part 23:
The Devil in the Dark
by Matthew Atanian
based on story ideas
by Matthew Atanian and Jessi Pysz
©2005 by Matthew Atanian and Jessi Pysz
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
The Devil in the Dark
by Matthew Atanian
based on story ideas
by Matthew Atanian and Jessi Pysz
©2005 by Matthew Atanian and Jessi Pysz
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
The doors to Walker Hall did not swing open with a mighty bang. Rather, they opened slightly, creaking as they did so.
Justy did not proudly stride through them, making himself the center of attention, a spectacle in his immaculate uniform, with his stride firm and steady and his face confident and fierce! Rather, he slithered through the narrow opening almost unnoticed. His uniform was rumpled and seemed unwashed. He had a tired look on his face. He slouched as he walked. His hair was mussed up. He looked thin and pale. His face was slightly dirty. And he unintentionally helped out a new scout when Slim McGraw, who was in the process of torturing the lad, passed out when he caught a whiff of Justy’s breath.
It is said that Justy was almost unnoticed as he was, in fact, noticed by two persons. The first was the new scout, a chunky young lad by the name of Gamble, who only noticed this briefly as he, too, soon passed out. The second will be revealed momentarily.
“Awfully quiet tonight, isn’t it?” Aaron asked, ignoring the noise caused by Will Shmuler. It was indeed quiet apart from Shmuler, and the Garden Snake Patrol had become quite adept at tuning the most annoying of their brethren out.
“Yeah,” answered Hughes. “We’re usually ignoring Justy by this time. Shouldn’t he be barking orders about bowing down to him or something about now?”
“WHAT?” Becker shouted. The other members of the Garden Snake Patrol had become quite adept at ignoring this, too.
“Where could he be?” Kenny inquired.
Bill Gelinas looked at his watch. “It’s 6:35. Five past. That’s not like him to be late. Usually he’s either early, setting up whatever stupid plot he has this particular week into motion, or he is exactly on time to make a grand entrance. But late?”
“Maybe he died,” Swett deadpanned. He laughed at his self perceived humour, but stopped when no one joined him. “I suppose we couldn’t have been that lucky.”
“Hey, guys!” Mike said. He had noticed something slithering through the doorway. “Look!”
“Who’s that? New guy?”
“No... It’s...”
“Justy!” they all said together, shock in their collective voices. He didn’t look over to them at their outburst. Indeed, he seemed to take no notice of them at all.
He quietly made his way up to the front of the hall, took his normal place on the steps there, and stood facing the troop. He held up his hand and formed the Scout Sign. He seemed to be waiting for the troop to come to order. Yet he didn’t bark any commands. He didn’t make any demands of obedience. He just stood there. Quietly. Waiting.
The rest of the troop had still taken no notice of him, and thus made no move to assemble. The Garden Snakes had no idea how to react. They were confused, to be sure. But there was something else. Something creeping into their hearts that they couldn’t yet identify. Something about Justy’s current condition was filling them with... what was it? Cold? Darkness? Dread?
Was it... fear?
It was Gelinas, with his talent for stating the obvious, who ended the silence that had settled over the table at which the Garden Snake Patrol was seated. He did not shatter the silence with a loud proclamation of the unbelievably of this or that, but rather he chipped away at the silence with a quietly posed question: “Where’s Proctor?”
It was slightly cold out for a late spring day as Sarah Porter’s car pulled into the parking lot of the Church in the Acres. It was still quite bright out, but
the sun was not quite as high as it could have been and the brightness would not be lasting for much more then an hour.
There were a few youths frolicking around in the field. One of them, a young girl scout, was almost all of the way out to the fence separating the Church’s field from the Western New England College campus that lay beyond. As she parked the car, Sarah took note of this so that she could then go and rein the girl in.
A couple of the youth closer to where Sarah was parking stopped mid-frolic and looked at her car in astonishment. One of theme screamed in alarm. Another of them began to laugh.
Proctor untied the ropes holding him securely to the roof, leapt down from the car, and opened Kirstin’s door.
“Really, you could have ridden inside with us,” Kirstin said. “You must have been terribly uncomfortable up there. You could even have gotten hurt!”
Proctor shook his head. “I wouldn’t think of it, Mistress. Riding inside the vehicle is a privilege I am unworthy of.”
Nicole grinned as she got out of the opposite side of the car. ”You should ditch Aaron and go for this one, sis,” she said. “I’ve never seen a male so completely and utterly whipped.”
Kirstin blushed and turned towards her twin sibling. “Nicole, Aaron and I are just friends, really!” she said with the usual hint of over-protestation in her voice that she herself was unaware of. She turned back to Proctor. “And Proctor, you really are very sweet, but you’re much too submissive.”
Proctor shook his head. “I live only to serve you, Mistress.”
Sarah now got out of the car, a very tired look on her face. “How long is he going to be doing this?” she asked. “Even if he is so spineless as to be no threat at all, I really don’t like having a man around the house.” She leaned in close to Kirstin and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Besides, he’s kind of creepy.”
“Yeah, this is a bit different then when Neko-chan followed me home,” Nicole added.
Not quite as different as one might think, Kirstin thought with a touch of regret at the secret that circumstances forced her to keep from her twin. Aloud she said, “Well, I can’t just throw him out to the streets, and he has no place else to go.”
Sarah turned to Proctor. “Aren’t your parents worried about you?”
Proctor blinked, incomprehension on his face. “Parents,” he said slowly, as if trying out an unfamiliar word. “Oh, do you mean like a mother and a father? I’m too lowly to have those.”
Sarah raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Well, where did you leave before you forced yourself upon us?”
