Esper Chapter 8: The Trigger

Part 1

“Finally…that’s all the information I needed to mark down!” Nicolaus Thompson sat back in his chair, stretching tensed muscles and awash with a feeling of accomplishment. On the computer monitor before him was a comprehensive list of information that he’d accumulated from the incident, in concern to his own powers, and miscellaneous tidbits about the other survivors. “…gotta’ wonder, should I delete some of the stuff on here? Bah! No one else is ever going to see this!” The young man scanned his eyes up and down the list, getting stopped, as he often would, on the section concerning Kevin Greene. “Not going to freak out again.” Fighting back the nausea, Nicolaus left his bedroom for the kitchen.

Washing his face in the sink, a sudden voice startled him! “Oh, Nicolaus, how are doing?” Almost from thin air, the suave Alonso appeared in Nicolaus’s living room!

“Geez, man! When did you get here?!” Totally unprepared to see anyone else in his apartment caused Nicolaus to fall back on the ground!

“I’m sorry to surprise you.”

“No. It’s fine.” More awkwardness between the two was fostered.

“Nicolaus, Dani asked for the last of her things.”

“You probably should’ve called…”

“I did. Your phone, it is off.”

“…” Nicolaus pulled his smartphone out and noticed it was, in fact, off. “Damn. What did you need?”

“Dani left some paperwork behind, and the things she’d bought for the baby.”

“Oh, it’s on the couch.” Alonso acknowledged and started gathering things. Their personalities just didn’t jell; Alonso’s positivity needled the pessimist with every bright smile. Despite that, Nicolaus regretted displaying coldness toward his well-mannered soon in-law. “Say, Alonso…uh…where are you from exactly…?”

“Mexico.” He replied, almost too plainly. “Oh, you mean where in Mexico! I grew up in a small town north of Ecatepec. My family moved around a lot growing up.”

“Cool, cool. Did you meet Dani in Mexico?”

“Yes! She was…how did she describe it? Understanding herself by understanding other points of view?”

“Yeah, that’s Dani.”

“We traveled a lot. When Dani heard about what happened to you though, she rushed back!”

“Right…kind of makes me feel bad.”

“Why? She is your sister. She loves you! Dani is a very compassionate woman, full of loving energy!”

“Hearing you describe my little sister like that is a bit creepy…and I guess…kind of…sweet?” Alonso and Nicolaus shared a laugh.

“Dani had mentioned your mother and step-father living far away. Why does she not visit?”

“I mean…”

“Don’t answer if it upsets you! I don’t want to make you angry.”

“No. It’s fine. Dani…and my mom haven’t gotten along after what happened with our dad. Them spending just about every day at each other’s throats was what made me want to move away. It got so bad once, I had to pull Dani off my own Mom because they actually started fighting.”

“Jesus.”

“Sure you still want in on this messed up family?”

“Well…you seem pretty normal.”

“I just hide it well.” Alonso’s phone rang.

“That’s Dani. We should talk again, Nicolaus.”

“Yeah. I should probably charge my phone and get back to what I was working on.” The door closed behind Alonso; leaving Nicolaus. As soon as his phone was connected to the charger and powered on, a notification came through. Their training for the night was cancelled by Vernon, but before Nicolaus could do anything else, a call popped up on screen! “Huh? Vergil…oh right. I was going to message him.” Nicolaus nonchalantly, only to be bombarded incoherent stuttering!

“N-N-Nicolaus! W-W-W-W-…” Vergil Trask couldn’t formulate a sentence!

“Whoa! Calm down, Vergil! Are you alright?!”

“I…” What Nicolaus didn’t know was that on the other side of the line, Vergil sat with his psychic energy projects scattered around his bedroom! He’d unintentionally crafted them, each taking distorted and malformed shapes. “I…I’m trying to calm d-down…but…”

“What happened?! Do you need me to come over?”

“No! I…I just…I did something r-r-really bad.”

“Can you tell me what it was?”

“I-I can’t. Nicolaus, what d-do I do?”

“…” There wasn’t much Nicolaus could do with no information.

“I…I-I’m s-so fucking s…stupid! I can’t do…anything!”

“Vergil, you’re not.”

“I am!”

