Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. I do not know the sexual orientation of any of the celebrities who will be appearing in the story.
WARNING: The character does not have a happy life and will not have very many happy events in his life. If this kind of stuff bothers you, I do not recommend reading. Otherwise, enjoy.
The Shadow created by Street and Smith, Walter B. Gibson. Copyright Advance Magazine Publishing Inc.
Author's email address: authorjames2002@yahoo.com
Chapter 09 Around the Corner of Your Eye
The next day, the Shadow awoke to the sounds of the gym going at full blast. He got up and dressed into his workout clothes, which consisted of gray sweatpants and sweatshirt. He stretched and began his morning routine of working out.
Jonesy watched him out of the corner of his eye. He could sense the change in the Shadow, that he had become a bit darker than at first. He wanted to ask the youth about his past but knew that he wouldn't get any answer. 'Why keep trying,' Jonesy thought, 'he doesn't want any part of it. All I can do is be here for him if he should need me. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid.'
After the workout, the Shadow showered and changed and decided to go for a walk and get something to eat. Jonesy had always given him money for food and the Shadow was appreciative.
As he walked down the street, he stopped at a hot dog vendor and got a plain hot dog. While eating, he picked up a newspaper that someone had thrown away. The feature story was about the concert in the park. The next act in the concert was to be Nick Carter and the story said he arrived in town today.
'I wonder if this same person who was behind what happened with the A-Teens is going to do anything to Nick. Maybe I should keep an eye on him, as well.'
The Shadow thought about what he told the young men and what they told him the night before. Even though he felt uncomfortable around the, the Shadow decided he would go and attend their concert tonight. If anything, it would be a send-off for what they had gone through. Nick Carter was supposed to be there as well. He could keep an eye on both groups. After the concert, the A-Teens would be moving on to their next city while Nick stayed on a few days to play at the concert.
As the sun set, the Shadow pulled on his garb and went out to Central Park. It was interesting trying to stay in the shadows as there were mobs of people heading to the concert to see the A-Teens. Most were teenage girls being taken by their boyfriends. Several were homosexual couples in both males and females.
'It must have been nice to live in a home where your family accepts you just as you are,' the Shadow thought.
He made his way through the trees when possible and off the beaten path when necessary. When he got to the actual concert area, he climbed the trees to climb over the fence. Then he made his way to the platform and perched himself on some of the scaffolding holding up the lighting and sound system.
Soon the lights came on and the emcee came out to announce the A-Teens. The group came out to the applause of their fans and began to sing. Most of the songs were from their latest album "Pop 'Til You Drop".
Three hours later, the group ended their playlist and said they had one more song to sing that wasn't planned. The audience cheered that they would be getting a little more than anticipated and Sara announced they were singing "Around the Corner of Your Eye".
The Shadow could see the look on Dhani and Amit's faces while the song went on. He felt bad for what they went through, and he was happy for them finding each other. But he also felt rejected and humiliated by how he acted. 'What could they have possibly seen in me anyway? They never saw my face. If they had, they definitely wouldn't have wanted to be with me. And they rarely saw me anyway. What on earth made me think they would have fallen in love with me?'
They seemed to pour a lot of themselves into the number and, when the song ended, the two boys wiped their eyes.
The emcee came out, gave the announcement that Nick Carter would be singing here in two days and that everyone should support his endeavors. To everyone's surprise, Nick came out on stage and everyone cheered.
"That was awesome!" Nick said concerning the A-Teens' performance. "And just think, this is only the beginning! I know the other group that will be singing here. You are going to be amazed and entertained! And to give you a little treat..."
The music began and Nick Carter sang "My Confession" to a screaming audience. When it ended, he went off stage.
The Shadow climbed around to see Nick off stage. That was another performer who got the Shadow's motor going. The Shadow knew he had to keep things in perspective. He was ugly. Nick was cute. He was a rapist. Nick wasn't. He was meant to have a life of nightly tortured followed by a life of daily neglect of the pleasures of this world. Nick, well, wasn't.
Nick made his way to the limousine that would take him back to his hotel. As the car pulled away, the Shadow jumped to the ground and took off running through the grass and the trees, heading toward the location the car would exit. As he ran, something came out of nowhere and hit him in the chest. He flew backwards and landed on his back. Slowly his vision became clear and he saw two men in tuxedoes standing over him.
"We finally caught you," one said as he reached into the inside jacket pocket. "You will not cause our master anymore damage."
The man's hand came out and the Shadow saw the butt of a gun in the palm of it. The youth tried to kick it out of the man's hand, but the man was too high. The two men laughed at the Shadow's failed attempt and the gun was pointed at him. Without warning, an arrow flew into the guy's hand causing him to drop the gun. The other tuxedoed man looked around and was met by Nightwing swooping down from a nearby tree. Nightwing's boots kicked the man and knocked him down.
