Chapter 1: Days of a Dying Present (4/4)
Here we are again, covered in darkness. It didn't took too long tO happen again. Was Nero cursed? That was a question that he was asking himself at the moment.
Suddenly Nero saw a light from afar. Was it the portal to the after life, or was it a hallucination? Nero didn't know or care, he just wanted to get out of the darkness. He walked in the direction of the light. Soon enough, the darkness was gone, the light just kept shinning even brighter.
"What is this now?" Nero asked himself as everything started to turn white. Like a giant empty room.
"You know, for someone who just died, you don't look much surprised." He heard someone talking to him from behind. He quickly turned and was greeted with a woman.
It was a very attractive woman with black hair and dark eyes with strange marks below her eyes and mouth and black lipstick on the lips.
"I think this isn't the first time I've died," He replied. "Who are you?"
"I have a lot of names, but the most well known is Death," She told him which made him widen his eyes.
"You're the Grim Reaper?" He asked.
"That is my least favorite name, don't even think about calling me that." She said in a sweet voice but with a face that would terrify anyone. "And yes, this isn't the first time you died."
"What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.
"When that car hit you sometime ago, you did died but that friend of yours with red hair made a telepathic link with you and kept your soul from passing which made me unable to collect you." Death explained to him. "Then the damn Phoenix force got involved and made things worse."
Nero was digesting what he just heard. So Jean was the reason that he survived that day. But with this answer, came another question. "What is this Phoenix Force?"
"The Phoenix Force is one of the oldest known cosmic entities, representing life that has not yet been born, as well as the forces of creation and destruction.p," She explained to him. "Basically, when your friend's mind was being dragged along to the "other side" with you. The Phoenix appeared, and made your soul return to your body and made the telepathic link between you two unbreakable."
"But... Why?" Nero asked in a deep confusion, why would a cosmic entity do such a thing.
"You'll find out soon enough." She said before she started to approach him. Suddenly she started to touch his face in a gently matter. "Why did they make you so... white. White hair, pale skin, nearly white eyes." She spoke as she was complaining of something.
"Ummm... who are you talking about?" Nero asked in even more confusion than before.
"The idiot that made you look like this, you would look so much better with black hair." She spoke as she touched his white hair. "If he pulls a stunt like this ever again, he better let me choose the appearance."
"What are you talking about?!" Nero asked again as he was getting tired of being so confused.
"What? Can't a mother worry about what her son looks like?" The moment Nero heard that, he nearly passed out. But he resisted and asked one more question.
"W-w-what?" Nero asked with the most confused face he ever made.
"I had same reaction when I was told, although I was pissed of just being one of them." She replied with a disturbing but pleasant smile. "I wanted to meet you before but the Phoenix beat me to it."
"W-wh-wha-what, you're my..."
Suddenly, very loud noises start on the room but Nero was way too shocked to say anything.
"Oh shit, times up. Next time you die, please stay dead so we can spend some time together," She told him while cupping his cheeks before kissing his forehead. "Bye son."
Out if nowhere, Nero felt an intense impact on his chest that made him fell into the ground.
"We got a pulse!" Nero heard someone yell.
He then opened his eyes slowly, only to be greeted by a very strong light in front of him. His vision was a little blurry but it slowly cleared up and he saw where he was.
He was laying on a table-a surgery table to be more precise. There were four people around him, probably a doctor and nurses. Nero then figured out what was going on, he was being operated.
"He's awake." He heard someone speaking.
"I guess... I was probably dreaming." Nero thought. "The Grim Reaper being my mother, what silly idea."
"What's that on his forehead?" Someone asked.
"It's... Black lipstick." Nero heard that and his eyes widened. "Wait, Where did it come from?! It wasn't there before."
"WHAT?!" He desperately thought as he remembered that she was wearing black lipstick and that she kissed his forehead before he woke up. "It wasn't a dream!?"
