by Susan Bohnet
Lincoln was pacing now. “Everyone’s on edge. Leo just about came at me. What was he thinking?” He turned and faced Kai directly. “The rebels are a loosely organized group. It could very easily split into factions with different focuses. We are doing so much good in the world and we’re as fragile as a china teacup!”
Kai was still shaken from Influencing Scott, but Lincoln was so stressed, Kai delved into his experimental Influencing to try to help Lincoln calm down and think clearly.
Lincoln was a strong Trebladore with a firm mind. Influencing him seemed impossible at first. Then Kai was in. He found the strength and confidence that Lincoln needed right now and brought them to his conscious mind. Lincoln stopped pacing. He sat in the living room chair, grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, and jotted notes on the paper. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, Kai,” he said cryptically. “We just need to keep our heads about us.”
Kai nodded. He may have successfully calmed Lincoln but the experience had a different effect on him. That was the third Trebladore he had Influenced. He had the power to do what no other Trebladore in their history had ever been able to do. And he had no physical effects from it as he did when he took human life. It actually wasn’t much harder than Influencing a human. A thousand questions swirled in his mind but chief among them was, ‘Why?’
Chapter Fifty-one
Kai took the opportunity to slip back to his room, pacing the floor restlessly. How was this possible? How could he do that?
For the first time Kai really started to think about what he could do with his mind. It was unheard of in Trebladore Society that any Trebladore could kill a human when Influencing. That was just not something they could do. And one Trebladore could not Influence another. And yet that was just what he had done. Not once but three times!
Kai scooped up his phone and dialed Beth. This time she answered and he took a deep breath before he spoke.
“Beth! I’m so glad you answered.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Beth’s voice crackled over the phone and Kai held the receiver closer to his ear.
“I was really beginning to worry about you.”
“I’m fine.”
“I needed to hear your voice. Whenever I phoned, I only got your voicemail. Beth, you know how I feel about you. I need you to know that.” He couldn’t talk with Beth about any of his troubles. She didn’t even know what a Trebladore was. He felt a hollowness in his chest at the realization that he couldn’t talk to the one person on Earth who he really wanted to share this with.
“Kai, you’re scaring me.” Beth’s voice sounded worried. “What’s wrong?”
“I … I just have some decisions to make and I needed to hear a sane voice, I guess.” He paused, gathering his thoughts, “Remember when I asked you to trust me? I need you to do that again. I need to know that you’re all right.”
“I’m fine, Kai.”
“Tell me about your work.”
“I am really loving my time here with Paul. I’m learning so much and truly enjoying what I do.”
Kai could hear the passion in her voice and he knew she was telling the truth. She was okay; she was safe. And to keep her that way he needed to hide his newfound talents. Killing humans and Influencing Trebladores was not something he could talk to her about right now … if ever. He knew now what his father had meant about living a lie with someone you loved. He had thought before that he could do it, that he could spend the rest of his life lying to Beth about who he was. He felt the thud of his heart at the thought of telling her he was now an assassin. A person who traveled the world murdering humans to protect mankind. How did you explain something like that? What would Beth think of him if she knew?
“I better go now, then.” He said, feeling the sadness sink into him. He wanted so much to see her again, to hold her in his arms, to see her smile, to watch her eyes sparkle and her face light up.
“Kai?” she asked. “What’s wrong? I’m here for you.”
“That means a lot.”
“Of course I am. Kai? I miss you more than I can say. I love you and want to be with you again. I know there are things you can’t tell me but I want you to know that I trust you. Promise you’ll tell me if something goes wrong and you need me to come home?”
Kai felt the tears sting his eyes and he wiped furiously at them. “I’ll … try,” he murmured. “I am fine. Really. I just needed to hear your voice. Keep working; keep doing what you love. I’ll call you again.” He wanted to tell her that he would come to her someday, but he was worried that she would inadvertently say something to the Trebladores she worked with. He knew that they would do everything they could to stop him if he attempted to see her. “I love you, Beth.”
Quickly, before she could answer and continue the conversation, he hung up the phone. He knew the Trebladores would be monitoring her phone calls. Not necessarily listening in on the conversation, but definitely watching who she spoke to. He had to maintain his distance if he was to keep her safe.
The impossibility of the situation struck him anew. How was he going to solve this problem? He was in love with a human and that was against Trebladore rules. Did he just walk away and let her go? He didn’t know, at this point, whether he was capable of such a thing. He thought again of the lies he had told her, pushing away the fear that rose whenever he contemplated telling her the truth about who he was. How could he even hope she would stay with him if she knew he was an alien, not to mention an assassin?
It had been quite good with Beth until the Trebladores chose to interfere. And if he hadn’t needed to hide their relationship from Jessip and the Elites in the first place it would have been even better.
What if he offered to make sure he and Beth didn’t produce any children together? Surely it was within the Trebladore’s ability to render him sterile. Beth could undergo some sort of artificial insemination if she felt strongly about having a child of her own blood. Or they could adopt.
