Twilight on Jasper Ch. 2

“Don’t worry about it.” Bryon turns his back while I dress, gauging the water damage to the entire living room floor. I didn’t even want to know what shape the tiles in the bathroom were in after being watered like a rose garden all night. “We’ll go out and have breakfast. Maybe it’ll dry.”

“Maybe I’ll get evicted and sued.” I sigh, throwing on a sweater and carrying my socks and shoes to the doorway.

“You’re so negative. Cheer up, you still have me.” He smiles, putting an arm around me as we slide out the door, putting on our socks and shoes outside. I let him borrow a pair of mine, since his socks are drenched. We’re halfway up the staircase when two men in suits and trench coats come marching up to the top of the stairs.

“Jason Allan Montgomery?” The taller one grunts loudly.

Bryon and I glance at each other. “Yeah, that’s me. What’s up?”

“I’m Detective Michael Bennett, this is Detective Nathan Morris. Can we have a word with you please?” They flip their badges at us a little too quickly.

“Let me see those.” Bryon trots up the stairs.

“What is this about?” I trot up after him.

“Why don’t we just take a little walk?” The shorter one, Nathan Morris grips me by shoulder. This whole thing is making me nervous. “Mr. Montgomery, where were you last night at about 12:30 am?”

“I was with my friend, Bryon.” I halfway motion to Bryon, squinting at the cop with contempt. The cops glance at each other, their eyebrows raised. “Why, what happened?”

“Someone assaulted a few people a couple of blocks from here and we came to see if you knew anything about that.”

“Why would I know anything about that? Because it was in my neighborhood?”

“No, because he was dressed as that character of yours, Lazarus.” __

“Look, I already told you! I fell asleep in the bathtub! Bryon fell asleep on my futon! We were dead tired after the book signing!” I slam my fists on the interrogation room table. I didn’t understand why this was happening. Who would dress up at Lazarus and frame me for beating up people? This made no sense.

“And that still doesn’t answer my question, son.” Detective Michael Bennett stands up and leans over me. “It WAS you, wasn’t it? At least fifty people saw your publisher give you that costume yesterday afternoon. Maybe you had some weird urge to try it on, huh? Maybe you waited until you knew your friend would be asleep, snuck out, left the water running and acted out some perverted, sick ass fantasy of yours!”

“NO!!”

“And then after you got through beating people’s brains in with a pair of nun-chucks, you snuck back in and played it off like you had been there all night!”

“NO WAY! There’s no way I would do stupid shit like that! I don’t even know how to USE nun-chucks!”

The officer walks around the table and grabs me by the collar, yanking me out of my seat. “Don’t lie to me, son! You beat the shit out of those people and one of them might very well DIE today! And if he does, we’ll put you away for the rest of your life, you little piece of shit!”

I squirm and struggle, screaming out at the top of my lungs. “Put me down!! You can’t manhandle me like this! I want a lawyer!”

“Fine.” He drops me and I fall to the floor with an audible thud. “Sarge, get this little psycho creep a lawyer.”

“I want Ben Matlock, dammit!” I shout out.

“Shut the fuck up, you little fruitcake.”

__

The worst part about being in a filthy holding cell wasn’t the huge, angry-looking bald black guy sitting next to me. It wasn’t even the small militia of gang trash mumbling to themselves about how pretty I looked. It wasn’t even the fact that I could get a colorful assortment of diseases and infections from the sheer filth of this place. It was the fact that Bryon wasn’t here with me. They were probably giving him the third degree just like they gave me. Truth be told, I was hungry, I was tired and I was piss scared of falling asleep around these creeps without having Bryon there to watch my back.

I had spent almost three hours in here frightened for my life, and at long last, here comes some skinny cop to let in Bryon and somebody else. Bryon sits down next to me with a heavy sigh. I glance at him wide-eyed. “What were you guys talking about for over three hours, Bry?? What did they ask you?”

“Jason, it doesn’t matter.” His voice seems weak and drained. “That guy in the hospital they said you beat up just died. The cops are calling the D.A. down here.”

“Oh my God.” My eyes bulge out of my skull, and I rake back my now shoulder-length burgundy hair nervously. “My ass is toast. What am I going to do?? You believe I didn’t do it, right?”

“I KNOW you didn’t do it, Jason.” And the way he looks at me, and the look in his beautiful bright eyes, I knew right then that he was probably the only person in the entire tri-state area who was convinced of my innocence. His eyes suddenly begin welling up with tears. “Jason…I *overheard* stuff out there. Stuff they were talking to the D.A. about. They said they were going to…” He trails off and hugs me tight. Jeez, even his grip is weak. I was beginning to get worried. If they roughed Bryon up, they’d really be sorry.

