by Luna Athena
“Who knows?” Tessa said. “Maybe I’d be the one to ask you for a cup of coffee.”
And for a moment, Rowan forgot himself. He was no longer an alien hunter but just an ordinary eighteen year old. He smiled and gazed at Tessa.
“It’s a nice fantasy,” Rowan said.
Neither of them spoke for a few moments.
Then Tessa said, “you could still do it, you know?”
“Do what?” Rowan said.
“Go to college, become a doctor,” Tessa said. “You’re only eighteen.”
Rowan’s eyes widened.
“Tessa, an evil alien killed my parents,” said Rowan. “And then I got taken into outer space where I was trained by good aliens to kill the bad aliens. You don’t get to go back from that and just be a student at college.”
“Are you sure?” Asked Tessa.
“The Tigrath would never allow it. They’d wipe my memories clean and drop me off in some hospital if I even suggested it,” said Rowan.
“Oh,” said Tessa. “So they’d do to you what you’ve done to so many others. They’d do to you, what you’re going to do to me.”
Even in the darkness, Tessa could see the color drain from Rowan’s face.
“How many times have you done it, Rowan?” Tessa asked. “How many memories have you stolen from people?”
“Twelve,” he said immediately. “And I haven’t forgotten a single face. And I won’t. Because I know what I’ve done to them. But I had to do it. I didn’t have a choice.”
This took Tessa by surprise. Rowan knew the exact number. And he had taken the time to remember each and every one of their faces.
“Tessa, I do what I do so that I can protect people from what happened to me. Keeping aliens a secret is part of the job,” he said. “But I do what I do because it allows me to hunt the same aliens that killed my parents. Don’t you understand? I don’t want what happened to me to happen to other people.”
Tessa didn’t say anything.
“So many people have died, but if I can stop Skull Carver tonight, at least for now, the killing will stop,” said Rowan.
Tessa understood. She didn’t want to understand, but she did. She understood Rowan. She now saw where he was coming from. He wasn’t any less human than she was, and his motivations were as human as it got.
But Tessa could also tell that Rowan was coming apart. He wasn’t just coming apart with each person that died on his watch, but with each memory he wiped.
All of it bothered him. Tessa could see it in his face. He wanted to be a healer, not a killer. Nor the type of person that takes people’s memories away.
“I get it now,” Tessa suddenly said.
“You do?” Rowan said, genuinely surprised.
Their eyes locked, and Tessa nodded. She grabbed his hand.
“You shouldn’t do it,” Tessa said.
“Do what?” Rowan said.
“Take my memories away,” said Tessa.
There it was again, Rowan’s sad face.
“But, I’ll forgive you when you do it,” said Tessa. “All the same.”
Rowan blinked.
“Why?” He asked.
Tessa shrugged.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I guess it won’t matter anyway, will it? After all, I won’t be able to forgive what I don’t remember.”
Rowan tried to speak. His mouth moved, but nothing came out of it.
“You know what you should ask yourself, Rowan?” Tessa said.
“What?” Rowan asked.
“If you keep erasing the memories of everyone you meet, then someday, when it matters, who’s going to be there to remember you?” Tessa said.
Rowan stared at Tessa. He began to speak, then he stopped. The monitor in his pocket was vibrating. Rowan quickly pulled it out. He looked at the screen and then looked at Tessa.
“It’s Skull Carver,” he said.
Chapter 9
Rowan dipped his finger into the monitor’s screen. He pulled out various images.
“No,” he said.
“No, what?” Tessa asked.
“I’m getting the echo again,” said Rowan. “It’s as if there were two of them. I need to recalibrate again, but there’s no time.”
Rowan slipped the device back into his pocket.
“Forget about the monitor. Skull Carver is either in the club now, or he will be soon,” Rowan said. “We need to get in there so you can spot him. Come on.”
Rowan extended a hand out to Tessa. She hesitated a moment then she took it. And just like that, for some reason, they were holding hands.
