NANOVISION: What Would You Do With X-ray Vision? (11 page)

Katie was
hysterical. Moving toward her, Daniel was stopped forcibly by the male officer.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stand back.”

Daniel didn’t
take the confrontation well. He reacted with hostility − his blood
boiling. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?” he shouted at the cop. “Can’t you
see my bandages or my white cane? I’m blind for Christ’s sake − What the
fuck do you think I’m going to do?”

“Daniel...
Katie... it’s all right,” consoled Ethyl quickly. “They’re just doing their
job.”

 Katie refused
her logic and took a swing at the female police officer. “Don’t take my Nanna,”
she shouted. “You can’t have her. She didn’t do anything.” The officer was
forced to restrain her, giving Daniel a chance to move in. He grabbed Katie in
a tight embrace wrapping his arms around her. 

“Katie! Katie!”
he shouted. “You’re not helping things. Stop! We’ll get this worked out. Go get
Rudy! Get him here, now!” He released her, allowing her to bolt for the back
door.

Outside, on the
street, Ethyl’s neighbors were starting to gather, trying to ascertain what was
going on. What were the police doing here? This was a peaceful neighborhood. It
was also the moment when Mickey arrived. Driving slowly past the house, he took
in the police cars and the commotion on the front porch. He stopped and grabbed
a small pair of binoculars off the seat and glassed the house. The police were
arresting someone.
Who?
Some old lady.
It was then that he caught
sight of Daniel standing on the porch with his head bandaged and carrying a
white cane.

“So laddie yah
dinna die after all... and yur be blind too.” Mickey grinned with anticipation.
He pictured himself killing the kid, blowing his head off from two feet away.
And
the kid not even knowing he was there!
God, the thought of that made him
almost piss his pants.

Unexpectedly a
cop car drove past, spooking Mickey. He dropped the binoculars and slipped the
car into drive, slowly pulling away. There was too much going on right now and
he couldn’t afford to be stopped for something stupid, like gawking at a police
scene. Besides, he knew where Daniel lived. He’d just come back later when it
was dark.

*    *    *    *

Rudy pleaded with
the officers until he was blue in the face. “I just don’t see why she can’t
stay here... this is her home.”

Sir, I
understand,” noted the female officer. “I have children myself. But she’s a
minor without an adult relative.”

“What about her
cousin?” asked Rudy. “He’s twenty-one.”

The officer looked
at Daniel. He was sitting on the front porch next to Katie sweating profusely,
shivering−face white as a ghost. “You mean the sick-looking blind kid?
Come on, he barely looks like he can take care of himself, much less her. Look,
it’s outta my hands anyway. Protective Services will be here shortly −
you can take it up with them.”

She turned and
walked to her squad car. The conversation was over.

Exasperated, Rudy
returned to the house. “How yah feelin’ kid?” he asked Daniel.

“Shitty, but I’ll
be all right,” answered Daniel.

Sitting on the
steps next to Katie, Rudy apologized to the girl. “I’m sorry, honey. I tried to
get them to let you stay here, but it’s a no go. Protective Services will be
here soon.

Katie began to
cry. “I don’t want to... I’m scared...”

Rudy put his arms
around her. “Katie, Honey. We don’t have time for this. I really need you to be
strong now − you hear me. I’ve already called an attorney friend. He’s
got connections. We’ll have your Grandma out in no time, Tuesday morning at the
latest. It’d be sooner but the holiday’s screwing things up... right now you
need to hang in there. Can you do that for me?”

Katie nodded her
head and sucked it up. “I’ll try.”

Unexpectedly,
from the other side, Daniel heaved, throwing up into the flower bed alongside
the steps. “God,” he complained. “I’m so dizzy... and cold... I need to lie
down.” He tried to stand, but couldn’t, forcing Rudy and Katie to grab him.
They helped him up and took him inside to his room.

“You going to be
okay?” asked Katie, concern written all over her face.

Daniel nodded,
“Yeah, I just need to rest.”

