Redemption

by Dexx Peay

  “It takes work but if you have the right one at your side, no matter if you are human, Xarponian, or a monkey you can work through anything.” He started walking to the door.

  “Quen, can I give you my number? I just want to know when you make it back to DC. Xarponian to Xarponian.”

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  I got some paper out the room and wrote my number on it. I handed it to him and he walked out.

  “Sam, how long once you get that chip over to your friend do you think it will take him to try and do whatever it is he is going to do again?” I asked.

  “Not sure. I’ll stamp it with urgent priority,” Sam said yawning.

  “Thanks. We’re one step closer to saving them guys.”

  I didn’t go back to sleep. I stayed up going over plans and strategies while Hudson and Sam finished homework before their classes started. Monica woke shortly after Quen left. She went to her room to change and get ready for class. Quen sent me a text later that night letting me know he made it home safe, and that his family was safe.

  Sam and Hudson stayed in my room every night the rest of the week. I still had to keep my eye out for them. Delilah didn’t show up to any study sessions throughout the week. I hope that our break-up didn’t stop her from showing up the rest of the semester. I didn’t want her grades to drop; I was still here to help.

  Dylan hadn’t shown his face. Sam did run into Hachi outside of Steinhardt. There were no words, she just passed him like he was another random student on campus. I felt like they were up to something. The week was too quiet. I wondered if they knew one of their slaves had escaped.

  Today Monica, Sam, Hudson and myself were escaping to the Hamptons for the weekend to meet with Mr. Elliot and Julius. We had to pass along the information we gathered and hopefully have a plan this time. We all agreed that we didn’t want to risk having them in the city and being spotted. Didn’t need the taken ones to know we were up to something.

  I walked to Monica’s dorm to get her then headed over to Hudson and Sam’s dorm, but before I got to Monica’s room, I needed to talk to Charlie. I walked up and knocked on the door. Gunner answered.

  “Hey Guys,” I said. Charlie was sitting at the desk.

  “Marcus,” they both greeted.

  “How’s everything been guys? I feel like I never see you all anymore.”

  “Dude you have got to talk to Delilah,” Charlie moaned. “All she does now is linger around me and Stacey.”

  “And where da heck is Dylan these days?” Gunner said.

  “Me and Dylan haven’t been getting along. Some petty stuff. Got mad cause I took his car without asking him one night. Whenever he decides to stop acting so immature, he’ll come around.” I joked.

  I wondered if they saw through the fakeness.

  “What about Delilah?” Charlie cried.

  “Charlie...there’s nothing I can do about Delilah. I texted her when we first broke up that we could still be friends and she still hasn’t responded. I don’t know what to do.”

  Gunner laughed at the tantrum Charlie was throwing. Charlie crossed his arms and poked his lips out. I understood that he wanted time with girlfriend but until Delilah accepted our break-up and moved on, he would have to deal with it. I had to put up with my best friend’s girlfriend and that turned out lovely.

  “Guys I have to get going. I’m going out of town this weekend with some friends so I’ll see you two when I get back. I’ll tell Dylan to call when I see him.”

  Sam and Hudson were in the car all ready to hit the road once Monica and I made it to the parking deck. Julius rented a vacation beach home for the weekend. It was still cold outside so I wasn’t sure what the purpose was. Hudson started snoring the moment Sam hit the highway. Monica tried to get some rest but every time she got comfortable, the lion roared louder. If Hudson was just going to pass out as soon as we got in the car, I should have just rode in the front. I stayed up to talk to Sam and pick his brain while the other two rested.

  “So you really take all this medical stuff pretty serious I see.”

  “I have to. My family is medical driven,” Sam said.

  “Medical, driven?”

  “Yeah. My entire family is in the medical field. There was never any pressure to become a doctor, but I was around it and became intrigued at an early age. While most kids were out playing with action figures and sports, I was playing with doctor kits.”

  “So what is it that your parents do?”

  “You want the parents or the entire family?”

  I chuckled. “I’ll take the entire family background for five-hundred.”

  “My mom is an orthopedic surgeon and my dad is a general practitioner. He has a private practice with two of his friends he graduated med school with. My brother is about to become a pharmacist and I have two sisters. One is studying to be a pediatrician and the other is in dental school.”

  “Wow. Is that it?”

  “I don’t think I left anything out.”

  “I was kidding. How are your siblings?”

  “I love them. I’m the youngest so it gets kind of embarrassing when we are all around.”

  “How is that?”

  “They still treat me like I’m five year old Sam. They call me Sammy and pinch my cheeks even at twenty-one,” he laughed.

  “Is that why Hudson calls you Sammy sometimes?”

  “Yeah. He gets it from my family.”

  “So when you expressed your interest in becoming a doctor, did your parents just teach you everything they knew?”

  “Well, not every single thing. I remember my parents would teach us all how to do sutures on fruit and raw meat. That was their idea of family bonding. Guess it wasn’t too bad since we all wanted to go into the field. Whenever we wanted to learn something, they were there to teach it to us.”

  “Lucky.”

