Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy

by P. Anastasia

  Kareena and Judas popped out behind me. She moved out of the way just as Alice, Brian, and Solus came through.

  The portal collapsed into itself and vanished, leaving us all in pitch darkness.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  With a click, the lights came on. Alice had flicked on a switch beside me.

  “We’re in Jane—Alice’s mom’s—basement,” Brian announced, looking around. “I lived with her for a little while after my mom overdosed. Well, her mom actually had legal custody of me at the time.”

  “Nice,” I said quietly. “At least someone cared enough about you to go through all of that.”

  “It wasn’t a nice time for me, regardless.” Brian walked over to the dresser beside the bed and picked up the digital clock. “This thing right?”

  “Time zone difference, remember?” I reminded.

  “Oh. I forgot about that. Do you think she’s even home yet?”

  “I can go up and check,” Alice replied. “I just don’t want to give my mom a heart attack. It’s been a while, you know? I’m sure she’s not expecting us all to just pop out of the basement like nothing happened.”

  “And with our kid,” Brian added.

  “Yeah.” She tangled her hands together. “What do I do?”

  “Let’s go upstairs and see if she’s home.”

  “Hey, wait!” I said, blocking Brian from walking past. “What if Judas and Solus are in the other realm while you’re talking to your mom and introducing us? That way, you can explain to her about him before she has to actually see him and the translator. Wouldn’t that be better? Or… easier, at least, for her to take in?”

  “That’s a good idea.” Brian bent down to look Solus in the eye. “Can you do that for us, Solus? Can you stay in the other realm while the rest of us talk to Alice’s mom? We’ll tell her about you and then you can say hello. Okay?”

  Solus tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. He nodded and walked toward the blurry white shape that was Judas. He lifted his hand and parted his fingers. Streaks of blue and green light swirled through his skin, up his wrist, and toward his fingertips. Then he faded into a transparent white shadow.

  Alice walked by and started up the carpeted staircase on the other side of the room. “I’ll come back for you in a bit.”

  Brian jogged after her and followed her up the steps. The basement door opened with a soft click; they waited at the top of the stairs, and then ventured into the house. I heard their footsteps on the basement ceiling as they walked across the room. I glanced at Kareena. Her eyes were firmly set on Solus and the Savior.

  Lucy squeezed my hand. “How long do we have to wait here?” she whispered.

  “Not too long, I hope.” I brushed a hand over her hair. “Let’s just try to be patient, okay?”

  “Okay…” she mumbled.

  I heard heavier footsteps overhead pounding swiftly across from one end of the room to the other and then going silent.

  “I bet that’s her,” I murmured.

  We waited about fifteen minutes before I got antsy and needed to check things out myself. “I want to go up and make sure everything is alright. They’ve been quiet for awhile.”

  “Hurry up,” Kareena said, crossing her arms. “I don’t want to be left alone with this guy for too long. I don’t know if I can do much if he decides to try anything.”

  “I’ll just be a sec. Lucy, stay behind me.” We crept up the stairs and I stopped every few steps to listen for movement. I heard voices. Brian. Alice. Another muffled female voice.

  It had to be Alice’s mother.

  I turned to Lucy and brought my index finger to my lips. “Shh.” She pretended to zip her lips closed with her hand. I turned back toward the door at the top of the stairs, turned the knob slowly, and pushed open the door a crack. The voices became clearer.

  “Brian?” I called quietly. “Alice?”

  The rumble of footsteps across hardwood floor had me pulling the door closed again.

  “It’s okay, David,” Brian said, opening the door. “You guys can come up now. I was just about to get you.”

  “Thanks.”

  He held open the door and I guided Lucy out with me.

  “Kareena!” Brian shouted through the doorway. “Bring the others up with you.”

  “Others?” I heard the female voice repeat in the room just around the corner.

  Lucy broke free of my grasp and darted back down the basement steps.

  “Lucy!”

  “It’s alright!” Kareena shouted back. “She was waiting on Solus. I’m coming up now.”

