Special Eyes Chapter 5

"What. The. Hell."

That was the only thing the man could think to say as he stood outside the door to his office. Standing in front of him, with a stupid grin on his face, was the boy he had turned away yesterday.

"Hey, Mr. . . . Tom Waller," said Jackie, reading the man's name off the name tag clipped to the collar of his blazer.

The man in the suit, Tom Waller, rubbed his temples. "What are you doing here, kid?"

Here, by the way, is the back-office area of a police station. Yes, they are in a police station. And also yes, Tom Waller worked in a police station.

"Well," said Jackie, "it's a bit of a long story."

**********

Despite Waller's refusal to help, Jackie was not deterred and decided on a new course of action. Since he could not figure out the Gathering's hideout from the flyer or someone who could read its hidden messages, the next best thing to do was to find a known member of the Gathering and follow them in hopes that they would lead him there. 

So, once more after school, Jackie set off to the only place he knew he'd find Gathering members. He spotted Taylor right away, the same as yesterday and the week before, handing out flyers in the hopes of recruiting more members. But Jackie, himself, was not the same as before. Instead of walking up to Taylor, he hid in an alley a few feet away where he could observe her and her buddies from. With a pair of binoculars, of course.

He watched them as they passed their flyers out, occasionally shooting breeze with some passerby. This went on for about an hour and a half. Nothing else happened until Taylor suddenly turned her head his way.

Jackie quickly pulled his head back, heart pounding.

She didn't see me, did she? No, she can't have. I'm too far away. 

After waiting a few more seconds, Jackie risked a peek. He was just in time to see Taylor hang up her phone and stuff it in her jeans' back pocket. 

In hindsight, he really should have taken that as a sign to leave. But instead, he continued with his clandestine observation  until he felt a tap on his shoulder a few minutes later.

Slowly and reluctantly, Jackie turned his head and looked behind him. Looking back was a big, pink face with puffed out cheeks nearly drooping over the collar bones. Above that face was a black hat with a glossy front brim. At the center of that hat was a gold badge.

Looming menacingly over Jackie was a police officer. 

"Son," he said in a level, but firm way, "I'm going to need you to come with me."

Jackie blinked. "Huh?"

Next thing he knew, he was in the back of a police cruiser.

"Huh?"

The door slammed shut over his baffled face. And then Jackie found himself sitting in front of his stepfather at opposite sides of an office desk. The smell of coffee was strong in the air over a clamor of overlapping voices and ringing phones.

"Huh? No wait. Oh crap!"

**********

"So you got caught stalking again, got arrested for it this time." Waller was not surprised. "But that still doesn't explain why you are standing in front of me right now."

"Well, I happened to glance out the door to the hall, spotted you passing by and figured I could get ahead of you by taking another exit. I'm guessing by the key in your hand and the way you're facing this door, this is your office. And you are actually . . . an accountant."

Waller rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's right. I'm an accountant. So unless you need help with bookkeeping, please go away."

"I do need help," said Jackie. "But not with bookkeeping, whatever that is."

Waller raised an eyebrow.

Before Jackie could continue, his stepfather appeared, looking exasperated as he came marching over.

"There you are!" he said. The plainclothes police officer grabbed his stepson by the collar and yanked him back. "Didn't I tell you to stay put at my desk?"

And then he turned to Waller, his angry stare instantly turning into a remorseful look.

"Sorry, Tom. I hope he hasn't been a bother."

"Not at all," Waller replied. The way the kid looked like a sorrowful puppy dog being held by the scruff of his neck made Waller feel sorry for him, so he decided to do Jackie a solid. "We were just having a pleasant chat about Batman. But, uh . . . Arnold, you know this kid?"

Arnold Willis gave Jackie a glance before answering, "You could say that. He's my -"

Jackie cut Arnold off. "I'm his stepson. Basically adopted."

He and Arnold exchanged looks and they both fell quiet, creating an awkward air that Waller did not care to be a part of long.

"Ahem!" he went, bringing the father-son duo's attention back on him. "Well, it's been nice getting to know you, uh . . . what's your name again?"

"Jackie," Jackie answered.

"Right, Jackie. Well, it's nice getting to know you Jackie, but I got work to do. Lots of accounting stuff."

The accountant quickly retreated into the office and shut the door, hoping that it would be the last he saw of Jackie. But he knew deep down that it would not.

And he was right, because a few hours later after his work shift ended, as he was walking towards the bus stop, he suddenly stopped and sighed before turning to speak to the nearby trash can.

"I know you're there," he said. "Get out already."

Reluctantly, Jackie stepped into view.

Hands to his hips, Waller frowned at the boy. "Haven't you learned your lesson yet? I know Arnold must have lectured you about stalking already before he kicked you out of the station." 

Jackie frowned back. "Hey, I wouldn't have to do this if you'd just tell me where the Gathering's going to be."

"Ugh! This again! Kid, look! I know I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but the cops already got the time and address to the next meeting. If you're right and the Gathering's hella suss, then the police'll sort it out lickity-split."

