An FWA story by Jack Harrison and Timi Reeder
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Jasper Jones had forgotten his umbrella. And that was a worry. Usually, he wouldn't have minded getting wet, but this time he knew it could be really bad if he did. As dark clouds rolled in, he could feel the oncoming storm and knew he had to get home.
Jasper looked about 30. He had a mop of dark brown hair and was tall and skinny. He wore a plum coloured jumper, with a tie underneath. Dark trousers and trainers.
He dashed along the street, his house was not far. He was fairly confident he'd make it before it rained and that he wouldn't get wet. That was until the girl with blond hair and a big cardboard box in her hands almost walked straight into him.
"Woops. Sorry." She said. A Ford Fiesta was parked by the side of the road with a few more cardboard boxes in it. She was obviously moving in.
Jasper had to stop. "It's ok!" He smiled, and turned to march off again.
"I'm Lucy by the way." She said. "I'm just moving in here." She indicated to the house.
Jasper looked up, nodded and began to turn again.
"You live near here?"
Jasper nodded again, getting a bit impatient now. "Just a couple of doors down. Look I really must go..."
And then Jasper noticed it. A small spot of rain on the car.
His heart skipped a beat. He looked at Lucy.
"What's up?" She asked.
But Jasper said nothing and grabbed her.
She began to scream as Jasper pulled her inside to her house. He didn't care though. She struggled in his grip but Jasper managed to shut the door with his foot. Finally he let her go.
"What the hell are you doing?" Lucy asked, in shock that this man had just grabbed her and thrown her into her new home.
Jasper said ignored her. "Nice place." He said, then he turned and looked at her. "Student, aren't you? I should have guessed. The last lot moved out of here last week. Sharing a house. I remember the days! Good times."
"Why did you grab me?" Lucy asked, an angry look was on her face.
Jasper sighed. "Is this the living room?" He asked, pointing to a closed door.
Lucy nodded.
"Actually, I should know. This is the same layout as my house." He said, as he walked in.
Jasper walked over to the window. He looked out. Lucy stood next to him.
"It's raining." He said, sadly.
Lucy could see that. She was about ask what his point was, but then she saw.
It was raining very heavily. A man was running across the round with a news paper shielding over his head. Once he got to their side of the street, he took the paper away. The rain began to hit his skin. He looked irritated. And then, without any warning, he melted. Right in front of their eyes, the man melted.
Lucy stared in horror. Her mouth went dry. Jasper took hold of her hand.
"Oh my God. What happened?" She asked. "Where did he go?"
Jasper looked at her. "He's dead."
-
The rain had cleared quickly. Lucy had barely said a word, and when the sun came out, Jasper got up to leave.
"Wait." Lucy said. "What if it rains again?"
Jasper turned back to her. "If it rains again, then more people will die."
Lucy let out a shriek. "That could be millions of people!"
Jasper smiled, sadly. "Nah. Whoever is doing this wouldn't have the power to do that. I'm afraid it's just this street, Lucy."
Jasper headed outside into the sun. But Lucy chased after him.
"Wait Mr!" She called. "What do you mean, 'Whoever is doing this'? Nobody can control and change the weather."
Jasper thrust his hands into his pockets and turned. "They can. Someone is. Somewhere in the street. Some monster."
"You're making it sound like it's aliens."
Jasper laughed. "No, it's not. It's an evil genius though."
Lucy snorted. "That's not funny. You can't make up jokes about."
Jasper shook his head, his face deadly serious. "I'm not. There really is an evil genius. Defenux - that's his name. I've been tracking him for a while."
"Are you the police?"
"Oooh, no."
"Who are you then?"
"Just Jasper." He said. "Haven't you got some unpacking to do?"
He walked off down the street. Lucy sighed and went back inside.
Lucy was confused. That had been the weirdest half an hour of her life. A man she'd never met had suddenly made such an impact on her that she had been knocked for six slightly.
She tried to watch Loose Women, but not even Jane McDonald and Lynda Bellingham could take her mind off Jasper and the Rain.
She walked over to where her computer had been hastily plugged in. She loaded it up. It was slow.
