Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 21:27:04 -0600 From: Rhaven Subject: Avery's World Chapter One This story contains strong language and sexual content between boy/boy and boy/man. www.rhaven.net Avery's World BY RHAVEN2002 CHAPTER ONE The universe is boundless, a house with no walls. Beyond the farthest galaxy are... more galaxies and beyond them, more. What an adventure that must be, to explore endless worlds undiscovered. To soar through the blackness of creation, free and questing, with no limits, no rules. Cosmic journeys to worlds unknown, of races yet dreamed of. Life as a traveler, an alien of no true origin, how peaceful and complete this spaceman must be. Apollo of the sky worshipped and praised for his diversity, for his beauty of not only appearance but also his spirit. To have the ability to think beyond this dimension, to see and accept others for whom they are. That is the life of a spaceman. Avery lay in the deep grass and dreamed. The moist blades tickled his bare shoulders and neck like a thousand miniature fingers dancing over his skin. The boy came to this quiet place to think. Sometimes he thought it was the only place he could think, away from the town, away from his mother and all the others, this was the only place that his mind truly worked. Perhaps it was because he was an alien; all the human brainwaves interfered with his thoughts. That was probably why he didn't get along with too many people. Their brainwaves confused him. Avery smiled as he watched a ladybug climb up his overalls. He wished he could figure out how to talk to this bug, but that would have to wait until his father returned to teach him. The tiny round spotted insect scurried up the left strap of his worn overalls. "Hello." Avery said. "How are you today?" The song he had song as a child flashed through his head and him giggled. Lady bug, Lady bug fly away home... The red and black bug fluttered its tiny wings, maybe it did understand him, it did a quick race around the brass button on his strap and then flew off to parts unknown. Avery smiled and relaxed back into the thick grass, resting his head on his crossed arms. His thoughts wandered to Haven, the small out of the way town, the place he was forced to call home. He imagined himself flying high above the boring place. He would wave at all the backward people of this disgusting town as they stared in awe and amazement of Avery the alien flying through the sky. He would swoop down First Street and laugh as Old Mrs. Randell (his English teacher and the resident nosy bitch) fell to the ground in disbelieving horror. Avery would chase King and his minions (Teddy and Tommy) all the way to Lake Hannigan. The fact that Brandon King, the schools worse bully didn't know how to swim, made this thought even sweeter. "Let's see you swim now, King King." Avery giggled, the idea of King King, (as he was called by all that feared him) splashing crazily in the water, helpless as any normal sixth grader, was a perfect image. It was a good thought, and maybe when his father returned from outer space, it would come true. Avery opened his eyes; a distant echo of thunder shattering his utopian dream, the angelic white clouds pushed aside, replaced by dark angry ones. A storm was moving in, the first of many for this summer vacation. Avery frowned and pulled himself to his feet, every time he left Hoffman's Field, it felt as if he abandoned a part of himself there. But this was no place to get caught in a storm, the only shelter nearby was Hoffman's house and that was haunted. He jogged out of the field and clambered over the fence. "Dang it!" The knee of his overalls snagged on the fence. With a tug and a bumpy one-legged dance (almost yanking the overalls completely off him), Avery finally freed himself, despite the fact, the overalls were half way down to his waist. He examined the rip above his right knee and frowned. "Stupid clothes." He jerked the straps back onto his shoulders; the dumb overalls were too big for him, one wrong move and he would be naked. His mother had bought them at Pam's Resale, which in its self was very embarrassing. Haven being such a small town, no telling whose clothes he was wearing. All he needed was someone as Arty Purdem (the town's fattest boy) or even King King to announce to everyone that Avery was wearing their throw-a-ways. Of course, everyone already knew that Avery and his mother were dirt poor. He never understood why his father hadn't left them with some sort of money. Surely with his technology he could have created gold bars by the ton or diamonds from ordinary pebbles. Maybe it had been just an oversight; maybe in space they didn't use money. Avery looked up; the blackening clouds were rumbling a threat, flashes of distant lightening attacked the horizon. They were very odd clouds of green and blue. He knew the full force of the storm would hit before he reached home, hopefully all he would get was wet. However, with his luck, he'd probably be struck by lightening. Avery didn't scare easily, he guessed it was because he spend almost every night by himself. With his mother working nights