Michael
All my mental triggers were going off. The sensation of being bound and drugged. It had been two days on that thing, and I felt like dying. I probably was. I had shut down emotionally. None of them knew what it would do to me. The five men kept talking about me like I wasn't there or like I was some kind of animal. Juliet would have come already if she had known. They must have lied to her. Not that I blamed them. It wasn't like a planet was in jeopardy. As long as she didn't come in there… I was okay with it.
My body was held up by ropes tied around my shoulders and back. The thread they had on that planet was chafing my skin. It burned the whole time, grinding as my body convulsed. Whatever they had latched onto my person had penetrated into my bones. It was all physical pain and different than being mentally tortured… My only consolation was that it would be over soon… I hoped. I did regret losing my power.
I passed out when it got too much. It had happened a few times already. Late that night, I felt them pulling out the spikes. Movement on the ropes. I opened my eyes. Dimitrios was standing over me, sword in hand. In one swoop, he cut the cord, and my body dropped to the floor.
Fahan was there. He and Avrio were fighting. There was so much yelling. "Why did you not tell me that my whole race could be wiped out if one of them killed Jade…." Fahan turned to me. "But that is what you wanted. You needed me to secure your planet!"
"No, Fahan. It is not true. They are lying to you." Avrio roared back.
"I went to Palmyra… There is no one there… All the Werewolves are gone."
Avrio seemed stunned. I wondered if he was faking. No one knew if that was what happened.
"I did not know… It does not change our plans. Why would we cut off the only race that can help us."
"Oh, but it does. I can not align with a traitor. Or take the chance!" Fahan pulled out his sword from its sheath. Their swords were large. No human would be able to wield it. Fahan didn't even blink and sliced Avrio into two pieces. The man fell to the floor. Raas wanted to run. Fahan threw his sword at him. It went right through his chest, making him fall forward onto his hands.
Fahan towered over me, lying on the ground. I couldn't move or even speak. He bent down and picked me up, and I fell onto his shoulder. What was he doing? "I will be back." He said to Dimitrios. All he got was a nod from his second.
I didn't expect to come out on Zoreah. Fahan didn't even come with me. I was traveled out all alone... No exchange for his son or negotiations. The Riphaths recognized me. They scrambled to pick me up and teleport me to Ira's house. A few moments later, Juliet came walking in. She took one look at me. "I will kill him in his sleep." Juliet turned to leave. I stretched out my hand. There was no other way to tell her not to leave. She caught a glimpse of the gesture and stopped. Her eyes darted over my body. Juliet was going through it all again with me. "We have to get him to En-gannim." She fell down next to the bed, sobbing. Caleb came in with the baby in his arms. Did Fahan believe Juliet would give Aries back? My eyes closed.
***
After I felt better and could open my mouth, I told Juliet everything I heard them say. To her, it made no sense either. There was no commotion in the med bay. Or doctors scrambling around. Only one was tending to me. It was only the three of us.
"Where is everyone?"
"Louis and Marcus are missing. Chris… left me a note."
I frowned. "Another letter? Was it better than the first one?" I quipped.
Her face said it all. There was no smile… Trouble was coming. "Chris said that he and the other two fought." She whispered with my hand on her cheek.
"They always fight… What was different?"
"Chris said that it got violent… He almost hurt Louis… And that… He needed time… He said they told Fahan what would happen. Took him to Palmyra, and it was enough for him to change his mind. He is acting in good faith that I would give back his child. When he returned you."
"But that doesn't explain where the other two are? Marcus wouldn't just leave you while you're pregnant."
She shrugged. "I don't know… Maybe he reached another limit… It seems that the more time goes by… The more things come up, that's gonna drive us apart."
"You know that's not true… Don't go down that rabbit hole again…They will come back eventually." I had to smile, although it was forced.
She shook her head. "You're too happy that you have me all to yourself."
It wasn't that at all … I didn't want to come over too concerned… My radar was going off in a million directions. Louis would never leave her… Not for anything. Maybe the other two… But not Louis… Something was off. Terribly off. The doors opened, and Caleb came in with Kubra.
"Where is Jessy?"
"Oh, Michael… There is so much that needs to be done… He is still managing the factories, if you can imagine? They just left him there." Juliet complained.
"He's probably not happy about leaving you."
"What did Ira say?" Juliet asked Caleb.
"He is still busy in the city… He's not really worried about a tantrum from his son. Says he's used to it. You would have to get over it if he had to. Long bouts of silence."
"So he isn't hiding there… I wonder where he could be… Kubra says he's not in France or at the cabin… Louis is not in Paris or on his yacht."
"The compound?"