It had happened so naturally and without any thought on Rowan’s part, as if he had just accepted Tessa as his partner. And at least for now, wasn’t she?
But why did it feel so natural to hold his hand? For Tessa, it certainly wasn’t anything natural. As embarrassing as it was, at eighteen, Tessa had never once held hands with a boy before.
Rowan lead the two of them out of the dark alley where they’d been lurking. Together they waited on the sidewalk for a speeding car to pass by. Then, hand in hand, they crossed the street. At last, they were right in front of the goth club.
When Rowan began to pull Tessa toward the entrance, Tessa stopped short.
“What is it?” Rowan said.
Tessa looked down at herself. She was dressed casually in jeans and a button-down shirt.
“I’m not dressed for this,” Tessa said. “You’re fine with your long leather overcoat, but I’m going to stand out like a sore thumb.”
Rowan thought about this.
“Okay, we don’t want to stand out. Good point,” he said.
A goth couple was coming out of the club just then, a goth man and a goth woman perhaps in their mid-twenties. The woman was wearing a spiked leather jacket. Both of them wore studded black leather military caps.
“Excuse me,” said Rowan, catching the woman’s gaze.
The man and the woman both looked at Rowan in surprise.
“How much for the jacket?” Rowan asked the woman.
The man with the woman got angry. His face became hostile immediately. He began to say something that meant get lost but was much less polite. But before he could even finish the phrase, Rowan had already pulled out a tight roll of hundred-dollar bills.
“I’ll give you a thousand dollars,” Rowan said to the goth woman.
“A thousand dollars?” She asked, surprised.
“Two thousand if you throw in the leather military caps,” said Rowan.
“They’re not military caps,” said the goth man, as if offended.
Rowan ignored him and kept his gaze on the woman. She was already taking off her spiked leather jacket. She handed it to Tessa.
“It’s a Morbius,” The goth woman said excitedly to Tessa.
Tessa thought this must be a brand name, but she didn’t have a clue.
The goth woman then snatched her boyfriend’s black leather cap. She handed it to Rowan with a smile. Then she took off her own and placed it on Tessa’s head.
The goth woman stepped back a moment and examined Tessa. She shook her head.
“That’s no good, hold on,” said the goth woman.
She reached up to her neck and removed a spiked leather collar she was wearing. She then smiled at Tessa, stepped in closer to her, and fastened the collar around Tessa’s neck.
Next, the goth woman’s hands went to Tessa’s hair, which had been tied up in a tight ponytail. She undid the band that held the hair back, and then she pulled it all forward.
“You’ve lovely pale hair,” said the goth woman.
The goth woman had a small black purse with her. She quickly reached in and got out a mirror. She held it a little bit away from Tessa.
Tessa gazed at herself. Her hair hung wildly on her shoulders now, and she was wearing a spiked collar. Combined with the military cap and the spiked jacket, she looked like someone else.
“Let me give you some eyeliner,�
� the goth woman said.
“We don’t have time,” said Rowan.
The goth woman raised a finger at Rowan.
“There’s always time for eyeliner,” she said.
Then quickly, she drew dark lines around Tessa’s eyes. Once again, she stepped back and showed Tessa the small mirror.
Tessa could barely believe it was herself she was looking at. Somehow even the size of her eyes looked bigger. She actually looked, well, sexy. It was a look she’d never consciously tried to go for before, that was for sure.
Tessa smiled. The goth woman smiled back at her.
“How do I look?” Tessa said to Rowan.
Rowan was paying the goth woman. He finished and then examined Tessa.
“As I’ve already told you, you’re very pretty,” Rowan said.
This was the fourth time he’d told her this.
The goth couple left them. Rowan grabbed Tessa’s hand again and pulled her to the entrance of the club.
“By the way, exactly how much money do you have?” Asked Tessa. “Who carries a wad of hundred-dollar bills in their pocket?
