by Lan Dang
Chapter 6: The Truth
As he was pedaling home, Eric stopped by Janet’s house. The door was closed. He took a deep breath and carried the papers to the front door. Eric stood on her porch, riddled with guilt and shame at what he had done, and too hesitant to ring the doorbell.
He thought to himself. “What if she answers the door? She’ll probably slam it in front of my face. I would probably do the same too if I was her.”
He finally decided to just leave her papers on the front porch and hoped she would see it on her way out.
As he was walking back to his bicycle, the door opened. It was Janet.
“Aren’t you going to come in? I have something I think you would like to hear…the truth.”
He stared at her. She looked much calmer than before though her eyes were red and slightly swollen but she didn’t appear upset, just tired and sad.
“Um, it’s okay, Janet. I realized what I said earlier was inappropriate. You aren’t obligated to tell me anything especially after the way I treated you. I just wanted to give your stuff back. That’s all.”
She sighed. “No, I want to talk to you. You are absolutely right. I would probably do the same thing you did if I was in your shoes. I mean I want you to come inside, okay?”
She gave him a weak smile.
Eric looked at her and nodded. She left the door open as she picked up the papers and he followed her inside her house.
Eric had never been inside Janet’s house before. He didn’t know what to expect. The wallpaper was a pale light blue color that matched the color of the sky. The carpet was a dark brown color and the place looked very clean. The furniture consisted of a flowered couch and a wooden rocking chair. He spotted a new leather recliner in front of the television and assumed that it was designated for Janet’s dad. There was an old television and a radio next to it on a wooden stand. There was a grandfather clock off to the corner, loudly ticking away. But what stood out the most, were the paintings that hung all across the walls. Some were family portraits but others looked very valuable like they belonged to a museum. They were paintings of different places, most looked foreign and others he recognized, but they were all stunningly beautiful.
Janet saw what caught Eric’s eye and explained. “My mom likes to collect art paintings. She travels abroad to different places in the world. Some were purchased at auctions and others just on the street.”
She led him upstairs to her bedroom and Eric felt uncomfortable as he stood outside, hesitating to come in. He had never been inside a girl’s bedroom before. It was all very new to him.
She laughed and said, “It’s okay. I don’t bite. Besides, it’s more private this way. My parents could come home anytime. They don’t mind me having friends over. I’ll just say we’re working on a school project.”
As Eric walked inside, he was surrounded by the color pink. Her bed had pale pink linen sheets and a dark pink blanket to match. Her wallpaper had a floral print set upon a bright pink background and she had pink curtains for her windows. The only thing that wasn’t pink was the dark brown carpet and her wooden desk and a lamp. Eric stood there, awkwardly, not knowing where to sit.
He felt he was drowning in the color pink, a color he had despised since being teased by his elementary school classmates when his mom forced him to wear his pink t-shirts instead of throwing the t-shirts away. It was his mom’s fault to begin with. She had accidentally mixed her red sweater with his white t-shirts when she was doing laundry and the end result were multiple pink t-shirts.
Janet placed her chair in front of him while she sat comfortably on her bed. She stared outside the window as she started to speak.
“You have no idea how long I have carried this burden. It seems almost a relief to let it out now. I mean I have always tried to fit in with other kids my age but it seems almost impossible. Somehow, they always seem to know that I am different.”
Eric thought to himself, “Boy, is that an understatement.” He decided it was better not to interrupt though.
She let out a huge sigh. “I have always kept my supernatural abilities under wraps. I think you were the first person to guess my secret. That day, I shouldn’t have been so close to you. I should have remained silent but I couldn’t help myself. I purred.”
Eric shuddered at the mention of that incident.
She continued, “But you still kept that a secret. You never told your friends in school about it.” She smiled and said, “They probably wouldn’t have believed you anyways. They would have thought you had lost your mind. Imagine someone who could change their physical appearance to match any creature they chose.”
She looked away from the window and stared at Eric.
