by Alli Reshi
"Oh, yes, the great king, his own father. Did you know that? Prime royalty we got here, a genuine prince. Not that he has any real political power anymore. Devin was stripped of that, and everything else, when he was forced out." I hadn't worried any about his attack in a political sense. Faaralith no longer cared what Devin did, and so few on Earth knew that he had been a prince that it didn't matter. Though the act had posed its own challenges towards convincing others that the staffing here would be enough to watch Devin.
"The only reason Devin tried to kill his father is because I didn't get there first. That man might do well enough as a king, but as a father, I'd rather push him off a belfry." I sneered combing my fingers through Devin's hair, whilst keeping a firm hold on my distaste so it wouldn't leak through and disturb him.
"Wow, okay, so he had a bad father, but that still doesn't answer my question." Isaac prodded, nuzzling closer to Benn, who had his arms around Isaac's thin waist.
"I just, I know him. I knew him before everything. You don't know what he was like, before, I mean. He was still as defiant and snarky, but he was so full of life, so brilliant. Knew how to get a good laugh out of people. Always ready to go off on an adventure, and that smile. Oh, Theasta help me that smile was better than the sun," I said, leaving out how gentle he could be. Under all the pretense and dark sarcasm Devin had so much care to give. I knew he would hate it if I said such.
"Then he got sick. The kind that you can't cure, the kind you don't talk about. So, after the voices started it all changed. His father pushed him away, tried locking him away out of public view. 'For safety,' he said, but we all knew he was embarrassed to have a son who was a Listener." I continued, remembering how badly Devin's father had reacted to the news. The scorn and hatred that now came from someone who had been so ready to praise. I hadn't known how easily someone's loyalties could shift until then.
"For such an advanced race, why don't you have a cure for it?" Isaac asked while running his fingers over the back of Benn's hand.
"How long did it take you people to solve the mystery of depression? These things only get resolution when people consider them. We're such proud people we would rather stuff them in a closet than admit there might be a problem." I countered sharply. Isaac looked slightly guilty.
"I didn't mean anything by it." he whispered, apologetic.
"I know." I nodded.
"You really think you can help him? You sure it's not wishful thinking, boy. The desperate want to get back what's been lost can leave some ugly scars." Benn inquired, voice still thick with sleep but his eyes were bright.
"I'm hardly a boy, especially to you Benn. It would require him to let me help but, I really do believe this time I got it right. I don't care whether or not he loves me back." I paused to gather my thoughts running my hand over the sheets.
"Well, okay, it would be nice, like the best thing in the world nice, but it's not why I'm doing this. I can live without him reciprocating. What I can't live with is seeing him hurt all the time. I know it probably won't be the same as before. There's too much time and pain for that, but I want to see him smile again. Really smile, that genuine bright smile I miss so much." I watched Devin sleep so the others wouldn't see the tears lingering on my eyelashes.
"Good, I hope the best for you then. Even if he kinda scares me a bit, but that also kinda comes with the job, so oh well. When he's awake, you should tell him all that. You can't know what he thinks if you don't start the conversation." Isaac beamed suddenly all too confident for my comfort. Benn yawned pulling his lover closer as he did. Isaac giggled at the treatment.
"You two should go home, I can take over for the night. Might even get somewhere with our new leads." I suggested waving the papers I had in hand. The two agreed without argument, quickly saying their goodbyes. Leaving the room to fall into the silence to which I had grown so accustomed to.
Now the beeping was accompanied by the occasional sigh or whine from Devin. Settling into the chair, I flipped through the reports. Same cause of death as all the others. Burn mark over the heart and a heart attack, unusual given all the victims were in good health and no heart problems. The hearts had looked almost shriveled, like they had been squeezed, everything vital stolen from them. Devin caught my attention as he shifted. Blinking awake, he glanced around before his attention fell on me.
"Deciding to grace me with your presence again? Cute little human pet you got there." The sharpness of his words was lessened by a yawn.
"I had to tend to a few things. Are you hungry, do you want dinner? His name is Benn by the way." I asked, setting the reports in my lap.
