Eclipse of the Heart

by J. L. Hendricks

  “Ok Toren, just wait until I get you back, it might take me a couple of weeks to have the energy, but I am thinking of ways to get back at you right now.” I looked over to Fillie and then back to Toren’s drink. We both watched as his juice slowly made its way right into his lap.

  Toren stood up quickly and bumped the table and most everyone’s plates bumped around so much that some had food on their laps. But curiously, Ash and I had no problems with our plates.

  Ash leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “I saw that. If you aren’t careful these guys are going to figure out you have more power than you have let on.” He quickly kissed my temple and turned towards his plate and started eating his dinner.

  I looked down at my plate and tried to hide my smile.

  When I woke up the next day, my body was still very sore but it did feel a little bit better. I looked at the injury from the shrapnel and realized that it was healing too quickly to be normal. I called out to Fillie and asked her about it.

  “Yes, you should be healing faster. You are part Sennafae now. That should not surprise anyone. They all heal quickly and easily. The more rest you get the faster you will heal.” Fillie wasn’t the least bit surprised that my injury was almost gone.

  Ash said that today he would take it a bit easier on me, but I needed to work out to make sure to get that lactic acid out of my muscles.

  I spent half the day working with Fillie and she was impressed with how well I was advancing. I told her that I thought I had been using my power of telekinesis without even realizing it. So she had me practice moving small objects with my mind. I stacked books until I got it perfect, then I moved some chairs. Those took a little bit longer to work with. By the end of our session, we figured out that the heavier the object, the more brain power it took. Which in turn make me physically weak.

  We weren’t sure if I was so weak from working out or if it was due to the mental exertion. We kept working on the mental activities over the following week. I did get stronger. Working the mind was similar to working muscles. Eventually my brain and my muscles all got stronger.

  After two weeks Lancer finally showed up. Everyone was very happy to see him and he seemed very happy to see us as well. He was not very happy with Xandrie. It turned out they had spent an awful lot of time together over the past two weeks and he was sick and tired of her.

  “Xandrie, I am so happy you are here! Finally another female in the group! We should go out and do something. Since we have returned we have hardly seen any rippers and the number of missing girls has done down as well. Maybe the rippers have moved on?” I really was happy to see her. I felt like she might become a good friend, she would never replace DeeDee, but I was happy to have her there with us.

  “B’Lana, I have missed you as well! Who else am I going to get to help me give these guys a rough time? We need to teach them who owns this place! Am I right?” Xandrie just laughed and hugged me and then she went to Ash and hugged him as well.

  Lancer spent the next two weeks anywhere but where Xandrie was, while Cash couldn’t seem to get enough time with us. I knew they had history, but it seemed that Cash wanted her back. So one evening I decided to go and hang out with Lancer and left the two of them alone. Ash tagged along with me.

  “I think we all need to go out to dinner at that taco place we all went to, how about next Tuesday we have dinner there? Lancer even you liked that place. Since it seems that the Rippers have moved on we should check out those humans who used to work for them.”

  “B’Lana, I don’t think we should go there just yet. We both have some work to do before we are ready for another fight.” Lancer seemed like he was depressed. He wouldn’t look at me and just laid there in the bed zoning out. He barely participated in our conversation.

  “Ok, that’s it. You have had enough time to get over whatever is bugging you. Tomorrow night we are all going out to dinner. I am not taking no for an answer.” I looked right into Lancer’s eyes and made sure he looked back at me.

  “B’Lana I refuse to spend any more time with Xandrie than I have to, especially with Cash hanging all over her.” Lancer said.

  “Oh, I get it. You are jealous of them. Ok, how about we just make it a few of us. It can be just be you two, Toren, and I. We could also invite the Commander. Does he ever leave and do anything besides work?” I started laughing picturing the Commander going to a nightclub and dancing. I doubted he even knew what a nightclub was.

  “B’Lana, I am not jealous. I am still mad. After all this time she still refuses to tell me why she just walked out on me. I don’t think it’s asking too much to know why, do you?”

  “I’m not getting into the middle of this. You two need to talk and figure this all out. We all are working together now. Even if we don’t see any more rippers here, we do live together.

  “Hey, what happens if we don’t find any more rippers here?” I looked between both Ash and Lancer as I had not thought about that before.

  “B, the other squads have been out looking every night for rippers, they found a couple and killed them. But they have not seen any signs of ripper activity for a week now. If we can’t find any more of them, eventually Command will have us move to another city. By next week we will have a small group travel to another city and check it out. The rippers wouldn’t have gone far. Commander Tera has been looking at reports of people missing and he thinks they may have gone up to Santa Barbara, but he isn’t sure. There is a party college there and the missing students could just be out partying.” Ash said that we could all go somewhere for lunch tomorrow. Maybe even Joe’s Taco Shack.

  I went and spoke with Xandrie later that night and asked her to talk to Lancer and let him know why she left him, it was only fair. She said she would the next morning.

  When lunch time came the next day Ash, Lancer, Toren, and I all went to Joe’s for lunch. Lancer was in a better mood, but still not back to himself.

