Post by qpq on Nov 4, 2012 12:55:07 GMT -5
Synopsis: Jonathan Daniels newly minted intern at GCB is doing research on the East Hudson Strangler when he came in contact with the spirit of someone who would change his life forever as he had been chosen to become one of the champions of the Earth as the Green Lantern.
“Are you serious?”
That was the question that I was asking myself as I lay there in the seat of my car. It was consumed in flames, but the flames they weren’t touching me. They weren’t touching me at all they were held back. They were held back by something even if I didn’t know what that something was. There was another flame there something that was holding it back. My vision was blurry, but I could swear that it was green, but I couldn’t make it all out.
I had been burned and I was pretty sure something was shoved through my shoulder, but it all seemed to slow down to stop and now someone or something was talking to me.
“I don’t understand…”
”There was a bomb under your car set to go off at the right moment. When your breaks went out and you plowed into the intersection. You were meant to be killed Jonathan. You stumbled into something far more sinister than you could imagine. There are forces at work that you weren’t meant to know about that no one was meant to know about.”
Well, I guess this is where I should back up and cover exactly who I am and what I do, but given the fact that I’m caught in the middle of an explosion that probably should be ripping me apart, but isn’t I can wait on that.
“I’m still confused why aren’t I…”
”Dead? Well I can tell you that. It’s not your time. In fact it’s your time to live, Jonathan Daniels. It’s your time to realize who and what you were truly meant to be.”
Ok so this is really how it went down, but I doubt I can really share this with anyone because I’m still in the middle of trying not to freak out because the fire is real and the screams around me I can hear them too.
“What about everyone else?”
The steering wheel was pressed against my chest the airbag didn’t go off there was no way I was going to get out of this. I’m hallucinating. How come I’m not seeing my life flash before my eyes?
I’m totally getting gipped here.
”I can only save one and you Jonathan are the one I’m meant to save. My time has passed, but yours is just beginning. Accept what I have to offer and everything will be different. You will be a part of something much more than yourself. You will be a part of something greater. You will be everything you were meant to be. You need to only trust yourself. I cannot save the others, but I can grant you the ability to save others from fates such as this.”
I would be lying if I didn’t say I was flipping out at the moment, but the voice was so calm and certain at the moment I didn’t know what to say or think just then. I could feel the blood running down my forehead, but I was definitely out of my mind.
“Who are you?”
”I was once called Alan Scott and I was and I always will be the Green Lantern.”
--- Twenty-four hours earlier ---
“Daniels you need to remember why you’re here. You’re here, because you’ve been doing good work at school. I hear that you will be graduating at the top of your class for your major. That’s no easy feat. You studied in Metropolis University majoring in communications and what was it…”
Jonathan paused for a moment while tapping his pad. “Media emersion. With the advances in the field they thought that they would want to develop something different and new. The program has been going for about five years now and as you know new developments are being made all the time.” Jonathan replied to the man.
The man in question was the individual that had been entrusted with running the Gotham Broadcasting Corporation, GBC as it was known across the land and it didn’t stop in the United States. In the wake of everything that happened GBC as a media outlet grew by leaps and bound and has become one of the premier networks in the world for news and entertainment. They took what Alan Scott began and increased its size and scope.
“Now, Daniels,” the man always called him by his first name no Mister or not even a Jon just Daniels. It was to keep his distance and Jonathan knew why.
“I don’t want you to think that you’ve received any special treatment, because your father was friends with Alan Scott. We valued the type of work that your father did here and his death was a great loss to everyone, but you’re not getting a free pass here. You’re here, because we want you to learn from the best. We you to become a member of the GBC family here but you’re going to have to do the work which means you’ll have to do the research and while some people believe that all the information is out there in the net it’s still out there through traditional methods. “
Meaning going out and talking with people, making phone calls and doing the traditional research some of which was made easier through the use of the net and cloud services, but there were some things that you had to do a little leg work or a lot. Jonathan didn’t have a problem with that.
“It’s one of the reasons why you’re here in New York. Headquarters was moved here after things went to hell in Gotham and Alan fought the move for a long time, but even he knew that if GBC was going to survive, that headquarters was going to have to move. We still maintain operations in Gotham, but all the big decisions happen here. Also there’s a lot to work to be done here. There is a lot of research to be done. “ He smiled a little and moved from behind the desk.
