American Albino, Chapter II: Martyr
She knew a place where she had three friends. These bunch who could keep her safe on the low in the meantime this fuckery cleared up slowly, like acid dissolving a bone. We went and drove there, heading to a quiet town in Colorado. This place, Dadetown, was your average shithole. In between a city and a town, you could not truly know which one it was.
Lincoln, the albino who had hidden his true identity, using the alias of Jerry Cruise, had pulled up to the driveway Chloe Binsley had pointed to. This driveway was empty, but the lights that came from the window told another story. Occupied by people, notably the three men who lived in there. These three men, Jason Chang, of American-Chinese descent, almost to his thirties; Christian Leznik, early twenties, a real habdsome devil of nice facial hair and a tall, fairly strong physique; and last but not least, Alex Ribbons, the shortest one, with a chubby build, a noticeably bug nose and glasses. The one guy you could so easily think he was related to Danny DeVito at that. Penguin bastard.
The three were friends of Chloe's, Lincoln didn't know how it blossomed but he gave no two shits about it and shut the engine block off as she got her phone and dialed Christian. "Yeah- Hey, hey, I'm here, I'm outside- Okay, yeah yeah, thanks." And she hung up on him.
That was it for him, he'd assume. Done deal, transported her out of danger and had now nothing to do but to wait until it was 2030, the second chance to change the game, if it could be helped.
Back in 2026, good old Darcy and I busted in to a Vial Corp facility and turned ourselves into augmented toys. Obviously I had no trouble the first time around, but taking another risk for that... Do I want to become super again?
There was much to think about, much to calculate and process, all of which he hated. It was never so fucking simple.
"Jerry?" Right, that was his alter ego. Lincoln snapped out of his mind and faced sweet Chloe. "I said, thank you."
"Oh-" He didn't smile back to her own. "You take care now-"
He only confused her terribly. "Huh? Hey, no, you- You are not leaving me, you asshole."
"Chloe-" She cut him off with a quick kiss.
"Jerry, don't do this to me, I..." She grabbed his hand and opened it up to press upon her cheek. "I really like you, I want you to stay with me." Something about her voice did him in, a funny tone, yet it was a begging one. Her eyes were glittering when it should not have been possible, they were in darkness, but he saw it again. That same face and mood he felt radiating off of her back in the bed of the shitty motel. She wasn't playing him, she was being legit. She was telling him she might just have been in love with him.
What am I supposed to do here?
The skin on her cheek, it did feel rather nice, was warm at most. Warm like her heart appeared to be.
Christian, the tall dude with medium brown hair, came to Chloe's side and opened it up. "Oh, my God, you're okay!"
She detached from her belt, jumped up on out of the car and hugged her friend, crying away. "It was so horrible, Chris! They beat me, they wouldn't stop until- Until-"
Lincoln felt like he needed a smoke, and he never touched a cigarette before. He never smoked, but he smoked them scumbags of all sorts.
"Hey, boss," Christian addressed at Lincoln, "thanks so much for bringing her here! Y-you're welcome to come stay with us for a few days if you have no place to go. Chloe said-"
"I'd best be going," Lincoln decided. "I trust you can keep her in good care, and get the police involved now."
"Wait-" Chloe broke away from Christian's grasp. "No, Jerry, you can't go- Please-,
"Brother, it's late night, you must be tired from the drive. At least stay the night over, yeah?" Christian was nice, welcoming Lincoln into the house like a very special guest, and not like the stranger he was to him. "It's the least we can do for you, brother."
Chloe was teary-eyed from the emotion, but she continued to stare at Lincoln with her puppy eyes. "Please..."
Getting caught up here, like this... Ah, well- What was some time to kill off while I waited? Sure, it shouldn't be that hard to be out of the spotlight. Rex and his maggots were gone, who can peg me, the time traveler displaced from a defunct timeline, to the crime? And then, my stomach rumbled again. I was hungry.
Lincoln exited the borrowed Mustang GT, one of the rides from the skinheads, keys removed from the ignition. He closed the door behind him and took to the house. Chloe smiled with content and hurried after him, Christian being the last to come in.