Jasper was on his computer. But his computer was super fast and could access a lot more than your average Dell. He was logged into the government's website. He was trying to track Defenux. He'd got the street right. That's why he'd rent this house. But beyond that he couldn't tell. There was just a red dot in the middle of the street on the map. And it had been there for a good month. Jasper had only spent three months in total tracing Defenux and he'd been to lots of places. There was just something about here and this street. He couldn't find the enemy.
He'd knocked on every door and searched everywhere. But he had no idea where Defenux was. He sighed and thumbed a fist onto his computer.
Lucy was on Google now. She thought for a moment, then typed Defenux rain. And what came up shocked her.
It was the middle of the night. Lucy had not slept a wink. She could hear a load of kids shouting and playing in the street.
She got up and looked out of the window...
The Rain was splashing down. Lucy shut the curtains and cried. She had to do something.
The next day, Lucy was up early. She left her house and ran down the street to Jasper's.
"What the hell is going on?" He asked, as he opened the door.
"Jasper! I'm sorry. I believe you." She said.
"About what? The packing?"
"No! About the rain!"
"The Rain." Jasper nodded.
"I read it up on the internet. People being disintegrated by the rain all over the world! If you look deep enough, you find that name. Isaac Defenux."
"Proper little investigator, aren't you?"
"Oh yes." Lucy laughed. "But seriously, we've gotta stop him!"
Jasper's face fell. "Urm...we?"
"Yes." Lucy said. "Me and you."
"Nope." Jasper shook his head. "Lucy, you're a sweet girl. But I've just met you and I can't put your life at risk."
"That red dot?" Lucy asked, looking at his computer. "Is where he is?"
Jasper turned to look at the computer. He nodded.
"Thing is...it's never been so obscure. Usually it pinpoints the exact place but this time...no. I've knocked on most houses. Checked everyone."
"So this guy is...in the middle of the street."
"It says he is. But he's clearly not. Look." Jasper indicated to the window.
"So maybe he's under ground?" Lucy asked.
-
Jasper and Lucy were standing in the road.
"How are we going to get down?" Lucy asked.
"No idea." Jasper laughed. "But it's fun that way."
"What about over here?" Lucy called, she was near a manhole cover.
"Fantastic." Jasper smiled. "You're getting good at this."
Jasper took off the cover and looked at Lucy.
Suddenly, spots of Rain began to splash down. Jasper looked at Lucy. There was no other way to go to get out of the Rain.
"Ready?" He asked.
She nodded. And the pair of them jumped down...
It was pitch black in the sewers. But they could both see the outline of a man. Watching them.
And then he spoke.
"Aha. Jasper Jones. I've been waiting for you."
The voice was deep and somewhat husky. Deep down, Jasper knew that his oldest enemy was smiling in the darkness.
There was a slight rustle and then the tunnel was illuminated in a flash of blinding light. Lucy's eyes struggled to cope as the darkness around them was dissolved into pure white light. They were standing in the middle of a long domed corridor, leading deeper underground. As the scene in front of her came into focus, Lucy felt a wave of fear pass over her as she saw the figure in front of them.
He stood tall and proud, eyeing them both with a proud smirk across his face. His short, silvery hair gave him an air of wisdom, yet his face looked like that of a man no older than thirty. Jasper knew that it was just an illusion, yet he could not help but gaze in wonder at his captivating looks. He wore a black woollen jumper and dark blue jeans. 'If only he could just change the hair' Jasper mused to himself 'he never could get that part right'
'Well Jasper, you certainly took your time.' the man ahead of them took a few steps closer. Almost instantly, Lucy moved a few steps back in instinctive response.
'Hey, don't be frightened there sweetie, you've got nothing to fear. Don't you know who I am?'
Lucy tried to suppress her innermost feelings of deepest terror and mustered the courage to speak as boldly and defensively as she could.
'Oh I know who you are alright. You're Isaac Defenux, and you're responsible for the deaths of thousands of people around the world!'
She looked over to Jasper, expecting him to pick up the argument, but instead, he merely looked back to her with a look of disappointment and regret. He turned away from her and back into the gaze of the dark figure.
