Title: "Revelations: Part 10 of 14"        

         Inside of Matt's apartment, the sun was shining through an open window. It covered his face in sunshine. He tried to roll over in his bed to get out of its path, but instead groaned at the pain he was still feeling from the night before.

         With the sun still shining on him, he cracked one eye open. He looked hazily around before opening the other. It must have already been noon. He couldn't believe he had slept that late. What time was it anyway? He tried to raise up to get his clock, but forgetting about the night before, he flopped back down onto the bed in pain. He rubbed his face, which was still feeling sore and even slightly swelled. The thoughts from the previous night were a blur. Had all of that really happened? Had he walked Patrick Balmore's girlfriend home, only to get into a fight with Patrick himself? It seemed a little large to believe until he went to roll over in his bed. A shot of pain suddenly struck through his arms. Yes, it had been true.

         He lay back down in the bed, just trying to stay still and comfortable. But suddenly, his telephone began to ring. He looked over at it, a good three feet from his bed. He leaned across the corner of the bed. It hurt. He reached further. Almost had the phone, although his body was going through a small hell to get it.

         Finally reaching it, he pulled it off the table and down beside his bed. Picking up the receiver, he answered, although slightly with a gush of air. "Hello?"

         The voice on the other line was soft, not sure. "Matt?"

         Matt put the phone closer to his ear, shifting in the bed slowly. Had he really been with Erica Storm? Was this her? He just wasn't quite sure what all had been purely fantasy. "Uh-huh? Who is this?"

         The voice gained in confidence, speaking slightly louder into the receiver. "Hey, this is Erica!"

         It hadn't been a fantasy! It was real. Painfully real, but she was calling him the next day, so Matt considered that it could of actually been worth it! When he did actually realize he was talking to HER, though, the excitement seemed watered down in his response. A slight shyness came over him. "Oh, hey! How are you?"

         She answered kindly. "I'm fine. I think a more important question, though, should be 'how are you?'"

         How was he? Well, he felt like hell on this fine afternoon. He couldn't tell her that, though. Maybe sugarcoat it a little, just so she wouldn't worry for him, even if she would do that. Matt wasn't going to assume anything. Although he hoped what had happened last night between the two of them had been real, and hopefully continuing, he had to take it a moment at a time.

         He wouldn't have her if he took forever to answer her question, though. "Oh... thanks. Well, I'm doing better. Thanks for asking. The swelling on my face has gone down. I don't think I broke anything, although my body's almost too sore to move."

         "Awww... " That felt good to hear. Meant something was going right for Matt, at least. "I'm so sorry. Matt, I just wanted to thank you for what you did last night." That meant that something even better might be going for him.

         He couldn't appear like it was something huge. "Oh... it... it was no problem."

         But she answered quickly and sternly. In a way, Matt figured that sounded like this did all seem to sound very positive indeed. "No, it was. No guy I have ever known before would ever have the gall to stand up to Patrick. You were the first I had ever seen to do that."

         He wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't expected that. "Thank you," was all that he could get to come out of his mouth.

         "No, you shouldn't ever have to thank me. I should be the one thanking you from here on out." Erica sounded sincere, serious. Matt tried to rise up his bed as he listened to Erica say this. It was a little painful, but he done it.

         And suddenly, a flash of genius came to him. He hoped she wouldn't think he was getting ahead of himself too much here. "No. I meant, thank you for even allowing me the chance to do that for you."

         She paused over the phone briefly. Matt's heart fell quickly, knowing he had in fact said the wrong thing. She finally did answer, though, in a slightly confused tone. "I don't understand."

         Oh boy. Matt figured he might as well go ahead and say it since she was asking. See if what he was hoping was an actual reality in her reply. "I realize that we met under weird circumstances last night. But, just the fact that we were from separate worlds, yet, you still talked to me at Lucky's, and even let me walk you home... or attempt to... was something of amazement to me."

         Over the phone, Erica seemed to brighten up quickly, suddenly understanding or becoming aware of something. Matt wasn't sure. She did reply quickly, though. "Well, it was like I was telling Zero earlier... "

         Zero? Wait. Had in fact Zero saved them last night? Matt was still trying to piece apart what was fact and fiction from last night. He had thought Zero was there. And Erica was talking to him? He was definitely curious. "You met Zero?"

         She didn't sound confused or misunderstanding when she quickly replied. "I officially met him last night while you were passed out on your bed. He wound up taking me home after you had fallen asleep. Before you had awoken this morning, we had also went up to the town hall and watched most of the homecoming for Theodore."

         Zero had probably got to know her better already than Matt himself knew her. Oh the troubles you go through to defend someone. What if she liked Zero instead, and was just concerned about him? His heart was starting to sink again. Of course, he wouldn't stand in the way if her and Zero did in fact come together because of last night. Zero deserved someone after what had happened to him with Karen. But Erica? Someone Matt had finally found. He could only muster out a slight reply. "Oh... " he said.

         She picked back up with her original story that she was telling Matt. "But like I was telling Zero, I hate to... "

         And suddenly, her mentioning of the homecoming for Theodore finally went off in Matt's head. He had completely not recognized that when she had said it. Wait, wait, what was this all about? She might like Zero, she might like Matt, but first, Matt was highly wondering what the whole homecoming thing was.

