A Hidden Element (15 page)

Night was coming. Laura moved slower and slower. She had to rest. Besides walking all day she was exhausted from practicing her powers as they moved deeper into the woods. It had been so long since she used her mind powers to battle. She moved sticks and stones together as they hiked toward their enemy. It drained her and she didn't know how she kept taking step after step, but the thought of sleeping here on the ground in the woods terrified her. She saw herself giving violent birth to her son on cold earth as Adrian watched.

They still had miles to go. They had not seen a soul since entering the woods. They trudged deep into the wild, heading toward a hidden alien enemy. The air had grown so cold. Winter blasted in driving the last warmth of late summer away. The wind stung her cheeks with icy knives.

"Laura, we have to make a shelter before it gets dark. Get a few hours of sleep."

"I know. We're still miles away."

Ben pulled logs and branches together between a thicket of trees. He checked his cell phone but they had no service. Then he made a bed with the insulated sleeping bags they had carried for hours on their backs. They were heavy duty and good for sleeping in below freezing weather. He spread one out flat and unzipped the other to cover them as a blanket.

Laura sank onto the soft flannel and shivered. The temperature was predicted to be in the thirties tonight. Her baby had not moved much all day but now, in her rest, he prodded her. Ben curled up behind her, warming her with his body.

"Once we find Charlie how will we get him out?" Ben whispered in her ear.

"We can't know until we get there."

"Will your powers be enough?"

She squeezed his hand. "We have to hope so. We'll need the element of surprise."

"These ATVs they have. Can we steal them and break out with Charlie? Can you see the layout of this compound?"

"It's fuzzy right now. I'm only getting pieces from the whip. It holds the memories of Adrian. I'll keep trying."

At least Charlie was alive. She would find him—and Adrian. Then a shocking thought swept through her mind. What if other compounds sat hidden? Like alien cells waiting to take over the world? She whisked the thought away. She had to think of Charlie now and her unborn child. And Ben. They had the promise of forever once. Did they still?

She closed her eyes.

The last thing she heard was Ben murmuring
I love you
in her ear, his breath warm and comforting on her neck. She didn't know if it could be enough to save them all.

She slept.

Leah led Charlie back to his room. His mind raced with all the events of the day. At first he felt silly singing with Leah but then he lost himself in listening to her sweet voice. After he learned the song she had urged him on. Their voices had blended as one, high and low coming together. He didn't understand the song they sang. It had to do with love and fire and seed. Something light and hopeful stirred in him being with her, a pleasant yearning of sweet anticipation that threaded through his gut.

If only the kids at school could see him now with this hot older girl. They would be so jealous. Then a different kind of yearning twisted in him. A yearning to avenge himself against them. He hoped he would get the chance.

Something dark had stirred in him when he was with Caleb. Slashing, mind bending, and killing felt good. It held power. And with power he could do anything. No one would make fun of him again. Here he was as revered as a god.

His mom and dad flashed through his head, but they seemed like two-dimensional figures now. They were part of an old life. Adrian had pulled him in to his world. In a way, Adrian had been preparing him for it for years and now had become his true father. His natural father, Ben, seemed cardboard and false, like a puppet that never knew him and only wanted to pull his own strings to be normal.

Charlie didn't want to be his father's version of normal anymore.

He looked down at Leah as they reached his door. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him full on the lips. They moved over his, so warm and soft, not slobbery like Amy LeFay's. He found himself kissing her back. He reached a hand down and stroked her hair. It fell like silk through his fingers. She pulled back and smiled at him.

"Soon, Charlie Madroc, our special time is coming."

But that's not my name!
And he didn't know what she meant but he didn't care. He let his thoughts flow into hers. He felt golden just being with her.
Nothing gold can stay.
The Robert Frost poem from English class flashed through him.

"It can here, sweet Charlie."

I hope so. I don't want it to end.

She smiled at him and left him standing there watching her go.

Ben was dead.

