Elyse flashed her dazzling smile. I'm convinced that smile could disarm an angry rampaging gorilla. My Aunt didn't stand a chance.
"Of course. Come in, sweetie."
I hadn't moved. Elyse wasn't in my Calculus class. Elyse wasn't in any calculus class. Elyse hated math; she was an Art major. Something was very wrong. Elyse gave me a micro shake of her head. Okay. I'll play along.
"Again, I'm so sorry to bother."
"No. No. You're good. I need some food and a long hot soak in the tub," said Aunt Tina.
"Food's on the stove. Siam's," I said.
Aunt Tina smiled at Elyse, gave me a cool look, and said, "Thank you. We'll pick up our discussion later."
I nodded. Elyse smiled. Aunt Tina poured herself a tall glass of sparkling water, grabbed the plastic take-out bag and a fork and headed up stairs.
"What—" I started, but Elyse held her hand up.
She waited to hear the bedroom door shut and the water in the tub turn on. Satisfied, she turned and pulled me into a hug.
"Hey." My concern grew. "What's going on?"
She held me tight, not saying a word. I held her back, squeezing reassuringly. She released me with a quick peck on the cheek.
"Hold on. I've got to let my mom in," she said.
"Your mom? What?"
Elyse opened the front door and in walked Katherine Kelly. She was every bit as tall and beautiful as her daughter. Where Elyse had auburn hair, her mom's was raven black. They looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.
"Hello, Orson." She crossed the room, took my hands in her hers, pulled me a little closer, and scrutinized my face. I'm not sure what she was looking for, but her gaze was intense and weird. Then it got super weird, when she sniffed the air around me.
All I said was a confused, "Hi?"
Mrs. Kelly let go of my hands and Elyse immediately reached out and held one in a tight grip. I looked at her, to her mom, and back.
"Orson, I understand you have had an interesting day." It was a statement not a question.
"Yeah, I guess."
Elyse spoke up, "We've seen the video. Stacey texted me the link. How's your arm?"
"Not broken," I said.
"Clearly," said Mrs. Kelly.
"Can you show us?" Elyse asked.
I pulled off my hoodie and was shocked to find that the bruising on my arm looked better. I twisted it around for a better look in the living room light. Elyse made concerned noises.
"Huh?" I said.
"What is it?" Mrs. Kelly asked.
"Nothing. It looks . . . I don't know . . ."
"Better." Again, it was a statement not a question.
"Yeah. A lot better," I agreed.
"Orson, you know I have a medical background, correct?" Mrs. Kelly asked.
"Yeah, you were like a nurse or something back in the day."
"Or something, yes. I've watched the video - multiple times. Your arm, not to mention most of the bones on the left side of your body, should have been crushed. And yet, it looks, at most, like you fell off of a bicycle."
Oh boy. First Aunt Tina's disappointment, and now Elyse's mom was going to voice her displeasure that her daughter would even consider dating somebody who would pull such a horrible prank, hoax, whatever.
"Mrs. Kelly that video—"
She cut me off, "Is a real problem."
"I know it seems like maybe it was some kind of prank. That the trolls on the Internet are calling it a hoax, but—"
She cut me off again. "We should only be so lucky that people will believe it's a hoax."
I started to respond, but then her words sank in. "Be so lucky." What was that supposed to mean?
Elyse gave my hand a squeeze, and I looked at her. She looked worried, maybe even scared.
I dropped her hand and put my arm around her shoulder. "Hey, are you all right?"
"Orson. I'm so sorry . . ." she said. A tear rolled down her face and her shoulders trembled.
"Hey. What's wrong?" I looked to Mrs. Kelly. "What's happening? Why is she so upset?"
"Elyse tells me you had a rather large dinner?"
What? Dinner? I thought she was going to ream over a fake video that wasn't a fake video. Now she was asking about my diet? What the hell?
"Mrs. Kelly I'm really confused right now. Elyse is upset. You're asking about my arm and the video and what I had for dinner? Can you please just tell me what's going on?"
