by Leland Roys
“Yes, she is OK,” he replied, winking.
“How is your mom? Maybe we can visit the shop this weekend.”
“Yes! It’s been so long, I have some new fish and everything.” With that he went running off.
“I see you have a fan.”
“Nice boy. His family has been here for generations. They own a lot of the island actually. Good people. I see you passed his snake test. He uses that on everyone.” He laughed.
Nikki thought about how many people all over the world Alex must know. How many houses does he own? She realized they were still holding hands. She wasn’t about to let go.
“Want to go for a walk?”
She tried to act like she didn’t care; it didn’t work. “Sure, if you want to.”
He swung her hand back and forth as they walked down the path. She smiled a bit.
“It’s beautiful here. I see why you like it so much.”
“Wait until sunset. That’s when you will fall in love.”
She felt her face turn red. She hoped he didn’t notice. This whole place was breathtaking. It seemed just hours ago she was ready to kill herself in a dirty alley. Now, she was in heaven, except she probably was alive. She wasn’t so sure about that yet.
• • •
Questions
Hunter heard the sound of a jet engine. He was soaked in sweat. Where was he? The memories were still hazy, but starting to come back slowly.
“Hey, you!” Where am I? Where’s Rebecca?”
He sat up and almost fell back down again.
Rebecca came running in.
“Hunter, I— we almost lost you.”
“Where are we?”
“On my jet. Your injuries were worse than I thought. It was touch and go there for a while. Lucky for you I know a good doctor.”
“How long was I out?”
“It’s been almost a week.”
“Oh, no — Josh, Jinny.”
“Yes, about that. We have a problem. I am glad you’re up.”
“A problem?”
“Your agency men were good; you were right. They somehow found Alex’s estate. Josh and Jinny got the information from their dead drop. And it gets worse. They were taken. Logan’s men think they are Nikki and Alex; they found them in his mansion.”
Hunter put his head down and tried to think.
“Are they dead?”
“No, Logan will want them alive for now, Nikki for sure. She is no good to him dead, and, like I said, they think Jinny is Nikki. I think I know where they will take them. That’s where we’re flying to now. You should try to rest. I’m going to need your help when we get there; we have about eight hours. I need you stronger, understand? I wasn’t expecting this. This changes my plan quite a bit. We are going to need to improvise now.”
Hunter tried to sleep again, but it was useless. He had so many questions. He found the main cabin. This jet was huge, he thought. He had been on some agency private jets; they were half the size of this.
He knocked on the open door, not even sure what he was going to ask. Rebecca looked a bit sad sitting there. So calm. He knew there was something below the surface, something hidden deep inside. She hid it well, just like he had learned to hide things. They were a lot alike, he decided.
“Can’t sleep, I suppose. I guess you’re ready for some answers.”
He nodded.
“Do you drink whiskey?”
He smiled, “When you’ve been in the agency as long as I have, you bet I do.” He took the glass and sat down next to her.
She was quiet at first, as if she had to focus to remember it all. He could see the pain in her eyes.
“I was dying. I was in England at the time. You have to understand it was a different world back then. No one understood why I was sick. My father and two sisters had already died of pneumonia; my mother, well, she left when she thought I was contagious. Like I said, it was a different time so many decades ago. Logan came for me. I still to this day have no clue if that’s his real name. I learned later he was an expert with tracking family decedents; at the time, his work was beyond anything that existed. He tracked down the gene through my family tree. His understanding of science was so far ahead of his time I can’t even describe it.
“I remember waking up in his bed. I thought he was an angel at first, an angel sent to save me.
“I was young. He had just saved me from a painful death. The idea of eternal life was intoxicating, more powerful than any drug. I was addicted to the feeling, the power, the thrill. I was addicted to him.
“For a long time, nothing else seemed to matter. I traveled the world; I saw and did things that I had never imagined even existed or could be done. It was like a dream. He showed me everything. I learned to speak different languages; he taught me how to play the most beautiful music. It’s hard to even explain the feeling, knowing anything in the world can be yours, any skill you want to learn there is time for. It’s beyond explanation the power it holds over a person’s mind.
“I didn’t even notice myself changing at first, or maybe I did and ignored it. Like I said, I am not trying to forgive myself, it’s far too late for that.
“He told me of a group of people, some of them like us, with the genetic anomaly, some without. They had plans, big plans.”
“World domination, I suppose?” Hunter asked.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
“Of course, they didn’t say that. At the time, it seemed like we had all the power in the world already. Anything was possible. We could make things better, change the world, fix it.
“Over time, I realized what I guess history has always told us: Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
“It became clear to me the plans were not for world peace — far from it. I was still mesmerized by the power and the excitement of it all; I blocked out what I saw all around me.”
She paused again and her face lost color.
“Alex,” she started, then stopped for a moment again.
“Alex changed everything. It was a setup. My meeting him; the whole thing was staged, an elaborate game of chess.
