2: A Big Night

Alex and the others got to the Reliant Stadium early, though still later than Patricia and her band had. Still, their passes gave them access, although the door guard gave them a wary look. Alex knew that band members typically gave these types of passes to groupies that would sometimes hang around the entrance, so he could only imagine what the guard thought of him and the women surrounding him. However the man didn’t say anything, simply shaking his head as they walked past.

Strangely enough, their backstage pass didn’t give them clearance to wander the stadium before it opened, so they knew they were on their own when they snuck into the main portion of the stadium. In order to minimize their exposure they separated, with Alex and Gail heading along one level, Cate and Grace took the second level, while Devon and Lacy took the third level. They figured they’d spread out later as people started entering, but for now they were just trying to remain unnoticed.

“Hey, you! You’re not allowed here,” a security guard called out.

“Oh, sorry,” Alex responded. “I’ve got a backstage pass but I got lost.”

“You’re nowhere near the backstage area. That’s behind the stage. You should know you’re not allowed out here.”

“Sorry, I got confused, I’m heading back there now,” he called out as he turned around and headed back. But as soon as they got around the corner they ran downstairs to do an end run around the guard, hoping they didn’t run into either him or another one. If the guards got reports of multiple people wandering the halls they’d know they were up to something.

When Alex and Gail reached the front of the stadium, just in front of the main entrance by the ticket booth, Alex entered the men’s restroom, just as they’d planned. The idea was he’d wait until the doors opened to the ticketholders, and then the girls would position themselves around the building to watch the people wandering around, watching for anyone that seemed to be looking for something.

The building filled up quickly, but it took a while for everyone to get situated, so Alex had a long wait. They’d agreed that Alex would remain in the restroom, hiding in the far stall, while Gail remained outside, keeping an eye out for trouble. Alex felt like a peeping tom, waiting around while men walked in and out of the bathroom. He made sure to keep his feet to himself, to prevent someone assuming he was here for more than just keeping time.

It was getting close to the time Patricia’s lead act was supposed to begin and the restroom was still busy.

“Hey,” some guy called out from the end of the restroom, “is there anyone here I should be looking for?”

Alex’s head snapped up and he quietly cursed to himself before exiting his stall.

“Yeah, I’m looking for the same guy,” another man called out. “My girlfriend sent me in here to find him, but all these dicks look the same to me, and I’d rather not examine each one,” he finished, producing nervous laughs from everyone there.

Alex cautiously glanced back and saw a big black man with a big belly and large meaty hands. He had a graying beard and a dark mustache. The other man was thin and white, tall with short hair. Alex waved at them and then walked to the far wall to wait for him.

When they drew near, they both looked Alex up and down as if trying to evaluate just what kind of sex freak was hiding out in the men’s room, but neither one asked about that.

“What’s this about? Why did our girlfriends ask us to come looking for you in the men’s room? How’d they even know you were in here?”

“Shh, I’d rather we not attract too much attention, if you don’t mind,” Alex told them. They both waited for Alex to explain what was going on.

“Look, surely you’ve both noticed that your girlfriends are good at guessing what’s going to happen. Perhaps knowing when someone is going to blow up before they do, or knowing who’s attracted to someone when no one else did?”

The two men looked at each other, then turned to face Alex again.

“Go on,” the big black man told him.

“They both have a particular talent that is in a dormant phase,” Alex explained. “However, it’s strong enough for them to feel me here, despite the distance and the cement walls. I was hiding here to try to prevent this from happening, and hopefully it’s minimizing it, but I guess it was to be expected a few would get through.”

“A few what?” the other man asked, looking perplexed by both the situation and Alex’s explanation.

“Just do me a favor. Go back and tell your girlfriends that their intuition was spot on and that I’m hiding in here until everyone is seated and the concert is about to begin. If I come out any sooner I’m likely to cause a scene, as I’m sure you can imagine given how your girlfriends are reacting to me. Once I do, I’ll explain what’s going on, but it’s going to be confusing. Tell your girlfriends to be prepared for some strange experiences. I can’t really describe what those experiences are, but watch carefully how they respond.

“By the way, there’s a woman out there, she’s small but she probably looks like she could take on either of you. Her name is Gail. Have your girls talk to her. She’ll give them an idea of what to expect.”

“Are you shitting me?” the white guy asked.

