The Id Saga (part 2)

The Strange Tale of Nickolas Daniels

1
“Hey!” I ignore the familiar voice that I’m sure is aimed directly at me. My nose presses deep into a book that shields me from the constant barrage of negative vibes. “Hey, you!” I try to block out the noise but the voice is painfully clear and leaves a nasty ringing in my ears. “I said ‘Hey, you’! What’s wrong; are you deaf?” A long, heavy sigh escapes my clinched teeth.
“What?” The word hisses with steam and venom as it escapes my mouth. My face still blocked by my wordy armor.
“Look at me. I want to ask you something.” I can already feel the snickering of my harasser and his cohorts. I know what will happen if I let down my shield. I know what will happen if I don’t. Decisions, decisions.
“Hey, look at me. I won’t do anything I promise.” Ha! I promise; hollow words from a hollow shell. I slowly lower my defenses and look at the group of hyenas and, as expected, am hit in the face by a waded up piece of paper. Laughter ensues. A twisted, annoyed smirk arises upon my face.
“Very clever. I’m sure you’re parents would be proud.” As soon as the words leave I immediately regret saying them. My eyes were testament as they rise in shock of my own tongue. This would end badly.
“What did you say, you freak.” The large man-child rises from his chair and approaches like a wild bull. The desks and chairs that obscure his path are tossed aside with the strength that only accompanies rage. “What did you say about my parents?” I try desperately to exit my desk and run, but the struggle went poorly. I could not escape my impending doom. Once again I will have to explain to my parents that I had “fallen” on the way to school or that I “tripped” during gym. I’m so tired of this was that last thought I had before the brutish fist struck my eye. “Don’t you ever talk about my family!” echoed between the broken shards of laughter.

2
“Jesus, Nick, are you ok?” My friend, David, walks home with me. The look of pity etched on his face makes me nauseous. “Why didn’t you fight back?”
“Oh, yeah, I should have just taken him out with a flying drop kick. Fight back? are you out of your mind. I tried that once, and believe me it’s better just to let them have there kicks. Anyway, it’s not that bad.”
“Half of your face is blue. Man, I wish I was there I would have…”
“Would have what? You would have done one of two things, get your ass handed to you or stayed quiet like my other so called ‘friends’.” The truth is shown in David’s eyes, he would have done nothing. “I’ll talk to you later.” I take a turn down an alley, a shortcut, through dark, damp labyrinthine passages that would leave anyone else lost. It took me years to master these alleys; a defense mechanism. I knew that in here, I was safe. As I walk with my face hanging low in melancholy I get the strange sensation that I was lost. “Where am I? I don’t remember this place.” The light grows dim as if something is scaring it away. The peaceful sound of water dripping from the gutters and fire escapes disappear. A feeling of vertigo sets in as a strange voice bursts forth from the shadows.
“Hello, Mr. Daniels.” A man in black steps forth from the darkness. Most of his pale face was hidden behind the shadow of his black fedora, all but the twisted grinning mouth that somehow looked inhuman.
“Who…Who are y…you?” I could barely make the sounds necessary to communicate.
“Well, Mr. Daniels, who I am and why I am here are mutually exclusive and I’m only in the mood to answer one of these today.”
“Why you’re here?”
“Ahh, excellent choice. I’m here to help with your little problem at school.” The long, talon-like fingers of the man’s hands clasp together.
“I…don’t have a problem.”
“Oh, of course not, Mr. Daniels, of course not, but tell me do all children come in that shade of blue?” The grin widens infused with the pleasure of causing me pain. My eyes begin to blur. Tears? Am I crying?
“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” As I open my eyes after screaming at the strange man in black I notice that I’m standing in front of my house. “What? How did I get here? What just happened?” The feeling of vertigo was gone. The strange man was gone. I don’t tell anyone what happened. Not David. Not my parents. I quickly make my way to my room, yelling as I climb the stairs that I don’t feel well. I make it to my room without running into anyone. “Thank God” I whisper to myself, happy that I can postpone the conversation about the black eye till morning. I lie down and sleep a deep dreamless sleep.

3

“Have a good day at school, sweety, and please, don’t get into any more trouble.”
“I will, Mom. Bye.” I wave her good-bye as she drives off in her blue mini-van. I don’t know why she bought that thing. I guess so that she can fell like some sort of pseudo-soccer mom. I make my way to school and meet up with David along the way. “Hey, Dave.”
“Morning. Looks like the swelling has gone down. Does it still hurt?”
“Nah, not really. I just hope I can avoid Greg and his posse today. I’m not in the mood for another beating.” Greg, if you haven’t guessed, is the Neanderthal that hit me.
“Ha! As opposed to any other day when you are in the mood? I swear, Nick, you crack me up.”
“I try.” My words are as insincere as David’s notions of chivalry that he spoke of the other day. I look at his laughing face and wonder if I should tell him about the…meeting…I had with the strange man in black. I wonder if he would even believe me. “Dave?
“Yeah?”
“Do you think I’m crazy? Not, like, weird crazy but crazy crazy.”
“No, why?”
“Nevermind.”
“Now, wait a minute. You can’t just ask me…” His voice trails off to nothing. I look up to see him stopped dead in his tracks, staring in front of him as if he sees a ghost. Lifting my head from it’s normal drooped position I look forward to see what it is that he stares at so intently and there, blocking the way to our destination, is Greg and three of his buddies. There’s Karl, a short, chubby freshman that was sort of the yes man of the group, Steven, a tall, junior, basketball player that has been attached to Greg since middle school, and Andy. Andy was almost as big as Greg but a little shorter and a lot meaner. This is going to end badly.
“Hey, ‘Dick’, come here. I wanna talk to ya.” I turn to David to see his reaction to the situation and as I expected he was terrified. The watery look to his eyes and his rigid stature told me that I could not expect much help from him.
“Dave, get out of here. Don’t look back, just go.” The fear turned to pity, then to shame as he ran on to school leaving me behind. I walk slowly toward the group that had a sinister look about them. “What is it, Greg?”
“From now on I want you to give me your lunch money.”
“What? Why would I do that?”
“Well, lets just call it a tax for being such a dork.” Greg and his buddies all snicker and nod in agreement.
“And what if I refuse?” Greg, with a nonchalant look on his face signals Andy. A swift, unexpected punch connects to the right side of my stomach leaves me breathless. Holding my side and straining to keep standing I raise my head enough to spit in Greg’s face. A defiant smile crawls across my face but it doesn’t last long. Hands and feet strike me from every angle. Pain. Then darkness.

