Benny Washington, unable to relate to his distant father, and wracked with guilt over the recent death of his mother, seeks solace in best friend Peter Hall, comic books, and ballet-a passion he and Peter share. When Benny learns on the Internet tha...
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CHAPTER EIGHT
The Chase
Benny normally loves cable car rides—hanging off the outside of the car, feeling the cool breeze on his face, hearing that tinny clang, clang, clang of the bell.
But not today.
Today he huddles against Peter, with Emma and Fremond on either side of them, while a complete stranger works overtime to save his life.
The creature is still far down Powell, slowing as pedestrians scream and cars screech to a halt. Then it snatches the head of a fleeing man and wraps its suctioned fingers around the crown. The man freezes and the creature puffs up, its color going from dull beige to vibrant reddish-brown. Releasing the man, the energized creature bounds high into the air, sailing over a red and grey Muni bus and continuing its pursuit.
Peter nudges Fremond. "Any ideas, science geek?"
Fremond shakes his head, but pulls out his phone and records the pursuing creature.
Emma looks at him, aghast. "How can you record at a time like this?"
His voice tinged with excitement, Fremond exclaims, "That's a real fourth-dimensional being, Emma! This is a major scientific discovery."
Emma shakes her head. "Great. We'll be killed by a major scientific discovery."
Benny hears a police siren and clambers up onto one of the benches. A large dark SUV with a spinning blue light on top weaves through the panicked motorists in pursuit of the zig-zagging creature.
"Cops are coming."
Peter climbs up beside him and they watch as the creature grabs another pedestrian. The police SUV is still two blocks behind it.
"Yeah, but that thing'll get here first," he says to Benny. "And it wants you."
Emma looks over at the boys. "Why?"
Benny shivers, but he doesn't know the answer.
***
Nicolas leans forward against his seatbelt, hands sweaty and heart pounding as Amy navigates her erratic way through traffic in a desperate attempt to close in on the creature before it can get to his son. Amy drives with precision, he notes, like someone who's been involved in chases through San Francisco streets before. Powell isn't as narrow as most of the city's streets, but it's heavily traveled and now, because of the rampaging creature, drivers are panicked and Amy has to continually lay on her horn—in addition to blasting the loud siren—to force people out of her way. Her calm demeanor only accentuates his panicked one.
Memories surface of four-year-old Benny and his friends shooting baskets with him at the park. That was before his mother took him to see a professional ballet performance. From that moment on, Benny became enraptured with dancing and Nicolas had lost his son for good. At least, that's how he's seen it over the years. But has he really lost Benny? How often has Benny shown off athletic dance moves for him, hoping for more than grudging approval? Too many to count. And now that Benny's life is in danger, does it really matter that he chose ballet over basketball? It isn't Benny who put a wall between the two of them. It's him.
