A Hidden Element

by Donna Galanti

  Bolts of pain smashed through her head. Laura dropped the whip and knife and clutched her head. Adrian was inside her, tormenting her. She tried to fight it off, but the pain grew too great.

  Ben shook her shoulders. "Laura, what is it?"

  "They're here."

  She opened her eyes and cried out. The dull gray light pierced her with blinding torment. She fell to her knees and looked up.

  Ben leaned over her. "Laura!"

  Shadows crossed over them. They grabbed Ben. Ben yelled and fought them off as he held on to her. Then his hands disappeared. In her darkness she saw him struggle, but she couldn't move. Adrian had paralyzed her. She felt herself being lifted up. Many hands carried her. They gripped her flesh tight. Her baby quaked inside her. The pain wracked her head like a tight fist slamming into her.

  They took her to her new master. Yes, take me instead.

  I intend to, Laura.

  Please, let my son go. Let Ben go.

  Your son is mine. As you are. Together we will rule. And Ben's time on Earth is done.

  No!

  She tried to fight him off but the darkness took her again.

  Music beat in Ben's head, thumping painfully alongside the throbbing in his body. His eyelids were weighed down. He couldn't make the connection on how to open them. Or how to move his arms and legs. Laura. Charlie. Where were they?

  He pushed the boulders up from his eyes. Excruciating light poured into his brain. Gray forms swayed around him. He tried to focus. They came into view. Hundreds of people filled an enormous room that arched up in a round ceiling. Candles lined the walls with flickering flames straining to be free from the cold wax imprisoning them. Like him. He wasn't tied down then remembered the needle being jammed into his leg. Drugged.

  Charlie stood at a wooden altar covered in red cloth. A woman stood before him. They pressed their palms together. The music yielded to a murmuring ballad. Their voices pierced the church with words of obedience and duty. They moved in a sensual dance. And behind them stood a monstrous man with raised arms. Pale, like Charlie, but fierce looking. Adrian. The people around him floated like lifeless specters in submission to their earthly master.

  The music stopped. The woman and Charlie kissed. They turned to face their audience, holding hands. Damn it. He was powerless to rescue his family. This had all gone wrong so fast. It was a blur. The woods. Attacking Laura. Being taken.

  He slowly moved his head to the left. Laura sat a few feet away from him. Her head lolled to the left. Her enormous belly rose, a tender protrusion vulnerable to their captors. Had they drugged her, too? And their child. He screamed inside, thrashing his body about in his mind but it would not bend to his will. He looked at Laura sending his thoughts to her. Wake up, Laura. I can't do this without you. Help me save our son.

  Laura lifted her head. Her eyes caught his. Together they turned to watch their son who stared at them without recognition.

  Had Charlie become what he was meant to be? A Destroyer?

  Charlie looked out at the Elyons who witnessed the ceremony.

  His heartbeat quickened as their intense acceptance of him enveloped him, as did his yearning for Leah. It grew into a great ball of want that rolled through him, filling him up. And now Adrian had announced his leadership of the community as his rightful heir. Power swept inside him like a river of lust. Lust to be loved by the community—and by Leah.

  Across from the sanctuary his mom and dad watched. They had come to witness his transformation. Pride surged alongside power. His mother accepted him, like she had her own brother. And his dad would now see how powerful he had become and see he wasn't a freak here.

  Adrian touched his shoulder from behind. A thrill crashed through him like thunder in his veins. His true father. Time now, Charlie, for your human dad to pay for all those years he didn't accept you.

  Yes, Adrian was right.

  "You must prove yourself to our people, Charlie." Adrian's hand pressed heavy into his shoulder, transmitting his omnipotence to him. "We have an outsider here. One who does not belong. One who must die today."

  Hundreds of heads turned toward his dad. Revenge and love twisted inside him. Can you accept your duty and the hard choices that come with today? Adrian's words came back to him.

  Once they called him a freak. Pod man. Not anymore. Not here. His eyes swept past Caleb who frowned at him, his jaw jerking back and forth.

