A Hidden Element

by Donna Galanti

  "It's a saying meant for the wild."

  Caleb threw his arms out. "Take a look around, Charlie. We're in the wild. And creating a new world is hard if we want to thrive. And we must be hard on ourselves and sacrifice. If we don't we will not succeed. We will hang our heads in shame at our failure. We are only dust between the womb and grave. But we must not blow idly in the wind. We must shape our time here to leave a legacy before we leave our bodies for total darkness." His voice grew harsher than he intended, burning with anger as he repeated his father's words.

  "The wise are promoted to honor, but fools are promoted to shame," Charlie recited. "It's on the wall of my room."

  "Yes. Fools here are not merely shamed."

  Charlie moved closer to Caleb. "What do you mean?"

  "They are punished." He stared at Charlie and let that sink in. Charlie frowned and chewed on his lip, shifting his eyes about. The boy's physical likeness to Adrian was striking. Would his mental likeness be as well? The boy seemed innocent in his youth, but he sensed deep anger in him also. Anger his own father wanted to tap into.

  "Caleb, can you see into the future? Can you see my future?"

  "No," Caleb said, softening his voice. "I am not a Seeker yet. My father will teach you that power."

  "What about you?"

  "Someday. I'm not ready yet. But we don't need to worry about that now, for today we practice healing." Caleb strode toward Charlie and pushed up the sleeve of his robe. Charlie stepped back but Caleb held his arm tight.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I'm going to heal you."

  "But I'm not—"

  In a flash Caleb withdrew a knife hidden in his hand and slashed Charlie's forearm. The boy cried out, but Caleb held him tight. Blood dripped on the arena's dirt floor. Charlie struggled against him.

  "Be still."

  Caleb closed his eyes and pushed his fingers into Charlie's flesh. He felt his life force pumping strong. He willed the skin to stitch together. Charlie gasped and his arm went limp. Caleb opened his eyes and wiped the blood away. The cut disappeared. The only evidence that remained was the spatter at their feet.

  Charlie shoved Caleb away. "Why did you do that?"

  "I needed to show you what we can do. Now it's your turn."

  Charlie shook his head. "I'm not cutting you."

  "This is just part of what you will learn Charlie. There is more power you will learn to use as well."

  "I don't want to know."

  "You must. Adrian has decreed we fulfill all of our powers. It's how we will survive on Earth. It's how we will stop any humans that turn against us."

  Caleb felt sick inside repeating what his father had instructed and instilled in him for years. But his father was watching, listening. He would teach Charlie and appeal to him when the time came to help him. He hoped his father's new heir would also be his great downfall.

  Charlie took a step back toward him, massaging his arm. He twisted his arm looking for a scar. None could be seen. "I can't believe it. I can really do this, too? I mean, I sort of did it with my mom after my dad attacked her."

  "Yes. You can do this and other things." Caleb paused. "Killing."

  Charlie's eyes widened. "Killing?"

  "With our minds. We must be ready to destroy when necessary."

  "Who?"

  "People who get in our way."

  "Like bullies?"

  "People who could stop our cause. But while we have these powers we are not allowed to use them amongst ourselves. We cannot take matters into our own hands. If a member of the community has reasons to do so—whether it's mind bending or healing or killing—they must get permission from the elders first. We are only allowed to practice our powers here within the arena. An elder can override that law in emergency circumstances but must answer later for his actions."

  "What happens if you use your powers on each other anyways?"

  "You are punished."

  Charlie was silent. He didn't seem eager to know what the punishment was. He took another step closer to Caleb. "I've never fit in anywhere before, you know?"

  "I know. You belong here, with us, Charlie. We're cousins. We carry the Madroc blood. We're family. And everyone here is your family. And you are destined to help lead it."

  "And my mom and dad?"

  Caleb wasn't sure how to respond to that. He could not sense his father's plans yet for Charlie's mother, but he could guess what Charlie's father's fate would be. "I'm sure they're part of the plan."

