Red Rain

Chapter 13 - Man In The Wilderness

"Alex? Alex? Yo, Alex! What are you waiting for? WAKE UP!"

"Huh? Whassamatter?"

My voice is a bit slurred as I snap out of my daze. I look around and see Steve standing behind me under the streetlight.

"Why'd you zone out, huh?" Steve asks. "And who was that guy? Did you see his face? Did you know him?"

I look down at the fountain again, half-expecting the tall guy to rise back out of the water at any moment.

"I think..." I whisper, my voice faltering. "I think I might've just met my dad."

"How can you be sure?"

"He looked just like Gabe," I say, still looking into the fountain. "I mean, we always suspected Gabe would be practically a clone of the guy, 'cause he looks nothing like our mom. But that was just freaky, seeing the real thing up close and personal like that."

Steve rubs his scarred neck and looks into the fountain as well. "So he actually just jumped in...and dissolved?"

"That's what I saw, too."

"Holy shit," Steve whispers. "It's true. That must mean...oh. Oh God. It all happened exactly like we thought."

"Now what do we do?" I wonder.

Steve turns away from the fountain and looks up the street. "He should be here any second now," he says.

"Who's 'he?'"

"Hang on, I'm gonna ask Crowe..." Steve begins, taking his phone out of his pocket.

He's interrupted as Freddie appears next to me, out of breath like he'd just run across the street. "Was that the guy?" he asks.

Steve's busy texting Penny, so I fill Freddie in on this latest development myself. His reaction is almost the same as Steve's, except he goes for more heavy profanity.

"He's almost here," Steve says afterwards, closing his phone. "Crowe says they've just crossed the town line. That should put 'em here in about a minute."

"Again, who is this guy?" I ask.

Ninety seconds later, my question is answered as a black Acadia Denali double-parks outside the hospital, and its driver jumps out mere moments after shutting the ignition off. He's even taller than the guy I just saw, but not quite as greasy-looking. In fact, he's wearing a nice suit - although I have to wonder, do light blue ties really go with brown suits?

I see his profile for a quick moment before he steps into the hospital, and recognize him by his long, broken-looking nose. I don't actually know this man all that well, but I have met him once or twice at the bookstore. He's Paul's dad, Robert Smythe, co-owner of Smythe and Darknell Books.

Steve and Freddie beckon me to follow them into the SUV.

"Are you guys sure about this?" I ask. "I'm already gonna be in deep enough shit as it is. I'm not supposed to be here. Balthazar's on lockdown."

"Need I remind you that the Aqua Killer has now gotten into the school undetected twice?" Steve points out. "Get in, dude. We're going somewhere safer tonight."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because Mr. Smythe knows how to keep the Aqua Killer out of his place," Freddie says. "We'll let him explain, it's better coming from him anyway."

"Wait, we're not going to the halfway house?" I ask.

"No," Steve says. "Live people aren't supposed to be in there anyway. It's just that Mr. Smythe owns the cabin where the gateway back to the halfway house is hidden."