by Sarah Carter
“We didn’t know it would have that effect,” Jenkins stammers. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Lexi breathes out. “Give me a minute.”
Seething mad, Uncle Mason takes Jose and slams him against the wall. “Where are the videos?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Jose laughs. “They are gone.”
Lexi stands up and stumbles her way over to him. “Where are they?”
“Do what you want to me,” Jose sneers. “It’s in the hands of someone else.”
Grabbing his head, Lexi says, “Who has them? Who did you give them to?”
“I will never tell you.” An evil laughs bubbles from his throat.
“We need to get your dad involved,” Lana says. “Right now.”
She spins on him. “And tell him what? What could he possibly do? We have to sit and wait now.”
“I’m not going to tell you,” Jose snorts. “The Neturu are going to be outed. You can’t stop it now.”
“I should beat the crap out of you,” Uncle Mason yells.
“You can’t do anything to me,” Jose laughs. “There are bigger problems out there for the Neturu than me. You have no idea what’s coming.”
Lexi narrows her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He laughs menacingly. “You will just have to wait and watch. There’s bigger things out there than the Neturu. We are not alone.”
“Who else is here?” Uncle Mason snaps.
A deep chuckle comes from Jose. “I’m not going to tell you. They will do worst things to me than you will do. Sometimes you reap what you sow.”
Lana moves towards him. “He's telling the truth,” she whispers. “There’s more. I feel fear. I feel that. There’s something more he’s hiding. I can sense it. He’s telling the truth though.”
“Who else is there?” Uncle Mason snarls. “Leave him alone with me for a few minutes.”
“No, let me try something first.” Stepping right in front of him, Lexi puts her hand on his head. “I did this the other day.” She opens herself and connects to Jose. His memories and thoughts course through her head. “There’s a computer,” she hisses. “There’s a computer that is timed to release the videos.”
“Not all at once,” Jose laughs. “One at a time, from different addresses. You’ll never find it, before it’s too late.”
“I’m looking,” Lexi says, scanning his thoughts.
Suddenly, Jose’s hand comes up, and he has a gun. Lexi screams, and Jose shoots himself.
“Heal him!” Uncle Mason yells.
Lexi stands there, staring at the lifeless body, with blood all over her. “I can’t,” she whispers. “He’s dead.”
“We need to tell your father,” Lana says.
“No,” Uncle Mason says.
She looks at her. “What is he going to do? We need Jenkins and the others’ help. He would just erase their memories. That will do us no good.” Shaking her head slowly, Lexi barely says, “There’s no one else, but that computer is hidden somewhere.”
“Do you have any idea where?” Jenkins asks.
Reaching down, Lexi reaches into a side, leg pocket of Jose’s pants. She pulls out an envelope. “He left clues,” she says.
“Don’t open that yet,” Jenkins says. “We need to scan it first and make sure there isn’t anything bad in it.”
“Let’s go through the house and make sure there are no more computers,” Andrew says. “We will take Davey and Tanya and erase their memories. We will go from there.”
“Maybe they know something,” Lana suggests.
Lexi shakes her head. “Only he knew, and he left clues. We just have to figure it out.”
“Before your dad shows up, let’s get everything cleared out,” Jenkins says.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Uncle Mason says.
Lana crosses her arms. “I still feel like we should tell Damien.”
Lexi turns on her. “What good is that going to do?” Lexi snaps. “Either he follows the clues or we do. What difference does it make? If we tell Dad, he would never let me help, and you need me to complete this mission. And then he would erase everyone’s memories. No, we don’t tell Dad.”
“Okay,” Uncle Mason says, putting up his hands. “Let’s get this all cleaned up, though.”
An hour later, they appear back by Connor. He rushes over to Lexi. “Are you okay? I felt you disappear for a few minutes.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. If I use a lot of my powers around the stones, it drains me,” she replies.
Uncle Mason steps forward. “What does he mean he can feel you?”
Biting her lip, Lexi says, “We are joined. We connected the other night like you guys do, and now we are telepathically linked.”
“Lexi,” Uncle Mason groans. “What are you getting yourself into?”
“It’s too late now,” Lexi says. “And I love him, Uncle Mason.”
“Little Bit,” Uncle Mason sighs. “What if your father gets mad?”
“Then I jump us somewhere and go into hiding. Sooner or later he will cave. They can’t find me if I don’t want to be found.”