“Yes, I was that feline cat you saw that night. How else do you think I could have known about the burglary? I’ve been protecting you all these years and you have been unaware of my presence. That was the way it is supposed to be. That is our promise, to keep you safe and happy, unaware of your true identity.”
Eric didn’t want to interrupt but he had to ask. “A promise to whom?”
“The Elders. They are divine beings, with far more supernatural powers than I could ever possess, and they are also immortal. We worship them, obey them, and trust them with our lives. They were the very people who sent all of us here, to this planet.”
Eric was confused. “All of us?”
“You, me, my dad, and your Kathy.” She smiled sarcastically.
Eric looked at her in surprise. “Wait a minute. Are you saying that we’re all aliens?”
She simply nodded her head in confirmation. She continued on with her story as if she was uninterrupted.
“Your Kathy is different than us, rather my dad and I. I’m not too sure about her background. I just know that she was found all alone in the Guilden Forest and raised by the leader of our tribe. She’s different because she lacks our special abilities but she has her own special talent as well. She has mind control. She could make people do things that she wants. She could also plant fake memories and delete memories as well. And the scary thing is; that’s only the surface of what I know about her.”
Eric decided to change the subject. “So both you and your dad could transform to any creature that you come across?”
She nodded her head. “We acquired that special skill because where we lived, it was dangerous. The Guilden Forest is home to the most dangerous creatures. We learned to survive by mimicking the appearance of our predators, by transforming ourselves to the very creatures that would have otherwise fed upon us. It’s similar to the chameleon that changes its colors to blend into its environment. Sort of like a camouflage. It is a survival mechanism.”
“But I don’t understand. Why would the Elders send you here? What is the purpose if we don’t belong here?”
She watched Eric carefully and said, “Ever heard of the witness protection program?” He nodded his head.
“Okay, then imagine that instead of moving to another state where you change your identity and no one knows you, that you decide to move to another country on the other side of the world, on a continent where no one knows you, where no one can possibly find you, where you are safe and unknown.”
Eric nodded his head to indicate his comprehension.
“But instead of that, you are sent to another planet where you can’t be traced, where your identity is a secret even to yourself, where you are raised as an ordinary human being with private bodyguards to protect you, and all this is done for your safety.”
Janet looked at Eric in amusement. “Does this make sense to you?”
Eric stared at her, both in shock and curiosity.
“Honestly, it does. In a weird way, it actually makes sense to me. But it is just so difficult to swallow.”
The room was quiet for awhile before he spoke again.
“But why are you finally telling me all this? Why
are you breaking your promise to the Elders?’
Now, it was Janet’s turn to contemplate in silence.
She finally answered, “Because I think eventually you would start to notice that you’re not like everyone else here. You’re different just like the rest of us except in your case, you don’t know it. You may use your powers without even realizing it, like at the soccer game, for instance.”
When Eric looked at her in a questioning manner, she responded, “Yes, I lied to you then. I was there the entire time watching the game. The last goal you kicked was because of your powers, not your natural athleticism. Plus, I think the promise to the Elders can be broken if your safety is at stake. I think it is the perfect time for you to know the truth about yourself.”
He nodded his head in agreement. “So you, your dad, and Kathy are my own personal bodyguards?”
She smiled and said, “Yes. But I bet you never knew that you were always being watched. Honestly, there were so many times where I wanted to purposefully slip up just so that you could catch on to the truth yourself. I was sick and tired of living a lie all the time. It gets to me.”
She stared out the window. “Sometimes, I think I am the weakest one out of all three of us. I knew I was bound to leak out the truth at some point but I never thought it would be this day.”
Eric stared at her. “Okay, but who am I? Why are you protecting me? I still don’t understand.”
She turned back to look at him with tired eyes. “You’re all that’s left of the Guilden royal family. You are the heir to the throne, a prince, if you will. Except back on our planet named Sylo, we don’t put much value on titles. Your real name is Zephler and you were transported here when you were just a baby. The Elders ordered us to protect you because we need a king to take charge of our planet.”