Tall shadows dragged his body away. Her child seemed to scream inside her, but her own voice was gone, along with all hope. She fell to the ground in agony. Her child ripped his way out. A monster, as her brother had been. Like Adrian was—and like Charlie would become.

Her screams came then. Real ones. Not from within a dream. Ben hung over her, pinning her to the ground. The moon spilled across his face. He grinned at her, but it was the hideous grin of another. His hands closed around her throat, her child crushed under him. She twisted beneath him but he held her down. His ragged breaths pounded the air.

"Laura, you're mine."

She gripped Charlie's knife. It hid in her hand while she slept.

"Ben, stop!" He hesitated for a moment and she spit in his face.

His grin turned to a scowl. He removed a hand to wipe the spittle that dripped down his cheek then his hands reached up and they closed on her neck again.

He stared into her eyes with those intense gray eyes she had fallen in love with.

Now they blazed with hatred. The eyes of another. She willed this monster to be her Ben again. He would not die here in the wild by her hand. By the hand of evil.

"Kill me, Laura." Adrian's words now mocked her in Ben's voice. The same voice that had murmured desire and love to her. His hands gripped her tighter. She grew faint and let go of the knife. She would never use it on him.

"It's not me," he whispered and fell back on his side.

Her Ben!

And she heard the sobbing from her co-worker in her head from long ago. He'd crashed along cubicle walls seeking her out then, a puppet of her twin with the intent to kill. She shrunk further into the ground next to Ben, as she had then under the desk with her boss, Renee.

"It's not me!" The man had screamed over and over. "Stop it! Let me stop!"

He pulled the chair out and pointed his gun at them.

"I'm so sorry but
he
is making me do it."

"Who?"

"I don't know. But he hates you."

He shot. Once. Twice. Three times. And the back of Renee's head exploded covering her in a spray of blood.

The man lowered his gun. "Not you. He told me it's not your time yet."

The sobbing grew louder. Her own now.

"Ben, come back to me," she whispered. He lay huddled in a ball, his eyes closed. She reached for him, touched him with her healing hands. Her world grew darker. She didn't have the strength. Trees spun around her. And Ben remained so still beneath her hands.

She sent her light into his dark depths.

But her light was fading. She would not give up.

Could not give up.

The dark took her anyway.

Adrian's flock congregated in the courtyard. The sun warmed his face with a resurgence of summer. Such an unusual late September day for a whipping. Sweat dripped down his spine. It stung his wounds from the previous night's self-flagellation. He relished the sting, the clarity the pain brought. The sun's rays grew hotter as all assembled.

The lovers were to suffer by heat today for the heat between each other. After the night of free love they did not heed warnings to stay apart. They snuck time together to wantonly mate. Adrian took great satisfaction in catching them in the act after being tipped off by one of his elders. And he was satisfied to know his elders still followed him in the laws set down, especially Tollen.

He could have no cracks in the world he'd created. He needed to ensure that Elyons would come to rule. And he, Adrian, the great leader, would be honored for creating this new world from a dying planet. He was the savior of Elyon. His chest rose with pride. People would follow him or suffer. Today's suffering came as a warning to his flock.

Charlie stood beside him silent. He wondered what went through the boy's brain but his thoughts hung now below the surface. He mustn't worry. The boy belonged with him. He had a dark heart inside, a twin to his own.

Caleb led the naked lovers in, who both cried pitifully. Caleb tied their hands over their head to the bar swinging out from the side roof. He then spread their feet and shackled them down.

Charlie looked at the ground.

"Charlie-boy, you must watch. These two shamed themselves and will be shamed here. What they have done puts our future at risk."

"Just by being together?"

"Yes, for there will be persecution such as the world has never before seen in all its history and will never see again. For as the lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so shall my coming be, when I, the Messiah, return."

"I don't get it."

"Laws must be followed. If Elyons do as they please we will become weak and die out. We have no home to go back to."

Charlie looked at the couple waiting for their punishment then up at Adrian. "Caleb told me it's survival of the fittest."

