Hi, this story is the result of a writing contest I entered when I went to Senticon in March. The con was great and meeting a lot of my fellow writers from The Den was cool. Here's hoping we can all get together again. I should be thanking some people, but for the life of me, I can't remember who *G*. So, if I've forgotten you, I"m sorry *G*.
Eagle Eye
Delicately exquisite snowflakes fell, caressing the windows, belittling the force of the storm outside. Blair sighed and then shivered as he watched the snow blanket the city in wintry white. The rogue blizzard had roared into Cascade like a night train, not giving those practicing the sweet science of meteorology time to send out a storm warning. The flight of the storm from the deep water of the Pacific had instigated a dead drop in the temperature and overnight it had lain siege to the city, knocking out power everywhere.
He felt like an iceman and everything was in shades of black or white. Blair looked around the loft and made a note to go and check on the girl next door. He remembered how the last outage had awakened the twelve year old and brought her over to his door with a plea to please "light my fire", because her mother didn't allow her to. Her mom worked the night shift and something in the girl made Blair feel like his brother's keeper. He turned from the window, fighting the storm's attraction and wished for a moment he was a sentinel too, dead certain he'd look like the loser in a game of blind man's bluff before the night was out. With Jim gone, he was the designated switchman for the generator, and he stumbled and cursed his way to the kitchen looking for a flashlight. Light and keys in hand, he made his way out the door and along the wall to the stairs, and carefully went down. He wouldn't get a second chance at life this time should he break his neck falling down the stairs in the dark. His remembrance of 'that' incident drew a shudder, and he stopped until it passed. Blair felt his way down the stairs and over to the basement door. The sounds of breaking glass and laughter reached his ears and he decided to investigate. Quietly he went outside, sliding against the wall, the darkness his friend as he explored. Two teenagers in warriors jackets were throwing bricks through car windows.
"Cool, Jake, that was a three point shot."
"No way, it was a four point shot, if anything."
"It looked like a foul to me," Blair interjected loudly from his spot against the wall. "Either way, I think you guys need to call time before you get into trouble. You get caught and you'll be finding spare parts for those cars for the rest of the season."
The kid on the left looked at him for a moment, then shook his head, the trance resulting from Blair's unexpected appearance vanishing and asked, "Are you the real deal, or what?"
The second one answered, "Yeah, Alec, he's the neighborhood watch, can't you tell?"
Blair sighed and stepped away from the wall, "Come on, guys, you don't look like America's Most Wanted, but it isn't very smart to be trashing cars near a cop's house."
The kid laughed, "Smart Alec...? Those are two words you don't hear together much." He gave another chuckle as he moved closer to Blair. "Hey, Alec, how about we play a game of keep away?" Jake asked his friend, then rushed Blair and gave him a hard shove. Alec appeared behind him and gave him a rough turn before pushing him back in his partner's direction. The teen made a move to grab him, then jumped out of the way. Blair's body careened into the wall, and he bounced off. He fell to the ground, his head hitting the walk with a thud. Neither boy moved, both afraid they'd killed him. The teens looked around for any private eyes that may be prying, then looked at one another, surprise and fear a mirror image on both faces.
"Come on, we gotta book."
"No way, man. We can't just leave him, Jake."
"Alec, he knows a cop. The pigs find out we did this and we'll be Prisoner X on the next bus out. That's IF we make it. Killin' cops starts one hell of a vendetta. They find out we're the killers... the pigs make payback an art."
Alec looked undecided.
"Man, this is bout survival. Come on, we gotta pull a disappearing act like now."
Jake took off, mumbling about their secret, not waiting to see if Alec would follow. Alec took a last look at Blair's unmoving form on the ground, and the growing red ice around his head, and started breaking ground to catch up to his partner.
Hospital sounds tickled Blair's ears and he struggled to open his eyes. One eye opened and quickly closed again, the light was blinding and he didn't want to give it a second chance to increase the pounding in his head.
A hand on his arm and a quiet, "Welcome back, sleeping beauty," convinced him to try again. He turned and, opening his eyes, looked into the warm face of his partner. "About time you woke up. If I'd had to look at another minute of Time Life's 'Poachers Out Of The Past'... How you feel?"
"Sore," he answered after a minute. "Did you...?" he began and groaned.
"Get the guys that did this?" At Blair's nod, Jim continued, "Yeah, they caught the kids at Crossroads and cornered them at the dead end on Blank Street, they're downtown. A lawyer showed up, and they've since taken a vow of silence. Soon as you're able, you'll have a reunion in front of a line up and the case will be closed. You meanwhile, have a severe concussion and will be spending the next two days here." Blair groaned again. "I know, buddy, but you need the downtime, okay?"
Blair grunted and then yawned. He was fighting to keep his eyes open and his sentinel knew it. He pat Blair on the arm.
"Go to sleep, buddy, I'll be here when you wake." Jim leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially, "I have an inside man here, she pulled strings. I'm not moving."
Blair smiled weakly and allowed his eyes to close. Jim leaned over and rest his arms on the rail. It had been too close, again. The debt he owed to whoever watched over his partner got bigger and the pain in his heart vanished. His mother used to say that love kills the pain inside and, as long as the pennies from heaven continued to fall his way, his guide would be there to kill the pain. The sentinel sighed and lay his head on his arms. It had been a long and stressful night and, as the energy left from the hours spent worriedly pacing the waiting room left him, his eyes grew heavy. With a final check on his friend, Jim allowed the exhaustion barely held at bay to claim him and he fell into a peaceful slumber.