“Are you certain?”
Tahmi took a deep breath. “Who is that man?”
“Mary called him ‘Father’.”
“Why were there children in cages?”
“He used humans and animals for his scientific experiments.”
“When was this?”
“Many years ago,” he answered. “Why not watch the memory? You’ll understand where Mary comes from and also why it is vital she stay away.”
Tahmi caught another bubble.
MARY
As Lily changed, Father’s eyes widened. He did not hear Mary screaming in her cage; his five-year-old daughter whom he treated just like the others. He didn’t seem to notice Alex, either…
He failed to see his other experiment work. His ten-year-old boy convulsed on the table behind him. His face broke in many pieces, multiple patches of hair grew from his sides, face and finally his hands curled. Alex stood behind him on all fours, his teeth barred and saliva oozing down the sides of his mouth. Mary backed away slowly unable to speak. Her lips trembled and she shook fiercely. Alex was a mutant, just like her mother. Would she be next? What had he done to her?
Mary looked to her left. Lily stood on at least six legs and now instead of her long pretty blond hair—Lily had a ring of green glowing eyes that wrapped around her head. Was she some kind of spider?
Father rubbed his hands together, eyes wide with excitement. He did not see the ten-year-old boy crouching behind him. He giggled as Lily stretched her legs outside the bars, trying to reach him. She screamed; only it wasn’t any sound a human girl would make.
“I love it!” Father clapped his hands. Something wet dripped onto his cheek. His heart pounded. Slowly, Father turned around. There, Alex, now a furry monster, stood like a dog on the operating table. His paws did not fit in the cuffs and he easily escaped without a struggle. “I wasn’t expecting you to change so quickly.” Father stumbled backwards. He fell onto the floor and screamed; long legs with razor sharp feelers wrapped around him. They clamped down into his flesh and Father flinched with pain. “Lily, think of your daughter. Who will let her out of the cage? Who will feed her now that you are a monster?”
Lily’s grip weakened. Alex did not deter. He paced back and forth with his fur high on his back. If he were a dog, he was the largest Mary’d ever seen. And his eyes were neon green as if he were filled with an evil poison. “Stop, Alex!” Mary screamed. Her face reddened and she slammed herself against the bars. “I want out of here!” She shook violently.
Alex sauntered over and Mary watched as his paw transformed into fingers. Could he change back and forth at will? “I know the combination,” Alex said, his voice deeper and cruel. “Lily, there isn’t any reason for you to keep father alive. I can take care of Mary.”
As Mary’s prison doors opened, she covered her small ears, running for the exit with Alex at her heels. A scream she’d never heard echoed inside her head. It was the sound of agony, the sound of death.
THE FIRST TIME SHE SAW THE GOLDEN BRIDGE
As she ran, Alex opened many cages with his one human hand. Mary’s heart beat against her rib cage. She wanted nothing more than to escape into her fantasy world away from everything; the monsters her family were becoming.
She skidded to a stop. Mary opened the door to the outside world. They were in an old perfume factory on a busy freeway. What would happen to the world if her mother or even Alex escaped? Would they kill innocent people?
Mary closed her blue eyes and her blond hair floated up halfway. Alex stopped abruptly in the doorway. His body twitched and he screamed, convulsing on the ground. First, a hand, then an arm and now he lay naked in front of little Mary. He was the same little boy who she’d stared at through the metal bars of her prison. Imagine the world with a boy like Alex in it. No. She couldn’t let something like that happen.
“What are you doing, Mary?”
Her hands, outstretched in front of her, Mary concentrated, imagining a fifty-foot wall made of inpenetratable steel. The ground shook, Lily and the other escapees fell to their knees. “Mary!” Lily shouted. She was back in human form again, too. “What are you doing, child?”
A tall metal wall came from the ground, climbing higher and higher until it appeared to reach the sky. Her hands fell to her hips. “There, now you monsters will never escape,” she said, narrowing her eyes on her mother. Lily wiped Father’s blood from her face.
“Mary,” Lily whispered, “Bring down your wall before you get yourself into trouble.”