"It's how humans survived. It's how we will survive. And you will help me lead our people toward a bountiful future. Only one with a dark heart has the power and conviction to do so. Do you want to go back to being a freak in the human world?"

Charlie shook his head.

"Can you accept your duty and the hard choices that come with leading, as I have done?"

The boy stared at him. It was like seeing a younger version of himself wrestling with his powers and desires, just as he once had. He had made hard choices and he lived with them now.

"I think I can."

A thrill surged through Adrian hearing the words he wanted to hear. The crowd stood silent waiting for him to begin. He gripped Charlie's shoulder. "Good. Now watch."

He strode toward Caleb who held the whip out to him. Caleb's narrowed eyes told him all he needed to know about his son's disapproval. The crack in his flock had to be mended. A son who did not follow the leader's law was reason for the crack to widen.

Adrian stepped back and raised the whip. That crack would be filled here.

In this courtyard. In his flock.

And through his and Laura's sons.

Charlie faced Leah at the sanctuary altar on their second day together. Their day of dance. Candles burned smoky with a thick scent of pinecones and nutmeg. Their hands pressed together as one. Her face was so close to his. They swayed to the strange music flowing around them, wild and primal.

Dark desires sprang in him. And guilt at watching the hideous whipping scene today. Guilt at not wanting to leave this place. Guilt at not wanting his parents to come. When he was with Adrian he didn't feel guilty. He felt power. But now here with soft, lovely Leah the guilt moved in.

He pulled away from her.

"What is it, Charlie?"

"Those people today. It was so awful. Why did Adrian do that?"

She took his hand, but her touch confused him and he let go.

"It's part of our world, Charlie. Adrian knows best. He has been chosen to lead us to a new world. Our planet is dead. We have nowhere to go. If we don't follow rules we'll die out here, too."

He looked at this pretty girl who spoke like a grown up. He didn't feel like a grown up.

"And you believe that?" He took a step back.

"Yes, I do. I want to thrive. I want our people to thrive on Earth. And I'm thrilled to be a part of its beginning. Adrian says soon our flock will spread. New communities are to be formed soon. We will breed with humans—and control them. Our genes are stronger and will wipe theirs out."

Leah flung her hair back. She didn't look like the sweet girl he wanted to kiss again but a warrior woman on a mission. The angles in her face sharpened. Her emotions earlier had flowed over him with sweet yearning and light. Now they drowned him in tempestuous need driven by dark desires. She crossed her arms and walked back and forth in front of him. The candle smoke wrapped around her like ribbon as if gifting her to him. The strange music throbbed on and on.

"And my parents. Where are they? Why aren't they here yet?"

She stopped pacing and her face softened a bit. "They will be here soon. Trust Adrian. Your mother and father know what you are, where you come from. They will want you to be a part of this. I'm sure your mother has been waiting for this to happen."

It rang true to him. His mother would understand. She wanted him to be himself, as long as he didn't hurt others. But he needed to hurt others sometimes in order to lead, that's what Adrian had said. Didn't all leaders have to make hard choices? Like the president who had to send people to war to kill in order to keep America free. It's what people believed in. Some had to sacrifice for the greater cause. And this was a new cause he had to believe in for his people.
His people.
Wow. He had his own people now.

"My mother, yes. My dad…well, he's another story. He wants me to be normal."

"You are normal here, Charlie. And you will be a great leader. You are a Madroc. We need you.
I
need you."

He looked at her. She looked so young, yet was so old and wise in her words. "You do?"

"I do. We all do. You are Elyon's new hope."

Doubt and fear hung inside him. It seemed like such a big responsibility. And who was he? Nobody. Nothing. But he wanted to be so much more.

"I don't know if I can do this," Charlie whispered. He let her see his thoughts. He wanted her to feel what he felt. Dark and light raged inside him. Like her. Could he follow the dark part of heart which Adrian said he had yet also embrace the good? He was just fourteen. A kid. How could he be the leader of a new world? Such a big task for anyone to take on, much less a nobody kid with zero experience.