And what about his secret missions? The rebels? How were they going to solve that huge mess?
He paced to the window and back to the bed without seeing the world outside or his room. Why was he able to kill humans and Influence Trebladores? Kai racked his brain for any memory that could shed light on what was happening. In all his life he had never heard of one Trebladore Influencing another. A horrible thought flit into his mind. What if he was a hybrid? But Kai knew that wasn’t the case. He had all the Trebladore markings, including the requisite gold fleck in his right eye. If he were a hybrid he wouldn’t have the fleck. And yet … he could do things other Trebladores couldn’t do. He wondered briefly what Jessip would say if he knew.
Kai had to admit that he had a funny feeling about Jessip. His behavior lately had been very strange indeed. In the entire history of the Trebladore Society here on Earth, the Masters had never abducted anyone, human or Trebladore. At least, not that anyone knew of. Trebladores left now and again to move to other parts of the world, to work with other groups. This was often offered as a way for the young to meet other Trebladores and perhaps find someone to marry. They knew they had to be careful of inbreeding, for, like humans, their genetic makeup did not allow them to procreate with anyone who was too close in relationship without a certain amount of risk. But, and this was a thought that literally took Kai’s breath away, what if some of those who ‘moved’ away were actually sent somewhere vastly different. What if the Masters didn’t like what a Trebladore was doing? What would they do?
Kai suspected the Trebladore Masters and the Elites were capable of a lot more underhanded things than he had previously thought.
Chapter Fifty-two
Kai went to the window. It was a sunny day, the shadows lengthening in the late afternoon. It would feel so good to go for a run, work his muscles, clear his mind. He felt like a prisoner right now. Even though no one would stop him from leaving, he felt pressure from t
he rebels to stay safe. He’d be easy for the Elites to spot running on the streets or the network of trails through town.
He dropped to the floor and did twenty push-ups. Then he rolled over and did twenty sit-ups. He alternated between the two exercises for several minutes, then reached under the bed for the thirty-pound dumbbells that were there. Assuming the proper stance, he brought one weight to his chest, then the other. He couldn’t be a hybrid. Not unless one of his parents wasn’t his biological parent. He fought against the possibility with each exertion, with each cherished memory of his kind father, his loving mother. They were a family. There must be another explanation.
Kai grunted as he brought the weights up together this time and began a new set of reps. Was his whole world going to change once more? Surely, the Masters would have broken up the couple if one were human. Their swift interference with Beth made that much clear. Yet his parents were married; they both did Influencing missions with the Trebladores, they both had the gold fleck. They went to the gatherings regularly, looked forward to them. They were regular Trebladores. Influencer Trebladores who were very, very good at what they did. How could they produce a hybrid? It just didn’t make sense.
Kai’s arms were tired. He pushed himself with one more set. Yet he couldn’t argue the facts. He could do things no normal Trebladore could do. When he finished the curls, he put the weights on the floor and rolled them under the bed. His shirt was stuck to his body with sweat. His face felt hot, but exhilarated as it cooled. Part of him wanted to sweep his suspicions under the bed with those hand weights and simply forget them. His parents had taught him to be brave, however, and he wouldn’t become a coward now.
The shadows outside had lengthened and the sky was changing color as the sun dipped lower. He pictured them in his mind, the way they were posed in a photograph he had at his old place. His heart seemed to swell and an ache as forceful as a punch in the stomach swept through him. Through all of this, they would have been a voice of reason to sort out what his powers were and what they meant. They would stand beside him. And if they were alive, they could offer Kai reassurance about his Trebladore heritage.
He grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. Under the warm shower, Kai let tears of grief slip down his cheeks. He suddenly felt young and vulnerable. It had been nine years since their death, why would he be reeling from the loss now?
He toweled himself off and crouched to look in the mirror above the sink. There was the gold fleck in his eye. He breathed a sigh. He couldn’t be a hybrid. Hybrids died within months of being born and they didn’t have gold flecks in their eyes.
Kai remembered when he had reached the minimum Trebladore male height. He’d been fifteen years old. Old enough to feel like a man.
Mom and Aunt Jean were sitting at the kitchen table with ice-cold lemonade in a pitcher that was sweating beads of moisture in the warmth of summer. Kai burst in the house, just back from a week of camping with his best friend’s family. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Aunt Jean.”
“How was it?” called Mom.
Kai saw the lemonade and raced to the cupboard for a glass before answering. “It was great,” he said as he poured himself a tall glass. “The rapids down the river were good this year and we did a ton of rafting.”
“Good for you,” said Mom.
“Oh, wow!” he said in appreciation after downing half the glass. “I love it when you make the real stuff.”
“I know you do.” She smiled and he knew the treat of freshly squeezed lemonade was a welcome-home for him. “Where’s Dad?”
“In the backyard. I told him the tent was dry, but he wants to lay it out in the sun for a while to be sure before we pack it up.”
