Leoman
by
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Case Prologue: Who is the Boy in White?
How did all of this happen? Why did all of this happen? These were the questions that I asked myself as I woke up and realized where I was. I was in my car. The windshield had been shattered for some weird reason. Why was the windshield busted? Why was the front of my car bent up like a crumpled piece of paper? I climbed out of my car. Then I started to panic. Somehow, I had crashed my car into a light post. I looked around, thinking of how my parents were going to kill me when they found out Annie and I had… Annie! That’s when I saw that she was in the passenger seat, bleeding. I ran over to her door and pulled out her limp body, praying to God for her not to be dead. Not again… Please God, not again…
“Annie! Annie! Please don’t be dead! Please, Annie wake up!” I shouted.
“Mmmm… Leon?” She finally groaned while waking up.
“Oh, thank you Lord, thank you,” I sighed with relief.
“What happened?”
“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay.” I tried to reassure her.
She suddenly realized what had happened, and quickly sat up.
“What happened?!” She panicked as she quickly sat up. “Where’s that little boy that you swerved around?!”
“What little boy?”
Then I realized what she meant.
“Oh man, where is he?!”
That’s when we started looking around for him, calling out to see where he was and if he was okay.
“Yes?” said a little voice that made us spin around.
It was him. Thankfully, he looked like he was okay.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked as Annie checked him for injuries.
“What’s your name?”
“I don’t know, ma’am.”
“Where are your parents?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“What were you doing in the middle of the street?”
“I don’t know, ma’am.”
“Not much of a talker, this one.” I remarked sarcastically.
“Cut it out, Leon.” Annie replied sternly. “We have to get him to a hospital.”
“How are we supposed to do that? The car’s totaled.”
“We need Leoman.”
“No.”
“Leon, there’s no other way.”
“Forget it, Annie! Leoman is dead…”
Then I called for an ambulance and we both sat down on the sidewalk, near the wreckage which used to be my car. After a while, I could suddenly hear the sirens of the approaching ambulance coming down the street, while Annie and I waited by the car. When it came to a screeching stop, the medics jumped out of it and started checking us for injuries.
“Are you hurt, young man?” Asked one of them.
“I’m fine, ma’am. Just a few scrapes and bruises.”
“What’s your name?”
“Leon Garrett.”
“How about you, young lady?”
“Annie Jones.”
“Are you hurt, Annie?”
“I’m fine, sir. Where’s the little boy?”
“Okay, Leon, Annie, we’re going to take you both to the hospital to get checked out.”
“What about the little boy?”
“What little boy?”
“The little boy in white that’s standing right there.”
Then I realized that he had managed to run away while the EMTs were busy with us.
Although, this isn’t the first time someone’s managed to get away from me…
As we waited in the emergency room while the doctors checked us for injuries, Annie and I hardly said a word to each other. Probably because she was still mad at me for the situation that I had gotten us into.
“Annie…” I finally spoke up. “I am so sorry. For everything that I’ve put you through.”
“It’s okay, Leon. But I just don’t want to talk about it right now.”
I decided to turn my head away and keep my mouth shut, for the sake of our friendship and because of how much I still cared about her deep down in my heart.
Suddenly, Annie’s parents came in with a concerned, yet sad look on their faces.
“Excuse me, Doctor,” said Mr. Jones. “We’d like to speak with our daughter in private.”
“Of course, Mr. Jones. We’re almost done with her examination.”
“We need to speak with her now, Doctor. It’s urgent.”
“Well, all right. You may speak with her, but please do it out in the hallway.”
“Thank you, Doctor. We won’t be long.”
Even though they shut the door to the examination room, I could still hear them despite my hearing not being as great as it once was…
“WHAT?!” Annie screamed. “What do you mean I’m adopted?!”
“Please, Annie, just calm down and let us explain.” Mrs. Jones pleaded.
“No! What I want to know is why you would keep this a secret from me?!”
That’s when they started arguing all at once, so I stopped trying to listen because I couldn’t understand what they were saying.
But, even now I must wonder myself. Why did Annie’s parents keep her adoption a secret from her? Did they know something about her parents? Who could they be? I would eventually be finding myself asking these questions and more soon enough…
Suddenly, I heard shouts and saw two masked gunmen trying to kidnap Annie!
“Let go of me! Mom! Dad! HELP!!” She screamed.
I got up from my bed and ran up to one of them.
“Get your hands off her, scum bag!” I shouted.
As I prepared to throw a punch, the gunman hit me in the face breaking my nose.
“Nice try, you little punk!”
“Ooowwww! Ooohhhh!” I groaned.
I felt so dazed that I almost passed out right then and there. As I regained my focus, the gunmen grabbed Annie and started running toward the nearest exit.
“Annie?! Annie!” I shouted.
I tried to catch up to them, only to get shot three times in the chest. As I dropped to my knees and then fell face down, I found myself reaching out to Annie as the kidnappers escaped with her.
“No… Annie…” I groaned.
Now normally, I would’ve been able to heal, get back up onto my feet, and save Annie. Well, Leoman would’ve been able to. I’m just the poor diluted fool that’s now bleeding to death on a hospital floor...
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About the Book
Half human, half lion, all hero.
Leon Garrett is a sixteen-year-old photography intern working at the newspaper in Sedalia City, Indiana, when his best friend, Joe Vantrice, begins talking one day at lunch about an urban legend that Leon was purportedly secretly involved with while living in another town. There is no question that Joe believes in the Beast of Salemburg who disappeared four years ago. But what he does not know is that Leon is not who he thinks he is.
Since he was a toddler unwittingly involved in a laboratory accident involving lion DNA, Leon has been protecting the innocent while hiding behind a secret identity. Leon is really Leoman, a half human, half lion superhero. After his identity emerges during a violent confrontation, Leon confesses his secret to Joe. As he continues his investigations into crimes involving superhuman vigilantes while worrying if Joe will keep his monumental secret, now only time will tell if Leon can outwit the police who are hot on his trail and stay true to his mission.
Leoman is the exciting tale of a teenage superhero who must rely on his lion-like abilities to rescue the innocent from criminals with dark intentions.
About the Author
Mark R. Murry was diagnosed with autism at age two-and-a-half. When he was ten, the seeds of creativity were planted after he saw the Marvel movie, Spider-Man. After nearly two decades of blood, sweat, and tears, Mark has fulfilled God’s purpose and his lifelong dream of being an author. He currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana, with his wife, Dorothy, and their daughter, Annabelle.