by Bryan Cohen
When Natalie parked her car outside the abandoned factory, she didn't expect to see the lot as full as it was. Three people smiled at her and wished her a good evening as she walked past the other. She returned the gestures with more of a happy grimace than a smile and walked onward. A makeshift sign above the front door pointed out her destination and she willed her legs to move forward. She knew that what could be found beyond that sign was exactly what she needed.
Natalie walked through the door and waited in a line of three. To her left, she saw several classmates laughing together as they built up a true story into fiction. A group of moms to her right were showing either baby or cat pictures to each other on their phones. There was even a group of elderly folks playing checkers in the corner. Natalie was too busy checking out the variety to notice she was the next in line.
"Welcome to Go Home Alien's Treasure Chapter." The perky woman at the table looked proud of every word she'd uttered. "How can I help you, young lady?"
Natalie stood up straight. "I'm Natalie Dorner. I believe you guys are expecting me."
10
Natalie realized she must have been a little early to the GHA meeting, as at least a hundred more members showed up to the abandoned factory after she had. She probably couldn't even call it an abandoned factory anymore – after all, the inside looked more like a posh country club than a dilapidated example of the state's crumbling industrial work. The massive space had been broken down into expansive rooms with white walls and chandeliers. She expected the facility would see more wedding guests than factory workers, going forward.
A crowd of parents with their young children gathered around a video monitor. Natalie adjusted her trial member's badge and walked over. The screen showed two teenagers laughing with an upbeat, excessively happy song playing in the background. Natalie recognized them immediately. A graphic on the screen memorialized the Torellos' deaths and intercut a touched-up photograph with the security footage of Ted throwing one of Nigel's goons through the jukebox.
They're teaching everybody to hate Ted, she thought.
Natalie felt a hand on her back. After suppressing her instinct to punch whoever it was, she turned to find herself face-to-face with Travis Conner.
"I'm in that video, you know." Travis tugged at the bandage on his free hand. "It's being used in every GHA meeting in the U.S. I'm kind of famous."
Natalie wanted to ignore him. She knew exactly how he'd injured that hand, and even though she wasn't speaking to Dhiraj, there was nothing manly about three-on-one odds.
"Fame can be good." Natalie looked away from him and back toward the video, which was starting over from the beginning. "If you're famous for the right reasons."
Travis stood in front of her to block the view. "I've been told I'm supposed to show you around."
"They trust you with that much responsibility?" Natalie let out a chuckle. "You can't even throw a decent right cross."
Travis rubbed his bandage. "You know, I'm surprised you're even here." He placed his hands on Natalie's shoulders. "Using your real name, too. That's bold, seeing as you used to date the 'hero' himself."
Natalie placed Travis' hands back by his sides.
"Trying to be with the new Ted has gotten me stabbed in the back, literally, and double-crossed, figuratively," she said. "I think I'm in the right place."
Travis stuck his lips out a bit as he nodded. "Can I see it?" Travis gestured toward her back.
Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"
Travis grinned. "Scars are cool."
Even though she tended to stay away from jocks, the smile helped Natalie understand why Travis rarely found himself without company. The way his face lit up compelled her to comply.
Natalie obliged, turning around and lifting up her shirt just enough to show the scar.
"Ted did that?" Travis asked.
Natalie pulled her shirt down quickly and glared at her peer.
"You know he didn't," Natalie said. "It was Nigel. The murderer who was working with your two friends, one of whom tried to kill Dhiraj with a rock."
Travis looked around in either direction and led Natalie away to a quiet corner. Natalie was surprised to see such concern on his face.
"Hey, you need to be quiet about that kind of stuff here, OK?" Travis looked convinced that someone would discover them at any moment. "I know about Jason and Phil. I realize Ted was only protecting you and your friends."
It didn't seem to add up for Natalie.
"Then why are you here?"
Travis looked at his watch. "We have a few minutes. Why don't I show you around?"
Natalie considered sticking with the crowd. After all, she didn't know what Travis was capable of. Then again, he didn't want to throw her out for speaking the truth about the Torellos. She figured that was a good sign.
Natalie nodded and Travis opened a door to an unpopulated part of the building.
He showed off the building's various renovations, including a state-of-the-art cafeteria, a conference room and several holding cells. The row of cells caught Natalie's attention. With the musty smell and the dim lighting, she wondered if the hall was one of the few parts of the building that had avoided renovation.
"Why would you need these?" she asked.
"If any of our members go out of bounds, we give them a little time to cool off." Travis tapped a metal door with his good hand. "The gentleman who threw the green paint balloons spent a couple of hours in this one."
When they reached the door they'd first entered, Natalie stopped her tour guide by the arm.
"I appreciate you showing me around, but you haven't told me why you're willing to lie about the Torellos."
The mild smile on Travis' face went away. He let a shallow breath out of his nose.
"Jason and Phil's parents needed something to latch onto." Travis paced away from Natalie and back. "I'd been over their house a hundred times. The movement gave them exactly what they wanted: someone to blame. It's a lot easier to blame Ted than something you can't see."
