TITAN

“We got the Hotel Monaco, ya know. That place is nice. One of the advantages of going to a preppie Catholic high school,” Drew scratched at something sticky on the floor. “Are you taking Rose?”

Eric and Drew swept up after the evening skate session at the ARC. All of the figure skaters and their involved parents left a disaster in the warming room: cookies, crackers, chips, and other bits of food were littered across the floor. Eric wondered if they had eaten any of it or just dumped it right on the ground.

Eric was beginning to enjoy the “normal” moments. He felt like he was losing himself in Titan. Just being an eighteen year old, sweeping up cereal off the floor, was relaxing. The plain life he used to have was now more appealing than he ever could have imagined.

Eric cleared a smattering of Cheetos and potato sticks in front of the vending machines. “I am.”

“But you’re, you know, together?” Drew began sweeping into a pile beside the bench where his dustbin-on-a-stick rested.

“I think so. I haven’t really seen her much since our first date. We clicked.” Eric lifted the table with his left arm and scraped the crumbs from underneath it. He didn’t realize that he was holding the whole table about a foot off the ground like it weighed nothing. Drew didn’t notice.

“Did you see the fight? You were down there, right?” Drew asked.

“Nah. We were gone by then. We heard some sirens but didn’t see anything,” Eric said. He felt a twinge.

Would this be my life now? Lies? The thought disappeared as quickly as it had come.

“That’s like comic book shit. The Hulk or something,” Drew shook his head. “You know my dad said… he works for the paper, remember… anyway, he said that the cops think it’s some kind of military thing.”

“Yes. I know your dad works for the paper. You keep reminding me,” Eric said. “Why do they think that?”

Why would the cops think that?

“It’s not something they’d say to the media. But my dad’s around the station sometimes and, I dunno, it’s just something they think. One of the older cops said he’s heard of stuff like that. You know, testing on people to make super soldiers.” Drew scooped his trash into the bin and moved to the next bench isle. “Like Captain America.”

Eric watched Drew. Paranoia set in.

Did Drew know? How convenient that a Fairfax County cop happens to think that the Old Town fight was military related...

It was silly. Drew didn’t know about Titan and the cop didn’t know either. It was the kind of BS that sold magazines talking about alien Elvis. Still... Eric realized he would have to lie for the rest of his life.

“So who are you taking to prom?” Eric changed the subject.

“I’m keeping my options open,” Drew dumped out his dustbin. “We still have a couple weeks.”

“Yeah, but tickets go on sale on Friday. And you know how weird the administration gets when you buy your tickets late,” Eric said.

“I do. Do you? You didn’t go last year.”

“I hear things.” Eric ignored the dig. “Besides, I’d like to do the whole prom thing, ya know? Get a buncha people together, get a limo maybe, go to dinner...”

“...get fucked after prom...” Drew laughed. “That’s my plan anyway.”

Eric smiled too. It felt good to smile for real. He had faked his way through a lot of emotions over the last year. Only Rose had brought out anything good in him. It was nice to get back some of what he lost. Something told him it would be a commodity in the coming days.

“All I’m saying is we’re only high school seniors once. We spend all our time not really doing what other people do, playing Halo and just hanging out. Let’s be like everyone else for that night, huh?” Eric said. “And yes. Maybe get fucked. Though, I always thought I’d be more active... you know. ‘Fucked’ seems to me like we’re letting it be done to us… why don’t we deliver the ‘fuck,’ ya know?” Eric air-humped as he said the last part.

“Shut up,” Drew deadpanned. “But I agree. Let’s do that. Not the gay ‘fuck’ thing, but the prom thing. I’ll probably go with Constance. She mentioned to me some dress ideas when we were at the mall awhile back. That bitch is a suuuluuut.”

“See I’ve always been of the school of thought that the quiet, kinda repressed chicks are really good in bed. Like they scream and really cut loose. I don’t actually know that, but...” Eric trailed off.

“Yeah. Keep thinking that. That’s what got you screwed last time. And not the good kind of screwed. That Melanie bitch fits that to a ‘T.’ Don’t go down that road again. Chick had a ‘daddy complex.’ Like she’s trying to rebel or impress him. You were just part of the ‘old shit.’ She dropped you as part of all that,” Drew said.