  "You've been trained to kill," Adrian said. "Here in this place, before all, can you do what you were born to do, Charlie Madroc?"

  Charlie looked at his mom and dad. They sat there staring at him. They didn't protest. Conflict hung on the edges of his mind. But he was born to do this. His dad has just been a weak human necessary for his creation. The hard choice now faced him.

  Leah gripped his hand tighter and nodded her approval.

  The crowd pulsed before him, urging him on.

  Adrian smiled at him. I am your father now, Charlie.

  And in his dark hidden heart a righteous power raged.

  He knew what he must do.

  Fury and loss raged in Laura. She could not move or speak. The drugs they'd given her rendered her powers near useless, but she did sense the thoughts of those around her—and of Charlie. His feelings burst inside like a disease shifting in feverish waves from revenge to love to godly self-empowerment. Do the right thing, Charlie. Help us turn the people against Adrian.

  She had to save her first born. He had been turned against her and Ben and was now announced as leader of this Elyon flock with the devil as his mentor. Her uncle.

  The one she saw so long ago on a faraway dying planet. The one who pleaded for her, with kindness in his eyes, to help them assimilate into human society once they reached Earth in their final mission. The one whose true mission lay in being a Destroyer to wipe out humanity.

  Ben sat near her, paralyzed as well. His presence provided her with small comfort in their desperate situation. And Charlie just stared at her as if he had forgotten her. What had they done to him? Her child. Her sweet boy who had given his whole heart to her when young. He had shared his hurts with her as a teenager. Tears of despair fell from her. She could not wipe them away as she had once wiped her son's tears away when he hurt. Had he truly become like her brother had been? Remorseless and full of hate? It was a stake that pierced her heart and severed her son grievously from her.

  Charlie placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes.

  No, Charlie!

  The crowd stopped swaying. Silence hung in the church like a gun aimed, ready to shoot.

  Ben shuddered in his chair. His head flopped down. His body convulsed. She felt pain radiate around him like blazing fire. Like when her twin had tried to mind-kill him long ago. Ben didn't die then. He couldn't die now. Laura refused to believe this could be his destiny. Fate would not be realigned. She closed her eyes and sent her life force and healing into him. She willed him to live. But she was so weak. The drugs had dulled her powers.

  She battled with her son who was killing the one man she had ever loved.

  His dad.

  CHAPTER 30

  Ben was dead.

  She last remembered being dragged away by men in gray robes. Then she passed out. She awoke now after they shoved her into a narrow room and slammed the door. She stumbled and fell on her stomach on a lumpy mattress strewn on the floor. Pain shot through her and she hugged herself, rooted in deep loss. She cried for Ben. Her first love. And for Charlie and her unborn child. She had to be strong for them now. Adrian had one son. He would not get the other. Please dear God, don't let my child be born in this place. Help us get home.

  She pulled herself up by a chair, the only other thing in the room besides a dangling light bulb and window too narrow to squeeze through. A slit in the wall to tease her with. Like the bolt on the outside of the door. There was no escape from this room. She tottered to the window where sunlight flickered. It called to her with its gentle glow, painting her pris
on with warmth. The woods crept vast and deep before her. Woods like where she had met Ben the day he caught her singing in a tree.

  She had to find a way to get Charlie and escape.

  But he had killed his father.

  She cried harder.

  And with this chilling realization came the knowledge that there was nothing Charlie could do that she could not forgive, just as she had accepted Ben's failings before she met him. She accepted Charlie's now. It was not his fault. Her heart broke for her son.

  The door opened.

  Adrian loomed over her. Vile hate sprung inside her. She lunged for him but fell. He caught her. She twisted away. Agony seared her with his touch. His dream image flashed before her where he had been deep inside her, pleasuring her. She wanted to throw up. She backed up to the wall and leaned into it.

  He smiled at her. His large features stretched wider across his monstrous face. His yellow eyes coveted her.