"Nothing but Werewolves," Kubra said.
I knew him a little bit better than anyone else there. He was avoiding my eyes… They were both lying to her. I didn't like the idea and wanted to open my mouth. Caleb shook his head… Puzzled, I stared at him… There could be no reason why they would not tell her… Unless? The realization hit me. My head fell back onto the bed. It was worse than I thought.
***
The rest of the day, I was quiet, thinking. I had discharged myself and went up to her room. She was busy with her daily routine, getting dressed for bed. I sat on the balcony, narrowed-eyed, peering out over the skyline. Chris had taken my place? Why didn't they just give them the tech? Kubra and Caleb had left almost as soon as they told me to keep quiet. I watched her over my shoulder. Sammy was there for a change. They were playing on the floor with some of her toys.
If I didn't say anything… I was screwed. If I told her, she would be there in a heartbeat… Killing them one by one. I would not be able to help her. If Chris did it… He had exhausted all our options. I drew in a heavy drag and frustratingly pushed the cigarette into the ashtray.
Juliet caught my eye. I knew why they didn't want to tell her… So, I got up and lay on the floor. Sammy came over to me, falling on my chest. She liked tugging on my beard. I would tickle her as punishment. The time we were on Zoreah played through my mind. We have lied to her before. Everyone was just doing a much better job.
"Did you check the farm?" I asked. One last diversion.
"Yeah… It's weird thinking everyone is somewhere in the galaxy. Hard to find someone on Earth… Let alone so many planets… Kubra asked that we focus on finding Charlene… Would you help? I had asked Marcus to work with me… But I don't know… It might have been in the heat of the moment if you know what I mean."
I did understand. She had so little trust in us already. There was no way Marcus would say something that he wouldn't follow through on. But she still didn't realize. Sammy gave me a good buffer to hide my emotions.
"You asked him? And not me and Louis? We haven't had time to discuss our fight."
Our eyes met. It would give her something to think about. "Do you think that is why Marcus is reluctant? Because you will follow? All of us together too much for everyone."
I snorted for effect. "I don't really care." She smiled, but it was halfhearted. "Maybe you should appoint one of us as King… Go join your mother and grandmother on the family island… You could go raise the kids and home-school them… Cook for us."
She didn't like that. "Get him, Sammy! Hold him down." They were tickling me and wrestling with me. It was easy to manage them, even together. The little girl had climbed into my heart. Just as Marcus's kid would. Just as Caleb had.
***
Caleb
I was taking my role seriously. Being able to vanish and be everywhere without anyone knowing. It would be my mind-reading capability. Louis wouldn't be the only one who understood what was going on. When I saw Michael was back and my father had disappeared… I gave Aries to Maya.
It didn't take me long to figure out what Kubra was doing. Watched as he lied to her. Typed messages to Fahan. Read all of it when he was nowhere near his communicator. One night, I made my way to where they held Michael and saw Chris hanging lifeless on that machine, and there was nothing I could do. Appeared next to Kubra in France when he took Louis and Marcus a meal. He wasn't even startled. "Why are you always so collected?" I asked when all I got was a glance and a shake of the head.
"I grew up differently than you."
I had not expected Louis and Marcus to be tied up in nets. "How do they go to the bathroom?"
Kubra smiled. "I take them out into the woods, and a watcher flies overhead, trapping them again."
"Why did you trap them?"
"I didn't. It was all your father… But ask them yourself."
"We wanted to leave Michael there," Louis said.
My eyebrows shot up… "If we all stood together… We could have gotten him out."
"Once you have a wife and she's pregnant… You'll understand why we couldn't." Marcus said.
"You could've given them the tech? Was it necessary to take this route? She would have given it to them for Michael."
"You don't know your mother… She doesn't believe in a no-win scenario." Marcus said. "If we give away the source… We give away everything. Every teleporter would stop working."
"I think you don't know her at all. It's going to change everything… You should have done something." I couldn't listen to them anymore, thinking that Chris had to exchange himself because they would not decide.
I made my way over to see if Chris was okay. They had him hooked up to a machine to check his vitals. Fahan was making sure he wouldn't die. It looked like he would. I had never seen Chris like that. His body was deteriorating fast. He was thinner every time. After the fourth day, I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to do something. Interfere. Fahan and his second were sleeping there. They were taking no chances.
I appeared in front of them with my hands held up into the sky. When they saw me, they didn't even move or say anything. "You are a brave boy," Fahan said.
"What did you expect? He is my father."
Chris moved when he heard my voice. "Stop fighting it… You could've asked me… I would've stolen whatever we needed. We could've given it away…." Chris's body jerked and twitched when the activation happened. It wasn't constant, but he passed out every time, only to open his eyes a few minutes later. "Can't you drug him?"