“As you probably guessed by now, I fell in love with him, deeply in love. He was different. He wasn’t corrupted like I had become. He was genuine, he cared about people, and worst of all, he loved me.
“By the time he opened my eyes to what I had become, what was going on around me, it was too late. Everything started to fall apart. They wanted to use him, you see; he had a way with it. He was very good at the transition, like with Nikki. He could keep them alive. What I found out later was it wasn’t just for people with the genetic defect, if you can call it a defect. Logan’s people had much bigger plans. They were working on a serum derived from our DNA to work on someone like you, a normal person. Eternal life in a bottle. The dream of centuries. People would do anything to achieve that. Anything. Someone in your line of work would understand.”
He nodded.
“Did they do it? Was it possible?”
“Somewhat. Not completely. It worked on three people that I know of. Many died. I could have maybe stopped some of those deaths. The people it worked on had side effects. Some nasty. I only meet with one of them now; I don’t know his name. His face, his skin, it is completely deformed. It was a side effect. And recently, in our last meeting. I could swear he looked older. It’s possible he’s aging, very slowly.
“I wanted to run away with Alex. I was so foolish; of course, they would never release me. I told Alex everything. We had plans, we were going to run.”
She stopped.
“What happened?”
“They found me, of course. They told me they would kill Alex if I went with him, and they would have, of course. They never bluffed. I had one option: Leave Alex. I . . . ” She paused again.
“If I left him, they would let me live, let him live. But they could call on me anytime. And if they needed him I would help them. They have always been able to find me. I am never safe.
“I never saw Logan again, Not since that day. It has been more than 70 years now. I’m sure he is at the top of all this. I’ve been collecting clues for decades, trying to track him, find him.”
“Alex doesn’t know why you left then?” Hunter asked.
“At first, he didn’t. I think over the years he figured it out. I was never the same. I lied to him in the cafe that day, I got very good at lying. I never enjoyed this gift after I left him. I never enjoyed life again.”
Hunter held her hand. “I am truly sorry, Rebecca.”
She was surprised by Hunter’s caring. It had been so long since anyone had touched her. She didn’t want to move.
“Don’t be sorry for me. I could have changed things; I made decisions. I did things, terrible things.”
“Haven’t we all? None of us are saints, Rebecca.”
She looked at his face. She could see the pain, the years of worry. The death of his son. The people he had killed. It was all there, in the lines of his face, in his eyes.
“I guess we’re the same in a lot of ways — nothing left to lose,” Rebecca suggested.
“Maybe not. But we still have a chance to put some things right. If what you say about Nikki is true, then maybe there is a chance.”
She smiled, “I hope so. I really do. The serum I talked about. I know they are perfecting it. They have been working on it for decades. For all I know, it may work now, with no side effects. You know we can never let that happen, Hunter. If that power was available to anyone . . . ”
She didn’t need to finish. He knew all too well what it meant. It would be the end of the world as he knew it.
“Rebecca, I have never told anyone this story. When I was a new agent, I was in Russia on what was supposed to be a simple mission: mostly taking pictures, watching this guy. I was so green. One night I got a coded message to take the guy out. I wanted to prove myself; I wanted to show them I could kill someone. I broke into his house late at night and waited for him to get home. It seemed so easy. I pulled the trigger and he was dead; I even felt a rush flow through me. Then it all went bad. I was ready to leave when I heard someone scream. I panicked and fired. I looked down and saw her. It was his wife, I had shot her in the stomach. Blood was flowing out of her mouth like a fountain. I actually didn’t think that much blood existed in the entire world. She grabbed onto my hand as she took her last breath.
“I just wanted you to know: you are not the only one who has done unspeakable things.”
She nodded, “You never forget.”
He downed the whiskey and looked at her. There wasn’t much more to say. They had a lot of work to do and very little time — even less time to live.
He still had so many questions. He guessed some would have to wait.
“So I take it you are not invincible? I mean, you can die, right?” he asked, pointedly.
“Yes, definitely. I have seen others like me die.
“It has been so many years, lifetimes; you would think I would know more. I actually know very little. This genetic defect, or gift as I used to call it, it somehow activates around the age of 25 to 30, earlier in women, it seems. We call that the transition. As you can imagine, most people die. Right before the transition, the pain is excruciating, beyond comprehension. So, of course, most people kill themselves, or they drop into a coma and die. In order for the transition to happen, the person has to be kept alive through the transition. I only know of one person that did it with no outside help: Logan. There might be more, but none that I know of.
“If you make it through the transition, that’s when things get interesting.”
He was mesmerized and moved closer to her.
“First of all, your senses go wild. You can hear, see and feel like never before. Things that you would never notice become crystal clear.
“And then, for the best part, or at least I consider it the best. This is where Josh and Jinny’s findings come in — the time trick, as you call it. I never knew it had anything to do with time. When it happens for me, it’s like the world slows down around me. After decades I learned to control it. For example, if someone tries to punch me, I can slow things down for a short time; I can see it as if in slow motion and duck out of the way.
“There is a problem, though.”
