The Things We Fear

Marcus hadn’t really known Rod. The guy was the epitome of a jock. Played on the basketball, baseball and track team. Could probably box and wrestle fully grown men, and apparently had his own Katana collection. He wasn’t just a cool guy at Breckon Heights High; he was the cool guy. Marcus had initially wondered if he was some sort of supe when he’d first met him, no one could be that flawless naturally. The guy didn’t even seem to have pores for christ’s sake, but if Rod was (had been) anything supernatural, then it wasn’t immediately obvious what it could have been. Marcus had felt safe assuming he was just a genuine kick ass human being.

As part of being the typical jock, Rod was also a bit of a dunce. He wasn’t stupid stupid. You had to maintain your grades to stay on the teams. Marcus was on the swim team himself; he did well in school, averaged at B+’s and A-’s, but if he ever got below a C it would mean being cut from the team. He knew Rod (and the other sports team members) were held to the same standard. Therefore, he knew the guy wasn’t dumb, but boy did he lack tact.

More than one girl had slapped the guy publicly for some of the stuff that poured out of his mouth. Marcus was not going to repeat, he might have zero desire to get into a girl’s knickers, but this did not mean he didn’t respect them as individuals and hearing some of the locker room talk was plain uncomfortable.

The guy wasn’t (hadn’t been) exactly homophobic either, but he used “gay” as an insult a little too easily, and said no-homo like it was going out of style. It had gone out of style years ago, but the guy had apparently missed the memo. Rod was one of those guys who, if he knew you were gay, would tell you not to crush on him but that he was cool with it, whilst also looking like he wanted to runaway in case he caught the gay. It annoyed Marcus, but at the same time, this type of homophobia was a lot better than the usual, beat the gay kid up type, so he’d take what he could get.

In their entire school career, seeeing as everyone in Breckon heights had gone to one of three elementary schools before going to the same middle school and then here to the same high school. The town wasn’t big enough for extra schools, so even when you weren’t in the same year as someone and you didn’t interact with them much, you generally knew who everyone was,

Actually, now that he thought about it, how the hell did the supernatural stay hidden in a town this small? He’d have thought people were just turning a blind eye, but his mom was genuinely unaware, Theo literally had no clue, even Brody thought the strange things he saw were simply flukes or tricks of the light. Marcus was not about to correct them of this assumption, but it was weird how willfully oblivious these people had to be to ignore some of the weird shiz that happened in Breckon Heights.

The point was, Rod, though not exactly pc or the best person, was still an alright guy, or he had been. Marcus hadn’t interacted with him much, but he wasn’t one of the people that thought shoving him into lockers, locking him the bathroom, or beating him to a pulp would somehow cure him of the gay germs Marcus clearly carred.

“It’s weird though,” Theo said after finishing his second lot of pancakes.

Marcus hadn’t been able to resist. He’d eaten at the diner with Cassius, but they hadn’t had dessert. Having two lots of breakfast was basically the law on your birthday surely? If it wasn’t it should be.

“What’s weird?” they’d made there way to the living room. It was too hot to do much of anything so he flicked the tv on, surfing the channels for anything that might entertain them for a few minutes.

“Catfish, dude, yes.”

He chuckled at his friend before clicking on the latest episode. It was easy viewing. Like a murder mystery for those who didn’t like blood and gore. The catfished almost always got murdered, or at least their pride did.

“Weird, yeah, Rod was afraid of water. Don’t you remember how he freaked out when the room started filling last semester? He was out the doors as soon as it was a puddle, and he refused to join the swimming team, wouldn’t even come to watch the feats. No idea what he would be doing near a swimming pool.”

Marcus winced. He knew someone had ran from the room during the incident. He rememebered seeing the door wide open and wondering how the water wasn’t rushing out of the room. And again how those not in the know seemed to be entirely oblivious to the physically impossible occurrence Marcus could not say. Did magic hide itself from those who did not know it was real? Or did he live in a town full of idiots? Either option was likely possible.

Now that Theo mentioned it, he did remember an incident back in middle school. Someone had thought it would be funny to try and push people into the pool, jumping out from behind the equipment. Rod had shouted at the jump, not exactly abnormal when surprised, but he had screamed like he was being murdered when he fell into the pool. He’d been more shocked at the time than to realise how extreme the reaction was. Plus it was Mack who was getting shouted at, the same git who liked beating on kids younger than him. Marcus had been too happy to see him getting his ass handed to him by the popular guy to realise Rod’s reaction had been a little extreme.

“Huh. Yeah, that is weird.”

“Right.”

“Maybe he was trying to get over his fear? There’s a lot of pool parties at college, maybe he didn’t want to miss out. Or maybe he just didn’t like being afraid anymore and wanted to confront it.”

