16 Jan Chapter Seven: Chairs

Joe and Mary are having a conversation inside an abandoned house. This time Joe, no longer appears as a kid in his early 20’s, but as an old man. They are both sitting on the ground, facing each other. 

Mary has her eyes closed, but says to Joe, “So Joe, have you tried talking to Jay?”

Joe replies, “Yes. I did. I visited him at Jane’s house the other day…” 

Mary still has her eyes closed and says, “Did you disguise yourself?” 

Joe stands up and starts walking around, “I did. Jane didn’t notice, but I’m certain Jay did. He just went along with it.” 

Mary opens her eyes and looks up at Joe, “What do you mean he noticed?”

Joe looks down at Mary and says, “What do you think I mean Mary? He knew that I wasn’t a kid in my 20’s… I don’t think Jay is capable of having his field of perception distorted.”

Mary stands up and walks to the window, looks outside without saying anything for a few minutes, then turns to Joe and says, “I think that Jay can see stuff that no one else can, but he just doesn’t tell anyone – “

Joe interrupts Mary, “He plays dumb to try …”

Mary completes Joe’s sentence, “He plays dumb to avoid appearing crazy. He’s far more wise and aware than we give him credit for. I noticed that the first time him and I met.” 

Joe agrees and says, “Yeah, but he’s losing that urge to fight as I think he’s beginning to feel like it’s just not worth it…” 

Mary walks back to the middle of the room, sits back down on the floor and says, “He looks just like him… doesn’t he?”

Joe responds, “He doesn’t just look like him; he is him, I think.” 

—

 Meanwhile… 

Jay and Jane are still standing outside in the front yard; looking at the note, the three chairs and canvases that magically appeared. 

Jay reads the note to Jane, “It says; Love. Power. Tears. The medallion is neither friend nor foe.” 

The first canvas on the left has a plus (+) sign on it, the middle canvas has an equal (=) sign and the canvas on the right has a minus sign (-); all three canvases have painted backgrounds that continuously change from scenic nature art to abstract surreal depictions. 

Jay tries to remain calm, looks at Jane and says, “I’m going to bring these inside… can you do me a favor Jane? Can you call Isabella over?”

Jane seems confused and says, “Why?”

Jay looks down at the canvases and says, “Well, if anyone is capable of interpreting art, it’d definitely be her.” 

—

Mary continues, “I’m going to try and talk to Jay again… he seems to like to listen to me for some reason…” 

Joe laughs, “Mary, you are quite the seducer…” 

Ted enters the abandoned house through the front door and with a sincere tone of voice says to Joe and Mary, “He’s stronger than he was at his age…” 

Joe replies, “Hello Ted. I know… I don’t know how that is possible.”

Mary abruptly starts to hysterically cry and says, “His body, his entire being was built to love because of the lack of love he was given throughout his life…” 

Ted continues, “Enhanced exponentially…” 

Joe adds, “Built to last…” 

There is an overwhelming sense of emotion between Mary, Joe and Ted; they all take a seat on the ground and don’t say anything for a few minutes.

Before any of them have a chance to say anything, Tim hazardously enters the abandoned house and with a snarl says to them, “What exactly is going on here?”

Joe is the first to respond, “Tim… I’m not sure how you found this place, but you are most certainly not welcome here. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” 

Tim doesn’t budge. He takes a cigar out from his coat pocket, lights it and then says, “You all know that I’m not going to allow him to show the world what he can do.” 

—

Jay had brought the three canvases and chairs inside Jane’s house and placed them in the same position, as they were outside, in the living room. 

Jay and Jane hear the front door open and Isabella’s voice says, “Jay – why is all your stuff thrown outside?”

Before either Jay or Jane has a chance to respond, Isabella walks into the living room, looks at the three canvases and they immediately turn into stainless steel slabs, with no reflective properties. 

Jay takes his hat off and then says, “Well, I was going to ask you what you thought about these three art pieces, but…” 

Isabella appears confused and says, “And I thought my life had some weird stuff going on… should I leave or?”

Jane replies, “No. I think you should be here. Come take a seat.” 

Jay, Jane and Isabella are now all sitting on the couch, in silence, looking at the three stainless steel slabs in front of them. None of them are quite sure what to say. 

After about ten minutes, Jay gets frustrated, stands up, then says “This is getting stupid!” and he takes the medallion off the chain around his neck and throws it in the direction of the slabs. 

The medallion suspends in mid-air in front of the slabs and Jay, Jane and Isabella temporarily all faint. 

Jay and Isabella are the first to wake up and they see that three slabs have changed; the one on the left is now a door with a triple-beam balance engraved on the front of it. The middle one is now an elevator and the one on the right is now a downward spiraling set of steps. 

Jay looks over at Isabella and sees her blink once. He notices that her left eye now illuminates the word “Hey” and her right eye illuminates the word “Zeus.” Isabella blinks again and this time her left eye illuminates the word “Pick” and her right eyes illuminates the word “One” 

Jay then hears his phone right, he answers it and hears a static-like voice say, “Hey Zeus, pick one.” 

Before Jay has a chance to respond, he hears the radio in the kitchen turn on with a static-like voice saying, “Hey Zeus, pick one.” Then he looks outside of the window in the living room and sees the T.V. that was thrown outside turn on with a black screen and in white lettering reads, “Hey Zeus, pick one.” 

At that moment Jane finally wakes up, sees the changed-slabs and says, “What just happened?”

Jay appears concerned, yet confident and says, “I think I need to pick one.” 

Jay proceeds to walk towards the newly changed scene, but abruptly stops when he hears the front door being kicked down.

Men that look like soldiers with armbands that bear the Seahorse logo barge into the house. They appear to have no faces.  Three of the men push and hold Jay, Isabella and Jane against the wall, but don’t say anything. 

One of the men takes a camera out and takes pictures of the door, elevator and spiraling steps. After taking a few photos, the men promptly exit the house. 

—

To Be Continued In Chapter Eight.