“Your plea and remedy are noted in the journals of court for all to witness,” Agra announced, satisfied Eve could be brought into the fold, could be controlled and act in the way expected of an Adita. With his statement hanging in the air, Agra vanished from the room.
Eve turned to leave. Beneath her calm demeanor, buried where Agra could not see, a force was building that she did not yet fully understand. A presence within her, unlike any she’d ever experienced. While on Earth the voice had guided her every move. She’d never known for certain if the voice was real or imagined until coming home. Knowing now the voice had been Agra’s, she no longer listened like a blind fool and only allowed him access on those occasions demanding entry in order to avoid his suspicions. However, this new presence was not a voice at all, but a thought, a force within, that grew stronger each day. Caleb would not be terminated, she thought as she exited the judging chambers. Behind her the walls of the chamber expanded outward before contracting inward as if alive, as if they were breathing. The council stirred and a nervous vibe ebbed through the room.
***
Eve traveled down the halls of the great temple, preferring to walk, to see and smell all that surrounded her. The temple was a peaceful sanctuary, the planet an oasis. She did not understand or share her father’s disdain for Paru. Earth was dying, saved only by the Elder’s intervention. The current frozen state would be necessary for centuries to come, if they wanted to salvage the planet. To begin the unthawing process now would risk overheating the core and destroying Earth forever. But Agra could not be deterred. This blind pursuit was all too familiar, having witnessed similar behavior in General Roth. The glaring difference, one of many, between the two was Roth’s inferior mind could not cope with the unending failures experienced during his quest to achieve his goal. Agra would have no such failures. The Adita did not try again, they did not know the meaning of fail.
At the end of a narrow passage, Eve came to stop in front of a closed door, where she waited. Soon the door flung inward. A boy of seven, whose blond hair and blue eyes were in stark contrast to everything around him, greeted her with a winning smile.
“I heard you coming,” he announced and moved aside for her to enter. “I heard you all the way from the judging chambers.”
“What else did you hear?” Eve paused.
“Just you.” A cherub’s face, the smile of an angel, the mischievous yet keen eyes gazed up at her.
She looked down into her son’s sweet face, but did not smile back. She knew what was hidden behind the smile. “Caleb, you know not to eavesdrop on grandfather. You know what would happen if he caught you?”
“He would harvest me.”
Eve shook her head. “What do you know about harvesting?”
“Absolutely nothing.” He hugged her “I don’t know a thing mother. I promise.”
“The harvest is not of your concern. Do you understand?” She attempted to smooth the curls out of his hair, already too long and needing to be cut. In a few years that would change, everything about him would change.
Caleb nodded. “Why are you sad?”
“I’m not,” Eve replied, not knowing what it meant to be sad, or to love, or to be loved for that matter. She only knew, as a mother, her desire to protect her young was fierce.
“Can we eat now? I’m hungry.” Caleb pulled her by the hand back towards the door.
“What do you crave today?”
“Meat. And lots of it!” he replied, sounding more like the child he appeared to be.
Eve smiled, pleased to hear these words from her son. Caleb had yet to develop an appetite for blood of any kind, turning his nose up at the various samples she’d presented to him. While this pleased her, it annoyed Agra to no end, even angered him at times. The Adita warrior’s strength came from the blood he drank, not from eating meat like a barbaric carnivore. His aversion to Caleb’s food choices seemed to contradict the child’s overall purpose. But regardless of why, Eve made certain Agra was not around during meals. Of late she was of the opinion her father’s attitude came not from Caleb’s food choices, but an annoyance less perspicuous.
This, coupled with her father’s insistence over Austin being brought back for harvest, gnawed at her more insistently each passing day. In the chambers during her hearing an essence of uncertainty hung in the air. A subtle scent, which alone would not have caught her attention had her father not attempted to hide the council’s feelings from her. Having so few memories of life before her solitary journey began on Earth, she’d no idea if Agra’s behavior normal. Recollections of father-daughter moments to call upon as guides were nil, a single word about her mother was never spoken. Eve squeezed Caleb’s hand and vowed he would never know a life without her.
4 The Gift
Although his military career had been cut short, ample opportunities to witness the unexplainable had come Austin’s way. Accepting that which could not be explained became the norm. Making difficult choices were also an integral component of his life. Some made were good, others not as good, but never bad. This choice, however, was singular in that no other choice he’d ever made could possibly compare. Being human was not a state most people questioned or gave much thought and Austin wasn’t the exception. At least not until now, not until Eve provided an alternative in the form of a gift.
Standing in his bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror, staring at eyes, he wondered if being human was a choice he could still make. His eyes, once a striking blue, were now darkened by black flecks in the pupil. He tried, but could not blink or rub away the defect. Adding to this, a less obvious change, his thoughts were moving like someone had hit the nitrous button, putting his neurons in hyper mode. All of the bunker’s sounds, whispers, and conversations happened in his bathroom, in his bedroom, wherever he went they were in his head, his constant companions.