  We pulled up to the house and parked next to a Lexus GS. It was secluded even though I could see the neighbors. There was a long trail of wooden planks embedded into the sand that lead to the sandlot right before it hit the water. We got out the car and walked around the back. It was fenced with a pool filled with the clearest water I’d ever laid eyes on. Hudson gripped the fence, which he towered over and just stared at the water. I wondered if he had a fascination with water like Dylan and I have with ice and fire.

  We walked back to the front and got our bags out of the car. Mr. Elliot and Julius walked out and greeted us. We had to introduce Sam and Monica since they had never met either one before. Hudson and Julius shook hands, but exchanged no words. The tension picked right back up between those two.

  We all walked in, and the house was more elaborate than I could’ve pictured. It wasn’t as big as some of the houses we passed, but it sure was better than the one I grew up in. The house was painted white on the outside with splashes of black for highlight. Inside was the same—fancy white cabinets and rugs with black paint and high-end stainless steel appliances.

  “Four bedrooms and four baths,” Julius said. “The couple and you two. Who gets which room I couldn’t care less.”

  Mr. Elliot smiled, and the four of us walked up the stairs. The first empty room we saw, Monica and I took. Sam and Hudson took the room at the end of the hall. We both put our bags on the queen-sized bed.

  “Sorry about Julius. He’s…Imani’s father. That’s where she gets her attitude from,” I said. “Wait until you meet her.”

  I took her hand and walked back downstairs. Hudson and Sam followed. Julius and Mr. Elliot were in the kitchen talking. They stopped when we walked up. We all took a seat at what could’ve been King Arthur’s round table.

  Mr. Elliot handed everyone with powers a sheet of paper and pen.

  “Let’s get started,” Mr. Elliot said. “Marcus what you got?”

  “Okay. Last weekend a Xarponian attacked me. After I got him weakened and unconscious, I took his body back to my room. We all came to the conclusion that whatever happened to him, ha
ppened to the rest. We searched his body and figured that whoever did this was keeping track of him and the others. We searched for a tracking device and found a chip under his skin at the lower neck. Sam cut his skin and removed the chip. When he woke up, he was back to normal.”

  “Where is this chip at now?” Julius asked.

  “I have my friend looking over it. I had him deactivate the chip without damaging it. He is in the process of reversing the GPS signal to determine a location of where it was transmitted,” Sam chimed in.

  “And who are you again?” Julius questioned.

  “That’s not important at the moment Julius, but he is a huge asset,” I said.

  “So where is the Xarponian now?” Mr. Elliot asked.

  “DC, back with his family,” Hudson said.

  “Why did you let him go!” Julius pounded the table. Sam and Monica flinched.

  “We can’t tell him what to do and besides, he has a family he hasn’t seen in who knows how long,” Hudson argued.

  “Don’t you think they’ll go back looking for him?” Julius argued back.

  “Julius they’re right. They had no control over that, they didn’t even know the guy,” Mr. Elliot interjected to ease the tension and refocus the group.

  “I’ve been coming up with a plan of attack.” I quickly jumped while transition was happening. “We need to find a way to get all them together in one place. I haven’t seen anyone else besides Dylan and Hachi, since they were taken. We need to fight them and weaken them so we can cut the chips out of them just like we did Quen.”

  “How do you suggest we do that?” Mr. Elliot said. “And plus, there is five of them and only four of us.”

  “I was thinking that if we take on one that each of our powers can handle, maybe we could take them down. I can take on Dylan, Hudson can take on Crystal, Julius you can take on Jessica and Mr. Elliot you take Hachi,” I said.

  I drew out the same diagram that I drew at Panchito’s to show them.

  “What about Imani? Like I said, there is only four of us and five of them. We don’t stand a chance,” Mr. Elliot cautioned.

  “I was thinking the same thing at first when I had the idea. Then Quen happened.”

  “You think he will?” Mr. Elliot asked.

  “He doesn’t have a choice,” Julius demanded.

  “I think… that if we present him with a plan and enough evidence that we found out who was behind this, he will,” I reasoned….or at least I tried.

  “Oh I’m telling you guys, he doesn’t have a choice. He’s going to help us like you guys helped him get back to his family. He’s going to help us all get our families back even if I have to fly my ass to DC and drag him back to New York,” Julius continued to fuss.

  Hudson burst out laughing and Monica started to giggle too.

  “Whoa, calm down Julius,” Mr. Elliot said.

  He reached over to the seat next to him and started to pat him on the shoulder.

  “How are we going to get them together, away from people, and near water?” Hudson asked.

  We all sat around trying to think of something.

  “That’s a good question.” I said slightly stumped.

  “What about here?” Julius suggested. “There is some land not too far from here. No houses for miles. Just sand, a little grass and dirt and lots of water for you to play in handsome.”

  “Good. Now how to get them all here,” I said.

  “Dylan,” Sam said. We all looked.

  “How?” Julius asked.

  “Dylan seems to like to fight now. We can provoke him, well, preferably Hudson since he hates you. Send him a message that will somehow get everyone together.”

