The Fire In My Eyes

by Christopher Nelson

  I looked around the room. All of my classmates were staring at the blackboard. No one seemed to notice that Ripley was standing in front of me, addressing me and me only. Even the girl next to me was looking at the blackboard, still smiling. Their eyes all looked a little glassy. I looked back at Ripley. “What's going on?” I demanded. Had he somehow hypnotized everyone in the room? Their expressions were all so vacant.

  “Do you remember what I referenced at orientation?” he asked, folding his hands on top of his cane yet again.

  “You talked about a lot of things. Which part?”

  “Specifically, that everyone has untapped talents and abilities. That they lay dormant, awaiting merely the right time to awaken.” He tapped his right temple before returning his hand to the top of his cane.

  I sat up straight in my chair. “How do you...what are you...what the hell is going on?”

  “An interesting question. Are you awake right now, or are you dreaming?”

  “This is more like a nightmare.” I started to stand up. “I don't think I want to hear any more. I'm done with this bullshit.”

  “Mr. Parker,” he said. “It's too late. You're already awake. Perhaps you don't understand what I mean. Why don't you take a seat and listen to what I have to say?”

  Reluctantly, I sat back down. He sounded like he knew what had happened in that dream. Maybe he would explain what was going on.

  “When I said that some of you have untapped powers and abilities, I was referring to something specific. You do have a certain potential that you have only seen a hint of so far. What I offer you is the chance to learn what this potential is and how to use it. Do you know what I am referring to?”

  I shook my head. I knew, but I didn’t want to know. “I'm not sure.”

  He didn't say anything, simply held one hand beside his expressionless face, palm facing inward. With a sudden flick of his wrist, he passed his hand in front of his eyes. I jumped up from my seat. The whites of his eyes were glowing fiery green, far brighter than mine had been that night.

  Before I could run for the door, he snapped a command. “Sit down, Mr. Parker!” The windows rattled. I froze, then slowly sat back down. What the hell was that? “Do you understand what I am referring to now?” he asked.

  “I understand less than what I did before.” I tried not to shout. “What the hell is wrong with you? And with me? And with this school? Am I losing my mind? Is this some sort of prank? Am I dreaming all of this shit up?”

  “No, you aren't.” His eyes returned to normal and his hand returned to his cane. “You just haven't had the opportunity to learn about certain things. As I said before, I can offer you the opportunity. Interested?”

  “In learning about my own freakishness?” I asked. “Depends on what the catch is. There's always a price. You're not going to do it out of the goodness of your heart.”

  He frowned. “You impugn my motives.”

  Impugn? Seriously? “You're not denying it. I'm right, aren't I?”

  Ripley nodded. “A term of service. You would have three or four years of training, and an equal length of service afterwards. Similar to the military,” he said.

  “And what would I be doing for your mysterious, unnamed organization?” I asked.

  “Saving the world.”

  I couldn't help it. I laughed. The expression on the old man's face was priceless. “Are you serious?” I asked when I could speak clearly again.

  “You seem to think I'm joking.” His expression was cold. “You already know that things are not as simple as they may seem. There is more to this world than you suspect.”

  “I don't think you understand what I mean,” I said. “It's not that I don't believe you on that count. I'm not crazy, that's a relief. I'm convinced there is some weird shit at work here, which is also a relief. But, I have a healthy distrust of anyone who claims that they're trying to save the world. I'm pretty sure that the world you see that's in need of saving isn't quite the same world I see. Like you said, things aren't always as simple as they seem.”

  His expression was still cold, but I could tell that he was considering his next words carefully. “I realize that you have your suspicions and reservations,” he said after a long silence. “Under other circumstances, I would applaud your skepticism and critical thinking. However, you will not have the luxury of remaining skeptical for long. This is not fantasy, this is reality. You have awakened, and you are now in play.”

  “What's that supposed to mean? Is this some sort of game?” I asked.

  His eyes flashed green. “Not at all. The moment you awakened, you were in danger. There are those who will stop at nothing to either claim you or render you worthless. They will neutralize you if you do not join them, simply to deny your power to anyone else.”

  “And you would do that too?” I asked.

  He smiled. “That is one way that our organization differs from others. No, we would not neutralize you. But, if you do not join us, we cannot spare the resources to protect you. It is simply a matter of give and take. There's no such thing as a free lunch, I'm afraid.”

  “Heinlein,” I said. He nodded. “Let me get this straight. I have two options. I can join you, and you'll teach me and protect me from these mysterious unspecified enemies. Or, I can refuse to join you, and you'll let them kill me. Sorry. Neutralize me.”

  “We would do what we could,” he said, the smile remaining in full force.

  “Which would be next to nothing. I'll pick a third option. I'll think about it.”

  His smile didn't change at all. “Think about it as long as you want, Mr. Parker. As foolish as you are being, that is your decision to make. When you decide that joining us is in your best interests, feel free to contact me. My secretary will be expecting you. Now, let us return to the class already in progress. Do not speak of this to anyone.” He banged his cane down again, and the crack of the impact echoed around the classroom.

