I didn’t know how much more excitement my body could take either. It had already been a long day, and it was likely only going to get longer. I needed to talk to this Robert again. The things he had revealed to me earlier were just a bit too difficult to swallow. But, then again, I had done some pretty amazing things. Things that weren’t going to be very easy to explain…as I was about to find out.
“What’s going on here, Charlie?”
I recounted most of what Robert had told me earlier, including the events that led to us being kidnapped. I conveniently left out the parts about me dismantling a weapon and destroying an alien spacecraft with my mind. We would cross that bridge when we got there. I wasn’t too sure how to explain that one anyway. Or, if I fully understood it myself.
Allison laughed, a bit nervously. “So these guys are supposed to be from outer space?” “Yep.”
“And,” she cleared her throat, “you’re supposed to be from outer space?”
“Correct again.”
She slowly removed her arm from around my neck. That wasn’t a good sign. I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that the conversation was going south, right along with my shot of ever being with her.
Chapter 18
“This is all a little too hard to believe, Charlie. I don’t know what to say.”
“You’re telling me. I’m supposed to be some sort of savior, and I can barely pass college algebra!”
“What’s this I hear about a chosen one?” asked Freddy. He always picked the most inopportune time to jump into a conversation. He’d given up bickering with Robert long enough to eavesdrop on Allison and I.
So, I recounted once more for his benefit.
“Are you kidding me?” Freddy asked with a pessimistic look on his face. “This has got to be a joke. You, an alien? And chosen one on top of that?” He laughed heartily. Then, he addressed Robert.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve got the wrong guy. Charlie’s about as American as pizza. And I think I know a thing or two about pizza,” he said patting his belly.
“Uh, Freddy,” Allison interjected. “Pizza is originally from Italy.”
“Really? No way!”
Allison and I looked at each other. He couldn’t be serious.
“Well, you know what I mean! Just look at him, he’s boring,” Freddy said, staring me up and down with a miserable look.
“Gee, thanks buddy,” I replied. “Good to know I can always count on you for a ringing endorsement.”
“No problem, bro.” He pounded his chest emphatically with his fist and flashed a peace sign. “I got you.”
Jason sighed aloud as we came to a halt at a sudden turn in the sewer.
“Thank God, we’re here. I don’t know if I could last another minute in this place with this level of ignorance.”
He trudged over to a rusted ladder and began to climb.
Freddy looked at me with his head cocked sideways.
“Is he talking about us?”
I didn’t respond, except for a simple shrug of the shoulders. For his own safety, I didn’t know if this was a particular tree Freddy should be barking up.
“Hey, you wait until we get out of here!” he yelled up to Jason. “I’ll show you what ignorant means!”
“Relax, Freddy,” I said, trying to rein in his emotions. He could get worked up pretty easily sometimes.
“I’ll relax when these so-called space freaks start showing us some respect. I mean, kidnapping people? Come on!”
One at a time, we ascended the ladder onto the street above. The sunlight was bright and blinded my sensitive eyes. We’d been in the dark sewer for at least an hour or so. It appeared we’d come out near some type of alleyway, but the area was unfamiliar to me. I squinted, looking around for a landmark of some sort I might recognize. I had no idea where we were based off our current surroundings.
After a quick reconnaissance of the area, Robert approached a light brown car parked a few yards away and reached under the rear wheel well. Removing the magnetic key strip located there, he unlocked the car.
“Everyone in,” he ordered. “Jason, you drive. Charlie, in back with me.”
“I call shotgun!” Freddy yelled and jumped in the passenger seat before anyone could object. Jason snarled, but said nothing in return.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “He’s so inconsiderate sometimes.”
Allison brushed it off with a wave of her hand as I helped her into the back seat.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” She flashed her trademark smile. The one that could melt butter. If I was an alien with superpowers, then it was safe to say her smile was my kryptonite, my eternal weakness. The one weakness I would gladly succumb to over and over again.
Chapter 19
At Robert’s direction, Jason maneuvered the car stealthily along deserted side roads and empty backstreets. The idea was to keep off the main streets and intersections as much as possible to avoid detection. I couldn’t help but think that if the Chirac really wanted to find us, they would. Call it a crazy gut feeling. I seemed to be experiencing a lot of those lately. Or, maybe it was just acceptance of the bad luck I was having; nothing had gone right over the past twenty-four hours.
I glanced down at Allison while her head rested softly on my shoulder, her eyes closed. After what she’d seen and been through so far, she deserved the rest. I hated that she had been drawn into this, but I had to admit, I was enjoying her company, however unconventional it may be. A normal guy would have just asked her out on a date. I had to go and get her kidnapped in order to spend some quality time with her.
God, I’m such a loser, I thought to myself with a sigh.
I turned to face Robert, his somber, rarely expressive countenance blank as he stared attentively out the window. He struck me as someone who was always prepared and never rattled. He was the definition of a rock in the midst of a storm. At least that’s what I’d picked up so far during our brief and strained acquaintance.
He quietly addressed me without so much as a look in my direction. His tone was low and calm.