Jackie's face twisted with confusion. "What? Dude, who uses 'hella suss' or 'lickity-split' anymore? I can't even tell which is older."

"I'm not old!" Waller shouted a bit louder than he meant to and attracted stares from the bus stop he had meant to go to. Well, now he couldn't.

While stifling down a surge of embarrassment, he turned at his heels and swiftly walked pass the eyes on him, turning his gaze away from theirs. Jackie briskly followed.

"Go away, Kid. I just told you the cops are already on the Gathering's trail, so you don't need me anymore. You don't need to do anything anymore."

"Come on, man," said Jackie. "You and I both know that the police aren't going to find them, even if they do have the address."

"Then it makes no difference to tell you."

"Ah ha!" Jackie pointed at Waller. "So you admit you do know the address! That means you do have special eyes that can see invisible things!"

"Oh, for-! Do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now?"

"You're not denying it anymore," Jackie pointed out.

"Ugh!' Again, Waller smacked his forehead in exasperation. "You know what? Sure, whatever. It's been a long day, I have to walk home now because SOMEONE won't stop bothering me, and I'm too tired to argue at this point. Even though, again, this stuff about invisible monsters and such is all crazy talk."

"So . . . Will you tell me what you saw on the flyer?"

"Yeah. Sure. Okay," said Waller as he continued down the street in long and quick strides. Jackie struggled to keep up with his frantic pacing. "I saw . . . "

"You saw . . . ?"

"Big words that say to come join the Gathering. There! You happy now?"

No, Jackie was not.

"Come on, man!" he said, indignantly. "What's it gonna take for you to tell me where the Gathering is? Do you want me to get on my knees and beg? Is that it? Because I'll do it. I'm serious. I'll really do it. And I'll be really loud about it too."

Waller stopped and turned again.

"Kid, I've had it up to here with you!" He put his hand a few inches over his head. "You either go home, or I call the cops. I'm sure Arnold will be thrilled to find out that his son - sorry, STEP-son, got arrested twice in one day for the same crime. See what happens then!"

The threat worked. 

Although reluctant, Jackie slowly backed away until he turned at his heels and walked away. He wanted to keep pressing Waller for answers, but knew that if he got in trouble again, Arnold would ground him. That would put the search for Alice in jeopardy, which was the last thing that Jackie wanted.

Don't you feel sorry, Tom, Waller silently told himself as he watched the boy trudge away. The sorrowful look on the boy's face sent a pang to the accountant's heart, but he had to remain stoic. This is for his own good. You tell him what he wants, you can be sure he'll go running to death. it'll be like you killed him yourself. Sometimes you just gotta play the bad guy for what's best for others.

But as he continued staring at Jackie's receding back, Waller soon realized that his act of kindness would be for nothing. 

Something had popped out of the alleyway after the boy passed by it, something both weird and impossible. It was a huge creature that looked sort of like a gecko. But unlike normal geckos, this one was the size of a limousine car. Its head was an assembly of wood blocks. Its right hindleg was a bicycle wheel. The toes of its left foreleg each had a steel kitchen knife blade stuck to them. It also had two tails instead of one, both entirely just a chain of yellowing bones.

There was only one word for such a creature: monster. 

Despite the monster's eye-popping appearance and size, Jackie didn't seem to notice it. And why would he? Only Waller could see the creature. Just like only he could see or hear the black rags flying around him, giggling like little children.

"We told you, we told you," they sang. 

"We told you something nasty was going to happen." 

"Something nasty to that boy." 

"Now what will you do? Will you stand here and do nothing?"

"Ooh! How cruel! How cold-blooded!"

"No, how kind! How warm! Let the monster gobble him up. The poor, poor starving monster."

"Not so poor, poor starving anymore! Hee hee hee!"

As they flew around him like planets orbiting the sun, they continued to chant, "Do nothing. Do nothing. Do nothing."

"Argh! Damn it!"

With an infuriated roar, Waller wildly swung his arms about, shooing the rags away. And then he broke into a run up the path that both Jackie and the monster had gone.

<== Chapter 4                                                                                 Chapter 6 ==>

Special Eyes Chapter 4

Several years ago, same school, same playground, same time . . .

"Eek!" Alice shrieked and then pulled at her long hair. "Leave me alone!"

She yelled at empty space slightly above her height.

The nearby teacher on watch duty heard saw Alice and hesitated to approach. All the other kids noticed and whispered among themselves.

"She's at it again."

"Mommy says stay away from her because she's weird."

"My dad told me the same thing, and that she's a bad influence."

"I wish I could stay away from her, but we're in the same class."

"I think she's haunted."

"My parents think she's just crazy."

Needless to say, they all stayed as far away from her as they could. All of them except one boy who didn't hesitate to run up to the lone girl and slap the invisible thing that bothered her.

"You heard the girl!" Jackie Li shouted. "Leave her alone!"

