A Dupe Jones | « Part 2 »

part two

Ava covertly watched Zan through her lashes. They had walked about five blocks up Broadway without speaking. She didn't know what this was about, but she was glad he brought her along. She was rarely ever alone with him. She wondered if he was finally gonna do her. Ava was sick of Lonnie and Rath's insinuations about how good it was between the two of them. Why didn't Zan want her like that if they really had the hots for each other in their past lives? And if she asked herself if she really loved him, she couldn't definitely say yes. She definitely wanted him. She even respected him, but she didn't really know Zan. He never let any of them too close to the person behind the leader.

"Yo," he said breaking into her reverie.

She glanced at his profile, then turned away frowning, feeling like a cornball. Why should he excite her so much like he was something new? She saw him every friggin day. But still...she knew for a fact that several girls had enjoyed his attentions - briefly - and she was mad jealous that she hadn't been one of them.

"What's your malfunction?"

"Huh?"

"You can't be hanging out alone. It ain't safe."

"I just need to chill by myself sometimes. I was at the crib. Ain't nothing gonna happen there." She hid a little smile, pleased that he seemed to care, even if it was only the 'Leader of the Alien Troops' kind of caring.

"Why you need to chill so much all of a sudden?"

"Tck! The rest of y'all do it. Why not me?"

"That's different. No more hanging out alone. That's it."

Ava bit back some sharp words just in time. What the h*ll difference did it make what she did? They all treated her like a little dork anyway. Sometimes she felt like leaving them and forgetting all the destiny sh*t Korn had pumped into them.

"Ava, man, you listening to me?"

"Yeah, I'm listening."

They walked on in silence. Broadway was still alive south of Houston at 3am. Zan stopped to talk to some old head punk guys he knew. And of course, out of the friggin blue, a couple of punk girls came drifting over with the dumbest come-on lines she'd ever heard. Ava wanted so badly to reach out and burn their ugly hair, but she wasn't too good with her powers. Anyway Zan would go ballistic if she did, so she just watched them with looks that really could have killed if she were Lonnie. Now that was one creep scary b*tch. No lie! Anyway he insisted they only use their powers when necessary or when no one else was around. Most of the time Zan really wasn't any fun. He said 'no' more times than a career virgin with a tight frame. She watched him now, deep in conversation, but she knew part of his brain was constantly on guard, aware of their surroundings and who was standing where.

Finally he motioned for her to come on. On their way back home, Ava kept staring at her favorite burger joint as they passed by it. She was debating whether she wanted a Monterey Jack enough to bother saying anything when she tripped on the uneven pavement and feel on her knee. She screamed through gritted teeth as she lay on her side unable to move it.

"Lay straight on your back, Ava." Zan hunkered down and placed a hand on it for two seconds. "You a'ight?"

"Yeah, thanks."

He pulled her to her feet. "You need to watch where you going. What's the matter? You hungry again?"

"You know it. That Chinese goes right through me no matter how much meat's in that jawn."

He smiled wryly. "A'ight."

He took her in and bought her what she wanted. And he didn't even rush her like the others did because she always ate a lot and always ate slow.

***** ***** *****
A couple days later Korn showed up. It was about 11am and three of the Four were asleep. Zan insisted that at least one of them be awake at all times to guard the others. It was Lonnie's shift. Korn came up behind her.

"You gotta do better than that if you trying to sneak, Korny," she drawled without turning.

Korn came around to face her. Lonnie looked him up and down. His taste in looks wasn't bad, but nothing really to write the home planet about. For all of the ten years they'd known him he normally appeared in the shape of the last person he killed, some slender preppy dark haired Joe College type - or so he claimed. She doubted that 'cause that would mean he hadn't burned anybody for ten years. Even though he seemed to bounce from nervous, whiny weasel to stern, steadfast guardian in the blink of an eye, Lonnie sensed a mean streak in him that she could relate to. She smirked up at him from her usual spread-eagled position on the couch.

"How the h*ll are ya, Korny? Have a seat."

He stared blankly at her without moving. "Wake up the king."

"You're such a winsome guy." She held her hand over the case holding a CD until Eminem's voice threatened to crack the very ground beneath them.

"Yo!" Ava shouted, sitting straight up with her eyes shut tight and her hands over her ears.

