The Traveling Killer and Jason Smith

by S Jay Starring

  They drank a little bit of wine as a ritual and then separated to go home because it was after hours.

  “You done well, both of you,” Julia said while everyone was scattered.

  Jason and Kate turned to her with a bit puzzled.

  “Thank you, Julia,” Jason answered her with a proudly smile. Julia gave a little smile at him, then walked away.

  “Why don't you say anything?” Jason turned to Kate, who stood still by his side.

  “Um ... I ... I never receive a compliment from Julia ... so I don't know what to say,” Kate replied, blushing to the ears. Jason chuckled amused with her shyness.

  If compared to Julia's first sentence she has said to him and her sentence just now, it was different a lot. Not surprisingly, why Kate has shocked with happiness. “You just say thank you,” Jason said to her. And Kate rushed said thank you to Julia who almost walked out of the office.

  Todd invited them to celebrate a little longer at the restaurant inside the building. They met many colleagues there as always, Lily, Nora, Ted, Emma and her family. This was like a celebration of closing a big case and farewell party for Jason. They all know that Jason must returned to his universe tomorrow.

  “Good night, Jess,” said Kate, after walked him to his room like the first day they met. Jason’s face was a bit red because of the alcohol he has drunk from the restaurant. This was probably the last time they could say good night.

  “Tomorrow, the same time,” She continued and eyes on him. Was it his imagination? Her eyes looked sad.

  “... Well, ok, good night Kate,” Jason smiled at her before entered his room. He looked at the room that was a bit in a mess as a male's room because he has been using this room for a month. Sometimes he took the socks off scattered, snack wrappers were left on the table in the living room, unwashed suit jacket that hung on a chair. Tonight he has to pack all his belongings in his bag prepared for the last trip tomorrow.

  @@@@@@

  Jason's last breakfast was just a small bowl of rice congee. He chewed it with absent-minded. “You look not hungry, Jess,” said Kate. She also touched her dish just a little.

  “I'm not very hungry. Last night I ate everything in the fridge,” Jason answered and shrugged.

  Kate smiled at him, but the look of her eyes were sad. “Well, ... Jess, may I ask for the badge, identity card, tablet, handcuffs and sonic gun,” she said and tried not to make eye contact with him.

  Jason nodded and picked everything out and put it on the table. “Your smartphone, Emma will handle it,” Kate said while taking Jason's stuff and put them in her suit pocket.

  And when they finished breakfast, they went up to Emma's lab. There, they met Ted.

  Did he come to say goodbye, too?

  “Can I have the rest of the sick bags that I had given you?” Ted asked.

  Oh ... yes ... Ted, the icy man, only came to ask for the sick bag from Jason.

  Jason grabbed into his suit pocket and took a few sick bags to return to him. “I’ll miss you, too, Ted,” Jason said sarcastically. Then Ted walked out of the room.

  “Believe me, that's the way he says goodbye,” Emma said after saw Jason’s sulky face looked after Ted out of the room. “I’ll transfer the money in your account here to the account of your universe, Mr. Smith,” She asked for his smartphone.

  Jason gave it to her, then she had finished it in a minute. She explained in a detail about the exchange fees and the transfer money between parallel universes for Jason, including the amount of money he would receive along with the bonus Prompt had said yesterday.

  “I’ll miss you, Mr. Smith. My children want to say goodbye and hug you but they have to go to school,” Emma said and hugged Jason tightly.

  “Yes, I’ll miss you Emma and the children, too,” Jason said, smiled at her and walked to the wormhole platform with a suitcase.

  Kate walked with him there. “I have a lot of fun working with you. You teach me a lot. Thank you for your help, Jess. You are brilliant,” she said and took the sunglasses from her shirt pocket and wore for Jason, then arranged his necktie in place.

  “Good-bye, Jess,” she smiled at him one last time. Mild scent from her still the same since the first day they’d met. He liked this smell because it made him felt fresh.

  “.... Good-bye Kate,” Jason said. He would never see her again. She was good to him since the first day to the last day. It was sad that the separation came a little too soon.

  Kate smiled and came closed to him, her face was close to his face, closer and closer, and his heart was beating fast and strong. It's like she was going to kiss him.

