Shifting Fate (The Neturu Chronicles Book 4)

by Sarah Carter

  “Well, you are a good kisser,” Lexi says, her cheeks heating up again.

  “The point is it wasn’t even a real kiss. It was a peck. I didn’t think anything of it. It took a while before I realized how infatuated she was with me. I kind of blew it off, but it lasted years. I mean, I’ve had girlfriends.”

  “Why do you still talk to her?”

  He shrugs. “I’m not going to be mean to her or not be her friend. I am just really careful what I do around her.”

  “This complicates things with us, huh?” Lexi says. “We have to hide it, but she’s going to know something is up.”

  “Oh no, we are hiding it from your family but I refuse to hide it from everyone else.”

  “What if my parents find out?”

  Connor raises an eyebrow. “Do they talk to your classmates often?”

  “No, but my parents are very good at figuring stuff out.”

  “Well, we won’t be blatant about it,” he replies.

  “Deal.”

  There is a loud clap of thunder, and then it starts pouring outside. “That’s stunning,” Connor exhales.

  “I do love storms,” Lexi replies. “It’s like nature cleansing the world.”

  “Let’s walk,” Connor says. He takes her hand and leads her down a path. “This is so beautiful.”

  “It is.”

  Squeezing her hand, Connor asks, “What else is there to know about you?”

  “Umm,” Lexi hums. “I love watching murder mystery shows, like Dateline.”

  “Do you want to be a homicide detective?”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Lexi laughs. “I would have a 100% track record.”

  He stops her. “You can seriously see all of that?”

  “Yup.”

  Connor turns her towards him. “What a great job for you. Imagine all the things you could do. All the wrongs you could make right.”

  Lexi had never really thought of that before. “That’s very true. I always thought I would get into something scientific.”

  “With what you can do, you could do anything. The world is your oyster.”

  “Again, that’s very true.”

  They walk silently down the path. Finally, Connor stops her and spins her towards him. Without a word, he kisses her. It makes Lexi melt. She runs her hands up his arms and to his head. She runs her fingers through his hair. Connor kisses her hard, which makes Lexi pull tight. This seems to push him further. They stand there for a while, in each other’s embrace.

  Lexi.

  “Oh snap,” Lexi says. “Hold on. It’s my dad.”

  “In your head?” Connor replies.

  “Yes.”

  What’s up, Dad?

  Are you coming home soon?

  Yeah, Connor and I got to talking and lost track of time. I will drop him off and then come home.

  What were you talking about?

  Cars, actually. He wants to learn to drive stick.

  That’s good. Everyone should learn to drive stick. All right, come home soon please.

  Okay.

  Lexi looks at Connor. “Time to go home.”

  “I figured as much. We should come back here sometime again. During the day. When everything’s alive.”

  “I wonder...” Lexi exhales. She closes her eyes and concentrates. When her eyes open back up, Connor’s jaw is down. “I did it!” she gasps.

  All the flowers and plants around them have bloomed. “What did you do?”

  “I had never done it before. I used the energy that I use to make people heal, and I used it on the plants. This is too cool.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Connor laughs. He smells a flower. “This is...crazy.”

  Lexi grabs his hand. “We should go, though. I don’t want to make my dad suspicious.”

  “Okay, we definitely have to come back and do this again.”

  “I promise. It will be a date.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Connor laughs. Lexi grabs ahold of him, and they’re gone.

  Chapter 7

  We’re at the park.

  Be right there.

  Lexi looks at herself one last time. She is dressed in all black. Her hair his covered by a winter cap, and her hoodie is pulled up.

  “Let’s do this.”

  A few seconds later, Lexi appears at the park by the school. Lana and Ashe are sitting on the picnic bench.

  “All right, what are we doing?” Ashe exclaims, rubbing his hands together.

  “This dude needs a taste of his own medicine. He raped my new friend when she was thirteen and got away with it.”

  Lana looks at Lexi with her bright blue eyes. “So, revenge.” There are a few loose tendrils of red hair coming out from underneath her hat.