Rath leaped up. "Whooo-Hoooooo!" And he started break dancing, spinning agilely on his neck like an 80's revue gone mad.

Korn shoved his hands in his trench coat pockets, his shoulders slightly hunched as he tried to keep from covering his own ears. Thoroughly annoyed he walked over to Zan who hadn't moved from his prone position. Zan stared up at him and casually raised his hand in Lonnie's direction. The music stopped.

"Wha's up?"

"Soon maybe your home planet, Zan - in the form of space dust - if you don't answer the summons."

Zan sat up slowly and rubbed the back of his neck. Ava blinked and turned away. She didn't feel like being turned on as usual by the sight of his bare chest. All she wanted was sleep. They'd all been out extra late that morning.

Zan looked at the clock. "You must be crazy coming up in here this time of morning, talking some bullsh*t."

Korn sighed with exasperation. "Representatives from the four other planets are ready to talk now. They want peace. Even Kivar wants to cut a deal." His eyes flicked over to Lonnie briefly. "The death toll increases daily - by astronomical numbers. At this point no one will really win the war and everyone knows that."

Rath played with his hockey stick. "See, Zan. We gotta go."

Zan looked from him to Lonnie and Ava. "How you know about the summons?"

Korn shrugged. "I'm your protector. I'm supposed to know about these things. So why haven't you answered it?"

"Maybe for the same reason you haven't answered the f*cking question I just asked you. Don't play with me, Korn."

"The orb, Your Highness."

"The orb, My Highness? Really? Well, then you already know why I ain't answered the summons."

"I'm sure I don't--"

"Yo," Lonnie broke in impatiently, "your little communicator ain't where you showed us no more, Korny, so E.T. can't phone home."

The shape shifter turned sharply towards her. "What do you mean, the orb is not there? That's impossible! It's secured."

Rath made a goofy face. "If that's secured, no wonder Antar is all f*cked up." The ball he whacked just missed Ava's head.

"Fool, watch what you doing?"

"Sorry, baby," he said innocently, twirling the hockey stick like a baton. "What I don't get is, why would they try to hide something from outer space in the basement of friggin Bloomingdale's, man?" He laughed. "That's some stupid sh*t, ain't it?"

"Well, this is the same task force that left us in the sewers, Mohawk. Bloomingdale's. Sh*t, why not attach it to a pothole at 42nd and Broadway?" Lonnie said, smiling as Korn's demeanor changed form guardian to weasel.

"Oh no no no! This can't be--I can't--then this changes some things, Zan. I'm afraid the time for talking might be over in light of this...new development--which I'll check out personally of course, but another emissary's been sent as a...back up if the summit doesn't happen as planned. This other emissary--its mission is to physically remove a king of Antar--alive preferably--from this planet."

"It?" Ava said uncertainly.

"You saying 'a king' like there's more than one legit," Rath said.

"Don't forget the back up set of the four of you, the duplicates."

"Ah yeah," Lonnie drawled, "the much debated dupes."

"Debated maybe, but real nevertheless. If Zan One doesn't go to the summit - and it must be the original Zan hybrid that attends the summit - then either Zan One or Zan Two will be removed from this planet. Whichever can be reached first." Only Lonnie's eyes moved as they exchanged a glance with Rath, then slowly rolled to Zan.

"Removed to where? Why?" Ava demanded.

Korn gritted his teeth. "Away form here. I don't know where or for what purpose right now, okay? But I can find out." Then he swallowed, turning to Zan. "I do know that this second emissary will grab you on sight. You could be on a crowded bus or on the toilet." Korn looked around at the others. "In case you're all wondering, once the king is taken, all loose ends on this planet will be...eliminated."

"Whoa, Korn," Rath sputtered. "What are you saying, man? We're the Royal Four."

"Well, now you can see why this meeting is more important than you think. Emissary Two is probably now close by and may or may not have found you yet. If it has, it's doing nothing but watching your movements and waiting for a signal, which because you've been uncooperative, it may be receiving as we speak. Your only advantage is that you might be able to sense its presence. It's a shape shifter of some kind so it can be destroyed - if you get to it before it gets to you. So with these uncertainties in mind it would behoove you--"

Rath mockingly mouthed the word 'behoove' at Lonnie.