  “Come with me,” I heard Lucy squeal excitedly. “We’re going to meet Alice’s mommy.”

  Lucy came out of the basement with her hand curled as if she were grasping something. Or someone. The subtle, faded outline beside her was Solus, holding her hand like a ghost. It was a little unnerving.

  Brian directed us into the next room—a dining room—where Alice’s mother stood waiting.

  “Jane, this is David and Lucy,” Alice said. “And, of course, Kareena.”

  The poor woman wasn’t all that old, maybe a handful of years older than me, but she looked like she’d been through hell. Her brunette hair was a tousled mess tucked back behind her ears and the dark shadows beneath her eyes made her look restless and worn.

  She approached and looked me over. “Is this the other one?” she asked. There was a judgmental air to the way she analyzed me. “Isn’t he… the one who hurt you, Brian?”

  “Yes,” Brian confirmed. “But it was only because he was protecting his daughter.” He gestured at Lucy, who was standing between Kareena and me, her hand still cupping the phantom, Solus.

  “She’s adorable,” Jane said, bending down to smile at Lucy. “Nice to meet you, Lucy.”

  Lucy looked up at me with widened eyes and pointed at her pressed lips with her free hand.

  “What’s she doing?” Jane cocked her head.

  “You can talk now,” I said, laughing.

  Lucy “unzipped” her mouth. “Nice to meet you, too,” she replied with a big, warm grin. “This is—”

  “Wait!” I cut her off as she started to point at Solus. “Not yet, Lucy.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Mom.” Alice fidgeted. “There’s something we need to tell you.”

  Jane’s smile faded and a look of worry wrinkled her brow.

  “You remember how the Saviors let what was going to be our baby die?”

  Jane gasped and covered her mouth.

  “Well, it turns out there were actually two. Twins. One boy and one girl.”

  I heard Jane’s breath quiver as a muffled whimper escaped her mouth.

  “And the boy survived. Somehow. But since he was with them, he grew up faster and… Oh, Mom. I don’t know how to tell you this, but—”

  “Is he here!?” Jane blurted through her cupped hands.

  “Yes,” Brian said. He turned toward Lucy. “Solus, show yourself, please.”

  Lucy shifted eagerly and flexed her hand.

  Solus materialized and dropped his glowing fingers to his side.

  “Oh my God!” Jane stumbled back. “You have a son!” She propped herself against the dining table. I pulled out a chair for her and prompted her to take a seat. “How long have you known?”

  Judas remained invisible, and I hoped he’d stay so a while longer. Jane could collapse from shock if she had to face everything in one blow. It was too much.

  “Not very long,” Alice replied. “Only a few days.”

  “And he can turn himself invisible!?” She hunched over in the chair and cupped her hands over her face again. “Oh my God. How? Why? Why didn’t they tell you about him sooner? And how did you even get here? How did he—”

  “There are other aliens out there, Jane,” Brian said. “They rescued Solus from the Saviors and brought him back to us so we could protect him. He�
��s the key to whatever it is that’s killing people. That Ghost Plague everyone’s talking about.”

  Jane’s eyes darted toward Alice and then away with a horribly sharp, shuddering gasp.

  “Mom!?” Alice dashed to her and knelt beside her chair, pressing her hands onto her mother’s knees. “Mom!? What’s wrong!? What happened?”

  Jane shook her head and muffled the word “no.”

  “No, what, Mom? What happened?”

  “Jane, please,” Brian added. “You don’t have to be afraid of Solus, he’s ours. He really is—”

  “That’s not it!” Jane cried, bringing her face up. Tears ravaged her cheeks and her skin flushed red. “It’s not that, it’s… it’s Sam.”

  “Mom?” Alice yelped. “What do you mean? What happened to her? Mom! Tell me.” She grabbed Jane’s hands. “Please!”

  “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m… so sorry…”

  “Mom!” Alice shrieked. “No! Don’t tell me Sam… No!” Alice moaned beneath her breath and her mother reached down to hug her tightly.

  Brian stood there in shock.