"His heart beat is increasing too rapidly, give a sedative." The doctor ordered the nurse. Who gave him a syringe and that injected in him soon after. "Don't worry kid, you gonna be okay." The doctor spoke in a soothing tone that calmed Nero a bit. Then Nero felt his eyes getting heavy before he was completely losing consciousness.
Five days later:
The Castles are dead. A nurse told Nero as soon as he woke up-he cried a lot after hearing it. Mr. Castle survived but he was in a coma with very low chances of waking up.
Apparently after what happened, Nero and Mr. Castle were taken to different hospitals. Mr. Castle was send to a better one since he had insurance due to his military career. While Nero was put in some public hospital somewhere.
They said that it was a miracle that he survived, but Nero knew that it was no miracle. It was this power that he had. Something that he couldn't stop thinking about was that woman. The Grim Reaper saying that she was his mother. "How is that even possible?" he asked himself. Though it would explain this powers.
Besides that, he couldn't get the horrible memory of FJ getting shot in the head. He was his best friend, and now he was gone. For what?
Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the door of his room. Nero moved his gaze to see who it was. It was a blond haired and blue eyed man; he was wearing dark suit, with black shoes and a red tie.
"Good morning, Mr. Carnby." Nero observed him and noticed that he was carrying a gun and there was a badge on his belt. He deduced that he was a police officer. "I'm George Stacy, NYPD detective." He extended his hand.
"Nero Carnby." Nero replied as he took his hand. He knew that he was probably gonna ask him about what happened. "Let me guess, you wanna know who shot me and the Castles?"
"Precisely." He took a chair and sat besides the bed. "I know this is a terrible time, but you're the only surviving witness that can give a report." He took a notepad and a pencil out of his pocket. "Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?"
Nero just nodded as he would rather get this over with quickly, he really wanted to speak with Jean. He couldn't use his telepathy powers these last few days, he suspect that it was due to the medicine made him less concious.
"Alright, what exactly is your relationship with the Castles?"
"I was friends with Frank Castle Jr, they invited me to go on this picnic to celebrate Mr. Castle's return."
"I see... On what time exactly did you arrive at the park?"
"Two PM."
"How exactly did you and the Castles encounter the shooters."
Nero took a deep breath before speaking. "FJ and I were playing football, but FJ tossed the ball too far. So we went to retrieve it, it ended up on the top of a tree, and when I climbed to retrieve it, I saw something from far away."
"So you and Frank Castle Jr went to check what it was."
"Yes."
"Mr. Carnby, can you describe the people that shot at you."
"I can only describe two of them." Nero only took a good look at two of them. The man hanging upside down and the one that ordered the others to shoot. "One of them was hanging upside down on a tree, it was a fat man with short hair."
"His name was Paul Giacomo. He was death by multiple knife wounds when the police arrived.
"The other was the one that did those knife wounds. It was a bald man with tan skin, he was wearing a black suit with sun glasses and he had accent."
"What sort of accent?"
"Ummm... 'It's too late for that now'." he made his best impression of the man to Mr. Stacy.
"I see." He wrote in his notepad. "Do you think you could recognize the man if you saw him again?"
Nero just nodded.
Mr. Stacy then closed his notepad and put it back on his pocket. "That was all, thank you very much for your cooperation. And I give you my word that we will do our best to catch the people that this to you and the Castles."
"Before you go, can you answer a question?" Nero asked as Mr. Stacy stood up from the chair.
"Sure."
"Did anyone of the staff informed you about my state? Because no one tells me how bad is it." Nero had been stuck in this bed for five days and no one had told him about his situation.
"Well..." He spoke but paused a bit before continuing.
"You can tell me, it's not like I'm gonna surprised by it."
"Apparently, they don't know how are you still alive." Mr. Stacy told him with a somewhat reluctant expression.
"What?" Nero asked with a confused face.
"The doctor said that... some of your vital organs were damaged by the bullets and no one understands how exactly can you still be alive or how can you be recovering so quickly." After he said that, he approached Nero. "Do you mind?" He asked while pointing at one of the spots where the bullets hit.
