A Hidden Element

by Donna Galanti

  "But our first church in the human world has failed. It's been seven years. How are we to expand into the world as a community if we can't control our people?"

  "We must try again. Brother Tollen, I want you to create a committee to start another church amongst humans. Those who apply must have a flawless record here of work ethic and law abidance. They must also have leadership ability."

  Tollen smiled at Adrian. "Very well." Something in his smile made Adrian uneasy.

  "We must offer the flock something of their own, Father."

  "What do you suggest, Caleb?"

  "A festival of dance and music and food."

  "I agree with Caleb," Tollen said. "Create a community outlet of release before winter comes. Allow them some fun. Let them forget any worries. It will solidify us as a family. We'll have it in the courtyard."

  Adrian sighed and nodded. All the community leaders agreed. Let the flock have their distractions to take their mind off desertion and death.

  The leaders left but Caleb remained.

  "A festival is not enough, Father. You must let the flock make some of their own life choices…if you want them to stay. They don't want to be oppressed."

  The fire crackled and wind howled down the chimney blowing up giant flames that licked at the brick.

  "I am creating this world here, Son. This is not a human democracy. Once you understand this you will have an easier time here."

  "Tell me, Father, why is it only females desert? They must be awfully crafty to slip past the perimeter guards."

  Adrian stared at Caleb. His son's face betrayed nothing. Did he suspect him of something? Had he misjudged Caleb all along?

  "Like I said, they are weak."

  Caleb said nothing but finally nodded. "Yes, I'm sure that's it, Father."

  Caleb walked stiffly to the door. Adrian hoped his pain burned deep. He could not heal himself or he would receive a double whipping as part of the punishment. Those whipped were checked on a daily basis. One man who had defied this recently, almost died from his second whipping.

  "I'm sending another female to you tonight. Although in your condition, I doubt you'll be pleasing her much."

  Caleb turned back. Hatred shot out of his son's eyes. He wanted it to be so. In pushing his son to hate, he could succumb to his Destroyer genes. But he refused.

  "I will never have an easy time here. I'm branded your son but not by choice. Other choices I make will be all mine. Not yours."

  "Watch it, Son. The choices you are making will lead to your end."

  Caleb stared at him for a long moment. "So be it."

  His son slammed out of the room, leaving Adrian alone. Perhaps Caleb would change his attitude after a long, cold night in the new well. Something told him Caleb would never come to be the son he had hoped for. They battled wills. They always had. His son was too much of his mother.

  Adrian warmed his hands by the fire, his thoughts full of all he had to oversee. The final crops to be harvested before winter. The firewood to be cut and stacked to heat the compound's many quarters and rooms. The breeding to be assigned. One in particular. He had a girl in mind for Charlie. One practiced in the art of love. He had enjoyed her many times.

  He couldn't wait to share her with the boy.

  Very soon.

  CHAPTER 17

  Charlie sat at the kitchen table. His mom busied herself getting some tea, after she had bolted all the doors in the house. They had both changed into dry clothes. She kept glancing at the door as if expecting his dad to return any moment. That moment with their hands pressed to his dad's chest wouldn't leave him. They had healed him…somehow. He couldn't make sense of it. A deep foreboding hung over him like an ominous cloud. He wished he could see into the future now like Adrian could. What would it bring?

  He looked out the bay window. Dark was here already. Branches screeched on the glass as if warning them winter was nearly upon them. He gripped the mug of hot chocolate his mom made him. Its rim burst up with melted marshmallows, the way he used to like it as a kid.

  She sat down and blew on her mug. He blew on his. Marshmallow froth flew off. His mom laughed nervously and wiped it up with a napkin.

  "Mom, what's going on?" He still wanted to call the police but she had refused.

  She looked into her tea as if seeking answers herself. "I have things to tell you, Charlie. Things you may not believe. May not want to believe. I had hoped to tell you when you became older, but it seems the time is now."

  Charlie jumped up. Electric jolts seemed to zap at him. He couldn't sit still. He walked to the bay window. It looked over the black nothing. Somewhere out there the water raged across the Sound and Ghost Man—Adrian—waited for him. As he always had. He had listened, given him advice like a real dad. Not like his dad who had tried to kill his mom. What if he came back and tried again? The thought barreled through Charlie like boulders tumbling down on him.

  "Things about me?"

  "Yes. And me and your dad. And things that happened long ago."

  "What does it all have to do with now?"

  "Everything. Or nothing."

  Charlie took a deep breath, trying to squelch the fire running through him. He turned back to his mom and sat down at the table, squeezing his hands into fists. She unfolded them and held them in her dainty, normal hands. His looked so monstrous next to hers. Charlie wanted to tell her what he did when he went into the woods, and about Adrian, but something held him back. He didn't know how to put it into words. It was still jumbled up inside him and now the incident with his dad smashed about uneasily alongside it.

  His mom's thoughts flew into his head. You and your dad are my whole world, Charlie. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise. He felt overwhelming love cover him, easing his anxiety.

  "You have mind powers like me."

  She nodded.

  "What about Dad?"

  Your dad doesn't share what we do, but your dad saved me.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I guess I should start from the beginning."

