The Paper Boy: Dimensional Adventures

By Mark McCray

Rudolph St. Clair had it all. Superpowers, fame and the love and respect of the citizens of New York City until one day a terrible incident occurred, and Rudolph lost his powers. Rudolph St. Clair settled into a normal human lifestyle. He soon married his college sweetheart, started a family and moved into what he thought was the perfect brownstone apartment in Brooklyn. Rudolph soon discovered that the brownstone apartment was haunted, and he would have to fight for his survival. In addition, family secrets, and a possible alien threat loomed in the background and created additional challenges for a man who no longer had superpowers. Rudolph would have to find the courage and strength to deal with the spiritual and alien forces and solves The Mystery of Brownstone 4067.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781663232472

Mark McCray

Mark McCray is an award-winning television writer and has been in the broadcasting industry for over twenty years. He is also the author and podcast host of The Best Saturdays of Our Lives. He lives in Powder Springs, Georgia, with his family.

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Copyright © 2020 Mark McCray.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-3248-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-3247-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021924073

iUniverse rev. date:  03/03/2022

CONTENTS

Part 1   Origin Story

Secret Origins

Superpowers Revealed

Supercareer—Crash and Burn

Part 2   The Haunting

The Haunting Begins

The Tar Monster

The Voodoo Lady

The Nightmare Strikes Back

Horror Attack in Linear Time

Rudolph Ain’t Got No Sister!

Andrew Gets Spooked!

Origins Revealed—Finally!

The Colesians

The Battle Plan

The Final Battle

Epilogue

About the Author

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PART 1

ORIGIN

STORY

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SECRET ORIGINS

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In the fall of 1961, an earthquake registering 3.8 on the Richter scale hit New York City. The quake shocked many residents because the Northeast isn’t a location known for earthquakes. However, as strange as it may sound to some, New York City is actually no stranger to seismic shake-ups, although they are relatively rare in geologic time. While there are no tectonic plates to rub up against in the Big Apple, fault lines do run through the bedrock that underlies the land and the rift of the Hudson River valley. Sometimes the fault lines move, and sometimes the earth shakes for distinctly different reasons.

It seemed that the temblor woke up a young couple named Mansfield and Emerald St. Clair, who resided in the Bronx. Mansfield rushed from his bed to see whether his home was damaged. Gazing out the kitchen window, he noted that the fence in the backyard was flattened. To his amazement, he saw a weird cone-shaped spaceship. Mansfield thought he was hallucinating.

Emerald! Honey, come quick! You won’t believe what’s outside in the backyard!

Emerald soon stood at Mansfield’s side, and both just stared at the spaceship in disbelief.

Do you think the spaceship caused the earthquake? Mansfield asked.

Can’t say for sure, Emerald said, but I suppose it’s possible.

We should get the police over here, Mansfield said.

Leaning forward to get a better look at the ship, Emerald said, Let’s go see what this thing is first.

Are you sure? Mansfield asked, feeling the first stab of fear surge through him. The spaceship was perhaps a harbinger of great disaster of dire times that would bring down the entire human race. He pushed the thoughts away. OK. Let’s go see what just landed in our backyard.

Together, they ventured out of the house to take a closer look at the spaceship. As they approached the craft, a hatch on the right side slowly began to open. They stopped, frozen in their tracks. Mansfield took Emerald’s hand in his.

Oh my God, he whispered.

Emerald squeezed his hand hard enough to hurt. Sweet Jesus!

A beam of light came out of the hatch and started to glow and slowly change form, finally shape-shifting into a 3D image of a face that looked like that of a baby. Mansfield rubbed his eyes, unsure whether he could believe what he was seeing.

Attention, typical Earth couple! You have been chosen by our high council of a distant world to raise our son, who is the survivor of our war-town world. Mansfield, come forward and place your hands on the side of our spaceship. Your karmic energy will open a separate infant hatch that will free our son from his long sleep. You are to care for him like he is your own. Do you understand?

Trembling, Mansfield nodded and approached the spaceship. He placed his hands on the surface of the craft. The metal felt warm to the touch and extraordinarily smooth. Within seconds, a door slid open, revealing a beautiful baby boy with big brown eyes and a little bit of curly dark hair on both sides of his head.

The baby’s complexion was tea brown.

Mansfield lifted the baby from the crib nestled inside the ship and cradled him in his arms. He’s beautiful. Just look at those eyes. There’s something about them I can’t fathom.

Emerald took the baby from Mansfield. She made cooing sounds, and the baby actually laughed. Can we keep him? she jokingly asked Mansfield.

The voice from the spaceship said, Yes, you can keep him. In fact, we want you to raise him like your own. He will make up for the son you lost. You will call him Rudolph Vaughn St. Clair. He is from another world, and you must forever keep that a secret. Do you understand?

Mansfield swallowed hard. Yes, we both understand.

At that, the spaceship began to glow. Suddenly, the couple heard a deep rumble. The earth shook again, and the craft slowly ascended.

My God, Emerald said, I can’t believe this!

The spaceship accelerated, and soon, it was nothing more than a bright speck in the early-morning sky. The sun was already inching up over the horizon, and the stars were fading fast.

It almost doesn’t seem real, Mansfield said, leaning over to touch Rudolph’s cheek.

I know, Emerald said. Smiling, she rocked the baby back and forth in her arms. We’ll have to get him some official papers, and I know just the person to ask to make it look like we adopted him.

And that very day, Emerald called in a favor to a friend, and the right papers were drawn up to show that Rudolph was their adopted son.

Emerald’s position as a nurse’s aide at Bellevue, one of the most prestigious hospitals in New York City, gave her access to New York’s privileged crowd. Bellevue was, and still is, a world-renowned hospital for creating the first maternity ward and outpatient programs and one of the first hospitals in the United States to employ African American doctors. The latter accomplishment had helped Emerald obtain employment at Bellevue. A year prior to Rudolph’s spaceship materializing in the St. Clair yard, Emerald had had the