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So that I can see
All the things I’ve left behind
What’s missing in me?
- "I Wanna Be With You" `BSB`
"What the-"
"Bone, it's only me! So you're making the rounds again, huh? And on this planet?"
"Bone" sighed and smiled at his friend who was even shorter than himself. The man wore his dark brown/black hair down, letting it reach his shoulders. "D, ya scared me. And I'll have you know that I am having quite a successful night. Already got three ladies lined up for later," he made a glance behind him in the direction the last girl had gone, and his smile turned wicked, "and one teenager at my call."
"AJ! Teenagers? What are you doin'?"
"Relax, Howie, I'm not gonna do anything to her. Of course, she probably thinks I will, but I won't. Maybe dinner if I ever see her again. Is that ok?" AJ wondered, exasperated.
"You make it sound like such a chore, but yes. It is better if you don't do anything to her," Howie replied, stressing the word "don't". He then sat down at the bar next to his friend. They'd known each other for a couple of years now, after meeting at that very nightclub, and had become friends at first glance. Neither of them could understand it. They were two totally different people, with way different beliefs... and morals. But something inside each of them just called to the other. "Seriously, though, AJ. Why are you here? I thought you said you weren't coming back."
AJ was silent for a moment. He wasn't sure he wanted to confess his reason for returning. About a year ago he had left Palnikotae. He had an unknown past on the planet. Thirteen years before, something had happened to him. He must have been so young then. Though he wasn't sure of his age now, he knew he was only somewhere in his early twenties. But because of whatever he'd gone through, he couldn't remember anything of his past from before it. Being on Palnikotae only reminded him of the missing part of his life, and he hated it. He'd never even been able to tell Howie about it, even though he considered him to be the only person he could truly trust. Instead, AJ had just let it be known that he hated the planet and had never really given a reason. Now something was pulling him back to the horrible place.
"I don't wanna talk about me. What about you? What were your plans for this fine evening? Gonna find a girl to hang out with?" AJ asked, changing the subject. He did wonder about it, though. He was slightly curious about his friend being at the club, a place he hadn't seen Howie at since they'd met. However, AJ had to admit to himself that Howie was a very good dancer, like himself.
"AJ..."
"Howie, please. I don't wanna talk about it right now. Ok?"
As much as he wanted to pursue the topic, Howie heard the pleading in AJ's voice. Something was definitely going on. He knew that he and AJ would have to discuss it later, but he'd let his friend have it his own way for now. Smiling to let AJ know that he had won, Howie thought of how he could possibly take his mind off of the disturbing subject for a while. He looked around the club at all the people. "AJ... we'll talk about this later. I just wanna have some fun for tonight. My nerves have been on edge lately, too. How about a night of relaxation!?" Howie proposed.
"If you find a woman, I doubt there will be any relaxing..." AJ mumbled, hoping only for a tease and relieved that he could be himself for a while. Howie ignored it, knowing his friend well by now and no longer alarmed or offended over such remarks. Disappointed and yet amused by being ignored, AJ scanned the dance floor. There were some good lookin' women out there. And some entirely-too-full-of-themselves boys, as well. He thought it was time that he showed them all how it was done. "Ya know, Howie, it's not rest that you need. What you need is to get back on your feet. Ya wanna go out there with me and wow this crowd?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"C'mon! It'll be fun! I can't wait to see him! Mom told me I should wait until the ceremony actually starts, but who knows when that will be! I don't wanna wait!" squealed the little blonde-haired boy. The other boy followed the first, excited as well, but a little hesitant.
"I dunno if we should. You know, if the ceremony does start soon, and we aren't there..."
"You're just afraid of what Kev will do!"
"You know he can whip you! He can whip us both! And he has before."
"Eh, don't worry 'bout it!" the blonde one said right before entering a room, one of many along the endless corridor. He moved throughout the halls with the ease of someone who had lived there his whole life.