  Jason stood still and his lips open a bit like prepared for kissing but Kate kissed him gently on the cheek. Then a bang in his heart stopped, disappointed ... just cheek?

  “Take care of yourself, Jess,” she concluded before walked away.

  A few seconds later, Jason disappeared with a bright white light.

  “You’ll feel lonely for a while, Kate,” Emma said after Jason's gone.

  Kate silent, still looked at the platform that Jason had stood. “I should be relieved, Emma. Jess is a vociferous, chattering, snore, and he likes to steal my snacks and he also....” She suddenly stopped. Tried to hold back tears. “But... I will miss him,” she continued with a trembling voice. Emma only rubbed her back gently for comfort.

  @@@@@@

  Jason arrived in his parallel universe at the rooftop of the tallest building in the city. After that, he went back to his apartment that still fine. The apartment keeper greeted him like people haven't seen each other for a long time.

  “Where have you been, Mr. Smith?”

  “Well... I, I ... I don't know either, Ducky I can't remember anything,” Jason replied. He was forbidden to talk about other parallel universes. This was probably the only way he could do... pretended to be insane….

  “Oh ... your head’s bumped?” Ducky asked continuously.

  “Probably yes. I can't remember it,” Jason confirmed his words. “Don't know how to be here, too,” sounded quite realistic.

  “Oh ... that's terrible, Mr. Smith. But I hope you can remember you haven’t pay the rent last month,” Ducky said, and Jason realized that he has been missing for a month and haven’t paid the rent, yet. He rushed to pay for Ducky without reluctantly because the money in his account was now could buy a small car.

  After paid the rent, Jason immediately returned to his room. The room was still the same and there was no garbage smell because last time Kate finished it all. He put everything on the bed before laying down. His bed was still the same. The stain on the ceiling that looked like a baseball bat still remained, the noise from the street and neighbors room still remained the same, but his feelings could never be the same anymore.

  The next day he went to the police station. Ted and Todd were happy that he came back.

  “Where have you been, chief? We are worried about you,” Ted said joyfully when Jason walked in the office with awkward.

  Jason used the same sentence he said to Ducky the apartment keeper “Well ... I can't remember anything,”

  “You can't remember? What does that mean? And what about that woman?” Todd asked suspiciously, but Jason just shook his head and shrugged. “But you missing with that woman when we were planning to catch her. That was already a month. We’ve tried to find you every day,”

  Jason just shook his head. He insisted that he couldn't remember the events that day. And yesterday he realized he was on the rooftop of a rented office building, not even know how to get there. He rushed back to the apartment and shocked that he was missing for a month.

  “I’m sure this thing is involve that woman. We met her in your apartment, too,” Ted said in a serious voice.

  “True, that woman shot something at Ted. I don't know what it was but he fainted, it hit his crotch. I think it might be a sonic wave or something like that,” Todd said and Ted nodded while making a painfully warped face.

  “But
it still function well,” Ted said, confirmed.

  After reported to the boss and talked for a while, Jason returned to the same department, but now there was a new chief to work instead, so he had to work in the same position as Ted and Todd. A mysterious missing for a full month caused the station to find the new chief of the investigative team. Couldn’t blame anyone for this because the work must go on.

  After several days, Jason went to work as usual. Solve a small case, did the documents and collect data and find the criminal.

  “Chief, yesterday there were reports that the bodies of those women have missing,” Ted whispered to Jason. He was still used to calling Jason in the same way.

  “Those women bodies?” Jason frowned.

  “Yes, the mysterious corpses we found. The bodies of two of them missing and only Jessie Lee’s remained. But even it's her body, I think there's something strange. The tattoo on her hip has gone. Her hair also seems to be a little longer. I already checked the photos of the marks on her body in the evidence box. Do you think this is strange?” Ted told him.

  Only Jessie Lee’s body remained? Was this because the parallel universes in the WHOLE group were returning their bodies to their families? But how did they slip in without seeing by the police?

  “Well,…yes, it's strange. I heard that Jessie Lee has missing, right?” Jason said.

  “Yes, no one has seen her for a few weeks. Or whether the body of her in the station would be the real her. Like a sigh of things to come. Jessie Lee, the one we talked with might be a spirit…a ghost, like she didn't know she was dead,” Todd whispered with scared.

  Todd could use his imagination very well.