"One more weird question, if you please." She locked her eyes on mine. "Have you been seeing things?"
That was it. I was done. I let go of Elyse and sat down hard on the couch, staring up at the both of them, the sense that my world was about to implode overwhelming.
"Please?" I implored.
"Well, I think we can take that as a yes," said Mrs. Kelly.
Elyse sat down next to me, placing a tentative hand on my shoulder. Mrs. Kelly sat on the coffee table in front of me, our knees touching. She reached out to hold both my hands once more.
"You know the video is real? Don't you?" I asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Kelly answered.
"You're not surprised that I have a crazy big appetite?"
"No."
"And you fully expected that I would be seeing things?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because of what you are."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "And what do you think I am?"
"What you are, generally, is something very special. What you are specifically remains to be seen."
What? I stared at her, dumbfounded. That was like the worst Yoda answer I'd ever heard. Was she serious? Mrs. Kelly held my gaze, and I could see she was being as serious as a heart attack.
"You know that makes absolutely no sense, right?" I asked.
Then, she asked a question that came so far from out of nowhere it almost gave me whiplash. "I understand that you and Elyse recently kissed for the first time."
"I . . . Uh . . ."
I felt Elyse stiffen next to me.
"I'm not upset." She flicked her eyes toward her daughter and said, "No one is in trouble."
"Mrs. Kelly, I'm kind of freaking out right now. What's happening to me?"
"Orson, when I said you are special, a more accurate description would have been unique. The reason that pallet didn't crush you – the reason you're stronger and faster and seeing odd things – is due to your genetic make-up. The reason I know all this is because Elyse and I are like you."
Mrs. Kelly stood in a fluid motion. She cocked her head to one side, as if listening for something.
"Your Aunt is still in the bath. We have time."
How could she possibly hear Aunt Tina in the bath? Mrs. Kelly did a quick survey of the room, her eyes falling on three tall iron candleholders by the fireplace. She moved to them, removed the candle from one of them, and walked back to stand in front of me. She grasped the candleholder in both hands and bent it in half, like it was made of tin. My jaw became unhinged, dropping into an open and locked position.
She held her hand out toward her daughter. Elyse stood slowly and crossed to her mom. Mrs. Kelly held the iron candleholder out to her daughter. Elyse took it and gave me a weak smile. Her eyes looked so sad. Then, without even a hint of effort, Elyse straightened the candlestick out.
"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. Elyse bit her bottom lip; Mrs. Kelly pursed her lips. "Uh, sorry, Mrs. Kelly."
"That's quite all right, Orson. If ever a situation called for a little profanity, this is it."
"Can you do that again?" I asked.
Elyse smiled a little bigger. She bent it back and forth one more time, and after making sure it was straight, she set it back down in its place.
"Okay. So you guys are like X-Men or something?" I had a thought and asked, "How about Mr. Kelly and the rest of the family?"
"Yes. They are like us. Richard would've been here also, but is attending to an urgent matter that we will discuss later. I must say, Orson, so far you'
re handling this quite well," Mrs. Kelly said approvingly.
"Well, my self-diagnosis included brain tumors and insanity. This is . . . better. And I also read a lot of comic books."
Elyse let out a snort.
"I see," said Mrs. Kelly.
"So, how exactly did I, all of sudden, become you know . . ." I gestured at them both.
"That is a very reasonable question. The answer is long, but I'll give you the basics," said Mrs. Kelly.
She began to pace as she spoke.
"As I said, you have a unique genetic signature, a marker in you DNA. How do I know this without studying your blood? Because of what has occurred. When you and Elyse kissed, an enzyme that naturally occurs in her was transferred to you. The genetic marker you carry was dormant, and would have remained so for your entire life, if not brought into contact with the enzyme from Elyse."
I looked at Elyse, who looked down. Why was she afraid to look at me? Was she ashamed? When she spoke, it was a whisper I could barely discern.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I never would have . . ." She looked up at me, eyes brimming with tears. "I didn't know."
I went to her and pulled her to me. She buried her face in my chest.
"It's all right," I said. "I believe you. Please don't cry."
