Nolan Reed

by Nate Johnson

  Both backseat doors were yanked open, and the two teenagers pulled from the back of the car. They were immediately marched into the building to an elevator by another pair of uniformed guards. Nolan relaxed once again. They were to take them down below to be locked up.

  The elevator opened to a long hall with beige carpet and off white walls lit with long fluorescent lights. It reminded Nolan of a college dorm with doors every twenty feet or so.

  The two goons on either side held his arms and walked him down the corridor. A third guard walked with Marla behind them. The trailing guard stepped around them and unlocked one of the doors and pushed it open. The two others gently led Nolan into the room then quickly stepped out again closing and locking the door behind them.

  Nolan spun around, Marla! They were supposed to be in the same room. He had seen the thought in one of the guards.

  “Marla!” he yelled, pounding on the locked door. His heart dropped and for the first time, he was terrified.

  “Marla!” he yelled again, continuing to pound. He opened his mind trying to get a glimpse of her, He would risk everything to know she was okay. A faint softness and caring emotion tinged with terror and anger floated into his mind and then was gone.

  He had finally allowed himself to touch her inner self, but it was too late. Turning his back to the door, he slid down the hard surface and slumped forward, laying his head between his bent knees. A sense of guilt and failure washed through his entire body holding him down like a huge block of granite. What now?

  Chapter Seven

  Escape! That was the only answer. Escape and rescuing Marla. He had to get her out of here before she found out his secret.

  The way they had been passed along from group to group were all indications that someone didn’t want him to know what was going on and the only way to do that was to ensure the people around him didn’t know either.

  Were the people in charge telling her right now? Exposing his freakishness. God, the thought of how she must view him turned his stomach and made him want to crawl into a hole.

  After a few minutes of self-pity, he raised his head and looked around the room. You selfish prick, he thought. You should be worried about her wellbeing, not what she thought of you.

  It was his job to get her out of this. He looked around the room. It was set up like a hotel suite. A small living room with a couch facing a flat screen TV on the wall. A small half-wall separated a bedroom with a queen size bed and black dresser. Another door led into what was probably the bathroom.

  Nolan pushed himself up off the floor and inspected the room, looking for any way to get out. First trying the door. The deadbolt looked like it was made by giant dwarfs, big, black, and heavy. The room’s walls were made of solid brick covered in sheetrock. He climbed up on the couch and pushed a white tile aside confirming the concrete ceiling above the false façade. Jumping down, he paced the room like a zoo kept tiger.

  He constantly scanned for any sign of Marla’s thoughts or anyone else’s for that matter. The deafening silence was like living in a hollow tube with only his own thoughts bouncing off the walls.

  The TV came on without him doing anything. Making him jump and look around the room again for anyone there. The TV showed a bare wooden table and chair in front of a blank white wall. Nolan sat down on the couch facing the television. Someone must have turned it on for a reason.

  As Nolan watched, the gray man from his visions stepped to the table and sat down behind it. Nolan gasped in surprise. He hadn’t really expected this. He’d expected someone from the government, maybe the Men in Black.

  Hope slowly ebbed from his body. If the gray man with vertical visions was in charge, then they were truly screwed.

  The man wore a blue suit with a red tie. His big head sat on a skinny neck like a mushroom. His eyebrows peaked above cloudy gray eyes. Everything about him said different. Not of this world.

  It wasn’t only the way he looked. It was the way he carried himself. His muscles seemed to move too smoothly. Almost as if he was lighter than normal. Where was his creature? Nolan wondered. Thinking that that thing was down here, somewhere in the building, sent a chill down his spine. He had to get Marla back.

  Nolan sat forward on his seat and stared at the man, not saying anything not giving anything away. The gray man stared back for a moment then smiled.

  “Good, your ability doesn’t seem to work over a distance. Especially at the bottom of the bunker. I was worried about that,” The Man said.

  “Where’s Marla?” Nolan asked.

  “Don’t worry about that for now,” the gray man said, pulling his sleeves down to his wrists and resting them on the table. “You interest me Mr. Reed. Needless to say, I was surprised when Chuggi told me about your ability. I thought I had learned everything I needed to know. I was almost out of here and off this armpit of a world.”

  Nolan sat there and stared. “Where’s Marla?” he repeated. He didn’t move barely blinking. The gray man had just confirmed all of his worst fears, and he did it without Nolan reading his mind. The shock only added to his sense of unreal un-believability. Would anything ever be the same again?

  “I have some questions for you Mr. Reed, or can I call you Nolan. You may call me Cheever, of course, it’s not my real name but close enough for government work.”

  “Where IS Marla?” Nolan demanded again. “I want her brought back here now.”

  “Hm interesting,” The gray man said. “Don’t worry, she is being taken care of.”

  Nolan’s stomach fell through the floor. What did Cheever mean by that? He quietly analyzed the situation. It was sickening being this powerless. Being unable to read this man only made it worse. If ever he needed his talent now was the time. But he was on his own. Taking a deep breath, he looked the gray man in the eye.

  “I want her returned to me immediately.”

  “Really Mr. Reed, let us focus.”

