by N. Phillips
“Your biggest problem? Tell me.”
“Okay. I first noticed it back when I performed at the night club. I messed up big time, but the crowd didn’t care. They keep cheering, Ali. They kept freakin’ cheering.”
He gave me a stern stare, and my mouth began to drop because I knew where this story was going. “Oh my God. You don’t mean…”
“It happened again when the CEO of Skull Knight Records and a couple of executives wanted me to do a private audition before I signed the contract today. I froze up, I don’t why. It was nerve-racking. But despite me screwing up, they clapped like it was the best damn performance they’ve ever seen. What’s happening to me is scary, Aliyah. This is not the way I wanted to be famous.”
I latched onto his shirt and leaned my head against his chest. “I can’t believe this is happening to you. I feel like the worst girlfriend ever thinking you were hiding something about Robyn from me.”
He leaned his head down and kissed my forehead. “It’s cool, babe. I just don’t know what’s real or fake anymore. Do you think there’s a way to turn this power off? I don’t want fake applauses and rewards if I don’t deserve them. I wanna earn it.”
“I don’t know how to reverse it, Lucas. I’m sorry. Your power seems to be like mine, it isn’t generated from a sinful aspiration. My light isn’t going to get rid of it, but I promise you I’ll find a way to stop all of this and get our lives back to normal.”
His arms wrapped around me tight and his chin pressed against my forehead. We held each other in silence for about a minute or two before he spoke.
“Ali, there’s one more thing. I… Cassandra, she...”
A gut-wrenching pain shot in my stomach. “You remember, don’t you? I don’t understand. No one ever remembers after I...” My words diminished as I dropped my face into my hands. “That’s right. I wasn’t able to use the light against Cassandra.”
“I couldn’t do anything,” he admitted. “I had to watch the whole thing. I fought against the thoughts of her in my mind, but I couldn’t move my body. I didn’t want it to happen. I know it seems impossible to imagine, but—”
I watched him struggle to blink back the tears that dripped down his cheek. “You don’t have to say anything else,” I told him. “You were sexually assaulted and something like that can happen to anyone. I want you to know that it doesn’t matter to me. I know I’ve been quick to judge you and assume the worst, but I love you, Lucas. I believe you. You don’t have to feel guilty. Not with me.”
He slammed his fist on the bench and cried, releasing his rage and sorrow as I held him close.
“What’s happening to my life? I just wanted to make great music
and be successful. I never asked to be taken advantage of by a woman I didn’t know. Why couldn’t I stop her? Me being a man, you think this is going to fly with the public once everyone finds out? I’ll be a joke. Our relationship will be a joke. I’m pathetic for letting this happen.”
I stood in front of him and gripped the sides of his face with both my hands. “Listen to me: you’re not pathetic. You’re the guy I’ve always wanted, and you don’t have to feel like a victim.”
“But, I do. I’m weak. Useless. What if Cassandra gets reckless and starts telling people what she did to me?”
“She can’t. Cassandra’s dead, Lucas.”
The bug-eyed expression on his face was something not even I had seen before. It was the definition of bewildered. “H-how? Ali, did you kill her?”
“No, and don’t worry about it. Just know that what happened won’t live with you for the rest of your life unless you let it. I’ll be by your side, and I won’t judge you.”
The sudden ring of his cell phone broke us out of the moment. He answered it as I stepped away and waited for the call to end.
“That was the label. I need to get back and do a little recording. Is that alright?”
“Yeah, okay. I understand.”
My body pressed against his as I showed my affection with a lip-lock, hoping to relieve him of his sorrows. He needed to know that I’d be there with him through it all, no matter the issue.
“Tell everyone inside I’m sorry. I’ll call you later when I have time. I love you.”
He got in his car and drove into the distance. With nothing more that could be done for now, I re-entered Tyler’s house to face my own problems.
CHAPTER 22
Walking up the stairs to Tyler’s bedroom, I saw Maylene standing outside of the door.
“What’s up?” I asked. “Everything okay in there?”
“For now. But we need to talk.” She stepped into another room and closed the door behind me after I entered. “We need to discuss your friend. If everything she said is true, then it’s only a matter of time before Alvin and his chipmunks are busting down the door. You have to hide her away or something.”
“I know. But Tyler, he’s—”
The room door shot open and in came Tyler, who gave Maylene a cold stare before turning to me. “Aliyah, can you tell your friend to leave?”
Maylene snickered before whispering in my ear, “Your buddy’s delusional. Get that chick out of here before he ends up getting killed.”
She gave him an eye roll and walked out the room. Val stepped in and stood by Tyler’s side just as Maylene left the house.
“Aliyah,” Tyler addressed me, “we’re cool, but I don’t wanna hear nothing else about Valeria being in trouble. I got her. She’s good. You don’t need to worry about her.”
“He’s right,” Val chimed in and assured me, holding onto his arm. “I’m pretty sure I lost the people chasing after me. By the time I made it to the city, I didn’t even need to look over my shoulder anymore because I was certain they were gone.”
