by Mikayla Lane
BJ sent out another wave of energy to sift the major’s and again felt a strange reverberation as if the major was blocking her questioning probe.
She mentally shook her head before she sent a message to her mother then turned her attention back to Nik.
“I’m not sure what I’m sensing to be honest. I asked my mom to come and do a deeper probe. She’s the only one I know who can do it without him being aware,” BJ admitted.
“He’s a human; how would he know if you probed him?” Nik asked.
“That’s just it, I don’t know what it is. He could just have more psychic abilities than most humans and a natural shielding. I’m probably just being paranoid about probing him too hard,” BJ said, not believing herself even as she said it.
No, she thought to herself, there’s something wrong about this guy.
“I’ve not encountered a human that couldn’t be sifted without their knowledge,” Nik said, prodding her to explain further.
“Mom will figure it out when she gets here,” BJ assured him, hoping to drop the subject.
The last thing she wanted to do was make tensions even worse by accusing the major of something and finding out she was wrong.
Besides, she thought, if anything were wrong with him, mom and Dennis would have figured it out long before I did. I’m just being an idiot.
“Tell me what you’re thinking. Even if you’re wrong, it’s still worth talking through. You may figure out something that can help us in our dealings with the major in the future,” Nik prodded, wanting to hear her thoughts.
BJ sighed and allowed herself to go into what she called her “cop mode.”
“When he first got here he was surrounded by such a thick aura of arrogance, anger, and disdain that it was hard to notice that the normally sufficient energy wave wasn’t bouncing back properly when I tried to sift him,” BJ admitted as she observed the major with hooded eyes.
“Yesterday, I was really tired and didn’t pay much attention, but I did notice that when I tried to sift him again, the energy came back quicker, as if he repelled it easier. The same thing just happened,” BJ added.
“BJ, the next time you try to sift him, watch his expressions carefully to see if he’s showing any signs of knowing that you’re doing it,” Nik suggested then almost kicked himself for it.
“Wait! Never mind! Don’t do it, BJ!” he added quickly. “If he can detect it, he’ll know it’s you, and you can’t take that chance when you’re trying to get him to leave. Wait for your mom.”
BJ almost smiled at the panic in his voice but kept her face a mask of boredom.
“Trust me, I’m waiting on my mom for this one,” BJ agreed, wanting the major and his men gone.
“Wouldn’t she have noticed something earlier?” Nik asked, hoping whatever BJ was feeling was nothing to be concerned about.
“That depends. The way the energy is bouncing back appears like it’s returning as it would with a normal human. At least at first. It changes when he’s angry and losing control or when he’s heavy in thought. Like now,” she admitted.
“So when he loses control, whatever barrier he may have slips,” Nik said aloud, getting Grai’s attention.
He shook his head to appease Grai for a moment while he reposed the thought to BJ privately.
“Yeah, that’s what it seems like. I’ve done it four times now when he’s been all pissy or deep in thought, and his energy stutters,” BJ explained, hoping Nik might have encountered the phenomena before.
“You know your mom is coming, right?” Nik asked as he watched the determined woman walk down the road on the video. “How is she going to probe him and find out what’s going on?”
BJ almost laughed out loud at Nik’s last question.
“Trust me, whatever she does, it’ll be entertaining.”
She waited, pretending like she didn’t know her mom was coming. When they all heard the commotion outside, she stood with Kyle and Greg to see who was coming. When her mother came in, BJ looked suitably surprised.
“Momma? What are you doing here?” she asked as she walked to her mom.
“It’s early, and you’ve not had breakfast, so I thought we could go to the diner and get something to eat,” Bess said with a grin as she kissed BJ’s cheek.
“Not this morning, Momma. The major wants me to stay with him today while we go over the evidence and plan for the evening,” BJ said with a shrug.
Kyle and Greg looked sick to their stomachs at the thought of the diner, causing Bess to wave her hand at them.
“You can’t tell me you men aren’t brave enough to try it! BJ told you the truth, didn’t she?” Bess asked, looking at BJ as if to ask if she had.
“I did,” BJ admitted. “But you can’t blame them for being a little hesitant.”
Bess raised a disapproving brow at Kyle and Greg, causing both men to squirm and look away.
“Not even a cup of coffee? Really? Even though your best witnesses to the events around here are in that diner?” Bess teased the information, hoping to lure the men there willingly so she wouldn’t have to compel them.
Kyle and Greg exchanged a few intense looks before Kyle cleared his throat and nodded his head.
“Do you know what they’ve witnessed?” Kyle asked.
“Between them all? Probably every kind of craziness this place can conjure,” Bess told him, seeing his resolve to avoid the diner wavering.
“Maybe a bottled water then,” Kyle said with a nod as he glared at Greg, who was shaking his head rapidly.
“I’m starving,” BJ admitted as she led them to the door and down the sidewalk to the diner.
Kyle and Greg looked around in amazement at the suddenly clean townsfolk who now had teeth. Unlike their previous interactions with the people, this time they received waves and smiles instead of suspicious looks and stony silence.