“You’re not! You’re not, Vergil.” That trembling in Vergil’s voice reminded Nicolaus all too much of himself. (This is…just like back then, when I needed someone. Maybe this is how I pay back the universe. Honestly, I could use some good karma right now.) He glanced over at his computer screen, at the name Kevin Greene, at the name of a father whose life he’d taken. “Vergil, listen, I know whatever happened must’ve been pretty crazy, but I want you to know you can trust me. I…went through some stuff back in the day too.”

“W-What stuff…?”

“…Well…” Nicolaus paused, just short of drumming up bad memories. “I…uh…” Resigned that he’s already begun, he sighed and continued. “Back in high school, I was a bit of an outsider - a loner, I mean! So, I got picked with a bunch. I didn’t let it bother me though, mostly because I wanted to follow my role model; my dad. He was always coolheaded, stoic, reliable; that’s what I wanted to be. Mom, she was always tough on me and Dani – my sister. You have a sibling, right Vergil?”

“Y-Yes…my little sister.” Vergil’s tone seemed to be evening out, so Nicolaus continued.

“We’re alike there, too. Anyway, like I was saying, Mom was always tough on us. She grew up in a really tough neighborhood in Manhattan, so she didn’t want to spoil us. Tough love, yeah. There was one day that I got hurt playing football. The cool guys and members of the football team needed one more for some practice and they dragged me along. I wanted to get out of my shell, and it ended with me breaking my arm.” Nicolaus clutched his left elbow, remembering the pain. “Mom came up to the school and lost her shit until the football team’s quarterback, Drake, got suspended. To make matters worse, it was just before a big game. We lost and everyone blamed me. People were on my ass for the next couple of weeks.”

“Then you were bullied a l-lot?”

“Huh? …Oh, no! No. I was…just a loner.” He countered with little enthusiasm. “I got ostracized, basically. That wasn’t a great feeling…” That somber thought made even the often-cynical Nicolaus feel blue. “Didn’t feel any better when my parents broke up. My mom was…cheating on my dad with my now stepfather. Dad moved out and became really distant. The days in school were cold, and it was even colder at home between my mother and sister. So…I…ended up getting a girlfriend, my first!”

“Wait t-that came o-out of nowhere!” Nicolaus’s sudden twist in the story was jarring!

“It’s kind of important here. It was like she’d fallen from the sky; a girl came up to me when no one else was talking to me. My computer skills must’ve preceded me since she asked me to fix her laptop. I’d never seen her before! She was so good looking; I would’ve known if she were around! Her name was Jillian and after I fixed her computer, she just said we should keep talking. I’d never even gotten a pretty girl’s number before!”

“R-Really? Y-You seem to get a-along with A-Amala and Katie really well. I assumed y-you were g-good with girls.”

“Heh, well…” The image Vergil had constructed in his head of the actually less-than-smooth-operator, embarrassed Nicolaus; never being complimented on his interactions with women before. “I just got better with girls over the years.” Fortunately, it wasn’t a video call as the awkward grin and blush along his cheeks would’ve been exposed. “It was…it was nice having someone to talk to. Guess I got too used to it, and too familiar. A few days before prom, things got bad when I got ready to ask out Jillian. Jillian…was…” Nicolaus halted, choking up as soon the memory played back in his mind. After clearing his throat and settling himself, he continued. “Jillian…was just getting close to me because she was told to. The fucking jocks wanted to mess with me. She got…stuff for them, and they used it to make fun of me.”

“What did they get?”

“…Just…stuff. I…was really hurt. I felt awful and…and…I…” His chest tightened and eyes became misty. Time hadn’t healed that wound. Reminiscing about that day dragged Nicolaus toward a familiar downward spiral. “…it was only got worse when my Dad killed himself.”

“…H-He…killed himself?”

“Yeah. I wandered, well, skipped out of school that day…wanting any type of reassurance that my life wasn’t over; that there would be tomorrow. When I ended up at Dad’s apartment, I could feel something wasn’t right. Walking up to the door, it felt like someone was holding me back, like I knew what was on the other side. Whe…geh! Never mind. He was just…he killed himself!”

“Nicolaus, I-I’m sorry.”