“There are things you must know if we are to survive this war, Charlie.”
“How did you find me?”
“We never lost you. Someone has always been there to watch over you. We had to know you were safe.”
He paused for a brief second as Jason made a sharp left down a roughly paved side street and accelerated once more.
“As a condition of our bodies’ adaptation to this world, most did not develop their full strength and abilities right away. It took years, and for a select few, they never did. For the infants who traveled with us here to Earth, the process was typically the same. Most did not develop their abilities, or Ascend as we refer to it, until their 21st birthday.”
Another pause followed as he checked the map in his lap and directed Jason to take the next right. It appeared we were doubling back on our route for some reason, maybe in an attempt to throw any pursuers off of our scent.
“You, however, were nudged before you were ready to Ascend. But, I must say you are rapidly gaining your strength and abilities faster than I would have ever expected.”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “You say I was nudged. What does that even mean? By who? And how?”
Robert took a deep breath and scratched the back of his neck. I noticed the diamond accents in his Tag Heuer wristwatch glistening in the sun.
“Well, I believe the Chirac had already found out about you and were curious to see if you really were the chosen one. They used the hypnosis to trigger your subconscious mind into awareness of who you really are.”
“So you’re saying The Great Standeval’s act was all staged? Heck, I wasn’t even planning to go. What would they have done then?”
“They would have just found another way,” Robert replied bluntly, his brow furrowed in clear resignation. “I have to say that we honestly didn’t anticipate such a bold move, so we also had to move quickly in order to secure your safety.”
br /> “Well, you’re doing a masterful job of that so far,” I said, mainly under my breath.
“You are the key, Charlie.”
“Why do they want me so bad?”
“As I said, you are the key. You alone will decide the fate of this world and what’s left of our people.”
“And what if I don’t want to be a part of this war you speak of?”
Robert sighed and coolly glanced down at his wristwatch.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. If you do not embrace your destiny, everything you know and love will cease to exist. Your friends, your family, this world will all be destroyed.”
“That’s an awful lot of responsibility to just dump onto someone.”
“I know, and I apologize, but there is no other way.”
I didn’t want to accept that answer.
I couldn’t.
Chapter 20
“There has to be another way. I’m not ready for any of this. I just got my driver’s license a couple of years ago, and I can’t even legally drink for Christ’s sake.”
“Well, technically, in Earth years you are nearly sixty years old. Time is irrelevant to us, Charlie. It took the ship carrying you here almost forty years to reach Earth’s atmosphere. And, in all that time you hadn’t aged a day. You were placed in an orphanage where you were adopted by the ones you now know as your parents. We have watched you from afar for the last twenty years.”
I frowned. I was a senior citizen? This day was just getting better and better. That was probably one piece of information he could have kept to himself.
“There’s a reason you never felt like you belonged here.”
“How did you know that about me?” I asked. I was caught completely off-guard.
“No social interests, next to no friends. I could go on and on,” Robert said. “You’ve been just a spectator of life for years now, Charlie. Even you have to admit that.”
He was right, I knew. In fact, I had known and accepted it for quite some time now.
“Well, I just think…”
“What is it, Charlie? Are you OK?” Robert asked.
My head was pounding all of a sudden, and I clutched my chest with both hands. I’d never felt anything like it before. Something wasn’t right.
“I…I don’t know for sure,” I managed to say between throbs of excruciating pain.
“This is important, Charlie,” Robert asserted, leaning in close to me. “Did you see or hear anything out of the ordinary?”
“Well…I did catch a momentary flash of something I couldn’t quite make out. It was there for a second, then gone.”
“How did you feel? Quickly!” Robert demanded, a look of growing concern upon his face. “I need to know now!”
“It was kind of like that butterfly feeling you get sometimes. Like something is…wrong.”
Without hesitation, Robert spoke to Jason sharply.
“The Chirac have found us. Get us off this road and to the mansion as fast as you can.”
Jason made quick eye contact with Robert through the rear-view mirror, then simply nodded, flooring the gas pedal.
“What’s going on?” Freddy asked.
Jason pressed the cigarette lighter, and the glove box opened mechanically. Inside was an assortment of handguns. He reached in, removed one, checked the magazine, and offered it to Freddy.
“Do you know how to use one of these?”
Freddy stared hard at him for a moment.
“I’m not even going to give you the satisfaction of answering that question.”
“We have company,” Jason murmured, glancing at his side mirror periodically.
I looked behind us and saw two black SUVs converging on us. Apparently, my sudden queasiness and Robert’s inexplicable sense of urgency were founded in truth.
“Um, you may want to step on it,” I offered.
“I’m going as fast as I can, considering,” Jason growled as he weaved in and out of traffic. We were no longer sticking to the side streets, but were now deep in heavy afternoon traffic. I still couldn’t make out where we were. If I had to guess, I’d say somewhere near the city of Grand Rapids judging by the many prominent buildings that draped the beautiful skyline.
A rumbling blast shook the car as a white delivery truck adjacent to us was hit and overturned. Jason did a masterful job of veering from its destructive path and maintaining control as we sped along.