  “Yes, this is the plan. Lana, do your thing. Play with him. I will talk to him through his head and you guys at the same time. Ashe, after we are done, we are going to rewind time. Do it again. Rewind time. Do it again. Until this guy breaks.”

  “Can we do that without causing a distortion in time? Like a massive one?” Ashe gasps.

  “No, because we are going to be constantly rolling back a few seconds. So, really we are just disrupting his time. So, the last time we run through, it will be normal time. He will just remember. Plus, if we really screw it up, we will come back to this point and not do any of it.”

  “Let’s go fuck this boy’s world up!” Lana cheers.

  Lexi grabs Lana’s arms. “Okay, my super empath. Feel his fear and play on it. Play with it as much as possible.”

  “So HAPPY, so scared, so sad, so scared, so frightful, crying, HAPPY, so scared,” Lana exclaims dramatically.

  “Do whatever you want,” Lexi laughs. “Free for all.”

  “He’s my bitch tonight,” Lana draws out, with a sinister grin.

  “Mine, too. Ready to do this?”

  Ashe and Lana nod. “Let’s go,” Ashe says. He sticks his hand out. Lana slaps hers on his, and Lexi puts hers on top. “Do this!” They then disappear.

  They reappear inside of a house. Lexi looks at her friends. He’s in the living room watching TV. They nod. Creeping through the house. They come to the living room. Just watch.

  They see Alan sitting in a dirty blue recliner. Lexi brings her finger up to her lips. She looks back at Alan. The TV channels start to flip. “What in the hell?” Alan grumbles, grabbing the remote. It flips through and lands on a program about sexual assaults. Alan keeps pushing the buttons on the remote. Nothing happens. He grumbles even more and then stands up. He tries to go over and push the buttons on the TV. Nothing happens.

  A reenactment on TV starts. Alan takes a few steps back. The volume on the TV suddenly becomes full blast, as the girl cries. Alan steps forward and tries to turn the TV off. It doesn’t work.

  “What in the hell?” he snaps.

  Alan, Lexi projects. He jerks back and spins around. Everyone is out of sight.

  Alan, we know what you did. You are a sick bastard.

  “Who is that?!” he yells.

  It’s your subconscious. It’s time. It’s revenge. I’m the angel of justice. You have to come clean, Alan. Tell the truth.

  “Fuck you!” he yells again. “Who is this?”

  I’m karma. Watch my power.

  Everything in the room starts to shake. He spins in a circle.

  You must admit to what you’ve done.

  “Admit to what?” Alan scoffs.

  The TV turns up past the max volume. There is a high pitch screeching with the cries of the girl.

  Feel the pain of which you caused.

  Suddenly, Alan is on the floor, writhing in pain.

  It sucks to have no control. It sucks to have no way to stop the pain. You’re out of control. You’re at the mercy of someone else. How does it feel?

  Lexi stops and Alan lays on the floor, curled up into a ball. He’s crying.

  She turns and points to Lana. Only projecting to her and Ashe, Lexi says, Lana do your thing. Fear.
Lots of fear.

  Lana nods and looks at Alan. Suddenly, he scrambles back against the wall and looks terrified. Panicked.

  Do you feel that fear, Alan? So scared. Again, no control. Fear. Fear dripping through every ounce of your body. No. Control.

  He starts to cry harder.

  Now, you feel happy.

  Alan starts to smile.

  Ecstatic.

  Alan starts to laugh.

  Now, you feel sad. Lost. Hopeless. Everything you know is gone.

  He’s back to crying. Crying like a baby.

  It’s a terrible feeling, isn’t it? So lost. So scared. What do you think she felt like? You tore away her innocence. You deserve to pay. Justice will be brought.

  “Please, no,” he whimpers.

  Turning to Ashe, Lexi twirls her finger around. He nods. Suddenly, they are back a few seconds from where they started. Alan sits up in his chair and looks around.

