Battlefield

by J. F. Jenkins

  “I’ll take her phone and send mom a text saying she’s staying at a friend’s or something.”

  “And who’s going to stay and watch her overnight? I’m not volunteering,” Orlando said.

  “I’ll stay. I’m so tired, I don’t think I’ll be able to move anyway,” JD said.

  He sighed, feeling the same way. “You can’t leave here until after I get back, all right? Do you need a ride home?” he asked Cadence.

  She shook her head. “I can stay, too.”

  With another sigh he stood from his chair. “I’d love to have a slumber party with you guys, but if I don’t get back in there, Lyssa will know something is up.”

  For some reason, he expected the others to object, but nobody said anything. They either agreed, or they were too tired to voice otherwise. Whatever the case, Orlando didn’t care. He was going to go crawl into his bed and sleep. Maybe if he lucked out, the whole adventure would be nothing more than a dream. On his way out of the apartment, he unloaded his pockets. Carefully, he placed the papers and the different test tubes of liquid onto the desk in their research center.

  Silence, pure silence, as he walked through his house. This was how he liked things. The music and the voices of the students still rang in his ears, and so did the loud bangs and pops of Alan’s obscure teleportation powers. It gave him a headache to have such a high contrast of noise. He’d hoped to have gotten over it while he was driving back, but it still lingered. If anything, it was getting worse now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off.

  He checked his phone again, hoping to see a message from Tait. Still nothing, and he frowned. Now he wasn’t sure if he should worry. He didn’t want to come off as clingy, but it bothered him that so much time had passed, and she hadn’t said one word to him. Every other time he’d sent her messages, she was good about being prompt with her replies, unless she had a reason not to. Given everything that happened at the party, he couldn’t help but worry about her, especially since she was supposed to be there.

  After a moment of hesitation, he sent her a text. “Hey, sorry if you’re sleeping. Can’t sleep. I’m thinking about you.” He read it over before deciding to send it. Hopefully she’d read it and think it sweet and not co-dependent and suffocating. More importantly, he wanted to make sure she was okay.

  Once he was in his bedroom and the door was shut, he started to strip down to his boxers. Throwing on a pair of pants he could sleep in, he soon curled up into his bed. All the while he stared at his phone, as if he could will for a reply to come. Just as he was about to give up and go to bed, he noticed the little red light on his phone begin to blink. His heart jumped a few times in place as he opened up his messages.

  “Can I call?” from Tait.

  “Yes.”

  Soon his phone was lighting up, and he answered before his ringtone started to play. He didn’t want his sister waking up to the sounds of Aqua’s Barbie Girl.

  “Hey,” he said quietly trying to keep his voice low but audible. Maybe Lyssa wouldn’t be able to hear anything anyway, but he didn’t want to be loud. He enjoyed the quiet too much.

  “I’m sorry about the party. I ended up not being able to go.”

  “Oh, you didn’t miss much.”

  “I still feel bad. I would have replied earlier to your texts, but I was too engrossed with fighting with my parents.” She paused. “After that, I was so tired and wound up I needed a break, so I took a shower, and then I thought it’d be too late to call or text. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. She had been thinking about him. “It sucks that you had a big fight.”

  “They happen, you know?”

  He didn’t know, but he imagined if his parents were actually home for him to fight with, they’d no doubt have a lot of them.

  “Yeah, you just had a horrible, no good, very bad day, didn’t you?” he said.

  “Pretty much,” she sighed, and he could have sworn he heard her sniffle a little.

  He bit his lip. “Are you crying?”

  “Would you think less of me if I said yes?”

  “No, you know I wouldn’t.”

  “I know. I feel stressed out, and this is going to sound so corny but talking to you is just making me feel all...” She whimpered.

  “Girlie and squishy to the point of tears?” he finished for her.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  Orlando didn’t like that she was crying, but he couldn’t help but smile over the fact it was he who made her feel better. It may have been the first time he was responsible for happy tears.