  “Where’s Marla?”

  The man laid his papers down and looked through the screen like he was trying to read Nolan’s mind. For the first time, Nolan worried about this guy having the same ability as he did. Was it possible that this alien could see everything he was thinking?

  Nolan felt a sense of violation and pure terror. Is this what Marla would feel when she found out? If so, then he would never be able to look her in the eye again.

  The man continued to hold his stare as if trying to figure something out. It was at that moment that he realized the guy couldn’t see into his mind. He sighed with relief, but did not relax, continuing to stare back, trying not to blink.

  “Where’s Marla?”

  The gray man’s shoulders relaxed, and he gave a brief nod.

  “Very well, have it your way. But I was actually trying to help you by keeping her out of this.”

  Now shaking his head back and forth in regret he looked to his left, off-screen and told someone to take the girl back to the boy’s room.

  Nolan's shoulders slumped in relief. Marla was coming back. That’s all the mattered. He would deal with the fallout later, but for now, he would have her here where he could protect her.

  “There, does that satisfy you,” Cheever asked, his brows rising halfway up his forehead.

  “Where is Marla?” Nolan asked again, driving home the point, then leaning back and folding his arms over his chest.

  The gray man huffed in exasperation then sat back and smiled while shaking his head.

  Both of them sat there without moving, each studying the other. Nolan noticed that the man barely seemed to breathe. There were at least three or four heartbeats between each breath, and they didn’t last as long as they should.

  His ears seemed to be perfectly normal, right size and right place on the head. But, they were the only thing that was in the right proportion. Looking at him made Nolan aware of just how weird looking he was. Not enough to draw automatic attention, but enough to make you wonder.

  A click to his right made Nolan jump up and
face the door. It slowly swung open then was pushed wide as Marla ran into the room.

  “Nolan, you’re okay,” she said as she ran into his arms. Keeping her hands on his upper arms, she searched his face. Hesitated at his nose, then moved over the rest of him to assure herself that everything was all right.

  The door slammed behind her, and a loud click told them that once again they were prisoners, but at least they were together.

  “How touching,” the gray man said sarcastically from the TV. “Can we get started?”

  Marla’s eyebrows rose in question.

  “Nolan, what’s going on?” she asked. “They were asking me all these questions. Some kind of weird questions about reading minds. I didn’t understand any of it when suddenly they came and got me and brought me here.”

  He looked down at her and his heart stopped. How was he going to tell her? She was going to freak. Taking a deep breath, he gently guided her to the couch and had her sit down.

  Looking over at the TV, to the gray man, he shuddered and thought about asking for some privacy. The irony of the situation was a little too much as he shook his head trying to clear it of the doubt invading every part of him.

  The gray man just sat there with a silly smile on his face, as if saying, ‘this is what you wanted. You tell her, or I will.’

  Nolan took a deep breath as he tried to ready his soul for what was about to happen.

  “Marla, I … Guess the only way to do this is say it.” He hung his head and mumbled, “I can read minds.”

  There. It was out. He held his breath waiting for the eruption. He couldn’t bring himself to look into her eyes, the disgust would kill him.

  “What… what do you mean?” she asked, letting her hands fall from his arms and stepping back.

  This was even harder than he thought it would be. “I can read people’s thoughts. I can see what they see. As if I’m looking through their eyes. Hear what they hear. Everything. When they think it, I know it.”

  “You’ve been inside my mind!” Marla said. Her eyes grew as big as saucers with her eyebrows raising half way to her hairline. She looked at him like he was a monster.

  “No, No, I never looked in on yours. I can put up shields, block out things I don’t want to see. I’ve had to most of the time,” he said, his eyes pleading with her to understand.

  “But you could. Any time you want. You can see what I’m thinking?” The look on her face was a combination shock and anger. Fighting with each other to decide what she felt.

  After a long pause, he dropped his head and nodded. “But I won’t. I promise. My shields will block you out.

  “But why do you do it? I mean what kind of sick person goes around looking into people’s thoughts without them even knowing. It has got to be the worst kind of voyeurism. Like some kind of mental peeping Tom.”

  The look of revulsion she sent his way was like a knife straight to his heart. His shoulders slumped even father. Then, standing up straight he decided to take her hate and disgust. To let her express it all and take it all onboard.

  “I don’t go looking. Well most times it’s like trying not to overhear someone talking to himself. The only protection is to put up shields, and I have to do that for almost each individual, or let it all through and ignore it all.” His eyes prayed for her to understand, to forgive him.

  Marla stared back at him in bewilderment. She shook her head and looked down at her feet. His heart started to beat again, at least she hadn’t run away from him.

  “How interesting,” Cheevers said from the TV screen. His slimy smile spread across his face. “Are you going to tell her the rest?” he added.

  Marla looked back up at him with a fearful scowl, “There’s more,” she asked, bracing herself for more bad news.

  Nolan cleared his throat, then nodded his head towards the TV screen, taking another deep breath. God this was getting harder and harder. He wished he could look inside her and see what she was thinking. He clamped down on the thought and made sure the barrier was holding strong. Finally sure of himself he let out a big sigh.

