Recruiting in the Tar Heel State ( Milan Myles )

[Matt Davis]

There wasn’t that much to come out of Dalton. Two of the boys from Dalton High had graduated and gone on to play for the NCU Tarheels, and there was Angela Collins’ mean recipe for chili and cornbread that made it into a Food network magazine, but that was about it. There wasn’t enough of a town to really warrant the places existence. From a glance you’d think that there were ten cows for every person. Which was close. There were four cows to every one person in truth. Nobody ever counted the ears of corn though.

As one would drive through the small rural area they’d see quite a few acres of endless farmland. The entire school could fit into one of the many seas of corn. Eventually there would be a Walmart (the social hub of the area), a Lowes and Home depot that were both busy, a large and run down looking factory, a few junk yards, and then it’d turn back into more farmland. There was a large black mailbox with the words ‘Davis’ plastered onto it in straight white letters and a cow’s large head beside of it. Mouth full of cud as it peered out to the road. Taking the dirt road would lead down a long, winding path. There was a lot of land leading to the house, however there didn’t seem to be a proportional amount of crops. There was a field of corn, but it only took up half of the space that it looked like it could, and only one corner of the dark, rich earth had vegetation sprouting from it.

The house itself was simple, but a good size, and looked to be a bit old. Surely passed down a few generations. Three vehicles were pulled up to the lit up house. One old, muddy truck with a few bags of feed in it’s back, a small white pontiac, and an old tattered looking motorcycle. Flopped down on the porch was an old looking dog. Some sort of mutt hound dog that’s ears sagged onto the ground.

[Deleted]

For once in a long time, Milan had caught up with all his paperwork. He had even spoken with a couple of his recruiter students to check how they were doing. All of that tended to consume quite some time though. His spare moment were mostly spent with Ella, and before going to bed, he usually went for a walk with his Bernese Mountain dog, Doodle. Today, however, had been reserved to take the canine up into the mountains where he could get rid of all his energy. Or, well, this had initially been the plan. It actually was quite typical for something to come up when plans were made, and in this case it happened to be a recruitment. It kind of made the Irish man feel bad, but at the same time a teen quite probably felt lost (and so did his family), so the feeling of making a difference mostly justified it.

After having rechecked the pictures taken of the area (effortlessly gathered from Google street view) and the notes placed on them about where shadows would be located and the possible time difference. He double checked for airplane tickets, strolled into the kitchen and petted Doodle’s head. “Sorry, bud. I’ll have to make it up to you.” And then the man was off, disappearing into the shadow. The dog didn’t even pay much attention to it anymore. It seemed to be daily routine anyway.

Dalton only seemed to be a couple of steps away for the recruiter soon found himself standing next to an old barn that seemed to randomly grace the street of which the dirt road to Matt’s house was a smaller one. He straightened his suit and then began walking. He could have stepped out of the shadow of the house ahead of him, but that did not always work out due to people thinking he was a burglar. Approaching it like that was the safest option.

Or, you know, at least until Milan spotted the dog. While not afraid of canines, he was not sure how protective this one was of his property. It made the man cautious, yet he intentionally kicked a little stone that went rolling forward in order to make noise and to draw its attention while there was still some distance between them. Barking would also attract the attention of the owners of the house, right?

[Matt Davis]

The dog lifted up his head and looked over to where the rock bounced around. One ear hiked up a bit higher to help him listen before he pushed completely off of the porch with a small whimper. It started to plod his way towards the rock until he saw the man a few yards away. It’s throat rumbled as he barked out. Suddenly it bursted towards the man with it’s tail swinging around in a large circle, looking like a propellor. He charged towards him happily bouncing on his forefeet as he barked about in excitement.

The door of the old house opened up and a woman stepped out. She leaned halfway against the door while shouting out. Her dark auburn hair looked a little messy and she had a few bags under her eyes. Stress added almost a decade to her otherwise pretty face. She smacked her leg while hollering outside.

“Duster! Duster, shut up and come back in here!” She continued to slap on her leg for a while until she looked up and saw another figure. She shrunk back some and tried to peer out.

