by Andi J Feron
“How’d it go?” I called from the living room.
“Alright,” Allie said, not offering any details.
“Craig treat you well?” I sidestepped the question I really wanted to ask.
“He didn’t steal my flower.” she smirked as she climbed the stairs for bed.
I felt torn, and the need to be two separate people. Seraphine was my life, but so was Allie. Two completely different worlds I could never merge. The thing that made me most sad was Allie would probably arrive at the conclusion I was a workaholic. She wouldn’t be able to grasp the reason I was gone so much was for a higher purpose, or that a big part of my absence was to protect her.
I stayed for a week because I promised Seraphine it would be a quick visit. Before I left, I took Allie to her weekly counseling appointment, and they informed me she had been making significant progress. I was relieved she was on the right track. Now if I could keep the boys from realizing how amazing she was, I’d be set.
I put my helmet on. “I made sure Glenda knows curfew is ten.”
Allie frowned. “Ten?! Come on, Talon!”
“Want to make it nine?”
“Fine, ten!”
“You know how to reach me. You need me at all, call me. I promise I’ll come back.” I looked her in the eye so she could see my sincerity.
“I know, you always come back. I remember that every time I look at Achilles. I’ll be fine, Talon. Really. Things are going good now.”
“If that changes, don’t let things get so bad again before you tell me.”
“I won’t.” She hugged me.
I arrived at the docking bay, and Seraphine was there to greet me again. I gave her a long kiss, and we strolled to our quarters. Seraphine made my favorite dinner of pot roast and mashed potatoes.
“You treat me like a king, Seraphine. The meat dissolved effortlessly in my mouth.
“You make it easy, Talon Cooper.”
I went back into missions full force and the months flew by quickly. We were deep into November and Seraphine and I were discussing where we should take the two week leave we had coming up. She figured I should take a week and see Allie again. I agreed it was probably best, and she was going to go on a spa trip with Petra and Helen.
We would spend the next week on a tropical moon a couple solar systems over. We sat on the couch after dinner, watching a movie. We sat sideways, Seraphine sitting between my legs as I had my arms wrapped around her. Our base phone rang, and Seraphine jumped up to answer it.
“Okay. We’ll be there right away,” she said, talking to whoever was on the other end. She hung up the phone and spoke to me, “That was Jasper. He says there’s an old friend of ours in sickbay requesting us. He said we need to get there immediately.”
We dressed quickly and made our way swiftly to sickbay. I wondered who could be waiting for us. When we got to sickbay, Jasper saw us and took us down a long hallway. Jasper led us into a room, and there laying in the bed was Jerap. His skin looked like it was dissolving in various locations. There was a virus that was killing all Loctorians, but it was supposed to take decades, and Jerap was still very young.
“Jerap!” Seraphine gasped and ran to his side.
I looked to Jasper for answers, but he offered none and left the room.
“The doctors are saying my time is almost gone. I needed to see the two of you, so I traveled here to find you.” Jerap’s eyes drooped.
“You’re still so young. I don’t understand why the virus is so progressed with you,” I said.
“The virus has accelerated in me for unknown reasons. It is the desire of the Fates. I had been, as you humans say, lucky to stay healthy and resist the effects of the virus for such a long time. When it finally did hit, it was rapid, and I have hours to days left. I wanted to tell you goodbye. There is something I need to tell both of you, or rather show you, one at a time. Talon, may I start with you?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
“I’m going to show you something, my friend. I was placed in charge of moving files on the Earth base, as we want all paper records electronic only. Sometimes when I touch objects, I see things involving them. I see memories of people who handled them. I can go back and watch them like your movies. I can then hop from person to person in the movies, almost as if I’m able to project myself through time and be in the room as events occur. I have some events you need to see. I can show you what I saw. When I touched a file on your sister, I saw this.”
Jerap grabbed my hand, and the base faded. I was in my old high school, in the counselor Mr. Bryant’s office.
Glenda sat in a chair. “I’m sure she would bring the biggest bonus of our lives, but we can’t recruit the girl. There’s a level fifty-four protection in place.”
Mr. Bryant typed into his computer. “I know, but Talon Cooper can break it. The oath was given to him by the council.”
“He would never break the order.”
“He might.”
Glenda squinted her eyes. “How’s that?”
“We make things bad enough that he wants her closer to him.”
Glenda leaned forward a bit. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“You’re an empath. You can plant a seed of sadness and loneliness in the girl, alter her brain chemistry. Their father is a depressive drunk. There’s a good chance the alterations will take easily.”
“What if it’s too much? What if the girl commits suicide or does something destructive that kills her?”
“That’s why we guide this closer. I have an agent named Carrie, a manipulator who has been recruiting kids in this school for about four months. We’ll have her swoop in at the right moment and give us control over Althea’s spiral.”
My mind was reeling. I was having trouble containing my anger, but I needed to see the rest of what Jerap needed to show me. I was out in the school hall. The hall was filled with kids getting their books and shuffling to their next class.
