The Watcher

By Gage Sears

"This is Mulberry. Nothing bad ever happens here!"

Small towns are generally safe. Somewhere you can leave your car or home unlocked at night without worry. Kids frolic around the town, joyful to be playing outdoors without parental supervision because it's so safe. It's too safe. No bad people live in these towns. Nothing bad ever happens in these towns. Murders, drugs, and stalkers don't come here. Those only happen in big cities. Right?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889605393

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The Watcher

Gage Sears

Copyright © 2023 Gage Sears

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

Author Photo Credit: Aysa Sears

ISBN 979-8-88960-499-0 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88960-562-1 (hc)

ISBN 979-8-88960-539-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Authors Note/Acknowledgments

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

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45

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47

Prologue

About the Author

Authors Note/Acknowledgments

I thought I would say a few words before you dive into my first novel. Don't worry, I'll keep it brief. First of all, thank you for reading my book, and if you are reading this, then thank you for reading my note. Not many people take the time to read the authors note.

I want to thank those that helped me with the research into creating this story. First of all, thank you very much to all the people involved in the publication of this book at Page Publishing, you guys have helped make my dream a reality, and I can't thank you enough for giving me the chance to put my work out to the world! Thank you Alyssa Paul for the knowledge on all the photography info I used in this story. Thank you to Steven Yoyada Liem for making the pre-publishing cover design. Thank you to all female members of my family for helping to learn how to write the female personalities, I know we had some awkward talks, and those will continue throughout my writing career. Thank you to mom and dad for supporting my creative side throughout the years, and encouraging me not to give up on my stories. And almost the most import acknowledgement I need to give, thank you very much to my wife and kids, I couldn't have done it with out the love and support of you guys, and for allowing me the time to be able to put this creation to the pages

Now, the absolute most important acknowledgement to you dear reader! You are devoting time of you life to read my work, and you are entrusting me to amuse and entertain you with my own imagination. I really hope I don't let you down! Without you, this book in your hands would gather dust on a shelf, a waste of the human imagination. Enjoy!

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events, and incidents are the product of the author's(my) imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Thank you,

Gage Sears

1

Our tale starts in a medium-sized Kansas town called Mulberry in 2017. The town isn't country, dirty, and smelled like cow shit like most Kansas towns. It was south of a bigger city, Pawnee, so it's got some size and well-off people. Mulberry had a big Walmart and even one of those little ones that suddenly appeared: a Target, a strip mall, and other bigger town stores. The crime rate was fairly low considering its proximity to Pawnee. A place you could leave your door unlocked at night and be fine. The town preached heavily on community values and strived to keep the small-town feel, yet it grew. There were two middle schools, five elementary schools, but just one high school.

The town was odd in some ways. The city board members wanted to promote tourism but still wanted to seem like a cute little Kansas town. During this time, Mulberry's main attraction was the large casino located outside of town. This casino had an event center where they would host events for musicians who were popular in the eighties, but whose careers never made it out of the eighties. At the end of summer, they celebrated the town's founding. They called this event Railroad Days. This celebration was held for three days and was the largest income-generating event for the small city for the entire year.

James Hanson was a young man aged sixteen—tall, skinny, with dark hair and green eyes. He came from a medium-class family. They could afford vacations once a year to somewhere out of state, but were not well off enough to drive around in a Mercedes, just enough to live comfortably. James worked part-time at a local grocery store called Smith's bagging groceries and stocking coolers most of the time. Every so often, he would run the register as well. He was kind of an outcast in his school. He was a little peculiar, but nothing too bad. He didn't obsess over D&D or serial killers like most of the outcasts did. He was more into art like painting, drawing, and the occasional sculpture, but he was not too good at ceramics or pottery. He could do the basics, but that is about where his sculpting talent ended. His parents were Edgar and Patricia. His two older sisters were Katey and Georgia, and his younger brother Joey.

