Aphelion

by L. J. Higgins

  I mashed at the button on the treadmill, accelerating it until I was running at full pace. My heart pounded against my ribs, my breath jolted with each step, and my legs burned. I lifted my forearm to wipe the sweat from my brow, but didn’t break my stride.

  Commander Kane’s directive had pushed me to breaking point. I’d done everything he’d ever wanted. I’d worked my ass off, excelled at every challenge he’d thrown at me, and he called me spoilt. He was impossible to please. Now I had to spend the afternoon training with the two guys I wanted to see least in the world. I would’ve rather faced off against twenty aliens at once than those two.

  My legs throbbed and began to feel weak, forcing me to jump up onto the sides of the treadmill and press stop. I wiped at my face with a towel, puffing and panting. The workout had taken the sting out of the Commander’s words, but it didn’t make the prospect of eating in the mess hall and training with the two biggest pains in my ass any better.

  Exhausted, I made my way up to my room where I showered and changed before making my way down to the mess hall to sit at a table for the first time since arriving at Skywatchers. It was Commander Kane’s fault I’d become a hermit. Since my first week, he worried the other hunters would be concerned about my age , so he’d send Ricko to get my meals, and I’d eat either in Ricko’s room or my own. The only people I talked to in that first year were the Commander and Ricko. Twelve months without socialising, and now, after two years of being a loner, he thinks it’ll be easy for me to just start being social.

  I felt every eye on me as I slid my loaded plate onto a table and sat on the seat. Why I’d grabbed so much food, I had no idea. My appetite was lost among the thrum of activity around me. I picked at the roast beef trying to ignore the chatter.

  “Slumming it with the rest of us?” asked Reece, standing beside me. The anger in his voice sounded strange.

  “Go away, Reece. You’re putting me off my food,” I said, not looking up.

  I waited a few moments before risking a glance up to find he was gone. He’d just dropped by to have a dig at me. I bet he was sitting with his friends, talking and laughing about me as they ate. Suddenly, Skywatchers felt like high school all over again. Only this time I didn’t have my best friend to keep me company. She hadn’t turned out to be that great of a friend anyway. The day the aliens invaded, she’d abandoned me at a party and I’d never spoken to her again.

  Deciding my appetite wasn’t going to return anytime soon, I emptied my tray into the bin and left the mess hall, making my way towards the training rooms. Inside the first room, Ricko was holding a boxing bag while Olivia, the girl from tech, hit at it with gloved hands.

  “You’ve got a mean punch on you Liv,” said Ricko.

  Olivia shot him a smile. “Remember that next time you ignore my messages.”

  “I’m a busy man.”

  She dropped her arms and sauntered over to him. “Maybe you need a massage to relax?”

  Unable to stand seeing any more of their flirtation, I pushed my way into the room. “Am I interrupting something?”

  They stepped apart, and gave me awkward grins.

  “I thought we had training this afternoon?” I said.

  “I’m just helping Olivia keep in shape. She wanted me to show her a thing or two,” said Ricko.

  “I bet she did,” I replied.

  Ricko glared at me.

  “I better get back to work. I’ll see you both later.” Olivia pulled off her gloves and passed them to Ricko before leaving.

  “I heard you had lunch in the mess hall today,” said Ricko as though I hadn’t just walked in on him flirting with Olivia.

  Would he have been flirting if I’d taken him up on his kiss last night? It wouldn’t have surprised me, given his reputation, but it made me even angrier.

  “News spreads fast around here,” I replied.

  “The Commander told me. He’s worried about you.”

  “Well, there’s nothing to worry about. Are we going to train or what? I need to punch something. Or someone.”

  “We just need to wait for…”

  “I’m here.” Reece walked through the door, his gaze on Ricko. He didn’t even look at me. Jeez, it was like high school

  “Nice of you to join us,” I said.

  He looked at his watch. “I’m ten minutes early. Are you trying to earn brownie points with Agent Rickson, or couldn’t you hack sitting in the mess hall with all the peasants?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and drew in a deep breath.