“I think you’ve grown over the past week,” said Mom.
“He’s definitely browner,” said Aunt Jean. “Almost as golden as the fleck in your eye.”
“Ha ha, very funny,” said Kai.
“Let’s see how tall you’re getting,” Mom said, rising.
“You measure that boy every time he turns around!” laughed Aunt Jean.
Kai followed her. Mom opened the pantry door and Kai straightened his back against the paper measuring stick taped to the inside of the door. There were pencil marks with dates beside them. The last time Mom had measured him was just three months ago and he had been five foot nine and a quarter. She slowly positioned the wooden ruler at the top of his head, careful to keep it level. “Okay, step away.”
Kai turned to look at the position of the ruler, but his mother’s face caught his eye instead. She was grinning from ear to ear. “Five foot ten,” she called, triumphantly. She dropped the ruler and threw her arms around Kai. He hugged her back and she kissed his cheek.
“Where’s my welcome home?” said his father, entering the kitchen, and sounding mockingly jealous.
“You haven’t been away for a whole week,” said Mom, but she left Kai and planted a kiss on his lips anyway.
“I’ve reached 5’10”,” said Kai.
Dad ruffled his hair. “I bet you have a couple more inches in you. Now, come and help me put the camping gear away.”
“I want to shower.”
“After.”
“Okay.” Kai went to the table and drained the rest of his lemonade. Mom was smiling like a Cheshire cat.
Aunt Jean said, “You’re really growing up, Kai.”
Mom said, “Five foot ten and likely more to go.”
Kai smiled. “No big deal. A few of my friends hit five-ten months ago. Leo is already six feet.”
Mom nodded. “I know,” she said.
His father called him out to help with the camping supplies again, and he left the ladies to their kitchen table talk. Looking back, Kai always thought Mom had been extra excited about his height because he had just returned from camp and she missed him. But perhaps that wasn’t the whole reason.
Chapter Fifty-three
Kai walked up the front steps of the pretty little house. It was one of those small cottage style homes, one with “character”, as his aunt would put it. Tonight, with tangled shadows of old trees in the streetlights, the warm lights shining within the home were a welcome that almost brought tears to his eyes. She was home now; he could hear her singing in the kitchen.
He remembered the conversation he had had with his father about hybrids. He was twelve and was home for the summer. The other young boys at school had been talking about some rumors they had heard and he was anxious to talk to his father about it. His first opportunity for a discussion was the night he got back. Dad had tickets for them to see a major league baseball game. On the drive into the city, Kai said, “I heard some stories at school and I wondered if you could tell me if they are true.”
“I can try. What were the stories about?”
“Hybrids that didn’t die as babies. Hybrids that grew up to be adults.” Kai said. He saw the sudden stillness that settled over his father and a wave of fear crashed over him. “They said they kind of went crazy. That they were fine until they were grown and then they started doing things that were very, very bad.”
“What kind of bad things?”
“They said that Jack the Ripper was a hybrid. He was studying to be a surgeon and then he just kind of went crazy. They said he was a serial killer who struck again and again and sliced up his victims.”
His father looked at him, his eyes hooded. He nodded.
“So it’s true then?” Kai said, his voice low. “There are hybrids who survived to be all grown up? And they became monsters who killed?”
“Did you hear of others besides Jack the Ripper?”
“One that was a woman who lived a long time ago. She kept people locked up in her dungeons and liked to bathe in their blood.”
“Well,” his father said before pursing his lips. Kai waited for him to speak, knowing his father would fill in the blanks for h
im. “The truth is that in the three thousand years we have been on this planet there have been a few hybrids who lived past infancy. At first we were surprised and happy that they had survived. We didn’t know then what would happen to hybrids that survived.” He paused again.
“Did they all become monsters?” Kai asked. “Did they all go around murdering humans for fun?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” his father said, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to meet Kai’s gaze with a steady one of his own. Kai could see the fear in his father’s eyes and it made him suddenly very nervous. “As far as I know, there have been very few hybrids who survived the first few months of life. And those all happened many, many years ago. We Trebladores keep pretty good records of what happens here and we know the facts. The hybrids who survive infancy seem to be normal in every way except they don’t have the gold fleck in their eyes. It’s when they have finished maturing, somewhere between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, that they start to act strangely and become irrational. Most of them became reclusive to hide what they were doing, but others mingled in society well while doing monstrous things. They acted like any other human on the planet, but when no one was watching they would slip away and kill innocent human beings. Jack the Ripper was a hybrid and so was the lady who bathed in human blood. That is why,” he continued, “we don’t marry humans and we don’t have children with them! Death in infancy is horrible, but it’s even worse to become insane and start killing people.”
Kai nodded. He was intrigued by the idea of someone becoming Jack the Ripper, and now he understood the deeply rooted aversion among the Trebladores to the very idea of hybrids. If they didn’t die and cause great emotional pain to the loving parents then they grew up and caused untold grief and suffering to numerous other humans. It all made sense to him then.