“Now that being said I don’t know what you’re long term goals are yet and we’ll be talking about that soon enough, but you applied for the news department. So that tells me that you want to get into a little investigation and social issues. I’ve seen some of the work that you put out and it seems like you lean that way which is commendable, but you’re not going to be on the air reporting anything. I’m thinking you know that. You’re going to be doing fact checking, digging through files and reviewing other pieces to make sure that they are ready to go to the next stage which sometimes may send them to the air. You will also be working with some of our reporters and producers to help them with their assignments.”
It was all the usual spiel and Jonathan knew that it was headed somewhere, but he had to say that he was excited to be here. He could have taken a position with the Planet in their internship program, but he wanted to come home in a sense to GBC he had been hanging out in the offices since he could remember. Still he hadn’t been to New York in a long time perhaps it was for Alan’s funeral.
It wasn’t something that he could forget, but he remembered what his father told him if there was a place that Jonathan wanted to work it would be for GBC. They cared about the type of programming they put out and the stories produced. If there was any network out there that would be a good place for him to go it would be GBC. They continued to push the important issues through despite the change in regime as one would put it.
“So, tell me are you excited about joining the GBC family?”
Question of the hour.
“Delighted. Excited. I just hope that I can live up the GBC standards. I want to do really well, because this is where I want to be in the end. I know it’s only an internship, but I’m hoping that I will be able to build on that. I thought I might be working out of Metropolis, but when I was told that I would be working in New York at the headquarters I was…wow.” He grinned a bit.
“Glad to hear it. We need your type of energy. We need your ideas. You’ll have to work your way up, but you need to let yourself be heard. HR is going to provide you with your packet and who you will be working with. Feel free to speak with me at any time scheduling permitting of course, but we do encourage an open door policy here. I’m going to be out of the country towards the end of the week, but any time after that I’ll be available just check with Susan and she will let you know my availability. We’re excited to have you here, Daniels. No matter what happens remember that.”
That was his cue, up to his feet Jonathan took the hand that was offered and shook it. “Thank you, Mr. Winters. I promise I will give you only my best. You won’t regret offering me the internship.”
--- Later that Day ---
“No seriously mom. I’m not. I didn’t ask anyone for any special treatment. They know who I am and that I’m determined to make it here on my own. So if that means I have to run errands I run errands. If I’m a glorified fact checker then I’m checking facts.” There was a light sound to his voice almost like eh was amused, but truth be told Jonathan was elated to be here. He was overjoyed. He was exactly where he wanted to be.
Even if it meant that he was looking over old recordings of some of the recent events to pull some information together for one of the producers. They wanted to pitch an idea but needed someone to go through some news archives and make sure that everything that they had captured in their pitch idea is accurate.
There were a few people on a list that he needed to interview to determine whether or not they would be willing to participate in the new story. It was taking a look at people who had been victims of the East Hudson Strangler. Seeing where they were and how dark things had gotten before new laws had been put into effect giving police a little more latitude in how they handled individuals.
Had things gotten worse or better where they happy with the results. Do they think that it’s made a difference in the ten years that had passed since the strangler’s conviction? He was also going to be tasked with going out and finding some of these people that would be done tomorrow though if he worked hard he could get a jump on it today. Though if some of them moved out of state then he would have to spend some time on the phone.
Jonathan was going to have to get familiar with the city not that it was completely foreign to him, but it had been a while since he had been this excited. He was doing his part he was part of GBN, he couldn’t believe it and even though he was simply an intern he was part of the machine he was a cog in the machine and no one could tell him different.
The excitement could be heard as it rose and fell. He wanted to be a part of this.
“I’m just running through some old videos to do some fact checking. I’ll probably carry some of it home with me tonight, but I’m also thinking that seeing if I can track down some of the interview subjects. I might be able to talk to them today, but I might hold off on doing it. Need to make sure that I have the right information first make sure that I don’t walk into something potentially volatile.”
Better to err on caution.
Downloading some more information to the tablet he moved the phone around so he could look into it while starting the video option.
“Mom, don’t worry. I know you’re worried you think I’m going to rush into something, but I can assure you that I’m not. I’m taking it all one step at a time.”
Running his fingers through his hair he glanced over at the monitor and saw that the download was complete. There was one thing he saw he could check into. It was where the strangler lived that was always a place he could start, something he could look into. He had the information on the tablet. It was abandoned, but it could recreate it with the use of the information he had on the tablet, there was a website on it.
“I just don’t want you to be too eager, Jonathan. And you know what I mean.” He could feel his lip twisting just a bit, but he nodded.
“I know. I’ll be ok. I should get going. Don’t want people to think that I spend all the time on the phone on personal calls. Need be about business. You know the adage. News waits for no one.”