Later
A nice plate of vegetable stew awaited him, and for his stomach, he gobbled it down, even sipping the bowl itself when the solids were spooned up inside. Christian, Jason and Alex studied him, being silent around each other while Chloe, sitting on Lincoln's left on the round table, groveled at him with warm admiration and affection. She found solace and comfort here now that Lincoln, Jerry to them all, had changed his mind.
"So yeah, Rex had me trapped around town," Chloe revisited again. "I just, I couldn't get away from him. I couldn't get what he wanted, I was as good as dead."
"Jesus..."
"You poor girl..."
"I'm sorry this happened to you-"
They pitied her like some dying animal, it was a show of kiss-ass, somewhat cringy a sight for him. They cared so much yet they didn't do shit, it was how he interpreted it. He wanted to say something, but perhaps it was fine. Chloe had a long day- No, longer. A week. Weeks? How long was this going on for?
No more of that now. He finished his bowl, only barely satisfied but not too inclined to fill himself at full tank. He wiped his face from a napkin, crumpled it up and placed it inside the bowl. "Thanks for the stew."
"Thank you for bringing our friend back safe and sound, mister... Uhh?"
"This is Jerry, Alex," Chloe reminded the penguin.
"Chloe, give me a break, I got off work an hour ago-"
"Then go sleep, Alex!" Chloe shouted with a laugh. "We can discuss things tomorrow-"
"Wait a second, Chloe, this isn't something to just shrug off," Christian stated in a serious tone. "We have to go to the police, right?"
"I- I don't even know what I wanna do," Chloe openly shared. "Going to them means I have to confess my... Filth. I've not been clean, I've been sleeping around Rex for that good-good."
"Jesus, Chloe," Alex scoffed. "You were doing well in rehab, what the fuck happened to that?"
"I... I'd rather not talk about it," she lowly whispered.
"Well, we've gotta do something!" Jason boomed. "Chloe, I can't believe you risked your life for some shit drug, you're better than that."
"I'm sorry, i... I had some withdrawal, man! You know me-"
"Were you two followed?" Jason wad strangely paranoid right away, but who could blame him when Chloe had thugs with no concern over others chasing her? "Any car on the way-?"
"What?! No, we've had no trouble coming here, Jay!"
"That is fact, I've been looking over the mirrors while the girl slept." Lincoln eyed Chloe, her returning a smile.
Jason went silent.
"You three boys have anything to use as a weapon? Gun, knife, anything at all?"
"What the-?!" Alex was terribly offended. "We do not believe in violence, sir! There is no need to defend ourselves if we don't seek out trouble-"
Lincoln was talking to a pacifist, how generic. "What, no self defense? How will you fight off invaders?"
"Easy," Christian answered, "silent alarms around this place."
You've gotta be shitting me.
"Great, police trouble," Chloe sighed. "I am not eager to face legal trouble again, you assholes. That's it-" Mind concluded, she stood up. "This was a mistake, you guys aren't going to help-"
"Hang on," Christian halted. "Guys, we don't really need the alarms active, do we? We haven't had any crimes going around the neighborhood since forever."
"C'mon, Chris! Better safe than sorry!"
"You can be safe," Chloe nodded to, but I'm not facing-"
How? All this paranoia I see before me. They're all afraid of being targeted by the scum, the very same I had wiped off of the face of the earth. That was to simplify and solve it for her... But even in death, Rex got into her mind and infected her already. Had her this frightened, and you know what the kicker was?
Chloe dropped out and retreated from the kitchen table, taking to the backyard to destress and gain a clearing of her mind.
I could simply tell her what I did, and it would fix her. But, would it? Would it take off that weight on her shoulders, or only have the fear redirected from Rex unto me?
This, an enemy that he could not fight. An enemy born from the shadows of the tainted mind, and he had them.
