"Your door's wonky." "Yeah." "I need to get the hinges adjusted." " Double Chai tea?" " Thank you." "You've got a little something." "Oh, yeah." "The frost is melting off the roof," "And this is my favorite coat." "Do you sell water repellent?" "Yeah." "I sell vintage water repellent" "And used shoe polish." "Ok." "Fine." "It doesn't hurt to ask." "Excuse me." "Cutler and Banks?" "You know, the realtors next door?" "As a matter of fact, I do." "Any clue when they'll be in?" "Delia's out of town for the week." "She's Banks, as in Banks and Cutler." " Ok, thanks." " Well, wait a minute." "Do you want to leave your info?" "'cause I talk to her, like, every day." "Ok." "Well, I'm looking for a loft for my office." "Uh, studio, really." " I draw." " Are you an artist?" "A graphic novelist, actually." "So I need a place that gets good light, is quiet." "I'm in the Bradford Building now, and, uh..." "Oh, a friend of mine works over there." "That place is amazing." " Why are you leaving?" " Mine's...well," "Just not working out for me." "It's hard to explain." "Are you famous?" "Would we have heard of you?" "I doubt it." "I have kind of a cult readership." "My name's Damon Weaver." "Sorry." "Don't know you." "Have you written anything popular I may have heard of?" "I've got a new book coming out with some hype." " It's called "Destined."" " Doesn't ring a bell." "Well, because, like he just said, it hasn't come out yet." "Have you written anything else?" "I also wrote "Transcender" a few years ago." "Nah, haven't read that, either." "Eli!" "But I have heard some of my students talk about it." "So you are famous." "See?" "You feel better now?" "I feel fine." "But hey, if it'll make you feel any better," "I've got some fliers." "It's for a signing I'm doing this week for the new book over at Bay Ridge booksellers." "Frankly, I could use a crowd." "Don't you worry, my famous friend." "We'll get you a crowd." ""Destined." I like the title." "Well, I would be happy to put one in the window." "Thanks so much." "Oh!" "And here's my number." "Tell your realtor friend to give me a call, Miss..." "Uh, Melinda Gordon, and this is Eli James." "See you." "Oh, let me help you with that thing." "It's..." "Impossible." "Eli." "Eli, wait." "There's a trick to it." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Hey, the frost is melting." "Except not on you." "You're sparkling." "That's weird." "The drops are turning into ice." "How the heck does that happen?" "It must be colder outside than it feels." "The radio said it's already in the fifties." "Well, then, they were wrong." " Oh, my god." " What the..." "That almost hit you." "Are you ok?" "Oh, I'm fine." "I got to go." "Did you do that?" "Who are you?" "What are you trying to do?" "He's a liar and a thief." "But he'll get what he deserves." "How come my building is the only one with icicles on it?" "And why was the ghost wearing a ski mask?" "Look, if you got a theory, don't hold back." "Just spit it out." "Jim and I are thinking hypothermia." "But something still bothers me." "So the guy is frozen to death." "He creates icicles and freezes drops of water on Damon's coat." "Who does that?" "You've got a theory, right?" "Well, actually, no." "I've got nothing." "Because I got a theory, but if you're just gonna mock me..." " Eli." " Ok, fine." "Do you want to know who does that?" "Supervillains do that." "Their powers hearken back to what killed them, or almost did." "Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Elektra." "That's Damon's world." "He's a graphic novelist." "You're not mocking me." " What are you looking at?" " It's damon's blog." "He's been posting drawings to tease his new graphic novel." "Check out the latest." "That character's about to get skewered by icicles." "Yeah." "You notice anything else?" "Yeah." "He looks a lot like Damon." "I guess he draws from experience... art imitating life." "Or the other way around." "Take a look at when that drawing was posted." "Monday, 7 A.M." "Today's Tuesday." "So this was drawn before Damon ever set foot in my store." "Maybe that explains why he took off so quickly." "He recognized that near-miss from his own illustration." "He did seem a little freaked out." "I wonder if this kind of thing's happened before." "Does that mean he can foretell the future through his art?" "No one