'He's not Defenux' he sighed 'He's... He's my...'
'Oh honestly Jasper, you always were terrible with introductions weren't you. I'm Joshua Jones' the man announced proudly 'The brother of your little friend here'
Lucy stepped back in shock. The look on Jasper's face told her that this was the truth.
'But... But... I don't understand'
Jasper spoke up again, staring down his brother 'Looks like Joshua and I still don't play for the same team.' The tone of his voice turned darker as he confronted his brother 'you lied to me!'
'I did not!' Joshua retorted 'you're the one that left us all behind, just when we needed you the most!'
'Oh come on, that was hardly my fault!'
Lucy watched the brothers argue with a sense of incredulity. The past few days had certainly been the weirdest of her life, and the strange events unfolding around her showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.
Jasper had known from the moment he heard his brother's voice that Defenux was already long gone. He just hoped that his brother would be able to help them. Now, he realised, was not the time to engage in petty arguments.
'Look' Jasper said calmly, trying to diffuse the row he had begun 'What are you doing here? Why are you targeting this street?'
Joshua let out a faint laugh 'Come on Jay, surely you of all people know that this street is immaterial; its denizens have no value. There is something much larger at stake here...'
He gestured upwards. Jasper looked back at his brother in terror 'Oh no! Oh no! Please tell me that's not true!'
Joshua smiled again deceptively at his brother 'The War is still going on Jay. We need this weapon. It's alright for you, claiming the moral high ground, gazing neutrally over the countless dead bodies of your fellow kinsmen that you so selfishly abandoned'
A look of distress passed over Jasper's face 'I... I had no choice'
'Only a coward would say that. But as you say, that is all in the past now. Victory is near brother, soon we shall rule the Galaxy and all who live within it' Joshua's eyes widened 'you can still join us, before the rain falls across every one of your beloved planets'
Jasper was silent for a moment, and then spoke quietly, determined 'I will never join you and Defenux; I did not trace Defenux across the stars to surrender. You must be stopped, both of you'
'That's pretty big talk, but it doesn't matter now' Joshua pulled a dark blue PDA from his pocket, a green light was flashing rapidly on and off. 'Our experiments here are over. The rain has been perfected.' he paused and smirked once more 'A perfect storm ready to be unleashed across the cosmos'
He stepped back from them, deeper down the tunnel 'Catch us if you can, I'm sure Isaac would just love to see you again'
Joshua then began to laugh, a cold and evil chortle. It took a few moments for Lucy to realise that he was starting to glow, and then in one instant, as if a match had been lit, they were all once again completely shrouded in light.
'Josh! No! Please don't go!'
But it was too late; as the light died down they were once again engulfed in the darkness.
Jasper rummaged around in his pockets and brought out a small torch. Shining around only confirmed the worse, Joshua had vanished.
'Jasper...' Lucy whispered, still struggling to take in everything she had just seen 'What’s going on? You said Defenux was just an evil genius, not an... alien' The words seemed wrong as they came out of her mouth.
He turned around to face her, his face still fraught with the shock of seeing his brother again after all this time.
‘I’m sorry Lucy, I couldn’t tell you the truth; too many people have suffered learning about the conflicts raging in the skies. I just wanted to protect you, to keep you safe.
‘Even in the darkest spaces between the stars, there is a War going on, a war which has lasted so long, there are few who can remember its origins. Defenux and I are on opposite sides of the division; I’ve spent the last three months trying to reach him, but every time he’s slipped out of my hands...’
His voice trailed away gently, Lucy looked at him bewildered. Now he knew was no time to be weighed down by the minutia of the past.
'Lucy, you know when as a kid you looked out at the stars and wondered about all the fantastic creatures there must be out there?'
She nodded gently.
'They are far more spectacular then we could ever have imagined' he smiled slowly.
Lucy opened her mouth but found that she could not find anything to say, there were a million questions she wanted to ask Jasper. He hugged her, sensing that she was lost in a sea of confusion and doubt.