Marcus wouldn’t blame him if that was the case, he’d tried confronting his fear of the dark many times. He hated feeling weak for 8-12 hours out of 24 every day. He had tried turning the lights off for as long as he could. Exposure therapy. Slowly lowering the lights until it got darker and darker. Locking himself in the linen cupboard in the middle of the day. He’d tried everything he could think of. He’d even considered going the psychology option, but after the medication and Cassius having to interfere, he’d decided taking online courses and self-help books was the better option.

Nothing had worked. He’d read a piece about how the body can evolve to be afraid of certain things. Autonomic fears. It usually showed itself in families though, and even his little brother no longer needed a night light. If Rod had been trying to face his fear of water, he could respect that. It would make the situation especially shitty though. If after fearing water, the poor guy died of drowning. Irony at its finest.

“Where’s the birthday boy?”

“Dad,” he jumped from the couch and ran to his dad, arms open and ready to embrace the older man.

The deputy moved the wrapped present to the kitchen counter before pulling Marcus close.

“Happy birthday, son.”

He could have melted in the man’s arms. Cassius might have been his blood, but he would never be the man he would run to. Never be the one whose hug could make the entire day feel a thousand times better.

“Thanks, dad. What’s that?” he asked, like he didn’t know.

“Hmm, yes, I wonder what it could possibly be?”

“Daddy,” a small missle rushed passed him and barrelled into the man.

“Brody, careful, my man, you’re getting heavy,” their dad, swinging the boy up before placing him back on the floor.

“Is that Marcus’ present? Open it, open it.”

The two older males laughed,.

“Well, you heard your brother, open it,” his dad smiled handing over the bright paper. It was covered in brown tape, and was peeling away from the folds in places.

It made him laugh, the man was a terrible present wrapper, but it made Marcus smile how his dad kept trying. He could have easily pawned it off on their mom, but he would rather have a mess where someone had tried than something professionally perfect and soulless any day.

Smiling he started peeling away the bright yellow papaer with cars on it. It was hideous. He loved it. When he got to the tough packing tape, it was easier to just rip at the rest of the covering. When it was gone, there was a large brown box inside. Entirely plain. He flashed a confused look at his dad. The deputy smiled cheekily at him. Marcus really hoped this wasn’t that gag where there were a thousand boxes and a tiny present at the end.

Grabbing the scissors, he opened the box. Wondering what could be inside. He tried to remember what he had asked for in the past. A coffee machine maybe? He’d had that phase with wanting to learn baking. He’d stopped after the third cake had turned out tasting like egg more than anything else. He’d considered taking up baseball, but a bat would be slimmer in size. He had no idea. Pulling the flaps apart he looked into te dark centre.

He wasn’t sure what he was looking at, it took his mind a moment to work out what was inside. It was another box. A white one with an image on it.

“A laptop?”

He’d wanted a better one, of course, but they were expensive.

“Not, just a laptop, one with the best graphics. Designed for gamers and those who want to do graphic design and development,” his dad said, massaging his shoulder as they both looked within the box.

He felt a little choked. He’d mentioned it as a possible career a few times, but the equipment was expensive and college courses even more so. Marcus had been looking at local apprenticeships trying to find financially viable alternatives.

“Dad,” he could feel the tears trying to escape.

“I know, son. But you deserve it.”

He threw himself at the man again, clinging to him as he tried to keep the sobs at bay. Marcus had entertained the idea, had thought it would be a fun career to do. One he might be able to enjoy day after day. Not something he loved, so it wouldn’t taint something he cared abolut, but also something he enjoyed enough he could do it. Plus it was a skill he could turn to many skills.

Learning how to do lighting in a game involved a lot of editing. Which could be turned to pictures and video editing. He could use it for website building and many other things. He’d thought computer science might be the best step forward, but again, it was too expensive. He had been slowly learning to code, could understand the various languages, but he hadn’t wanted to test it on his current computer because if he broke it. They couldn’t afford to replace it, and given he needed it for nighttime, it hadn’t been worth the risk.

This wasn’t just a gift, it was a safety net. One for the night time. One for his future. And it was a laptop, which was going to be useful no matter what. He hugged the man again. Finally taking the white box out and opening what was inside.

“Deputy Gall,” the teasing voice joined them.

A sigh, “Hello, Theo, are you having a good day?”

“Yeah, Matthew, other than this heat. Is it true about Rod, we heard he drowned?”

“Oh, you heard, did you?”

“Yup, it’s all over the town by now,”

Marcus heard his dad mutter something about nosy small towns.

“So?”

“We don’t know if he drowned, but yes, his body was found early this morning.”

“Are you on the case?” He asked his dad.

“Yeah, I was working the scene. It was strange though,” he gave Marcus a look.

Strange was one of their code words. Strange happenings. Strange events. Strange supernaturals. His dad did not think this death had been caused by natural causes. He suspected the supernatural had been involved.