  “Sam I think you’re right. Dylan would eat that up. We just have to hope that he doesn’t kill Hudson before our plan is put to action,” I said.

  “I think your scar is healing nicely Hudson,” Sam said.

  “Funny,” Hudson said.

  “So that’s the plan guys.” Mr. Elliot said.

  After our meeting, Mr. Elliot, Julius, and Monica went into town to get enough food that would last two grown men, three college boys who could eat for days and a girl with an appetite bigger than her body for the weekend. Sam locked himself away for a little bit in his room to catch up on some homework and study for the MCAT he’s taking in two weeks.

  Hudson and I stretched out on lawn chairs just talking about how much we missed Dylan and Hachi.

  “You know,” he said, looking over at me. “There are some nights I find myself crying to sleep. I worry about Hachi every second while she’s out there. I feel like a part of me is really missing. She has always been at my side and now… she is my best friend and I could never live without her by my side.”

  “I can only imagine what you’re going through. I promise we will find them.”

  “And now my parents are calling me every night, scared that something will happen to me or that I won’t find Hachi. I promised them I would get her back, I don’t need them out here fighting anymore.”

  “How was it growing up around an entire family with powers?”

  “It was a whole easier than you had it. I knew what was going on. There were no secrets in our home. I couldn’t imagine being in your shoes. Adopted then finding all this out and at your age too...” Hudson stared off into the pool.

  “I just don’t want my kids to have to grow up without me. I can’t put them through what I went through.”

  “You know, there’re a lot of Xarponians and Qihar that are adopted, it’s just how it is sometimes.”

  “Yeah I guess you're right. Question Hudson.”

  “Yeah?”

  “When I found out what I could do, I started to have a strange fascination with fire and the summer season. Do you have that with water?”

  “Ha! Yeah, it comes with the powers. I love the water and can’t explain it. I’m just drawn to it. Same with the season, I love the spring when I can get some good ol’ April showers.”

  “Nice.”

  “Hachi and I would always jump in puddles, swim in rivers and lakes. Did I ever tell you how we got our names?”

  “Nah.”

  I turned in his direction and put my feet on the ground. He put his feet on the ground too.

  “My sister and I are Seminole. Our native people are from Florida but my parents moved to New Jersey because of their powers. Hachi and I were born outside. Mom had her best friend who was studying to be a doctor, birth us — Sam’s mother. Hachi and I were born right near the Hudson River. Since we were twins my mom named me Hudson after the river, and my sister Hachi. In the Seminole language Hachi means water and the river is a body of water. Right then, Hudson and Hachi were born.”

  “Wow.”

  They had an amazing story. As far as I knew I was just Marcus from New York City.

  “That was quite a story Hudson. Thank you for sharing.”

  “Not too many people know that. They just think Hachi is a funny Korean name. Kids use to call her Kimchi in class.”

  “Kids use to call me Macchiato in school, because of my skin complexion. Being adopted into a white family didn’t help much either. One day someone said I looked like a caramel macchiato and the kids ran with it.”

  “People are just mean these days.”

  “Hudson, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. That day Hachi and Dylan were taken, you moved the water in the lake when you were in rage.”

  “I know. I don’t know how that happened. I’ve been secretly trying to do it again but I haven’t had any luck. I really am powerless without her.”

  “Let’s go for a flight,” I suggested.

  He agreed.

  I stripped down to my beater and shorts, then he and I walked out the gate and took off into the sky.

  When we got back from our flight, everyone was back. Monica was cooking chicken and steak fajitas. Everyone else was watching basketball in the living room. She called us all to the kitchen to eat when she finished.
We took our plates to the room. She held hers and I held mine. The drinks floated behind us as we left the kitchen until we got to the room and landed on the nightstand. It was great being able to use my powers freely around people who had them, as well as people who understood them.

  We ate our fajitas and talked about everything that had nothing to do with my powers or that side of my life. She asked about my family and I asked about her grades. Once we were done eating, she placed our plates on the nightstand. I reached over and wiped the sauce from the side of her lips with my thumb and licked it.

  I stood up and walked to the door that led to the wraparound balcony. She followed. My arms crossed and rested on the railing.

  She did the same.

  “Let’s go for a swim,” I suggested.

  “It’s freezing Marcus. I’m not getting in that water.”

  “Would you like to go swim?”

  “I would love to but it’s cold and I have no bathing suit.”

  “Put on a pair of shorts and a shirt.”

  She went back into the room, changed, then came outside. I jumped off the balcony, then I looked up.

  “Jump.”

  She didn’t ask any questions; she jumped and floated down into my arms. I put her down and we held hands walking to the front of the house leaving a trail of footprints in the sand until we reached the water.

  “Warm,” she said as we walked into the water.

  We walked until the water reached my chest and I scooped her into my arms. The water started to bubble and she snickered. We spent our night swimming until we got tired, then laid out in the sand for the rest of the night. Once the sun rose, we showered and went to sleep in our bed.

  There were times I wanted it all just to end.

  There were times I wished I never had these powers.