A Tiny Bit Mortal

by Lindsay Bassett

  “They are probably just holding her somewhere, Emily.” He said. “They will want to appeal to you. They won’t hurt a hair on her head.”

  “They left a number for you to call.” said my dad. “Call it, find out their terms, ask to talk to her.”

  I calmed myself down and felt the grip on my loosen. “I won’t run.” I said. “Promise.”

  Wiping my tears with my sleeve, I took some deep breaths. I stood up, and Peter and my Dad both held a cautious stance like they were working with a wild horse.

  “I’m fine.” I said, turning on my heels and walking into the living room. I sat on one of the couches in the middle of the room and pulled out my cell phone. “What’s the number?” I asked.

  My dad held out a card that looked strikingly like the business card that was up in my room inside the nesting doll on my dresser. It felt like my heart leaped inside my chest as I shoved away my secret memory of the male underwear model looking man. I grabbed it from his hand and dialed the number.

  I heard a man’s voice say “Hello?” and said “This is Emily.”

  “Ah,” he said “I’ve been waiting. What took you so long?” I didn’t recognize the voice of the man as my male underwear model looking visitor. The man’s voice sounded snaky and gave me a feeling of revulsion.

  “Where is my mom?” I demanded.

  “She is fine.” he said. “You for her.”

  “How do I know she’s fine?” I said. “I want to talk to her.”

  “Fine.” he said. “I will transfer you to her room.”

  Jazzy elevator music played for almost a minute, it felt like eternity.

  “Hello?” said my mom’s sweet voice.

  “Emily!” she said. “Oh my goodness, what is going on?”

  “Are you okay?” I asked. “Please tell me you are okay.”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I woke up in this big room. It’s like a fancy hotel room with a living room, a bathroom and a kitchenette.”

  “What?” I said, confused.

  “I’m locked in here.” She said. “I’ve been here almost a week. Every day I wake up and there is new food in the fridge, but I can’t ever catch anyone coming in here. I feel like I’m in a strange dream. Emily...can you tell me what is going on? Is this some weird prank?”

  “Oh mom, we have to get you out of there.” I said.

  “I don’t understand.” she said.

  I stopped myself before I told her she was being held by The Corrupt. She seemed afraid, but I could imagine her fear intensifying if she knew she was being held by something evil.

  “I have to go mom.” I said. “Everything is going to be okay. Just relax and try to enjoy the nice room you are staying in. I promise mom. I love you so much.”

  “Okay Emily.” she said, hesitantly. “I love you too.”

  I hung up the phone and looked down at the floor, thinking. I looked up to see Peter and my dad waiting for me to say something. “I have to go.” I said, intensely.

  “Emily, you can’t.” said my dad. “Let me call the Elders.”

  “It’s my mom!” I said, angry.

  “Please Emily,” said Peter. “one thing at a time. Your mom seems to be okay. Let’s call the Elders, don’t do anything rash.”

  My phone rang, and I nearly jumped out of the chair.

  “Hello.” I said.

  “Are you satisfied?” he asked.

  “Yes.” I said. “I’d be a little more satisfied if she were home, safe.”

  “She will be if you come.” he said.

  “Soon.” I said, and hung up on him.

  “Call the Elders then.” I said, flinging my arms up in the air toward my dad and Peter. My dad shot Peter a look of some sort of understanding and left the room. Peter came and sat next to me and put his arm around me.

  “Just don’t.” I said.

  He removed his arm, and I waited, tensely, without moving until my dad returned. “They are going to send a couple of people out to investigate.” he said.

  “Investigate?” I asked. “Just a couple of people?”

  “Emily.” he said. “They are two of the best hunters, they will find her.”

  Peter put his hand on my hand. I took a deep breath. “Okay.” I said.

  My dad came and sat on the other side of me. “Emily.” he said. “We never talked much about why The Corrupt want you. I think you should know.”

  “Okay.” I said.

  “The Corrupt,” he said. “have been seeking power over humans from the very beginning. From the earliest time in our history, it became accepted that we should guide human civilization, and we were their leaders. We guided them from warring tribes to civilizations with agriculture and currency.”

  “Some of these immortal leaders lost touch with the divine in their thirst for power and serving themselves. They wanted more. They employed hundreds of thousands of slaves and responded to any human opposition with imprisonment and death.”

  “In this corruption, they lost much of their immortal abilities. They became weak as they abandoned the divine order, and the divine order left their bodies. They lost their grip over the humans and turned to demands for blood sacrifices. They drank the blood of animals to steal divine powers from them. Eventually they discovered human blood was far more potent.”

  “Another side effect was the loss of the ability to make themselves seen to humans. As humans are wired to not recognize what they see when they look at an immortal, it requires some of the divine to make ourselves seen by humans, and that power does not exist in human blood. They eventually had to place humans as leaders, and guide them by whispering to the humans in their ears, unseen.”

  “The mortal, tormented souls that they placed in leadership were often murdered by rebellions and replaced. Some of these humans had too much divine order in them, so the corrupt whispers in their ears couldn’t even be heard.”

