Inside 863

Chapter 17 | 3/5/2021

"Stalker no stalking!" I yelled with my best Dora the Explorer impression. The stalker cocked his head slightly in confusion, then let out a raspy laugh. I am a distraction, I repeated to myself over and over in my head. A distraction to keep the stalker at bay until someone comes to help.

"Do you want to talk this out like civilized people?" I ventured, lowering my bat slightly. The stalker let out another scratchy, wheezing laugh, the kind of noise you make when you have a bad cough.

"I'm better with a bat than I am words, but I can try," he said. I stepped a few feet closer so I didn't have to yell across the landing to him and said, "So, what's your aim with this? Why do you keep breaking in?"

"I need this serum, girlie," he replied, holding up a dusty old box. I recognized it as the one found in the wall, the one containing the vials.

"Why?" I questioned.

"Because!" he said, his voice elevating. Why did that question upset him?

I took a few steps back for caution's sake.

"You don't know what I've been through," he hissed. "The pain I've suffered." He took a step closer, causing me to automatically take a step back. I was too nervous to reply.

"You don't know what they've done to me!" he shouted. "What a monster he's made me into!"

"I-" I began to say as he drew nearer and nearer towards me, but he cut me off, saying, "You don't know a thing about the world you're dabbling in, so stop messing with my plans!"

"I will if you stop breaking into our place!" I shoot back, then instantly regret it. My words seemed to be the final straw, because he launched into attack mode with the bat he carried. I blocked just in time with my own, saving my head from a potentially deadly blow. So much for being civilized, I thought as I blocked another swing of his bat. Luckily, I had the advantage of two free hands, whereas he carried the box of serum in his other hand. Please stay hidden, I silently begged Dakota.

We dueled with our bats; the stalker was more on the offensive side than I. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold him off much longer. He finally managed to land a blow to my side, and while I was caught off guard, he kicked me sharply in the stomach, causing me to fold like a -- well, something that folds fast and easily. A folding chair? Yes, but that just doesn't sound good as a simile.

The stalker was about to deliver the final blow, to knock me out at least, when a voice sounded from behind me.

"Stop." The stalker froze. Dangit, Dakota! I thought. Did I really just do all that for nothing? "Don't you dare lay a hand on her." The silence that followed was filled by ragged breathing.

"You look . . . familiar . . ." the stalker trailed off.

"My name is Dakota. Dakota Syphus. And you better leave before the cops come." The stalker laughed again, that same horrible laugh as before.

"Ah, Nelson's boy. Didn't expect to see you on this side of things. You're just like him, though."

"I am nothing like him."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, boy. Just look at you now; so stuck up in your own controlling ways you lie to try to protect your friend because you think you know everything. You think I'm a bad person, don't you?"

"Anyone who hurts others for their own gain is a bad person," Dakota declared.

"Not so long ago, I believe, you hurt your own friend here to please your dad, to keep yourself out of trouble with him."

"I . . . That was different," Dakota stuttered. "I was different." I noticed how Dakota's hand seemed a bit antsy, as if it was just itching to throw a punch.

"Really? If you're so different, prove it now that you won't hit me over the head with that bat of yours." Dakota's determined expression wavered.

"Aha!" the stalker exclaimed with a laugh, "I've beat you at your own game. If I try to hurt her, you'll have no choice but to attack me, making you a hypocrite and a fool. So, unless you want that on your conscience for the rest of your life, we'll have to come to an agreement. You come with me, and I leave the girl here, safe and unharmed besides maybe a bruised side."

"That's not fair," said Dakota. "You can't just kidnap me."

"Life's not fair, kid," the stalker snapped. "Plus, I'm not kidnapping you if you're coming out of free will. So, what will it be? Are you as self-righteous as you make yourself out to be?"

We waited in breathless silence for what seemed like a full minute while Dakota pondered this decision. Then, a smile creeped onto his face.

"You've forgotten just one small detail," Dakota said slyly. "My father is a liar, and if I'm just like him, then naturally, I'm a liar as well, so in saying that I'm nothing like my father, really I was lying to you, making me exactly like my father, since I lied about not being like my father. So, since I'm like my father because I lied to you about not being like my father, I am also like my father in the way of cunning, since I lied to you about not being like my father. And since I am cunning like my father--" he paused to flick the bat I had been using up with his foot and into his hand. "--I will now go back on my word and become a bad person, even though I said I changed, because I lied, like a liar, just like my father. Cunning, aren't I?" Dakota swiped at the stalker with his bat while the stalker was still trying to work out the meaning of Dakota's confounding dialogue. Not too hard to hurt him, I noted. The stalker yelped as the bat made contact with his glowing mask, too slow to dodge. One of the yellow cords popped loose off the rig, and the stalker made an exclamation of annoyance. Dakota swung again and hit his target again, since the stalker was preoccupied with his broken equipment and box of serum. The stalker stumbled back, scrambled to his feet, and hightailed it down the stairs and out the door.

Neither of us spoke for a minute as Dakota caught his breath. I found myself short of air as well. Apparently I had forgotten to breathe while watching Dakota and the stalker discourse.

"You okay?" I asked finally. He replied with an unsure yes. "Are you really just like . . . him?" I asked haltingly.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know anymore, Payten," Dakota said, taking a seat on the floor next to me. "Maybe it's better for me to just be undecided. That way I'll be safer." He paused, and I knew he was thinking about his stay in the hospital.

"You're scaring me, Dakota," I said with a nervous laugh. "Don't talk like you're going to hit me with a shovel again." I said it jokingly, but I realized a moment later it was definitely the wrong thing to say.

"I've been raised to be a bad person, Payten! It's all I knew before realizing how wrong it all was." His voice cracked a little at the end, causing me to wonder if he was crying. I decided to keep my mouth shut after that.

He stood up to go get the walkie-talkie that was on the floor near our hiding place. "All clear here," he said into it.

"Any trouble?" Matt's voice came over the static.

"No," Dakota replied, giving me a knowing look. "Payten and I are fine, but I can't say the same for the Apple II."

"Okay. We'll come inspect the damage. Do you mind coming over to Blue Base to let us out?"

"Not at all."