“How insightful. Where was this a year ago?”

“I dunno, I been thinkin’ on it. I figured that’s why you were AWOL for so long. Trying to sort out all the Melanie bullshit ‘cause you like Rose,” Drew said. He met Eric’s stare. A real moment. Drew didn’t have many.

“Of course, with a pair like Melanie’s got, I’da fucked her ten ways from Tuesday,” Drew followed up.

It went on like that until the shift ended. Drew headed home and Eric went to see Rose. He had to see if she was busy on May 22nd.

* * *

Rose was always beautiful. There was something about her hair. It was a unique shade of red. Under the right light, it shimmered. So did her skin. Rose hadn’t worn make-up since Eric had known her. He imagined that it would cheapen her. She was classical and natural. Rose would be beautiful no matter how old.

Eric felt like he was being pulled in two directions. Rose was pulling him toward her and away from the loneliness. High school melodrama or not, the loneliness had been real. But with her, it went away. Eric loved her; he knew that, though he wouldn’t dare say it. Rational sense told him that to say it would spoil it. He had only known her for a little over a month. They were so young. But still he knew.

But there was another direction. A place darker than the loneliness he thought he had known from before. This black was real and palpable. The pull was strong. It was with him every time he closed his eyes. Every time he blinked—even for that short instant—it was there.

Sarah.

The face that met him in that dark place had been Sarah’s, though he prayed it wasn’t really her. That would be too terrible; more terrible than her years of pain. If she had gone to that place after she died, Eric didn’t think he could bear it. That’s why he let himself be drawn to it. Away from Rose and from himself. That voice, which wasn’t really a voice, whispered to him that he could save her. If it was Sarah, he could take her from that place. He could change things. Because if she was there, it wasn’t where she belonged. It was a mistake.

If it were true.

And that was what really frightened him. Not Titan. Not the demons. Not even the fear of death.

No. Eric Steele was afraid that his big sister was not where she was supposed to be. And that he had taken the place where she belonged. His dad didn’t understand and his mom couldn’t. They could never be told.

Maybe he was just too weak. Eric hadn’t been raised to know Titan. He hadn’t been ready. But then again, maybe another way to look at it was that Eric became Titan pure and without judgment. Much like the first, whoever that had been. In either case, the dark sensed his weakness and it came for him; it slipped inside of him and whispered worry and caution. Eric couldn’t be sure. Itwas here again... with him and he…

“Hey.”

Like a candle drives shadows away, Rose’s voice drove the dark from Eric. His heart was clear and Rose was still beautiful. Eric wondered if she was the woman he would be with for the rest of his life.

Is that even possible?

“Sorry. Kinda zoned out for a minute,” Eric said. He wore a smile that he wasn’t sure was genuine.

Rose looked ready for bed. Her hair was down around her shoulders in long, light, twisting curls. She was soft and bright. “Come in.”

Eric moved past her into the foyer. She smelled like baby powder—light and wispy. It had been unseasonably cool outside and Eric realized that he was shivering. He rubbed his hands together and tried to straighten himself.

“It’s kinda late.” Rose pushed the door to the latch but didn’t close it.

“I’m sorry. Really. I just, uh... well, I was at work with Drew and we were talking. I just had to ask you something.”

Rose crossed her arms and pressed them into her chest. Her breasts grew behind her arms; Eric tried not to notice. Then he wondered if she did it on purpose. “Sure. Anything.”

“Uh, well, ha…” Eric was struck by the notion that he had killed four vampires the other day, but he was afraid to ask Rose a simple question. “O-kay. Will you go to the prom with me?”

Her face brightened. Rose didn’t hide her emotions well. Eric didn’t mind. He liked knowing what she was feeling—just as she had known his thoughts and feelings when he had unintentionally laid them bare for her. She nodded first and then spoke past her smile, “I already said ‘yes.’ But, I was still hoping you’d ask.”

“Well… now. I should’ve officiallyasked sooner, I just have…”

“Been busy,” Rose interrupted him. Her smile lightened and then disappeared. “I know. I saw.”

“You saw?”