James was dating another kind of outcast girl named Jade Harrison. Jade was an English girl who stood 5'7" and weighed 130 pounds. She had black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. She was also sixteen, but just a little younger than James. She was born November 19, while James was born October 1. Her family was from England. Her older sister and older brother both had accents, but Jade did not. Jade grew up mostly in the States while her siblings were aged seven and five when the family moved to America when Jade was just two years old. Jade's parents were Winston and Elizabeth. Her siblings were Victor and Marybelle.

Jade enjoyed writing romances in her free time when she wasn't with James. And even sometimes when she was with James, she would write. She was seen as being mostly flawless, though she thought she had but one flaw. Jade had cerebral palsy. Nothing too bad, more of a mild case. She had shaky hands sometimes, and on occasion, her limbs would function quite right. Outside of these flare-ups, she was normal.

Jade and James were both the hopeless romantic types, so they were always complimenting each other and kissing. If you knew them, you would likely say they were real-life Romeo and Juliet, without the suicide. They both had a good relationship with both sets of parents, and the parents were friends with each other. Sometimes the Harrisons would all go over to the Hansons and vice versa. It was a quaint little life for the two families.

James and Jade were texting, trying to figure out what to do with their day. School was out, and they had nothing but time today. James had the day off, and Jade was taking a break from the job-hunting process.

We could go to the pool! James texted a suggestion. He didn't mind seeing Jade in her bikini.

Yea, I'm too pale to be outside, baby.

Fine. Well, the rec center has an indoor pool. We could go there. Maybe put our stuff in the family shower room, and have a little fun rinsing off?

Hell yea! I'm down! Jade responded ecstatically.

How's 1? The soccer moms won't be there yet with their brats.

Deal. You gonna pick me up?

You know it! James replied.

The time was currently eleven, and James only lived about ten minutes away from Jade, but there was still much to do before he could go get her. He had to check and make sure he had a condom in his wallet, make sure his swimsuit fit, and find his sandals and a towel. He quickly found all these and made sure there was a rubber in his wallet. It was noon by the time he had everything ready.

It was a ten-minute drive to Jade's and a fifteen-minute drive to the rec center. Maybe he could get to her house a little early. Her parents were not home, but the siblings were. So sex was out of the question for her house anyway. But making out was on the table.

James threw all his stuff in a bag and went to his car without much thought. Time seemed to speed by fast on his way to Jade's like it always seemed to do when he had her on his mind. James glided up the stairs to her door, or at least it seemed that way, and he walked in. He did not need to knock anymore since the families were all so well acquainted. As soon as James entered the door, the first person he saw was Marybelle.

Hey, what's up? she asked.

Just picking up Jade for swimming.

Your smile is creepy, she remarked.

Okay…I don't know what you want me to do about that, James responded, confused.

Marybelle was going through sort of an emo phase, so she always had to seem depressed and hate happiness. James thought she would be cute if she didn't look like she always wanted to commit suicide. She was not much older than Jade and James, but she wanted to seem like she was.

Marybelle scoffed at him and walked away. He shook his head in disbelief and went ahead down the hall to the stairs. Jade's room was on the second floor, the first door on the left, Victor's room was the first on the right, and Marybelle's was in the basement. She said she preferred the basement because she was the family's black sheep, even though she wasn't. It was all just an act and a trend.

So he went up to see if she was ready. As he reached the top, he saw Victor's door was open, and Victor was playing some sort of violent military game. This wasn't James's thing, so he just rolled his eyes.

How can a twenty-one-year-old be playing that trash with a 3.8 GPA? he thought to himself. He turned to the left, knocked lightly on Jade's door, and slowly started opening the door. When it was open enough, he slipped in through the door. Due to the layout of Jade's room, she could not see the door from the closet door where she was standing. What James saw was a magnificent sight—Jade in bikini bottoms and nothing else, with her earbuds in her ears, dancing and slightly singing. He decided to lean against the wall and watch the silly topless girl. She was digging through her dresser looking for something.

When she found it, she started to turn slowly and caught sight of James. She was startled at first as all she saw was a person at her door, leaning against the wall, watching her dance almost naked. In a split second, she quickly covered her chest and hunched over forward, as if to conceal her nudity. As she realized it was James, she stood upright again but remained covered. She was blushing so much, her cheeks looked like someone had just rubbed them hard.