at the Black Dog Tavern, he was always alone in the house. Fear wasn't an opinion. Besides, even if he was afraid, who would comfort him? "Hey Avery boy!" Avery had been so deep in thought that he hadn't even notice the black and white police car stop next to him. Sheriff Jarvis McMannus, a roly-poly of a man leaned over to the passenger window and calling to him. "Hi Sheriff." Avery yelled over the ever-increasing roar of the storm. "What in Sam's Hill are you doing out here? Can't you see there's a storm brewing? Get in the car." Jarvis pushed open the passenger door. "Come on, let's get you home. Your ma at Black Dog?" "Yes sir." "Uh huh." The sheriff replied, with a disagreeable shake of his round head. They drove several blocks in silence; Avery was use to people not having anything to say to him, after all, he was the son of an alien. The police car stopped in front of the shack Avery called home. A home of no particular fascinates. "Now I want you to stay inside, Avery. This looks like its going to be a very bad storm. No roaming the streets tonight." A smile painted across Sheriff Jarvis's face, a mock of concern. Under his breath, Avery heard the plump man mumble 'strange kid'. He ignored it, it wasn't the first time someone had called him that and wouldn't be the last. "Thank you, Sheriff." Avery ran to his house and was inside before the Sheriff drove away. He hated humans more each day. Inside the dark house, Avery sat on the yellow wooden chair by the window, his favorite spot in the house; his mother called it 'Avery's roost'. From there he could see all the way down First Street and almost make out Lake Hannigan. The shack built sometime in the early 1920's; at one time, it must have been beautiful. However, neglect and time had taken its toll on the little place. The neighborhood had also suffered from neglect, Avery's home was the last, and only small hints of past lives were visible in the area. A decaying wall or crumbling ruins eaten away by wild bushes this was his neighborhood. There use to be a trailer park across the street, but like everything else, it disappeared also, vanished from this doomed neighborhood. The town had abandoned this area and evolved eastward. West, becoming a bad memory, a no man's land. The closest home to Avery's was Mr. Brautigan, but he wasn't very interesting to watch. The man must be ninety years old and too stubborn to move with the rest of the town. Since Avery didn't have a TV, he got most of his entertainment from the activities of Haven. Teenagers drag racing, strange trucks driving through town, trying their best to make 'Dead Curve' on Second Street. More than one accident at Dead Curve ended in death. He watched to see who was shopping at Superstore, the only grocery in Haven. He could see Patter's Field from his window and watch as the boys in town enjoyed a game of baseball. Avery sat there with a stale bag of pretzels and watched the world pass by. But that was better than doing absolutely nothing. He lived through others, by their busy, sometimes entertaining days, Avery experienced life. The storm was indeed fierce, Avery had never seen so much lightening before. The sky was continually painted in deadly white streaks. Even the air felt wrong, this wasn't an ordinary storm. However, he wasn't afraid. He didn't have the luxury of being scared. At least that is what he told himself. It rained for two days; Avery had to sleep on the smelly old couch, because of a leak above his bed. If his room was larger he could have just moved the bed, but the bed literally took up the entire room. The house was like a lawn sprinkler, leaks all over the house. During the worse of the storm, the noise of water pouring into the various pots and pans was deafening. Avery hadn't slept well, during this freak storm, the constant drip, drip, drip was maddening. In addition, boredom was overwhelming him; not even his imagination could help. He attempted to draw, he enjoyed drawing. But not even that could subside the edgy feelings he was having. Maybe not boredom, but loneliness he was feeling. He stared out his window, sitting at 'Avery's roost' and prayed, prayed that today his father returned. In the two days, he had only seen his mother once and that was when she left for work. "I may not be home tonight." She said pampering in the mirror, smearing bright red lipstick on her all to thin lips. "Okay." Avery replied. It was a normal conversation; one they had a thousand times. Jobeth MacDowell, his mother, was in fact the town whore. He learned this information from King King during school one day. His father must not have known that, or perhaps there was something special about her, though he couldn't see what. Why his father chose Jobeth, Avery knew he had his reasons. He just wished his father had told him why. Avery headed back to Hoffman's field; the sun shone brightly overhead, this new day was promising to be dazzling. Avery loved the day after a rain; everything seemed so brilliant and renewed. Greens were greener, reds redder, everything looked flawless. This kind of day was the only time he really liked the planet Earth. He found