by Sarah Carter
“I’m an empath,” Lana answers. “I can feel your emotions, but also control them.”
“So...”
“I can tell you are telling the truth,” Lana states. She stares him straight in the eyes. “I can tell when someone is lying.”
He seems to shift uncomfortably. “We haven’t lied yet.”
“I wouldn’t plan on it, either,” Lana replies. “I will be able to tell.”
Nodding, he says, “Good to know. Let’s talk about the plans some more. I would have to agree with Lexi. Catching them from surprise from the opposite direction would be a good idea.”
“What if she can’t jump through the wall?” Connor asks.
“The stone he has is smaller,” Jenkins replies. “So, unless he was directly in the hallway, it won’t affect her. What we are worried about is when we confront him.”
Uncle Mason puts his hands down and leans over the table. “Do you think he has any clue that we are coming?”
“No,” Jenkins replies. “He’s very smug, but we have had everyone on lockdown. No one even knows we are here or what day we are coming.”
“That’s probably for the best,” Lexi says.
“The fewer people know, the better,” Andrew states. “Anyway, everyone in our group is worried about this. No one wants this information leaked out. Everyone is on board.”
Connor crosses his arms. “So, there are only three people and mercenaries.”
“Yes,” Andrew replies.
“We can take care of the mercenaries,” Uncle Mason says. “Leave that to Lexi and me.”
Jenkins points to the map. “But, if we come in here, that’s where they will be.”
“Let us go in first,” Lexi says. “Let us sweep through and get to that door. It will catch them by surprise. We won’t do anything else, until you are in the building.”
“Did you get the magnets you were talking about?” Jenkins asks.
Lexi bends down and opens her duffle bag. She takes them out and puts them on the table. “If you press this red button, they turn on. Now, if you have any metal in you, it could be dangerous. Have you ever had surgery? Do you have any plates or screws?”
Andrew and Jenkins look at each other. They both shake their heads. “No.”
“That’s good,” Lexi replies. “So, I have ten of these, we smack them on the computers and turn them on.”
“Are they heavy?” Andrew asks.
Tossing him one, Lexi says, “Not at all.”
Andrew catches it and looks at it. “That’s great. We can put these in a backpack.”
“Try to not damage the suits,” Lexi says. “I’m going to return them after we are done.”
“Well, I hope to not get shot,” Andrew laughs. “We do have some goals.”
She laughs, too. “That’s good.”
“So, what time are we going in?” Uncle Mason says.
“Tomorrow at 10 pm.”
He nods. “Very good.”
“We would like to ask some stuff about the Neturu,” Jenkins declares.
Lexi shakes her head. “No, what you know, is what you know. I’m not going to release any information.”
“Okay,” Jenkins replies, looking let down. “We understand.”
“Like I’ve told Connor multiple times,” Lexi starts. “Let me get to know you and trust you, then I will tell you things. He wants to know my history and everything, but I haven’t told him. I need to know that I can trust him. I do trust you, but I need to be careful.”
Jenkins nods. “I get it.”
“I’m hungry,” Connor says.
“We ate a little while ago,” Lexi replies. “But, guess what, I will eat again!” Everyone laughs. “What? Keeping this energy is draining, if I don’t eat, I don’t have energy.”
“Let’s all get some food then,” Jenkins replies.
They eat and late that night, Connor and Lexi are outside. “It’s so beautiful,” Connor gasps, staring at the stars.
“Isn’t it?” Lexi agrees. “I always love coming up here.”
“Where’s your home planet?” Connor asks.
Lexi spins around. “Over there, you can barely see the star. Sort of around Orion.”
“That's cool,” Connor says, as he steps up to her. He wraps his arms around her. “This is a neat experience right now. Maybe not the whole mission thing, but being with you here, now, it’s incredible.”
She nods. “I would have to agree. I never knew I could feel this way about someone. I never thought someone would see me for me. I know I have said that already, but when you spend your whole life being alone and thinking you’re going to be alone, meeting someone will shake you. I never thought I would meet someone that saw past the powers. The only guys that showed interest wanted into our family. You don’t care about that.”
