Cursed #2

"Well, if it isn't Little Miss Freedom Fighter!"

"Not funny".

Another man enters the interview room. This man is younger but taller and wider than the normal interviewer.

"I'll take it from here..."

He presents a card. Which the cop keeping an eye on Sarah sees. Tuts and walks out. The man sits down. Sarah doesn't look at him. 

"You're 15".

"Nearly 16 I'll have you know. Which the boys at school will NOT let me forget. I hate the boys at my school. Nearly all of them have one thing on their mind. And I'm not prepared to give them that".

"And what would that be?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you? They're hormonal boys and I'm a girl. I'm sure you were that young once, right? You know what it's like".

"I'm only a few years older than you".

Sarah looks at him and laughs.

"Yeah. Right".

"I'm 23".

Sarah looks again.

"Serious?"

The man nods. Sarah chuckles in surprise.

"Bitch; you look at least 30".

"Yeah...experience does that to you".

Sarah looks away again.

"This is your 13th arrest in two years".

"Is that all? I'll have to up my game".

"You think this is funny?"

"Not always. Depends on what I've done".

"Why do you feel the need to do what you do? You know you might get arrested, so why do it?"

"I'm guessing you haven't read my file?"

The man shakes his head. Sarah nods and sits at the table normally for a moment.

"What can I say? I want to follow in Daddy's footsteps".

"Your father was a criminal?"

"That's an understatement".

"How would you describe him?"

"How about 'murdering psychopath that I wish would die'?"

The man thinks for a moment.

"Who did he kill?"

"Remember where you were on the 11th April 2009?"

"Yes. I was watching the news".

"No. You were watching my dad kill 4 Naturals and 2 Augs. He got a bee in his bonnet about them and decided to try and one up them. He managed to for a few but then the guy who can run real fast stopped him".

"You're not him though".

"No but I'm going to use the murderer's daughter defence anyway. Do you know what happened after my Dad killed those people?"

"What?"

"It broke my family. I'm the oldest of 3 and all of us didn't take it well at all. My youngest sibling, my brother, is currently in Southampton doing God knows what. He ran away from home aged 12. He could be dead for all we know. And my sister, well, she's just messed up generally. She agrees what my dad did was right".

"There were people to turn to".

"Were there? Well then where the fuck were they!?"

The man opens up a document. He reads a bit of it.

"You were put into therapy aged 9".

"Yup. I was there".

"You claimed you were hearing voices?"

"I was signed off on that".

"Why hear them in the first place?"

"I was hit by a car a couple of years before, died and came back to life. I'm sure you can appreciate how that might mess a person up mentally".

"So you don't hear them now?"

"Nope. Been voice free since aged 10".

The man closes the document.

"Why are you so guarded? You have quite the attitude problem. Why?"

"Screw you, I do not have an attitude!"

"And there's my point".

"Ok, look, I don't know you. I don't have to justify anything to you. But if it'll make you shut up and leave I'll give a whistle stop tour of my life. When I was 5, I was hit by a car, died and came back to life. No-one knows why and, frankly, I don't care why anymore. Age 7, I move schools because the kids start accusing me of not being able to bleed. They keep hitting me, scratching me to try and prove a point. So, because of that, I move schools. Age 9; I go into therapy because I start hearing voices and start having meltdowns. Also, age 9, my Dad goes on a murderous rampage shouting my name as he does it. This gets reported in the media and I get bullied at school once again and through into secondary school where the bullying gets more complex and interesting. Suddenly, it goes from name-calling to physical abuse because people want to know why the hell my Dad screamed my name as he ended the lives of 6 powered people who should've been able to take him down in a swipe of a hand. In between those points I've had to deal with my mum becoming an alcoholic, my brother going AWOL, my sister becoming an advocate for anti-Natural and anti-Aug awareness and continual invasions of privacy by the media and fans of my father. My life has not been "normal" since before my car accident. So, you want to know why I have an attitude problem? It's because my life is shit and there's nothing I can do to change it".

The man nods and accepts it. He thinks for a moment before asking his next question.

"If the chance to change it arose...would you take it?"

"Of course I would. But that's not going to happen is it".