  “Don’t let it get out. It’ll destroy my rep,” he said after a moment of quiet.

  She laughed. “I thought going to a dance with a cheerleader would be more detrimental for you.”

  “Everyone knows cheerleaders love bad boys. It’s like moths to the flame or something. We’re still on for tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes, I’m going. We’re still going to meet here before dinner. My parents are demanding pictures. They said if yours wanted to come, they were more than welcome to.”

  “Yeah, no. I wouldn’t plan on meeting them for a long time.”

  “Anti-social like you?” Tait teased.

  “They’re out of the country a lot,” he said and hoped it came across as serious and not sarcastic. He decided to elaborate to make sure the message got conveyed accurately. “I see them maybe once a year.”

  Tait was quiet for a while.

  “You there? Did I lose you?” He laughed nervously, hoping he hadn’t in more ways than one. Not that he’d blame her for it. Life was complicated in his family, and not everyone wanted to deal with it.

  “No, I’m still here.”

  “You got quiet. I thought maybe I disconnected.”

  “I was thinking, sorry.”

  Uh oh, this didn’t sound good. Orlando shifted in bed, grabbing his extra pillow and hugging it while he spoke. “Do I dare ask what about?”

  Tait paused again. “I just feel bad. I hadn’t realized your parents were MIA. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have said a lot of the things I’ve teased you about.”

  “Please, tease away. I don’t want pity. It’s not something I broadcast anyway.” He let out a quiet sigh of relief. Not that he enjoyed her feeling guilty, but it was better than the alternative, which was being turned off from him.

  “Why not?”

  Because I’m already a freak. He laughed her question off. “Everyone would want to come over and party all the time if they knew.”

  “I’m glad you weren’t sleeping.”

  “Me, too.”

  Orlando fell asleep an hour later with the phone still on.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “You can’t keep me here. My parents will come after me,” Angela screamed at them.

  JD pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. More than anything, he wanted to take off his mask and reveal himself to ease her fear so she wouldn't be so scared. It was hard to believe the power of masks actually worked. Angela was his sister. She saw him every day, and here she was not even able to recognize him. “You’re going to get to see your parents again. We’re waiting on breakfast, and then we’re going to talk. We have a lot of stuff to discuss.”

  “Like how you freaks injected me with that stuff?” she snapped. She made another move to attack him again, but thankfully Orlando walked into the room then with the food. He saw her leaping and used his powers to set her back down onto the couch.

  “I hope you like breakfast sandwiches. Does someone want to heat these up so I can keep kitty from clawing everyone?” he said and reached under his big, black, hooded sweatshirt to pull out a box of sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits.

  Angela fumed where she sat, folding her arms in front of her.

  “What did you do? You did something,” she said, looking at Orlando.

  “Yes, observant and feisty.” He tossed the box to Cadence. “They should microwave well.�
��

  Cadence rolled her eyes and slipped past him to the kitchen.

  “Someone better start answering my questions.”

  JD couldn’t take it anymore. He sat down on the couch next to his sister and grabbed his mask. “I’m telling her.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Orlando asked. He wasn’t calling him a moron, so that was enough encouragement for JD to continue.

  Slowly, his mask came off, and he waited for his sister’s reaction. He glanced back nervously at his friend.

  “You’re an idiot,” Orlando said.

  “What happened?” Cadence asked from outside.

  “He pulled it off.”

  “What? I thought we agreed to wait for Alan to get back.”

  “When did we all agree on this? I never agreed to anything.”

  “We decided it while you were sleeping. We—”

  “Guys,” JD said. He returned his attention to his sister, who was staring at him with her jaw completely slack. “Are you okay?”

  “J...JD? You have three seconds to start explaining what’s going on before I punch you,” Angela said.

  “I like her,” Orlando called out to Cadence.

