“Here.” Mr. Piedmont handed some files to him as he walked up to his desk.
“What are these?” Looking at the large folder, he fought the urge to look under its cover.
“I need you to take that file to the police chief. We’re all tied up here today in the office and it’s a matter of urgency. I need you to go deliver those down town. You do know where the Police Headquarters is, right Hotan?” Giving him the happy old man grin, he turned Hotan around and walked him back to the door.
“Yea, it’s across from the Public Library. Is there anything else you need me to do while I’m in town?” He placed the file in his book bag between the Book of Ancients and his notebooks.
“Nope! When you do that, don’t bother to come back. I have too much to do here and it’s pointless to let you sit here for so long.” Mr. Piedmont patted his back as he walked him out the door. “Just be careful, Sonny. As Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living.”
“Uh, ok.” Leaving the school, Hotan made his way next door to the cathedral where he continued to park his motorcycle.
Standing inside the heavy oak doors that had shut behind him, he took a moment of peace. Looking beyond the statue, he took in all the shades of grey from the massive stained glass window that seemed so great to him. Enjoying the moment, he observed the image that it held, a classic Madonna with child. It was a piece that was common in the middle ages and especially in places of worship. Some unique elements set it apart from most pieces he had seen in his textbooks. In this picture, she was crying and looking up at the starry bright scenery above them. The child held loosely in her arms, his legs placed as if to show him moving, struggling almost.
A divine being, left so helpless in the arms of someone who did not understand why she had been chosen for such a delicate task.
It is getting annoying seeing things illuminated in color at random. Always the eyes of the other immortals, never anything I would like to see in color. I prefer to keep my moments of panic inside, but I feel so exposed when they flash themselves. Whatever that other force is that controls that part, I would gladly give it up completely. At the same time, I feel like that child; the pure innocence of his own existence, struggling against the forces that he has no knowledge of yet. Being held upwards, my struggles ignored, but pitied by those holding me there.
Maybe I’m finally starting to trigger my powers but they are putting me in danger. Anyone might be listening in right now, but I don’t care. Could it be as simple as letting my emotions override logic, or is there something deeper, more hidden keeping me from breaking lose the powers of Rebirth? Will I be able to even comprehend what’s waiting to be discovered when I can use them?
Starting up his motorcycle, he rode off towards the downtown area. Luckily, the streets were relaxed and not yet crowded. Everyone was still in school or at work making it a soothing ride through the skyscrapers. He pulled into a parking garage, grabbing the ticket from the machine. Jerking his helmet off, he let out a huff from the heat it had built up on the ride. Hot days were one of the cons of being a motorcyclist. That, and the infamous sting of rain. Hooking the helmet to the back part of the seat, he walked towards the Police headquarters next door. Pulling his hair back out of his eyes, he wiped his face free of sweat.
Not a cloud in the sky today.
The blast of cold air that greeted him was a pleasant reprieve. Giving his book bag to the security guard, he walked through the metal detector. The lobby was huge and bustling with police officers, criminals, and witnesses. The guard smiled as he handed him his bag. “Have a good day sir.”
“Thanks. Uh, where’s the police chief’s office?” The guard seemed the only available person for the question considering all the commotion. “I’m supposed to deliver a file to him.”
“Oh, well, why you need to see Mr. Kendall for that?” He looked Hotan over, unsure of why a teenager would need the Chief of Police directly for an everyday task. “You can leave it at the front desk over there.”
“Mr. Piedmont, the principal at West Heights High School sent me down here.” Hotan kept to the point, “I was told to deliver this file to him directly and immediately.”
“Oh! He said to keep an eye out for someone from the school!” A smile of relief crossed the man’s face. “I was looking for a teacher or something, sorry about that. Just head to the elevator there and you want the top floor. Once you’re there walk up to the receptionist for that level. She’ll help you.”
“Thanks man.” Hotan headed through the chaos as quickly as possible.
It’s a mad house in here.