"--to answer the first one, the representatives' emissary, in the affirmative as soon as possible."

"But we just told you--" Ava piped in until Zan motioned for her to stop.

Korn shifted nervously under Zan's prolonged stare.

"A'ight."

Korn's chest lowered as if he was holding his breath. "Good! Your Highness, there may be a peaceful end sooner than we think. You'll be revered forever for this. I know it seems too risky to come out in the open, but it's the right thing to do." He looked around at each of them. "It's what you all were made to do. I will return immediately after you attend the summit. Good luck!" Then he was gone.

"So wha's up, brother?" Lonnie asked. "You know that orb ain't there. Korn must really be on crack if don't remember what we told him a minute ago."

Rath looked quizzical. "Yeah but you ain't say nothing 'cause one of yous got the orb. Right?"

"Nah, nobody's got the orb," Lonnie answered without taking her eyes off Zan. "You ain't got no intentions of going to that meeting, do you? You gonna let all our people die."

"What? Man, yous don't have it?? Korn!!"

"Enough!" Zan said. "I can answer the summons and I can go to the summit. But that can wait a couple hours, no matter what the shape shifter said. We don't need Korn and yous don't need to worry about the orb. We need to sleep, yo. I'm taking over the watch."

"That's okay, brother--"

"I'm on watch. That's it."

Lonnie rolled her eyes and lay down. Rath gave Zan a warning glance and lay down beside her. Ava curled up near Zan and was the first to fall asleep. About two hours later the room was full of snoring and Zan said to Lonnie, "You can't fake-snore no better than that?"

"Tck!" Her alert eyes opened wide to glare at him and then she finally turned over, letting sleep claim her.

Lonnie was the first to awaken late that afternoon and as she feared, Zan was gone. Damn!

Around 11 that night Zan was at the top of the Empire State Building. He sometimes went there alone when the city was lit up, and it felt like he was in another reality. He looked with an artist's eye at the scene, but the sense of peace he usually felt there eluded him.

It was clear to him that Korn couldn't be trusted anymore whether he was too stupid, too out of his mind, or too much in the pocket of their enemies. The New York Four were expendable and probably always had been. They were probably just decoys and now they were in danger. But after observing Lonnie and Rath earlier a thought occurred to Zan that really shook his equilibrium. Maybe it was only the king who was in danger.

There were too many questions the answers to which couldn't be anything but bad news. No one was supposed to know about that orb, yet it was missing. If Korn or one of the other Three took it, why did they and why were they lying to him about it? And if none of them took it, then who did and what was the thief doing with it? It was more than just a communicator.

A feeling in his gut told him what Korn said about the second emissary was true. Maybe that's what he felt in the Black Juice and in a couple other places. Maybe this emissary was stalking them - him. And since no one knew that he definitely had no intention of going to a summit where anybody could try to kill him or that he had no way of responding to the invite anyway 'cause he didn't have the friggin orb, he had the upper hand temporarily. But Zan felt like time was running out. It seemed like a good idea to find the second emissary, before the motha found him, and kill it. 'Cause he d*mn sure wasn't going to be taken - 'alive preferably' - off the mothaf*cking planet.

***** ***** *****
It was a little after midnight. Lucia glared at Syn who was bobbing her head and tapping a foot encased in a thigh length black leather boot to the thump of a Linkin Park baseline.

"Syn," Lucia screeched, attempting to be heard, "why did I let you talk me into this again? Do you see him? Do you see?" She thrust a finger in 'his' direction.

A tall lanky boy sporting a crew cut leaned down into her ear. "See who? I can't see nothing."

"Wheat, watch your drink! Don't spill it on me!"

"What?"

Lucia grabbed him and Syn by the arms and marched them over to a slightly less noisy corner.

"Nooo, look you spilled beer on me, Wheat! D*mn!" Lucia was brushing at her red silk blouse fringed around the short sleeves with red glittery shimmies.

"Sorry if I ruined your shoot, Twiggy, but this is the risk of frequenting a place like this - a place where...You. Can't. See. Sh*t."