The dog stopped his prancing and looked over the newcomer with a still wagging tail. Unlike the woman, excitement had removed a few years from his old body. The hound turned and raced towards the door again. He wound himself around the woman’s body and slid into the house.

[Deleted]

Milan had owned dogs long enough to be able to read their general body language. The way Duster came running over, despite the barking (which definitely was not done so in a manner of warning), easily gave away to him that the canine didn’t form a threat to approach the house. He did, however, have the intention to let the animal reach him first and to let him sniff and inspect first. That plan was interrupted when a woman stepped out of the house and called him back though. In the end the outcome remained the same and the recruiter was able to start walking again.

While the man had expected the barking to draw an inhabitant of the house out, perhaps it hadn’t been thought through that well. It kind of felt weird approaching with someone gazing in his direction and the distance still being too far to break the silence. This was why he took faster strides, and the second the woman should be within hearing reach, he spoke up.

“Mrs. Davis?” At least then she would know he wasn’t just walking up to the wrong house. Given this town was a rather abandoned place, Milan wouldn’t be surprised if the woman was cautious, hence the reason he stopped a couple of steps away from her while holding out a hand. If she did the same, the distance could easily be eliminated to get greetings out of the way.

“My name is Milan. Milan Myles.” He paused for a brief second before continuing. “I hope I am not showing up at an inconvenient time… I am here for your son, Matt. To hopefully provide you and your family some information on what has been happened the last couple of days.”

[Matt Davis]

Mrs. Davis seemed to ease up some when she heard her name called out. Her grip on the screen door easing up enough to open the door slightly. As he stepped in closer though it started to close slightly, showing that she wasn’t coming out just yet. These last few days had been a bit hectic, and seeing a new place without knowing much more put her closer to the edge than normal.

Milan? That was a strange name, Mary thought. She remained quiet until the man explained himself a little more. Her eyes went wide and her hand lifted up to touch her throat. The screen door closed some more until only an inch remained open. Mary turned her head some and called out. Her voice cracked more than when she yelled for Duster. “P-Paul! Come here, we’ve a-...Come here Paul.”

She turned her head back to Milan, peering at him through the screen door. He looked over her clothes, trying to see where she stood. He could fit in anywhere with the suits in that nice garb. “Are- are you from the school or- or the factory? The police said...they were done investigatin’.”

[Deleted]

Every recruitment required a different approach. At the moment, Milan was not fully certain how to handle this one. It was rare for him to have so much distance in between during an introduction, and he rather didn’t expand further on it until they were able to establish a more ‘normal’ situation. Despite the woman’s cautious reaction, the man stepped forward and onto the steps of the front porch. That was where he stopped, not wanting to come across as a threat.

“No,” Milan replied calmly with a shake of the head. “It is quite difficult to explain.” And he considered asking if it would be alright to come inside to explain, but he could tell Mrs. Davis would quite probably kindly decline the request. “I am not here to investigate though, and I definitely mean no harm.” He paused for a second, just in case the woman wished to bring something in.

“All I wish to do is provide some information on what has happened the last couple of days. About your son’s, well, skills. To answer all the questions it made you want to ask, but which no one could answer.” Quite often the man had to rely on gaining trust by exposing his own ability, but for now that option was on the backburner. He rather attempted the least intensive approach.

[Matt Davis]

Mrs. Davis crept a little further into the house. The screen door closed completely. Her hand nervously worked over her neck as she studied the man closely. Was she from the government, if not from the police or the school board? Had the doctors sent Matt’s details to the government? She shook her head some from behind the door.

“N-No, sir, I think that...I think we’re fine.” She choked out before snapping her head to the right and sighing out in relief.

A large man, standin a couple of inches above six feet, stepped out of the hallway. He was wearing a worn out blue collar work shirt. It was opened at the front and displayed an off-white t-shirt underneath. What looked like dirt was caked on his calloused hands and hairy arms. He had a bit of girth around his waistline, but otherwise looked to be a firm and strong man.