“With who, mother? Father is dead. You killed him.” Mary recoiled. Alex and Lily were the only ones who did not take on a different shape. Her brothers and sisters twitched and convulsed, at least fifty of them, into what looked like rabid dogs triple the size of what Alex had been.
“Run, Mary,” Alex yelled. “Get out of here!”
Mary turned abruptly, her feet throbbing with pain against the sticks and stones beneath her. She’d never been outside the perfume factory before. She’d never run like this or been so afraid. Several of her brothers and sisters raced after her. She climbed a tall boulder and leaned against the side of a hill. The dogs leaped in the air and snapped their jaws at her.
“In here,” a voice echoed behind her. “They cannot get you in here.” Mary followed the voice into the entrance of a large cave. Two enormous black, glowing eyes peered at her from behind a rock. The cave was made of grey stone and it was pitch black inside. The only light Mary had to go by was from the stranger’s eyes. “Closer, hurry, child. I will keep you safe.”
A giant wing span of maybe ten feet spread. Black wings gyrated from behind the stone in a threatening display. Mary screamed, falling backwards. Several Great Danes appeared from around the large stone. One, with gray whiskers on his mouth nudged her in the back. “Get behind the stone.” He said. “We will protect you.”
“What’s happening?” Mary trembled, wiping tears from her eyes. She saw the glowing green eyes of her brothers and sisters at the entrance of the cave. Were they really going to try and kill her? She scrambled to her hands and knees and crawled behind the stone. She sat frozen with fright. The largest Raven she’d ever seen stepped in front of her. The black wings belonged to this creature. Had Father made others? Were these a different set of children? How many creatures and mutants had he created?
“See that light right there?” The raven screamed, pointing her talon at a small hole. Light seeped through and blinded Mary. “Escape through there. I think you are the one who has been making all the interesting changes. Father spoke of you. He’s made all of us in the hopes of finding the perfect formula for his ultimate weapon. You must be that child; his weapon.”
“I am not a weapon,” Mary growled. A wave of heat flooded her.
“Only you can decide that, my dear.” The Raven looked away. The Danes stood shoulder to shoulder ready to die for her. She swallowed.
“Where do I go from here?”
“I think you will know. Just get out of here, and you will see it for yourself.”
Mary crawled through the small opening and felt the sides of the grey rocks rub along her stomach and back. It was almost too tight. She felt like her world was collapsing around her. “I can’t do this,” she cried.
“Move it!” The Raven screeched. “They’re coming.”
Mary dug her fingers into the rocks, pulling herself forward. She now couldn’t lift her head; big bugs crawled on her, worms inched forward almost as if they were leading the way for her. A roach raced across her hand. “Yuck.” She trembled. “I can’t do this.” Tears brimmed in her eyes and she shook nervously. The green-eyed monsters were going to find her and kill her. If not them, then this rock mountain was going to fall onto her small body and crush her. Either way; those few Great Danes and that big Raven were not going to be able to save her.
The worms in front of her wiggled, doing various flip flops. She looked up and suddenly Mary was speechless. Right before her eyes, she saw
it: the golden bridge in her dreams.
Mary’s fingers gripped loose stones and she pulled with whatever strength she had left in her small, underworked body. Finally at the opening of the cave, she squeezed out, falling into a heap. She let the blades of grass tickle her face and she didn’t care that dirt was in her mouth and all over her face. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to catch her breath.
“Mary,” Lily shouted. “They’re coming, hurry up and leave!”
Mary looked up at her mother. She wasn’t human anymore, but a monster just like the Raven lady in the cave and Alex was a warrior of some sort just like those Great Danes. What was Father trying to do?
“Now, Mary!” Alex hollered from atop the stone cave. “Get out of here.”
She obeyed, climbing to her feet. Mary stumbled across the field with Lily and Alex at her heels. Lily’s multiple legs click clacked against the ground while Alex’s paws beat against the dirt beneath them. There, inches from the golden bridge, Mary stopped.