The man nods.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you in your life. You've had to deal with more than any teenager should".

Sarah nods in acknowledgement.

"But I'm very glad that you're here..."

Sarah looks confused.

"You what?"

The man looks around to check no one can hear. He leans in to the table.

"Ok, listen carefully, I haven't got time to repeat this. You and I have met before. We met 4 years and 5 months ago after you saved a friend of mine from the dead".

Sarah thinks. She remembers.

"When I brought back Reaper...You were there?"

"My name is Joshua Peterson. And, Sarah, I need your help".

Sarah chuckles sarcastically.

"You might want to reconsider that. The last guy that asked me for help went missing for 4 years".

"Speedfreak. I know. That's why I'm here".

"Because of Jody?"

"He's back".

Sarah's interest is piqued.

"That can't be right...I heard he was dead..."

"He's very much alive".

Sarah looks shocked.

"Well, the bastard could've phoned me!"

"He's been undercover".

"For four years?"

"Yes".

"How do you know about this?"

"Because he told me. Four years ago, after Tamarind Bolt attempted to kill Reaper, Jody tracked him down to a location in the Yorkshire moors. There, he discovered a number of nefarious characters were meeting but he could never find out why. He had to go off the radar for as long as it took in order to find something even remotely concrete before coming back onto the scene".

"So why are you telling ME this?"

"Because he asked me to. He trusts you. A lot".

"Well, I'm glad".

"But there's another reason too..."

Sarah looks concerned.

"...What?"

"Your dad's involved".

Sarah's face sours.

"How?"

"According to Jody, he's a target of theirs".

"Good. Let him die".

"Sarah, his death could lead to thousands of others. Millions".

"How?"

Joshua sighs

"We have reason to believe that the group are trying to create a war between the Naturals, the Augs and everyone else. A huge global civil war".

Sarah looks terrified.

"Well, if that's the case, shouldn't you guys get on that? What use am I!?"

"You can't be killed. Plus, you have access to the land of the dead. You can get intelligence long before we can. Long before anyone else can! You are our ace in the hole. Plus, we're not entirely sure who's in this team of Bolt's. There could be someone of...supernatural...origin. That's more your bag isn't it?"

Sarah thinks.

"He couldn't ask me himself?"

"He's still trying to keep a low profile. He's back in Trillingham at the moment just sorting some things. Look, we don't know how long this is going to take. But I need to know if you'll be prepared to help us when we ask you to".

Sarah thinks again.

"I don't know..."

"Sarah...the world depends on it..."

Sarah looks scared.

"I've been in your world before...I didn't like it...I'm not sure I want to return..."

"None of us are happy about this. But we have these abilities. We have a responsibility to use them for the greater good...don't we?"

Sarah doesn't know what to think.

"I really don't know..."

Joshua sighs and nods.

"How about you think on it?"

Sarah accepts that.

"Can I offer you a lift home?"

Sarah nods.

****

Sarah and Joshua walk through the police station in order to leave. However, as they near the exit, they're stopped by another policeman.

"Where do you think you're going with her?"

Joshua looks at the policeman.

"There was no more reason to charge her so she's free to go. Everything seems to be in order".

"I can't let you go".

"Yes you can. I've cleared it with your boss not let us go".

"I can't let you go".

Joshua starts to get annoyed.

"You have no evidence to hold her. She's committed a minor crime and she's getting an official warning put on her record. We have no more reason to hold her. Now move out of the way or I will get your boss down here and get you fired".

"I can't let you go".

Sarah butts in.

"Yeah, we heard you the first time!"

"Why can't you let us go?"

"Us? I'm referring to her and her alone".

Joshua sighs.

"Fine. Why can't you let HER go?"

The policeman looks at Joshua with an almost deadpan face.

"Because she's important to the plan..."

"Plan? What plan?"

The policeman smiles before punching Joshua in the chest so hard he flies across the room and into the far wall. Sarah looks shocked. She jumps back where Frank is standing.

"Having a nice evening so far?"

Sarah looks at him angrily.

"AND WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?"

"Well, doesn't modern teaching dictate that we let the young people have their independence and let them push their own boundaries?"

"OH, SHUT UP, YOU USELESS MAN!"