Proctor gasped. He turned to Kirstin. “Have I been an inconvenience, Mistress?”
“Oh, of course not!” Kirstin lied. She then shot her sisters a look before either one could contradict her. “We’re just concerned that whoever you lived with before you came to be with us may be worried about you.”
Proctor’s eyes teared up a little, and he sniffled slightly. “The... the Captain? I... I failed him.”
“Captain?” Sarah asked.
“I failed him, and was tossed out like the refuse I am!” Proctor wailed. I don’t deserve the kindness you’ve shown me, Mistress!”
Kirstin tried to comfort Proctor. Nicole shrugged. Sarah sighed.
Mike blinked. “He’s usually right on Justy’s tail. Maybe he’s sick or something.
“You kidding?” Aaron asked. “Proctor could be on his death bead, and Justy would still order him to do his bidding.
“And he would gladly do it,” Hughes added.
“Maybe... maybe something happened,” Mike said.
“Think Justy killed him?” Swett postulated.
“Justy wouldn’t go that far,” Aaron said. “At least, I don’t think he would.”
They looked up at Justy, still holding his Scout Sign in the air, still unheeded or unnoticed by most of the rest of the troop.
“Still, something must have happened,” Gelinas said.
Matthew Atanian chose that moment to walk over. “Hey, guys,” he said.
“Hi, Matt,” they all responded. (Well, most of them. As usual, Becker’s greeting was more along the lines of, “HI, MATT!!” and Shmuler just shouted a few random but faintly disturbing syllables.)
“What’s going on?” Matt asked, concerned over the tension he could feel amongst the group.
“Something’s up with Justy,” Mike said, “and Proctor seems to be missing.”
“Ah,” Matt said. “That.”
Suddenly, all eyes were on Matt, Shmuler’s literally. He knew something about what was going on, and they wanted to know what. Even Becker removed his headphones, interested in what was about to be revealed.
“Well,” Matt began, shoving Shmuler away, “it happened at the sleep-over...”
Kirstin emerged from her room and was the first to notice that Matty was not on the couch. A fleeting thought crossed her mind and then she quickly dismissed it. As quietly as she could, she set about making French toast for breakfast.
Nicole was the next to emerge from slumber, looking a little worse for wear. Kirstin looked at her twin in a puzzled manner.
“Rough night?” She asked.
Nicole growled under her breath. “...Too damn much cheese...”
Kirstin handed Nicole an apple. Nicole noticed a lack of occupancy on the couch and cocked an eye towards her older sister’s room. Kirstin shrugged and went back to beating the eggs. The gears in Nicole’s head began turning.
Kirstin had just turned on the stove and was waiting for the griddle to heat when she remembered what day it was. She turned to ask Nicole to get the paper, but witnessed her sister dashing into the bathroom instead. The half eaten apple rolled along the floor and stopped at her feet. Kirstin sighed and went to pick up the paper herself.
She opened the door and looked down to see a small, muddy, shivering figure on their doorstep. He was curled into the fetal position, holding a battered-looking teddy bear in his arms. It took Kirstin a moment to recognize who it was, and when she did, she was shocked.
“PROCTOR!?”
“Hold on,” Gelinas interrupted, “if you’re not even in the room here, how could you have known all of that?”
“I can’t, obviously,” Matt told him.
“Well?” Gelinas prodded.
“Well I needed to re-cap slightly, you see. Set the scene.”
“Recap what?”
Matt gave Gelinas a look of doom. Gelinas immediately closed his mouth. Matt didn’t even have to say it.
There was a brief pause around the table. Finely, “Okay,” said Matt, “where was I?”
Sarah began to stir which, since her arm was still draped over Matty, had the effect of waking her.
The first thing Matty did was to blush. The second thing she did was to thank Zarquan that she was a woman at the moment. Otherwise – what, with it being morning and all, and waking up next to a beautiful woman she was madly in love with – she’d have some explaining to do.
Sarah stretched, thus removing her arm from Matty. Matty took this opportunity to scoot away from Sarah.
Sarah smiled. “Good morning,” she said pleasantly.
Matty rolled over to face Sarah. Sarah blinked when she saw how red Matty’s face was. “H hello,” Matty responded.
“Have a good night?”
Matty nodded.
Sarah looked into Matty’s eyes. Something didn’t seem quite right. “What is it?” she asked. She answered her own question before Matty even had a chance to. “You’re uncomfortable.”
Matty shifted nervously.
“Why?” Sarah asked, even as realization came to her. “What you said last night, about having had a crush. Was that the whole truth?”
“Not... not exactly,” Matty whispered, barely able to voice the words.
Sarah’s next words were not a question. “You are in love with me.”
Matty nodded slightly, and softly said, “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, God, Matty, I should have never asked you to sleep with me.”
“I swear,” Matty exclaimed, “I didn’t try anything!”
“No, Matty, I...” Sarah looked Matty in the eyes. “Look, if I thought you were the sort of person who would have done such a thing, you wouldn’t be in my house, never mind my bed. But... Matty, I’m the one who should be sorry. I didn’t think about your feelings. Sleeping next to me must have been uncomfortable.”
Matty shrugged. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Sarah said firmly. Then her voice softened once more. “You know I can’t ever love you back in the same way,” she said.
Matty nodded. “I know. I’m used to it. It isn’t the first time. I was once in love with a girl named Carolyn, but she was rather partial to gi... guys.”
“It can’t be easy being around me.”
“For a while, it wasn’t always easy being around Carolyn. But even if I couldn’t have her like that, I knew she was a special person who I wanted to have in my life. In time, it became easier, and now I wouldn’t trade her friendship for anything.