'It's okay. There will be plenty of time for questions later. Right now though, we need to find Defenux and we need to find him fast'
Lucy nodded, gaining a new resolve. ‘I’m not even going to ask how, but do you think your brother’s gone to join up with him here on Earth?’ the question seemed even stranger then she had imagined in her mind.
‘Definitely, I thought he’d left Defenux and moved on, but he still obviously has power over him’
‘Where do you think Defenux is?’
Jasper sighed and looked around the dark tunnel, as if the answers would simply appear before them.
‘You said that this wasn’t an isolated incident, that streets across the World were witnessing the same events?’ Jasper pulled out a PDA not dissimilar to his brother’s and began tapping gently on the screen, cycling through several menus.
‘Yeah, there have been reported incidents in Germany, Libya, Ukraine, Israel, Bahrain. Even places further afield like Russia and Mali. All in streets built by a company with links to Isaac Defenux’
Jasper stopped for a second, and then Lucy noticed that his expression was starting to light up. ‘Do you know what cities the events took place in?’
‘I do’ Lucy smiled back, and went through the cities she had found on the Internet.
As Jasper tapped away on his screen, his expression was becoming more and more jubilant. As he moved the stylus back from the screen, he turned the PDA around to Lucy. On it there was a map of the world with tiny red dots symbolising the cities she had mentioned.
Lucy noticed the pattern instantly, just as Jasper pressed another button with his thumb. The dots instantly joined up.
‘Defenux always was proud of his name’ Jasper said triumphantly ‘If X really does mark the spot, then he and my brother are somewhere in Northern Greece’
Amidst the jubilation in discovering this international pattern, Lucy’s mind suddenly threw up a roadblock.
‘But Jasper, those co-ordinates aren’t precise. There’s still a wide margin of error, we need to be precise if we are to find them’
Jasper knew she was right; they were about to step into the unknown without any idea of where to look. Lucy’s eyes moved away from the light of the PDA screen and back again down the long corridor leading deeper underground. The torchlight was still shining from Jasper’s hand, illuminating a small plate on the wall, a simple directional number and the name of the street.
‘The name of the street!’
‘Jasper! I know where they are!’ Lucy shouted triumphantly. As he looked up, she followed her outstretched finger pointing at the plate.
‘Of course! How could we miss it?’ He exclaimed.
‘Every single street had the same name, the name of Defenux’s company. Just in different languages. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but that is too much of a coincidence.’
‘Olympia Avenue’. The name had instantly stood out to her whilst she was house hunting only a few weeks before.
‘Well, looks like we’re off to a mountain’ Jasper proclaimed. ‘I hope we’ve still got some time left’
Lucy felt a wave of disappointment ‘but it’ll take us ages to get out to an airport and fly over there. Joshua sounded like they were pretty much ready to leave’ A weird mental image of Joshua Jones and his evil master departing on a giant UFO flew across her mind.
Jasper eyed her gently and smiled again ‘I think we’ll be there pretty soon’
‘How can...’ Lucy began, but was interrupted by Jasper grabbing her arm again. Suddenly, the tunnel around them began to dissolve in the same pure light she had seen earlier. She turned to Jasper again, her expression asking one of the many questions she had about him. He nodded to her.
His face then suddenly vanished from view; the light around her seemed to be closing in...
-
The Sun was setting over Litochrono, a small town at the base of Greece’s largest mountain. Known as the ‘City of Gods’, its views of Mount Olympus were unrivalled, rolling mountains and snow capped peaks extended far out to the horizon. The main square was almost completely empty. As Lucy slowly opened her eyes, she saw a small marble fountain across the road.
‘Lucy. Lucy. Are you okay?’
The voice was familiar; it took a while for the fog in her mind to clear.
‘...where am I?’
Jasper beckoned to the mountain beyond; Lucy was suddenly more awake. ‘How on earth did you do that?’
He blushed and turned away, but as he faced back from the mountain, his heart froze.
Standing opposite them was a tall figure basked in the golden evening light. Shadows flickered across his face from the row of trees he was standing under. His long, flowing sandy coloured hair bristled gently in the wind, brushing against his black coat. His trousers and shoes were also pitch black.
