Redemption

by Dexx Peay

  I coughed.

  Hudson was knelt over me with his hand to my face. Water was floating from the lake onto my face. His face was bloody and one eye was in a battle itself to stay open.

  “What happened to you Hudson?” I asked.

  My face turned right to avoid any more water getting up my nose.

  “He did it,” Julius whispered.

  He walked over to Hudson. They both helped me up and people were passed out all around us.

  “What happened?” I asked. I rubbed my head.

  “Welcome back,” Hudson said. He hugged me. It hurt.

  “Did I hurt you?” I asked.

  “Dad!” Imani’s voice called out.

  She came rushing from the trees and crashed into Julius’s chest. His large arms held her and they both shed tears. Mr. Elliot came walking out from behind us. Crystal had her arm around his shoulder with her other hand holding her stomach. Quentin flew down from the sky. Hachi walked up next with her hand pressed to her stomach. Hudson turned and smiled when he saw her.

  The guys on the ground started to grunt and wiggle. They slowly started to get up and our reunion came to a pause.

  “What’s going on?” Hudson said.

  “They were under control just like us,” I said.

  “Look at their arms guys,” Crystal said.

  They didn’t have any markings on them. They got up and glared us.

  “Xarponians!” one of them said; all making their way to their feet.

  “Kill them!” another said.

  “Jessica,” I nodded to her floating above us. “Get out of here.”

  She nodded and took off into the sky out of sight.

  “Why did you let her go Dylan?” Hudson cried.

  “She’s was being controlled the whole time, she never wanted to really hurt us, well, sort of, but that’s tomorrow's problem,” I said.

  The eight of us formed a circle, all-facing outwards. They outnumbered us. There were more than three times as many Qihar than we could handle. Malcolm did this as a backup in the event this would happen.

  “What do we do?” Crystal panicked.

  “We fight!” Julius roared.

  A bolt of lightning came out the sky and right towards the center of our circle. Everyone flinched. I threw my hands in the air. The lightning stopped but continued to try and forced its way to us.

  “Some. Body… DO SOMETHING!” I screamed.

  Mr. Elliot’s eyes turned white. He looked into the sky and swirls of wind raced.

  “Hold on,” he said.

  A tornado landed right in the space that separated our circle and theirs. It moved in a circle and threw dirt and debris at both parties. The lightning stopped and the tornado lost control and threw everybody everywhere.

  I got up.

  Crystal was to my right. I helped her up.

  “Dylan!” She flung me behind her and shot of bolt of lighting at one coming towards us.

  The sky lit and sparks flew.

  The girl rushed Crystal and grabbed her by the neck. She took her other hand and pulled her head back with a handful of hair in her hand. I rushed her but was tossed back before I got to her with fireballs hurling at me as my spine cracked against the body of a tree.

  I was crippled from the fight I had already gotten into with Hudson. I deflected the fireballs and with one wave of my hand, he was out of sight. I waved them again, and Crystal and her sparring partner separated. She shot a bolt of lighting at her and ended the fight, then came running back to me.

  “Dylan are you okay?” She huffed and puffed.

  “Ahh,” I hissed as she touched me.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  She grabbed me and put my arm across her shoulders.

  “It’s alright. We need to find the others.”

  She started to limp through the trail. The woods were getting destroyed as we all fought for survival.

  “The building, we need to get in there,” I said.

  She shifted her destination to the building. She shot down every Qihar that we passed. I used my telekinesis as backup so I wouldn’t have to move my body. We got to the fence that had been torn down. We walked to the door but was knocked down when a gust of wind attacked us.

  It was a massacre.

  This was what the war was going to look like times a hundred when the Qihar decide to band together and try and take over the planet. A man dressed like me landed and walked up to me. I backed into the dirt. I was too weak to use anymore of my abilities. I threw my hands in front of me and nothing happened.

  He smirked.

  “Come on, come on,” I said.

  I threw my hands again and still nothing. He drew his foot back and I hurled when his steel-toe boot slammed into my stomach. He reached down and picked me up with one hand by my collar and I spit in his face.

  It was all I could do.

  He lowered his arm and uppercut me in the jaw. I fell back to the ground. It became hard to breath and I couldn’t stop gasping for air, coughing at the same time. I needed Crystal to get up and save me. I rolled over with the last of my strength. He hovered over me. He picked up his leg and placed it over my face and with full force, he rushed me. I closed my eyes expecting to see the afterlife when I opened them.

  To my delight, Quentin was wrestling with him in the dirt.

  I couldn’t move.

  “Hudson!” Quentin yelled.

  Hudson came running over. He woke up Crystal and ran to me next.

  “I got you buddy.” Hudson bent over and scooped me into his arms.

  Water left the lake and formed a ball—floating next to us as he walked. He walked into the building and down the hall. I directed him to the central control room. The room was dark with flashing red lights. The floor was covered with bodies. A gun clocked and pointed at us when we walked in.