  "Laura Fieldstone. I've waited so long for this. Your unborn child is mine. And Charlie is mine. He is on my side and will make a great Destroyer. I have been grooming him for years for this moment. You are all Madrocs now."

  She shook her head. Hate froze her words. He moved closer to her and put his hands on her stomach. She closed her eyes. Sick images coiled in her brain of things he had done, enjoyed doing. And things he planned to do to her. Finally, she opened her eyes.

  "Thank you for bringing my whip back." He pulled it from his robe's pocket and caressed her cheek with its straps. Its cool leather sent chills through her. She cringed, her muscles tightening as if they, too, wanted to shrink and disappear.

  "We are both twins, Laura. We are each the more powerful half of a duo. We survived. Our twins did not. We are the strong ones. Together our power can rule."

  His face was so close to hers. His breath pulsed hot on her cheek. She turned her face away looking for something to fight back with. The chair! She reached her mind out to fling it at him but all it did was wobble back and forth from her weak state. In a flash, he reached one hand out and grasped it. He steadied the chair and smiled at her.

  "My dear Laura. You can't win against me. Your fate is here. I've seen into the future. You will breed with me. And soon we will go out into the human world and launch our communities there. The humans stand no chance against our powers. We will use them as needed and our genes will wipe out all humans on Earth and a new Elyon shall shine in its place."

  "Never," Laura whispered.

  "We are creating a new world here and you will be part of this."

  "No."

  "Then you will die."

  She stared into his jaundiced eyes burning with a crazed passion. There had to be an escape from this monster. She had survived too much to not survive this. She would discover his weakness and kill him with no regrets.

  This fact shocked her. She had been a forgiving person, one to find the redeeming qualities in all. Even her brother, who killed so many people she loved, had a tiny place in his heart where love could grow. Only that place was kept empty and starved for love his whole life by those who imprisoned him. Her acceptance and love of him in the end was not enough. He believed he was beyond redemption.

  "You lied to me when we spoke from Elyon," she whispered. "I thought you were good. You said I was Elyon's only hope."

  "And you are, my Laura. You will help me rule a new Elyon. Let me bring out your Destroyer gene. We'll be united and you will come to love who you truly are—a Destroyer."

  He gripped her arms. His pod-like fingers pushed into her flesh, a precursor to what awaited her. He would soon be filling her with his hateful sex. She felt faint and moaned. He let go.

  "You kill me and you kill my unborn child. If you want to make him yours then why kill him?"

  He crossed his arms and laughed. Blue veins pulsed through his neck. "I wouldn't kill our child, Laura."

  Her legs shook. She slid down the wall to the floor. Were all her dreams to become realized? If she did not accept his offer she would die, leaving her child here to be raised by a mad man. She closed her eyes to get away from his hideous face and plan, but he pulled her up and pressed her to the wall.

  "Open your eyes, my Laura."

  She did as he said and stared into her destiny. Why had she come here if not to save Charlie? Ben was dead. Loss overwhelmed her, but Adrian gave her no reprieve. His hardness pressed into her stomach. Nausea overcame her and she shrank into the wall. Her child let loose a fierce kick inside as if he knew that this was not the man who had fathered him.

  Adrian laughed and felt her child. He pushed deep into her abdomen and she bit her lip. "He's feisty. My new son. A Madroc. Like Charlie. A Destroyer, too. I know it."

  Laura looked up at him, helpless as he pinned her to the wall. "He's not your son." Her voice broke. "He's Ben's."

  Adrian let her go and stepped back. His smile became a sneer. "Ben? You think Ben conceived this child? A useless human who had a vasectomy? I think not, Laura."

  Goosebumps ran up Laura's arm. "What do you mean?"

  "I'm your baby's father, Laura. I have been all along."

  "Only in my dreams, you bastard."

  "It wasn't a dream, Laura. I was there in the flesh. Many nights for months I came to you when your Ben was away on assignment or at a convention. I was there the night he slept in the guest bedroom. I mind bended you, made you think you lay in a dream state. But they weren't dreams. I plunged so deep inside you. Deeper than Ben ever was. You thought so yourself. I filled you up with my seed. It's our child."

