by Jana Janeway
“And that is?” Her words dragged out in a skeptical manner.
As he opened his mouth to explain, Bibi burst through the door, startling them both.
“They’re here.”
Though she had whispered, the panic was clear in her voice, causing Craddock’s heart to begin racing.
“What?” he asked pointlessly. He knew what she was saying.
“They’re here!” she repeated. The emphasis she used tore through his facade like it was the frailest tissue paper.
“Shit!” He grabbed Jessica’s hand, pulling her with him out into the living room.
“We know you’re in there!” the voice on the other side of the door exclaimed. “Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be!”
“What the hell is going on?” Shea demanded to know, his eyes landing on each of the three strangers in turn, impatiently waiting for one of them to answer him.
“There’s no way of explaining that to you now.” Bibi brought her voice down low, encouraging him to do the same. “Jessica, does your balcony have a fire escape?”
Fear choking her voice away, she only nodded in response.
“Okay, Shea,” Bibi said to him, “you and Stacy need to leave, now! Go down the fire escape, and—”
“No way!” he shot at her, louder than anyone in the room was comfortable with. “I’m not leaving Jessica! Whoever these people are, I’ll protect her!”
Bibi shushed him harshly. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with here, okay? They’re not after you! You’re the only ones who can get out of this now, and I’m not dragging anyone else into this!”
“Please, Shea, listen to her,” Jessica begged him, tears falling to her cheeks. “Go. Please. Please.”
Shea darted over to her, gathering her into his arms. “What the hell is going on, Jess?”
“I can’t explain it to you,” she answered, clutching onto him tightly. “I wish I could, but it’s better if you don’t know.”
“If we have to break down the door, we will!” the voice called out again, causing Jessica to jump and Bibi to lose patience.
“There’s no time for this!” Bibi barked, touching Shea’s back to gain his attention. When he spun around to face her, she told him sternly, “If you love her—if you value your life, and Stacy’s life—you’ll do what I’m telling you to do right now. If they break down the door and see you, it’ll be too late!”
“Shea,” Stacy’s voice was filled with the fear and confusion she was feeling, “maybe we should just listen to them.”
Seeing the effect Stacy had on Shea, Bibi changed tactics. “Stacy, go with Shea, down the fire escape. . . get as far away from the building as possible! Don’t look back! Don’t call the police! They can’t help us.”
“Why not?”
Bibi ignored Shea’s question. “When you’re safely away, I need you to track down a Dr. Nicholas Brady. Tell him you’re a friend of Jessica’s. Tell him, they got them. Can you remember that?”
“I think so,” Stacy whispered, repeating back to her, “Dr. Nicholas Brady. Tell him, they got them.”
“Yes.” Strained as it was, Bibi smiled, and then she put her hand at the small of Stacy’s back and started ushering her towards the sliding door that led out onto the balcony.
Seeing this, Shea moved to follow, but reluctantly.
“Go, Shea, please,” Jessica begged him. “I’ll be alright,” she lied, forcing a smile and nodding for emphasis.
He started to move through the doorway to leave, but then he abruptly pulled back and rushed towards his sister once again, bringing her back into a fierce hug. “I don’t know what any of this is, but if I don’t hear from you in a few hours, I’m calling the police.”
“Shea, don’t,” she whispered, but he only kissed the top of her head before moving back towards the door.
“Three hours,” he said. He stared back at her intently to prove his seriousness for several seconds, and then he shifted his weight and darted out onto the balcony, where Stacy was waiting for him.
They watched him climb onto the fire escape and start to descend before finally turning to face each other.
Craddock immediately wrapped his arm around Jessica, who had started to cry heavily. “I need you to listen to me. We’re engaged, okay? You’ve known about Mengliads all your life, and when we fell in love, you decided to convert. You did the BTR yesterday. Don’t mention the mosquito. Don’t mention the muddy conversion. It was all done according to proper practicing standards, at my apartment. You don’t know the cleric’s name. He insisted on remaining anonymous. Okay?”
Nodding weakly, she clung tighter to him as Bibi moved towards the door, the person on the other side still spouting off about letting them in as they knocked almost incessantly.
“Okay, look,” Bibi called out to the person or persons out in the hall; when she did, their racket ceased. “We don’t want any trouble, alright? We’re willing to cooperate, but we need everyone to just. . . remain calm.”
“If you come quietly,” came the response, “then everyone will.”
“There’s no need for violence.” Taking a deep breath, her hand shook as she reached for the deadbolt to unlock it. “We can work this out.”
Chapter Twelve
The tension in the room was palpable. As Bibi worked the locks and chain, everyone held a collective breath, awaiting their fates with a sense of fear and dread.
The moment she opened the door, the first man in grabbed her by the upper arm and directed her to the middle of the room, where Josiah, Craddock, and Jessica stood. He then started barking orders at the other three men and one woman who entered after him.
“Check the rooms. You,” he said to the woman, “check the balcony.”
“There’s no one else here,” Bibi assured him, but he just ignored her.
“All clear,” each of them reported back in turn, the woman adding, “It doesn’t look like anyone used the fire escape, either. And there’s no one milling about nearby.”
