THE LEGION OF NIGHT, CHAPTER 23

                                                         WHEELING
      I REALLY  need to learn how to control my temper....
Well, they're both dead, and I can't un-do that. Besides, they deserved it, the way they both treated Serina, the beatings, the emotional abuse, the....I need to get my mind off of that, before I go completely ballistic.

     The poor girl was never healthy to begin with, fetal alcohol syndrome we figured at the Agency, what with Sherry and Richie's histories; at fidteen, she looks about twelve, twitchy, and nervous, not to mention diabetic. Her so-called stepfather couldn't keep his hands off her, in more ways than one, and Sherry swore the girl was lying, trying to get back at her for her real father leaving. The mother won custody, her lawyer citing the biological father's criminal record, i.e. one count of possession for sale marijuana back in 1978, Rob never even served time....I still wonder what really happened there.

     I TRIED....interviews, investigations, finally, a hearing that I was sure would place Serina with her dad's family, and put those trolls behind bars.

     Imagine my suprise, when the Agency withdrew its complaint, and the judge returned Serina to her home.

     I was in my apartment, consoling myself, wishing I could comfort her, when I heard her scream, in my mind-I Changed, and flew to her window. That ....animal was in her room, naked, tearing at her clothes, slapping her, cursing her for "gettin' them in trouble."

     The rest was a blur....the next thing I knew, Richie and Sherry were broken, bloody things strewn on the floor, and Serina was curled up jn the corner of her bed, staring at me. 

     "Serina, honey, it's me, it's Lisa", I said to her, as I Changed back; my appearance as Bloodrose can be frightening.

     She became very still, and I thought she was going to scream, or dash out of the room. Instead, she looked at me, and said, "You came....you said you'd protect me, and you came!"

     This wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but as I said, I couldn't un-do it. 

     "Lisa...." "Yes, Serina?" "Can you show me how to do that?"
Well, she's a bit young, but the rules don't mention an age limit....besides, what better way to insure no one hurts her again?

THE LEGION OF NIGHT, CHAPTER 3

     When I got to Bill and Bud's, the lunch crowd had taken over. I asked the girl at the register for Lieutenant Davis, and she pointed to the rear; Tony was holding down a booth., seated next to a young man who had "banger" written all over him. He scooted away from me as I sat down.

     "Easy, Jerry....this is the guy I was telling you about," Tony said to the boy, "Jerry....helps me out, from time to time",  which probably meant that Jerry was an informant. "Jerry's with the Tenth Avenue Kings; you remember them, Wish?" I sure did, considering one of their lieutenants came close to putting an extra hole in my head-one more reason to move to Cleveland. They'd been a major force on the drug scene since the Eighties, task forces or not.

     We ordered, and tied into our lunches. After a while, Tony spoke. "Jerry called me last night, scared," he said, nudging the young man, "Tell Wish what you told me."

     Jerry said, "Last night, I was headed up Phillips, goin' past Jenny's Place, when this weird lookin' dude comes walkin' towards me, dressed all in black, with no tan to speak of, lookin' all pale and creepy. I was gonna walk around him, when he steps right in front of me, and calls me by name.
 
     'Jerry Micelli', dude says, 'tell your friends the Kings that they have twenty-four hours to stop selling drugs and terrorizing decent citizens, or face the wrath of the Legion of Night' This kinda pisses me off, so I go to shove the creep back, but it's like shovin' a wall.

     "Dude grabs me by the arm, and I can feel the heat of his touch through my shirtsleeve. I couldn't jerk away from him, and punchin' on him did no good, either. He lets go of me, and says, 'Tell them!' real loud, then....he just disappears, like smoke. I took off, before he changed his mind, and came back, or somethin'."

     I'm not sure what to make of this; it isn't Tony's style, to joke about something like this, but....
Then, I look at Tony, and Jerry....they're not joking.

     Like he's reading my mind, Tony says, "Jerry....show Wish your arm." Jerry rolls up the right sleeve of his t-shirt, and there, seared an angry red into the flesh, is a handprint, like a brand. An icy finger starts to trace the nape of my neck, like when I'd have to go after a skel in an abandoned building at night.

     To Jerry, I says, "what are the Kings planning to do?" "Nuthin'", he says, "they think they can handle these guys, but they can do it without me-I'm gonna go see my cousins in Florida , tonight."

     "You do that," Tony tells him, "and keep outta the mess down there; they're all over."
Jerry leaves, and Tony and I get to talking about the general opinion on this. The rank-and-file don't know exactly what to make of it, and the brass are, as usual, taking a "wait and see" attitude, which makes sense-the next move belongs to the Legion.

