A Hidden Element

by Donna Galanti

  Adrian laughed. "Yes. She wasn't supposed to be at the lab when it exploded. We were together. But when she told me she was pregnant with your child, I punished her. Plundered her body of betrayal. Tore into her like a feast!" He laughed and laughed as Tollen's face became cracked armor. "I left and so did she, to go to work and erase her punishment. But her punishment wasn't over. Death came for her that day. I made it so!"

  Tollen's fist came fast and hard. No mind probe for him, only a rock to his face with the full force of hate behind it. Pain flashed and blood flew from his nose as he fell on the concrete floor. Again and again his enemy's fist battered him, until the others pulled him away.

  "Take him to a cell and guard him," Tollen said, his usual calm voice quaking with rage. "Tomorrow he will answer to the flock. Caleb, we'll deal with you now."

  Adrian swayed as his people yanked him up. "I'll bend down the heavens and rescue you all! I'll deliver you from the power of our enemies."

  "There are no enemies, Father, but yourself," Caleb said. "And we will rescue ourselves from you."

  No! His son was wrong. "The mountains will smoke beneath my touch. I shall let loose my lightning bolts like arrows and scatter humans to the ends of the Earth." He raged against the arms that held him, but the elders held him tight.

  "Deliver me from evil men," Caleb shouted at him as they led him away. "Preserve me from the violent, which plot and stir up trouble. Their words and actions sting like poisonous snakes. Keep me out of their power. Throw them into deep pits from which they cannot escape!" Caleb's words followed him as they dragged him away like a dog to be punished. "And then you will be destroyed, Father, by the very evil you planned for me!"

  He could not be destroyed. Yet Adrian looked into the future now and saw himself as a mere ghost and the shadows of his people behind him. He had used hate to squelch his weakness, but had he doomed himself to lose Laura? She and her sons were his destiny. They would take his pain away. But he still had to face his people. Would they turn against him or stand with him?

  If he were to be with Laura he had to win them over.

  The screams stopped.

  Laura unfolded the note Caleb gave her. It was a hand drawn map of the compound laid out in detail. There was her room, Charlie's room, Adrian's room, and the nursery. Caleb had put a key with the number of steps between the major gathering places. There were several sleeping quarters with hundreds of barrack-style beds as well as single rooms, three eating areas, a kitchen, a storage area, a courtyard, a garage, a training arena, and the sanctuary.

  Caleb's sorrow struck her then as she gripped the map. His memories were etched into the paper he had passed on to her. His pain and emptiness. And love. He had so much love inside him to give away. His heart overflowed with it. He saved it for his sons. His face appeared before her. He grimaced in pain with each strike of a whip. His torso jerked with the fiery lashes.

  She flinched trying to shut out the vision. The whip disappeared and his naked body bent in beauty. His back rippled with the grace of a swimmer pushing toward a distant shore. He moved between the legs of a woman who moaned with desire. He loved her like the gentle giant Laura had witnessed. Then his pleasure melted away and he knelt by his bed sending a prayer up to be with his sons.

  She shook away the visions to study the map again. There at the bottom of it, marked in red near the kitchen, was a tunnel. Adrian's secret underground tunnel. Caleb wrote that he had found it years ago. Adrian must have planned for an escape at some point if he needed it. According to the map, it traveled under the compound to a place called the whipping shack and then far out into the woods. The key estimated it to end a half a mile away from the compound. It must have taken a lot of time and effort for Adrian to create such a long escape route with his powers, unseen and unheard from the community. And now, with a sense of justice, it would be her family's road to survival.

  Shouts and yells distracted her from the map and she shoved it in her robe pocket, waiting for her door to burst open. It never did and the sounds faded away. She wondered where Caleb had run off to and what horrible things had been done to that person to cause them to scream in such pain.

  She pulled out the note again and flipped it over. In neat, block handwriting Caleb's note read:

  Lovely Laura, I will persuade Charlie to leave with us tonight. I'll unlock your door with my powers, lead you to the escape tunnel, and show you where to get Ben. At the end of the tunnel Adrian has a vehicle in hiding you can escape with. Keep hope alive. You'll see Ben soon. If anything happens and I do not appear, do whatever you can to escape. Yours in service, Caleb.

