MAXIM: A New Type of Human (Oddily Series #2)

This is a book of fiction. All of the characters, organizations,

and events portrayed in this novel either are products of the author’s

imagination or are used fictitiously.

MAXIM: A New Type of Human.

Copyright © 2011 by Linda Pohring

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means without permission of the author.

For Bob, Nicole, and Danielle

1

Maxim drove the white Suzuki through the massive iron gates, unaware that he and Oddily were being followed. As their car disappeared into the private woods of Stafford Manor, Maxim became so riddled with worry about Oddily entering his world, he didn’t see Kip and Starla when they slipped inside the gates.

They ran into the forest and remained hidden in the shadows, scarcely believing their good fortune. They had discovered where Maxim lived; and strangely enough, it happened by following the girl, Nexa.

“Revenge is going to be sweet,” Kip smirked as he began to make his way through the thick foliage. “Remember to stay hidden until we find his house.”

Starla refused to follow him. “Do you honestly expect me to go into those God forsaken woods?”

When Kip ignored her, Starla had no choice but to chase after him until a curtain seemed to drop over the sun. One moment it was light; and the next, the woods became so dark she could hardly view her hand in front of her face. She became tense and jumpy, panicking when a twig snapped under foot, or a tree limb scraped at her shoulder.

“Get me the hell out of here,” she finally stopped in her tracks.

“Quit whining. His house can’t be much farther!”

By the sound of Kip’s voice, Starla knew he did not intend to give up.

“Come on—if I don’t get some fresh air soon, I’m going to die from suffocation!” Almost as soon as the words escaped Starla’s lips, a sound caused her to catch up with Kip.

“Did you hear that,” she grabbed his arm, “and don’t blame it on cute little squirrels!”

“Sshh, I’m listening.”

Starla closed her mouth and huddled against Kip.
Another sound erupted, only this time it was closer.

“Who’s following us?” Kip glared at his surroundings, but nothing moved. He twisted his neck, trying in vain to make out something, anything, through the trees.

Starla tried to call out this time, but her throat wouldn’t obey her mind. Her heart began to pound, her breath was hissing in and out and her nostrils were flaring like a wild animal sensing danger. Her eyes darted across the dark shadows but saw nothing. She stepped back and something wet grazed her ankle. This time she found her voice and screamed.

“Shut the hell up!” Kip slapped his hand over her mouth.

The noise happened again. Such a strange and eerie sound, as if something were waiting for them to participate in a cat and mouse game.

“We need to start walking slowly.” Kip gave Starla a nudge to get her to move, and she did. She began by taking a step, then another. “That’s right—stay by my side.”

Their measured movements lasted for only a few more minutes until it dawned on them that something inhuman was stalking them. It happened when they spotted a large shiny object closing in on them. They both hollered at once and ran for their lives.

“Hey—wait for me!” Starla screamed, and for the first time, she sounded vulnerable and scared.”

The two frantically pushed through the woods, trying to find their way out of the darkness, when they stumbled upon a clean cool river—a turbulent stream that looked menacing.

“Hurry, we need to cross over to the other side!” Kip jumped out onto the closest rock and steadied himself.

“I can’t!” Starla’s chest heaved from lack of air.

“You have to! We need to get the hell out of here!”

“Don’t remind me!” she shrieked.

“Come on, babe…jump!” Kip turned to leap over onto the next rock.

“No, wait!—I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Starla jumped out onto the first stone, trying to be careful with her footing. She had grabbed onto Kip’s arm for extra support, and then followed him by hopping over to the next one. However, she wasn’t prepared for slippery rocks and stumbled.

“Damn you, Kip—I almost fell in,” she complained with her, ‘I Hate You’ voice. “I can’t do this.”

“Will you stop acting like a spoiled Princess for even one minute?!”

“But I am a Princess, you stupid shit!”

Kip began to mimic Starla’s high whiny voice. “Kip, I want this! Kip, I want that! It’s always about what I can do for you, and you’re driving me nuts!”

“How dare you!” Starla started to fire off her own round of verbal abuse.

Kip and Starla’s back and forth squabbling had distracted them from noticing the arrival of the android. When they did get a glimpse at what followed them, they were scarcely prepared for the astonishing sight. The thing stood near the embankment at a fair distance from the waters edge.