“Go,” Lily ordered.
“What about you?” Mary whimpered. “And Alex?”
“I can take care of myself,” Alex snapped. “Get out of here, you stupid girl.”
“Fine, but I will be back.” The young girl wiped a stray tear from her eye. “And when I do come back, you will become mine.” Mary took a deep breath and placed her feet on the first golden plank.
TAHMI
Tahmi shook the thoughts from her mind. Mary was a weapon? Her mother was a murderer and Mary was from Earth—where Tahmi belonged. “I’m from Earth, too.”
“You remember.” Jon Landers smiled. “It’s a difficult planet.”
“This is a difficult planet. I’d take Earth anyday.”
“What do you think about Mary?”
“She had a hard upbringing.”
“Do you understand her pain?”
“No.” Tahmi shook her head. “There’s no reason for her to kill. It’s wrong.”
“She wasn’t a killer at first.”
“What changed her?”
“That’s a story for another day.” The old man climbed down from his chair. He snatched the book from her hands and slapped it shut. “You’ve seen enough. Now, it’s time to go home.” He lifted the rug exposing a trap door.
“You didn’t answer any of my questions.”
“There isn’t time, I’m afraid. When your father saved your life from that warpig the death cloud sent him to Earth as a donkey.”
“What?” Tahmi laughed. “That’s—”
“Donna has tried her best to convince Charles to keep him but I’m afraid he’s called animal control.”
“What am I supposed to do about it?”
“Stop them.”
Jerry leaned his chest against Tahmi’s back. “Don’t listen to my uncle. Stay here.” His fingers pressed against her hips.
“I can’t.” Tahmi shook. “I don’t belong here.”
Jerry spun her around, grabbed her by the nape of her neck then pressed his lips to hers.
“Jerry!” The old man stamped his foot. Tahmi melted further into him. She could stay, right? Just for a little while. What exactly was she going back to, anyway? She couldn’t remember her Earth parents or even the spikey haired guy who said they were best friends. But she knew Jerry.
“Okay!” Andy pried them apart. “We need to get home. Let’s go. Say goodbye to your little boyfriend.”
Jerry’s eyes watered. He clutched his chest. Why was this so difficult? “Goodbye, Tahmi.” He ran to the stairwell. He looked over his shoulder. His eyes blurred. “Goodbye,” he whispered again.
“Jerry?” Tahmi stammered.
“Just go!”
Andy and Tahmi stood side by side. “So is this it?” Tahmi asked Jon Landers. She couldn’t swallow. “Will I ever come back?”
“You will,” he answered. “And I promise to tell you everything you want to know—as long as you’re ready for it.”
“I feel more confused than when I first got here.” She touched the locket around her neck. “Who does this belong to?”
“You’ll know when you jump.” He pointed to the trap door. She peered down at an endless black chasm.
“We’ve gotta go in that?” Andy grumbled. “Figures.”
Tahmi shrugged. “It’s not the worst thing I’ve had to do.” She sat on the floor and hung her feet in the hole. “Jon Landers, when I was a baby, I remember hearing warpigs chant kill her, kill her. Were they coming after me?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “And me too; I was running towards the rope bridge with you in my arms. The world was in utter chaos. When I reached the bridge, they threw flaming spears and burned what was left of the gigantic flowers. It was a warzone back then. You remember well.”
“Why’d you give me away?”
“You weren’t mine to give.”
“Then why did my mom—”
“She didn’t want to give you away—Maryanne had no choice.”
“Well, she has a choice now.”
“Yes, and if she could leave her castle she’d be right here threatening to kill me for daring to send you home.”
“She’s wicked.”
“No, just a royal you know what.”
Tahmi sobbed then laughed.
Andy nudged her. “Can we go now?”
She turned sideways. Would Jerry remember her? Or would the mist cloud his mind? “Tell Jerry I said goodbye.”
Jon Landers smiled. “He knows.”
“C’mon,” Andy shoved her. She slipped dropping fast through the dark tunnel.