  His words Lovely Laura and Yours in service resonated in her mind. He was a kind soul who did not belong in this place.

  Her pulse raced thinking about what lay ahead. Silence hung over the compound. She breathed deep. She needed to practice her powers. New energy pulsed through her. And joy over Ben being alive and being with him soon.

  She stood tall and ran her hands over her body, trim and strong again. She held her hands out and moved her mind to the few objects in her spartan room—a chair, a jug of water, and a glass. At first they quivered and then hovered in the air. She closed her eyes, confidence growing. Sweat gathered in the arch of her back.

  She worked into the night. She needed to undo the lock herself.

  She set herself a goal to do it before the bell tolled two.

  Ben woke up again. The dark encased him like a safe refuge. If he wanted to live he had to leave. Caleb wasn't coming back. Something was wrong. He shivered. It had grown colder. He had no idea how long he had been dozing. His legs throbbed. He bent his knees and flexed his feet. He had to find help. Save his family. Urgency screamed inside him.

  Laura, speak to me. But none of her words came to him.

  He would die for her now as he had sworn long ago. She had all the human elements that mattered.

  I was lost before you, Laura. You and Charlie keep me found. I don't want to be lost again.

  He saw her clear in his mind stretched out by the firelight as he had their first night together. He watched her then as shadows leapt over her curves in a wild dance, her chestnut hair flowing like burnished gold before him. They connected in pain and need, and he didn't want to leave her that night—or ever. But she had set him free with one word. Stay. And he had.

  He knelt now and reached his hand out to steady himself. Wet earth crumbled in his fingers. He pulled himself up on the rungs. His head hit the wooden door above. In disorientation, his legs trembled and he fell. He pulled himself up again and braced his hands on the wood. He waited, listening for movement. No light shone down. Wind howled above him.

  He shoved hard. The door lifted up. He collapsed on the floor of the shack. Dizziness engulfed him and icy wind cut into him. It raged around the poorly insulated building. White blew across the one window. Whips hung on the wall and hooks dangled from the ceiling. Ben's stomach turned, visualizing the torment doled out in this shack.

  He stood. His legs stayed, but his chest threatened to crack open with each breath from where he had been stabbed. Death hadn't taken away his pain. It now exploded inside him. He opened the door. Steel knives of frigid air sliced into him. He staggered back and gripped the door's edge. Snow swirled, beating at him.

  A face appeared through the snow. A gray robed man lunged at him. "What are you doing here?"

  Ben lurched as the man shoved him back into the shack, and alongside his weakness, fury blasted through him. He punched the man in the face. In the seconds the man staggered back, Ben grabbed a hook off a ceiling chain. They circled the shack, eyeing one another.

  "Human, you can't take me down." The man lumbered around him, a hulking figure.

  A piercing pain lit across Ben's head as the man probed his brain. The pain intensified. The man came at him. Ben dodged right like a drunkard and swung hard. The hook sunk into the man's back. He screamed and fell to the floor. Ben stumbled back and fell to his knees. The r
oom spun. The pain dissipated. The man flopped down and was still. Blood spread in an incriminating stain across the light gray wool of his robe.

  Ben crawled to him, shaking from adrenalin and the cold. He searched for the hidden door. Finally, his fingers felt a notch in the wood. He lifted the latch to the cellar and with all his remaining strength, rolled the massive man into it. He crashed with a thud. Ben stared down at his victim, the man's hands crossed his chest as if posed in death. God, forgive me. Then he slammed the door down to hide his crime and stood up.

  Laura, help me now.

  But she remained lost to him. Thinking more clearly, he took another hook and pulled down a whip from the wall. They may come in handy.

  Then he stepped out into the gale.

  Dizziness grabbed him again. He staggered out into the winter abyss. Step by step he headed away from the Elyon world and toward his own. The trees held him up when his legs could not. The cold snarled inside him, claiming him, but he would not give into it.

  It could not have him. Not yet.

