Kyle:

We had been driving for quite some time. It struck me over and over just how slow earth vehicles were. Jessica pushed her head out the window, insisting the wind felt good. Personally, I just saw this as another symptom of her teeter-tottering sanity. Still, it was funny to watch.

Finally, the car came to a stop in front of a large clock tower in a small city square. I was told I was supposed to let Jessica out as well as letting her into the car, but when we stopped, she didn't seem to care what custom dictated, which was fine by me. She shot out of the vehicle shouting, "WHOA!" spinning and looking at the structures around her. "This state has really grown. The buildings are getting BIG!"

Allen chuckled. "You should see New York."

"I did," she replied. "Is the Woolworth building still the tallest?"

"No, afraid not," Allen said, getting out of the vehicle after us. Frankie was dropped off drove his own car, probably to his home. Good riddance. "It's the empire state these days. Has been for a long time really. One hundred and two floors."

"WOW!" Jessica shouted.

"Jess... stop acting so surprised at everything will ya? We've got bigger." I urged, still smiling.

Jessica shook her head. "I'm not amazed at its size Kyle. I'm impressed at how far these people have come. They had just discovered flight when I got here, and now they're shooting to walk on the moon. They really are moving fast kid."

Allen looked at a building the vehicle had parked next to. He blew out long and hard, as if nervous. "Well," he finally started, "this is where you'll be staying."

I looked up at the structure. It was some twelve stories tall, standing as a single obelisk. At the top was a large timepiece, like the face of a grandfather clock that Jessica had brought back from earth decades ago, only this clock face was so large you could probably tell time from a few kilometers out. There were hundreds of lights around its perimeter illuminating it in the darkness, as well as some kind of light behind the actual face. "So there's an apartment or something up there?" asked Jessica.

Allen shook his head. "Um... no. There's a large room behind the clock and no one really ventures up to care for it except three employees of this building. This building used to belong to a newspaper publisher, the clock was a gimmick to get people to notice it, but all the same, someone has to take care of it. But worry not, the only three who do, are all members of a mutant race called banshees." I looked at Allen with a raised right brow. "Yeah... that reaction kind of figures."

"Figures"? That wasn't the word I was thinking. "I'm the son of the president of an entire planet, and you're sticking me at the top of a clock tower like a war prisoner?" I asked.

"Was hoping you wouldn't think about it quite that way but essentially-"

"This will be so cool!" Jessica shouted, mouth gawking in an expression of glee. Also not what I was thinking... and just hearing her I had to make an effort to ignore her and my own childish love of exploring. I hid my smile.

"It'll be what?" Allen asked. "Well, figure it will be, but I don't imagine there's much we can do about that."

"Jessica uses that as a slang term to mean "good"... don't ask how she made that connection."

"How?" Allen asked in spite of me.

Jessica tried to reply, "It made sense at the time... wait- no it didn't- just you wait though, that word will be used more often than "baby" I'll see to it, I will!"

"Um, little lady... you're a little late. That's already a popular term, just didn't think you'd know it."

"Darn it." Jessica looked up at the building. "Well let's get in this spire eh? I need to see where I'm gonna be restn' ma' dogs."

"Your what?" asked Allen.

"My feet... everyone called them that before I left... yeah I'm gonna have some adjusting to do." She started to look a sound a bit discouraged, so I slung an arm around her shoulders. She grinned and pushed me off, me jumping back and pushing her back.

(***)

The elevator for this building took an eternity to reach the twelfth floor. I learned while walking in that this place was called the Jackson Tower by glancing at a pamphlet. When we reached the actual clock itself and went inside it was time again for me to be unimpressed. I knew I was being a bit of a prick but was this really the best these people could think to offer the son of a president? I looked around the room housed behind the great clock. It was barren with a large wood floor. Really the entire area seemed like just a giant flat board that the elevator came up the center of. There was nothing on the floor, there were no windows, and the ceiling was some twenty feet up with nothing on it. Of course, leave it to Jessica to find the bright side of anything.

Stolen story; please report.

"ECHO!" she shouted. And indeed the room echoed her sentiment several times. "This is cool!" she shouted again, the echo sounding off again. "Hey!" It echoed again. "Stop copying me!" She listened and there came the echo again.

"Well I-" Allen began, but Jessica jumped up on his chest and grabbed him around the neck, staring into his eyes,

"Tell it to stop copying me, NOW!" she shouted.

"Kid it's an echo... that's what it does..." Allen replied fearfully.

"I know!" she shouted, a huge grin on her face, jumping off and shooting off into the room, looping around behind the elevator.

"What the hooey?" asked Allen, his son at his legs, looking confused himself.