And then he turned to Alice to ask if she was okay.

Alice stared at him, dumbfounded, before hesitantly answering with a nod.

Jackie beamed before turning his gaze back to Alice's bully. "Don't you know it's mean to pull someone's hair?"

Silence followed for a while before Alice spoke up.

"You . . . You can see them?"

Jackie looked at her, blinked and tilted his head one side. "See what?"

"You know . . . " Alice said. She pointed skyward. "Them."

"You mean the tiny little monsters?" Jackie looked up and squinted before returning his gaze back to Alice. He shook his head, "No."

Alice's face fell and she quickly turned away. She was about to run but then stopped.

"Wait, you said you can't see them, right?"

Jackie nodded. "Right."

"Then how do you know they're tiny?"

"If it was something bigger, they'd be pulling a bunch more of your hair," Jackie said. "I figured they'd be as big as pixies like on TV. I think there were like . . . three? Because your hair got split three ways."

"There are five," Alice corrected him. "Two of them just pointed and laughed."

"So you really can see invisible monsters?" Jackie asked. "Like everyone else was saying?"

Alice instantly regretted speaking up. She looked away, but hesitantly, she nodded. 

"That's so cool!"

Alice looked up at Jackie in surprise. "Really?"

Jackie nodded. "That's like a magical superpower, like you got special eyes like those people in TV and movies, the ones that can see ghosts and fairies, and stuff. What are the monsters like? Are they all mean? Or are there good monsters too?"

"Well . . ." 

**********

Present day . . .

Jackie peeked out from behind the streetlight. Up ahead was the man in the brown suit.

Although Taylor denied seeing Alice at the Gathering, she did not deny the Gathering happened on Saturday, the same day Alice disappeared. That was enough to further convince Jackie that the two events were connected. He wished he could get more answers about the Gathering, but he thought it best not to push his luck. Just when he thought he had reached a dead end, that man appeared and reminded him of Alice.

That was when he was struck with a wild, almost crazy (well, definitely crazy) idea. What if, Jackie thought, the Gathering was look for people who could see invisible things?

It'd make sense. The way he was swatting at invisible bugs, that man in the brown suit probably had the same special eyes that Alice has. Most people, Jackie knew from experience, would be scared away from such a person. But Taylor had enthusiastically tried to get him to join the Gathering. That meant he was exactly the kind of guy the Gathering was looking for, same as Alice.

There was probably a message on the flyer that only people with special eyes could see, Jackie surmised. And whatever was on that invisible message definitely piqued Alice's curiosity, something that would have tugged at the heart strings of people like her.

 In that case, the man in the brown suit was the key Jackie needed to finally get close to the Gathering, to get closer to finding Alice.

Deep down, Jackie knew that it was a long shot, that he was grasping at straws and guessing based on some strange behavior he observed for a minute (a few seconds, really) from a complete stranger he had never seen before. But if it meant finding Alice, this amateur sleuth would leave no stone unturned.

For an old guy, he sure got legs of steel, Jackie thought. His own legs felt like they were on fire, and he could barely stand. He had to hold onto the streetlight to stop himself from sinking to the ground.

Their trip had been a surprisingly long and far one. They had gone from the edge of Chinatown all the way deep into the southwest side of the city, at a less densely populated district known to locals and tourists to be where independent artisans did business. At this time of year, customer traffic was slow so there were scarcely any people about, save a few stragglers on a whim. Much of the brightly colored buildings had become golden against the light of the setting sun.

Throughout their journey, Jackie never let the man out of his sight. And the more he watched the man, the more convinced he was that the man had the same sort of special eyes that Alice had. Sometimes, the man would make abrupt stops where there were no obstacles, shied away from empty space as if it were an intimidating thug, and once again swung his hand about as if to shoo away bugs when none could be seen, even with binoculars (something Jackie always kept handy in case he needed it, but never had a use for until now). Those were all things that Jackie observed Alice doing quite frequently, despite her efforts to hide them.

Upon reaching a white coffee shop building with black wood frames, the man made a turn into the alley. Without stopping to wonder why the man would go in there, Jackie followed. He peeked into the alleyway just in time to see the man make another turn and rushed after him but then screeched to a halt when he found the man standing in front of him, glaring with his arms folded over his chest.

"Just what do you think you're doing, young man?"

Jackie was at a loss for words. He frantically looked right and left while stammering, "I-I, w-well . . ."

Come on, Jackie, he told himself. Get it together! The whole point of tailing him was to get the chance to talk! Now you got that chance, so talk!

But that was easier said than done. Jackie wasn't exactly the kind of guy who could strike up a conversation with a random stranger at a moment's notice. It took mustering up some guts to get him to talk with customers at the grocery store he worked at.

Fortunately, the man just quietly waited. He was either more patient than he looked, or he enjoyed watching Jackie nervously squirm. Either way, he allowed time to pass for Jackie to take some deep breaths and get his thoughts straight, which the boy did poorly.