can foretell the future," "But the ghost probably saw Damon's drawing" "And reenacted it somehow." "So the ghost reads graphic novel blogs," "Acts like a supervillain?" "Sounds like someone who's way into comic books." "Yeah." "Looks like we need to get into them, too." "Oh, look no further." "Rockland's got an A to Z encyclopedia of comics." "At the university library?" "Nope." "She's in the Anthropology Department." "I am not obsessed with comic books." "I am an anthropologist, and graphic novels... which are not comic books, by the way..." "Are a window into an entire generation's passions and frustrations" "And..." "I just dig 'em, ok?" "They speak to me." "They have since I was an angsty teen who did not fit into the world." "And a lot of my clothes." "And I happen to know that you are a closet fan of those gushy undead teen novels." "I was doing research for a paper on teenage disaffection." "I saw you crying into your popcorn at "Twilight," professor." "You know what?" "Let's just deal with the ghost at hand." "Well, the first thing I can tell you is if someone is haunting Damon Weaver," "That's the most attention he's had since he put out his last book 2 years ago." "What do you mean?" "His career is dead as a doornail." "Am I offending anyone?" "No, no ghosts." "Just us." "I used to read his stuff," "But then his plotlines got stale." "It was like he ran out of ideas," "And I think readers could tell." "He fell off the map." "So what about his new book?" "Is that gonna put him back on the map?" "If it's any good." "Are you sure this is about a ghost?" "You mean, aside from the fact that we talked to one?" "Yeah, why would you ask that?" "Damon needs this book to sell." "He needs the publicity." "Oh, so the icicle thing was a stunt to get people's attention?" "Other artists have tried it." "It got your attention." "Someone did make sure it was on his blog." "Come on." "You're not really buying into this, are you?" "We met the ghost." "He's real." "He's real mad, too." "Ok, but what is he mad about?" "I mean, what if this all does actually have to do with Damon's new book?" "Wha..." "It's kind of a bad time right now!" "Sorry to barge in." "I just came to see if you opted to leave this space." "'cause if you were leaving, I was thinking I could maybe take it myself." " Eli, right?" " Yeah." "Yeah." "I'm out of here as soon as I find a new studio." "Ok." "Well, you probably shouldn't trash the place on the way out." "You might lose the deposit." "The ice maker just decided to go haywire." "I don't know what's wrong with it." "Ice maker, huh?" "Yeah." "There something else I can do for you?" "Maybe." "See, I couldn't help notice the drawing that you posted on your blog yesterday." "It looked a lot like what happened to you outside Melinda's shop." "The only thing is you drew it before we ran into you." "What are you talking about?" "The time stamp on your post," "It was way before the icicles almost actually clocked you." "Oh, my site must be buggy again." "Thanks for the heads-up." "I'll get my I.T. Guy on it." "That's ice flying at you." "Yeah, let me save you the phone call, damon." "I have a gift," "A superpower, if that can help you relate." "I communicate with ghosts," "And so does Melinda, the woman you met who owns the antique store." "And the truth is you got one." "A ghost, I mean, not an antique store." "You're putting me on, right?" "I wish I were." "The ghost Melinda saw was wearing a trench coat," "A ski mask and has a thing for ice." "It's possible he may have frozen to death." "Sound like anyone you know?" "Eli, what'd you say your last name was?" "James." "Why?" "Just wanna make sure I get it right for the restraining order." "What the hell?" "What's happening to me?" "Is that guy in trouble?" "Oh, not if mommy can help it." "I wanna see what happens next." "What happens next is you go and get ready for school." "No fair." "March." "What was that about?" "Oh, I'm the world's meanest mom because I didn't want him to see this." "It's true." "I can't believe this stuff has replaced the "Archies" of my youth." "Isn't that your graphic novelist about to be run over by a car?" "Or attacked by this guy." "The kid with a knife?" " He your ghost?" " No." "Ghost outside the store was wearing a ski mask and trench coat," "And I still don't have a clue who he might