Rob, Jesse and Tress Marsh almost joined the local summer camp because their parents had to work all holiday season long, but in the end they stayed home alone. They had shown their parents they were responsible, they could stay at home without supervision from an adult while they were away. Rob was thirteen, so he was old enough to watch his younger siblings and take care of the house. It was time started having responsibilities, Mr. Marsh argued. They gave the oldest child very simple tasks and instructions: keep the door locked, never let strangers in or touch the stove and keep an eye on Jess and Tress. If something happened, Mrs. Hooper, the neighbor, would be there to help them.
Several weeks passed and the house was still standing and the children unharmed. Everything seemed to be alright. The children were behaving.
So what was the surprise of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh when they got a sudden call from the local police. They rushed out from their jobs to find the piano from the living room slammed against the lawn, the window it had flown from shattered and the three children standing by the officers' side, looking at the disaster they had caused as if they didn't know why they had even thought of doing it.
"D-Dear Lord..." Joey muttered.
The road showed a big black hole right where the ambulance had exploded. There were still police officers around it, with the most varied technological equipment, which should give them a clue of what caused the explosion.
"Who's the victim?" The mayor asked Warren.
"The name's Cian Kenneth Andrews. A biologist or something of the sort. He's published tons of books about the ecosystem of the planet. The crazy genius type, if you ask me. He's pretty known in town because he claimed all the time that he came from Mars, disturbed people with his theories and his hermit-like way of life. He broke into a man's house and attacked him and incited Ol' Billy to go nuts, so we decided it was time that a doctor saw him and ruled if it was safe for him to be among people. He was on his way to Selzer Hospital for a checking."
"What about the driver?"
"That's what I'd like to know. They only found Andrews among the burning remains."
"But someone had to be driving the ambulance."
"True, and I saw someone dressed with a uniform in the driver's seat when Andrews got in; I said hi to him and all, but they only got Andrews out of the vehicle and we found two witnesses who claim that they saw no one driving the ambulance seconds before it exploded."
"Maybe he blew into pi-pieces?"
Joey bit his under lip. What a pretty way to start the day, with an uncontrollable stutter. How it fitted a mayor who was supposed to remain collected in the midst of calamities like this.
"That's what I thought." Warren didn't seem to notice or pay attention to his speech, and just placed his hands on his hips, swelling his chest in a way that made him look like a big rooster. "But we'll have to see what the forensics say."
Luc was a few steps away from them, talking to a partner. He thanked him and walked to the sheriff and the mayor.
"And the smell...It's horrible..." Joey wrinkled his nose.
"They've found some trace of the explosives." Luc announced. "They think it might be TNT."
"There's a mine a few miles away from the town, so..." Warren muttered.
"Is it possible that he could have committed suicide?" Joey asked, speaking slowly from then on to make sure he pronounced his words well.
"A bit soon to talk about that." Luc pointed out. "The guy's still alive. Barely, but he's among the living. He's critical at the hospital, they've told me. Fighting for his life like a tiger. But if he survives, he might as well wish he hadn't fought that much. His lower body's gone, the scars are terrible, apparently."
"If he believed he came from another planet, maybe he tried to...dispose of his human body..." Joey said.
"Or maybe someone did it for him..." Warren frowned. "That's what I believe, because there are tons of cheap, free, quick, elegant and silent ways to leave the Earth, and better moments too...But what bugs me is the driver...If the bloody bits are all Andrews', he'll have to explain why he got out of the ambulance casually before it went kaboom—and how!"
"Well, sheriff, I'm sure you'll do a great job...I'll follow this issue very closely." Joey said.
"Never in my thirty-five years I have seen something like this. It's got my full attention." Warren said.
Him and the mayor exchanged a few words before Joey left the scene, dialing a number in his phone. No one had ever seen such a thing in Warner Falls and somehow the opposition thought it was his fault; some were spreading news that this was a terrorist attack, so he had a good mess to deal with. Citizens were scared, confused, shocked, and he had to do something about it.
"How about a coffee, Warren?" Luc asked the sheriff.
"I won't say no; I really need a break. Let's go, my car's right there..." Warren made a grimace. "Dear Lord, the smell that darned thing has left is disgusting..."
But Luc, curiously, didn't smell anything. "Uh...Yes, about your car..."
Warren took the key of car from his pocket and looked at his partner inquisitively. As he approached to his car, his steps slowed down until he stopped in front of it. Now he saw what he wanted to tell him. Someone had evidently used a key, a screwdriver or some other pointed object not only to scratch its splendid red body but also write a very eloquent note: "REDNECK SCUM".
