Chapter I:
The Beginning of a Legend

It was the wedding day of a very happy couple. Christian Flint and Jane Berry, now Jane Flint had gotten married earlier that day, on the morning of Monday, March 30, 2044. It had been the most beautiful wedding imaginable to anyone at that time. Christian had always wanted to get the bride a wedding present for the wedding, but he had failed to get it before the wedding, but he figured he would get it to give to her right before the honeymoon tomorrow.

“Hey, Jane!” said Christian in the kitchen of his apartment.

“Yes, honey,” said Jane entering the room.


“I want to go out and take a walk for a little while before we turn in for the night,” said Christian, making sure that she didn’t follow him so he could go to the jewelry store.

“Why?” asked Jane.

“I just am wanting some time in solitude and I am not going to get it here,” said Christian.

“So I am a burden?” said Jane, getting upset and beginning to tear up.

“Not at all,” said Christian very abruptly. “I just mean that this day has been very long for both of us, and I just want to take a short walk for a little while before our honeymoon happens.”

“I suppose it has just been a long day on both of us,” said Jane. “I do think that we are both not thinking clearly right now, so just go on a walk, but remember to be back here by no later than two thirty.”

“Sounds great,” said Christian, giving Jane a quick kiss on the cheek before he left.

Christian was an interesting man, though not one of great accomplishments. He was an orphan since the age of three. His stepfather was named Keith Richards. He was probably the best father Christian could have asked for in absence of his true father, and Christian loved his stepfather’s mansion. Christian’s mother had died giving birth, and his father had moved away to New York when he was three, and no one seemed to know what his motives were. About five years ago, Christian got a letter that his father had died in a fire. He was of course devastated, but since the people who sent the letter said they had not found any remains of his father’s body he could not get it out of his head that the whole thing was somewhat suspicious, and that there was someone behind the death or disappearance of his father. The cause of the fire had been ruled an arson case, but the authorities had not ever picked up the arsonist. He had not put much thought into it the past two years, as life goes on, but he had thought about it now, on his wedding day. He had wished that his dad had been there to see him get married. Nevertheless, life moved on.

Keith was the man whom adopted Christian once Christian’s father had left him. He was a fairly tall man, and well built for his age, but he had begun to gain a little weight. He almost always wore a top hat, and his hair was a healthy gray. Keith had always said that he had been a good friend of his father’s, but Christian saw no evidence of it at Keith’s house, which was a mansion outside the city limits. There were no pictures of his father at all, and Keith rarely mentioned his Christians father unless the subject was brought up in conversation. Keith was a retired politician now living a happy life in solitude for the most part, except for the now less frequent visits of Christian and his son Jacob.

Keith had been a major political force in the last decade, as both mayor of Jonston, California and the governor of the state of California. Many people speculated that he would run for president of the United States, but he decided to step out of politics for the remainder of his life, even though he was only in his early sixties. He had been a successful governor, and many people questioned his decision, but he just made it out to look as though he was in failing health, but Jacob and Christian knew that he wanted to go out of politics on a high note.

Jacob, Keith’s one living blood relative, had been scarred by the disappearance of his mother, even more than Keith himself. Jacob had always been close to his mother, and her disappearance changed who he was, even though it wasn’t transparent yet, at home, it was very obvious. He used to be very pleasant and have a general love for life, and he still showed it outside of his home, but inside he had been very cynical about life and had become less pleasant since the death of his mother. Christian could only imagine how he acted at his small apartment across Jonston. He imagined how lonely Jacob was, and his visits to Keith’s had become less frequent over the last year. Christian had not talked to Jacob in nearly two weeks, and he was getting worried about him. Jacob hadn’t even attended Christian’s wedding that day. Keith did, but only stayed for the actual wedding. As soon as the ceremony was over, Keith left the church.


