Chapter 1 - Of Comics and Company

Monday, August 22^nd, 2011 – Sugar Land, Texas

Moon Phase – Last Quarter

Listening to the voice of his potential new boss as he read off his application, Alex Stryker shifted in his seat and straightened his back a bit. Trying his hardest not to adjust the clip-on tie on his neck, he let his eyes wander a bit, looking around at all the stuff in the room. Boxes of comics, both new and old, stood stacked near the walls. From a number of them, he could catch the very familiar scent of comics that were yellowing and aging.

“So, Alex, what can you offer me as an employee of this shop?” asked the person interviewing him.

“I'm not sure yet,” Alex replied. His voice was one of those that would have sounded right at home on a talk radio station. Deep and clear. Thinking the initial answer sounded stupid, he continued on. “but I'll offer everything I can provide. Food and drinks if that's what it takes.”

The final remark got the person he was talking to, which was the owner of the comic shop Trevor Young, to smile a bit and chuckle, which Alex mimicked. “That wouldn't include wine spritzers, would it?” Alex raised his eyebrow at that and his face showed confusion. He was 19, nowhere near old enough to buy alcohol. “That was a joke. You don't need to do that.”

Letting out a small laugh with a smile, Alex was starting to get a picture of this guy's personality. If he was hired here, this would be a fun boss to work with. “I was about to say.”

“Anyway, let's move on to a more difficult question.” Trevor set his application aside. “What is the oath of the Green Lanterns?”

“Oh my God.” Alex knew the entire oath by heart, mostly thanks to his friends, but this was something he didn't expect. Holding back an outright laugh, he cleared his throat and spoke the oath. “Not bad, but your tone needs work.”

“Eh. I'll work on it.”

“OK, next question. What is your first thought when I say 'Dungeons and Dragons'?”

“Medieval fantasy.”

“Alright. Last one.” Trevor paused for a second, as if he was thinking of a tough question. “Do you want to work here?”

Alex replied without hesitation, and with a grin. “You bet I do.”

Trevor held out his hand to Alex. “Then, when can you start?”

As Alex shook Trevor's hand, the two stood back up from their seats. Before he started to answer however, Alex then realized that he had forgotten the man's name. A shiver ran down his spine as he tried to recall it without avail, but he had to say something, not shut up or freeze up. “Immediately.”

“Would today count?” Trevor said with a smirk.

“Depends. I did have plans to hang out with my friends after this interview.”

“Of course. Well then, let me get you one of our T-shirts and a print out of the store's rules and expectations, then you can be on your way.”

“Awesome. Thank you, sir.” Even if he didn't remember the man's name, 'sir' was a nice replacement. Once Trevor left the room however, Alex began to franticly search the pockets of his jeans to find the business's card, locating it in his right pocket. “Trevor Young. Damn it. How did I forget that?”

As Trevor returned with the stuff Alex needed, he then thanked him by name and headed back out onto the sales floor of the shop. The shop, which went by the name of Blue Moon Comics, was packed with gaming and comic memorabilia of all kinds from RPG rulebooks to PC games and trade paperbacks. At least once, Alex had wondered if the name was picked because of the number of seemingly rare trade-ins and items the store had. During his visits with Nathan and Marcus over the last two weeks preparing for this interview, he had even seen a sealed copy of Deus Ex on the PC rack. While it was now gone, he figured he should start looking around at all the rest of the stuff he would soon be selling.

Starting from the RPG section, he grabbed the first one that caught his eye and began flipping through the pages on his way to the front. Behind the front register with a trade paperback in his hands was Marcus Astor, one of Alex's longtime friends. Looking up as he heard footsteps approaching, Marcus put the book aside. “So, how'd it go?” he asked.

“Looks like you and I are co-workers now.” Alex replied.

Marcus's face barely budged from the expression he had on; he was the one who had recommended Alex to Trevor, and he knew how easy-going his boss was with new hires. “See? Told ya.”

“That was easier than I thought, except I almost forgot your boss's name.”

“Don't sweat it. He kind of doesn't care anyway.”

“Maybe, but thanks Marcus. I appreciate you helping me get this job.”

Marcus nodded once in response, and the two exchanged a quick handshake. “You're welcome, man. Are you going to hang around for a while?”

Checking the time on his phone, it was just past 3:50. Bailey was likely sleeping in his room at home, but his Dad would be off shift soon. “Yeah, sure, I've got time.” Stepping out of the way for a customer behind him, Alex grabbed a nearby chair and decided to take some time reading the book he had first, titled Mage the Awakening.

Flipping through the pages a few at a time, he took more notice of the artwork than the rest of the game's content at first. Much of it detailing the use of magic by characters in the game world, and how the artists perceived it. Moving his right arm as he started reading the text in a later chapter, he imagined casting a create-fire spell on his hand before chuckling under his breath. Ever since Nathan had run this game with him onboard one of his groups, it had slowly become his favorite game to role-play in, even if he didn't own the rulebook himself.

As 5:00 came around, Alex felt a vibration in his pocket, accompanied by a quick tone that told him he had an instant message from someone. As useful as the feature was when he used it, the times the sounds caught him off guard and made him jump were one of the few things he hated about smart phones. Unlocking the screen to check the message, it was from Catherine, reminding him that they were all supposed to meet at a burger joint near First Colony at 6:30 that night.

“That from Catherine?” Marcus asked from the register.

“Yeah.” Alex replied, pocketing his HTC as he stood back up. “Man, am I gonna be sad when summer's fully over.”

“Not me. I'm looking forward to getting back to class.”