"No." Nero then moved the blanket to show him one of the bullet holes on his torso.
"What the hell?" Mr. Stacy said in deep confusion after he saw the bullet holes on him. "I... I thought the doctor was exaggerating or something. At least nine bullets hit you!" He kept on checking. "At least some pierced one of your lungs, your liver and one of your kidneys." He told him with a very confused face.
"Welcome to my world." He thought sarcastically.
"What?" Suddenly, Nero heard a familiar voice on his head.
"Jean?" Nero asked inside of his head.
"Nero? Oh my god, are you okay?! I been trying to talk to you but you wouldn't answer." He heard Jean saying.
"I been trying to talk to you too, I think the medicine messed with my head and I wasn't able to use telepathy to talk to you." Nero replied.
"I heard about what happened, it was all over the news." She told him.
"Ummm... Mr. Carnby." Nero was break from his telepathic conversation with Jean by Mr. Stacy.
"Oh sorry, I was processing what you just told me." Nero quickly invented a lie, but in reality he was not even a little bit surprised of what happened. He was aware that his powers were the reason to why he was still alive and recovering so fast. "If this is all, I would like to be alone right now." He bluntly told the detective
He made a confused face before nodding and turning around to leave. "We'll keep in touch. You will be contacted in few days to check a few suspects." He informed him before making his way out.
"Hey? Sorry, a Detective was asking a few questions about what happend."
"Speaking of that, what happened Nero? You said that it was going to be at a picnic." Jean asked.
"I'll explain later, what's your address?"
"My address? Why?" Jean asked in confusion.
"Just tell me." Nero insisted.
"Ummmm... I live in Washington Heights on 97 Audubon Avenue." She told himyy
"Great, I'll be there as soon as I can." Nero told her as he started to remove the IV tube that was connected on him.
"Wait, what? Aren't you in the hospital?"
"Not for long, talk to you later." Nero finished removing the tube and other things that were connected to him and stood up from the bed.
Speakng frankly, Nero has been good to go two days ago. But since according to Mr. Stacy, none of the doctors could explain why he's recovering so quickly. Nero honestly is tired of hospitals.
When he stood up from his bed, and walked towards the closet on the room he was staying. Luckily, Sister Maggie left him some clothes. Nero felt bad for scaring her a second time but it's not like he asked for this to happen. As he opened it, he noticed that they were new clothes. Probably donations. Black Jeans, white t-shirt with a Anarchy symbol on it, black worn out sneakers and a white baggy hoodie. He put the clothes on and checked himself on the mirror. "Looks okay," he said to himself before putting the hood on. It blended nicely with his pale face. "Now... Time to get the hell out here." He spoke to himself again.
He went to the door and peeked outside to see if there was anyone in the hallway. As he did, he only noticed someone standing outside, which was a nurse looking at her cell phone. I wish I had a cell phone. He thought.
Soon as he turned to the other side, Nero walked outside of the room and made his way to the other direction where the elevator was located. He was on the fifth floor of the hospital and he really didn't want to take the stairs. He arrived and he noticed a blond boy entering the elevator. "Hold the elevator!" He yelled.
The boy heard him and held the elevator door for him. Nero entered and pressed for the first floor. As he waited for the elevator to decedent he noticed that the blond boy had his right arm was plastered.
"Is that why you're here?" Nero ended up asking.
The blond boy turned his gaze to Nero. "No... I broke a rib so they had to put me in observation." He answered.
"Ouch, how did it happened?" He asked.
"Bycicle accident." He replied.
"I never rode one, but it really doesn't seem worth it." He cringed as he once saw a boy breaking two legs while riding one.
"It's not bad once you get the hang of it." He told him before extending his left hand. "I'm Johnny, Johnny Storm."
"That's a cool name, I'm Nero Carnby." They introduced themselves while shaking hands.
"Hey Nero, how did you got in here?" Johnny asked him.