  Adrian got up from the bed in disgust.

  "We can try something else?" The young female sat up and twirled her pale hair that flowed down perky breasts. He looked hungrily at her sweet, hard nipples poking through curls of spun gold. So young, so lovely. And best of all, eager to please the leader of their community. But her body and tongue had done nothing to arouse him. The thought of being impotent like Caleb enraged him. It was for the soft of body and mind. And he was strong. He turned back to the female.

  She got on her knees, her white bottom presented to him. "This way?"

  He pulled her up. Let pain infuse his libido and drive out the weakness.

  "Not yet. Use these on me." He pulled out his cat o' nine tails and held them out.

  Her eyes widened. "I—I don't think I can."

  He scowled at her and she shrank back. "You must. I demand it. Now hit my thighs and chest." He stood tall, legs shoulder width apart and put his hands on his hips.

  "Now!"

  She nodded and moved forward, striking him.

  He closed his eyes and grunted. "Harder!" She obeyed.

  Each point burned fire in him. Each lash struck him, driving the softness out of his mind and body. And soon his staff grew as hard as his spirit. As it should be. He opened his eyes. She dropped the whip. He pushed her down on the bed. She opened her legs, offering her warm cave up for him to sink into.

  His blood dripped on her from the whipping. He licked it off her breasts, her belly. She moaned and raised her legs. He spread her wider, eager to plunge into wet delight and leave his seed behind to grow. His cock touched her used maidenhead and instantly shrunk. He howled at his flaccid failure and shoved her off the bed. She screamed and cowered on the floor.

  "What kind of female are you?" Adrian smashed his fists on his thighs to punch away his failure.

  "It's not me," she whimpered. "It happens sometimes to the older men."

  Adrian moved
toward her. She shrunk further on the floor, covering herself.

  "You think I am like the older men, do you?"

  She looked confused. "No—no, of course not but it can happen."

  "Get out. You'll be punished for this. Sent to the fat and ugly males."

  The female clung to his leg. "Please, it's not my fault."

  "Then you're saying it's mine?"

  She stared up at him with pathetic eyes and shook her head.

  "Get out, useless female."

  She pulled herself up and stumbled for the door. He threw her robe at her and she ran out the door. He watched her flee down the dark corridor. His anger deflated. He bent down and picked up the cat o' nine tails. He had to drive the weakness out. If that female told others he was weak he would not be able to control them. It was time to bring Charlie in. Together they could stand strong. And soon his new heir would be born. Two sons to shape and mold to take Caleb's place. One a man, one a babe in arms. Two sons to ensure his continued leadership—and his plans to rule Earth.

  But sudden fear now of losing his power struck deep.

  He positioned himself and raised his hand.

  The flagellation began.

  CHAPTER 18

  "I'm adopted, as you know," his mom began. "My mother was a runaway and died the night I was born."

  Charlie nodded. She had told him before and also about her adoptive parents who'd raised her. As a kid he used to ask his mom to tell him her childhood stories over and over. How she lived in the country and had chickens and climbed trees to sing from. How her mother made the best apple pies and giant pickles in huge crocks. How his mom roamed the woods and walk along rock walls. But he especially loved hearing about her lake. The one she rode her bike to early in the morning where she wrote about sunrises. And where she'd met her friend, Mr. B, who lived at the lake. He sounded like a cool, crotchety old dude. Charlie waited for her to tell him more.

  "But I wasn't the only one born that night," his mom said.

  "What do you mean?"

  She blew on her tea again, although it must be getting cold by now.

  "I had a twin. Born before me. He was given away. A man who took him to be raised somewhere else."

  "Where did he grow up? Did you ever meet him?"

  His mom was a twin! And he had an uncle out there he never knew. He had the feeling his mom had a lot more to tell him and he had to be careful with his thoughts. He wasn't ready to share Adrian with her. He had kept him secret so long.

  And then unease filled him. Adrian had taught him to hide his thoughts over the years. He said no one could know about him. He said there were others in the world who could read minds. And if they read Charlie's mind and found out their secret then Adrian would have to go away. Charlie didn't know anyone who could mind read, but it became a habit to cloak his thoughts. He didn't want to chance losing Adrian, even if it was all a game.

  As a kid he'd pretend he was a spy and the enemy was trying to infiltrate his mind to get information. He had no idea the spy was his mom. Had there been times he hadn't used this skill? Had she read some of his thoughts over the years? He'd heard his father's thoughts over time but never his mother's.

  His mom stared at him for a long moment. "Yes, I met him," she said.

  "Why didn't your parents adopt him, too?"

  His mom stood up, holding her back. She had a twin, had mind reading and healing powers…what other things hadn't she told him?

  "They didn't know about him, Charlie. No one did, except the government. They took him away and raised him in a secret facility."

  "But why?" It sounded like something from a spy game.

  "Because he was—" she stopped.

  "A freak, right? A freak like me?" Charlie jumped up and pushed his chair hard against the table. The mugs clanked together. His mom came to him and took his hands, but he shoved her away. She stumbled. Guilt surged through him and he caught her before she fell. "Sorry, Mom. I just get so mad."

