Schism

Chapter 24 part 2

The voices stood in a wall in front of the car.  No, leave, The Hunter said.

He does not understand yet.  Go, The Advisor said.  It is not safe.

The Caretaker took a step toward him.  You need to rest.  Go somewhere safe to rest.

William shut his eyes, felt himself teeter to the side.  He opened his eyes again and his balance came back.  "Shut up.  Leave me alone."  His voice croaked out in a whisper, but the detective looked from William to the air around him.

"Not you," William said to Bryan.  He leaned forward, put a hand out onto the hood of the car to keep from falling.  As he eased himself down to the street, the car door opened.  Bryan stood above him.

"You smell like gasoline."

William had hoped to find Bryan here, even though the voices had been warning him away the whole time he had staggered from the burning storage garages to Jessica's building.  He was hungry and desperate to sleep on something other than concrete and rags or a tarred roof.  Even his old hospital bed would be welcome and comfortable.  He hadn't even thought of how bad he must smell.  "Yeah, I think they wanted to kill me."

He turned his head, saw Bryan holding a yellow and black plastic gun, a taser.  That was all he needed, a jolt of electricity from the man he had hoped would get him something to eat and a place to sleep.  "Jesus.  Put that away," he said and motioned to his own body, sitting in the middle of the street, back against one of Bryan's tires.  "Does it look like I want to fight you?"

The gun lowered slowly.  He watched the detective throw it into the car and squat nearby, just out of arms reach.  What had he done to make Bryan not trust him anymore?

"Did you set my car on fire?" Bryan asked him.

"What?"

"Did you set my car on fire?" the detective asked again.  Bryan's face was tense, his jaw muscles tight.

He felt far too tired for a stupid question like that.  Mickelson had come back to the alley after William had shown him the memory.  They had compared notes about the big fires.  William had thought they were working together.  And now, the detective thought he had blown up his car.  "No.  Why would I do that?" he asked. 

But the tension didn't leave Bryan's face.  William waited for another answer and finally looked down at the burnt patches on his stolen coat.  It would do an even worse job of keeping him warm if he had to sleep outside again.  "Pretty pathetic, huh?  Those people calling me that stupid superhero name...if only they could see this."

There was still no response from Bryan.  The fog swirled thicker and began to cloud his thoughts.  You need to leave. The Advisor said.  It is not safe here.

William shook his head.  He pressed his palms on the pavement, tried to drive the fog away and reclaim his thoughts.  The ache from his stomach, tired legs, bruised elbow and shoulder joined in and helped clear the fog away, but not the mental fuzziness.  He realized that exhaustion was making it harder to think.  What had he been saying?

"That show.  The Night Stalker.  The one about the rakshasa scared the crap out of me when I was a kid.  For weeks I thought anybody I trusted could be a monster."  As he looked over at Bryan his thoughts cleared.  William's brow furrowed and he looked away.  He thought through the places he'd been over the last few days, all over the city.  He thought through all the things he had seen, verifying the things he hadn't seen.  "Why aren't there any swastikas?"

"What are you talking about?" Bryan asked.

"Haven't you seen that episode?"  Finally, the detective responded...a shake of the head.  William went on.  "There were swastikas painted on the walls all over town in that episode.  It's originally an old Hindu symbol used to ward off evil.  Why aren't there any here now?"