The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (28 page)

Susan breathed a little faster as she continued. “I got to my feet and ran. I ran right out the front door. I didn't know where the hell I was going, but I just knew I had to get out of there. I ran all the way to the quarry on the other side of town and hid there. I spent the night under a bridge. It was cold, too. I didn't have shit. No coat. No wallet. No money. Nothing.” She paused again before turning to face Kathryn. “The next day I made my way to I-90 and hitched a ride with a couple of college kids to Boston. In exchange, I only had to give a couple of blow jobs.” Susan joked bitterly. “It was cheaper than a bus ticket.”

Kathryn was completely enthralled. “What happened when you got to Boston?”

Susan shrugged. “I hung out on the streets for a while. I was looking for others like me, but I never found any. Most people were drug addicts, prostitutes, or both. I stayed there for a couple of months and then decided that I needed to go somewhere bigger. Somewhere where I had a better chance of finding other deviants, so I headed to New York.”

“New York was better?”

“Yeah. Better. I got lucky. I wondered around for a few weeks at first, but if there were any deviants around, I couldn't find them. Then one day, I was in a bodega trying to come up with a good trick that would part the cashier from some of the money in the cash register. I'm in the back waiting for the store to empty out a bit when these two guys come in. One goes up to the cashier while a customer is getting rung up and starts an argument with the guy behind the counter. As they’re yelling at each other, I see the customer's wallet fly out of his pants pocket and into the hands of the second guy who’s standing behind him. He turns around and walks out slowly. A few minutes later, the first guys ends the argument and storms out.” Susan laughed in recollection. “I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. I ran out of the store and followed them down the street and into the subway station. I got on the same car with them, and the whole time we're riding, I'm trying to think of what I'm going to say. I had been searching for months for other deviants, and now that I found some, I didn't know what to do! Anyway, the train stops, we go up to the street, and I follow them around the corner to some abandoned buildings. They were about to go inside when I got bold and finally called out to them.”

“What did you say?”

“I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something like, 'I saw that little trick you did at the bodega.' I do remember one of them saying, 'Oh yeah, what do you think you saw?' I told him that I saw the wallet fly out of the guy's pocket and that I was a deviant just like they were.” Susan smiled. “And that was it. I found them. Little P and Bumpy were my first friends in New York. They introduced me to the underground deviant scene, and I eventually met Charge who introduced me to Jonathan, and the rest is history.”

Susan gestured for Kathryn to pass her another cigarette. She did and also lit one for herself. After a few moments of silence, Susan said, “That's a hell of a long answer to your question about my tattoo, huh?”

Kathryn smiled and nudged her shoulder affectionately. “Thanks.” Kathryn again admired Susan's tattoo and thought back to the first time she had traced the outline of Charge's lightning bolt with her finger. “I want one.”

Susan raised her eyebrows. “Want one what?”

“A tattoo. I want one.” She took a deep drag and exhaled loudly. “One that means me.”

Susan smiled. “That's a great idea. And you need a nickname.”

“A nickname? Why? You don't have one.”

“Yes, I do.”

“What are you talking about? Is 'Susan' a nickname for something longer? Susanetta? Susanisha?”

Susan laughed. “No. But it's not the name I was born with.”

“What? What's your real name?”

“Susan
is
my real name,” she said somewhat defensively. “It's just not the name I was born with.”

Kathryn nodded, understanding. “What name were you born with?”

Susan made a face. “Penelope.”

“Really? Get the hell outta here. What's wrong with Penelope?”

“Oh, god, what
isn't
wrong with 'Penelope.'“ Susan groaned. “To make it worse, my family called me Penny. Fucking Penny! Way to make a girl feel worthless,” she mumbled.

“So how did you choose 'Susan?'“

Susan's eyes briefly took on their faraway look again. “I had an imaginary friend named Susan. I invented her when I was five. It was right after my grandmother died, I think. Anyway, she was pretty and smart and lived in a big house with parents who loved her. She would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and we would eat them at her house at a big table in her kitchen. Her mom would pour us glasses of fresh milk, and when we were done eating, we would go into her room and play with her dolls. Our favorite thing to do was to have a tea party with them.”

Susan exhaled. “When I ran away to Boston, I left that life behind. I knew that if I wanted a new one then I needed a new name. So I choose Susan because she was always special to me. And I've been Susan ever since.”

Kathryn smiled warmly. “That's great. Susan is the perfect name for you.” She lay back and contemplated the ceiling for a moment. “I'll have to come up with something that's right for me.”

Suddenly, the door of the bedroom crashed open. Jonathan stood there, his eyes wide. The expression on his face made Kathryn forget the fact that they were laying there naked in front of him. “What is it?” she asked breathlessly.

“Charge is missing.”

Chapter Twenty Eight

In five minutes, they were dressed and in Jonathan's study. Kathryn's stomach was in knots, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Being hungover didn't help the situation any.

“What happened?” she squeaked, barely getting the words out.

“Well,” there was worry in Jonathan's eyes, “Charge had been checking in with me every day, but he stopped calling a few days ago. At first, I didn't worry, thinking that he had been busy. In our last communication, he had told me that he had an appointment to meet up with an old friend by the name of Arsenal. After not hearing from him again, I decided to make a few phone calls, but no one has seen him for several days. I’ve received confirmation that he was planning to meet Arsenal at a diner on Saturday night around 11:30, but no one has seen him since Saturday afternoon, and in fact, no one is sure if that meeting actually took place.”

“But where is he?” Hysteria threatened to take over Kathryn’s body. “He has to be somewhere!”