“Even if I can never have you like that, Sarah, I still want you to be a part of my life.” Matty smiled. It was a sad, yet genuine smile.
Sarah smiled back. God, she was beautiful, even first thing in the morning. “I can never love you like that, Matty Hayes,” she said, “but I do love you.” Then she said, “So, if you’re so much in love with me, why are you always trying to hook me up with Atanian?”
Matty blinked. She’d gotten so wrapped up in the moment that she had forgotten about the double life she led. “Well, um... I care about him like a brother, you know. He and I are a lot alike. Sometimes... sometimes it’s almost as if he and I are the same person. I suppose it only makes sense that if I were to fall in love with you, he would too. So I suppose I’m rooting for him. Slim as it is, he’s got a better chance with you then I ever will. Guess I’m hoping to live vicariously.” Matty laughed nervously. “Although I would never force you into anything.”
Sarah stretched. “That makes sense, I suppose,” she said. “Tell you what. I’m not promising anything, but maybe I’ll think about being a little nicer to him.” She sighed. “I suppose between you and Kirstin, he does have a few good references.”
A few moments passed in which the few of them just laid in bed. The sleep still clearing from their minds as a few birds sang outside Sarah’s window.
“So,” Matty asked, “who is Bear?”
Sarah blinked. “Bear?”
“When you were sleeping, you said, ‘Bear,’ and you...” Matty trailed off.
“I don’t talk in my sleep,” Sarah said.
Matty just looked at her.
“Well I don’t!” Sarah protested. “I mean, come on!” Sarah paused. After a moment, it was her turn to blush. “Wait, did I...?” She looked at Matty. “I didn’t glomp you or anything, did I?”
Matty shrugged, avoiding the question by asking once more, “So who is Bear?”
Sarah swung her upper body over the edge of the bed so that only her legs were visible to Matty. Matty tried not to be too distracted by this sight as she heard Sarah rummaging underneath the bed. “Where the heck did I put...? Eureka!”
She swung back onto the bed clutching to her breast a large plush toy. It did not look like a bear. It was large, oval shaped and dark grey in color with a large lighter patch for the tummy. It had two large round white eyes with small black dots in the middle of them. Between the eyes was a squished looking nose. And under that, flanked by three whiskers on either side, was a great big huge toothy grin of the sort that in any other context would convey a look of, “I’m going for your jugular now. Have a nice day,” but on this toy somehow just added to an overall cuteness.
“My grandmother gave this to me when I was eleven. You’d probably think at eleven I’d be too old for such things, but for a long time this thing never left my side. I know it isn’t really a bear, but that’s what Kirstin called it when she saw it, and the name kind of stuck. I can’t even remember what it is really called. Something beginning with a ‘T’, I think.”
“Totoro,” Matty said.
Sarah grinned a grin to rival the plush’s. “You know it?” she asked.
Matty was about to answer when they were interrupted by a surprised shout from the other room. “PROCTOR!?”
Gelinas was very confused. “Why the hell did you tell us all of that, Matt?” he asked.
“All of what?” Matt responded.
“That personal stuff between you and Sarah. Why is that our business, and what does it have to do with Proctor?”
“You feeling okay, Bill?” Hughes asked. “Matt hasn’t even started talking yet.”
“Yeah, I was about to start right now,” Matt confirmed.
“Then what,” Gelinas asked, slowly and deliberately, “have we been listening too for the last ten minutes?”
“What ten minutes?” Aaron asked.
“The last ten minutes!” Gelinas exploded. He looked to Kenny, expecting some reason to come from him, at least.
“There was no ten minutes just now, Mr. Gelinas,” Kenny quietly informed him.
“But... but... Then what the hell was all of that?”
Mike sighed. “If it will make you happy, it was just exposition for those reading this, okay?”
“This? What ‘this’?” Gelinas put a hand to his temple, a pained expression on his face. “What readers?”
“Shut up, Bill!” the others all commanded as one.
“Now, shall I begin?” Matt asked.
Sarah and Matty burst into the room. “What’s going on” Sarah asked.
Nicole eyed the pair exiting the bedroom. “I could ask you two the same question,” she said, a sly grin on her face.
Sarah and Matty both reddened. “It’s not like that,” Sarah insisted. “Anyway, what is going on out here?”
Nicole stepped aside, and behind her Sarah and Matty could see Kirstin. And with Kirstin was...
“Proctor?” Matty asked.
Sarah looked to Matty. “You know him?”
“He’s a kid in the Boy Scout troop.” Proctor looked only slightly less ragged then he had upon his return from Abu Dhabi. “But what is he doing here?”
Proctor was unconscious, and Kirstin was tending to him. He groaned and began muttering under his breath. The others strained to hear. “Captain... no... I’m sorry...”
He moaned a bit louder. “Please, don’t abandon me!”
“And so, it seems that Justy kicked Proctor out, and he just wandered around until he somehow ended up on the Porter’s doorstep. Kirstin cleaned him up, cooked us all French Toast, and saved some for Proctor for when he gained consciousness. He refused to eat it, though, saying he was not worthy. So as I left, Kirstin was making him some plain toast while Sarah was heating up some left over lasagna for lunch. Last I heard when talking to Sarah on the phone, Proctor has pledged his undying service to Kirstin!”
“Oh, my,” Aaron said.
Matt, Mike, Aaron, Hughes, and Gelinas sat around contemplating all of this as Kenny led Becker and Swett off into one corner of the hall.
“Well, I suppose we should do something about getting the meeting going,” Matt said. “Justy is being surprisingly ineffectual tonight. And not in the usual way.”