Mrs. Kelly smiled at me and ran her fingers down her daughter's hair.
"So this is like what . . . some kind of magical STD?" I asked.
Elyse pulled back so she could look at me. "Orson, you have to have sex to get an STD." Elyse glanced at her mom.
Right. STD equals sexually transmitted disease. I could be such an idiot sometimes. I felt my face flush red. "Oh yeah, of course. I mean like a magical mono. Um, you get that from kissing, right?"
"Mono is often called the kissing disease," Mrs. Kelly said, smiling.
I wasn't sure because I was still freaking a little, but it seemed like Mrs. Kelly was teasing me. "So you're saying I've been infected with super powers?"
"You're such a dork," said Elyse.
At least she wasn't crying anymore.
"No. It doesn't quiet work like mono. That's a virus and a very contagious one. You already had these "super powers" coded within your DNA. All the kissing did was provide your body with the catalyst needed to activate the genes that control those powers," Mrs. Kelly explained.
"Can we stop using the term 'super powers'?" said Elyse. "It's kind of lame. And there's a big catch."
"A catch?" I repeated. Uh oh. That didn't sound good.
Elyse was avoiding my eyes again, but she gave me a little nod.
"It's best if you see it with your own eyes," Mrs. Kelly said. "Even then, your mind will try to reject the truth of what is occurring. Orson, I need you to have a seat and stay seated. You need to remain as calm as possible. Can you do that?"
I had just witnessed my girlfriend and her mom bend iron like it was nothing. We had entered the twilight zone ten minutes ago. My brain was fried; I didn't think staying calm would be all that hard. I sat back down on the couch, placed my hands on my knees, and sat up straight.
Mrs. Kelly nodded to Elyse.
"Don't freak out, okay?" Elyse pleaded.
I don't know what I expected, but Elyse getting undressed was not even on the list of possibilities running through my mind. She had kicked off her shoes and pulled her dress up over her head before I realized what was happening.
"Whoa. Wait a second," I said.
Elyse was standing in her bra and panties; they were black and sexy as hell. I shook my head - get it together, Reid.
"Mrs. Kelly, what—" I started.
Mrs. Kelly cut me off, "Orson, remember our deal. This will all make sense in a moment."
"Elyse?" I implored.
"It's okay," Elyse assured me.
I'd seen Elyse in a bikini more times than I can remember, but this was different. She hadn't been my girlfriend then. Seeing her standing there in such a vulnerable way fired up all my primal caveman instincts. I wanted to protect her. I held in a gasp as she pulled off her bra and skinned off her panties. She was gorgeous. A tanned, toned, golden goddess.
Elyse gave me one more pleading smile. I tried to convey my feelings for her through my eyes, hoping she would understand that she meant everything to me. And then she began to vibrate. Just a slight shimmy, almost like she was shivering. Elyse fell forward; I jumped up to catch her, but before my butt even cleared the couch, a golden shimmer enveloped her body. In the blink of an eye, Elyse was gone and in her place was what I was sure must be a world-record-sized black panther.
I fell back onto the couch. My girlfriend was a giant black cat, a cat with the claws and teeth of a world-class predator. She was easily the size of a Shetland pony. I noticed her coat wasn't entirely black; it had a jigsaw of dark auburn colored patches that gave it richness and depth. It was beautiful. The yellow eyes drew me in. They were not normal animal eyes. They were intelligent, knowing eyes. They were Elyse's eyes; maybe a different color, but I recognized her, the girl I'd grown up with, laughed with, and fell in love with.
Elyse, because that was the only way to think of this giant cat in my living room - she wasn't an "it," she was Elyse - sat back on her haunches and curled her long tail around her paws. She blinked her eyes at me, chuffed once, and flicked her ears forward. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I laughed. It was a deep laugh and maybe just a tad hysterical.
CHAPTER 6
Mrs. Kelly let out a little laugh of her own. "Well, that's an unexpected reaction." She cocked her head and looked up toward the ceiling. Elyse also flicked her ears toward the stairs.
