by Arthurs, Nia
“I know who to call,” she smiled.
I slept for nearly five hours. When I woke the room was dark and empty. I glanced about for Mrs. Sterm, but she was gone.
I hoped she’d truly found a secure location. Something told me that our culprit was getting desperate.
Desperate men showed their true colors sooner or later. I pulled the IV needle out of my skin and sat up.
I had to be at full strength whenever the showdown occurred.
The files in Paul’s workshop connected the meteorologist to a secret organization dedicated to tracking me down.
Two weeks after Paul found out who I truly was, he left everything in the States and migrated to Belize.
I groaned, putting the puzzle pieces together and seeing the bigger picture for the first time.
He did it to protect me.
Was that why Crenley ordered the Vasquez crew to murder him? It still didn’t make sense. If Paul had information, why not torture it out of him? Why silence him forever?
My head was too groggy to wrap my mind around everything. I swung my legs off the bed and headed to the kitchen for some water.
“Jerk! Jerkity, jerk, jerk, jerk!”
The mumbled words were coming from the house next door.
After the abrupt way I’d left things after the kiss and even after the race, I could only imagine how much damage control I’d have to do for her to forgive me.
Jones’s warning to stay away from her paraded through my head.
Mrs. Sterm’s unofficial diagnosis was that my body was weak from over-adrenaline.
Being around Tess, kissing Tess, and sometimes just looking at Tess could spike my adrenaline in two seconds flat.
But I couldn’t leave her with no explanation. I owed her that much at the very least. In less than a minute, I stood before her door and knocked.
“Tess?”
Her heart beat picked up. Why wasn’t she answering?
“Tess?”
I rounded her gate and headed for her back door. Oreo danced around my feet. I hefted him into my arms and knocked on the glass.
Tess stood on the other end, dressed in a tank top and a pair of shorts. She gestured for me to set Oreo down.
I did and pointed to the door. She shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. I understood her anger.
Hopefully, I could set things right with a shallow explanation of my afternoon.
Extending my hand, I used my abilities to turn the lock and shoved the glass door aside. She stared at the door and then at me.
“Tess, we need to talk.”
“What do you want?”
I’d expected some attitude, but her dark stare was for a crime more serious than what I’d committed.
“Are you okay? Did something happen after I left the Fun Day?”
“No.”
I tapped my hands against the pockets of my jeans. This wasn’t the Tess that I knew. What was going on here?
I took another step toward her, but she spun around and pushed me.
“What do you want?”
“I wanted to apologize for… earlier.”
“It’s okay. You can leave.”
I frowned. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Why don’t you tell me, ‘Mr. Alien’.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Were your super-sensitive alien ears not able to pick that up?”
The rib about my sensitive hearing was strangely specific. How had she found out? The only person that knew was… Jones.
I had a solid hunch about the person he’d been ‘meeting’ when he stormed off earlier today.
“Tess––”
“Does your skin peel off? Are your insides full of little people? Do you bleed green instead of red?”
“Tess, let me explain.”
“There’s no need to explain. Jones was quite clear when he told me of your extra-terrestrial heritage. Let me guess, you’re going away soon and didn’t want me thinking there was anything between us?”
Was that what she thought?
“Trust me,” Tess said. “You have nothing to be concerned about. I told you once that I wouldn’t be interested in you if you were the only man on earth. That still stands.”
Her words cut me in a place I hadn’t even known existed. She couldn’t mean that.
“But Tess, I am…”
“Ha! Prove it. Fly around the room. Take me to Neverland. Touch my hand and create electricity.”
I shifted. If I unveiled my secret, would she accept me? Or would she call me a monster and run for the hills?
Tears filled her eyes as she turned away.
“I actually thought we were friends. I mean, kissing friends, but friends just the same. And yeah, I liked you. Sue me! But those feelings are long gone now so you don’t have to come up with ridiculous excuses anymore!”
I listened intently to the beat of her heart. Tess was lying. Whatever the strength of her feelings toward me, they had yet to disappear.
When I said nothing, she stormed away.
I watched her curly hair bounce against her back. I had two choices. I could walk away or tell her the truth.
It was a very easy decision.
With a flick of my fingers, I held Tess in place. This beautiful, stubborn, compassionate woman was about to receive the shock of her life.
Chapter 27
Levitating objects was not usually a challenging task, but in my condition, it was harder to accomplish than I’d expected.
I twisted my wrist and concentrated until Tess Hardey was floating in the air. The strain was a bit too much. I lost focus at the last second and Tess came barreling toward me.
I caught her in my arms so she didn’t fall. Her heart raced against my hands.
I set her away and gazed into her eyes while I flipped my hand and guided Oreo in the air as well.
She wanted proof? She got it.
“You-you…”
Oreo jumped out of her arms and ran across the carpet, unaware of just how much had changed since his flight.
