“Lance didn’t want you to know he was your father until you completed all the phases, because if you didn’t, he couldn’t allow you to survive.”
I rolled my eyes. “So if I don’t want to join your group, he’ll kill me?”
“That’s not exactly how it works. You had to be born with the correct genes to become a Tegen. Sometimes, we know a Tegen’s child doesn’t have the right DNA when they’re very young because they hate spiders. A potential Tegen will have a biological affinity to spiders and be immune to their venom. The Tegen ring has to be accepted by their body and—”
I interrupted, “What does that mean?”
“The stone in the black ring you received is actually a tightly spun spider web from the Tegen Cave that has become petrified. The web has also been embedded into the band. When a potential Tegen puts on the ring, their body chemistry and the ring complement each other. If that occurs, they can’t take off the ring without having their hand, or at least a few fingers, feel numb and painful. They’ll stay numb until the ring is put back on, so potential Tegens don’t take it off. No one wants to be in pain.”
“There was a time I could take the ring off without any problems.”
“That was before you were bitten,” she clarified. “A potential Tegen doesn’t become sealed to it until venom runs in their veins.”
“No. I took it off after I was bitten the first time.”
“I know. Brett saw it off your finger. Your father thought you didn’t receive enough venom, so spiders visited your room again.”
“The ones that were all over my legs?”
“Yes. He wanted to make sure you got enough venom. Brett confirmed you had been bitten numerous times.”
She had an explanation for everything. My eyes dropped to Lindsey’s hand, and I saw a ring on her finger that looked like mine. Attempting to hide the uneasy sensation running through my body, I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “Do I have to wear it forever?”
“You’ll want to wear it all the time. Once you’ve gone through the transformation, you can take it off. Brett and I didn’t wear our rings in front of you.”
I ran my trembling left hand over my right fingers and felt the ring through the glove.
“Sometime after a potential Tegen has been bitten,” she went on, “their nails turn a reddish-purple. Normally, that doesn’t occur until a few days before the potential Tegen’s twenty-fifth birthday. With you it happened too early.”
“Your cult … I mean species, put the spiders in my room. It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t done that.”
“You’re just not normal, that’s all.”
“I’m the one that’s not normal?”
“Can you just let me finish?”
I nodded.
“Your nails changing color that early worried Lance because you have to be able to walk into the cave.”
“I’m not going into any cave.” Looking at her pale blue eyes, I felt a little sorry for her. She had been sent to deliver an absurd tale. Even if most of it was unbelievable, there were a few pieces of truth woven in. “Go on.”
“A day or two after you were bitten, you should’ve been sick for a week to ten days with flu like symptoms: headache, sore throat, nausea, things like that. In your case, it only lasted for a few hours. The plan was Brett would take you to Rex’s place and take care of you there.”
Recalling the intimate moments I shared with Brett, I said, “He took care of me alright.”
Lindsey lightly shook her head as she cocked her brow. “That’s not what I’m talking about. He was going to act like your nurse; make sure you drank plenty of liquids, feed you soup, wipe sweat off your face and body, stuff like that. Since Brett never got to play nursemaid, Lance was really concerned.
“I guess I can’t join your species because I wasn’t sick long enough.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone before that didn’t get sick for at least a week. No … no … once I heard a guy was only sick for five days. Not two or three hours. Your father was worried you were moving through the phases too fast. You can’t go to the Tegen Cave before your birthday, so he wanted to prolong your next phase.”
“What happens if I go through the phases too early?”
“I’ll get to that later.” She brushed her hair away from her face. “Your next phase was heightened emotions. That should have happened before the reddish-purple nails. Lance tried to lengthen it by giving you some venotrolia with a special drug in it.”
“What drug?”
“Something to prolong that phase.”
“Like a date rape drug?”
“In your case, it was something like that, but you were the aggressor. Every Tegen undergoes a unique emotional reaction. The handler is usually there to keep them from going on a killing spree, or harming themselves. Brett just happened to get lucky that he was assigned to a woman whose reaction was sexual desires instead of depression, anger, or temper tantrums. Rarely are they happy emotions.”
“You’re telling me that Lance is my father, and he gave me a drug so I’d want to have sex with everyone? I’ve never heard of a drug that could cause that. I think the venotrolia, or whatever you want to call it, was responsible for my sexual desires. You know, I couldn’t even control myself. I could be in the middle of a serious discussion and all of a sudden attack the person. I just can’t believe a father would want a daughter to act that way.”
“Lance didn’t know that would be your heightened emotion. He wasn’t any happier about that than you were. He still needed to prolong that phase. He didn’t want you to have sex with everyone. That’s why Brett was with you. All potential Tegens have a handler that helps them through that phase.”
“Brett was my handler?”
“Yes. A handler gains the trust of the potential Tegen and stays close to that person through the phases. The handler reports back to the parent regarding the progress. The parent is the one who is responsible for their offspring. A child will never know their Tegen parent unless they complete the phases.”
“Then I would never have been told that Lance was my father?”