“Oh my God!” Starla cried out with renewed panic.

“What the hell!” Kip went slack jawed, but recovered quickly as he jumped the remaining rocks. However, in his haste to get to the other side of the river, he had knocked Starla off balance. She slipped and fell into the river, her upper torso still clinging to the rock.

“Help!” she screamed as the currant tugged at her body. She was beginning to lose her handhold while Kip just stood there and stared at their pursuer. She tried to dig her fingers into the slippery stone, but the struggle was of no use. She lost her grip and the river dragged her under.

Kip wanted to go after her, but his stunned mind wouldn’t allow him to move. All he could do was eye the robotic thing-a-ma-jig as it leaped over the river to take a stance in front of him. Kip didn’t care that he had wet his pants. He wasn’t able to think clearly enough to become embarrassed. The only thing on his mind was the smooth metal face that inched closer and closer as it inspected him. When they were nose to nose, Kip became horrorstruck by the eyes. Were they real? Then the unimaginable happened. The thing spoke, letting him know that he couldn’t escape! Kips eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed, buckling from the knees into a boneless sprawl on the ground.

* * * * * *

Starla whirled down the watercourse for several miles all the while flailing about, trying to stay afloat. She was drowning, and thought her existence would end at any moment, but wait! She bumped against something and grabbed hold, except the force of the current was too powerful. It caused the weight of her body to fight against her, and the object began to cut into her fingers. It forced her to let go. The water closed over her head as she whirled round and round in a downward spiral. She struggled to hold her breath while fighting for her life.

Finally, she smashed against a fallen log blocking her from going further down stream. The tree limb made her rescue possible as she pulled herself out of the river. She dragged herself onto the embankment and rolled over on her back. Barely able to breathe, the water poured out of her mouth. She sputtered and choked while taking what air she could into her lungs.

Starla felt a sharp pain in her leg and realized she had been hurt.

“Oh crap,” she moaned, knowing that if she ended up with a scar, she would totally die!

“Help me.” She made a feeble attempt to holler, but her voice sounded too weak. She cringed to think of herself all alone in the woods. What if a wild beast or something came along and tried to eat her?

Starla glanced around in all directions, feeling small and insignificant compared to the backdrop of the ancient forest. How weird to think of the humongous gnarled trees as hundreds of years old or at least she thought they were.

This sense of unimportance sucked, so she decided to focus on being angry at Kip. After all, he had been the reason she fell into the river in the first place, so she began scheming on how to seek her revenge. The animosity beginning to rise in her while she plotted against him felt completely normal, so she relaxed a little with her hateful thoughts.

Starla didn’t know how much time she had wasted with her mental meandering; but her anger had subsided, leaving her to face the pain in her leg as well as an uneasy sense of doom. She had been glancing around, hoping for some sign of help, when all of a sudden a beam of light resembling the rays from the sun broke through the canopy of trees not far from where she sat. Maybe a helicopter was illuminating the woods to find and rescue her. No, this wasn’t ordinary brightness. What she saw appeared to be soft and translucent. It was filled with chaotic dancing particles, meshing to create a dense formation of matter. She blinked hard in an attempt to clear her vision, but the molecular dance continued within this tunnel of brilliancy. Had she become delusional because of her injury?

When the light dissipated, what remained was both astonishing and horrifying. Whatever had formed in the ray of light took on the formation of two human-like bodies curled up in fetal positions. Were they alive?

Starla stayed breathlessly still, not moving a muscle while she gawked at them. Their backs were to her as they came to a standing position, and then stretched their tall, statuesque physiques like someone waking up. The male’s head was bald but couldn’t be old because of his lean and well toned torso. He could have easily passed as the poster boy for health and youthfulness.

Starla watched while, very slowly, the male turned his head and looked over his shoulder at her. While he stared at her, the female companion had become a blur and disappeared into the woods.

Starla blinked hard, wondering if she had imagined the companion. She couldn’t help but question if maybe she had gone crazy. No—crazy wasn’t the right answer, not with the male purposefully walking straight towards her. She stared at the way the light fabric of his long seamless robe bellowed from behind while the material clung to his front side. She tried to scoot back on her butt to get away from him as agonizing sounds of distress escaped her lips.