"I'm afraid we are out of time," Mrs. Kelly said. "Your Aunt is finished with her bath." She put up a hand when I tried to speak. "I know you have a thousand questions. We just don't have time to answer them right now. I think it's obvious we would like you to keep this," she gestured at Elyse, "to yourself. Your aunt can't know, at least for right now."
"I understand. Like she would believe me, anyway? She'd probably check me in to rehab," I responded.
"Elyse, quickly now, shift back," Mrs. Kelly directed.
I couldn't help myself. I stared, completely fascinated by the process. I mean, I was witnessing something that went against centuries of scientific observation and documentation.
Elyse's cat body started the slight vibration I had noticed before her initial change — or I guess shift was the correct term. At the last moment, she sprang up onto her back legs so that when the shimmery glow finished its thing and she was back in human form, she was standing on two feet instead of kneeling on the all fours.
I tried to be a gentleman, averting my eyes while she quickly dressed. I looked back as she was pulling her dress over her head. "Does it hurt?" I waved my hands in the air. "The shifting, does it hurt?"
Elyse cocked a hip, shook her head, and asked, "You just watched me turn into an abnormally large panther and your first question is does it hurt?"
I stood up and crossed to her. "Well, yeah. I just want to make sure you're not in pain." I reached out and tucked some hair that had come loose behind her ear. It was a casual move, but I hoped it conveyed the message I didn't consider her freak or that I was afraid of her now.
Elyse's eyes brimmed with tears and she threw her arms around me. With her lips close to my ear, she whispered, "Thank you." I gave her squeeze. She pulled away, but kept a hold of my hand
"Orson, you have always been my favorite of Elyse's friends, and tonight you proved why that is the case," said Mrs. Kelly, clearing her throat and wiping at the corner of her eye. "We have to leave. Your aunt will be down any second. We need you to come to our house tonight. I know it's asking a lot. We were outside long enough to hear part of your conversation with your aunt. Be as kind as you can with her, but don't even hint at the truth. I'm sorry that I'm asking you to lie, but it is for her protection. Can you do that?"
I nodded. I didn't want to lie to Aunt Tina, but I also didn't want to put her in danger.
"There is much you need to know and understand about yourself and the world as it really is. This will be a long night. We will wait down the block; you can follow us over in your car. Okay?"
"Okay." Elyse and I looked at one another for a moment. I leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Give me fifteen minutes," I said.
They both hustled out the door. I just made it back to the couch when Aunt Tina reached the bottom of the stairs. She had on her big terry cloth robe and a towel wrapped around her wet hair. She dropped the food containers back on the kitchen counter, leaned back, and let out a tired sigh. "Is there anything you want to tell me about today?" she asked.
What could I say? I couldn't tell her the video was real. Even if she believed the pallet had been deflected by a shelf and never came into direct contact with my arm, there was no way to explain the jump. A world-class athlete probably could have made the jump, but not carrying Tony. I would have to disappoint her and it broke my heart.
"We never thought it would get uploaded to YouTube." It sounded lame, even to me.
"You never thought it would get uploaded? That's it? How about responsibility to your employer? I watched the video, Orson, several times, you damaged that forklift." She was trying really hard to keep her voice calm.
"It looks worse than it is." I tried to sound reassuring, but all she did was roll her eyes and throw her arms up in exasperation.
"You can't be serious!" she said. "This isn't like you! A stupid prank that damaged property - which is called vandalism by the way - and on top of that, you could have been seriously hurt. Let me see your arm."
Damn. I thought I could avoid showing her the damage. Even though my arm was looking better, it was still far from normal. "Aunt Tina, really, I didn't get hurt."
"Arm. Now."
I tried to minimize it by pulling up the sleeve of my hoodie instead of taking it completely off. It didn't matter. When she saw how black and blue it was, she rushed over and kneeled next to me. "Oh my . . . Oh jeez . . . We need to get you to a doctor." She stood up, grabbing for her purse. She paused, looking down at the robe she was wearing, and reversed course for the stairs.
I jumped up. "Wait. Calm down."
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