  “Don’t shoot.” Hudson flinched. I whimpered.

  “Dylan?” Marcus said.

  “And Hudson,” Hudson chimed in.

  “Dad!” I cried.

  Dad and Marcus walked over. Dad held his arms out and Hudson transferred my body to my dads.

  “I can’t believe you’re finally back,” Marcus cried.

  It was good to see my little brother. I was proud of him.

  “We need to get out of here ASAP,” Hudson said.

  We all started walking out the same way we got in. When we got outside, things had gotten worst. Helicopters were now circling the sky. A spotlight hit us and a voice came over a loudspeaker telling us not to move. I couldn’t. The others came running towards us.

  “I got this,” Mr. Elliot said.

  “I’ll help Dad,” Crystal added.

  Together they created a storm that camouflaged the scene for us. Julius came over and grabbed me from my dad. We took off into the sky. Marcus started flying behind us and my dad was trailing him. Hudson took Sam and everyone followed Julius back to the hotel.

  The reunion was amazing. The downside was preparing to explain to my dad about me being Xarponian and knowing that I’m adopted. Even more scary, was telling Marcus and both our families that he was my brother.

  Everyone was paired with their loved ones. We were all banged up and various blood types stained the carpet and covered the sink in the bathroom. Julius placed me on the bed and Sam went to work cleaning my body in search of all the wounds.

  “Dylan,” Dad whispered.

  He knelt at the bedside and took my hand.

  “I’m sorry Dad,” I cried.

  “Don’t be sorry son.”

  “I should’ve told you.”

  “I just need you to get better and we can talk later.”

  I nodded.

  I didn’t want him to find out about this life, especially not like this. He got up and walked off.

  “Dad,” I said. He turned around. “I knew you shouldn’t have trusted Tracy.”

  He grinned.

  “You’re going to be up and running in no time Dylan,”
Sam said.

  “Thanks Sam.”

  I was on bed rest when I got back to NYU. My torso was wrapped. My thigh was wrapped. My face had ice packs glued to them and I chewed on painkillers every four hours. I had an amazing best friend who took great care of all my needs.

  “Marc, the door,” I yelled from my room. He answered and Gunner walked in.

  “That must have been one bad car accident Dylan,” he said.

  “I’m just happy to be alive.”

  He took the chair from the desk, slid it across the floor and took a seat.

  “This was a rough semester for ya.”

  “It was the worst. I apologize for having so much going on. I’m just ready for the summer and for things to get back to normal.”

  “We need to get you healed. Your face is not so pretty anymore.”

  “I just need to sleep it off.”

  “Well you let me know if you need anything partner.”

  I thanked him as he walked out.

  “You know you’re going to have a ton of visitors, right?” Marcus stood in the doorway.

  “I can imagine.”

  He walked over and took a seat.

  “I had to do a semesters worth of lying to cover up what was going on with you.”

  “Thanks for not giving up on us Marc. I can only imagine how stressful this semester has been for you.”

  He exhaled. “This has been one for the books. Monica and I are back together.”

  I tried to move. I winced trying to reposition myself.

  “Oh? What else has been going on?”

  “Dad was… a mess. Your whole fraternity was ready to jump me for answers. You really better call them. You were scary,” he said.

  “I was scary?” I laughed.

  “Yeah, very. Hudson and Sam basically moved into our living room for protection from you. For some reason you hated Hudson.”

  “Yeah well, Hudson whooped my ass, and what’s up with my hair?”

  “As soon as they took you, you got a new hairdo.”

  My hands ran through my hair that was shaved down on the sides.

  “This can’t be life right now.”

  “Calm down Dylan, it’s just hair.”

  “How do you think our parents are going to react once we tell them?”

  He leaned forward in his chair. “Why did you lie about your dad?”

  “I’m sorry Marc,” I said.

  Was this the perfect time to tell him?

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “Who are you Dylan?” He demanded.

  My eyes started to water. I turned my head to the side. I couldn’t look at him.

  “Dylan.” He started to shake my body.

  “The journals,” I sniffled. “Where are they? Go get them.”

  He left my room and came back with them. He started to go through them and I nodded to the right one.

  “This one?”

  “Turn to the last written page and read it.”

  He flipped through the pages until he got to the last passage. His lips spoke silently as he read the passage to himself. The remainder of the journals hit the floor as he stood to his feet. The chair slid across the floor. His shoulders shuddered up and down as he exhaled short choppy breaths. Giant teardrops fell to both sides of my face as he cried. His hands fell to his side and his body collapsed to the floor.

  He took my hand.

  “Brother,” I said.

  He nodded.

  We both cried. His grip tightened.

  “How is this even possible?”

  I shrugged.

  “I have a big brother,” Marcus cried.