“That’s time, Jon.”
“I know. I know. It’s both probably, but I’ll call you in a couple of days. Love you.”
“Love you too.” His mother replied before he pressed the end call button the phone. Reaching for his satchel he began to place everything into the bag as it was time for him to check out for the day. He was still going to be working, but he wanted to do a little upfront investigating. Get a little more acquainted with the material so to speak.
He also needed to move around. There was so much energy going through that he thought he could fly.
Shutting the equipment down he walked out of the room closing the door behind him. It was only after he was halfway to the elevator that the custodian passed by tipping his head as a green glow appeared beneath the door. Reaching for the door knob he tested and found it locked. Unlocking the door he pressed inside finding a darken room with nothing on.
Shutting the door with a shake of his head he watched as Jonathan stepped onto the elevator. Just as the custodian turned there was a quick flash and a green orb of light shot out of the door and flew down the hall and passed through the solid elevator doors.
--- Next Day ---
“No, I haven’t lost my mind. I told that I was going to be late. Celebrating can happen later, besides I’m like hours away these days and I doubt you’re going to drop everything and head up to New York, besides I doubt you want to follow along with me while I head to some of the sites. I have one more that I’m going to check out and then I’m calling it a night.”
He wrinkled his nose while stepping through the room.
“Yes there are people that offer tours, but I rather not hear what I already know while I’m trying to get some footage and take some pictures. I can do that later, but I’ve been going over some of the information while matching it up to how it looks now. I’m trying to get a bit of a feel and no it doesn’t spook me out. You watch way to many movies. I need to get going so I can do this and grab something to eat. I was supposed to get something earlier, but I got to talking to one of the sisters of the victims and it ran over. She had a lot of information and she wanted to come and talk about it, because she wants to keep people aware of the world we live in now. She doesn’t want anyone to forget.”
Not something that you could really forget about, but you could push it aside. You could bury it under so many other things and the world was far from a safe place.
“Reese, it’s nothing like that. It’s going to be a very respectful piece. It’s about looking back at one of the darker periods and how it changed people’s lives. I think it really shook them up. I think it was first time that it hit that there was no one coming. That “they” weren’t there anymore. The world had truly changed. We were on our own and we had to stop thinking that someone would swoop in and make it better for us or save us. There used to be a time that criminals couldn’t sneeze without someone taking them down. These days….not the case.”
He never really knew how he felt about it, because he grew up in the world as it is now. He heard stories and knew how it was before, but it took horrible things for people to realize that there truly had been a shift and it wasn’t going to change anytime soon. People had taken the presence of heroes for granted and in a way they had forgotten that it was a dangerous world out there and that you still needed to have your wits about you. There is only so much that people can do and even if heroes were here people had to realize that you had to help yourself also and remember that anything can happen.
Snapping another picture Jonathan paused while he looked over the corner where the dried blood could still be seen. It wasn’t something that was going away. There was always a call to knock the building down, but in a way it stood as a monument for the people that had died here, but also a reminder of how bad it had gotten and how much change was needed.
New York had fallen for a while, but it got better, but better didn’t come without new laws and rules. It was another reason why he needed to be on his way. There were certain parts of the city that you didn’t want to be caught by the hoods or the police.
Strange though that in many other spots that something looked as if it had grown over and died all at once. The building had become overrun with vegetation, but it looked like as quickly as it grew it died.
“Jon! Are you still there, man?” Glancing at the phone Jonathan shook his head.
“Sorry…was just…I don’t’ know. Noticed something.” Taking a picture he focused back on the phone.
“I should get going. I’ll call you tomorrow. K?” Before Reese could answer Jonathan ended the call heading towards the hallway. He glanced over his shoulder noting the other thing that was odd about the building. It was colder inside than it was inside. Perhaps it was what happened here that was making him think that, but it just felt colder at least to him. It wasn’t like a chill along the spine it was one that tapped his bone.
He could feel it all through his body. Reaching the door he looked over his shoulder once more before he stepped forward stumbling a bit. Catching himself by placing his hand along the door frame his eyes flicked down and he noticed root or vine of shorts that had caught his foot. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it didn’t matter. He shook his head and moved out of the building.
Shutting the door which had been pried open numerous times he looked back for a moment then started to move down the stairs unaware that the root had begun to spread beneath the door slowly moving after him. It was definitely moving, but it looked dead it looked like it had died months ago, but still it moved of its on will as Jonathan headed towards his car.
Reaching the door of his car Jonathan felt a chill run along his spine causing him to look towards the building.