“Did you just…. You’re really an…”
“Yes.”
“You can’t, by chance, read my thoughts right now?”
Though I had taken a huge risk, entrusting Tess with my secret was oddly freeing. Now she knew all of me.
I smirked. “No, but I can guess what you’re thinking.”
“What else can you do?”
I zipped to the other end of the room. Patiently, I waited for Tess to notice that I was gone.
When her gaze met mine, I said. “I can move at fast speeds.”
She jumped. Her eyes bugged as I continued to explain.
“I have heightened senses. I can move things with my mind.”
I flicked my wrist. The essay papers scattered across her floors stacked themselves neatly on the handle of her sofa.
“And I don’t age,” I shrugged. “My powers have been out of whack, but lately… they’ve been improving.”
Well, they were also making me sick, but that wasn’t Tess’s fault… entirely.
“I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
She studied me with new eyes. “Then it’s true? You’re supposed to return to your planet in two weeks.”
What exactly had Jones said to her?
“Yes,” I said.
She stumbled backward and grasped a shelf for strength. I tried to help, but she held her hand for me to keep my distance.
“This is a little… too much. I think I’ll go lie down.”
“Tess––”
“Please,” she disappeared from sight.
I sighed and prepared to leave. Oreo barked as I passed.
“Okay, wait…”
I froze and turned around. Tess slowly trotted to my side.
“This is weird,” she admitted. “But I can’t let you walk away before hearing everything.”
And so, Tess sat on the sofa while I spoke of
my ship’s return five hundred years ago, how I acclimated to the dress, appearance, and speech of the humans around me.
She listened with rapt attention, until the lateness of the hour pulled at her eyelids and she fell asleep on the couch.
I drew a blanket around her and caressed her face. Tess knew everything now. I only hoped that the knowledge didn’t put her in any more danger.
The thought fired my determination. I could no longer afford to ignore the maniac roaming the streets.
My only solid lead was locked up in an abstract word.
One name.
Crenley.
I returned home and booted up the computer. A measly internet search had, as expected, turned up nothing. I needed a first name or a real name, at the very least.
The man that leaked that information, Luis Vasquez, had been shot in the middle of a police station.
Whoever this Crenley man was, he had hired hands that were effective.
Though Vasquez was dead, the remnants of his crew were not. If I could find only one that could point me in the right direction, I’d be heading somewhere.
I grabbed my jacket and a beanie. I wasn’t much for disguises, but this venture required a little anonymity.
I had people to protect now.
BELIZEAN GANGS WERE NOT my cup of tea. I didn’t know where they hung out or who their leader was now that Vasquez was gone.
But after five hundred years, I’d learned that humans would go to great lengths to survive. Brotherhoods and oaths didn’t amount to much when death stared you in the face.
A few minutes after midnight, I waited in the shady side of Belize City, listening to the voices rising from the alleys below.
I wasn’t searching for any gang in particular. Vasquez had been high enough on the food chain that everyone knew who he was.
All I needed was a finger in the right direction and any of the gangbangers congregating in the shadows could provide that.
“Here’s the money,” a frazzled voice caught my ears.
The guy’s heart was beating out of control. I looked to the west.
From my perch, I made out the figure of a tall, broad-shouldered man surrounded by five skinny teenage boys.
“Don’t waste it all on booze,” he cautioned.
The boys responded that they wouldn’t and then slinked back into the shadows. The man’s determined steps echoed through the alley.
He pressed an alarm fob. The chirp rang like bells. I’d found the one.
Leaning on a different kind of adrenaline, I sped to where the gang leader was getting into his car.
With a flick of my wrist, I turned the car on its side and rushed him. In less than three seconds, I had my arms locked around his neck.
He fought to be free, but I held fast.
“What do you know about Vasquez’s crew?”
“N-nothing!” he choked, squirming to get away.
I tightened the pressure around his neck. “That’s not gonna work for me.”
“He-he and his people got shot up in jail.”
“There must be more of them.”
“There wasn’t.”
I squeezed harder. His legs fought for traction as the air slowly cut off from his system.
“Okay, okay!” he choked. “Vasquez had a woman. She protected him and he protected her. If there’s something you want to know, she’s just as good as Vasquez.”
“Thank you. You have an address?”
He rattled off the information. I let him go and disappeared. Three seconds later, I tripped over a loose rock and nearly sprawled to my face.
At the last moment, I found my balance. Teleporting was becoming more of a challenge. My body couldn’t handle soft landings any longer.
I had no time to dwell on that realization. The phone booth that I sought stood across the street. I darted into the booth and rang Jones’s cell.
“Hello?”
“I need directions to 53 Yabra Street.”
“River?” Jones’s voice came to life. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Yes. Give me the directions, Jones.”