  “Factions grew, and our people were at war. We eventually divided into two groups, The Pure and The Corrupt. The dark ages came about when we became the most divided and separated from human affairs. What little civilization was left from us crumbled, and humans were also at war. The Corrupt used every human they could to further their agenda.”

  “The war eventually came to a standstill, never having ended, but both sides had strengthened in their own ways. We have helped found great human nations, and The Corrupt weave as much corruption as they can into the governments and the people. This is where you come in, Emily.”

  I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable.

  “You have enough immortal in you, that you can see and hear the immortals, corrupt or not.” He said. “And you have enough mortal in you that people can see you, no matter what.”

  Aware of my shallow breathing, I attempted to process his words.

  “They want you Emily,” he said. “as an instrument to bring about the old order. They would do everything they could to corrupt you and use you to gain back their power in this world. They would travel around the world with you, having you perform miracles and making the humans believe that you have come from the heavens. They would have you rule the world.”

  “But..” I said. “If they corrupted me, wouldn’t I lose my abilities?”

  He leaned towards me in the seat next to me, serious.

  “They would have you drink the blood of humans.” he said. “You would gain back some power from the blood, and humans would always be able to see and hear you. You don’t even have to try. In fact, the more corrupt you become the more they will be able to see you, and your beauty.”

  I shivered at the thought of drinking human blood. It sounded like a nightmare with some very real monsters.

  “Please promise me you’ll stay put, Emily.” said Peter.

  “I will stay.” I said, without really promising.

  Peter put his arms around me and held me close. I felt dizzy as my mind processed everything I was told.

  Too many days went by and there was still no w
ord about my mom. I kept asking my dad “Any news?” and the answer was always “They are still searching.” I was growing impatient, and afraid for my mom.

  Several times a day the snaky man called and ask “when are you coming?” I would always reply with “Soon.” and hang up. On the fourth day he said something different.

  “Emily.” He said. “I don’t want to have to hurt her, but you seem to be lying to me about coming soon.”

  “I will be there soon.” I replied.

  “I know you have dogs hunting for her.” he said. “Do you really think they will find her? It’s a big planet.”

  There was silence for a moment, and I didn’t know what to say.

  “Would it help if I made her scream for you?” he said.

  “No!” I said. “Please don’t hurt her.”

  “Then I’d better see your face by tomorrow morning. I am running out of patience.” he said, and then hung up.

  I was alone in my room, sitting cross legged in my bed. Staring at the phone, I imagined myself telling my Dad and Peter the news that I would trade myself in for my mom. I imagined myself trying to run out the front door and them holding me down again. I imagined my dad begging me, telling me they would use me to take over the world.

  I wasn’t like them. I couldn’t just set aside my mom like my dad did when he left us, for some concept of the greater good. I loved her, deeply, more than anyone else, self included. There was no way I could see myself as more valuable than my mom. She was the sweetest, most innocent person I knew. I had to save her if they wouldn’t.

  With my imagination I attempted to construct what my dad said The Corrupt would do to me, but I couldn’t see anyone successfully corrupting me. Money and power didn’t mean anything to me, and I had such a deep love for a boring and quiet sort of life. “Good luck with that.” I said to myself, with a chuckle.

  My dad had said to me before that no one, not even the immortal could read minds. How would The Corrupt know if they had corrupted me? How would they know if I were the one using them?

  There was no way for me to know exactly what I was getting myself into, but I knew I had to try to save my mom. It was the right thing to do. If my dad was right, and they did somehow manage to corrupt me, there was one thing I had going for me. Mortality meant I could end myself before they ever got a chance to use me for evil. Swallowing hard, I made a promise to myself that I would kill myself if things went sideways.

  Emerging from my room, I participated in the rest of the day like nothing had happened. I tried to read my dad and Peter’s body language to see if they had “listened in” on my phone call in any way, but as far as I could tell they hadn’t. We had dinner, and I pestered my dad with the same “Any news?” question, to which I got the usual response.

  I told them I was going to bed, went upstairs, put on my pajamas in my bedroom, and then crossed the hall to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I hugged Peter good-night in the hallway.

  Stepping back into my room, I closed and locked the door. I changed back into my clothes and opened the nesting doll on the dresser that contained the business card from the male underwear model looking guy. I compared the number with the one I had on my cell phone for the guy holding my mom hostage. They were different.

  Sitting down on my bed, I took a deep breath. I dialed the number from the nesting doll. “Emily.” he said. I recognized his voice immediately.

  “I’m ready for you to rescue me.” I said.

  He laughed. “I know they have your mom, why are you calling me? Ready to turn yourself in?”

  “They are holding me hostage here.” I whispered. “They had me underground for an entire week because I told them I was tempted to go with you. They just let me back out because I gained their trust back.”

  “Well now.” he said. “I like this side of you, Emily. I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.”

  “Tonight is my only chance to get out of here.” I said. “Will you help me?”

  “I’ll be there. I told you I would.” he said, and hung up.

  Listening intently, I focused on the sounds of the house. I could hear my dad shuffling around in his office, and Peter was lurking in the hall. They both eventually retired to their bedrooms.