"No, I'm fine. Benny boy insisted on me having dinner. Must you find the most stubborn humans?" Devin grumbled, toying with his IV. I reached over to slap his hand away.
"It seems to be a prevailing trait in all my friends," I said, sitting back in my chair. Keeping a close eye that he wouldn't touch them again.
"Excuse me." Devin sounded mildly offended. Now toying with his sheets in a pretense of fixing them.
"What?" I played innocent. We both knew he was the most stubborn person I knew. If he wasn't going to admit it neither would I.
"I'm surprised I haven't seen any guards at all, and certainly not when your human pets are around. That's awfully lax security. You don't think you're being too trusting?" Devin commented, giving me an evil smirk that was nothing but show. We both knew he couldn't do anything in his state of health, and that he likely wouldn't want to in the first place. Even when he was angry, his threats were more bolster than anything else.
"There are guards throughout the building. There was also a general consensus that even if you could get out of bed on your own, you wouldn't get far. I don't have to worry about my friends because they are all military combat certified. You have to be to be on the team; even I had to take a class." I stressed the word friends, hoping that if I said it enough he might give up.
"You? Fighting? Please don't make me laugh. It hurts too much." Devin chuckled briefly, bringing his hand up to his chest as he steadied his breathing.
"I can manage. I may not be as effective as Benn, but I passed the class." It had not been an easy feat to accomplish, I had to admit privately. I was a man of politics and study, not fighting, but in the end, I thought learning the skills had been satisfying.
"What are those?" Devin changed the subject with a roll of his eyes, pointing at the papers in my lap.
"Oh, this? I help the team solve murders. You know, when I'm here and they're having trouble." I shrugged rubbing the back of my neck, omitting the part that I had been on earth more than not lately, and that the help went two ways.
"Well, go on then, what's it about?" Devin encouraged. I raised an eyebrow, surprised. Helpful was not usually something Devin wanted to be. Well, not in a long time anyways.
"I shouldn't say. It's classified information and no one would be happy to know I'd shared information with you. For the most part you are still considered a criminal." I checked the door, even though I knew no one was watching. Mostly everyone one else had gone home by now, leaving only the night guards.
"What over that little incident? It's been over two weeks, haven't they gotten over it already?" Devin scoffed, clearly displeased at my reasoning.
"It was their President. This is America—they take those sorts of threats very seriously and can hold a grudge for years, even after they have changed leaders. Sometimes it seems a little excessive to me, yes, but neither of us are in a position to argue," I scolded him for trying to brush off the incident. Personally, though, I agreed with him and didn't think it should be too much of a fuss anymore. It had all worked out well after all: no one had been hurt except for Devin.
"It was a moment of convenience. The President was what would make the biggest disruption. It's not like I'm going to try again." Devin shrugged, pausing midway through to wince and slowly relax.
"Yes, but still, humans can be very touchy about attacks on their leaders. Talkin
g to you about an active case would not be approved of," I argued, almost as much to remind myself as to explain to Devin.
"Come on. I've been stuck in this bed without anyone but humans for most of the day, and certainly with nothing to do. It's not like I'm going to hop out of bed and start mucking things up. I'm bored. Tell me about this little mystery. Maybe I can see something an idiot like you has overlooked," he whined, and I could see the hint of a pout. Not that I would point it out.
"All right, we're just not going to tell anyone about this conversation then." I waited for him to nod before I continued. "It's up to seven deaths so far. All of them have been almost the exact same except the last three. Which we're thinking might have been more in the moment than the others. Cause of death is still the same for them all, heart attack with burn marks over the heart. We figured out that some of the victims had elevated levels of oxytocin." I informed handing him the reports.
"Did they all have raised levels or did only some of them? Were they new parents or in a fresh romance?" Devin inquired flipping through the pages. He was quite the fast reader, always had been, and he set the papers on the table a moment later. I had no doubt he read it all.
