“Leave him alone!” Melissa shrieked. “He didn’t do anything! Stop shooting! Please!”
Tears poured from her eyes, tears for him. Melissa showed the truest mark of compassion; she wept for her friend. He was her friend.
He felt the next bullet tear into his chest, felt an unimaginable explosion of pain emanate from it. He struggled to stay on his feet as he clutched his chest, and realized that someone cared about him; someone loved him. He was Melissa’s friend. It was the first time in his short existence that he was truly happy.
The faceless man outstretched his arms desperately trying to reach his friend and embrace her. His legs gave out from beneath him, and he collapsed to the ground. From his prone position he gazed up at her a final time before the world grew dark.
Chapter 29
Dr. Terzini, a man who prided himself on being detached man, felt enraged. Each hour that passed without communication with Eugene or the clones caused him to unravel further. Clearly, something had gone wrong. Despite enacting a secondary plan, Terzini’s strategy had been hindered, possibly obliterated.
He felt his hands tremble with ire and frustration as they grasped a wooden holder with four test tubes inside. He hurled it against the far wall. Glass exploded in every direction as the test tubes caused innumerable, microscopic slivers of dichroic matter to ricochet in every direction. Light that seeped in from his room darkening shades and thwarted his need for darkness reflected and refracted in the glass slivers and lent them the appearance of glitter. But there was nothing shining about the current moment he was experiencing; it appeared as though he had failed once again.
Ignoring the shimmering mess at his feet, he began to pace stroking his chin feverishly. He wondered whether any of the three teenage clones lived. Surely if any of them lived, they would have called long ago to inform him of their success, of Gabriel’s demise.
In all likelihood, Gabriel lived and was well aware of the fact that he’d dispatched the clones, as well as Eugene, to destroy him. He even entertained the possibility that Gabriel had shared his generous amount of information and working knowledge of the cloning that took place with the authorities.
He did not have time to waste on such speculations. He had more important work to tend to. Furthermore, Gabriel had no idea where he was. Regardless of the information he decided to share-or not share-with authorities, Terzini was confident that no one would find him in time to stop what he was about to start. His hands stopped trembling. A sense of satisfaction usurped feelings of frustration and doubt. He calmly walked out of his laboratory and left the broken glass where it was. He would clean it later.
Once outside, the daylight was blinding. White light singed his corneas, caused his eyes to sting and tear. He squinted uncomfortably and walked faster to the main house. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his mouth with it to protect his respiratory system from the dusty, smog-filled air. He could not get indoors and out of the pollution-riddled environment soon enough.
Relieved, he reached his back door, crossed the threshold and stood in his kitchen gulping the purified air of his residence hungrily. He went to the sink and immediately washed his hands and face with antibacterial soap and scalding hot water. As soon as he felt sufficiently cleansed of the atmosphere beyond his home, he moved down a long corridor to a door that led to his basement. He descended a flight of steps and was instantly comforted by what he saw. Sixty development tanks, neatly arranged in rows, filled the over-sized space. In each, a partially formed human being was growing and maturing, awaiting its birth.
The realization of Gabriel’s flaws, as well as Eugene’s, had prompted a sweeping transformation in his thought processes and caused him to realize the weakness in his original plan. Initially, he had planned to have Gabriel integrate into society slowly, seamlessly. The goal was for Gabriel to be the linchpin in his ultimate strategy of transforming society as a whole. His original plan had been far too subtle, though. He had never fully embraced subtlety but had thought it necessary given his former governmental affiliations. Freed of his previous associations and dead according to global authorities, he could embark on a more aggressive approach. He could begin the rebirth of society with the release of his first legion of his new race. Together, they could expand and create more like them. With sixty fully formed beings capable of reproduction, with heightened fertility and a far shorter gestational period after conception, their numbers would multiply quickly.
His army of beings would busy themselves with reproduction and assist with creating more development tanks. While they worked at their respective projects, he would be able to finally complete his experimentation with fetal enhancement in-utero and possess the irresistible ability to change all of mankind thereby eradicating the possibility of a woman ever birthing a flawed individual. His goal was lofty, but attainable. And since he currently resided in a location unknown to Gabriel, there would be no one to prevent him from achieving it. If Gabriel still lived and somehow managed to locate him, his efforts would be in vain, his timing poor. In the time it would take him to travel from Harbingers Falls to Santa Ynez, the first legion of beings would be born already and would have begun the initial change. His legion would quickly grow to an army, an army led by him. The world needed an exalted person such as himself capable of enlightened thinking and grand ideas with the talent to deliver meaningful results. After all, humanity was so flawed, only the brightest most talented among them could commence a transformation of such magnitude.
He knew the transformation would take time; his project was multifaceted. But patience and diligence would yield rewards beyond measure. He would not only succeed where God had failed, he would replace God altogether and be heralded as the person responsible for ending war and crime, hate and violence, the Savior of Civilization. He would be known as the Creator of the perfect civilization.
Chapter 30
Melissa spotted Gabriel immediately as she emerged from the Harbinger Falls Police Department. He had received medical treatment shortly after officers shot the creature that saved her. His face was badly bruised and swollen but remained handsome nevertheless. His arm dangled in a white sling and his ribs had been taped in place. He looked battered.
