Writing Sample #1

[memesijetecris]

Hiding

This story was never finished because I started it for nano, got to the fifty thousand words and never wanted to look at it again. It's a superhero story. George is a divorced thirty-something year old working actor. His son, Karl, inherited his superpowers and is the only person who knows the truth about George. Janet, the ex wife, is threatening to send Karl to a boarding school and making it so that George never gets to see him.


“You’re so cheesy.” The teenaged voice came back once again as George drove down the streets of Pine City, this time in civilian clothing, and not his costume. “Are you just going to keep ignoring me?”

“I’m not ignoring you,” George sighed. “It’s been a long day.”

Karl chucked. “It’s going to get way worse. Mom was pissed when you were an hour late. Now she’s got steam coming out of her ears. She’s been knocking at my door and whispering with Roy thinking I can’t hear her.”

George didn’t feel it was appropriate to tell his son that he’d much rather deal with psychos all night that put up with his ex wife. But Karl had always been a smart boy, so he’d probably guessed it a long time ago.

“Roy is here. He’s looking all smug. You should see the cardigan he’s wearing. He looks like a total douche.”

“Karl,” George said warningly.

“What? If you saw it, you would totally say the same thing.”

“I just wish you’d use less vulgar language.” George turned left onto Avalon and the large house came into view. It was large and perfectly decorated for the holiday season.

“Mom thinks I’m sulking because you’re not here.”

“I’m almost there kiddo. Once I find parking, did she invite the whole city or what?”

“Only those rich enough to pay the entrance fee.”

George laughed. “Alright, see you inside.” He removed the device and put it into his pocket before making sure that he was decent to face people. He made sure that all traces of his secret life were perfectly hidden.

George stood before the large house, rolled his shoulders, and got ready to play the role of the shitty father. He hated this part, the one where he had to pretend he was a deadbeat. He hated having people think that his thirteen year old son hated him, couldn’t stand that people couldn’t see how much he cared, how much he tried.

“You had been better have a good explanation for this.” Janet slammed the door shut behind him.

The house smelled like catered food and fresh pine from the Christmas tree that he knew would be in the middle of the living room. George tried to concentrate on that instead of paying attention to the way Janet was glaring at him.

“I got held up,” he muttered sounding more like a small child than the full grown man he was.

“Held up?” George never wanted to be more invisible in his life than when Janet was yelling at him. “It’s your son’s thirteenth birthday, and you couldn’t even tear yourself away from your life to bother showing up on time.”

For a woman who was of less than average size, Janet knew how to command attention. She had sharp blue eyes that never failed to put the fear of God into George. There was no softness to the way she looked at him now. Her face, though beautiful, was severe, all sharp lines and frowning lips. She stood there with her arms crossed dressed in a black cocktail dress that emphasized how ridiculously attractive she was. If George was as shallow as he led people to believe, he would have never stopped loving her. But what she had in looks she lacked in compassion and understanding, or any other sort of human feeling.

George and Janet had gotten married right out of high school. George had been so crazy in love with her. Her parents hated him and Janet wanted nothing more than to piss them off. But George didn’t care because he was so blindly and completely and passionately in love with her. He was so foolish that he believed love to be blind enough that a massive secret like his wouldn’t interfere in anyway. So instead of revealing his secret to Janet he spent the majority of their marriage resenting her for not understanding something she knew nothing about.

George’s behavior during those last years of his marriage was neglectful of anything other than being The Shadow. And in his story, like every story before it, George didn’t realize the importance of having Karl in his life until Janet almost denied him any sort of visitation. Even if he had been willing to give up the house he worked so hard to obtain and every single friend he ever had, George wasn’t about to give up the only thing in his life that made more sense than being The Shadow.

“When you were breaking promise after promise to me it was okay, but you cannot play with my son the way you did with me!”

“He’s my son too.” George couldn’t help but remind her in a low growl.

Janet scoffed mockingly. “Then start behaving like it.”