Warren contemplated it for long with his keys still on one hand. His expression was not angry; in fact…he didn't feel angry. It was kind of surprising that he felt nothing at all. All his reaction was to scratch his reddish goatee and then look around, thought he knew it was completely pointless. Then, he opened the door and calmly sat on the driver's seat.
"Let me guess. Jones?" Luc smirked.
"Most possibly."
"If I was you, I'd grab that guy by the neck and make him eat the pavement."
Warren just shrugged. "I got more important stuff to think about than that rascal. Like the exploding ambulance. Or Billy. He's still the same. I fear he hurts himself. He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep..."
"All he does is roar. Ah, ouais. Gansburg almost begged me not to leave him alone with him this morning."
Thinking of Gansburg made Luc inevitably think of that nice girlfriend he had. And thinking of her made a tiny smile grow on his face.
"This is starting to look like a very interesting week, right?" He said, shaking that thought off.
"I bet! All at once..."
Warren started the car and his partner took a minute to check his phone and send a text.
Talking about gorgeous females...
LOVE YOU, PRINCESS
Sylvia replied a few minutes later.
I stopped the car in the highway because I thought it was something important, idiot
Luc's smile vanished as he put the phone back into his pocket. It seemed it was never the moment to say 'I love you'. At home, she had to cook, bath the kids, do a thousand things, she was too tired for petting. At work or on the way, she didn't want to be disturbed with such 'unimportant things'...Warren didn't notice. He almost ran over a stupid runner but apart from that he felt incredibly calm. Happy even. He couldn't help wondering for how long he would feel that way.
He was almost ran over but Treg seemed not to notice. He didn't have his headphones on, so he should have seen all the police in the street, the car almost hitting him. The only thing he paid some attention to was the big crate in the middle of the road, but it was short-lived. He always had so many thoughts inside of his brain, all at the same time, it was impossible to focus on just one of them. Usually, the biggest trifle was what caught his whole attention. It didn't matter to him if he was exposing himself to danger: all he was thinking about was that he really didn't want to do this but had no choice.
His fault, actually. He should have gotten in a limousine or a Mercedes, and not in that ramshackle vehicle driven by one of those guys parents use as an example of the kind of people one should not accept candy from. His own mom and dad would have fainted, knowing that he hopped into the van of this walking cautionary tale. He could not expect all the doors open with Martin: he had enough surviving himself, to give his guest a life of luxury. Treg missed the times when his parents paid him a gym subscription and now he had to face the fact that those times were long gone. With Martin, he had learned to choose the ridiculous cheap/free choice. For someone who was a handyman, it seemed like the natural choice. He, on the other hand, needed a little time to adjust.
Running seemed like a good alternative to the gym. Free, outdoors, it allowed him to meet other runners out there...Too bad he found it boring and unappealing. But he couldn't come up with anything else. Warner Falls offered nothing else to do—no beaches, no snowy mountains...He was really counting the hours to leave that trash town and go somewhere really nice. Somewhere sunny, with pretty views beyond as far as the eye can see, where there was no one nosing and judging. Running under a mass of clouds wasn't appealing at all.
He was very lazy. He didn't want to start. All he did was walk at first, at a reasonable pace, not even forcing himself. He wanted to surrender and go back to the couch. Only Martin's expected sassy response, 'I knew you wouldn't do it', was what gave him the motivation to try just a few minutes. Ten minutes. Ten minutes would be enough to shut his mouth.
It wasn't that bad. He increased the speed. Now he was walking like he was in a hurry.
Okay. A bit faster. Now he started running, slowly, like he was enjoying the views.
Hm. A little more.
More.
More.
He looked like he was trying to catch a bus now.
What was this feeling he was getting inside of his chest? He tried to name it and he couldn't.
He just knew something: he liked running more than he expected.
Soon he crossed the center of the town and found himself in the outskirts. Then, the road.
Sweat coated his skin, his cheeks were red, but he kept going. Stopping didn't seem like an option. There was only a word inside his head: "Run".
Run, run, run!
How could have he lived without it until that day?
Faster. Now he was running as fast as he could, his strides as long as he could deliver. Yes, he was giving it all. He wondered where his limit was.
Not there, it seemed. He moved fast as a bullet, everything around him seemed blurred except for the road. It seemed to have no end, to run till the end of the world, forever. His heart beat so fast it would have scared anyone–but not him. Adrenaline ran through his veins. He just couldn't care about anything at all. Except running, as if running was everything.
Run, run, run!
