Open Your Eyes (3 page)

Routine.

Another
morning. Seth again wakes, powers on the computer. Reads the news, checks his
social media sites. Laughs at cat pictures.

He
clicks on a link for a trailer for an upcoming superhero movie. Watches an
impossibly handsome, highly trained man leap around, punching bad guys in the
face and delivering quippy one liners. He smiles, knowing what he knows now.

He
switches to another tab. A streaming porn site. Hitting play, Seth loosens his
pants and slips his hand in the crotch. Making himself comfortable, he closes
his eyes...

“Let’s
get comfortable.” said the man with the many tattoos to the buxom young woman clad
in only her underwear as they sit in the back of the van. “How ‘bout we finally
set these things free?”

“Sure
babe...” She freezes. “Who the fuck is that guy?”

They
turn to find Seth, somehow in the van with them, caught red handed still with
his hands down his pants. “Where the hell did you come from?” shouts the
cameraman as Seth tries to explain himself.

He
can’t.

“Oh
shit.” he stammers. People start screaming.

“What
the fuck man!” shouts the cameraman again. “Get out get out get out!”

He
blinks. Seth finds himself back in his room. He takes his hand out of his
pants. Scrubbing to the start of the video, he notes the date it was shot.

More
than three months ago. In Florida.

“Did
I just... travel back in time?” A chill runs up his spine. “Fuck. Fuck fuck
fuck
FUCK!
”

The
gravity of it all makes his head spin, his heart race. A full on panic attack. Freaking
out and bursting with anxiety, Seth quickly leaves his room.

“Hey,
where you going?” asks Emma as he runs past her. “I heard swearing again.”

Seth
doesn’t answer as he bolts out the back door.

The
relative openness of the backyard not doing much good, Seth doggedly marches
out the front gate. Away from house. Away from what happened. He needs to
escape.

He
breaks out into a run. Run to anywhere.

“Okay,
keep it under control.” he mutters to himself. “No more of any of that crazy stuff...
no time travel, no going on sudden overseas trips, no jumping into the back of fuck
vans. Just keep it under control... under control...”

Reaching
the nearby park, he finally slows down short of the children’s playground, the
wide open space prompting him to calm down just a bit. He takes several deep
breaths. Use your diaphragm, not your chest as he’s been taught. That’s it...

Seth
calms down even further, and soon enough relaxes. Anxiety sated.

A
flock of birds fly overhead. Ravens, black against the blue sky. Seth looks up
to them. His eyes follow one as it breaks away from the rest of the flock and
forges its own path to the roof of an apartment block overlooking the open
space.

Curious,
he follows it up there with a blink of an eye.

Alone
on that rooftop, Seth cautiously peers over the edge. He looks out over the
park and the place on the lawn he once stood just seconds before. The raven
appears again, rejoining the flock as they fly off together, this time below his
vantage point.

Looking
into the distance, Seth spies an even taller building than the one he’s on.
Again he closes his eyes, and blinks.

Seth
spends time moving from building to even taller building, moving up flights of floors
and across tens of kilometres towards the centre of Port City. Eventually he ends
up atop the city’s tallest skyscraper, where he takes a few minutes to just
look out over the metropolis below.

A
living city. All those people, just going on their way. Only one person able to
see this.

“Wow.”

A
marvellous view in front of him, Seth finally accepts his powers.

“Hey,
where have you been?” asks Emma as Seth returns from his sojourn.

“Out.”
he replies. “Just out.” She doesn’t believe him.

“Yeah,
sure. Out, just out.” she says. “And not using your fucking awesome super
powers or anything cool like that.”

“Yeah,
that’s right. P.S. shut up.”

She
smirks. “No.”

Seth
shakes his head as he goes back to his room.

The
restroom he had to clean was at the end of the long, empty corridor. Seth
places the bucket at his feet, it heavy with chemical smelling water, as he
leans on his mop and stares down the hallway.

“Oh
look how far it is.” he says to himself in a highly patronising voice. “I guess
I would have to
walk
all the way down there, do I? Hmmm, I wonder if
there’s an even better solution?”