She quickly closed the distance between them eager to be at his side despite the stiffness she felt in her back, an injury incurred from being thrown into Alexandra’s Mustang.
“Melissa,” he breathed. “Look at you. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It looks worse than it feels,” she lied and touched her fingertips to an angry welt on her cheekbone.
“I’m not sure I believe you,” he said and leveled his cerulean eyes at her. He regarded her with such concern, she believed he was not looking, in fact, but gazing into the depths of her psyche and drawing from it truths she would have rather concealed.
She felt her face blaze with warmth and was certain her pallor was replaced with rosiness. “All right, if you must know, it feels every bit as bad as it looks. There. Does that make you happy?”
“Not at all. This is all my fault,” he said.
“Damn fuckin’ straight it is,” Alexandra announced from the top of the police department steps. “If it weren’t for you, none of this would have happened.”
“Alex!” Melissa admonished. “Please!”
“Please what? You know it’s true. But we like him, so we put up with monsters chasing us, almost getting locked up for murders we didn’t commit.”
In the shadow cast by the sodium vapor street lights outside the police department, Alexandra’s face was obscured. Melissa could not be sure whether her friend was joking around or being serious. She hoped for Gabriel’s sake, Alexandra was kidding.
“Alexandra, I’m so sorry for getting you involved in all this,” Gabriel began.
“Oh save the cow eyes for her,” Alexandra gestured to Melissa. “I was involved as soon as that Eugene creature came into my house and scared me shitless. I was glad to see him d
ie. I could’ve done without all the blood and gore of it but therapy will help, I’m sure. And seeing old Miss Harriet dead and Eric was pretty horrifying, also.”
“I’m so sorry; for all of it,” Gabriel said earnestly.
“No apologies, seriously. Besides, I never would have met that pain in the ass,” Alexandra said and gestured to Yoshi as he walked through the glass doors of the building and began descending the concrete stairs.
Melissa was sure her friend had intended for him to hear the compliment; that Alexandra enjoyed toying with him. If it were anyone else, she would believe there was flirtation between them. But Alexandra was not a flirt. When she liked a boy, she was anything but shy about it. Furthermore, Yoshi was unlike the boys Alexandra usually showed interest in. Every guy, regardless of his age, showed interest in her but she was very selective with whom she bestowed her attention. Yoshi, who was completely unaware of Alexandra’s preferences or patterns, beamed unabashedly and absorbed any attention she offered. Melissa could not help but smile at whatever may or may not be going on between them.
“How’d everything go with you?” Yoshi asked Gabriel.
“Everyone seemed really freaked out. They seemed to be under the impression something monumental had occurred here, that what they killed was an alien or something.”
“Ha!” Alexandra laughed. “Are you sure it wasn’t an alien?”
“I wish it were that simple,” Gabriel replied cryptically.
“That thing was one of that Terzini guy’s creations?” Alexandra asked.
“Yes,” Gabriel answered. “And that’s where things get complicated with the investigation.”
Melissa watched and listened as Gabriel returned their conversation to the matter at hand, deferring any further discussion that may delve into the nature of Terzini’s work until a more appropriate time.
“They have no proof that any of us were involved of course; only suspicion. They can’t hold me, just like they can’t hold any of you.”
Melissa had already heard everything Gabriel had just said. Only when it was explained to her by the police officer questioning her, a far different spin had been put on the story. During her interview, the officer seemed intent on extricating some elusive key piece of information from her and of convincing her that she was nothing more than a pawn in an elaborate murderous plot. Melissa resented every implication. She did retain crucial information but vowed to die with it or rot in jail in its company rather than offer it to the authorities.
“They have no reason or evidence to hold any of us,” Melissa agreed.
“Eugene also had a dead cop stuffed in his trunk and the cell phone that placed the 9-1-1 call in his pocket,” Gabriel stated.
“And the massive bruises on the dead bodies at your old house were all consistent with his fists,” Melissa added.
“Thank God for forensics, right?” Alexandra offered.
“And we all kept the same story, that Eugene was responsible for everything,” Melissa said.
Melissa noticed that Yoshi remained silent as they discussed their separate interrogations.
“Yoshi, how did you do?” she asked.
“I just acted like I didn’t understand a word they said.”
Alexandra laughed, “Ha! You’re a funny little bastard, you know that?”
Melissa and Gabriel laughed as well but neither she nor he offered profanity-laced praise.
“No one tried to get you an interpreter?” Melissa asked.
“They tried. They got a Korean guy, then a Chinese woman but my dialect is obsolete. No one speaks the dialect but the Monpa people from my village.”
She watched as Alexandra nearly doubled over with laughter. She exchanged a worried glance with Gabriel and tried to nonverbally communicate her fear that her friend was unraveling. He returned her concerned expression with a shrug and a sly smirk. Melissa was about to nudge him when she noticed Alexandra’s signature hair flip. The gesture was reserved solely for those she wished to flirt with; it supported her suspicion that her friend was flirting with Yoshi.