“Right. It’s only after the child completes the phases that their handler tells them about Tegens. Since Brett couldn’t do it today, Lance thought about telling you. He decided against it since he suspected you didn’t trust him. He asked me to do it because we were friends.”
He was right. I didn’t trust him. After the way she deceived me in Billings, I didn’t trust her either.
Lindsey continued, “The phase you’re in now, the problems with your hands and feet can be very dangerous and painful. Lance didn’t want you to suffer long. That was another reason he wanted you to stay in the heightened emotional phase until you were closer to your birthday.”
“What do you mean when you say ‘dangerous’?”
A sad expression crept across her face. “You can accidentally kill someone just by getting mad.”
“How?”
“When you get upset, the needles appear, and you could scratch someone who isn’t a Tegen. Poison will be injected into that person through the needles. You’ll poison them the same way as one of our spiders. Your hands and feet are covered so you won’t hurt anyone.”
Lance did mention something about how Saul was my victim. “If you can poison someone, why do you need the spiders?”
“The venom we produce is slightly different from the spiders. I don’t know the technical words to describe it. I just know that if we poison someone, they still have to be bitten by a spider if we’re going to drink their blood. I guess our venom isn’t powerful enough.”
She glanced at her notepad and fumbled through a few pages. “Let me get back to your biological parents. I never knew Jennifer, your mother. I’ve only been a Tegen for twenty-three years. Hattie, a Tegen, knew her and worked with her at your dad’s clinic in North Dakota. Jennifer was twenty-one years old and a registered nurse when she met Lawrence. Hattie said he fell in love
the first time he saw her. Six months later, he married her. Most Tegens never marry because we don’t age and humans do.
“Tegen men can impregnate a human. The fetus secretes a chemical which the mother becomes addicted to and needs to survive. Once the infant is born, the chemical is no longer produced, and the mother dies. Lance and Jennifer didn’t plan on having any children.”
“She knew about Tegens?” I asked.
“Yes. Lance told her everything.” Lindsey leaned her elbow on an armrest. “Hattie also loved your mother. She says that Lawrence always looked adoringly at her. I’ve been crazy about Lance since I first met him. I’d be satisfied with even a fraction of the love he felt toward Jennifer.”
“You and Lance are a couple?”
“Yes, but not like he was with your mother. He kept trying to duplicate Sir Randolph’s research. He wanted her to be with him always. Jennifer was growing older, and she knew he never would. When she turned thirty-nine, she decided to have a child and got pregnant without talking to Lawrence about it. He didn’t even know she was pregnant until she was three months along. He was heartbroken. Even an abortion wouldn’t have helped. The outcome would have been the same. She kept telling him she wanted to give him something to remember her by. Also, Jennifer couldn’t bear to have him see her age. I’m sure Hattie wants to talk to you about your mother.”
“Is Hattie in Texas?”
“No. She was in Billings. Now she’s back in North Dakota. Lawrence was able to keep your mom alive for almost a day after you were born. He promised her he’d take good care of you.”
“Then how could he kill me?”
“A Tegen is responsible for his or her offspring. If the child cannot become a Tegen, that child is terminated.”
“Tegens kill their own children?” I asked, feeling shocked that anyone could do that.
“Yes,” she said, sadly. “The genes of a Tegen are still part of that child. That child can’t live a normal adult life.”
“Why?”
“You’ve seen your hands and feet. Even if a Tegen’s offspring can’t become a Tegen, that eventually will happen to them. And daughters of Tegens can only give birth to one normal looking baby. Sons of Tegens can’t father a child unless they become a Tegen. Before that, they can impregnate a girl, causing her to miscarry and die. If a son cannot be a Tegen, it’s better if he’s eliminated when he turns twenty-five, if not sooner.”
“Why twenty-five?”
“That was the age set by Sir Randolph since he believed it was the pinnacle of adulthood before a person begins to decline athletically.”
“You started the process by having the offspring bitten by a spider,” I said. “That didn’t just happen. Maybe some people needed to be older.”
“No. The Tegens who escaped the Chicago fire tried that hypothesis and waited for an offspring to show signs. It turned out to be a disaster.”
“How?”
“Have you ever heard of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893?”
“Yes.”
“Hundreds of people ended up going missing.”
I cocked my brows. “Tegens’ children were responsible?”
“Yeah.” She tapped her fingertips together. “They were older than twenty-five and went on a killing rampage. With other potential Tegens, everything happened at once. The offspring had heightened emotions at the same time the bumps appeared. They poisoned almost everyone around them. Besides being able to walk into the cave you also need to wear the ring. It has to be the right size. It was impossible to get it on their finger over the bumps. They were in excruciating pain when they died. After those problems, Tegens followed the twenty-fifth birthday protocol. Even if that meant starting the process by having the potential Tegen bitten by one of our spiders.”
“How about younger than twenty-five?”
“No one has ever started the phases by themselves too early. Unfortunately, there have been some situations where we have had the potential Tegen bitten too early. Like in your case if the heightened emotions hadn’t been extended by Lance. You can’t go to the cave until your birthday.”