Syn was barely paying attention to her friends. She was edgy. This was the fourth night in a row that she and Lucia had come to the club. They coaxed Wheat into coming this time so that he could be their ride. It really sucked whenever Lucia's car broke down, which was often. Syn thought maybe she should forget about the whole thing until it happened again somewhere else. After all, if she were meant to know, one day she would know. Besides, her inheritance from Grandma Sena hadn't made her a millionaire or anything, and the Black Juice wasn't all that cheap. But...she was almost obsessed with the memory of that other night. She fingered her black rosary bracelet.

"I know you ain't praying for the souls in here," Wheat said after a swig of beer. "There ain't enough 'amen's' in the world to help these mothas."

Syn smiled. "Not praying this time. It matches my outfit."

Lucia pursed her lips. "You drunk already, Roebuck Wheaton? You know very well the girl's got more rosary bracelets than I got clothes and accessories put together."

"Tolja 'bout calling me that." Wheat held his cup over her head and Lucia grabbed his wrist.

"No! No, Wheat, okay I'm sorry!"

"That's better."

"Touchy, touchy. See Syn, this is what I didn't want to happen. I didn't want to run into David and watch him crawl all over that thing he dumped me for!"

Wheat smirked. "Tawny Lovell ain't just a 'thing'. She's a very good thing, so I heard, and generous if you catch my drift. Guess Davy was tired of waiting for you to give it up. I thought you were over the dude anyway. He ain't all that."

"I am over him. Go chase some females. You're working my nerves right now."

"Nah, not me. These chickens are diseased up in here."

"Whatever. Syn, I can't believe this. It's not jealousy. It's just weird and yucky. Look at the way he's touching her. He used to do the same thing to me." Just then, David spotted them from halfway across the room and his face froze up. "Ol' phony. Bah!" Lucia rolled her eyes and flung up her hand as she twisted with a flourish on her four-inch heels, her red skirt billowing out prettily. "N E way...Wheat, gimme a sip. That's Heineken, right?"

He thrust the cup at her and said, "Earth to Syndara. What are you looking for? You looking all around like the FBI on a stakeout. Why is it so dark in this club, man? You can't tell what you're dancing with until you take it home and then it's too late." Lucia handed him an empty cup. "Oh, you are so ignorant."

"A-heh. Excuse you. Ask somebody else if they would like a drink next time you send one of your 'of age' friends to the bar for you. Okay, chico?"

"That is it. I gotta get away from you. I got my cell phone. Yous call me when yous ready to go."

"How do you like that?" Lucia said, watching him disappear into the crowd. "Syn, this is the fourth night and nothing's happened. Maybe the other night was a fluke. Y' know, a sensory overload or something. Maybe your wires just got crossed with another synesthete like you. Wait, let me get this hair thing." She pinned a lock that had escaped from Syn's upsweep.

Syn sighed with disappointment and spoke into Lucia's ear, "Let's go to the Blue Room. It's too noisy here to talk."

The adjacent Blue Room was almost as dark as the main dance floor but wasn't as stank, in Syn's opinion. Fittingly, it was illuminated by soft blue light and had its own bar. There were mix-matched chairs everywhere surrounding small round tables individually illuminated by little silver lamps in the centers. Gratefully the girls sank down into two huge puffy chairs in a corner and quietly savored taking a load off.

Finally Lucia looked over at Syn's outfit with interest. "Hmm, dressed to kill tonight, aren't we? Ultra short black leather jacket, black leather bra, the quintessential skirt of the same material. But the absolute piece de resistance are these funkadelic shiny black thigh boots! Oh yes, I need to wear this outfit to Jennifer's party next week."

"Tck! I'll think about it."

"Oh please do. And isn't that my ruby navel ring?"

"It certainly is not." Syn laughed. "Would you stop browsing through my clothes while I'm wearing them in public? Thank you."

"Well, I just...Ooo, Syn, look! I didn't know Mickie was tending bar in here tonight."

"You know what that means."

They grinned at each other.

"I'll be right back!"

Syn watched Lucia strut away, admiring her ability to tip on those needle thin heels of hers. A guy approached Lucia while she was chatting away with Mickie at the bar. Syn could see she kept giving him one-syllable answers. Suddenly he stooped all the way down and Lucia punched him hard in the head. Syn was over there in two seconds, her hand already wrapped around the switchblade in her purse. But a very large bouncer already had the guy, struggling to get to Lucia, in a neck clamp. The creep's eyes were full of malevolence. Syn saw a maggoty shade of yellow emanating from him and smelled rotten eggs at the sound of his obscene threats. Mickie was screaming obscenities right back until the bouncer took him out.