The three lads were discussing it, but Lincoln was the one who decided to to after Chloe, to make sure she was fine, or to put her back and soothe and calm her. It was the fear. He told himself just that, it was the fear of death taking control and making her act, she was a puppet of strings. And the night was just as cold and dark as any given night, but Chloe feigned being bothered by it all. She occupied one side of the porch steps, trapped by the monsters. Lincoln filled the space next to her. "Hey, they can't possibly find us, Chloe."
"How do you know, Jerry?" She spat against him, refusing to believe his word. "Those types do have connections, and they could have friends here. It wouldn't be too long for them to find me. And no, I really don't want to go to the cops."
"You've been this much in trouble before, have you?"
"S-something like that..." Chloe visibly shook her head. "I felt like I was on my own, and I don't want that. I wanted to be saved back there. Back in that fucking bar, and then you came along. Ha-"
Her laugh was of a nervous laugh, she was breaking down and I knew so.
"You, out of all the men- I fucked you and you got me here, I- I feel like-" She laughed again, harder that time. "I didn't use you, I swear on my life, but I was desperate. I want to live..."
"Hey, I don't regret coming to your aid," Lincoln dropped. "That Rex guy hurt you, I would never stand for that a million times over. You're here, you should be safe, Chloe. No one could know-"
"I want to believe that, Jer," she confessed. "I do but... I've never been lucky my whole life, I just want this one thing now."
"You're here," he addressed, so weakly trying. "These three will have your back, even if they are unarmed and whatnot. You can't just wander away, I've brought you here to stay."
"And you won't..." Chloe grew hopelessly sad. "I thought you'd be the guardian angel who would never leave."
And suddenly, someone else did the talking for him and let out what she wanted to hear tonight. To this day, further in the future, it baffled him. "What if I stayed long enough for you?"
She studied him, looking into his musical blue eyes. She saw her out, the safety he presented. She let herself have it, taking it and then leaving in to kiss him. The brunette of a pixie cut was too vulnerable not to take advantage of, but for him- She closed her eyes and kissed him, and he dared to kiss back, hands slapping onto her waist. The sounds of their lips outclassed the noisy crickets. Sloppy, sloppier than Ronnie Anne's old kisses. Rebekka Letenko's.
Lori's.
This girl had chosen him as her protector, no way to simply leave like this. Okay, he'd tell himself, don't fucking leave.
Chloe jumped over onto him, giving him all her loving affection like a yandere. Embracing him, cuddling and snuggling him. Holding his hand as if they were an item after they had stopped their love-making, if that was what he thought to label it. She wasn't hurt as much, he did that to her. Together, they both only eyed the infinite darkness, silent for a bit until Chloe opened her mouth, fighting the silence, breaking the silence.
"I was only fifteen when I had my first drug," Chloe unloaded. "Los Angeles was a cesspit of junkies and gangsters, so much of it everywhere."
"Okay, so you have an addiction, and the guys said you did rehab."
"Better word would be trying to, actually," she corrected. "Tried to go clean, it just didn't work. I'm lucky that it didn't take its toll on me. It's like-"
"You look so clean," Lincoln had noticed. "It's like you're not one of them."
"I don't know what to tell you, I guess I'm lucky. But it can only go so far, it'll catch up to me."
"They weren't lying, Chloe. You are better than this."
"I really try to be, Jerry."
"So, a literal package, Chloe? Shouldn't your teeth be falling out?" He found reason to laugh, and when he did, Chloe lightly slapped upon his shoulder playfully.
"I'm not a homeless bum, man!"
"Now that I think about it..."
"Don't you dare!" Chloe shook him, joining in laughter. "Okay, maybe! Maybe, you hear me?"
"You basically are, aren't you?"
"S-so what if I am?"
And it hit me then and there. "Well... I'm homeless, too. I have nowhere to go, I guess that makes me a drifter."
"A drifter..." Chloe rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, whaddya know? We might just be more alike than I thought."
"Maybe."
"There's something about you I can't simply put my finger on. You're... An entirely different type of person, yet..." She touched his face, rubbing a hand down his cheek. "I don't know, broken? A very silent type of broken. The type that does not whine or cry about it, but you move forward-" She leaned her face close to his, then leaned in his ear. "You're dragging it behind you, and you don't even look back. You just don't give a shit anymore, and you turn it, turn all of it-"
Into hate. Always into hate, the fiery rage that fueled me, helped me to mangle and murder.