“Maybe I should take charge of things?”
There was a bright flash from off in the distance.
“If nothing else, you should probably fall the patrol in,” Matt suggested. “Maybe the other patrols will notice and do the same.”
Kenny, Swett, and Becker came back over and took their seats.
Mike stood. “Well,” he said, “let’s fall in.”
The Garden Snake Patrol rose and started towards the front of the hall. Mike led the way and stood at the head of the hall, just off to the side of Justy. He took a deep breath and was about to shout, "Troop, fall in!" when something within Justy finally stirred.
"What are you doing?" he said to Mike. His voice was quiet, and sent a shiver down Mike's spine.
"Um, calling the troop to order?" Mike suggested.
"The troop." There was a dangerous pause as Justy contemplated this. Something began to smolder in his eyes. "My troop," he said at last. His voice was still quiet rather than the tyrannically loud tones he typically used. "You dare presume to wield authority over my troop?"
Mike shrugged. "Someone had to."
That was the wrong answer. Justy's eyes burst into an inferno. Disturbingly, his voice still remained somewhat quiet, a sharp contrast to the yelling and shouting that they were all used to. "Go back to your patrol, peon."
Mike was about to protest, but thought better of it. Instead, for once in his life he just did as Justy commanded and returned to his place amongst the Garden Snakes.
A further moment passed as Justy just stood there, everyone in the troop standing at rapt attention awaiting his next move. Well, almost everyone. A flicker of movement caught Justy's eye.
"You there!" Justy called out to the new kid, who had been eating from a large box of candy. "Come up here!"
The kid did so, with a visible measure of reluctance.
"What are you eating?" Justy asked of him.
The kid showed him. It was a large box of Junior Mints.
"I require minty fresh breath," Justy said. "Give those to me."
“Sure, here you go," the kid said, holding out the candy.
Justy reached for the box. At the last second, the kid snatched the box away and laughed.
"Screw you, you smelly rice picking hippy!" he said to Justy. "These are my Junior Mints! You get your own god damned candy!"
The rest of the troop watched this in astonishment, sure that Justy was about to go off on the kid. They would never have guessed what was about to happen next.
Justy smiled.
"You show promise, young man. Tell me, do you crave power?"
"Abso-fricken-lutely."
"I am in need of a new Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. The position could be yours..." Justy paused dramatically, "if you give me those Junior Mints."
"Hmm... Tempting." The kid was making a convincing go of sounding as if he was in a business negotiation. "Tell me, exactly how powerful would this make me?"
"Second in the troop only to me," Justy informed him.
"Oh, well then, let me think about it," the kid said. His face twisted into some sort of mockery of concentration, his eyes screwed tightly shut, as he weighed his options. "Junior Mints, or penultimate power. Hmm... Junior Mints, or penultimate power." He opened his eyes and looked at Justy. "Oh man, you're breaking my balls here, Justy, you're breaking my balls!"
"That is the only offer I will give you. Take it or leave it."
"I don't know. These Junior Mints really mean a lot to me." The kid seemed to think about it for another moment. "Still... Penultimate power... I think I shall accept your offer."
Justy smiled as he accepted the Junior Mints. "Very good," he said.
"Yeah, well, I figured what the hell," the kid said. He pulled something out of his pocket. "It wasn't like I didn't have another box."
Justy continued to be a source of surprise to the troop as at this point he began to laugh.
"This could be bad," Hughes commented.
"What, Justy teaming up with someone who seems just as awful as he is?" Gelinas responded.
"And without a whipping boy, who knows what will happen when things don't go his way," Aaron added.
"Yup," Hughes repeated, "this could be bad."
"What's this new kid's name?" Swett asked.
"Gamble," Mike informed him. "Eric Gamble."
At that particular moment, Eric Gamble was rounding up a group of his fellow Tenderfoot scouts and commanding them to fetch a bucket of water with which to clean Justy. When one of them questioned why he should do this, Gamble wacked him on the head and said, “Hey! You will respect my authoritay!”
"Perry no like Gamble."
"For once, my amazon friend," Matt Atanian said as he joined the Garden Snakes where they were standing, "we are in agreement."
Aaron nodded. "Indeed. Given the choice between Proctor and Gamble, I know which one I would prefer.
The members of the Garden Snake Patrol all nodded their heads. Then, collectively, they all said. "We have to get Proctor back!"
Justy did not proudly stride through them, making himself the center of attention, a spectacle in his immaculate uniform, with his stride firm and steady and his face confident and fierce! Rather, he slithered through the narrow opening almost unnoticed. His uniform was rumpled and seemed unwashed. He had a tired look on his face. He slouched as he walked. His hair was mussed up. He looked thin and pale. His face was slightly dirty. And he unintentionally helped out a new scout when Slim McGraw, who was in the process of torturing the lad, passed out when he caught a whiff of Justy’s breath.
It is said that Justy was almost unnoticed as he was, in fact, noticed by two persons. The first was the new scout, a chunky young lad by the name of Gamble, who only noticed this briefly as he, too, soon passed out. The second will be revealed momentarily.
“Awfully quiet tonight, isn’t it?” Aaron asked, ignoring the noise caused by Will Shmuler. It was indeed quiet apart from Shmuler, and the Garden Snake Patrol had become quite adept at tuning the most annoying of their brethren out.
“Yeah,” answered Hughes. “We’re usually ignoring Justy by this time. Shouldn’t he be barking orders about bowing down to him or something about now?”
“WHAT?” Becker shouted. The other members of the Garden Snake Patrol had become quite adept at ignoring this, too.
“Where could he be?” Kenny inquired.
