Shadows of Atlantis: Emergence of the Engi (4 page)

When he returned to look for the bird, strangely enough it was gone. Weird things happened to Eiris rather often, but this one really had him puzzled. Despite the strange interruption, he went back to work with renewed energy and sped through all of his chores. He got the house cleaned in record time and made the decision to do one of the few things he liked other than reading. Skateboarding.

Eiris grabbed his tattered skateboard and began gliding through the drizzle to the one place he could coexist in peace during rainy days,
The Cove
. The Cove was an incredible skate park right next to the water at Alki Beach, built by a famous skateboarder a few years ago. He skated down the wet streets, splashing through the water as he stayed in movement until he got to his destination.

Once he got to there, he immediately began doing tricks on the park obstacles. Ollies, rail grinds, kick flips, and other skating tricks were his way of dancing with the environment. He skated the bowl and half-pipe over and over again until he heard a friendly voice.

“More tattoos huh?” smiled Aran Tanner.

Eiris smiled as he gave Aran a hand slap followed by a fist pound. He then looked down at the back of his exposed hands, now revealing new black tribal-like tattoos imbedded deep into his skin. Non-existent on his hands the day before, he realized these strange markings that began appearing a few years ago, were now beginning to cover most of his upper body.

The elaborate tribal patterns were similar to some he’d been seeing in his dreams. But he knew he had to pretend that these strange tattoos were something he got intentionally instead of just randomly appearing on his body.

“I guess so.” said Eiris laughingly.

“You’re the only person I know who skates in the rain like it’s a clear day.” laughed Aran.

“Yeah.” laughed Eiris in acknowledgement.

“You do know that this friendship could one day end the ongoing war between jocks and nerds right?” joked Aran.

“Nah. Jocks are the natural predators of nerds. Without that, there’s no battle of good and evil.” laughed Eiris.

“Seriously though, how come I never see you hanging with anyone? asked Aran. You know, like normal people do?” he teased.

“Guess I’m more of a lone wolf kind of guy.” Eiris said jokingly.

Eiris knew that although Aran also played hockey for the Predators, he wasn’t your average jock. In fact, not only was he very smart and popular, but he was the captain of the team and very respected. He also had a tendency to subtly pry about things, asking just the right questions and really showing how perceptive he was. So Eiris decided to quickly change the subject to the annual Predators team scrimmage later that evening.

“You ready for the game tonight?” asked Eiris.

“Yeah, it should be fun. Especially since Spike was just moved to the second line.” joked Aran. “Speaking of hockey, why didn’t you try out for the team this year? I’ve seen what you’re capable of on the ice after our practices. You’re no water boy. In fact, you’re better than pretty much the whole team, except me of course.” he smirked.

“Never really thought to. You ready to skate?” asked Eiris.

“Let’s run.” Aran replied with an open grin.

As they skated for a while, Eiris suddenly felt something that made him stop in his tracks. Another strong sensation overcame him for a brief second, making him look sharply at a nearby building. He thought he saw a pair of glowing blue eyes staring at him in the distance.

It was weird because ever since he was a child, he’s always sensed the presence of someone watching him, someone he could never see. And since recently his eyes had begun emitting a glow of their own, Eiris figured they must be related in some way.

“What’s up?” asked Aran.

Understanding how crazy it would sound to Aran, Eiris kept it to himself.

“Nothing. I thought I saw someone I knew.” said Eiris.

“You sure it just wasn’t that weird bird in the tree over there?” joked Aran.

“Probably.” laughed Eiris. “The game starts in a few hours anyway, I gotta get going.” he said.

“Right. See you in the locker room later?” Aran asked.

Eiris nodded in acknowledgement as he sped off. Skating home, he couldn’t forget what he saw at the cove, especially since that bird appeared again. But who was it? Or what?

Once back in his shed room, Eiris couldn’t shake the memory of those glowing blue eyes in the darkness. Suddenly, he remembered something he had read not long ago about that exact topic. He quickly began searching under his bed for a certain conspiracy article in the local paper that caught his attention a few months ago.