You're a goof! James said to her as she popped out the earbuds.

And you're a perv! she shot back with a giggle.

James started advancing toward her, and she slowly uncovered her breasts.

It's not perving if the observer and the performer are soulmates, he replied.

Jade smiled at his compliment and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Were the jams at least good? he asked.

She smiled and put an earbud in his right ear and one in her left ear. The song was Shape of You by Ed Sheeran. James loved this song. Jade did too. He started humming along with the tune. Jade kissed him, and he kissed back. After a few seconds, James picked her up and gently laid her down on her bed where the two passionately made out. Eventually Jade put a stop to it, insisting that she couldn't have sex with her siblings at home, just in case one of them were to walk in.

You know I can't keep quiet while loving you, she claimed.

I know, but I wasn't trying for sex. I just have missed you since last night and wanted to show you my affection. James rolled off her and sat up. Ready for the pool? he asked excitedly.

Yeah, but my left arm isn't working. Can you help me get my top, shorts, and shirt on? she asked. Her cerebral palsy was acting up. It did that sometimes when she got excited.

For you, anything.

After Jade was dressed and in the car, she regained the function of her arm. The two sang aloud as they drove to the rec center. The alt station was their drug of choice. Lana Del Rey, Ed Sheeran, and that one Ellie Goulding song were all the rage, and they loved them all. It was a good thing love songs were all the rage. Jade thought it made the world more of a happy place to have love so prominent in today's music.

When they arrived at the rec center, they paid the admission fee of $4 each and decided to put their stuff in the family locker room. They each grabbed their towels and made for the pool. They picked a chair to put the towels in. James removed his T-shirt, and Jade took off her T-shirt and shorts. They set their clothes on the chair and went to the water. They waded in from the shallow side, allowing Jade to slowly adjust to the water so her CP didn't act up again. Once they finally reached the five-feet area, Jade faced and mounted James and had him carry her. The two drifted through the water talking. Jade told James about a love story she had thought of, and James talked about work. The two went to kiss when a whistle blew.

Hey, keep it clean! yelled a muscular lifeguard.

Kissing is clean. It's even in Disney movies for kids! Jade replied.

I don't care. Don't do it in my pool! the guard snapped back at her.

Wow. Way too much power, James joked.

Well, I guess we can wait till afterward to kiss.

Maybe you can, but I can't, James replied. Maybe we should just be rebellious and go against his precious rules. We are in love after all. What's the harm in showing it?

I wish we could, but rules are rules, babe, Jade said with sadness.

The two continued to drift and chat for about twenty minutes or so when James accidentally bumped into a wall. This broke his apparent trance by feeling Jade's body pressed against his.

Wanna go to the diving boards? Or the sauna? he asked.

I'll do the sauna, but not the diving board. I'd love to watch you jump off the diving board though, she said with a cute little smile. Besides, I could use a few minutes laying on a chair. She would do this so her muscles wouldn't get too weak from the extra strain. Even just keeping her legs wrapped around James in the pool or at the lake was sometimes too much. You never realize just how many muscles you use just trying to stay upright in a pool, and for poor Jade, her legs could stop working at any time, so she had to always be near someone in the deeper sections. If she couldn't hold herself up with her legs or grab onto the side of the pool, then someone needed to accompany her, which was never a problem if James was around.

James carried her over to the ladder and let her climb up. He admired her backside as she did so. He then turned and dove underwater to swim to the other side where the diving board was. He reached the edge, pulled himself up and out, strolled over to the board, and began to climb. As he climbed, he saw a light flash of light. No, not like lightning. But a camera flash. That was odd. Both James and Jade had left their phones in the locker. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him?

He brushed it off and reached the top. It was a ten-foot drop to the water. James hesitated, took a couple of big steps, and jumped. He bounced on the board to gain some height, then on his second bounce, he sprang off and into the water. In his descent, he noticed another flash of light like the one he saw on his climb. He splashed in the water, went down about eleven feet, and swam toward the edge of the pool. He pulled himself up and out of the water. Cold water was trickling out of his ears and down the side of his face. When enough water exited his ear, he could hear Jade cheering him on from the chair.