Their words made me hunch my shoulders with a lopsided smile. “I guess. Fine,” I said, knowing damn well things weren’t fine. At all.
Though I was nervous of something bad happening, the current moment was beginning to sink in. My best friend was back, and Tyler was happy again, just like I wanted and remembered.
And remembering is exactly what we did after going back in Tyler’s room. For hours, we reminisced about the most outrageous moments of our high school lives, recalling even the smallest of events that triggered multiple conversations. It wasn’t until Val left out to use the bathroom that reality set back in and hit me like a truck. I had a daunting task to complete: convince Tyler that Valeria being here isn’t safe, no matter how difficult it may be.
“I haven’t seen you this happy in a while,” I said to him, causing the smile on his face to grow wider.
“She means everything to me, Aliyah.”
“I know she does, which is why we need to talk about something. There are people after her, and I don’t think they’ll stop searching until they have her back. We can’t keep avoiding the topic.”
“They’re not taking her away from me. I’ll protect her.”
Yup, this wasn’t going to be easy. I braced myself with a self-motivating monologue in my head before opening my mouth to speak the truth.
“Okay, say you could protect her from them; how are you going to protect her from the world? To everyone else, Ty, she’s dead. What are you gonna say to your parents when they come home and see her alive? How is she going to live a normal life hiding inside your room? Yes, a demon convinced her to commit suicide, but she was already depressed. We both know that. So what makes you think she’ll be any happier this time? She can’t even go back to school or have a future because the world won’t let her. They’ll take her and experiment on her like some alien species.”
His face contorted with anger, and his teeth grinded in rage. “You think any of that matters? She was only depressed because of the life she had to live. None of that applies anymore. Her abusive foster parents are dead, and the bullies at school have no idea she’s alive. Trust me when I say that no one is putting a finger on her; you hear me? No one. I’ll defend her from anyone who tries
.”
“You can’t protect her from everything, though. You two are my best friends, and I’m only saying all this because I care about you. This is a dangerous situation. If you can’t see that, you’re delusional.”
Valeria entered the room and saw the tense stare down between us. “Um, is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Aliyah was just leaving.”
His dismissal stung like a bee and left me dawdling out the room. Something inside me wanted to fight more, to keep trying to reason with him, but the slamming sound of his door closing shut down any chance of that happening.
Exiting the house, things only got worse, and what I feared the most was becoming true. Alvin was here; wearing a black turtleneck and walking toward me with a smug look on his face.
“Hello, Aliyah.”
Multiple black vans surrounded the home. I took a few steps back and watched a group of SWAT officers jump out the vehicles one by one. Their heavy armor clanked as they rushed past me and into the house, but their presence was miniscule compared to the colossal sized demon that manifested by Alvin’s side.
“I must thank you for your assistance in finding Miss Vasquez,” he said, the cocky expression on his face showing more. “Don’t worry; your friend will be brought back to the lab where she belongs.”
I turned around at the sound of tussling and shouts coming from inside the house before looking back at Alvin. “Why are you doing this? She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Quite the contrary; she’s done everything wrong. Because of her boyfriend’s desire, she has risen from the dead. That kind of power should belong to no human. No, that kind of power should only belong to a god.”
My attention was swayed once more after hearing the officers tugging Valeria out of the house. Tyler was hauled out next, with a lump already growing on his forehead and blood dripping out of his mouth.
“I was a fool,” Alvin continued, stroking Val’s cheek with his finger after the officers dragged her over to him. Her face scrunched up in disgust. “While I did intend on finding a cure for all Dreamers, I realized how preposterous that notion was. I would be disrupting human evolution. The Mentifery Virus isn’t a curse, but a blessing bestowed on humanity from God himself.”
“What the hell are you saying? Do you hear yourself? You’re being influenced by the monster beside you. It’s changing the way you think, Alvin. You have to believe me. Please, stop this.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Anyone who interferes in the recreation of the new world must be apprehended. A world in which I will be its ruler.”
An aura of light generated in my hand until a chakram was formed. “Then I’ll just have to make you stop.”
I positioned my feet on the ground in preparation of throwing my weapon, but the swinging of my arm was halted after an armed officer pointed his rifle at me. Other members of the SWAT team followed his lead and raised their guns as well.
“What’s wrong with all of you?” I yelled out. “This man is insane. You should be arresting him, not restraining us.”
“They won’t listen to you. They’re under my control.”
His statement made me recall the words of Agent Grant, who had informed me of his ability.
“Mind control. That’s your desire.”
“Not mine. That aspiration belongs to someone else.”
My brows knitted in confusion. “What do you mean, someone else?”
“Well, you see, Aliyah, in order to become the superior being of the new world, I require ultimate power. That is why I desire the ability of every Dreamer who is brought into the laboratory. From the simple-minded hope for super strength and ultrasonic speed, to the devious manipulation of law enforcement and the government. I possess it all.”
My body shook, puzzled by his revelation. “Y-you’re a monster. Those people have their abilities for personal reasons, and you’re using their emotions to fulfill your own selfish aspirations.”