With a shake of his head, Uncle Mason replies, “All right.”
“I want to see what’s in the envelope,” Jenkins declares.
“Do you have a scanner here?” Lexi asks.
He shakes his head. “No, it’s at the other building. So, we will have to wait until we get back.”
“Let’s sleep on it tonight and then go in the morning,” Andrew says. “We are all exhausted.”
“Yeah,” Lexi yawns, her eyes closing. “I still need to regain all my energy.”
Pointing towards the stairs, Jenkins says, “There are rooms upstairs.”
“Let’s go sleep,” Connor says, grabbing Lexi’s hand, since she’s teetering on her feet.
“Umm, no,” Uncle Mason says. “You will not be sleeping in the same room.”
Lexi opens her eyes and then rolls them. “Like you and Aunt Kayla didn’t sleep in a bed together. Do you really think we would do anything with you under the same roof as us? We are exhausted. We are just going to sleep. I don’t have the energy for anything else.”
He shoves his finger in Connor’s face. “If I hear anything, I will come in there and kick your ass.”
Connor jerks back. “Got it.”
“Come on,” Lexi groans, pulling on Connor. “I’m so tired, I could fall asleep on my feet.”
They make their way upstairs and to a room. Lexi walks over and falls onto the bed. “You may want to take your shoes off,” Connor laughs.
“So, tired,” Lexi whispers. Connor comes over and carefully unlaces her shoes and then takes them off. Barely having any energy, Lexi crawls under the covers. Connor tucks her in.
“You know,” he says softly. “I didn’t think you would be passing out from exhaustion, the first night we are in a bed together.”
She doesn’t even open her eyes, “So tired, Connor.”
“I get it.” He bends down and kisses her on the head. “Just sleep.”
With that, she passes out.
The next night, they are all back at the hideout. Jenkins takes the envelope and puts it on a scanner. “Somehow, I need to steal you a better scanner,” Lexi states, putting her hands on her hips.
“We make do with what we have,” Jenkins replies. He punches a few things into the computer, and the scan starts. It takes a few seconds. Then something pops up on the screen. “It’s clear,” Jenkins says. “There’s only an index card inside.”
Lexi takes it and opens it. “What does it say?” Andrew asks.
“It says: Worship the sun. See beyond the Wind. At an ancient point, on top of a tip, that’s where you will find it.”
Everyone is quiet. “Seriously?” Ashe gasps. “It’s a riddle?”
“What does it mean?” Lana asks.
“How many cultures worshipped the sun?” Lexi whispers.
“Quite a few,” Uncle M
ason replies.
Jenkins takes the card and reads, “At an ancient point, on top of a tip...”
“What is ancient and has a tip?” Andrew breathes out, obviously in deep thought.
“A spear or sword?” Ashe says.
He shakes his head. “It would have to be where you could hide something.”
Shaking her head, Lexi says, “I have no clue.”
“Well, it’s got to be an ancient culture that worshipped the sun,” Lana states.
“Mayans, Egyptians,” Jenkins mumbles.
“A pyramid!” Lexi gasps. “An ancient pyramid!”
Andrew nods. “But, which one, the Mayans or Egyptians?”
“The Egyptians,” Lexi replies. “Amun-Ra, the sun god. The Ancient pyramids of Giza.”
“I agree,” Uncle Mason says.
“How do we get there?” Connor asks.
Lexi rubs her chin. “That’s something we have to figure out.”
Lexi.
“Oh crap,” she gasps. “It’s my dad.”
What’s up, Dad?
Are you coming home anytime soon? Your Aunt Ariel said you left a few hours ago, and the ship dropped you off in some odd place with Ashe and Lana. What’s going on?
We just wanted to hang with my friends.
You spent the whole weekend away. Send Ashe and Lana home, and come home yourself.
Okay, Dad. Be home in a bit.
Lexi looks at everyone. “He wants me to come home. I need to go.”
“Very well,” Jenkins says. “We will erase the memories of Tanya and Davey. Then we will make plans on how to get to Egypt. We should do it, soon.”
Uncle Mason crosses his arms. “I need to be kept in the loop.”
He bows his head. “Of course.”
“I really need to go, though,” Lexi says. “We can’t have my dad get suspicious.”
“All right, go. We will get Connor home,” Jenkins states.