  It seemed a safe answer. For now.

  He motioned Charlie closer and held out the dagger. "Show me your power."

  In his mind's eye Adrian watched his sons work together. Caleb did his job well and Charlie responded with enthusiasm, after his initial shock. He healed Caleb's slashed arm then enjoyed making a young boy do his bidding with his mind bending. By the time Caleb brought out the rabbit in the cage, Charlie was ready for the killing. Power radiated from the boy.

  After the rabbit stopped its struggle the boy grinned, relishing his kill. He held up the animal by the legs and waved it at Caleb who stood with arms crossed, a tight smile on his face. The death wouldn't be wasted. Rabbit stew highlighted the dinner menu tonight.

  Killing was useful in so many ways.

  CHAPTER 26

  Night was coming. Laura moved slower and slower. She had to rest. Besides walking all day she was exhausted from practicing her powers as they moved deeper into the woods. It had been so long since she used her mind powers to battle. She moved sticks and stones together as they hiked toward their enemy. It drained her and she didn't know how she kept taking step after step, but the thought of sleeping here on the ground in the woods terrified her. She saw herself giving violent birth to her son on cold earth as Adrian watched.

  They still had miles to go. They had not seen a soul since entering the woods. They trudged deep into the wild, heading toward a hidden alien enemy. The air had grown so cold. Winter blasted in driving the last warmth of late summer away. The wind stung her cheeks with icy knives.

  "Laura, we have to make a shelter before it gets dark. Get a few hours of sleep."

  "I know. We're still miles away."

  Ben pulled logs and branches together between a thicket of trees. He checked his cell phone but they had no service. Then he made a bed with the insulated sleeping bags they had carried for hours on their backs. They were heavy duty and good for sleeping in below freezing weather. He spread one out flat and unzipped the other to cover them as a blanket.

  Laura sank onto the soft flannel and shivered. The temperature was predicted to be in the thirties tonight. Her baby had not moved much all day but now, in her rest, he prodded her. Ben curled up behind her, warming her with his body.

  "Once we find Charlie how will we get him out?" Ben whispered in her ear.

  "We can't know until we get there."

  "Will your powers be enough?"

  She squeezed his hand. "We have to hope so. We'll need the element of surprise."

  "These ATVs they have. Can we steal them and break out with Charlie? Can you see the layout of this compound?"

  "It's fuzzy right now. I'm only getting pieces from the whip. It holds the memories of Adrian. I'll keep trying."

  At least Charlie was alive. She would find him—and Adrian. Then a shocking thought swept through her mind. What if other compounds sat hidden? Like alien cells waiting to take over the world? She whisked the thought away. She had to think of Charlie now and her unborn child. And Ben. They had the promise of forever once. Did they still?

  She closed her eyes.

  The last thing she heard was Ben murmuring I love you in her ear, his breath warm and comforting on her neck. She didn't know if it could be enough to save them all.

  She slept.

  Leah led Charlie back to his room. His mind raced with all the events of the day. At first he felt silly singing with Leah but then he lost himself in listening to her sweet voice. After he learned the song
she had urged him on. Their voices had blended as one, high and low coming together. He didn't understand the song they sang. It had to do with love and fire and seed. Something light and hopeful stirred in him being with her, a pleasant yearning of sweet anticipation that threaded through his gut.

  If only the kids at school could see him now with this hot older girl. They would be so jealous. Then a different kind of yearning twisted in him. A yearning to avenge himself against them. He hoped he would get the chance.

  Something dark had stirred in him when he was with Caleb. Slashing, mind bending, and killing felt good. It held power. And with power he could do anything. No one would make fun of him again. Here he was as revered as a god.

  His mom and dad flashed through his head, but they seemed like two-dimensional figures now. They were part of an old life. Adrian had pulled him in to his world. In a way, Adrian had been preparing him for it for years and now had become his true father. His natural father, Ben, seemed cardboard and false, like a puppet that never knew him and only wanted to pull his own strings to be normal.