"Well, excluding the two brothers that we believe to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, the victims were three women and two men so let me think. There was a woman that was a mother, no, two, both in the last few months. One of the men had been a dad, I think. The other woman had been on her way home from a date; same with the other man." I suddenly wished I had the rest of the reports so I could double check myself. It might be more helpful to Devin because I didn't follow where he was going with these questions.
"I think we should assume that they had very good dates then. Gone back to their partner's place for a bit of a nightcap, if you will. You said burn marks over the hearts, right?" Devin smirked. I scowled at his insinuation, but nodded at his guess anyways.
"Let's be respectful of the victims," I chided. "Besides, that term is from the wrong century. I think they use movies and chill." I picked up the papers to flick through them again.
"If you're still looking for a suspect, you've ruled out the Plagiariis from the third moon of Amor, right?" he asked I met his inquiring look with a blank one.
"The what of where now?" I repeated curiously. Devin threw his hands up muttering a few mother tongue curses, glaring at me with exasperation.
"The Plagiariis from the third moon of Amor. They steal the life force of people in love. Really, it's the love hormone that draws them in. Which humans label as oxytocin, and the heart is used as a waypoint to steal from. The burn marks are from the electrical exchange that occurs." Devin gave me a look like he was waiting on me to remember something, but I could only give him a blank stare.
"We learned this back in the academy. We spent a whole semester going over Amor and all its moons. Did you not pay any attention?" Devin lectured with a heavy amount of scorn. I bashfully looked over at the wall. In truth, I had missed conversations like this. Where I missed something apparently vital and Devin yelled at me for it.
"Well, I've always been more of a hands-on learner than in boring classrooms. You should know. You sat next to me through most of them. Why would I need to pay attention anyways when I had you?" I stated, giving Devin a cheeky grin. Which he didn't find nearly as funny as I did. My knowledge of the galaxy was rather good, especially compared to my human coworkers, but that came from my travels more than what I remembered from school. Devin always had been the better student between us.
"How have you survived at all without me to watch your dumb ass?" Devin whispered rubbing his face with his hands.
"Honestly, not that well. Not nearly as well as I could with you here." I breathed. That was the moment I knew the unspoken line had been crossed. The one we toed around for years. Never telling how we really felt, never admitting to anything. Not anything that mattered. I could tell in the way Devin's head snapped up painfully quick to stare at me.
The tense line of his shoulders drew them back. The silence dragged on, both of us waiting for the other to act. I wasn't planning on negating what I said. I had meant it in every implication. I had taken the first step, but I wouldn't press any further until Devin reacted. I wanted to see if he'd meet my impulsive challenge. If he would cross the line too, or if he'd back off and things would go back to how they were.
"Anyways, since that is their main source of food, the universal doctrine allows them an allotment of energy from consenting people. Enough to feed from them without harming the host. This one seems to be ignoring that and taking everything. It's curious how they got out here in the first place. Earth is light years away." Devin avoided the raw honesty of the moment, turning away to trace patterns of wrinkles in the blanket.
"There are lots of possibilities I guess. Lost, visiting, stolen, plenty of ways to end up here. What I find strange is you said they're attracted to oxytocin, so that means they feed off it don't they? If that's the case, then the victims should have severely dropped levels or none at all, not raised." I continued his line of thinking. Ignoring the hurt spreading in my chest. If Devin didn't want to discuss things he would have his reasons. As his friend, I could respect that.
Now probably wasn't the best time for confessions anyways. It wasn't quite fair to him to press while he was vulnerable. After years of practice it was easy to silence the voice asking what would be fair to myself.
"Yes, that is odd. It's almost like the Plagiariis could draw out more in the person, but couldn't absorb it from them. Either because of something in the human or in them. I don't think we'll know that until we find this perpetrator, though." Devin agreed. He sucked in a sharp breath a moment later pressing a hand to his chest. I leaned over putting my hand over his.
"Are you all right? Where does it hurt? Should we call Amy?" The rapid-fire questions fell from my lips. I felt him take a deep breath under my palm before he swatted my hand away.
