A Scene Floating Around In My Head

I know it’s not always easy to read fiction in a browser, but I think this is a pretty good read. This is an introduction for Jack, who is slightly over three hundred years old.

I kinda left the scene open on purpose. Of course, I know what happens next, but I wanted to see, if anyone reads it, if they want to know what happens next.

This is my take on a scene we’ve seen before. Namely, the “trade a hostage for money” scene, but with a slight twist.

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Jack nearly stumbled past an elderly man in a wheelchair as he rushed into the emergency room waiting area. He thought he had everything planned out when he arrived. Every footstep, every word that left his mouth. Now that he stood in the middle of patients waiting to be seen, and nurses calling names to examination rooms, he wasn’t sure what to do.

Somewhere in this hospital, Heather and Amber were hurt.

Emotions Jack hadn’t felt in a long time overwhelmed him. Worry. Fear.

He cared about the the seven-year-old girl and schoolteacher. It was useless to fight, and he couldn’t run from it anymore. Caring made him weak, vulnerable. But he would have to deal with that later.

Victoria put a hand on his shoulder. He’d nearly forgotten she was with him.

“Jack, are you alright?”

“No, I’m not. Where are Heather and Amber?”

Victoria approached the nurse at the triage station and flashed a smile. Jack was glad she was with him. She was calm and in control, something he needed right now.

“Hi,” she said. “We’re looking for Amber Hernandez. She would have had a little girl with her, Heather. We were told they were admitted here? Car accident.”

The nurse pecked at her keyboard, and Jack was losing patience with every passing second. His heart sank when the nurse frowned.

“We do have an Amber Hernandez. Banged up pretty bad, but stable. She’s on the second floor, room 212. But she was admitted alone.”

Jack leaned on the desk.

“What did you say?”

Victoria grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

She led Jack down the hall to the elevators. His hands started to shake, and he slid them in his pockets to hide them. His sense of awareness started to return as he stared at the elevator doors. Doctors walked up and down the corridors, staring at charts and clipboards. Some of them slowed down to give Victoria an appreciative look. He wanted to kill them, simply because they irritated him.

“Where is Heather?” he said. “Why wouldn’t she be here?”

“Maybe they made a mistake checking her in.”

“Don’t patronize me, Victoria. I’m not one of your young friends.”

“Fine, Jack. Calm down. I don’t know what’s going on. But it could be anything. Maybe she was taken to a different hospital. Maybe the car accident killed her, and she’s in a morgue somewhere.”

A sound of depair escaped Jack’s throat, and he leaned against the wall. Victoria, immediately regretting her words, held his face tenderly.

“I’m sorry. But you wanted honesty from me. Listen, we don’t know what’s going on, and it won’t help to get worked up now.”

Adjusting his tie and coat, he assumed the look Victoria was used to.

“You’re right.”

It only took two minutes to ride the elevator to the second floor and find room 212, but it seemed like two hours. He tried to prepare himself for the worst, but felt a tiny sense of relief when he turned into room 212.

Amber was battered and bruised. Her leg and arm was in a cast. There were a few cuts on her face, and both eyes were black. The hospital gown she wore was split on the side, a barely-there piece of cloth, and the bit of thigh exposed was one huge bruise.

But she was alive.

“I should have brought flowers.”

Victoria let out a quiet laugh behind him.

“Jack?” Amber said, barely opening her eyes. “Is that you?”

“It’s me. Victoria’s here, too.”

“Vickie? I can’t see much right now.”

“I’ll bet. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit. It’s cold in here, too.”

Jack ran a hand through her dark hair. Victoria noticed the affection in his touch.

“It’s probably this gown they got you in. Almost looks like a slutty dress.”

“Vic, would you cover up my legs for me? This asshole hasn’t earned the right to see them yet.”

Victoria smiled as she pulled a sheet over Amber’s waist.

“Is Heather okay?”

“She’s-”

Jack grabbed Victoria’s shoulder to cut her off.

“There was a mix-up. She was actually taken over to Agnes, on the other side of town.”

“What?” Amber said, trying to sit up. She moaned in pain, and Jack carefully forced her back into bed.

“I know,” Jack said, his voice betraying his emotions somewhat. “We just got here and find this crap out. We’re still trying to put everything together.”

A tear ran down Amber’s cheek, and it was all he could do not to wipe it away for her.

“I’m so sorry, Jack,” she said. “We were just driving after dinner. Everything’s blurry, but I think someone rear-ended us. Then we got tee-boned. It was a crazy accident.”