Treg suddenly stopped. He felt so dizzy that he had to sit on the road and recover his breath. It took him a long while and drinking what remained of the isotonic drink he carried with him. Yes, he had lost his mind and now paid the consequences. Treg read the sign which was just a few yards from him: "Warner Falls, 12". He chuckled at that. When he stood up and walked back home, this time slowly, he was still chuckling.
It was time time for a break at the repair shop. The five men sat together to fill their stomachs before going back to work. But practically all of them were looking at Martin. The steak he was eating—no, the actual word to describe it was 'devouring'— was so bloody and raw it made Hal sick just by looking at it.
"Why don't you just go to the field and bite a cow, boy?" He finally said with a side smile, swinging his spoon in the air as if it was some kind of magic wand.
Martin's only response was a mere shrug, not raising his eyes from his plate.
"At least it doesn't look like bird seed, like what you're eating." Randy commented, pointing at what Hal was eating.
"The doctor said I had to eat like a cow, and my wife will kill me if I don't. She's a devil, I tell you: she will know if I just threw it away..."
The rest of them was still eating when Martin finished. He got up, walked to the fridge and took a yogurt from it. He was about to sit down when he changed his mind and added to his dessert a banana and a couple of cookies.
"Wow, man." Harry raised his eyebrows.
"What?" Martin frowned, almost offended to be constantly interrupted.
"Nothing. Nothing. Just tell us when you're gonna explode, to get out of the way."
"I just feel very hungry these days."
"Eat as much as you want, then, 'cause I can see your ribs. That can't be good." Ian pointed out as he bit his salad.
"He's like a scarecrow..." Vásquez muttered, cigarette in hand, so slowly he almost seemed he was falling asleep as he spoke.
Yes, he had been hearing that all of his life, so Martin didn't care about it. He let his coworkers talk while he kept on eating. It was as if he had a hole in his stomach and nothing he ate could be of any use...
What age was Isadore in that photo? Five? No older than five, Pip was sure. He totally looked like one of these restless children with bright eyes everyone loves. The boy was smiling at the camera, showing a broken front tooth. Pip couldn't help smiling. His height and the mustache made him look like a totally different person but the eyes...His eyes didn't shine still shone that way.
The door opened and Isadore came in. When he saw Pip standing by the cabinet with a frame in his hands, he stopped and looked at him in a way that would have made any other kid feel like a criminal. But Pip smiled at him.
"Hi, Izzy! How was your day?"
"Ah. It's you again...Don't you have to go to school?" Isadore left his shoulder bag on one armchair and continued to gaze at Pip with a frown.
"Hehe! It's summer! I don't have to go to school!"
"Hm. Yeah, that's right...And...my grandma?"
"She's in her bedroom. She's changing her clothes. I'm taking her to the park. I thought we could go out and get some fresh air before it rains."
"Izzy? Is that you?" Her voice was heard.
"Yes, I'm home." Isadore replied.
"Do you want to come with us, love?"
"Yes, please, come with us!" Pip nodded enthusiastically.
"Uhm, sorry, but I'm tired and I haven't eaten yet."
"We could go to Maltese's, get some ice-creams..."
"No, thanks." Isadore was so cutting that Pip's smile faded a bit and he almost returned to his usually shy self.
"Well, okay. Maybe next time."
Mrs. Hart came to their encounter, now fully dressed with a robe which had an ugly but funny flower pattern.
"Hello, Izzy, dear." She kissed Isadore—he had to bend down a little so that she could reach his cheek. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"
"No, I'm sure. Have fun and be careful."
"We'll be. I am in very good hands." Mrs. Hart smiled charmingly at Pip and he recovered that angel-like grin which would have made any woman's heart melt.
"I'll take care of her, I promise." Pip held Mrs. Hart's arm and they walked out the door together.
"I left you spaghetti inside the microwave. Bye! I love you!" She turned to the little boy and pointed at his Beans & Buddy T-shirt. "How lovely!Where did you get that?"
The door closed but Isadore didn't move from where he was immediately. When he did, moments later, he walked to the window and took a look outside. He saw the child and the old woman walking by the hand, slowly because Mrs. Hart's legs didn't allow her to go faster. Talking, laughing. Isadore remained there, watching them, until they were out of sight. Then, he walked to the kitchen and heated up the food in the microwave, wondering how this was possible, when.
He knew that his grandmother had found someone to talk to in the mornings, while he was working. He didn't worry about it; it was nice that she had friends. But he expected her friends to be old ladies like her. Not a child. Not...the neighbors' kid. Not him.