  “Yeah, there’s more and believe it or not, it’s even worse.”

  “Worse? How can it be worse? I just found out my boyfriend is weirder than a forest elf, and you tell me there’s more. What? You turn into a werewolf? Sparkly vampire? What?”

  Looking directly into her eyes he nodded towards the TV. “Mr. Cheevers here is an alien. I think he’s here to study us and has decided that I need special scrutiny. The migraines I got were when I was in his head.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and eyes bugged out like a fish on dry land. The shock was complete and total.

  She plopped back down on the couch and glanced at the TV before looking back at him. He could tell she didn’t want to believe any of it. She was overwhelmed and fighting to get her center again. He let her take it all in but kept looking at her, waiting for any sign that she was done. Any sign that she was ready to move on.

  “That’s why they took us, to study you? But why me?” she asked the man on the TV

  He looked up from his papers.

  “I needed a control, someone, to compare him to. I couldn’t use one of my people, bad for moral don’t you know?” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Besides, I didn’t know how much you knew. I couldn’t have you going to the police or anyone. I need some time. If you both cooperate then I will let you go once I am done. I won’t be around anymore, and no one will believe you anyway.” An evil little chuckle ended the man’s comments and made Marla shiver.

  “So what now?” Nolan asked sitting down next to Marla and thinking it a major win when she didn’t scoot away from him.

  His forehead creased in worry when he looked at her. What was she thinking? His stomach roiled over when he thought about it. Would she ever look at him again with that adoring stare of hers? Would she ever smile his way, that one that was for him only? God, he hurt deep inside.

  “I think I have enough for tonight. I know what I needed to know so far. My protocols have worked and will keep you out of my mind. I still don’t know how you got into them from so far away, but we’ll deal with that tomorrow.” The gray man, Mr. Cheaver, laughed and pushed his chair back and stood up then walked off the screen without saying another word.

  Nolan and Marla looked at each other as if they were meeting for the first time. Marla looked around the room and then back down at her hands and blushed pink.

  “What?” Nolan asked.

  She looked up into his face. “What? You can’t see what I’m thinking?” she asked, her blush growing almost red.

  “No, I told you, I purposely don’t let your thoughts through.”

  “Why… I mean why not? Why don’t you read them? What stopped you?” she asked, then suddenly gasped. “Did you read Cindy or Jess?”

  “No.”

  “Why not? What makes us so special?”

  Sighing Nolan stared off into the distance.

  “I didn’t want to see what you thought about me. I was scared, okay? There. The thought of reading that you thought I was a big dufus scared the crap out of me.” He looked down at his hands in his lap like a little boy caught raiding the cookie jar.

  Chapter Eight

  Marla pushed her hair out of her eyes. She didn’t know what to do next. Her emotions were twirling about like a million fireflies on crack. She was terrified about their situation, the news Nolan had delivered had hit her like a load of bricks landing on a drowning woman. They were threatening to push her under.

  She was worried about her mom. What must she be thinking by now? Probably thinking that Nolan and here were doing it in the back of his truck. That they’d spread a blanket and were going at it. She gasped as an image danced to the front of her mind. What if Nolan saw it, what would he think about her? She looked at him, but he was still looking down at his hands like he’d killed someone.

  What did she think about him? It was strange. The news about the alien wasn’t near as
disconcerting as the fact that her boyfriend could read her mind if he wanted.

  That meant she couldn’t have any secrets. Sure he said he didn’t look, but how could she know. How would she ever be able to trust him? How were they going to build a relationship with this hanging over their heads?

  A deep sense of loss flowed through her straight to her heart. The pangs radiated and made her feel like everything was up in the air. A scared feeling moved to her stomach at the realization that they might not be able to go on as boyfriend and girlfriend.

  She desperately wanted to talk to someone, her mom most of all. She would know what to say.

  Cindy and Jess would tell her to run as fast as possible. They’d think it was sick.

  Mom would say I told you so and use this to keep her locked up in her room until she was twenty-five.

  Marla looked over at him, he seemed so afraid, so worried. She wasn’t used to seeing him like this. He was always so in charge, so sure of himself. Her heart went out to him. Without thinking, she reached out and squeezed his arm a little.

  Please, she thought, give me a hug and let me know that we’ll be okay. Not only the individual we’s but the together us. Then she laughed as she realized that she wished he would read her mind and tell her what she wanted to hear.

  “I’m sorry about all this,” Nolan said with a hang-dog expression.

  “It’s not your fault, I mean, you didn’t choose this did you?” she asked with a hopeful look. “When did it start?”

  “A couple of months after I woke up from the coma.” He had told her about the car wreck that had taken his parents and put him in a coma for two months. “When I was thirteen.”

  They both sat back on the couch, Marla brought her legs up underneath her and didn’t even notice when her leg touched his, or at least didn’t notice much.

  He sat back and stared off into the distance and told her everything. He talked about learning the weird things people thought. The sick and mean things. How it had scared him. The fact that he had to keep it a secret only made it worse. He had seen some movie about the government locking up this young girl to study her. He told her that he was scared to death of spending the rest of his life in some government lab.