“…No. Just…the point I was trying to make from this long ass story is that these horrible things we’ve gone through, are going through, and will go through, do make us stronger. The world doesn’t care about your feelings, so learn to shut them out; you have to look out for number one!”

“…”

“Even over me, haha.” He joked, aiming to break the tension. “Trust your gut.”

“My gut t-tells m-me to trust you.”

“Thanks. Can you still not tell me what happened?”

“Not yet! N-Not yet…Nicolaus, w-what do you d-do to keep moving forward?”

“I just keep walking forward. World’s not going to stop turning just because you want to crawl into a hole and cry.” A sentiment Nicolaus held to heart. “Are you going to be alright?”

“I-I guess.”

Weariness in Vergil’s voice gave Nicolaus pause. “What games do you have on PC? Want to play something for a while?”

“Really?!” Elated, Vergil proceeded to enthusiastically read off a bunch of game titles. “Since H-Harper’s gotten popular, I haven’t p-played with anyone I know in a w-while.”

“Same here! Let’s have some fun!” The two spent hours into the late night, just playing games and chatting.

Part 2

What felt like countless minutes turned to hours without Vernon Marino even noticing. The video conference call with directors for the Department of futurists, negotiating deals, planning budgets, and assembling reports, droned on. As many of the other participants on the call bickered amongst themselves, Vernon grew bored and apathetic. In the back of his mind, he was still comprehending the events he’d witnessed earlier in the day.

“Alright everyone, we’re not getting anywhere. Let’s call it a day and pick this up tomorrow.” The meeting host called it to a close, and people said their goodbyes before logging off. “Oh Vernon, one second!” With his finger on the close button, Vernon was thwarted in making a quick exit! “You’ve been handling things really well since moving up into your new position! After Walter passed a lot was dumped on your plate; I’ve also noticed Amala Singh hasn’t been in many of these meetings which is why you’re having to take up her place.”

A twinge of annoyance was forced down by plastering a smile on the young man’s face, stifling any retort. “Amala has been going through lots, still having PTSD associated with the Newtonville incident.”

“That’s true, however, if need be, we can move her from under you and—”

“As a matter of fact, I believe it would be an HR violation to continue this conversation about an employee who is currently undergoing mental health treatments.” The director went silent, irked by the younger worker’s arrogance. “I think I’ll take my leave. There are a few things I want to do before it gets too late. Have a nice evening!” Vernon sat back on his chair, disconnecting from the meeting with a groan, long and loud throughout his quiet home. “Fucking…hate…that guy!” He exclaimed exaggeratedly, throwing his arms in the air.

A knocking came from the front door, surprising the homeowner whose closest neighbor was a mile away. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone that night, especially Raquel Childs! She was standing right outside, with her curly brown hair glowing under the porchlight! Vernon hesitated, remaining out of sight. While snooping around earlier that day, he’d encountered her during a police escort. Unfortunately, the run-in was disastrous, despite him aiming to help. She started messing with her phone, making Vernon assume he’d be getting a call soon.

Vernon preemptively rushed to open the door, once again, forcing a smile! “Officer Childs, here on official police business?” He was happy to see Raquel, though it was tinged with guilt after using his telekinesis on her.

Raquel leaned her head against his chest in a playful way. “Maybe let’s drop the jokes today, Vernon?”

“Tired?”

“Sore.” She affectionately nuzzled her head on his shirt.

He’d not admit it openly, but the cute display of affection deeply charmed him. “Come in. I owe you dinner anyway.”

“Dinner? Why?”

“Oh, uh…don’t worry about it.” He forgot that promise was for him alone.

Raquel tossed aside her outside coat and suit jacket, stretching out across Vernon’s couch. The young man sat atop his kitchen counter while some soup warmed on the stove. “Work has been really annoying the last few days. I swear, it’s like I became a detective and the whole world decided that now was the time to get crazy.”

“Whatever was happening at the hotel was stressful, huh?” Vernon brought Raquel the food. With the smell of the warm soup hitting her nose, she quickly sat up! As Raquel sipped it, the warmth overtook her body and the tension noticeably melted off her shoulders. Vernon sat alongside her and turned on the television, flipping to a detective documentary.

