by Elin Wyn
“I’m not sure if I should…”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. If you guys are, I’m happy for you. She deserves to be happy, and if you’re the one making her happy, then I’m all for it. I mean it. Look,” he said as he sat back and leaned his chair back on two legs, “I know that this is really odd. I get that. You probably came in expecting me to be angry, that I still hate you, that I still spend my nights dreaming up ways to kill you. But,” and here he smiled. I’m sure it was a genuine smile, but it bothered me greatly. “I don’t. I’m grateful to you. I really am. I’m assuming you took a look at all my brain scans and reports before you walked in, right?”
“We did,” Jalok admitted.
We had, too. Adam’s brain scans had come back perfect.
No abnormalities, no lesions, nothing at all that would indicate that there was anything wrong with him. In fact, the people that ran the facility said that Adam was a truly changed man and that he was even trying to help people understand that the world had changed and that the crew of the Vengeance were trying to make things better.
“So, you can see that I’m fine. No weird things in my scans, no ‘possessions’ or anything like what I’ve been hearing about on the news, nothing. I’m honestly happy, and I’m honestly trying to make things better around here. I want to make things right for all of us here.”
“Why don’t I believe you?” I asked.
Adam looked a little disappointed before he answered me. “Because I did things, said things, thought things, and probably even wrote things down, that were derogatory, inflammatory, and downright asshole-like in regards to you and the rest of your shipmates.”
He sighed. “Here’s the thing. I’m not perfect. I’m still not fully on the alien-pride parade, I’ll admit that. But what I can tell you is that I do understand and accept that you guys are here, that the Xathi weren’t your fault, and that you’re trying your best to help us all. That’s all I can ask, and I’m trying to get people to understand that.”
“That sounds positively enlightened,” I said. I didn’t believe him, not for a second. But I could see that Jalok was buying it.
“That sounds good,” he said. “I’m glad to hear that you’re doing better. I know Dottie will be happy to hear that.”
Adam’s face fell a bit. “I feel bad for hurting her, I do. I feel bad for hurting you. There’s still something deep inside me that wants me to attack you, I’ll admit that to you. But I’m able to hold it back. I’m able to control the feeling, and I’m able to use the feeling to help me talk to others that have a legitimate hatred for you guys. As for my sister, I haven’t really talked to her much in the last month. She’s only commed once, actually. She doesn’t seem too sure about me.”
Because you’re a possessed homicidal maniac, I thought to myself.
“I’m sorry about that,” Jalok said. “If you think it would help, I could try to talk to her.”
“Maybe, but I don’t want to push her,” Adam said. “So, what else did you want to talk about?”
For the next two hours, we sat and talked. Rather, I should say that he and Jalok spoke for two hours and I contributed a few sentences every now and then.
After they were finally finished talking, Adam went back to doing whatever it was that he did inside the facility, and my cousin and I left.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“What?”
“That whole two hours we just spent in there? You do know he’s most likely lying through his teeth, right?”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because the only thing that he was honest about was still having something inside him,” I said.
“Why are you so against the idea that he’s trying to make things right? Why is it so hard to believe that he’s fixing things?” my cousin asked me as he stopped walking, forcing me to stop, as well.
“Really? The man that tried to put a knife into your chest is suddenly being nice?”
“If he was possessed, then it wasn’t his fault, and he’s maintained the entire time that he wasn’t trying to kill me, that he didn’t know why he suddenly had that urge,” he said. He threw his hands up and gave me a disappointed look. “Why can’t you simply accept that?”
“I don’t know. I guess, when someone tries to kill my family, it’s hard to forgive.”
“Well, figure it out.” Then he walked off, heading for Sybil’s.
“What about Dottie? Any idea why she hasn’t said anything to her brother lately?”
“No. But, that’s between them. I might bring it up with her, but it’s also between her and her brother. Why are you suddenly so concerned about Adam and Dottie now?”
“I’m worried about Dottie, not Adam,” I said. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You’re fine, just confusing. Speaking of confusing, what was that whole turning away thing back at Sybil’s? Since when have you been the type to hide your scar? I mean, your hair covers the lack of the ear, unless you brush it back.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Again, I was trying to get comfortable. That seat was aggravating my backside.”
“Whatever, liar,” he laughed.
We changed subjects and went back to cracking stupid jokes as we headed back to the women.
Sybil
The sound of the front door opening startled both Dottie and me into alertness. We had descended into a cheese-fueled lethargy after our snack binge, but now we were all too alert.
My father came into the parlor, then noticed us sitting in the den. He came walking toward us, completely unhurried and not in the least aggressive. That damned blank expression was still on his face.
“Hi, Dad.” I swallowed hard, fearing another outburst, but he remained placid. “How was your day?”
“My day was productive, daughter Sybil.” He turned his gaze upon Dottie, but there was neither warmth nor the glimmer of recognition. I waited for him to greet her, but he just continued to stand there and stare blankly.