Christian himself lived in an apartment that was closer to Keith’s mansion right near the outskirts of the city, but still within city limits. He had recently moved in with Jane, about a month before their marriage. Besides Jane, Keith, and Jacob Christian didn’t have any close friends. He didn’t know anyone except a couple of people from school whom he had not spoken to except at the fifth and tenth year high school reunions and the people which he lived with. He rarely went to anyone’s house except Keith’s, and he felt alone but often wanted to be more sociable.

Christian had his own hobbies in his free time. The main thing over the course of his life, he built a secret underground house. It consisted of at least ten rooms, and was the size of a small house. It took him nearly all of his life, but he had finally finished the house the last December. He only used two of the rooms, though. One was a simple room with a table made for meeting around. The other was an abstract laboratory made for mixing and heating chemicals and elements. He was an inventor/scientist. The other rooms were miscellaneous rooms, and five of the other eight wouldn’t be used except for holding someone hostage for a while, since there was an iron door that could only be opened by Christian’s handprint from the inside, but had door handles on the outside.

Though it was him who technically had made the underground house, below Keith’s mansion, it had been originally a cavern below the foundation of the mansion, and Christian just built an elevator from inside the cave, and worked up to his closet. He had started the project as a seventh grader, and had completed it two years after his senior year. Though it was secretive, Christian had a feeling that Keith knew about it, but he didn’t care. He only hoped that Keith didn’t know about his secret laboratory that he had built as a secret entrance from one of the main rooms which Christian had used as his personal library. He used it to create chemicals and conduct really strange experiments, most dealing with the human brain. He had only begun to do experiments that year, and acquired the proper materials through the University of California, which he attended, and snuck some of his supplies at the end of Professor Howard Craine’s lectures, and so far as he knew, Craine had no idea that Christian was doing any such thing. Christian was Craine’s favorite student, and his best. Christian had displayed an obvious talent for chemistry and engineering at a young age, and that is why Christian created his own house right below Keith’s, and he had done it on his own. Christian’s engineering and chemistry talents did not only go separate into making his laboratory and house, but it was combined to create chemical weapons. He figured that if he was going to hunt down the killer of his father, he would need to be prepared.

Christian worked as a psychiatrist as well, and was an apprentice to a very well known psychiatrist of California, Dr. Jeremy Maylow. Though his main interests were mathematics and the uses of chemicals, he earned his living by his practice as a psychiatrist, and that had been on a downward spiral lately. Maylow had not been getting along with Christian, and therefore was not referring patients to him as much, and he had been losing the few patients that he had left. Christian had not felt the need to tell Jane that the main source of income was not going too well.

The story begins with Christian riding his motorcycle over to the jewelry store to buy a necklace. He would see if he could get the jewelry store owner to give him the necklace cheap. It was all the way across the town, and he knew the store owner to be nice and understanding. Christian wanted to have the perfect wedding present, but he had very little money because of his practice being so sparse lately.

He got off of his motorcycle and went inside the jewelry store. It was just a normal store with a bunch of expensive jewelry, the perfect place for a robbery. But that wasn’t what Christian would do. There was no one there when he first entered. Clearly this wasn’t the top-notch jewelry store in town. But it was the only thing he could afford. Also the jewelry there was still known to be one of the best.

“Hello,” said Christian at the desk. “Is anyone here?”

Just then he heard someone behind a door beside a case of jewels. They sounded as though they just spilled something. Christian heard a little swearing clattering from the room. The door opened and an older gentleman stood there. His grey hair was very messy, and his skin was all shriveled, but he looked very charismatic.

“Yes?” said the clerk, sounding very annoyed. “Who are you?” Then he realized there was a customer, and quickly changed his tone. “What would you like?”

“I am Christian Flint,” said Christian. “I would like a golden necklace, please.”

“Oh, so you’re Christian,” sneered the clerk.

“Yes,” replied Christian curiously. “How did you know who I was?”

“Mayor Campbell told me to tell you if you came he wanted to see you,” replied the clerk.

“May I ask your name, and if you could hold a necklace for me once I get back?” said Christian before he left.

“My name is Grant Ward. I will hold a necklace for you, if you come back. Now then office is the building after the next on your right.”

