Scorched Souls (Chosen Book 3)

by Jeff Altabef

  His eyes widen and lock onto mine. “Abominations are exceedingly rare. It is a flaw in genetic makeup. We arrange matches to prevent them from happening.”

  He’s being evasive on purpose, so I press him. “Some must have existed. What happened to them?”

  “When the anomaly is detected they are killed.”

  “You murder them!” My heart races. I can’t believe he’s so calm. They actually murder people because they’re too powerful.

  He just shrugs. “It is a mercy really. They would die on their own by the time they reached puberty, but in that short time they would become too powerful to live. They could cause massive destruction without meaning to. It is the only logical thing to do under the circumstances.”

  I choke down my fear. “Can’t you cure them?”

  He speaks softly. “No, but you are different. You are part human, and I do not know if you are an abomination yet. At this point it is only a possibility—one of many.”

  “So I might not become too powerful and cause massive destruction.”

  He shakes his head. “That will not be the circumstance with you. You could never become that powerful. Your human DNA has limitations.”

  “Great. Go human DNA.” I swish the liquid in the shot glass. “So, what’s this? Will it cure me?”

  He shakes his head. “No, but it is the first step. These liquids will sync our minds. I will understand what is happening to you. Together we will see what can be done.”

  “If anything, right.” I don’t look up at him to know that I’m right. “Is it dangerous?”

  He smiles. “Not for you, but it does involve certain... risks, for me.”

  I glance at him, and he sweeps his fine hair from his eyes.

  My chest tightens. “Why would you help me and risk yourself? Why am I special?”

  His eyes twinkle. “Our destinies are intertwined. I knew it when I saw you through the crystal tablet. You know it also. I am not sure how yet, but I am certain that together we will make quite a ripple through time.”

  I stare back at the glass in my hand. The liquid is the same color as spinach, the consistency the same as water. “You’re not going to be able to read my mind or anything like that after we drink these, are you?”

  “No. Mind reading is an extremely rare talent. We will be connected in thought, but only when we are both receptive to it. Over time I will sense how your body reacts to energy and learn how to train you properly to deal with the life forces around you. My hope is that you will overcome this difficulty with training.”

  He doesn’t know that I can read minds. I reach out to his, but all I sense is white noise. My ability is still limited to humans.

  I bring the liquid close to my face and smell it, trying to assess how dangerous it might be, but it doesn’t smell like anything. I’m not sure what I expected.

  Does poison have a certain smell?

  It could be poison, but if he wanted to kill me, he could have done that by now. I tip the glass to my lips, and he follows.

  I don’t know whether to thank him or curse him. Without him, none of this would be necessary. I wouldn’t be a Chosen. I’d be normal with a happy normal life in front of me, worried about what college to attend. Still, this situation isn’t his doing, and he’s trying to help me. At least I think he’s trying to help me.

  I want to say something witty, but nothing comes to mind, so I simply tip back the glass. The liquid is surprising cold and sweet and I wait for something to happen, but when nothing does, I glance at him.

  He drains his cup, closes his eyes, and squeezes his face tight.

  His body sways, and he falls to the mattress.

  What do I do? Did I just kill him? Should I shake him?

  “Aaric, are you okay?”

  He pops his eyes open and shoots me a cat ate the canary type of grin.

  I swat him on the arm. “Are you serious? You were joking.”

  “I had to lighten the mood. All this gloom and talk of death is a real buzzkill.” His smile broadens and stretches across his entire face.

  “A buzzkill? Who even says that?”

  He looks befuddled. “What, that is not in anymore?”

  I shake my head and can’t help but crack a half smile, which is exactly what he wants—he wanted to distract me, if for only a moment, and he did just that. “So? What’s wrong with me?”

  “Maybe nothing. The synchronization strengthens over time. The more time we spend together, the more I will learn.” He touches his fingertips to his temple. “Right now I am sensing you are hungry.”

  My stomach growls. “Very good guess, Houdini. I haven’t eaten anything since last night.”

  “Good.” He jumps from the platform and offers me his hand. “Come on, let us join the rest of the world. I am sure we will have something suitable in the kitchen.”

  I take his hand and let him pull me to my feet. His skin is soft, as if his fingers are covered in silk, and warm to the touch. After I stand, I pull my hand from his, and hope he doesn’t see the pink color that is surely tinting my cheeks.

  If he does, he doesn’t say anything about it. He leads us out of the mediation chamber, and we stroll toward the staircase. “So what have the Alphians told you about us?”

  What have they told us?

  Stuart didn’t say much about the Deltites besides how they want to take over the universe, and the Alphian who was supposed to train us died before we had a chance to meet him. We know shockingly little about them, but the Fusions did show us a few visions. One sticks out more than the others.

  “The Fusions we took showed us a battle between Deltites and short brutish-looking people with hair covering most of their bodies. It wasn’t a battle, really—it was a massacre. The Deltites carved up the brutish people. They never stood a chance.”

  I stop at the top of the stairs and glare at him. It’s almost impossible for me to believe he could be involved in such an atrocity, but the scene is still vivid, and I can hear the cries in my mind.