"S-so yeah..." Chloe rubbed her head about. "But that's my inference, I don't even know if I hit the nail on the head or not, not that it actually matters. I just want someone to relate to- And here you are."
"Tell me about yourself, Chloe." He took her in his lap, her head resting upon his legs. "Your life before all of this shit."
She half-closed her eyes. "Well, there's not much to tell, I wasn't the best daughter to my parents, and they did wind up kicking me out. Troubled youth years, I hated most of my life, but..."
He gently rubbed a hand on her hair for added comfort.
"There was this dance club in Los Angeles, right? It had eighties nights."
"Eighties nights?"
"You know, the era. A throwback to that decade-" She told him she liked the eighties like this, and he was albeit surprised to learn this fact. "Don't judge me, but I like the eighties for their rock music."
"Now you like rock, too, huh?" All the more similar she was to Luna. How uncanny. "This dance club, is it your favorite place?"
"Well, of course, mister Jerry!" Chloe said joyfully. "I was always excited to go. Between you and me, I really, really like the sixties just as much as the eighties, but I can get down with anything from the fifties to the nineties, you know?"
"Oh, you're old school, that's pretty classy," Lincoln complimented. "Never would have imagined you as that type of girl."
"Surprise!" Her excitement then faded. "It's been so long since I've been in the dance club, and with my... Partner."
"Left a boy, have you?"
"Erm, no..." A sly snicker eluded her lips. "Left my girlfriend Kristen back home. I loved her but we broke it off because of me and my bullshit."
"Sorry to hear that," he simply thought to say. "You're really open with me, you sure it's wise to assume I'm truly open-minded?"
"Heyyyyyy..." Chloe went with her gut, gut telling her that Lincoln was someone of no trouble. A fellow with her best interest at heart. "You haven't started questioning shit, I doubt you would now."
He wished it were mutual, but for her sake... You knew what the deal was. "I have a sister who loves-" He stopped to correct himself. "Loved, she loved to play rock."
"Oh?" Chloe smirked. "Mister albino man, you have a sister?"
"No, many... Big family."
"How big are we talking, baby boy?"
"A few sisters," he vaguely, but honestly answered. "But anyways, this sister, you two would have gotten along well, I feel."
"The way you talk of her-" Chloe lifted and waved her finger about. "Is she...?"
"Dead?" He dared say the word she hesitated to. "No, she's alive-" He thought of this timeline's Luna, the current, teenage one. "It's just that complicated."
"Complicated... Sounds about right, Jer." She shivered when getting too cold, the cue that it was time to head back in. "Hey, where are you gonna sleep? This place has only two bedrooms-"
"I'll couch-bunk- Or if they don't have enough space, you can take the couch, and I'll take the floor."
"What- Hey, we- we can share the couch!"
I've had a tiny room, not a tiny bed- If at that, I would not have objected. "I don't think my body will help."
"It- it's a long couch-"
"Okay, but you've had a long day," Lincoln insisted. "Go on inside, Chloe."
"I can't change your mind, can I?" Chloe got up, moving away from the porch. "Better sleep near me."
"As you wish," he silently accepted.
"Hey..." She stopped right before entering. "I have to know. The bartender called you loud. Or... Called you Loud, as a name? Were you being true with me, Jerry?"
"He meant something else," lied the albino. "You've missed the talk."
"Alright... Come back inside, you're going to catch a case of hypothermia."
"Sure thing, mom," Lincoln jokingly waved.
This night was cold, alright. But it was calm, calm and not filled with live gunfire. No screaming corpses. No dying innocents. Nothing, not a flame in sight. No one around. It... It felt a little too lonely, my darkened soul amiss.
