Fall of the Watchmen

Chapter 1~Obsession

         I remember the first time I laid eyes on that room full of vigilantes. I was four years old when I stumbled into the study of my father, Adrian. My father had told me to stay in my bedroom because he was having a "super secret meeting" I mean seriously, what kid isn't gonna wanna listen in on a gathering that's described as "super" and "secret"?! So before it started I snuck into my father's study and hid under one of the clothed tables. I layed on my stomach and enjoyed the softness of my father's rug. It was made out of faux grizzly bear fur and the maid often brushed the rug to keep it soft,fluffy, and shiny. I think she was the only person besides me who truly appreciated the rug for its beauty. I was used to sneaking in and laying on the carpet and daydreaming. As I lay there I smell the rug. Over the years it started to smell more and more like my father. My father always smelled like and odd mixture of aftershave and oak. It worked for him and the smell always makes me feel safe.I heard the shuffling of feet and I listened in, but couldn't see anything ,but at four years old I was smarter than a high school senior honors student, so I was able to distinguish the different voices. The first voice came from a man I could easily tell was my father. He said,"Welcome. To the very first meeting-" "Bullshit" a low,gruff voice interupted. My eyes widened. I was surprised at the word, I thought it was a funny word and I had to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from making noise.

     "Excuse me?" said my father. I loved my dad's voice. He had a scholarly tone with a slight German accent. "I said It's all Bullshit. pfft watchmen. Didn't work then sure as hell ain't gonna work now just because you wanna keep dressin up as cowboys and Indians." replied the gruff voice. I was desperate to see what the gruff voiced man looked like so I took one finger and lifted the table cloth just a crack, so I could see what was in front of me. I saw two women and five men gathered in front of a display. The first person to catch my eye was a smaller man in a brown trench coat and a purple pinstriped business suit. He also wore purple gloves and a brown fedora with a purple stripe. But the thing that stuck out the most was his face. It was white with large black blots arranging and shifting to make symmetrical patterns, yet never mixing to make gray. I found it to be quite beautiful and hypnotic. On his left was a larger man in a brown suit with golden goggles. I remember thinking," Whoa that guy looks like a giant bird!" I also remember thinking that he looked like a dork, but I never mentioned it to him. Behind them was a black haired woman wearing a blue dress. My aunt Janey.She was quite pretty and she was holding on to the arm of my uncle Jon, who was looking at a younger girl and they were smiling at each other. I didn't like that younger girl right away, she sees that my uncle Jon has aunt Janey but she keeps flirting with him. I also didn't like the way she was dressed, she wore a skin tight leather colored yellow and black. Then I saw my father wearing black and gold. And on his right was a very large man wearing all black except for a yellow Smiley face button and his two shoulder plates. The left shoulder plate was blue with a white star, and the right shoulder plate was striped red and white. He had slicked back black hair with small amounts of gray hair around his ears. He had a mustache with a giant cigar in his mouth and Scotch in his hand. The bird guy said," Maybe we should agree to stop drinking at meetings." Cigar man responded in a low chuckle. I really wish he'd put out his cigar. It smelled like burning tires. The man with the ink blot mask stated,"A group this size seems like a publicity stunt. I'm not in it for the ink." He had a heartbreaking voice that made me want to run and hug him. His voice strong and deep, but he spoke in a bit of a growling manner. But what got me was that he had a small almost unnoticed twinge of pain and sadness, like he's been to hell and back.

          I looked back at the man in the ink blot mask and noticed him staring back at me. "Rorschach? What are you looking at?" The bird guy asked. I liked his voice. He sounded loving and smart with medium pitch. He turned in the direction that "Rorschach" was looking in. He looked at me too and smiled. He started to raise his hand in an attempt give me a friendly wave, but was quickly stopped by Rorschach who simply shook his head and held a finger up to where I imagined his mouth to be.

The rest of the meeting went on ending with the guy in black burning the display, laughing while he walked out. At that point the only thought in my mind was,"Who are these people?"