Chapter 23

For the next 3 weeks, things were like they had been the last year. I had gotten permission from Clint for Doug to join us, Both so he could meet most of the Paladins in the area, and to let them know what all he could do to help them.

But there were several noticeable absences that weekend, including Bohica and Carol. But that night Doug said everything had gone well and had appointments from 3 different Paladins to come in and see him. And he had a surprise for me that night, and unusually asked me to leave Fang at home.

I was curious, as he had not made that request before. But I also wanted to go, curious as to where he wanted to take me that Fang might be a problem. We had dinner at a diner that actually had carhop service. And that was a first for me, actually sitting in his car and having our food delivered to us. It was only burgers, but the experience was unique.

Then came the next part, after driving a bit more, we pulled over, and were soon creeping down the road. I asked if everything was alright, as we would pull forward maybe 10 feet or so, then stop again for about 30 or 40 seconds, then creep forward again another 10 feet. It was strange, and he assured me that everything was fine, but I could tell it was not. Doug was joking and obviously trying to keep everything a secret.

Finally, we pulled up in front of something, and I heard Doug hand something through the window. I had been hearing voices getting closer until that point, and the sound of the exhaust changed, echoing off of something so I knew we had pulled next to a building or something, then we were slowly pulling away.

It was not a bank, I did not hear an ATM. And it was not a police roadblock. Not only was the stop really short, nobody said anything and we were driving away at almost a crawl. Finally, I could feel us turning, and about 30 seconds later turning again, and the nose of his car rising sharply. Then Doug stopped, backed up about a foot, then put the car in park and turned off the engine. He then announced we were there.

“OK Doug, where in the hell are we?”

“Just outside of Creekside.”

“OK, that is both helpful and tells me absolutely nothing.”

“OK, we are just off of Highway 25, near Harbor Avenue.”

“Doug, are you trying to piss me off? OK, that helps me because if I decide to walk home I know where I am, but that is about all. This is not all that funny anymore.”

He chuckled softly and apologized. “I am sorry, Di, I just wanted this to be a surprise for you. Here,” he said handing me a blanket. “Duck under this, then change and come on out. But warning, there are people near us.”

By now I could tell that also, hearing voices to both sides and in front. As well as other cars pulling in, some kind of parking lot? But I simply could not make sense of it. So I sighed and said that I had not come prepared to change, I had thought we were going to a club or something. In fact, he said “Casual and comfortable” when I had asked what to wear, so had worn a pretty dress from before the Night of Madness. It was yellow I knew, and Jean had picked it out, saying it was a lovely match for my skin.

I shrugged and pulled it off, setting it on the console between us, then removed my bra. Doug gasped and said there were others nearby. “Well, blame yourself! I wore something comfortable, not thinking I might be changing into Dire during a date!” I snapped a bit, but his apology was honest, and I apologized in return. Then I was just in my panties and changed.

And it was, confusing. I pulled the blanket so it was around my chin, and there were indeed people around us, some parked only about 10 feet away. Rows and rows of cars, all pointed at something large and white. I then looked around and saw that to our side and behind us was almost the same thing, but pointed in different directions.

Then a memory came back, something my family and I had only done once. Like many things, my mom did not really like movies very much, but one that came out she wanted all of us to see. Most times until then to see a movie, we waited for it to come out on videotape and watched it at home. But that night was something special because it was to see the newest Disney movie, Mulan.

So John and I were both packed into our pajamas, and we drove, here. “Oh my god, oh my god, a drive-in!” I squealed, and threw my arms around Doug, hugging him tightly to me and giving him a kiss. I think this surprised him as I was still almost naked, but leaning across the center console. I then slapped him for not telling me, and he sheepishly said he had wanted it to be a surprise.

“Well, I’m surprised. OK, First things first, however. No, do not tell me what movie we are going to see, but I am going to the concession stand and get us some snacks and drinks, and to pee as you repark the car so we can see the movie from the back. Fuck, I can’t do that! I’m Dire! Well, then we are going to do that, as I still need to pee before it starts. Then I am going to sit in the back and change while you repark the car. I am not going on my first date at a drive-in and sitting in bucket seats!”

