To The Last Goodbyes *HF*
By collaborative
Silver stepped out from behind the wheel of his trademark metallic silver Lotus slammed the door shut and locked it behind him, pressing a button on his key chain to activate his car alarm. He turned away from the vehicle, and faced the one place in the world where he had always managed to feel secure. The New York City Museum of Art. As he began walking up the gargantuan marble stairs leading to the front door, he recalled how, over all the past years, this immense old building had always offered him a haven. He had come here to escape Hellfire Club life many times, had come here to mourn the death of his father in solitude, had come here whenever things got too hard on him. He pressed hard against the heavy glass door, and as he entered, the cool, air-conditioned breeze hit him invitingly in the face. He breathed in, and recalled all the times he had been here, from when he was a small boy to times like this, when he was a grown man searching for somewhere to just relax for an hour or two. He made his way through the lobby, ignoring the new employee behind the desk. One added attraction of the Museum had always been seeing Ms. Glynis, Jack Silver’s first ever crush. Years ago, she had been a beautiful young woman working behind the desk at the museum, teaching Jack about art and its wonder on many quiet days. Even though years had passed, she had grown older, had become a Mrs. Johnson and eventually a Widow Johnson, she had never lost her beauty, or Silver’s admiration. He had of course moved on, not struck by a child’s mad crush anymore, but he still felt a tingle in his heart whenever around her. It was about an hour until her shift, so he decided to view the latest acquisitions by the museum, as well as some old favorites, before he went for his traditional coffee and conversation with Ms. Glynis, or, as she insisted he called her now that he was a grown man, ‘Jill’. He quietly ambled through the old, glistening building, admiring, appreciating, or just plain hating. He came across one painting by a new, unknown artist, which he was astounded with. He wrote down the name on a slip of spare paper from his pocket, making sure to contact the artist later on to commission him for a few new paintings in the BHC lobby. He continued his tour of the museum, until five past four, five minutes after the time Ms. Glynis’ shift started. He casually walked up to the desk, surprised to see the same face of the girl who had been there when he had first arrived.
"Can I help you?" she asked in her squeakiest, friendliest voice.
"Um, yes. I thought Ms. Glynis would be here. Isn’t this her shift?" he asked in his perpetual polite tone. The young girl’s face turned from one of rehearsed, helpful politeness to one of condoling sorrow.
"You, um...haven’t heard, have you?"
"Haven’t heard what?" Silver asked, his heart suddenly jumping a step.
"Ms. Glynis died about three weeks ago. She was in town when some super human fight happened. She got so frightened she had a heart attack and died on the way to the hospital." Silver’s mind reeled. She was dead? It couldn’t be possible. He lost balance on his feet for a second, giving the girl behind the desk a scare as he began to tumble, just before he managed to re-gain himself and save an injury on the hard marble floor.
"Where...where was she buried?"
It seemed like a long drive out to the cemetery for Silver. The whole world felt like it was in slow motion as he gazed out the car window. His memories flooded him as his heart broke. He may never had had anything more than a platonic relationship with Ms. Glynis, may have had a crush on her for years, but she had always been close to his heart. He sighed as he came to the cemetery gates, sitting for several minutes behind the wheel of the car, before getting out. He slowly made his way through the thousands of plots, before coming to the most recent of graves. The dirt still lay atop the ground at her site, the marble tombstone perfect marble. Beside her, her husband’s old, weathered grave matched, the grass having grown over his share of dirt. Silver stood motionless of quite sometime, simply repeating her epitaph over and over in his head, his dry throat constantly trying to swallow. Finally, he stopped, and uttered
"Ms. Glynis...I wish..I wish..." a tear rolled down his cheek, as he lowered him self, face to "face" with the tombstone
"I’m so sorry. Good...goodbye." He finished, before he stood, and began quietly moving away. He walked through the cemetery gates, and back to his car. It was as while he buckled up that he remembered.
"She was in town when some super human fight happened."
"About three weeks ago."
"Three weeks ago."
Three weeks ago, he and some other BHC members had been battling the villain Mesmero in town. Silver had been cursing himself for fighting in public the whole time, for maybe jeopardizing the security of the club. He had, as always, been worried for the safety of by-standers, but he never believed that this would happen. Ms. Glynis was dead. He hung his head, pounded the steering wheel and sobbed dry tears. She was dead....and it was his entire fault. He would remain in the car for hours, too guilt-ridden to leave while he repeated the epitaph over and over again
‘We mourn this day, as a beautiful angel has been plucked from us by Heaven above.’
PART TWO
The Black King's mind was in a fog as he guided his European sports car back to the headquarters of
Apothogen, his pharmaceuticals company.
"...died during a battle between super powered beings..."
The words kept ringing in his ears. He was partly to blame for the death of the woman that had given him so much. Tears threatened to escape from his already blood shot eyes as he entered the lobby to the gleaming metal and glass skyscraper that served as the main branch of his company. He vowed at that moment never to utilize his mutant abilities again. It was simply too dangerous.
The doorman greeted Jack with his always-cordial smile, but Silver only returned it half heartily. He continued to the elevator and pressed the button that would take him to his office on the top floor of the building. The trip upward was interrupted by the chime of the door alarm, signaling someone else would be joining him on his trip up. The Black King looked up as the doors slid open and a small girl of about five years old entered unaccompanied by an adult. Silver looked at her strangely feeling he had seen her before. She looked up at him with eyes almost as bloodshot as his own, and suddenly burst into loud sobs.