“It was on the news the other night. You were in the city, right? On the Mall,” Rose said. A note of something like disapproval hid behind her words.

“Yeah. My dad and I have been training.That describes it best. There were bad guys. Monsters. And now they’re gone.” Eric wasn’t sure how much to tell her. It was one thing to have a superhero boyfriend, but vampires were still new to him, let alone Rose.

“You know people got hurt, right?” Rose asked, but again it wasn’t really a question.

“I didn’t know that. I was fighting for my life.”

Rose came to him and placed her hands on his chest. They were warm and gentle, but firm. “Look, I don’t know anything about what you’re doing. But I know that you’re something special. I think you would be special without this power, but it’s yours anyway.”

“Well...” Eric gave her a roguish grin.

She smiled back but remained serious. “You have to be careful. If you’re supposed to be a good guy, you can’t just let people get hurt. I mean, you’re supposed to protect people, right?”

Eric stiffened against her touch—not from discomfort or agitation, but affirmation. “Yeah. I am.”

“I saw you on that street, Eric. You didn’t want me to get hurt. You didn’t even want to hurt your friend who was trying to kill you. Don’t let whatever this thing is make you lose yourself. I like that guy. I like you.” Rose’s hands slipped around his shoulders and she drew him down to her lips. They were moist and warm. She kissed him and he kissed back.

He didn’t know why it happened—he wasn’t sure if he did it on purpose or if it was some kind of reaction, but his pores filled with hot, leaden strength. It wrapped around his arms and legs, entwined through his fingers, and sewed together over his skin. It washed over his face last and surged around his lips, between him and Rose. She did not draw back but embraced him harder. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, which now felt like rocks. Her lips met the tide of liquid metal and began feeling for Eric beneath; they found him.

Finally, she drew back and so did he. Titan stood wrapped in embrace with Rose. She looked up into his eyes—not eyes sealed by armor, but Eric’s real eyes. The mask didn’t normally have lips, but a thin bonding surrounded his facial features so it was a marriage of Titan and Eric. Both present. Both holding Rose. But Ericfelt Rose through the suit. The sensation was something deep and for him only.

Rose’s smile never drifted from her lips. Eric knew she only saw him. And she loved him, too. He wondered if this had been planned; if Rose had been sent to him as part of some greater plan out of anyone’s control. Sent by God. He didn’t know, but something told him that whether or not she had been sent, she was an angel. Eric didn’t like to get Nicholas Sparks-y, but he loved this woman and she brought emotions out of him that he couldn’t explain or control.

“You better go,” Rose said. “My parents weren’t real happy about you showing up so late.”

“Tell them I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Titan’s voice was Eric’s but deeper. Bolder. He heard it and so did Rose. The mask slipped back and Eric was with her again. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll tell them, but... don’t be. Climb on up to my room anytime.” Rose’s left eyebrow arched slightly. Eric couldn’t help but laugh.

“I could hang upside down from the ceiling and you could kiss me.” Eric didn’t want to go.

Rose pulled the door back open with a grin etched on her face. Like everything else, she wore it beautifully. “Maybe next time.”

Eric clutched her hand on the way out. They shared a look that said everything they wouldn’t say aloud and then Eric trudged back to his car. The dark didn’t haunt Eric anymore that night. Rose didn’t close the door all the way until he was gone.

* * *

Beth’s room was made up a lot nicer than when she had first arrived at the hangar. She slept often and Bone suspected that the soldiers were putting sedatives in her food. It was probably for the best if they were. Beth had been hidden away in a scary place, all alone, for over a month and kids had their limits. So did Bone, which, believe it or not, he hadn’t yet reached—but he was close. The person he used to be was almost gone.

Whenever the doctors weren’t watching him or running tests, Bone was allowed to sit outside Beth’s room and watch her. She looked small and afraid. Bone thought about trying to rescue her a hundred times every day. But Bone knew that the guards wouldn’t shoot at him, they’d aim for Beth. That’s who he was dealing with. That’s who he worked for. Bone was sure he could protect her and kill all of them, but... there was that small chance. The Colonel knew, as they all did, that if Beth died, they were dead too. But Bone couldn’t bear it. Jim couldn’t bear it. Everyone else was dead. He couldn’t let them kill Beth, too. If she was gone, then he’d only be a monster. He could try to kill himself, but the sad thing was he wasn’t sure he could.