“Thanks, Mr. Ward.”

And Christian was off to the mayor’s office. City Hall was on the other side of town, and he had to rush to get there before the mayor went home. It was not easy as Jonston was a fairly large city, probably the second largest in California, and the traffic was a killer. But Christian was used to it, and he was good at getting around traffic. His motorcycle was small, and he could get around traffic easily, though he had gotten in trouble with the authorities a few times for speeding.

There was surprisingly no security in the towering building. It was just a normal office building, except there was only one door on the main floor, and that was the mayors. Christian wondered why the city council men weren’t on the same floor as the mayor. He went over to the door, and hesitated before he knocked. Just as his hand came near the door, it opened. The office was just like any other office, other than the fact that there was a safe under the mayor’s desk. The mayor was not in there currently. Christian thought he would just look around for awhile. The office seemed to be in a trapezoid type shape. Christian kept looking at the safe under the mayor’s desk for some reason. He was puzzled as to why anyone would leave such an important thing in clear vision of anyone who comes in. Christian guessed there was some kind of security system hooked up to the safe lock in case anyone would try to open it. He wasn’t going to try it out in case of something like that, though. He had some strange feeling that the mayor wouldn’t care what his own intentions were; he would send him to prison or worse if he was caught trying to open the safe regardless of who he was. Christian did not know a lot about the mayor, except for the fact that he was the mayor. He knew that the mayor had received some controversy in his younger days, but he didn’t exactly know what happened. Apparently it had not ruined his career, as he was the mayor of a large city such as Jonston.

Then the door opened suddenly and there stood a man whom did not look like a wealthy politician in charge of a city with more than three million people in it. He didn’t look very professional with his hair uncombed and his suit dirty with mud and grass stains. His beard was not trimmed and his shoes torn to the seam. The mayor was not at all tall, but rather skinny for his height. Despite his looks, what little that Christian knew of Mayor David Campbell was pretty much good. He knew the mayor had served in the army during the Third Gulf War back in the twenties, and that could be what wiped out his controversy which clouded his childhood.

“Christian Flint, I presume?” said the mayor in a rather tenor voice

“Yes indeed, Mr. Campbell.” Christian replied. “You wanted to see me, sir.

“It is the eve of your honeymoon, am I right?” said the mayor

“It is indeed, sir,” said Christian, wondering why the mayor sent for him.

“Well, I suppose that you are wondering why I wanted you to see me, are you not?” said the mayor, as though he knew what Christian was thinking.

“That is a major question I have at this moment, sir,” said Christian slowly.

“Do you know anything about what your father left for when he ran away to New York?” asked Campbell.

“Not at all,” said Christian quite shocked at this point as to the fact that this public figure knew his father left New York. “How do you know about my father running to New York? You didn’t even hold public office then. And he left me nothing, for your information.”

“I was a good friend of your father’s as a child,” said Campbell. “That is the first thing you need to know. Second thing is he did leave some items for you. I have one of those items here for you. He left and said nothing except to give it to you when the time was right. Well, I would say the time is right today.”

As the mayor said this, he bent down and got into his safe. Christian was wondering what his father had left him, and why Keith never said anything about it. For his whole life, Christian had believed that his father had run away without saying anything. Mayor Campbell had finished getting the object out of the safe without any difficulty, so he must have had something that detects who is going to the safe or he had nothing at all protecting it. The mayor stood up and held a wrapped package in his hand. He then preceded to hand the package to its owner, Christian.

“Do you know what is in here?” asked Christian.

“Yes,” said the mayor. “But he told me no to tell you and that once you got it, you go strait home and open it, and he wants you alone.”

So Christian turned and opened the door. Then he stopped just before going out. There was one question he just had to have answered. “Did he happen to say why he was going?” asked Christian

The mayor sighed, and said, “I’m afraid not. No one knows why he left. Also, one more thing or two more things I guess. Cheer up, you got married today. Lastly, I would feel much more comfortable if you called me by my first name, David.”