“What floor?” A female officer asked as he slipped into the elevator just as the doors were closing. “What department are you looking for?”
“Top floor.” He leaned against the railing as the elevator creaked into motion.
“Wow, going to see the big wigs. You here to see Chief Kendall or the other guy?” She gave him an inquisitive look.
“Chief Kendall.” He shuffled as it stopped at her floor. “Have a good day.”
They nodded each other farewell and he continued his ascension to the top. The receptionist area was fairly large to be just that. There were three young ladies behind the huge counter, one busily writing as the other two were chatting away on their head sets. He quickly noticed from that room there was only two halls, one to the left the other to the right. The woman writing finished, looked up at him, and twisted her mouth. She was annoyed by the sight of a kid in her lobby. “Can I help you?”
“Here to see Chief Kendall.” He ignored the harshness in her voice. “I was told to-”
“You have an appointment?” She huffed, cutting him off. “He’s only seeing appointments today.”
“No.” His forehead creased as he prepared for the next statement.
Nothing is ever simple… is it?
“You need an appointment.” She flipped open a book. “And he’s not available until next week.”
“No, I don’t need an appointment.” Hotan sighed, preparing himself for the battle that was about to take place. “I was sent by Mr. Piedmont from the high school and was told I am to deliver something to Chief Kendall directly.”
“Well, I’m sorry. We were not informed to be expecting anyone.” She leaned back in her chair soaking up her supreme control. “I can make you an appointment. Morning or afternoon?”
“That’s funny.” A smug look surfaced as he accepted her challenge. “Why would the security guard know about me and not you? Is it really that disorganized around here? I would have thought you or maybe the other two would know about it?”
“He must have mistaken you for someone else.” She gave a sarcastic look and shrug. “Do you want me to make an appointment or not?”
“No, I want you to call Chief Kendall and ask him for yourself. He’s expecting me.” Hotan leaned on the counter and after a second of her not moving, he gave a courtesy shrug back. “Well, I’m waiting. I am sure he can take one question.”
“Keh, what nerve you have.” She grumbled under her breath as she straightened herself in her chair. “I’m sorry young man. The Chief is a very busy man and I certainly am not going to disturb him over something so ridiculous, especially a smart-mouthed kid like you.”
“Fine.” He sat down in a waiting chair, arms crossed.
“What are you doing?” Standing, she looked uneasy.
“Waiting.” His hands shifted to the back of his head, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I assume Mr. Kendall has to leave at some point. I’ll just wait right here for him.”
“That’s absurd.” She boasted.
“Why not? He’s going to eventually leave the office isn’t he? I hope he doesn’t live here. Now that’s absurd.” Glowering, he waited for her next move.
“You can’t be serious.” Her face was tense as she was beginning to enter uncharted territory. “You’re in the police station. I can call downstairs and you’ll be the one spending the night. Now if
you don’t mind-”
“Whoa! At ease Rosey Doll!” A familiar voice came smashing into the room from the right hallway catching Hotan by surprise.
That voice. It can’t be. Could it? No.
“Oh! Mr. Kendall.” She straightened herself blushing uncontrollably. “So sorry for this whole matter! This young man refuses to make an appointment or leave. I was handling it just fine sir.”
“Well, I was expecting him.” The chief stayed out of view from where Hotan sat in the Lobby. I know that voice, I know who he is, I am sure of it. This has to be some kind of joke. “Send him in!” Works a lot, I see why he says that now.
“Ye-Yes sir.” She swallowed down the mistake she had made and turned to him. “So sorry for the misunderstanding, it’s my job to ensure he is not disturbed. You may see him now. Please, forgive me.”
“Understandable.” Flinging his book bag over his shoulder, he paused at the receptionist desk before entering the hallway. “No hard feelings. You were just doing your job and respect that.” This makes life more interesting if it really is him.