  “Lancer, are you upset over Xandrie, or is it something else that’s bothering you. Since your return I have hardly seen you. And I know it isn’t because of her, there have been plenty of times we could have done something and you just stayed in your room or sat on the couch playing video games. Don’t become an Earth boy who stays inside and plays video games all day long ignoring real people. That won’t work well for you. You need to be outside and fighting the bad guys in real life, not in video games.” I sat down next to him at lunch and put my arm on his shoulder and tried to give him all of my attention while Ash and Toren looked around to see if they could find the humans who worked with the rippers.

  “B’Lana, I have a lot going on right now. While I was back home I learned some things that are just weighing on me. Don’t worry though, I’ll be back to myself soon.”

  “Lancer, if you need someone to talk to, I’m here for you.”

  “NO! I… I mean I learned things I can’t talk to anyone about. Sorry, I just have to deal with this. I’ll try harder to make time for you and Ash. I want to see how you are developing with your abilities and with your fighting skills. Maybe tomorrow I can join you for your training?” Lancer looked almost frightened when I suggested he talk to me. Something was up and I needed to find out what happened.

  “Of course, you will be most welcome in my afternoon training session. Fillie is still not letting anyone watch our morning training sessions. She is afraid that I will be too distracted if anyone else is in the room.”

  “I bet she only means Ash. I see the way he flirts with you and Fillie is not happy with that.” He leaned in closer to me and whispered, “How do you feel about all of his flirting? Do you still think he is just playing around? Or has he started to develop real feelings for you?” Lancer’s eyes were downcast and he couldn’t look at me when he asked the last question.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. Yes, he flirts a lot and sometimes I know he does it in front of Fillie just to make her mad. But when it is just the two of us, he can be really sweet and attentive. He has a se
rious side that he doesn’t seem to show to anyone but me, when we’re alone. I honestly don’t know what to believe.”

  “Do you want him to truly care for you? Or to even be in love with you?” Lancer looked around while he asked that question. Almost like he was looking for Ash.

  Right at that point, I noticed two of the humans who had been working with the rippers. They were the ones who ran the shop across the street. Ash and Toren were a few tables away so I couldn’t get their attention. I leaned in to Lancer like I was going to hug him and whispered in his ear that I saw the two shopkeepers. They were directly behind him.

  He put his lips to my ears like he was going to kiss me and said, “Keep an eye on them, I’m going to text Ash.”

  Ash was looking right at us when we were doing this and his expression was one of shock and then pain. I caught his eye right before he turned away from me. For some reason I felt guilty, but I had nothing to be guilty about.

  Then everything just fell apart…

  DeeDee walked into the place and saw me.

  Chapter Seven

  “Oh stink!” I said.

  “What, do they see you?” Lancer asked as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and whispered into my ear.

  “No, but DeeDee just walked in and sees me. She is coming over here right now.”

  Ash looked back up at us right as DeeDee was approaching me. He recognized her and started walking to our table. Half way to us he received Lancer’s text about the shop owners. He stopped and looked at us and then looked over to the two humans in question and then called for Toren. They headed over to the shopkeepers instead of to me.

  “B’Lana? Is that you? What happened to you? And who is this guy?” DeeDee approached us looking even worse than the last time I saw her. Her hair was stringy and looked like it hadn’t been washed in over a week. She was wearing dirty jeans and the same blouse I saw her in at the mall several weeks ago.

  I stood up and hugged her. “DeeDee it’s so good to see you again!” Then I whispered in her ear. “You’re in danger being here with me. You need to leave right now. I will call you later today, I promise and I’m sorry.” Then I looked at her and tried to convey through my eyes how serious this situation was.

  “It’s good to see you too, I have to get going. Maybe we can catch up sometime.” She looked scared, like she already knew there was trouble brewing.

  She started to walk away and I turned back to Lancer who kept an eye on her as she left the taco joint. Sadly, she didn’t make it far…

  Someone had been watching us from a distance and followed her to her car. She never made it home.

  “B’Lana, it looks like your friend is in trouble, I see a Sennafae following her. We need to go now.” Lancer started to get up and walk towards where he last saw DeeDee. I followed him.

  We walked down the street and watched in horror as DeeDee was picked up in a white van. The guy we were following jumped in right behind her and they took off quickly. Luckily, Lancer got the license plate and called it in to HQ and asked them to track it.

  I just stood there, open mouthed and wide eyed, not saying a word. Lancer snapped his fingers in front of my face a few times before I could focus on him again.

  As tears made their way down my face I just said, “B-b-but, she’s my best friend, we can’t let them take her.” Then I looked where the white van had turned and my mind cleared up quickly.

  “Lancer we have to go back and get the guys and head out now. We can’t just let DeeDee go, who knows what they will do to her! She may end up a ripper hybrid, and I can’t handle that. She is an innocent, we have to protect her. I never should have let her walk away alone, this is all my fault!” I turned around and ran back to where Ash was.

  Ash was talking to the two humans from the shop across the street.

  “Oh good, you have them.” I walked right up them and demanded they tell me where my friend was.