THE LEGION OF NIGHT, CHAPTER 22

     My stereo is playing "I think You Know", off the TODD album, Dougie is curled up in his spot on the couch, and I'm just relaxing, thanking God for music, and quiet times. So much has happened in the past few months, some of which I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

     I pop out to the kitchen, and dish up a bowl of Chocolate Marshmallow ice cream-Alsace Dairy is one of the few places that still makes it, and it tastes the same as it did when I was having some along with "Ghoulardi" when I was eight.

     I don't live in the past, although I'm a sucker for the "things were simpler" school of thought at times. Being a grown person is hard, especially when there's so much behind you. I don't believe that dead folks come back as ghosts, but they WILL haunt you, in their own way. The song, "A Dream Goes On Forever", makes me think of my mother, and how cool it was that she not only liked it, she GOT it. Ma's presence is here with me, along with  Mack D, who turned me onto Todd so long ago.

     I wonder what they'd think of all this....the Legion, Susan- they both adored Linda; in fact, I met her at one of Mack's gigs , when we were still in high school-and just everything in the last twenty-some years....Mack's been gone twenty-five years, Ma  twenty-two.

     Dougie's caught a whiff of my ice cream, and he's intrigued....he won't eat it because it's so  cold, but we have to go through this each time. "Here", I say, holding the bowl out to him. He sniffs it, touches his nose to it, recoils as if horrified, glares at me as if I've played a mean trick on him, and stalks into the kitchen, to bury his sorrows in kibble, I guess.

     Cats....still, for the past five years, the old brawler's been a close friend, and I respect his right to be idiosyncratic. I'll pick him up a donut middle from Larry's later on, when I go to get a dozen assorted for me. I finish my ice cream, and carry the bowl out to the sink.

     The orange glow from the steel mill shines in my kitchen window, as it has since before I was born. I'm so glad I never sold this house- I grew up in it, and it was a great place to heal after losing Linda. Almost everywhere I go is someplace I've known since childhood, and I'm blessed to be able to live here, among friends, and familiar surroundings. First Baptist was Mike's father's church, and we were in Sunday School together as kids, going to school at Leach Elementary, Wadworth Junior High, and General Duke High .
Every day, I see faces I've greeted since I was old enough to walk along a street holding my mother's hand, and my favorite pears grow on the big tree in my backyard, as they always have.

     The world changes, strangely, in fact, but Lord, you've given me a little piece of stability, a place to rest, and give thanks. I stand at the window, watching the cars arching over the Henderson Drive Bridge, and thank You once again.

THE LEGION OF NIGHT, CHAPTER 21

     Finally, the weather's geting warmer....it's actually warm enough for basketball, although the cold doesn't stop some people.  So, last Saturday Tony and I got together for some ball at his place. There we were, sitting in lawn chairs upside the house,  drinking Arnold Palmers, watching his two boys and their friends play in the lot next door-there's been  hoops there for as long as I can remember, and the city kinda-sorta keeps it clear. Tere's a regular park a few blocks away, but why walk that far?

     Tony's been telling me that some officers resent the official policy on the Legion; leave them alone. We've come to the conclusion that it makes sense, under the circumstances. They've confined their activities to stopping criminal activity, and rescuing people in danger, and have yet to harm any civilians or first responders.Besides, what can you do to them?  True, they haven't eliminated crime, but that's not likely to happen, human nature being what it is.

     Tony says, "I'm still not sure what I think-I'm not gonna lose any sleep over the creeps they've taken out, but at the same time, all we've got is THEIR word on their intentions. What if even one or two of them goes bad?"

     "I kinda think they've got that covered," I say "I'm not entirely sure why, but I trust them. I wish it weren't necessary, but how else do you deal with the worst of the worst? The Bible allows  for the taking of life when innocent life has been taken, and there's nothing that says it has to be done by an official body".

     "What about, 'Vengeance is Mine; I will repay', saith the Lord?" "That's exactly what it's talking about, revenge, not stopping dangerous people before they harm anyone else."

     The talk swings over to Susan's adventure the other day; Tony had recieved a call from a friend on the Toledo force, asking questions about her-basically, her story didn't sound right to him, either. He said she wasn't suspected of anything, just that something didn't read right, like she was leaving something out.

     Maybe she knows who the Legion member is, " I said, "and was nervous that they might ask."
"Maybe, but why would they ask?"

     And so on.

    

THE LEGION OF NIGHT, CHAPTER 20

                                                                                                        BOSTON

The full moon, my namesake, shines like a ghost light over the city, casting her radiance over the treetops.

My quarry sits in one of those trees, unaware that I'm hovering silently just above him; he's intent on the hunt, while being hunted.

I notice the cold, but don't really feel it-it's been cold all week, but the hunt goes on, regardless. I chose this profession, and I love the fact that people can feel safer with us out here, even though the hours suck, sometimes. It seems like forever since I sat and watched a bad sci-fi flick on DVD at three am, like I used to, or sat on my deck in the dark, listening to Rundgren through my phones, sipping an ice-cold Old English. 

