by C. S Luis
“Señorita, ¿estás bien?” I heard a very clear voice say to me in Spanish.
“Hola, señorita, ¿cómo te sientes? Habla conmigo— ¿estás bien?”
"Are you alright?" The stranger tenderly asked in English, getting no response to his questions. I knew Spanish but found myself speaking less of it with my parents gone. My mother, although Spanish, wasn’t the only one that was fluent. Father spoke the language well. Perhaps just as well as Mr. Slater did.
"Are you hurt?" He said again in English then in Spanish. “¿Estás herida?”
‘Jeez, I speak English,’ I wanted to say, ’Yes, I’m Hispanic but American first.’
I didn't answer right away, I only stared, mesmerized by his unusually large eyes. I nodded with difficulty at both translations.
“Sí, estoy bien. Gracias—I’m fine,” I simply said, answering in both languages.
He smiled at my awkward attempts to reply in both.
“Perdón, lo siento—I’m sorry, bad habit. I see a pretty Spanish lady and I assume I’m back at my home-” He stopped midsentence, realizing he had embarrassed me.
“You must be Claudia Belle,” he very politely said, I turned to look at him warily.
"Who are you?" I interrupted, shaking my head, still feeling a little light-headed from what they had done to me. I wasn’t even sure what. He smiled, gazing innocently at me. Paralyzed, I met his eyes and caught my reflection in them.
"My name is Antonio, I'm a friend," he softly answered and smiled.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m here to help you,” he assured me in English but with a clear Spanish accent. He moved to untie me, undoing the bonds on my feet and hands.
"We have to get you out of here."
"A friend?" I managed to say, able to stand with his help, stumbling forward with him.
“Mr. Slater’s friend?” I asked, wondering if he knew Mr. Slater and if that’s the friend he was referring to.
Antonio slowly pulled away from me, grabbing a weapon off the floor from one of the troopers he had knocked out. I saw Dr. Klein among them.
“A friend of Jack’s-you don’t know him but he’s a close friend of Mr. Slater.”
Could I trust him? I wondered. Something in his eyes said “yes.” I saw this Jack he spoke of in his mind, dressed like a cowboy and I saw a woman as well.
And she looked right at me, “Claudia –just like them, we are connected—” I realized suddenly she was showing me something. I saw a large facility filled with metal containers as far as the eye could see, lifeless figures slept within each one. The color of their skin pale as flour, their hair as dark as coal, dressed in leather scaly uniforms like the one Q wore. What did this mean?
I was drawn away into another part of the image into a separate room; in fact, it was like I was floating in this strange reality. Among these things, I saw him, Mr. Nicholson, dressed in a lab coat. He had a long syringe in his hand and was extracting something from one of the containers. My mind floated to the very glass of the container, the window was covered in an icy crust and as I struggled to clearly see the figure inside, I realized I was looking at Q’s face, then he opened his eyes suddenly, “Pet-tricia, wake up!”
I stumbled, nearly falling back, pulling my mind from his thoughts. Antonio caught me before I dropped. Was she channeling me through Antonio’s thoughts? She was like me! She was just like me. “Claudia, don’t be afraid.” What did it all mean?
“Are you alright?” I heard Antonio ask, as he helped me regain my balance. I managed to stand on my own and stared up at him, not sure myself what I had seen.
I shook my head. “Did Madeline send you?” I asked but I already knew.
He blinked, surprised that I knew.
“You know her?”
“No.” I shook my head and he looked confused.
“Then, how did you guess?” he asked, then stopped. Hearing something outside, he rushed to the entrance to carefully look out.
“We have to leave now,” he said. He looked troubled.
I glanced to the back of the room, ignoring him for a moment. I had to free Q and get myself out of this situation. I walked past him, spotting a monitor in the distance. On the screen, I could see Q's image encased in the container. And knew they were watching him on the monitor. Their attempts to sever our connection had failed. I could still sense him. My Pet-tricia—
"Q!" I cried out and rushed towards the monitor looking at the screen in desperation.
"Shhh…" Antonio whispered to me. "We have to be very quiet." He stood by the entrance, making sure that no one was near.
I reached my hand to the monitor and felt a need to be with him. Q stood within the compartment, held in place by a single metal cuff that wrapped around his upper body. Just like the image in my mind, he was a prisoner once more. His hands were folded in front of him and his eyes were closed, yet I could see how the expressions on his face changed. He was dreaming and whatever it was, it wasn't good. Was I in his thoughts? Or had I vanished when Antonio had awakened me and unplugged me from the machine?
Antonio looked back then raced to my side. He too observed the monitor wondering what he was looking at and who the person on the screen was.
"Who's he?" he asked me, disturbed by what he was looking at. "What are they doing to him?"
"He's a friend and we need to save him," I replied. “They plan to kill him.”
"What? But it’s far too dangerous," Antonio answered as if it were obvious to everyone but me.
"We have to-If you won't help me, then I'll go alone. I can't leave him."
Antonio turned to me, lowering his weapon.