The Next Day
"Bless you and you having a car," Jason grinned at Lincoln. "We usually take the bus, we're unable to even afford our own car at the moment-"
"You're joking-" Lincoln turned on the ignition of the hot ride, letting it rumble to its warmth. "You three, the same house, and you all work-"
"I know-" Jason closed the passenger door. "Okay, wait, we are trying to save up here. Gas is expensive, and a car, and insurance, it's all-"
"You know what?" Lincoln's decided, facing him with grand steel balls. "You're all idiots, that's what I think. Leeching off of me to... Sorry, where did you want me to go?"
"The town hall, good sir," Jason directed. "I've got a meeting with one Patrick Matthews."
"I... Don't know who that is," Lincoln rubbed. "I'm guessing the mayor?"
"No, he is one of the town's officials, he's good people and he's a close friend."
"An official, huh? Like what, politics?"
"Exactly, he is good folk, maybe I can introduce you to him. Any financial trouble, he can help."
"Oh, a rich one?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "You have high-end friends but don't take advantage of that?"
"I'm no beggar!" Jason yelled back. "Motherfucker!"
Talk about short-temper.
"Hey, he hears what you did with Chloe, he'll eat it up, right up I tell you."
"No need for that," his humble side let out. "It's not like I saved the president."
BADUMTSS.
-Linka
He backed away from the driveway, taking off with Jason to town hall. I didn't want to bother with Jason, so I made the ride a silent one. If there was anything about him that rubbed me the wrong way, it didn't show up on my radar yet. Chloe's friends were... Interesting to say the least.
And then I found myself sitting next to Jason, across a big man of long, black hair of glasses. The layer of fat upon him, and the million-dollar business suit- This was that Patrick Matthews aforementioned in the car.
"Who's this man you bring before me?" Matthews grumbled.
"A good citizen, Pat- Jerry, come on, don't be shy."
"You say that, Chang, but such a statement is to be authenticated by me. Excuse me, sir, but might you give me your name-"
"Why is my name important?" Lincoln felt bothered by the man. "You wanna see if I have some record? I can assure you that's not the case with me."
"I cannot afford to associate with criminals these days. I wish to run for mayor here, I know you understand."
Didn't like him already.
"I can wholeheartedly vouch for him, Pat," Jason spoke. "He's not from around here, but he came giving an old friend of mine a ride when she needed to get here. If not for him..."
"A ride means nothing-"
"No, it does not," Lincoln agreed.
"But he helped anyway-" Jason defended. "Come on, Jerry no-last-name-needed is a friend. He can be yours, too."
"Jay, you are too hopeful when it cannot count," Matthews quaked. "Never you mind, vet him out of my office before we discuss the private matters at hand."
"Sir-"
"And what's with that white hair? How old are you that you've got that, huh?" He laughed, and it was just like some fat sack of pure shit. "That's not real, is it?"
"Uhhhh," Jason stammered.
"Get out of my office-" Patrick Matthews grabbed his phone and dialed. "Hey, calling for Mr. Bart, please bring him in now. I've got Jason Chang down here-"
"How fucking rude-" Lincoln used his arms to support his stand, but Jason kept him there. "What?"
"Hold on a minute-"
Matthews set down the phone. "What, are you fucking deaf?! Get this trailer trash out of my office, Chang!"
I've already had it with this arrogant bastard. This the one you wanted to run the show? How disgusting- "How about-" Lincoln was on the verge of throwing his hands over to the other side to give the official what for- And the miracle that dared to change everything had taken place instead.
The uninvited guest had come kicking into the room, chased by the front desk receptionist behind them. David Khan, an Asian that came through a United States terminal with a Visa at hand, having come from Kuala Lumpar of Malaysia, came in with a grand grievance against not Matthews, but Jason Chang himself. "You there-"
"What on earth...?"
"Who-?" Jason was alarmed. "No, no! No, you fuck off, you stalker!"
Lincoln's anger subsided, switching off just like that. Who's this asshole?
"Your grandma's had the fortune of dying, you fucking faggot!" David Khan was in a large hooded jacket, almost a trench coat, right over long faded jeans, and sandals with no socks that made him look like a joke more than the hoodlum he acted like. Not a menace, but his shouting and barging in had the receptionist trail him, telling him he needed to follow protocol. "Jason, you little homo!"
