by Noah Michael
Alia sat down, stroking Bella’s hair. As she gazed down at her sister’s peaceful face, her heart swelled with love and appreciation. She couldn’t help but smile.
“Alia,” Bella said, her eyes opening. She stretched, letting out a deep yawn.
“How do you feel Bella?”
“Ve-ry ha-ppy,” Bella struggled to say, speaking slowly. Her voice was slurred, the left side of her mouth drooped slightly. “You?”
“I’ve been waiting all day to visit you. It’s been crazy.”
“Why?”
“I caught a murderer this morning, then I was chased around by a bunch of creeps.”
When Bella’s gaze fell upon Alia’s injuries, she narrowed her eyebrows and puckered her lips. “Dey hu-rt you?”
“Nah,” Alia answered, not wanting to worry her sister. “You should see the other guys.”
Bella sighed, not convinced.
“You be care-ful.”
“Always,” Alia smiled. “I wouldn’t let anyone take me away from my Bella.”
Bella smiled. “Why they hu-rt you?”
“Still trying to figure that out, but it’s a shame,” Alia whispered. “Their leader was pretty hot.”
The two girls laughed.
“It was really strange though, Bella,” Alia continued. “The men had these…powers. One of them could even do what I do. I don’t know what they wanted from me.”
Bella opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She looked helplessly at Alia, unable to speak the words she wished to say. Alia wished she could have a real conversation with her sister, just once, especially now. Although Bella’s speech was impaired, Alia sometimes used her gift to communicate easily by reading her sister’s facial expressions.
“Don’t worry about it, beautiful,” Alia smiled comfortingly. “Let’s try again, this time I’ll read you.” Alia repeated, focusing in on Bella’s face.
“Nobody can do what my amazing sister can do, but tell me more.”
There it was. Not quite Bella’s voice, but her love, her encouragement. All right there any time she needed it. Alia recounted all the day’s events and Bella listened intently. As Alia went on, Bella’s expression turned grave.
“Alia, you need to stay away from them.”
“But they might have something to do with my past, with my abilities.”
“No, you need to forget about them. You need to stay far away!”
Alia was taken aback by the intensity of Bella’s expression. She had never seen her sister so scared.
“You know I can’t do that Bella. I don’t run from a fight.”
“My beautiful sister, when will you learn that some fights are just not worth the consequences?”
The words stung like a dagger in her heart. Alia was at a loss for words. Just then, she felt a buzzing coming from her jeans pocket. She pulled out the phone she’d swiped from James earlier in the day. A reminder popped up on the lock screen. To her surprise, it was her name, followed by a time and address.
Alia looked at her sister, her expression hurt and conflicted.
“I have to go,” she said, giving Bella one last kiss on the cheek.
“Ali-a,” Bella called out sadly as she left, but Alia closed the door behind her.
Back behind the wheel, Alia drove to the address on the reminder, guessing unsuccessfully at James’s passcode along the way. She pulled over at the end of the indicated block and walked to the address. It was an old, rundown house with a rusted “For Sale” sign stuck in its lawn. She hid behind a bush in the lawn across the street and waited as the sun went down.
Finally, after about an hour, a shiny Mercedes parked across the street and two suited men stepped out. She recognized them as the men who’d chased her earlier. Alia clenched her fists as a third man stepped out from the front seat. They stood by their car, waiting.
Who are you waiting for?
Another car turned down the street, pulling up behind them. Booth and his cronies waited for the newcomer to approach before the four of them walked into the empty house. Alia’s fear and curiosity battled briefly while remembering Bella’s advice, but her curiosity won out and she followed the mysterious trio.
At the back of the house, she spotted a window low to the ground and finding it unlocked, she let herself in. The house was decrepit and dusty. Alia almost immediately heard voices from the room just off the kitchen. She ducked into an adjacent pantry where she could hear them clearly and remain out of sight.
“Do you have the Reader?” the visitor asked.
“She’s stronger than we’d anticipated,” James answered. “But she won’t get away again.”
“Perhaps Roko was correct to have his doubts about you. This job will be given to someone more capable.”
“No!” James growled. “We are partners, and this is my territory. Tell Roko he will just have to be patient.”
“The Following has no patience, nor does it tolerate failure. Roko has waited over one-hundred years for this girl, and he won’t wait any longer. This meeting was a waste of time. Goodnight, Mr. Booth.”
With that, the men dispersed. Alia waited to move until she heard the cars drive away, exiting this time from the front door and hustling back to her car where she lay down, took a deep breath, and tried to connect the dots.
I’m something called a Reader, probably relating to my ability to read faces. But were they talking about Roko, the American billionaire? What the hell does he want from me, and how could he possibly have been waiting a century for me? And what is The Following?
Alia reclined her chair and took a deep breath. She’d had enough, and she was exhausted. As she took off her shoes, she noticed a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of one of them. It was an old, faded photograph. She brushed the dirt from the image, still vaguely visible. It was a man and a woman holding their newborn baby. As she stared at their faces, Alia felt something stir within her heart; a faint, yet comforting familiarity. She couldn’t help but wonder if the photograph was related to her, if James or the other man had dropped it on the way to their car.