"H-hi. My name's Jackie Li. You can probably tell from the lanyard sticking out of my pocket, but I'm a student at Colbert High School. I'm a bit of a comic book nerd, but I also watch cooking videos online. There's this one chef that knows how to make the most mouthwatering chicken dishes on the whole wide internet. Oh! And I like video games, but who doesn't these days? Am I right? But you probably don't care about that. I can tell by your face and the way you're growling like a rottweiler."

"Just get to the point!" the man snapped.

"Okay, okay, okay! Now, I know how it looks, but I promise you it's not for anything bad. I just wanted to talk to you and ask you a few questions."

"What sort of questions?" the man asked steely.

"Well . . . " Jackie hesitated for a moment but then grabbed some resolve. "Okay. No use beating around the bush. I'm investigating the Gathering and would like to know everything you can tell me about them."

"Why?" asked the man. "Are you looking to join them?"

Jackie fibbed, or at least tried to, shoulders hunched, back crooked and eyes rolled up. "Yes?" 

No need to say how that went.

"Just stick to the truth, kid."

"My friend's gone missing and I think the Gathering had something to do with it."

"I see." The man went noticeably slack, but he maintained a stern frown. "But you know if you want to find out more about the Gathering, all you got to do is go to one of their meetings, right? You could just grab a flyer that'll tell you when and where those guys hang out. That Taylor girl would be happy to give you one. Why go to the trouble of stalking me?"

"I wasn't stalking," Jackie protested. "I was just following you wherever you were going while observing your every move."

The man stared at him in disbelief. "That is the very definition of stalking!" 

"Oh. Then I guess I was stalking you."

"Ugh!" The man rubbed his temples with a groan. "Look, kid, just go home. If your friend's in trouble, just go to the police and let them handle it."

But Jackie was determined not to leave emptyhanded at this point.

"Since we're already here and all, why not tell me where the next Gathering's gonna be?"

Instead of answering Jackie's question, however, the man said, "Kid, if the Gathering's really bad news like you say, then you should be staying away from them. Hell, I was never interested in going to their meeting anyway."

Undeterred, Jackie replied, "That's a good idea. You better tell me where the Gathering's supposed to hang out, so I know what places to avoid."

Exasperated, the man groaned and looked up at the sky, as if to ask the angels above, "Why me?"

And then, more sternly, he told Jackie, "Go home."

But Jackie refused to give up. "Not until you tell me where the Gathering's going to be."

"You want to know where Gathering meets up that badly?"

Jackie nodded.

The man held up the flyer he got from Taylor. "Here. There's your answer. Take it and leave me alone."

Jackie took one look at the flyer and then said, "No thanks. It'd be easier if you just told me the time and address."

"We're done here."

The man turned to walk away. But before he could leave, Jackie called out and shouted, "I know you can see them!"

The man instantly froze. He didn't turn around, but he was surely listening. Jackie pressed on.

"I know you can see the invisible monsters. Like I said earlier, I watched your every move. A lot of your habits matched up with Alice's. She could see the monsters too. Only people with special eyes like hers can see the time and address on the flyers. Since you're the only other person I know with special eyes, you're the only one who can help me find her. Please, just give me the address to the Gathering."

Silence reigned for who knows how long. It could've just been a few seconds, but for Jackie, it may as well have been an hour or more. The silence broke as it was sure to, but not in the way that Jackie wanted.

"You need your eyes checked, son. That and your head."

And then he walked away, leaving Jackie all alone, frozen and disappointed.

**********

The man in the brown suit marched down a long and narrow path littered all over with bits of trash  between rows of black-stained backside walls. He tried to ignore the vomit-inducing smells and what he called annoying buzzing at his ears.

"That was cold, don't you think?"

"Heh heh heh heh heh! I like."

"I don't. It'd be more amusing if he told the kid and sent him to an early grave. A really early grave."

"Ooh! That would be more amusing!"

The hoarse, whispery, hissy voices belonged to what looked like three tattered, black rags free-floating around the man's head. With their shredded edges trailing behind them, they looked like fish with long tailfins dancing around in water.

Jackie was indeed correct. The man COULD see invisible monsters, but he preferred to call them pests because that was what they were to him: annoying pests that would never leave him alone.

Acting as if the talking, flying rags weren't there, the man continued walking. A few feet away was the alleys' exit.

"But you know," said one, "that boy's very smart. He figured out you got special eyes just from a little bit of observation."

"Well, he does have a friend with the same kind of eyes," said another.

"HAD a friend with the same kind of eyes," the third corrected the second. "She's missing. Probably in heaps of trouble. Heh heh heh!"

"That Gathering's bad news, after all," said the first. "You said so yourself."

The man continued to ignore the flying rags.

"But you don't know HOW BAD they really are. They're really bad. Really, really, REALLY bad."

"Oh, they can't be that bad. Not YET! Anyway."

"Yes. They haven't done anything yet. But soon. They got plans. Bad plans. DEATHLY bad plans."