What had Eve done when she bit him? The possibilities were limited, each one sounding like voodoo or the meanderings of the superstitious and insane. The most viable choice being vampirism. The validity of this conclusion not based on any scientific facts. Vampires were fantasies born out of make-believe. However, the current facts facing him, or at least the ones he knew, told another tale, a story of unbelievable myths becoming truths. The facts were saying Eve and her people, the Adita, were in some points similar to vampires, if postulation was based on the mythical creature. But they weren’t beings in the popular sense imagined in modern day movies and books. They were beings that existed since the beginning of time. Built into a tale of evil and superstition that was passed along from generation to generation, the words changing in accordance with the beliefs of the time or region.
Austin turned from the mirror. He didn’t want to look at his reflection or think about Eve. Thoughts of Eve became thoughts of his son. A month had gone by since they returned from Bliss. What was the time differential from Earth to Bliss? How could they know? Zack thought the ratio to be two days on Bliss equaled twenty-eight days on Earth, but Austin wasn’t convinced. Applying logic to that which was not logical, couldn’t be relied upon and he suspected Bliss moved at whatever pace the Adita thought necessary. The passage of time wasn’t controlled by scientific measurement or any measurement known to man. That pace, for whatever reason or lack of, was now moving faster than time on Earth. Of this latter assumption, Austin knew he was right, but couldn’t have explain how he arrived at this conclusion.
All of this was meaningless conjecture and soon wouldn’t matter. In less than twenty-four hours he would return to Bliss. He’d spent three weeks too long in the bunker, but Ed and Luke’s lack of survival skills required attention. Not to mention the stacks of journals he’d asked Madison to plow through and, despite her speed reading capabilities, took two weeks to complete. The task proved a waste of precious time. After reading every single page, every word, every unfinished thought written in the margins, they’d garnered little information of solid worth, and befuddlement reigned.
Ma
dison took notes throughout the process, ending up with one page of information that one could easily argue over its usefulness or lack thereof. Roth had been in contact with someone named Za, but no mention of Agra was noted. The purpose for keeping humans alive was commented on in vague convoluted phrases and incomplete thoughts. The harvest that Agra had alluded to was not mentioned anywhere. The journals proved an unexpected disappointment, filled mostly with Roth’s obsessive rants about Eve and eternal life. The only fact of use, if to be believed, was the name Roth gave to Eve’s people. He referred to them as the Adita, which meant nothing other than giving them a specific term to use versus applying those to which were familiar.
Austin didn’t care about any of this. If he had to go in on a wing and a prayer, then he would do so. Nothing could deter him from going back for his son, not Agra and not Eve. Simply thinking her name brought on a whole slew of questions without answers, and an array of tumultuous feelings that bounced around the spectrum never landing on one end or the other. Coming to grips with his feelings for her left him confused and anxious. Gratitude often gave way to betrayal and anger. She’d shown him the truth about Roxanne, but something deep inside wouldn’t allow him to release Roxi, to accept her existence was never real. He didn’t know what he was holding on to and maybe he was as delusional as Roth. Still, he couldn’t get out from under the ominous cloud, the feeling he was missing the obvious.
A noise from outside his quarters and down the hall drew his attention from the mirror, away from his problems. Footsteps approached, slowing as they came to his door. He grabbed a pair of sunglasses and walked to the front of his apartment to wait for the knock. He stepped aside for Madison to enter. Following close behind was German, the last remaining canine. Austin avoided looking directly at Madison, turning his attention on the dog.
“Did you know I was coming?” Madison asked, surprised he’d opened the door so quick.
“I was about to leave,” he lied. Something he was doing more and more of lately. A habit he wasn’t comfortable with, but without knowing the truth, telling it was near impossible.
“Oh. I won’t keep you then.”
“It’s ok. I was going to check on Luke. See if he was ready to go.”
Madison sat on the couch, folding her hands in her lap to avoid fidgeting. From the moment Austin had returned from Bliss, she’d made a point of avoiding him. An act he’d most likely noticed, but true to his nature never questioned, only observed. She took a deep breath and looked up at him.
“Why are you wearing sunglasses?” she asked.
“It’s nothing. Migraine is all. The lights, you know.” Austin took a quick step back from her. The scent of her perfume or shampoo caused his mind to swim in and out of focus. The smell was sweet, sickening in its stench, reminding him of ripened fruit at the point before it turned rotten.
“I didn’t know you got migraines.” She crossed her arms. “You never mentioned that before.”
“Did you come here to talk about my health?” he asked, using a sarcastic tone, knowing it would set her off, wanting to derail her train of thought before it picked up steam.
Madison ground her teeth, refusing to allow his sarcasm to bait her into a terse response. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t argue with him and damn it if she wasn’t going to hold to that promise. Taking a deep breath she refocused on why she was there to see him.
“I wanted to say good-bye,” she said evenly, holding onto her composure.
“We’re not leaving till morning.”
“I’m not going to be there when you go.” She perched on the edge of the cushion, her shoulders sagged a bit. “I can’t do it. I can’t watch Luke and Ed go.” Or you. She closed her eyes, pushing her emotions away. Despite having broken down several times over the past couple of weeks, she would continue to argue she wasn’t the crying type and didn’t want to disprove her claim by shedding more tears in front of Austin.