It probably just belonged to the previous owners of that house. I must’ve stepped on it while sneaking around.
But after all the things she’d seen and heard, Alia wasn’t sure about anything anymore. With thoughts and theories spinning through her head, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
◆◆◆
Alia woke with the rising sun. Instinctively she checked her phone, only to find a panic-inducing number of missed calls from the nursing home. Fumbling slightly, she hit return call.
“Hello, this is Procare Nursing Home.”
Alia recognized her voice.
“This is Alia. Is everything ok with Bella?”
“Alia,” the nurse said, her tone turning serious, “Bella suffered a stroke last night and has been moved to the emergency room at St. Peter’s Hospital. We tried to reach you all night.”
“What’s her condition?” Alia said, struggling to remain calm.
“Alia, I’m so sorry, she’s in a coma—”
Alia hung up the phone, tears rolling down her cheeks as she sped down the streets of London towards the hospital. Speeding recklessly into a parking spot labeled “reserved,” she strode past a security guard, ignoring his protests. An emergency alarm was blazing throughout the hospital perimeter. Focused only on Bella, she marched to the front desk where the secretary was anxiously gathering his belongings.
“What room is Bella Admerry in? I’m her sister.” Red lights flashed from the ceiling as the hospital’s fire alarm shrieked.
“I’m sorry ma’am but we are going to evacuate due to the-”
“Help me, now!” Alia demanded. The man fell under her spell. “What room is Bella Admerry?”
The man nodded. “Room 504, but she can’t have visitors right now. She’s in critical condition and we are about to evacuate-.”
Alia bypassed the elevators and made for the stairs, practically
sprinting each flight. Blaring, high pitched sounds and blinking lights filled the corridors with chaos. She dodged doctors, nurses and even firemen as she made her way to 504. She slammed open the door to find an empty room. She dashed back into the hallway looking frantically every which way. At the end of the hallway, she saw four men, dressed in mismatched security uniforms, pushing an operating table into another room. She darted down the hallway after them, reaching the door in short order despite the chaos.
There lay Bella, her eyes closed, completely still. She was hooked up to an assortment of medical machines and a strange, metallic sheet had been placed under her. Alia moved to her sister’s bed, but tripped on something and to her horror, it was the body of one of the men she’d seen. She recognized him as the man she’d fought in the alley. He held a gun, but there was already a bullet in his head. Three other men also lay still on the ground. One of them rose, his shirt soaked in blood. He too held a gun, but he pointed it at Bella, not at Alia.
“If you attack me again,” he shouted at the comatose woman, “I’ll shoot you both!”
But instead of firing, he dropped his gun. Struggling to regain control over his mind, he managed to utter a few sentences.
“Roko won’t stop until he has you. Long live The Following!”
They were interrupted by a knock at the door. “London Fire Department!”
Alia turned towards the door but was startled by the sound of shattering glass. The man had jumped.
The door crashed open and a firefighter walked into the room.
“What the-”
He grabbed Alia and began pulling her back towards the staircase.
“Wait!” she cried, “My sister! My sister!”
“I’d worry more about yourself than your sister. By the looks of things in here, you will have a lot to answer to.”
Those men had tried to kill her sister, and she was going to take the blame. She remembered what the man had told her.
If Roko will never stop, then I will just have to stop him myself.
Alia looked up at the fireman. She drew her head close to his ear, whispering softly and hypnotically. “Your job is to save lives. In your hands you hold a young girl. A girl with a future. Save her life. Let her go…Let her go...”
The man’s grip loosened, and Alia ran back to Bella’s room. To her horror, the bed was empty.
“No!” Alia yelled, smashing her fist against a medicine cabinet. When she looked out the window, her jaw dropped. Bella was floating down to the parking lot, laying on the metallic sheet, her medical equipment still attached and flying alongside her. The magnetic man stood beside an ambulance, opening the backdoors as he used his powers to carry Bella inside. Her heart pumping, Alia sprinted down the emergency exit to the parking lot, just in time to see the ambulance fade away in the distance.
“Bella!” Alia screamed helplessly, falling to her knees. Her eyes swelled with tears and anguish.
No…no, I won’t fail you again. She thought, her grief boiling into anger. I can’t. I will go to America and find Roko. I will kill the richest man in the world if that’s what it takes. I’m going to save you this time, Bella. I’m going to bring you home.
Alia’s pocket buzzed as another reminder popped up on James’s phone.
“Flight to Silver Tower, 7 p.m.”
Alia stood back up, her heart steeled with conviction. She got into the car and looked up the soonest flights. She didn’t have the money for a ticket, and as a murder suspect she doubted she’d be able to get through security, but none of that mattered. She would hypnotize the entire airport staff if she had to. She was getting on that plane.
Chapter Five
The Enlai
Michigan
July 3
5:00 p.m.
I’m the mighty Maximus, son of Armolin the Ancient Guardian of the Universe!” Sarah exclaimed with a mischievous grin, swinging her kaza and imitating Maximus who was demonstrating his fencing. A sword in each hand, he swung with precision as Raiden watched from his post against the steel wall.