  Caleb waited in his cell for the elders to make a decision on his punishment.

  He was exhausted and powerless. They had drugged him to dull his powers. He didn't care. He could think of just one thing over and over.

  My father murdered my mother.

  The deep loss he'd felt hit him afresh after all these years. His beautiful, loving mother. She had been the softness that protected him from his father's hardness. Tears welled in his eyes. It had been so long since he cried. He cried now and wiped the tears away angrily. His loss as a young boy drained away, replaced by anger.

  What would happen now? The elders had questioned him for what seemed hours. He had detailed every step he had taken in the last day. They had prodded deep into his strained relationship with Adrian, thinking he had partnered with his father to torture, rape, and kill females.

  "Our people may be assigned partners to breed with, but you know rape and murder is a line not to be crossed," Tollen had said, frowning down at him. "We do not take matters into our own hands. We do not become like the human beasts that perform such atrocities. Ours is a shared community. And those who violate our rules are punished by law, not by vigilantes."

  "You mean murdered by law," Caleb had said, staring at the blood stains on his robe.

  "Punished for justice. And you shall await yours."

  They had left him them. He heard the bell toll one a.m. now. He had to get out of here and help Laura. Ben counted on him, too. He smashed his fists on his thighs. His plans were unraveling.

  His door opened. The elders filed in.

  Tollen threw a robe at him. "Change out of those bloody clothes. We have decided you are innocent of this crime. We believe you came across your father's act by chance. You are exonerated. As you know, your powers will return in time."

  Caleb changed his robe and stood. "Thank you. What of my father?"

  "Tomorrow he will be punished in the courtyard."

  "Stoned," Caleb said. A numb feeling mixed with a deep seated relief washed over him. His father had murdered his mother and built the well here to do the same to him.

  "To death."

  "Will Charlie still be leader?"

  Tollen smiled at him. "No. I am."

  The elder had wanted his father out for a long while. "My father had promised me I could spend time with my two sons."

  "It's not allowed at their age."

  "I prepared the female, Laura, for him. My sons were to be my reward."

  "Your time on her won't be wasted. She will be mine now. And if she doesn't comply she will be eliminated."

  "Let me be with my sons."

  "We'll see."

  Caleb looked at the grim faces of the elders. He had no choice but to wait. For now he had to help Laura and her family. It's what he did. Set the oppressed free. Except himself. He was imprisoned in a world of hope to be with his sons. He had planned many times to escape with them but the logistics had too much risk. His sons didn't even know he was their father, and if they were caught escaping they could all die.

  "Let me go back to my room and rest."

  "Not yet. You will come with us. I have ordered Charlie to the sanctuary. He will be informed of his place here now. And since you have worked with him, he will be your responsibility now."

  Caleb nodded and followed the elders out of the room. Laura would have to wait.

  CHAPTER 39

  Charlie stood at the altar in the sanctuary. The brawny Elyon who woke him up to bring him here stood silent, flexing his giant muscles.

  Candles burned low on the walls. Black smoke drifted from them in a murky haze. Stars flickered above in the glass dome skylight. A dead Elyon world hung in the universe up there watching over this new one being created. The courtyard bell rang slow and steady.

  Clang. Clang.

  Two a.m.

  Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. The giant door swung open. Caleb entered. Behind him stood the community elders.

  "Charlie-boy." The tall elder smiled at him. The way he used Adrian's nickname for him sent a shiver across his stomach. "Remember me? I'm the head elder, Brother Tollen."

  He nodded. "Why am I here?"

  "I have an announcement. Adrian has committed a heinous, unsanctioned crime. And with the preparation of his disposal—"

  "What does that mean?

  "—you are no longer in charge of our Elyon community."

  Charlie stepped away from the altar. "Where's Adrian?"

  Caleb shook his head slightly at him as if to silence him. Suddenly, everything felt so wrong.

  "And your place is one of a menial worker now." The elder continued on, ignoring him. "You will be assigned to Caleb and do whatever he assigns you. You will no longer have your own room but sleep in the quarters with the other males. All who second this say, 'Make it so'."