Bone had become stronger since the fight. In a way, it was good that he got torn up. His skin was holding him back anyway. Now he was a giant, stone-boned, armored monster. Not a lick of skin on him. He wouldn’t win any beauty contests, but he was tough. As a test, the Colonel put him up against a wall and had the guards shoot him with M4 assault rifles. It felt like being pelted with spitballs, more annoying than anything. Some rounds nicked his armor shell, but it had healed. He was an imperfect Titan duplicate, but some of Titan’s powers remained intact.

Bone could also make his bones grow—another Titan ability. It was one Eric had used on him, in fact. Bone could grow jagged tips around his knuckles. A stout but spiked spear grew backward off his elbow pointing to his shoulder.

New abilities aside, he was feeling more comfortable in his new skin, so to speak. His nerves must have died out with the rest of him; the pain was all but gone. Eric had dodged and ducked his way out of the last fight, but he wouldn’t next time. No. Eric would die next time.

Something was happening. The guards were shuttling in suits and concealed carry holsters. The men in the hangar carried M4 rifles, but Bone noticed crates with MP5s too. They had also brought limos, black sedans, and Hummers back to the hangar. Whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen at some event. It seemed like there was always something happening, even though Bone wasn’t aware of anymore attempts to get Eric. Ever since the Colonel had been visited by his superior, the operation quieted down. This new activity was the most action in weeks. Obviously, something had changed.

“Soon this will all be over,” a voice said. His voice. The Shadow Man.

Bone swiveled to look the Shadow Man in the eyes—his dark, cold eyes. His neck clicked and clacked with the move, which still disconcerted him. “When?”

“One week,” the Colonel said, walking right up to Bone. All of the other men always kept their distance. “One week and we let your sister go.”

“Go where?” The thick rasp that had become Bone’s voice had become more familiar, but that was not a consolation.

“Wherever you say. I’d think your family could have her. Dear old Uncle Ben or someone like that. The point is, she won’t be with us.” The Colonel peered in Beth’s “cell” and smiled his terrible smile.

“And me?” Bone didn’t fear the answer; it wasn’t really a question.

The Shadow Man was still an appropriate name. Looking up into the light of the ceiling at Bone, his face was still dark. “We can’t just let you go, Jim. You know that, don’t you.” Not a question.

Bone winced not at the answer but at his old name. His name was Bone now. He breathed a gruff sigh and wouldn’t meet the Colonel’s empty gaze. “Yeah.”

“You’ve been useful. And you’ve played ball. Other than some… aesthetic problems, your strength, agility, and resilence has been inspiring.” Sometimes the Colonel’s nearly cloaked accent presented itself louder than usual and “aesthetic” brought it out. “Maybe you will go overseas to kill some ragheads for us.”

Bone knew that the Colonel was lying. There would never be overseas missions for him. Once they released Beth, if that ever happened, Bone was dead. Even now, the Colonel was thinking about how to do it. Hell, maybe the M4 rifle test had been to see if those guns could hurt him. Since they didn’t, Bone figured that he’d be gassed in his cell.

“I could see that. Kill someone who deserves it.” Bone stared at the Shadow Man.

If he noticed Bone’s hard stare, the Shadow Man didn’t acknowledge it. “Tim and Eric Steele deserve it, Jim. Believe me. A real friend would have given himself up to save you. No, the Steeles are murderers and cowards.” His left hand was squeezed into a fist so tight that his nails drew blood from his palm. “We kill for our country. They kill for God... sick, huh? Just like our enemies, beholden to their wrathful, vengeful God.”

Bone said nothing. This was about as casual as the Colonel had ever been.

Was this personal?

“Soon it won’t matter. Wrongs will be righted and Titan will be in safe hands,” the Colonel headed for the door.

Bone’s neck clacked in his direction. “You’re safe hands?”

The Colonel spun around, cloaked in the dark of the doorway—only his eyes showed. “Jim, ‘we’ are the United States. We’re the good guys.”

