TITLE: The First Night Is Always the Hardest (Byers POV) AUTHOR: Krista Wagner EMAIL: wagnerkrista@hotmail.com SITE: http://www.geocities.com/kristawagner FEEDBACK: If you please? DISCLAIMER: All characters are owned by FOX network and 1013. SPOILERS: The Lone Gunmen episode ?Maximum Byers? RATING: PG SYNOPSIS: The first night is always the hardest when you are in prison?especially for Byers. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a ?missing scene? from Maximum Byers as well as a Byers?point-of-view I open the driver side door of the VW Microbus. The cool night air whips across my face. A restaurant loom in front of me, the sign above the door reads ?Wally?s Burgers?. The building appears abandoned, yet I am drawn to it. I walk slowly across the parking lot and open the front door. Inside, the hamburger joint is alive. The happy customers laugh and enjoy their food. They nod and great their ?hello?s? to me as I pass. I take a seat at a booth and look towards the bar. Susanne is working the register. She is waiting on a older man when she sees me. She smiles, and I smile back. I can?t keep my eyes off the beautiful woman. She is so healthy...so wonderful. I have longed for her for what seems like an eternity, and finally she is here by me again. The door jingles as another customer comes in. I do not see his face for he is looking the other way. He steps between Susanne and I, blocking my view of her. The man is tall, with dark brown hair, and a moustache and beard. He pulls something from his coat pocket. A woman at the bar screams. It?s a gun, and he has it pointing right at Susanne. I jump out of the booth and take a step towards them. ?Give me the money, now!? he demands. Susanne appears calm as she opens the register and pulls out the bills. ?Hurry!? he demands, swinging his gun in front of her face. ?Susanne!? I scream out, and take another step towards her. As she looks up from the task, horror comes across her face. The gunman slowly turns his head and looks at me. It?s Douglas Pfeiffer. His expression is angry as he stares into my eyes. I?m hooked to his glaze, unable to move. In slow motion, Phiffer takes a step back and turns to face Susanne. She looks from him to me and back. Phiffer aims the gun, cocks, and fires three shots. They all hit Susanne?s chest, and she doubles over. ?No!? I scream. I try to run to her as she falls, but I can?t move. I am frozen. She looks at me. Her eyes are wide, begging for my help. But I can?t help her. She disappears behind the bar as she collapses to the floor. Phiffer puts the gun back into his jacket pocket and walks towards the door, his eyes follow me as he leaves. I try to run after him, to kill that bastard who just murdered my beloved. But I can?t move. I look down. My hands and legs are shackled, and I am no longer wearing my suit, but a white uniform. The letters DR are marked on my pant leg. To my right and left, uniformed police officers appear, and they take my arms. They lead me to the dinner door. As we walk out, I am blinded by white light. I duck my head and close my eyes. The light quickly recedes, and I look. The room surrounding me is pure white, from the floor to the ceiling. Two more guards join the ones at my side, and they escort me to the center of the room. I look to my left through a huge picture window. Through it, I see Douglas Pfeiffer and his mother, sitting in folding chairs. Beside Mrs. Pfeiffer is their lawyer, Jeremy Wash. My father stands behind them. They all stare solemnly at me, their black clothing a sharp contrast from the rest of the room. Before me, in the center of the room is a huge chair. Susanne is strapped in it. Her legs and arms are bound and her head is strapped to the metal plate headrest. It is an electric chair. As I come closer to her, she becomes foggy, like a ghost. Her image dulls until I can no longer see her. She has disappeared. The guards unchain me and I sit in the huge wooden and metal chair. I look down to see the buckles close around my feet and wrists. Another buckle fixes my head into place, forcing me to look straight ahead. The four guards in front of me are no longer guards, but my friends. Langly, Frohike, Jimmy, Yves. They stand in a straight line with the same expression as everyone else in the room, solemn...and uncaring. Yves reaches her hand up to a large lever on the side of the wall. In slow motion, she begins to pull the lever down. I stare into her eyes, silently hoping for a glimpse of feeling, any feeling. She shows me nothing. The lever slowly falls into position. A jolt ripples through my body. I jump. My eyes fly open and I sit straight up in bed. Susanne, no, Susanne, no, no, no. I want to scream out. But I can?t. The small prison cell around me is as dark and gloomy as it was the night before. The dark bars and walls are much different than the blinding white of my dream. My small window lets in very little morning sunshine. It was a dream, it was a dream, John. Susanne isn?t dead, it was a dream. Oh, thank you, God, it was only a dream. I repeat this in my head over and over again as I slide back down into the bed and stare at the ceiling above me. It was only a dream, John, only a dream. I blink and a tear escapes my eye, sliding down my temple. I reach my hand up to quickly wipe it away. Only a dream. Why is the first night always the hardest? ?Here ya go, Jiminy. Yeah, take it. Good. Good Jiminy Cricket,? the man across the cell from me says. I look his way. Jimmy?s hand is sticking out of the bars on my left. I get up to join him. Only a dream, John, only a dream... (END) Back to my Lone Gunmen page Home * This page hosted by GeoCities * 1