  An unnerving sensation overwhelmed me as the echo faded. I remembered everything we had just spoken about, but other memories were popping into my head, overlaid on top of our conversation. I could remember him lecturing, writing on the board, encouraging discussion about morality and ethics, drawing comparisons between good and evil. I knew that we hadn't talked about any of that. Or had we? It was a strange feeling. We had only spoken for five minutes at most, but I could also remember a half hour of class, and the clock on the wall showed that over thirty minutes had actually passed. Which memory was real?

  “And next week, we shall proceed to more specific examples of what we discussed today. Have a good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” Ripley placed the chalk down on the tray and nodded at us, then walked out of the room without a glance backwards.

  I stretched my arms up over my head, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Two sets of memories? Saving the world? What a load of shit. It wasn't a dream or hallucination. I had told him I was certain I wasn't crazy, and it was true. I held no illusions about his sanity, though. Whatever sort of conspiracy was going on, I didn't want to get involved with it before I knew more about it. “Seems interesting,” I said out loud.

  “You're right.” I looked to my right and the brown haired girl smiled at me. “It does seem like an interesting class. And we make a good team, right?”

  I reviewed my “memories” of the class. The two of us had bantered back and forth over some weird definitions of good and evil as well as order and chaos. Ripley had been amused, judging by the expression on his face. It was a strange event. I remembered it as if I had done it, but I didn't remember actually doing it. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

  “So I see you've gotten the idea of layering?” Her smile turned slightly impish.

  My heart jumped. She remembered me. “I guess, though it's just two t-shirts and a coat. Nothing like the layers you were wearing. You know how we guys have to be stubborn and tough, right?”

  “Stubborn is just the beginning,” she said. “That's why you're still we
aring that light blue jacket. Didn't I tell you that you'd look better in darker colors? Stubborn and dumb.”

  “I won't argue that,” I replied. “So, how many layers are you wearing today?”

  “Wouldn't you like to know?” Her smile was playful. “You know, I didn't catch your name the other day. I'm Nicole Wainwright. Call me Nikki.”

  “Nice to meet you, Nikki. Kevin Parker. You can call me Kev if you like.”

  “All right. So why were you so late today, Kev?” She tilted her head to the side inquisitively.

  “Oh, well, I sort of forgot about this class. I went back to my room and one of my roommates reminded me at five of four. I felt like such a dumbass.” I sighed. “Which is exactly what he's going to call me when I get back.”

  She covered her mouth and giggled. “So you ran all the way here? What dorm?”

  “Carson,” I said.

  “That's a long run. You looked tired when you sat down.”

  “A little,” I admitted. I wasn't about to admit that I was on the verge of collapse. I did have a little pride. “I'm more hungry than tired, though. I haven't eaten at all today.”

  “You shouldn't do that,” she told me. “Breakfast is important. So is lunch. So is dinner! Speaking of dinner, are you interested?”

  “With you?” I bit my tongue. I had sounded far too surprised about that. Dumbass was the least of the names I deserved. Max would be falling over with laughter if he had witnessed this. Lucky for me, we were the last ones in the room, so no one was around to see me fail with the girl all over again.

  She didn't seem to notice. Failure postponed. “That's the idea, unless you've got other plans?”

  “No, I'm done with classes, no plans for the evening,” I said. “Where are you thinking?”

  “The Caf,” she said. “I didn't bring enough cash to get anything at the student center, just my ID.”

  “Same here,” I said. “I ran out of the dorm so fast, I barely even remembered my ID.”

  She giggled again. “Then it's settled. The Caf it is. Ready?”

  “Whenever you are,” I said. We stood up. No one was in sight as we walked into the hall toward the elevators. Typically for me, both of the elevators were nowhere near our floor, but both started coming up as soon as she hit the down button.

  When the doors dinged open, I gestured for her to go in first. “Ladies first,” I said.

  Dimples. So cute. “Thank you kindly, good sir.”

  I stepped into the elevator after her and pressed the button for the ground floor. Her finger hit the button at just about the same time. We both laughed. “Really, I guess we do make a really good team,” she quipped. “Great minds thinking alike and all that.”

  “I think you're right,” I said.

  “Of course I'm right. I'm a girl, after all,” she said with a toss of her head.

  We walked to the Caf together, passing the time in idle conversation about the class. When we arrived, the dining area was starting to get crowded. We split up to get food. I kept her in sight the entire time. She spoke to the staff, smiling and tilting her head slightly as she asked questions. She had nice legs, and she was just a couple of inches shorter than me. Her hair hung down a little past her shoulders and she was slender without being too thin.

  She turned in my direction and I quickly looked away and continued my search for food. I let her talk me into getting some salad to go with my burger and we walked over to a small table near the back of the Caf. She ate with small bites and didn't say much as we worked our way through our food.

  Nikki put her fork down and folded her hands under her chin. “So what do you think?”

  “Of what?” I asked. “The class? The school?”

  “The world. The universe. The cosmos.” I couldn't tell if she was serious or not. “No. President Ripley. What do you think of him?”

  I didn't know how to answer. Was she the sort who went for distinguished old men? “Well, he was a strong speaker during orientation. Passionate. Charismatic, I guess.”