DAD AND “DAD”
Charles stood outside with a noose. He was going to force the donkey out of his flowerbed. Sure, there weren’t any flowers in it but that was beside the point. It was his garden. “Out, you beast.”
Dad turned sideways. Charles inched forward.
“Charles now what are you doing?” Donna leaned against the white picket fence. “The camera crew is filming this whole ordeal you’re creating on live television. Can’t you just leave the donkey alone?”
“I don’t care. This mule is going to get out of my garden, or else.”
“You mean your mud puddle?” David grinned. “Charles, you amaze me.”
“Leave that poor creature alone,” Peg said. “Animal control will be here soon.”
“Animal control.” Donna shook her head. “I told you not to call them! They’re going to just euthenize the animal.”
“This is a smelly creature,” Charles said.
“Hey, don’t talk about my dad like that,” Tahmi said. She stood in between the trees with her hands on her hips. There were scars on her face, rips in her clothes and she couldn’t see through the tears that spilled down her cheeks. “Hi, mom.”
Charles dropped his noose. “Tahmi?” His feet wouldn’t work. My little girl.
“Where’s Andy?” Peg sounded desperate.
“I’m right here, mom.” Andy appeared next to Tahmi. His eye was bruised and he smelled worse than the donkey.
“My boy!” Peg screamed. She ran, knocking him to the ground. She sobbed in his shirt, squeezing him with all her might. David cradled them both. News reporters crowded around them and spewed question after question at them.
Who kidnapped you? Did you run away? How’d you survive?
Charles grabbed his daughter. “You’re alive.” Tears poured and he shoved Donna away when she tried to hug Tahmi.
“Charles!”
“My baby,” he wailed.
“I can’t breathe, dad.”
“I don’t care; I thought I’d lost you.” He grabbed her by the shoulders, “Do you have any idea how scared I was? You can’t ever do this to me again. Where were you?”
Donna squeezed her way in and Tahmi collapsed in her mother’s warm arms.
“Oh honey.” Donna examined her torn clothing and battered body. “What did they do to you?”
“I’m okay,” she sniffed, “really, I am.”
Peg and David carried their son across the lawn. “No questions.” David brushed camera men away.
The animal control arrived. “Where’s the donkey?” One man asked.
“That’s my dad,” Tahmi said.
“What are you talking about?” Charles stammered, “I’m your dad.”
“Yes, but that’s my biological father.”
“It’s a donkey!”
“Don’t talk about my dad that way!”
“Now wait one minute—” Charles threw his arms in the air.
“Well, he is.”
“Donna, now I’m a donkey! She’s still upset about being adopted. Most kids say my daddy’s a lawyer or a banker—which is what I really am but no, not my daughter she goes and tells the channel ten news that I’m a donkey!”
“Oh no, daddy, you’re not a donkey, he is.” Tahmi pointed to Dad, who in fact, was a donkey.
“This is outrageous!”
“Calm down, Charles.”
“I’m hungry.” Tahmi rubbed her grumbling belly. “Are you hungry, dad?”
“Yes, a little,” Charles answered.
“Oh, sorry dad,” Tahmi frowned, pointing to ‘dad’, “I was asking ‘dad’ if he was hungry. He’s had a long day.”
“I bet dad has!” Charles stomped into the house. “Now, I’m second to a donkey.” He grumbled slamming the door.
Donna wrapped her arms around her daughter. “He’ll come around.”
“Why aren’t you freaking out about this?” Tahmi asked. Dad followed close behind.
“Because I don’t want to lose you over a farm animal.” Donna kissed her on the cheek, “Orange jello?”
“No!” Tahmi jumped back, “I never want to eat that stuff again.”
Dad followed them into the house. Charles looked up from the dining table. “What is Dad doing in the house?”
“You don’t expect him to sleep outside, do you?” Tahmi asked.
“Donna!” Charles bellowed.
“Just let it alone—for now. We need to take her to the doctor and after he’s spoken with us we’ll worry about the donkey, okay?”
Charles fumed. His chest heaved up and down. “I’ll try to stay calm.”
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