“Weird.” Opening the door he slipped inside and started the car while the root that had been following him moved underneath the car and began to spread along the bottom of the car while the car roared it life. A shift the transmission set the car in motion while root spread along the axles of the car.
He will not have him.
--- Moments after the crash and Alan revealing himself ---
“Do people think I’m dead? I’m not dead. We should tell them..” Jonathan glanced down at the fire that consumed his car. He was pretty upset about it, but he was thankful that he wasn’t dead.
“My mom. I need to call my mom because she is officially going to shi..”
”Take a moment to breath, Jonathan. You need to absorb everything that I’ve told you and you will talk to your mother soon enough, but you need to consider what I’ve told you.”
“Oh trust me I’m there. Someone put a bomb that’s not really a bomb on my car. Care to explain that one again.”
”Well, I could, but you will only get a bit of a headache, besides it is akin to a bomb and that’s all that matters. Well, one of the things that matters.”
“Oh that’s double talk right there. I thought you were going to be straight with me here. I mean first you seem to slow down the explosion and pull me out of it and now I’m looking down at everything. Are you sure I’m not dead. You know out of body experience looking over and down at yourself from wherever I happen to be headed to. You know like…heaven…hell…limbo. You can be honest with me. Though I don’t think hell is exactly where I should go to. I know that I’ve done a few questionable things, but who hasn’t in their youth, but it doesn’t merit hell. Oh God don’t tell me I’m a net zero like Deb…”
There was a bit of a chuckle.
I have forgotten how talkative you can be. Your father said that you were talker and that you were going to find your way either behind or in front of the camera or both. Though I can’t complain it’s been some time since I have been able to converse with someone. Let alone have them acknowledge my existence. Though this is the first time that I’ve reached out to another, but it was time. Everything was finally in place.
That caught Jonathan off guard. He didn’t know exactly why it all happened and there were answers that weren’t coming as quickly has he hoped, but the sound of Mr. Scott’s voice was familiar it was probably the reason why he wasn’t completely freaking out.
“Ok. Now that you’ve gotten that out you had to bring me up here for a reason. I mean if you wanted to safe me you could have set me out down there anywhere.” He wasn’t even going to get into what he had been told far be it for him to debate the matter of Alan Scott being the Green Lantern. According to what he had been told there were several of them.
“You told me that I stumble into something bigger than I can imagine. I wasn’t looking for anything just pulling together some information for one of the anchors for a piece of the East Hudson strangler. He’s dead. “
Simple as that.
”Death is never and ending, Jonathan. It is simply a transformation from one state to the next. I am no longer alive in the sense that you understand but my death brought about a change in what I was into what I am. The same can be said for the Strangler except his death did not allow him to move on from this plane to the next. He was taken in by something that was bigger than himself. It is difficult to explain, but in time you will understand. You will see. You will see with greater sight than anyone has before, but to do so you must be willing to put everything else aside. Your life will no longer be your own. Life consists of choices and sacrifices usually choices determining which sacrifices we are willing to make. I can tell you everything you wish to know, but in order for you to understand you must be able to see. And for you to see you must take in that which I have to offer. “
The voice paused perhaps to give Jonathan a chance to weigh everything that was being said at the moment, because Jonathan would be the first to say that he understood and didn’t understand at the same time. It was all surreal and he was still trying to deal with the fact that someone tried to kill him. He was an intern. Why would someone want to snuff him out?
“Interesting.”
“What? What is?” Jonathan looked around wondering if there was something he missed that he should have seen. He was high up in the sky hidden from sight lost in the darkness of night be still able to see down below him.
”Your thoughts. Snuffed out. I heard them. It was an interesting way of thinking about it, Jonathan, because that is exactly what they were attempting to do. They are attempting to snuff out your light before it had chance to shine. They fear its potential, the untapped intensity that lives within. That is what called to me. That is what called the them. They know that you have potential and they take no chances. They would see your light dimmed and snuffed out rather than given a chance to grow. The darkness that has covered the world is coming to an end. It may start slow but it will grow quickly and as it does all will take notice and some will praise its end. Others will not. They will seek to stop it. Darkness hides many things, but if given a chance you can help bring it to an end, but it all depends on what you are willing to sacrifice in exchange.
Jonathan could feel his brows knitting together as he looked down at his arms, because truth be told he had been burned he had been broken but his bones had been mended and flesh had been healed. He was the picture of health at the moment and right now despite the fact he could not be seen he was covered in fire, but it was unlike any fire he had seen before. He didn’t even start to go into the fact that it was green.
