Earth Man (31 page)

Danny was so tired he could not stand on his own; the po
wer was keeping him floating off the ground like a stage magician. He reached out and grabbed the creature with his glowing white hands. The monster’s skin burned immediately and it let out a howl with what remained of its human voice. It tried to squirm out of his grasp, shifting its shape to escape but Danny held on tight. Pieces of his leather clothing began to burn to ash and float off of him, drifting away from him like a flurry of soft snow.

A sonic boom of sound and force blasted out of Danny and hi
t the oncoming men like a wave. The police froze when they saw Danny fall, the monster on top of him. Phil ducked when he heard the boom and the wave passed over his head. He was still a long way from Danny, but the wave knocked the cops and security officers down, giving Phil a chance to get a head start. The sound of Danny’s screams echoed through the park and chilled Phil to the bone but he kept moving. The police officers scrambled to their feet, they had no idea what was happening in the Zoo and they pulled their weapons for protection. No one believed what they were seeing, but the black monster was real. It had a man in its clutches and everyone who saw it knew they had to help. No man should die so horribly, it was a natural instinct for all of them to want to save Danny. Not just Phil who was his friend, but every person with a soul of a sliver of empathy. One of the officers fired at the Growth and Phil stopped, but just a moment. The creature was either unharmed or the cop had missed, but Phil knew he had to keep going. He was almost there, he could help Danny, he was sure of it. Phil heard the three security guards swear as Danny suddenly pushed the creature off him. They watched him rise from the ground, all of them suddenly filled with hope. They all knew the monster had to die. Then Danny burst into red fire and Phil stumbled, his eyes filling with tears.

A burst of red light shot out in all directions from Danny
’s body. Then the red light burst out of the Second’s body, shooting through it like a deadly vein. The alien began to burn like charcoal. Black burnt chunks of its body fell to the ground. Pockets of air and blood inside it popped and sizzled. Danny held onto the monster tight even though he was losing all feeling in his arms. Everything was numb and he just wanted to close his eyes but he had to see it through, he had to make sure the monster was stopped. He was hotter than he ever imagined he could be and he felt feverish and sick. The light coming off of them both was blinding. The Second was screaming right up until the moment it exploded into a cascade of sparking ashes.

Danny fell back unto his side. He glowed so bright that no one had noticed his hair had burned off and his finger nails were melting. The ground beneath
him was scorched black and tiny fires burst into life around him. The energy continued to flow up into him, washing over him in waves. He spotted Phil running toward him and he reached for his friend, but the police caught Phil and tackled him. Danny watched the police take down his best friend and he could only shake his head. His vision was almost completely gone, all he could see was red and the edges of his vision was quickly fading to black. He held himself propped up with one arm, trying to lift himself up. A loud, deep groan forced itself up from his empty stomach. The police and security could only stand and watch in shock, unsure how they could help a stranger without realizing they were holding the only person who could have helped him. The two cops held Phil down, Danny could see his friend shouting, his face twisted up but he could not hear the words. There was no way for Danny to stop the energy pouring through him, the dam had broken and he was too weak to stop it. The numbness overwhelmed him and the universe seemed to spin around him as he pleaded with the universe, his arms raised to the sky. Even though the sun was out Danny was sure for a moment that he saw the stars, far off and distant. He realized that he’d won the fight, the Earth was safe, but he was not going to survive.

“
No. Not now.”

“
Please. So hot.”

             
The energy shot though him and straight up into the sky above. Frantically he looked for water, even as his body began to disintegrate from the center. He was burning like a red star and the energy was consuming him. Danny could no longer think straight all he heard was the sound of blood rushing in his head, a sound like the ocean. Stars and oceans, those were good thoughts to die with. All the pain had faded away; he could no longer feel anything. Everything was numb and moving far away from him, the whole world seemed to be pulling away as he desperately tried to grab on.

I AM THE EARTH MAN. I DON
’T WANT TO LEAVE.

             
Danny Boyle exploded in a flash of red and all that he had been evaporated. The blast shook the ground and the spot where he’d stood was incinerated in a two foot circular radius. Everyone around froze in surprise, unable to comprehend what they’d witnessed. Even the police were struck dumb, but they held on to Phil as he struggled to get to his friend, even though it was too late.

Phil kicked and fought the police officers and the
y were forced to take him away as he screamed out Danny’s name.

As Danny
’s body transformed into pure energy, the things in the universe unknown and unseen continued to orbit the small blue planet known as Earth. Helen knew the minute her phone rang that Danny was gone but she knew she had to pick it up. It was Phil calling from the police station and as he tried to explain what he’d seen Helen barely heard any of it. Everything seemed to squeeze in on her and the gaudy Christmas decorations around her suddenly seemed menacing and grotesque. She let the phone slip from her hand, dropping the bags she carried in the other.