  They tried to play innocent, until I smacked one of them across the face. “I don’t care that you are human, I know who you work for. Your friends just kidnapped an innocent human who had no clue about this life. You will tell me where they are or I will kill you both myself, and it won’t be quick either.” Just to make sure they understood me, I kicked the man between the legs.

  He bent over gasping for breath as his face turned red.

  The woman with him looked at me and said, “I don’t know where they took her. They have moved their location since the last time I saw them. They ignore us now.”

  “I doubt that very much. A Sennafae was here watching you, you were to meet up with him weren’t you? You had better tell me the truth because I will know if you lie to me again, and you won’t like what I do to you and your boyfriend.” I walked up close to her face and drew my fist up close and then whispered, “She is my best friend in the whole world, do you have any idea what I am capable of? I will do whatever it takes to get her back safely, today.”

  I put my hand on her shoulder and started to squeeze it hard. She made a whimpering sound and said, “Honest, I don’t know.”

  I knew she was lying so I “listened” to her mind. “Oh I hope she believes me. The Master will turn us into hybrids, or worse, if we spill the beans.”

  “I understand you are worried about what the master will do to you if you tell us. But I you should fear me more, I don’t care that you are humans. You have chosen the wrong side in this war, and it is a war. All bets are off and there is no such thing as a Geneva Convention when it comes to rippers and terrorists from another dimension.

  “So think about how you want to play this out. Tell me the truth and I will let you leave. You can run and hide somewhere and live out your pathetic lives. Or, you die a slow painful death. Your choice.” I was not going to let them get away from telling me the truth. So I listened again.

  “I don’t know what to do. If I tell her that they moved up to Santa Barbara, she will most likely kill me anyway. And I don’t have anywhere to go.” I heard her saying in her mind.

  “Santa Barbara, that’s where they are. Give me an address and I promise you I will let you go. If you don’t give me an address I will take you to my headquarters and you know you will not be allowed to leave ever again, except in a body bag.” I was confident she would give me what she knew now so I walked back one step and crossed my arms in front of my chest waiting for her to realize what I just did.

  “Toren, can you call for a pick up? If she doesn’t talk in the next two minutes I want her and her friend brought back for “questioning”.” I actually used air quotes when I said questioning. And then I smiled a sinister smile when I realized she knew what I could do.

  “You… you’re her aren’t you? The girl they are worried about. The one that can bring an end to them.” She now was looking right at me with what I could only believe was awe.

  “Yes, you can give me the information the easy way, or I will take it from you or your friend. I know you have what I want. Now speak up before our van gets here to take you away.” I looked over to her friend and he was still bent over in pain.

  “Dude, you want to tell me the address or shall I take it from you?” I started walking over to her boyfriend. Ash tried to stop me by putting his hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.

  I looked back at him over my shoulder and said, “Don’t, this is DeeDee, I don’t care what I have to do to save her.”

  The couple in front of us looked at each other and then the girl spoke up, “They are staying in a group of warehouses just outside of the Santa Barbara airport. I think there is a lumber yard just a few blocks away. We haven’t been there, but we were told about it. They have set up their new operations there and are taking college kids and turning them into ripper hybrids. That’s all I know, honestly. Can we go now?”

  I listened to her mind while she said all of that and I knew she was telling the truth.

  “Yes, you can go, but if I ever see you working with the rippers or any of the terro
rists from their planet, I won’t hesitate to kill you. You had better go far away and never get near any of them again.” I looked right into the eyes of each of them and made sure they understood. I even put a few images into their minds in order to freak them out enough that they would listen to what I said.

  They got up and ran across the street to their store. I didn’t know if they listened to me or not, but I hoped they did.

  Ash took my hand and walked me to the Hummer, “B, you can’t torture anyone. It will change you and you won’t like who you become. I have seen it before. Please never do that again. I couldn’t stand it if you changed into a monster.” He hugged me right in front of Lancer and Toren. Then he kissed the top of my head.

  “Ash, I wasn’t going to torture them, I would have ruffed them up a bit, but not actual torture. I wouldn’t do that. You should know that. You know me better than anyone else around here, you actually thought I would do that?” I couldn’t believe he thought that about me.

  “You know what, never mind. Let’s just get going. The sooner we get back to headquarters the sooner we can gear up and head out to get DeeDee.” I started to get into the Hummer, I took the driver seat and put my hand out to get the keys from Toren.

  “Lancer, why don’t you sit up front with me?” I was mad at Ash and didn’t even want to look at him right now.

  “B, don’t be like that.” Ash came over to driver side and tried to give me a hug, but I wouldn’t let him.

  “Let’s get back and get everyone geared up, it takes about two to four hours to get to Santa Barbara, depending on the traffic. And we need to find a hotel we can stay in that isn’t too close to them.” I totally ignored Ash. I would have closed the door on his hand but he moved it fast enough to barely miss being caught.

  When we got back to headquarters I called out to Fillie and she came right over to me. “Fillie the rippers took DeeDee and they have moved their operations to Santa Barbara. We are heading out there as soon as we can get geared up. You need to come with me so we can find her before it’s too late. I won’t be able to handle it if they turn her.” I spoke so fast, no one but Fillie understood me.