  “Ugh,” he groans. “I must have fallen asleep.” Alan rubs his face.

  Everything starts to shake again. He stands up and spins around. The TV starts to flip channels again and the screams of the girl echo through the house.

  Alan, this will not stop until you turn yourself in. Even then, this will continue to happen until you pay. Fear. So much fear.

  Alan slams against the wall and holds his head.

  No control. At the mercy of something else. Something much more powerful than you. How does that feel? Again, do you feel it through every ounce of your being?

  Lexi turns to Lana and points up. Lana nods and then looks back at Alan. He screams and shakes violently.

  So much fear. So scared. No way to stop it. Do you know what they do to child rapists in jail? Do you know what you have to look forward to?

  “Please, no,” he cries. “Please, make it stop.”

  It will never stop. It will never stop until you tell the truth. Tell it. Tell all your secrets. Pick up the phone.

  “No,” he gasps.

  Lexi shrugs and looks at Ashe. Twirling her finger around, Lexi tells him to turn back time. They repeat this over and over for a total of ten times. Finally, Alan is lying helpless on the floor, crying. Not moving, barely breathing. Just crying.

  Are you broken yet? This can keep going on...forever. Over and over and over again. Time to tell the truth, Alan.

  “What...do...I...do?” Alan exhales.

  Call the police and tell them the truth. Even then, I will come back for you. Wherever you go, I can come back for you. I am the angel of justice.

  Lexi looks back to the recliner. Alan’s cell phone shoots over to him.

  911 is dialed. “911, what is your emergency?”

  Pick up the phone, Alan. Tell them.

  Alan, shakily, picks up the phone. He holds it to his head.

  “Hello? What is your emergency?” the operator asks again.

  “I raped her,” Alan barely says.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’ve been right this whole time,” Alan exhales. “I raped her. I did. Please, make it stop.”

  Lexi nods and looks at her friends. She sticks out her hand. They slap theirs on top of hers and are gone once again.

  The appear in the park.

  “Score!” Lana exclaims, dishing out high fives.

  “Now, we have to see if it actually works and we broke him,” Lexi says. “Or we find him again, and again, and again, and...you get my point.”

  “We are like a superhero league,” Ashe cheers. “Dude, we could make a huge difference.”

  “Connor said something about that tonight,” Lexi replies. “What if we were cops or detectives? We would solve every case. We could make a huge difference.”

  Ashe rubs his chin like he’s thinking. “That’s a very good point.”

  “We could make a huge difference in the world,” Lexi states. “It’s something to think about.”

  “Would your dad really go for it, though? Using powers like that on a daily basis?”

  “Could he really say anything?” Lexi mumbles.

  Raising an eyebrow, Ashe replies, “Pretty sure he is going to rule the world because, let’s be honest, we have a huge influence on the human race. So, he’s going to rule the world.”

  “I know, but I’m the scariest being in the universe,” Lexi says. “I should have some say so in my personal life.”

  “Ooo, rebellious Lexi,” Ashe teases. “I like it. Is it all because you have a secret human boyfriend?”

  “Shut up, Ashe,” Lexi laughs. “That’s not it at all.”

  “It is a little bit,” he snorts. “What is your dad going to do if he finds out?”

  She sighs. “I have no idea. I don’t want to think about it right now.”

  “The daughter of the Merjyet line has a human boyfriend.”

  “But Uncle Mason had a really good point,” Lexi says. “I’m not Neturu. I’m Kenga. I’m not part of any line. I’m an alien to the aliens. Why can’t I date a human?”

  Lana and Ashe just stare at her. Lana finally nods her head.

  “That’s a really good point.”

  “Your dad still won’t go for it,” Ashe says. “I mean, then every Neturu will want to date a human. There has to have been some along the way that’s fallen in love with a human.”

  “Maybe they are already in relationships and we don’t know about it,” Lexi counters. “Maybe it’s not that big of a deal.”

  “Pretty sure the human race finds out about a much scarier alien race living amongst them is a very big deal. You know a massive war would ensue.”