Doug laughed and agreed as I slipped back into my dress. I did not even bother with the bra, and after standing and unfolding my cane he guided me to the concession stand. And I could have found it by smell, popcorn! I moved into the bathroom and could hear somebody in front of me so moved around them. “Hey, there’s a line here, ya know? Who do you think you are, wait your turn!”

Shit! I should have remembered that from the last time years ago. I stopped and moved back a few times, hitting somebody in the leg lightly with my cane as I apologized and saying I did not know. I found a place at the back, and the woman in front of me then apologized. “I’m sorry for speaking out like that, I honestly did not know that you could have no way of knowing that. I am the first one in line, so feel free to go ahead.”

“Thank you, but it’s alright. I should have known, it has just been so long. I forgot about the lines for us in theaters.”

“Well, the guys are lucky there, they just put in a big trough and they stand next to each other and are done in a minute. But no, I insist. There are 15 stalls in here, I can guide you to the right one. Otherwise, I might be in mine before you find the open one.” We both laughed softly, and I accepted her offer.

“Can I ask, how is this going to work for you?”

“Well, in some cinemas, they now have a device that is like closed captioning but for us. It has a soft voice describe what the visuals are. In my case, my boyfriend is going to be telling me.”

“Ohhh, a drive-in with a boyfriend, you are a lucky girl. OK, here we go, take my arm?” And she walked me to the stall and even said which way the door opened. I thanked her, and she said it was her pleasure.

After taking care of my needs and washing my hands, Doug was waiting for me and we went to the food area. Popcorn, red and black vines, those soft white chocolate mints, and 2 large sodas later we were in another line. I heard Doug as for something in “Extra Large”, and he handed me a small box with the popcorn and snacks he said. We then returned to the car, where I got into the backseat and with the blanket covering me in only my panties I got comfortable and had him pull forward a few more feet until he was good. I ducked under the blanket again when he opened the door and the overhead light came on.

He climbed in next to me and then handed me a shirt. It was large, a kind of ugly maroon color, and had a drawing of what looked like 1950’s cars from the back, pointed at the screen with the words “Creekside Drive-In, family entertainment since 1952” written above and below the drawing.

I pulled him in and gave him another kiss, then pulled that on over me. “OK, at least now if I have to take a quick pee, I can dash there and back this way. OK, give me my soda! How much longer?”

He told me 5 minutes, and I snuggled in against him and we talked as the previews started. I even felt a tingle run through me when he reached down and placed his hand on my bare thigh. He jumped and started to pull it away, but I quickly reached down and grasped his hand, telling him to leave it there. “I know you did not realize, but I would like to think that by this time in our dating, you would become comfortable in touching me.”

“Oh, I do! And trust me, I want to touch. But something inside keeps urging me to take things slowly, to let them build and to take my time. That it would be the most sure way to help ensure what we are feelings lasts.”

And he was not wrong, I was sensing the same things. Since he had discovered my secret, he had unquestionably moved out of the “Friend Zone”, but were we going to be lovers? I had not taken things so slowly since college, during my era of perpetual virginity. But even then, I would move faster, if not all the way. “I understand, but let’s just say I feel both that, as well as the urges to go farther. So how about this, when you feel right go ahead and move farther, I will stop you if I want to slow things down. And like that night in my bed, I might do the same thing.” I was of course referring to moving his hand to my breast, something that for some reason he only did when we cuddled to sleep, and at no other times.

We shared a soft kiss, and he agreed, then the voice on the radio said the feature attraction was starting. And it was actually a movie I had been wanting to see! “Lucan” was a movie about mutants, and the early reviews were glowing, but also gave almost none of the story away. But it was billed as the first major movie to actually feature mutants, and to have little CGI effects.

I recognized the main actor, as when I was in college half the girls seemed to get clittlie hardons over him. I had seen some of his older movies on cable in the last year, and while cute, I did not get the lust some seemed to have had over him at the time. And I could understand a little, he had the most piercing green eyes. He was a few years older than I was now, and if some of the rumors of long parties and drugs during his youth were true, they were not kind to him. He looked good, but kind of, worn?