“A problem?”
“Nothing comes for free, I guess. The more you exert yourself to slow things down, it causes pain. My nose will bleed, and in some cases I might even pass out. I was sick for weeks once.
“Of course there is the major benefit, the one I saved for last. We don’t seem to age after the transition, at least not from what I can tell. I can’t say for sure, of course, if it lasts forever. I never get sick, other than the side effects I talked about. No colds, no flu, ever. Poison doesn’t seem to affect us; that has been tried.”
“And you sleep normally? Not like Nikki?”
“Yes, that seems to be specific to Nikki. I’ve never had any sleep issues. I’m suspecting, for Nikki, it’s because she has the special gene from both parents.
“So you probably wonder how I’ve lived so long, since we can die. I’ve had close calls. It’s mostly because of the senses in overdrive.
“I can see danger before it happens, and then slow things down. Like if a car is going to hit me, I can get out of the way in time. So the chances of surviving each day are much higher than for a normal person. However, if someone really wanted to kill me, especially if they are one of us, it’s clearly possible; they would just need to catch me off guard, or have so many people that I could not use the tricks to fight back.
“Also, I’ve learned my own survival skills over the years. I almost died three times due to earthquakes. You wouldn’t think about that, huh. Earthquakes are bad because they come completely unexpected, no warning at all. I can’t see or hear a quake coming.
“So I learned to live in places without the possibility of earthquakes, or, if I was in those locations, to make sure I was in a safe building that could withstand one. Over the years, I have learned to be paranoid. That, combined with the senses and the skills, have kept me alive this long. I sometimes wonder what the limit would be. I mean, of course, my luck would not hold out forever. And the world is much more dangerous now than when I was born.
“As you can imagine, we had horses, not cars that can go 100 miles per hour; not as many weapons. The world was much slower overall, much easier to survive in for me. Think how fast the world moves now: airplanes, cars, bullets, missiles. All of that makes it much more likely I would die by accident, or someone wanting me dead.”
“Speaking of weapons, can you slow down a bullet?”
She nodded.
“Yes, but not by much. And it takes a huge effort. I can try to move out of the way if someone shoots at me. I might be able to take the bullet in, say, the arm instead of my chest, but if it’s an automatic weapon, much harder, probably impossible. The best bet in that situation is for me to run. If I see a gun, I can slow things down and run before the shot is fired. If I waited for the shot to be fired, it would probably be too late. As you can see, technology is making it harder and harder for me to stay alive.”
“You said before that Nikki is more powerful for some reason?”
“Yes, definitely. They have been waiting for someone like her for decades. I have no clue what she is capable of, but I bet it must be extraordinary. All I know is that if these people want her, then she must possess extraordinary power. I would bet she could dodge bullets with ease. If you say your scientist says I can slow down time, then with Nikki’s power it’s possible she could stop time altogether.”
Hunter got very quiet at that thought. It hadn’t occurred to him until she said it. Possible for sure, anything seemed possible at this point. Nothing was normal anymore. Regular common sense and rules were out the door.
“About Nikki. Hunter, you might want another drink before you hear this.”
“There’s more?” Hunter asked.
> “I wasn’t sure I was even going to tell you. I trust you, Hunter. Let me say this. If you decide you want to leave, leave me, all of this, after what I tell you, I will completely understand.”
“No, I am in this far already. I won’t leave.”
She shook her head. “Never say never. What I am about to tell you is beyond anything you could imagine.”
He sat up in his chair and focused even more.
“Hunter. I helped kidnap Nikki’s mother. Her name was Mia.”
“What?”
She nodded. “They slaughtered Mia’s parents. I brought her on a ship from England to the United States.”
“When? Why?”
“It was 1968. Mia, Nikki’s mother was three years old.”
“Hunter. Nikki isn’t here by accident. Nikki was created. She is part of a plan so complex, so evil, it is difficult to even describe with normal words.”
“My God.” He set his drink down.
Rebecca started to cry as she began the story. She didn’t try to stop this time.
• • •
Mistaken Identities
“Josh, can you hear me? Josh!”
He slowly opened his eyes. Every part of him seemed to be in pain. They had been in the mansion. What happened? It came back in a flash of light. He tried to stand up and realized he was strapped down.
He turned his head and saw Jinny. She was next to him on some type of hospital bed, also strapped down.
“Jinny, what have I done?”
“It’s OK, Josh, you’re awake now. I wanted to talk to you. I just wanted to talk.”
“Jinny, where are we? What happened?”
“Listen, Josh, see the IV tube? They’ve been injecting me with something. They’ll be back soon. They think we’re Nikki and a man named Alex, the owner of the mansion, I think.”
Josh looked up at the tube going into her arm.
“What is it?”
“They’re speaking French. From what I can understand it’s about prepping their DNA for something. They put some in you and then stopped. They’re fighting, arguing. I can’t understand it all, but I think they want your blood for themselves. They clearly are not the brains behind all this. They keep talking about eternal life and your blood.”