The man's muscles stiffened, but he quickly recovered and kept up his march. But he was not quick enough, and the rags noticed.

One flew up to his face.

"Interested?" it asked mockingly. "You're interested, aren't you? You must be dying to know what it is the Gathering's up to. I could tell you for a little something-something."

Finally, the man could pretend no longer, and he growled to the flying rag, "Get out of my face or get salt in yours."

The instant he pulled out his saltshaker, the rags bolted. They flew back deeper into the alley, but not before firing one last shot at the man.

"Fine! Be that way! But don't say I didn't warn you! Whatever's going to happen to that kid will be on your shoulders! And I guarantee: It. Will. Be. NASTY!" 

The man scoffed as the pests disappeared along with fading cackles. "Pfft! Whatever. Not like I'll ever see him again."

With that vocal self-affirmation of belief, he emerged from the alley using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, stepping into a sunny street full of bright boutiques and fanciful cafes, and to a future that would betray his expectations.

<== Chapter 3.                                                        Chapter 5 ==>

Special Eyes Chapter 3

"And that's everything," Jackie said, concluding his long-winded tale. There were, of course, things he omitted, mainly instances of Alice's usual odd behaviors.

He rolled his eyes to the police officer standing at his right. The plainclothes detective snapped his notebook shut having just finished jotting down notes. Meanwhile, the older cop kept his piercing gaze on the boy.

"That was on Friday, right?" the older officer said. "You never got in touch with her at all over the weekend?"

Jackie shook his head in deep regret. "I work part-time at the grocery store five minutes from here. Weekends, I'm there all day."

He should've realized something was wrong late Saturday night when he got a text message from Granny Tsing asking if he knew what Alice had been up to. But such text messages were not new to him, and he didn't think anything had happened to her. He DEFINITELY should have realized something was wrong when Alice didn't show up to school yesterday.

I want to kick myself for being such an idiot! He thought to himself.

Jackie was snapped out of his self-hate by the younger police officer who inquired, "Mind giving us the name and address of the place?" He quickly added, "Just for reference."

The older officer had his own request. "We're also going to need to borrow that flyer you got from . . . Taylor, I think her name was?"

Jackie didn't mind at all and was happy to give the officers whatever they needed, if it helped them find Alice faster. Even the flyer he got from Taylor.

But then Jackie realized something that got him frowning. Based on when Granny Tsing texted him, something had to have happened to Alice on Saturday. Today was Tuesday. Why'd it take the police so long to do something? Jackie was certain Granny Tsing must have kicked up a fuss with them the instant Alice missed curfew.

I guess not even the infamous Granny Tsing can get the police moving fast enough, he thought rather bitterly.

"Something wrong?" asked the old officer. 

To which, Jackie gave a quick, "No."

After all the grownups left, Jackie locked the door to his room and then dropped back down onto his bed. He stared at the white ceiling for a while before rolling to his side to reach for his bedside table. After digging in the drawer a bit, he pulled out a sheet of paper. It was another flyer for the Gathering. Little did the police and his stepdad knew, he had actually gotten THREE flyers from Taylor, thinking he should have spares just in case. And he was glad he did.

Although the police promised before they left that they would do everything in their power to find Alice and bring her home, along with all the other people who've gone missing, Jackie could not just sit around and do nothing. He had to take action himself. He had to find Alice himself.

"And I know just where to start."

**********

School the next day was . . . normal. Which was surreal for Jackie after learning just last night that his friend since childhood had gone missing and was possibly kidnapped. To be honest, it even made him a little mad how happy-go-lucky everyone was being when one of their own fellow students could be in dangerous trouble. But knowing that lashing out at them would not help anyone, especially not Alice, Jackie swallowed his anger and forced himself to spend the day like any other.

It was hard for him, though. Not only did worry for Alice's safety distract him from his schoolwork, but he also had to deal with a lack of sleep, having not slept a wink last night while trying (fruitlessly) to solve the puzzle of the Gathering's flyer. It didn't help that the girls from last week were being especially cruel today and constantly taunted him about Alice, using harsh language and stinging insults. Luckily, though, there was a teacher nearby who was also fed up with their behavior and called them to the faculty room. Jackie and everyone else were spared the clique's remorseless bullying for the rest of the day.

As mentioned earlier, Jackie's efforts to try and solve the puzzle of the flyer were fruitless. He looked over the flyer over and over, from top to bottom, backwards and forwards, side to side, and from bottom to top. There was nothing to be found that seemed to hint at the answer, except for maybe how much space there was between text beckoning its readers to join the Gathering and the big white box that overtook the bottom right corner.

Figuring maybe the answer was hidden in special invisible ink, Jackie tried first to hold the paper up against his lamp light, then borrowed his stepdad's forensic black light. Neither worked to change the flyer, so he snatched a book of matches from the kitchen, lit one and held the flame beneath the back of the paper. The result: nearly burning the apartment down.