Inspired, Melissa tipped her chin up to Gabriel and looked lovingly at him. Far too much time had passed since she felt his lips against hers. After all they’d been through, all of the death they had witnessed and encountered, she longed for normality, for a semblance of warmth and affection.
Once again, Gabriel seemed to read her mind simply by looking into her eyes. He leaned forward and gently touched her lips with his. The tender skin of his mouth barely grazed hers, his reluctance an obvious result of his injuries. She knew that bending was a challenge for him, that twisting was torturous. She did not wish to cause him anguish. Instead, she stepped in front of him despite her back that complained with each footfall. She cupped his bruised face in her hands and kissed him carefully.
Melissa felt the pain and madness of the days leading up to the moment her mouth met his seep from her. She did not fret about the police or her father’s early return from his poker tournament. She did not worry about impending punishment. Horrific memories were purged from her mind’s eye for just a moment. And she felt euphoric.
“Ahem,” Alexandra cleared her throat exaggeratedly. “Okay, break it up you two or I’ll have to get a hose or something.”
Melissa reluctantly released Gabriel’s face from her hands and slowly backed away from him. Only slightly embarrassed as opposed to utterly mortified, she scowled at her friends. Yoshi laughed loudly. Alexandra chuckled and smiled coyly at him.
“Well lovebirds, what do we do now?” Alexandra asked.
“Let me guess, you have to leave again or else Terzini will send something else after me,” Melissa heard herself say and immediately regretted the infantile tone of her voice and biting nature of her words.
“I’m not leaving you again,” Gabriel assured her, ignoring her juvenile accusation.
“Then what do we do?” Melissa asked.
“We only have one choice really,” Gabriel replied.
“And what is that?”
“We have to find Terzini,” he began. “And kill him.”
No one spoke immediately. Melissa processed the notion of a premeditated killing. She gathered her friends were considering the gravity of what Gabriel proposed just as she did.
“I just hope I can do it this time,” Gabriel added.
No one seemed to fully understand what his words meant; Melissa certainly did not. She assumed it was information he would disclose when the time was right but guessed it had more to do with Terzini and the fact that he was engineered in a very deliberate fashion that it did with moral rectitude.
“I’ll do it then,” Yoshi surprised her by declaring. “I will kill Terzini.”
“And I’ll help,” Alexandra announced.
“Guys this isn’t your fight,” Gabriel said quietly.
“He’s tried to kill all of us, so it is our fight; all of us,” Melissa said.
“Shit yeah!” Alexandra rallied. “But should we really be talking about offing the scumbag on the steps of the police department?”
“Yeah, that can’t be good,” Melissa said in a near-whisper.
“How do we find him?” Yoshi asked.
“I don’t know, but we are going to have to figure it out, fast, before it’s too late,” Gabriel concluded.
Melissa looked at Gabriel; there was no denying the truth of what he said. She knew they had to find Terzini before he had a chance to send another of his creatures after them, that their lives were at stake. If they failed at stopping Dr. Franklin Terzini, their fate was all but sealed.
About the Authors
Jennifer and Christopher Martucci hoped that their life plan had changed radically in early 2010. To date, the jury is still out. But late one night, in January of 2010, the stay-at-home mom of three girls under the age of six had just picked up the last doll from the playroom floor and placed it in a bin when her husband startled her by declaring, “We should write a book, together!” Wearied from a
day of shuttling the children to and from school, preschool and Daisy Scouts, laundry, cooking and cleaning, Jennifer simply stared blankly at her husband of fifteen years. After all, the idea of writing a book had been an individual dream each of them had possessed for much of their young adult lives. Both had written separately in their teens and early twenties, but without much success. They would write a dozen chapters here and there only to find that either the plot would fall apart, or characters would lose their zest, or the story would just fall flat. Christopher had always preferred penning science-fiction stories filled with monsters and diabolical villains, while Jennifer had favored venting personal experiences or writing about romance. Inevitably though, frustration and day-to-day life had placed writing on the back burner and for several years, each had pursued alternate (paying) careers. But the dream had never died. And Christopher suggested that their dream ought to be removed from the back burner for further examination. When he proposed that they author a book together on that cold January night, Jennifer was hesitant to reject the idea outright. His proposal sparked a discussion, and the discussion lasted deep into the night. By morning, the idea for the Dark Creations series was born.
The Dark Creations series, as well as the Arianna Rose, the Planet Urth series and the Hunter of the Light series, are works that were written while Jennifer and Christopher continued about with their daily activities and raised their young children. They changed diapers, potty trained and went to story time at the local library between chapter outlines and served as room parents while fleshing out each section. Life simply continued. And in some ways, their everyday lives were reflected in the characters of each series.
As the story line continues to evolve, so too does the Martucci collaboration. Lunches are still packed, noses are still wiped and time remains a rare and precious commodity in their household, but it is the sound of happy chaos that is the true background music of their writing. They hope that their work, though penned for a young adult audience, will be appreciated by the young of every age, and that all enjoy reading it as much as they enjoyed writing it.
Planet Urth Boxed Set Page 121