"I want my mommy!" the girl wailed, and at first Silver remained motionless.
When the girl ran to him and gripped his legs, he finally bowed to pick her up.
"I'm sure we can find her, little one. Please don't cry," he comforted.
"No you can't," the little girl spat with more venom than Silver thought capable of a child. "She's gone and she's never coming back.....Daddy said so."
Silver simply held the girl stroking her hair and not knowing what to say to this response. When the door
opened again it was to the penthouse suite of rooms that served as his office. Still carrying the little girl, he
entered. His assistant, Mandy Stevens, looked puzzled as she stood from behind her desk.
"Ms. Stevens," Silver stated. "Inform building security that we have a lost child in the building."
When Silver tried to pry the girl from his arms and give her to Ms. Stevens, the child held on tightly and began crying again with renewed energy.
"Try to get her name, sir," Mandy said. "I'll contact security."
Silver carried the girl into his office and sat with her in one of the plushly upholstered chairs in his sitting room. He rocked back and forth by instinct attempting to calm the child. Eventually her sobbing ceased but she refused to give her name and only gripped his neck tighter when he questioned her.
Silver reached onto the shelf behind him and picked up an elegantly carved platinum soldier figurine. He could feel each etch in the ornament as his mutant power analyzed it automatically. He held it out to the girl who seemed to be captivated by the shine. She carefully touched it's smooth surface and slowly but surely her sobbing ceased. The child's breathing grew deeper and more regulated and Silver realized that the girl had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He laid her gently onto the chair and was about to head back to his outer offices when the door sprang open.
A man of about Silver's age came rushing in. His disheveled clothes were well tailored and he wore a white lab coat, but the look on his face was one of panic and fear. Then suddenly his eyes caught sight of the sleeping child and he almost fell to the floor with a sigh of relief.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Silver," the man said. "My name is Simon Jenkins. That's my daughter. She ran away from the day care on the 29th floor. She's been so upset lately......I was so scared....Thank you so much. I'm sorry we troubled you."
When the man reached for the girl, Silver stopped him.
"Why is the child so upset," he asked, "Where is her mother? She said that she was gone and wasn't coming
back."
The man swallowed hard.
"Her mother.....my wife.....died three weeks ago." he explained. " We were almost killed as well. It happened downtown. There was some sort of battle with a mutant villain by the name of Mesmero. Police told us later that one of his mind-controlled minions weakened the supports of a parking garage where we were parking our car. When the ceiling started coming down I thought we were all dead. Then somehow one of the people trying to save us from Mesmero's men pushed a steel beam that was part of the parking garage and twisted it towards us shielding my daughter and I from the fall out. It was too late for my wife. She was caught in the rubble."
Silver suddenly realized where he recognized the child from. She had been there during the battle with Mesmero. He had caused the support beam to twist in order to protect the people under the falling debris. It was his fault that the woman was dead! If only he had reacted faster.
"Mr. Jenkins, do you work in the building?" Silver asked.
"Yes, sir" the man replied. "I work in the applied pathogenics lab."
"Go ahead and go home, Mr. Jenkins," Silver said sadly. "Take your daughter home. Take the rest of the day off........oh and Mr. Jenkins?"
"Yes, Mr. Silver." he replied.
"Tell her that her mother is with the angels now......and ask her to forgive the people that couldn't save her
Mommy."
Suddenly a voice chimed from across the room.
"I know she's with the angels, Mister." the little girl said. "but what's she look like now.......does she still look like she did at the funeral....all pale and sad.....Is it because she misses us?"
A tear rolled down Silver's cheek and without thinking he gripped the platinum figurine he still held in his hand. It twisted and morphed in his hand and when he held it back out toward the girl. Where once a soldier had stood proudly, now there was a beautiful angel with flowing hair and powerful wings thrown out in flight. He handed the figurine to the child and she came toward him.
"This is how your mommy looks now, sweetie," he said softly. "See how happy she is. She'll always be there. Her job is protecting and watching over people like you now. Now take this to remember her by."
The little girl gripped Silver's hand with her tiny palm.
"You keep it mister," the little girl said as she hugged the Black King. "That way you have an angel to save you like the one that saved me and daddy when the building was coming down."
Silver hugged the little girl and she hugged him back. Then Mr. Jenkins took his daughter by the hand and
began to walk out. At the door, the little girl turned.
"By the way, mister," she said. "My names Glynis."
Silver swallowed hard and couldn't speak, and then the door closed behind the reunited family. He heard the man say something and a light tinkle of laughter from the girl followed.
Hours later, Silver once again stood next to the grave of his former friend from the museum. In his hand he held the angel figurine....only now it was slightly different....carved expertly into the platinum along the bottom was a single word.....GLYNIS. Silver placed the figure on the marble headstone and concentrated his power once again. The platinum bonded with the stone and was sealed weather tight. The Black King stood...walking away from the grave and mumbled under his breath.
"Thank you Ms. Glynis....wherever you are."
Mystikal
Grey Pawn
Official XMBB Scribe
"I hate redundacy and reptition"
"I try to hide my intellectual inadequencies with a bad attitude and big words like intellectual inadequencies."
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