“The world needs its heroes. It deserves its champions and even if you do not believe it today. You are one of them, Jonathan. “
“Are you serious?”
That was the question that I was asking myself as I lay there in the seat of my car. It was consumed in flames, but the flames they weren’t touching me. They weren’t touching me at all they were held back. They were held back by something even if I didn’t know what that something was. There was another flame there something that was holding it back. My vision was blurry, but I could swear that it was green, but I couldn’t make it all out.
I had been burned and I was pretty sure something was shoved through my shoulder, but it all seemed to slow down to stop and now someone or something was talking to me.
“I don’t understand…”
”There was a bomb under your car set to go off at the right moment. When your breaks went out and you plowed into the intersection. You were meant to be killed Jonathan. You stumbled into something far more sinister than you could imagine. There are forces at work that you weren’t meant to know about that no one was meant to know about.”
Well, I guess this is where I should back up and cover exactly who I am and what I do, but given the fact that I’m caught in the middle of an explosion that probably should be ripping me apart, but isn’t I can wait on that.
“I’m still confused why aren’t I…”
”Dead? Well I can tell you that. It’s not your time. In fact it’s your time to live, Jonathan Daniels. It’s your time to realize who and what you were truly meant to be.”
Ok so this is really how it went down, but I doubt I can really share this with anyone because I’m still in the middle of trying not to freak out because the fire is real and the screams around me I can hear them too.
“What about everyone else?”
The steering wheel was pressed against my chest the airbag didn’t go off there was no way I was going to get out of this. I’m hallucinating. How come I’m not seeing my life flash before my eyes?
I’m totally getting gipped here.
”I can only save one and you Jonathan are the one I’m meant to save. My time has passed, but yours is just beginning. Accept what I have to offer and everything will be different. You will be a part of something much more than yourself. You will be a part of something greater. You will be everything you were meant to be. You need to only trust yourself. I cannot save the others, but I can grant you the ability to save others from fates such as this.”
I would be lying if I didn’t say I was flipping out at the moment, but the voice was so calm and certain at the moment I didn’t know what to say or think just then. I could feel the blood running down my forehead, but I was definitely out of my mind.
“Who are you?”
”I was once called Alan Scott and I was and I always will be the Green Lantern.”
--- Twenty-four hours earlier ---
“Daniels you need to remember why you’re here. You’re here, because you’ve been doing good work at school. I hear that you will be graduating at the top of your class for your major. That’s no easy feat. You studied in Metropolis University majoring in communications and what was it…”
Jonathan paused for a moment while tapping his pad. “Media emersion. With the advances in the field they thought that they would want to develop something different and new. The program has been going for about five years now and as you know new developments are being made all the time.” Jonathan replied to the man.
The man in question was the individual that had been entrusted with running the Gotham Broadcasting Corporation, GBC as it was known across the land and it didn’t stop in the United States. In the wake of everything that happened GBC as a media outlet grew by leaps and bound and has become one of the premier networks in the world for news and entertainment. They took what Alan Scott began and increased its size and scope.
“Now, Daniels,” the man always called him by his first name no Mister or not even a Jon just Daniels. It was to keep his distance and Jonathan knew why.
“I don’t want you to think that you’ve received any special treatment, because your father was friends with Alan Scott. We valued the type of work that your father did here and his death was a great loss to everyone, but you’re not getting a free pass here. You’re here, because we want you to learn from the best. We you to become a member of the GBC family here but you’re going to have to do the work which means you’ll have to do the research and while some people believe that all the information is out there in the net it’s still out there through traditional methods. “
Meaning going out and talking with people, making phone calls and doing the traditional research some of which was made easier through the use of the net and cloud services, but there were some things that you had to do a little leg work or a lot. Jonathan didn’t have a problem with that.
“It’s one of the reasons why you’re here in New York. Headquarters was moved here after things went to hell in Gotham and Alan fought the move for a long time, but even he knew that if GBC was going to survive, that headquarters was going to have to move. We still maintain operations in Gotham, but all the big decisions happen here. Also there’s a lot to work to be done here. There is a lot of research to be done. “ He smiled a little and moved from behind the desk.
“Now that being said I don’t know what you’re long term goals are yet and we’ll be talking about that soon enough, but you applied for the news department. So that tells me that you want to get into a little investigation and social issues. I’ve seen some of the work that you put out and it seems like you lean that way which is commendable, but you’re not going to be on the air reporting anything. I’m thinking you know that. You’re going to be doing fact checking, digging through files and reviewing other pieces to make sure that they are ready to go to the next stage which sometimes may send them to the air. You will also be working with some of our reporters and producers to help them with their assignments.”