He
blinks. He laughs as he opens his eyes to find himself already down this end of
the corridor. Alas the bucket is still up there where he left it.

Leaning
on it again, Seth quickly realises he still has his mop clasped in his hand.
The light bulb going off in his head, it’s not slow for him to make the connection
that he could transport more than just himself with these powers of his...

The
water in the bucket sloshes about as he reappears again, carrying the
receptacle in his hand. Thinking of the possibilities, he smiles.

“Cool.”

He
blinks again, away from the corridor, to another part of the building.

He
spends his entire shift doing this.

Finally
deciding to do some real work, Seth places Hannah’s trash can back under her
desk. Glancing away from her laptop, she catches the grin that has been on the
cleaner’s face for the entire evening.

“You
seem to be in a good mood.” she tells him.

“Am
I?” he replies.

“Yeah.
There’s just this, I don’t know, like positive energy about you today. What’s
going on? Is it your birthday?”

He
laughs.

“Nah.
I’m just... I dunno. Happy, I guess.” He smiles. “So what are you working on?”
he asks her, catching sight of the article in progress on the laptop’s screen.

“Oh,
just some... stupid crap. Busywork.” she tells him.

“Oh,
it can’t be that bad. You get paid to write, I’d love if I could get paid to do
that.”

“It’s
not even writing.” she protests.”It’s a
listicle
. Like a list but...
ugh.”

“Yeah,
I’ve seen a fair few. I get you.”

“I
hate doing them so much!” She sighs. “The paper puts out so many of them now.
It’s just not very fulfilling.”

“I
can imagine.”

“You
know, I just wish that big story could come along, and land at my feet you
know? Just give me something interesting the write about, something that made
me not regret going to journalism school. I doubt that’d happen to me anytime
soon though...”

Seth
shrugs.

“Aw,
don’t say that. Who knows? Something big might come along when you least expect
it. Looks to me like you’re due for it.”

“Maybe.”
she tells him. A smile breaks out. “Thanks for the pick me up.”

He
smiles too.

“Any
time.”

Hannah
stayed later than usual tonight. Seth kept an eye on her, making sure she was
okay. Or at least that’s how he rationalised it.

It
was towards the end of his shift when she finally packed up. Seeing him
finishing up the newsroom, she waved him goodbye as she finally left.

“See
ya.” he said to her. She was already out the door.

Seth
puts away his vacuum, the cleaning trolley into its storage room. Shutting off
the lights as he makes a final sweep of the newsroom, he spies something left
behind on Hannah’s desk. It was her purse.

She
hadn’t been gone long. Taking it with him, he headed down towards the basement
car park to give it back to her. What he saw though, chilled him to his very
core.

“Hannah...”

The
man had her by the hair. He was screaming at her, about all the times she
didn’t acknowledge him, all the times she ignored him. He made his identity
obvious: he was the stalker that Hannah had tried to hide. He had finally made
his move.

The
reporter pleads for him to let her go. He answers by screaming at her in
return. He calls her names, the most horrible names. Grabbing her by the neck,
he slams Hannah face first into the side door of her own car. She slumps limply
to the floor, unconscious.

The
monster stands over his prey, relishing the chance to hurt her even more. A
force slams into him from the side, knocking him hand into the cold hard
concrete floor.

“Leave
her alone!” Seth screams as the stalker picks himself off the ground.

“Fuck
off.” he grumbles.

“I
said get the fuck out of here.” Seth repeats himself.

The
man draws a knife.

“And
I said, fuck off!”

He
lunges at Seth just as he teleports away. His momentum carrying him forward,
the man trips on his own feet as Seth stands over him.

“Fucking
get lost!” Seth shouts as the man spins and swipes the knife at him. Again Seth
blinks, and reappears behind him.

“Stop
moving!” the man yells as Seth continues to dance around him, disorientating
him and forcing him to move further and further away from Hannah. Stirring, she
only catches the barest sight of shadows and light in the distance. She soon blacks
out again.