Eric had difficulty grasping this last piece of truth. He almost wished Janet had kept all of her secrets to herself, that his own curiosity had not gotten the better of him. How could he, of all people, be a prince of a planet whose existence is questionable? Maybe Janet was lying to him. He looked at her but she looked serious and her eyes gazed back at him with complete honesty. She didn’t look like she was lying. Eric felt this was too much for him to handle.
As he got up to leave, Janet said, “Oh, I forgot to mention this to you but your foster father was also one of the bodyguards sent by the Elders, except his task was to raise you as his own son. He used to be one of the knights.”
Eric shook his head and said, “Foster father? How is that possible? Sorry Janet, but I feel this is all too much for me to handle right now. I really have to go but thanks for telling me everything you know. I appreciate it, I really do, but seriously, I just have to go.”
Eric practically ran out of Janet’s bedroom before she had a chance to alleviate any of her ‘truth’ on him. He leapt down the stairs and out of her house and picked up his bicycle and pedaled as if he was being chased by an angry dog. He arrived at his house in record time, huffing and puffing.
When he opened the door, he was pleasantly surprised to smell cookies baking in the oven. His mom had come home early today. As he went inside the kitchen, she was cheerfully washing the dishes and humming to herself. She turned around when she saw him.
“Hi, Eric. You’re home rather late today. Anything wrong?”
He smiled, pretending to hide his real feelings. “Nothing’s wrong. I was just helping Janet today. We were working on a school project at her house.”
He had to thank Janet for coming up with that useful lie. His mom seemed to believe him though for she turned around and continued rinsing the soapy dishes.
“The cookies are almost done. Let me wrap up here and we can later enjoy some cookies together okay?”
“Sure, Mom. I just want to freshen up first.”
Eric ran upstairs to the bathroom and laid on his bed instead. He felt very tired. His head was spinning and he felt as if the conversation this afternoon with Janet was so unreal, as if the incident had never occurred. He sure wished nothing had happened so he could continue to live his own peaceful life as an ordinary boy, an innocent and naïve one. He could hear his mom calling his name from the kitchen and he sighed as he got out of bed and went downstairs.
The cookies were placed on the table, cooling off and they smelled delicious. They were plump, soft chocolate cookies. Eric picked one up and dropped it because they were so hot. His mom laughed.
Eric looked at her and thought about what Janet had told him. Why hadn’t his mom told him that he was biologically not her son? He felt hurt and betrayed. His eyes looked carefully at his mom’s facial features taking in her brown eyes, her round, plump face, friendly and loving. She was pale with a sprinkle of freckles on her nose and cheeks. Her chin was short and her body was small and petite, rather on the plump side, which matched her face. In short, Eric had never noticed it before but he looked nothing like her.
His mom saw him studying her and asked, “Is anything wrong, dear? You don’t seem like yourself today.”
He shook his head. “I’m just not feeling well. That’s all.”
She went over to him with a worried expression and felt his forehead. “You don’t have a fever, but you do look sick. Why don’t you lie down and get some rest? These cookies can wait for you. I’ll just let them cool first and put them in the cookie jar afterwards. You can help yourself to them anytime.”
He mumbled, “Thanks, Mom.”
Eric walked back to his room to lie down. Even if she wasn’t his biological mother, she had raised him all these years and he was deeply attached to her. So what if they weren’t blood-related, did all that really matter? He sighed.
He walked over to a family photograph that had been taken when he was celebrating his birthday. He had just turned eight years old. Both of his parents were there and there was his favorite chocolate ice cream cake with eight candles in front. Everyone was smiling and laughing. The birthday had taken place at a carnival. Eric loved carnivals when he was a kid. He loved the rides, the cotton candy and the toys and games. He wished things were still the same as in the photograph but everything has changed and for the worse, he felt.