4

“Have a good day at school, sweety, and please, don’t get into any more trouble.”
“What?” I feel strange.
“I said have a good day at school. Are you feeling ok?”
“Yeah. I guess so. Bye, Mom.” I don’t feel ok at all. Didn’t this just happen? I stand there, dumbfounded, as my mom’s blue mini-van drives off just as it did before. Was I dreaming? I have that same feeling of vertigo just like before.
“Good Morning, Mr. Daniels. I do hope you slept well.”
“Geez! You scared the crap out of me. What are you doing here?”
“I know, I know. I’m stepping over some personal boundaries but none-the-less I’ve fixed your little problem. No need to thank me.”
“What? What are you talking about? Who are you?”
“I suppose you can call me Id, since that is my name. I was sent here to help you Mr. Daniels, even if you don’t want me to.” I can see his eyes. Black. Shallow. If the eyes are the window to the soul then this man hadn’t one. His sharp nose gave him a bird like quality as he squatted on the middle pillar of the brick fence in my front yard, oblivious to the laws of physics. This can’t be real.
“Look, Id was it? I don’t know who you are or if you’re even real, but I think I’ll handle my own trouble, thank you very much. Why am I even talking to you, I mean, I must be dream…”
“Hey, Nick, who are you talking to?”
“Huh?” I turn around to see Dave looking at me strangely. “Oh, I’m talking to this weirdo…” I turn back around, pointing to the spot where Id was but now nothing was there but air.
“Oookay, forget I asked. Anyway, did you hear about Greg?” An ominous feeling flooded my stomach. This is going to end badly.
“No, what about Greg?”
“Man, they found him dead last night” My eyes grow wide. My mouth falls open. My face looses all color. For some reason a dreadful guilt encases me in a glass box. I can’t breathe. The sounds muffle and I can’t hear much about what David says next.
“Yeah….found…alley…murdered…blood…” Darkness finds me again.

5
The unpleasant humming of florescent lights fills my head. “Are you finally back with us?” My eyes open to find a young lady in nurse’s scrubs hovering over me. Confusion covers my face as my psyche tries to reconnect itself to my body.
“What happened?”
“You passed out and hit your head. Your friend called 911.” As I become aware of my body once more I notice something cold and metallic on my wrist. Handcuffs?
“Why am I handcuffed?” The nurse shrugs and points out the door. Two men in bad suits are talking to my mom. I can see tears on my mothers face as one of the men scribbles on a small notepad. As the nurse leaves, she tells the two men that I am once again conscience. The man who entered first was the older of the two though shorter than the man behind him. His cliché cop mustache matches his brown off the rack suit.
“Nickolas Daniels?”
“Yes?”
“We’d like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.”
“I’d like to know why I’m handcuffed first?” The younger cop fiddles in his pocket and pulls out a handcuff key.
“Just didn’t want you to go anywhere before we could chat.” The friendly demeanor caught me off guard. “Could you tell me where you were last night?”
“I was in my room.”
“You didn’t go anywhere after you got home?”
“….No.”
“I understand that you had a bit of trouble with a bully.”
“It was no big deal.”
“Is that were you got that black eye?”
“Yes…”
“Was it a Mr. Greg Richardson that gave you that black eye?”
“Yeah…but it was no big deal.”
“Mmhmmm…Well, I think you should know he was found….alley….covered in blood….murdered…”
“Mr. Daniels….” Oh God no. Not now. “Mr. Daniels…” The strange psychotic face of Id appears on the TV screen like the reflection of a bad dream. “Don’t tell them, Mr. Daniels. Don’t tell them about me or things will go badly for you. Just keep your mouth shut.”
“I’m not talking to you, whatever you are. Leave now!”
“Are you ok, Mr. Daniels?” The mustached cop was looking at me with confusion and concern. “We lost you for a second.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t stand it anymore. I’ll tell you what happened…” and I did. I told them everything. I told them about Id and what he said. I should have listened to him. I should have kept my mouth shut. I was arrested that day. It turns out that my fingerprints and hair were found at the crime scene. I was taken to court and found to be criminally insane based on my testimony about Id. Five years pass…They’ve tried to convince me that I was the one that did it. That I was the one that killed Greg. I just don’t know anymore….I just don’t know….