A Spider-Man Story

Chapter 8: The Imposter

Alex wakes up and doesn't dream of anything. But he hears a knock on his door and it's his doctor, "Alexander, wear your mask." Alex looks at the doctor, "Why? What's going on?" The doctor turns around, "You might get arrested." Alex's eyes widened, "Arrested why?" The doctor shakes his head, "I am not at liberty to discuss that. Just put on your mask." He puts on his mask as two detectives come into the room, "Hello Spider-Man, we want to ask you some questions if that's okay with you." Alex nods, "Okay." One of the detectives looks down at her notepad as the other looks to ask a question, "Where were you last night?" Alex answers right away, "I was here, but I'm pretty sure you know I left the hospital to help the police with the gang.

    The detective nods, "Yes, I heard. Do you know that there was a murder in an alleyway last night?" Alex shakes his head, "Just heard it now from you. Why?" The detective nods again, "Because our witness tells us she saw you kill a man trying to rob her last night." Alex shakes his head, "Couldn't have been me. I was here all night. I was pretty exhausted after the whole gang war considering I had to fight them all." The detective chuckles, "The police won't help you anymore now that they know you're a murderer." Alex squints under his mask, "Believe me or not I didn't kill anyone last night. You mind showing me what your witness saw?" The detetive scoffs, "Yeah." He shows him the picture, "That isn't my emblem." The detective looks at Alex, "Okay prove it." Alex opens his bag and shows them his suit, "You see? My suit is red and blue and my emblem is red. Whoever that is, their suit is white with a bigger black emblem."

    The detective with the notepad looks up, "He's right. You notice how there's also red lines on that suit." The detective looks at her, "Okay. It better just be a fake Spider-Man. Because if that's you we're going to have issues." He leaves but his partner stays behind, "He might not want your help but I certainly will. I don't think that's you. Especially after your speech earlier. Here is my card." Alex takes the card and nods, "I appreciate that." They respectfully nod and she leaves the room. After she leaves Alex gets a call from Jose, "Hello?" Jose sounds frantic, "Alex, someone burned down the Spider Lab." Alex's eyes widened, "What?! Do you have any idea who did it?" Jose takes a while to answer, "No, but if we do I promise I'll let you know." He hangs up and Alex lays down, "Well, this is one way to start off my day."

    The doctor comes back into the room, "So we're going to run some tests today. If everything is okay then you can go home today." Alex nods, "Okay, thank you doctor." The doctor smiles, "Don't mention it." He leaves the room for a minute and comes back. He draws blood, then they leave to do a MRI, and finally a CAT scan. After a while the doctor comes back into the room, "Okay Alexander, you're good to go." Alex smiles, "Okay." He puts on his mask and calls Jose, "Hey bro, I was wondering if you can take me home?" Jose answers, "Okay."
    Alex and Jose sign some papers before leaving the hospital, "Ready to go?" Alex smiles, "Hell yes, let's go." They drive to Alex's house. Alex goes inside but he feels something different. He sees a note on the kitchen counter. It was from Vanessa, "Dear Alex, I'm sorry for doing this but I think we're better off separate. You're doing your thing as Spider-Man and I don't want to interfere with that. You picked Spider-Man over me. But I know you care and love me. Just like I do. But we're not good together anymore and I'm tired of worrying about you. I'm happy you have fulfilled your dream. But it isn't my dream. Goodbye Alex." Alex wipes his tears as he stops reading, "I didn't choose Spider-Man over you. You assumed that I did. But goodbye Vanessa." He crumbles up the paper and throws it away.

    He goes to the fridge to grab some food. He looks at it and sees that it has expired, "Damn. I need to buy groceries." He goes into the freezer and grabs some bacon, some chicken, and some fries. He puts the bacon on a pan and puts the chicken and fries on a piece of aluminum foil. He turns on the oven and lets the bacon fry on the pan. After everything is finished he sits on the couch and watches T.V he eventually falls asleep. When he wakes up he is disoriented. He almost falls off the couch until he realizes where he is. He gets up and grabs his car keys. He heads to the grocery store. He buys milk, bread, some water, yogurt, and a lot of other things he needs. When he gets back home he grabs a mop and starts cleaning the house. After he cleans he calls Jose but he's sent to voicemail.

    He calls again but is sent to voicemail yet again. He decides to leave a message, "Hey bro, I was just wondering why you haven't been answering your phone. I wanted to hang out tonight since I'm done cleaning up. Just call me whenever you get the chance to." He hangs up and puts his phone on his dresser. He grabs his towel and heads to the bathroom where he has a flashback. He sees him and Vanessa laughing as she sits on the counter. They both say in unison, "I love you." They both laugh and kiss. After the flashback he leans on the door and gets teary eyed. He puts his hand on the counter, "I miss you Vanessa." He cries a little bit before heading into the shower.

    He closes his eyes as he washes his hair and has a flash of memories. The dates, the cuddles, the kisses, and everytime they ever said, "I love you." He full blown breaks down in tears after all the flashes. He sits in the shower and just cries. When he gets out of the bathroom he looks at himself in the mirror. He tells himself, "Get it together Alex." He dries his face and body. He grabs a beer and sits on the couch. He watches a show and a movie before falling asleep. He wakes up to a message. It was the scientist. Alex went back to sleep before getting a call from the scientist, "What? It's six in the morning so this better be important." The scientist answered, "Alex, there is a family on Chestnut Avenue. A mother, a daughter, and a father. The father is about to kill his family!" Alex's eyes widened, "Give me the address I'm on my way." Alex suits up and swings out of his house. He gets to the house and he calls the scientist, "What's the dad's name?" The scientist takes a while to answer, "His name is Mark. Alex, be careful."