“You always know what I like to watch. Well, you’ll probably hear about it on the news, if you haven’t already. Some internet kids have been going around and causing trouble. They keep attacking business owners all over the city.”

“The Beset gang?”

“Beset’s sword.” Raquel sat her soup down and rested her head on Vernon’s lap. “I can’t tell you how much worse it’s gotten in the last few days. Between them and the 365, I’m being pulled in two completely different directions.”

Vernon wanted to comfort Raquel a bit. “Is…there something I can do for you?”

“Glad you asked!” She smiled!

Next thing he knew; Vernon was giving Raquel a back massage. “…You were leading me here, weren’t you?” She was laying on her stomach, shirt off and bra undone; arousing Vernon, though he stifled his desires, barely.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be spoiled a little. I…kind of sort of fell today, it wasn’t a nasty spill, but kind of embarrassing.” Her brownish cheeks burned flush red.

“Sorry about that.”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing!” He quickly pivoted! “Did you get some painkillers from your father?”

“Dad’s been busy. The practice has been getting way more clients in recent weeks. I think when you guys were sent there after your incident…ah! Right there, right there!” Raquel’s toes curled as Vernon drove his thumbs deep into her lower back.

“When the newspapers reported about the Anderson family’s Clinic, people really started going to it more?”

“You are sort of a celebrity; didn’t you know?”

“Look, if I don’t have the money of a celebrity, then I absolutely don’t want the fame.”

“Dad’s probably very happy, even if his face lacks the ability to show it. When he married Mom and then grandpa left him the practice, he was worried for a long time that he’d never be able to live up to expectations.” Vernon pushed deeper into Raquel’s muscles eliciting another cute squeal. He’d started to enjoy that more than he wanted to admit to himself. “You said 365, right? Why do they have you working cases on both gangs in the city?”

“Well…the Beset’s sword stuff, it’s…kind of toothless. They’ve been around for a little bit, but all they normally do is complain online and make veiled threats. Or at least, that’s how it used to be. Then the 365…sorry! Can’t go into that.”

“Secret police business?” Raquel gestured as if she were locking her mouth shut with a key. “We’ve got contractors in the city who flat out refuse to work in neighborhoods that have any 365 activity. On the news you always hear about shootings and street racing.”

“Oh, are you worried?” A smug grin crept across Raquel’s lips

“You probably don’t. With back muscles like yours, I bet you could probably toss any grown man you come across pretty far.” Vernon ran his fingers up and down Raquel’s sides, making her break out in uncontrollable laughter!

“S-S-Stop it!” The two began play wrestling until they tumbled to the floor and Vernon’s phone emitted a notification sound. “What’s that?” Raquel said through heavy breaths.

“Oh…I just set up a reminder to message my subordinates from the incident. You know, checking up on them. I noticed how they haven’t been dealing with life all that well after the incident…so…as their boss…” Raquel giggled, as she triumphantly straddled her male contemporary; the detective began undoing his dress shirt, making concentrating nearly impossible for him. “…Well…I guess that can wait until later.” Vernon said as he eagerly tried and failed to get on top of Raquel.

Part 3

Just past midnight, Nicolaus was abruptly awoken by a phone call from Danielle. “Yeah, what’s up?” A raspy and annoyed greeting.

“I’m at the front door. Are you in? Alonso forgot something, and I don’t just want to walk in without telling you.” Still groggy, Nicolaus pushed up from his leather game chair and out of his computer desk. He opened the front door to find his frustrated sister. “Sorry, this is really important. I need this for Alonso, but that man is always worried about everyone else. I swear, if he gets his ass deported, I’m not even going to bother marrying him!”

Dani pushed past Nicolaus on her way over to a closet filled with documents and photos. She rifled through boxes, searching for a form and pictures while her older brother just sat on his couch watching. “So…you do plan on getting married?”

“Duh! No way I’m raising my child without their father! Found it! Hey Nick, see this?” From one of the many boxes, a picture of Dani and Alonso sitting with a bunch of, what appeared to be, Alonso’s family was located! His elderly grandmother sat surrounded by numerous younger people. “It’s from Alonso’s abuela’s birthday. When he invited me, everyone was surprised seeing a white girl at first; then they got so friendly when they realized I could speak Spanish! Abuela especially! She gave me this!” Dani pulled a beaded necklace out of her sweater with a huge smile on her face.