  Charlie didn't want to be his father's version of normal anymore.

  He looked down at Leah as they reached his door. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him full on the lips. They moved over his, so warm and soft, not slobbery like Amy LeFay's. He found himself kissing her back. He reached a hand down and stroked her hair. It fell like silk through his fingers. She pulled back and smiled at him.

  "Soon, Charlie Madroc, our special time is coming."

  But that's not my name! And he didn't know what she meant but he didn't care. He let his thoughts flow into hers. He felt golden just being with her. Nothing gold can stay. The Robert Frost poem from English class flashed through him.

  "It can here, sweet Charlie."

  I hope so. I don't want it to end.

  She smiled at him and left him standing there watching her go.

  Ben was dead.

  Tall shadows dragged his body away. Her child seemed to scream inside her, but her own voice was gone, along with all hope. She fell to the ground in agony. Her child ripped his way out. A monster, as her brother had been. Like Adrian was—and like Charlie would become.

  Her screams came then. Real ones. Not from within a dream. Ben hung over her, pinning her to the ground. The moon spilled across his face. He grinned at her, but it was the hideous grin of another. His hands closed around her throat, her child crushed under him. She twisted beneath him but he held her down. His ragged breaths pounded the air.

  "Laura, you're mine."

  She gripped Charlie's knife. It hid in her hand while she slept.

  "Ben, stop!" He hesitated for a moment and she spit in his face.

  His grin turned to a scowl. He removed a hand to wipe the spittle that dripped down his cheek then his hands reached up and they closed on her neck again.

  He stared into her eyes with those intense gray eyes she had fallen in love with.

  Now they blazed with hatred. The eyes of another. She willed this monster to be her Ben again. He would not die here in the wild by her hand. By the hand of evil.

  "Kill me, Laura." Adrian's words now mocked her in Ben's voice. The same voice that had murmured desire and love to her. His hands gripped her tighter. She grew faint and let go of the knife. She would never use it on him.

  "It's not me," he whispered and fell back on his side.

  Her Ben!

  And she heard the sobbing from her co-worker in her head from long ago. He'd crashed along cubicle walls seeking her out then, a puppet of her twin with the intent to kill. She shrunk further into the ground next to Ben, as she had then under the desk with her boss, Renee.

  "It's not me!" The man had screamed over and over. "Stop it! Let me stop!"

  He pulled the chair out and pointed his gun at them.

  "I'm so sorry but he is making me do it."

  "Who?"

  "I don't know. But he hates you."

  He shot. Once. Twice. Three times. And the back of Renee's head exploded covering her in a spray of blood.

  The man lowered his gun. "Not you. He told me it's not your time yet."

  The sobbing grew louder. Her own now.

  "Ben, come back to me," she whispered. He lay huddled in a ball, his eyes closed. She reached for him, touched him with her healing hands. Her world grew darker. She didn't have the strength. Trees spun around her. And Ben remained so still beneath her hands.

  She sent her light into his dark depths.

  But her light was fading. She would not give up.

  Could not give up.

  The dark took her anyway.

  CHAPTER 27

  Adrian's flock congregated in the courtyard. The sun warmed his face with a resurgence of summer. Such an unusual late September day for a whipping. Sweat dripped down his spine. It stung his wounds from the previous night's self-flagellation. He relished the sting, the clarity the pain brought. The sun's rays grew hotter as all assembled.

  The lovers were to suffer by heat today for the heat between each other. After the night of free love they did not heed warnings to stay apart. They snuck time together to wantonly mate. Adrian took great satisfaction in catching them in the act after being tipped off by one of his elders. And he was satisfied to know his elders still followed him in the laws set down, especially Tollen.

  He could have no cracks in the world he'd created. He needed to ensure that Elyons would come to rule. And he, Adrian, the great leader, would be honored for creating this new world from a dying planet. He was the savior of Elyon. His chest rose with pride. People would follow him or suffer. Today's suffering came as a warning to his flock.