When the Colonel was gone, Bone wished he could smile. Then he remembered that his face was a skull.

He’d be smiling forever.

* * *

As far as shopping malls in Northern Virginia went, the McLean Mall was mecca. It had every store you could think of and a few more of which you’ve never heard. Also, across the street folks with a bigger wallet could shop at McLean II. Eric imagined that McLean II’s food court had places like Morton’s of Chicago and Ruth’s Chris. But he didn’t know—he’d never been there. When Eric asked what kind of stores were there, his mom had laughed and said, “Doesn’t matter. We can’t afford ‘em.”

Eric and Drew ordered their tuxedoes from a men’s formalwear shop on the second floor of McLean “Original Recipe.” And, as it turned out, they weren’t the only ones—several other academy students were there, including Eric’s old buddy, Antonio, from geometry. Of course, the moment Eric and Drew entered the store and got in line, Antonio took notice.

“Hey, fagface!”

Eric smiled at him. With a little perspective, it was amazing how guys like Antonio didn’t matter anymore. Once you’ve gotten into a knock-down, drag-out fight with your best friend who’d just become a giant skeleton monster, the high school bully just doesn’t seem that important. And he wasn’t. Antonio would coast through his life on his dad’s money. At one time, Eric might have wished for the kind of money that buys such irresponsibility, but not anymore. He had bigger fish to fry.

“Aw, got nothin’ to say, douche?” Antonio slapped his buddy’s back and gave Eric his best KISS impression. His tongue, sickly pink, lolled out of his thin, ratty lips and spittle sprayed. Antonio was performing open air cunnilingus. But Gene Simmons wouldn’t have felt threatened.

A store employee, a grim-faced old man with a tuft of white hair clutching the back of his head, tugged Antonio’s shoulder. “Sir, please watch your language or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Ah, sorry, man.” Antonio resumed being something approaching human. He did what every bully or asshole does when faced with authority—shrink back into whatever mask they wear whenever they’re not getting off on their victims’ misery.

Antonio was small now, yeah, but Eric couldn’t restrain the thought of hanging the bastard by his cock with a rope from the school flag pole. He was, after all, super-powered. But still human.

Stop.

Reality hit Eric hard. He suddenly became aware that this was all very “high school.” Very sitcom-y. Even the smile that had been on his face felt wrong. Eric had almost forgotten.

Jim.

He’s still out there. So is Beth. Jim wants to kill me.

Eric felt foolish for being where he was and doing what he was doing. His best friend was missing and had been turned against him by evil men. Those same terrible men had abducted Jim’s little sister after they had killed his parents and burned their house down. Going to the prom felt like a mistake.

Some deep intuition seemed to agree... but Eric wasn’t sure if it was God or the other things. There was a war over the radio connection in his soul and he had difficulty discerning who was transmitting. He was getting better, but the deep black was still terrifying. He didn’t imagine that it would ever not be.

Drew jolted him out of his thoughts. The line had moved ahead a few paces, but Eric had stood, frozen in place, where they first arrived.

“Dude, you all right? You look like a zombie,” Drew said.

Eric threw on a quick smile and caught up with the line. “Yeah, sorry. Just thinkin.’”

“Thinking about how you’re gonna plow Rose a new garden?”

Crude, but Eric couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. That’s it. Thinkin’ about where to get my Magnum condoms.”

“Got a whole pack in my glove box. But what are you gonna use them for?” Drew snorted.

Eric gave up. Sometimes you could take a ridiculous conversation only so far. Trying to push the real thoughts out of his head, Eric thumbed his wallet out of his back pocket and readied his credit card. “Are there tux varieties? I got what looks like a normal tux. You know, from movies.”

“I got one of those awesome powder blue tuxes from the seventies. You know that seventies’ fashions are back, right?” Drew said.

“Powder blue?” Revulsion for Drew’s style choice was almost enough to push thoughts of Jim out of his mind. Eric tried to think of Rose. She brought him calm. He knew Rose would look beautiful in her prom dress.

Eric couldn’t help but laugh when, at the front of the line, Antonio received a powder blue tux. He motioned for Drew to look. “You’re not the only one with great fashion sense.”