“Very well, Campbell,” and he was off. Christian now had a whole array of questions to ask. For one he wondered if there were any other items, and who was holding them. But he didn’t have time to think about that right then. He had to get back home to his wife. Before he did though, he would go to Keith’s house and open the gift. It would be better if he didn’t open it while Jane was at home with him looking over his shoulder. He would also ask if Keith and Jacob could come to the wedding, as they had said that they were booked for the week and unfortunately could not come. Plus, Keith’s house was a very nice house and Christian was always welcome. Keith was a very wealthy man and had helped Christian out and gave him a life after his father left. Christian had only kept one thing from Keith and Jacob. He was an inventor of weapons and a good one at that.

So when Christian got to the door, he knocked. Five minutes passed and there was no answer. That was odd because Keith always told Christian if he and Jacob were going somewhere. But Christian had the key to the house in case he needed to get in and they were gone. He then proceeded to open the door. Inside was just normal, and there was a sign of life there. Christian sat on the floor and got out the package. It was about a square about the size of a small box. So he tore open the present and sure enough there was a box.

Inside, there were only three things. One was a case that held a necklace that Christian supposed was a wedding necklace that his father left for him when he was getting married. Second, there was a knife that still looked very sharp and had a priceless ruby on the end of it. The last was a crumbled up piece of paper. At first Christian just skipped over it as though it were there on accident. Then he thought twice and decided to get it out. He opened it up and it was a letter, apparently from his dad. It had no date, and it had Christian’s name on it. It read:
My Dear Christian,

I am sorry I have to leave you, and I cannot tell you or anyone why. But it will be for the better in the end. You will have been with Keith for nearly your entire childhood by the time you receive this letter, and I may well be dead by then. But don’t tell anyone about this letter, it is just for you. And especially don’t tell David Campbell, whom I gave this box to. He knows not about the letter. The reason will be explained in this letter.


Enclosed in the box you will find a necklace. It is your mother who gave it to me to give to you for your wedding day in her last will. It was her wedding necklace, so tell your wife to take great care of it. Now to the second thing I must tell you. This knife is a weapon not to be used until an emergency. I’m sure at some point you will figure out a good use for it. The third thing is very important. It has already been stated that nobody knows why I left, and I will not say. But I will say if I here any trouble in the city I will be there immediately.
The last point I want to touch on concerns David Campbell. Do not trust him. He can be your friend, and that is alright. But you cannot trust him. He is a former crook and had a very rough childhood. I know because we grew up together. We were best friends even to college, but one day we were out together and he started to think about needing money. He had none, as his father beat him every day for any money he had. But he just cracked right there and walked right over to the jewelry store and broke the window. I tried to stop him. He resisted. Campbell started getting violent to the owner. So I went over to the phone there to call the cops. David got to me and smacked me across the face with great force. He knocked the wind out of me before I could reach the police. But lucky for me, I always carried a handgun with me, and I was ready to use it. The store owner was beaten half to death but still resisting when I pulled out the gun. When David put his fist to the owner’s throat, I had no choice. I pulled the trigger and hit his shoulder. The police got to him and so did the hospital. He was alright, but he never forgave me for what I did, so he could still hold a grudge on you. Though he puts on a good act, I know that he has still not forgiven me. Know I will always love you, but please listen to what I have said in this letter.








Love from your father,










Robert Flint

Christian was going to follow every word the letter said, and not trust the mayor immediately, because everyone had always said how trustworthy his father had been, and he felt much better trusting his family and not some political official and former crook. He wouldn’t be impolite to him, actually he seemed like a caring guy, but if he were to do anything suspicious, Christian would distance himself from the mayor. Christian wasn’t going to get too close to him before anyway, but this was just a reassurance of what he thought. So Christian was off to the apartment which he and his wife lived in. He was figuring she was worried sick about him being gone so long. Christian was not worried about that, and he would just say that he had gotten into a discussion with some aristocrats at the Café Frentour, his favorite coffee shop. It was named after the owner.