Chasing
Seth, the man grows nauseous. He again trips on his own feet, drops the knife and
falls to his knees on the ground. As he holds back the urge to vomit, Seth
again appears from out of the void and kicks him right in the stomach. He spews
all over the concrete.

“You
cocksucker!” he screams. He vomits some more.

Again
the man slowly picks himself up from the ground. Struggling to his feet and
with bile still dripping from his mouth, he finds himself alone in the car park.

“Where
are you? Where the fuck are you!?” he shouts.

“Here.”

Seth
grabs him from behind. In a flash of blinding light, he brings himself and the
stalker to the middle of the desert, far from Port City and far, far away from
Hannah.

He
leaves him there.

“Hannah...”

She
was still out cold. Seth tries to wake her. No response.

He
takes out his phone. No signal.

Taking
her in his arms, he lifts her up. Briefly, he considers using his powers. No,
someone might see him. Instead, and still unsure what to do, he heads up the
stairs.

“Hold
on Hannah...”

Hold
on.

Seth
was back at work the next day. What happened to Hannah that night was still fresh
on his mind. He doubts he’ll ever forget it.

He
had brought her back up to the lobby, where security helped to look after her
before the paramedics came. He told the police officers how he found her like
this in the car park; even so they briefly held him as a suspect before she
regained consciousness and told them what really happened. What she thought had
happened. They found the knife too, but no assailant. They assumed he had fled.

Alas,
the security camera down there was not working at the time. Budget cuts say the
building’s management. Ultimately, no one will ever know what really happened
down in that car park, save for Seth and a guy stuck out in the middle of the
desert.

Seth
doubts he’ll be coming back anytime soon.

Still,
he regrets not getting there earlier. He could have stopped all of this from
happening, seeing Hannah roughed up like that. But that’s not what worries him
the most.

He
wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t been there at all.

As
usual Seth quietly emptied out her trash. Seth was surprised to see Hannah back
at work so soon, let alone working late as well.

“Thanks.”
she says to him as he put back the can under her desk. There is a distinct
feeling awkwardness in the air. She was still a little banged up; she tried to
hide her fading bruises with makeup. It didn’t work entirely.

“How
are you feeling Hannah?” Seth asks her.

“I’m
a...” She pauses. “I’m doing well.”

“That’s
good. That’s good to hear.”

“They
told me you found me.” she says to him.

“Yeah.
You had left your purse behind so I went down there and...”

He
doesn’t finish the sentence.

“I
don’t know how to thank you.” she tells him, her voice close to breaking.

“Well
I couldn’t not help you.” he replies, turning away.

Seth
begins to tie up the plastic garbage bag. As he does, Hannah reaches out to
him.

“Something
happened down there. I can’t explain it. Someone... something saved me.”

“What
do you mean? Do you know who?”

“No.
It’s all hazy, I don’t really remember anything... just, lights?”

“Lights?”

“I
don’t know. Flashing lights. That’s it. Did you see anything?”

Seth
shakes his head. “No. It might have been the paramedics.”

“It
might.”

“I’m
glad to see you back Hannah.”

“You
too.” She smiles.

Hannah
again reaches out to him.

“Hey
uh, can I ask you for a favour?”

“Yeah,
sure.” Seth replies.

“Could
you walk me to my car?”

He
smiles at her.

“Of
course.”

It
was a long weekend. Seth and Emma had left early, but not early enough to beat
the traffic on the causeway out of town. They were headed up north, out of Port
City.

It
was a few hours’ drive up the peninsular. Their parents had made their home in
the little seaside community for a few years now. It was better for them; the
air was cleaner, the hustle and bustle nonexistent. It was a nice place to
retire.

As
they get out of the car, their father was already out in front, watering the
front lawn. His smile grows bigger as his children come to great him.

“Hey
dad.” says his daughter, coming to him with open arms.

“Hey
honey.”

Emma
hugs him tightly. He looks to Seth. No hugging here.

“Hey
buddy. You feeling okay?”

Seth
nods. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks dad.”

“Your
mother’s inside. Hope you’re hungry!”

“Starving!”
shouts Emma.