  Lexi rolls her eyes. “Please, I could stop that war in a nanosecond,” she scoffs. “Let alone what the Neturu could do.”

  “That would be us conquering the planet. That’s not what we are about,” Ashe states. “Be serious.”

  “Well, I’m kind of dating Connor, but he thinks I have magical powers, like ooooo, magic. Pretty sure elite alien race is not on his mind. Anyway, I’m Kenga, not Neturu, there’s nothing to find out. I’m not a shapeshifter. I’m a super being.”

  “I feel as though when you say that, you should put your hands on your hips and strike a pose, with a cape waving behind you.”

  She laughs. “That would be freaking sweet!”

  “Don’t be scared, super being is here to save the day!” Ashe yells.

  “We would be her trusty sidekicks,” Lana snorts. “We could wreak havoc on this world.”

  “That we could,” Lexi laughs again.

  Suddenly, there is movement from behind them. Lexi turns around. There doesn’t seem to be anything there. They stand perfectly still.

  “Did you hear something?” Ashe whispers.

  “Yeah,” Lana whispers back.

  Lexi inches towards the trees. Suddenly, she comes face to face with a guy. He is dressed in all black, also. Lexi panics and freezes. He freezes, too.

  “Who are you? What do you want?” Lexi asks, completely terrified.

  “We know,” the guy whispers, and then runs.

  “Know what!?” Lexi yells, panicked.

  Turning to her friends, Lexi says, “Should we go after him?”

  Ashe shrugs. “Couldn’t he have been some crazy person?”

  “He said, they know,” Lexi snaps. “What if they do know?”

  “Why in the world would they contact you, out of the whole Neturu population?” Ashe laughs. “Let’s go to the deadliest and scariest one first. That sounds like the best idea.”

  She feels uneasy and looks where the guy disappeared back into the brush. “I don’t know. Maybe I should tell my dad.”

  “How would you explain being out here at midnight?” Ashe snorts. “There isn’t a good enough explanation why we were out here for no apparent reason.”

  “That’s true,” Lexi sighs. She looks back out into the night. “I just have a bad feeling.”

  “Let’s roll back time and grab the sucker,” Ashe suggests. “That seems like a good idea.”

&n
bsp; “We can’t just keep rolling back time,” Lexi replies. “That’s not a good idea.”

  Ashe throws up his hands. “That’s what we spent the last hour doing. Rolling back time. Over and over again.”

  “It actually wasn’t an hour, it was only a few minutes,” Lana snickers.

  “Right,” Ashe laughs.

  “All right, we should get home,” Lexi says. “Jump both you back, so that no one knows you were missing. I will talk to you guys later.”

  Lana springs over and gives Lexi a big hug. “I love you, girl.”

  “I love you guys, too,” Lexi whispers, returning her death grip hug. Ashe comes over and gives her a hug next. “I will talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Okay, night,” Lana calls out, waving. They disappear. Lexi does that next.

  *****

  The next morning, Lexi pulls up to Connor’s house. He comes to the car with a smile as big as Lexi’s. He gets in but doesn’t say a word. He just grabs Lexi and pulls her forward for a deep kiss. She meets him, and they stay there embracing each other. Finally, Connor pulls away. “We are probably giving the neighbors a show.”

  “Yeah,” Lexi whispers, bashfully. She puts her hair behind her ear. “Are you all set?”

  “I’m all set now,” Connor teases.

  “Oh, shut your mouth,” Lexi laughs.

  They talk a mile a minute all the way to school. Lexi has never felt this relaxed with someone before. He interlocks their fingers and swings their arms, as they walk to the building. They hear, “Hey guys!”

  Both of them turn to see Maddie. “Hey, cuz!” Connor yells.

  Maddie comes bounding over. She looks at their hands and laughs. “You buckled fast.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Lexi laughs.

  “So, you’re going to date anyways. What about your family?”

  “We are keeping it a secret,” Connor replies. “Doing it on the down low.”