by Susan Bohnet
The door banged behind Kai as he entered the front foyer of his aunt’s house and he heard her voice falter for a second and then continue in song, the notes high and strong. She had a lovely voice. She paused to call, “In here!” as if he couldn’t tell where she was.
Kai walked into the kitchen and put his arms around his aunt, holding her tight for several seconds before letting go. “How are you doing?” he asked. He hadn’t given her time to say much more than “Yes! Come at three!” when he called and said he wanted to talk to her. He fought to stop the tremor in his hands, sticking them in his pockets instead.
Jean turned to him. Her face was carefully neutral and that scared him. “I’ve been deathly worried about you,” she said. “Where have you been? I asked about you at Headquarters and they just told me you’re busy on missions. I know once you start doing missions life can get very chaotic, but Kai, I haven’t heard from you for weeks.”
Kai dropped his eyes, suddenly very interested in the state of the floor. It was polished to a sheen and he had the thought that the floor at the rebel house could use some of Aunt Jean’s attention.
“Kai, love,” Jean said, “I don’t mean to be a downer and I certainly didn’t want to start our visit off with an attack on you. You’re young and you have a busy life, but missions can be dangerous.” She hugged him, then stepped back. “Just let your old aunt know you’re okay from time to time.”
Kai raised his gaze to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry, I should be checking in with you more often.”
Jean’s face softened and she smiled, reaching for the plate of egg salad sandwiches she had prepared and waving at two glasses of fresh lemonade that stood ready on the table. “Bring those, will you? We’ll go into the sitting room and enjoy a little supper and catch up on all that is happening in our crazy lives, shall we?”
Kai nodded and picked up the glasses. It was just like Aunt Jean to go to all this trouble to make his favorite food and drink when she knew he was coming to visit. He took a sip of the lemonade as he followed her out of the kitchen and thought again of that day when his mother had measured him the summer he turned fifteen. Mom had acted so strangely and Jean had laughed at her. Kai had chalked it up to Mom’s sometimes overly sentimental personality. Each of Kai’s milestones was a celebration to her. But that day had been over-the-top, even for her. At fifteen, he hadn’t taken the time to think about it. Now, it seemed important.
Jean set the plate of sandwiches down on the coffee table and settled onto one end of the couch, patting the space beside her. Kai dutifully placed the glasses of lemonade on the table as well and perched on the other side of the couch. He sighed, knowing that his visit was not the idle one Aunt Jean thought it was. He was reluctant to disrupt his aunt’s sense of peace, but he knew he had to find some answers.
“I have a question I need to ask you, Aunt Jean,” he said. He could hear the tremor in his voice and he swallowed. His hand unerringly found the lighter in his pocket and he drew it out, holding it between his hands, his wrists resting on his knees. He stared at the lighter, flicking it on and off, on and off. Aunt Jean coughed and he glanced up, seeing her look, sharp and questioning.
“Why do you do that, Kai?” she said. “Why do you play with that lighter all the time? You don’t even smoke.”
“I’m sorry, Aunt Jean. It is a habit, I guess. I just find that the flame makes me think of my parents … and I feel closer to them when I see it.”
“Your parents? Why would a flame make you think…?”
Kai watched her eyes as she paused. Her face flushed with color and she looked at him.
“It’s because of the way they died, isn’t it? The flame makes you think of the fire and the accident that killed them.”
Kai nodded. He flicked the lighter one more time and then shoved it deep into his pocket.
Concern shone from her eyes and she reached out and took his hand. “What is going on, dear?” she asked. “I knew something was fishy at Headquarters when they wouldn’t give me a straight answer. They think we don’t know when they are being evasive. Like we are all lacking in intelligence just because we aren’t Elites.”
Kai sat up in surprise. He had never heard his aunt criticize the Trebladores. Was the world going crazy? First the rebels, then Beth and Harrison, and now his aunt was expressing doubts about the Society. He swallowed again.
“This isn’t really about Headquarters.” He said. “At least, I don’t think it is.”
Jean’s gaze was steady now and she nodded. “Is it about Beth?”
Now Kai leaned back, pulling his hand from Jean’s grip. “What do you know about Beth?” Kai swore under his breath. “Does everyone know?”
Chapter Fifty-four
Jean smiled at him. “That is one thing the Elites did tell me. They came to me when they first found out about her. They wanted me to try to talk you out of seeing her. I knew if I said anything, you’d only see more of her. I told them that. I told them to leave it be and let you make that decision yourself. I thought you would eventually come around to do what you had been taught to do. That you would see how important it is that we don’t enter into long term relationships with humans. It can’t work.” Jean sighed and took a sip of her lemonade. “I take it you are feeling a little conflicted about all this and want some advice?”
“Actually, no.” Kai said, his mind reeling from this information. His aunt had known about Beth?
Jean looked at him again, eyebrows raised in question. “So … what then?”
“I came to ask you about my parents, actually,” he said.
“Oh, what about them?”
“I wanted to know if they really are my parents.”
“What? What do you mean?” Jean’s voice rose alarmingly and her hand trembled as she put the glass of lemonade back down on the table. “Of course they are your parents!”