"Well..." He nearly tells him the truth but decides against it. "I fell down the stairs in my home."
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt." Johnny said while making a cringe face.
Soon enough, they arrive at Johnny's floor which was the second one. "I have to go, My Sis is waiting for me."
"Bye, try to be more careful with a bycicle from now on." Nero warned him.
"No shit." He replied before walking out of the elevator.
The doors close again and proceeded to descend on to the first floor of the hospital. When they finally arrived, the doors opened one more time revealing a group of five people. Which didn't seem to think anything of him as the hoodie helped him blend a little bit as his skin didn't look so pale with it. He walk past them with no trouble whatsoever.
As soon as he left the elevator, Nero noticed several people waiting to be examined. To his shock, he noticed several people in pain due to really drastic injuries. Sitting down and waiting to be called. Nero cringed at the sight, as he sees a man with a lump on his leg which appears to be his shin sticking out. He really walks faster towards the exit as he really wanted to get out of there.
But as he got closer to the exit. He noticed the detective from earlier, Mr. Stacy, speaking on the phone." Nero stopped in the middle of his steps and turned around for him not to see his face. He then couldn't help but overhear his conversation.
"I don't give a damn! You wanna be a fucking whore, be my guest, but you won't drag my daughter with you!" He yelled angrily at the phone." Get yourself a damn lawyer if you want, but we 're gonna solve this on court. If you try to take Gwen anywhere! I will find you and toss you in jail myself!" He just kept yelling and yelling. Nero could only guess that he was talking with his wife... or ex-wife about his daughter or something.
Soon enough, he turned off his phone and walked towards his car. Which Nero took as an opportunity to run for it.
"What do you mean by 'cosmic entity'?"
Soon after Nero left the hospital. He found his way to the address that Jean gave him. It wasn't very hard to get there, but he did steal the wallet of a guy in a suit and took a few dollars. It wasn't the first time that he pick pocketed someone, but he didn't tell that part to Jean.
Jean lived in a small apartment, it had three rooms which Jean shared one with her sister. Luckily for Nero, there was no one home. He and Jean were sitting down in the living room, Nero had explaining to her about what the Grim Reaper told him. "She said that it represented life that has not yet been born, as well as the forces of creation and destruction," he explained to her.
"But... Why would something like that care about us?" she asked.
"I don't know, but it created a link between you and me and made it unbreakable. Which is probably why we can talk even though we're both far away." Nero responded.
A small silence grew in the room after Nero said that. None of the two had anything else to say. A few minutes have passed until Jean grabbed Nero's hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Umm... Okay, the pain stopped two days ago." He responded.
"No... I mean, how are you feeling... about your friend?" Jean asked in a low voice.
Nero was paralyzed by the question, as in the last few days he did his best to not think about it. But now that Jean asked him, he remembered FJ getting shot and he looks down sad. "I...I saw him die." He told her in a even lower voice. "One moment we were laughing and playing... but then another." A small tear starts to drip from his eye. "I...I can't believe he's gone. " After he said that, Nero started to cry.
Jean moved almost immediately and hugged him. "It's okay," she said in a soothing tone.
Nero's tears started to drip onto her shirt, he felt bad for wetting it but he didn't want to let go of the hug.
The two just stood there, embracing each other. Even after Nero stopped crying neither of the two let go. Even after several minutes had passed. He didn't know why, but Nero didn't want to let go of her and he had a feeling that she felt the same way.
"You want me to let go?" Jean asked him.
"No..." he awkwardly denied. "Do you?"
"No," she denied too.
But unfortunately, their tender moment was interrupted when they heard a noise outside of the entrance door.
"My parents are back," Jean told him. "You have to hide, I'm not supposed to bring people here." Jean told him before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards her room. As Nero entered, he couldn't help but notice how divided the room was. One side was red while the other was blue. He could only assume that the blue side was Jean's sister while the red side was Jean's.
The blue side had a few posters on the wall, a computer, a very messy bed, and a drawer.