Natalie watched Travis as he moved back and forth. She wasn't sure what made the sympathy rise up inside, but her once-brash tone faded to sincere.
"I'm sorry they had to deal with that, but why are you here if you know the truth? You know that Ted isn't an alien."
Travis chuckled. When he did, Natalie could see his slightly crooked smile. She found herself kind of liking it.
"I was in kindergarten with Ted. I know he's not an alien. GHA isn't nefarious or evil. It's about pride and safety for people who are afraid of change."
They shared a moment of eye contact before a knock on the door startled the both of them. A scrawny classmate of theirs by the name of Nick poked his head around.
"It's time to meet about Operation Home Front." Nick turned his rat-like face toward Natalie. "What's she doing here?"
Travis walked up to Natalie with a knowing smirk. He took her hand. She felt a pang of nervousness in her stomach. Natalie knew Travis had hurt Dhiraj, but she didn't want him to go away. When he moved his face toward hers, she could have pushed, punched or kicked him so he never tried anything like that again. Instead, she let him. The chance to feel something like she'd felt with Ted was too good to pass up. His lips parted and they shared a deep kiss. Natalie closed her eyes and put her hand around the back of Travis' neck. The way his mouth moved made her feel alive. When he pulled away from her, Natalie kept her hand on his neck.
"She's a special guest." Travis gave her other hand a squeeze. "I've got to meet with some of the higher-ups about an outreach thing. Find you after the meeting?"
Natalie smiled and let a small sigh escape her lips. Travis seemed to enjoy her reaction a lot more than Nick did. The rat-lookalike gave Natalie one last wrinkle of his nose before the two GHA youth leaders exited. Natalie leaned against the wall and tried to dissect what just happened.
He's terrible. Why did I even let him near me?
Natalie wondered if Ted was right t
hat being alone was getting to her. She ignored the thought and walked back into the main area. Chairs had been set up for some kind of presentation, and Natalie found an empty one toward the back. The seats were pointed toward a makeshift stage and a man who seemed to think he was important. When he spoke at the microphone, the tone in his voice was one of vanity and self-congratulation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you have gone above and beyond the call of duty tonight," he said. "Your recent recruiting efforts have gained us more than 200 local members. Give yourselves a round of applause."
To describe the clapping as thunderous would be selling it short. Fanatical might be the better word, with a few hollers thrown in for good measure. The man at the front of the room held up his hand, and the crowd grew silent.
"Since Ted Finley has emerged with powers seemingly plucked straight from the devil, we've lost a local landmark and several jobs in the process." The man moved across the front, as if trying to connect with every row and column of the group before him. "We've also lost two teens who were very near and dear to our hearts."
Natalie wasn't sure if the man had seen much of the last few years at high school, but the closest the Torellos got to most people's hearts was when they were punching them in the chest.
He continued.
"Truth be told, we don't know what Ted can do. We've seen that he can move objects with his mind, turning anything into a weapon. But who knows what else he can do? Can he control people's minds? Turn a safe area into a radioactive wasteland? And if he can do more than meets the eye, how do we know that he's on our side?"
The man stopped his pacing. "Until we know more, Ted Finley needs to go."
The last bit got a rise out of the crowd. Natalie considered how her life in Treasure would change if Ted were gone. She had trouble convincing herself that it wouldn't be much, much simpler.
"I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that with your help, we will get Ted out of Treasure and protect you and your families from the menace that he has wrought."
Natalie joined into this round of applause, which matched the fervor of the first. She wondered what Ted would think if he saw her clapping at a man who wanted to uproot and dispose of him.
She resolved to no longer think of Ted's feelings and sat on the edge of her chair to listen to the rest of the speech.
11
Ted and Erica met up on the east edge of Treasure's Main Street, a strip of restaurants and shops that represented most activities in the quiet suburb. They'd already seen a dozen classmates coming in and out of the coffee shop, the movie theatre and the ice cream parlor. Thankfully, most of them had been willing to leave the resident superhero alone on his date.
After some polite catch-up conversation, it didn't take long for them to get into shop talk.
"You know, I've seen my fair share of mobs." Erica took a bite of the top scoop of her cookies n' cream cone. "A water balloon with paint is just the beginning."
Ted munched on some cookie dough. "So you're saying I should take up the DHS offer?"
Erica took Ted's hand and let their arms sway as they walked. "Since I'm not letting you do that, you need to think of another way."
Ted tried to think of a potential solution, but his mind was clogged with ideas for where on the street they should stop before he popped the prom question.
"Well, what would you do?"
"Me, personally?" Erica licked a bit of ice cream that had escaped her mouth. "I'd torture the leader, but it's probably not the best PR move."
Ted laughed until he started to wonder how many people Erica had tortured during her many lifetimes.
"I'll ask Dhiraj."
When they reached an empty gazebo, Ted let Erica inside. He heard the crickets chirping away at the nearby garden and smelled the clean spring air. It was a perfect location to do what he needed to do.
"Erica, I know that I've been putting this off, but will you–"
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Ted spotted a fire in a building less than a block away. The flames raged through a couple of windows on the third floor of the brick structure. Erica's eyes took the same path as Ted's and noticed the fire as well.