“What do you need them for? And what are you even doing out at this hour? You could have died today! Do you not understand how serious your condition is?”
“Jones, are you going to help me or not?”
“No!”
“Alright,” I prepared to hang up the phone.
“Wait!” He yelled. “I’m only doing this because I know you’ll wear yourself out using your abilities to get to this place.”
He painted a clear map and I was confident I could get to Vasquez’s woman.
“Thank you,” I said. “And I’ll consider your assistance an apology for telling Tess behind my back.”
“She-she told you?”
“Good night, Jones.”
I hung up the phone on his curses.
Despite my annoyance, Jones had a point. If I continued to use my abilities, I would over-extend myself again.
My condition had always been heading south. Tess’s touch only sped up the process.
Though it pained me, I refrained from using my speed or bending time and space to teleport.
Instead, I returned home for my car and drove to a ramshackle house near a swamp. The moonlight reflected in the pools of murky water dug throughout the yard.
Two men stood to attention as I walked up the rickety bridge leading to the front door.
“What’s your business?”the first asked.
I said nothing as I marched forward.
“Hey! We mih di talk to you!” the other said in Creole.
When they both realized my intentions, the thugs rushed me. I allowed them to come, waiting until they were inches away.
At the last second, I dropped and delivered a blow to the first man’s gut. The second received a kick in the face. Finally to spread the love fairly, I knocked their heads together.
They fell into the water with pained moans.
My fight with the thugs had alerted the girl. I heard her heart hammering in her chest as she escaped through a back door.
I moved then, racing past mangrove bushes to find her darting through a dirty field. It didn’t take long to grab her.
She screamed but I covered her mouth.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
I meant it, but she didn’t know that. For now that was best.
“I need information on Crenley.”
She stiffened.
“Who is he?”
She shook her head. I let her mouth free, careful to keep my hold on her.
“I-I don’t know. Please don’t kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you, but I need to find that man.”
“He’ll find you first,” she whispered.
“Did he threaten you?”
“I told him and his men. I don’t know nothing.”
“You saw his face?”
“Yes, I saw his face,” she spit on the ground. “He wasn’t scared. He walked around like he owned the world.”
“Do you know why he hired Vasquez to kill Sterm?”
“It wasn’t to kill him,” she said. “That’s what he told me when he showed me pictures of Luis…” her voice trembled. “He said that’s why he killed ‘em.”
I could see her slipping into despair. It was probably why she’d allowed herself to be caught so quickly. This woman was in genuine pain.
Though I had no idea what she could possibly see in a man like Luis Vasquez, her grief was tangible. It almost seemed as if she wanted to die.
“Do you know why?” I prodded.
“No.”
“Can you remember anything defining about Crenley. Anything that could help me find him?”
“He was tall, mixed, has evil in his eyes.”
Those were nice descriptions but nothing I could use.
“He kept talking nonsense about aliens––”
“Aliens?”
“Yeah. Said Luis m
ade a huge mistake and he messed up his chance to lock in on the ‘man from the star’.”
My breath hitched. Her words were confirmation.
Crenley was looking for me.
I intended to question the woman more and then pay a visit to the dirty officer when Tess’s voice filtered through my mind.
“River?”
Panic invaded my heart. Had Crenely gotten to Tess?
“Thank you for your help,” I said, though she really hadn’t had a choice.
I abandoned my misgivings about teleporting and made the jump to Tess’s living room.
“River?” her voice was coming from the bedroom at the back.
I kicked the door open and stormed in, ready for anything. Tess blinked at me with her brown eyes. She was alone and unharmed.
I nearly doubled over from relief.
“Are you mistaking me for a genie?” I scolded.
“You came!”
“You called.”
A gooey expression crossed her face.
“Did you need something?” I said.
“I thought you weren’t a genie.”
That smart mouth of hers…
She sent me a knowing smile. “Since you’re already here, would you like some tea and Oreos?”
Tess led me out of her bedroom. I sighed. The woman had nearly given me a heart attack over Oreos and tea?
Tess flipped the kitchen light on and stared at me over the kettle she grasped. “I have another question.”
“Of course you do.”
After all the questions she’d plied me with earlier tonight, I figured more would come. I dragged a chair out from the table and took a seat while I watched her.
“This one’s kind of … personal,” Tess said.
“Okay.”
“You’ve been alive for five hundred years.”
“Correct.”
“In all that time, have you… ever been in love.”
The question was an innocent one, but it held a world of memories.
The way I felt for Tess now was new and all-consuming, but in the past… in the past there was a little girl who first convinced me that my heart was capable of thawing.
Chapter 28
The silence thickened and Tess squirmed with discomfort. She wasn’t asking me to divulge the way I felt about her.
But talking about my feelings would have been much easier.
“Once,” I admitted. “But it’s not the kind of love that you’re thinking.”