But this was proclaimed as his big return to the cinema after almost 3 years. His costar was another big actress of my generation, beautiful long blonde hair, classic WASP features, and she had been in a few RomComs I had seen. It started with him as a construction worker, his hopes of being a police officer dashed when a football injury made it impossible for him to join the force. His wife however had gone to college and was a writer for a newspaper. She was more than a bit self-centered, and was constantly nagging on him that her “biological clock was ticking”, and she needed him to get a “real job”, so they could start a family.

I kind of felt sorry for him, and I could tell his being overweight was a combination of make-up, prosthetics, and CGI. It made him out to be almost 50 pounds more than he really was. He was sent out one night to get her some ice cream and himself some cigarettes when it happened. The Night of Madness. And it was shocking, as they had incorporated both footage shot for the film, as well as some real-life news clips. I clenched Doug’s hand tight, almost feeling fear at watching that, and even having to send back to Fang everything was alright. Amazing, this is the farthest apart we had been, yet we could still sense each other’s emotions.

The hero of course was portrayed as sitting in his car at a stop sign when that happened, and he got the blinding light and headache. And both Doug and I said that the light was almost exactly right. Then he was rear-ended, his car was destroyed and everything went black.

He awoke in a hospital, and the nurse calmed him down and said he had been in an accident. His wife took over 2 hours to arrive, and almost dismissively said that 8 days had passed. She talked about how busy she was at work, about all the crazy mutations that had happened, and how they were all trying to make sense of it all. “But it is getting better now, they have called out the National Guard, and it is not calm, but almost normal.” But she seemed a bit cold, almost dismissive of him.

The accident had caused some severe injuries, with part of his small intestines being removed, and some moderate scaring on his face. And I could sympathize with him about that. He stayed in the hospital another week, and his wife only visited a few times and the wife of a co-worker took him home. The actress was an unknown, and I knew from what little reviews had said she had been a bit player in movies, but this was her first big role.

The coworker had disappeared on the Night, and strangely the wife was almost dismissive, saying she knew where he was and did not care if he returned or not. At this, we started to see actual mutants on the screen. This was not effects, the guy at the grocery store really did have red skin. And the clips taken of a speedster and a strong woman taking down a beast were also mutants, all Paladins working in the LA area.

Then one night the wife did not come home, even after the husband spent hours preparing a nice dinner for them. He was going to announce that he had gotten accepted into a General Contractor program, where they would pay the tuition and he would get his license in 3 years. But she said she could not come home, she was working on a story.

He drove to her work, and after sneaking in found her and another guy naked in her office. And the rage made him transform. He increased in size, and hair grew from his body. His face and body actually took on the appearance of a werewolf, and his claws raked the wall before he howled and ran off as the couple broke from their sex act and rolled apart.

He then had shots taken from his point of view, running through the parking lot, and a park until he collapsed in a vacant lot and collapsed. And as the camera showed him returning to normal, I squeezed Doug’s hand almost painfully tight. Something about this was not right.

Well, he still managed to beat his wife home, and when she came in he was already throwing away the dinner, saying it had overcooked. She apologized and said she had been working late on a story, and when she asked what had prompted the dinner, he simply said he had felt like doing something special for her. He never mentioned the contractor school.

After that was a montage of him learning to use his abilities. And it was, strange. It was obvious that many of these shots were special effects, but many were not. He could jump almost 15 feet into the air, climb the sides of wood walls or trees with his claws, and he was scared to death his wife would leave him if she found out.

Most of her reporting was firmly on the side against the mutants. Full of statements on how they should be gathered up and put into camps or something for the protection of others. This left the main star torn, as he still loved his wife, but was growing to hate her.

He was by now past the time to register as a mutant and was in danger of becoming classified as a Rogue for his failure to report to Control. Then at work, an accident caused part of the building they were working on to collapse, and 2 of his friends were trapped in the rubble. He changed, and with his strength helped those trapped in the rubble to get out, and his co-workers looked at him in pity, disgust, or anger. So he changed back, got into his car, and left.