Bill Gelinas looked at his watch. “It’s 6:35. Five past. That’s not like him to be late. Usually he’s either early, setting up whatever stupid plot he has this particular week into motion, or he is exactly on time to make a grand entrance. But late?”
“Maybe he died,” Swett deadpanned. He laughed at his self perceived humour, but stopped when no one joined him. “I suppose we couldn’t have been that lucky.”
“Hey, guys!” Mike said. He had noticed something slithering through the doorway. “Look!”
“Who’s that? New guy?”
“No... It’s...”
“Justy!” they all said together, shock in their collective voices. He didn’t look over to them at their outburst. Indeed, he seemed to take no notice of them at all.
He quietly made his way up to the front of the hall, took his normal place on the steps there, and stood facing the troop. He held up his hand and formed the Scout Sign. He seemed to be waiting for the troop to come to order. Yet he didn’t bark any commands. He didn’t make any demands of obedience. He just stood there. Quietly. Waiting.
The rest of the troop had still taken no notice of him, and thus made no move to assemble. The Garden Snakes had no idea how to react. They were confused, to be sure. But there was something else. Something creeping into their hearts that they couldn’t yet identify. Something about Justy’s current condition was filling them with... what was it? Cold? Darkness? Dread?
Was it... fear?
It was Gelinas, with his talent for stating the obvious, who ended the silence that had settled over the table at which the Garden Snake Patrol was seated. He did not shatter the silence with a loud proclamation of the unbelievably of this or that, but rather he chipped away at the silence with a quietly posed question: “Where’s Proctor?”
It was slightly cold out for a late spring day as Sarah Porter’s car pulled into the parking lot of the Church in the Acres. It was still quite bright out, but
the sun was not quite as high as it could have been and the brightness would not be lasting for much more then an hour.
There were a few youths frolicking around in the field. One of them, a young girl scout, was almost all of the way out to the fence separating the Church’s field from the Western New England College campus that lay beyond. As she parked the car, Sarah took note of this so that she could then go and rein the girl in.
A couple of the youth closer to where Sarah was parking stopped mid-frolic and looked at her car in astonishment. One of theme screamed in alarm. Another of them began to laugh.
Proctor untied the ropes holding him securely to the roof, leapt down from the car, and opened Kirstin’s door.
“Really, you could have ridden inside with us,” Kirstin said. “You must have been terribly uncomfortable up there. You could even have gotten hurt!”
Proctor shook his head. “I wouldn’t think of it, Mistress. Riding inside the vehicle is a privilege I am unworthy of.”
Nicole grinned as she got out of the opposite side of the car. ”You should ditch Aaron and go for this one, sis,” she said. “I’ve never seen a male so completely and utterly whipped.”
Kirstin blushed and turned towards her twin sibling. “Nicole, Aaron and I are just friends, really!” she said with the usual hint of over-protestation in her voice that she herself was unaware of. She turned back to Proctor. “And Proctor, you really are very sweet, but you’re much too submissive.”
Proctor shook his head. “I live only to serve you, Mistress.”
Sarah now got out of the car, a very tired look on her face. “How long is he going to be doing this?” she asked. “Even if he is so spineless as to be no threat at all, I really don’t like having a man around the house.” She leaned in close to Kirstin and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Besides, he’s kind of creepy.”
“Yeah, this is a bit different then when Neko-chan followed me home,” Nicole added.
Not quite as different as one might think, Kirstin thought with a touch of regret at the secret that circumstances forced her to keep from her twin. Aloud she said, “Well, I can’t just throw him out to the streets, and he has no place else to go.”
Sarah turned to Proctor. “Aren’t your parents worried about you?”
Proctor blinked, incomprehension on his face. “Parents,” he said slowly, as if trying out an unfamiliar word. “Oh, do you mean like a mother and a father? I’m too lowly to have those.”
Sarah raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “Well, where did you leave before you forced yourself upon us?”
Proctor gasped. He turned to Kirstin. “Have I been an inconvenience, Mistress?”
“Oh, of course not!” Kirstin lied. She then shot her sisters a look before either one could contradict her. “We’re just concerned that whoever you lived with before you came to be with us may be worried about you.”
Proctor’s eyes teared up a little, and he sniffled slightly. “The... the Captain? I... I failed him.”
“Captain?” Sarah asked.
“I failed him, and was tossed out like the refuse I am!” Proctor wailed. I don’t deserve the kindness you’ve shown me, Mistress!”
Kirstin tried to comfort Proctor. Nicole shrugged. Sarah sighed.
Mike blinked. “He’s usually right on Justy’s tail. Maybe he’s sick or something.
“You kidding?” Aaron asked. “Proctor could be on his death bead, and Justy would still order him to do his bidding.
“And he would gladly do it,” Hughes added.
“Maybe... maybe something happened,” Mike said.
“Think Justy killed him?” Swett postulated.
“Justy wouldn’t go that far,” Aaron said. “At least, I don’t think he would.”
They looked up at Justy, still holding his Scout Sign in the air, still unheeded or unnoticed by most of the rest of the troop.
“Still, something must have happened,” Gelinas said.
Matthew Atanian chose that moment to walk over. “Hey, guys,” he said.
“Hi, Matt,” they all responded. (Well, most of them. As usual, Becker’s greeting was more along the lines of, “HI, MATT!!” and Shmuler just shouted a few random but faintly disturbing syllables.)
“What’s going on?” Matt asked, concerned over the tension he could feel amongst the group.
“Something’s up with Justy,” Mike said, “and Proctor seems to be missing.”
“Ah,” Matt said. “That.”
