Mitchell Freeman: Unlikely Hero

Chapter 9 - A Cold Reception

     Utah would prove to be an unreachable destination for a while. The weather in Colorado took a turn for the worse. Heavy rains in the Rocky Mountains caused most of the major roads to be closed off. Mitch, Emmy, Gill, and Dr. Geller had to hold up in a motel in Denver for a few days. The whole time I worried about Traxxus getting closer to us.

     After a morning of watching the same weather report on four different television channels, I tossed the remote away in disgust. It shattered against a wall three feet from where Gill was sitting. He dove to the floor to avoid the shrapnel.

     "Sorry!" I squawked, my face red with embarrassment, "I barely even tossed it."

     Gill picked himself up off the floor and checked to see that no part of the remote was embedded in him. "Try to be more careful," he said, exasperated.

     I was agitated. I wanted to know where Traxxus was, and if he was on our trail. I laid back on the lumpy queen bed that I was sharing with Gill (Emmy and her dad shared the other) and closed my eyes. I concentrated on the vision of Traxxus from my dream with a question going through his mind... where are you?

     I suddenly felt like I was flying through a tunnel of light, and I stopped in front of a familiar door. A door I had walked through many times. I was looking at it from the entrance hall of the house; the Freeman house in Glenville, Illinois. The house was empty. I didn't know why, but I knew that Steve and Connie were gone. The door suddenly started to glow with the same red light that had enveloped Sierry in my dream, and it then melted away to nothing. Traxxus walked into the entrance hall through the now gaping hole.

     The imposing figure was so large that his head missed scraping the ceiling by inches. He walked farther into the hall and had to duck to avoid the light fixture. Entering the living room, he scanned it with distaste, as if the décor was below his standards. Continuing to move his gaze around the room, he spotted the stairs leading to the upper level. In a few long strides, he was at the foot of the stairs, and a cruel smile played on his lips.

     I was filled with horror. I suddenly understood why Traxxus was smiling. There, along the wall leading up the stairs, were several family pictures. How could I have been so stupid! I should have told Steve and Connie to get rid of all evidence of my existence, but I had been in such a hurry to leave that I forgot. For someone with a genius IQ, I was pretty dumb.

     Traxxus reached for a framed picture at the center of all the others. It was an eight by ten of me, my most recent school picture. With no effort at all he smashed the frame and removed the photo. He studied it for a moment then placed it in a pocket in his black jacket. Now the monster knew exactly what I looked like.

     Moving up the stairs, Traxxus found my bedroom. He went straight to the closet and started to rummage around. I wondered what he was looking for, until Traxxus pulled out the laundry hamper. Smiling that cruel smile again, he pulled a t-shirt out of the basket. He raised it to his nose and gave it a sniff.

     "For my pets," he said in a deep rumbling voice. Traxxus broke into a maniacal laugh that almost made me wet myself. I suddenly felt myself being sucked out of the scene at warp speed.

     "TRAXXUS!" I yelped as I came back to myself.

     Emmy screamed, and Gill and Dr. Geller swung toward the hotel room's door, expecting to see Traxxus bursting in. I was covered in a cold sweat and shaking like I had a fever.

     "What happened?" asked Dr. Geller, running to Mitch's side.

     "I-I-I saw him!" I stammered. "He's at my house!" My heart was definitely beating faster than sixty beats per minute as I told them about my vision.