be." "Um, that's because I didn't wanna wake you when I came in." "I asked around the ER." "They only treated one case of hypothermia this season," "And that man is now alive and well and living retired in sunny Florida." "Maybe Damon should consider retiring, too," "At least until I can convince this ghost to stop recreating what he draws." "You mean more than the icicles outside of your store?" "Yeah." "Eli told me Damon drew himself being pelted by ice right before the ice maker in his studio exploded." "And I've been checking the blog for new art to see what else the ghost might have in store." "Maybe Damon should just draw himself into harmless scenes," "You know, like, in a home, doors locked," "Away from cars and crowds." "Wait a minute." "In the crowd, that's him." "That's the ghost." "I thought Damon told Eli he didn't know anyone fitting that description." "And yet Damon drew him exactly the way I saw him," "Which either means he lied, or there's something I'm missing." "Well, you're not the only one in the dark." "Check out these fan comments." ""new characters out of left field." ""no connection to the upcoming novel." ""is there a part of another new collaboration?" "Answer us, Damon." "Who are backpack boy and ski mask man?"" "And no response from the artist himself." "Well, if Damon won't answer his fans, maybe he'll answer me." "I'm just telling you if you don't want this to happen, you should start talking to me." "Because you and your friend think a ghost can make this come true." "You've been reading too many comics." "Look, I think the ghost is taking cues from your drawings." "I mean, the icicles outside my store," "Your ice maker..." "He's looking at your artwork and bringing it to life." "How is that even possible?" "Ghosts can make things malfunction." "They can also mess with temperature." "Look, whatever's happening in your studio, it's not gonna stop just because you move." "You're being haunted," "And if you deny that, it's not gonna help you." "What else can ghosts do?" "Well, if your last drawing was any indication," "You might wanna stop drawing yourself into the panels." "I wish I could." "What are you talking about?" "I'd say this is gonna sound crazy, but you and your friends see ghosts." "The icicle panel," "I have no memory of drawing it." "What do you mean?" "I'll be at my desk working when I black out or lose track of time." "I'm not sure, but when I come to," "I've got a new drawing sketched, inked, and uploaded to my blog." "Ok, so if you didn't post those drawings," "Then the time stamp wasn't an error," "Which means that the ghost is telling you what he's gonna do to you before it happens." "Have you ever heard of automatic writing or drawing?" "When someone forces you to draw something." "You mean like channeling another artist?" "I've heard of it." "You're saying it's real?" "It's a form of possession," "And I think you know it's real." "So he makes me draw how he's gonna haunt me?" " Why?" " To scare you." "To punish you, for what," "Only the ghost knows, unless you have a guess." "I could use some air." "Damon, look, please." "Look, I know that you didn't draw him." "I just need to know if you recognize the ghost, the guy in the ski mask." "No, I don't." "But after Eli described him to me, when I saw him in the drawing, I got nervous." "Ok, what about the kid with the orange backpack?" "Yeah, and the knife." "No, I've never seen that kid before either." "Can you think of anyone who might be angry with you?" "Like upset fans or other artists, maybe?" "The new book is totally different for me... new styles, new characters..." "And not everybody is happy with that." "So take your pick." "My fans, my rivals," "Everyone's gunning for me." "But if any of them have died recently," "I haven't heard about it." "Bottom line, I have no idea who this ghost is." "Just please tell him to leave me alone." "Damon, wait!" "Stop!" "I'm so sorry." "I don't know what happened." "Are you ok?" "I think so." "Hey!" "Hey, wait!" "Did you see that kid with the orange backpack?" "No, but I'm not sticking around for him to come back." "I'm not finding any recent reports of people falling through the ice, but I'm pretty sure that's how the ghost died." "Hence the ice hauntings." "Maybe he hasn't been found." "Damon has nothing to say on the matter?" "At least