His phone rang, and he nearly dropped it when the caller ID displayed his own name. It was the phone he’d given to Heather.

“Heather, honey? Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Hello, Jack. I’m afraid Heather can’t come to the phone right now.”

Jack shot a glance at Victoria, and the vampire nodded. They didn’t need to say a word. She watched over Amber as he made his way down the hall to an empty waiting area.

“Who is this?”

“Don’t worry about that. All you need to worry about is the little bitch.”

He squeezed the phone and clenched his eyes shut. “If you hurt Heather-”

“Just shut up, rich boy, and listen. Bring the little girl’s camera, and ten million dollars, to the lake in Cromfield Park. You come alone, or she dies. You got that? You’ve got two hours.”

“That’s not enough time. Are you listening? Two hours isn’t enough time-”

The call went dead.

He almost collapsed into one of the chairs. His mind wandered as he stared at the picture of Heather he took at the carnival, the one of her holding the cotton candy with a huge smile on her face. That same picture greeted him every time he reached for his phone.

Heather had come a long way from the homeless girl he first met, to the B student she was now.

Jack thought he made some progress over the past two months as well.

He could feel that progress slipping away.

Victoria approached him and gently put a hand on his shoulder. No doubt she heard the entire conversation.

“Jack?”

“They’ve got her. Heather is my responsibilty, and they’ve got her.”

“Who?”

He replayed the voice in his mind.

“Mark Taylor. A dirty cop. I’ve known he was dirty for a while. I’ve studied the picture Heather took. I guess it’s good sometimes, never being able to sleep. I thought it might be him. I knew they’d make a move eventually, but didn’t think it would involve Heather. I’m a damn idiot. It’s my job to protect her.”

She reached out and grabbed his shaking hands.

“I know it’s been a hundred years, but I’ve never seen you like this.”

“You mean, weak and pathetic?”

“Jack, caring about someone doesn’t mean that.”

“I hate the way I feel. I liked my life. I didn’t need some filthy little girl to complicate things. I…love her, Victoria. And Amber, I miss her when she’s not around. The other night, the there of us watched a movie on the couch. That was it, a movie. And it was one of the best nights of my life.”

She wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “You’re still human, whether you want to admit it or not.”

“I guess you’re right,” he said, staring at the floor.

“Listen, we have to move. We both know if you give that man ten million dollars, he shoots you in the head, not that it would do much, and kills Heather.”

“Indeed.”

“So, we’ll work together, just like old times. You stall for time, and I’ll-”

“No, Victoria. I don’t need your help.”

“We’re back to this, Jack? I…actually thought we were becoming friends again.”

“We were, we are.”

“You can’t do this alone. Taylor probably doesn’t even have Heather with her, if he’s smart. We’ve-”

Victoria went silent when she noticed Jack’s expression. A slight hint of a smile touched his lips, a fire in his eye. He passed the phone back and forth in his hands, not listening to a word she said.

He sent a quick text message, but she didn’t get a look at it.

Her breath caught in her chest. She’d seen that look before, and could only imagine the dark thoughts going through his mind.

There were very few men capable of what Jack Johnston could do.

“What did you do?”

Jack grinned, and it wasn’t a grin of joy.

“All this time, I wondered if having Heather in my life made me weaker. Now, I think maybe it made me more dangerous.”

“Jack-”

“We are friends, Victoria. I’m glad. That’s why I’m asking you to watch over Amber. I don’t think they’ll try anything with her, but just in case. I don’t trust anyone else with this. Please.”

She hesitated at first, then nodded. Jack surprised her with a hug, amazingly, a non-awkward one.

“Thank you.”

The pair walked down the hall to Amber’s room. Jack laughed as she struggled to reach a glass of water not far from the bed.

“This isn’t funny,” she said. “I feel like I’ve walked through a desert.”

“You look it, too.”

“Shut up. Is Heather okay?”

“Yeah. That was the doctor. I’m gonna swing over to Agnes now and check on her. Victoria will hang out with you.”

Amber tried to smile. “A girl’s night out at the hospital. This will be fun, Vic.”

“I’ll call later.”

“Wait! Don’t I get a hug or something?”

Smiling, he leaned over the bed carefully and hugged Amber with one arm. Her cheek felt nice against his. He stroked her hair tenderly.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Everything’s still a haze. But I’ll help pay for anything. As soon as I get better-”

“This wasn’t your fault. This was an accident. Don’t worry,” he said, strength returning to his voice. “Heather will be fine.”