his regular spot at Hoffman's field by the lone willow tree and lay down. The ground was still damp and he felt the cold moisture soak into the bottom of his overalls. He didn't care. It was nice having the warm sun on his face and the cool denim against his skin. He decided that he would spend half the day here, dreaming and thinking. Then stop by the Superstore, buy a candy bar (he had found fifty cents under the cushions of the couch), and maybe walk down to the lake for a swim. There was a nice secluded spot he knew of, where no one would bother him. In truth, every place Avery went to was secluded. It was easier being alone, than to have to deal with ignorant humans. Being alone, he didn't have to worry about name-calling. He didn't have to worry about the strange looks or the quiet whispering when he walked by. Being alone was easier. "What have we here?" Avery shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun, to see who was standing over him. For all the times he had come to Hoffman's field, no one had ever bothered him before. He should have known, today was just too perfect. No paradise existed without a serpent. "If it ain't Alien Avery." The lead boy said winking to his two buddies behind him. "Hi King. Hi Teddy, Tommy."" Avery said. The T & T twins were King King's constant companions. The three musketeers, if you added in a twist of madness. All three of them stood around Avery with their evil grins like vultures waiting for their prey to die. "Nice clothes Avery. Is there a scarecrow running around naked?" "Yeah nice clothes." The twins echoed King and laughed. "God, you look like a fucking queer." "Yeah, queer." The twins repeated. "What do you want with me?" Avery said standing, the way things were going, he probably would be fighting for his life. No reason to give them an easy target on the ground. King King calmly walked around Avery, staring at him with glaring eyes. King King and Avery had history, which was the reason for the verbal abuse. It wasn't always based on hate. It was when the words cool and uncool were added to an adolescent's vocabulary, which turns friends to enemies. King King was the only living person on Earth that Avery had confessed his secret to. Though he nicknamed him Alien Avery, as far as Avery knew, King King had kept the secret to himself. It was strange looking into the eyes of a friend and see a stranger. Avery missed that friendship. "What do you want?" Avery asked again. "Shit, we didn't even know you were here, dickhead." King King winking again to his cronies. "We're heading over the Hoffman House." "Why... why are you going there?" Avery dared to ask. Though he didn't scare easily, the thought of going to the abandoned Hoffman house made him cringe. He had heard some of the older men say once that the Hoffman house would be a place Norman Bates would be afraid to go. He didn't know this Norman Bates, but he got the idea. "Geeze, Avery don't you ever crawl out from under your rock?" "Yeah, rock." The twins laughed again. " There's someone living in the old house now." King must have seen the surprise in Avery's eyes for he continued, but this time with a more dramatic tone to his voice. "Someone... or something moved into Haunted Hoffman during that storm the other night." "So?" Avery asked, trying his best to sound uninterested. "You are such a fuckin' idiot, Avery. Old man Hoffman worshipped the devil; he summoned monsters and all sorts of shit. I heard that a boy was murdered there years ago. Old man Hoffman cut him up and ate him. My parents told me that the police tried to arrest him, but there wasn't enough of the boy left to put him in jail. If someone's living there... what are they up to?" It was true that Mr. Hoffman was strange. He kept to himself and apparently had no friends. At his funeral last year, no one showed up. Avery couldn't think of anything worse, to die and have no one care. There were ghost stories about the house, but nothing like what King King was saying. Avery looked into King's eyes; he wanted to see if the boy was lying to him. To King's credit, it appeared that he was telling the truth. "So you want to come with us?" King King added with a smile. Avery looked over to the twins, they weren't happy about the idea of going to the haunted house. Neither was Avery, but he wasn't human. He didn't have the frailties of human emotions to weaken him. Though Avery had to admit his stomach was queasy of the thought of entering a ghost infested house. He wasn't going to give King King a chance to tease him. "Sure I'll go with you." He said in a voice weaker than he hoped. "Then lets go!" King King laughed. He displayed no signs of fear, but that was King King. The boy was truly fearless. The foursome made their way through the field towards the house. Thankfully they didn't talk; Avery wasn't very good in casual conversation. And he definitely didn't have anything in common with these boys, so silence was perfect. The Hoffman house rested on top of a shaded hill. Large twisted oaks covered the grounds, blocking any chance of sunlight to get through. The three story home almost reeked of evil, its