She sat beside him and clasped his hand. “You scared the hell out of us.”
“Hello, Uncle Jared,” Mae squeaked, giving him a kiss on his temples.
“Hello, Pumpkin.”
Stella scrambled into the room. “Jared? Honey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Ma,” he groaned as she reached out to kiss him. “Ma, please.”
She chuckled. “Well, it sure is good to see you back to your grumpy old self again.”
He noticed that the defibrillator was gone. The scent in the room was rosy and sweet. He looked about him and he wasn’t in the laboratory like he was the last time he awoke. This room was lavishly furnished with exquisite expensive drapes at its windows. “Ma, where am I?”
“In James’ house,” she swallowed nervously. “Do you remember James Saunders?”
How could he not? All his problems had begun soon after James had stepped foot into his house.
“What happened?” he asked. “How long have I been like this?”
“You’ve been drifting in and out of consciousness for five days now.”
“Five days?”
“Well… there was no choice. They had to drug you. You weren’t taking it too well,” she mumbled.
He ran a hand through his hair with frustration. “Ma, I need some straight answers. What is going on?”
“Can I explain?” The wiry man had returned with James Saunders at his side. “I’m Dr. Mark Langford. I’m sorry for introducing myself again. The last time you flipped out on me so I can’t be sure if you still remember me.”
“I do,” Jared said flatly.
Dr. Langford nodded and then silently indicated for Tara to remove the children from the room. “Very well then,” he continued. He dragged a chair and sat beside his bed. “How much do you remember of the night you were with James?”
Jared glanced at the man standing at the end of his bed. “James said that I was a chimera and you were responsible for inoculating me with the genes in the embryonic stage. I should be getting mad at you right now but I’m too fucking tired to do that anymore.”
Dr. Langford pursed his lips. “Do you recall the attack in your back soon after he revealed you were a para-human?”
“Yes.”
“Was that the first time you’ve had that pain?”
Jared looked up at his mother worriedly. “No.”
“Jared?” Stella said with disbelief.
“I just never told you, Ma,” he said, concern clouding his face. “The first I had it was when I was chased by a group of poachers in the woods three months ago. And since then, my back has pained occasionally. What’s going on, Dr. Langford?”
“When your father agreed to an inoculation of your embryonic form, we injected you with eagle and panther genes. We didn’t know how the embryo would develop and we could only assume it would develop as we had theorized. However, when you were born, there was nothing to indicate to us that any of the mutations occurred as we had presumed. You were completely normal. There was absolutely no inkling that the mutations might have even been delayed and according to your mother, nothing strange occurred.” He licked his lips in deep thought.
“Dr Langford,” Jared interrupted. “I’m sorry to have to cut you off there but I’ve heard all that before. I’d really like it if you could get straight to the point.”
“Yes, yes,” he replied. “But I need to tell you this just so I know that you’ve understood.” He coughed and continued. “What we failed to recognize was that the inoculated genes could have remained dormant all through your life. I believe that when you ran for your life from those poachers who were intent on killing you, your genes were stimulated; activated by its natural fight or flight responses. The pain you were feeling was the extension of your scapula bone which was evolving into the bone structure of an eagle’s wing. On the first night you were brought to my lab, we did an immediate surgery on your back, releasing the bone to grow freely. It was the only way we could save your life.”
Jared blinked at him with disbelief. “Are you saying I have feathered wings attached to my back?”
“Wings yes. Feathered- not yet. But we’ve noticed that they’ve begun to sprout some feathers. In due course, you’d have a wing span proportionate to your body size. And with what calculations we have at the moment, I can honestly say that they would also give you the power of lift.”
“You mean I’d be able to fly?”
“Well, yes,” he said hesitantly. “But of course, that is subject to time. Like I said, I can only assume it will happen. I cannot assure you that this will be so.”
Jared threw his head back with frustration. “I can’t believe this is happening to me,” he muttered. “I should just kill you now.”
Dr. Langford glanced up worriedly at James.
Jared covered his face with his hands. “I’m a freak.”
“Jared, honey, no,” his mother began to sob.
“How could Da do this to me, Ma?” he shook with anger.
“Your Da loved you, honey. He only did what he thought was best for you and the people he loved.”
Jared grew quiet, staring up at the ceiling in this lavishly decorated room. “I want to see it,” he said at last, pulling away his covers.
“Jared, you’re not ready yet…” Dr Langford put a hand out to stop him.
“I want to see it,” he repeated firmly.
Dr Langford looked up at his mother and James for some support but when they lowered their heads, preferring to stay silent, he nodded. “Let me remove the bandages first.”
Jared sat up straight as the geneticist expertly unwove the lengthy bandage at his chest and back.
“Okay,” Dr Langford muttered a hesitant go-ahead.
Jared walked slowly towards the mirror. “Tara, get me another to reflect my back,” he instructed.
Tara licked her lips nervously. “But Jared-”
“Now Tara,” he ordered.
She scrambled for a mirror she had seen in the bathroom.
“I don’t see anything,” he grumbled, turning as much as possible; trying to catch the reflection of his back in the mirror. “Tara!” he called out impatiently.