“Unless I marry you,” Connor says. “Then I want a cool car.”
Laughing, Lexi replies, “Okay, you can have a cool car.”
He looks down at her. “I’m glad you don’t have your contacts in. I like the color of your eyes.”
“My dad would freak right now if he knew,” Lexi snorts. “Actually, with this whole situation. I don’t know if there is anything he wouldn’t freak about.”
“Well, we will have to keep it a secret,” Connor whispers. They look into each other eyes, as the night is silent around them. “It’s so peaceful and you are so beautiful.” She bashfully smiles. Connor leans down and kisses her. Lexi lets herself go. They connect, and she can feel him. She knows what he’s feeling. There’s a link now. Lexi never knew she could have this with someone. She can feel what he feels in his heart. It is pure, and it is true. She trusts him. Lexi knows she can trust him. She can feel it in her soul. She can feel him in her soul.
They get lost in each other. In the feeling, in the moment. Finally, they pull apart. “I know what you feel,” Connor whispers. “It’s incredible.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Lexi replies softly. “I can trust you. I know that. You would never say a word to anyone.”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I would never risk losing you.”
“I want to be like this, stay like this,” Lexi whispers. “I want to feel you every day.”
Connor takes her hand and puts it over his heart. “You can sense me now. You do know what I’m feeling. We will always be connected.”
“I love you,” she says. “That’s scares me. We just met.”
“But this connection we have,” Connor replies. “It’s powerful. Sometimes love comes and crashes in your door. I think it did that with us.”
She wraps her arms around him and places her head on his chest. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“I will never leave you,” he promises, kissing her hair.
Chapter 19
“These suits are like suction cupped to our bodies,” Ashe groans. “God, this feels so weird.”
“Yeah,” Lana says, pulling on hers.
Lexi puts her hands on her hips. “If you get shot, you aren’t going to care what they feel like.”
Putting up his finger, Ashe says, “True.”
Connor walks over to Lexi. “I’m worried.”
“I know,” she sighs. “So, am I, but Uncle Mason is going to be there. He will protect me.”
Uncle Mason cracks his knuckles. “I’m the only one who can keep up with her mother. If you sent me in there by myself, I could clean house.”
She shakes her head. “No, that’s not going to happen. We sweep the house together. I will shut everything down. It will be dark.”
“Good thing we can see in the dark,” Uncle Mason teases, winking at her.
“You can see in the dark?” Jenkins gasps.
“Well, not totally,” Uncle Mason replies. “But, way better than humans.”
Jenkins holds up some goggles. “These will help us see.”
“That’s good,” Lexi says. “I don’t need you tripping up because you can’t see.”
“We do know what we are doing,” Jenkins replies.
“You’ve gone on missions before?” Lexi scoffs.
He tilts his head. “Well, no, not missions.”
“Leave that up to us,” Uncle Mason states. “We will take care of business.”
“We will help if we encounter anything in front,” Ashe says, doing a roundhouse kick.
Andrew nods. “That’s good. We know how to use guns, but we are not fighters.”
“We are,” Lana teases.
“That’s good. Is everyone ready?” Jenkins asks.
“Yeah,” Uncle Mason replies.
Lexi turns to Connor. “I will keep you up to date with everything that happens. Once we are done, I will tell you.”
“Okay,” Connor replies. He leans forward and gives her a kiss.
“Hey, now,” Uncle Mason teases. “None of that.”
“Shut up,” Lexi laughs.
Connor takes her hand and grips it tightly. “Come back to me.”
“I will,” Lexi promises.
“Let’s go,” Jenkins says.
Ashe, Lana, Lexi, and Uncle Mason all form a circle and slap their hands together in the center. “What are you doing?” Andrew says.
“Jumping us there,” Lexi replies. “Did you think we were going to drive? Like they wouldn’t notice a car.”
He shakes his head and joins the circle. Jenkins and Elizabeth do the same thing. “Hold on to your cookies,” Ashe laughs.
Lexi closes her eyes, and suddenly, they are in the darkened woods. “Holy...” Jenkins exhales. “That is incredible.”
