Chapter 2 - Timothy

2


It was a week before Victoria ran into the boy again. He was at a bus stop, leaning back against the sign pole with his eyes closed. He looked calm and his pose was relaxed. Was he napping while waiting for a bus? She took a deep breath, set her face and marched up to him.

"Hey!" she yelled and smiled in satisfaction as the boy jumped forward in alarm. He may have strange powers, but in the end he was still a kid.

"What the heck-?!" he yelped and turned to stare at her, "You again?!"

"Yeah, me!" Victoria growled, "What are you up to now, you little freak?" The boy gave her a sidelong glare, facing the street as he stood impatiently. His clothes were similar to the ones he wore that night in the cemetery. The shirt was definitely a dark red. For some reason, it looked wrong on him. He still had the iPod and watch, as well as the weird necklace and ring, but he was absently rubbing his thumb against the iPod. Was he nervous?

"I was meditating while waiting for my ride home, up until you broke my concentration. But then breaking things has never bothered you before." he grumbled and muttered something under his breath that Victoria couldn't quite make out. She scowled and tapped her foot.

"Don't trash me, you little twerp!" she snapped and he managed a small grin at that before it vanished into annoyance. He was definitely growing nervous, shifting around on his feet and looking away from her. "So what were you doing at the cemetery last week? And how did you know my name?" she pressed, determined to get some answers. That brown hair of his was somewhat messy, and the style he wore it in looked familiar. Where did she see hair like that before?

"I was meditating. It's quiet and peaceful in the cemetery, so it helps me relax." the boy replied and smiled. "And you're the youngest businesswoman Dimmsdale has ever produced. Everyone knows your name! You're ruthless and vicious and that inspires a lot of people in the business world." Victoria soaked up the praise for a moment, then narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't kiss up. I never got your name, twerp." she pointed out. The boy scowled at her, then waved a hand at her almost negligently.

"Fine. You want my name? Here it is." he grumbled and folded his arms over his chest, "My name is Timothy Neogene, but my friends call me Timmy." He cried in pain as Victoria socked him in the head suddenly, a furious rage overcoming her. How dare he?!

"Never! You will never be called 'Timmy' in Dimmsdale!" she fumed and took a sort of pleasure in his shocked expression as he rubbed his head, "In this town, there's only one Timmy and he's resting at that cemetery!"

"He's dead!" the boy yelled back, painful tears in his eyes that she could see he was fighting to contain. Victoria shook her head.

"Doesn't matter! You don't get that nickname!" she shouted and turned her back on him in a huff, "You can be called Timothy, there's no avoiding that. But if you tell anyone else here to call you 'Timmy', you're gonna get kicked out of town." The boy merely made some strange noise at her, then returned to waiting for the bus. After another few minutes, she decided to let the matter drop as well. No sense in hanging on so tightly to the past, right? Even though this kid got on her nerves as much as little Timmy did so long ago....

"Do you want a ride home, Timothy?" she finally asked begrudgingly. She's only doing this to get him off the street so he doesn't bug anyone else. As long as she thought of it like that, then it doesn't count as being nice. He stared at her blankly and she bit back the urge to hit him again. God, this kid was dense! "I'm offering you a ride home, twerp! Take it or leave it!" she snapped and pointed at a black convertible parked not far from the bus stop. It wasn't technically legal to park so close to the office building where she worked, but then who was gonna stand against her on the issue? Timothy lit up at the sight of it.

"Really?! I get to ride home in that?! Cool!" he cheered and raced for the vehicle as Victoria trudged along behind, grumbling under her breath. Once the two were seated and Victoria started up the ignition, Timothy gave a little sigh and looked over at her warily. "You're taking me home, right? Not some insane asylum?" he asked.

"I should. Normal kids don't chuck lightning bolts at people." she growled, "But hey, if you keep hurling them at the stupid people, then who am I to stop ya?"

"Will I have to earn the nickname 'Timmy' in this town?" he went on and dodged another swipe.

"Dimmsdale's still out of it since Timmy Turner died, so there's no chance of anyone else getting that name." Victoria muttered as she began following the random directions the boy tossed out to get him home. "Mayor himself had it outlawed. Kind of going overboard for one name, but that's how much this city loved that kid." She grinned toothily, a smile that would put any piranha to shame. "The last idiot couple who moved here and tried to name their new kid 'Timmy' got chased out of town by the same guys who mob the weatherman."

"You're all so overprotective of that name. What's the deal? He was just a kid." Timothy grumbled, "Stupid kid that got killed in a stupid accident...." Victoria gave him another punch, to the arm this time, and hissed.

"You shut up! I'm the only one who can call him stupid!" she fumed and turned her eyes back to the streets, "He was an okay kid, though freaky stuff always happened when he was around. I guess it was part of his charm." She sighed as the boy rubbed his bruised arm. "The day he died, it was as though the heart of Dimmsdale had been torn out. The city's never been the same since." she added softly, "Like we're all depressed and we'll never escape some weird darkness that fell on the town."

"So all of this is his fault?" Timothy murmured quietly, a strangely guilty tone in his voice, "Sorry." He seemed to slump a little. "The Heart of Dimmsdale...."

The rest of the ride was in silence as the car moved onto the next street. Victoria looked around, taking in the neighborhood as Timothy dozed off in the passenger seat. At one stoplight she tried to examine the contents of his backpack, but the kid had a lock on the clasp. Had it been one of those key-triggered gizmos, Victoria could have easily picked the lock; combination locks fell to bits under her trained ears and fingers. This one was weird, as though it was set to open only under his fingerprint or something.

She did notice the strange bruise on his neck though.

"Hey, kid, what's that?" she asked suddenly and he jumped awake with a start. He muttered something that sounded like 'Does it matter?' and pulled the collar of his shirt higher. The silence resumed after that for another few streets. Finally he pointed at one house and announced it as his own and got out of the car.

"Thanks for the ride." he remarked cheerfully, "I didn't think you'd actually be nice to someone on your own!"

"I'm not nice! And don't get used to it, twerp!" Victoria yelled after him as Timothy ran for his house. She lingered to see if his parents were home; after all, it was noon and he wasn't in school like normal high school students his age. Apparently not, as the boy opened the door and hurried in to turn on the lights. Did he live alone? "No way. Who in their right mind lets a kid his age live by himself?" she wondered aloud, both puzzled and alarmed by the situation she was witnessing. Who bought food for him? Who paid for the house? Who took care of him? Does he even go to school? He said he moved in two months ago, so he should have been enrolled in Dimmsdale's Oberon High School by now.

"Something's not right. A boy with no past, living alone, doesn't go to school and knows about Timmy Turner even though he says he doesn't know much? I smell a dirty secret." Victoria muttered and drove off, noting the address of Timothy's house. She'd call for the police to check it out first. No sense getting electrocuted somehow if things went sour.

Still, he seemed happy to know that she would at least call him Timothy, even though he looked like he wanted to get the shortened name for his own. She sighed and shook her head. He may have some of the same qualities Timmy did, what with annoying the hell out of her and all, but he could never replace Timmy Turner. Something about that boy had been almost... magical. But, magic didn't exist and neither did Timmy. Not anymore.

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