“Uh, you remember Dottie, don’t you? She’s only been coming over to our house since, like, forever.”
A smile stretched over his face, but it was a cold smile that stayed on his lips and didn’t reach his oddly staring eyes.
“Of course I remember Dottie. I remember all of my offspring’s friends. Hello, Dottie.”
“Hello.” Dottie waved weakly, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with me. Both of us definitely felt creeped out. “I understand that you and Sybil had something of a tiff the other night.”
“No, we had no tiff. This is a tiff-free home.”
I looked to Dottie as if to say see? Her gaze remained fixed on my father, however.
“Uh, so you guys didn’t get into an argument the other day? Because Sybil seemed pretty upset when I spoke to her about it.”
I winced at the note of accusation in Dottie’s tone, but my father didn’t seem to notice. Or if he did notice, he didn’t react in the slightest.
“Oh, yes. That’s right. I’m afraid that as a parent I must sometimes lay down the law to my offspring. It’s a normal thing that hu—that people do. I’m sure you understand how it was just as painful for me as it was for my daughter Sybil.”
“Mr. Anatosian, are you feeling all right?” Dottie cocked her head to the side.
“Why, I feel right as rain, Dottie, right as rain. I’m sure that all of my vital signs are perfectly normal at this time.”
He smiled again, but the effect was chilling rather than comforting.
“Well, you seem a little off to me. Maybe you should go see a doctor.”
The smile grew just a bit more intense.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I’m not off. I’m just enacting new disciplinary rules for my offspring. That is a normal thing that happens in society every day. I’m not sure why you think that to be odd.”
Dottie sighed in exasperation.
“Maybe I’m just really confused, but you should know that you reall
y upset Sybil with your antics yesterday. Have you even thought about talking to her about how she feels?”
“Ah, you are speaking of that instance.” The smile returned to full width, but again, his gaze remained creepy and cold. “Yes, I am afraid that I had to make some hard decisions as the parental unit. Sybil is not allowed to be with anyone I have not vetted properly. I have to make sure they are safe for her to be around. These are dangerous times.”
“Yes, but you’ve never been like this with her before. It’s just a sudden change, and we were wondering—”
“Dottie, I appreciate your concern for daughter Sybil, but my decisions are final. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must attend to some business pertaining to my duties as mayor.”
Dottie and I exchanged worried, fearful glances. I took her hand and led her upstairs to my room. After securing the door with both a lock and a chair tilted under the doorknob, we sat on my bed and spoke in low tones so he could not hear us downstairs.
“Do you see what I mean? He isn’t acting like himself at all.”
“There’s been nothing overt, but yeah, that’s definitely not the Mayor Anatosian that I know.” Dottie sighed. “Are you sure you never saw any weird flashes in his eyes?”
“Positive. I’d have definitely noticed something like that. Why are you asking, anyway? Is that a symptom of a disease or something?”
“I didn’t notice one either.” Dottie held her face in her hands for a moment, and seemed to be struggling with herself. “Sybil, what I’m about to tell you is classified, top-secret military information, but I think you need to hear it. But you can’t tell anyone, or I could get into a heap of trouble.”
“Wait, what?” I shook my head. “Why would you need to tell me classified information? What exactly is going on?”
“There’s something I haven’t told you. You remember how I said over comms that I’d found my missing brother, Adam?”
“Yeah, I was really happy for you, and him.”
Dottie sighed and seemed on the verge of tears.
“Well, he came back all right, but now he’s in the detention center.”
“He’s what? Oh my god, what happened?”
“He attacked Jalok with a knife, tried to kill him.”
“Dottie. No.” I shook my head, unable to comprehend what she was saying. “Adam’s always been a little hotheaded, but I can’t see him becoming violent.”
“Me neither. Adam would never do something like that in his right mind. Thing was, he wasn’t in his right mind, not at all.”
“You’re going to have to explain.”
“There are these—we don’t know what to call them. They’re incorporeal beings, that apparently have existed for tens of thousands of years. The Puppet Master calls them the Ancient Enemies, or the old ones.”
“Incorporeal?” I struggled with the term. “Does that mean, you can’t touch them?”
“Hey, you remember physics class. Yeah, they don’t have what we would call physical forms. They seem to exist as pure conscious energy, as mystifying as that sounds. Anyway, since they don’t have physical bodies, we suspect they’ve learned to take them over from other species, like humans.”
I stared at her in complete shock, my mouth hanging open.
“Take them over? Like demonic possession?”
“Yes, only for real. And it’s not always obvious when it happens, but every other time the phenomenon has been reported, there’s been a strange flash of light in the affected human’s eyes. They sweat a lot, too.”
“My dad was sweating the other day.”
“Yes, but he was really worked up. In science, we have a saying that goes like this, ‘Sometimes a unicorn is just a horse.’”
“Sometimes a unicorn is just a horse? What the hell does that even mean?”
Dottie chuckled softly, though she didn’t have the heart for much mirth.
