Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 07:33:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James <authorjames2002@yahoo.com> Subject: Judgments of a Real Dark Knight 37 Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox. Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros. X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice. Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks. authorjames2002@yahoo.com I also have several online messenger services. If you want to chat with me in real time, email me and tell me the services you use and I will tell you my screen name. Other stories in this universe written by other authors: "Tales of a Superhero Band" "Tales of the New Phoenix" "Tales of a Young Mutant" Chapter 37 All At Once The police arrived to search the hotel room for any sign of Harris. Is mother was frantic. She could not figure out why he would run off. Davey showed her the note and explained, without going into too much detail, that Harris left because of something Davey had done. "Was it because you won the competition and he didn't?" she asked. "No, ma'am," he explained to her. "I did something and it broke his heart. He's heart sick over something I've done." Harris's mother and Davey explained to the police and the police radioed to patrol officers to be on the look out for Harris. They gave out a description and scanned a picture Davey had of the two, sending it electronically to the monitors in the patrol cars. "We'll find him," an officer reassured Harris's mother. "Just sit tight and let us do our job." Harris's mother cried. When Davey tried to comfort her, she would have nothing to do with it. "If it weren't for you," she said, "he would still be with me. We would be back in Columbus and he would not have had the silly idea of the impossible come true." "What do you mean by 'impossible'?" "His dreams. He looks to make something of his life with music. He's talented, but I know what this industry is looking for. They are looking for young men like you. And young men like you do exactly what you've done to my son. You promise them so much, and then break their hearts. I hope he doesn't do anything foolish over you. You aren't worth it." Harris's mother stormed out of the hotel room and slammed the door. Davey turned and sat for a moment, thinking about all that happened. "I have ruined his dream. Everything that he hoped for has been crushed thanks to me." As Davey sat, he began to cry, knowing that the repercussions of his choice could be life-shattering, including his own. "All at once I finally took a moment and I'm realizing that Your not coming back And it finally hit me all at once" Harris walked down the street in the rain. He thought about how wonderful his life had been, even after he made the fateful decision of protecting Davey's life, as well as the lives of the mutants in his high school. It seemed after that moment, his dreams were coming true. He became part of something that was bigger than him. He made a difference. He found a boyfriend that he loved and he thought loved him. He came to Orlando to attempt fulfillment of his dream of music. He never once regretted that decision, until tonight. "All at once I started counting teardrops and at least a million fell My eyes began to swell, And all my dreams were shattered all at once In their respective places, Harris as he walked down the rain-filled streets, and Davey, as he stood on the balcony, the rain pouring over him. "Ever since I met you You're the only love I've known And I can't forget you Though I must face it all alone Davey turned and walked to one side of the balcony. "All at once, I'm drifting on a lonely sea Wishing you'd come back to me And that's all that matters now Harris, as he walked past couples holding hands and laughing as they ran through the rain, sang: "All at once, I'm drifting on a lonely sea Holding on to memories And it hurts me more than you know So much more than it shows All at once Harris noticed a police car, realized that the police would be out looking for him, and he jumped into a nearby alley. He didn't want to be found. He didn't want to face Davey again. "All at once I looked around and found that you were with another love In someone else's arms, And all my dreams were shattered, all at once All at once The smile that used to greet me brightened someone else's day He took your smile away And left me with just memories, all at once Ever since I met you You're the only love I've known And I can't forget you Though I must face it all alone All at once, I'm drifting on a lonely see Wishing you'd come back to me And that's all that matters now All at once, I'm drifting on a lonely sea Holding on to memories And it hurts me more than you know So much more than it shows All at once Davey turned and went back into the hotel room. He decided the best thing for him to do is stay put. Sure, he could go out and look for Harris. He may even be able to find him. But would Harris really come with him back to his mother? Harris would run the other way, wouldn't give Davey a chance to explain what happened. He may even do something crazy, like end his life. Davey didn't want to be the one to stumble across Harris's body, to look upon the lifeless shell of the boy whose heart he destroyed. That was something he would never be able to live with, an image that would haunt him for the rest of his life. "Please, God, don't let Harris die. Somehow, someway, help him. Don't let him kill himself. I'm not worth him dying over." Lance and I decided to let JC stay with us a while. We had plenty of room and we wanted to help him out in anyway we could. Especially Lance. Lance was all too familiar with experiencing losing a husband/boyfriend. We never had gotten the chance to know Blake as well as we would have liked. Had this Vampire War not happened right away, I'm sure we would have gotten to know him better. But we can't spend time wondering about the 'what ifs'. Now is the time to worry about, and what will be as well. When morning came, I got up and headed to class. Lance and JC would stay home and talk. Classes went by rather smoothly. I met up with Christine and we had lunch again. I asked her how many she had. Rubbing her tummy, she said, "Three." 