The Hunter, The Dragon And The Smokey Mountain Angel
Chapter 14

An hour later, Julia sat in a chair in the back corner of the restaurant.

Everyone but the remaining restaurant crew and the I9 international news team were gone. The manager had closed the store for the day and cleared the restaurant of everyone but Julia and those here to help her. Ornate platters filled with strips of stake, vegetables skewered pork and little sandwiches waited on a table not far away. The cameramen and producers ate as they adjusted the lights and talked into headsets around mouths filled with food.

Julia was becoming hungrier by the minute but it was almost time for the interview, so when the Reporter, Mr. George Kotopopuls saw her looking at the food, he shook his head. He said, “Wait to eat until after the interview. You don’t want the world to see you belch on live television.”

The manager had agreed to allow the interview to take place here but it wasn’t clear if he would get in trouble with his boss. Earlier, Julia heard him yelling on the phone to someone, “That girl saved all our lives! If this will help her replace her son then I’m going to do it.”

Julia heard the phone slamming into the receiver and moments later, he walked back into the dining area. His face looked red but when his eyes fell on Julia, he smiled.

Several lights and cameras, positioned to capture Julia’s every detail, blazed down on the chair where she sat. She felt a little nervous knowing that this interview would be international news. The bright lights shining in her face brought back dark memories. When she had gone through interrogation training, her instructors had beat her, everything but raped her, water boarded and belittled her and threatened her life and family just so she would be ready in real life if she was captured behind enemy lines.

“Calm down girl,” Julia whispered to herself, “This is different Jules. We’re going to replace Noah.”

A young girl, the Makeup Artist, combed Julia’s hair and applied powder. In the video test, she saw stress lines around her eyes and mouth, so she relaxed her face and the lines disappeared. The girl working on her said, “Your complexion is perfect but I need to soften a few areas so that the bright lights won’t wash out your natural beauty.”

Mr. George Kotopopuls sat down in the chair before Julia.

A small light on the main camera turned from red to green and George said, “Thank you Julia for giving us this interview?”

Julia nodded and said, “Your welcome, and thank you for helping replace my son and offering such a large sum of money to tell my story... This will help a lot.”

“Tell us a little about yourself.”

“My life has changed so much since my injury a year ago and especially over the past few days. Right now, I’m just a woman trying to piece her life back together. I can’t replace my son, I can’t drive,”

Julia took a deep breath. She could feel her heart racing and she tried to slow it down with another breath but she was too upset. She had enough to pay off her house and rent a car. She could end all this walking down the street while people stared at her business. She could get a job now because she would soon be able to drive but how many were still in her old shoes. How many were not getting a huge contract today?

She said, “I’m saying this for all those who love their children but are going through hard times. For them, this system is broken. Can you stop taking away their means to and from work, ruining job interviews and making trips to the grocery store unbearable? If you must do something punitive to get the deadbeat parents, who don’t care about their kids– to pay their child support then restrict the driver’s license. Limit it but don’t cut off a good person’s legs and then ask why aren’t you running.”

Julia took another deep breath and smiled. She said, “I just had to get that off my chest. So, where was I...? Oh yea, now my home was foreclosed on and I’ve been sleeping in a sleeping bag in front of the fireplace... and there’s that whole flying thing...”

Mr. Kotopopuls said, “It sounds like you have survived quite a lot. You told me earlier that you have a scar that starts from your neck and stretches all the way down to your heel?”

“Yes,” Julia turned her back to the camera and lowered her shirt revealing where the scar starts on her neck then she floated up in her seat, raised the back of her shirt and showed the TV audience the lower part of her back. She dropped her shirt, lowered herself into her seat and turned around. She said, “That happened in the war. My spine, arm and leg have dozens of titanium pins, plates and who knows what else...” She shook her head as she remembered the pain. “And it hurt a lot. The treatment took that pain away.”

Then the ground began to shake. The cameramen held on to their equipment. Julia could feel the presence approaching her mind. She felt a growing sense of alarm as she heard the words,

She ts wooching yhou!

Julia looked around the room. Her eyes were wide and her breath came in short panting burst. Then she looked at the television camera. The shaking had stopped and everyone was looking at her. She took a calming breath and said, “Hard to get use to all that mining.”

The reporter nodded and waved dismissively. He said, “Yeah, that’s what brought me to this town. I never thought I’d be covering the story of the century, not here anyway but back to you. You truly are a remarkable person Julia. Now can you tell us how is it that you can fly?”

“A few days ago I visited a clinic sponsored by the Mining Company. A doctor and nurse told me they had an experimental medicine to help people with injuries that left them immobilized. Since my accident, I have been in extreme pain and was barely able to move–much less walk, so I agreed. I was at a very low point in my life and I was willing to try anything.”

“Yes, about the Air Force. Our investigators have only been looking for an hour but they haven’t found any records of you being in any branch of the armed forces. The Air Force has no record of you.”

Julia pursed her lips, inhaled slowly and then let out her breath. She said, “They told me the same thing when I went to them for help. The details of my service are Top Secret, so for now I’m not going to say any more about that.”

“That sounds a little... convenient. Since it’s top secret, you can’t tell us more about your time in the service.”

Julia tried to control her temper as she said, “I don’t care what it looks like. I’m not here to make you believe anything. I’m here because... well this,” Julia floated up out of her chair, turned, lifted her shirt again and showed the camera the scar going down her spine and disappearing into her belt line. She let a moment pass then she dropped her shirt and sat back down. She continued, “I didn’t make up that scar. I can fly and my son is still missing. Noah is the reason I’m doing all of this.”

“My son is five years old now. He has dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a sweet personality. He lived with my ex–husband while I was fighting in the war. I’ve done everything that I can think of to get my life back in order, replace my boy, get a job and settle this mess. Since Child Protective Services suspended my driver’s license, I can’t even drive my car to a job interview! And when I walked up a mountain to an interview, they wouldn’t hire me because I couldn’t drive a car! What good is that?”

“Julia, can we stay focused. I understand you’re frustrated. Clearly, you have been injured and, unless our audience believes we’re making all this up you just floated up off your chair and showed us the scar on your back. Earlier, helicopters recorded you flying back to the restaurant. You really can fly. The problem is this; we can only verify what the people you saved are saying and what we saw with our eyes. The Air Force claims they have no records of you and the mining company says that they haven’t sponsored any health clinics in this area; but we did replace a YouTube posting of a girl who floated off a bed. People claim it happened here. Was that you? Did that happen here? Is this the clinic you’re talking about?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you come forward earlier?”

“I know what it’s like to be stared at. I’ve been the hunch back of Pigeon Forge; I just didn’t want that kind of attention, this kind of attention. I’m only here because I want your help, everyone’s help– to replace my son!”

The reporter nodded and motioned with his hand. A moment later, a young man with long hair drawn back into a ponytail sat down at the table next to Julia. He pulled out a pencil and a large pad of paper and he said, “Now let’s show the world what you’re little boy looks like.”