Extraterrestrial Legends
was the title of the article, penned by a local Seattle marine biologist. It contained conspiracies about some of Earth’s most popular legends being traced to extraterrestrials that he claimed were very active in the Milky Way galaxy. He wrote that one of them saved him from drowning and often referred to the alien’s glowing eyes in the article.

Determined to track this man down, Eiris found his address online and sped over to a small blue house just outside of Alki, in a suburb named Oak Village. As he neared the door, he could see someone peeking through the curtains. Before he could reach for the doorknob, a tired-looking middle aged man opened the door with a baseball bat at the ready.

“I knew you’d come for me!!! You won’t take me alive!!!” he yelled.

“Dr. Atley sir, I’m just here to ask you about your article! I think it’s pretty interesting.” said Eiris trying to calm the man down.

“You’re……...not here to kill me?” asked Dr. Atley.

“No, of course not sir.” Eiris laughed. “My name is Eiris Penatia, I’m a student at Alki High School. I’d like to learn more about your article for um…………. a school project.” he said innocently.

“High School? Oh, well sorry about that. Come on in.” said Dr. Atley.

Eiris went inside the dim living room and sat on a couch covered with scattered articles and books. Dr. Atley brought Eiris a glass of water and sat in the chair facing him.

“Take off your hood please.” asked Dr. Atley.

“Why?” asked Eiris

“I have to make sure you’re not one of the aliens. If you’re human, you have nothing to worry about.” He said.

“Sure.” said Eiris as he flipped his hood off, revealing his long black hair.

“Hmmm. You sure look like one of them. But if you were, I’m sure I’d be dead already.” said Dr. Atley.

“One of who Dr. Atley?” asked Eiris.

“The aliens.” Dr. Atley said in a low and overly dramatic tone.

“Please, tell me more about them.” requested Eiris.

“It was about five months ago. I was out collecting samples at the Duwamish Head on my little boat one night. All of a sudden a strong breeze knocked me overboard. The current pulled me far away from my boat and I eventually fell unconscious, probably from exerting myself trying to swim back to land. When I awoke, I was being carried to the beach by a large man dressed in shining silver armor with a beautiful royal crest emblazoned on his chest. I’ll never forget his appearance. The powerful muscles, the long jet black hair, similar to yours. But most distinctive were those eyes. Blue and glowing. I’ll never forget them. He was the most exotic and quite frankly beautiful man I’d ever seen in my life.” said Dr. Atley.

“You sound like you admire him.” noted Eiris.

“I also admire big cats and dinosaurs, but that doesn’t mean I don’t fear them.” he said in a terse reply.

“What happened next?” asked Eiris.

“After that, things went into a blur and I slipped into unconsciousness again. But……” started Dr. Atley.

“But what?”

“Right before I blacked out I think I saw something emerge from the water.” Dr. Atley replied.

“What’d you see?”

“I’m not sure. It looked like a technologically advanced submarine of some kind.” said Dr. Atley.

“A submarine?” asked Eiris.

“Yes. A submarine.” Dr. Atley confirmed. “Not long after I was discharged from the hospital I began researching alien encounters. Everyone thinks I’m either crazy or obsessed, but I found some interesting things. I found that others have already come into contact with these aliens in the past and many of their descriptions were very similar to what we already know.” he informed.

“How so? asked Eiris.

“Our legends.” said Dr. Atley grimly.

“You think our legends come from these aliens?” asked Eiris in disbelief.

