A Hidden Element (7 page)

Charlie's stomach flopped with all the things Ghost Man had told him the night before. Now he was running late for school, but he had no intention of going there today. The woods called to him—and Ghost Man.

He got dressed and slunk down the hall to the kitchen. He hoped his dad had left for a photo shoot already and his mom had stayed in bed. No such luck. He turned the corner and there sat both his parents in the kitchen. His mom rocked by the bay window. His dad sat at the kitchen table and stared at her. No chatter. No breakfast being made. No radio on with his mom singing to some cheesy 80s song. His shoe squeaked on the floor and they turned to look at him.

"Charlie, where did you go last night?" His mom raised herself up from the chair.

He grabbed a muffin from a bowl on the counter and wolfed it down. "I had to think."

"You can think at home." She frowned.

"No I can't, okay?" He busied himself pouring orange juice. He didn't want to see his mom's angry face. He didn't know how he felt about her right now. Or himself.

"Well, for the next two weeks you will because you're grounded."

Charlie looked at his dad for help, but he sat there staring at his hands. "Dad?"

His dad looked up. "You heard your mom. Grounded." Then he looked past him through the window.

What was going on? This whole scene felt wrong. He'd rather his dad yell at him. Do something. But he just sat there and said no more.

His mom crossed her arms and looked over at his dad. "Your dad is with me on this one, Charlie. You're only fourteen. Nine is your curfew on a school night. You can't be out until midnight. I was worried. God knows what wild animals roam the woods at night."

"Wild animals are better than some people."

"They're unpredictable, which is why they're called wild."

"So are people, Mom." He shook his head and adjusted his back pack. "I gotta go to school."

His mom sighed. "Take the bus home today." She moved closer and stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He hugged her quick. She looked so sad. He opened the door and looked back. His dad still sat there, looking out the window. "Bye, Dad."

His dad looked up at him and nodded but didn't say another word. Charlie escaped the dreary scene and ran down the path, pretending to head to school by the road. When he looked back, his mom had resumed her vigil at the front window. She rocked and rocked. He waved once, but she must not have seen him. She didn't wave back.

He rounded the first bend and dashed into the woods. He hooked up with the trail and headed for the meadow. He needed answers.

A lone hawk soared overhead, piercing the sky with its cry. Chipmunks and squirrels bounced off tree branches as he passed. They nattered madly as if his presence disturbed their sanctuary. Then they ran off, leaving him with the mere sound of his feet crunching on leaves. His breath hung in the air, great frosty clouds leading the way. He reached the meadow. Ghost Man waited for him.

Charlie looked at Ghost Man across the field.
I could be a father to you,
he heard in his head.

Ghost Man walked toward him. "You know it to be true, in your heart, Son. Your darkest of hearts, Charlie-boy. A dark heart. Like mine. I can show you what you truly can be. Your real father never can. He is only a human. I can show you all the things you can have. Power. Acceptance. Belonging. Respect. And love."

"Love?" Charlie met him halfway across the meadow.

"Girls." Ghost Man smiled at him. "You
are
into girls, aren't you?"

"Yes." Charlie looked up at the cold, blue sky and shoved his hands back in his pockets.

"You can have all the girls you want."

Charlie stood before Ghost Man and looked down at his feet.

"And you won't be a freak anymore."

Charlie slammed a fist into his hand. "Good."

"And you can use your powers all the time. You won't have to hide them anymore."

"You can show me…in person? You're real then? You exist…somewhere?"

"Yes. I'm not far. And I'm coming for you, my Charlie-boy. I've been waiting all these years for you to be ready. Are you ready?"

Charlie moved closer. He reached out his hand to touch Ghost Man's apparition. His fingers moved through the ghost before him. "We are the same?"

"Yes. You belong with me."

"And my mom."

"Yes, she will be with us, too."

Charlie frowned and stared at him. "She never talked about you."

"She never knew I existed."

Charlie chewed on his lip. "What about my dad?"

"He will be welcome, of course." Ghost Man smiled at him.

"I don't want to be a freak anymore. My mom will want to know about you."