  JD shot him a glare and then took in a deep breath as he tried to find the words to explain what had been happening in his life for the past month or so. “It started when Alan fell through the roof of the mall. You’ll meet him soon. He told us he’d come back in the morning. He had to report back to his ship you see and...” He stopped when he noticed her frown. “How about I start from last night, and we can catch you up once that part has sunk in.”

  Angela nodded. “Good idea.”

  Why did he think starting with Alan would be a good idea? Even he wouldn’t have believed it. He took in another breath. “The group at the party was trying to recruit you to join their cause. The stuff they injected you with is supposed to change you.”

  “Whoa, change me how?”

  Orlando snorted a little. “You mean you didn’t ask when you volunteered to take it?”

  “No.”

  “We are going to talk about that later,” JD said darkly. “Anyway, this drug...one of three things is going to happen to you.” He waited, making sure he had her attention before continuing. “Nothing could, and this might seriously be our best case scenario here. Otherwise you’re going to change, and if you do you’ll either be special or dead.”

  Angela’s face dropped in color. “They told me about special, but not about dead.”

  “What did they tell you?” Cadence asked, now returning with a plate of sandwiches and a pot of coffee. She placed them on a table before going to fill mugs. “I know you’re a vegetarian, Angela, so I’ve got something else cooking for you. It’ll only be a minute.”

  “I’m not hungry anyway,” she whispered.

  “Food will help you relax,” Cadence insisted. She made a hand gesture, urging Angela to continue talking.

  She did so, but while hesitantly and continuously eyeing her brother. “They told me if I joined them, I could make a difference and be someone. I thought the drug would, at the most, be an interesting high, but the way they talked about it made me positive I’d get some kind of enhancement, too.” She stopped talking and rubbed her arms as if a sudden chill came over her. “I thought it was a fun secret club until I saw him.”

  “Who?” JD asked, putting an arm around her even though he was furious. He couldn’t get past her doing something so stupid, but he’d save the lectures for later. She was scared, and he needed to focus on easing the fear.

  “The man in the lab.”

  “The Doctor. He gave me the heebie-jeebies, too,” Orlando said. He was being supportive? JD just about died of shock.

  “I told him I wasn’t sure I wanted to anymore, but he stuck me anyway. I fell asleep, and then woke up here. Wherever here is. Are you with him, JD?” She faced her brother, and when he shook his head, she fell into his arms shaking. “The others with the masks. They seemed okay, but not him. If you’re not with them, then why do you have one? Why didn’t I recognize you in it? What’s going on? Am I going to die?”

  Cadence moved to the other side of her and put her arms around the trembling girl. “We’re going to do everything we can to help you. That’s why we brought you here for the night.” She hesitated, and then made sure Angela was watching before she, too, pulled off her mask. “See? You’re with friends.”

  “Cadence? You’re one of them, too?”

  “Not one of them. When our friend Alan gets here, he’ll explain everything. I promise.”

  “I can’t die. I still have a lot of stuff to do. I still need to be properly kissed,” Angela said, now on the verge of tears.

  JD squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to think about his sister and boys. “I’m not going to let you die. Do you feel okay?”

  “A little queasy.”

  Cadence offered her some toast she had brought in. “That’s why I wanted to make sure you ate something. You’ll relax, and you won’t confuse hunger for sickness.” Angela nodded and picked up a slice, nibbling on the crust, but it didn’t look as if she were eating much. The whole time Cadence pet her hair in a motherly fashion, and it melted JD’s heart.

  “Better?” he asked. His sister nodded, and he relaxed. “I didn’t realize you were so big into the party scene.” He tried his best to keep his tone light, as though he were simply making conversation with her.

  With a shrug she set her food down. Angela glanced over at her brother before keeping her eyes on the plate. “It’s a good way to unwind. Being home is stressful sometimes.”