“He’s got a point about Vanessa,” the other guy pointed out. “And I’m guessing he was right about your girlfriend as well. I don’t know what he’s trying to pull, but he’s not going anywhere since there’s no way out of this restroom other than through that door, so we’ve got nothing to lose waiting to see what happens.”

“Man, we paid good money to see this concert, and if we hang around all day to listen to this kid, we’re going to miss the damn thing,” the wiry white guy complained.

“Hey, we did too, but we came to listen to Ms. Kennedy. We’ve loved her stuff since her first album, but it’s going to be a while before she comes out, so we have time.”

“Yeah, well we came here to see the new act. Someone named Patty Moore. Everyone’s been ranting about her performances. She’s supposed to be the newest thing, and we’re going to miss her if we stay here.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Alex said, trying to reach a quick compromise, “Patty’s a good friend of mine, and if you stick around I’ll arrange for the four of you to meet her. I’m sorry but I don’t know Diane at all, so I can’t make the same offer for her.”

They stood there and seemed to consider that, at which point the white guy seemed to notice Alex’s back stage pass, which had slipped out of his shirt. Alex saw what he was looking at, blushed and hurriedly shoved it back inside his shirt.

“All right, we’ll wait. But if this is some stupid publicity stunt or some scam, I’m—”

“Look, I’m just waiting for the crowd to ease a bit. You’ll understand why I’m avoiding people when you see how your girlfriends respond to me. But I’ll tell you this, I’ll get you inside before she performs, and you can still meet her afterwards. You may not get to your seat, but you won’t miss a thing.”

The two men glanced at each other again and seemed to come to an understanding. “All right, we’ll go along with it, but I’m withholding judgment until I figure out what’s going on.”

“Well, don’t expect too much,” Alex told them. “I still don’t understand it, and I’m not sure you’ll hear enough to explain what’s going on.”

They both grumbled but left, whispering to each other as they went. Alex was concerned that he might be facing problems if women were seeking him out in the men’s room, going so far as to send their boyfriends in after him. At least they hadn’t come in themselves, but then he figured Gail probably headed them off before they could attempt it.

Alex reentered his comfortably isolated stall and waited again, trying to attract as little attention as he could. It wasn’t a long wait.

‘Alex, this is Patricia. I just thought I’d warn you that the shows about to start. People should be heading inside so it should be safe for you to head out.‘

‘Thanks. I appreciate the heads up,’ he replied.

Just then the lights in the bathroom dimmed. Alex didn’t know how long he had, but he figured it would take a while to talk to the two couples, assuming they’d take more time because of the men being involved. He collected himself on the way out of the nearly empty bathroom, and headed outside.

He gave Gail a heads up as he exited the men’s room, so she was expecting him. He kept his eyes lowered, trying to scan the feet of the people in front of him. It wasn’t a very effective way of keeping track of things, but he was able to notice a group of people near him, and the legs of several women took a halting step. He turned and walked towards the group, finally looking up.

The same two men were standing there beside their supposed girlfriends, Gail, and another three women. Alex first met the eyes of a slightly heavy set black woman, who immediately squealed and sank to her knees. While her boyfriend tried to help her, Alex looked at a shorter woman standing beside her. She was standing with the other man that Alex had met, and she clutched his side as her eyes went wide and she took a hesitant step back. That man glanced between Alex and his wife, trying to figure out what was transpiring between the two of them, but Alex didn’t have the time to consider him just then.

Since he’d nearly reached them, he quickly took in the other people surrounding them. Gail was on the far right, there was a young girl to her right, standing beside Vanessa, and there were two other girls standing to the right of the little group. Because they didn’t respond as dramatically Alex assumed they were simply Watchers.

“What the fuck did you do to my girlfriend?” the black guy with the graying beard asked when Alex stopped in front of him. He started to reach toward Alex, but Gail firmly grasped his hand just as his Vanessa reached up to hold him back.

“No, Wayne, don’t. You don’t know what you’re getting into. He’s not going to hurt anyone. He’s ... he’s...”

“He’s an angel,” the other woman answered. She was a good six inches shorter than her boyfriend, and looked a little worn with some heavy laugh lines in her face despite her apparent young age. Alex figured the lines under her eyes might due to a lack of sleep, but he wondered whether she had a predilection for wrinkles or just smiled too much.

“Really? Why do you say so?” another woman standing beside her asked as she looked at Alex in wide-eyed fascination. She wore a flowered blouse and blue jeans and had scarlet hair Alex knew wasn’t natural, since that color only came out of a bottle.

