by Jana Janeway
“You don’t tell him it’s your fault,” Craddock answered, “‘cause it’s not. And you won’t have to face him alone. I’ll be there.”
“We’ll all be there,” Bibi said. Josiah agreed by nodding along.
“Guys, we’re almost there.” Marcy was back to business, even while conveying her sympathy. “Any sign of that SUV?”
After checking, Craddock faced forward again. “No. I think we lost them back at the parking garage.”
“Good.” Grabbing her cell phone off the seat beside her, she dialed a different number than the one she had called before. “Hey. We’re almost there.—Yeah, she knows.—As well as can be expected.—I think so, but I didn’t ask yet.—Well, I’ve been a little busy trying to save our lives!—Fine, hang on.” She moved the phone down to her lap, asking in Craddock and Jessica’s general direction, “You guys are relocating together, right?”
Before Jessica could, Craddock answered. “Yes, we are. Married.”
“Craddock,” Jessica whispered, “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t ask. I’m volunteering.”
“Why?”
The tears falling to her cheeks, coupled with the look of confusion on her face, made Craddock want to cry himself. “I’ll explain it later.” He brought her head back to his chest. “Don’t worry about that now.”
“Yes,” Marcy said into the phone, taking a sharp left. “Married.—No, we lost them.—Yes, I’m sure.—Of course he is,” she muttered with a sarcastic lilt and a roll of her eyes. “No! Don’t fucking handcuff him! We’re trying to convince him that he’s not a prisoner!—We’re going to be there in, like, five minutes! You can’t humor him until then?”
“Are you talking about Shea?” Jessica asked. Marcy nodded silently. “What is he doing?”
“He’s threatening to kick ass.” She cocked an eyebrow inquisitively when Jessica laughed in response.
“He’s all talk,” Jessica explained her reaction, “and quite the weakling, as fit as he seems.”
Smirking, Marcy said into the phone, “Jessica says he’s all bark and no bite. Just mollycoddle him for a few minutes more.—Oh my God! You’re such a whiner! You’re lucky I love you!—Okay, ya’know what? Just put him on!—Yes, on the phone, you fucktard!—Shea, hi, this is Marcy.—Yes, from Judy’s.—Okay. . .—Okay, okay, calm down! Listen, Jessica is with me, and she’s fine, okay?—Well, sure, I could put her on the phone, but we just turned onto the street, so you can talk to her in person in, like, two minutes.—Shea! Just chill, okay?—Yes, I realize that, but this ‘tude you’re copping isn’t going to change any of that!—Yes, she is seriously fine.—You’ll see for yourself in one minute, alright? Put Jeramey back on the phone.—Hey, I’m just now pulling in. Open the garage door, will’ya?—‘Kay, bye.”
Disconnecting the call, she pulled into the driveway of the house at the end of the block, waiting for only seconds before the large door jerked and ascended, allowing her to pull the van in and out of sight.
“Thank God you’re here!” Jeramey exclaimed as he stood in the doorframe leading into the house. “He won’t shut the fuck up!”
The moment she pulled the sliding door of the vehicle open, Jessica poked her head out and called to the man she just barely knew. “He’ll calm down once he sees that I’m alright. Where is he?”
He hooked his thumb back behind him. “Second door on the left.”
“Could you come with me, Craddock?” Jessica asked as he followed her out of the van. “This is going to be hard enough to explain, and even I don’t understand it all.”
“Sure,” he agreed easily, falling in line behind her as she pushed past Jeramey and headed inside.
“What the hell happened out there?” Jeramey asked Marcy, pulling her into his arms as soon as she was within reach.
“Not sure,” she answered, asking discreetly, “Could someone have tipped them off?”
“They’re looking into the possibility.” He gave an upnod towards Bibi and Josiah as they neared. “God, you and Lilith really are identical twins, aren’t you?”
Nodding, Bibi asked, “So what’s this about a possible tipoff?”
****
Jessica paused, glanced over at Craddock, took a deep breath to settle her nerves, then pushed the door open. Her brother and friend stared back at her in disbelief for a second only before rushing at her and enveloping her in a hug, the strength of which set her off balance.