         Interrupting her quickly, he said, "Wait. I'm sorry. What was the homecoming thing you were talking about? Theodore Balmore, the guy who attacked us last night?"

         She was kind of hesitant to reply, although a mode of not wanting to say it. "Well, it was actually his younger brother, Patrick, who fought you. But yeah, the town threw a big homecoming celebration thing today at the Town Hall in honor Theodore. He gave a big, long, boring speech, and then the mayor of this city honored him with a new city limits sign that welcomed us to Berkeley, home of Theodore Balmore."

         That infuriated Matt. He gets beat down the night before and the counter part receives a reward! "What a load of shit. Do they not know about what he did last night?"

         Erica was starting to feel the bottled anger that Matt was sending over the telephone. Matt could sense it when she replied to him in a 'what are we supposed to do?' tone. "Who would be around to tell anyone? Us? Yeah, like they would believe us over the guy that they were celebrating no more than two hours ago."

         "You were, at one point, Patrick's girlfriend. They must believe something you say!" Matt pointed it out before even thinking about what he was saying.

         But she didn't act like it hurt her. He infuriated her more than anything else did. "No one would listen. That's just it. I was Patrick's girlfriend. Having him as a name value increases someone's opinion of someone else, but without that mantle, your voice is just lost in the minority. It's a stereotype of the worst kind."

         Matt was still feeding off the anger of being screwed in his own hometown with a so-called hometown hero. "But Erica, something has to be done. He cannot wake up the next morning and just appear alongside his brother in front of the city, painting a picture of himself as a saint."

         Erica sighed over the phone. Matt assumed she had already been thinking of this whole thing as well, and had most probably expressed how she felt with Zero. "I know it, Matt. I was with him for it seems like forever. I witnessed first hand all of his tricks and maneuvers through people. He'll get away with this. I just fear what the next thing is that he will get away with.

         Maybe she had already talked all of this over with Zero and Matt was just getting the tail end of it. He didn't know. He supposed she was just going to be that kind of person with him. The friend to come to when in trouble... if he could call her a friend yet. He'd only known her name-to-name for maybe twelve hours.

         It was to his surprise, though, when she spoke back over the phone to him.

         "Matt, would you mind if I came over? If you are feeling ok, that is. I just would really like to see you right now, talk to you face to face. Maybe even put all of this other business aside for a little while and finish our conversations from last night."

         Wow! Suddenly, Matt felt he could literally jump for joy, despite any pain he would feel from it. Those words that Erica had just told him were some of the best things he had heard in a long time. He tried to contain himself before he responded to her on the phone, though.

         "Yeah, that'd be fine. I feel fine. In fact, that would be great." Maybe he had overdone it.

         Erica went quiet for a moment, sounding as if she was in conversation with someone else (Zero? Matt assumed it wasn't), before answering back onto the phone. "My dad said I could use his car, but I have to drop him off at one of his friends' house before I can get over there. But, I'll be over there probably before you can even get out of that bed!"

         Matt and Erica both laughed a little refreshing laugh. It was something good on the onset to what had happened to both of them.

         "Ok. I'll see you soon," said Erica.

         "See you soon."

         They both hung up their phones. Within moments, Matt was, pain or no pain, out of the bed and trying to find something decent to put on before she arrived at his house.

* * * * *

         It was noon. While Erica had gone home to call Matt, Zero had instead went to the Gilman alley.

         The sun was shining down into the alley. Zero was pacing back and forth inside of it; his hands buried deep inside of his pockets. He had dropped Erica off at her home, but instead of going back to his own home, he had gone straight to the alley. It was his other home, in a sense. Not a modern conventional home, but a place he could always go to as how any other person would retreat to their bedroom or den.

         He walked over to a wall, the wall where he had sat the night before and written in his journal. He sat down onto the blanket. The whole ordeal of last night, culminating into what he had just seen earlier at the Town Hall, was unnerving him. He had been able to halt the return altercation between himself and Theodore, but what were the positives? Theodore still came out of it with no worries and with honor and fame in his own hometown. But what about Zero? He had simply been worked out of the equation.

         Sitting against the wall, Zero thought to previous days when he had been questioning the name of "Zero." Then his mind flashed to the Town Hall. Did he really want the name that that man had originally given him? It was cute as a childhood rebellion act to agitate and unnerve Theodore, but watching Theodore on stage, Zero knew it no longer rattled him. As far as Zero could tell, he was the very last thing on Theodore's mind. In fact, if it hadn't of been for Matt and Erica, he and Theodore would of probably never even ran into each other again in Berkeley. That was the conclusion Zero had come to.

         As he sat there, he pulled out his slowly dwindling pack of cigarettes. He lit one up and took a drag from it. Leaning his head against the wall behind him, he blew the smoke up into the cloudless sky. He sighed. "Great being you, isn't it?" he said lowly to himself.