"Isn't she beautiful?" I asked. His confusion wasn't much revenge, but still, after seeing this room, I felt a sense of what I would later learn was called "schadenfreude" here.

"If you say so... anyway." The man pointed at a mattress a few yards away. For an empty room, this place was at least spacious. I also noticed the ticking of the large clock face in front of me, the gears and actual controls for the hands visible behind a large see-through partition. There was a part of me that REALLY wanted to explore the mechanics of this place. But I wasn't done being angry. "We had a mattress for you up here and a couple blankets, they're in the gear room in front of you... didn't actually count on having another person to prepare a bed for and all-" And by this point- I was boiling.

"That's not a bed, it's a mattress you threw on the floor the day before we got here." I finally declared. "This whole thing was thrown together on a weekend, wasn't it? You had two weeks to prepare for me!"

"Kyle we are not a nation here," the werewolf snapped back. "The societies are a conglomeration of disjointed groups hiding from the rest of the planet. If you think we've got five-star hotels just waiting around for royalty to show up and-" but Allen cut himself off holding up a hand as if to signal himself to stop. He calmed his voice. "I don't exactly live like a king myself. Try to understand our position. You and your bodyguard can't exist in any official capacity at all... ever. You can't own a house, and you can't be dependents. If anyone sees you not aging it will stick out like a sore thumb, especially at your age." Allen waved his hands at the corners of the room, clearly trying to hide exasperation. "This is what we have kid. And it's not getting better."

I let my shoulders down. I knew I was wrong. Probably knew before he started talking. I still folded my arms and walked away from the man, not wanting to appear like some dumb human had taught me a lesson. Jessica jetted up behind me. "He's just homesick," she said to Allen and his boy. "Wait till you get to know him, he really is a nice guy, you'll see."

I would be nice to her.

(***)

A few blocks away.

Nathan:

I had prayed with everything I had that this would work, but I doubted it. I opened the doors to the police station slowly, holding the picture in my right hand, feeling my fingers tighten, but being careful not to crinkle the paper.

I knew many of the officers here, and seeing Raymond, one of my church deacons, gave me comfort about what I was doing. I didn't even look at the rest of the building and just headed for the front desk where he was. He was basically a beat cop these days. Probably not a glamorous position for him, but I still chose to see this as a sign. He was a good man and a man of his word. I put the picture of my missing son Thomas on the counter in front of him.

Raymond stood up, nodding. "Yeah... I knew he was missing." He took the picture. "Suppose you want me to put this up on the wall right?" he asked, pointing at a wall of missing persons photos. I nodded. My mouth was dry and I wasn't sure what to say, so I just kept quiet. He shook his head. "Hate it when this stuff happens to folks I know." He took the picture. "We're doing everything we can Nate."

He looked at the photograph as he continued. "You know the department is looking high and low for Tommy around here. I'm not sure what you think posting a picture here is going to do. Half the cops here knew your kid personally. We won't forget he's missing. You should be posting these all over town. I got to be honest though, you don't need to waste your time here. I would personally be trying to find him, but of course, missing persons isn't in my job description." He handed the picture back to me.

I gave it back to him. "Something is telling me to do this." Something was... not that I knew what it was. And at this point, I would listen to any notion anyone had, even just my own. I pointed back at the door. "You know how many people walk in that door, and how many check that wall... is it very many?"

"Depends on the day really," Ray said shaking his head. "Every so often someone will come in here to check rewards for missing persons to see if they can answer any of them, but... well bounty hunters aren't the best shot, but they're a shot aren't they?" He took the picture, moving over to the wall to post it up. "Were you going to offer a reward by the way?"

"What would catch eyes?"

"Well... the bigger the sum, the more folks take notice." Looking at the picture for a minute, he finally turned back around to me. "Ya know, you could have a fundraiser at the church for a reward. A lot of people care about your family. We're there for you buddy."

"I really don't care how much I have to pay," I said. "Truth is I'd willingly go broke for just a clue on this." It was true. I wanted my son back. My wife Janet was going nuts, she cried herself to sleep the first day and myself... coming home was so strange. The dog ran up to greet me, but no little boy. Thomas was like a highlight to every day, so much joy and energy... it was just amazing to watch him discover life for the first time and now...

I had prayed over and over that he was alright, that I would have my son back. This was fear... real fear.

"I know you would," he paused. "You said something told you to do this... what?"

"I... I really don't know. I'm hoping it's God but... Even if it is, what would that mean?"

"I don't know mac. I hope it means this is gonna turn out."

"Something tells me... I can't explain it... it says, it kinda will... and kinda won't. Feels like I have to say it." I licked my lips. I didn't like that my feeling didn't just feel like an answer, but just a step in a journey. One with some dark turns, but what, or for who, I didn't know. "Something about this will not work out."