James wiped his face free of the water with his hands and smiled at Jade. He noticed she didn't have her phone or a camera. So the flash of light remained unexplained. He brushed it off. Time for another dive.

James strolled over to the ladder again to climb up to the board. From the top he repeated his process, and this time, when he launched off, he tilted his head forward and bent at the waist into a front flip. James did two full rotations before splashing into the water. There was no flash of light this time. Maybe it was just a trick of his eyes too. Too much chlorine or something maybe.

After two more regular dives and a backflip, James was done with the diving board. After each jump, he would surface to hear Jade cheering him on. After he surfaced for the last time and got out of the water, he strutted over to Jade. He had plenty of confidence from his soulmate cheering him on like she was, sitting there in her bikini in the foldout chair, looking as lovely as ever. Seeing her big bright smile always made him think of when they first met. Though he could not remember it himself, he pictured it in his mind.

2

January 2004, the Harrison family had been living in Mulberry for a couple of weeks. They moved in the week of Christmas, which was difficult with three kids all wanting to make sure the Christmas tree was up in time for Old Saint Nick's visit, but the family managed. Winston Harrison had gotten sick of living in England. The family lived in a town about an hour south of London called Brighton. The town itself was all right, but they wanted something different than England. He didn't believe there was much sunshine, and he was a meteorologist, so the rumors of Kansas weather fascinated him, like the tornado mentioned in The Wizard of Oz. He had never seen a tornado, at least not a strong one. The ones that did hit the UK were very weak, and he wanted to see a real tornado like out of the Twister movie.

That said, the family moved to Tornado Alley. Kansas, well-known for tornados, was Winston's ideal location. However, Winston wasn't one of those meteorologists you see on TV. He was more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. Like in the US, he would be one of the guys working at the place where the weather radios get their information. Winston didn't care for the idea of being on TV; he was more fascinated by the behavior and the cause of weather conditions.

Kansas was one of the wildest climates he had ever heard of. It could be 85°F one day in April, and the next, it would be snowing, or at least that's what he was told. The idea of storm chasing in the summers was exhilarating to him, so when the opportunity arrived for him to chase a severe winter storm, he was ecstatic to start. Kansas had some pretty rough winters from time to time. So for a severe winter storm, Winston was expecting a lot of ice, car accidents, and of course, power outages.

Since Winston wasn't quite used to driving on the other side of the road and car, the organization had a more experienced driver behind the wheel. This was so Winston could study the weather and make his reports rather than trying to drive in total whiteout, forty-miles-an-hour wind, blowing snow and ice, and trying to remember which side of the road to drive on. Winston got a few notebooks, pens, and even two pencils for the expedition and started putting them into his bag.

Hey, Winston! called out Mr. Hayes. Mr. Hayes was Winston's supervisor. He was a tall white fat man who was starting to go bald. Mr. Hayes had a pretty serious Dr Pepper addiction, which didn't help his three-hundred-pound body mass. He was a good, honest, and fair man to work for though.

Aye, what's going on, Mr. Hayes?

I have a photographer that wants to ride along, told him he could hitch a ride with you and Derek.

Alrighty, where is the lad then?

He's coming, Mr. Hayes replied then walked off.

Winston continued to stuff his notebooks and pens in his bag. It was a fairly nice bag he had gotten back in the UK. Elizabeth had gotten it for him when he graduated from university, slick brown leather that now was showing some wear.

Once his bag was packed, Winston slung it over his shoulder. He felt like Indiana Jones every time he did that. He just needed a whip and the fedora. However, he was no Indy. He wasn't even an archaeologist; he was a meteorologist. Old relics never really interested Winston, but the weather did, which was as old as time itself.

Hey, my name is Edgar Hanson. I'm looking for a man named Winston Harrison? came a voice behind Winston.

Winston turned to see a man of similar design to himself, just a little bit taller and with blue eyes. Well, you found him! He extended a hand to Edgar. Winston Harrison's the name, storm chasing is the game. Are you ready for this one?

Definitely. I've been wanting to shoot some winter weather.

Well, I guess you're in the right place! What kind of firepower you got there?