The second boy went inside the same room a moment after the first had. Only, when he entered the room, he was surrounded only by a cold darkness, filling him with an overwhelming sense of loneliness and sadness. Emptiness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You can't tell me everything's not ready! The park opening is tomorrow! Have you gotten the president's call yet? He hasn't called? Why the hell not? Then you call him! I can't... I've got all this paper work to fill out about our sponsors and some guests. Please, do this one thing for me? Please? Oh, thank you so much, Joanna! You know I love you, right? Yes, I'm aware that I owe you a big one this time! Thanks again! Bye... yes, ok a three week vacation... Canician Sea? That can be arranged. Bye-yes, yes. All prepaid, sure... plane, hotel stay... everything... ok seafood dinners every night... gotcha! Ok... is that it? All right! Bye!" the man hung up the phone and took a long, deep breath. Sitting back into his wheeled black leather reclining chair, he surveyed everything on his desk and all the posters on his office walls.
Sometimes he wondered why he went through everything that he did. Then he just looked out the window or at his walls, and all the images of the pollution destroying the world and the environment reminded him why he had ever started this job. The funny thing was, he didn't look like an environmental person at all. His dark hair and no-nonsense demeanor said business. It was only in his beautiful green eyes that one could see his love for the world and compassion toward others. And no matter how many species or wildlife regions he saved, he was always worried that his next project would fall through.
"Kevin? Ya in here? Ah, you are! What's up, Baby? Almost done in here?" Kevin's surprise turned into delight when he saw his wife's face as she walked in.
"Actually, Kristen, I got a little more to do. I was just talking to Joanna, and she's gonna see about the president making it to the opening tomorrow. Apparently he hasn't called back yet. But anyway, I still have some information about our sponsors and the people on the guest list to be filled out," he admitted. He really wished he could have blown off the work. It was rare that he got the chance to spend his time with his wife. They'd been married almost a year now, but both were so caught up in the environment and their projects that not much time was spent on themselves.
"Oh, that's ok! I can stay and help you, if you don't mind. I have no immediate work to be done right now. And I'd rather be with you for a while..." she confessed, feeling a little awkward. Kristen wasn't someone who liked to just go around telling her feelings to people, even if Kevin was her husband. She didn't regret her admission as soon as she saw him visibly brighten.
"No, stay, stay, please! We could go out later and get some dinner after this. I should think that with two of us working on it, we could get this done pretty fast." With a smile of silent agreement, Kristen sat down in a nearby chair and started to look over some of the papers. She stopped when she noticed the unsettling look in Kevin's eyes.
"Kev? What's wrong?" she asked, stopping to see if he'd answer, and then repeating her question as he sat in silence. Seemingly coming out of his daydream, Kevin shook his head and tried his best to force a smile.
"I dunno, Kristen, I just had a weird feeling. I keep thinking that all this work I'm doing for the environment is useless. Like I'm not seeing the big picture and none of this really matters," he admitted and shrugged, hoping to forget about it.
"Probably just the pre-opening jitters you get every time a new project is about to finish. Don't worry about it. The park will work out!" Kevin just shrugged again. He wasn't convinced. He'd had the pre-opening jitters before, but this wasn't it. This was something different all together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He came up with a start. Looking around himself, the man couldn't tell where he was at first. Realization of his surroundings slowly registered, though, and his heart started to slow down. He could feel it speeding in his chest. It almost felt as though it was about to burst out of his body. Forcing himself to take some deep breaths, he got out of the bed, being careful as to not wake the woman next to him.
Stumbling into the bathroom adjoining his bedroom, he flipped on the light and took a look at the image in the mirror. It wasn't himself. It had been a few weeks since he had actually recognized himself in a mirror. Since then, he always saw some far away boy. Possibly a vision of the child he once was, or someone he used to know. It looked like him... but different. Every time he thought he was close to having it all figured out, his mind came to a blank. He just couldn't remember.
"Brian, dear. Come back to bed," came a drowsy whisper from the bedroom. Moments later, the woman walked into the bathroom. "Sweetie, what are you doing awake now? Oh my... you're sweating. Are you ok?"