Kai turned to Jean fully. “I have something I need to tell you, Aunt Jean. And it is not going to be easy to say.”
Kai saw the fear that entered his aunt’s eyes and he knew he had hit on something. “I have been struggling with the issue of Trebladore and human interbreeding. I know all about why we are not allowed to intermarry and have children. At least, I know what the Elites have always told us.” Kai hesitated. “But I am finding that I can do things that Trebladores can’t and the only explanation I can find is that … I’m a hybrid.”
Aunt Jean closed her eyes. He felt fear skitter along his spine and acid rush to his stomach making him feel like retching. He suddenly wished he had not come to ask this question.
“You know something,” said Kai. “You have to tell me. Either I’m a hybrid or some kind of genetic deviant.”
Aunt Jean opened her eyes; they were swimming with tears. She shook her head and held her fist to her lips.
“It’s a vast difference,” he insisted. “If I’m a full-blooded Trebladore who’s been born with an unusual power, then what does that mean to the Trebladores as a race? Are we evolving into something new? Am I the only one? Or are there others? Do the Elites know about them? Is that why they’ve seemed to take a special interest in me … even Jessip himself?”
“Jessip was your father’s best friend. After the tragedy, he wanted to help you.”
“Is it something more sinister? You know something! Even if I’m a hybrid, I want to know. If I’m an abomination, if I’m a monster inside…” his voice caught, and he jumped to his feet and headed for the door. Maybe he couldn’t face the truth after all. He stopped at the door, his hand on the doorjamb, head hanging.
Aunt Jean followed him and placed her small, cool hand on his back. “You’re not a danger to anyone. You’re one of the kindest, deep-down good people I have ever known. And I’ll tell you what I vowed I never would.”
Kai turned and faced her. She was several inches shorter than he, but her strength wasn’t
measured by the foot.
“On the day of your parents’ accident your father was very upset.”
Kai nodded. The memory of that afternoon rushed at Kai. “I got in a fight at the park with a friend. An actual fist fight.”
“With a human?”
Kai nodded again. “I came home with my shirt ripped, a red welt on my cheek, and scraped knuckles. Mom wasn’t home but Dad was. When I told him what had happened, he looked at me,” Kai swallowed audibly, “in a way that’s haunted me all these years. He told me how disappointed he was in me. My behavior was not the Trebladore way. Said we’d talk about it later. He was just heading out on a mission with Mom. We never got to talk about it.”
“Sit down, dear,” said Aunt Jean.
Kai let her lead him back to the couch. She placed his glass of lemonade in his hand and he drank.
“I was talking to your mom on her cell when she came to pick up your dad for the mission. She wanted to be sure I knew everything you had going on the next day because I was going to have you stay overnight while they were gone.
“Your dad got in the car and was ranting about the fight you’d been in. Your mom told me she needed to go, and she meant to disconnect the phone. It rattled as though she set it down, but we were still connected. I heard everything that happened.
“Your father was very upset. ‘Trebladores don’t get in brawls,’ he said. ‘Kai’s emotions have always been a little exaggerated, but this is something else entirely. He is something else.’ Your mom said, ‘No, he’s not. He has all the Trebladore markings. He’s the proper height, he has the gold fleck in his eye.’”
Kai gulped the remainder of his lemonade and waited for Aunt Jean to go on. “Your father was silent for so long, I thought he had accepted what your mother told him. But he hadn’t, he was thinking, and that always got him into trouble. ‘Why aren’t you telling me that it’s not possible?’ he said, ‘Have you been with a human?’
Aunt Jean paused and her hand trembled at her throat. “Then, seconds before the accident she told him something that she had never told anyone else until that moment.” Aunt Jean laid her hand over Kai’s hands, clenched on his knees. “Your mother was raped by a human soon after she and your father were married.”
Kai gasped and sprung to his feet. He paced the room, hands clenched at his sides, shoulders hunched. “Who was he?”
Aunt Jean rose. “She kept it to herself. Never shared that pain. I’ve felt so guilty since I heard that. She should have been able to come to her sister.” Tears streamed down Aunt Jean’s face.
“There’s a chance I’m a hybrid. I am a hybrid.”
Aunt Jean was silent.
Kai turned to Aunt Jean and saw that she was crying heavily now. His heart constricted suddenly. He hated to see her hurt like this. He hadn’t meant to do this to her.
“Aunt Jean,” he said softly, stepping to her side and reaching out to hold her hand again. “I know this was hard to talk about. Thank you for telling me the truth. “
“Don’t jump to the conclusion that you’re a hybrid. You have all the Trebladore markings, just like your mother said.” She looked into Kai’s eyes and he knew she was seeing the gold fleck that shone from his right eye. How many times had he seen that same fleck glinting back at him from the mirror as he combed his hair or shaved?
Kai was baffled. How could he be a hybrid if he had a gold fleck? Was it even possible?
Aunt Jean took her hand out of Kai’s grip and laid it over his hands. “Your biological father was a Trebladore and not some stinking human rapist. You are not a hybrid, Kai!” Her denial was emphatic.