"I can't let you do that," Antonio tenderly said. "What kind of person would I be if I let a young girl go out on her own like that?" He slowly made his way to the front of the room.
"Then we have to hurry." He was near the entrance again and something outside was making him nervous.
"This guy, the one in white—Nicholson… He's very smart and very dangerous."
I was just starting to figure that out for myself.
"Do you know him?" I curiously asked when he offered that detail.
"Oh, I know of him. He's bad news. Trust me. But I don't have to tell you that, right?" he smiled.
I nodded, looking around the room they had used as a laboratory. Realizing Mr. Nicholson and his people had brought all their equipment into the school building. Who would find out? It would be a perfect place to do what they wanted without anyone knowing. With the students out of school for the holidays, the building had become a deserted playground.
"They're conducting some sort of experiment. I saw them moving a container. It looked like there was a person inside it. That person you know, probably. "
"Q! Where?" I asked.
"On the other side of the building. That's where I saw them moving the container."
"That's where they must be taking him. We have to find him," I ordered.
Antonio glanced at me, unsure. He stuck his head out of the doorway and looked back.
"This Q, who is he anyway? He doesn't appear to be—well, human."
I didn't say anything. To me, Q had been nothing but human, so I wasn't sure in what manner to answer that.
"He's my friend and they mean to hurt him," I instead said. "You have to help me get him back."
"It may be impossible, my dear. There are just too many of them. Even for me. Frankly, it's quite suicidal." He offered.
"You just leave them to me," I assured him.
Antonio curiously glanced over at me and although he felt like saying something, he didn't. Just what had he volunteered for, when he had agreed to help out an old friend? I heard his thoughts say. Then, without another word, he motioned me out into the hallway with him and we dashed into the darkness, with me right behind him.
* * *
Seeing Double
John Slater
* * *
John sat inside a classroom where he had been taken temporari
ly; two troopers in black military armor were outside keeping guard until Bryce returned. He recalled moments earlier he had been led in through the auditorium where he had witnessed Bryce’s dirty work.
He recalled the figures, lying motionless upon the auditorium stage like a display. Bryce seemed really proud of his work and yet disturbed by John's devotion to these people. He had dragged John into the auditorium to prove there was no point in holding back any longer.
At first, John appeared shocked, then, once it had set in, he stood staring at all their faces, drawing the courage to look at them. It was an eerie display, the bodies lying side by side in body bags, with only a small slit open where he could see their faces.
They were all there: Mr. Claypool, Mr. Cortez, Sam, and Thomas. And even Mr. Vasquez. But the one that was hardest to look at was Michael; he was at the far end, pale and motionless, just like the rest. In the center of his forehead was a single bullet wound. There was no doubt they had all been executed.
He turned away, disgusted and saddened by what he knew had been his fault. These people had died because of him and he hated himself for it. Claudia would hate him, she would despise him. He had destroyed her home and her family. He deserved whatever he got from her.
"Why?" John's voice angrily roared, he spun around, finding the strength to face Bryce and aggressively challenged him. But his steps were blocked by a pair of assault rifles pointed in his direction, by two men in military gear.
"They were no threat to you!" John snarled, glaring at Bryce who was calmly standing to one side, gazing at the figures motionless on the stage.
"What do you care?" Bryce responded glancing back at him. "I recall your words being, “I don't care what happens to them”."
John didn't say a thing, recalling his own words with guilt. Had those really been his words?
"You should be thankful. I helped you get rid of them. Now the girl is ours."
John glared at him in confusion. Ours?
"With her, I will at last complete my experiment.” John stared at him in disbelief.
“Why do you need her—you got Project X— you got the alien, as I promised. Just let her go.”
“It was never about the alien, John,” Bryce smiled at the lack of understanding on John’s part.
“All I ever wanted was the source—find the alien, find the source, my Minder. Now that I have the girl, I no longer have any use for the alien.”
“What do you want with her? I won’t let you hurt her.” John said.
“You hunt them and yet you never asked yourself why? What’s their importance?”
“We both know I’ve never found any—I started to wonder if they even existed—but I didn’t care.”
“Until now. Because of her—Your problem is, you just don’t understand how important she is,” Bryce said, glaring at him.
“You don’t see the big picture as I do.”
“Yeah, that has always been my problem,” John humored.
It was something that Bryce suddenly said that shocked and frightened John.
“The Minders control them—” The same words Jason had used were now falling out of Bryce’s very own lips.
“But it’s far more than mere control—it’s evolution. Years of perfecting are finally coming to a victorious conclusion. She’s the final puzzle…”
‘Evolution,’ John thought, glaring at him. Just what the fuck was Bryce getting at? He sounded like a mad scientist.
Bryce moved around him. “You can be a part of this, John.” Just what was he getting at? Part of what?
“You like her,” he grinned, coming around him and stopping in front of him.
“No—” Bryce said, staring into John’s bright green eyes; the expression on Slater’s face had given him away. John knew Bryce was realizing something he had hoped to keep hidden.
“You love her,” Bryce gloated. He then came closer, leaning close to John’s ear and whispered, “if you help me, you can have her. I want you to.”