“Of course! Think about it! As a matter of fact, in the spirit of science, I’ll prove it to you.” Dr. Atley said. “Here’s an article written forty years ago about a group of mountain climbers who claimed to have seen the Abominable Snowman again in the Himalayas. They all spoke of him looking like a giant man covered in snow with glowing icy blue eyes. Here’s another one about a hiker supposedly seeing Big Foot in the forest. She said he had glowing green eyes. Here’s another one about a bunch of sailors claiming to have seen a mermaid. They said the locals called her the Breathless Beauty. They often spoke of her glowing blue eyes, like my alien friend. I mean all of them. El Dorado, the Loch Ness monster, the Fountain of Youth, La Isla Perdida, Atlantis! All of them find their origins back to these mysterious beings. And you know what the common denominator is to all of these encounters?”

“Glowing eyes?” Eiris replied.

“Bingo. I think the aliens circulated these legends themselves to make their existence seem unbelievable. In fact, I believe they live right here among us.” said Dr. Atley as he gazed intently at Eiris.

“You think I’m an alien?” laughed Eiris.

“You tell me Mr. Penatia. How else do you explain your exotic purple eyes? Not to mention your similarly beauteous appearance. And don’t say they’re contacts because no one wears contacts and glasses at the same time.” Dr. Atley squinted suspiciously.

Realizing coming here might have been a mistake, Eiris recalled the excuse he always gave for his almost exclusively rare eyes, one that most scientists wouldn’t refute.

“As a scientist I’m sure you’re aware of Alexandria’s Genesis.” said Eiris with a straight face.

“Of course I am. But that doesn’t mean I believe it.” said Dr. Atley.

“I can assure you, I’m no alien Dr. Atley.” replied Eiris.

“So you’re as smart as you look. Very well. I rescind my previous statement. But always remember, the truth will come out eventually. It always does.” smiled Dr. Atley.

“Will do. Thanks for your time Dr. Atley. I hope you find what you’re looking for.” nodded Eiris as he shook his hand.

“Likewise, my young friend. Interesting tattoos by the way.” hinted Dr. Atley as Eiris walked out.

“Thanks.” Eiris nodded.

Eiris then began skating to school and never once dared to look back, fearing Dr. Atley would somehow see it as confirmation of his crazy theories. As he navigated through the crowded parking lot of the Predators arena, he saw Mr. Greavesly and sped to the locker room to avoid him. As he thought about what Dr. Atley had said things began to sort of make sense, even though the doctor had sounded absolutely crazy as he spoke.

All his life Eiris felt… different…than those around him. His curiosity swelled as he considered the doctor’s implications. Is that what I am? An alien? More importantly, are there really others like me here? If so, why? He had so many questions racing through his mind that he accidently put the wrong pair of hockey blades in Spike’s locker.

“Whatcha stupid or sumn’ pretty eyes?! I thought I said CCM’s, not Easton’s for weekend games!!!” shouted Spike.

“Sorry Spike, I got a little distracted. I’ll fix it.” replied Eiris.

“Oh, it’s a little too late for that. Ain’t that right Brock?” smirked Spike.

“Oh yea.” Brock joined in with an evil laugh.

As Spike and his other jock henchmen crowded Eiris, a familiar voice sounded.

“Leave him alone.” warned Aran.

“Stay out of this!” yelled Spike.

Aran stood his ground and glared at Spike, prompting the others to back away and return to their lockers. Spike glared back at Aran for a few seconds and then pushed Eiris against the locker before departing to his own.

“I’ll see you on the ice.” threatened Spike.

“How unfortunate for you.” Aran responded without even the slightest tinge of fear.

“Thanks man.” said Eiris as he collected himself.

“Don’t mention it. Besides, us nerd/jock hybrids gotta stick together right?” joked Aran.

“Hybrids huh?” Eiris laughed giving Aran a hand slap followed by a fist pound. “While I agree that we’re alike in some ways, bullies aren’t afraid of nerds. It’s usually the other way around. That’s the way things have always been.” he smiled.

“Well maybe that needs to change.” smiled Aran as they walked out.

While the scrimmage got under way, Eiris sat on the bench of the first line taking notes and giving the players water. Hundreds of people were in the bleachers cheering them on. Two in particular stood out. Aran Tanner at center and Spike Bresbin as an opposing defenseman.