Tara hurried up to him, biting her lips as she glanced up at her mother. She handed him the mirror and he almost snatched it off her hands.
He looked at his reflection through the small mirror. His eyes narrowed; his face grew dark. He brought the mirror closer to him, positioning it so he could get a better view of the surgical scarring on his back. He froze. “They’re stumps!” He glared at Dr. Langford and made a small threatening move towards him. “You call them wings?! They’re fucking stumps! Two stumps on my back!”
Tara stepped quickly into his pathway, backed up by James.
“Wait up there, son,” James said. “The doctor has more to tell you before you go killing him.”
Jared screamed, throwing his arms over the dresser, messing it violently. “What could he tell me that’s worse than this?!”
“It isn’t as bad as you think it is,” the wiry haired doctor said, not at all perturbed by Jared’s raging mood.
“Yeah?” Jared dared. “How about I put two stumps on your fucking back?!” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, pacing about the room in ire.
“It retracts,” the doctor put simply.
Jared stared at him blankly. “What?” he asked, absolutely sure that he had misheard. “What retracts?”
“Your wings,” the doctor explained. “They retract like the claws of a cat. I don’t know why it does but it does. Perhaps, it is the effect of the panther genes on the eagle genes-” He scratched his head thoughtfully.
Jared rolled his eyes with disbelief. “Perhaps?! Is that all you can come up with? Perhaps?”
“Well, we haven’t made a proper assessment yet of why it behaves like that. You need to give us some more time-”
“You’re not gonna put me under the microscope and study me like a guinea pig!�
�� Jared pointed threateningly at him.
“Come on, son, give the doc some credit,” James intervened. “He saved your life.”
“I don’t believe I’m hearing this,” Jared shook his head. “Saved? He’s the very reason I am like this!”
Tara put a comforting hand on his arm. “Jared, you’re completely normal when the stumps retract. No one would be able to tell you’re any different.”
“Then why are they out now?”
“Apparently, you’re willing it to protract. Just like if you will your claws to protract,” the doctor explained.
Jared stepped back in stupor. “Wait? What claws?”
“We noticed that there was hooked keratin growth at the end of your fingers. These might be signs of a panther claw.”
Jared raised and dropped his hands with helplessness. “Great. Like I needed anything more to feel like a freak. What next? Cat eyes?” It was the way Tara looked at her mother that told him that he hadn’t heard everything yet. “Tara?”
“I saw your eyes flash green one night during your drugged rages,” she let out slowly.
“It’s true,” Dr. Langford added. “We can confirm that you have a layer of tapetum lucidum behind the retina of your eyes. Tapetum lucida reflects the light back into the retina. It’s what gives cats their nocturnal vision.”
“Anything else?” Jared asked, shaking his head. “Before I kill you?”
“Come on, Jared,” Tara consoled. “It’s not all the doctor’s fault. He wouldn’t have acted upon it had Da not given his consent.”
His eyes welled with tears as he glanced up at his mother. He walked up to her slowly and dropped to his knees, laying his head on her lap. “Why, Ma? Why did Da do this to me?” he whimpered.
She ran her fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him, sobbing with him.
CHAPTER 8
He ran his shaver along his jaw line. It had been almost three weeks since he and his family had fled their home in that horrifying urgency. Jared stood now in his own bathroom with gold-plated fitted knobs and the sounds of Bach filling the air while he shaved off his stubble, recollecting the events that had transpired over the weeks. He caught the reflection of his expensive cotton robe hanging on his coat stand behind him. He could get used to this luxury, he thought. He knew the children loved it and he had never seen Tara and his mother so peacefully content before.
He splashed his face with a handful of water, washing the foam off it. He raised his head, watching the droplets of water trickling down his chin as a myriad of thoughts ran through his mind. James wasn’t merely being nice because of his guilty conscience. He knew there had to be more to why he was putting up with the Ryders at his house.
He turned to the side to get a glimpse of his newly developed accessory. Instinctively, his wings extended out of his back. They were now a thick band of earth brown feathers with tinges of black. He managed a tiny flap but then he winced. The surgery hadn’t fully healed yet. He leaned onto the wash basin, closing his eyes.
There was someone else also who hadn’t yet left his mind and he wondered if his hybrid qualities now made her nothing more than a fantasy. A woman like Ellie Callum would never give a freak like him a chance. He shook his head, brushing aside his thoughts of her morosely.
Grabbing his towel, he headed towards the shower. He needed to find a dream that didn’t include Ellie Callum anymore.
Jared ruffled Mae’s hair as he sat down beside her at the table. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Pancakes and eggs and muffins and cranberry cream cheese pinwheels,” she replied gleefully.
“Sounds great,” he smiled. He picked up a toast and began buttering it. “Thanks for the stay, James,” he said, addressing the man at the head of the table reading his newspaper. “But we really should be heading home now.”
The children groaned.
“As much as we all love it here, this is not our house,” he said to the now sulking pair. “We need to thank Mr. Saunders for his hospitality and we sure do appreciate all he’s done for us. But now that I am feeling so much better, we should return to our own home. What do you think, Ma?” he glanced at his mother across him.