“I’m here aren’t I?” He pushed past her into the house, ignoring every insult she hurled his way. She wasn’t the one he came to see; he wouldn’t ever even come back to the damn house if it weren’t for Karl, but he knew no sane judge would give him custody. Especially when giving him custody meant going against Janet Marlin, daughter of Jackson Marlin, the closest thing to royalty that Pine City had.

He ran up the familiar stairs and down the corridor that had barely changed since he moved out. The only difference to the cold modern décor was the lack of family photos. There were still school pictures of Karl framed in plain silver frames and arranged in a straight line on one wall. The other wall was empty but for faint discolored squares. There once hung pictures of a happy family, but now there was nothing more than shadows of a past life, a past that Janet was trying to erase him from.

He knocked on Karl’s door and waited for a reply. He owed him an apology, if not for being late, then for the many years before he realized that he was throwing everything away. His marriage was not salvageable, but he if he was going to continue one relationship in his life it was going to be the one with his son.

“Go away!” There was no heat to Karl’s words, just the usual bored tone.

“Open the door, we need to talk.”

George heard the boy moving around, coming closer to the door. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Come on, Karl, I don’t have time for this.”

Karl snorted, now standing right behind the door. “You never have time for anything other than yourself.”

It may have been pretend, but it didn’t sting any less. George felt his chest constrict and his stomach drop. “Don’t be like that; you know I will always be there when you really need me.”

The door opened to reveal a grinning thirteen year old boy dressed far too well for someone his age, and his green eyes shining with mischief. “Yeah I know.” He stepped aside and let George in.

George was often told that Karl was his spitting image. Janet had always been very uncomfortable with that. But there was no hiding the fact that Karl had gotten his above average height from his father. Karl had dark hair and tanned easily while Janet tended to look like a sort angel from renaissance art; her skin was just as pale as her hair. It wasn’t to say that Karl didn’t have any of her features, and he certainly had most of her personality, determined smart and stubborn to a fault.

Karl took a seat back at his desk in front of an ordinary computer that could do a lot of extraordinary things. He pulled up a map of Pine City along with a few not too legal police call logs.

George’s eyes scanned over the screen, searching for any abnormalities. “What’s going on at the docks?”

“Drug bust. They got an anonymous caller saying ‘something big is coming.’ Sounds cryptic, doesn’t it?”

“It’s not just a drug shipment, is it?”

“Well.” Karl smirked. “Pine City PD thinks it is, but we both know better. That is why I have this.” He dug his cell phone out of the pocket of his slacks and handed it to George. The smaller screen mimicked the computer almost exactly. “I’ll keep an eye on things tonight, and should anything come up, I’ll let you know. Put your ear piece back on.”

George pulled the small device out of his pocket and carefully put it back in place. “If I leave early your mom will probably hire someone to take me out.”

Karl shrugged his shoulders. “Well, it’s not like you have any other options.”

George smiled softly. “I wish your mom was as understanding.”

“Maybe if you told her.”

“You know that’s not possible.” He handed Karl his cell phone. “If she knew she’d-”

“She’d send a lynch mob after you.”

“She’s never been a big fan of The Shadow.”

“She’s never been a big fan of George Harwell either.”

“You’re a brat.” George reached over to ruffle his son’s hair, but just before he got a chance to, Karl vanished under his hand.

“Not the hair.” He reappeared again standing next to the door. “It takes a bit of work to get me looking this amazing.”

“You’re getting pretty good at that.”

“I’ve been practicing.” Karl shrugged. “Lunch time is a lot more entertaining when you’re invisible.”

“Don’t get caught.”

“I’m like a ninja.”

“It takes away from it a bit when you’re literally invisible. Let’s go down stairs before your mom gets any madder at me.”

“Yes, let’s. I’m looking forward to celebrating my thirteenth birthday with a bunch of stiffs.” He complained, but he still shut down the computer and followed George out into the hall.

“So?” Karl asked. George was a bit further than him now that they were nearing the party. “What did you get me for my birthday?”

“The gift of life,” George muttered into the tiny speaker attached to his collar.

“Must have been a bitch to wrap.”

“I had the sales lady do it. And could you at least pretend you don’t know any bad words when you talk to me.”