Brian looked all down himself. His whole body, his clothes, even his hair. He was soaked through in his own sweat. The room was actually very chilly, though. He had a crazy idea why he might have been sweating, but it didn't make any sense. Not for the past several weeks had it made any sense. "Leigh, I don't know why, but I have been having so much trouble sleeping lately."
"What do you mean? You fall asleep so early. And you have been sleeping in rather late recently."
"I sleep so much because I'm always so tired. By the end of each day, I'm so wiped out, I can't stay awake any later than I have been. And I'm not getting any good sleep. I sleep so long, trying to restore some of my energy, but every time I wake up I feel like I never went to sleep!" Leighanne listened to her husband, worried but in understanding at the same time. For weeks now she had been wondering what was wrong with him, why he was always so tired. She actually thought for a short while that somehow he was sneaking out of the house on her at night. She hadn't held on to that idea for long though, and she certainly was convinced against it now. The only problem now was: if he wasn't just tiring himself out, then what was wrong with him?
Both of them wondered about that very thing right then, and neither of them spoke, for lack of an answer. Brian regretted having told his wife. He had a big enough problem to deal with on his own. He didn't want her having to stress over it as well. "Leigh? Why don't you go back to bed, and I'll get a shower and then come and join you when I'm done?" Leighanne reluctantly agreed, wishing they could talk about it some more. Leaning over to kiss Brian goodnight again, she smiled and left. As soon as she was back under the covers, Leighanne closed her eyes, determined to not think about it anymore.
Brian watched as the woman he loved went back to their bed, and hoped that she would forget about that night. He himself could never forget, though. Almost every night he woke up covered in sweat. And every time he did, it was like he was someone else; he was always panicked and frightened of something. What, he had no idea. But every time he'd snap out of it and realize that he was just in his bed. It was like having a reoccurring dream, but he never remembered it if there was one.
Slowly turning on the shower, Brian watched as the hot water streamed down onto the shower walls and floor, not really seeing any of it. For a moment, he thought he was looking at something else, or rather, seeing through something. It was like looking into a darkness for any hint of another side. But there wasn't anything there; he began to shiver uncontrollably. All of a sudden, there was a unnerving scream, the sound of a small child, before the vision faded, bringing Brian back to reality. He then realized that the sound was just the showerhead's squeal from the hot water.
Frustrated, Brian just stepped into the shower, not bothering to take off his clothes. He wished the hot water could just wash away his problems and sooth the feeling of dread that seemed to have taken over him. He then sighed, disappointed. Brian knew it could do neither, but at least it could relax his nerves for a short while.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Holy Stars. Holy Stars. Holy Stars. I'm gonna be late. I'm gonna miss it. HOLY SHIT!" Kevin slammed on the breaks just in time to miss hitting the car that had just flown through a red light in front of his car. It just figured that something like that was going to happen on a day as important as that day was. The laws of the universe wouldn't have it any other way.
Continuing the car on his way, Kevin started thinking about the opening ceremony that was scheduled to happen in only ten minutes. There was no way he was going to make it there without getting himself killed or pulled over by a police officer. What the hell? Who cares? he thought, and pushed his foot down harder on the accelerator. Not paying any attention to the street names or the speed his car was now going, Kevin just kept driving on and on until the car made a sharp turn to the right.
"WHAT THE-"
The front corner of his car crashed into a dumpster along the side of the alley. How the hell the car had ever happened to get into that alley was beyond him. Kevin could have sworn that he never once turned the wheel to go that way. Thank car companies for airbags, he thought. A moment later he was cursing the damn airbags as he tried desperately to get out.
Finally stepping out of his smashed vehicle and only means of transportation, Kevin searched for anything around him that might still provide any hope of reaching the ceremony. That's when he heard a ringing sound. "What the hell is that ringing?!" Realizing the sound was coming from his pocket, Kevin sighed at his own stupidity and reluctantly opened his cell phone. "Hey?"
"Kevin! Where ARE you!? You do know that the ceremony is soon don't you? Like a few minutes soon!" he could hear Joanna scream on the other end.