  The elders responded in unison, nodding. "Make it so."

  "But Adrian—"

  "Adrian is not here to protect you anymore." Tollen paused. "He will be stoned to death at sunrise."

  Charlie shook his head and stepped back. His new father was to die? Caleb's father. Why did Caleb just stand there?

  "No. No."

  "Yes. And you will help us do it."

  "I can't," he whispered.

  "You will. Or you mother will suffer. Your baby brother will suffer."

  Charlie took another step back and stumbled as he hit the altar steps. "Where's my mom? Is she okay?" The words baby brother hung in his head.

  "She's fine. For now. And so is her new son. Elyon's new son. Soon she will produce more new sons. With me."

  Charlie's world tilted. He strode to Tollen, fists ready to smash the man's face in.

  "You can't do this. My father won't let you. You're not in charge. You're nothing!"

  The elders took a step back, but Caleb stepped forward and grabbed Charlie's arm.

  Tollen smiled at him. "And which father is that, Charlie-boy? Your pretend father, Adrian? Or your dead human father, Ben?"

  Charlie pushed against Caleb, but he held him tight. His eyes burned into his begging him to stop. Charlie, calm down. Trust in me. I will help you. But his rage burned too bright. He struggled against Caleb. The Elyon guard held his other arm.

  "My dad isn't dead. I didn't kill him in the sanctuary."

  Tollen twitched his lips. "He's dead now. Adrian ordered it."

  "Liar!"

  "And Caleb killed and buried him."

  Caleb's hold loosened on him. Charlie turned to face him. Hate filled him as never before. Caleb's face revealed the truth. Nothing was as he thought. And everything was his fault.

  "Charlie?" Leah's soft voice broke through Charlie's despair.

  She stood like a golden dream in the doorway. Light radiated around her. She walked into the sanctuary and her light faded.

  "Ahh, Leah," Tollen said. "Thank you for coming. Charlie and you are no longer bonded. You see, Adrian has committed a terri
ble crime and must pay for his sins. I am now leader. Charlie will be assigned elsewhere. Your services with him are over."

  Charlie swallowed hard. Leah couldn't be lost to him, too. "Tell them, Leah. We're supposed to be…shooting stars, right?"

  She shook her head at him and moved closer to Tollen. "Poor Charlie. Sorry." Tollen stroked her hand. She smiled up at the old man. A smile she had given Charlie many times. She gave it away now. "I go where the power is. You no longer matter."

  "Caleb, take Charlie to his new quarters," Tollen said. "The bell will ring in a few hours for Adrian's stoning." Caleb nodded and tightened his grip on Charlie's arm. "Leah, I'll expect you in my room within the hour."

  She nodded and Tollen and his group left.

  But Leah lagged behind. "Too bad about you and me, Charlie. You're adorable. We'd make handsome sons, to add to the ones I've had already."

  Charlie looked at her, hating her and loving her. She had babies? She was a mother? How could he have ever thought she was an angel? She had used him. She wasn't any different than the girls back home. He never had a girlfriend before. He had never been used before. But now he felt that pain. He bit his lip. It stung like the thought of her kisses now did. He shoved his hands in his robe pockets and forced them down, stretching the material tight. It didn't matter that he looked like the Elyons here. He would trade all of it to be home in his house with his Mom and Dad. Right now even the bullies seemed more appealing.

  "I hate you," he mumbled.

  "Good. Hate is stronger than love. Hate will serve you well here."

  "Forget her, Charlie." Caleb pulled on his sleeve. "We have to go."

  Charlie yanked away. "And you. Killer! You killed my dad."

  "No, I didn't," Caleb said and let him go. "I buried him after. And then…"

  "And then, what?"

  "I didn't kill him."

  "I don't believe you."

  Leah flounced her robe and twirled to leave. "You and Caleb can fight out your own battles. I'm done here."

  "Why are you so mean? I thought you liked me?"

  She turned back. "I did, Charlie. But now you're useless to me. Like Adrian." She shot a smile to Caleb. "And Caleb. All you Madrocs loved me but now you're not worthy of me."