Chapter 3
Jason was asked what his experience was, and he said he could track just about any animal and knew their habits and migration patterns. A park ranger asked for a brief demonstration, asking Jason to identify several different types of footprints or animal spoor, which he did easily.
While it was true he could do what he said, his two months at his cabin retreat had taught him much, much more. He was developing an ability to read things. It didn't matter what it was. A person, a plant, an animal, a tree, he could look at it, and see back to a certain point in its immediate past.
For example, he saw the real concern and fear that this person might kill again. He also saw all the things this ranger had done for sometime, from the present, to several weeks in the past. He could not see the ranger's whole life, but he knew intimate details that the ranger would no doubt be upset about, if Jason revealed that knowledge.
This ability had developed gradually. While it startled him at first, he was becoming more used to it. He felt this was something that he had done before... somewhere.
"I am also good at taking in a person. By looking at him, I can determine certain things about him," Jason said carefully.
"What do you mean?" asked the ranger curiously.
"For example, I know you had jelly with your toast this morning, and that it was most likely grape," Jason responded.
The ranger gaped at him. "Now how the hell could you know that? You weren't at breakfast with me!"
"Simple observation, Sir. I see little crumbs in your mustaches. Not many and hardly noticeable, but I seem to have an eye for detail, which helps me a lot," he answered.
Truth to be told, Jason read the breakfast in the person's... aura? spirit? soul? Was this what God did, and how he knew what people were doing or did? Yet, he could not read this ranger's life back more than a few months.
"Damn! You are good! Look, we found the stolen car. It has a broken axle. It's not far from here, on an old fire road. That's our starting point. Let me get someone to take my place, here, as we are waiting for the state police to come.
"With you here, we might be able to get him quicker. Hmmm, the sheriff is not going to want any more civilians up there. Let me think. Ok, here's what we do. We are similar in sizes. I am going to give you my spare uniform, and then you and me are going up the mountain and join the search. Can you handle a weapon?" Jason was asked.
"I have never shot a weapon in my life. But I have an awareness of what's around me that will astound you. Don't worry, I won't get shot," Jason said with confidence.
So it was, that thirty-three minutes later, Jason and the ranger Dave Ranson arrived at the site of the abandoned car.
Introductions were made. Jason did feel a little self conscious in the rangers spare clothes, but the sheriff and the two deputies took him at face value, and were pleased to have an experienced tracker along.
More deputies and the county and state police were expected to show up soon, but Jason read that the sheriff wanted to catch this guy, not only to get him off the streets, but for political gain. A capture like this would make a lot of political fodder for this sheriff.
Jason, while disappointed, was not surprised at what he read in the sheriff. Corruption and manipulation of the system was second nature to this man. For the most part, the sheriff wanted to serve and enforce, but only as a springboard for bigger and better things.
Jason was let through the check point. He carefully avoided destroying evidence he knew the county or state police would find valuable. He pointed out several small items that had totally slipped by the sheriff, who then decided that perhaps this ranger knew his business.
"Well, it sure as hell looks like you know what you're doing. Welcome to the team, and if you hold on a minute, we'll get started" the sheriff said.
One of the deputies was delegated to stay behind to guard the area, and soon a small group of five people started following the trail up into the woods and slightly on an uphill tangent.
Several times Jason had to stop and cast about for sign, as the terrain became rocky. He soon noticed little fresh scuff marks left on a small rock shelf, and led the people in the correct direction.
Jason not only used his normal eyesight, but he used his ability to pick up the feel of the area. It was a gentle green shimmer that seemed disturbed, much like a boat's wake. Soon, the wake in this field started getting stronger and more concentrated. Jason called for a halt, and took a drink from his canteen. They had been tracking for over an hour now, and this was hot, sweaty work.
"We're getting closer," Jason said pointing at a broken stem from a plant. It was a fairly fresh break. A little bead of sap was forming from the parent plant already.
"I'd say we were fifteen minutes or so behind him right now," Jason stated.
It was only ten minutes. The man had stopped to take a break, which is what threw off Jason's calculations. When they rounded an outcrop of rock, they could see him about thirty yards away. He was resting against the side of the mountain, with his eyes closed.
Since Jason had to consciously use his ability to SEE (it was not automatic, or 'always on'), he had chosen to use it off and on, as it took intense concentration to do it on a sustained basis.
The capture was anti-climatic. Jason was told to stay back, and the two deputies wormed their way through some rocks, to good positions, while the sheriff took a position beside a huge fallen tree.
It was over, that quickly.
When the sheriff announced his presence, the guy jumped, and got up to flee. Three different positions opened fire with warning shots, and that decided the man. He surrendered.
They returned two hours later, with prisoner in tow. They came back to where they had left the squad cars, and the ranger's truck, to see that the state police had arrived. Of course, the sheriff had radioed ahead that they had captured the man, but due to the vagaries of the mountain, radio communications was not possible until they were much closer to the cars.
It was at this time that the ranger, Dave, explained his little deception regarding Jason's status. No one seemed to mind too much, although both got a brief lecture on the dangers involved, and about impersonating a ranger, and facilitation. Then it was handshakes all around, and everyone agreed to keep that information quiet.
Three hours later Jason was back in his normal clothes, at a press conference. He had considered ducking out, but knew this would raise suspicions. So he stayed and the sheriff and two deputies, as well as the ranger extolled Jason's abilities as a tracker.