“Can’t you see it? He glows like an angel. He’s so bright I can’t even see his eyes. I saw him when he first walked out of the bathroom, then his true nature was revealed as he shed his mortal skin,” the girl he’d just activated told the others.

“Uh, Megan, he’s just a normal guy. In fact, he’s a scrawny little thing who looks like he just got out of high school.”

“Hush, Ryan,” she insisted. “Don’t say such things. You don’t question a messenger of God when—”

Alex had enough by then, so he finally stepped in.

“OK, let’s all calm down. Let’s keep our voices down, but the rest of you need to know that what these girls are seeing is very real. They just don’t realize what it is they’re seeing. All they can see of me is a glowing white light, but what they haven’t realized yet is that everyone looks different to them now.”

As Alex revealed this, the two women glanced at the others around them and looked almost as surprised at them as they were of Alex.

“They are seeing everyone’s life energy. It’s a real gift and it’s very useful, but it’s best if we don’t reveal what’s happened to them for obvious reasons.”

“Uh, what obvious reasons?” Ryan asked.

“You don’t want your girlfriend locked up in a nuthouse, or taken into custody by government officials looking for new tools they can use to spy with,” Gail whispered gravely to him. That took the guy by surprise, and he glanced back and forth between Alex and Gail trying to determine if she was serious. Alex’s expression convinced him and he stopped talking, figuring he’d see what unfolded before he overreacted.

“They’d really do that?” One of the other girls inquired. This one was a really young girl with long brownish hair that fell over one shoulder. She and the girl with scarlet hair both looked young enough to still be underaged.

“How can they arrest an angel?” Vanessa asked.

“Easily,” Alex answered. “If they can nail God’s son to a cross, they’ll have no problems arresting an angel. But I’m trying to tell you that I’m no angel, and I wasn’t sent by God. I’m just someone with a unique genetic trait that somehow activates a related genetic trait that each of you have.”

“Each of us?” asked the third Watcher girl. This one was only a little older than the other two, possibly a friend or an older sister with shorter dark hair and a stripped dress.

“Yes, you three have a milder form of what these two have. You can feel the energy that I give off, but you can’t see it, nor feel it as strongly as they do.”

The lights dimmed again, distracting the discussion. The girls started excitedly talking but Alex quieted them.

“Look, stay here and talk it over. We’ve got a lot to talk about, but right now I need to see how many others like you I can find. Gail here can help you understand what you’re going—”

“Like hell I can,” Gail interrupted him. “You aren’t getting away from me. There’s no telling what might happen to you in this crowd.” Alex sighed in exasperation.

“Fine. Come along, but the rest of you stay here. We’ll be back in a minute.” Alex turned backed after taking a couple of steps away. “Oh, Ryan, if you and Megan want to watch Patricia perform, you’d better come along because we’ll probably be distracted for much of her set.”

Megan and Ryan looked at him in confusion, but Megan decided the issue when she clutched Ryan’s arm and pulled him along behind Alex, who’d already set off for the entrance to the stadium.

Although Alex hadn’t been keeping track of it, it seemed clear that the band had just come out. Patricia was midway through her introductory speech as he entered.

“ ... the feelings that you have. They tell you who to trust and what you should do. Listen to them. Follow them and they’ll lead you to the man who’ll change your view of the world.”

As Patricia continued Alex walked in, looking for anyone that seemed drawn to him. He spotted a woman who turned just as he came to a stop. Their eyes met and that was it.

“Those instincts will lead you to the one who’ll change—”

“It’s HIM! It’s him. He’s come to save me. Oh God!” the woman screamed as she collapsed in front of Alex. Everyone around them turned and looked, the woman’s scream attracting everyone’s attention. Patricia tried to recover quickly to help cover for Alex.

“Well, someone thinks I’ve rambled for too long, so without further ado... , “ Patricia said as she turned and brought her hand down in a signal to her band, and they immediately set off on a song which drowned out anything the woman before Alex might have said. However, it didn’t refocus everyone’s attention as they continued to watch the woman and the strange young man standing awkwardly before her.

‘Quick, get up,’ Alex told her telepathically, which shocked the poor woman that much more. ‘I can’t explain now, but we’ve got to get out of here. I’ll explain everything outside.‘ With that Alex spun and hurried out, although Gail remained behind.