The husband put his arm around Mrs. Davis and in a soft voice told her to ‘Head back inside’. Happily she hurried off back into the home while the new man stepped to the door. He opened up the screen wide so that Milan could see him more clearly.

“We aint takin’ much in the way of guests right now. Sorry to ask, but I’d appreciate it if you’d leave us. I don’t think I got a phone call or nothin’ from anyone sayin’ people’d be stoppin’ by.”

[Deleted]

Milan wasn’t blind. He could easily tell that Mrs. Davis wasn’t feeling at ease. It made him feel awful, but at the same time it was his job to approach the families. He often dealt with rejection. So far it had always been resolved, so the recruiter hoped that this would be the case as well now. He did, however, imagine his chances to be higher before the man stepped outside.

A respectful expression remained on Milan’s features when a small nod was given, very much understanding the request made by Matt’s father. “I am very sorry about the lack of announcement, Mr. Davis. But, with all due respect, may I please request a couple more seconds of your time?”

Blue eyes briefly drifted around until they settled on one of the trucks, along with its shadow. While speaking again, “A chance to make you change your opinion about my presence” the guy took a couple of steps back until he was standing next to the darkness. For a second Milan paused, but then a step was taken to the side and he got fully engulfed by the shadow.

It merely took two counts or so before he reappeared in the shadows of the porch, having made sure he didn’t end up right next to Mr. Davis to not come across as hostile. “Your son, Matt… He is special, just like I am.”

Another pause. Then he spoke calmly. “I mean no harm, Mr. Davis. I simply wish to provide some clarity.”

[Matt Davis]

Paul leaned against the door frame while peering out at the well dressed man. He took a deep breath and considered his actions. He didn’t like having random people come onto his land, but this man was probably not a thief… just nosy. He didn’t want to think any more about this Matt problem than he had to, but knew if he’d send someone curious away without hearing them, he’d probably hear from them again.

“You’ve got a minute…” It was a generous amount to give when the request was only for a few seconds, but Paul knew that when people wanted seconds they’d take hours. When the man vanished into the shadows, Paul was surprised though didn’t take it for what it was. He stood straight and peered towards the shadows. He thought that maybe the man had tripped into his truck or something?

When a second figure appeared to the side Paul jumped to the side. “Where th’fuck did-” When he took more notice of the man, he wasn’t a second person. He was the same, or a near look alike. With a quick look back to the shadows, which housed no prone figure, he surmised what had happened.

“A fuckin’ mutant!” He exclaimed out of both anger and fear. The words that this mutant offered, that ‘Matt is like me’ only flamed both of these strong emotions. His back hit the door as he peered at the man on his porch. He’d freeze for a minute before taking a deep breath and sighing out.

“...Now listen, I don’ want nothin’ t’do with any of you people, but I will not have you comin’ up t’my home an’ sayin’ that my boy is a freak...N-now y’get right outta this place before I call the police, or grab m’gun… whichever’ll make y’ get outta- whichever’ll getchya ta -walk- out of here.”

[Deleted]

Milan was rather used to that reaction. And the sad thing was that they always generalized it to their children. Mr. Davis didn’t appear to be any different. While a respectful look appeared on the recruiter’s face, he still wasn’t going to let the man make such accusations. “I strongly disapprove of terms like mutant and freak, and for as far as I can recall, those words weren’t used by me.” If anything, Mr. Davis was the one calling his own son a freak. No one had put those words into his mouth; they clearly must have been on his mind already.

Sighing softly, Milan slowly raised his hands as if in surrender. No step was taken back though. Perhaps the panic and anger made it difficult for Matt’s father to reason that nor calling the police nor grabbing a gun would be effective. The shadow traveler could disappear again as fast as he came.

“All I wish to do is offer some information.” While it might be a pure guess, he opted to use the man’s defensiveness and protectiveness over his son. “Perhaps Matt should be given a voice in this? Does he wish to know more about his power? Does he have questions? I believe it would be respectful to let him decide for himself.” It was about the boy after all.