The apartment he lived in didn’t have any security, so when he got back there, he just went strait to his room. He knocked on the door and held the necklace behind his back. He was going to surprise her with the necklace once she opened the door. But the door didn’t open. He had forgotten the key inside, so she had to open it. He knocked again, this time with some force, and no answer came. Now he was getting worried. Jane said she wasn’t going out, and she was always good about sticking with what she said. A half hour passed with the same process and still no answer. So he decided to take action. He took out the knife that was in the package. Now was a good enough emergency. It looked sharp enough to pick the lock. Sure enough when he tried it, the door unlocked. He gasped. At what he saw.

On the floor laid Christian’s wife, motionless and bleeding. Christian ran over to her and dropped what he was holding. Jane was dead, and he started sobbing heavily. He had just lost his new life and the reason for living. He dec
ided to examine the body to see what caused this. Everything was still in tact, but she was still bleeding. There was no wound or a bullet near her, yet blood was spewing from her mouth. Christian went over to his phone and dialed the emergency number. He needed to get the police and the hospital as soon as possible.

“Who is this?” said a deep voice.


“This is Christian Flint,” rushed Christian in a distressed tone. “I need you and an ambulance over at my house right now. My wife has been murdered, at least I think so and I don’t know who did it. And there is no wound or anything. Yet blood is pouring out of her mouth and ears.”

“This is Sheriff Hardy,” replied another voice sternly. “We looked up your address and will be there right away.”

Christian hung up the phone. Then he realized something. No one but his and Jane’s closest friends and family would care. The news anchors might have a story on it, but no one would pay much attention. But all he cared about then was getting revenge. He was going to hunt down the man who killed his wife and kill him with the blade his father gave him. First, he had to find out what killed her and recreate it in a handier weapon to use against enemies.

Christian was also going to find out if his father left him any other trinkets besides the necklace along. But he was sure he needed help. And he was never going to trust the police. He needed a friend to help him, someone who would really care if there was vengeance. And he knew just who to go to. For now though, he had to deal with the police. And as usual with investigations, he would be a suspect, since everyone would be a suspect. He would deal with that on his own time though. Everyone knew he would never do anything to harm his wife. So Christian sat waiting for the police to arrive.

He was in too much shock to cry at this point. He couldn’t fathom anyone doing anything like this. There was one more question he had. Why would someone do this? Jane was always so quiet. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. But apparently somebody thought she was a threat, because she was dead. Christian just couldn’t stop thinking about the bigger story. He was hoping that maybe a cop might know something about the murder.

To be honest, Christian didn’t know that much about Jane’s details as a person. She was much more to herself than Christian would have liked. But, now that he thought about it, she was quieter than usual in the past couple of weeks. Christian thought it was just a side effect that came from the nervousness of getting married.

Christian also had one thing he had to know. How did Jane die? Since there was no wound, it couldn’t be a gun, but there was still blood. Whatever killed her, Christian would use against the killers if the knife didn’t work. Christian knew somehow that this was only the first of many attacks, but he would try to prevent them from happening, even if he had to die to do it.

The police got there within five minutes. And there were plenty of them. At least five police cars pulled to the apartment complex. Christian was told to leave the scene for a time while they use fingerprint detectors for evidence. The sheriff’s car came in at least ten minutes after the police. Following that, there were at least ten other cars that pulled up. Three of them he recognized. One was Keith’s older car, which was carrying both Keith and Jacob. Another was Jane’s parents car, which Christian was anticipating a slapping from her mother. And the last was Campbell’s car. And the rest he guessed were friends and family of Jane he’d never met.

Christian had known Jane for a while, but she never really introduced her family to him. He had asked her a few times, but she always just moved to a different subject, so he never could get to know them. He was not going to ever know them now, he figured. Since he was not going to go over to them right now in this time of tragedy. He was just going to wait for the police to get here with the ambulance.