Luckily, Jackie's room was where the fire extinguisher was kept. After dropping the flyer-turned-inferno into his tin waste basket, he grabbed the extinguisher off its stand and gave the blaze a few spurts of white, misty foam. The fire was gone after, but so was the flyer. He only had one left.

By the way, to make sure Arnold (his stepdad) did not find out about the fire, Jackie threw open his window to fan out the smoke and masked the scent with can after can of Lysol. As an extra precaution, he also went a step further and made himself a late-night snack of grilled cheese sandwich.

Unable to solve the flyers puzzle, Jackie decided to steel himself for Plan B, the age-old technique of detectives everywhere: asking questions. 

So, as soon as school was over, Jackie quickly hurried out and followed the same route he and Alice had taken countless times before all the way to that gray sidewalk beside that black paved road from before. Just as he had hoped, Taylor was there passing out flyers for the Gathering. Or at least trying. 

Judging by the huge stack of papers hugged in her arm, she was seeing little to no success. Those who did accept a flyer, merely took a quick glance before tossing it into the trash can the second they had a chance.

While hiding in an alleyway, back pressed against the gritty wall, Jackie took some deep breaths.

"Okay, Jackie," he said to himself. "You can do this. You've seen enough detective shows to know the best way to get answers is not to get overly emotional. The best way is to play it cool. Yeah, cool. Like Batman."

Side note: Batman is not known for playing it cool.

Jackie took a few more deep breaths, straightened up and smoothed creases off his red, checkered, button-down shirt. After clearing his throat a couple of times, he stepped out from the narrow alley and marched over to Taylor. 

He didn't know it, but he attracted a lot of funny looks because of the way he swaggered down the sidewalk. Taylor was quick to notice his approach and really wished she hadn't.

They made eye contact and Jackie flashed a big smile.

"Hey, Taylor," he said in a light, almost high-pitched way.

Taylor smiled back, but more awkwardly and reluctantly said, "Hey, Jackie. What's up?"

Okay, Jackie, Jackie thought. Be cool. Be cool.

"Nothing much," he said. "Sorry I couldn't make it to the meeting last Saturday. That puzzle's tougher than I thought. But I'm sure you and Alice must've had a blast hanging out together."

Taylor frowned. "Alice? I don't think I ever saw her at the Gathering."

"Really?" Jackie felt his pulse accelerate. "Because she told me she solved the puzzle."

Taylor looked at him doubtfully. "She did?"

Calm yourself, my beating heart, Jackie silently thought. Remember, be cool. Be. Cool.

He nodded to Taylor's question and answered, "Yeah. She wouldn't wait for me to solve the puzzle myself and went on her own. Can you believe that?"

Jackie meant to pretend, but his feeling of dismay was genuine which helped Taylor to relax her guard.

She flashed Jackie a sympathetic smile and replied, "No, I can't."

"But I'll catch up with her yet. But, uh . . . I think I'm going to need a little help."

Taylor's frown returned and she asked, "What kind of help?"

Jackie glanced right and then left before whispering to Taylor, "Think I can get just a little hint about the puzzle."

Taylor chuckled. "Sorry, but no can do. You gotta solve the puzzle on your own."

"Aw, please?" Jackie implored with puppy dog eyes. But it was not enough to sway the Gathering member.

"Sorry, Jackie. But rules are rules."

"What if I give a little something in return? Like say . . . " 

Jackie reached into his backpack and pulled out a ziploc bag. In it was - 

" . . . a grilled cheese sandwich?"

Yes, Jackie was trying to bribe Taylor with a grilled cheese sandwich.

But like a pro actress, Taylor tapped her chin thoughtfully while humming. "Hmm . . . Tempting, but still no."

"You sure?" Jackie shook the bag a little. "It's cheesilicious."

"I'm sure," Taylor said with a laugh.

"How about I sweeten the deal further with some bacon?" Jackie pulled out another ziploc bag, this one filled with bacon. "It's baconlicious."

"Okay, now you're just being repetitive."

"How am I being repetitive?" Jackie asked. "This is bacon. The last thing was grilled cheese. They're totally different things." 

"Different prop, same lame joke."

Jackie was genuinely hurt. He really thought he was being clever and witty, not lame.

Taylor seized her chance to excuse herself. "Anyway, I gotta get back to work. These flyers aren't going to go away on their . . . own."

She trailed off as she looked past Jackie. Puzzled, Jackie turned around to see a man a few feet away, swatting at something with his hand while wearing an irritable look on his face. The man appeared to be in his early to mid-forties, short with dark hair and dressed in an ill-fitting brown suit. 

At a glance, he appeared to be shooing away a bug, which was nothing unusual. But Jackie could not help but stare. The man noticed and made one final swish movement with hand before smoothing out his jacket. He took a quick glance at Jackie and then resumed walking. Taylor didn't waste a moment to call out to him.

"Excuse me sir!" She ran up to the man and held up a flyer. "Would you be interested in joining our Gathering?"