Allie was at her locker, laughing. “I know, I’m so excited for the concert next week. I’ve saved up all the allowance Talon’s given me so we could go to the meet and greet,”
“Yay! A crowded venue packed with people, giving us no breathing room,” John said sarcastically.
“You know you’ll love every minute of it. “
John shook his head. “Probably not, but I’m not letting you go by yourself late at night to a crowded place. I’d kick myself if you were trafficked or something.”
“What is it with you and the trafficking stuff lately?”
“We covered it in sociology, it’s legit stuff. They’d probably take you to Europe and I would never see you again.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Talon would kill them all.”
“Not if he couldn’t find you.”
I laughed at the irony in John’s words, and I realized John had my sister’s back even when the task seemed unpleasant to him. The bell rang, and Glenda walked out of the counselor’s office. She pushed through the crowd until she reached Allie. She touched her arm and then walked down the hall. Allie blinked rapidly and looked around.
“What is it?” John asked.
“I don’t know. I have a weird feeling.”
Suddenly I was in my house, in Allie’s room. She was in bed, light beaming through her window. I glanced at the clock, it read four. I knew it must be in the afternoon.
My dad stood in the doorway of her bedroom. “You sick?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“Fifth day of school you’ve missed this week. School is starting to harass me. You better have your ass there Monday. I don’t want anyone poking around here.”
“Okay.” Allie got out of bed and walked to the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of water before heading to the bathroom. She pulled out a paper bag she had stuffed under the sink. The bag contained four prescription pill bottles, each full of an assortment of pills. She lined them on the counter and stared at them. She pulled out a notebook with something writ
ten on it.
The note read: Talon, John, I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be here anymore. I can’t be here anymore. I love you both. I don’t want to die, but everything hurts so bad. I want the sadness and pain to stop. Please don’t blame yourselves; the two of you were the best things about this place. But the sadness and loneliness are too much.
I wanted to hold her and tell her things would be okay. But this had already happened, and I was watching it like a movie. She opened the first bottle, filled her hand with pills, and grabbed the water. I felt like I couldn’t breathe watching her. Her hands started shaking, and tears were streaming down her face. Someone pounded on the door.
“Althea, get your ass out here! That boyfriend of yours is here,” my dad yelled.
Allie put the cap back on the pills and put everything under the sink. She stuffed it behind some cleaning supplies. She quickly wiped her tears and walked into the living room. John was standing there, and he looked worried. I owed John more than I knew. If he hadn’t shown up, I would have gotten a different emergency message.
“Missed you at school today. You still not feeling well?” John said. He sounded nervous. She nodded and John continued, “The concert’s tonight. You ready to head to the big city for a night of fun and excitement?”
Allie shook her head. “No, I don’t want to go anymore.”
“You’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. You spent all your allowance on the tickets.”
“You go. Take Mary Ellen. She likes you.”
“Come on, Al. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing!” she snapped at him, and he looked hurt.
“Maybe we should call Talon.”
“Why? There’s no reason to. I’m fine. Besides, he’s too busy working.”
“Allie, you’re not fine. I know you. You’re definitely not fine,” John said firmly, stiffening his jaw.
“John, I’m fine! I’m not going anywhere, so go home.”
“Come on, Allie. Tell me how to help.”
“You can help by leaving!” She practically screamed it at him.
John turned to leave, and I was screaming for him to stay with her, but he left. To my relief, Allie headed back to bed and not the bathroom. I was at school again, and Allie was at her locker. John was standing there, but they both looked tense. A girl with long blonde hair introduced herself.
“I’m Carrie.”
Allie smiled. “I’m Allie. I know who you are. You’re the head cheerleader.”
“I’m inviting everyone to a party at Sean Thompson’s house tonight at five. Be there and stay awhile.”
I saw Allie blink again. I recognized her stare. Carrie had manipulated her to go to the party.
“We’re going to that party,” Allie said.
“You want to go to a party?” John sounded excited.
The scene changed to the party. Allie was smiling, soaking it all in. John looked less thrilled than he had earlier. Loud music played. People danced and in the corner were a group seeing who could chug the most beer.
“Maybe we should go.” John looked around at everyone pouring alcohol down their throats. “Everyone is drinking.”
“We don’t have to drink,” she said.
“True, but this really isn’t our kind of thing. I’m glad to see you out, but I think we should go. Let’s go get a pizza.”
“I don’t want a pizza. I want to stay and dance.”
Allie began dancing, and she kept the rhythm perfectly. I was unaware that my sister could dance so well. Everyone was watching her, stunned. John looked around awkwardly. Carrie shot straight for Allie and began dancing with her. When the current song stopped, she whispered something into Allie’s ear. Allie immediately stopped dancing and grabbed a beer and guzzled it.
John’s mouth hung open. “What are you doing?”
Allie’s eyes were glazed, indicating Carrie was in control of my sister’s actions.
“I don’t like this Allie. Let’s go.” John pulled at her arm, trying to get her to follow him out.
Allie jerked her arm away and grabbed another beer. Several beers and a couple shots later, Allie was dancing crazily. A boy handed her a cup of something, and she gulped it down. He began dancing with her and then he started to lead her away as her gait became super unsteady. John chased after them and grabbed Allie.