When the sheriff got there, he got out of the car and went over to Christian. He was a fairly tall man, taller than Christian at least by four inches. His black hair was slicked back and greased. He looked like a well to do man, and somewhat proud of himself as well. This man was no better than the other officers, but he seemed to think he was. The other cops were working he was standing around not doing anything or smoking a cigarette. But he kept moving closer to Christian, and Christian would treat him with respect.

“Are you Christian Flint?” asked the sheriff.

“I am, sheriff,” said Christian

“We will have to take a fair amount of time investigating,” said Hardy.

“Take the amount of time needed to find out what happened,” said Christian. “I will be moving out now as soon as possible. There is nothing for me here but bad memories. I am not going to say much more, but I want to know what killed her.”

“Then can you help us with the part of going to the hospital?” asked Hardy, somewhat brightly.

“I would be glad,” said Christian nervously. “But I do not know what to do with an investigation.”

“Basically all you will need to do is to go to the ambulance and tell them about what happened prior to the murder,” replied Hardy.

“Very well,” said Christian. The ambulance arrived within moments of the conversation. Before the doctors got out, Christian took a good look at Jane and realized something sad. She never had many friends, and any that she had were far away from contact. Then he realized something else. He would never look at her face again. When he remembered that, he started to sob. As he did, one of the doctors came over to him.

“Would you like something, Christian,” said the doctor. “I will tell you Hardy told me what happened, and what you are going to help us with. So come on to the ambulance. I will let you sit by Jane. I don’t usually do that, but considering the state of mind you seem to be in, I will let you.”

“What is your name?” asked Christian after a moment.

“Just call me Ian,” said Ian. “Ian Riley, that is.”

Christian helped Ian get the body of Jane into the ambulance, wiping tears from his eyes as he did. Ian got into the trunk of the ambulance, which was in the front and pulled out a chair. He gave it to Christian without a word and Christian sat in a corner nearest to the body.

“Can you tell what happened to her?” asked Christian.

“Not really,” said Ian. “This isn’t our normal poison cases, and there is not a wound on her. It has to be some chemical, but we need to check it out.”

“Good,” said Christian.” I will not rest until I find out what caused that.”

“I am afraid that it could be several weeks until we figure that out,” said Riley. “The forensic analysis process takes a long time. It isn’t anything we can avoid, but settle down Christian. I understand how upset you are right now, but don’t start getting angry at everyone.”

“Very well, Ian,” replied Christian

On the rest of the way to the hospital, Christian was thinking about the very long day he had. There was one thing that was somewhat good. Christian believed that his dad was still alive, and the package given to him confirmed there were still memories left of him. But a new challenge had arisen. Revenge! He had to find out whom and what killed his wife.

Christian was not going to let Jane’s death go unpunished. He kept wondering one thing. Why was it on the wedding day that the murder occurred. It seemed a little too convenient for Christian to believe it was just a random murder of a street bum who had to get a few bucks to buy food for his family. He would find out if it took the rest of his life.

As Christian thought through these things, time passed quickly, and he dosed off in a deep sleep. He had a dream about Jane and he later in life after all the kids had graduated and they were laughing on a deck of a well to do home. It changed halfway through to Christian being in a battlefield against Campbell and some of his followers with a weapon he didn’t know existed. He shot it at an oncoming follower of Campbell and he stumbled and started to cry.

Once at the hospital, Ian woke Christian up and helped him out. Christian and Ian got the body of Jane out and got her inside to the emergency room, where it was a possibility that they could get something figured out faster. Ian had said that a forensic examination would take a long time, which is right, but if the emergency room could figure something out, then it is a possibility that they wouldn’t have to go through the forensic process. Ian went to the front desk to introduce everything.

“Surgeon Riley, reporting,” said Ian. “This is Christian Flint, husband of Jane Flint, whom was murdered just hours ago. A forensic analysis of the body needs done.”


“Then go to the forensic room,” said the desk clerk.