"I'm fine idiot. It was a pang it's passed now. No need to overreact." Devin brushed off my worries. Though it didn't help stop them much.
"It's getting late, we should go to bed. I can share with the others in the morning and continue from there. Would you prefer to lay down?" I asked. Getting out of my chair to look over the other side of the bed. Trying to find the lever Amy had used earlier, waiting for Devin's approval before doing anything more. With his nod followed by a yawn, I gently lowered the bed till he was lying down. I gathered a blanket from the closet and flicked off the lights. Settling back into my chair for another uncomfortable night in it, there was no way I was going home.
"Do you miss home Demitri?" Devin's voice rose from the quiet as I was nodding off. I almost didn't hear him.
"Sometimes. When something reminds me of home, or I come across a little trinket mother would love. Most of the time I don't notice. I keep busy enough. Besides, I made my choice and I wouldn't take it back." I answered as quietly.
"I miss it. I miss home so much. I feel so alone all the time. No one to hear me. No one to feel me. Not like they do at home. It's all silent except for them. The only constant in a universe that keeps its distance. I'm so lonely Demitri." Devin sobbed softly. The dark worked as an atmosphere for confession. Darkness hides many a thing, making it the perfect time to admit aches of the heart.
"You're not alone anymore Devin. I'm right here. I won't let you be alone ever again, if you'll let me." I shushed uncurling enough to reach out for him. Devin flinched away from my touch and then took my hand in a death grip just as quickly.
"I still feel alone Demitri. I don't want to feel like that anymore. Will you sleep next to me? For the night, please. No, no, never mind, it's stupid." Devin whimpered pulling away. Drawing into himself. What the dark hides is returned in kind by what it draws out in people. Slowly to not spook him, I stood from my chair.
"Yes of course I will. Now move over to make some room for me." I muttered, waiting for him to do it so that I could pull back the blan
ket enough to slip under. I gingerly arranged my lanky frame to fit in the cramped space, being careful of him and any stray wires. Lying on my side pressed against him with tender fingers, I dried his cheeks. I made a link between our minds to give him a feeling of peace and comfort. Brushing away his fear of isolation.
In a carefully tucked away part of my mind, I thought that this was enough for this moment. Being near him was enough. I hoped that there wouldn't come a time that it wouldn't be anymore. We fell asleep with me singing him an old lullaby my mother had sung to me.
CHAPTER FIVE
Is this all you can manage? You are pathetic. By now you should have killed them all. Where is the carnage, the bloodshed? How weak you are, a disgrace. Do something useful.
Jolting awake at the vicious, snarling voice I smashed my head into something as I jerked away. Pain mixed with the lingering notion of sleep as I tried to remember where I was. The words chilled me to the bones. Wait, that wasn't me shivering. Pain fading, I looked to my side and saw Devin shaking and muttering to himself. The monitor started beeping as his heart rate climbed.
"Devin hey, wake up. It's fine. It's a dream." I tried waking him, a hand on his shoulder. I didn't want to scare him, but I couldn't watch him in distress. Touching my hand to his temple I tried a different method.
"Devin wake up." I called in his mind. Hoping the disruption would be enough to get through the noise. Devin startled awake clawing for anything in reach to ground himself. I wrapped my arms around him. Soothing him best I could while he cried. Racking sobs that refused to be silenced.
"Make her stop Demitri. Please, oh gods and goddesses above. Make her stop, please." Devin wailed curling into me, head buried in my shoulder. I repositioned us as best I could when his IV cords grew tense.
"Shh, it's okay, I've got you. I'm right here. Who won't be quiet? Come on, talk to me. Just me, don't listen to them. Focus only on my voice." I hummed, rubbing his back. Now being more awake, I realized that the voice I had heard must have been one of the ones that Devin heard all the time. Sleeping wrapped around each other must have let me slip into a deeper part of Devin's subconscious, than what I had previously when talking with him telepathically. It did bolster my confidence about how he felt. Devin's mind would never relax that much, unless he still trusted me the same he had all those years ago. Though right now I needed to focus more on calming Devin.