The Minolta Max! Edgar exclaimed, thinking Winston may have known what he was talking about. I like it. It does what I need it to. Looks great for weddings and stuff, so I thought I'd try it out on the weather.

Sounds nice. Is it one of those digitals?

Nah, it ain't that nice. Maybe one day I'll go digital. I like the way the colors pop with the film.

Indeed so. I've seen some impressive snaps of different weather clouds and happenings back in England. If you'd like, maybe sometime I can show you them. They are marvelous pieces.

That would be fantastic!

After about half an hour or so, the trio was on the road. They were passing through the big city of Pawnee. Mulberry was a suburb of Pawnee. If you just needed some basic living supplies, you could get those in Mulberry or Wheatfield. But if you wanted more expensive items, Pawnee was the place to go. They had malls, gangs, heroin, and everything else you'd expect in the biggest city in Kansas. The team was going north of Pawnee just outside of Playton. The town called themselves a city and thought giving a happy- and cheerful-sounding name would attract tourists or something. They were wrong. They had a coliseum at one point, but Pawnee built an arena, so the coliseum lost business and eventually was sold off to a private investor. Outside of Playton was some more rural area, which was where the storm was supposed to hit the hardest.

Edgar and Winston chatted for the drive up. Derek, the driver, wasn't interested in socializing with these guys. He had just got the Elephunk album from the Black-Eyed Peas on CD and was listening to it on his portable CD player.

Got any kids? Edgar asked.

Yes, I have three. Marybelle, Victor, and Jade. Victor is seven, Marybelle is five, and Jade is two. Have you got any?

Yes, Katey, Georgia, James, and Joey. Katey is eight, Georgia is five, James is two, and Joey is three months.

You're a busy man. How did you get the time to do photography? Winston asked with genuine interest.

I started in a dark room at a Walmart, and one thing kinda just led to another. What about you and being a weatherman?

Well, I'm a meteorologist. Different from the weatherman. I don't do the tele stuff. Too camera shy.

Suddenly, a quick flash illuminated the inside of the van. Winston was blinded by the flash.

Sorry, I didn't mean to use the big flash, said Edgar apologetically. He had taken a photo of Winston.

That's quite all right. How'd it turn out?

Not sure yet. I'll let you know in a few days, Edgar replied with a chuckle.

The team drove around for another hour before the true winter storm made an impact on the van. Winston moved up to the passenger seat with his notebook in hand and pens in the cup holder. He left the pencils in the bag. The storm started with twenty-two-miles-per-hour consistent wind with gusts up to almost 40 mph. The wind hit first; the ice was just behind it. As soon as the ice began hitting the windshield, Derek turned off his CD player to concentrate on the road some more. Edgar, who was still in the back, started taking shots through the windshield, flash off this time. The team van had slowed its speeds down with the heavy and thick ice that was coming in, seemingly from all directions. This was the worst ice storm Edgar had seen in his twenty-nine years of life. The roads were getting slick, and paired with the wind, Derek was struggling to keep the car on the road and moving.

I think we need to turn around or stop, Derek suggested to the others.

Is it sheeting? Edgar asked

It's starting to. I'm starting to slide, as I'm sure you know.

All right, let's head back. Stick to the hills as much as you can. It may just shield us from some of this ice, Winston said.

Derek made a U-turn at the next intersection of dirt roads and began heading back to where they came from. He had tried to stay in the hills, but in this section of Kansas, the hills were fairly limited. Coming in between two hills, with the road cut right down the middle, the winds began to pick up speed. This was unusual, and to Winston, this never happens. At least not back in England. The gusts had to be at least 45–50 mph. Derek slowed the car down more to try to prevent sliding off the roadway. The van was now doing about 10 mph. The wind had started hitting the passenger side and the driver's side.

Two directions of wind? That usually only happens during tornados? Winston thought to himself. He looked up to the clouds and saw what appeared to be a funnel cloud quickly descending down toward the team.

Stop the fucking car! Winston yelled with his accent being much thicker than usual. It did that when he was angry. All the R sounds would disappear completely if he was heated enough. But this was not