curiously, looking them both in the eye, first Evan, then Simon.
"Why, Lexie? Were you worried?" Simon joked. Alexia scoffed at him, and laughed.
"Hell, no. Just curious," she sneered.
"We got this bike, and Zack went to the grocery store for shampoo," Evan told her calmly. Simon started screeching with laughter, even fell off the bike, grabbing his sides and rolling around.
"Fuck, that's great! You told me he was going to the store, Ev, but you didn't mention shampoo! My God, he's a wuss!" Simon cackled. Alexia, miffed by Simon as she was, couldn't help but laugh. Soon she was all out roaring too, along with Evan. Ten minutes later, as they were just quieting down, Zack showed up with a small bag from A&P. The three teenagers started cackling a bit more, but quickly quieted down when Zack gave them each a dirty look. He obviously figured that they were laughing at him. Problem was, he was right.
"Laugh at me, do you?" Zack snarled at the three of them. "Laugh at me?"
Simon, being the most loathing toward him, and the most brave, hooted, "Hell, yeah!" and collapsed in laughter again.
Alexia sat up and shrugged at Zack before telling him, "It is kinda funny, being that there is no running water out here and all. I mean, even I don't have shampoo unless we stop at a Motel6." Zack just grunted and glared at her.
Turning to Simon, he challenged, "Well, Mr. I'm-better-at-surviving-in-the-wild-than-the-rest-of-the-world, how about a little match of strength?" Zack dropped the bag to the ground and crossed his arms, letting his muscular arms tense for a more menacing look. Simon stopped rolling in the dirt and stood up, crossing his own arms, and looking down on the shorter boy.
"You're on, Zacky-baby. Prepare to lose whatever it is we're betting. How about… that extra cash that you never told us about? That cash that's hidden in Evan's truck, in the far back of the glove compartment. I know it's yours. It wasn't there before we picked up your sorry ass," Simon stated with a impish grin.
Zack backed up a step and asked timidly, "H-how did you know it was there then?"
"Found it this morning," he replied, turning to Evan. "It's in his back pocket, we were planning on confronting you about it tonight. At least if I win, I can guarantee that Lexie and Ev will see it." He turned again, this time to Alexia, who was staring in shock. "Lexie, it's six hundred smackaroos, in twenties. Imagine that. Two hundred bucks to each of us. We could get a normal life with that much."
"I…I know, Simon. That's why I'm cheering for you." Zack's mouth dropped open as she got up and gave Simon a little hug. "Let the games… begin?"
Zack pulled his face into an ugly sneer, and stated, "The bike. Ride it to the top of the hill, and jump. The one who goes higher wins the money." He held out his hand, and Simon reached forward to shake it. Zack pulled away at the last instant, giving Simon a cold smile. "I'll go first," he said. "After that, we'll see if there's even a need for you to go."
Simon lunged towards him, his hands outstretched in a motion to grab Zack's neck and break right there, but Alexia grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, "Simon, you'll get your chance." He let out a small bark of laughter, and clamed down. Zack started the bike, revved the engine a few times, and took off. He sped up the side of the mini-mountain, and flew off the lip of the trail and into the air. He sailed through the dying light, and Alexia waited to hear the crash of the bike hitting the ground and exploding. It didn't come. Evan ran up the hill and looked down, seeing Zack landed and coming back.
"He made it, he's on his way back," Evan said. "Good luck, brother." He clapped Simon on the shoulder, and stood with Alexia as Simon walked forward to receive the bike from Zack. Zack jumped off and dropped it in the dirt, not taking any visible notice of Psymon. He walked over to Alexia, and picked her up.
"Like that jump, Lexie?" Zack asked her, looking her in the eye as his hands brushed her buttocks.
"Well, I'd be more adept at telling you if you'd put me down, I can hardly breathe," she told him. Alexia heard a small snort from Simon's general direction and guessed that he had caught the small scent of distaste in her statement, although Zack had not. He put her down, and asked her again.
"I wasn't really watching. Just saw you fly through the air after you jumped. And then you were gone."
"Oh. Well, it was great, I'm telling you. You should try motocross sometime. I think you'd like it, Lexie," he informed her.
"Well, today is not the time, we've only got a bout five minutes of light left, and Simon has to go, still. I would like to see his jump," Alexia told Zack shortly. She saw the friendly fire in his eyes go out, and she turned from him to Simon and said, "Good luck, Si."
Simon grinned wryly, winked at her, and replied, "Yep, thanks Lex." He started up the bike, revved the engine the same amount of times Zack had, and zoomed off to the knoll. They watched him fly up off of the hill, and into the air, and heard a crazy shout coming from him.
Lexie ran up the hill, shouting, "He went higher! He went higher than Zack!" Evan ran after her, shouting in agreement, as Zack stood there in disbelief. Just as Lexie reached the top, about ten yards ahead of Evan, she let out a bloodcurdling scream as a sickening boom filled the air, and sparks flew up, even visible from where Zack was standing.
"SIMON!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieked. "SIMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Smoke began to rise, and Zack rushed up the hill too, wondering what the hell had gone wrong. He had not sabotaged the bike, hadn't had enough time to. When he reached the top, the sight was appalling. There was one mangled dirt bike lying on a set of power lines, along with a body that was quickly becoming charred. Suddenly the sparks stopped, and Zack assumed that the power had gone out. Alexia and Evan ran down the other side of the hill, and to the tower closest to Simon's body. He was about two feet from the tower.
"You climb up and try to get him out of there, Lexie! I'll wait down here, in case he falls on his own!" Evan shouted to her. She merely nodded and began scampering up the ladder as quickly as possible. About half way up, a piece of the bike fell down, nearly hitting Evan. Alexia stopped and looked down at Evan, a hundred feet below her. "Keep going, Lex!" Three quarters of the way from the bottom, Simon shifted, and he began to slip off of the wires. Alexia began moving faster, but just as she reached the top of the tower, two feet from Simon's right shoulder, he fell completely. Alexia squeezed her eyes shut, imagining the worst: Evan wasn't able to catch him cleanly, and got hurt, himself.
But little did she know, Zack had raced down and together, he and Evan caught Simon cleanly between the two of them. When she opened her eyes upon hearing a loud shout, she looked down to see the two of them holding Simon gingerly and beginning to move back to the truck. She sighed in relief, but still afraid that her brother's friend had died, she hurried back down that ladder as fast as she could while still being cautious. She sprinted back to the truck, which Evan and Zack had reached, and helped them put Simon's limp body in the flatbed. Climbing up there herself, she told the boys to rush to the hospital, to get them there as soon as possible.
***
If she remembered correctly, Psymon had been in the hospital for a month, wasting those six hundred bucks that he had won, and then some. Alexia and Evan had worked their asses off, making as much money as possible, and dealing with Zack stealing half of it to gamble and "try to make more money," as he called it. She even remembered what the nurse had told them in the emergency room: he had suffered second degree, superficial partial-thickness burns, lucky that the wires had not touched a bit of his bare skin or face. If they had touched his arms or neck, he would have been killed. He would also go through amnesia, and possibly mental disorders, depending on the amount of electricity that had run through his body.
It was obvious that the mental disorders were existent, and as far as alexia knew, he did not remember much of that night. These…mental health issues were definitely beginning to kick in. Alexia grew more worried as she thought about it; she didn't know much about schizophrenia or other disorders, and she feared that if one of them involved her being around him, she would have to push him away. Living alone and having him in good health was more important that having his arms around her.