“I suppose it is a strange expression. What it means is, just because you encounter unknown phenomena doesn’t mean that there’s not a sound, logical explanation for it. So, if you found hoofprints in the forest, you could claim they were from a unicorn, but the fact is, it was probably a horse.”
It took me a moment to piece together what she’d said.
“So, just because my dad was sweating profusely, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s been possessed?”
“Right. And most of those people who have been possessed were only under the control of the Ancient Enemies for a short time. So it’s possible your father is just succumbing to the stress of his job and being a single parent.”
“This is horrifying.” I hugged myself and shivered, though it wasn’t cold in my upstairs bedroom. “How far has this reached?”
“Pretty far. They say that one of the candidates was possessed during the debates a while back.”
“Is that what happened?” Of course, I hadn’t watched the debates---there was a sick party going on that night—but I’d heard about the violence which erupted later.
“Yeah. And it happened to Adam, too.”
“Is Adam going to be all right?”
“Near as we can tell, he is. They have him in detention for observation, but he’s shown no further signs of possession.”
Dottie grimaced and stared out the window.
“It’s hard to pin down how widespread it is, because there’s plenty of legitimate anti-alien sentiment to go around. The anti-alien terrorists cause plenty of havoc all on their own without any help from ancient, incorporeal beings.”
“This is just too much. I don’t think I can even handle this, Dottie. I kind of wish you hadn’t told me.”
“I know. I know it’s a burden, but I thought you should know, in case—in case your dad is—”
“In case we really are dealing with a unicorn, and not a horse.”
Dottie spread her hands as if to say that I’d gotten the gist of what she wanted to say. I guess it was hard for her to come out and say the words ‘if your father has been possessed’.
If I hadn’t been in turmoil before, I certainly was now. My father’s strange behavior paled in comparison to the idea that there were malevolent forces plotting our doom. Forces which could not be seen, or touched, or sensed in any way except by the effect they had on their hosts.
“So,” I started, stopped again. This wasn’t a sentence I’d ever thought I’d say. “How do we tell if my father is possessed?”
Dottie reached for her comms unit. “I can think of one thing, but you might not like it.”
As she made her call, my mind raced.
Was my father just feeling the strain of his high-powered position and my admittedly exasperating behavior?
Or was he really under the control of the Ancient Enemies?
Somehow, not knowing was the worst part of it all.
Cazak
The sun had sunk low on the horizon, casting a golden-red glow on Jalok and me as we finally lugged the mayor’s deliveries to his office.
“They say it’s too sensitive to trust to anyone but a Vengeance crewmember, but I think the government really just wanted to avoid paying delivery fees,” Jalok muttered.
“Regardless, it’s nearly done,” I said.
Mayor Anatosian, like most prideful humans, had set up his office on the top floor of the Kaster municipal building. Jalok and I rode the elevator up to the top in silence, as I was lost in thought and he was all gooey-eyed over the prospect of seeing his sweetheart, Dottie.
No matter how I tried to think about something else, my mind kept dwelling on Mayor Anatosian’s daughter, Sybil. I never thought I would be part of the ‘attracted to human women’ club, not in a million years. Because of that, I hadn’t figured my scar for being an issue.
Skotans see scars as a sign of strength, like a big flashing sign that says, ‘look what I’ve survived’. But humanity was different. They praised youth and beauty in their literature, poetry, and artwork.
I found myself avoiding looking at my refle
ction in the elevator car’s polished metal walls on the ride up. After years of learning to live with my disfigurement, it was suddenly making me self-conscious.
All because of the mayor’s daughter. I tried not to think about her sweetly curved body, or her long silken hair, because by default, she was out of my league.
We got to the top floor and hauled our burdens to the reception area. The bright-eyed young woman behind the desk smiled at Jalok, but her grin became strained when her gaze fell on me. I turned my head to the side so as to hide my ugliness.
“Hello. We have some packages for Mayor Anatosian.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid the mayor isn’t in right at the moment.”
Jalok’s eyes narrowed in annoyance and he kicked one of the boxes.
“Then what are we supposed to do with these? Drag them back outside?”
“No, you can leave those with me and I’ll see to it the mayor gets them.”
“As long as you can sign that you received it and we can verify that they’re secure.”
“The mayor has a secure office for deliveries,” she responded. “He and I are the only ones coded for access.”
“Very well,” Jalok growled after checking with Sk’lar.
Jalok signed over the delivery to the receptionist and we turned to leave. At the last moment, I caught the woman staring at my face out of the corner of her eye. No doubt my appearance horrified her, but I did my best to ignore her reaction.
On the way back down to the main floor, Dottie called. “Can you guys come back? Nothing’s wrong, I just want to test a theory.”
Jalok was beside himself with anticipation. Since our duty had been discharged, he now had the opportunity to spend some time with his girlfriend and see what she had uncovered.
My wager was, this whole trip was just another false alarm, dreamed up as a transformation during a domestic dispute between father and daughter.