"Let's keep it our secret for now. We'll surprise her together."

"And my dad."

"Of course. I can help you see into your future."

"You mean I can see myself as a grown up?"

"Yes. See the man you will become. See a life of comfort and riches and all you desire."

All I desire.
It made Charlie dizzy to think about having all he wanted. Money. Girls. Popularity.

"But my mom said everyone died though. Who's everyone?"

"Our planet is dying and our people there will too someday. I came here with others so our people could survive. You can be part of it. I lead the community, and you can help me lead. People will look up to you."

"To
me
?"

"Yes. Isn't it what you want? To belong?"

"I never belonged here. But I can't be an…alien."

"Yes."

"A freak."

"Not to me. Not to our people."

"Why didn't you tell me this years ago? Tell my mom…and my dad?"

"I had to be sure you were ready. I wanted your mom to be ready, too. In her own way. Are you ready then?"

Charlie looked around the silent woods and up into the sky, a place he had never thought beyond before. He looked at his fingers and back at Ghost Man. Was this all really happening?

"I need you, Charlie-boy."

He had come back for a reason. This had to be it. "I'm ready."

"Now, let me tell you everything."

"First, tell me your name."

"Adrian Madroc."

"Adrian." Charlie said his name slow, new on his lips. "Okay, now tell me everything."

And Adrian spoke to him as a father would to a son, with understanding and love.

As Charlie had always hoped his dad would.

Adrian watched Charlie head home under the bright, fall sky. The time had been right to reveal all to the boy. He could soon accept his destiny and become the true Destroyer he was meant to be. How amazing to guide his grandnephew through his breeding initiation. Together they would raise the standards of their people and build their empire. The day was coming when their community would be integrated within the human world.

He had described the rich history of his people to Charlie—of Elyons and of his secret society of Destroyers—and how his flock had flourished here on Earth without fear of persecution. He instilled a yearning and want in the boy to follow him. He answered the boy's questions with patience, dropping tantalizing seeds to grow inside. He had spent years building up trust in the boy. It would all pay off now.

By the time the boy trudged back to his home, the sun rose high over his head just like his new heir was rising—an heir to help him overrun Earth with their powerful genes. Someday in the far off future, Earth would be the new Elyon—a world of Destroyers.

And his plan to take back all that his brothers had taken from him would succeed. He was the strong one. His father had said so. He had survived to reap what his brothers had sown and lost—and more.

But first he would continue his fun with Laura.

And then it would be Ben's turn.

Adrian knelt naked by his bed. He needed to endure pain to inflict pain on his flock. He could not be weak like them. He lifted the cat o' nine tails and flung it on his back in a familiar rhythm. With each whip he released a deep grunt.

Each strike was a gift he offered to fate as penance for the death of his mistress Manta. He did not seek penance for killing Tollen's unborn child that had grown within her. That was merely a casualty. Someday he would use it against Tollen. It would be his glorious, final playing card. For now he would let Tollen think it was Brahm's child who died. He did not need distractions. He needed to lead his people into this new world and breed the Earth with Destroyer power. Pain would make him strong then Fate would accept his pain and realign his path to greatness.

Forty lashes on his back. New scars over old scars painted his skin. Each strike of the nine tails pierced him with points of fire. He called to Manta with each grunt. She had understood him, loved him—and he had betrayed her. Blood ran like slow rain down his skin washing his guilt away.

And in the exquisite pain, his love for her skewered his flesh. He breathed it in with each lash. Frenzied love filled him up. It crazed his brain like an addicting drug. He had never felt it before except with Manta. It drove the harsh dark away, which ruled him. It filled him with soft light. But with the light came pain to endure Manta's death.

He could not let himself feel the pain of loss again. It was too much to bear.

He had caused her death.

Harder. Harder.

He groaned from the whip's sting and cherished the sweet physical pain that made him strong again.

He fell on his hands, breathing deep to push the pain away. Each morning he scourged away his sin. Day by day he became cleaner inside, stronger.