  “I’m a Ferrari,” I laughed.

  He joined.

  Finals were tough. I couldn’t remember anything from the semester. I had to wing it, in hopes I at least got a grade that passed me. I finally made time to go visit some of my fraternity brothers. They told me if I pulled another stunt like this, I would be kicked out.

  I couldn’t believe I missed my first semester as a Kappa. It only made me more aware of what was out there and what was to come with being Xarponian.

  The semester was finally over. Marc and I were headed home. I haven’t had the chance to talk with Imani, so she was bringing a box of pizza over to the room. The car was packed and the room was clean. Marcus was with Hudson and Hachi until I was ready to go.

  “Food.” My mouth watered. She smiled.

  “Very funny.” She rammed the box into the stomach. I hunched over and grabbed it. She walked in.

  She was still feisty.

  “You know you have to help me eat right?” I said.

  “You only have one arm in a sling, not two. You’ll be fine.”

  She took a seat on the couch.

  I put the box on the counter.

  “Imani stop playin’.”

  She got up and grabbed a paper towel and put a slice on it. She handed me the paper towel and made her one.

  I took a seat on the sofa.

  “You know you have one scary father?”

  She laughed with a bite in her mouth. “Daddy is a teddy bear. You just have to learn how to deal with him.”

  “Well he was ready to fire a bolt of lightning through my head when he found out about us.”

  “I’m sorry about last year Dylan.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for.”

  “I don’t remember how they got me. I was home getting ready to come to Poughkeepsie and when I woke up, I was in DC.”

  “I barely remember anything either. I don’t want to go through anything like that again.”

  “How’s your healing process?”

  “I’m making it. I’m a soldier.”

  “After being controlled for a year and forced to be soldier for the government, I would take it easy on that word.”

  I finished my slice and made her get up and feed me another.

  “So where does this leave us?” I asked.

  She choked. “What?”

  “What are you and me doing?”

  “Dylan, let’s be honest. I’ve been somebody else for the past year and you haven’t been yourself the past five months. We’re not ready to jump back into a relationship.”

  “I agree.”

  “How about we take the summer to get to know each other again and see if we still like each other?”

  “Cool. But you got to come to Poughkeepsie cause I’m not going anywhere near your father.”

  We finished the box of pizza. I called Marcus when Imani left and we headed out. I let him drive home. I’d already told Dad to gather both families at Mom’s house so we could have the talk soon as we got there.

  Marcus pulled into the driveway that had a spot reserved for us. Dad came out and greeted us. He grabbed my bags and walked me to the door.

  “Dylan!” Mom gasped.

  “Hi Mom,” I smiled.

  “Oh my God, Dylan! What happened to you?” She rushed me and wrapped her arms around my body.

  “Mom, Mom, I got it, just have a seat.”

  I didn’t mention to her the “car accident” I’d been in.

  “Give the boy some space would you Chris,” Dad growled.

  “Thanks Dad,” I said.

  I dropped my things off in the room.

  Both our families sat at the dining room table along with out little brothers. Mrs. Peterson had Katie sitting on her lap.

  “Hey guys,” Marcus said.

  We stood in front of the table.

  “What’s going on boys?” Mrs. Peterson asked.

  “This has to be something serious,” Mom said.

  I looked at Dad and he nodded.

  He still didn’t know the whole story. Marcus looked at me telling me to go ahead and get started.

  I went right for the jugular.

  “I know I was adopted,” I said.

  The Petersons snapped around at Mom and Dad. My mom choked, almost falling out of her seat. Dad took her hand and Mom took his. M
arcus and I removed our jackets that covered our tattoos.

  “You boys went and got matching tattoos?” Mr. Peterson asked.

  “Dylan is adopted?” Mrs. Peterson said still in shock.

  Mom started crying.

  “I know I was adopted because Marc and I aren’t like you guys. We’re descendants of an ancient alien race of people from the planet Xarpore. We are Xarponians. These tattoos are how we’re identified. If you guys were my real parents, at least one of you would be marked and not that cheap imitation one Dad got in college,” I said.

  Dalton and Elias busted out laughing.

  “You guys have gone off the deep end,” Elias said.

  Marcus held his hand in front of him. His eyes turned orange and his palm ignited.

  Dalton gulped.

  Our parents gasped.

  “We’ve known for about two years now that we are not from this world,” Marcus said.

  I hovered my hand above the flame and ice shot from my hand to his until the flame went out.

  “Oh...dear,” Mom said. Dad rubbed her shoulder.

  “I’m not mad at you guys for not telling me. It helped protect us in the long run.”

  “I can’t believe this.” Mr. Peterson eyes enlarged.

  “That was so cool…” Dalton said.

  I smiled.

  “I hope you guys aren’t freaked out too much,” Marcus said.

  “We always knew you guys were special but this is…” Mrs. Peterson said. “Unbelievable.”