  “I felt the same way. Like he was speaking directly to me at times. Did you get that feeling, too?” Her eyebrows lifted and her expression seemed somehow guarded. She picked up her fork again and pushed her salad around. Had she experienced something strange at orientation too?

  “Yeah. I think I know what you mean,” I said, taking a chance.

  Relief was immediately evident on her face and she jabbed her fork into her salad. “Good. I was wondering if I was the only one. He's really something. Really.”

  I wanted to ask if she had experienced anything like I had. Ripley had said not to mention our encounter, and I didn't want her to think I was crazy. If I wanted to stand a chance with her, I'd have to be a nice, sane, normal guy. Not a freak. I picked up my glass. “Definitely something,” I agreed.

  Chapter Four

  Two weeks passed. Classes were in full swing and I was easily keeping up. Ripley hadn't spoken directly to me since the first class. I didn't lose any sleep over that, nor did I lose any more sleep to weird dreams, night terrors, hallucinations, or glowing green eyes. Those particular memories were fading, and I was settling into a routine.

  The most pleasant bit of my routine involved Ripley's class. Nikki and I ate dinner together each week after his class. I was becoming more and more interested in her. Not only was she pretty, our personalities meshed in a way that just felt right. I wanted to see her more often than once or twice a week. When she smiled, I wondered if she was starting to feel the same way.

  I decided that I'd ask her out soon. There was incidental physical contact, her hand brushing my arm or hand as we walked. She looked me in the eye and smiled when we spoke. She listened carefully and paid attention to what I was saying. The signs were there, but I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't misreading things.

  When it came to this sort of thing, I knew who to ask for advice: Not Max.

  Drew looked at me as if I had asked him about the meaning of life. “You want to what?” he asked.

  “Talk to you about a girl. Get your advice, I guess,” I said. Drew was a decent guy. I was sure he’d give me a hand.

  “You want my advice about a girl,” he repeated, then scratched the back of his head and looked slightly embarrassed. “Hey, look, I know Max talks me up like I'm some player who gets with a different chick every weekend, but I'm not that bad.”

  I crossed my arms and stared at him. His expression grew pained. I had learned a long time ago with my family that silence could get better answers than asking questions.

  “Come on, Kev, he walked in once and built a legend around it!”

  “Once?”

  “Ok, twice. And almost a third, but she was just about to-”

  “Do you need to count on your fingers?”

  Drew glared, but proceeded to do so. He counted off three fingers, looked thoughtful, and counted off a fourth, then a fifth. By the time he was done with the other hand he was grinning. When he went back to the first hand, I waved a hand in front of his eyes. He blinked and focused back on me. “Well, maybe Max was right for once,” he said. “Kev, man, I really don't know if I'm the guy you should go to for advice on relationships.”

  I chuckled. “Drew, I know three guys here well enough to ask their advice. You, Max, and Andreas. Should I ask one of them instead?”

  “Point, Kev. Get your coat.”

  “What for?”

  He grinned at me. “We're going to the gym. If you're going to make me talk about chicks and shit, I’m going to make you get some exercise. The indoor courts are always empty around now. We'll get some one on one in.”

  I tried not to look too horrified. I wasn't in the mood to walk ten minutes in the freezing cold just to get my ass kicked at basketball, but I’d pay that price. “I assume you're going to spot me some points at least, right?”

  “Two or three,” he said. “You get some advice, plus a workout. Twice the benefit.”

  I groaned and followed him. I
t wouldn't hurt to get some exercise and start shedding some extra weight. I shivered when we left the building. It had only gotten colder as January had progressed. Drew stretched his arms over his head and grunted. I heard several distinct pops. “Man, this feels good.”

  “Still too cold,” I muttered.

  “Yeah, but at least there's not a lot of wind. We'll warm up quick when we get to the gym. Come on.” We started down the road that led to the main campus. “So, this chick. The one you were having dinner with last night?”

  “How do you know about that?” I asked.

  Drew laughed. “I was in the Caf when you came in yesterday. Was about to wave you over but saw you were with a girl. Now, see, I didn't want to steal her away with my good looks and charm, so I just watched. She's cute, dude. Good eye.”

  I forced a chuckle. This was not exactly how I had imagined my chat with Drew going. “She is pretty. That's not really part of the problem.”

  “Got problems talking with her?”

  “No, not exactly, but-”

  “Easy guess, then.” Drew stretched again, this time with a twist. His back popped. I winced. “You want to date her, but you're being a gigantic pussy about it, and you want to know how to do it right.”

  I covered my face with my hand. “He shoots, he scores.”

  “That's what I figured. Look, Kev, I'll tell you the best way to ask her out. You ready?” He looked over at me with a huge grin.

  “I'm ready,” I said. “But I think I'm starting to regret this.”

  “Ok. You're the girl, right? And I'm you. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  He looked me straight in the eye, still grinning. “Hey, I'm having a lot of fun hanging out with you. Want to get some drinks or have dinner downtown sometime?”

  I blinked and waited for him to say something else. “And?”

  “That's it. Go ahead, say no.”

  “No.”

  “Ok.” He walked on in silence. “See?”