“You two really had an adventure, huh?”

“Yup! I can’t wait to show them the baby when it’s born.”

“How long have you been pregnant?”

“I’m just a little over 3 months now. Which sucks because I’ve gained so much fucking weight already, so I have to buy new clothes! Ugh!”

“…Have you decided when we’re going to tell Mom and Laurence?”

“…Not yet…you didn’t spill, did you?!”

“No, I haven’t told them.”

“Good. I already know what Mom is going to say anyway; not like I care though. Same things she said when I left before.”

“…You know; I’ve been thinking about the old days a lot lately.”

“Oh?”

“Mostly about Dad.”

“Ah…you miss him?”

“Everyday.”

“Me too. I wish Dad could’ve seen the baby.”

“Yeah. He probably would’ve been proud of me getting such a good job.”

“…Do you…still think back to when you found him?”

“Kind of hard not to. Finding your father with his belt around his neck and hanging off the front doorknob will do that to you. I remember trying to push the door open and screaming for help, but his body was blocking it.” Etched into his memories forever more; years later, that day never truly ended. With all the weight of a teenaged boy slamming against the door, nothing was accomplished. Nicolaus only received a cut on his scalp, more time in that irksome cast, a horse throat from yelling, and nightmares for over a decade. He couldn’t save his father.

“Things got pretty bad after that. I remember. Mom got really weird and started picking fights with me all the time. No matter how tough she pretended to be, I knew it bothered her just as much as it did me. But how was I supposed to forget about the arrogant way she broke it off with Dad? She just…announced one day that she was having an affair and then acted like it was his fault! Fuck! Now I’m getting angry again just thinking about it!”

“Sorry about not helping you much back then. I was just…so…”

“You had other things to worry about. Your dick pics leaked, and all.”

“Fuck?! H-How do you know about that?!” Nicolaus shot up from his seat, face bright red with embarrassment!

“Who do you think was the one to get Jillian to apologize?”

“…That…you don’t even know how close I was…it was…such an awful…” One revelation after another left Nicolaus questioning the trauma which guided his life to that point.

Dani got up from kneeling on the floor and passionately hugged her brother. “Nick, I know things were tough for you. People bullied you a lot, Dad died, the pictures went around, and Mom wasn’t any help. Trust me, there were people who did care.”

“…I thought Jillian just realized what she did was wrong. I guess it makes sense that she suddenly started standing up for me and knew about what happened with Dad out of nowhere.”

“What? Did you think she just fell in love with you? Heh! Guess that’s to be expected. Me and Mom are the only girls you ever talked with growing up.”

“Geez, Dani! Y…you really don’t get it.”

“People picked on you a lot back then. They used to say you were weird, but it was just because you liked different things. I remember you coming home and crying a lot back then.”

“…Why do you remember all this stuff…?” Nicolaus didn’t forget any of that. He remembered every humiliation but pushed them to the back of mind; hoping to bury who he once was.

“I’m your sister! I care about everyone in our family…even Mom.”

“…Like I said, I’ll talk to her and Laurence with you whenever you’re ready. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later…since you’re starting to show!” Poking fun at Dani’s recent weight gain was ill advised as the soon-to-be mother flew into a short rage!

“Huh! Oh, so now you can see it?! Asshole, go to hell!” Danielle grabbed the documents and pictures she needed, then stormed out of the apartment, leaving Nicolaus laughing to himself!

He sat on the couch for a few minutes just looking up at the ceiling fans spinning overhead. (Being bullied back then was hard. Maybe if I had a tougher skin, and did what Mom said, I’d have been able to actually shut out all those…thoughts.) He returned to his room, eying the PC. The incident, the supposed Delta Exceed experiments, and Aran; Nicolaus had complied a multipage document about it all. (…If I’m going to dig into all of this, I’ll have to be stronger than I was before. And not…) Nicolaus opened his closet and pulled a shoebox from the deepest, farthest part. (…not try to take an easy way out.) He thought as he gripped the handle of the gun that he would’ve used all those years ago.

End of chapter 8