"Joanna! Please, you're gonna have to do this on your own! You can have a two-month vacation anywhere you want, ok? Please, my car crashed... there is no way I'm getting there!" Kevin pleaded, willing her to understand that whether she cared or not, he could not possibly get there. After she agreed, with only the cost of a three-month all-expenses-paid vacation, he turned off his cell phone and headed toward a nearby door. Kevin could only assume it was another dump of a bar. That's all anything was in that part of town. He might not be able to reach the most important event in his career, but he could always get drunk.
The stench of the musty air filled Kevin's nose, causing him to give way to a fit of coughing as soon as he stepped inside. This place was worse than he had imagined the hellholes to be. There was absolutely no lighting except for a lame little neon sign of a woman's chest with beer written on it. He drilled it into his head then and there never to take Kristen to one of those places. And to never return to one period.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hearing the door open, AJ made his way to the counter of his little bar. When he'd come back to Palnikotae, he knew he would need some way to make money, and what better way than running a bar? Other than nightclubs, they were his favorite places to be. And it wasn't like they required any real maintenance. Just the type of job he was looking for.
AJ immediately stopped where he was when he saw his guest. He was tall and had an air of importance around him. Not to mention he was well dressed and clean. Definitely not the type of guest usually at the bar. AJ's guards went up instantly.
"Hello. What can I do for you?" he asked once behind his counter. That's when he saw the look of frustration and disappointment in the man's eyes. Something told him that this man wasn't a threat.
"I doubt you can actually give me what I'd like, but how about a beer? Ya got that?"
"Of course I do. Hold on," AJ answered as he went toward the refridgerator to retrieve what'd been asked for. Kevin just sat there, worried about the park and his wife. If anything went wrong at the ceremony, not only would he blame himself, his wife wouldn't be able to console him and would only end up blaming him as well. Of course, he knew she cared about what he felt, but she was a practical person, and he knew she would never lie to him by telling him "it wasn't his fault." Furthermore, she wouldn't make that lie to herself, either. They'd both spent lots of time on that project, so he'd be ruining all of her hard work, not just his own. "Here ya go."
AJ's comment along with the beer bottle in front of him brought Kevin out of his daydream. AJ's expression suggested that he wouldn't mind talking to Kevin about whatever it was that was so obviously bothering him. Kevin had always seen the bartenders in the movies solving every drunk's problems, so he half-nodded and sighed the signal for an "ok." This wasn't a movie and he wasn't drunk yet, but what could a try hurt?
"What's up? You look like shit," AJ stated the obvious. Kevin started to laugh. He'd never expected a bartender to be so blunt, or so true.
"Well, I just blew my latest campaign by not being able to make it there. My wife will probably never forgive me. And now I plan on getting drunk." AJ nodded in understanding. Getting drunk was always good. He liked the way this man thought.
"So what was this campaign about? And how was your wife involved?"
"Environmental thing actually. My wife and I and several other people in our organization have been working on this new park which was supposed to be about educating anyone and everyone about how to help the environment and the wildlife. It's free, so that's how everyone could learn. It would have so many branches to it, and the first was opening today on the other side of the river. But obviously, I'm not there. My dumbass vehicle is actually in the alley outside of here."
"Are you Kevin Richardson?" AJ questioned, surprised at who was sitting in his bar. Most anyone on that planet had heard of the man, being that there wasn't much of anything he hadn't saved.
"Yeah... that's me. Unfortunately. Anyway, what's your name?"
"AJ."
"AJ? What do the initials stand for?"
"Alexander James."
"How 'bout I call you Alex?" Kevin wondered, not liking the idea of just calling someone by their initials all the time.
"I'd prefer AJ," AJ said with a dark authority behind it. It wasn't till then that Kevin had noticed the muscles in the small man's arms. His whole body was now rigid, suggesting no argument. AJ didn't know why, but being call "Alex" annoyed him more than anyone could ever understand. It was just another thing that reminded him of his unknown past, but there was something more to it that he doubted he would ever be able to explain. They were both saved when a third man entered the room, releasing the tension.