  Ricko looked between us. “I was going to suggest boxing but maybe we do some cardio instead.”

  “I’d much rather punch things,” I said.

  “I bet you would. But if you two want to get back out on the field you need a green light from me, and you’re not getting it when you’re ready to kill each other. What’s going on here?”

  “Nothing. Everything’s fine, isn’t it Reece?” I glared at him.

  “As long as the world continues to revolve around you, I’m sure it will be,” he bit back.

  Ricko’s smirk made my jaw clench tighter.

  “Are we going to work out or what?” I asked.

  “Okay, let’s kick it off with five laps of the room. Go!” said Ricko, shaking his head.

  At his command I took off in a sprint clockwise around the large room, swallowing down the anger tightening my throat. Reece soon caught up, and I pushed myself to run faster. He picked up his pace to stay with me, and I chanced a sideways glance to find his eyes were fixed forward. I followed suit, keeping my focus on my breathing. Several minutes later, we finished our laps and I slowed to a jog.

  “Ready for some push-ups?” asked Ricko. “Give me twenty.”

  We both dropped to the floor. My muscles burned as I neared the end of the set. I regretted pushing myself so hard in the gym that morning, but I couldn’t let the rookie see me be weak. Not again.

  Reece sprang back up to his feet. I finished moments later and stood, my arms throbbing.

  “Another five laps,” said Ricko.

  We took off again, running and pushing each other faster, never paying the other attention.

  “Twenty push-ups.”

  My legs were on fire. So were my arms. I staggered to my feet a few push ups behind Reece.

  “Five more laps.” Ricko ordered.

  “Are you serious?” I asked, ready to collapse.

  “You two obviously have some frustrations you need to get out,” he said. “If you’re not going to talk about it, I’m going to make you sweat it out. You two will be doing this every day until you find a way to solve whatever problem you’re having. The Commander refused your request to have Reece passed to another hunter.”

  “You tried to get rid of me?” Reece spun to face me, anger blazing in his eyes.

  “I told you I was asking for a new recruit.”

  “I didn’t think you’d actually ditch me.”

  “Screw this. I’m out.” I grabbed a towel and wiped my face as I left the training room.

  Chapter Eleven

  My shoulder rammed into a broad guy as I jogged down the final hallway back to my room. His complaint barely registered as I kept my sights on my approaching door. Why did I have to be surrounded by so many pains in the ass? No wonder I kept to myself. Being around them was enough to send anybody crazy.

  “Ky!” Reece’s voice came from behind me, pushing me forward.

  Yup, I had a one-way ticket to crazy town. I thought I’d made it crystal clear that I didn’t want to deal with him today. Or any day. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?

  Ignoring his call, I reached my room and fumbled to pull my swipe card from my pocket. When it finally came free, I slid it across the panel to unlock the door before pushing it open.

  “Ky!” I could hear his heavy footfalls, much closer.

  Panic and annoyance raced through my veins as I ducked into my room and pushed the door shut. An arm shot through the opening be
fore it could close. With a growl I pushed harder eliciting a shriek from Reece.

  “Open the freaking door. You’re going to break my arm!” he bellowed.

  “How about you move your arm, and I’ll close the door.”

  With a frustrated growl Reece threw his weight against the door, forcing me back. He tumbled into the room, rubbing the red marks from where his arm had been jammed in the door. Then he kicked the door closed behind him.

  I squared my shoulders, and narrowed my eyes. “What do you want, Reece?”

  “I never took you for a quitter.” His eyes locked onto mine, hard and full of fury.

  “I’m not a quitter.” I met his stern gaze. I wasn’t about to let this guy intimidate me.

  “Then why are you trying to get me moved to another hunter?”

  “Because this isn’t working. I had to go out on a mission with Ricko to get my first kill since you were assigned to me.”

  “I’m a rookie. You need to teach me to hunt them. I’m sure you weren’t born knowing how to kill aliens.”