He really didn't have any use for the publicity. The sheriff and ranger, who knew where he was staying, agreed to keep his location confidential. He told them that he didn't want a ton of 'curiosity seekers' showing up to disturb the rest of his vacation/learning time.
Over the next several weeks, he learned more about his abilities. God was supposed to know a person, and he did it at a glance. Jason had this ability himself, but to a much lesser degree. He wondered if this is how the demons in all those stories seemed to know all a persons secrets? And if so, what was he? He didn't like to group himself in with demons, or the devil.
Could angels do this also? No. If he were an angel, he would not be on earth inhabiting a human body, would he? He didn't feel like a demon, though. For some reason, he was unable to see his own spirit, or soul, or aura. He hoped desperately he was a good person.
Yet he had read people, and it did not disturb him greatly when he saw the wrongs they had done. The conflicting thoughts were enough to drive a sane man crazy, so he tabled it for later thought. It was definitely something he would have to work out.
Finally, his vacation was winding down. He still had not decided what he wanted to do. He could be a man of leisure, but he really wanted to be doing something useful. He sat in his usual place, with the large mountain lion close by. It had sort of adopted him, and liked being with him. Surely this was a sign he was a good person? The big cat even let him pet it, and it would make a rumbling purr when he did this.
He started thinking of where he wanted to live. He wanted to be far enough away from his mother that she couldn't just drop in unannounced and interfere with him, but didn't want to alienate her, either. He respected that she was concerned for Jason's well being, even if he found it to be annoying.
While he was still recovering Jason memories, other memories started coming to his mind. Some were very disturbing images. Again and again, he saw this huge battle. The side he was on was losing. Then there was the falling, falling, seemingly forever falling, then this.
There was no way to integrate the two sets of memories. They were of two separate persons, or beings. There was the 'Jason memory', and this other. He knew the Jason that had once inhabited this body was gone. He had come to be inside it somehow, and he had no clue as to the how, or why.
Finally, the time to leave arrived. He said a silently fond goodbye to the cabin and surrounding area. The peacefulness of the place had been good for him; but he was eager to get started on a search for a home of his own. He really needed to settle on a job of some sort before he did that, though. It would not do to settle down, only to discover he wanted to do something in a different part of the country.
Perhaps he should consider investing. He could buy a building, and then rent it. Say a house, or maybe an small apartment building? Yes, perhaps that would be the way to go. He could buy a couple houses, and rent them to tenants.
After he got home, he started looking though the paper for foreclosures, and 'for sale as is' properties. A lot of communities had stiff occupancy laws, and a lot of the houses, too many, needed major overhauls to be occupant-worthy. Still, there were a few good deals to be had.
One of the first things he did, was to read up on reality law. It seemed to him it was deliberately complicated, and in some instances contradicted itself. He also realized he was going to have to hire someone, or several someones to wade through the governmental crap for him. A couple of visits to his local city hall, showed him that it was rife with corruption and greed.
He spent some time trying to streamline several of the reality laws, and brought the result to city hall to show them an easier way. They thanked him for his interest, and promptly tossed his papers away. They were not interested in fixing the problem. It was a huge money maker, and the confusion allowed city hall to levy fines and penalties on a frequent basis. He saw in one inspector's aura where they deliberately, knowingly allowed people to proceed with a project, just to zap them with penalties at a later date.
Parking was another problem. People had been complaining about parking (or the lack of it) in the downtown area, for years. Blue ribbon panels had been established, but the final reason as to why this problem was never resolved was money. The city took in over $750,000.00 a year in fines for illegal parking and towing. The city was not going to kill the cash cow by fixing the problem.
It seemed the more money a government took in, the more money it wanted to spend. This seemed to be the norm with all governments, everywhere, as nearly as Jason could see. That meant governments were trying to do too much. Some projects were just totally ridiculous.
For example, the city spent over $600,000 on a parking lot, complete with a decorative gate and fencing, in a totally depressed area, in anticipation of people moving back into the area. That had been four years ago, and the parking lot asphalt was cracking, grass was growing through it, and no one as of yet moved any business or homes that way. Street gangs used the lot as a meeting place.
All was not doom and gloom however. There were numerous projects launched and supported by the city taxes that were worthy. It just seemed the waste and corruption outweighed the benefits two to one.
Jason finally purchased his first house early in the winter. It was a small two bedroom house, and he paid 65,000.00 for it. He spent another $3400 bringing it back up to code, which he was told was cheap, and then rented it to a young couple. His profit on a monthly basis was 120.00 dollars from that house.
He had knocked the mortgage payments down by putting in a huge down payment, and had a ten year mortgage. The next house he bought was more expensive and he had a twenty year mortgage, but realized a 270.00 dollar a month profit from that property after he had it rented.
He decided after doing this for six months, that he liked being an investor, and went on the road. He picked up two more houses in Albany New York, and was looking over a third. Yes, perhaps housing and land was the way to go.
He also liked traveling and looking at people. His new talent that let him read the recent history of a person was improving, and it was getting easier to do. He started getting more personal information from it: very, very specific.
For example, he could now see everything a person did from the time he or she awoke, to when they went to bed. It was a lot of information. He still could not go back through their total life if they were more than a few years old, but the information was there for the taking if he so desired.
Edited by TeNderLoin