“God, Jessica,” Shea whispered harshly, “what the hell is going on?!”
Chapter Seventeen
Staring down at his shoes, Craddock waited for the trio to part. The fierce embrace continued on for well over a minute, both Jessica and Stacy crying as Jessica whispered insistently that she was alright.
“They just kept telling us all these crazy stories!” Stacy said when she finally broke away. “And they wouldn’t let us leave!”
“Only because they’re trying to protect you.” Craddock gave an uneasy smile when both she and Shea looked his way with a mixture of confusion and skepticism in their expressions.
“Who is this guy?” Shea demanded of his sister, a hint of a glare directed at the man he didn’t know, who he’d only met briefly in passing before. He eyed him still as Craddock stuffed his hands into his pockets and shifted uncomfortably.
“This is Craddock.” She stepped away from her brother and friend to stand next to him. “He’s been. . . helping me.”
“Helping you, how?” Shea asked incredulously, scowling in response to how cozy they seemed together.
“It’s hard to explain,” Jessica answered, sounding weary and completely exhausted. “I need to start at the beginning.”
“Then start at the beginning.” Folding his arms across his chest, Shea stared back at her, his stance almost denoting a challenge of sorts.
Jessica, rolling her eyes in response, gestured for him and Stacy to take a seat on the bed in the room. Stacy was the only one who obliged, though hesitantly.
“Fine, stand,” Jessica muttered, and then she glanced back at Craddock before clearing her throat nervously. Already knowing before she uttered a word that her brother wouldn’t believe any of it, she readied herself to share the story of how they had gotten to the point they were at.
Fidgeting, unsure of where to begin, she turned to Craddock. “How do I even start?”
“Start with Mengliads,” he whispered back, watching Shea out of his peripheral vision, “then explain the rest.”
Nodding, she cleared her throat again, stalling for time a she tried to find the right words, and then finally, she began. “There are two species of people on the planet, apparently. Humans, and. . . and Mengliads. Mengliads know about Humans, but most Humans don’t even know Mengliads exist. . .”
****
Jeramey sighed, setting a cup of tea down in front of Bibi before joining her, Marcy, and Josiah at the small dining table just off the kitchen. “At least he stopped yelling. I swear to God, I was just about to handcuff him to a chair and stuff a rag in his mouth!”
“That would’ve made the situation worse, and you know it,” Marcy scolded her boyfriend, glaring over at him briefly before tipping her coffee mug to her lips and sipping carefully.
“I said, about to.” Jeramey huffed, dropping his chin to his hand, which was resting on the table. “The guy’s got issues,” he muttered tiredly, forcing a yawn from escaping by clenching his jaw.
“What did you expect?” Marcy asked him quietly. “He leaves his sister in distress, begrudgingly, then gets forcibly taken to some house, by people he doesn’t know, where he’s shut up in a room and told he can’t leave! Did’ja think he was going to be happy about that?”
As Jeramey shrugged, Bibi added casually, “Stacy seemed to have a calming effect on him, back at Jessica’s apartment. You might’ve had better luck getting through to him through her.”
“She was gearing him up!” he countered, lifting his head. “The more she would c
ry, the louder he would yell and threaten!”
“Well,” Marcy sighed, “none of that matters now. Jessica will talk to him, calm him down, then, we can move forward.”
“Is it such a good idea,” Jeramey asked cautiously, “having two Humans know this much about us, and our organization?”
“You’re starting to sound like a Purist,” Marcy half-heartedly accused him, glancing over at him when she heard him scoff dramatically.
“There’s no need to be insulting!” He seemed to take offense; the smirk that followed told otherwise, however, easing the tension that Bibi and Josiah were feeling in the wake of the exchange.
“Sorry,” Marcy apologized to them, when she saw the slight concern in their expressions. “It’s just how we are with each other.”
Forcing a polite smile that dropped near instantly, Bibi then changed the subject. “So, what’s the plan from here? I’m assuming we’re waiting for the new identity packets.”