The red side had a closet, a few stuffed toys and the bed was cleaner than the other one.
Jean dragged him towards the closet. "Hide in there," she ordered him in a low voice.
Nero obeyed her and entered the closet. Jean closes it and signal him to be quiet.
"Jean? We're home." He hears a woman speaking. Probably Jean's mother.
"I'm in my room." Jean responds.
"Come here, we have something for you."
Jean looks back at him for a second. "Don't make any noise, I'll be back." She telepathically told him before leaving the room to see what her mother wanted.
Two hours later:
Nero was very annoyed at his current situation. Soon after Jean left the room , her sister entered and started to use the computer. Which meant that he was going to be stuck in the closet until she stopped. He had a few chances of leaving but Jean told him to not move due to her brother, who's room was in front of hers, playing with the door open and he could see everything from there. Jean was in the living room, trying to find a way for me to get away.
"Jean, I'm hungry." Nero complained to her using telepathy.
"So sorry, I'll find a way fo distract them." Jean replied. However, she told him the same thing an hour ago. Which did not reassure him a bit. "I'm gonna get grounded if they catch you here."
Unfortunately for Nero. His hunger was just too severe.
GGGGGGRRRRRRROOOOOILLLLLLLL
Out of nowhere, Nero's stomach made a loud noise due to his hunger. He moved his gaze to the left and he noticed that Jean's sister was now looking at the closet. Oh no, Nero thought.
"Jean! I think your sister heard me." He informed her quickly.
Jean's sister then stood up from the chair that she was sitting down and walk towards the closet. "Oh shit," Nero cursed internally as she got closer.
"What are you doing?! " Jean yelled at her sister and quickly ran to the front of the closet.
"So you are hiding something. I heard a noise coming from inside," she accused Jean. Which was not wrong.
"I'm not hiding anything," Jean denied the accusation while crossing her arms. "Unlike you."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Strangely, Nero felt a bit of hostility coming from her sister.
"You're still talking to him, aren't you?" It wasn't a question. He could tell that Jean was certain.
"You fucking touched my computer?!" The hostility increased. "Not a word to Mom and Dad or I'll kill you." That shocked Nero, as it really sounded like she was serious.
"We had to move here because of you. Mom and Dad are fighting every day because of you. And you still making things worse," Jean scolded her.
Nero has no idea what is going on. Mr. Grey said that they left because of problems at his work. Did his daughter have something to do with it?
"You don't understand Jean, stay out of it if you know what's good for you." The hostile tone did not change. "What are you hiding in there?"
"Nothing!" Jean yelled.
"What is going on here?" To make things worse. Mr. Grey appeared on the door as well.
"Jean is hiding something on the closet." Jean's sister spoke with a disgusting smirk.
"Hiding? What she's talking about Jean?" He asked.
"I'm not hiding anything." Jean kept on denying.
"Then open the closet."
"No!"
"Okay Jean, what's on the closet?" Mr. Grey asked.
"No-Nothing." Jean stuttered nervously.
"If there's nothing, then you won't mind opening it," her father said.
Jean stayed quiet and Nero didn't know what to do, he kept trying to think of a way out of this situation. "Dammit! I wish I was far away from here." Nero thought as he remembered the hospital room that he was stuck in it. Soon enough, Jean's father approached the closet and for some reason, he kept thinking about the hospital room. "I should have just stayed there, now Jean is gonna get in trouble because of me."
As Mr. Grey puts his hand on the closet handle. Nero closes his eyes to get ready for a reaction.
But then, Nero feels something strange. Like a hot wind blowing through his body. It only lasted a second, but where did come from? He opened his eyes to see...
"What the fuck!" That was all that Nero could say. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that he was back at the hospital room. "But... How?!"
Thanks everyone who's favored and followed this story.
If anyone have any questions, feel free to ask.
The Cover image is what Nero looks like.
Special thanks to my Beta (FluffyKittyCat2)