6: The Omen
Thursday 10th September 1998
It was late afternoon, and Jack sat on the sidewalk outside Marco and Antonio's apartment, watching the other Street Rats skate in the fading sunshine. It had been a nice day, he thought - uneventful, yes, but pleasant enough.
As he watched Tiffany and Almond trying to see who could grind furthest along the edge of the sidewalk, he shivered and rubbed his bare arms as the temperature around him dropped sharply.
"Hey, you guys? You be cold, or it just me?" Jack called.
"Cold?" laughed Almond. "What're you on about, Jack? It's lovely an' warm out here! I think it's just you. Go in an' get a jacket or somethin', yeah?"
"No," said Jack slowly. "No, it ain't that cold. I dunt need a jacket."
"Suit yourself," said Almond, shrugging, and carried on skating.
"Weird," said Jack to himself. He wondered briefly if he had just imagined being cold, because the sensation had vanished and he felt warm again. Perhaps he was just tired.
Jack glanced at his watch – it was 6.55 – and looked back up again so he could carry on watching his friends. It was then that he noticed the other skater, standing behind the others and watching Jack silently.
Jack knew most of the skaters in Raccoon City by now, but he had never seen this one before. The skater was tall, thin and dark-haired, older than Jack and his friends, with a gaunt, pale face and a gloomy expression. His clothes were all black – black T-shirt, black cargo pants, black sneakers – and the skateboard that he carried under his arm was also black, save for a white skull and crossbones painted on the underside.
The skater put his skateboard on the ground, and rode away down the street; just as he got to the corner of the street, he vanished. Jack stared, unable to believe his eyes. Surely he hadn't just disappeared into thin air?
"Who be that?" he asked, as Raphael came over to sit beside him.
"What?" said Raphael. "Who was who?"
"That skater," said Jack. "He be standin' right over there, watchin' me, then he ride down the street an' away. I never see him b'fore. Who he be?"
"I didn't see anyone," said Raphael. "What'd he look like, bro?"
"Tall, thin, black hair, kind of gloomy-lookin'. Bit older'n us. He be wearin' all black clothes an' he ride a black skateboard with a skull on it," said Jack.
As one, the Street Rats stopped dead, and they turned to look at Jack with looks of horror on their faces.
"What did you say?" said Mitch sharply.
"I just say I see this skater guy all in black," said Jack. "Why?"
"Bloody hell," said Maddy quietly.
"What?" said Jack, perplexed. "What I say?"
"It's the Dark Skater," said Batman hoarsely.
"The hell you talkin' 'bout, Batman?" said Jack, frowning.
"You've never heard of the Dark Skater?" said Eduardo.
"No, I ain't never heard of no dark skater guy," said Jack irritably. "So who the hell he be?"
The other Street Rats glanced worriedly at each other. Finally, Alena spoke.
"You sure you wanna know, Jack?" she said.
"Yeah," said Jack.
"Okay," said Alena, looking a little uncertain. "Well, you've heard of the PriMadonnas, haven't you?"
"Sure," said Jack. "I know 'em. Best gang of skaters ever, right?"
"Uh-huh," she agreed. "Anyway, ten years ago they had this amazin' skater guy, like the best one in the whole of Raccoon City. No-one had ever seen anyone like him before. His name was Dmitri Marovski, an' he was from some little village in Russia that no-one had heard of. Always wore black, so people called him the Dark Skater. Everyone thought he was gonna be the next Tony Hawk or somethin'."
"An' then the gang wars started," put in Roland. "Another gang called Underworld started pickin' a fight with the PriMadonnas, an' unfortunately our friend Dmitri Marovski got caught in the middle. Shot five times in the head an' chest. Needless to say, he died pretty much instantly."
"An' he died in this very street," added Valerio. "Right over there by that fire hydrant."
He pointed to a fire hydrant on the corner of the street, right next to the spot where Jack had seen the mysterious skater disappear. Jack suddenly felt as if an icy hand was gripping his heart and squeezing it tightly.
"People say," said Marco, trying not to look at Jack, "That whenever someone sees the ghost of Dmitri Marovski, somethin' terrible will happen to 'em. Last time someone saw the Dark Skater, they got run over by an ice-cream truck a few days later. That was about two years ago, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, that's right," said Almond. "Wasn't it that kid with the red hair who used to live opposite you, Ritchie?"
"No, he an' his folks moved to Delaware," said Ritchie. "You're thinkin' of the kid with brown hair who lived next door to Mitch. Right, Mitch?"
"Yeah," said Mitch. "Real shame. I used to play with him when we were kids."
"So what gonna happen to me?" said Jack, trying not to sound nervous.
"Ça dépend. We are not knowing exactly," said Columbine. "It may be nothing."
"Alternatively, you might wanna stay away from ice-cream trucks for a couple of weeks," said Valerio, grinning.
There was some nervous laughter, but the mood was still apprehensive and Jack was uncomfortably aware that no-one seemed to want to look directly at him.
"It be gettin' late now," said Jack quickly. "I better get home b'fore my aunt start worryin' 'bout me. Bye, guys. See you mañana."
"Bye, Jack. Watch out for ice-cream trucks!" laughed Valerio.
"Asshole," said Jack under his breath, as he left.