“Damn.” Drew sighed. “You don’t think it’s too late to reserve a different tux, do you?”

“It’s prom month, Drew. I think you would be too late a week ago,” Eric shook his head. “You’re stuck with the gawky seventies’ look. Or, to look at it another way, the douchy Antonio look. Pick one.”

Feeling the abyss he was connected to nipping at the edges of his heart and mind, a part of Eric wished he could go back to what it was like before all of this started. Before Titan. He had been miserable, sure, but at least then it had only been him. Jim hadn’t yet been dragged into it. There was something terribly cliché about feeling the “weight of destiny,” but, he supposed, it was heavier than usual because it wasn’t really his. No. Titan belonged to someone far stronger and more deserving than he.

Sarah was supposed to be Titan.

He didn’t know whether or not his thought was out of love and reverence for his sister or out of fear. Fear of what he would be forced to do. Fear of what he would have to endure. Good old-fashioned human intuition told him it was the latter.

* * *

Eric and Drew didn’t know it, but Rose and Constance were at the McLean Mall too. There was a dress shop on the first level with gorgeous wedding gowns in the window that rented and sold other formal dresses. Pacing behind them, a young man looking like any other guy in the mall watched them. It was the lieutenant the Colonel had considered killing when he interrupted him. The lieutenant didn’t follow them into the store.

Constance had to pick her dress up and Rose still had to get one. She hadn’t expected to go to the prom this year. It was a happy accident. She wanted something green to go with her eyes.

“This one,” Constance stood beside a violently pink dress. It had big poofy ruffles around the shoulders and an obscene dome-like skirt.

“I could be my very own Disney princess,” Rose smirked.

The dress store was an exercise in excess. Dresses ran between incredibly opulent wedding gowns, which seemed to be chiseled from pearl, and short, almost transparent hip hugging numbers that Jenna Jameson wouldn’t wear. Rose wondered who bought those kinds of dresses. Behind her, a short brunette—one that Eric would have recognized—named Melanie picked out one such dress. It was deep red with a plunging “V” top and a long “U” down the back.

Constance motioned in Melanie’s direction. “Someone’s trying way too hard.”

Rose glanced over her shoulder. “Jesus.”

A young girl, probably college aged, called out from the counter, “Number 37.”

“Ooooh, that’s me!” Constance bubbled with excitement and bounced over.

The counter girl produced a dress that made Rose do a double take. She grabbed Constance’s elbow. “You’re kidding, right? You just made fun of that girl and you got this?”

Constance’s dress was see-through in parts around the back of the skirt and around the midriff. Not obviously so, but her skin would be visible. The bust was stiff and heart-shaped—it would probably squeeze Constance out of the top.

“Drew’s gonna love it!” Constance squealed. “I had to get a corset to squeeze my boobs in.”

Rose laughed. “I’m riding to prom with a hooker.”

“Hey! I’m high priced. An escort, please.”

“Right. You’re not a stripper; you’re an exotic dancer,” Rose deadpanned.

What does a superhero’s girlfriend look like?

Rose moved through the displays looking for something she liked—and hopefully something Eric would like too.

The lieutenant watched through the store window and spoke into the Bluetooth around his neck, “I’ll have a picture within the hour.” He nodded, not taking his eyes off Rose.

“Understood,” he whispered. The lieutenant tensed his jaw. “The dress and a clear shot of her face. I’ll send it and if it’s not good enough, I’ll get another. Plenty of time to enhance. Affirmative. Over and out.”

The lieutenant touched the Bluetooth on his ear and produced a smartphone. Once he took a picture of Rose and her dress, the Colonel and his men would know exactly which girl to shoot at the prom if Titan didn’t cooperate.

* * *

As Eric and Drew left the tuxedo rental place, Eric felt a slight twinge. An almost imperceptible sensation, very minor in comparison with the feelings he’d been receiving as of late. If he had been anyone else, Eric might have thought it was just a spasm or a brain fart.

But he wasn’t just anybody—not anymore.

He was Titan.

The sensation inside was oily and thick—like a tentacle coiling around his heart. He didn’t know how to explain it other than a vague notion: it is beginning.