Karl just chucked as they both headed towards separate corners of the room. Karl took a seat between Janet and a friend of hers from work, while George stood awkwardly near the exit. Roy caught his eye and started walking towards him looking as full of himself as always in a red cardigan that looked like the spirit of Christmas itself had barfed on it. It was early November; there was no reason for him to look like that.

There was nothing friendly about the way Roy bared his teeth at George. “Why’d you bother showing up?” he spat, voice dripping with hostility. “If you’re just going to disappoint him every time, it’s just better to stop getting his hopes up.”

George’s jaw tensed. “I’m still his father,” he growled out. His hands were fisted by his side. He was one of the good guys, and the good guys didn’t punching non criminals, even if said noncriminal was being a jackass. George was better than that. It wouldn’t do to set a bad example for Karl, and give Janet more reasons to write him out of his life. “And that’s not going to change just because you want it to.”

“One of these days he’s going to wizen up and not forgive you.” Roy’s upper lip curled into a sneer before he turned away from George.

“He’s full of shit.”

George glanced up at Karl who was pocking at the fire place.

“He’s been trying to act like what he thinks a father should act like. He signed me up for football just so that he can show up to my games and whine to mom about how my real father should be the one doing this.”

George sighed and bowed his head. “He’s trying.”

“He’s just jealous that you have such an amazing son and he doesn’t. I’m that cool.”

“Where did you learn to be so egotistical?”

“I get it from my dad.”

George chuckled silently. It was a good thing that a majority of the party guests weren’t paying attention to him. He didn’t need people to think he was neglectful and insane. His already tarnished reputation couldn’t handle that.

The party went on with little excitement. At around six thirty dinner was served. George was seated next to Perry, a man who was nothing but a pain every time George encountered him. He was drunk or getting there. His plump face had a rosy tint to it. He could have looked like Santa Clause if it weren’t for the fact that he looked like a creep. He was the sort of rich man who always had a barely legal little girl by his side. This party’s date didn’t look much older than Karl. Men like Perry made George glad he never had a daughter.

“Haven’t seen you in a long time, Georgie boy.” He patted George’s shoulder as he sat down. “We weren’t sure if you were even still alive.”

George smiled tightly, more so a neutral quirk of the lips than anything else. “I’ve been busy with filming and things.” That wasn’t a complete lie; George did have filming, and he was a decently important character. But filming wasn’t what was taking up all his time. Not by a long shot.

“So you’re still doing that.” With a disapproving look, Perry turned back to his date.

There was something disconcerting when even someone like Perry looked down on you.

Dinner conversation went on, ranging from a variety of topics, most didn’t interest George. Through his ear piece he could hear Janet and Roy’s conversation from the other side of the dining room.

“The shadow is only causing more problems. How is crime going to end when the person supposedly helping is doing so by defying the police?” It was funny how Janet disapproved of everything he did even without being aware it was him.

“Probably some dumb kid playing around with technology that’s not his,” Roy commented.

Karl scoffed. “The Shadow’s been here longer than I’ve been alive.”

“Don’t interrupt adults when they’re speaking,” his mother scolded. “It’s disrespectful.”

“If he wants respect maybe he shouldn’t be such a dumb ass.”

“That’s inappropriate young man.” Janet was using her mommy voice, a stern voice that she developed after the divorce. It wasn’t an unfamiliar one because she picked it up from her mother, and George was sure that her mother picked it up from television characters in films like My Fair Lady.

“Let the kid talk, it’s his birthday,” one of the guests objected. “He already has to spend his birthday with a bunch of old farts like us.”

“Daddy!” a shrill voice that George could have heard without the ear piece said warningly.

The conversation then veered in a different direction and George stopped listening. The food before him sat untouched. He didn’t have an appetite for food. There was a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, like he forgot something big. He knew that there was nothing to worry about. It was a feeling that he should be more than used to by now after fifteen years of being The Shadow. It was the feeling he got when he wasn’t working. There were so many things that could be prevented if he could just be out there helping not sitting amongst strangers pretending to be enjoying a party where everyone felt the need to either ignore him or ridicule him.