Jackie watched as the man looked the flyer over, giving it a good, long stare. Much longer, Jackie thought, than it would normally take to read just one line of text.

"Hey!"

A shout behind made Jackie jump. He spun around to see a tall young man glaring down at him. The young man had the same kind of t-shirt and lanyard badge as Taylor, but his look was far from friendly.

In a sharp, menacing tone, he asked, "You got business here?"

Sensing that he's overstayed his welcome, Jackie shook his head and quickly scurried off. But not before giving the man and Taylor one final look.

When that man looked like he was trying to swat away bugs, Jackie noted that there were no bugs around him.

That's just like Alice, Jackie thought, back when we were kids.

<== Chapter 2.                                                                  Chapter 4 ==>

Special Eyes Chapter 2

It was a morning like any other. After waking up, getting dressed and grabbing some morning grub, Jackie headed out of the apartment and to the bus stop where he hitched ride. He played an RPG game on his phone to pass the time. Occupied with a quest, he nearly missed his stop but luckily looked up just in time to see a familiar set of buildings fly into view from his window: the compound known as high school.

Jackie quickly yanked on the cord to signal the bus driver and went tumbling out the back exit with other youths his age when the vehicle came to a stop. Phone in hand, for the quest was still ongoing, he stopped at the beginning of the concrete carpet rolled out over a field of grass towards the building that was both the school's entryway and its heart. 

His eyes swept over the crowd of high schoolers, some groggy, some lively, some having fun chats with their friends while others had their gazes glued to their phones, until he spotted one figure in her lonesome, his childhood friend Alice. There was always a wide berth of space between her and the rest of their peers, so she was always easy to spot.

Like Jackie, Alice had also grown greatly taller since they met as children. By Jackie's reckoning, she must be a few centimeters more in height than he was. Her dull black hair had been cut to a short bob, and she had gotten into the habit of wearing huge, black earphones blasting music into her ears as she walked.

His destination set, Jackie ran full speed ahead. "Alice! Hey, Alice!"

He had to yell loudly for Alice to hear. After a few more tries, he got his friend's attention. She pulled down one half of the earphones and turned her ghostly pale face around. Jackie couldn't help but notice the bags under her eyes and frowned with worry.

"Still have trouble sleeping?"

Alice shook her head.

"I'm fine," she muttered. 

But she did not look nor sounded "fine" to Jackie. And he had sinking suspicions as to why.

When whispers caught his ear, he turned to see a trio of girls looking his and Alice's way. Particularly Alice's.

Jackie threw the clique a scathing glare, but they just tossed back looks of contempt before moving on laughing. Unfortunately, incidents like that were also routine, much to Jackie's dismay. Luckily though, it never got worse than that. At least as far as he knew.

To try take his friend's mind off her troubles, he abruptly brought up news about a game that she had also taken a liking to. The move worked and the duo quickly dove into an in-depth discussion about the game's upcoming releases, from strategies for the event to comments about the story that they already had knowledge about. They continued to share their ideas and plans all the way to the classroom, until the bell rang signaling the start of the school day.

Throughout the day, Jackie heard snippets of talk from his fellow high schoolers about the serial kidnapping case that's got the whole city abuzz. That famous, ongoing case with numerous teenagers and young adults disappearing the past couple of weeks. Jackie's own stepdad was on the case but hadn't had any luck on it. Or so Jackie rightfully guessed from the sour look on the police officer's face when he came home every day.

His peers couldn't help but share rumors and conspiracy theories like how aliens must have abducted the missing people or how they might have been whisked away to a magical land. Those were the more benign rumors. There were more tasteless ones that . . . Let's just say belonged in a horror movie. The most mean-spirited, however, was heard at the end of the day as Jackie and Alice walked out of the school.

"Maybe invisible monsters got them," said one girl, purposefully loud.

"They say they go after kids with SPECIAL eyes that can see them," said another, intended to be heard.

"Now where have I heard of someone like that before?" the third wondered aloud. She tapped her chin thoughtfully before casting her gaze over at Alice. "Oh! I guess I know who's going to be kidnapped next."

It was the same clique from the morning.

Jackie made a mental note to complain to a teacher, though deep down he knew it would help very little to make those mean girls change their ways. He gave his friend a glance. But she already had her earphones on, listening to a guitar riff with the volume turned so high up, that Jackie could clearly tell what song was playing. It made him worry about the future of her eardrums. 

As usual, Jackie and Alice took a leisurely stroll through the city streets, taking routes that rarely see anyone else from their school. This was by design to get away from riffraff like that clique. They were headed to Chinatown where Alice's great-aunt owned a building and lived, where Alice also called home.

As they walked a snail's pace down a gray sidewalk alongside a black paved road with cars roaring (and sometimes honking) by, they ran into a girl around their age who was passing out flyers with a few other folks. She spotted the duo and quickly walked up to them to hand them one.

"Come check out our gathering," she said to them. She was pretty short, standing no taller than Alice's shoulder height, with wavy strawberry blonde hair tied behind in a single ponytail.