he finally admitted to the automatic drawing." "Well, I loosened him up for you." "Hey, Melinda." "I didn't realize you were visiting." "You just happened to be passing my office with an armload of comics?" "Uh, yeah, I was just cleaning out my desk and..." "Ok." "Well, I saw your car outside, and come on." "I teach anthro of the occult, and you guys are messing with ghosts." "I just wanted to hang." "No problem." "I'm not sure that those are gonna help." "The ghost seems to be drawing his own scenes." "So damon's latest blog panel came true?" "Most of it." "Melinda saw the ghost and the boy with the backpack." "Except he wasn't holding a knife." "Well, irrelevant." "I mean, you weren't in the drawing either, but you were there when it happened." "That's a good point." "Maybe you being there is the only thing that saved Damon." "Yeah, I think this ghost wants to torment damon, not just injure him." "Right." "Why else would the ghost give him a sneak preview on his blog every day?" "Who would do something like that?" "Someone who's angry and confused and quite honestly has me confused." "How so?" "The ghost showed me his death, and he was trapped underwater below the ice." "Like he fell through." "Yeah, except the strange thing is is that the holes were not big enough for him to have fallen through." "I mean, they were very small, perfectly round holes that looked like they had been carved." "Yeah, like ice fishing holes." "Oh, you guys have never been?" "Trust me." "I wish I hadn't either." "My dad thought it would make for great father-daughter bonding." "He would schlep us out every winter to some lake in Stanton that was stocked with fish." "Never caught anything but a cold." "Stanton's nearby." "Yeah, it's the only lake around that's sanctioned for the sport, and it's almost the end of the season, and when the ice melts, it gets really thin." "Right, but if it was frozen, the ghost's body could still be trapped underneath there." "His dead body?" "What do you guys do with that kind of information?" "Mm, good question, Mel." "What do we do with that information?" "Detective Blair is gone." "Detective Simon was less than happy to make our acquaintance." "If we turn in another tip on a dead body, we'll be visiting a very different set of bars than I'd prefer on a Friday night." "Well, I'll call 911." "I'll say I spotted something at my dad's ice shanty while I was jigging for bluegills." "Oh, that old excuse." "We can't ask you to do that." "You didn't ask, but I wanna call anyway." "I'd want someone to do the same for me if I was frozen stiff under that ice." "The police followed Avery's lead, and they found the body in the lake, but they're still trying to discover his identity." "But he's young." "Well, if he's been reported missing, they're gonna find out soon." "Talk to me." "Tell me what Damon has to do with all this." "Damon took my life." "Check it out." "We made the front page." "No." "Sadly, a dead runaway kid named Shane Dunning did." "You already knew the I.D. Of the ghost?" "Little thing called the internet." "That and Jim filled me in after he talked to the coroner." "Well, I bet he didn't mention this little tidbit." "The lake where they found Shane's body... is less than a mile from Damon's house." "I know." "He's been living up there and commuting to his studio for about 10 years." "How are you always one step ahead of me?" "Question is is it a coincidence?" "That you're always one step ahead?" "No, that we have a ghost saying Damon took his life and now the ghost turns up practically right next door to Damon's house." "Damon said he never even saw the ghost, but he might just be a big, fat liar." "I'm not sure." "The ghost forced Damon to draw those pictures." "He's trying to tell us something." "That Damon killed him?" "By somehow luring him out onto thin ice, and why?" "I mean, there's no apparent connection between Shane and Damon." "And what does the angry kid with the orange backpack have to do with any of it?" "Wait." "Are you asking me?" "Nope." "I'm gonna ask Shane's family." "I don't even know why I try." "Mr. And Mrs. Dunning." "Hi." "My name is Melinda Gordon, and I am so sorry for your loss." "Are you the hospital grief counselor?" "Not exactly, but I think I can help." "So you've actually seen, talked to my son since he..." "I know it's a lot