by Noah Harris
“It felt so good to wake up with you,” Jared confided, since he had awoken in the barn with his head resting on Nick’s chest. “Until I remembered how we got here.”
He rubbed his temples and the back of his neck, still not believing that this was his life. How had he gotten here? How had his father gotten to this point of insanity without him knowing? He continued.
“I have to try to speak to some of my father’s board, someone who can force him to get some help. Did you hear him last night? He’s lost it completely. I’m so embarrassed, mortified really, with him shouting that you are some alien or something.”
“Not alien, non-human,” Nick corrected, slowly.
“Whatever. We’ve got to go into town, and neither of us has a phone. We’re probably down on gas as well. How much money do you have on you?” he asked.
“None—these are your clothes, remember?” Nick reminded him. Jared shook his head.
“That’s right,” he fished into his own wallet, “I’ve got forty-seven dollars in cash. That’s it. I can’t use the credit cards. My father’s security would pick us up within minutes, and I have to get to the board first.”
Nick drew in a heavy breath. This must have been how his parents felt before they told him. How do you tell someone you care for that you have been lying to them from the very first moment? He looked at Jared, and hoped he could make him understand somehow.
“Listen Jared, we have to talk. There are things you don’t know—about your father, about the world… about me.”
Nick took him by the hand and they sat in an empty field of grass and weeds, facing one another and holding both hands. The sun shone down from a cloudless sky. The morning was still slightly cool, and a rabbit hopping nearby paused to look at them before returning to the blanket of shade under the bushes at the edge of the field. Nick inhaled, and then exhaled, knowing that when the breath ended so would the lies between them, and also perhaps, whatever feelings they had between them. Jared stared at Nick, watching his face go ashen. He was tempted to interrupt, but wanted to see where this was going.
“Jared, I know we haven’t been dating very long, and we’re still getting to know each other, but you are important to me.” He stared straight into Jared’s eyes as he continued. “I haven’t told you everything about myself—not because I was trying to deceive you or anything, but more in the way you just don’t over share too early in any relationship. You don’t dump your problems and baggage all out on the table at the outset, right?”
“R-i-g-h-t,” Jared’s reply was slow and wary. He tilted his head slightly while looking at Nick, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“You were amazing last night. I can never repay you for saving me like that, and I know it must have been difficult to go against your own father to do it.”
“Not really. You saw him. He’s completely lost it. How could I not get us out of a situation with someone so sick?”
“The thing is, Jared,” Nick dragged it out until the last moment, “he’s not sick. I mean, maybe he is, but not in the way you think. There are non-humans living here, but they have lived together with humans for thousands of years. There doesn’t have to be conflict. They aren’t hurting anybody. It’s just, in recent years; some humans have begun to hunt them in order to get their powers, so they had no choice but to fight back.”
Jared let go of Nick’s hands, holding his own palms-out, and shaking his head in disbelief.
“Non-humans?” he queried, verifying he heard correctly. Nick just nodded affirmatively in response giving Jared time to digest the information. Jared began twisting and pulling at a small patch of dandelions in front of him. He did know his father had always had a secret, but could it be related to something like this? He shook his head, no.
“Nick, there’s no way. There must be some misunderstanding, or maybe someone is trying to gaslight us or something. You can’t really believe there are non-humans running around? And if they aren’t aliens, what are they?”
“Shape shifters,” Nick confirmed.
“Shape shifters? Like, ‘I can change from me into something else’—shape shifters? How can you believe that?”
Nick clasped his own palms together, as if he was praying, and replied as gently as he could,
“Because I am one.”
Jared immediately closed his eyes and started shaking his head reflexively—quickly and repeatedly no—but somewhere in his heart, he knew at that moment it was true. He could just feel it.
“Show me,” Jared barked.
“I can’t. I mean, not now, not yet. See, I used up a ton of energy yesterday. It will take me a while to recover.”
“Right!” Jared said, raising his eyebrows in a challenge.
“Listen, I know it sounds crazy. I didn’t even know myself until I was eighteen. I wouldn’t have believed it myself, if things weren’t happening to me—changes, symptoms, different things. I’m not explaining this very well.”
“No, you’re not.” Jared got up and walked away. He needed some space. He took a wide lap around the edge of the field, and then sat for a bit on a small rock near the edge of the woods. He looked far across the field at Nick, who sat in the same spot with his knees propped up, elbows on his knees and his head down with his forehead resting on the backs of his hands. He didn’t move for the longest time, and then finally rose and walked back to the barn without looking back at Jared. After another half hour, Jared returned as well
“If I assume this is true,” Jared began, and Nick’s eyes leapt with possibility. He was still here! He hadn’t grabbed the motorcycle and run away! “And that’s a big ‘if,’ then just how is my father involved?”
Nick’s momentary enthusiasm was immediately deflated. If Jared didn’t run at the first news, he’s surely going to run at this, he thought. “Your father is the leader of the humans who hunt shifters. I don’t know why—if it’s that they hate us, or just object to us being here—but I do know they kill shifters, then they crush their bones in order to get power from the powder they make from them. They kidnapped a friend of mine—that’s why I came to your house.”