windows the eyes of some unwanted demon. The four boys crawled up to the white picket fence and paused. "What now?" Avery whispered. "Yeah, what now?" the twins also asked looking to King King for direction. "We got to sneak inside the house." King King said. "Why?" the twins squeaked. "Because, if we want to know what is inside... you got to go inside!" King King leapt over the fence and crouched down. "Anyhow, its daylight. If it's a vampire it will be still asleep." "What if its not a vampire?" Teddy asked. "What if its a werewolf?" Tommy questioned. King King just laughed. "What the fuck would a werewolf need with a house?" Avery and the twins thought about that, it did make sense. "Maybe it's an alien?" Teddy suggested. "An alien? Fuckin' A, Teddy why not Godzilla or the Blair Witch?" King King motioned the rest to follow him. "It's a fuckin' vampire, I promise you that." "It may be an alien." Avery said more to himself than the others. King King raced over to the side of the house; the others followed once it appeared to be safe. They crouched down again, for a moment Avery felt as if he was on some secret military mission. It was exciting to be in a real adventure, it was better than dreaming about it, even if he was very frightened. "Avery look in the window." King King ordered. Avery looked over at the twins and wondered why King King had picked him for this task. He didn't hesitate, he needed to see who was inside, he needed to see if indeed it was an alien. Cautiously, Avery stood up and peered inside the nearest window. He quickly stooped back down, trying to catch his breath. "What did you see?" The twins asked before King King had the chance. "There's someone in the room." Avery mouthed, afraid to say it aloud. Slowly Avery peeked again. The figure was sitting on the floor. The room was empty, except for a strange type of lamp that flashed madly. It was dizzying and Avery found himself memorized by the sight. "Move over dickhead." King King snapped, and pushed Avery away. "What the fuck is he doing? Fuckin' A, it is a freak!" Teddy and Tommy quickly joined them at the window. "Oh man, it's a monster." Teddy said in a squeaky voice. "Shit!" was all Tommy could get out. "He isn't a monster." Avery whispered. "He's an alien." A wonderful smile spread across his face. What else could this person be? No vampire would sit in a room during the middle of the day. No werewolf had any use for a blinking light. It was obvious it was an alien and this was some way of communicating with his superiors. "What the fuck is that in the other room?" King King squinted, pressing his face closer to the window. "I can't tell what it is." Avery looked to where King King indicated. There was something there, across the hallway; something silver and odd shaped in the other room. "I can't see it at this angle." Avery complained. "Shit." King King crouched down again. "I'm going to the other side of the house." "Why?" Teddy whined. "I don't care what's in the other room." King King huffed. "You chicken shit. Come on!" Without further complaint, though a bit of indistinguishable mumbling, the twins scurried behind King King around the large house. Avery followed regrettably; he wanted to spy on the man for a bit longer. With the blinking light, it was hard to make out the features of the man. He wanted to know what this alien looked like. He had dreamed of his father so many times, surely he would recognize him, if only he could see him clearly. After several miss directions, they found the window into the room with the mysterious item. All four boys stared into the window in disbelief. There in plan sight, resting on an old oak table was something from beyond this world. To call it a rifle would be a misinterpretation. It was of silver that seemed to flow like a mesmerizing river. There were four bulbous barrels, one on top of the other. It was apparent that this item was not designed for human hands. Teddy pointed a shaking finger, on the bookcase, six equally strange items. To Avery, they looked like metallic birds. "Shit...shit...shit!" Was all King King could say. The twins didn't even have the power to cuss. They just stared, wide eye and mouth gaping. Avery on the other hand, was smiling. He had finally found an alien, and just maybe... maybe he had found his father. King King sat down on the ground and ran his fingers through his hair. It only took the twins a second to copy him. "We got to get inside that room." King King whispered. "I've got to see that stuff up close." Teddy gasped loudly as did his brother. "Count me out!" Teddy blurted. "Me too!" Tommy added quickly, nodding to his brother. "I can't believe you mothers!" King King said with a shake of his fist. "I'll do it." Avery volunteered. "Shit Avery, maybe you ain't as queer as I thought." King King smiled. "You chicken shits stay here." King King motioned Avery to follow him. "Holy shit!" screamed the twins. Before Avery or King King knew what was happening the two identical boys ran passed them. "If it isn't Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd." And there she was, Mrs. Randell, English teacher from hell. How