“Yeah,” Marcy answered, “and the all-clear to move forward. They want to put time between when you escaped and when you head out again. The streets are crawling with Purists, looking for you.”
“What about the possible double agent?” Bibi broached the previously dropped topic, reminding them, “You mentioned a tipoff before.”
With a subtle sideways glance at his girlfriend, Jeramey admitted reluctantly, “There was an agent who was acting odd, right before and after the escape plan was devised. He’s being questioned.”
“How much of all this has he been privy to?” Bibi knew full well what it meant for them if the man in question was a double agent, and had full knowledge of the relocation information.
“Not all, but enough. If they feel he is working for the Purists, it will delay the plans and your departure by at least a day.”
Silence followed, the four seated at the table mulling over that bit of news, until Josiah’s softly spoken question broke it. “Can I talk to my parents, before they leave?”
Happy to have something to do besides wait, Jeramey nodded and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. “Pretty sure that can be arranged.”
****
“You’ve lost your mind!” Shea glanced at Craddock accusingly. “Or you’ve been brainwashed!”
Stacy tried to be a bit more tactful. “Honey, did you maybe. . . hit your head or something?”
“No!” Jessica shot back, frustrated. “I haven’t lost my mind, I haven’t been brainwashed, and I don’t have a concussion! I’m telling you the truth, as hard as it is to believe!”
“Jess, look,” Shea soothed, his hand around her shoulder as he inched her away from Craddock, “I don’t know what game this guy’s playing, or why he’s playing it. . . I know this all seems very real to you, but it’s just not. What you’re suggesting, it isn’t possible! Let’s just get out of here, okay? Go back to your place and—”
“You’re not listening to me, Shea!” Jessica snapped, ducking away from him and stepping up to beside Craddock once again. “These people want me dead! They’ll stop at nothing! And everyone I know is in danger now because of it! We can’t go back home!” Tears blended with her anger, the intensity of her tone, words, and expression causing Stacy to cry harder than before.
Instantly feeling guilty, Jessica walked over to the bed where Stacy was still seated, who quickly stood as she approached. Both women pushed into the other’s arms, clinging desperately to each other.
“I want to believe you,” Stacy whispered, “but it’s just so weird!”
“I know,” Jessica whispered back. “I didn’t believe it either, until—” She startled at her own words, pulling away to look back at Craddock. Noting the questioning stare he gave her in return, she said to him, “Second lens,” then asked, “Do they have those drops?”
Catching on, he answered, “Probably.” He then gestured towards the door. “I’ll go check.”
****
All eyes and attention were on him as he entered off the hallway, his purposeful steps faltering as he approached.
“Do you have any Dolure drops?” he asked, his eyes shifting between Marcy and Jeramey.
“Why?” Marcy asked, her curiosity piqued. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing. . . yet. She wants to try to prove to them that she’s not crazy, and that she’s telling the truth, by showing them her second lens.”
“Brave soul,” Jeramey muttered, somewhat sarcastically. Moving into the kitchen, he reached into the cupboard above and to the left of the stove, searching. “I sure wouldn’t go through that, just to prove a point.”
Craddock nodded in agreement, and then again as a thank you when he was handed the small vial. “Got a heavy duty flashlight?” As Jeramey knelt in front of the sink to retrieve it, he asked over his shoulder towards Bibi, “Wanna help us out on this?”
“Sure.” She replied without hesitation, pushing off her chair, waiting at the mouth of the hallway for Craddock to join her.
“Should be strong enough.” Jeramey slapped the large police-issue flashlight into Craddock’s outstretched hand. He added a quick, “Good luck,” as Craddock, with Bibi tailing, walked away.
The moment Bibi and Craddock entered the room, Stacy whispered, “Lilith,” to which Shea corrected, “Kristy.”
“It’s Bibi, actually,” Jessica said, her nerves on edge as she anticipated what was to come.
“How many names do you go by?” Shea’s opinion of the people his sister was involved with was becoming less favorable by the second.
