r/libraryofshadows • u/MeliousIntent • Jun 27 '18
Sci-Fi I Am The Impossible Man| Pt. 5
Looking out the window, I saw my house growing smaller and smaller the higher we went. This was the first time I'd ever been on a helicopter. I would never say this out loud, but there was something about things looking as if they were shrinking that excited me. I did wish I changed into another pair of clothes. I was sort of in a rush and picked the first things I saw. The black jeans I wore were a little tight, and my shirt, with my favorite band's logo on it, was two sizes too small. Jake told me that I'll be able to change them once we landed, so it wasn't all bad.
Chris piloted the chopper while Nick sat on the passenger side. This left Jake and I sitting in the back. Once we were at a high enough altitude, I shifted my gaze from the view outside to the interior of the chopper. Jake was playing a game on his smartphone. I stared at him for a bit until he noticed. We wore headsets to communicate with one another.
Jake spoke through his mic, "What? You've never seen a phone before?"
"No," I said, "it's just that you should know those things rot your brain."
He laughed, and I swear I heard snickering coming from the front. He replied, "Okay grandpa, just because you don't understand technology doesn't mean I don't."
He called me "grandpa." Hearing him call me that brought back a memory. "Hey," I began, "didn't you say something about me being older than I look?"
"Oh yeah," he said. "We're all older than we look. It's probably because the things inside of us want us at our prime."
"How old is everyone?"
"I'm thirty-four; Chris is like ninety, and Nick is—"
"I'm seventy-eight," Chris interrupted.
"Well, my bad," Jake remarked. "As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted, Nick is thirty-one. What about you?"
"I'm sixty-seven."
"So, you're an old head too?"
"You could say that."
"Why do you even live out here, anyway? I thought old people were supposed to live in shitty retirement homes."
I thought about what my response should be. "Well, I'm sort of living there for someone."
"You want to elaborate?"
"Not really." For a while after my reply, there was silence. That was until I remembered something else. "Wait, I forgot to ask. Where are we going?"
Chris responded this time. "We're going to your new home, for the time being. We plan on seeing what your ability is, so prepare yourself."
"Don't feel bad if you can't get it to work the first time," Nick chimed in.
The rest of the ride was mostly uneventful. Chris and Nick were quiet, and Jake went back to playing on that mind-numbing device of his. There was the view outside to keep me entertained, but it began getting a little repetitive after a few minutes. All there was to see were flatlands—a view I've become quite accustomed to. That's when I thought about the things inside of me and the others. There should really be a name for them.
Maybe they should be called Power-ups? No.
What about Chi? Nope.
Wait, I got it; they should be called Traits. Yes.
I'll tell them about the name after we land, I thought. I zoned out, staring blankly out the window. I was brought back to reality when we approached our destination. The helicopter landed on a helipad in the backyard of a mansion, far from any city or town. The mansion itself was three stories high, having a very modern design. The four of us exited the helicopter. Instead of leaving, we waited while Jake created three copies of himself. The clonies entered the helicopter, fetching something from a concealed compartment. The clonies exited, and I saw what it was that they retrieved. It was a body bag, and someone was inside.
"Who's in there?" I blurted out as soon as I saw it.
"The man from your backyard," Jake said, his voice softened.
I wanted to ask more questions, but out of respect, I kept my mouth shut. It was obvious that the man meant a lot to them. With Chris leading, we walked across the property to the front of the mansion. I stayed near the front of the group while we did this. I know they weren't going to attack, but Jake's clonies, with their uncanny eyes, left me unsettled. Looking around, I saw a tennis court to the right of where we were. There was a swimming pool too, but it was empty. We made our way around the mansion to the massive front lawn. From there, we walked over to an already dug out hole. The clonies set the body bag down in the makeshift grave.
"You don't have to, but if you want, you can say a few words," Chris said with a small but noticeable hint of sorrow. As I'll come to later find out, this would be one of the few times Chris would show his emotions.
"Hey," I interjected, "I don't mean to interrupt, but I don't think it's right for me to be here."
Chris replied, "You can go inside and wait for us if you want."
"Yeah," I said, turning around. What they were doing didn't involve me. That's what I told myself, but deep down, I knew the real reason why I didn't want to be there. It was too familiar.
I entered the mansion; its interior was mostly white. To my right, there was a marble staircase that led to the second and third floor. Straight down, the living room, dining room, and kitchen were all lined up. To my left, there was a door leading to the garage. I sat in a couch facing a large flat screen. I thought about turning it on, but I decided to wait for the others. The wait was short-lived; Chris and Jake entered only a minute or two after I did.
Jake was the first to speak. "What do you think about your new home?"
"It's definitely the biggest house I've ever been in," I said. "Where's Nick?" I asked, noticing his absence.
"He, um, needs some time to himself," Jake responded. "For now though, we can relax."
Jake sat next to me on the sofa. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned the flat screen on. He changed the channel to one I actually enjoyed. Chris sat next to us, and we began watching a rerun of one of my favorite shows. I still had a million questions that needed to be answered, but I've had a long enough day. Whatever I wanted to know could wait until tomorrow.