His mom was hardly at home now, his dad was gone and Eric felt as if he was going through some identity crisis. He didn’t even know who he was anymore or who people around him were either. Things clearly weren’t what they seemed. As he examined his dad carefully, he realized that he also didn’t look anything like him either. His dad was tanned, tall and built and muscular. His eyes were hazel and his hair was blond, a light honey blond color. His face was thin with sharp features, a thin nose and small eyes and sharp cheekbones. His face was more angular with a sharp chin that jutted out.
But again, who said that every kid has to resemble their parents? It wasn’t as if looks were everything, he could be a mixture between the both of them. But the more he looked at the photograph, the more he believed what Janet was telling him. It would explain why his dad left and why his two parents never got along, except in front of him. Plus, he never met his dad’s relatives and realized that his dad never mentioned them.
As he stared down at his dad in the photograph, he felt sad but more understanding of why his dad had departed. If he was his dad, he would probably want his own life instead of taking care of someone else’s kid. His mom was more nurturing so she would probably sacrifice her life for him even if he wasn’t her own son. Their bond was stronger and maybe the only reason she kept this a secret was that she was afraid of losing him; that he wouldn’t want to be with her if he knew the truth. She didn’t have to fear that. From what Janet told him, his biological parents were dead and he didn’t want to go back to his own planet. He wanted to stay here and be his normal self. Was that too much to ask for?
Eric felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue overcome him. He was exhausted. He decided to take a nap befor
e dinner. If his mom thinks he was sick, he might as well take advantage of it.
As he dozed off to sleep, he saw the image of the Elder again. This time, the Elder was much weaker so that the image was even more blurry than before. His breathing was nothing more than mere gasps for air. He was emaciated and appeared pale even though much of his face was still covered by the dark cloak he wore. If it was not for his breathing, Eric would have thought he was dead. Seeing him in this condition, Eric felt a wave of pity and sorrow. There must be something he can do to help him.
As Eric walked over to touch the chains to free the Elder, his hand went right through the chains. The Elder’s head moved in the direction where Eric’s hand had been and Eric knew that the Elder had sensed his presence. His eyes opened weakly but Eric knew he could not see him. As Eric glanced around the dark room, he noticed that the lights being given off by the fireflies had also grown much weaker than last time. The room was dim and Eric knew that the Elder did not have much time left. As the image faded away to complete darkness, Eric shook himself awake.
He laid in bed, surprised that he had drifted off to sleep and had dreamt about the Elder. Except this time, he knew it wasn’t a dream. From what Janet had told him, the Elders do exist on his planet and that they were divine, powerful beings who were also immortal. He believed the chains that bound this particular Elder was absorbing his powers and making him weaker but the chains could never kill him. That was a relief but Eric thought about what would happen if the Elder lost all his powers and had only immortality. It would be a severe punishment.
Eric was wide awake. He felt very hungry and went downstairs to fix himself some dinner. His mom was watching television in the living room. She looked up at him when he went downstairs.
“Are you feeling better now? You took quite a long nap. I already ate dinner. There’s some take-out on the table.”
She looked apologetic as she explained, “I was tired myself so I didn’t really want to cook today. I just ordered some take-out for the both of us.”
“It’s okay. I’m good either way. I feel a lot better.”
“That’s good.” His mom went back to her soap operas that she had recorded on the DVR.
Eric helped himself to the tacos and burritos that his mom had ordered. He joined her on the couch and watched the soap operas with her as he ate his dinner. It felt nice, just the two of them enjoying each other’s company.
When it started getting late, his mom turned off the television and told him to take a shower and get back to bed. It was a school night after all and they both had to wake up early tomorrow.
As he turned back to go upstairs, she said, “You know Eric, if you ever need to talk to me about anything, I’m here for you. I know it seems like I’m hardly at home anymore but I still can make time for you. You’re more important than my job.”
He looked at her and nodded his head. “I understand, Mom. Thanks. I’ll tell you if anything is bothering me.”
He knew he just made a lie, then and there. How could he possibly tell his mom about who he was or that he knew she wasn’t his biological mom? It would just make things worse and he was used to keeping his feelings and thoughts to himself anyways.