“They’re using high explosive rounds,” Robert said, lowering his window to return fire. “We need to get away from the city as fast as possible to avoid any unnecessary civilian casualties.”
“I’m doing the best I can,” Jason said through pressed lips, visibly irritated as he concentrated on the road. “Freddy, you mind using that thing?”
“Certainly,” he answered with enthusiasm. He unfastened his seatbelt, lowered the car window, and began to fire off several rounds.
The next few minutes were nerve-racking, and it felt like an eternity as we narrowly escaped certain death time and again. I didn’t exactly know how I could help in this situation, so I just sat there with Allison, both anxious and afraid. Freddy eventually managed to hit the front tire of one of the SUVs, causing its driver to spiral out of control before crashing violently into a nearby utility pole.
“Yeah!” he shouted. “I knew all those hours playing Call of Duty would come in handy one day!”
“Don’t get cocky,” Jason cautioned while negotiating a hard right. “There’s still one back there.”
He reached into his jacket pocket for his cell phone and dialed a number.
“It’s me. We’re coming in hot over the 6th Street Bridge. Get ready.”
The rear window was shattered by small arms fire as we started across the bridge.
Allison screamed.
“This is much easier in the video game,” Freddy mumbled. He reached for an extra clip and reloaded.
Bullets riddled the rear and sides of the car as if they were golf-ball sized hail on a tin roof. We still had a good distance to go before we reached the other side.
“A little help here, Charlie?” Robert insisted before reloading and returning fire.
“What can I do?” I asked.
“At this point, anything would be nice.”
I reluctantly turned and peered over the back seat. I could see the one remaining black SUV barreling down on us through the broken window. What was I supposed to do? Even with my newfound powers, I didn’t’ know what I could do against a two ton vehicle. But, I had no choice; I had to try something.
I focused on the front of the vehicle and clenched my eyes shut. It was like someone turned down the volume on the world around me. I could easily see the shiny chrome bumper and front license plate of the Chevrolet Tahoe in my mind’s eye. I felt as though I was having an out of body experience, seeing everything around me so clearly. I could hear the sound of glass smashing and metal grinding as the SUV abruptly jerked, then plummeted downward into the reinforced concrete bridge. It was equivalent to watching a violent head-on collision at 70 mph. Both front wheels popped off like the cork of a freshly shaken champagne bottle.
As we sped safely away, I opened my eyes and saw the damage behind us firsthand. I glanced over to Allison. Her eyes were filled with both horror and disbelief. It was a look I will never forget. There was no denying it now, to her, myself, or anyone else for that matter.
I was definitely not of this world.
Chapter 21
The rest of the trek across the bridge was uneventful. As we neared the other side, two vehicles pulled in next to us, providing an escort the remainder of the way. I tried talking to Allison, but she wasn’t very receptive to conversation. I guess I couldn’t blame her that much. Heck, it was hard even for me to believe the things I’d seen, and I was the one doing them.
We rode for another fifteen minutes or so before reaching an upscale area on the outskirts of the city. As the vehicles escorting us gradually dropped back
a ways, it became pretty clear we were now in safe territory. Finally, we came upon a lavish gated community and were promptly let through by the security guard on duty. The estates within were immaculate in both their size and luxurious design. I’d only seen elegant homes of their stature on TV.
We approached the cobblestone driveway of a sprawling estate at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. The driveway was flanked on either side by a huge white marble statue of a lion with a majestic flowing mane. The garage door opened, and Jason pulled in next to a white Cadillac Escalade, then shut off the engine.
“This is very nice,” Freddy marveled. “Is this how you guys live? Geez, I’d take a piece of this alien livin’ any day.”
“This entire community is filled with Alarian sympathizers. They’ve lived here in anonymity for years,” Robert said as we exited the car. “There are similar communities across the country just like it. Come inside. There are some people you need to meet.”
I tried to talk to Allison one more time, hoping she’d respond, but she wouldn’t so much as look in my direction, staying close to Freddy’s side. We walked through the garage and into a spacious utility room. A delicious aroma met us as we continued on through a long and winding corridor that opened to a well-lit foyer with a beautiful marble staircase. A stylishly dressed elderly gentleman was there to welcome us.
“Robert! Glad you made it safely.”
The two warmly exchanged greetings. The man then turned his attention to Allison and gently shook her hand.
“I’m sure you are rather exhausted and would like to freshen up, my dear. Please show them to the guest quarters, Mildred.”
A frail and rather serious looking butler appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Yes sir,” he replied. “Right this way.” He motioned for us to follow.
“Oh, not you, Mr. Reese,” the elderly gentleman said. “I’d like to speak with you a moment.”
He shook my hand.
“My name is Arthur Pendleton. Welcome to my home.” He studied me for a moment and then smiled. “I know the events of the past twenty-four hours have been trying for you and your friends. I hope we can put to rest any lingering questions you may have. But, before we get into all of that, I’m sure you must be starving, so we’ve prepared quite a delectable meal for you. I do hope you enjoy. Follow me.”
He led me into a spacious kitchen area where a group of people were gathered at the large dining table.