Sleep Over
"Hey there, Smith-girl, how you doing?"
"Heya fellas." Shadow smiles.
They're eight graders, and they're very tall. They also must have low self-esteem, coming to her to mock, merely to make themselves feel better. At least Shadow knew that.
"How are the Agents this fine day?" The one on the right asks.
"I'm sure they're doing just great." Shadow smiles. "You know, chasing Rebels and all. You do know what Agents do don't you? When they chase you?"
"Well, I think you're going to tell us, aren't you?" The one on the left grins.
"Well, you're running down a hallway...you can hear the phone ringing, calling you, ready to take you home, put you back to breath real air, and touch real life. Soon you'll wake up, and be able to go to your uncomfortable bed. It's not that comfy, but it's yours. You thought you wouldn't make it, but you are. Just have to open the door... Then you hear a gunshot. And it takes you a moment to feel the pain in your chest. He only shoots you once. He likes watching you die...He likes watching you...try to cling on to a meaningless life. And you stare at the Agent, searching for emotion, anything, before you fall to the ground. And finally, the Agent looks at you, and smiles. Then you know what? You die, either by shock, or drowning in your own blood." Shadow smiles.
And the eight graders just stare at her for a moment. Then they stuff Shadow into the trash can.
"Thanks a lot guys, for just standing there!" Shadow yells.
"You okay?" Squishy looks down at her.
"For once, I thought it would pay to be an Angst writer." Shadow said sadly.
"Dude, those guys were freaked out!" Glitch smiles.
"...Get me out, please."
They pull her out gently, wiping off the trash. Shadow picks up her backpack, and walks off in front of the boys. She's heading towards Smith.
"So you guys going to stay over tonight?" Shadow asks.
"Can't." Squishy says.
"Sorry." Glitch says.
"Looks like it's just you and Smith." Squishy grins.
"Now you can stare at him without him noticing." Glitch grins.
"Okay, one, Smith doesn't sleep all the time, two." Shadow punches Squishy in the arm.
"Ow!"
You see, Squishy has a strict policing of no hitting girls. So when Shadow hits him, he takes his rage out on the nearest object...or person. And Glitch was standing right there.
"Ow!" Glitch yelled, rubbing his arm.
"Have you seen John, you guys? I'm real worried." Shadow says.
"Nope." Squishy says.
"But he hasn't told anyone, I mean, Agents would've come already." Glitch says.
"I know...I'm just saying."
"Just leave him alone, and he will leave us alone." Squishy says.
It was Friday, there was no homework. Maybe some Math, that Squishy will never do. And a Map Project due in tow weeks, plenty of time for Glitch. It's the weekend, two days of nothing. Two days of drawing, two days of writing.
Two days of Smith.
"Okay, my parents think I'm at your house, Glitch. So if they call you know what to do." Shadow says.
"Gotcha." Glitch gives her a thumbs up.
It's a sleep over.
"How come you're never at my house?" Squishy asked.
"Because you don't have room for me, and Glitch lives closer." Shadow smiles.
"Ha ha." Glitch points.
They started walking down the sidewalks past the school, the same route they always did.
"Shut up." Squishy glared at Glitch.
"Hey are you guys brining the video games?" Shadow turned to them.
"Halo!" Squishy yelled.
"Yeah I got the PS2." Glitch smiled.
"Halo!"
"Great, I got Enter the Matrix." Shadow gestured to her backpack.
"Halo!"
"Shut up!"
"I like Halo!" Squishy yelled.
"We know." Glitch sighed.
"Do you Glitch? Do you?"
"Yes!"
Shadow laughed at the boys.
"Hey, Matt." Shadow teased.
"My name is Squishy!" He yelled at her.
"You need to get Smith to say your name again. He sounds funny when he says it." Shadow smiled.
Squishy stared at her.
"At least it's better than Mucci!" Squishy turned to Glitch.
"No it's not." Glitch shook his head.