  “The Deltites killed everyone,” I say. “Even the children. No one was spared.”

  I’ve clenched my hands into fists and my eyes have turned to daggers, which threaten to skewer him.

  “The massacre on Membus 4.” He nods and sighs. “Did they not show you the rest of the story? The reason behind the massacre?”

  “What reason? Nothing could justify such a slaughter. All those beings cut down.”

  He touches my arm, and for a second I think about shaking him off, but his fingers feel sincere, if such a thing is possible. He speaks quietly and I can see the honesty in his eyes.

  “What happened on Membus 4 could not be prevented. Those creatures were infected with a highly contagious virus. If any were permitted to live, they would have infected the entire planet. Hundreds of thousands would have died a horrible death. The virus ate away their skin, much like leprosy for your people. By killing that tribe we saved the species from extinction.”

  “But there was blood everywhere. If the virus were contagious wouldn’t the Deltites have contracted the illness?”

  “No. That virus had no power over us. We were safe, but unfortunately they were not.”

  My head spins. He’s converted an act of unspeakable cruelty into one of mercy and logic.

  How do I know which version is correct?

  “We are not monsters.” He starts toward the kitchen.

  I’m frozen. Have we been working for the wrong side all this time?

  He waves at me. “You are not going to eat anything in the foyer. Come on.”

  I follow him through the empty house toward a massive commercial-sized kitchen. “Why were you exiled then? What do the Alphians have against you?”

  He frowns. “We have different views of the universe. Deltites believe we have an obligation to create order in other worlds. Alphians want to hide and isolate themselves on their planet and those planets close to them. They fear the unknown. They worry we will discover a mo
re advanced species that will dominate us. They feel no obligation to help others.”

  He stops in front of an island in the kitchen with a gray granite top.

  “Sounds reasonable to me. Aren’t you worried there’s a bigger fish out there that will swallow you up.” I smirk at him. “I mean, here you are on Earth ready to swallow us whole.”

  “We are not here to swallow anything whole. We are here to free you.” His eyes glint dangerously.

  I’ve seen that expression before. Sicheii used to have it when he talked about Mother Earth and the other spirits. It reflects a certainty of conviction, an unshakeable faith in one’s beliefs. It scares me. A faith that strong could justify almost anything. Sicheii ended up killing members of his own order to further his beliefs. Who knows what Aaric is capable of doing in the name of his beliefs?

  “Life started on Alpha,” he says. “No more advanced species can exist.”

  “How do you know?”

  He smiles. “The Creator told us.”

  My Husky appears next to me and winds between my legs.

  “Fascinating.” Aaric squats low to get a better look at the dog, and ruffles the fur on her head. “How long has she been with you?”

  “Just a few days. She seems to show up when she feels like it.”

  He stands, opens a drawer, and before I know what’s happening, he flings a handful of knives at me. I clench my jaw and all five knives freeze in the air and hover.

  The Husky barks.

  “What are you doing?” I can’t believe he fooled me like this. Was this his plan all along? Get me to like him and then kill me by throwing knives at me?

  He winces and squints his eyes as if he had just eaten something cold and it gave him a brain freeze. “I wanted to see how you would react. I needed to catch you by surprise to see how your brain processed the threat. I was not going to let the blades hit you.” He sucks in air and looks pale.

  I let the knives fall to the ground in a clatter. “So what’s wrong then?”

  “Most humans can only use a small fraction of their brains. It holds back their development. You can use much more of yours. Your brain works more like an Alphian brain.”

  “That’s because of the Alphian DNA, right?” I don’t like the look on his face. “Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?”

  “No,” he says. “It is not.”

  Juliet

  I’m holding my breath. The expression on Aaric’s face, equal parts pained and confused, scares me.

  If he doesn’t know what’s going on with me, who will?

  “Is it bad or good that my brain works more like an Alphian brain than a human one?”

  He shrugs one shoulder and his eyes become unreadable glaciers. “Bad and good are subjective terms. They have no meaning in this context. Different from what I expected is all I can say for now. Do not worry, Juliet, we will get to the bottom of this, together.” He turns and the tension visibly melts off of him.

  How can he just let it go like that? I’m freaking out!

  Then again, it’s not his brain that’s possibly overheating.

  “What do you want to eat? “ he asks casually, as if there’s nothing wrong with me. “We have excellent frozen pizzas. I have them flown in from Italy.”

  My appetite has deserted me, but I’ve got to keep up my strength, and pizza sounds as good as anything else. “Sure.”

  He pops a pie that’s covered with meat into the microwave, and a few minutes later we’re both sitting on stools by the island eating a late lunch. It’s a surreal moment. I’m sharing a pizza with the Prime Elector, who is really a super-powerful alien that I’m supposed to kill to save the world, and all l can think about is whether he has friends. It must be lonely to be a Prime Elector.

  I polish off a second slice, which really does taste great. I thought New York City pizza deserved a whole new category of bliss when compared to the fare in Arizona, but now I’ve learned that pizza could soar to higher levels.

  Troy would eat the entire pie. Just thinking about him hurts.

  I swallow the last bite of goodness. “The house seems empty. Where is everyone?”