“
Mommy?”

The kid
s were there with her but they seemed too far away. They could sense something terrible had happened but they did not want to accept it, not without their mother’s confirmation.

Helen let the phone slip from her hand. It
broke, the ear piece popping off and the battery falling out as it hit the floor. Raymond and Morgan were frightened and they embraced her.

It was Morgan that kept saying
‘Mommy’, but Helen could not speak. Raymond realized she was not able to help them and he pulled his little sister away as his mother tried to catch her breath. When she finally found her voice only a scream came out and the children began to cry.

Danny was dead, he was gone.

Raymond and Morgan watched their mother collapse on the floor, her scream turning into a primal roar of rage. Something amazing had happened to them, some new piece of the universe had opened a door for them, showing them something extraordinary before slamming the door shut on them. What had started as a strange mystery had turned into a twisted tragedy and Helen could not contain her despair and anger. A door had opened into the universe and that door had slammed shut on Danny’s life.

He was the only man she had ever loved and she knew she would never be the same. The horrific feeling inside her s
queezed her gut into knots and she vomited in the kitchen sink. Throwing up cleared her head and she called the children over to her. Although she was still panting, she managed to calm herself and wipe the tears off the face of her precious children. They still needed her; they would need her to be strong. The children helped her to the living room and she told them their father was gone. Helen watched Ray’s face, so much like his father, as it turned red with anger. Morgan could not understand and she could only cry with her mother. Eventually Ray’s rage broke and he too began to cry, hugging his mother and little sister tight. The Christmas gifts they’d bought lay discarded in the open doorway, all the joy of the holidays sapped from their very soul.

             
The funeral was held at Kelowna Township Cemetery. Helen spent a fortune on the massive cross monument and expensive coffin, even though there was no body to bury. She hadn’t known what to tell her friends and family but Phil had stepped up and took care of most of the inquiries. Everyone could see how devastated the family was and few asked any questions.

The death of their father had already changed the face of his children.
It was them who would feel the questions and accusations of their neighbors. People had heard about an incident at the San Diego Zoo and there were others who’d died there that day. Danny was just another name on the list. There were many people wondering what had happened there that day, but few knew the truth. Everything to do with the Growth was covered up, not in the sense that anyone lied, no one even asked any questions about what had happened. It was all too logical, too fantastic a story, too far beyond the range of normal human experience. The aliens had come and drawn first blood, but no one was ready to accept that, not yet.

             
As they lowered the empty casket into the ground a light flurry of snow began to fall. Helen stayed strong throughout the funeral service but the tragedy clearly took a toll on her. The news had followed the stories from the Zoo for a few days after Danny’s death and it had torn her apart. No one said anything, no one knew anything. Their family could only mourn alone, their father’s sacrifice unknown to the world he’d saved. Helen leaned on Phil when the service was over and he helped her into a limo he’d paid for.

After
he watched those who knew and loved Danny leave, Phil spent a few minutes alone in the cemetery. There was so much on his mind that he didn’t let any of it in, he simply stared out at the white sky. He avoided Danny’s grave, wherever his friend might be it was not in that box. It was New Year’s Eve and he’d just buried his best friend. There was no holiday joy for him, or for Danny’s family. Phil knew the truth, the whole story; he’d met with Dr. Glass in prison on Boxing Day. There were monsters in the world; things from space that no one knew were there. Phil knew what had happened and he swore that he would not be caught unprepared again. There was no doubt in Phil’s mind that it was not over. Phil had no idea he was being watched by a man with a familiar face hiding nearby.

The strange
man tracked Phil quietly, peeking out from behind a large oak tree. Something about the large black man in the suit seemed familiar to the stranger.  The man was naked but impervious to the weather and he prowled from cover to cover, hiding behind even the smallest grave stones. The sky was bright white as the sun shined through the snow and it frightened him. He wanted away from the open spaces but his curiosity won out over his fear. The man was in need of a shave and a haircut, but his skin was as soft and pink as a newborn baby. All his body was fresh and new, all except one arm. The arm was older, much older and there was a mysterious scar running along the inside of his right thumb and pointer finger. He held both arms up and looked at them. While they were mirror images of each other, there was obviously an age difference the arm and the blonde-haired, blue-eyed man it belonged to.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Dedicated to the elephants that danced in the rain for my two boys, Kaidyn and Graesyn.

- R.E.             

This book was brought to you by the music of Murray Gold, Rick Ross and Lana Del Rey.

Special thanks to
Dave Wood and Carmine Infantino for their original inspiration.

Copyright ©
2013, Raven Entertainment Studio, All Rights Reserved

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