Alex hurried out into the outer rim of the stadium where he saw the people he’d left earlier looking at him in surprise. Figuring he was relatively safe, he glanced back and saw the woman who’d exclaimed over him hurrying after him, followed by Megan and Ryan. He also noticed a couple more people clustered around the passageway entrance, so he headed back to the waiting group he’d left earlier.

“What happened?” Vanessa asked.

“A minor complication,” he answered, turning to regard whoever came out after him.

“Who was it?” the young looking brunette asked, not even bothering with what had happened.

“I activated another Se ... another person,” Alex answered, looking around to see if there was anyone who could overhear what he was saying. There was no one near them, but he noticed a stadium employee watching the group gathered outside the show. Alex’s attention was pulled back when he detected someone enter the corridor.

The woman who’d exclaimed over him ran out first. She was short with whitish blond hair with dark eyelashes and a nice outfit, unlike the ‘rockers’ in attendance who all seemed to dress in t-shirts and jeans. As she headed towards him, several more people appeared behind her, Ryan and Megan among them.

The new people, two young women and a couple of guys, looked between Alex and the blond. Alex didn’t know who they were, but he knew he needed to handle them. The sheer number of people they were encountering was becoming a problem. So far Alex hadn’t had a chance to get to know anyone, and more people kept approaching him. It was going to take a lot to figure out how to adjust to this new approach, as he could see now he wouldn’t be able to take the time to speak with each new follower anymore. Instead he’d have to rely on the other people with him who were scattered around the stadium watching out for others, to tell these people what they needed to know. If he tried to do it himself he’d soon become inundated, and they’d only attract even more attention on what he was doing.

‘Come stand by me but remain silent, I need to get rid of some of these people,’ Alex told the blond.

Alex was hoping to use Gail to intercede on his behalf, but she was nowhere in sight at the moment. The others, seeing the blond heading towards him, followed along.

“What did you do with our friend?” asked a young woman in a red striped t-shirt, who sidled up alongside the woman who’d just followed him out.

“He didn’t do anything,” she hurried to answer, trying to discourage her friends from speaking in her defense.

“What are you talking about?” asked another guy. “You just made a scene in there yelling about this guy had ‘come for you’. Who the hell is he and how does he know you?”

Alex was getting ready to respond when Gail finally showed up, leading another three people. Alex groaned. Things were definitely getting out of hand.

“Listen,” Gail called out, distracting the people asking Alex questions, “it’s just a case of mistaken identity. I don’t think she knows him, and he didn’t actually do anything,” she blustered, trying to invent some excuse for the woman’s behavior, but it achieved what she wanted it to. Alex could tell who was listening to her, and those few who couldn’t keep their eyes off of him. The three women that Gail had brought out all looked at him in wide-eyed wonder, and so did one of the men standing amongst the friends of the blond.

‘Pardon me, Miss... ‘ Alex asked the blond. She turned, looking dumbfounded, but she answered him aloud.

“I’m Lauren Albright.”

‘OK, Lauren, could you take your friends aside and tell them you thought I was someone else, possibly a past boyfriend you were worried about. We need less people out here. We don’t need to attract more attention than we already have,’ Alex told her. She acted on Alex’s suggestion immediately.

“Look, guys, it was all a big mistake, I thought... , “ she said as she led them a short distance away so she could explain things to them privately.

Seeing his chance, Alex approached the other people he was sure were Watchers. The original people he’d left behind trailed along, and Ryan and Megan clustered around him as well.

“All right, this is starting to get out of hand, so I’ll give you the shorthand notes,” Alex told them. He hurried to fill them in as quickly as he could, trying to project the same information to Lauren telepathically. “You each have a unique trait which attracts you to me. As you might have noticed, some people respond even more than that. The people who are attracted to me fall into different categories. People like Lauren are what we call Seers, or type 1s because they can literally see the life energy that everyone has in them. The reason you were each attracted to me is because I have more of that energy than most people have. The rest of you we refer to as Watchers, or type 2s. We call you that because your tendency is to just stand back and watch me. You can feel there’s something important about me, but you generally don’t trust your instincts. You need to get over that. These ‘feelings’ of yours are much more than that, and they can aid you in whatever you do.”

Several people started to ask questions but Alex waved them off, wanting to finish as quickly as he could before anyone else showed up, or Lauren’s friends returned and he wouldn’t be able to speak freely anymore.