“That may be true, but others would do the same if they were in my shoes. Face it, young lady, selfishness is a part of human nature. The evolution of mankind has begun, and I will reign supreme with ultimate power and knowledge at my disposal. My place in this world as a god will finally be assured, starting with this girl and that boy.”
He pointed to Tyler, who was being detained on his knees by an officer. One wrong move on my part would be the death of me, so the only option was to let him carry on with his ridiculous narcissism and pray for an opening to strike.
“In this new world,” he began, “imagination and willpower are actual weapons. Those who do not possess them will be the first to die. And speaking of death, the concept does not apply to Miss Vasquez here. Allow me to demonstrate.”
He removed a pistol from an officer’s holster and aimed it at Valeria. Both Tyler and I screamed in fear of what would happen next, but it was him who broke free from his detainer and charged at Alvin.
“You’re not killing her,” he howled in a rage of fury, thrusting his arm with all his might. His fist failed to connect due to Alvin catching it in his palm without budging an inch.
“Ah, children. You never listen. If you did, you’d remember when I told you I possess super-human strength.”
Alvin grabbed Tyler’s arm and snapped it behind his back, causing him to wail in agony before he was flung to the ground with ease. In a rapid motion, he pointed the gun back at Valeria and shot her in the chest two times. My lungs refused to release the despair I wanted to holler. The terror turned me to stone, and I could do nothing but watch her body fall on the concrete.
Maybe it was the look of dread and hopelessness on Tyler’s face, but after standing in silence for what felt like eternity, something in my body and mind freed me from my frozen state. A surge of energy pumped through my veins and into my hand, generating a chakram that was larger and brighter than usual.
Screaming, I hurled my weapon at the demon beside Alvin, not caring if the officers pulled the trigger. But somehow, someway, the creature was unaffected by the ring of light. My chakram disintegrated into small fragments on impact, which appeared to have amused the demon as its mouth opened in a smiling gesture.
This monster was unlike anything I had ever faced before.
“Are you done?” Alvin questioned, laughing under his breath.
“Your attempt at being a hero was pointless and unnecessary. Observe.”
My mind couldn’t process what my eyes were seeing and my ears were hearing. Like a zombie rising from the dead, Valeria’s body began to move as she groaned and lifted herself off the ground. An officer grabbed her before she was able to fully regain her composure.
“Now do you see?” Alvin asked. “The boy’s desire to keep her alive has made her immortal. She cannot die, and thus, she will be my ultimate weapon in the inevitable war on earth.”
“This isn’t right,” I cried out, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. “I don’t care what you say, she’s just a normal girl. Why was she in your lab to begin with?”
“Because she was a test subject. I suspected she was a Dreamer due to your involvement with her on the roof of Ravenvale High School. Had you minded your own business that day, her death would have been documented as another teenager who foolishly committed suicide. Though Obsidian chose a selected few who had died with the virus to be subjects in finding a cure, I never would have expected the virus to be active after death. But then I remembered that Valeria’s resurrection was not due to her own power, but the boy’s undying love for her. He is the source of her ability.”
His words must’ve triggered Tyler, as he sprung back into action and bolted toward Alvin again. Only this time, he was stopped by three officers who pointed their rifles at him.
“Tyler, no,” both Val and I yelled.
He stopped in his tracks, salivating in rage. Alvin approached him with an unpleasant smile. “You’re too weak,” he said with a cold glare. “While I admire your tenacity, your only use is to keep Miss Vasquez
alive. You may love her, but you lack the power to protect and keep her. And thus, she belongs to me now.”
The officers began pulling Tyler and Valeria into a van, causing me to react by rushing toward them. But in the blink of an eye, Alvin zipped in front of me and grabbed my wrist.
“Ultrasonic speed, remember? Or were you not paying as well?”
Before I could even respond, my feet were lifted off the ground and my body was slammed against the wooden fence that connected to the porch. The collision made me yelp as I laid on the concrete with the realization of the situation setting in.
I was powerless against him.
What also clicked in my head were the abilities Alvin was demonstrating. The power. The speed. They were the same abilities as the Dreamers Maylene and I faced in the hospital. Their desires must’ve flared up again, despite me destroying their Shadows.
If my thoughts were correct, had I truly been nothing more than a temporary solution for people’s problems? Was my power so weak that it couldn’t help maintain their positivity?
Had my aspiration been pointless all this time?
“Aliyah,” Alvin called my name as everyone entered different vans except him. “Starting tomorrow, your assignment of locating Dreamers for my collection will commence. If you don’t comply with my immediate orders, I will kill your family. Do you understand?”
With no other choice, I replied, “Yes.”
He got into the vehicle with Valeria and Tyler inside and drove off. A sense of loneliness spiraled within me as I stood defeated and cried in misery.
My friends were gone. Maybe forever.
CHAPTER 23
I returned home and fell on top of my sheets. The tears leaked from my misfortunes created a puddle where my face laid, and I could no longer generate a logical notion without thinking of the pain and suffering I had endured.