It was all the usual spiel and Jonathan knew that it was headed somewhere, but he had to say that he was excited to be here. He could have taken a position with the Planet in their internship program, but he wanted to come home in a sense to GBC he had been hanging out in the offices since he could remember. Still he hadn’t been to New York in a long time perhaps it was for Alan’s funeral.
It wasn’t something that he could forget, but he remembered what his father told him if there was a place that Jonathan wanted to work it would be for GBC. They cared about the type of programming they put out and the stories produced. If there was any network out there that would be a good place for him to go it would be GBC. They continued to push the important issues through despite the change in regime as one would put it.
“So, tell me are you excited about joining the GBC family?”
Question of the hour.
“Delighted. Excited. I just hope that I can live up the GBC standards. I want to do really well, because this is where I want to be in the end. I know it’s only an internship, but I’m hoping that I will be able to build on that. I thought I might be working out of Metropolis, but when I was told that I would be working in New York at the headquarters I was…wow.” He grinned a bit.
“Glad to hear it. We need your type of energy. We need your ideas. You’ll have to work your way up, but you need to let yourself be heard. HR is going to provide you with your packet and who you will be working with. Feel free to speak with me at any time scheduling permitting of course, but we do encourage an open door policy here. I’m going to be out of the country towards the end of the week, but any time after that I’ll be available just check with Susan and she will let you know my availability. We’re excited to have you here, Daniels. No matter what happens remember that.”
That was his cue, up to his feet Jonathan took the hand that was offered and shook it. “Thank you, Mr. Winters. I promise I will give you only my best. You won’t regret offering me the internship.”
--- Later that Day ---
“No seriously mom. I’m not. I didn’t ask anyone for any special treatment. They know who I am and that I’m determined to make it here on my own. So if that means I have to run errands I run errands. If I’m a glorified fact checker then I’m checking facts.” There was a light sound to his voice almost like eh was amused, but truth be told Jonathan was elated to be here. He was overjoyed. He was exactly where he wanted to be.
Even if it meant that he was looking over old recordings of some of the recent events to pull some information together for one of the producers. They wanted to pitch an idea but needed someone to go through some news archives and make sure that everything that they had captured in their pitch idea is accurate.
There were a few people on a list that he needed to interview to determine whether or not they would be willing to participate in the new story. It was taking a look at people who had been victims of the East Hudson Strangler. Seeing where they were and how dark things had gotten before new laws had been put into effect giving police a little more latitude in how they handled individuals.
Had things gotten worse or better where they happy with the results. Do they think that it’s made a difference in the ten years that had passed since the strangler’s conviction? He was also going to be tasked with going out and finding some of these people that would be done tomorrow though if he worked hard he could get a jump on it today. Though if some of them moved out of state then he would have to spend some time on the phone.
Jonathan was going to have to get familiar with the city not that it was completely foreign to him, but it had been a while since he had been this excited. He was doing his part he was part of GBN, he couldn’t believe it and even though he was simply an intern he was part of the machine he was a cog in the machine and no one could tell him different.
The excitement could be heard as it rose and fell. He wanted to be a part of this.
“I’m just running through some old videos to do some fact checking. I’ll probably carry some of it home with me tonight, but I’m also thinking that seeing if I can track down some of the interview subjects. I might be able to talk to them today, but I might hold off on doing it. Need to make sure that I have the right information first make sure that I don’t walk into something potentially volatile.”
Better to err on caution.
Downloading some more information to the tablet he moved the phone around so he could look into it while starting the video option.
“Mom, don’t worry. I know you’re worried you think I’m going to rush into something, but I can assure you that I’m not. I’m taking it all one step at a time.”
Running his fingers through his hair he glanced over at the monitor and saw that the download was complete. There was one thing he saw he could check into. It was where the strangler lived that was always a place he could start, something he could look into. He had the information on the tablet. It was abandoned, but it could recreate it with the use of the information he had on the tablet, there was a website on it.
“I just don’t want you to be too eager, Jonathan. And you know what I mean.” He could feel his lip twisting just a bit, but he nodded.
“I know. I’ll be ok. I should get going. Don’t want people to think that I spend all the time on the phone on personal calls. Need be about business. You know the adage. News waits for no one.”
“That’s time, Jon.”
“I know. I know. It’s both probably, but I’ll call you in a couple of days. Love you.”