I pull away from him, but still gripping on his shoulders. “Spit it out, Bry. I can take it.”

“They mentioned Murder 2…that’s 25 to life.” Bryon bursts into tears and buries his head into my chest. Okay, so maybe I can’t take it. For a long while, I just sit there and hold him with my eyes wide and my jaw on the floor as Bryon sobbed openly in my arms. I barely notice the people around us get really quiet and stare at us.

“We’ve got to get you outta here.” Bryon speaks up suddenly.

“And even if we did get out of here. Where would we go?”

“You could live with me, or you could move back in with your m—”

“HELL FUCKING NO!” I stand up and glare at him angrily. Everyone in here with us nearly hits the ceiling. I glance around at them, halfway embarrassed and slowly sit back down. They’re all glaring at me like I had three purple heads, and there’s this long, uneasy moment of silence.

“But I wont let them do that to you, Jason. I won’t!” Bryon whispers harshly to me.

I’m just about to respond when I hear one of the cops walking down the corridor towards this holding cell. He glares in and slowly undoes the lock. Bryon stands up and grabs my arm. The cop slides the door open slightly and smirks cockily. “Montgomery? Your lawyer’s here, come with me.” Bryon and I walk out and he guides us into the interrogation room. Already sitting there is a rather pleasant-looking older man in his mid-to late thirties. He has neatly cut chestnut hair and a pair of cold, gray eyes. He reminded me of the type of lawyer a huge company would hire.

“May I have a few moments alone with my client?” He turns and motions for the loitering cops to get lost and close the door. When they do, I walk in and sit across from him, giving him a nervous smile. Bryon stays by the mirror and crosses his arms. I glance at him and then back at my lawyer. “Something wrong, Mr. Montgomery?”

I pull out a seat for Bryon, but he doesn’t move. He merely waves at me like everything’s okay. “No.” I look back at the lawyer and he’s giving Bryon the same look I just did.

“I’m alright, just fucking talk already!” Bryon tosses his arms up, annoyed.

“Sorry, I guess everybody’s a little touchy today.” I smile at the lawyer again.

“I’m Irving Steele. I’ll be defending you for the duration of the trial.” He fixes his wire-rimmed glasses and blinks at me a few times.

“Call me Jason. So…I suppose this is where I tell you I didn’t do it.”

“And this is where I tell you that someone needs to be able to collaborate your alibi, or we’re in serious trouble.” He folds his hands on the table in front of himself and frowns at me. No wedding ring. Everything about him is perfect. His eyebrows are meticulous, his double-breasted navy-blue business suit and his tie match perfectly, his black dress shoes are sparkling, there isn’t a hair out of place and he doesn’t even have so much as a piece of lint on his clothing. For some reason, that bothered me.

“Bryon was there. He can back me up.”

Bryon is quick to talk over me. “Jason, I think it would be best if you just left me out of this for now.”

“What??” I spin around and throw my arms out dramatically. “What the hell is your problem??” One of the cops opens the door and asks if everything’s okay. Bryon slips out past him. He just leaves me there to rot. I’m in such shock, I just sit down with a flabbergasted look on my face.

“We’re alright, Sergeant.” Irving speaks up. When he leaves, Irving gives me a glare that makes my spine shiver. “Jason, that was uncalled for. The last thing we need is you shouting at people. And don’t even think about pulling a stunt like that in court, or we’ll lose for sure. You got it?” Yes, daddy.

“Yes, Sir. I’m sorry.” I cradle my head and sigh, still not believing that Bryon just ditched me like that. Ever since the cops arrested me, he’s been acting weird.

“Good. Now tell me, who is Bryon?”

“My best friend. He was there that night. I fell asleep in the shower and he fell asleep on my futon. That morning, he woke me up and my apartment was a mess, and now not only is my landlord going to sue the pants off of me and evict me, but now the D.A. is here and they want me for Murder 2!”

His pale eyes widen and his mouth forms a perfect little “o”. The most expression I’ve seen from him yet. “Jason…did the officer who escorted you here tell you that?”

“No, Bryon did. He overheard the cops talking to the D.A. on the phone. He was standing right there.” I point to the mirror where he had been standing. “He wouldn’t sit down and then he told me he wanted me to leave him out of this. Didn’t you hear him? He’s the guy who stormed out of here just now.”