  I quietly scribbled a note and left it on my bed. It said “I love you both, keep Ellen safe.”

  IX

  Run Away

  Without a sound I stepped through the house, telling myself to be quiet the entire way. “I’m not really here” I thought as I slowed my breathing. “My footsteps are nothing” I thought as I stepped down the stairs. I moved slow, like a sloth, as I closed the front door behind me.

  As I walked down the pathway in front of the house, everything was silent. I didn’t look back. Walking down the street, I had no idea where I was going and wished I had the sense to come up with a meeting place when I was on the phone with male underwear model looking guy.

  Emerging from the residential area, I meandered down the hill and into the park. The streetlamps dimly lit the stone pathway of the Japanese garden, casting eerie shadows through the carefully trimmed trees and the little tufts of bushes. Stepping up the stone pathway, I listened to the trickling sound of the little stream that ran through the garden.

  “Are you coming, or what?” said a smooth voice.

  He emerged from behind a tree, with his hands in the pockets of his suit. Gasping, I froze on the pathway. Suddenly I wasn’t feeling so brave.

  “I can taste your fear in the air.” he said as he approached me. “Don’t be afraid.” he said. “I’m sure they’ve told you terrible things about us. I understand your fear. I would never do anything to hurt you, Emily. I promise.”

  Conjuring up some bravery, I looked into his icy blue eyes and searched them. Wondering if his promises were as empty as Peter’s, I felt sick for framing it that way. I had to believe that Peter meant well.

  As I pulled my thoughts away from Peter and back in the present moment, I saw something in the icy blue eyes that stared back at me. There was something about the man, behind his obvious efforts to emanate sexy vibes with his tussled hair and tailored suit. It was like there was a far away part of myself shouting exclamations about him and I couldn’t make out the words.

  “The car is just up the street.” he said, returning my smile and extending his hand to me. “We have a plane to catch.”

  Putting my hand in his, I let him lead me from the park down to the street. We entered the back seat of a black shiny car. Settling in next to him, I asked “Where are we going?” Still holding my hand, he said “To the airport.”

  Leaning my head back on the seat, I felt exhausted. Strangely comforted by his hand on mine, I closed my eyes and drifted in and out of sleep as we made our way towards Medford on the interstate.

  As I recognized the street nearing the airport, I shifted in my seat to sit up straight. We drove past the usual airport entrance area and drove around behind the airport. “Private Jet.” he said, when he noticed my confusion.

  The car stopped, and he said “wait” while he held up his index finger and shut the door behind him. Watching as he walked around the front of the car, I saw him approach and open the door next to me. He held out his hand.

  “Such a gentleman.” I said.

  “Always.” he said with a sideways smile as I took his hand. He motioned for me to climb the stairs to the door of the jet. I did, and was met by a youthful, pink lipstick wearing stewardess in a pale blue dress suit.

  She guided me to a plush looking seat in the center of the plane. I sat down, and the Calvin Klein looking man settled into the seat across from me. “My name is Tim, by the way.” he said.

  “Nice to meet you Tim.” I said.

  “What is that around your neck?” He asked, leaning forward in his seat to get a closer look.

  “Just a necklace.” I said, as I reached up and touched it with my fingertips.

  He quickly backed up in his seat, with a panicked look
on his face. “Hold it Elizabeth, make sure he doesn’t take off yet.” He shouted over his shoulder.

  Sitting forward in my seat, I held the necklace in my hand. He bolted out of his chair and backed toward the front of the plane, where the cockpit was.

  “What?” I asked, wondering why he was acting like the plane was about to burst into flames. “Elizabeth!” he shouted again.

  “I’m coming!” shouted back the stewardess, with a mousy voice. She rushed through the door and looked around intently.

  “Please give your necklace to Elizabeth.” he said, looking queasy, leaning back into the wall of the plane.

  “Okay.” I said, unclasping it at the back of my neck and handing it to woman.

  “Just get rid of it!” he said to Elizabeth. “Okay, okay.” she said, opening the front door and throwing it out with a bouncy little toss.

  Swallowing hard, I touched my hand to the empty place where my locket had been. I briefly thought of Peter and felt tears welling up. I shoved it down in my mind, fast, and emptied it. I breathed in slowly.

  “Silver?” he said. “Really? Who the hell would do that to you?”

  “I’m sorry.” I said, shocked by his sudden harshness. “I didn’t know there was anything wrong with it. It was pretty.”

  He eased back down into his seat and smoothed out his suit. He looked up at me with my wet cheeks. “I’m sorry, Emily, if that necklace meant something to you.”

  I looked out the window and into the darkness. “It was nothing.” I said, wiping my cheeks with my sleeve. “It was just a necklace.”

  He appeared thoughtful for a moment with his hand up to his chin and then said “I will get you a new necklace. It will be a diamond necklace. Gold. It would look exquisite on you, I think.”

  Breathing in and out, I looked from the window to his face. His eyes were sincere, as he studied my face and ran his fingers through his tussled brown hair. “You should get some sleep.” he said. He reclined his seat, and I followed suit, finding the button on the side. I closed my eyes, exhausted from the adrenalin and fear.