The
whole family sits down to a traditional family Sunday dinner. Mother, father,
son and daughter; mashed potatoes and gravy and peas and roast beef on their
plates. Seth and Emma’s mother is the quiet one here, often letting her husband
do all the talking.

And
talking he does.

“So
how you like the dinner?” he asks his children. “Your mother worked all
afternoon on that roast.”

“It’s
great!” replies Seth. “As always.”

Emma
nods. “Yeah. As always.” Her mother smiles. Quietly proud.

“Thank
you.” she says, softly.

“Yeah,
very nice
mouth feel
.” says Seth, making a claw with his hand.

“Oh,
don’t say that!” protests Emma, grimacing. “Such a disgusting term. Mouth
feel
...”

“But
it’s great!”

“Oh
come on you two!” butts in their father. “In your twenties and you’re always
fighting at the table! Enough okay?”

“Yes
dad.” the siblings say in unison, a tad embarrassed by their own behaviour. For
while the conversation stops; only dad can get it going again.

“So,
how’s that boy Pete doing?” father asks daughter.

“He’s
good. He’s good dad.” Emma replies.

“And
he couldn’t come, why?”

“Guess
where he is!” butts in Seth.

“He’s
in Iran.” Emma interjects. “Back in Iran actually. Covering more soccer.”

“Isn’t
Iran... you know? I’ve seen Argo and it looks kind of crazy.”

“He
loves that movie.” quips their mother.

“No,
no, Iran’s perfectly safe.” Emma tells them. “He’s fine, we’ve been texting.”

“Oh
that’s good.” says her father. “Don’t want any harm to come to my future
son-in-law.”

“Dad!”

“He’s
a good boy.”

Emma
grins.

“Yeah,
he is.”

Seth’s
father turns to his son, busy cutting up a chunk of roast meat.

“So,
how are things love-wise working out for you buddy?”

Seth
sighs. “I don’t see how this is appropriate dinner table conversation dad.” he
replies bluntly.

“Come
on, I just want to know. Met anyone special yet?”

Seth
pauses. He puts down his knife and fork.

“No.
I’m just... fine. I’m single, but I’m fine. I’ll be ready when I’m ready dad.”

His
father pats him on the shoulder.

“And
that’s fine with me son. That’s fine with me.”

As
the sun slowly makes its way below the horizon, Seth digs his feet into the
soft sand by the water. He feels the tiny waves lap up to him. The endless,
darkening sky in front of him, his family’s beach house behind him, he stares
out over the ocean.

Yeah,
it’s a nice place they’ve found.

Emma
jogs up from behind him. He punches Seth in the arm.

“Hey,
great job leaving me to do the dishes!”

He
doesn’t react.

“I
used my powers.” he says to her. “To help someone.”

“You
what? Who?”

“This
friend at work. This man was stalking her... he attacked her. I pulled him
away, and teleported him far away from her, where he’ll never hurt her again.”

“You
teleported the guy? Where to?”

“I
don’t exactly know. Out of the city. The desert. I saved her life.”

Emma’s
left almost speechless.

“Wow.”
she says.

“It
might have been worse.” Seth continues. “I was so angry I could have sent him
into a volcano. Both me and him.”

“But
you didn’t. You used your powers and helped someone. Maybe this is a sign?”

“Of
what?”

“Of
what you’re meant to do with your life Seth. Be a hero. A super-fucking-her...”

He
shakes his head.

“No.
I don’t know.”

“Come
on, open your eyes Seth!”

“Open
my eyes? Did you get that off a movie poster?”

“Maybe
I did. But it’s still a great mantra, and it’s still one worth thinking about.
Don’t you want to help people Seth? Make the city, the world a better place? Because
you can. If I could do what you can do, I would.”

“Really?”

“Or
steal some Ferraris, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t let it go to waste. It’s a
gift, Seth.”

Seth
sighs.

“It’s
getting dark. We should be getting back to the house.”

“Yeah.
Should we walk or should we
bamf
there?”

“Oh
shut up.”

She
laughs. As the sun finally sets, they slowly make their way back up the sand.