The outside of the diner was devoid of the crowd of men who’d been there all day long for the last two days, and Greg and Kyle sighed in relief that the smelly group was gone. The next surprise came when they went inside.
Gone was the grime and dirt that had previously occupied every corner of the restaurant. The only thing that looked cleaner than the floors, counters, and tables were the glasses and dishes filled with delicious smelling food.
Kyle was almost disappointed when they were approached by the toothless old woman he’d met the first day and was shocked to note that not only were her teeth in her mouth, but she was an attractive older woman when not pretending to be otherwise.
“We saved a table for you,” she said softly as she gestured to a table near the back of the room.
Kyle nodded to her as he moved through the room of quietly conversing people to the table and sat with his back to the wall, facing the door. Greg took the other seat that kept his back to the wall, and BJ and Bess sat across from them.
The table gave Kyle and Greg a perfect view of the grill and kitchen behind the counter, and they were surprised to note that it gleamed and sparkled with cleanliness. Even the cook was perfectly groomed and his apron clean as he cracked a few eggs onto a grill before flipping over some perfectly golden brown pancakes. Kyle’s mouth salivated at the sight.
A teenage girl came by and set cups on the table and began pouring coffee into them. Kyle eyed the sparkling clean pot and the well-dressed girl and shook his head.
“How the hell did you guys go from disgusting to perfect so quickly?” he couldn’t help but ask. The transformation was stunning.
“We actually house all the props in the basement of the mercantile. Our ancestors learned long ago it was easier to scare people away than try to explain things to them, so the majority of what we use is exactly what they used,” Bess explained.
“We gathered the dirty, old sheets that covered furniture in attics and used them as the tablecloths and candlewax over our teeth to make them appear missing,” BJ added with a shrug as she added cream and sugar to her coffee.
Kyle look
ed around the pristine diner and shook his head at the effort before a thought occurred to him.
“How did you know we were coming? We never got through to you on the phone,” Kyle asked, once again suspicious.
“Caleb Perkins lives out by the highway and told us you were coming,” BJ explained. “It’s hard to miss a military convoy. He called here, and since I saw the military hold notice when I ran the prisoners, I figured it’d be you looking for them. Everyone was setting everything up while I was keeping you distracted in the station.”
Kyle shook his head at the extensive ruse that had been played on them and couldn’t help but believe that it was something that the town had indeed practiced before.
“What can I get you?” the teenaged girl asked as she returned to the table for their orders.
“I want the special,” BJ said immediately. “Eggs, over medium.”
“I’ll have the same,” Bess agreed.
The waitress, Bess, and BJ turned to Greg and Kyle. Kyle looked over the clean restaurant and literally went with his gut.
“I’ll have the same,” he said, then nudged Greg.
“Me too,” Greg added with another look at the clean kitchen.
The girl nodded her head, refilled their coffee cups, and left the table. When she was out of earshot, Kyle turned to Bess.
“What have you witnessed?” he whispered.
“There’s no need to whisper. The whole town knows what’s going on,” Bess told him with a small smile. “I really can’t even answer your question though. None of us here really know what we’ve seen and heard. That’s what we’re hoping you can help BJ figure out.”
“Have you had any visions?” Greg said quietly, before looking around to make sure no one else heard him.
“No, thank goodness,” Bess answered, looking suitably relieved. “That seems to be reserved for those of . . . questionable morality.”
Greg appeared disheartened at the news before he perked back up again.
“Has anyone in here had one?”
Bess looked around at Greg’s question and nodded slightly towards the opposite corner of the diner where a lone man sat slumped in a chair, eating by himself.
“Jacob Brown had one. I’m sure he’d answer your questions,” Bess answered, seeing Greg’s eyes light up at the news.
“I’ll see if he’ll talk to you after breakfast,” BJ offered and stood.
She walked over to the older man and sat across from him.
“Jacob? Would you mind speaking with the military men about your experience?” BJ asked softly.
She already knew what the answer would be. As one of the oldest members of their community, Jacob Brown had just about seen it all. The old man winked at BJ, having already agreed to be a “vision” witness.
“I’d be happy to talk to them,” Jacob replied with a small smile.
BJ reached across the table and gently squeezed his hand, sending the dear man some energy before she returned to her table.
“He said he’d be glad to speak with you after breakfast,” BJ told them just as the waitress returned with heaping plates of food.
BJ almost laughed at the control the two men were exerting not to tackle their food, and she decided to cut them a break as they waited for her and her mom to begin eating first.
“Dig in, guys,” BJ said as she stabbed a forkful of eggs and began to eat.
Seconds later, the two men were shoveling forkfuls of food into their mouths.
“This is so damn good,” Kyle mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes.
“John back there is the best cook. His great grandparents built this place, and he started working in it when he was around five, so he comes by his talent naturally,” Bess said casually, not betraying her own thoughts as she called Dennis to the diner. “What about you, gentlemen? Do you both come from a long line of military men?”
“I’m fifth generation military,” Greg admitted before shoveling in another mouthful of pancakes.
When Kyle looked like he wouldn’t answer, Bess prodded him again.