Suddenly, all eyes were on Matt, Shmuler’s literally. He knew something about what was going on, and they wanted to know what. Even Becker removed his headphones, interested in what was about to be revealed.
“Well,” Matt began, shoving Shmuler away, “it happened at the sleep-over...”
Kirstin emerged from her room and was the first to notice that Matty was not on the couch. A fleeting thought crossed her mind and then she quickly dismissed it. As quietly as she could, she set about making French toast for breakfast.
Nicole was the next to emerge from slumber, looking a little worse for wear. Kirstin looked at her twin in a puzzled manner.
“Rough night?” She asked.
Nicole growled under her breath. “...Too damn much cheese...”
Kirstin handed Nicole an apple. Nicole noticed a lack of occupancy on the couch and cocked an eye towards her older sister’s room. Kirstin shrugged and went back to beating the eggs. The gears in Nicole’s head began turning.
Kirstin had just turned on the stove and was waiting for the griddle to heat when she remembered what day it was. She turned to ask Nicole to get the paper, but witnessed her sister dashing into the bathroom instead. The half eaten apple rolled along the floor and stopped at her feet. Kirstin sighed and went to pick up the paper herself.
She opened the door and looked down to see a small, muddy, shivering figure on their doorstep. He was curled into the fetal position, holding a battered-looking teddy bear in his arms. It took Kirstin a moment to recognize who it was, and when she did, she was shocked.
“PROCTOR!?”
“Hold on,” Gelinas interrupted, “if you’re not even in the room here, how could you have known all of that?”
“I can’t, obviously,” Matt told him.
“Well?” Gelinas prodded.
“Well I needed to re-cap slightly, you see. Set the scene.”
“Recap what?”
Matt gave Gelinas a look of doom. Gelinas immediately closed his mouth. Matt didn’t even have to say it.
There was a brief pause around the table. Finely, “Okay,” said Matt, “where was I?”
Sarah began to stir which, since her arm was still draped over Matty, had the effect of waking her.
The first thing Matty did was to blush. The second thing she did was to thank Zarquan that she was a woman at the moment. Otherwise – what, with it being morning and all, and waking up next to a beautiful woman she was madly in love with – she’d have some explaining to do.
Sarah stretched, thus removing her arm from Matty. Matty took this opportunity to scoot away from Sarah.
Sarah smiled. “Good morning,” she said pleasantly.
Matty rolled over to face Sarah. Sarah blinked when she saw how red Matty’s face was. “H hello,” Matty responded.
“Have a good night?”
Matty nodded.
Sarah looked into Matty’s eyes. Something didn’t seem quite right. “What is it?” she asked. She answered her own question before Matty even had a chance to. “You’re uncomfortable.”
Matty shifted nervously.
“Why?” Sarah asked, even as realization came to her. “What you said last night, about having had a crush. Was that the whole truth?”
“Not... not exactly,” Matty whispered, barely able to voice the words.
Sarah’s next words were not a question. “You are in love with me.”
Matty nodded slightly, and softly said, “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, God, Matty, I should have never asked you to sleep with me.”
“I swear,” Matty exclaimed, “I didn’t try anything!”
“No, Matty, I...” Sarah looked Matty in the eyes. “Look, if I thought you were the sort of person who would have done such a thing, you wouldn’t be in my house, never mind my bed. But... Matty, I’m the one who should be sorry. I didn’t think about your feelings. Sleeping next to me must have been uncomfortable.”
Matty shrugged. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Sarah said firmly. Then her voice softened once more. “You know I can’t ever love you back in the same way,” she said.
Matty nodded. “I know. I’m used to it. It isn’t the first time. I was once in love with a girl named Carolyn, but she was rather partial to gi... guys.”
“It can’t be easy being around me.”
“For a while, it wasn’t always easy being around Carolyn. But even if I couldn’t have her like that, I knew she was a special person who I wanted to have in my life. In time, it became easier, and now I wouldn’t trade her friendship for anything.
“Even if I can never have you like that, Sarah, I still want you to be a part of my life.” Matty smiled. It was a sad, yet genuine smile.
Sarah smiled back. God, she was beautiful, even first thing in the morning. “I can never love you like that, Matty Hayes,” she said, “but I do love you.” Then she said, “So, if you’re so much in love with me, why are you always trying to hook me up with Atanian?”
Matty blinked. She’d gotten so wrapped up in the moment that she had forgotten about the double life she led. “Well, um... I care about him like a brother, you know. He and I are a lot alike. Sometimes... sometimes it’s almost as if he and I are the same person. I suppose it only makes sense that if I were to fall in love with you, he would too. So I suppose I’m rooting for him. Slim as it is, he’s got a better chance with you then I ever will. Guess I’m hoping to live vicariously.” Matty laughed nervously. “Although I would never force you into anything.”
Sarah stretched. “That makes sense, I suppose,” she said. “Tell you what. I’m not promising anything, but maybe I’ll think about being a little nicer to him.” She sighed. “I suppose between you and Kirstin, he does have a few good references.”
A few moments passed in which the few of them just laid in bed. The sleep still clearing from their minds as a few birds sang outside Sarah’s window.
“So,” Matty asked, “who is Bear?”
Sarah blinked. “Bear?”
“When you were sleeping, you said, ‘Bear,’ and you...” Matty trailed off.
“I don’t talk in my sleep,” Sarah said.
Matty just looked at her.
“Well I don’t!” Sarah protested. “I mean, come on!” Sarah paused. After a moment, it was her turn to blush. “Wait, did I...?” She looked at Matty. “I didn’t glomp you or anything, did I?”
Matty shrugged, avoiding the question by asking once more, “So who is Bear?”