“I know that is where we would normally go,” said Riley, trying to get the clerk to agree. “This man just wants a quick analysis of the body done in the emergency room, so he doesn’t have to wait days on end before he finds out what happened to her.”

“I am sorry,” said the clerk. “But the emergency ward just doesn’t do forensic analysis. I wish I could be of more help to you, but I can’t. I wish you well in your findings, Christian.”

“Thanks,” said Christian in an unthankful tone.

Christian and Ian pushed the body out the door and toward the forensic room. Christian was both mad and annoyed. The forensic room he knew was on the other side of the building, and it just isn’t normal for a surgeon and an unemployed widower to be pushing the body of a young wife around the hospital. Christian just couldn’t believe the events that had happened, and who could have possibly done it. Once they got the body into the forensic room, Ian went to the front desk to introduce them.

“Surgeon Ian Riley reporting,” said Ian. “This is Christian Flint with the body of Jane Flint, whom has been murdered just a couple of hours ago.”

“Well, put her over on the table and we will give her a look,” said the clerk. “It will be a couple of days before we will know what happened to her.”

At that, Ian and Christian went over to the body, just to take one last look at her. Christian began to cry, and Ian comforted him. Ian, Christian had figured out, was genuinely sorry about everything that had happened. Just then, the door opened and Sheriff Hardy entered the forensic room. He stood, looking sternly at Christian.

“Well Christian,” said Hardy after he entered the forensic room. “You know of course that as long as this investigation is going that everyone is a suspect. Well since you are the only one at the scene of the crime, I have to take you into custody.”

“What?!” said Christian exasperated. “You have no evidence that I did anything. And I don’t even know what killed Jane anyway. Anyone who knows me knows that I would never kill anyone, even in self defense unless they had already injured me badly.”

“They are doing tests that will take a week. I am following the law and I am sorry that I have to take you into custody.”

“No, I will not go with you,” said Christian. “You can check and see with the mayor of the city and see that I was not at home at the time of the murder.”

“I do not think that you should talk that way to me, Christian. I know that you are upset by the events that have passed today, but it is not my fault. You can’t take it out on a newly appointed sheriff. I wish this didn’t happen for many reasons, but I am not taking it out on you.”

“That is a matter of opinion,” said Christian as they walked out to the parking lot. “Now I need someone to take me home.”

“There is your adopted father, Keith,” said Hardy. “But you need to come with me.”

“I refuse that,” said Christian.

“Then suffer the consequences,” said Hardy as he pulled something out of his pocket.

Christian started to walk away when the sheriff stunned him with an old stun-shot pistol. Everyone around him stopped, and Keith got out to stop him. Hardy whispered something in Keith’s ear that made him back away. Then Sheriff Hardy got out a pair of electronic lock handcuffs and put them on Christian. He proceeded to get Christian in the car with a little help from other officers.

Within five minutes, Christian was wide awake and quiet. He did not say anything and would not speak until spoken to. But he was trying to figure out how to get out of the car without his hands. He wasn’t going to let a pair of handcuffs get him to the station. He knew just what to do, at least since there was nothing holding him to the car, like an electric strap or anything. But he had to time it just right.

The car had to stop for the longest security light in town and be scanned for crooks and explosives, which police could not carry. At the light Christian noticed that there were three cars in front of him, which gave him exactly the time he needed. He lay down very quietly on the seat and was absolutely motionless for a moment, so if the sheriff heard anything, he would just forget about it, because he had one chance to escape. After a moment, he kicked at the window as hard as he could and broke the glass. Before Hardy had time to process the events, Christian sprang out the window headfirst and did a flip to the road before the car had to go. Christian started running as fast as he could in the opposite direction of the car, not caring about the people on the sidewalk. The sheriff had turned around his car and was now after Christian. Christian noticed that there was another man that was walking down the sidewalk that began to walk very fast as Christian began to run from Hardy. He was a man dressed in a nice tuxedo, and had a pair of sunglasses on a face that was pale white. On top of his head it looked like a fedora, but Christian didn’t stop to give him a second look.