“So, do your mind tricks make you a really good fencer?”
“They allow me to see what my opponent plans, which helps. However, my skills were taught to me by my father, Armolin.”
Sarah seized the opportunity. “The mighty Armolin, ancient Guardian of the Universe!”
Chuckling, Raiden turned back to Maximus. “Fencing history aside, why did you take me with you? Why didn’t you hypnotize me?”
Maximus ignored him.
“Alright, fine. Let’s try this one,” Raiden said, growing impatient, “I was saved by a Reader like you when I was a kid. Was that you, or do you know who else it could’ve been?”
Maximus stopped and turned, glaring. “Enough of your questions. My turn. Sarah has shown me your comics. You know an unusual amount for a human. Where do you get your information?”
“Maximus, be nice,” Sarah scolded.
Raiden shot her an appreciative wink. “It comes to me at night, in my dreams. But I only see bits and pieces, so I use my imagination to weave everything together into a story.”
“Interesting,” Maximus said slowly. “What more do you know of our people?”
I know that you call yourselves the Enlai, and that you look like humans, but you have superior intelligence and strength. I know that each of you have a different super-power, the ability to manipulate a certain aspect of nature. But as far as your history, I could use a bit of help.”
“Do you know about the Alliance?”
“Yeah,” Raiden said, recalling the details. “I wrote about them in the Alliance Downfall comic. For thousands of years, your kind was governed by an Alliance of seven tribes.”
“That is correct. The Enlai are divided into over a dozen tribes, but only seven of them agreed to join the Alliance. The most powerful member from each of those seven tribes was chosen by trial of skill and spirit to serve as a Guardian. The Alliance bestowed each Guardian with a Stone of Immortality, which in addition to extending their lives, increased their strength and power. The stones were passed down through each generation of Guardians, bonding with the hearts of their new masters. For centuries, Guardians ensured peace throughout the globe. Whenever they agreed that the humans were ready to receive a new piece of knowledge, they sent a delegate into the human world to “discover” it. Thomas Edison, a talented Absorber, brought light to your world. The Wright brothers, from the tribe of Builders, brought you flight. For the most part, they were successful in leading mankind towards a better future.”
“But it all came to an end during the fourth reign of Guardians,” Raiden recounted. “They’re all in my comics. Xenua of the Casters, callers of storms. Starrok of the Fusers, masters of gravity and stars. Shai of the Builders, experts of technology and invention. Selius of the Absorbers, manipulators of energy and light. Gorbith of the Coders, masters of the genome. Legasus of the Surgers, masters of waves and harmonics. And your father, Armolin of the Readers, rulers of the subconscious mind and emotion.”
Maximus stopped at Raiden’s last words. “You know about my father,” he said slowly.
“Yeah,” Raiden said excitedly. “I’ve dreamt about you before. The fierce, daring Maximus, son of Armolin, set on avenging the death of his father. You’re in a few of the comics.”
“This is not a storybook, human!” Maximus growled angrily. “We are at war!”
Raiden stumbled, startled by his response. “Jeez, relax. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that.”
Sarah looked uncomfortably to the floor.
Maximus calmed himself with a few deep breaths. “In the twentieth century, a great evil rose to power. His name was Vespirus, a Reader with terrible strength. He raised an army and, together with his fearsome ally Galaxius, waged war against the Alliance, slaying all the Guardians but three, my father among them. And then, just as their victory fell within reach, Vespirus and Galaxius disappeared without a trace. Vespirus’s loyal follower
s continued in his ways, determined to finish off the Alliance and enslave mankind, believing themselves superior. The Following, as they came to call themselves, regained control over European leaders and Enlai and humans alike were hunted and gathered from all over Europe for slaughter.
My father, Armolin, encouraged his fellow surviving Guardians to form a Resistance, but Xenua and Starrok didn’t believe any chance remained but to run. Before they had resolved their differences, word came that Starrok was mortally wounded in a raid conducted by The Following.
Now on his own, Armolin stumbled upon a valuable Alliance survivor, Albert Einstein, a German-born Surger, who agreed to join him. Together, they grew the Resistance’s numbers and managed to target key leaders of The Following. Armolin managed to take down the Reader in charge of the death camps, Adolf Hitler, and Einstein urged the Americans to develop the Atomic bomb, dealing a deathblow to The Following’s strongest puppet governments. This restored order to the human world, and although the Following still held control over the Enlai world, the fighting died down. And so things remained until forty years ago when a new player, Roko, established control of The Following and waged a new era of vicious fighting with the Resistance. Using his company Discover Inc. to acquire money and influence, he built an army composed of both robots and Enlai. I was only a child when Roko’s general, a formidable shifter known as Stone, entered our home and murdered my father. I barely escaped. My father’s death crushed the spirits of the Resistance and it disbanded, officially marking the final defeat of the Alliance. However, I refused to accept defeat. I scoured the world for new allies and found Sarah, perhaps the last remaining Surger. Her training and education are the first step to defeating Roko, stopping the Following, and restoring the Alliance.”