Sarah swung her upper body over the edge of the bed so that only her legs were visible to Matty. Matty tried not to be too distracted by this sight as she heard Sarah rummaging underneath the bed. “Where the heck did I put...? Eureka!”
She swung back onto the bed clutching to her breast a large plush toy. It did not look like a bear. It was large, oval shaped and dark grey in color with a large lighter patch for the tummy. It had two large round white eyes with small black dots in the middle of them. Between the eyes was a squished looking nose. And under that, flanked by three whiskers on either side, was a great big huge toothy grin of the sort that in any other context would convey a look of, “I’m going for your jugular now. Have a nice day,” but on this toy somehow just added to an overall cuteness.
“My grandmother gave this to me when I was eleven. You’d probably think at eleven I’d be too old for such things, but for a long time this thing never left my side. I know it isn’t really a bear, but that’s what Kirstin called it when she saw it, and the name kind of stuck. I can’t even remember what it is really called. Something beginning with a ‘T’, I think.”
“Totoro,” Matty said.
Sarah grinned a grin to rival the plush’s. “You know it?” she asked.
Matty was about to answer when they were interrupted by a surprised shout from the other room. “PROCTOR!?”
Gelinas was very confused. “Why the hell did you tell us all of that, Matt?” he asked.
“All of what?” Matt responded.
“That personal stuff between you and Sarah. Why is that our business, and what does it have to do with Proctor?”
“You feeling okay, Bill?” Hughes asked. “Matt hasn’t even started talking yet.”
“Yeah, I was about to start right now,” Matt confirmed.
“Then what,” Gelinas asked, slowly and deliberately, “have we been listening too for the last ten minutes?”
“What ten minutes?” Aaron asked.
“The last ten minutes!” Gelinas exploded. He looked to Kenny, expecting some reason to come from him, at least.
“There was no ten minutes just now, Mr. Gelinas,” Kenny quietly informed him.
“But... but... Then what the hell was all of that?”
Mike sighed. “If it will make you happy, it was just exposition for those reading this, okay?”
“This? What ‘this’?” Gelinas put a hand to his temple, a pained expression on his face. “What readers?”
“Shut up, Bill!” the others all commanded as one.
“Now, shall I begin?” Matt asked.
Sarah and Matty burst into the room. “What’s going on” Sarah asked.
Nicole eyed the pair exiting the bedroom. “I could ask you two the same question,” she said, a sly grin on her face.
Sarah and Matty both reddened. “It’s not like that,” Sarah insisted. “Anyway, what is going on out here?”
Nicole stepped aside, and behind her Sarah and Matty could see Kirstin. And with Kirstin was...
“Proctor?” Matty asked.
Sarah looked to Matty. “You know him?”
“He’s a kid in the Boy Scout troop.” Proctor looked only slightly less ragged then he had upon his return from Abu Dhabi. “But what is he doing here?”
Proctor was unconscious, and Kirstin was tending to him. He groaned and began muttering under his breath. The others strained to hear. “Captain... no... I’m sorry...”
He moaned a bit louder. “Please, don’t abandon me!”
“And so, it seems that Justy kicked Proctor out, and he just wandered around until he somehow ended up on the Porter’s doorstep. Kirstin cleaned him up, cooked us all French Toast, and saved some for Proctor for when he gained consciousness. He refused to eat it, though, saying he was not worthy. So as I left, Kirstin was making him some plain toast while Sarah was heating up some left over lasagna for lunch. Last I heard when talking to Sarah on the phone, Proctor has pledged his undying service to Kirstin!”
“Oh, my,” Aaron said.
Matt, Mike, Aaron, Hughes, and Gelinas sat around contemplating all of this as Kenny led Becker and Swett off into one corner of the hall.
“Well, I suppose we should do something about getting the meeting going,” Matt said. “Justy is being surprisingly ineffectual tonight. And not in the usual way.”
“Maybe I should take charge of things?”
There was a bright flash from off in the distance.
“If nothing else, you should probably fall the patrol in,” Matt suggested. “Maybe the other patrols will notice and do the same.”
Kenny, Swett, and Becker came back over and took their seats.
Mike stood. “Well,” he said, “let’s fall in.”
The Garden Snake Patrol rose and started towards the front of the hall. Mike led the way and stood at the head of the hall, just off to the side of Justy. He took a deep breath and was about to shout, "Troop, fall in!" when something within Justy finally stirred.
"What are you doing?" he said to Mike. His voice was quiet, and sent a shiver down Mike's spine.
"Um, calling the troop to order?" Mike suggested.
"The troop." There was a dangerous pause as Justy contemplated this. Something began to smolder in his eyes. "My troop," he said at last. His voice was still quiet rather than the tyrannically loud tones he typically used. "You dare presume to wield authority over my troop?"
Mike shrugged. "Someone had to."
That was the wrong answer. Justy's eyes burst into an inferno. Disturbingly, his voice still remained somewhat quiet, a sharp contrast to the yelling and shouting that they were all used to. "Go back to your patrol, peon."
Mike was about to protest, but thought better of it. Instead, for once in his life he just did as Justy commanded and returned to his place amongst the Garden Snakes.
A further moment passed as Justy just stood there, everyone in the troop standing at rapt attention awaiting his next move. Well, almost everyone. A flicker of movement caught Justy's eye.
"You there!" Justy called out to the new kid, who had been eating from a large box of candy. "Come up here!"
The kid did so, with a visible measure of reluctance.
"What are you eating?" Justy asked of him.
The kid showed him. It was a large box of Junior Mints.
"I require minty fresh breath," Justy said. "Give those to me."
“Sure, here you go," the kid said, holding out the candy.