Day after day, he found him around her. Watching television with her, sitting at the porch, talking...What did they talk so much about? What could they have in common? No idea, but they talked and laughed a lot. He didn't remember his grandma acting that way around him.
It was nothing bad, wasn't it?
Well...For him, it was. It got him off his nerves, to see him around her. He wanted to hiss at him and take her away from him as far away as possible.
Why? Hm. He couldn't really tell. He simply didn't like him and that was enough reason.
He tried to put up with it, thinking that his grandma was in her right to choose the friends she wanted. But soon, he decided he couldn't allow it.
He wouldn't allow it.
The boy lived right in front of them. The Murphies had a garden filled with beautiful, aromatic flowers and even the bricks of the house were spotless. When Isadore got there he saw a blonde woman in a blue dress taking care of the lawn, Mrs. Murphy, Pip's mother. A very good-looking woman, still very young, from whom Pip had inherited his big blue eyes. She didn't notice Isadore, and he soon walked out of her sight to light a cigarette and wait. And he had to wait for a good while to hear another voice say:
"Bye, mom!"
"Goodbye, Pip, dear! Be careful!"
"Sure!"
The cigarette was almost consumed; Isadore gave it a last drag before tossing it, exhaling the smoke and going to meet the little boy with the delicacy of a rugby player. Pip stopped abruptly but he recovered his good disposition almost immediately.
"Morning, Izzy! What's up? How's your grandma?"
"I wanted to have a word with you precisely about that."
Isadore got closer, so awkwardly close that Pip drew back and his smile disappeared.
"I don't know what you want from her. Her money, accumulate good karma, people praising you for being a good boy who takes care of the elders, a badge. Whatever. I don't care. But stay away from her. I am warning you, you'd better not make me say it again. I don't want to see you in my house or talking to my granny ever again. Ever, you heard me?"
And before someone saw them or Pip had the chance to say a thing, he dashed away. The little boy stood there very still, very rigid, looking into the direction Isadore had disappeared.
What was that about?
Isadore himself couldn't have answered to that question. But it felt like the right thing to do.
The doorbell rang so insistently that Mrs. Reese got very nervous, thought this could only mean that a big fire was consuming the neighborhood or a hurricane was coming. Kath was quick to open before she had a cardiac arrest. She was a bit annoyed to find that it was just Sheldon.
"Why are you burning my...?" She began to ask when he walked in without asking for permission.
"Yeah, about the madman who got into my house the other day, do you know what I found out today?" Sheldon said. "You heard about the explosion, right?"
"Pfft, of course! People talk about nothing else!"
"Well, that guy was inside the car that exploded." Sheldon replied.
Kath looked at him eyes wide open.
"You're thinking what I'm thinking, right?" Sheldon asked. "Too much of a coincidence, ain't it? I've seen enough pictures to know it's quite suspicious that the guy who says something is happening in this town is suddenly blown into smithereens...Don't you think?"
"Honestly, I don't know what to think..." Kath crossed her arms.
"He claimed we had already met, but forgot it..." Sheldon walked around the room, his arms behind his back. "He said something about people controlling our minds, living in a fake universe...Martians? I don't know..."
He stopped walking around and looked at Kath.
"That guy lived in the woods, right? I think I've heard he had a hut he made himself..."
"To look at the stars, yes." Frowning, she placed her hands on her hips. "What are you thinking about? I know you, Sheldon, and I know you're planning something..."
"I'm thinking he knew something someone wants that he takes to his grave. There must be something in his place..."
"I'm not sure if it's a good idea, Sheldon."
"Yeah, if there's someone behind this, I'm gonna get involved..."
"No, I mean, it's highly probable that it's just a coincidence."
"What if it's not? Ever since I heard he blew up, I've been so nervous I cleaned my house five times in one morning, my heart's pounding, my head aches. Why every time I think about it I get like this? Let's just say I'm...open to hear what he was talking about."
Kath sighed.
"So you're going into the woods to sneak into the house of a dead maniac...I suppose nothing I can tell you can make you change your mind..."
"Just take a look, find rubbish so big I'll finally be convinced he was just a madman and will be at peace with mediocrity again, then go home. You don't need to go with me, I can manage perfectly on my own."
"You can't...Just let me prepare everything necessary so my mom's alright while I'm out of the house. I don't mind taking care of you too."
"Will you?" Sheldon raised his eyebrows. "Thanks, pal."
"I guess it's my duty to take care of you. I need to be there to convince you till the last minute. And you are right about one thing: what happened to you the other day was the most exciting thing ever happening in this neighborhood. I can't miss this."