The boy pushed John to the ground. John jumped up and punched the boy in the face. The boy put his hands up and let John pick Allie up off the floor. John steadied her by holding her waist before slowly leading her to the door. When they made it to the driveway, John looked unsure of what to do as he glanced at their bikes. He grabbed Allie’s phone from her purse and began searching for something.
Carrie walked up. “Let’s go for a ride, Allie.”
John held on to Allie. “She’s not going!”
“Yes, she is,” Carrie sneered.
Carrie snapped her fingers, and two large boys wearing letterman jackets pushed John down and grabbed Allie. Allie was pretty much passed out. John jumped up to fight them, but another boy knocked him to the ground again.
John continued to try and fight but the boy was twice John’s size. He held John down until the car disappeared from view. John got on his bike and pedaled after the vehicle, but there was no way for him to catch up to the zooming car.
I was suddenly at the car as it plowed into a large electrical pole. I could see into the car; the boy driving was clearly dead. Carrie looked unconscious, but her hand moved slightly. The boy in front was screaming from pain and pulled his phone from his pocket to dial 911. Allie was slumped in the back. I could see a large cut on her leg from glass hitting it and her upper arm bone closest to her elbow stuck through the skin. Her head was against the window, and she was still.
The ambulance arrived, and they pronounced the driver dead on arrival. Carrie, Allie, and the passenger were taken away in ambulances. I saw John ride up. He jumped off his bike, trying to reach the car, but an officer held him back.
“My friend! She was in this car!” John yelled frantically.
“You have to stay back!” the officer said.
I saw tears flow down John’s face. He pulled out Allie’s phone from his pocket and sat on the side of the road.
I was in Mr. Bryant’s office again.
“He’s a stubborn boy for sure,” Mr. Bryant sat back in his chair.
Glenda crossed her arms. “He’s not going to break the protection, and she could have gotten killed in that car accident. We were going for an emotional breakdown that would leave him no choice but to take her back to Saturn base with him. We can’t risk anything happening to her or no big bonus check.”
“We’ll have to go to plan B. We’re going to make sure he hires you to take care of her in his absence. You stay close and make sure we’re the ones who get credit for her recruitment the minute she turns eighteen.”
The vision faded, and I was back on Saturn base in front of a very sick Jerap.
“I showed you that so you will know they are after your sister. The person staying with her means her harm.”
I was still processing everything I was shown. “Thank you, Jerap.”
I had been so angry with her, and the entire time, none of it was under her control. My heart sunk further as I thought about the bathroom and the pills. I thought about the boy who had drugged Allie and tried to carry her off, most likely to rape her. Allie had been tipped so close to the edge that I almost hadn’t been able to pull her back.
“As I told you years ago, destiny is coming for your sister. I’m not sure you can fight it forever, but I want you to have the best chance at protecting her.”
“I can’t repay you Jerap, but I’ll never forget this.”
Jerap turned his attention to Seraphine. Seraphine grabbed Jerap’s hand as I contemplated what needed to be done on Earth.
Chapter Fourteen
Talon - November 21, 2009
Jerap showed something to Seraphin
e and when she snapped back, she was quiet. I figured whatever he showed her was as disturbing as my vision had been. I would have to take care of things on Earth, but it would have to wait for a bit. Jerap had always been a great friend. He spent his last thoughts and energy for Seraphine and me, the least we could do was not let him die alone.
The next three days were difficult. We watched him turn to dust. Jasper kept pain meds running constantly, but he was still in a great deal of pain. Seraphine read to him from his favorite books. On the fourth day, his breathing slowed, and Jasper said it wouldn’t be much longer. The nurse told us the death rattle he exhaled showed that his end was coming soon and we should stay at his side.
“Take care, my friends,” were Jerap’s final words to us.
Seraphine held his hands as he passed away and turned to dust. She jumped into my arms, and I held her. We put together a funeral for him, and several people from around base who knew him showed up.
Seraphine spoke, “I remember Jerap used to have this fascination for cats. He thought they were the most intriguing creatures on Earth. I introduced him to the internet, and he spent hours watching videos of cats. One day I took him to the pet store. We had learned to disguise him well enough that he looked like a human with an unusual skin condition. A scarf, stocking cap, and sunglasses concealed his facial features well enough and, since we took him out in winter, this didn’t seem strange.
“He wanted a black and white kitten, so I bought it for him. When we got outside, he set the kitten free. He said that freedom was the best present he could give the kitten. Many died for freedom, and all it took for the cat to gain freedom was ten Earth dollars. That was something he couldn’t walk away from.
“I explained that the cat needed someone to care for it like a child needs a mother. We spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down that kitten. When we found it, it was stuck in a tree, and Jerap climbed twenty feet up to get that cat. He named the cat Shakespeare after his favorite human author. That cat was treated as an equal and ate dinner with us every night. Thinking back to Jerap’s words about nothing being greater than freedom, I’d like to think he found his, and now has peace.”