The man who was obviously in charge only stared back at the four of them for several moments, before his eyes shifted and landed on Craddock’s bandaged finger.
Snapping his fingers at him, the man gestured to see his hand, and though he was reluctant to, Craddock complied. Ripping off the bandage abruptly, he glared at Craddock, demanding without words to know the story behind the cut.
“A glass broke as I was washing it,” Craddock offered in explanation. The man just scoffed.
“Yeah, right,” he sneered. He grabbed Jessica by the arm and pulled her towards him.
When Jessica released a frightened sob, Craddock took a menacing step towards him in protest, but the man just snapped his fingers and pointed at him, in warning for him to stand down.
Pushing her sleeves up, he inspected her wrists and arms, trying to locate any sign of a cut. Upon finding none, he pushed her back towards Craddock with an exasperated sigh.
Craddock moved to gather her back into his arms, but the man snapped his fingers again, startling them both. “Separate!” he ordered, to which Bibi quickly spoke up on their behalf.
“She’s scared! What does it matter if he comforts her?”
Ignoring her, the man asked Jessica, “When did you convert?” His tone was almost civil in comparison to the one he had previously been using.
Bibi started to answer for her, but he snapped his fingers and held his hand up to her to stop her. “I was asking her.” He turned his attention back to Jessica. “When?”
“Yesterday,” Jessica answered, her voice barely audible due to fear.
“Why?” The angry quality to his voice and stare caused Jessica to cry harder.
“I wanted to be the same species as my husband,” she eventually choked out. “We’re engaged.”
Risking the probable negative reaction, Craddock stepped over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight to him as he glared back at the man interrogating her. “We wanted to lessen
the chance of our children being born Human.”
He used a tone of distaste as he said the word ‘Human’, attempting to gain confidence with them. It seemed to work, at least in part. The man raised his eyebrow in response.
“If you dislike Humans so much, why marry one?”
Answering indirectly, Craddock shot back with feigned respect, “It’s not her fault the BTR wasn’t done as a newborn! She would’ve been Mengliad this entire time, if it had been!”
The man shifted his eyes back onto Jessica. “Where did you learn about Mengliads? From him?” He pointed at Craddock.
“She’s known about us her whole life,” Bibi answered for her. “Her maternal grandmother was Mengliad, as is her aunt.”
“Maybe we should just take them back to headquarters,” one of the other men suggested, “and sort it all out there.”
He muttered, “Fine,” like he was in agreement, though he didn’t sound like he was. Fishing his keys out of his pocket, he jingled them to gain the woman’s attention. Once he had it, he tossed them over. “Cheryl, pull the car around. You guys are in charge of these two,” he said to his men, as he pointed to Bibi and Josiah, then he glared over at Craddock. “I got the two lovebirds.”
****
Their headquarters was little more than an abandoned warehouse, the room they were locked in a former office of some kind, devoid of furniture, save a ratty couch that barely fit two people.
The small window by the door allowed them to see out into the larger room just beyond it, but only partially. As Craddock and Jessica sat on the couch, her in his arms, Bibi and Josiah sat on the floor, in such a way so that they could watch the goings on as various people walked by and carried on conversations they couldn’t hear.
“I’ve never been so scared in my entire life,” Jessica whimpered into Craddock’s chest, clinging to him in a desperate attempt to find assurances and comfort. Her tears wetted his shirt as she moved on from sobbing near hysterically to crying indistinctly.
“I know.” Though he was bordering on terrified himself, he fought to keep from showing it for her benefit. “But I need to you to listen to me, okay? They might split us up, when they question us, and we need to get our story straight.”
She nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. “I’m so sorry. If I had just stayed. . . If I hadn’t gone back to my apartment. . .”
“Dwelling on that won’t help us now,” he told her firmly, his arms tightening around her. “I need you to hear me right now, Jessica. If we’re going to have even the slightest shot at getting out of this, we need to have our story straight.”
“I’m listening.” She sniffled, pushing the thoughts of how she was likely going to die aside, struggling to focus on what he was about to say.
“We met at Java Village. I was in the neighborhood, you go there to get coffee all the time, since you live right across the street. One year ago. We’ve been engaged for three months. People who are in love, and are about to get married, they know stuff about each other. My mom’s name is Lisa. She’s a movie critic. I don’t talk about my dad. You don’t know why. I am an only child. What are your parents’ names?”
“Zack and Jill.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I’m never going to remember all that.”
“Try. Is your brother your only sibling?”
“Yes.”
“Shea, right? Older?”
“Yes.”
“What was your nonny’s name?”
“Juliana.”
“She’s the one who told you about Mengliads, okay? Since she’s passed away, they can’t very well drag her in here and ask her.”
“And whatever you do,” Bibi interjected, “don’t panic and cave! They’re going to try to fluster you! Don’t let them. If they ask you a question, and you’re unsure how to answer, start crying, and tell them you want to be back with Craddock. Tell them you’re feeling weak and need to eat. Anything to buy more time. But don’t cave!”
Craddock nodded, agreeing with what Bibi had said. “If the story starts to unravel, we’re sunk.”