  I didn’t know who Sam was, but she must have meant a lot to Alice and her mother. I glanced at Kareena, uncomfortable myself because I didn’t know what to say.

  Kareena frowned. “I’m sorry, Alice,” she said. “I’m really sorry.”

  Chapter 18

  “We’re too late!?” Brian sneered, clenching his teeth. “Shit! We can’t be too late! Too late to save… Sam?” He brought both hands up to rub his face and let out a loud, frustrated grumble. “Damn it! Why did this all happen so quickly?”

  I looked away and tried to come up with something to say, but the truth was, I didn’t know shit about Alice or her friend. She was just lucky she didn’t have to watch her die—that she wasn’t there when it happened.

  I’ve seen people die. A horrifying chill creeps through your blood stream, taunting you with the inescapable truth about your own frail mortality. It’s not something you forget. Ever.

  But there’s a weird quirk about being told about someone’s death and not actually seeing it happen. There’s an emptiness in you that believes they’re still here. You don’t see them go and you want nothing more than to believe in the possibility that they never really passed away to begin with.

  “Who’s Sam?” Lucy asked, tugging on the hem of my shirt. “Daddy?”

  “Shh,” I whispered. “She was Alice’s friend. I’m sure she’ll tell you more about her later on, but right now, she needs us to be quiet.”

  “When, Mom?” Alice asked. “Did she say anything about me? What happened?”

  “A few weeks after you two left, actually,” Jane replied, her voice trembling. “Her parents said she didn’t even act like she was sick. They didn’t know anything was wrong with her until she went to school one day and…” Jane heaved a breath. “And… it happened in the middle of class. The school closed for the rest of the day. Doctors couldn’t figure out what it was, but they’re blaming it on that thing that’s going around. Whatever it is.”

  “So this is our fault?” Brian muttered. “We did this? We killed Sam?”

  Alice lifted her face from her mother’s lap. “No. We didn’t do this.” She narrowed her eyes and scanned the room. “They did!”

  She staggered to her feet, seething. “Where are you?” she roared, a vile expression creasing her brow. “Damn it! Where are you!?” She lunged past me, pressed a hand to the wall, and started dragging her fingers across as she walked the length of the room. “Coward!”

  “Alice!” Jane stood.

  “Come out of hiding!” Alice waved her arms around the empty space between us. “Judas! Show yourself!” she hissed. “This is your fault!” Alice wrapped her fingers around the back of a dining chair and hurled it across the room. A leg cracked off and the decorative back split open. I shielded Lucy from wood shards that spit toward us.

  “Calm down, Alice!” Brian grabbed her from behind and tried to pull her arms in close to her body to restrain her. “Alice! Calm down! Please! There’s nothing we can do!”

  “He’s here! He’s the one who did this to her! He killed my best friend!” Alice screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked her feet like a wild animal, thrashing and pushing to try to get out of Brian’s arms. He held on tightly.

  “Alice! Stop! Damn it!” Brian grunted and fought to keep her arms down as he backed away from the table. “Please!”

  “I… He…” She wheezed. “This is all their fault. Brian… you know that, don’t you?” Her voice broke. “Brian?” She gasped for breath.

  “I know!” Brian strained to reply as he held her back from the furniture. “Alice, it is their fault.”

  She quit flailing and collapsed into his arms. Brian stumbled back and adjusted his grasp on her to help her catch her balance. Then he turned her around and put his hands on her face, cupping her cheeks.

  “Alice, it’s too late. We can’t change things now. We can’t change what’s already happened.”

  “But… that thing. He…” She searched the room with weary eyes.

  “I know. But we can’t change that now. We have Solus to take care of and I can’t have you breaking down on me.” He brushed his hand through her hair and lifted her chin with his fingers. “Alice, we’ll get through this, somehow. Please calm down. I feel like shit, too, but taking it out on Judas isn’t going to change things.”

  “Judas?” Jane repeated. “Who’s—”

  I lifted a flattened hand toward her and she paused.