As predicted, that was the last straw for Jared. He decided in that moment. “Look, we just have to get back to town. I don’t know what to believe anymore. We’re almost out of gas anyway. We need food. Maybe then I can think.”
“Okay,” Nick caved, knowing Jared was beyond being pushed any further. There was only so much a person can handle at one time. He needed time, the one thing Nick didn’t really have, but he’d have to make it. Plus, he needed to get in touch with Michael anyway. “But we need to lay low. They will kill me if they catch me, Jared, and I’m not sure about you.”
“My father would never hurt me,” Jared replied, without hesitation. Nick walked somberly to the motorcycle, and Jared added. “But that doesn’t mean I always agree with his decisions. I know—I know how he can be.”
14
Nick and Jared drove into town just far enough to find a gas station and food, but no further. There was no sense in going into the high traffic areas with a larger volume of cameras. Mr. Finley’s security team had unlimited resources, and no doubt were plugged into local law enforcement, at least enough to pick them up from license plate or facial recognition cameras. Jared pulled into the service station, which had two pumps of the old, rotary-style variety. It took over five minutes just to pump a few gallons of gas, and Jared paid in cash. He also grabbed a couple baseball caps they had for sale near the counter of the convenience store inside. One bore the name of a tool company, and the other referenced a motor sports team. When he handed one to Nick, they both looked at each other in commiseration.
“These will obstruct the cameras and drones, if he sends any, and basically buy us time with facial recognition, and not get us immediately identified if he sends private investigators to ask the locals if they’ve seen anyone strange around,” Jared advised. Nick took it gratefully. He put it on, and tucked his hair in slig
htly at the sides.
“You don’t think we look strange?” Nick ventured his first small joke amid the tension.
“It’s all relative, it won’t look strange here.” Jared said, motioning to the corner on which they found themselves. One side of the street was consumed with rows of crops, where sprinklers whirled back and forth, resetting in rhythmic harmony. On the opposite corner, next to the gas station, was a used RV lot. The sign read, ‘Your Luxury Dream Vacation,’ though none of the RVs looked particularly luxurious. The final corner belonged to Big Bear’s Barbecue, which for some reason didn’t have a bear out front, but a giant concrete pig, standing on two legs wearing a chef’s hat, and waving a spoon in the air fancifully above its head. It had a fresh coat of paint, but that had clearly covered at least twenty other layers, judging from the thickness of what they could see. The pavement ended at the road, and Nick and Jared pulled into the dirt lot and parked the bike around to the side, out of view of the main road, before going in.
The waitress was a clean-cut girl in country boots, the kind with the bright and shiny hair that said she was probably the owner’s daughter being forced to work during off-school hours. She had a small tattoo peeking out from beneath her pressed sleeve, and probably went to college in town. After ordering, Nick and Jared inhaled the food with great speed. Nick felt instantly better—more energized… more himself. The waitress brought their check, and Nick spotted the opportunity.
“Hey, we were out trail riding and lost the bag with our phones in. Do you have one I could borrow to call my friend, only for about five minutes? They don’t know where to meet us.” Nick inquired.
She surveyed them for a moment, probably trying to decide if they would pull a scam to steal her identity, take off with her phone, or call a foreign country.
“We’d be happy to pay for the minutes,” Nick added, looking at Jared, who smiled sincerely. Please just look normal, he thought. You haven’t been discussing shape shifters and crushed bones all morning. You’re just a regular guy. It didn’t take long for her to pluck her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and plunk it on the table.
“My minutes are unlimited,” she informed them, “so there’s no payment necessary.” Since the checkout counter was between the eating area and the door, it was hardly a risk that they would run off with her phone. She knew they had lied, of course—they were too clean to have been trail riding—but every country music song in her upbringing had taught her that men lie, so she didn’t really bat an eye about it.
“Thanks,” Nick nodded. Once she was gone, he dialed Michael’s number. There was no one else in their section, but he still spoke quietly.
“Who’re you calling?” asked Jared.
“Michael,” Nick informed.
“Why? Are you two…” Jared paused.
“No, no—nothing like that. He’s my pack leader,” Nick said, and Jared felt a small pang of relief.
The phone rang four times before Michael picked up.
“Michael, its Nick. Where are you guys?” he asked.
“Why? I told you yesterday to stay put. You’re not coming with us. Just stay in your house and I’ll call you when it’s over.”
“See, that’s the problem, I’m not at home. I went to Jared’s house, to see if I could find out where Gideon was being held. Before you completely freak out, I know I shouldn’t have, but it’s too late now, and we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere without much money. I’m not sure where to go.”
Michael contained himself. Getting pissed wouldn’t change the situation now. God, I hate newbies, he thought, and a momentary flicker of doubt about his future plans for Nick ran through his mind. Strike One.
“We? What does that mean? You said, ‘We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere.’ Who is with you? The human?” Michael queried.
“Yeah, it’s Jared,” Nick said hesitantly, looking at Jared and trying to judge from his face whether he could hear Michael’s voice through the phone from across the booth. “He helped me escape,” he raced to add. “I wouldn’t have gotten out without him. He saved my life.”