Time to finish. Adrian stood and faced the mirror. The lit candle sent shadows across his pale skin in the windowless room. He flexed his muscles admiring his physical attributes. Then he took a deep breath and resumed self-flogging. This time his thighs took the brunt. Streaks of red wound around his muscular legs. He called to his love again and again.

"Manta. Manta."

Caleb watched the courtyard fill up from under the side overhang. He soon would bring Rachel out. He watched her often with the other women doing laundry or working in the gardens gathering vegetables. She had been with many males since him and had borne more children since their time of passion six years ago. Did she think about it like he did? His last time of wild abandon. He had given in to lust and sweetness. She had been so open to him and full of beauty. It had felt so good to allow reckless release without care. Everything in his life now was done with care. He guarded his thoughts and actions to protect himself and others.

And now she would die. Could he save her?

The community members flooded into the square, silent except for the younger children. He scanned the gathering seeking two dark heads with hair of his own. He finally saw them. Relief washed through him that his children would live, but now he must lead their mother to her death.

Caleb walked down the open corridor to the prisoner's room. He hesitated at the door, unlocked it, and pushed it open with conviction. She sat on the concrete floor, naked and small, knees drawn to her chest. Her golden brown hair flowed around her, strands of pure bronze covering her in light. She looked up, eyes wide with fear. Tears dropped like clear pearls from her emerald eyes. Eyes he had looked into with desire and yearning long ago.

"Caleb," she whispered. "Help me."

"My father says you must pay for your desertion."

She put her head on her knees. "What will happen to all of my children? I wanted them to know I was their mother. I wanted to save all of them, but I could only take two. They were my first and I always knew they were mine."

Like I know they are mine
, he wanted to say. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at her and walled himself off from her plea. "They aren't your children. They belong to the community."

"Mine."

"Not according to my father."

She looked up at him, sad and appealing in her bereft nakedness. "Will you watch over them?"

He pulled her up. She covered her breasts with her hair but not her sex. It had held him in a fierce blur of tangled bliss—and had given their sons life. He busied himself by binding wooden cuffs on her wrists.

"Come." Caleb pulled her to the door.

She screamed and fought him. Her hair flew like wild ropes about her, lashing him. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "It will be worse for you if you go like this."

She slumped against him. He felt her heart beat next to his and her warm breasts. So alive. Not for long. An ache struck him like his father's whip. He felt the pain deep inside now as his skin had felt many times from lashings. She moved closer into him, twisting his robe in desperation as if clutching onto him would keep her alive. Her thoughts shot clear into his mind.
I loved you once. I needed you then. Our sons need you now. My other children need you.

"You needed a lot of other males after me."

She looked up at him. "Not like you, Caleb. You were my first. You knew I wasn't allowed to breed with only one."

Caleb nodded. He had loved her too, from afar. He opened his mind to her now. He dare not speak the words out loud.
I will protect the children. I promise. But I can't promise to save you.

She cried harder then. He sensed her relief from his words. And hope. He pulled her then to the courtyard. She shivered against him from the early autumn air, bared to the elements. Free of coverings, as she had been when she entered this world. Adrian stood at the stoning gates. All heads turned to them as he led her to the stocks.

He locked her in, her head held tight in place with a wooden collar. He undid the cuffs on her wrists and locked her arms and legs to the posts in metal braces. Her eyes followed his every movement. She pleaded to him with her mind, but he closed off his thoughts to her. If he didn't he would go crazy, release her, grab their sons, and run. They wouldn't get far.

Red leaves shot down from the giant maple tree above. A gust of wind tugged the last of them from the old tree, blurring Rachel's face from Caleb for a moment. A burnt crimson ring encircled her. He stepped back and took his spot. The crowd surged forward, one entity. A gray-robed flock of death. The barrel of stones sat in the center of the courtyard. Each person selected two stones. When everyone had their weapons, Adrian and Caleb stepped forward and chose their stones. Rachel's sobs and the children's fretting cries hung over the silent crowd.

All eyes watched Adrian, waiting for his signal. He raised his hand and nodded at Caleb.

Caleb raised his hand also and closed his eyes. Then he let go.

The first stone flew.