The Midnight Escapade

Flash Fiction: The Midnight Escapade

Authors Note: Hello lovely readers! This story is the result of my brain's interpretation of this writing prompt: "Why Exactly do you need chloroform at 3AM?" I hope ya'll enjoy it and it is by no means meant to reflect real life or how a person should act! Here we go!

     It was a frigid January morning and Jake Winslow was peacefully asleep as all 14 year olds are supposed to be on a school night. The moonlight shining through his bedroom window illuminated the usual dirty clothes strewn about the floor, posters on the walls and several stacks of books. Suddenly into the early morning silence music began to play! Jake shot up out of bed bewildered, groggily recognizing the tune "The Final Countdown". He groped about blindly for his phone, finally grasping it from underneath his bed. He flipped it open and croaked "Hello?"

     "Jake?? Where are you?" The voice on the other end of the line was his best friend Kara's.

     "Kara?? Where do you think I am?? It's like..." He glanced over at his alarm clock "It's 1 in the morning!!! I'm in bed!! Or I was... what's wrong?? Who died???"

     "Of course your in bed! I'd expect you'd be there at a time like this! No, no one's died, but you have to get over here ASAP! I've hit upon something BIG!" Her voice was crackling with excitement.

     Jake groaned, "Can't you just tell me over the phone? It's freezing out!"

     "JAKE WINSLOW!!!" Jake moved the phone away from his ear, able to hear the shrill voice very clearly, "This is a matter of GREAT IMPORTANCE, everyone else is already here and you want to stay in BED???"

     "Alright alright, I'm coming, can you give me a hint though?" Jake flipped on his nightstand lamp and looked around for a warm shirt.

     Kara sighed "It has to do with the identity of The Night Crawler!"

     "We said we weren't going to call him that!"

     "No you said you weren't going to call HER that."

     Jake pulled on the flannel lined jeans his mother had given him at Christmas. "Now Kara, we have been over this, based on HIS height and agility and fighting skills there is no way HE is a SHE!"

     Kara huffed on the other side of the phone "I disagree! It is because of HER agility that SHE is a SHE! Gerald agrees with me!"

     Jake snorted "Gerald is still in favor of the Two Persons Theory!" He'd pulled on the rest of his clothes, a coat, hat and gloves.

     "Whatever, just get over here ASAP!" The line went dead and Jake slipped the phone into his back pocket. Tiptoeing to the window he slid it open letting in a blast of cold air. Moaning against the cold he climbed out, pulling the window shut behind him. On his hands and knees in the dark he felt his way along the edge of the roof to the corner where a rope was fastened. Mumbling about crazy friends and the blasted cold here in NY, he grabbed the rope and swung off the roof in a perfect Tarzan arc onto the balcony of his little brother's tree house. Sliding to the ground via the fireman's pole he tried to remember where he'd left his bike and discovered it was five feet away from the fireman's pole when he tumbled over it. By the time he climbed on and peddled down the silent street he was mad, sore, and tired.

     Five minutes later when he rolled up a dirt road towards an old barn he added breathless and cold...VERY COLD to that list. Leaning his bike against the peeling red paint, he trudged over to a small door and gave the secret knock. Two slow knocks then 3 fast ones. The door opened with a blast of warm air and he slipped inside. The interior of the barn was illuminated by glowsticks and lava lamps and filled with all sorts of electrical, scientific and history equipment, books and best of all space heaters.