"AJ? What's up? Who you talking to down here?" Howie wondered as he stepped into the bar section of the building. After last night, AJ had invited him back to his "apartment," which was above the bar. They stayed up all night catching up with each other. AJ still wouldn't fully explain why he hated Palnikotae, but they did discuss his reasons for returning.
"Hey, D! You'll never guess who I have in my bar!" AJ yelled back. Kevin turned in his chair to get a look at Howie. It amazed him that the new man was even smaller than the bartender. This man had longer hair that was left down, though, with somewhat darker skin. He had a happy disposition and seemed nice enough. Kevin held out his hand in greeting.
"Hello. I'm Kevin Richardson." Howie gladly returned the introduction.
"I'm Howie Dorough. Most just call me Howie or D. If you're wondering how a pathetic soul like AJ ever made it this far in life, I'm the one to thank." He and Kevin shared a laugh as AJ protested. "So how did Bone, here, ever manage to get someone like you in his bar?"
"Oh... it's already a shitty day this early in the morning, and the Stars felt it fit to add AJ to the list. And what did you call him?" Kevin replied. He liked this Howie guy. He actually felt comfortable around him.
"Bone... he's quite the ladies' man. Or so he thinks." The two joined in laughter once more.
"What's this? 'Diss AJ Day'?" AJ inquired, not so amused.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mr. President? Um... Are you awake?"
"Uh? Wha?" Brian wondered why someone was shoving him in the shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw Orin trying to wake him. "Orin, what are you doing?"
"Mr. President, you have to wake up. We just found out that Mr. Richardson won't be here but-"
"Then why do I have to wake up if he isn't even here? And how many times have I asked you to call me Brian? Or at least Mr. Littrell?" Brian asked the intern. He wished the boy wouldn't act so deathly afraid of him. Brian himself was only a few years older, so Orin wasn't actually a boy in comparison, but he stilled acted like it! What did him being the president really matter? He didn't want to be treated like a someone special and not just another person all the time!
"I'm sorry... Mr. Littrell. As I was saying, Mr. Richardson won't be here, but he has some associates here that you are supposed to talk to instead."
"I didn't want to talk to his associates. This was his idea. This was his project. He should be the one to talk to me..." Brian tried to stifle a yawn just then, "...so find me Mr. Richardson."
"We were informed that he can't get here."
Brian sighed with frustration. Wasn't anything ever easy? And wasn't he ever going to get any sleep!? He doubted that he would have even been able to stay awake while talking to the Mr. Richardson guy even if he had been there. He really needed to do this benefit, though. The media, and therefore the public, had been noticing his elusiveness and sleepiness recently. People were speculating that he had some kind of illness. It wasn't really that far from the truth, though, there was something wrong with him and that was for sure. He and his advisors had planned on working with this new park and some other projects to build back up his public image and prove that he could still run this planet. "Ya know what, Orin? Do we have any means of communication with Mr. Richardson? Anyone know how to reach him?"
"Uh.... yes, I believe so, sir..."
"Then find out where we his. We'll go to him," Brian announced as he closed his limo door again and went back to sleep.
Awhile later, the limo jerked to a stop after making a turn too sharply and waking Brian from his slumber. Drowsily exiting his limo after the long drive, Brian looked around the dank and smelly alley. How the hell would an environmentalist get caught in a place like this? He inspected the smashed car to one side of the pathway, suddenly understanding why Mr. Richardson had never made it to the ceremony. Figuring that he had to start somewhere, Brian started toward the closest door to the car. Before he even made it to the door, his secret service agents were flanking him on all sides and ready in front of him to defend. He sighed. It was times like these that he regretted ever running for the presidency.
Nodding his approval to open the door, Brian waited as the men poked their heads into the building and made sure it was safe. They stepped inside and motioned for him to enter after them. The room was so quiet and dark, and Brian had to stand there a moment to give his eyes time to adjust. Once the area was visible, he scanned the room for anyone he thought might be the man he was looking for.
Four pairs of eyes locked.
The Child