“How does you being my fiancé help us?” Jessica asked curiously. “Is this the option you were referring to?”
“Yes,” he answered. “One of their big issues with later conversion is, they’re paranoid that former Humans will offer themselves up to scientists and such, as proof of our existence.”
“If they believe that you’re just looking to get married and settle down,” Bibi added, “they’ll chill a little.”
“A very little,” Josiah muttered, shifting anxiously.
“But it’s our best bet,” Bibi said to him, glancing back at Jessica before her eyes dropped to the floor. “Really, the best we can hope for here is to not be killed.”
“Meaning?” Jessica pulled away from Craddock’s embrace just enough to look over at Bibi.
When Bibi said nothing in response, Craddock spoke up. “Even if they don’t kill us, they could still make life a living hell for us.”
“How?”
Josiah answered, with an edge to his tone that bordered on anger. “They’ll watch you constantly.”
“If they think you’re getting too close or friendly with Humans,” Bibi cut in, “they’ll harass you, and pull you back in for questioning.”
“And changing identities won’t help.” Josiah slipped back into the conversation. “Once they know who you are, they’ll follow you! Keep track of any new identity you change up to.”
“And if they decide you’re more trouble than you’re worth,” Bibi became gravely serious, “they’ll kill you, just to save themselves the headache.”
“And if I’m married, my husband as well.” Jessica concluded.
Bibi glanced at Craddock momentarily before returning her attention out the small window. “Yes.”
“Which is why everyone is stressed about Craddock helping me,” Jessica mused, almost to herself.
“That’s not the only sacrifice that has us concerned.” Josiah received a stern look from Craddock in warning.
“That’s enough of all that for right now.” Craddock pulled Jessica tighter to him, as much for seeking comfort as offering it, then, testing her, he asked in a whisper, “What’s my mom’s name?”
“Lisa,” she answered, accepting the subject change easily.
“What’s my dad’s name?” The trick question was meant to see how quickly, if at all, she would fluster.
“I don’t know. You won’t talk to me about your dad. Why is that, by the way?” she asked, noting when she did that Bibi and Josiah both tensed. Their eyes and attention quickly shifted between her and Craddock.
“It’s not something I’m comfortable talking about.” He pitched his tone just so, indirectly requesting she drop it.
She acceded, except to ask, “If we get out of this, will you tell me?”
After deliberating for a moment, he nodded. “Yes. If we get out of this, I’ll tell you.”
The emphasis on the word ‘if’ hit Jessica like a breath stealing punch to the stomach, and a little whimper escaped as she pressed herself harder against him, clutching onto him as she began, once again, to sob.
“They’re coming.” Bibi pushed off the floor when Josiah did; they all watched as a man—someone they had yet to have dealings with—entered the room.
“LC!” The man’s eyes were fixed on Jessica. “Come with me. We have some questions for you.”
Swiping at her tears, she looked up at the man, confused. “LC?”
“Late Convert,” Craddock whispered, encouraging her to stand with him, his arm still around her.
“I don’t want to do this,” Jessica cried. “I just want to go home.”
“Can I at least go with her?” Craddock asked the man, almost pleading with him. “She’s scared!”
“No,” he moved to grab Jessica by the arm, “and I don’t care.”
As he started to drag her towards the door, panic rushed through her, and in a desperate attempt for some sem
blance of control over her fate, she yanked herself out of his grasp and bolted back into Craddock’s arms.
“I don’t want to die!” she wailed.
Craddock held her tightly to him, turning with her so that the man by the door couldn’t see his face. “Keep your answers simple,” he whispered in her ear. “Fewest details possible.”
“It will not bode well for you, if you don’t cooperate.” The man tapped his foot impatiently on the floor as he glared at them.
“Go, Jessica, okay?” Craddock urged her, not wanting to upset the irate man further, trying to protect her from whatever might happen should he became more agitated than he already seemed to be. “And try not to make waves.”
“Best to listen to your fiancé, LC!”
Jessica scowled into Craddock’s chest, as the fear she was feeling mixed with anger. Breathing deeply to settle herself, she turned and faced the man who had been assigned the task of escorting her to her possible death. “My name is Jessica.”
“I don’t care,” he said in a similar tone of voice, then he grabbed her arm again and led her out the door.
****
They were relentless in their interrogation of her, every question asked at least twice, challenging every answer she gave. Exhaustion quickly set in, bringing her to tears more than once, not that they seemed to care. If anything, it just seemed to irritate them more, spurring on angrier tones.
“When did your grandmother start talking to you about us?”
Sighing, she dropped her face into her hands, speaking into them. “I told you, I don’t remember! Five or six years old, maybe. As far back as I can remember! Please,” she let her hands fall into her lap, “just take me back to Craddock. I’ve answered all your questions!” she snapped. “You obviously don’t have any new ones for me! If you’re gonna kill me anyway, why does it even matter?”
“Who told you we were going to kill you?”
Realizing she had just opened up a new line of questions, she groaned. “I know all about your movement! What you guys do! It’s not like you’re secretive about it! Please,” new tears formed, falling to her cheeks, “just take me back to Craddock now. I’d like to spend as much time with him as possible, before I die.”