Stella shifted nervously in her chair, trying to avoid looking at the growing suspicion in his eyes.
James indicated at the butler and whispered some instructions into his ear. Once the butler was dispersed, he smiled at the children. “I’ve had Ray prepare something for you both in Fern’s room. I thought you might want to have breakfast there today. Perhaps, make a mess?”
“Oooh, yes,” Mae replied excitedly and raced out of the dining room with Fern protesting after her.
James drew his lips into a long, thin hard line. “We have something to tell you.”
“Another mutation I don’t know about?” Jared asked sarcastically. “What is it now? A tail?”
James made a sound in his throat as he folded his newspaper away.
Stella’s fingers trembled, clattering her cup against her saucer. She took a deep breath in as she tried to steady her hands.
“Ma, is there something you want to tell me?” he asked cautiously.
“Honey,” she started. “James and I… we are getting married.”
Jared sat back, a numbness overpowering him. “What?”
“Your mother and I are getting married,” James repeated.
“I heard that. But why? Ma, when did this happen?”
“Your mother-” James began.
“Okay, you need to shut up!” Jared stopped him. “You’ve done enough damage in my life. In fact, you’ve messed it up. And now, you’re trying to ruin what is left of it? So I would greatly appreciate it if you’d just shut the fuck up!”
“Jared, please,” his mother begged.
“I don’t believe you’re doing this, Ma,” he looked at her with a distinct hurt in his eyes. “Anyone but you. You love this… this luxury so much; you’re going to marry the very man who is responsible for Da’s death and my mutations?”
Stella balled her nervous hands and rose out of her chair. She moved slowly around the table and then sat slowly beside him.
“Jared, I’m not marrying James for his wealth or because of love,” she uttered almost in a whisper. “We’re doing it for you.”
His eyes narrowed and then let out a mocking laugh. “Oh please cut out the sacrificial dialogue, Ma. Why would I ever want you to marry that deluded unethical scum who thinks he can play with human lives however he wants to?”
“Your father held a purpose for your birth,” Stella explained shakily. “I didn’t understand it. And you know well enough I was absolutely against it. And then I saw you mutate into someone with potential, someone with para-human strength. Someone, who has the chance to end the suffering imposed upon our people. Jared, what you have now is something we could never ever have- power.”
“She’s right,” Tara spoke up.
“You knew about this?” Jared stared at her with disbelief.
“We discussed it between us- yes.”
“And no one bothered to talk it with me?”
“Aren’t we doing that now?” she challenged.
“You know what I mean,” he snapped back.
“The reason why we didn’t tell you is because of this,” she threw back angrily at him. “You flip out without even contemplating that it might be a good idea. James is giving us that chance to do something, Jared. But your stubbornness and pride is standing in your way of any common sense- like it always does.”
He grew quiet. “I need to think,” he said finally, rising out of his chair.
“So you‘re gonna run away? Why didn’t I see that coming?” Tara mocked.
“God-damn-it, Tara!” he raged. He started to argue but he shook his head instead, throwing his hands up in the air with helplessness. “You know something, I didn’t ask for this… this power. I don’t remember anyone giving me a choice. You may well think that it is awesome to be this mutated thing, ha
lf-human and half-bird and cat and what-not, but that’s because you’re not living with it. You’re not living with the pain I go through every single day. You don’t feel it. You don’t know the anger that surges through me every time I look into the mirror and see these animal parts creeping out of my body. Para-human, you call it but you damned know nothing of what that means. Lesser of a human being, that’s what it means! Not more power like you think. I live scared each day that I will slowly grow into an animal. That I will forget what it is like to be a man. And power is what you all can think about?” he spat out with disgust. “You all can go to hell with your patriotic, inspirational speeches. Talk to me when you decide to have Dr. Langford and his team inject you with some animal chromosome!”
He threw back his chair in his furor, toppling it over.
“Jared!” his mother cried, running after him as he marched with a tempestuous stride towards the door.
“Please, Ma,” he stopped her. “Not now.” He glared at Tara and James before slamming the door furiously behind him.
*****
“Wolf!” he called out as he made his way to the wide open fields of Saunders’ land. Unlike his home, he would not need to resort to the woods to vent out his frustrations. Saunders had miles of empty fields to run wildly through.
His stroll turned into a faster stride. He felt a remarkable lightness in his feet as he moved, exhilaration filling the pits of his stomach. He sprinted through the meadow and with each leap he felt he was bounding over the tall flowery grass. The breeze fluttered through his hair wildly, blowing it back roughly as he gained more speed.
Wolf chased alongside him, barking excitedly at his ankles.
“Come on, Wolf!” he shouted as he leapt over a fallen tree trunk.
He didn’t know how far he had run, his mind solely focused on his new found ability to almost soar with each leap and the rapturous feeling it effected on him. The meadow drew to an abrupt end and he skidded to a stop. Panting for breath, he clutched his sides, glancing at his dog.
“How was that, Wolf? Incredible right?” he chuckled. “Well, I can say one thing about James Saunders is that he’s a damned lucky guy for having all this at his leisure.”
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