They laid him on
the bed.

“I’ll get the
dishpan, just in case,” said Katie.

She left the room
leaving Rudy to watch over Daniel. The old man was flustered and complaining to
himself about everything that was going on. “God damn, first Ethyl and now
this. Lot of shit, if yah ask me.”

Daniel wanted to
apologize, but couldn’t. A minute later Katie returned with the dishpan and
Daniel’s cell phone. She put the pan on the floor and set the phone on the
night table. “I’m putting your phone right next to you so I can reach you
later,” she whispered to him.

Daniel didn’t
answer immediately. He was shivering away and struggling to pull the covers
over himself. “K-K-Katie?” 

“Yes.” 

“My eyes hurt...
Aunt Ethyl said she left some medicine in the fridge... some eye

drops.

“I’ll go get
‘em.”

When Katie
returned, Daniel was out cold, shivering with a fever. She felt his
head−it was hot. Taking the eyedrops she read the instructions, shook the
bottle, and opened it. Lifting the gauze covering his eyes she placed several
drops in each eye. The red liquid was quickly absorbed and Katie was amazed by
what she saw. Just underneath the white scar tissue was the vague outline of a
pupil.

“Wow,” she
commented. “I think it’s working.”

“What’s that?”
asked Rudy.

“Oh nothing, I
think the medicine Nanna made for Daniel is working−I certainly hope so.”

Setting the
eyedrops on the night stand Katie covered Daniel with the blanket. She was
about to leave when the bottle rolled off and fell onto the floor.
That’s no
good
, she thought. Retrieving them, she lifted the blanket and stuffed them
into his pants pocket.

*    *    *    *

It was late
afternoon when Mickey returned to Los Gatos. Driving through the neighborhood,
he cased the area making sure things were calm and peaceful, and when he passed
the Santini home he saw only one car out front. It wasn’t the cops − he
could see that. The vehicle had ‘Protective Services’ written across its side.
Still, it made him cautious. Parking along the roadside he watched the house
through his binoculars and waited.

As the afternoon
faded, he occupied himself snorting blow and munching burgers. He was in no
hurry. Finally, the car from Protective Services left, leaving the house
isolated. The kid was nowhere in sight, only an old man and a dog. Mickey
continued to bide his time waiting for nightfall. He wanted the kill to be
clean with no witnesses.

Finally, it was
dark enough. Reaching into the glove box Mickey grabbed the 45, his gloves and
the silencer. He screwed the silencer onto the barrel, then checked the house
again. Several lights were on and the moon was rising.

Inside, Daniel
lay asleep on his bed. To one side, Rudy sat in a chair reading while June Bug
lounged lethargically at his feet. Daniel stirred and the old man looked up. He
glanced at his watch, then spoke to the dog. “You hungry, girl?” The dog looked
at him with perked up ears. Rudy chuckled. “Me too. I’m starved. What you say
we get something to eat, while he sleeps?” He got out of the chair and left the
room with June Bug following, turning off the lights and closing the door
behind him.

Mickey stood next
to his car. He watched as the old man left the house, exiting the front door.
The old guy was alone and seemed to be paying little attention to anything as
he nonchalantly headed across the lawn toward a hedge, where he disappeared
from sight. Mickey gave it a couple of minutes before he headed for the house.

Taking an evasive
route Mickey crossed the yard, doing his best to keep his presence to a
minimum. He made his way around the house looking for the backdoor. When he
reached the rear entrance he found it locked, but had no trouble breaking a
glass pane to gain entry. The glass shattered, drawing the attention of June
Bug, who began to bark.

Mickey wasted no
time. He popped the lock on the door, opening it just in time to see the dog
approaching. He fired a quick shot, dropping the animal instantly. It yelped
and whimpered in pain, then fell to the floor.