“I am too; just not as much.” Closing and replacing the book, Alex offered Marcus another handshake before asking for his backpack and helmet. “I'm going on ahead, so I'll see you there.” he said, stuffing the backpack with the things he received.

“Alright. Later.”

Leaving the shop into the glare of the setting evening sun, Alex was met with the familiar sounds of vehicles driving past him as the evening breeze swept past. While he made his way to his motorcycle, he heard one of the cars on the street nearby blow its horn at someone, and snapped his head in the direction to try and see what. There was nothing out of the ordinary nearby, so he had missed it. “Some people can't drive in this city.” he muttered, semi-laughing at the remark as he came to his bike; a dark blue Honda CBR125R.

Outside of the days when it was raining profusely or bitterly cold outside, the bike had helped him through his final two years of high school and into his now sophomore year of college. Despite his folks saying he should soon move to a sedan for safety (and insurance) reasons, he was hesitant about giving the bike up for a car at this point. He loved the thing, as well as the feeling he got riding it; a greater feeling of freedom than he felt riding his skateboard.

Taking a seat on the now warmed up leather, Alex brushed his blonde hair aside and slipped his head into his helmet. With his denim jacket already buttoned up around his white shirt and tie, he started the bike up; the engine coming to life with a sharp 'vroom' sound, its rumbling drowning out most of the background noise. Gripping the handlebars after checking one last time to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything, he raised the kickstand and revved the throttle, steering the bike towards Highway 59. There was one week left before his classes got started, and he intended to make sure the time was well spent however he could, starting with this group dinner.

He was the first to arrive at the location fifteen minutes later; a place called Steakhouse Burgers, and spent the remainder of the time until Nathan arrived listening to some music on his phone. For a Monday night, which he knew to be one of the more popular nights there, the place was mostly barren except for himself, the two chefs in the back and the television playing something from the Sci-Fi Channel.

Once he saw Nathan enter however, sporting his lengthy brown hair and leather jacket, things quickly turned around and the two exchanged some small talk over a few Mountain Dews before Marcus arrived with Catherine. Out of all the people he knew in his life, Nathan, Catherine and Marcus made up the strongest group of friends he had. All of them were geeks to varying degrees, Alex being the closest to a jock in the group because of his skateboarding.

“So, you guys looking forward to class next week?” Catherine asked as she indulged in her cheeseburger. Marcus responded with a confident 'Yes'; Nathan with an indifferent 'No'; and Alex just shrugged at the question. “Not even one class?”

“Maybe College Algebra, if that.” Nathan replied.

“Obviously.”

“I have a couple of English classes, so I guess I have something to look forward to.” Alex said.

“Beyond your new job?” Marcus asked.

“Oh, that's right.” Catherine said. “How did the interview go?”

“He's working with me now.”

“Congrats, Alex. Did you already leave your old job?”

“Yeah, and I can't say I'll miss the old place too much.” Alex said. “Seeing all those up-for-adoption puppy dog eyes looking at me every day is kind of depressing after a while.”

“Plus you said one of your co-workers wasn't doing his job.”

“Yeah, and now it's all him again since I'm gone. Not that that's a good thing.”

“Speaking of animals,” Nathan chimed in. “Did your dad find out anything new about that calf from last week?”

“No.” Alex quickly answered with a slight shake of his head. A question like that didn't catch him off guard when he was hanging out with the group; they all knew his father was a lieutenant in the SLPD, and often asked him about things like that. “From the sound of things, their best guess is wolves killed that calf.”

“Wolves, huh?”

“Can we try not to talk about dead animals right now?” Catherine said, now sounding a bit defensive. “We're all eating.”

“So says the woman eating a dead cow right now.” Nathan retorted, getting the rest of the group to start laughing. Catherine meanwhile shot him a look that seemed to simultaneously say 'Shut up' and 'Very funny'.

“Nice one, man.” Alex said before he cleared his throat to stop his own laughter. “Seriously though, wolves do live in Texas, but a killing this far inside Sugar Land?”

“There is a park across 6, don't forget.” Marcus said.

“That could explain things, but that park is quite small. Someone would have seen something by now.”

“Or heard something. Wolves howl, don't they?”

“Yeah, but only to find others or if they're sad about something. Death of a packmate, for example.”

“So, they don't howl when they make a kill?” Catherine asked.

“Nope.” Marcus replied. “If they do that, then other scavengers can find them and drive them off.”

Alex nodded at that. “Plus, if they howl in a city like this, it attracts attention to them and they don't like us very much.”

“Duly noted.” Catherine took another swig of soda and refilled her glass. “Can we switch to another topic? Like what we should do before classes start next week?” Alex and the others agreed to the suggestion, and the group went back to enjoying their meals. Another hour soon passed before they decided to head back home for the evening, Marcus being the only one with a carry out of leftovers.

Outside, the last quarter moon was slowly starting to come over the treetops that lined the road near the restaurant, and the lessened traffic let the sounds of chirping insects be the background noise of the night. Mounting his motorcycle, Alex felt a hand tap his shoulder and looked over to see Nathan through the plastic visor.

“Hey, are you and I still filming tonight?” he asked, his voice slightly muffled from the thickness of the helmet Alex had on.

Remembering the shoot he had planned with his friend, Alex made a hard nod. “Yeah. You want to meet me there?”

“I need to stop by my house and get the camcorder first, so why don't you follow me?”

“Sure. Lead the way.” Alex said in a jesting tone as he dropped the visor of his helmet. Parting their ways from Catherine and Marcus with a wave, the two started on the road back to their neighborhood. Feeling the chilled wind pressing against his jacket, and the flapping of the fabric against his skin, Alex was ready to engage in the final activity he had planned for this Monday night.