  “I’m not doing this,” I said, resolute.

  “Doing what?”

  “Having this same argument again.”

  He took a step toward me. I held my ground.

  “Well then, how about we talk about what’s really going on here?”

  “Yeah, and what’s that, oh wise one?”

  “You’re using Skywatchers and killing aliens as a bandage to try to cover the pain and emotions you’ve had since losing your brother instead of facing the issue head on.”

  The truth in his words felt like a punch in the stomach. I steeled myself, not wanting to let him know he was right. “You don’t know anything about me or my brother. And I’m sick of you and everyone else around here pretending they do.”

  “I know a lot more than you think. I might’ve only known you for a few months, but I see straight through your tough girl façade. I see how hurt you are. How angry you are at the world for taking your brother away.”

  I rubbed my tongue along the roof of my mouth, trying to stop the tears dampening my eyes, but it didn’t help the pitch in my voice. “See, you don’t know anything. I’m not just angry at the world for taking him away. I’m angry that he lied to me. He didn’t tell me who he really was or what he was doing. He knew everything about me. He was the only person I trusted in this crappy world. But it took an alien murdering him to finally learn the truth. I had to hear who my brother really was from Ricko.”

  The room fell silent except for my heavy breathing. There it was. My heart laid bare in front of this boy I barely knew. How he kept getting under my skin, I didn’t know. But I both liked and hated him for it, which made it even more confusing.

  After a moment, Reece’s expression softened. “I’m sorry he hid the truth from you. It must’ve been hard finding out about all of this from someone else.”

  I nodded, unable to speak.

  “Maybe he thought he was protecting you from all of this,” he suggested. “Maybe he didn’t want you to worry about aliens and hunters. He wanted you to live a normal life. Not the complicated one he was trapped in.”

  I took a step back and sat on my bed. No. I hadn’t thought about that. I’d always known this wasn’t a life Tyson would’ve wanted for me. Maybe that’s part of why I’d done it, to get payback for all the secrets he’d kept.

  “And the first chance I got I went running to the company he’d tried to keep hidden from me,” I whispered to myself.

  I rose and walked to my bedside table, pulling out the pendant Tyson had given me for Christmas. I clutched it in my hands and sank back onto the bed, tears rolling over my cheeks. Who was I? What had I become?

  “Say you kill all of the aliens who invaded,” Reece said. “Then what? You must want more than to hunt aliens for the rest of your life. You must’ve had dreams once, aspirations of who you wanted to be when you grew up.”

  I leaned my face into my hands and cried.

  “Ky, I’m so sorry,” started Reece.

  “You’re right,” I sobbed.

  “I am?”

  “I don’t know who I am anymore. When I found out he’d been keeping secrets, I felt like a terrible sister. I never asked about his work, or what he did in his private life. He did everything to take care of me, but I never returned the gesture.”

  “You were fifteen.”

  “Yeah, and when I lost him my whole world fell apart. I didn’t know who I was or where I would go, so when Ricko and Commander Kane agreed to train me to be a hunter I decided that’s who I’d be. The best alien hunter Skywatchers had ever seen. But I can’t even do that right.”

  “Then I come along and screw up our missions. No wonder you hate me.” His shoulders slumped.

  “I don’t hate you,” I confessed. “I’m angry at myself for letting Commander Kane get into my head, and Ricko. They keep telling me to make friends. But I’m not good at that stuff. I haven’t had anything that resembled a friend for two years.”

  Warmth crept over his face, into his eyes. “I know you say you like your life of solitude, but I’d be more than happy to be your friend.”

  “Even after how terrible I was to you?”

  “As long as you don’t try to palm me off to another hunter again. I want to be trained by the best. By you. And if we can build a friendship while we do it, even better.”

  I wiped the tears away with my sleeve. “I should’ve told you about the mission with Ricko. And I shouldn’t have requested to have you moved.”

  “You did what you thought you had to do,” he replied.