Austin stared at the top of Madison’s head. He heard what she was saying, mingled with what she was thinking, and tried to keep the two separate. Her scent complicated his efforts, having woven its way into his head, saturating his mind. A yearning settled deep in his stomach and his mouth began to salivate. A powerful hunger, similar to what Eve had shared with him in Section Seven at Cheyenne, overcame him. Austin fought against the rising wave, suppressing the urges asking him to do unspeakable things. Against sane reasoning or an ounce of good judgment, he sat down next to Madison, keeping a good distance between them. He had this under control, he repeated as he sat. He would never harm her.
“Luke and Ed are going to be ok,” he said, using a soothing tone as much for her benefit as his own.
“You can’t say that. You don’t know they’ll be ok.” She glanced at his profile. “Luke’s a kid. He barely survived Cheyenne before you took him off to far away planets where God knows what happened to him. To you.”
Austin reached out and took her hand. “Maddie, I’m gonna take care of Luke and Ed.” Although the words came out of his mouth, he wasn’t able to control the direction his mind went. He felt as if two people existed within him, dueling for possession. A bead of sweat slid down the side of his face.
“What about you?” Madison demanded. “Who’s gonna take care of you?” She no longer cared about making a fool of herself.
“Eve,” Austin responded before thinking.
Madison laughed a short bitter snicker. She turned to face him. “Eve? Are you serious Austin? What is she? A vampire? A cannibal? A what? And what about her people? Or the Sundogs or Svan or whatever the hell they are? You’re no match for them. How are you going to--?”
Austin stared at the wall, losing focus as Madison continued to ask unanswerable questions. The longing returned, subtle at first, growing more intense by the second. He should put some distance between them, but couldn’t bring himself to stand. Madison’s voice, her scent, they were like heavy weights holding him down, magnets drawing him to her. He saw her lips moving, but could no longer hear her above the humming in his ears.
“Austin? Are you ok?”
Austin grabbed Madison to him, holding her tight in his arms. Burying his face into her neck, he breathed in deep her scent. “Maddie,” he mumbled against her skin. Raising his head, he mashed his lips to hers, kissing her hard, tasting her mouth with his tongue. She struggled to back away from him, making his desire even stronger, but it wasn’t desire for the flesh, not in the traditional sense. He squeezed her arms, pulling her body close to him. In the distance he heard growling. The growls grew louder. Then German barked, short and loud. The realization of what Austin wanted to do to her struck him like an ice cold splash of water. He shoved her away, springing from the couch at the same time.
“You better leave,” he said, unable to say more, unable to warn her of the monster raging inside of him.
Moving as if in slow motion, Madison wiped her mouth with her hand and stood up. “Austin what’s wrong?” She took a step closer, but German came to stand between them not allowing her passage.
“Just get out. Now.” Austin’s voice came out as an angry snarl.
“I’m going. Damn if you don’t have to snap at me about it. Have a good trip.” The door slammed on her last word.
Like a hot air balloon losing all of its heat, Austin crumbled to the ground. He buried his face in his hands. The sound of his heart pounding inside his chest echoed in his head and in the room, bouncing from wall to wall. A gift Eve had called this maddening state. A gift that was turning him into something less than human. Each day he’d felt an invisible force taking over his body, while a second more crucial battle ensued for his mind. The power to stop the transformation did not reside within him, if it resided within anyone at all. Primal instincts fought against logic and Austin wasn’t confident in the outcome. He could no longer pretend this wasn’t a problem. He could no longer fight this on his own.
Picking himself up from the floor, Austin took a deep breath and he
ld it for several seconds. He closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts, clearing all images from his mind save one, that of his son Caleb. At what point in time he chosen this name and began to think of his son by such was unclear. That it was Roxanne’s idea to name him this only mattered if he allowed himself to ponder over the why, which he didn’t. She was gone, never to have existed he reminded himself for the number of times beyond counting. Feeling as if the beast within was subdued for the time being, Austin opened his eyes. Standing at his feet, German waited and watched.
“What’s wrong with me?” He squatted down, rubbing the dog’s ears. German responded with a few wags of his tail and a short bark. “Yeah. I don’t know either,” Austin replied.
5 Hulk
The sun rising and setting. Garbage day. Dogs barking. Kids riding bikes. Everyday common occurrence, taken for granted and now gone. Replaced by others, those once thought unusual, now accepted as the norm. Over the past months the events, even those once perceived as phenomenal, had become routine. Three suns rising, no moon, no stars, no life. Each morning arrived without circumstance. Each day held a static appearance and had become routine for the few people left to care or notice such things.
Zack sat in one of the leather recliners facing the wall sized screen in the command center. As his mind churned, speculating, pondering, and analyzing their situation, the three suns materialized in the sky. The winds subsided and the black sky lightened to a dismal gray. One cataclysmic event had changed their world forever, creating a perpetual hell where nothing changed. The view of the exterior materialized, appearing as a still painting of a vast frozen waste land. Other than a few scraggly pines hanging on, the trees were barren. The fields were empty, having been covered in snow ever since the aliens arrived, ever since all signs of life vanished into thin air.
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