“More than I’m willing to share.” Bibi answered flippantly, asking Craddock with the very next breath, “What do you want me to do?”
“You man the flashlight,” he suggested, handing it over, “I’ll man the drops.”
“What is this supposed to prove, anyway?” Shea asked, his attention shifting off of Craddock and Bibi and onto Jessica.
“The only noticeable physical difference between Humans and Mengliads is a second lens.” Jessica waved her brother and Stacy over, adding in comparison, “It looks a little like a cat’s second lens.”
“And now that you’re a Mengliad, you have one? A second lens?” Shea’s inflection on the word ‘Mengliad’ showed that he still wasn’t buying into his sister’s story.
“Yes,” Jessica answered with a similar tone, the slight tremble of her hands catching Craddock’s attention.
“Why don’t you just let me do this?” he whispered, chivalrously offering to save her the pain.
She shook her head in answer. “Even if this proves to him that Mengliads exist, he won’t believe I’m one, till he sees it with his own eyes.”
“Is this. . . painful, or something?” Stacy asked, her anxiety prickling as she noticed the fear on Jessica’s face.
Craddock’s gaze shifted from Stacy to Shea, then back again. “Yes,” he answered bluntly, “it’s very painful.”
“Why?” Shea asked challengingly.
“Our eyes are extremely light sensitive, is why,” Bibi explained, “and when faced with sunlight, or any bright lights directly, the second lens activates, shielding our eyes.”
“Ready?” Craddock asked Jessica, as he unscrewed the cap from the small vial and held it at the ready.
When she nodded, Bibi stepped up, pointed the flashlight directly at her eyes, and then closed her own instinctively as she clicked the button. When she heard Jessica cry out and curse, she dropped the flashlight to her side and clicked the button again, turning it off.
Simultaneously, Shea and Stacy gasped, and when Craddock saw the wide-eyed expressions of shock on their faces, he quickly brought the vial of drops up to use. “Tilt your head back, sweetie, so I can put them in.”
“Sweetie?!” Shea screeched, now offended as well as shocked. It was difficult enough to believe that his sister was telling the truth, but now it also seemed as if she had a boyfriend no one knew she had.
Seeing Craddock tense as he applied the drops to Jessica’s eyes, Bibi offered
an explanation. “He uses that term of endearment with everyone he knows and cares about.”
Grateful to her for covering his slipup, Craddock glanced at Bibi discreetly before muttering sarcastically, “Except for guys. Better?” he then asked Jessica, after she groaned in relief. She nodded, burying her face in his chest.
“Now do you believe me?” she called out towards her brother, still leaning against Craddock as her eyes watered.
“I don’t know.” He turned to Stacy, seemingly requesting her thoughts on the matter with an intense, questioning stare.
“I believe her, Shea.” The tentative acceptance of the strange and unsettling reality caused tears to well and fall as she sought comfort in his arms.
“Alright,” Shea conceded reluctantly, “so, Mengliads exist, you were changed into one of them, and now this paranoid group wants you dead. Anything else I should know, before we sit down and decide how to fix this?”
“There is no fixing it,” Bibi said with as much compassion as she could muster under the circumstances. While she understood his frustration, he was steadily pushing her patience to the limit. “A Mengliad cannot convert into a Human, even if they were one before.”
“So then she’s just stuck like this?” Shea bit back.
“It’s not a disease,” Craddock muttered, releasing Jessica from his embrace when she began to pull away.
“I’ve made my peace with it, Shea.” Jessica faced him head on. “There are bigger problems to deal with here. And, yes,” she added, “there’s something else I need to tell you.”
His blood ran cold, even though she gave away nothing in her tone or demeanor. Instinctively, he just knew something was very wrong.
Chapter Eighteen
Guilt and grief soared as Jessica stared back at her brother for several long, strained seconds. As hard as it was going to be to tell him, she knew she couldn’t keep it from him any longer. There was no way she could avoid it. No way she could ask Craddock, or even Bibi, to tell him for her. It had to come from her. For her part in it, she owed him at least that much.