“I’m still late for stuff,” Lexi laughs. “Imagine that.” He smiles. “Okay,” she says quietly. “We have to go a little ways through these trees.”
They all, carefully, creep their way through the brush and trees. When they get near the edge, a giant building looms before them. Jenkins puts his finger up to his lips. Everyone nods. He points to Lexi. She closes her eyes and concentrates on the building. It takes a few minutes, but suddenly the house goes dark.
“Go,” Jenkins hisses.
Uncle Mason grabs Lexi’s hand, and they disappear. When they get into the building, it’s dark. There’s barely any light. Uncle Mason points to the wall and signals for her to go. Lexi takes one wall, and Uncle Mason takes the other. They slowly creep their way down. Suddenly, two big guys come out from the doorway. They have guns drawn. Lexi looks and knocks the guns out of their hands. Uncle Mason jumps behind the one guy and puts him in a choke hold. Lexi disappears and reappears in front of the other guy. She crescent kicks him in the head. He spins and smacks into the wall, falling unconscious. The guy Uncle Mason is holding finally passes out.
They grab the bodies and drag them into an empty room. They look at each other and he points his finger to the end of the hall. Lexi jumps down there. He follows. They peer around the corner. There’s no one there.
Lexi thinks, There has to be more of them. Uncle Mason nods. I’m going to try and sense them. She closes her eyes. Opening them back up, she thinks, I can only sense the next two rooms. That’s where the door that everyone else has to come in. There are three guys at the door. I am going to make them feel pain. Then we will have incapacitate them. He nods again.
They slowly turn the corner and creep down the hallway. Lexi sees the three figures. There are two men and one woman. They are wearing all black and have guns drawn. Lexi projects pain. They all fall to the ground, screaming. Lexi and Uncle Mason run full speed down the hallway. Uncle Mason takes something out of his pocket. He shoots a dart into each of them. They fall limp.
Turning to him, Lexi’s jaw drop. She hisses, “You didn’t tell me you brought a weapon.”
He shrugs. “I didn’t think it was pertinent.”
She rolls her eyes. Closing her eyes, she thinks, It’s a go. Come in.
Uncle Mason looks around and makes sure there is no one else around. He and Lexi grabs a body and drag it away from the door. They each pick up a gun. Lexi cocks it and holds it down by her leg. Uncle Mason does the same thing but points it down the hall.
The doors suddenly burst open. Ashe is the first to come in, followed by Lana and then the three humans. Jenkins comes up next to them. “Where are they?”
“I can’t sense that way,” Lexi whispers, pointing down the right hallway. “I get nothing. They must be down there.”
“They will know we are here,” Jenkins replies. “We need to be careful.”
Uncle Mason, Lexi, and Ashe take the front. Ashe had picked up the other gun. The slowly make their way down the hallway. Suddenly, two guys pop out of a doorway. Lexi looks at them and gasps, “Shoot them!”
They both shoot at the guys. One gets hit in the knee cap and the other, his hand. Both drop their guns. “Are you okay?” Uncle Mason asks.
“Yeah, my powers didn’t work,” Lexi stammers. She concentrates, and the guns go skidding across the floor towards her. “They are working again.”
“He must be close,” Jenkins says. “We need to be careful.”
Looking at the wall, Lexi says, “I’ve got this.” She goes running into the wall and comes out the other side. She keeps going full speed at the figure in front of her. They slam into each other at full speed. Lexi pushes him until they hit the computers. She reaches back and punches him full force in the face. He screams.
Someone tears her off of him. Lexi spins out of the hold, and sweeps the legs out from under the woman. She falls and hits her head on the corner of the desk. Lexi turns back to the guy. She punches him in the face.
Everyone else comes scrambling into the room. “Lexi, stop!” Jenkins yells. “That’s not Jose.”
She steps back. “Who is it?”
“That’s Tanya and Davey.”
Lexi looks up at all the computers. “It’s obviously not going to be on any of these.”