Perhaps too emphatic.
Chapter Fifty-five
Kai lay in his bed sleeping in the darkness of the early morning when his phone rang sharply, sliding across the nightstand as if anxious to reach him. He clutched his phone and pressed it to his ear, mumbling ‘ — lo.’
“Kai, where are you?”
“In bed.”
“I’m at your house and some guy I’ve never met said they haven’t seen you for weeks.”
Kai sat up. “Beth! Is that you?”
“Yes, where are you? The guys here are worried about you.”
“Why aren’t you in Paris?” Kai got up and slipped on his jeans. “Listen to me carefully, Beth. I want you to get in your car…”
“I took a cab from the airport.”
Kai swore under his breath. “I don’t want my old roommates to know where I am. Are you in the house?”
“No. I came outside for a little privacy.”
“Start walking toward the 7-11. I’ll pick you up.”
Ten minutes later, Kai pulled his truck up beside Beth and she jumped in the truck. He sped away from the curb. “Are you real?” said Kai. He reached over and took her hand in his. Then he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it twice. “My gosh. You’re more beautiful than I remember.”
Kai went down two back alleys and emerged at the edge of the largest park in town. He parked under the old oak trees that shaded the whole area. Then he jumped out of the truck and went to the passenger side. Beth was already on the pavement. Kai took her in his arms. “I can’t believe you’re here. It seems like a lifetime since I actually held you.”
It was a long moment before Beth broke the silence. “You sounded so weird the last time we talked. You scared me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’ve been dealing with some … stuff. Does Paul know you left?”
“No. I was afraid he’d try to stop me. Tell me what’s wrong, Kai. What’s going on?”
Kai took her hand and led her into the park. This early in the morning there were a few joggers on the footpaths, but the park was largely deserted. A pond lying a hundred yards in front of them caught the hues of the coming sunrise and reflected them back.
They walked past the walking trails to a secluded bench. Kai waited for Beth to sit but couldn’t bring himself to sit beside her, yet. “I wish I could … Beth, I’m afraid to tell you things about me. But you deserve to know.”
“You can tell me anything.” She reached out and touched his hand.
“You only say that because you don’t know how bizarre this is.” Kai bit the side of his lip and ran his hand through his hair. He responded to her gentle tug and perched on the bench next to her. “You know I’ve been keeping something from you, something big.” She nodded. He memorized her face anew. This reunion could end in a matter of seconds. “It’s who I am. I’m not who you think.” He stuttered. “I’m not what you think.”
“What are you?”
“I’m not human.” He watched her eyes, waiting for the recognition that would send her screaming from him. She looked puzzled. “Truly. I am an alien, Beth.”
“As in, from another planet?”
“Yes,”
“But you’ve lived here all your life. You showed me pictures.”
“I’ve lived on Earth all my life but I’m not human. My people are called Trebladores and … Beth, are you okay? Take deep breaths.”
She gasped. “I thought I was ready for anything.”
“But you weren’t ready for ‘my boyfriend is an alien?’”
Beth didn’t crack a smile. She stood and paced in a circle around Kai. “You seem to have come in peace,” she said, gave a little hysterical laugh, and turned away from him.
“If you want me to leave you now, just say so.”
Beth took a deep breath. “And you would leave?”
“I would respect your wishes.”
“You wouldn’t beg me to understand.”
“Yes, I would. And I’d tell you how much I love you and how love can conquer all, even inter-galactic relationships.” They both sat on the bench, as if neither one had the strength to stand anymore. “I’ve hidden this from every human my whole life
—it is forbidden to reveal it.”
“Why are the Trebladores here? What do they want?”
“The answer I’ve always believed is that we’re here to help the human race, to guide them and Influence them to make better choices.”
Beth nodded. “What’s got you so scared?”
“There’s something more about me. I think I may be a hybrid; half human, half Trebladore.”
“Go on.”
The lack of horror she showed at this revelation surprised him. But of course, it wouldn’t faze her. To her it must seem nothing more than inter-racial relationships that created beautiful children like her. “Hybrids aren’t allowed. We shouldn’t have romantic relationships with humans.”
Beth smiled sadly.
“I’ve broken the rules,” said Kai.
“And so have your parents?” asked Beth.
“It wasn’t like that. There was an act of violence … rape … and my mother never knew if my biological father was the human attacker or her Trebladore husband.”
“So, it’s a possibility. Did you just find all this out?”
Kai nodded. He looked into her eyes. “Has it sunk in? I’m waiting for you to scream and run away.”
“No, it hasn’t sunk in, but I won’t be running anywhere.”
Kai’s shoulders dropped and he realized that he’d been holding a gargantuan mound of tension there. “I need your help. I need to know if I am a hybrid.”
“Paternity? Your parents are both gone….”
“I was thinking if you compared my blood with another Trebladore’s you might be able to tell if I’m full Trebladore or if there’s some human in me.”
Beth sat bolt upright.
Kai went on. “I was thinking Leo might be a good candidate. I don’t know much about genetics. Maybe Lincoln would be better since our coloring is similar. But that probably doesn’t matter at all. What do you think?”