"Sir, if you don't leave the building-" the fair redhead receptionist tried to coerce.
David Khan revealed his hidden hand, occupied with one snub revolver that he then used to smack right into the woman's face.
"J-Jessica!" Patrick Matthews was horrified and triggered to see Khan having attacked his childhood friend. "What's this about, man?"
"ON YOUR KNEES!" Khan aimed the revolver at Jason. "DO IT, YOU COCKSUCKER!"
"C-coward!" Jason insulted, "daring to shoot an unarmed man? You are no honorable-"
And the Asian man fired off a round upon one of Jason's kneecaps, subduing the man down to his knees. Jason seethed through his teeth, crying about after stumbling onto his good knee. He bled onto the office floor, Matthews then going scared and immobile. Lincoln backed himself up to the desk, arms moving to his behind in a slow matter. "AND DON'T WORRY, MATTHEWS, I AIN'T WANT YOU!"
Khan aimed the gun at both Lincoln and Patrick Matthews, arm shaking frantically.
Jason was hunched over in fetal position, grieving over the pain. "Bastard! You're a piece of utter shit, Khan!"
"BACK TO HELL WITH YOU!" Khan locked sight of the revolver to Jason's head in point blank range, and right before pulling thr trigger again, Lincoln grabbed a pen from Matthews' desk, gripped it and attacked Khan, forcing the pen right into his jugular vein on the side of his neck. The Asian had dropped the tiny weapon, but he scampered out in pain, retreating from the scene the moment it went south. Lincoln picked up the gun, then tended to Jason.
Wound isn't fatal, but it needed tending to. "Get a fucking ambulance here, now!"
"Uhhh..." Patrick stuttered briefly before going to the phone to call 911.
Lincoln left the three, giving chase right after Khan. What kinda shitshow did I walk into?!
Khan pushed past the people inside, trying to make his uneasy escape with the pen still lodged in his neck. It hurt him, he groaned, but he'll tend to it later, only after he made the clean break. "Bastards!"
The albino man was not far behind. He was fast, but so was I.
Khan made his way out, running down a layer of steps from town hsll, and the cops have already begun to show up, cars in tow right down the street, sirens going off. Khan booked it across the street, diverting into an alley. And Lincoln followed, stopping and aiming when the assailant tried to escape to a rooftop using a ladder. Lincoln fired one upon Khan's legs, which brought him back down to earth to land upon a pile of garbage bags backside first.
Khan cursed him in his own dialect, angrily squirming about upon the pile of trash.
I knew what to do, but things managed to get the better of me, so I just had to know. "What was all that about? Who is he to you?"
"Nothing- Nothing but a fucking little thief!" David Khan revved. "You, friends with that Jason Chang?! He won't be for much longer! He backstabs and he takes friendships! You'll be the one after me!"
"You're wrong..." Lincoln fired for the headshot, executing the stranger without a flinch of his eyes. "i am not a friend of his, nor am I of yours."
Cops then surrounded the alleyway, boxing him off strategically. "Hands up, drop your gun!"
Jason Chang and Patrick Matthews, along with a horde of onlookers, watched in amazement as the cops worked to cuff and arrest Lincoln, putting him into one of the cars.
"Aw, shit..." Jason moaned, still supported by Patrick on his feet. "He's my ride home."
"That's not the least of your worries?!"
"Shit..." Jason kept moving with the official. "Get him out-"
"The man is clearly a psycho- You saw him shoot Khan!"
"And Khan wasn't?! You owe Jerry just as much as I do."
Lincoln lifted his cuffed hands, staring down at the metal as the cop car took him away from town hall. It wasn't the ideal schedule to start the day, but it sure beat fighting the supers that would come. What was he to do? Just how would he get out of this?
Well... At least Chloe's safe, and that dude is on his way to shovel coal for the devil right about now. I win, I fucking win! You hear me? I...
Silence.
AN: Two out of eleven done. Next, Lincoln meets Wheete-Glass, the town sheriff.