  Solus inched his way over to his mother and stared up at her. When she didn’t acknowledge him, he tapped her on her leg. She looked down at him and sighed.

  “What is it, Solus?” she said weakly.

  Solus gestured for her to come down to his level. When she did, he stretched both arms out to the sides and closed them as tightly as he could around her.

  She let out a painful cry and burst into tears. Solus rested his head against her as she wept.

  Her heavy sobbing made my stomach twist into an anxious mess. Every shuddering inhalation made my heart ache. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve any of this.

  Maybe if we had all said no to begin with and I hadn’t forced her and the others to play their parts... Maybe then—

  “I-I think I should go see my family, too,” Kareena said. “Just in case something happened to them.”

  Brian turned. “It’s probably not the best idea, you know? With everything going on and, well, you were already arrested once. What if someone finds you and you end up getting arrested again?”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “And not to mention, who the hell is going to watch Judas? You and I are the only ones who can and I’m not doing it on my own.”

  “Well, then, come with me!” Kareena groaned. “Please!? I really, really want to check on my parents. I mean, if Sam died, how do I know my parents are safe? What if something happened to them, too? Or… what if it reaches them soon and I never even said goodbye? Guys, please.”

  Shit. There she goes again. Feeling things.

  Brian wasn’t budging and Alice was a blubbering mess on the floor with Solus. Judas stood in the far corner of the room, still only a faded halo of light, and Kareena was about to start crying her eyes out, begging us to let her see her family.

  I didn’t think it was a good idea, but if I had been given the chance to see my dad before he died, even if it meant going to jail because of it, I’d have taken that risk in a heartbeat. Because living the rest of your life having never said goodbye to someone you love is worse than jail any day. And I would know. I’ve lived through both.

  “I’ll go with her.”

  Everyone’s eyes were on me.

  “Y-you will?” Gratitude curled Kareena’s lips. “Thank you, David. Thank you so much.”

  Alice wiped her arm across her eyes and sniffled. “Be careful.”

  “I will,” Kareena
replied. “Jane. Do you have a cell we can borrow? In case something comes up?”

  “Oh, sure.” Jane cleared her throat and stumbled off into the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a cell phone in hand and passed it to Kareena. “Call if anything happens, please. It’s the home number in the address book.”

  “Will do. We’ll be fine. Just a quick visit.”

  “Judas, Lucy.” I turned. “You’re coming with us.”

  Lucy jogged over to me and I began to follow Kareena toward the front door.

  “Lucy!” a tiny, unfamiliar voice cried.

  I jerked my head around and a breath caught in my throat.

  Solus ran toward us, flailing.

  “Lucy!” he repeated, eyes wide and a glint of fear on his face.

  My heart dropped like a stone. The one word Solus finally spoke was my daughter’s name.

  He thought I was about to take her away from him…

  Chapter 19

  Dusk closed in. We had to get moving. After some firm convincing, I agreed it would be okay to leave Lucy with Alice and Brian. Solus didn’t want to see her go and it hurt to hear him call out to her in his tiny, underdeveloped voice.

  Kareena’s parents lived a few streets down. Having not even introduced him to Jane, we brought Judas along. We decided it was for the best. Seeing how Alice had almost attacked him, we didn’t need Jane losing it, too.

  We kept to ourselves for most of the walk, trying to avoid attention, but then we turned a corner and Kareena stopped abruptly. I tripped into her and nearly fell.

  “Hey!” I composed myself. “What is it?”

  She was staring off at someone’s lawn across the street.

  “That’s my goddamn car!”

  “What?”

  “Oh my freaking God! They sold my car! What the hell!?”

  “Kareena, keep your voice down!” The tiny, sickeningly wealthy-looking suburb looked like the type that would call 911 any time some kid fell off a bike. I didn’t like the look of the neighborhood at all. Nice, maybe, but not my kind of subdivision. Extravagant two- and three-story brick houses all around. Tiny mansions a guy like me couldn’t afford in a million damn years. And here, privileged Kareena was yelling at a red sports car parked in someone’s driveway.