  She shook her head. Horror filled her at what might be true. "No." It came out not like a sound, but like a prayer.

  "You moved beneath me with such wild abandon. You offered yourself to me fully. Such lust. I can't wait for us to be together again. In the flesh."

  "No."

  "Yes."

  She looked out the window. This child was hers and Ben's. A child conceived in love, not hate.

  "No. I would rather die," she said quietly. "I would rather my baby die."

  "Your death can be arranged. Is this what you want?"

  Hope fled fast inside her. She made sure to keep her mind closed to Adrian's probing powers. Her only hope was to go along with his plan. She needed to buy time. She needed an ally. She needed Ben.

  "What do you want from me?" She turned back to the monster.

  "I want you to breed with me, Laura. We're destined to do so. I'm carrying on my twin's legacy, as you can fulfill your twin's legacy. We survivors will live out their destinies. You're meant to be with me and lead our people into a new world. But humans cannot know of our presence or plan. If they do we'll be locked away, experimented on. Like your brother. Like your son will be. Do you want that for him?"

  She shook her head.

  "So, it's a simple answer." His muscles bulged and flexed in his neck, dominating and powerful as her brother had been. He, too, had once stood before her like this with her life on the line.

  "You are a Destroyer inside, Laura. Give in to the hate." He held up his hands. "If you want to live, be what you are."

  Long ago Felix had said those same words to her. Find your powers again because the evil is coming. And he is coming for you next time. If you want to live, be what you are.

  He had been right and now the same evil threatened her life and all she loved once again. She stared into Adrian's vengeful yellow eyes, but no words came to her.

  "I'll ask you one more time. Will you offer yourself to me?"

  She had no choice. For now. And the words came to her. "Yes, I will."

  He loosed a deep, guttural laugh. "And since you accept my invitation, I'll let you have one last special night as a reward. Lucky for you that you thwarted your son's own power. For now."

  He banged on the door. It opened and a man was flung on the floor before her.

  Ben.

  And he was alive.

  Laura clung to Ben. They held each other on the dank mattress after Adrian l
eft. The light began to fade from the narrow window, but a tiny bit of hope still sparked inside Laura. Faith renewed itself inside her that they would find a way out of here. And then horror replaced it. She would have to tell Ben that Adrian's child grew inside her. No, no. She couldn't tell him now.

  But she hadn't known Adrian had been inside her. It had been a dream. And she had kept her eyes shut each time thinking it was Ben, except once when she opened them—and saw the monster pleasuring her. He had been deep inside her. She had enjoyed it. How many times had she been with him? She wanted to be sick.

  "Laura, did he hurt you? Did he…?"

  "No," she whispered. He held her tighter and she felt him draw a deep breath. "I thought you were dead."

  "Never. The bastard can't kill me."

  "I tried to stop Charlie—"

  "It was Adrian who brainwashed him. He made him do this. Our son is somewhere inside waiting to be found again."

  "We have to find a way to get him back. If we can turn him away from Adrian he can help us bring Adrian down. I know it. I feel it. Adrian has placed all his hope on Charlie for his new world. He announced it to his people in their church."

  Ben stretched out beside her on the sagging mattress and groaned. Bruises darkened on his face. Dried blood ran across his cheek. They had beaten him badly. Laura placed her hands on him and willed healing into his body. He stroked her hair as she practiced her power, but she was still impotent from the drugs.

  "The drugs affected my abilities, Ben. I—I don't know if I can heal you all the way right now."

  "Laura, my Laura. It's okay."

  "How do you feel?" The bruises had faded somewhat on his face.

  "Better."

  The sun sank. The woods grew gray in the window above them. The lonely light bulb spilled garish light across them.

  Ben put his hand on her face. "Tell me how we can save our family in this godforsaken place. This is what hell is. I know it. Those robed men took me to a room and beat me. They followed Adrian's orders like robots. The worst part was they did it all in silence. Like crazy cult members. But they didn't kill me. Why?"