Alice gave the flyer a look and reluctantly accepted it.

Overwhelmed with curiosity, Jackie took a look over her shoulder. The 8-by-11 piece of paper in her hand was completely black with big, bold words typed in font that made the letters resemble lightning bolts, which read: "Come to the Gathering, where destiny awaits". Almost an eighth of the flyer was overtaken by a white, blank box.

"Cool," he said. "What's it called?"

"The Gathering," the girl replied back. She lifted up her plastic badge card which showed her name, "Taylor", and the words, "The Gathering" in the same font as the words on the flyer.

"So you named a gathering, 'The Gathering'?"

"Yes," Taylor said. Her smile turned into a concerned frown. 

But whatever had her worried proved to be nothing when Jackie flashed two thumbs up over his chest, bobbed his head up and down, and said, "Smart!"

Alice rolled her eyes before taking a look a further look at the flyer. Surprise visibly rolled over her face, and she moved back up the flyer to read it again all the way down to the white square.

"Say, where and when is this Gathering supposed to take place?" Jackie asked. "I don't see that anywhere."

He moved from Alice's right shoulder to her left and then lifted himself up by his tiptoes before lowering down with bent knees. But no matter what angle he looked at the flyer, he could not see anything remotely close to answering his question.

"Sorry," Taylor said with a friendly laugh. "But not just anyone can get into the Gathering. Anyone interested has to pass a test first."

"And I'm guessing the flyer's the test?"

Taylor gave Jackie an affirming nod. "Right you are. The flyer comes with a puzzle. Can't solve the puzzle, can't get in the Gathering."

Jackie helped himself to his own flyer copy from Taylor's stack with a smug, "Challenge accepted."

"Well, good luck trying to solve it," Taylor said. "We're always looking for new members. Our leader really takes to heart the phrase, 'the more the merrier'."

"I will be there," Jackie promised. "Bet on it."

Taylor responded with a promise of her own. "I'll keep a seat saved for you."

She gave Alice a particularly meaningful look and added, "I'll save one for you too."

After bidding Taylor farewell, Jackie and Alice continued on their way. From the lively, shiny business centers of downtown, their feet carried them to a road of much duller and smaller buildings. Up ahead, they were greeted by a huge, red archway which served as the entryway into Chinatown. 

As soon as they passed beneath the black placard that proudly displayed the golden calligraphy of the Far East nation their ancestors came from, the duo immediately veered left to the white building outlined with red. The building was purposely designed to give off a traditional feel and much like the rest of the district, stood as a proud display and reminder of heritage. Doors were left open to reveal ground floor space flooded with red and gold trinkets and knickknacks, some of them leftovers from the previous Lunar New Year celebrations.

"Hey, Daisy!" Jackie called out. 

The woman in the black t-shirt, sitting behind the cash register looked up from her smartphone which had a colored comic on display and gave Jackie a wave back. "Hey!"

Daisy had run the knickknacks store for quite a long time. With how frequently Alice and Jackie passed by her store every day since they were kids, the three naturally got to know each other really well. It was also natural for Daisy to know about Alice's oddness. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy watched Alice abruptly stop and stumble backward as if she had bumped into something. The young girl took a look ahead of her and then walked in a semi-circle as if walking around something. The whole time, there was nothing in front of her to obstruct her way.

Alice took no notice of the shopkeeper, completely engrossed with the sheet paper in her hand as she walked out of view. However, Daisy quickly looked away when Jackie gave her a glance.

After a few seconds, she risked a peek and spotted Jackie frowning at that empty space Alice had walked around. He opened his mouth as if to scold it but then thought better and mirrored his friend instead, as if playing a game of Follow the Leader.

Once they were gone, a little girl popped her head out from the back room.

"Was that Jackie and Ally?" she asked. Alice's name was still too hard for the child to pronounce, so she's been calling her Ally instead. 

Daisy answered her daughter's question with a nod.

"I'm gonna go play with them!"

"No, you don't," Daisy said harshly. "They have homework. You'll disturb them. Besides, I don't want you catching any of their weird habits."

Jackie wasn't that far from the store entrance and could hear everything. He turned his attention to Alice, but her eyes were still glued to the Gathering flyer in her hand while blindly digging for her keys in her backpack. With her headphones clamped over her ears, there was no way she could have heard all that, could she?

Alice took quite a while to find her keys, so Jackie decided to give her a tap on the shoulder.

She jumped with a start and pulled her headphones off. "What?"

"You okay?" Jackie asked out of concern. 

"Yes! Everything's fine!" 

She answered a little too quickly for Jackie's liking, but he let it go and watched in silence as Alice unlocked the red gate to stairs that led to the building's upper floors. Whatever was bothering her, he was certain she will let him know when she was ready. Their day together ended there.

Jackie bid Alice good-bye with a promise to meet again at school before leaving for home, not knowing the promise would go unfulfilled.

<== Chapter 1                                                     Chapter 3 ==>