“Love you too.” His mother replied before he pressed the end call button the phone. Reaching for his satchel he began to place everything into the bag as it was time for him to check out for the day. He was still going to be working, but he wanted to do a little upfront investigating. Get a little more acquainted with the material so to speak.
He also needed to move around. There was so much energy going through that he thought he could fly.
Shutting the equipment down he walked out of the room closing the door behind him. It was only after he was halfway to the elevator that the custodian passed by tipping his head as a green glow appeared beneath the door. Reaching for the door knob he tested and found it locked. Unlocking the door he pressed inside finding a darken room with nothing on.
Shutting the door with a shake of his head he watched as Jonathan stepped onto the elevator. Just as the custodian turned there was a quick flash and a green orb of light shot out of the door and flew down the hall and passed through the solid elevator doors.
--- Next Day ---
“No, I haven’t lost my mind. I told that I was going to be late. Celebrating can happen later, besides I’m like hours away these days and I doubt you’re going to drop everything and head up to New York, besides I doubt you want to follow along with me while I head to some of the sites. I have one more that I’m going to check out and then I’m calling it a night.”
He wrinkled his nose while stepping through the room.
“Yes there are people that offer tours, but I rather not hear what I already know while I’m trying to get some footage and take some pictures. I can do that later, but I’ve been going over some of the information while matching it up to how it looks now. I’m trying to get a bit of a feel and no it doesn’t spook me out. You watch way to many movies. I need to get going so I can do this and grab something to eat. I was supposed to get something earlier, but I got to talking to one of the sisters of the victims and it ran over. She had a lot of information and she wanted to come and talk about it, because she wants to keep people aware of the world we live in now. She doesn’t want anyone to forget.”
Not something that you could really forget about, but you could push it aside. You could bury it under so many other things and the world was far from a safe place.
“Reese, it’s nothing like that. It’s going to be a very respectful piece. It’s about looking back at one of the darker periods and how it changed people’s lives. I think it really shook them up. I think it was first time that it hit that there was no one coming. That “they” weren’t there anymore. The world had truly changed. We were on our own and we had to stop thinking that someone would swoop in and make it better for us or save us. There used to be a time that criminals couldn’t sneeze without someone taking them down. These days….not the case.”
He never really knew how he felt about it, because he grew up in the world as it is now. He heard stories and knew how it was before, but it took horrible things for people to realize that there truly had been a shift and it wasn’t going to change anytime soon. People had taken the presence of heroes for granted and in a way they had forgotten that it was a dangerous world out there and that you still needed to have your wits about you. There is only so much that people can do and even if heroes were here people had to realize that you had to help yourself also and remember that anything can happen.
Snapping another picture Jonathan paused while he looked over the corner where the dried blood could still be seen. It wasn’t something that was going away. There was always a call to knock the building down, but in a way it stood as a monument for the people that had died here, but also a reminder of how bad it had gotten and how much change was needed.
New York had fallen for a while, but it got better, but better didn’t come without new laws and rules. It was another reason why he needed to be on his way. There were certain parts of the city that you didn’t want to be caught by the hoods or the police.
Strange though that in many other spots that something looked as if it had grown over and died all at once. The building had become overrun with vegetation, but it looked like as quickly as it grew it died.
“Jon! Are you still there, man?” Glancing at the phone Jonathan shook his head.
“Sorry…was just…I don’t’ know. Noticed something.” Taking a picture he focused back on the phone.
“I should get going. I’ll call you tomorrow. K?” Before Reese could answer Jonathan ended the call heading towards the hallway. He glanced over his shoulder noting the other thing that was odd about the building. It was colder inside than it was inside. Perhaps it was what happened here that was making him think that, but it just felt colder at least to him. It wasn’t like a chill along the spine it was one that tapped his bone.
He could feel it all through his body. Reaching the door he looked over his shoulder once more before he stepped forward stumbling a bit. Catching himself by placing his hand along the door frame his eyes flicked down and he noticed root or vine of shorts that had caught his foot. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it didn’t matter. He shook his head and moved out of the building.
Shutting the door which had been pried open numerous times he looked back for a moment then started to move down the stairs unaware that the root had begun to spread beneath the door slowly moving after him. It was definitely moving, but it looked dead it looked like it had died months ago, but still it moved of its on will as Jonathan headed towards his car.
Reaching the door of his car Jonathan felt a chill run along his spine causing him to look towards the building.
“Weird.” Opening the door he slipped inside and started the car while the root that had been following him moved underneath the car and began to spread along the bottom of the car while the car roared it life. A shift the transmission set the car in motion while root spread along the axles of the car.