Victoria gave him one more nod before he left the room.

*****

The ride to Cromwell Park was almost a blur. His thoughts wandered all over the place. His life had changed so much over the past few months. Heather had stumbled into his life, and gave him purpose. For the first time in centuries, the morning would come, and there was something important to do.

Take care of Heather.

Now, Mark Taylor, someone who was supposed to protect people, was threatening her.

Heather was Jack’s family. She was the first person he thought of as family since he was cursed.

Taylor would pay.

Jack shook the angry thoughts from his head as he pulled into the parking lot on the edge of Cromfield Park. Patting the briefcase on the seat next to him, he took a deep breath. Heather first, revenge second.

The park was nearly deserted. Cromfield was a nice place that Jack spent time on occasion. Plenty of trails to jog, geese to throw food to, benches to relax and read. On warm days the hot dog vendor would set up shop just inside the gate. Jack once read three books in one day, eating hot dogs and pretzels while watching the people live their lives.

It was also a good spot to do shady business at night.

Jack could see Mark Taylor standing by the lake. He casually fed the geese swimming nearby, stopping to give Jack a seedy smile.

“That’s close enough,” Mark called.

Jack stopped about thirty feet away, the briefcase swaying at his side.

His eyes moved up and down the corrupt cop. Cell phone in his right pocket. A gun in a shoulder holster, on the left side. Very confident, shit-eating smile.

“Where’s Heather?”

“Nice suit. I thought ten million dollars would have needed a bigger suitcase. See? I figured you could get the money fast, if you had the right motivation.”

Jack took a step forward.

“I said don’t fuckin’ move! Do you see that over there?”

Jack followed to where Mark was pointing. There was a camera aimed in their direction, hooked to a laptop, sitting on a park bench.

“I’ve got friends watching. All I have to do is wave my little hand, and the bitch dies. Understand?”

“I want to talk to Heather. Isn’t that how this crap works?”

“I don’t know. This is my first time. And nope, you don’t get to talk to her.”

“What’s this about, Taylor? Why go after my little girl?”

“Oh, she’s your little girl, now? Nothing fancy here. She took a picture of me doing something bad. I have to get that picture, and figured I could make a little money on the side. You brought her camera?”

Jack reached into his coat and grabbed Heather’s camera, then tossed it through the air. Mark caught it and scrolled through the images. He laughed when he found the picture he was looking for.

“This doesn’t even look like me. All you can see is part of my leg and my shoes.”

Jack laughed as well. “Yeah, I know. I said the same thing. I had it down to about six guesses.”

Mark tossed the camera on the ground and stomped on it several times, then gestured to the briefcase.

“Is that my money?”

“Taylor, listen to me. I’m gonna give you a chance. I don’t care what you’ve done, or will do, in the future. I just want Heather back. We won’t make any trouble for you. Just call whoever has her, bring her here, and we can go our separate ways.”

“Look, I don’t think you’re taking me seriously. I’ve done my homework on you, and I know you’re loaded. You won’t miss ten million dollars. I want you to throw that briefcase over here. That little girl’s life is hanging on a thread, and I’m getting really fuckin’ impatient.”

Jack sighed.

“I tried. I really did. Mark, call your daughter.”

Mark flinched, ever so slightly. “What?”

“I said, call your daughter. And please, don’t make me repeat myself again.”

“Hannah? She’s not even in the damn state. She’s in some cheerleading tournament-”

“Just humor me, and put it on speakerphone. This will be fun.”

Jack dropped his briefcase to rest his arm, and started to whistle.

Mark looked shaken as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Jack tried not to laugh.

The worst night of Mark’s life was just beginning.

The ringing phone finally gave way to a click.

“Hannah, are you okay? It’s me, Dad-”

Mark nearly dropped the phone as he heard the terror in his daughter’s voice.

“Dad, help! They’ve got me, I don’t know what they want! Please-”

The phone went dead.

Jack said nothing. He kept whistling while letting Mark reflect on what he just heard. Stretching his arms, he enjoyed the cool breeze as it blew through his suit. He picked up his briefcase and walked slowly toward Mark.

“Do I have your attention now?”

Mark had been staring at the silent phone. Now he looked up at Jack. The confidence, the arrogance, was all gone, replaced only by barely-controlled terror.

“What-what have you done?”

“Oh, I haven’t done anything yet. I’m just getting warmed up. Let’s have a seat.”