Rowan glanced at Tessa.
“I work for aliens,” he whispered under his breath. “I have an unlimited expense account. Whatever it takes to get the job done.”
Before Tessa could think about this, Rowan was pulling her into the club. As soon as they were inside, Tessa could hear loud music. It consisted of a deep bass moving to a steady rhythm. This was interlaced with an ethereal voice that sang in what Tessa guessed must have been French.
“In all my life I’ve never even been to a club before,” said Tessa.
Rowan shrugged.
“Me either,” said Rowan.
“Or even a school dance,” Tessa said. “I didn’t even go to the prom.”
“What’s a prom?” Rowan asked.
Tessa looked at Rowan. She couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.
After waiting in a very short line, Rowan and Tessa came to a wired window where an entrance fee was required. Tessa heard the woman behind the window asking about ID. The problem was resolved by Rowan sliding her a few hundred-dollar bills from his roll.
After this, they entered a dark narrow corridor that lead to the club itself. Then, at last, they entered. The lighting inside the club was dark and moody with the emphasis on deep blues and purples.
The place was much more crowded than Tessa had expected. Almost everyone wore black. And there was constant movement. As soon as they entered, Rowan lead Tessa to a nearby corner. He shocked her by pushing her into it.
“What are you doing?” Said Tessa.
The last thing Tessa would have wanted or expected was this. Rowan pushing her into a corner. This is what boys did when they wanted to kiss a girl.
Despite how shocked and even angry Tessa felt, part of her actually felt excited. What if Rowan had lost his mind over her? What if he couldn’t help himself and just had to kiss her?
“I need to check the monitor,” Rowan said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
Tessa hated herself for actually feeling disappointed. How could she have been so stupid?
Rowan faced her now though as if he’d cornered her, and he’d left only a little room between them.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be awkward,” Rowan said. “But I don’t want anyone to see the monitor.”
Tessa could actually smell Rowan. He smelled good, manly. She could even feel the heat coming off of his body, and she thought it felt good.
Rowan slipped out his monitor. He dipped his finger into it. He pulled out small holograms that only he and Tessa could see. He went through several, only shaking his head in frustration.
“You can’t find him?” Tessa asked.
Rowan looked up. And when he looked up, it was only then he realized how close he was standing to Tessa. Their faces were centimeters apart. Tessa could feel his breath on her.
Rowan shook his head.
“It’s that damn echo. He’s here though, I feel it,” he said. “We’ll just have to keep our eyes open.”
Rowan’s eyes were right on Tessa then. And Tessa could feel Rowan’s presence, like an attraction pulling her toward him. It was as if she were iron and he were a magnet. Never in all her life had she ever experienced anything like this.
She sighed. She could no longer deny it. She was just as attracted to Rowan as she knew he was to her.
“Don’t you dare kiss me,” Tessa said.
“What?” said Rowan.
Tessa had never had a boy’s lips on her own. And here she was with Rowan in the dark corner of a dark club, their eyes locked on one another, their bodies so close.
When would she ever have a chance like this again?
“Don’t kiss me!” Said Tessa sternly.
Oh, how much she hated Rowan. And yet the attraction was so palpable now. Touchable even at a distance.
“I wouldn’t—“ said Rowan.
But before Rowan could finish his sentence, Tessa’s lips were on Rowan. Her hands had gone around his neck and pulled him down to her.
I’m kissing him, Tessa thought. I’m actually kissing him.
Chapter 10
Rowan began to kiss Tessa back. Tessa’s mouth opened, and Rowan’s tongue slid inside her mouth.
Tessa’s whole body felt on fire. Never in her whole life had she felt anything as good as this. And it wasn’t just the physical sensation, which was spectacular, it was the need. Rowan’s need, and her need, both crashing together at once.
Two lost souls that had never even shared a single kiss with another person, here in a dark corner of an all-night goth club, sharing a first kiss. And all that moody music playing in the background.