Upstairs, Daniel
was awoken by June Bug’s barking and an unusually loud bang−it was
followed by a painful yip which sounded serious. Sitting up, Daniel ripped the
bandages from his eyes. Instinctively, he opened them wide not realizing any
change had occurred. That was not the case. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes were
no longer white, but entirely black and wet looking−a metallic sheen
covering both eyeballs−the sclera, the iris, and his pupils.

Daniel glanced
about the room, noting the dimness surrounding him and almost immediately the
room became lighter. Half awake, half asleep, Daniel barely realized that he
was seeing or that his eyes were changing. He reached for his cane and got up.
Outside in the hall he heard a creaking on the stairs. Suddenly his eyes began
to react chaotically. There was a bright flash of light as a rainbow of colors
began to spit, spin, and throb before him. Each eye was suddenly filled with a
pulsating kaleidoscope of color filled with abstract gradients of shifting
angles, pitch, and depth−in other words total chaos. Everything was
fragmented and floating in and out of focus. Dizzy as hell, Daniel sank to the
floor, hugging the bed for support. His cane fell to the carpet. Using the bed
for support, he pushed himself up and steadied himself. There was another
ominous creak in the hallway. He looked toward the door.

Mickey was beside
himself. He hated homes like this with their creaky old floors and doorways. As
desperately as he tried, he was unable to keep from stepping on the planks that
protested his weight and movement, but he had no choice. He had already
searched the bottom half of the house and now he was making his way
upstairs−the stairs were the worst. They creaked horribly as he moved,
but there was carpet just ahead at the top.

Daniel stared at
the door−his ears straining to hear what was going on. Suddenly and
without warning something totally unexpected happened−the door
disappeared. Not like it was physically gone, but like he could see through it
like an x-ray or something. And just beyond, out in the hallway, something was
moving−it appeared to be a man or an animal creeping along the wall
toward his door−he wasn’t sure. And even stranger, there was something
shiny floating ahead of the form. It shone like Katie’s aluminum bat, the one
leaning against the wall near the door. Daniel swallowed hard, something wasn’t
right. He could feel it. Dancing around the bed on his tiptoes he grabbed the
bat, and moved backwards hiding his body behind the door.           

Holding his
breath, Daniel waited as the door slowly opened and his eyesight, now keener
than ever before, showed in minute detail every singularity possible. He saw a
gloved-hand holding a weapon−a gun protruding into the room. It was a
shiny blue-black in color and it was pointed at his bed. Swinging with all his
might Daniel brought the bat down, just at the gun flashed white. The light
blinded him, but he didn’t miss. He clobbered the wrist and hand holding the
weapon and heard whomever it was scream in pain as the weapon fell to the
floor.

Stone cold blind
from the gun’s flash, but jacked up with adrenalin and fear, Daniel relied on
his years of sightlessness for momentum and direction−his ears were his
guide. As Mickey cussed in a painful harangue Daniel shifted his body weight,
swinging the bat forcibly toward the body of his would be assassin, catching
him mid chest. The blow doubled Mickey over and sent him to the floor gasping
for breath. Daniel swung again, hitting him across the back. The hitman belched
in agony and rolled to his side just as Daniel’s vision returned. He looked at
the body lying on the floor, zeroing in on the face. At first, he didn’t
recognize who it was, but then the beard faded from view revealing the scar
underneath. It was the scar that had plagued him forever, haunting his dreams
night after night for years on end. It was Mickey... Mickey, ‘the Spoon’!

Daniel reeled
back in disbelief. Memory upon memory flooded his brain. His heart, already
pounding from adrenalin went into overdrive. The fear inside paralyzed him,
choking away his breath. His eyes felt like they were about to burst as blood
raced to his brain. Dropping the bat, Daniel stood there like a zombie unable
to move, staring at the killer who lay on his bedroom floor.
What should he
do?

Mickey moaned and
it was all Daniel needed. He leapt over the body and ran for his life, flying
down the hallway and stairs, panic chasing after him. He had to get away.
Running into the kitchen, he slipped on June Bug’s blood and fell, hitting the
floor with a thud. He cried out, got up and ran the other way, bolting for the
front door.