'So,' I thought, 'she already has two. I wonder where the father is and why he isn't helping her.' While Christine went to use the bathroom, I went over to the newspaper and bought one. The front page announced the events of the night before, about a group of clowns attacking the dinner, and about a shadowy figure and a young man stopping the clowns. There weren't any photographs although an artist tried to render what all of us looked like. Needless to say they weren't very accurate. I headed back to the table and sat reading through the paper when I stumbled across a small blurb about several people found dead throughout town. All appeared to have been drained of their blood. 'I wonder if it's the same vampire that I fought at the military base. If so, it might be more than just an ordinary vampire. It could be a psycho vampire that is having fun. I've got to stop the Joker and put an end to the killing.' Christine showed up and we finished our lunch. Then we headed off to Quantitative Methods class. It was a class I wasn't a class I was fond of. We learned mathematical computations to generate statistics for research. It was one of the ways psychology was measurable. Many people believe that psychology isn't a science because it isn't generalizable. That is where statistics come in. With certain mathematical formulas, treatments can be shown as to whether they are able to help patients or not. They can also be used to find the best treatment by using several analyses. It can get pretty confusing, especially the math part, which I was never good with. After class I headed home, saying goodbye to Christine. When I got there, Lance and JC were in the pool splashing around having a good old time. I walked to the edge and knelt down. Lance swam up to me and kissed me. "How was class?" Lance asked. "Okay, I guess. Quant. Meth. is difficult, but that's the non-mathematician in me. Things look like they are going okay here." "Yeah, we're doing fine." "I'm going to go make dinner." "Okay. Come out and join us when you get it cooking." "We'll see," I said kissing him before standing up. I waved to JC and went back inside to prepare the meal. Lance, JC, and I sat outside with glasses of wine. The meal had been finished and the dishes were washing in the dishwasher. The sky was clear and the moon and stars shown brightly. I didn't want to bring up anything that had happened with JC. I didn't want to stir up anything that he might have been getting over. He knew I felt bad for him and sympathized with him. The ball was in his court if he wanted to talk about it. And he did. "I felt his presence as he died." Lance and I were taken back by his bluntness. I took a sip of wine, cleared my throat, and waited for JC to continue. "He entered my mind like he used to. He told me he loved me and that I was his world, his soul, his universe. I didn't want to believe what he was saying, what he was implying. But then I felt him slip away from me, slip out of my grasp. And there was nothing I could do to hold onto him." JC put his wine glass down and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Last night, I thought I felt him at the edge of my mind trying to talk with me. I tried to reach out to him but I couldn't reach him. And I know he's gone and never coming back. He's gone," JC said although he wasn't looking at anyone in particular. "And he's not coming back." He cried and put his face in his hands. Lance reached over and put his hand on JC's knee. "Why did it happen? Why didn't he save himself? He had the power, didn't he? I always thought he would be with me forever, but he isn't. Why?" "We can't always know what is going to happen," Lance said comforting. "I know what you are going through and I asked those exact same questions. When I thought Eric was dead, I felt so lost and alone. I felt like life couldn't go on." Lance's words cut deep. I never wanted him to ever suffer because of me. In some respects, this was a reaping of my actions in the spring. Along with Paul, these were results of me not acting. The telephone rang and I got up to answer it. It turned out to be Professor Xavier. They were holding a memorial service for Blake in New York. He said he wanted to talk with JC. At first I was puzzled as to how he knew JC was here, but then I remembered he's telepathic. I took the phone out to JC and said, "It's Professor Xavier." JC nodded and took the phone. I knelt down by Lance and placed my hand on his wrist. "They are having a memorial in New York for Blake and they want us to go." "When will it be?" he asked. "Probably in a few days." "Will it affect your schooling?" "I don't think so." To Be Continued... This is the last chapter you will see Davey and Harris in. Harris's story will go on in "The Shadow" coming soon to Nifty either in the Celebrity section or the Celebrity Boy Band section. Look for their storyline to pick up in the upcoming storyline "Marvel Knights: Legacy" after "Marvel Knights: Idol" comes to a close. For the low-down on what happened to Blake, read his story "Tales of the New Phoenix". More to come! Comments welcome!