Tessa didn’t want it to end. She wanted it to go on forever and ever, just letting the world fade away into nothingness. It was so good!
But then she remembered that Rowan was the one who was going to erase her memories. He was the one that was keeping her from Gran. He was the last person she should be kissing!
All at once, as much as she wanted the kiss to go on forever, Tessa needed it to stop. She got her hands up and on Rowan’s chest, then she heaved him back. He stumbled away from her.
He looked at Tessa, confused, hurt, and surprised.
“I told you not to kiss me,” said Tessa.
“I...you...”
Rowan closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath, then he exhaled.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“You’re sorry you kissed me?” Tessa said.
“No,” Rowan said. “Well, yes, but I mean no.”
“Idiot,” Tessa said.
“Tessa...” Rowan said.
Tessa was already moving past him. She needed to find Skull Carver. She needed to find Skull Carver so Rowan could end all this. Then, at last, she could get back to Gran.
By Gran’s side was where she needed to be. Not kissing some strange boy in some strange goth club, while Gran was alone and dying. This couldn’t be Tessa, could it? What had happened to her?
As Tessa moved into the club, she realized it was a little bigger than she would have expected. There was a live band playing on a stage, and there was a large dance floor in front of this stage where several people were dancing.
Past the dance floor, there was a smattering of tables and chairs, most of them full. And then there was a long curving bar, where there was standing room only. Tessa decided to go to the bar first.
When Tessa reached the bar, she could tell that Rowan was right behind her. She went to the counter and got the bartender’s attention. He looked at her.
“A virgin White Lady,” said Tessa.
“I’ll have the same,” said Rowan.
Tessa shook her head. She waved her hand at the bartender to cancel Rowan’s order.
“He’ll have an Arnold Palmer,” said Tessa.
The bartender looked at the two of them, apparently not pleased they were ordering non-alcoholic drinks. But
when Rowan laid a hundred on the counter, his attitude changed.
“Why shouldn’t I drink what you’re drinking?” Rowan said.
“A virgin White Lady isn’t a man’s drink,” said Tessa.
“And an Arnold Palmer is?”
“I told you not to kiss me!” Said Tessa, still angry at what had happened.
Rowan said nothing, his eyes were scanning everywhere.
Their drinks arrived. Rowan left the bartender a hefty tip, then he picked up his drink and began to walk away from the counter. Tessa followed him.
They slowly moved around the area, checking everything out but the dance floor. Tessa sipped her drink, it was sweet and creamy with just a hint of sour.
Where was Skull Carver?
Rowan then reached out toward Tessa. He took her drink and placed it on a table where he’d already placed his own.
“We’ll have to check the dance floor,” he said.
“Are you serious?” said Tessa. “I can’t dance.”
“Neither can I. But look at them, they’re all just wiggling their bodies around. It should be easy enough to fake it,” said Rowan.
“Fine,” said Tessa.
If it would help them find Skull Carver sooner, then that was all for the better. She needed to get away from Rowan. And the sooner she could get away from him, the happier she would be. Forgetting about him would be the one benefit of losing her personal memories.
“Come on,” Rowan said.
Rowan took Tessa’s hand. She felt herself swoon just a little to be touching him again. She hated what was happening to her. Why did she have to react like this? It felt as if her own body was betraying her.
When they got to the dance floor, Rowan let go of her hand. None of the dancing couples were touching. Tessa felt grateful for this. The more she touched Rowan, the less she wanted to let go of him, ever.
How could a connection like that have formed so fast, a connection so natural and so deep? And yet it was there. It felt as if she’d always known Rowan. It felt as if her whole life, she’d just been waiting for him to come to her.
Tessa tried to shake it off. Feelings were not reality. And the reality was that Rowan was dangerous. He was a killer, even if it was just evil aliens he killed. And he took people’s memories away from them. He followed orders, like a good soldier, and how could that not make him as dangerous as they came?