to process." "Is Shane here now?" "No, but I'm sure he's not very far." "I just need to figure out what he's angry about or why he feels like he was wronged somehow." "It's because of me." "You can't keep beating yourself up, baby." "We all tried our best with Shane." "He had trouble at school and trouble at home." "Shane's mother wasn't any help." "She took off after the divorce." "Shane never saw her again." "That must have been hard on him." "This is a second marriage for both of us." "We tried to blend our families, but it wasn't easy." "Shane seemed to take it the worst." "We tried counseling." "We worked with teachers and friends." "Nothing helped." "Did anything happen right before he ran away?" "A lot." "There was a last straw, for me, anyway." "It seems so small now." "Shane found a preapproved credit card in the mail, and he opened an account in Jeff's name." "When the bank called us and told us..." "I lost it." "I was desperate to get through to him." "I told Shane he had to either shape up or get out." "I just thought if he was faced with an ultimatum, then..." "He decided to leave, and we never saw him again." "U-until..." "I'm so sorry." "I just wanted him to get on the right track in life." "I didn't want to lose him." "Would you tell Shane that we'd give anything to have him back again?" "Of course." "When he's ready." "Right now, I just have to figure out what's keeping him here." "Look, I know that this is gonna sound strange," "But I think it might have something to do with comic books." "What?" "No, Shane hated comic books." "He teased his stepbrother about it all the time." "Stepbrother?" "My son colin from my first marriage." "He's the one who loves graphic novels." "Were they close?" "When we got married, Mariah and I hoped that it would bring them together," "But it had the opposite effect." "They fought a lot," "So Colin mostly avoided Shane by hiding in his room all the time with his comics." "There he is now." "It's ok." "I'm sorry to hear about your stepbrother." "Your mom said that you and Shane weren't close," "But I'm sure it's still hard for you." "So you've really seen Shane, or his ghost or whatever?" "Yes, I have." "He's angry." "He said that damon weaver is a thief." "I don't know what that meant, but you might." "Not really." "Ok, well, your mom said that you're the one who's into comics," "And I saw you at Damon's studio, so you're a fan, right?" "Was." "How come?" "Damon's new novel, it's mine," "I think." "What do you mean?" "I finished a graphic novel of my own." "Did Shane know about it?" "Yeah." "I never showed it to him, but he knew I was finishing one up." "He thought it was lame." "And then right before he left, he stole my laptop and all my original drawings." "His way of taunting you one last time." "That's what I thought," "But then Damon Weaver releases a spoiler about his new book," "And everything about it is just like mine..." "I mean, characters, the story, everything." "So what are you saying, that Damon stole your story?" "Or Shane stole it and he sold it to Damon," "Pretending it was his work." "Is that when you started showing up in Damon's drawings?" "That's a new thing," "Totally unrelated to my work." "I mean, why would Damon Weaver draw me and my stepbrother into his blog comics?" "Actually, I think Shane's been doing it." "What do you mean?" "I think that he's possessing Damon and making him do the drawings." "Why would he do that?" "I mean, it seems pointless." "Does it?" "I mean, there has to be some reason why you were standing in the picture, holding a knife." "I didn't have a knife." "Why did you go to the square in the first place?" "I wanted to talk to Damon," "See if I could get some answers." "Maybe he would tell me where Shane was." "Not that he would tell me that Shane was at the bottom of a lake." "So you think that Damon killed Shane to hide the fact that it's not his novel?" "You're the one that said that Shane was angry." "Maybe that's why." " Now, why doesn't this kid, uh..." " Colin." "Why doesn't Colin bust Damon for plagiarism?" "Um, because he can't prove it." "Shane took all of his artwork." "And sold it to Damon, who is claiming it as his own." "That is low." "I mean, but would Damon Weaver really kill this kid to protect his secret?" "I don't know." "Maybe it was an accident," "Or maybe he