The gentle summer breeze seemed to turn cold as he stared at them. Eventually, he began to walk casually over to them.
‘It’s been far too long hasn’t it Jasper?’ his voice was soft and light. ‘Angelic...’ Lucy thought, spellbound.
‘Isaac.’ Jasper responded gently, weighing up his options ‘I know what you are up to’
‘Of course, I’ve already spoken with your beloved sibling’ He pointed back along the road, lurking in the shadows was Joshua Jones.
Jasper stared back at Defenux ‘So, I see you still haven’t changed your ways, hiding out here whilst you murdered countless innocent civilians around the world. And for what? Some new weapon to unleash your reign of terror across the Galaxy?’
Isaac looked back calculatingly ‘You of all people should know it’s more complicated then that’
‘Not from were I’m standing’
Joshua had walked up to them now, holding a large silver briefcase. He handed it over to Defenux who then proudly held it before Joshua.
‘It’s all finished now; we’ve tested in all sorts of climatic conditions. It’s ripe to be used no matter what atmospheres we introduce it to.
‘I know there’s no way we can tempt you back to us Jasper. It sure was great to see you again. Just make sure that you get off this god-forsaken planet before the rains start again...’
Defenux and Joshua began to walk away slowly; Jasper was frozen in his place.
‘Stop!’ Lucy shouted out after them ‘I don’t know who any of my neighbours are, and now there are some whom I will never meet. I saw what you did, you melted them, dissolved them away to nothing. People who were completely innocent. Why die they deserve to die? So that you could win some ‘war’? When you murder innocent men, women and children you’re not a soldier, you’re a coward!’
Jasper moved closer to Lucy; he had seen what Defenux had done to people who had dared to criticise him in the past. The pair stopped and turned back, Lucy was locked in their penetrative gazes. Defenux handed back the briefcase to Joshua and walked right up to Lucy, only inches away from her face. His face was almost... perfect. His skin lightly tanned, his eyes the deepest shade of sapphire blue. They looked as though they had seen countless years pass over them. When he spoke it was barely louder then a whisper.
‘Do not meddle in the affairs of the gods.
‘You will lose’
He smiled and turned back around to Joshua, striding across the street with an aura of pure confidence. Suddenly, the square was filled with an ear-piercing scream causing Jasper and Lucy to cover their ears. Joshua had opened the briefcase and with an outstretched hand, held out a crystal blue vial. An empty vial.
Isaac Defenux’s screams carried within them a primordial terror. Lucy and Jasper could only look on in fear as he melted away before them, his whole existence erased.
The brothers’ eyes met, and in that brief moment, so many unspoken words seemed to pass between them.
‘The war is not over’ Joshua said, his voice calm and cool. Closing the briefcase, he looked upon his brother. ‘It’s time to choose what side you are on’
‘You... You...’ Jasper stumbled forward, unable to process the events that had just taken place before him.
But it was too late; for the last time in the day, a day when so much had changed, Joshua began to glow.
‘No! Stay! You have to stay!’ Jasper ran out towards his brother. ‘I will be different this time I swear!’
As the light became unbearably strong, Lucy suddenly heard a pulsing sound, and then in one single movement, the light shot up into the sky, piercing the distant clouds above. Leaves from the avenue of tress flew around the square and then fell, silence again.
Jasper was crying gently; he had collapsed to the ground where his brother had been standing, where Defenux had been murdered. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.
Lucy walked over the square and put a re-assuring hand on his shoulder. ‘There was nothing you could have done’
‘I could have stopped him’ Jasper said quietly ‘I could have stopped them both before it was too late’
‘It’s never too late’ Lucy said. ‘We can still find him before the rain falls again’
Jasper looked up at her and slowly rose to his feet.
‘You can’t come with me again; it’s too dangerous out there’
‘People are in danger.’ She stopped, considering the sentence she was about to say, she knew now it was not as strange as she thought ‘the galaxy is in danger’
She touched Jasper’s hand, opening it ever so slightly. They smiled at each other and for a single moment, all the doubts of the world seemed to melt away. As they gazed up to the sky, they heard the rumblings of a distant storm...