  Charlie stood beside him silent. He wondered what went through the boy's brain but his thoughts hung now below the surface. He mustn't worry. The boy belonged with him. He had a dark heart inside, a twin to his own.

  Caleb led the naked lovers in, who both cried pitifully. Caleb tied their hands over their head to the bar swinging out from the side roof. He then spread their feet and shackled them down.

  Charlie looked at the ground.

  "Charlie-boy, you must watch. These two shamed themselves and will be shamed here. What they have done puts our future at risk."

  "Just by being together?"

  "Yes, for there will be persecution such as the world has never before seen in all its history and will never see again. For as the lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so shall my coming be, when I, the Messiah, return."

  "I don't get it."

  "Laws must be followed. If Elyons do as they please we will become weak and die out. We have no home to go back to."

  Charlie looked at the couple waiting for their punishment then up at Adrian. "Caleb told me it's survival of the fittest."

  "It's how humans survived. It's how we will survive. And you will help me lead our people toward a bountiful future. Only one with a dark heart has the power and conviction to do so. Do you want to go back to being a freak in the human world?"

  Charlie shook his head.

  "Can you accept your duty and the hard choices that come with leading, as I have done?"

  The boy stared at him. It was like seeing a younger version of himself wrestling with his powers and desires, just as he once had. He had made hard choices and he lived with them now.

  "I think I can."

  A thrill surged through Adrian hearing the words he wanted to hear. The crowd stood silent waiting for him to begin. He gripped Charlie's shoulder. "Good. Now watch."

  He strode toward Caleb who held the whip out to him. Caleb's narrowed eyes told him all he needed to know about his son's disapproval. The crack in his flock had to be mended. A son who did not follow the leader's law was reason for the crack to widen.

  Adrian stepped back and raised the whip. That crack would be filled here.

  In this courtyard. In his flock.

  And through his and Laura's sons.

  Charlie faced Leah at the sanctuary altar on thei
r second day together. Their day of dance. Candles burned smoky with a thick scent of pinecones and nutmeg. Their hands pressed together as one. Her face was so close to his. They swayed to the strange music flowing around them, wild and primal.

  Dark desires sprang in him. And guilt at watching the hideous whipping scene today. Guilt at not wanting to leave this place. Guilt at not wanting his parents to come. When he was with Adrian he didn't feel guilty. He felt power. But now here with soft, lovely Leah the guilt moved in.

  He pulled away from her.

  "What is it, Charlie?"

  "Those people today. It was so awful. Why did Adrian do that?"

  She took his hand, but her touch confused him and he let go.

  "It's part of our world, Charlie. Adrian knows best. He has been chosen to lead us to a new world. Our planet is dead. We have nowhere to go. If we don't follow rules we'll die out here, too."

  He looked at this pretty girl who spoke like a grown up. He didn't feel like a grown up.

  "And you believe that?" He took a step back.

  "Yes, I do. I want to thrive. I want our people to thrive on Earth. And I'm thrilled to be a part of its beginning. Adrian says soon our flock will spread. New communities are to be formed soon. We will breed with humans—and control them. Our genes are stronger and will wipe theirs out."

  Leah flung her hair back. She didn't look like the sweet girl he wanted to kiss again but a warrior woman on a mission. The angles in her face sharpened. Her emotions earlier had flowed over him with sweet yearning and light. Now they drowned him in tempestuous need driven by dark desires. She crossed her arms and walked back and forth in front of him. The candle smoke wrapped around her like ribbon as if gifting her to him. The strange music throbbed on and on.

  "And my parents. Where are they? Why aren't they here yet?"

  She stopped pacing and her face softened a bit. "They will be here soon. Trust Adrian. Your mother and father know what you are, where you come from. They will want you to be a part of this. I'm sure your mother has been waiting for this to happen."