she had sneaked up upon them, Avery couldn't figure out. The woman had problems standing without wheezing. She had rolls of fat, where fat shouldn't exist. "And what do you two think you are doing?" Mrs. Randell folded her arms, in that stance she took during school hours that meant a visit to the Principal was oncoming. " You are trespassing on private property, do you know that? And as for Teddy and Tommy..." she raised her voice and looked towards the field. "Don't think you two escaped without notice! I will be notify your parents of this action." "What's going on here?" The window next to them slide open, and the mysterious stranger leaned out. Unlike Mrs. Randell, he was smiling. "I found these troublemakers peeping inside your window, Eric." Pearl Randell explained. To everyone's surprise, especially Mrs. Randell, the man laughed. " A regular Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn." He winked to the boys, but Mrs. Randell did not see any humor in the situation. Her cheeks turned red and her eyes narrowed to a bloated slit. "Eric, if you don't mind. I know these two hoodlums and you'd be wised to take this intrusion seriously." Avery wasn't listening to Mrs. Randell's babble. All he could see was the man in the window. He looked deeply into the man's face for some recognition, something that would tell him that he could be his father. "Who are you?" Avery blurted out. "That is none of your business young man!" Pearl Randell interrupted. "Come on Pearl, it was an honest question. New guy in town, its only natural they'd be queries." The man said, but the large woman shot him a look that quieted him. "I do not need you telling me how to handle children. I have been a teacher for over twenty years, and one thing I do know is mischief-makers." The man seemed to want to say something, but didn't. He just stared sadly at Avery. It was as if he was trying to tell Avery something, but couldn't, with all these people around. "You two run along. In addition, Mr. King, don't think I don't know that you didn't put Mr. MacDowell up to this. You are nothing but trouble, and mark my words, Mr. King. One day these mischievous pranks of yours will catch up with you." Mrs. Randell stepped forward and forcibly turned the boys towards the field. "Now go and I don't want to see you here again." King instantly ran toward the field, but Avery didn't move, he couldn't move. "What Mr. MacDowell, do you have something to say?" Mrs. Randell fumed. Avery looked over to the man, he needed to say something to him, something to let him know that he knew who he was, or who he hoped he was. He glanced at Mrs. Randell and then back to the man. If he didn't say something soon, Mrs. Randell was going to explode, her face was already a deep red and getting redder every second Avery remained silent. "I know who you are." He finally blurted out. There was a moment of pause between the man and Mrs. Randell, they looked at each other in surprise. Finally the man laughed and shook his head from the comment. "Well, I didn't think I could hide from everyone." He laughed and looked at Avery with a joy that made the boy blush. "How about we keep this a secret between us?" "Okay." Avery giggled, he was full of glorious rapture, this man could be his father. "You have had your fun, Avery. Now go home." Mrs. Randell gave him a push and Avery knew he wouldn't get to say anything else, not with Mrs. Randell staring him down. So reluctantly, Avery walked back to the field, but not before waving a goodbye to the man. So now he was on a mission, he needed to prove that this man was his father. What he really needed was some time with this man alone. "Prick!" screamed King King as he tackled Avery to the ground. "What did you tell them?" King King forced Avery's arms to his side. "Yeah, what did you tell them?" the twin added as they appeared from the thick grass. "Beat the shit out of him King King." Tommy said. "I didn't say anything!" Avery protested, trying to break free of King King's grip. "Bullshit. I saw you talking to them. What did you say? You were trying to get the heat off you and blame me, weren't you?" King King said. Avery had never seen King so mad. He saw murder in the boy's eyes. "Honest, Brandon, I didn't mention you at all. That's not what we were talking about." "You fuckin' expect me to believe that? Fuckin' queer!" King King punched Avery in the stomach. Then to add insult upon insult King King pulled hard on the strap of Avery's overalls until it ripped. Avery would have protested but he couldn't catch his breath. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he hugged his aching stomach. "Fuck you Alien Avery, if I get in trouble, you are going to pay." King King then kicked him in the side. It was the ultimate belittlement for Avery. In the deep dark corner of his mind, he had always believed that one day he and King would be friends again. Or at the least the hating would go away. But that illusion was gone now, Avery knew that King King would hate him forever. A perfect day of discoveries, some glorious and others sad, all of them heart felt and life changing. To be Continued...