Lexi turns to Connor. “I will see you in the morning.”
“Yeah,” he replies, hugging her. She hugs him back and then disappears.
Her parents don’t question her much when she gets home, and she’s very thankful. Lexi goes into her room and shuts the door. “Oh god, this is so bad,” she whispers. “Who knows what tomorrow will bring.” She takes a shower and crawls into bed. Still exhausted from the night before, it doesn’t take her long to fall asleep.
The next day, Connor picks her up at her house. She puts her finger to her lips, and he nods. They drive go down the driveway and take a right on the street. When they get a little ways away, Connor says, “Well, what do you think is going to happen next?”
“I have no idea,” Lexi groans. “This is such a mess.”
“When do you think Jenkins will contact you again?”
She shrugs, “I have no idea. We need to handle this as soon as possible.”
“Fall break is coming up in two weeks; maybe we can do it then.”
“If the videos don’t start to post before then,” Lexi groans. “This is so bad for so many different reasons.”
Connor looks at her. “Who do you think the others are that are involved? Neturu?”
Lexi shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. Maybe another group of humans? Or a government?”
“We couldn’t really stop a government on our own,” Connor says.
“I could,” Lexi replies. “But it would show who I am. We can’t have that.”
“I guess we will just conquer another day at school and go from there,” he sighs. “Though school seems so mundane now.”
Lexi laughs, “Now, you know how I feel all the time.”
They get to school and quietly enter the building. They both are so lost in their own thoughts. So much is happening. Lexi exhales a deep breath and says, “I have to go this way.”
“Yeah, I know. I have to go to my locker. Meet up at lunch time?”
“Of course,” Lexi says, smiling. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He leans forward and kisses her forehead.
She happily sighs and turns and walks the other way. Lexi almost gets to her locker, when suddenly her arm is grabbed. She gasps and looks up. Adam is standing there. “Come with me.” He quickly pulls her into a room and shuts the door.
“What are you doing here?” Lexi snaps.
“There’s been a time shift,” Adam says. “I don’t know if it’s because I came here. Ashe was supposed to go back and stop Jose from killing himself. Things have changed now.”
“That’s probably my fault,” Lexi says. “We can still go back.”
Vigorously shaking his head, Adam states, “No, absolutely not. We don’t know how this is going to affect the future.”
“What was he going to tell me?” Lexi says. “You can just tell me.”
“I can’t. I may have done too much damage already,” Adam says. “Keep going on this path.”
She waves her hand out. “If you told me what was going on or where the computer was, we could just take care of it.”
“It’s not as easy as that,” Adam groans. “Trust me. There is something major looming in the future. It doesn’t have to do with a computer and videos. You save the world, Lexi, but I can’t tell you anymore. Just…be mindful. Ashe is going to need to time jump. You can’t stop him, but be mindful of what you do.”
“Can’t you just come back and warn us when we screw up?” Lexi asks.
He shakes his head. “No, I mean, I don’t know. Maybe I have done too much already. But, you can’t tell your father. Not yet. It could shift things more.”
“Okay,” Lexi exhales. “We will be careful.”
“I have to go,” Adam says. “Staying too long could disrupt things. Godspeed, Lexi.” With that, he disappears.
Lexi turns around and leaves the room. She bumps into Jackie. Jackie sneers, “Where did the boy go that you went into the room with?”
“I didn’t go in there with anyone,” Lexi stammers.
“Liar. I’m gonna tell Connor,” Jackie states, with a smirk. “He’s going to know you are seeing another boy.”
“Jackie, you can’t. This is really important. Don’t say anything.”
Cocking her head, Jackie says, “Try and stop me,” and walks away.
“Oh shit,” Lexi exhales.
Epilogue
A lone figure stands on top of a sand dune. The wind rips past and blows its cloak around. Another figure walks up to him. “Commander, the human is dead. What should we do?”
“Nothing, we do nothing. Everything has to fall into place,” the Commander murmurs.
“I still don’t understand why we don’t attack the Neturu now,” the figure says.
The Commander turns to him. “In due time. In due time. We will finally have our revenge. Now go, before you draw attention.” The other figure pulls his hood tighter and walks away.
Turning around, the Commander narrows his eyes to the sky. His emerald green eyes stare at the sun. “Soon, the Neturu will fall, and we will have our revenge.” The light reflects off of his purple skin. “We are coming for you...”