"I'm not useless. I'm the most useful thing you've got in this room apart from Mr Peterson".

"OH, PLEASE, YOU FELL OUT OF A TRAIN THAT STOPPED ON A BRIDGE BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT IT WAS YOUR STOP!"

"It was the Blackout. You go through the blackout and tell me you don't make any mistakes in the dark".

"TRUST ME, I'VE MADE PLENTY OF MISTAKES IN THE DARK..."

"Duck".

"YOU WHAT?"

"Fist"

Sarah looks and notices a fist flying towards her. She ducks it.

"Upper cut".

Sarah does so. The policeman falls onto his back.

"Hmm. I've kind of missed this..."

"SHUT UP"

More policemen surround Sarah. She looks frightened.

"Ummm...excuse me?"

They all look over and see Joshua standing upright. He smiles slightly evilly.

"Didn't your parents tell you...when you do something bad...Karma will always find you?"

Joshua grows a number of feet so that he towers over the policemen. They all look confused. Sarah looks shocked.

"Cool..."

"Glad you think so, Miss Jones".

The policemen go to attack him but he makes shrift work of them. Policement end up flying everywhere. One lands near Sarah, who looks at her before falling unconscious. She notices that his eyes are flickering yellow...

"It can't be..."

The policemen return to try and take Joshua on again but to no avail. Joshua continues to fight his way through the policemen as Sarah runs over to the fallen policeman. She opens his eyelid and looks into it. She puts her hand over his eyes and closes her own. Suddenly, reality warps and changes. It's all colourful around her but she's used to this. She looks ahead and sees the room as it was before. Calm with the policemen being normal. Suddenly; the peace is shattered by someone entering the room. A figure in a long leather black coat, with a hood so that their face is obscured, runs at the policemen and attacks them. After each policeman is secured, the figure injects them with something so that the policemen become instantly docile. The more policeman come to counteract the attack, the more fall under the spell of the figure.

Eventually; all the policemen are under this figure's spell. The figure appears to talk to each of them but Sarah can't hear anything. She can only see, not hear, in these circumstances. The figure seems to talk for some time before they dissipate and go back to what they were doing before. The figure then turns around and appears to stare at Sarah for a moment. Yellow eyes appear from under the hood and Sarah suddenly feels cold. Her emotions harden and she feels a mixture of anger and fear.

She returns to the room in real time to find that Joshua has put the policemen to sleep. He's shrinking back down to his regular size as he walks over to Sarah who's still staring into space.

"Miss Jones?"

Sarah looks at him.

"These policemen...they're not dead are they?"

"No. I promise".

"Good. Because you wouldn't have killed them if you did..."

As she finishes this, a number of small explosions can be heard. Sarah and Joshua jump back as they see the chests of all the policemen in the room explode. Blood and skin fly across the room as each policeman goes one by one. Sarah doesn't look as shocked as Joshua who really isn't sure what's happening.

"Ok. Spoke to soon..."

"There's no way I did that..."

"I know..."

Joshua gets up and runs out of the room. Sarah gets up slowly and looks at them all again.

"I'm so sorry,,,"

****

Sarah walks out of the building to find Joshua vomiting next to the door.

"Pleasant".

He stops.

"I've seen many things...never anything as weird as that".

"And you fight alongside Reaper and Silver Spectre?"

"What the hell happened in there?"

"They were possessed".

Joshua stops.

"Possessed?"

"Yes. Possessed".

"By who? Or what?"

"Nothing supernatural. This was chemical".

"Chemical?"

"Yes. And I know exactly who's behind it".

"Who?"

"You have Speedfreak on speed-dial?"

"Yes?"

Sarah sighs. Holds out her hand. Joshua proceeds to give her his phone. She finds a number and dials it. After a few moments, someone answers. We only hear Sarah's side.

"Ok. Here's the deal. You've been gone for four years and left me in the lurch. But that's fine. You're not the first, doubt you'll be the last. Either way you owe me big time. So get your lard-arse over here pronto. Doctor Eureka's back..."

She turns around and he's there. Speedfreak. They both hang up.

"Hello, Sarah..."

Sarah looks at him expressionless.

"So...Doctor Eureka, huh?"