"It will take longer," One of the vamps said.
"Should I bring him something to eat? Human blood has a good effect on us." I looked at the five scientists that were walking around Chris.
"If it would make you feel better."
I looked at Fahan. He shrugged. "If he would be able to eat at all."
"I hope you know what you're doing… My mother is a little obsessed with my father. She won't be happy. I'm glad I'm not you."
"She has four husbands." The one scientist scoffed. "Your father is playing the hero… He will have her respect after this."
I couldn't listen to them anymore either… Or see Chris like that. I couldn't tell Ira and Silvanus. My grandfather would've been able to comfort me… But Ira dying wasn't the answer. I couldn't talk to my mom. I was also making a decision. We were all lying to her.
So, I traveled to the next best thing. Cindy was happy to see me, and her arms wrapped around me. Cindy was always liberal with her hugs and kisses. Her mother and father were always with her. They had no clue what was going on or why I was there. Once I could let go and knew I was somewhere safe, my shoulders started shaking, and for the first time, I cried. The two older people wrapped their arms around both of us. At that moment, I was happy to be half-vampire… To have a family that would do anything for me. Vampires did have a lot more emotions to work with. That night, Cindy put me to bed like a child. No one had asked me one question. She just sat with me, stroking my hair until I fell asleep. I wondered how it would have been growing up with both my parents.
***
The following morning, I woke up with a house full of people. I wondered why none of them were ever in their Vampire forms. On Zoreah, everyone was manifested as much as possible. All of them were talking about me. When I came out of the room, Liam was the first to come to me, grabbing a shoulder in each hand. "Come sit down."
I was still tired. Even if I did sleep, nothing helped my emotions.
"What happened? Are you okay?" Liam asked.
"I hope you didn't tell my mom I'm here."
My eyes drifted over the room.
"We would never… But if we can help or make it better… We can at least try."
My head ended up in my hands. Tears threatened again. I didn't want Chris to suffer like that. But if I told them… It would have all been in vain. My dad had a plan, and there wasn't much I could do. "I can't tell you."
"Of course, you can… Why would we do anything even if you told us." Liam tried for the last time.
"I need a human person for blood. Is there any way we could steal one from Earth?" They stared at me in disbelief. I didn't know if it would work, but maybe if Chris was done, it would help, even if it was only a little. Liam excused everyone so they could go talk, where the kid in the room would not hear them. It left me with a lonesome Soren in the room. "Caleb… It's never good to bottle up your feelings." Soren tried. "Liam said your father was taking some time. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"Would I be acting like this… If he was on vacation or taking some personal space?"
His eyes narrowed. "Well, if you don't want to talk. Then get up and face it. Don't make the same mistakes I did. It's your life."
"You have no idea what you're talking about. You might be my teacher, but you don't know me." I spat out and got up.
I passed the group on my way off the Island. "Let me know if you find someone… And again! Not a word to my mom." Liam nodded.
***
I stepped out on En-gannim, reluctant but determined to keep myself under control and be there for her in other ways. Something caught my eye behind me in the teleporter. I didn't need to turn around. "Come, Caleb. It's time we talked."
I had forgotten. When I was not invisible… My mother could be. Juliet took us somewhere I had never been before. It was a tiny little hut on En-gannim. I told her everything I knew and what had happened.
"What will you do, mom?"
She lit a cigarette. "Is that safe for the baby?"
"One in nine months won't make a difference. I need it." She held it out to me. I took a drag… "It's minty." She chuckled. "Yeah, my one weakness. Menthols, we call it… Caleb, if I give the emblem to Marcus and step back. What will you do?"
"I'll go to school. Come home and spend time with you. We have an alien baby to raise. Two. I hope you won't be giving Aries back?"
"Hell no! That man will never see his son again. But that means you might be in danger."
"Fahan can try. I can just disappear. They won't have any of the coordinates. If we kill the scientists, Fahan will be stuck on Palmyra."
"You make me so proud, Caleb. We would've ruled well together."
"We still could. Stuff all four of them. They suck as husbands. I hope I will be a better one… They keep lying to you. Cutting you out like you're a child. You know Chris will regret his decision… I was so angry. The two of us alone could have saved Michael."
She nodded and handed me the cigarette again. "You were going to lie to me as well."
My head came up, and she met my eyes. "I didn't want all his plans to go down the drain. They say it's almost over… Seeing him like that…. Chris always has a reason for what he does."
Juliet walked over and pulled us together. At last, I had my comfort. "I'm sorry. It's too much for you. I forget you are still a child. We both are."