"I know..." Squishy lowered his head.
There they were. Three kids walking among the streets with adults in suits, adults with their own business, wondering what three kids were doing here walking with them. Especially the one in the trench coat.
They were careful going into their little apartment with Smith, pretending they were Rebels hiding from Agents, they turned corners and went through the partly opened doors and windows. Down the stairs and so forth. The method had become second nature.
"Smithie!" Shadow yelled jumping down the stairs.
"Hello there, Ms. Shadow." Smith waved, sitting on the couch.
"Hey Smith." Squishy said.
Glitch just waved and they all threw their back packs onto the floor.
Smith sat casually, resting his feet on the couch. He smiled and raised his foot.
"See, black." Smith said.
And there he was, his shoes off in the corner.
"Smith, please stop waving your foot at us." Glitch said.
Shadow smiled for a moment, and then jumped onto Smith, grabbing his leg.
"Ah! Get her off me! Get her off me!" Smith jumped up off the couch, Shadow grabbing his leg.
The boys started laughing.
"Shadow, get off me!" Smith yelled.
"No!" Shadow grabbed his leg tighter.
"Wait! Wait. I know what to do in such occasions." Squishy said smiling.
Glitch smiled. And Squishy walked casually over to Shadow, as if he were an Agent, enjoying the look on the human before it dies. Shadow hated when he got that look. It meant this would be one of the few moments Squishy would hurt her. Shadow whined, as she tightened her grip on Smith's leg.
Squishy smiled as he leaned down next to Shadow.
"Hello there Shadow." Squishy said.
"Aw, crap." Shadow whispered.
"Squishy please hurry, I can't feel my leg." Smith said, casually.
"Gotcha." Squishy nodded.
Then he looked at Shadow, and smiled. And proceeded to tickle her in the ribs. Shadow thrashed around on the floor, rolling around trying to get him to stop. Until she inevitably let go of Smith's leg and rolled into the wall.
"Oh god!" She laughed. "It hurts...It burns my lungs..." She laughed.
Then she just laid there for a while, not moving.
"Well, good job Squish, you killed her. You tickled her to death." Glitch said, sitting on the couch.
"Aw cool." Squishy laughed.
"That was a strange reaction." Smith said.
"She's really ticklish is all." Squishy smiled.
"Are you ticklish Smith!?" Shadow jumped up all of the sudden.
Smith sat onto the couch, taking his time to recall if he ever experienced such a thing as a tickle.
"I don't believe so." Smith answered.
Shadow then poked Smith in the ribs.
"Ow!" Smith said.
Then she poked him again.
"Ow!"
"No he's not ticklish." She laughed.
"That hurt." Smith said, looking at her.
"Suck it up, I take it all the time." Squishy said.
Shadow gestured at Glitch with her eyes, and he nodded smiling an evil smiling. That's when Glitch carefully crept up to Squishy. And Shadow jumped in front of him, smiling, then poked him in the ribs, and Glitch scratched him in the back.
That's when he fell to the floor, spazzing out as Shadow explained it.
llllllllllllll
"So you'll be here at eleven?" Smith asked the boys.
"Yup." Glitch said.
"We'll hang out and have Halo!" Squishy yelled.
"We'll play Enter the Matrix, and go to the Smith level. Or you could Morpheus and I'll be you, and we'll fight." Shadow laughed, sitting next to Smith.
"I am not going to be Morpheus." He said strongly. "Can't I be Neo?"
"No...He's not in it. You could be Trinity though!" Shadow smiled.
"All right guys, we have to go. We'll be late for the bus." Squishy said, grabbing his Backpack.
"Bye, Shadow! Take care of Smith!" Glitch ran up the stares.
"Moo!" Squishy followed him.
And then they were gone. And they wouldn't be back until eleven tomorrow morning. It was just Shadow and Smith and a TV. Smith and his biggest fan, in one of those trench coats.