He drove to a bar, and they got something right again! He drank, got plastered. In fact, he got shitfaced. And the bartender refused to let him drive home and said a cab was on the way. His wife was home, and she now knew the truth. She was furious, she called him a liar, and how dare he hide that from her, that he was a hideous monster. She screamed she was scared of him and leaving, and then he said good, for her to get her ass out.

That he knew about her cheating, and as flashbacks were played of that night he said he had walked in on her fucking her boss. She gasped, then he reminded her of the deep gouges in the wall, as it showed her hastily redressed and looking at them with her boss in confusion. “That was me, Cynthia. I was there that night, I saw the two of you. That is what made me change for the first time, seeing you and him together! But I am not the monster, you are. So get out, I can’t stand living with a monster like you. Get out!”

He then transformed and she fled in terror. And it even showed him standing there in wonder, his clothes ripped as he transformed back. And was sober! He marveled at that, and I softly told Doug it was the same for me. The next day showed him reporting into Control, as this was the next to last day before any mutants could be considered Rogues unless they reported in. He was given some tests and was given a classification of being a Paladin. When asked for his name, he remembered an old TV show he had seen on cable about a feral boy raised by wolves simply gave the name of that character. Lucan.

As he was leaving, he saw walking in was the gal who had picked him up at the hospital. She said she would come to his house after she was done. After dinner, the two sat down and talked, and she showed her mutation. She could change her hair to any color she wanted, as well as her skin. That was why her husband had left, calling her a freak and moving to another city.

They commiserated with each other, and as expected ended up in bed. It then showed more montages, as Lucan was rapidly growing in stature as a Paladin after bringing down several criminals and Rogues, as well as saving others from accidents. His girlfriend was living with him now, but then his wife returned to the scene.

She said she was pregnant and was living with her boss. She admitted she did not know if he was the father or not but wanted him to sign all parental rights away. He was shown fighting to retain his composure, and did not change but insisted that there be a DNA test when the baby was born. Her response was over her dead body, and he would never see her child.

And the climax was like nothing either of us expected. He was at work, and an earthquake hit. By now he was engaged to his girlfriend, and after calling to make sure she was safe at home he changed and started to work at rescuing people trapped in collapsed buildings.

He got to one, and it was a three-floor apartment building that had collapsed, but he could hear voices from below one of the remaining beams. The firefighters were being ordered to leave because the rest was about to collapse, but Lucan moved in and supported the beam with his shoulder. The strain on his face was obvious as he was struggling with all of his might to hold the beam up as the firefighters dug frantically through the debris, rescuing a mother and her infant child.

They had just gotten them to an ambulance and were about to return with supports so Lucan could release the beam when the floor collapsed under him. The screen went black, and I was clenching Doug’s hand, waiting for the expected scene of him waking up in a basement, or being rescued by the firefighters.

But, it did not. The next scene was his funeral. He was being laid to rest with full honors, both firefighters and police providing escorts. And real Paladins were carrying the coffin. He was laid to rest with his girlfriend crying but also looking on in pride. With lightly green-tinted skin and blue hair. Proclaiming to the world she was a mutant also and was not going to hide it anymore.

And the final scene said it was 6 years later, as a young boy was watching a video on a cell phone. His mother asked him what he was watching, and when he said it was about Lucan, his favorite hero. She ripped it out of his hand and threw it across the room. “Never say his name in here again! He was a bad man, and like most of them he should have been put away!” It was the first wife, older and looking and sounding even more like a bitch than ever before.

And the closing shot was of the boy, defiantly saying that the man was not a monster, he was a hero. And it was impossible to miss that he had shockingly bright green eyes. Just like Lucan had.

I know I was crying as the credits rolled, and even Doug was affected. And we both sat and read the credits, as even I knew that mid-credit scenes were in almost any movie. Especially superhero movies, even though this was like no such movie I had ever seen. This was like Spiderman, as told by Shakespeare between writing Macbeth and Hamlet.