Sidekicks (Original Draft) Chapter 2

Chapter 2
An Explanation

"A while back Damien had a sister," Father Damien said, driving along M-33. Ms. Laws had left her car with the Shriner, Chernobyl. [Note--I've noticed that my characters go to weird lengths to catch rides with each other in my stories--leaving cars behind in odd places all the time. This was BC--before cellphones.] "She was killed but no one was punished. Damien's sure that some Scorpio members killed her. That's what most of the family thinks."

Ms. Laws said nothing.

"What exactly is it that Scorpio wants from you, anyway?" Father Damien asked.

Ms. Laws was staring down. "My baby."

"Your baby?" Father Damien echoed, surprised. "Why would they ever want a baby--especially an unborn one? I have noticed, I hope you know, and congrats."

"Thank you," Ms. Laws replied.

There was a long silence, and finally, when she couldn't stand it anymore, Ms. Laws blurted out, "He's going to be born on Halloween and I got a phonecall saying they wanted to sacrifice him."

Screech! Father Damien accidentally braked. He turned to her and said, "Sacrifice?"

Ms. Laws nodded.

Father Damien sped up again. "This is worse than I thought," he muttered. He finally turned into a driveway and stopped. [Note--he stopped, you see, because he had just turned into a driveway, meaning he no longer had any legs with which to move. Sorry, I had to say it.]

"So, how did Scorpio tell you that your--I mean, how did you find out, again?" he asked, getting out of the car. "I forgot already."

"I got a phonecall."

"How conventional." [Note--out of character for FD.]

"He--the person, said that my baby has to be killed so the devil's son can be reborn."

"Do you know who's in charge of this?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"He's somebody by the name of Luther."

Father Damien put a hand to his head. "Not him again."

"I take it you've heard of him, too?"

"We certainly have. Mr. Luther Broderick. Loony Luther, as the kids call him. He's worse than loony, though. He tried to kill Damien and I, and Lord knows who else--or if he succeeded." [Note--yes, FD was grammatically incorrect right there. That should be, "He tried to kill Damien and me."]

"Kill?"

"Oh, yes. He gave some kind of poison to me, and shot Damien, but luckily we had the three--well, I don't think you'd believe me, so I'll drop it."