"Well...Ms. Catt it is just you and me now." Smith smiled at her.
"Wanna play Spin the bottle?" Shadow laughed, leaning on Smith's arm.
Smith laughed, and pushed her on her head like he always did. She just fell back on him and his arm, and he let her.
"What should we watch for the time being?" Smith asked, giving her the remote.
"Well... How about Jackass?" Shadow asked.
"I don't think I'll like that." Smith said.
Shadow laughed.
"Fine we'll watch Futurama or something." Shadow smiled.
It took a while for Shadow to explain what anime, and all these late night shows were about, but Smith seemed to get the general idea, though much preferred the movies on HBO. Anime was too... different. Smith shuddered to think of anime Agents, but it only made Shadow laugh.
Shadow would turn to Smith though. It was one of the few moments, when the boys were gone, and it was okay to start talking about stuff too deep for them. They wouldn't understand. And even if they did, she didn't want them to. They were boys. Stupid Boys.
And she...she was a writer, meeting her fandom. What more could she do, but ask some questions.
"Smith, do you dream?" Shadow asked.
"Well that came from nowhere." Smith looked away.
"Well, you know, I couldn't wait much longer."
Smith rested his head on his hand, looking away from Shadow, slightly watching the television.
"I worry about you, you know. You and dreams, I just..." Shadow started.
She's just a child. They're all just children. They shouldn't be caught up in all this. They should have never found him. They should have never helped him. They should have run away screaming, and never spoke of him again. They're just children.
It shouldn't be like this. But he's thankful it is.
She's just a child, but she's the only one that is willing to listen.
"I can never tell what is a dream, and what is a memory, Shadow."
Shadow turned at him.
"You humans know so little of what really happened. When I sleep, I dream. And I dream of rain, and light. I see Neo... And we're fighting. The rain is so soothing... And I can't help but feel the entire time, like I there was something I was supposed to say..."
"You could always tell us, Smith..."
Smith smiles.
"No, I couldn't do that to you." He said.
And a few hours later. After an anime show, and a Conan O' Brian skit, and some deep conversations, the little Shadow was a sleep. Smith placed her onto the bed in the corner, where he barely ever slept. He didn't like sleep because of the dreams. Disordered fragments of memories and what could be memories. Things that happened, and things that probably never happened. He dreams of so many deaths. But he can't remember any of it.
The dreams were reminding him of someone he didn't want to know.
This was all he had left. A little child and her friends, and a television. This was it. This was all he had left, after having ruled the world.
And it was enough. Because he couldn't even remember having the world. He only remembered having nothing, lying there on the floor. This was all he had. This is all he could ever have now, after all he's done.
She's just a child. They're all just children. And yet they stay with him, and tend to him. Yet they keep coming back to him. She's just a child, she would never understand any of this, even if she has written it before.
Just children.
And Smith was still Smith, no matter how many times he smiled. He would sit there, and watch her sleep, trying to forget the screams of people he hurt. He can barely remember them, they come in dreams, not knowing if they are real. The children tell him what happened, they have documentaries and videos on what happened that night. They show him pictures of him flying through the air, and standing beside his copies, lost in the mirror faces. They show him so much, and he wishes they didn't. But it doesn't matter. They're only pictures, he can't remember it. A picture doesn't have a thousand words if you can't understand it.
This was Smith, and he couldn't let the children know, and he couldn't let them leave him here alone again.
They were children, but they were the only ones that cared about him. And no matter what Shadow said, no matter how many dreams she had of him going to the Rebels, going to the Council, and becoming an ally, they would never come true. Not after everything he did, even if he can't remember it.
He didn't say anything though. They were children, he couldn't just let them down.
But he couldn't allow them to be hurt.
"Wake up, Shadow..."
He always suspected this would happen. He never spoke it with the kids. They did talk about it, just never thought it would happen. That seems to be human nature. But he knew this would happen. It was only a matter of time. It was only a matter of how many dreams he had, and how many memories came back. How much stronger he got.