realized that he was in a position where he could lose everything." "Everything, huh?" "Yeah." "His reputation, his career." "Hey, why doesn't the ghost force Damon to draw a confession?" "Maybe that's what he has in mind." "I mean, it's all pretty public." "You know, maybe he's trying to torment Damon so that he'll confess what he did." "And will that be plagiarism or murder?" "Maybe both." "Ok, Shane." "Maybe you're right." "Almost makes the interest rate increase worth it." "Do you people break and enter often?" "Uh, it's not considered breaking and entering unless we people get caught, so you wanna close the door?" "Well, you're the graphic novelist." "Go sniff out the kid's artwork." "What if Damon comes back?" "Melinda's got the perfect vantage point from her shop." "She'll give us a heads-up if she sees him." "How 'bout the ghost?" "Oh, him." "I really won't know he's here until I hear him." "So he could possess one of us like he did to Damon?" "Yep." "Oh, no." "I think I upset him." "Shane, we're here because we wanna help." "I don't think he cares." "We know you took your stepbrother's artwork." "Did you really sell it to Damon?" "It's time to set things right, Shane." "Just talk to me." "Ok." "We can show ourselves out." "What is that?" "I think he's gone." "Do you know how much these are worth?" "These are signed by Frank Miller." "They're originals." "Yeah, well, guess what other originals Damon has," "Colin's." "These are really good." "The kid's got talent." "Melinda." "Is Damon on the move?" "Are we about to be made?" "No, he's at the book signing." "Did you find anything?" "Well, we found Colin's artwork." "And a copy of Damon's new book." "Now we'll see if Damon really did rip it off." "There are differences in Damon's background art and details," "But the story, the content, it's the same as Colin's." "Yeah." "Colin said that the material was personal." "He's right." "So this character, the one who's losing his powers," "That's supposed to be Shane?" "Well, I mean, it seems to fit." "The character in the story is abandoned by his mom because his powers make her sick." "Right." "The absentee mom who dropped out of Shane's life." "Custody issues can do a number on kids." "That's probably what made Shane act out and cause trouble for his dad and stepmom." "So I guess when the ghost said that Damon took his life," "He meant this story, his story." "Well, check this out." "That obviously is colin," "And he's got Shane hooked up to these weird tubes and wires, like maybe he's torturing him." "No wonder the ghost was so angry." "His stepbrother was getting his kicks off Shane's personal pain." "Then why isn't Shane haunting Colin?" "I think that the ghost is using the drawings to get Colin to go after Damon, like they did with the knife." "You know, trying to get the stepbrother to do something stupid." "But that knife attack didn't happen." "Not yet." "What's wrong?" "A lot if we don't get to that book signing." "Well, I guess I'll hold down the fort." "Oh, no." "Would you make this one out to "my biggest fan"?" "Zach." "That's short for Zachary." "How many would you like?" " Just one." " That'll be 4.95." "You should be signing those books, Colin, not him." "Here's your change." "Thank you." "I love the explosion." "The genesis of the hero's powers is so, uh..." "What was your inspiration?" "The words you create are so intense." "I never know if your characters are going to live or die." "Uh, who...who should I make it out to?" ""my coolest fan, Monique."" ""to my coolest fan, Monique."" "Thank you, Mr. Weaver." "Look, I need to take a break." "We've got a line of people waiting." "Yes." "I gotta get out of here." "I'm sorry." "Excuse me." "Colin!" "No!" "How could you do this?" "I can't believe I looked up to you for years." "Get this kid out of here." "Hey, drop the knife, drop it!" "Let's go." "Wait." "Wait, wait, wait, wait." "Hold on." "Let him go." "Are you nuts?" "He came at you with a knife." "Just please let him go." "He had every right." "Uh, I'm sorry, everybody." "I'm so sorry." "Uh..." "There's something I gotta say." "I can't believe Damon admitted that he ripped off my work." "You didn't really give him any choice." "Shane's here, isn't he?" "Yes." "I didn't..." "I didn't feel him near me, not until a few days ago." "Before that, the house just felt