  “So, we can return the body to her family,” Jason said.

  “And what about the bodies of the other two? Are we going to look for it?” Ted asked.

  Jason shrugged. Where to find it….. “Let it be. There are no plaintiffs, right?” He replied. It sounded like Jason was a policeman who didn't care about his job, but believe him, it's the best way to do.

  Many weeks passed, Jason continued the routine life. He went to work and met a new chief who was nearing retire. Then went home and went to work in the next day. He just noticed that his life quite a bit boring, despite in the past, he has lived like this for many years.

  Backing from other parallel universe made the feeling for his own universe would never be the same again. Jason met Ted and Todd, met Emma that he knew and familiar with before but felt strange about them. He still thought about them in B07, too.

  He couldn't tell anyone where he has been for a month. Couldn’t tell anyone that he closed the big case between parallel universes. Couldn't tell anyone how proud he felt. He thought that it would be uncomfortable for a while and then he would get used to it.

  However, he was just a man named Jason Smith of parallel universe B13, the world that no wormhole technology. And he would have to wait for the new chief to retire, so he would be able to return to the same position. Just in the next 3-4 years.

  “Your room stinks again,” Someone’s voice said while Jason opened the door in the evening of his normal day. That voice he used to hear.

  “Kate?” Jason exclaimed surprisingly. And she smiled at him brightly “H…How did you come in?” He asked, stammered and quickly closed the door.

  Kate pointed to the curtain of his window that was opened. Oh,…Yes, wormhole ...

  “I haven't washed my socks yet,” Jason beckoned to his basket, which might be the source of stinky smell.

  Kate made a wrap face. Actually, she only kidding him about the smell. “How are you, Jess?” She asked.

  Jason shrugged, “Well, ... good ... good life good job ... less responsible make me have time to do things I want,” He lied because he didn't want anyone to be worried or pity.

  “And do you get a new partner? Don't tell me it’s Todd,”

  Kate smiled and chuckled. “No, Jess. I still can't find a new partner. After you went back, I was busy with the documents of the case, and I had to go to court for Thomas's case many times. And Julia probably won't let Todd comes to work with me. She said that he can’t take care of himself, yet,” She answered.

  “Oh ... Poor Todd ...” Jason muttered, thought about Todd when he was with Julia.

  Jason looked at her face. “Well ... are you visiting me?” He asked, and he felt that this question made Kate looked uncomfortable.

  “Um ... yes, Jess. I want to know are you all right when you are back, I hope you don't lose your job,” Kate said.

  “No, I'm brilliant. Who would allow me to lose a job?” Jason shrugged...Just they got someone replaced him...

  “Yes,…It's true...” Kate said hesitantly.

  The silent stayed with them for a while before Kate decided to continue. “...Well ... Actually, I have something to ask you but I think you may not interest because you are going well here,”

  Jason listened carefully. “What's wrong, Kate?” He asked curiously, with heart pounding. He felt that she must have something important.

  “Well ... as you know, WHOLE admires you a lot after we caught Thomas. Other parallel universes also have many cases that not close, yet. So they want me to persuade you to.... go ...”

  “I’m in,” Jason blurted out loud.

  Kate was startled a bit and stopped talking. She looked at his face while frowning. “Well, ... I haven't finished yet. I may invite you for striptease,”

  Jason stood still, stared at her face... striptease? ... Really? ... He started to be alarm.

  Kate smiled and giggle at Jason's face. “I'm joking, Jess. They want you and me to solve the cases,” She continued the sentence. “And... is your answer still the same?”

  That was the best invitation for him in many weeks passed. “The answer is the same, Kate. I’m in,” he answered, smiled happily.

  Kate smiled broadly for his answer. “I will tell you about the case briefly, while you are packing your bag, Jess,” She said. Then Jason began to dash around the room collecting clothes and personal belongings put in the bag, then brought the zipping bag that contained black suits and sunglasses out of the innermost closet very carefully. He thought he would never use it again.

  “Jason Smith from B13 is ready to go back with me, Emma,” Kate contacted Emma via her smartphone.

  They wore sunglasses and stood together. Then just a few seconds later, the bright white light gradually swallowed their bodies quickly. Left only a small piece of dust that spread out into a thin circle on the floor.....

  END the episode