“You said some children were eliminated before their twenty-fifth birthday—why?”
“As I said, the potential Tegen child has to like spiders. If they don’t, we know then they can never join us.”
“You kill children?”
She fidgeted with her hands. “They can’t have a normal life. Their mutated DNA causes severe birth defects which will manifest before twenty-five.”
“Like what?”
“They lack morals. They become self-centered killers. Some have even killed their adoptive parents.” She cast her eyes down. “None of us want to kill our children if it isn’t necessary.”
Cringing, I sat quietly staring at her, thinking how hard it would be to have to kill your own child, let alone at a young age.
Lindsey continued, “Daughters of Tegens who have the ability to transform can’t bear children after the transformation is complete.”
“You said daughters could only have one normal looking child. What would the second one look like?”
“I’ve only seen a picture. The baby didn’t look human.”
“What happens to the first child that a Tegen’s daughter has given birth to if she gives that child up for adoption?”
Lindsey gave me a cocked smile. “You’re talking about yourself, aren’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“Lance knows you had a son when you were seventeen. We’re keeping track of him. The doctor who delivered him is a Tegen.”
“I didn’t know the baby was a boy. I wanted to see him. Mother thought it would be too difficult on me since I wasn’t keeping the baby.” Over the past eight years, I’ve often wondered what my child looked like and hoped he was happy. “Does he like spiders?”
Lindsey nodded.
“If Lance is my father,” I asked suspiciously, “how could he keep the promise he made to my biological mother to keep me safe if I couldn’t become a Tegen?”
“That promise has plagued him ever since you were born. Several of us,” she said, her eyes boring into mine, “have told him we’d help out if it came to that.”
“You told him you’d kill me if I couldn’t become a Tegen?”
“Yes,” she said without batting an eye. “I knew it would be hard on him if he had to do it. Lance said it was his responsibility. It’s difficult for any Tegen to kill his child. Most Tegen men only spend a few years with the mother; Lance was with your mother for over eighteen years. In the end, he would have done what was required, regardless of how he felt about it.”
“Lindsey, have you had any children?”
Her lips quivered. “I was married and had a son when I was told about Tegens. I accidentally killed my husband and left my child. I didn’t know about the needles until it was too late.”
“You didn’t have a handler?”
“I did. It was difficult because I was married. My handler rented a house around the corner from where I lived. We became the best of friends, but he couldn’t be with me all the time.”
“Was your son’s name Simon?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Just a guess. A picture of Simon Ellis was hanging in the Billings police station. I saw it when I was there on Monday. Simon was missing and he lived in Portland. That’s when I suspected you might be a member of the spider cult.”
“It’s not a cult. Now I know why you left me a note instead of warning me in person to be aware of the woods and not confiding in me that you were leaving.”
“What happened to Simon?”
“I was with Simon the first two years of his life, and it was difficult.” Lindsey sucked in air. “At least I never have to do it again.”
“He didn’t become a Tegen?”
“No.”
“How about his girlfriend?”
“Was her picture also hanging up?”
“No. Sergea
nt Harmon told me that Simon’s girlfriend was also missing. He asked if maybe I had seen him at the hotel.”
“His girlfriend was pregnant. I knew she’d never come to full term. She’d die when she miscarried. I thought it would be nicer if they went together.”
“How far along did Simon get in the phases?”
“He liked spiders. He was immune to the venom. Unlike you, he was sick for over a week when it was introduced into his system. He didn’t like wearing the ring. That’s when we first suspected there could be a problem. We still remained hopeful because there have been some incidences where the bonding to the ring occurred after the heightened emotions.”
“Who’s we?”
“The handler and me. I gave Simon some venotrolia, thinking that would help. He started beating up his girlfriend. The handler had to rescue her twice. She kept going back to him. The handler couldn’t understand it. The poor girl was black and blue all over.”
“That was his heightened emotions?” I asked, opening my eyes wider.
“That’s what we thought, but he continued rejecting the ring. One night he almost killed his best friend. The handler couldn’t let him out of her sight. Simon even got a stack of books on making bombs.”
“Do all Tegens have to be a handler sometime?”
“No. The parent of the child requests a friend to be the handler. It shows trust in that person. Most of us are honored to be asked. Since sometimes the handler has to get very close to the subject, the parent won’t ask you if you’re in a relationship. We wouldn’t want our partner to take on that type of assignment.”
“Tegens get jealous?”
“Oh, yes. We have all the same emotions we had before we went through the transformation, except we learn to look differently at killing.”
“Getting back to Simon. What happened?”
“He told his handler he hated the ring; it made him feel nervous and eerie whenever he put it on.”
Wearing the ring never bothered me. It was only a problem when I tried to take it off. “If he liked his ring, he would have been okay?”
“Maybe. We still watched for bumps to appear. Had that happened, the handler would’ve told him about Tegens. He might’ve decided to wear the ring regardless how he felt about it.”
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