Arsenal stepped out of the shadows and punched the man whose hand he shot with the arrow. He yanked the arrow out and wiped it off.
"Are you okay?" Nightwing asked as he reached out to help the Shadow.
"I'm fine," the Shadow replied as he stood up, ignoring Nightwing's hand.
"What was that all about?"
"Don't they look familiar? They are the guys working for whoever was screwing with the A-Teens. They might be going after Nick Carter as well. He just arrived and these guys stopped me."
"Could it be they thought you might be here because the A-Teens are here?" Arsenal asked. "You've had run-ins with these guys before. Nightwing and I did, too, remember? They are probably after your ass for causing so much trouble."
"No, there has to be something more to it," the Shadow stated. "I'm going to keep an eye on Nick. There is bound to be something that comes up."
"You mean besides your cock?" Arsenal suggested.
"Fuck off," the Shadow stated. And he turned and left his two "friends".
"Apparently that struck a cord with him," Arsenal chuckled.
"Roy," Nightwing said.
'I don't care what they say or think,' the Shadow said to himself as he made his way down the street. 'There has to be something there. It's too coincidental.'
A short while later, the Shadow arrived at the lair and approached Harris, who had been busy researching the phenomenon that occurred with the A-Teens.
"Did they leave?" Harris asked.
"They are safe," the Shadow replied. "But I'm not sure about their follow-up act."
"Who's next in line?"
"Nick Carter."
"Are you serious?"
"Dead serious," the Shadow replied. "I need you to locate the hotel where he's staying. Can you do that?"
"Give me some time. I'll see what I can do."
The Shadow nodded and left the youth to his work.
'It feels good to be useful,' Harris thought. 'I feel like I'm part of a team again. After what happened with...I'm just glad to have something to do that I like doing. Something to take my mind off of what happened.'
Harris finished typing in his search parameters and sent the computer on a search through every hotel directory in the city to locate Nick Carter. All he could do now was wait.
Arsenal walked in and saw Harris sitting doing nothing. "Does the mystery guy have you busy hunting down his next victim?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nick Carter."
"He has me looking for him, if that's what you're asking. He thinks that Nick is in trouble."
"Oh, so it's Nick now, huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Roy said as he turned away and shook his head. After looking down, he looked up at Harris and asked, "Do you want to do some training while you wait?"
"What now?"
"Yeah."
"With you?"
"No, the tooth fairy. Who else?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess."
"Come on."
For the next hour, Harris worked with Roy on simple moves, flexibility, and tiny acrobatics. Harris wasn't in the best of shape so it took some time to get him flexible. Also he wasn't the most graceful with his moves. They were sloppy. Roy didn't comment on this, though. Instead he focused on Harris trying and improving as he performed them.
Harris worked up a sweat and was out of breath when the computer beeped that it completed the search for the name 'Nick Carter' in local hotel databases. Harris stood up and walked over to the computer.
"How do you feel?" Roy asked.
"Whipped."
"That's a good sign."
"I wish I were back home."
"Why is that?"
"The people that I could have done this with had a nice shower available after training."
"How long did you know these people?"
"Over a year."
"And you waited now to train because..."
Harris looked at Roy and then turned away.
"Sorry if I brought up some old, bad memories."
Harris opened the search results and saw three hotels with a 'Nick Carter' staying. He printed out the list and sat it aside for the Shadow.
"Do you really want to know what happened?"
"Sure," Roy said crossing his arms and sitting on the counter.
"You know about mutants, right?"
"I've heard of them, sure."
"I dated one. And he was really hot. The whole time I dated him, I wondered what he saw in me to make him want to date me."
"It was probably the sex."
"No, we never had sex."
"How long did you date him?"
"Roughly a year."
"And you never had sex?"
"No. We talked about it, but I felt so uncomfortable with him seeing me naked. I don't have the most attractive body in the world. Plus, I know sex would take me to an even deeper emotional level with him. Sex can do that, you know."
"Yeah, I know."
"So a few weeks ago, we were in Orlando for this singing competition. I found him in bed with two other guys having sex."
"Oh, man."
"Needless to say, I haven't been the same since."
"Why come here?"
"I'm trying to figure things out. I'm thinking of starting a new life for me here."
"Yet you attach yourself right away to three guys who remind you of what you had?"
"Familiarity. It's helping me adjust."
The Shadow entered causing the two to end their conversation. Both turned to the masked man.
"Did you locate him?" the Shadow asked without so much as an apology.
"There are three possibilities the computer came up with." Harris reached over and handed the printout to the Shadow. "Your guess is as good as mine."
The Shadow turned and left the room carrying the printout in his hand.
"Man, that guy needs to lighten up," Roy stated.
"I know a few guys like him. I'm sure deep down he's a nice guy. He just has issues."
To Be Continued...