He moved back, John glared at him perplexed. Just what was his point?
“I want you to breed with her. Your seed in her—Help me with my research. You’re a perfect specimen—and a perfect addition to my experiment. I want her to conceive your offspring.”
“What?!” John shouted, "What are you planning—No, you’re crazy!”
“Quite the contrary, actually, I’m a visionary.” Bryce boasted.
“You’re out of your fucking mind, is what you are! I would never hurt her. And I’m not going to let you!"
Bryce chuckled, catching the furious expression on John’s face.
“Is this what you want with Minders? To breed them like some kind of science experiment? Why? No, I’m not letting you hurt her.”
Bryce reached forward, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him back, they stood with Bryce breathing down on John’s face.
“This is far bigger than you can imagine, John.” John pushed him off.
“I’m not doing anything to hurt her.”
Bryce paced in front of him, he stared back at John, looking impatient and determined. John had never seen him in such a way; the discovery of Claudia’s abilities had turned him into something to fear.
“Minders are the only specimens able to conceive offspring with the aliens, human DNA is not advanced enough, nor is it strong enough to host all the genetic material of an alien organism required to create such a perfect species. Human DNA is inferior, so it’s incapable of surviving…” he seemed delirious.
“You can’t have her…use someone else.”
“I wish there was another alternative, but after the destruction of our main containment unit, most of the specimens escaped, none survived the failsafe security measures The Company took to protect its product. Those that may have, are unable to breed.”
There was a glare of fear in John’s eyes. What had he been a part of all this time? What had he brought to Claudia’s doorstep, a mad man who was willing to steal from her, steal her innocence to get what he wanted?
“But you sent me to find them, you sent me to find the Minder in Mexico, the one you called la Madeline.” He wanted a reason, to give Bryce another reason not to consider Claudia. To reconsider someone else.
“The Company requires the termination of all remaining Minders, they’re useless to The Company. And to me. Yes, I sent you to confirm her reproductive status, but I knew quite well, if she was able to conceive, with Jack she would have. She’s tainted and of no use to me.”
John wrinkled his brow at him.
“Alien DNA is one of the most fertile. And all Minders are half-alien.”
“But Claudia isn’t…so there goes your big plan.” John said.
“That’s still to be determined.” Bryce’s thin lips curved slightly, “Miss Belle has exhibited extraordinary abilities and she is a Minder, there is no doubt. Her connection to the alien makes her a perfect candidate. Her superior inner ability is all that is required… All you need is to do your part, take her. I’ve made it fairly simple. I need you on this, you are one of my best.”
“I told you I won’t hurt her—”
Bryce glared right into his eyes and sneered at John.
“Think of what I’m saying, John.” Bryce smiled. “You can have her! What you’ve always wanted. She can be yours at last—” He firmly stated.
“You want her, I can see it in your eyes. Take her! And help me achieve the greatest scientific accomplishment this world has ever seen.”
“I won’t—I love-” Bryce slammed his fist on the back wall.
“Don’t pretend to be innocent in all this, you have blood on your hands far more than I! You’re already far deeper than you realize. You don’t see what I see—but when you do, you will question why it is you ever resisted, and you will thank me.”
“Thank you for taking the woman I love away from me? For killing her family—for turning her against me?”
Bryce exhaled and took a step back.
&
nbsp; "You want to protect her, this is the only way. This is the only way you can have her." John blinked, he recalled his words now with disgust.
“I can make her love you again. Change her mind about you, with a single dose from this vial,” Bryce assured him, lifting a tiny bottle.
“No!” John growled.
Bryce took a breath and motioned the troopers over, “Very well, have it your way. But the girl is mine, with or without you. I merely wanted to give you the opportunity to finally have what you wanted—her.”
And with that, John was brought to this classroom, where he was now a prisoner. He couldn’t stop thinking of what Bryce said, what he wanted to do to Claudia. And he knew he had to find a way to escape before Bryce harmed her.
And yet he wondered why he wasn't dead. Why had Bryce spared his life? Wasn't he worried he would interfere with his plans? What was Bryce up to? If he thought he could use him to control Claudia, he was wrong. He wouldn't do it, no matter what.
The troopers guarding the classroom passed by the door and glared at him. They were dressed in black military armor like the rest of the men who had taken over Milton. He recognized the red insignia on the right shoulder of their armor and on the plate on the front. All employed by The Company, the military division. A part of a crew he had once been proud to lead, who did they have in charge now? He wondered.
The troopers guarding him appeared to have no clue, that could work for him, John thought.
One of them now lit up a cigarette and smiled at him as he took a puff. He was a young punk, blond with a few tattoos on the forearm, they looked like strikes, dashes. John recognized them since he had a few of them on the side of his own arm. They could be missions, but he strongly doubted it, more likely kills in a squad. Nothing compared to the marks he had, actual kills and captures.
"Hey, there's no smoking on school grounds, can’t you morons read?" John yelled, glancing directly at the men in black armor. He still couldn't shake the habit of the administrator role. Besides, he hated smokers.