Guardian of the Multiverse

[Otis McNutt 395]

I still remember it like it was yesterday. It had rained most of the day and at one point the Electricity had even gone out but only briefly. The bus was nearly empty as it rounded the corner leading to the final stop...my stop.

I hopped off and splashed into a muddy puddle, luckily I had my rain slicker on and didn't get dirty. As the bus sped away I looked for my father, he usually waited for me but he wasn't there today. I walked a block and turned down my street and that's when I saw it.

"Saw what Tom?"

"The Sheriff's cruiser outside my house. He was sitting next to my dad on the porch patting his shoulder. I moved closer as two men exited the house pulling a stretcher with a black bag lying on it."

"The Coroner?"

"Yes and his assistant they wheeled it to the black van and drove away.

"Who was in the Body Bag?"

My mother...she had been "sick" for a while. Seeing things that weren't real her doctor called it Paranoid Schizophrenia.

"Did you know what that meant?"

"Not at the time no. Dad said that it meant "sometimes Mommy sees bad stuff that's not real, it scares her and makes her sad". I guess that's the best way to explain a serious mental disorder to a grade schooler.

"What happened that day?"

My dad told me that my Mom had gotten out of bed about an hour after I left for school. She sat in my room for almost an hour quietly sobbing to herself as she clutched my stuffed dinosaur. she then locked herself in the bathroom with the tub running.

"What happened?"

My dad noticed that water was rushing from under the door, he knocked and there was no answer so he kicked the door open and found her.

"What did she do?"

Do I really have to answer, it's all in my file?

"I'd like to hear it in your own words."

He found her in the bath, fully clothed with multiple slashes on her wrists. He tried to help her but it was to late.

"Then what happened?"

My father took the suicide hard, he started drinking and eventually he vanished leaving me alone.

"You went into the system after that?"

Yeah I was placed in a foster home and was eventually adopted by Julius and Lydia Marquis.

"How was life with them?"

It took some getting used to, they were very religious but they weren't to "preachy" about my beliefs.

"which were?"

I didn't have any, I was an Atheist. My father told me that the first time he tried to read me Genesis as a baby I laughed.

"You did?"

According to him I did. He took it as a sign that I would never be a believer.

"How was your childhood?"

Normal I guess. Finished Elementary School on time despite losing a year in an Orphanage, went on to Junior High and highschool."

"What about friends?"

I had a close knit group from my foster years up til highschool.

"Any Girlfriends?"

A few, the first one was in Junior High. Dana Mills, showed me her boobs after Homeroom. The second was Jody....Jody Chase Freshman year of Highschool we made out at a party. The final one was in Senior year, she was the biggy Autumn Turner...wow!

"That good huh?"

Yeah she was the best, a Varsity Cheerleader...Captain no less. She was extremely popular but that didn't stop her from slumming it with the geeks.

"Was that how you saw yourself?"

Oh yeah I had no illusions about who I was. That's why she liked me I "knew who I was".

"You called her the big one?"

Yeah she was the girl who punched my V-Card, after Senior prom.

"How was it?"

You squidding, look at me I was cool as a cucumber. The Earth moved...a Choir of Angels sang.

"Really?"

No I was so...excited I finished in nano seconds. But I did get better.

"Tell me about the first vision you had?"

It was a doozy, scared the pants off me."

"When was it?"

October 8th 2004, I was a month or so into my Freshman year of College."

"Where'd you go?"

MIT, full scholarship.

"Impressive"

"Well I was in my dorm studying when I saw a bright flash streak across the window. It was near dusk and I assumed it was a car headlight because my dorm faced the parking lot. Then it happened again and again, six times in rappid succession. I didn't think anything of it until I heard the noise.

"The noise?

Yeah it was a sort of whining groan it was definitively mechanical like a jet engine at takeoff.

"What did you do?"

I flung open the windowshade.

"What did you see?"

The outside was in ruin the city beyond was in flames and strange hovering planes almost like Herier JumpJets were bombarding the city with explosives.

"What did you feel at that moment?"

Fear, I thought I was looking at World War 3. Especially when one of the Jets saw me.

"It saw you?"

Yeah it was attracted by the light in my dorm. I watched as it flee closer and let a missle fly off the chain. I dove to the floor and braced for an impact.

"And?"

It never came, I stood up and everything was back to normal. A cool October night with no fire or killer aircraft.

"What did you think was happening?"

"Honestly I blamed my lack of sleep. I quit studying for the night then went to bed.

"But it wasn't the studying was it?"

No it happened again...many times each one different.

"Were they all bad?"

Not all but most were, a world in ruin, a world trapped inan ice age, a world trapped in a Totalitarian state. It got so bad I thought about following my mom's example but with booze and pills.

"What stopped you?"

I can't explain it, it was almost as if I could hear her voice screaming at me to stop.

"Did you stop?"

With the pills yeah, but I continued with the booze. I drank...everything.

"The arrest report says you had a blood alcohol level of 2.05."

Yeah I went on a bender. That's how I came to be here.

"Once you were admitted you slipped into a catatonic state why?"

I guess I retreated into myself, a kind of...for lack of a better term Spiritual Quest

"For Seven years?"

Has it really been Seven years wow!

"What did you learn on your interior quest?"

That I have a rough road ahead of me, one that will test my very soul and the nature of my existence.

"Getting well?"

Yes exactly, getting well.

Doctor Sara Wilkes paused the tape and smiled.

"See Abby what did I tell you." she said handing the remote to her Colleague Abby Thompson.

"He was unresponsive for almost a decade then one day he snapped out of it?" Abby asked.

"Yeah it's amazing, just think of the paper we could write on this guy!" Sara said thumping the patient folder in her hand.

"I'm more interested in meeting him, what do you say Lee?" Abby asked.

"I say pack a bag, were going to Willow Brook."