“No,” he replies. “But we should still erase them.” He throws down the backpack and pulls out three magnets. He hands one to Ashe, one to Lexi, and keeps one for himself. “Let’s do this.”
Slamming one of them on the side of the computer panel, Lexi presses the button. The computer actually crumples a little and the screen goes black. Ashe and Jenkins do the same. Lexi spins and looks at Tanya. “Where’s Jose?”
“He’s gone,” she stammers. “As soon as we lost power.”
“Where’d he go?” Lexi growls. “Tell me or I will unleash my powers.”
“Down that hatch,” Tanya whispers, pointing to a door in the floor.
Uncle Mason goes and opens it. “What do we do?” Elizabeth asks.
“This,” Uncle Mason snickers. He pulls out a small container out of his pocket.
“How much do you have in there?” Lexi laughs.
He wiggles his eyebrows. “You’d be amazed what I have stolen through the years.” He pulls a pin and throws it in the hatch and closes it. There’s a loud popping sound and then hissing.
“What was that?” Andrew asks.
“Serana gas,” Uncle Mason laughs. “It will make you vomit uncontrollably and then pass out.”
“I thought you were a peaceful species,” Jenkins says.
Uncle Mason starts to laugh. “It was in the archives. I stole it. I wasn’t even sure if it would work anymore.”
“Well, we can go down there now,” Andrew snaps.
“It dissipates in two minutes,” Uncle Mason says. “It travels fast, too. So, he’s probably down there, puking his brains out.”
Lexi turns on Tanya. “Does he have a stone?”
“Yeah,” she whispers. “But it’s small.”
Turning Lexi closes her eyes. She slowly starts to move across the room. Carefully, she makes her way out of the room and down the hall. Everyone follows her. She puts her hand on and continues her way down the hall. Finally, she opens her eyes. “He’s right there, but I don’t know if my powers are going to work.” She turns to her uncle. “Do you have anything for that?”
&n
bsp; He fumbles in his pockets. Ashe raises an eyebrow. “Seriously, what do you all have in there?”
“This,” Uncle Mason cheers. He pulls out a pen.
“What are we going to write him a letter?” Ashe asks sarcastically.
Uncle Mason shakes his head. “Nope, but stand back.” They all back up. Uncle Mason points the pen at the floor. He presses a button, and a beam shoots out. Drawing a circle around the area, it suddenly falls down. There is screaming underneath. He puts his hands on his hips. “What I didn’t think about is it squishing him.”
“Help!” they hear him scream.
“Who can lift that?” Jenkins asks.
Lexi puts her hand out. It takes a lot of concentration, but she slowly starts to lift the slab of flooring. She pulls it from the hole and throws it to the side. Drained, she falls to the floor. “Lexi!” Lana cries. She cradles her.
“The stone,” Lexi exhales. “It drains me if I use my powers.”
“Get him out of there,” Uncle Mason screams.
Andrew and Jenkins reach down and pull Jose out of the hole. He is bleeding from his nose and gash on his head. “I can’t...” he barely whispers. He looks up. “Neturu. True Neturu.” His eyes look down at Lexi. “Oh my god, she’s real. Right in front of me.”
“Where is the stone?” Uncle Mason snaps. He looks at Lexi. She’s taking shallow breaths. “Give it to me now, or I will torture you!”
“It’s in my pants pocket,” Jose barely says. “It doesn’t matter. None of this matters. You have no idea what’s coming!” Lexi looks at him suspiciously.
Uncle Mason flips him over and searches his pockets. He finds the stone. “What should we do with this?”
“Elizabeth, take it,” Jenkins says. “Go into the woods. Get as far away from Lexi as possible. We will find you. Take a gun.” Ashe hands a gun over, and then Uncle Mason hands her the stone. Elizabeth takes it and then runs down the hall.
“Ashe, go with her,” Uncle Mason instructs. “Protect her. Jump you guys somewhere if needed.”
As soon as they are both out of sight, Lexi takes a deep breath in. She can feel the energy starting to build up in her again. “Are you okay?” Jenkins asks.
She jerkily nods. “Yeah, that just took a lot out of me. The stone...the stone drained me.”