Leah put her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him down into a deep, hard kiss. Her tongue pressed hot and soft in his mouth. He gave in and kissed her back, a kiss that unleashed the pent up longing and passion that filled his hormone-addled adolescent body. Drums beat the air in a fury infused with lust. She finally pulled her mouth away taking her heat with her. His mouth became cold and empty again.

"You can do this, Charlie. You are meant to do this. I will help you lead."

She flicked her hair with an encouraging smile. She became all girl again. His girl. He surged rich with power again. He drank from her power, Adrian's power. And his own. And he liked it. He saw how the Elyons looked at Adrian. He saw them bow their heads when he had entered the courtyard today. And it struck him now that they had been bowing to him, too. It filled him with greed for more.

Leah held up her hands again. "Come, Charlie, we must practice our dance, for tomorrow we perform before the community."

"And then what?"

She moved into him, her robe's star pressing into his like two shooting stars colliding in one fantastic explosion. "Then we are bonded the day after."

She stepped back and held up her hands again. The drums beat fire and wind around them in a swirling frenzy. He pressed his hands into hers. They swayed once more in a dream.

A dream he didn't want to end.

Laura opened her eyes. She lay on her side. Her neck burned. She put her hand to her throat and swallowed. It hurt. She sat up. Ben was flat on his back. His eyes closed. The Swiss Army knife lay next to him in the dawn light, accusing her of what she could have done. She picked it up and gripped the handle.

"Ben," she whispered. Could he still be possessed by Adrian?

He opened his eyes. She remembered the first day she had stared into them. She had never known anyone with gray eyes. They were so beautiful. A stormy sea below rolling clouds and thunder, filled with sorrow, loss, and desire. They looked at her now as they had on the first day she met him. Her Ben was back. She closed the knife and slid it into her pocket.

He sat up and held her tight. She felt his tears on her cheek. She had only seen him cry once. The night Charlie was born in pain and fear. He shook and she held him closer, murmuring in his ear that it would be all right. They embraced under the warm sun and faced a new day. The horror of the night faded.

"Laura, what have I done?"

"We're alive. He didn't win."

Ben nodded and looked at her. "It wasn't me." He touched her neck. "I'm so sorry. So sorry." He jerked away and stood up. Laura slowly stood. Her body hurt everywhere, but they had to go on.

"Time to find Charlie." She took his hand and placed it on her swollen stomach. Their child thumped inside, alive and strong. "We are stronger than Adrian. We are family. Do you remember what I told you a long time ago?"

He shook his head, unable to look at her.

"Love remembers. You didn't believe it once."

He looked at her with a pained face. "You helped me remember."

"Don't forget again. Please. For me. For Charlie." She pressed his hand into her belly. "For our unborn son."

"But what I've done…" He pressed his fingers to his brow as if to erase the deed.

"This was not your fault, and there is nothing you've done I can't accept. I told you that a long time ago. It hasn't changed. I believed in you then. And you believed in me then, too. You said I had all the human elements that matter."

"You do."

"And so does Charlie."

"I know. I need the chance to tell him."

"You'll get the chance."

Together they hastily disassembled their camp and took off through the woods again, eating as they went. Laura fought the urge to go it alone as she had long ago when Ben helped her survive against her brother. She feared Ben's death then as she feared it now. Once, everyone she loved had died. She believed then she was cursed. It's why she had left Ben. She believed then that if only one person she loved survived, she could live with herself. But what if Ben didn't survive now? And now they had a son. A son who had been taken and Ben would never back down from getting him back.

They would soon be face to face with Adrian and his people. He had betrayed her. This was her chance to end him. She would not redeem him like she had tried to redeem her brother. He was beyond redemption. She saw his plans. Saw how he kept his people in line by fear. Saw how he forced them to do horrible things to bring out their hate and evil deep inside.

She would end him. She had to—or they would die.