  “We use a small staff and only a few of my people live here.”

  He finishes his first slice and looks up at me with eyes that sparkle. His eyes always seem to be searching mine.

  I’m not sure what he’s looking for, and I don’t know what he’ll find; heck, I don’t even know what I’m thinking.

  “Do you have any friends?” I feel silly blurting out such a personal question, but the words tumbled out of my mouth before the filter in my head could shoot them down.

  “Friends?” He arches his eyebrows.

  “You know—people to watch a game with, or listen to music with, or see movies with and just hang out.”

  He slides his plate away from him. “I have people that I train with.”

  “That’s not the same thing.”

  He must really be lonely—stuck on a strange planet, surrounded by humans who don’t understand him. I have a ridiculous urge to take him to the movies. Before I say anything and firmly insert my foot in my mouth, he stands, which probably saves me from another embarrassing question.

  “I want to show you something,” he says. “You will find it interesting.”

  We leave the kitchen, climb two sets of stairs, walk through a long hallway with closed doors on both sides, and stop at a heavy steel door. There’s no doorknob or any visible way to open the door.

  He closes his eyes and the door opens, revealing a laboratory with workspaces, sinks, fancy lab equipment, computers, and a fridge with a glass door that contains dozens of small vials.

  A shiver slithers up my back—this lab looks awfully similar to the one in New York City where Gagarin concocted the brainwashing drug.

  The heavy door shuts behind us with a thud, causing me to jump, and I immediately feel foolish. Some Alpha I am, afraid of closing doors.

  Luckily, he doesn’t seem to notice. “This is one of our main labs. We are creating serums here that we use to enhance human beings.”

  I don’t like how that sounds, and a harsh edge cuts through my voice. “Enhance humans? I didn’t know we were defective and needed to be enhanced.”

  He walks toward the fridge, seemingly oblivious to my tone. “Everything can be improved upon. These serums bond with human DNA and enhance humans with some of our qualities. Always in a diluted form, of course, but they experience better health, strength, speed, and mental capabilities. Some even develop a minor form of telekinesis.”

  My stomach twists. “Is this the same stuff that the Alphians injected in me?”

  He shakes his head. “Similar, but not the same. They used a concentrated form that could only be given to infants. Those serums had to be specifically tailored to an identified genetic code. This way the Chosen could have more Alphian traits and powers than those we have injected. A totally misguided idea, dangerous really. A small miscalculation could have a major impact upon whoever was injected.”

  “Like me? Maybe they messed up my calculations and now I’m screwed.”

  “It is possible, but we are far from knowing what is happening to you. Trust me to sort it out.”

  I certainly can’t trust him yet, but he speaks confidently, which makes me feel better. I change the subject. “The fridge contains dozens of vials. Who are you injecting?”

  He opens the door and removes a glass tube. “We find children, before they reach puberty, who are worthy candidates. Then we inject them to enhance their abilities. We are creating a generation of leaders, genetically superior to normal humans.”

  He offers me a vial, and I take it. “Why?”

  “These serums will eradicate most diseases. Humans will have the mental capacity to grasp concepts about space and science they can only guess at now. These leaders will help us establish order where there is only chaos. A new dawn of peace for Earth will take hold. These genetically enhanced humans will help us
lead the way.”

  “How many have you injected?”

  He beams. “We have been doing this for twenty years. Just short of one hundred enhanced humans have reached adulthood. The results are amazing. When we take charge of the planet, we will do it on a grand scale. Humans will be transformed. Think of the possibilities—less sickness and weakness, more strength and intelligence. More logic.”

  Sincerity beams in his face and certainty in his voice. He believes this is good, and maybe he’s right. It will eradicate disease, and create stronger, smarter people. How could that be bad? Yet a small voice in the back of my head has doubts. Should we be monkeying around with our DNA, the very essence of what makes us human? I’ve seen enough horror movies to imagine how terribly wrong a project like this could end up.

  I push the vial toward him. “Why are you showing me this?”

  He returns it to the fridge. “I want you to see the future. I want you to trust me, so you will tell me what is on your mind, whatever secret you are holding back from me that I need to know.”

  My body goes numb and my legs turn rubbery. “What... secret?”

  He grins. “It is obvious you want to tell me something, but you have not figured out how yet.”

  I twist my hair and fidget in place. I’ll have to decide soon whether I can trust him. We might not have much time before the Alphians realize I’ve failed to kill him and blow up the planet in response.

  “I see you are not ready.” He shrugs. “Let me show you to the courtyard. I have some training exercises set up for you.”

  I’m grateful he doesn’t question me further.

  We leave the lab and weave our way around the empty house until we enter a square courtyard surrounded by the four-story stone house. A fountain sits in the center with a cherub taking a pee. Perfectly manicured grass surrounds the fountain, and a few marble benches spread across the rather large area.

  I smile and point to the cherub. “Really?”

  He chuckles. “It came with the house. I could not bear to get rid of him.”

  I make a quick sweep of the courtyard and, on metal table near the fountain, my sword lies. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of the Seeker Slayer. I barely restrain myself from running to the table.