He gestured to a nearby bench, still in range of Mark’s laptop and camera. Mark fell hard on the bench, his face getting paler by the second. Jack sat next to him and set the briefcase on the ground.

“Poor Mark. You did your homework, huh? You must have sucked in school, cause you know nothing about me. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself in to.”

“So, I guess, my little girl for yours? Is that where you’re taking this?”

“Oh, no,” Jack said, laughing. “You’re not thinking big enough.”

He opened his briefcase just enough to pull out an iPad. He touched the app he already had setup, and passed the tablet to Mark.

It took nearly ten seconds for him to understand what he was seeing, then his mouth hung open.

Mark was looking at a collection of camera views. Four by four, sixteen cameras on a page.

The cameras were pointing at his family and friends, all being held against their will.

His brother was tied to a chair on camera thirteen. His sister, who lived in Ireland, was cowering in a corner on camera eight. His uncle, who had apparently put up a fight, lied bloody and beaten in his bathroom, as a man threatened him with a knife. His only daughter, who he had just talked to on the phone, cried in a dark room. She still wore her cheerleading uniform.

“Are you starting to understand now, Mark?” Jack said. “You took my Heather. Well, I didn’t know who you cared about, so I figured, fuck it, why not just take them all?”

A tear ran down Mark’s cheek as he stared at his family. He touched the camera image of his daughter, like it would bring him closer to her.

“Don’t think this little page is all we’ve got, too. Slide your finger to the right there. Plenty to look at.”

A cry caught in Mark’s throat as Jack leaned over and scrolled to the second page, then the third, and pointed at different cameras.

“That’s your aunt, right there. And your poker buddy who lives down the street. There’s your favorite prostitute. I know you’ve paid for her at least four times.”

“My God-”

“No, little police officer. God can’t help you. You get to deal with me.”

“What do you want?”

“Heather, of course. Get her here, right now. For every hour that she’s not at my side, someone you see there will die.”

“How…did you do this? You knew it was me, the whole time. You must have. You couldn’t have set all this up-”

“I told you, I had six people I was keeping my eye on, including you. This little adventure we’re in to tonight, I planned the same thing with all of them. I’ve been planning this for a month. One little text message, and off we go. I love technology. There’s a lot of people who work for me-”

Mark let out a quiet sob, and looked at the ground. Jack lost his composure, only for a moment.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Grabbing Mark by the jaw, he stared into the cop’s fearful eyes.

“There is no limit to the number of people I will kill to protect those I care about.”

Mark could barely speak. “You-You’re not just some businessman. You’re a monster.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “The clock is ticking, and you’ve wasted enough time.”

Summoning one last ounce of courage, Mark jumped to his feet. Still holding the iPad, he pointed an accusing finger at Jack.

“No. No! This is all just one big trick. You’re bluffing.”

“You want to test me? Take a peek at camera thirty-nine.”

“That’s-that’s my wife!”

“Yup.” Jack stood up and grabbed his briefcase, then set it on the bench. “You know, I almost spared her. I mean, to be honest, I didn’t think you cared about her. You’ve certainly screwed enough women behind her back. But, then I thought, if most of her family was gonna die tonight, would she want to survive that? Eh, I’m not a shrink, and I’m getting off the subject.”

Mark stared at camera thirty-nine. His wife was sitting on their living room couch. Every light in the room was off. The only light came from the soft glow of the TV. A man stood in the corner near the door, his arms crossed. She rocked back and forth, and he thought he saw a gag tied around her mouth.

She cradled her arm.

“What’s wrong with her-”

“Here. Catch.”

Jack tossed the disembodied hand. Mark instinctively caught it, then dropped it when he realized what it was. He fell to the ground along with it, and crawled backwards as fast as he could.

He recognized the wedding ring, the scar under her knuckles from a childhood accident. The hand was cut off just below the wrist, and he could see tissue and bone.

“Sonya-”

“This is the last time I will say this,” Jack said. He grabbed the bag of bread crumbs Mark had on the bench and tossed some in the lake, watching the geese enjoy their snack. “Bring Heather here. Now.”

Mark was reaching for his phone before Jack even completed his sentence.

“Dom. It’s me. Listen, plans have changed. Get the kid here. Don’t argue with me, just drive.”

“Now, was that really that hard? If whoever Dom is drives fast enough, maybe you can save your wife’s hand. Modern medicine is amazing. You should have seen the shit I had to deal with three hundred years ago.”

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End scene. 🙂