She remained silent as he walked down the hall. Apparently, the chief had gone back into his office instead of waiting on him. Hotan pushed on the large double doors that opened slowly and he entered the colossal office. Its décor was full of erotic artifacts and statues of all shapes and sizes. Swiftly he made his way across the room to where the desk sat with a wall of tinted glass behind it. The massive window’s tint dimly lit the office. Staring at the back of the king-sized chair, he anticipated if his guess was right.
It has to be him. The place, the setup. It all screams-
“Sorry about the Bulldog. She gets in her power trip and has a hard time getting back out.” The chair spun around playfully, Jacob’s bright eyes and goofy grin were unmistakable.
“No way, you’re Mr. Kendall, Chief Kendall?” Hotan sat down in the chair provided for him, gawking at the chief in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me? I, I can’t believe you’re the police chief!”
“I did tell you. I said I was a simple business man, and that I am, Hootie.” Jacob laughed, “What’s so hard to believe? You didn’t think I was the type? Come on! Got to give a guy more credit than that.”
“Whatever.” Pulling the file from his book bag, he dropped it on the desk. “From Principal Piedmont.”
“Yea I know.” Jacob flipped through the pages in the file for a few seconds, occasionally whistling. “Not bad, not bad, you make some good grades, clean record. You’re just a regular bookworm, eh? Makes my job easier in that case.”
“Is that my file?” Hotan grabbed it from Jacob and frantically started flipping through the pages. “What the hell? Why do you want this? And how did you convince the Principal to give it to you in the first place?”
“Well, the new issue is that you are aware of your abilities and started to use a few. You’ve established your immortal age, or at least triggered the transition. Then again I can’t promise you even that, but still we have to start cleaning up some of your paper trail and get rid of it.” He took a moment to guzzle down some coffee, “I’ve been doing this for everyone whose awakened. In today’s time, we have to be a lot more cautious unlike in the past.”
“Immortal age?” Leaning back in the chair, Hotan was intrigued at the opportunity to learn more about his situation. “What exactly are you trying to say? That I’ll forever look eighteen.”
“We have a winner! Unfortunately, there is a chance you will be eighteen forever, buddy.” Jacob leaned back into his chair. “Yea, so, that explains why we’re all different ages, such as Talib and myself. We find its just best to dispose of as much documentation as possible so to limit complications later on in life. Another thing is usually when someone hits this point they start remembering who they are, but, well, as we know you’re the exception.”
“Yea, and it’s not going to be easy to keep it from Talib is it? I’m sure he’s already questioning the fact. He doesn’t seem like a dumb guy, or one to miss a detail like this.” They exchanged a solid look with one another.
“I don’t know. I’m having a hard time keeping it under wraps. In fact, I can’t figure out whether he knows already. He’s a very intelligent guy considering he’s the only one who was awake to witness the changes in society and the world. And, you’re not the first awakened immortal he has dealt with. He has to suspect something. It may be why he’s acting out of the normal.” Jacob stared down at his cup of coffee as the conversation began to fall deeper into the subject. “You spend that much time on this earth, I am sure everything becomes routine. He seems to run short for answers on you and keeps his distance. I can’t figure out if there’s a brotherly history coming into play either. In the end, he is acting strange, and well, you’re all that we have as a Rebirth element.”
“About that, does he ever talk about that time? I mean, considering his abilities and the fact he was to live out his life alone must have taken its toll on him?” Hotan watched as Jacob swirled his cup, both thinking about how lonely it must have been. I know what it feels like to be alone, but to that degree, I feel ashamed to compare myself to it.
“He never speaks to me about it, not in great detail anyhow. All I know is that since we’ve started awakening he seems to be more at ease. Granted very concerned with it, I’m sure it’s a nerve-racking situation for him. Talib was to ensure this could not happen; yet he’s had no ability to instill the judgment to not remember or stop the process. Plus, it doesn’t help that Geliah’s stirring up things at the moment. The bastard has an incredible ability to locate the unawakened. Fortunately, there’s only a few left without the knowledge of their existence and he’s preoccupied since he found what he was looking for.”