“And you, major?”
“I think I’m the first,” Kyle said without looking up from his plate.
The way he said it though left no doubt in Bess and BJ’s minds that he felt the subject was closed. Bess was grateful when Dennis came into the room.
Kyle and Greg turned to see the large man come in amidst a chorus of “good mornings” and waves. Neither was surprised when he came over to the table, dragging a chair with him as Bess and BJ scooted over to make room.
Dennis no sooner sat down than the waitress brought over a steaming mug of coffee.
“Thank you,” Dennis said to the girl before turning to Greg and Kyle. “Good morning, gentlemen.”
“Good morning,” Greg said.
Kyle eyed the man warily and nodded his head in greeting.
“Irwin, me, and a few others plan on staying in town tonight to make sure everyone stays safe. We don’t have your kind of weaponry, but every bit helps,” Dennis assured them.
“We’ll be at the mercantile in case you need anything,” Bess added.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Kyle said, still not believing that this place was a hotbed of paranormal activity.
The only thing he was sure of was that his prisoners were gone, he’d been played once by these people, and he wasn’t going to be played again. He was grateful all the major players in this ruse would be where he could keep an eye on them.
“Have you had any visions or seen anything?” Greg asked.
“I haven’t had any visions,” Dennis said as he looked around the diner, “but Jacob over there has. I can see if he’ll talk to you.”
“He already said he would after breakfast,” BJ added, playing along.
“That’s good,” Dennis said with a grin. “Now, have I seen anything? More than you can imagine.”
“Can you give me an example?” Greg prodded, eager to learn what he could of the paranormal activity in the area.
“I’ve heard the shrieks and growls at night from something that isn’t a normal animal. Woke up the next morning, and my goats were ripped to shreds. I’ve seen strange lights in the sky,” Dennis replied. “Then there’s those flashes of light in the woods and what looks like strange, glowing beings of some kind.”
“Where did you see all that?” Greg asked, his eyes wide with interest.
“All over this place. You won’t have to wander far tonight to get a good idea of what BJ’s been trying to explain to you. There’s more than enough activity right here in town to show you what we’ve been going through,” Dennis admitted as the waitress set a plate of food in front of him.
At Kyle’s strange look Dennis laughed.
“The perks of being OCD and living in a small town is that everyone knows what you eat for breakfast every day,” Dennis said with a laugh as he dug into his food.
“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Kyle asked.
“Just do what you’ve done the last few nights,” Dennis replied with a shrug. “But stay in the station. Don’t try camping outside again.”
“What makes you so certain that something is going to happen?” Kyle asked, still wondering if the whole thing was another ruse.
If it is, I can’t figure out why the hell they’d try to keep us here, he thought.
“I have no idea if anything will happen or not. But after seeing what happened the last time you stayed outside, I’d think common sense would dictate you not try that again, but you do what you want,” Dennis said, nonchalantly sipping his coffee.
There was nothing casual about his thoughts as Dennis sent a warning to Bess and the others. A collective gasp was heard through the town’s private path on the shengari’, and Bess shot Dennis a questioning look.
Dennis nodded his head slightly and frowned in thought over what he’d discovered about the major while everyone else tried to absorb the shocking revelation.
Nik felt the tremor in BJ�
�s mind but the not the reason.
“BJ, what just happened?” he asked, cursing that there were no cameras in the diner.
“Nik, how close have you ever been to the major?” she asked, her voice shaking a little.
“We’ve never been close to him. If we had, he’d be dead,” Nik admitted, wondering what that had to do with anything.
“This is all kinds of screwed up. We need to regroup. Dennis and Mom need to figure this out,” BJ warned him.
“What’s going on?” Nik demanded, becoming concerned at BJ’s tone of voice. “If he’s done something, I swear I’ll rip him apart with my bare hands!”
“You need to rethink that, Nik. The major is a hybrid,” BJ whispered in his mind.
Chapter Seventeen
BJ tried not to stare at the major, still reeling from what Dennis and her mother had discovered. She was tempted to ask them if they were sure, but she knew the reason her mother had called Dennis to begin with was to confirm what she’d already figured out.
Nik could have sworn he heard BJ wrong and he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Nik asked.
“Nik, the major is a hybrid. Dennis and Mom are certain,” BJ repeated, still pretty stunned herself.
“How the hell is this possible?” Nik asked, beginning to pace the transport floor. “How could they not have known right away?”
“One of his abilities has to be shielding. It’s a lot like mine to be honest,” BJ admitted, wishing she’d paid a lot more attention to the major when he’d first arrived.
“Holy shit! Does he know? How the hell can he do what he does to our people?” Nik growled aloud, causing Grai to stand immobile in front of him, his eyes demanding answers.
Nik held his hand up to Grai and shook his head.
“I need more information. So will you,” he growled before he turned away and paced the other direction.
“Does he know he’s one of us?” Nik asked BJ.
“We don’t know,” BJ replied, forcing herself not to stare at the major while that same question ran through her mind.
“How could he not know?” Nik growled in anger. “Sorry, I’m not angry at you.”