“He’s probably being tracked, you know that, right? I would be shocked if his dad didn’t have him implanted with some tracking chip or something. Use your brain, Nick. You’ve got to ditch him then I’ll come get you,” Michael responded.
“I can’t do that,” Nick replied firmly. “I won’t leave him.” Upon hearing that, Jared decided he didn’t want to leave Nick either. Not yet. Now that he had eaten and he’s had time to think, it was clear to him that he couldn’t go to the board anyway. They probably already knew.
“Well, I have a Wisdom meeting in a few hours. He can’t be anywhere near here, and frankly, I don’t have time to deal with him. Can you guys lay low until the end of the day tomorrow? I can come get both of you then, and we can sort this out. Hopefully, we’ll have Gideon by then.”
“We can,” affirmed Nick.
“Where are you?” Michael asked.
“Out by the old barn that used to be a petting zoo. Did you ever go there as a kid?”
Michael chuckled at the thought, considering how long it had been since he was a child. “No, but you can’t stay there anyway. They might force Gideon to locate you. You need to get close to a large body of water.”
“How about Lake Monroe?” Jared offered, verifying that he could hear every word.
Michael bristled; wanting to tell him to shut the human up, but it was actually a decent suggestion.
“Okay, I’ll pick you both up at five o’clock tomorrow afternoon, on the south side of the lake, near the bridge. Lose that phone.”
With that, he hung up. Nick felt part guilty, part envious and part useless; unable to assist at all in Gideon’s recovery. He was afraid of what they might do to his friend.
“Is Gideon your friend? The one you say they abducted?” Jared asked.
“I don’t say they abducted him, Jared. They did abduct him. I saw the whole thing on video tape with my own eyes. I know this is hard because it’s your father, but you can’t change the fact that what he’s doing is wrong.”
“I know that, but I’m just saying I don’t have all the facts, and I don’t think you do either. Do you honestly think your people have told you everything? Do you think Michael shares everything with you?”
Before he could respond, the waitress returned and picked up her phone. They thanked her again, and on the way out, bought some bread to go, which Nick carried, over his shoulder on the motorcycle, in a plastic bag. How useful a backpack would have been at that moment? They had decided to quickly hit the bank for some money, then leave the area immediately and bolt for Lake Monroe. By the time any security might show up here, they would be long gone, and through the mixture of county and dirt roads, there would be little way to tell exactly where they had gone.
Jared withdrew his shiny bank card from his wallet, slid it into the ATM slot, and with the familiar beeps and buzzes they made a simple withdrawal. Oh, how he’d taken this for granted. He withdrew the maximum allowed, and he and Nick sped away on the motorcycle. What was also surprising was the assortment of establishments in the dirt road interior of their own county. They stopped quickly at a wooden shack named Hal’s Army & Navy surplus, and bought an army green backpack, a lantern, pocket knife, a canteen and some canned beans. How to get water out to where they were going would be their biggest problem. It was too bulky and difficult to transport on the small motorcycle, especially with two people barely fitting on it already. They certainly couldn’t drink from the lake—water moccasins, amoebas, gators—and who knew what bacteria was in there. Surviving the next day and a half would mean little, if they ended up dying of some tropical disease or septicemia later on. Maybe they could boil it, Jared mused.
As they got within a few miles of the lake, a roadside produce stand answered the rest of their prayers. They stocked up on some fresh fruits and vegetables. Nick shoved them into the backpack while Jared paid, and then Nick spied
a cooler of bottled water sitting next to the proprietor’s feet in the dirt. Next to the cooler sat a dirty, lovable, mid-sized mutt named Booker, whose name they learned when the kindly owner told them he was named after Booker T. Washington. The man smiled readily as he handed Jared his change. A small pan of peach cobbler sat on the corner of the wobbly folding table, methodically cut into brownie-sized squares.
“Now, every customer has to try some cobbler,” the man’s old eyes smiled from beneath a mass of wrinkles. His hands shook slightly as he carefully lifted out two small pieces, and gingerly placed them on napkins. Jared and Nick thanked him sincerely as they took the pieces, and praised them highly as they ate. Clearly, the man’s wife had made the cobbler. “Just for our special customers,” the man added. Booker, whose head had popped up in anticipation of the possibility of a dropped crumb, settled back to his resting state, once he realized the treats were gone.
“Sir, do you think we might be able to buy that water from you?” Nick broached. “I could come back in a few minutes and pick it up.”
“Well, that’s supposed to be for me and Booker to drink throughout the day, but I suppose we could spare some. Would half help you out?” the man responded.
“Very much. Thank you so much.”
With that, Nick and Jared proceeded to drive to the lake, where they decided the most distant picnic pavilion was the best to use as their temporary camp. Nick raced back to the produce stand alone with the bike and, as promised, the man delivered half the water to him in a spare container, which he strapped to the horizontal metal stand on the back of the bike, exactly where previously he had been so uncomfortably riding. Once he got back to Jared, they looked around for anything that might make some soft bedding for the night, atop the grass. The idea of sleeping on a picnic table didn’t seem very comfortable, and both wished they could have stayed at the barn, with the soft hay and fields of lush grass.