  Says the girl who gets her own room. JD didn’t have to share, but his room was right next to his twin brother and sister who were four. The walls were so thin he might as well be sleeping with them. Angela also had the full-sized bed instead of the small twin size everyone else had (sans his parents, of course), and her own bathroom. He didn’t feel she had the right to complain about home, but he bit his tongue. And he only did that because Cadence was shooting him a warning glare.

  “Mom and Dad compare me to you a lot. I just want to go out where I don’t have to deal with all of these expectations. I don’t have to get good grades, or be a good example for Adam, Lucia, and Dominic, and I can briefly not have to worry about someone invading my space or riding on me to do something,” Angela said.

  “I’d feel more sympathy for you if it wasn’t so cliché and didn’t reek of a chick flick. Alan can get here any day now. I do have things to do,” Orlando said. He stood leaning against the wall by the door and tapped his fingers impatiently on the frame.

  “Your friend is charming,” Angela mumbled. Orlando responded by bowing gracefully. “Why is this happening?”

  As if on cue, Alan popped into the room with a small puff of smoke. She shrieked in surprise, which caused the alien to shriek back, equally startled.

  “Why are we yelling?” Alan asked loudly.

  “How did you...? What did you...? Where did you...?” Angela gasped.

  With a loud sigh, JD introduced the two. “This is Alan. It’s what he does. He likes to randomly pop in and out of places a lot. You’ll get used to it because I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to leave you alone after this. Alan, I think it’s time for you to explain to her what’s going on because you’re the only one who can do it accurately.”

  There was a moment of quiet, and Alan frowned as though he were deep in thought. Finally, after only listening to the sounds of Angela nibbling on her toast, and one or two annoyed-sounding sighs from Orlando, he spoke. He pulled out the device he had used on the three teens back when they first met at the plaza, the one with the informative “video” on Altura, and showed it to Angela. Once more the information played for them all to see, but JD saw something different than before.

  The first time he watched the “movie” on the Wimosiphyer, he had seen happy things like children and animals playing together. He thought of Altura as a wonderful
and exciting place he wanted to visit in the future if he could find a way to do so. Intergalactic travel sounded like it would be complicated for him to try, but he figured Alan could make it possible somehow.

  This time the movie he saw was drastically different. He saw children, but he saw them hurting and starving. The animals they had played with before were now vicious and blood thirsty, trained to attack anyone on command. He saw military officials storm into homes, and bodies lying in the streets for all to see.

  JD glanced at Cadence to see if perhaps she saw the same things he did. Before, they had seen a different version of the movie, but maybe this time would be different. Cadence didn’t appear to be moved by whatever she saw. If anything she looked disinterested and barely paid attention. When he glanced over at Orlando, expecting to see something similar from him, he found the boy frowning. The two’s teens eyes met before Orlando walked out of the room all together.

  “This is nuts. Is this for real?” Angela said once it was all over.

  “Yes, they’ve picked Earth as their next battleground, and they’re trying to use us to help them fight,” JD said.

  “I’m still not sure how I feel about that,” Orlando added from outside the room. The sound of the sink could be heard.

  The truth was JD wasn’t sure how he felt about it either. He knew ignoring everything wouldn’t help the situation though. A bigger difference could be made by being on the inside.

  “The people who injected you and tried to get you to join their secret club are part of the tribes who are causing the problems. I guess you could say they’re the bad guys, and we’re the good ones. With some of the stuff I’ve seen, I can’t turn away,” he said.

  “And now I have to join?” Angela asked with a whisper.

  All eyes were on Alan.

  “Let us see what happens first. Then we can discuss.”

  “Basically you want to see if I live, die, or become a freak,” Angela snapped.

  “Yup,” Orlando said as blunt as ever. He rejoined the group, but still kept near the door and continued to lean against the wall. “By the way, I should probably mention I’m staying on the team. You guys can stay at my house as long as you want, but I have a hot date tonight so I won’t be here for too much longer. I, for one, think we’ve put more than our fair share of work in for the weekend.”