Silence. Complete and utter silence. Just then, something clicked. Something really, really horrible that made me feel so screwed and so humiliated, the thought of killing myself right here and now made a whole lot of sense. Irving’s brows were knit, as if searching through his vocabulary to pick just the right words to use right now.

“Jason, you and I have been speaking in this room…alone. You do know that, don’t you?” He glances at the seat I had pulled out for Bryon.

I bite my lip as tears stream from my eyes. I can’t look at him, so I stare at a large scrape mark at the center of the table. I cover my mouth with both hands and tremble silently. The whole time…was he…? I’m such an idiot. He just sits there and stares at me with this pitiful look on his face. After a while, I whisper out, “I…have…no alibi.”

“I see.” His eyes break away from me and onto his dark brown briefcase. He opens it up and takes out some papers. “I think the D.A. and I can work out a deal where you won’t have to go to jail during the trial. Maybe even at all.” He glances at the big mirror.

The door opens, and Detective Nathan Morris walks in. “That could definitely be arranged, Mr. Steele. Son, why don’t you come with me?”

They take me to Belleview Hospital. I cry my eyes out the entire way. __

It’s Twilight. I don’t remember much after they brought me here. The doctor checked me out and gave me a needle. He wouldn’t tell me what was in it, only that it was part of the physical exam. That was all I remember. And now, several hours or even days later, I don’t even know…I’m tied down to a bed with leather straps, my head hurts and I feel like I’m going to throw up. There’s someone sitting near me, stroking my hair. I don’t care who it is- I just want to punch their lights out right now because they aren’t helping my headache. I start to open my eyes, and low and behold. There sits Bryon.

“You…asshole.” I grumble softly, yet angrily. “You…lied to me…”

“There were no lies told, Jason. I was real because you made me real. You saw what you wanted to see because you missed me. And believe me, I missed you too. I’m glad to be back in your life, and I’m happy you still believed enough in me.”

“I…I’m…in the funny farm because of you.” I start struggling against my bonds weakly. I was still very messed up from whatever that doctor pumped into me.

“But you’re off the hook, Jason. Completely. Your lawyer will say you’re crazy so they can’t put you in jail. And soon, they’ll know it wasn’t you who killed that guy.”

“How do you know?”

“No time to explain. I can’t stay here too long. Places like this and the police station make me sick.” He goes to undo the straps and his hands pass right through them. He turns to me, gasping in horror. “Stop it! You’re letting your world make me fade away again!” He pouts like a child would. “How come you suddenly don’t believe in me anymore?”

“I’ve been talking to myself this whole time…everyone must think I’m nuts. No wonder I’m in a loony bin. I probably belong here.”

“Lose the shit talk, Jasper.” A voice comes from above me, near one of the gated up windows. “…Or I’m going to let you rot in here.” I glance up just in time to see Lazarus – the REAL Lazarus – screw open the gate and climb into the window. He’s older and his voice got deeper. He should be 18 now, and he developed into quite a man.

“Mai…oh God, it’s you…Mai, please…I’m losing it. I…I don’t know what’s real anymore! Help me!”

He walks over and grips me by my shoulders, staring at me straight in the eye. “I am real, Jasper. I am and so is Bryon. Look at me!” He shakes me and I begin crying again. “You can touch me, you can smell me and you can hear my voice. I am real. Now pull yourself together and let’s get the fuck outta here!” I see him grab onto the nearly translucent Bryon, and he flickers and begins to get solid again.

“Bryon…I’m sorry, get out before this place and I kill you!” He nods and walks over to the door. Lazarus gets me loose and I sit up too fast. I grab my head and suck in through my teeth at the sharp, dizzying pain.

I see Bryon go for the doorknob and suddenly, the door opens and that same doctor, the one who gave me the shot glares at both Lazarus and I. He gasps and takes a step backwards. “Somebody call the police!!”

“Fuck you, old man!” Lazarus flips off the doctor, throws me over his shoulder and jumps up onto the windowsill.

“Lazarus…what are you doing?? You’re not going to…” Just then, he leaps out the window, and we both go freefalling about a dozen flights down. I scream like a little bitch at the top of my lungs. I see his arm extend and throw something attached to a long rope. I hear a distant clank and we’re suddenly tugged and I almost go falling from his grasp. I scream some more as he pulls me up to get a better grip on him.