  She looked like she would cry but then images of him as a little boy flooded his mind from hers. The day he lost his first tooth and rode his bike without training wheels. The day he'd cut his hand falling from a tree. There had been so much blood. It seemed he should have gone to the hospital but he didn't. Why? He remembered his mom hovering over him, touching his hand and the pain had gone away. She had healed him, hadn't she? He let go of her arms.

  "Yes, I healed you then," she said. "And many other times. You were all boy. Falling, running, jumping. Wanting to get somewhere faster. Your mind racing to the next thing. Your body unable to get there as fast. But never a freak. Not to me."

  She sat down again and sighed, but he paced the kitchen.

  "I go to the woods to do things, Mom. Not bad things." He looked over at her. She waited for him to go on. "I can, well, I can move things with my mind."

  She nodded. "I know, Charlie. So can I."

  And the surprises kept on coming. Her words empowered him to want to know more. She made him feel less alone in his differences but also angry. "Why didn't you tell me that you could do all these things before? I wouldn't have felt like such a freak my whole life knowing you were like me."

  "I'm sorry," she said, pleading with her eyes. "I was waiting for the right time for you to be able to handle all this. There's no handbook for moms on this subject."

  His anger faded. He had the truth now. Or some of it.

  "You and I come from another place, Charlie."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Another world."

  Charlie sat down. He looked at his strange fingers. "Why aren't you like me?"

  "I'm a mix. Half human, half Elyon. Like you."

  "Alien?"

  "No, El-ee-on. A place far away. Too far for us to travel to but not for them. They had discovered a travel technology that broke time barriers. We don't have their technology. We can dream. Perhaps they'll show us someday how to travel deep across space."

  Charlie wondered about it too, but it all sounded insane. Yet Adrian had talked about Elyon too and his mom didn't even know him. How many others were out there like himself, like his mom, like Adrian?

  "You don't seem upset by the news."

  "It makes sense, Mom. Now there's a reason why I am the way I am."

  His mom looked at him as if trying to figure him out, or his thoughts. Hearing about Elyon from his mom hit like a real punch. Her saying it drove the truth home.

  He came from another planet.

  "I know it sounds like a science fiction movie." His mom took his hands again. "But it's true. A long time ago a spacecraft from the planet Elyon crash landed here on Earth. The planet was dying and they sent a team in search of a new planet to start over. My father, who piloted the craft, was fatally wounded. He came in contact with a runaway girl—"

  "Your mother."

  "Yes. He passed himself on to her before he died."

  "What does that mean?"

  "He transferred his…seed to her. Impregnated her but without having sex. He—"

  "Okay, Mom, I get it." He pulled his hands away. The wind howled around the house. It sounded as empty as he did. And sad.

  "The government knew about this planet already because another spacecraft had crashed years before. They came in then and cleaned up the site but kept watch over the area. They told the town a meteorite crashed. And they found out my mother had become pregnant through a 'virgin' birth. They believed she got pregnant from the alien they had found on board and wanted her child for testing."

  "How'd they know that?"

  "Because the government had experimented with Elyon and human babies before."

  This was becoming more and more like a science fiction movie.

  "So why didn't they take you?"

  "They didn't know my mother carried twins. The doctor who delivered us sold my twin to the government but kept my birth secret and gave me up for adoption. And that's how my parents came to raise me."

  Charlie shook his head. A
ll this bizarre information swirled inside him. If the kids at school heard about this they would really call him a freak. Pod Man from Outer Space.

  "But what does Dad have to do with all this?"

  His mom looked into her tea as if wondering how to answer him. She pushed her hair away from her face. For a moment she looked like a young girl. Like she might have looked when she met his dad.

  "His parents were crushed to death under the so called 'meteorite'."

  Pity for his dad tugged at Charlie. He'd known his dad's parents died on vacation but he never the details. What must his dad have felt like? Losing his parents and in such an awful way.

  "It's why he never talks about them," Charlie said.

  "Yes. He had a hard time in foster homes growing up."

  He couldn't imagine how that must have been, but it didn't change things between them.

  "Dad thinks I'm a freak."

  "He never thought of you as a freak, Charlie-boy."

  A lump formed in the back of Charlie's throat. "That's what Dad calls me."

  "I know."

  "Dad wants me to be normal but I can't be, can I?"

  "Your dad wants you to enjoy all the normal things a kid should enjoy."

  "You mean the things he didn't get to do growing up?"

  His mom nodded.

  Charlie drained his hot chocolate which had grown cold. It left a slimy feeling in his throat. "So why'd he try to kill you tonight, Mom? I don't understand."

  "I'm getting to it. My brother had powers like us and—"

  "Had?"

  "Yes, he died before you were born. He grew up as a science experiment. Alone, unloved. And angry. So very angry."

  "And he could heal like us."

  "Yes. But he didn't use it for good."

  His mom held his arm. She scared him. Images of death and pain crashed into his head. Of a man who looked like Adrian. His mom took her hand off and they faded.

  "What else could your twin do?"

  "He was a certain type of breed of Elyon, a Destroyer."

  "Sounds scary."