"Holy crap." Erica crunched the remainder of her cone in her mouth. "We better get over there."
Erica leapt into Ted's arms. She felt almost weightless.
"Thanks for the ice cream," she said.
Ted breathed in deep. "You're welcome. We're going to come back to this."
"Sure thing." Erica smiled. "Enough talking. More flying."
I knew I should've asked before ice cream.
Ted planted his feet and concentrated on lifting the two of them off the ground. They took off into the night sky and flew toward the fiery brick building.
12
Jennifer sat on the edge of her bed and leafed through one of her old yearbooks. She'd opened it to the page with 5th-grade Erica LaPlante so many times, the book couldn't help but open to the very same page. She looked at the book as if it were cursed, as if it were there to remind her of the death of her friend. Jennifer looked up at her walls, covered with photographs of the past. She grew angry at herself for going through the same routines over and over again and tossed the book to the other side of the bed.
Jennifer felt cold as her phone buzzed again.
The length of the text gave away the sender. Dhiraj was preparing to give an interview on national TV, his third since Ted had changed into something otherworldly.
"Tell everyone you know who has a Nielsen box to tune in," he said. "You also have to let me know how my hair looks. It was great seeing you the other day. I hope you're feeling better."
The text went on for another three paragraphs, telling Jennifer how prepared he was to debate the leader of the GHA. Jennifer breathed in deeply and shut the phone off. She reached back into the bottom drawer and pulled out a nondescript black binder. Unlike all her other scrapbooks, this one remained without a label.
She opened the book to the first page, which displayed an article from the local paper. The words "Local Teen Goes Missing" topped the story, followed by a picture of Erica smiling with her pompons. Jennifer wondered if she'd read the article over 100 times as she scanned for the part she hated the most.
"We're doing everything we can to find Erica," Deputy Daly had said. "If she's out there, we'll make sure she's back and in her parents' arms in no time."
The quote had always brought Jennifer hope before Erica had returned and the true nature of Deputy Daly had been revealed. Right up through the last time she saw Daly in the caves, she looked up to him and even thought he was sexy.
She pictured herself taking her stun gun and electrocuting her father's former co-worker right there on the rocky terrain.
Jennifer flipped the page past the other news clipping of Erica's disappearance until she got to articles from the past few months. The first one in the latest batch was called "Manhunt for Disgraced Deputy Begins." Jennifer had highlighted passages in pink and written notes in the margins. She flipped through several pages of printed phone interviews she'd conducted under the guise of being a CIA agent. Despite chatting with over a dozen friends and relatives, nobody seemed to have any idea where the murderous deputy had gone. Maybe if Erica's body was still underground, someone would have been more willing to talk.
When her doorknob began to turn, Jennifer felt a wave of panic come over her. She closed the book quickly and tossed it underneath her desk. By the time her father had fully opened the door, she'd already gone back to her pile of pictures in an effort to look completely innocent.
"Hey, honey. Sorry I'm late."
Jennifer hoped she'd wiped away all remnants of her tears. She couldn't handle her father asking what was wrong. Her emotions were held together with duct tape and dental floss as it was.
"That's OK, Dad." She put one picture on top of the other as if they went in some kind of order. "I'll be right down."
She could tell that her father detec
ted something strange; after all, he'd become sheriff for a reason. He appeared to let it slide, nodding and closing the door. Jennifer tossed the pictures into the box and put her black binder back in order. She opened up to a grinning picture of Deputy Daly.
"You may have given up, Dad, but not me." She focused all her pain and rage on the deputy's eyes. "I'm gonna find you, Daly. And when I do, I plan on returning the favor."
13
Erica couldn't help but feel somewhat aroused as she pressed herself against Ted and floated through the night sky. She was in a teenage body and she knew that a combination of hormones and emotional triggers made her want to kiss him deeply even though it would likely cause him to lose concentration, sending them both hurtling to the ground. Erica realized that the mixture of sexual attraction with the adrenaline of moving toward a burning building was making her even more attracted to Ted's hazel eyes, his increasingly muscular body and his winning personality. She didn't mind, either, because this part of the date sure as hell beat ice cream.
As they got closer to the building, she could feel the heat on her skin. The building was four floors high with six windows across. It was built to look like the businesses around it, and if it weren't for the orange flames, Erica wouldn't have given it a passing glance.
Erica looked into Ted's eyes as he attempted to lift one of the windows with his powers. "Having some trouble there?"
Ted glanced back. "This is harder than it looks."
Erica smirked. "Are you trying to say I'm heavy?"
Ted grumbled and dislodged a brick from the side of the building. He shot it forward like a bullet toward one of the windows. The glass shattered, leaving a hole large enough for them to fly in through. They zipped through the opening and landed on the carpeted floor.
"Good job." Erica squinted. "Though you have a bit of a chocolate stain around your lips."
She brought her lips toward his mouth and kissed off the sugar. The two them might have continued to help each other with the remnants of dessert if they hadn't heard a scream from the other room.