“Hold on tight, Jasper! Everything’s cool from here on in.” I cling onto his firm, athletic body for dear life, and he starts climbing the rope. I’m sort of in a reverse piggy-back position, with my arms wrapped around the back of his neck, my legs around his slender waist and my face buried in his heaving chest. There was something so exhilarating and erotic about this, but I was too scared witless to do anything about it.

When we reach the top of the neighboring building, we sneak inside through the roof and quickly make our way down the stairs. “So…why did you find your way here? More trouble in the dream realm?” I try to make small talk to get my mind off of how ridiculously deep in the shit I must be right now.

“No, I actually escaped the dream realm. When I realized where I was, I looked you up in the phonebook so I could come see you. I was on my way to your house, when I saw three guys trying to rape a pregnant woman in an ally, so I did my thing.” He smiles proudly. “Your city needs a crimefighter.”

I sigh. “Mai, one of those guys died in the hospital. They arrested me because they thought you weren’t real.”

“And to them, I wasn’t. But they have to believe I’m real now.”

“No, they’ll just say you were some _other_ retard in my producer’s costume. You have to understand something, Mai. My world isn’t ready to accept people like you yet. They’re all so scared and nervous that there could possibly be something out there that they can’t control at all times, so they discard those things as being fake because it makes them feel like they have more power. And the ways they try to explain it away are downright pathetic!”

“I know. People would rather believe that aliens are in cahoots with the U.S. Military than believe that there really is a monster under their bed. You’re talking to Noah about the flood, Jasper.” We silently sneak out the back exit and we’re around the corner and down the block before we hear the sirens.

“We can’t go back to my house. It’s drenched and they’ll look for me there.” I cover myself up, realizing that I’m only in a hospital gown, my briefs and socks. He drapes his cape around me and glances around nervously. “Are you okay? You look paranoid.”

“I thought I heard something…oh, nevermind.”

We walk a little ways and I glance back up at the hospital. “Will Bryon be okay? He’s still up there.”

“We’re the only ones who can see him, remember?” Mai puts his arms around me. “Don’t worry, we’ll be safe, we’re going to Bryon’s house.”

“But Bryon isn’t…”

Lazarus stops and slaps a hand over my mouth, glaring into my eyes angrily. “Shut up. Just shut up. I don’t even want to hear you say those words, Jasper Collins.” I nod slowly, sorrowfully. He lets go, giving me another pissed off look for good measure.

“I’m sorry.”

“Let’s just get outta here.” __

We’re breaking into a Salvation Army thrift store. I’ve gone shopping here once or twice before out of sheer lack of capitol, but I never imagined myself breaking into one of these places. It seemed wrong: almost like stealing a piece of bread out of the filthy hands of a homeless man. We took a few items, packed them away in a duffle bag we found in the back and left $19 on the front counter. We snuck back out and hurried off into the night.

We take the V train. I didn’t even know there was a V train, but evidently there is. We take it to the last stop and get off in a neighborhood I wasn’t familiar with. Walking side by side with one of my characters never gets old. It was unbelievably exciting the first time when Osiris Hehp-Tehal came to get me, and with the stunning and amazing Mai Lautan walking next to me, I felt the same exact way. It was incredible, and so was he. He was out of costume and we were both fully clothed. He was wearing this skin-tight black cotton tee shirt that form-fitted to every deeply tanned muscle and curve. I couldn’t get my eyes off of him. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, and as usual, I remained in the dark.

“What?” Mai glances over, noticing how I’m feasting on him with my eyes. He offers me a nervous smile and a subtle tilt of his head.

“You’re utterly insatiable.” I give him a sensuous toothy grin in return.

He chuckles quietly. “You made me straight, remember? Blame yourself.” I did? Well, in the comic, maybe…

I snicker and shake my head as we turn the corner onto a relatively abandoned and dilapidated area. “Damn you and damn me twice.” I look around. “This can’t be where Bryon lives.”

“When he left your house, he usually used to go straight back to the realm. For the last few days, he’s been stuck here and none of us knew why until just yesterday.” That must be why he’s been so adamant about staying over my place lately. We make our way into what looks to be an abandoned warehouse. It’s dark, it’s creepy and there are a thousand and one spiders, roaches and rusty shards of metal sticking out every which way that I could get Tetanus on.

“Yeah?” I cringe and hug myself as he leads me deeper into this pit, under a flight of stairs and to this hidden metal door with chains all over it. “Why is that?”

“Because of your comic, Jasper.” He turns to me and frowns, a serious look in his deep mahogany eyes.