as cold and as empty as when he left." "It felt cold and empty to me way before that." "He felt that way, too, when he was alive." "And Colin, he was always in his room, his head down, drawing away." "Shane felt really alone, and he envied you for being able to tune it all out." "It pissed me off, but thanks for putting it nicely." "And that's when you took Colin's drawings." "Was it to hurt me?" "Because all you ever did was make fun of them, of me." "I didn't really know what you were doing, not the whole story." "When my dad kicked me out, I was looking for cash." "I was going through everybody's drawers, and when I saw what Colin was working on..." "He wasn't as oblivious as I thought." "What do you mean?" "The story, it was about this kid whose house gets blown up, and when he wakes up, he gets these powers." "He can disappear." "He can destroy stuff." "Except his mom, turns out she's allergic to his new chemistry or whatever..." "So she has to go away from him." "You said Damon took your life." "You meant what Colin wrote about you." "That was your life story." "After the divorce..." "My mom didn't want me." "My dad said it was this big custody battle," "But I heard him talking to Colin's mom one night," "Saying how she had said that leaving was her chance to be free." "Free of me." "Shane read your story, the part about the mom." "Was he mad?" "I mean, those drawings are just for me." "Tell him it's ok." "It's ok." "When I saw them, I finally felt less alone," "Like he got it." "But by then, I had done so many crappy things," "I basically got myself kicked out." "I thought at least I could do one good thing... for colin." "And that's when you brought Damon his drawings." "I just wanted him to see them." "He was Colin's hero." "And Colin's so talented." "I figured why wouldn't he want to help him?" "And Damon wouldn't even look at 'em." "But I left the drawings." "When I left, I took a shortcut across the lake." "It was a stupid mistake, like so many I had made." "Shane died taking a shortcut from your house." "I didn't know." "I swear." "He said that he tried to show you Colin's drawings, but you weren't interested." "I wasn't." "I never even glanced at it" "Until my publisher came to my house and saw it next to my desk." "She thought the stuff was fantastic." "I was so stuck." "I was so over." "I just needed to dig out, so I redrew it all as my own." "But if Shane could make you draw, then he could have made you confess." "I mean, he could have stopped you." "So why didn't he?" "Why'd he make me do it?" "I thought the least Damon could do after what he did was get your work published." "Everyone's gonna know your name." "They're gonna care who you are, and you'll never feel alone." "He really wanted your novel to be published." "Maybe if people could see how special you were, then you would never feel alone the way that he did." "I'm gonna make sure of that." "Look, if it's ok with you, I'd like to help." "Publishing gets pretty brutal sometimes, and you're already having a pretty strange launch." "It's the least I could do, if you'll let me." "Tell Colin I think he should trust this guy." "We all deserve the chance to clean up our mistakes." "And besides..." "I may not be around to look out for him." "You see the light, don't you?" "It's so beautiful." "You can't even believe it's real." "He's ready." "The light?" "What's it look like?" "Even you, you couldn't draw it." "He said even you couldn't draw it." "Come on, slowpoke, or you're gonna be late for class." "Hey, I thought you finished your school project last night." "This isn't for school." "It's just for fun." "Ok, well, that's Shane, and that's his sidekick Colin." "Not bad." "No, mommy." "This is me, and that's my brother." "Uh, what brother is that, sport?" "Well, he's just made up." "Like my teacher says, a fig of my imagination." "Exactly." "It would be cool to have a brother." "He might be different, like me." "Well, do you feel that different?" "I'm different from everyone, even you, mom." "Yeah, but, you know, there's more things that make us the same than different." "Like what?" "Like what we feel." "What do you feel?" "Right now, nothing but love." "Come here." "Oh, my baby." "I'll second that one." "Guys, you're squishing me." "All right." "Let's go to school." " Get your backpack, sport." " Ok."