         He lowered his head back down and looked around the alley before taking another drag. Just as he raised the cigarette to his lips, though, something peculiar grabbed his attention. What was that across the alley? Up against the wall. It was something small, black. Zero had never noticed it in the alley before. Could someone of been in the alley recently? Zero knew better. No one ever entered the alley but him. Most assumed it was condemned after the three bodies were found in it just a few years earlier.

         But he raised up anyway. He got to his feet and put the cigarette into the corner of his mouth as he walked across to the opposite alley wall. He bent down, taking the cigarette out of his mouth, and picked up the object with his other hand. It was a thin black glove.

         Zero knew he had nothing like this. Someone had been in the alley, and recently, too. He stood up, looking at the glove under the shining sun. He looked hard at it. It almost appeared to be in different patterns. Swirls of lighter shades. Zero looked harder. He thought, and it suddenly hit him. That was not a designed pattern in those gloves. That was blood, long since dried into the fabric.

         Zero thought back. Gloves. Black. Blood. His mind was racing. He tossed the cigarette off to the side of the alley, only haven smoked two drags from it.

         He crumbled the glove up and put it into his pocket. Things were starting to click. He quickly walked down the path to the alley entrance, not stopping or slowing down until he was at the door of his apartment. He took a deep breath, and went inside.

* * * * *

         Erica pulled into the Gilman apartment parking lot just past 1:30 PM. Zero was pulling out in his Blazer just as she was pulling in. She waved, but he didn't even acknowledge her as he spun out of the lot and cut onto the main street. Confused, she quickly ran to the apartments and up to Matt's door. She went to open it, but it was locked. She became scared. She started knocking, harder and harder. Eventually, she heard footsteps. A person came to the door, opening it slowly, barely having a crack big enough to see out of. She could barely see Matt's eyes.

         Inside of the house, he let out a deep breath. "Ok. Ok, ok. Let me unlock this chain link lock real quick."

         She began to look over her shoulder at the vacant street, suddenly becoming afraid to be out in the open. She was becoming apprehensive, wanting Matt to hurry and unlock the door. She didn't know what there was to suddenly be afraid of. Finally, she heard a solid click, and the door swung open.

         "Come in, come in!" Matt had a state of urgency wrapped on his face.

         Erica quickly went inside of the house, with Matt closing the door behind her. If he was still feeling sore, she knew he was doing a good job of hiding it. Or maybe fear itself was overtaking the pain.

         "What is it, Matt? What is going on?" Her questions were snapped with urgency.

         "Zero came by the apartment just a minute ago..." He rushed the words out.

         "I passed him as I pulled in. He didn't even wave back to me... " Something was going on, Erica knew that much.

         "I know, I know. Don't take it personally.

         "But he stopped by here and told me he had just been on the phone for the past hour, and now he was about to go to Albany." Matt took a deep breath of air. "Do you want to sit down?"

         Erica nodded her head and started moving towards the couch with Matt. She asked, "Albany? Why... "

         Matt blurted in. "I don't know. He didn't say. All I know, though, is that he was in a big rush. He told me to lock my doors, get in contact with you, and for you to get somewhere safe with the doors locked. That's all he said, but he looked like he was thinking of something else. I don't know, Erica."

         They sat down on the couch. Erica's eyes were getting bigger and more curious as she went. She was definitely scared now. "Matt, Matt... my dad's at one of his friends. It's on Bataan Avenue. Is he safe? Do you think? I'm scared."

         "I think he's safe. I hope so. I hope we are. I am scared, too, Erica. I do not know what's going on. I just hope Zero gets back here in time. Then we should hopefully know what's going on."

         Erica was scared. It was in her face. She was also confused. "Albany? Matt... that's a long drive from here! What's in Albany?"

         "I don't know... I don't know! I don't know why he would go to Albany if something were in serious danger here, but he does things like that. You would have to know him." Matt was looking down at his feet as he told her that. Suddenly, the pain that the fear had covered so well hit him like a sledgehammer.

         Erica's next words cast the pain away, somewhat though. With tears swelling up in her eyes from not knowing what was happening, she uttered to him. "Matt... hold me!"

         It was instinct. Matt leaned to her, and they connected in a hug. Her tears started running down onto his shirt, soaking it down to his skin. He didn't care though. All doubts that he had had before were being cast away.

         They sat there in that embrace. To Matt, it seemed like hours. She cried, initially out of fear, but then from everything that happened just recently happened to her. She let go, telling him everything she had kept inside of her. She told him of the relationship with Patrick. She told him of the way he had treated her, using scare tactics from time to time to get his way with her. She told him of the fears she had always had if she left him. She told him she had worried for her life because she knew what he was like when she was with him. She feared what would happen if that would have changed. And, she told him of her mother. Things she had kept inside of her, emotions of her mother, how much she had loved her. How much she missed her and how she felt so compassionate for her father.

         They sat there for hours. Matt listened, let her talk. He let her get the things off of her chest. He spoke up when the moment called for it, but for the majority of the time, he felt it was better for her to just say the things she had obviously kept inside of her for too long.

         This continued on well into the day, even after the moon had came up. Zero had yet to come back, unless he had came back and not told Matt. But Matt assumed he would stop by to at least explain to him what was going on.

         Suddenly, the phone rang.