“Dad we have a bit of a problem.”

George glanced up to where Karl was seated to see that he was going. He hadn’t even notice him leave.

“I know you can’t talk, but the police just called off the bust, they’re saying that the call had been a prank, but I’m not buying. The Pine City PD is either a bunch of morons or there is something we’re missing.”

George slowly stood up trying not to draw any attention to himself. He walked to where he remembered the bathroom being. He let himself in and shut the door behind him.

“Do you still have access to the city’s surveillance?”

“Yeah, I’ve got them right here. There is nothing weird going in either the police station or the docks, but it’s only seven.”

“Okay. I want you to figure out a way to get those cameras into my phone. I want to keep an eye on what’s going on through the party.”

“Come up to my room, I can’t do anything without the computer.”

Everyone at the party was far too concerned with their own conversations to notice George has slipped away, so instead of leaving the bathroom and risk getting caught, George slowly started to go invisible and so was able to leave the bathroom without unlocking the door, and if anyone bothered to look for him, they’d just assume he was in the bathroom.

He walked up the stairs and into Karl’s room while making as little noise as possible. Karl was sitting at his computer, eyes glued to the screen hands typing out codes of things that George was still a little rusty at.

He removed the ear piece and pocketed it. He materialized next to Karl and handed him the cell phone, being used to his father’s ability, Karl didn’t even jump in surprise at having George pop out of nowhere.

“Maybe I’m just over reacting,” Karl commented plugging the device into the computer.

“It’s better if I keep an eye on things any way.” If something did happen without George just trying to do something he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself for it.

It was a nine o’clock when Karl and George had rejoined the party that things started going bad.

“It’s happening. I don’t know what it is, but it is happening.” Karl whispered urgently and harshly in his ear.

George glanced down at his cell phone and a cold chill washed down his back. The feed from first couple of surveillance cameras had gone blank and the rest slowly followed one by one as he watched in horror. Whatever was about to take place wasn’t the work of amateur drug traffickers. Whoever was behind this knew how to disarm the cameras without touching them.

“You have to leave.”

George glanced up at Janet and back at his phone then once again to her. She looked as if she knew he was about to flee. He bowed his head and stared at the now frighteningly black phone screen.

“What are you waiting for get out of here?”

George nodded his head sharply, finalizing his decision. He had no choice.

As he was leaving, Janet followed him to the entrance hall and then outside. “I cannot believe you’re doing this.”

George heaved a large sigh and stopped in his tracks. He didn’t have time for this. If what was happening was as big as they thought it was, then he shouldn’t be wasting time.

“You just got here, Karl’s barely even spoken to you and you’re leaving?” She berated him in a low controlled tone. “Have you even wished him a happy birthday? Or does that also come second to your needs.”

“Nothing comes second to Karl.” He forced out, but her words still rung in his head. He really hadn’t wished Karl a happy birthday. He’d been so distracted with not upsetting Janet that he’d completely forgotten the main reason she had forced him to come at all.

“I know you never put value to our marriage but you could at least pretend that Karl is important to you.”

“He is important to me!” George shouted losing whatever control he had over his voice. “But this is important too.”

“You’ve lived your whole life not making any choices George, but you have to understand that there are wrong choices in life. Leaving right now will be the wrong choice.”

“I have to go.”

“You leave and you force my hand.”

“Janet, I don’t have time to explain.”

“I’m meeting with the lawyers next week. Daddy and I both think that it would be better for Karl if you weren’t in his life anymore.”

“You can’t just decide that!”

“Karl’s a bright kid, too bight to spend his whole life in Pine City.”

“He’s my son damn it, you can’t just take him away.”

George’s eyes filled with horror as he watched Karl materialize behind his mother, but luckily she didn’t notice. “He has to go Mom.”

“You don’t have to protect him honey.” She started to say, but he interrupted again.

“No Mom, he has to go now. The party is over. People are getting their coats.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I sent everyone home,” he muttered and went back into the house.

“Karl!” with a shout of his name, Janet followed him in.