     Really, nothing stops me, but somehow, I'd rather be out here, looking for those in need.

Speaking of which, my prey seems to be in a spot of difficulty-time to act.

     I drop down through the upper branches, grabbing the would-be predator before he can react, holding him at arm's length as we rise-he can't cut me, but Anna's been complainuing about being more careful of my costumes, 'cause she has to repair them; I suck with a needle and thread. 

     He squirms, and spits, to no avail....he's not getting away.

He calms down, as he sees the little girl on the sidewalk below, smiling up at us.

We settle to the pavement, and  Lashonda reaches out for her kitty.

     Third time this month Tiger has gotten out, and climbed this same tree, after birds, I guess; the thing is, he's not as good at getting down as getting up, so I check for him and 'Shonda while I'm on patrol. Besides, her mother bakes righteous chocolate chip cookies, and keeps lots of cold milk on hand-growing kids, y'know.

Who says being a Legion member has no perks?

THE LEGION OF NIGHT, CHAPTER 19

    A whole week, and I don't hear from Susan, I don't see her, and I'm starting to get worried-I'm sure that I'd hear if something had happened to her, but still....

      Just then, the phone rings, and-IT'S HER! She wants to take me to the movies later, unless, of course, I've got plans....

     Plans....me?
Anyway, we go to the Dreamland, catch a double feature, and stop off at Sutter's for a phosphate; she wants to tell me something.

     I had a close call, Wish", she tells me, her eyes evading mine, like I was going to judge her for something, "my ex-husband was released from prison two weeks ago, and I wasn't told, or I missed the call somehow, I don't know

     I reached over and took her hand, not sure how she'd react-it just seemed the thing to do. She didn't pull away, but kinda flexed her fingers in mine, like "thank you". "I went back to Toledo, to see my sister-she'd been sick, and I wanted to check on her. I didn't know that Ernesto had come back there after his release.

     "He must've seen me in the old neighborhood, and followed me, because he was in the parking lot of the restaurant when I came out, with a gun-he wanted to force me to drive him somewhere, and I don't  want to think about what came next.

     "He started toward me, when this beam, like blue light, struck him between the eyes....he just crumpled to the ground, dead, a smoldering spot on his forehead. A Legion member, a man who called himself OmegaSon, landed in front of me, and asked me if I was all right. I was a bit shaken up, but otherwise okay, so he left. I called the police on my cell, and left before they arrived"

     "Are you sure you're okay?" "Sure," she said, a smile finally breaking out on her face, weak, but there.
"That's twice I've met these people, in just a few months-it's not the sort of thing you'd expect."

     The rest of the evening was great, or would've been, except for one thing....something just didn't read right. I didn't know what, and I didn't think that Susan was exactly lying to me, but there waa feeling that something was missing, and I wasn't sure if we were far enough in our relationship to ask her about it. I asked the Lord to giude me in this, thanking Him that I even had a relationship to worry about.

     Dougie came in about then, carrying a mouse-I thought he'd gotten over that"carrying his end" phase long ago-and dropped it in front of me, looking up like he expected me to eat it.

     "Had dinner, man," I said, pointing to a Vitelli's box on the table; Dougie gratefully accepted a half slice of pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom, room temp, and fell to, leaving me to ponder "what's up?"

THE LEGION OF NIGHT, CHAPTER 18

                                                                                OY!

  What am I, sixteen? I'm mooncalfing over some woman, seventeen years younger than me, after knowing her just a couple of months, and I'm acting like I want to carry her books home for her.

     (Do kids still DO that?)
Dougie loves her to pieces-but then, she's always bringing him stuff, meatballs from Pinelli's, that sorta thing, but she brings me stuff, too....she smiles at me, and calls me "Wish" in this voice that's like Karen Carpenter by way of Crystal Gayle.

     She sat next to me in church yesterday, and Pastor Mike could've stood up there and done the Stock Market reports in High Vulcan, and I never would've noticed. Her hand kept lightly touching mine, and I kept forgetting to breathe....

     I thought I was too old for this, too....WIDOWERED for this; Linda was my great love, and when she died, I had no plans to look elsewhere. After the grieving period, I never really felt alone....or so I thought.

     Susan owns a piece of me, a piece I never even knew was missing.
Y' wanna hear funny? I think Linda's up There, checking this out....and smiling.
Tony keeps talking about "the goofy grin on your face", and his missus giggles every time she sees me.
My place seems empty when she's not here-she hasn't spent the night, or anything like that, we play by the Rules-but she's visited here, and we've been out to dinner, walked in the park a few times, and went to church.

     I don't want to screw this up, because I've got something I haven't had in a long time, not since Linda; I think I'm in love.