He will not have him.
--- Moments after the crash and Alan revealing himself ---
“Do people think I’m dead? I’m not dead. We should tell them..” Jonathan glanced down at the fire that consumed his car. He was pretty upset about it, but he was thankful that he wasn’t dead.
“My mom. I need to call my mom because she is officially going to shi..”
”Take a moment to breath, Jonathan. You need to absorb everything that I’ve told you and you will talk to your mother soon enough, but you need to consider what I’ve told you.”
“Oh trust me I’m there. Someone put a bomb that’s not really a bomb on my car. Care to explain that one again.”
”Well, I could, but you will only get a bit of a headache, besides it is akin to a bomb and that’s all that matters. Well, one of the things that matters.”
“Oh that’s double talk right there. I thought you were going to be straight with me here. I mean first you seem to slow down the explosion and pull me out of it and now I’m looking down at everything. Are you sure I’m not dead. You know out of body experience looking over and down at yourself from wherever I happen to be headed to. You know like…heaven…hell…limbo. You can be honest with me. Though I don’t think hell is exactly where I should go to. I know that I’ve done a few questionable things, but who hasn’t in their youth, but it doesn’t merit hell. Oh God don’t tell me I’m a net zero like Deb…”
There was a bit of a chuckle.
I have forgotten how talkative you can be. Your father said that you were talker and that you were going to find your way either behind or in front of the camera or both. Though I can’t complain it’s been some time since I have been able to converse with someone. Let alone have them acknowledge my existence. Though this is the first time that I’ve reached out to another, but it was time. Everything was finally in place.
That caught Jonathan off guard. He didn’t know exactly why it all happened and there were answers that weren’t coming as quickly has he hoped, but the sound of Mr. Scott’s voice was familiar it was probably the reason why he wasn’t completely freaking out.
“Ok. Now that you’ve gotten that out you had to bring me up here for a reason. I mean if you wanted to safe me you could have set me out down there anywhere.” He wasn’t even going to get into what he had been told far be it for him to debate the matter of Alan Scott being the Green Lantern. According to what he had been told there were several of them.
“You told me that I stumble into something bigger than I can imagine. I wasn’t looking for anything just pulling together some information for one of the anchors for a piece of the East Hudson strangler. He’s dead. “
Simple as that.
”Death is never and ending, Jonathan. It is simply a transformation from one state to the next. I am no longer alive in the sense that you understand but my death brought about a change in what I was into what I am. The same can be said for the Strangler except his death did not allow him to move on from this plane to the next. He was taken in by something that was bigger than himself. It is difficult to explain, but in time you will understand. You will see. You will see with greater sight than anyone has before, but to do so you must be willing to put everything else aside. Your life will no longer be your own. Life consists of choices and sacrifices usually choices determining which sacrifices we are willing to make. I can tell you everything you wish to know, but in order for you to understand you must be able to see. And for you to see you must take in that which I have to offer. “
The voice paused perhaps to give Jonathan a chance to weigh everything that was being said at the moment, because Jonathan would be the first to say that he understood and didn’t understand at the same time. It was all surreal and he was still trying to deal with the fact that someone tried to kill him. He was an intern. Why would someone want to snuff him out?
“Interesting.”
“What? What is?” Jonathan looked around wondering if there was something he missed that he should have seen. He was high up in the sky hidden from sight lost in the darkness of night be still able to see down below him.
”Your thoughts. Snuffed out. I heard them. It was an interesting way of thinking about it, Jonathan, because that is exactly what they were attempting to do. They are attempting to snuff out your light before it had chance to shine. They fear its potential, the untapped intensity that lives within. That is what called to me. That is what called the them. They know that you have potential and they take no chances. They would see your light dimmed and snuffed out rather than given a chance to grow. The darkness that has covered the world is coming to an end. It may start slow but it will grow quickly and as it does all will take notice and some will praise its end. Others will not. They will seek to stop it. Darkness hides many things, but if given a chance you can help bring it to an end, but it all depends on what you are willing to sacrifice in exchange.
Jonathan could feel his brows knitting together as he looked down at his arms, because truth be told he had been burned he had been broken but his bones had been mended and flesh had been healed. He was the picture of health at the moment and right now despite the fact he could not be seen he was covered in fire, but it was unlike any fire he had seen before. He didn’t even start to go into the fact that it was green.
“The world needs its heroes. It deserves its champions and even if you do not believe it today. You are one of them, Jonathan. “