It was inevitable.
And he was so sorry, he couldn't be there anymore, and he couldn't say goodbye.
"Smith?" Shadow opened one of her eyes.
"They won't look for you, if they don't know you're here." Smith said.
Smith started grabbing all Shadow's possessions and hiding them, pushing them under the bed and behind the bookshelf. He grabbed her backpack, and pulled her up by the arm.
"They won't even know you're here."
"Smith, what are you talking about?" Shadow sounded scared.
"Everything will be okay, I promise. Just stay here no matter what."
He stared at her with those blue eyes, and she couldn't say no. Smith pushed Shadow underneath the bed, and she couldn't understand why as she crawled into the corner. She covered her mouth, breathing deeper, trying to understand what was happening. Something was wrong. Something was wrong. Something was wrong.
And then it hit her.
"Smith!" She called out.
"They won't look for you, they wouldn't even imagine someone like you was here." He told her, standing near the bed.
"No, Smith! Run! Run!"
"Where would I run to? Now be quiet, they're close."
"Smith..."
Shadow couldn't move. She's never even seen one, she's seen pictures, drawn pictures of them. But she never....She never even wanted to ever see one.
This was her fault. She always told Smith it would be okay. She always told him they would never find him here. It was safe...It was safe... Why didn't she know better? Her, the Agent freak. Why didn't she realize this would happen?
She closed her eyes, and turned her head side ways to look out. She saw Smith and his shiny shoes, standing there by the couch.
"I'm sorry." She whispered.
"Mr. Smith, isn't it a surprised to see you."
Shadow put her hand over her mouth again.
And Smith smiled at what he saw, slowly sitting down on the couch and crossing his legs.
"Johnson, right? I don't really remember you, but the face is familiar." Smith smiled.
"Mr. Smith, have you really forgotten about us?" Johnson gestured to Jackson and Thompson.
"Well, there wasn't much to remember."
Johnson frowned.
"I always knew you were alive, Smith. I could...feel you, your prescience..." Johnson spoke slowly.
"Then you're aware of it." Smith held back a laugh.
"Aware of what?"
"Our connection." Smith laughed a little, at himself.
"Well, well, Mr. Smith, is that a laugh?" Johnson titled his head.
"I've learned a lot since we last saw each other...Johnson."
Shadow could see it. Four pairs of those Agent shoes. Four of them, and she kept holding her mouth shut, because she was about to cry.
"Now, Mr. Smith are you going to come with us quietly?" Johnson asked.
Smith smiled.
"No, I haven't thrown a good punch in a long time."
Shadow began to cry, and Smith was sorry he wasn't going to be there.
Smith slowly stood up before the Agents. Thompson titled his head at Smith.
"Hey look it's Brown!" Smith pointed and Thompson.
Johnson and Jackson turned their heads toward Thompson for a moment, wondering what Smith meant.
Then Johnson threw the first punch.
It was amazing how quickly it all came back to him. Suddenly Smith knew Kung-fu, and how to dodge bullets. Quickly his Agent speed came back. Quickly memories of such fighting returned. He remembered fighting like this, fighting so many times like this.
Too bad he didn't have much of his strength back.
The three Agents whose names started to come back to him, soon surrounded him. And he fell to the floor.
He knew it wasn't any use, he knew he couldn't fight them. He knew there wasn't any trying. But Mr. Anderson always seem to fight when there was no hope, why not he?
Then Smith closed his eyes, knowing he would wake up either dead, or in some kind of small room.
Johnson stood above Smith, and slowly kicked him in the chest, making sure he wasn't just pretending. Johnson looked at the others surprised at how easy that was done.
And Shadow laid there, staring at Smith on the floor.
That's when they started to drag him away.
Llllllllllll
Next Chapter: They Took Him
Sorry for the last chapter, if you were confused, I wrote it really late in the night, and I was freaking out because I had a history test.