"Bastard! I keep telling them they gotta keep him outta here, but he's like the owner's cousin's friend or some sh*t. They wait about a week after one of his little performances and then let him in again. G*ddammit!" She turned sympathetically to Lucia. "First round's on the house for both of you. Be right back."

"Lucia," Syn exclaimed, holding her friend's arm. "Are you okay?"

Lucia patted her short straight hair of which not a strand was out of place. "Oh I'm fine as wine."

"What did he do?"

"I told the worm 'no' once and I don't like to repeat myself. So like a thief he thought he could just take the goodies."

"F*cking freak asshole. Unbelievable!"

"Understatements both. Maybe I should stop wearing red. Shees! Oh now, don't look at me like that. I am fine. I have an Italian father, a Puerto Rican mother, but I'm a natural blond. Honey, I was born cool as ice." With slightly trembling hands, she took the tray of drinks and a bowl of Chex snack mix that a smiling Mickie handed her.

"Don't drop my Sweet Nina Long Island Ice Teas. I made them with extra special care this time. Do not gulp them down. I'm warning you! See, I gave you little glasses of ice on the side. Use 'em!"

"Thanks, Mickie."

They walked back to their seats.

"Oh my g*d, this is so not watered down, Lucia. I gotta pour this on ice."

"Whoo-hoo! Must be 1000 proof. Ice is right."

The time passed uneventfully for them, thank goodness, while they sipped their drinks and laughed, watching some of the locals act out. Then something in the air changed. Syn felt a slight vibration. She leaned forward unconsciously.

"What is it, hon?"

Syn's eyes were wide. "I think it's happening again. Just follow me and don't talk at all, okay?"

"Ohhh-kay. You're the boss lady. Whoo, do I feel funky!" Syn took a giggling Lucia by the hand, pulling her along.

In the main room again they stood along a sidewall and the sensation increased steadily by degrees.

"Oh I meant to - hic - call Wheat. Too loud here. Be right back."

Syn grabbed her hand. "Wait--"

"I'll really, really, really be right back. We gotta go home. I'm done." Lucia tipped carefully away.

Syn felt a small panic rising. The curiosity and sense of adventure that filled the past few days waned quickly to almost nothing. Now she just wanted to be home and safe and bored. She pressed her back against the wall, her breathing becoming shallow as the sensation took on a more definite form. Although she couldn't yet locate the body it came from, she could see a rich ocean of purple edged with gold. Then it became a pure sharp magenta wave that washed over her. It ended up wrapping itself around her securely like a blanket and squeezing her gently like a steady pulse.

She'd never felt anything like it before in her life.

Everywhere bodies were jerking frantically to the wild head-banger music. The only people who were motionless were she and the guy standing just two feet away from her against the wall. She didn't turn her head to see for certain, but she felt his maleness - and a lot more. It was clear to her by the warmly intense suction pulling her body towards his that he was the one. It took considerable physical effort on her part not to stumble over into him. He was ground zero of the whole experience threatening now to make her faint with a real sensory overload.

Oh my g*d! What is he?

The desire to see his face was almost too great to bear, but even greater than that was her desire to get the h*ll away. Despite the fact that he wasn't looking at her, she could tell she had his complete attention by the way the magenta was flowing into her skin. He was after something and wasn't going to just let her walk away. A spurt of adrenaline freed her petrified limbs and before she could break into a dead run like she planned, she was quickly pulled back against a hard body as soon as she pushed away from the wall. She gasped aloud, her head falling back against his shoulder, and he placed a hand on her neck. His arm around her bare waist flexed, pressing her closer and she could feel his heart beating as fast as hers.

After an eternity he spoke into her ear, "Move and I'll end you right here."

Syn hoped that her trembling didn't count. His deep voice, rough yet smooth as butter, ran through her, marking her inside. His warning was frightening, true, but she knew she wasn't in the presence of evil - not with the taste of spicy hot apple cider in her mouth...

« Previous || Next »