“Me, right?” Hotan shifted in the chair, feeling uneasy under the weight of facts at hand. “Geliah’s been searching for Hotan. He seems pissed about being mortal for so long.”
“Right,” Jacob sighed putting his coffee down and stretching his arms out. “But no worries, T-Man will figure out things. Or, at least make sure you know all that you can about the whole situation. It’s not easy news to break; we all know how it felt. Then again, once we all remembered who we were there wasn’t anything to explain. With you though, we have to explain what we do on an instinctual level. It’s not easy to put to words.”
“Yea, well, at least this has been a great help.” Pulling the Book of Ancients from his book bag, he slid it over to Jacob. “Not sure if you know about this book. It was sort of a farewell gift.”
“What’s this?” Jacob picked up the book and began to flip through it, his eyes wide in amazement. “Where the hell did you get this? This, this can’t be right. It doesn’t add up with everything else I know.”
“Let’s just say it was his parting gift. I got to meet the cause of this matter in a very short dream session, like I hinted to you last night.” He leaned back taking a slow and heavy breath. “At first I thought I was going crazy. Just going around looking for something from a dream, but in the end, I found it.”
“Really? So, he wasn’t completely gone, but obviously you’re a completely different person. Oh my god, I.” Leaning back in his chair, Jacob scanned through the pages of the book. “I had no idea this existed. Everything in here is exact. We’re all here.”
“I found it in the little book store across from Benny’s Place. Tina had it.” The shock on Jacob’s face spoke volumes as he paused to read random excerpts in various chapters. So it is an accurate record of who they started as.
“Really? The element of insanity was keeping this secret from the rest of us. That woman can spin your questions into circles…” Frantic now, he flipped faster through the book before stopping abruptly. The color drained from his face and his jaw muscles twitched. “I can’t believe it. It can’t be possible. I don’t understand why or how I. What on earth was going on all these years while we were sleeping. This can’t be right. It’s not right at all.”
“What? What�
��s wrong Jake?” The room went cold, chills slithered across Hotan’s skin as the fear in Jacob’s eyes caught his own.
“Do you realize who wrote this book?!” Jake slid the book across the table with the pages open to where the author’s signature laid elegantly across a back page. “Did you even look for the author of this thing?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. Dated in 1403.” Trembling Hotan stared at the signature. He was reading something that should have never existed. “We were all deep in the spell at that time, weren’t we? That. He wasn’t.”
“Yea, we were, I thought. The first one to awake was in the 1750’s and she kept herself silent and hidden for some time. I-It’s hard to imagine that this document exists, it’s hard to swallow. It leaves me questioning what was truly happening.” Jake picked the book back up. “It’s amazing though. He took such care in knowing who each of us were, both before and during the immortality. My only theory is that Hotan was indeed awake, but I must ask myself if Talib knew this. I don’t think he knows to be honest. In addition, to consider the fact that Hotan wrote this himself in that time period. What the hell was going on? What would prompt him to log this information and then go as far as making sure you get it? He knew he was leaving this world at some point starting in the 1400’s!”
“My only guess is something went wrong, horribly wrong. What, I don’t know, and he sure in hell didn’t say much. Although this book gives me a very clear answer that it was a definite event in time and that what we are is real. It still leaves me questioning what happened and if Talib is aware of this.” Leaning his elbows on the desk, Hotan continued his speculations, “He definitely knew he was going to disappear. 1403 is a mostly quiet time in history. It is after one of the biggest black plague hits and other than a few Crusades after that point, it seems like a good time for a runaway to buckle down in a hideout and write something. Even then, I still question if Talib has known all this time.”
“You and me both, kid. I’m glad you showed this to me, because as you see, I have my own research in this whole matter. Not to say Talib’s untrustworthy, but he loves leaving a lot unsaid. I definitely think there’s more to this story than what meets the eye. For now, I’ll let you continue to hold on to the book. When you’re done with it, let me know.” Jake rubbed the side of his face trying to push the tension from his cheeks.
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