Justy reached for the box. At the last second, the kid snatched the box away and laughed.
"Screw you, you smelly rice picking hippy!" he said to Justy. "These are my Junior Mints! You get your own god damned candy!"
The rest of the troop watched this in astonishment, sure that Justy was about to go off on the kid. They would never have guessed what was about to happen next.
Justy smiled.
"You show promise, young man. Tell me, do you crave power?"
"Abso-fricken-lutely."
"I am in need of a new Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. The position could be yours..." Justy paused dramatically, "if you give me those Junior Mints."
"Hmm... Tempting." The kid was making a convincing go of sounding as if he was in a business negotiation. "Tell me, exactly how powerful would this make me?"
"Second in the troop only to me," Justy informed him.
"Oh, well then, let me think about it," the kid said. His face twisted into some sort of mockery of concentration, his eyes screwed tightly shut, as he weighed his options. "Junior Mints, or penultimate power. Hmm... Junior Mints, or penultimate power." He opened his eyes and looked at Justy. "Oh man, you're breaking my balls here, Justy, you're breaking my balls!"
"That is the only offer I will give you. Take it or leave it."
"I don't know. These Junior Mints really mean a lot to me." The kid seemed to think about it for another moment. "Still... Penultimate power... I think I shall accept your offer."
Justy smiled as he accepted the Junior Mints. "Very good," he said.
"Yeah, well, I figured what the hell," the kid said. He pulled something out of his pocket. "It wasn't like I didn't have another box."
Justy continued to be a source of surprise to the troop as at this point he began to laugh.
"This could be bad," Hughes commented.
"What, Justy teaming up with someone who seems just as awful as he is?" Gelinas responded.
"And without a whipping boy, who knows what will happen when things don't go his way," Aaron added.
"Yup," Hughes repeated, "this could be bad."
"What's this new kid's name?" Swett asked.
"Gamble," Mike informed him. "Eric Gamble."
At that particular moment, Eric Gamble was rounding up a group of his fellow Tenderfoot scouts and commanding them to fetch a bucket of water with which to clean Justy. When one of them questioned why he should do this, Gamble wacked him on the head and said, “Hey! You will respect my authoritay!”
"Perry no like Gamble."
"For once, my amazon friend," Matt Atanian said as he joined the Garden Snakes where they were standing, "we are in agreement."
Aaron nodded. "Indeed. Given the choice between Proctor and Gamble, I know which one I would prefer.
The members of the Garden Snake Patrol all nodded their heads. Then, collectively, they all said. "We have to get Proctor back!"
Author's Notes & Disclaimers
Hello! Long time no see.
Sorry about the delay of... oh... another few years that passed between the most recent story and this one. I am confidant that this is about to change, and that things really will get moving again.
I make no promises, however! No loud declarations of, "Boy Scouts ½ is back!"
I think when I did that last time, I may have jinxed myself to a massive bought of writers block, combined with life suddenly going into a very busy period.
Well, I’m not letting that happen again! So I shall not proclaim, "We're baaaaaack!"
(But hopefully, we are! Woo hoo!)
Ahem... Where was I? Ah yes, the usual stuff. Boy Scouts ½ is inspired by Takahashi Rumiko's series Ranma ½. All this is done without permission. Bad me.
Also, this story does not reflect the values of the Boy Scouts of America, blah, blah, blah... Bad me.
Also... The end of this story is being typed while I'm at work. Bad, bad me.
Eh, it's the end of the night, just waiting for Star Wars to end so I can go clean out that theatre and shut down the projection booth. (Since the last story was written, I switched jobs and now work in a movie theatre.)
I was messing around on the computer that is used as a cash register in the concession stand, and discovered (a) a program I could type in and (b) that I could access the internet on the thing, and thus mail what I have typed to myself.
So here I am, abusing the work computer. I almost feel like part of corporate America!
First time I've used a Mac for any length of time. Interesting machines. Alas, as evil as Bill Gates is, I think I am far too used to PCs to switch myself. Oh well.
I've let this tangent go on far too long. So here these notes end, and hopefully (but no jinxing promises!) I'll see you again soon. Bye, now!
Sorry about the delay of... oh... another few years that passed between the most recent story and this one. I am confidant that this is about to change, and that things really will get moving again.
I make no promises, however! No loud declarations of, "Boy Scouts ½ is back!"
I think when I did that last time, I may have jinxed myself to a massive bought of writers block, combined with life suddenly going into a very busy period.
Well, I’m not letting that happen again! So I shall not proclaim, "We're baaaaaack!"
(But hopefully, we are! Woo hoo!)
Ahem... Where was I? Ah yes, the usual stuff. Boy Scouts ½ is inspired by Takahashi Rumiko's series Ranma ½. All this is done without permission. Bad me.
Also, this story does not reflect the values of the Boy Scouts of America, blah, blah, blah... Bad me.
Also... The end of this story is being typed while I'm at work. Bad, bad me.
Eh, it's the end of the night, just waiting for Star Wars to end so I can go clean out that theatre and shut down the projection booth. (Since the last story was written, I switched jobs and now work in a movie theatre.)
I was messing around on the computer that is used as a cash register in the concession stand, and discovered (a) a program I could type in and (b) that I could access the internet on the thing, and thus mail what I have typed to myself.
So here I am, abusing the work computer. I almost feel like part of corporate America!
First time I've used a Mac for any length of time. Interesting machines. Alas, as evil as Bill Gates is, I think I am far too used to PCs to switch myself. Oh well.
I've let this tangent go on far too long. So here these notes end, and hopefully (but no jinxing promises!) I'll see you again soon. Bye, now!