  We sat in silence for several tense minutes.

  “So, you and Ricko had a nice time when you went to dinner the other night?” Reece asked.

  “I got to eat a massive burger and a bowl of chips, if that’s what you mean. I forgot how much I loved a good burger.” The memory brought a small smile to my lips.

  “I love a decent burger too. But no pickles for me. I don’t get why they even put them on.”

  “I know, right?” I chuckled. “My brother used to love them though, so he always got double when we went anywhere because he got mine.”

  “Your brother sounds like a pretty cool guy, except for the pickle thing. Gross.”

  I laughed again. “He was a bit of a nerd, but he was my family. Do you have any family left?”

  The smile left his eyes. “I only had my mum, dad, and little sister. And they were all killed when the aliens invaded.”

  My heart broke for him. “Is that what brought you here?”

  “You could say that.”

  I shifted on the bed, unsure how to comfort him, my awkwardness keeping me from reaching out.

  “Do you ever wonder if you made the right choice becoming a hunter?” he asked.

  “No. I don’t know how I would’ve coped with my brother’s death without Skywatchers, even if it turned me into a cold hard bitch. Do you regret it?”

  “It’s a lot harder than I’d imagined it would be,” he confessed. “But, I’m confident the end result will be worth it.”

  “It will be,” I promised him.

  He gestured towards the bed. “Can I sit? I’m wiped out.”

  I wriggled over to give him some room. “Go for it.”

  He sat, exhaling in relief. “So, tell me more about your life before the invasion.”

  It was nice to talk to someone who was interested in me and my world before Skywatchers. And it was nice to remember I’d had a life before alien hunting at all. Reece and I talked late into the night. I felt an easiness with him I hadn’t experienced since I’d lost my brother.

  “What were you doing the day the aliens invaded?” I asked him.

  We’d progressed to lying beside each other on my queen-sized bed, staring up at the ceiling.

  He shifted uncomfortably beside me. “That day all feels like a huge blur, to be honest. I just remember bright lights, loud bangs, and lots of screaming.”

  “
I didn’t mean to kill the mood.”

  “It’s okay. I just have a lot of regret attached to that day. I let my family down and so many things went wrong.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “How about you?”

  “I was at a party with a friend of mine. We ignored the warnings about the meteor shower, but so had everyone else. I didn’t want to go, but my friend dragged me along. First chance she got, she ditched me for a guy and left me with my long-time crush. Who knew my first kiss would be such a curse.” I laughed humourlessly to myself and turned my head to find Reece fast asleep.

  “Sorry to bore you,” I said with a smile.

  Switching off the light, I rolled onto my side facing away from him. As much as I hated to admit it, the Commander and Ricko were right. It was nice having someone to talk to. To actually smile and laugh. It’d been so long I didn’t realise how much I’d been missing it. I placed my pendant on the bedside table.

  Look at me Tyson, I thought to myself. I made myself a friend. Who would’ve thought?

  Chapter Twelve

  A loud banging on my door woke me the next morning. I rolled over to find Reece sitting up with a start.

  His eyes swept the room and he rubbed at his eyes, jumping when another knock echoed through the room. “Sorry. I must’ve fallen asleep.”

  “You fell asleep in the middle of my awesome story, actually.” I stretched my arms above my head before throwing back the sheets and climbing out of bed.

  He gave me a smile. “I’m sorry I missed the ending.”

  I raked my fingers through my long hair with my fingers before I swung the door open.

  “Morning, sunshine.” Ricko pushed through the door, coming to a halt as he spotted Reece sitting on the bed’s edge.

  “Morning,” said Reece with a small wave.

  Ricko’s gaze darting back and forth between us. “Um… I thought you two hated each other?”

  “We did,” I replied. “But we sorted it out.”

  “Riiiiiight. Well, I’m not sure I told you to have a sleepover.” Ricko eyed us disapprovingly.

  “That was an accident. It won’t happen again,” said Reece.