“I don't know, but I’ve called someone who might help us to find him.” Tires crunched on the gravel outside. She glanced out of the window and saw an LAPD car pull up in front of the cabin. “Ah, perfect timing,” Jonathan said as he walked out of the office and into the living room. Kathryn looked at Susan. Her slightly bloodshot eyes were wide and her lips were pinched together tightly. She looked like she was on the brink of tears. Kathryn followed Jonathan. He opened the front door and two police officers entered. One was a tall, slightly balding white man. He ample gut stressed the button holes of his light blue shirt. He was hitching at his belt as he walked through the door, his gun knocking quietly against his hip as he did so. His partner was Latina. Her dark hair was swept off her face and secured at the base of her neck in a sloppy bun. Her uniform fit her better, and it was clear that despite her small stature, she was strong. She moved with an air of authority that communicated she was not to be messed with.

“Don, Pia, please come in.” Jonathan greeted them both warmly.

“Hey, Susan.” Pia gave Susan a quick hug, and Susan gave Don a peck on the cheek.

Jonathan gestured over to Kathryn. “This is Kathryn.”

Pia smiled. “Nice to finally meet you. I feel like I know you already.” She hugged Kathryn.

Don gave her a hug as well. “Welcome to the family.”

Kathryn noted to herself that she needed some clarification on this situation, but she was too worried about Charge to think of anything else. “Hi,” was all that she could say.

“Come into the study. I was just getting ready to take out the map.” Jonathan entered the room and went over to one of the bookcases. He pulled out a large map of the United States, unfolded it, and set it on the desk.

“You say the last you heard from him was in New York?” Pia asked as she sat down in the chair.

“Yes, he was somewhere in Manhattan.”

“Hmm . . .” Pia scanned the map. “I might need something more focused then. Do you have a map of the city itself, preferably with all five boroughs?”

“You know, I think that I do. I believe that I have a road atlas somewhere.” He returned the massive shelves.

“While you’re looking for it, I'll check the rest of the US just to make sure.” Pia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She then took her hand and, beginning with the west coast, slowly moved it over the map, making sure that she covered both the north and south points as she continued east. Her face remained calm, and Kathryn had no way of knowing what information she was sensing. After a few minutes, Pia reached the east coast. Her hand lingered over the New York metro area before travelling slowly up and down the coast. She finally reached Florida, and her eyes flew open. “Nothing.” She looked up at Jonathan hopefully. “Did you find another map?”

“Yes, here.” Jonathan had a large road atlas in his hand. He opened the page to the New York City metro area and placed it down in front of her.

“Okay, this is better. Thanks.” She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. This time, she moved her hand even more slowly over the map, occasionally pausing at certain spots and backing up and returning to other areas. The room was silent while Pia worked, except for the steady sound of everyone's breathing. Don's was the loudest—raspy and a bit beleaguered. The air in the room was thick with anticipation. Finally, Pia slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and shook her head sadly. “Nothing.”

“What do you mean, nothing? What are you looking for?”

Pia's gaze steadied on Kathryn's. “I'm feeling for Charge's energy. His ability. And I couldn't find it. It's just not there.”

“Well why the hell not?” Her face flushed hot. She didn't know if she was going to cry or scream. “If you can't feel it, then what does that mean?”

“It means one of two things. Either his energy is being blocked by someone or something, or . . .” She let the rest of the unspoken sentence hang in the air.

The silence cut through to Kathryn's heart. “Or what? He's dead?” Pia's face indicated that “yes” was the answer to that question. Kathryn shook her head violently. “No. He is not dead. His energy is being blocked. Or . . .” She searched desperately for other possibilities. “Or maybe he's not in New York at all. Maybe he's somewhere else. Check someplace else!” Kathryn's head pounded. She felt hot, sick to her stomach, and sweaty. She shifted from side to side not knowing what to do with herself or what to say. Susan slipped her arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“We'll find him,” she whispered. “Wherever he is, we'll find him.”

Kathryn simply nodded.

“Let's check other cities on the east coast.” Pia calmly and patiently turned the pages of the atlas and began with other cities. She started in Boston and then moved on to the entire state of Massachusetts. When she was done, she shook her head “no” and moved on to Rhode Island and Connecticut. She then scanned New York state, and travelled down to Pennsylvania, being sure to scan both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia thoroughly. She again shook her head and turned the page to New Jersey. A scan of that state yielded nothing, and she moved on to Delaware. Again, nothing. With each state, Kathryn felt her heart sink lower and lower.
Charge
can't be dead. He can't be.
After Pia finished with Baltimore, a hard lump formed in her throat. She tried to push it away by swallowing, but it wouldn't budge. Hot tears tried to form in her eyes, but she angrily blinked them away.

Pia then moved down to DC. As her hand hovered over the map, Kathryn thought back to the first time she saw Charge using his gift on her. He had also held his hand like Pia was doing—a few inches above her body. Kathryn remembered the blue current jumping back and forth between the two of them with its erotic warmth. The tears in her eyes threatened to fall. She swallowed hard around the still remaining lump and quickly brushed them away.

“Hmm . . .” Pia frowned.

The room was silent. Everyone looked at her for further clarification. “What is it?” Jonathan finally asked.

Pia looked puzzled. “I don't know.” Her hand stayed hovering around the same spot. “Here.” She brought her finger down to a particular spot on the map. “I don't think it's Charge, but . . .” She frowned. Again, everyone waited. She finally continued. “It's something weird. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely something weird. I'm sorry. That's all I got.”

Jonathan hastened to Pia's side of the desk. “Where is it exactly?”

Pia's finger was still on the map. “Right here.”

Jonathan took note of the exact coordinates and opened up his laptop. Kathryn, Susan, and Don all squeezed around him as he went to an internet map and typed in the position. The first image that came up showed an aerial view. Jonathan zoomed in closer. There was nothing on the screen. It simply showed an empty field with a few trees and bushes scattered about.