73. Belly Up

Michael

“Where?”

Jabin pointed with an outstretched arm towards the corner of my cubicle. Qadir walked out in front of him. The glass box I was in wasn’t soundproof, but it was bulletproof. My neighbor looked down on me with a melted face and a snarling werewolf mouth protruding out with serious fangs. Banging onto the glass… repeatedly. To say that Rodrigo’s experiments were going wrong would be an understatement. Or… he wanted it to be the worst thing for a human to fear.

What they could become by one simple act of… bioterrorism. How was Qadir going to spread it, and how did they reproduce it? They rounded the corner. I was on my knees, sitting back on my heels. My hands and feet were tied to the wall with chains behind me.

I was called in to go back to En-gannin. I had been decommissioned after Caleb left. There was nothing for me to do. No one to watch, and all my capabilities needed to be taken away. It could be switched off on earth but not removed. I would’ve been human again. Not going to live forever or until Juliet died. I would have waited until they were off the compound and joined them.

But instead of going, I was brought to the compound. In all my years... It was the first time I had set foot on their soil. In the past… when I really wanted to get something to Juliet. Kubra helped me out. They spent so much time together that we communicated regularly.

“Hello Michael,” Qadir drolled in that manner of his. Bending down at the waist towards me. Hand in his pockets. Ascertaining if I was lucid enough to have a conversation with. The coat he had on was always ankle length. Dark colors to fit with his personality. Nothing really got a rise out of him. Jabin gave him a chair, and they both sat down.

“I would like to know what is going on between you and Juliet.” He asked.

The drugs were clouding my mind. The room was swaying.

“Relationship.” My words sounded slow.

“Good Michael! I’m glad to see you’re a get-to-the-point kind of guy… So, were you the one that was with her at the farm when she gave birth?”

I nodded, eyes lazily closing and opening.

“And were you the one that made my assassination attempt of Louis go wrong.”

“Gave Marcus something to save Louis.” I was glad that they had believed me about Louis and Juliet’s connection.

“Well, this is going better than I thought… His gaze drifted to Jabin for a second. You really are forthright. Nothing to hide, do you? Now the million-dollar question. What is Samuel planning with the watchers when I take over? What is Bertram planning?”

“Samuel will stay with Juliet… Come back to the compound… If he has to. Bertram will declare war….”

“Does he know what I’m planning…? Do you know what I’m planning?”

“Everybody knows… You have to hurry up. They are planning on bombing this place. Bertram knows you can’t go back. That your father hates you.”

Qadir stood up slowly… made a noise, and leisurely walked out of the room. They whispered something to each other. Jabin nodded.

***

Carl

Bertram [“Hello, Carl.”]

Carl [“Hello, Sir.”]

Bertram [“How are things over there? Now that Juliet and everybody is going back to the compound.”]

It irritated the crap out of me. That my father knew about everything. Didn’t do anything. Or helped in any way. Nor could I ask. Juliet was on her own. It wasn’t like the government would put Juliet’s welfare above the world.

Carl [“It’s fine. As long as Miné is okay… Everyone is okay.”]

Bertram [“She will be. If Charlene stays put… It’s time you come in. We are making arrangements with Qadir for negotiations. I want you to be there.”]

Carl [“I understand… Where is Michael?”]

Bertram [“With Samuel, I think? I will ask around. Why?”]

Carl [“Oh, nothing. We’ve become friends.”] I lied. [“and we would stay in touch after he returned from En-Gannin… Is he still going?”] We all knew there had to be a reason why he wasn’t surfacing. I just hoped he wasn’t in any trouble.

Bertram [“I really don’t know what’s going on lower down, Carl. I have bigger things to worry about. We can’t monitor every watcher. You have two days. Juliet has two days. Kubra will come to take everyone where they need to be.”]

Carl [“Yes sir.”] He hung up the line. Never a goodbye.

I was looking out over the grass in the backyard of Charlene’s house. Standing in the kitchen watching her. Since I crossed a line like she wants to call it. She had been different. I didn’t think Ben knew. But she was different with him and not with me. I had to leave. And she would have to stay there with him.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her kissing me. Getting in with me at night because she was afraid… I had everything I had longed for. And I could do nothing about it.

***

Charlene

I saw Carl on the phone through the kitchen window. I had always been aware of where he was but lately… I was just checking if he was close. Carl protected Miné with his life. That meant the world to me. Ben didn’t come home for far longer than usual. He was vague about what kept them. Qadir was going to change all the rules on earth. It was going to be chaos soon. I didn’t know where it would leave any of us.

Since talking with Carl in the gym, I had no idea what to do.

“Charlene!” Ben called me from the living room. “Come and see this.”

A reporter warned viewers of a quarantine situation on the nine o'clock news. It happened in a small town in Indiana. A disease had broken out. The government didn’t know what they were dealing with. Or how dangerous it was. If anyone showed signs of “irregular” symptoms, the person needed to stay indoors and call the police. Whatever that meant. They ended the broadcast by saying they would inform the public soon. When they knew more.

I stood with my hands in my back pockets. We all knew what was going on. The screen was full of people in yellow and white hazmat suits. Going in and out of a school building. There are tents everywhere. Police and ambulances.

“I have bad news,” Carl spoke behind Ben and me. We turned to him. “That was my father on the line. He gave us two days. Kubra will come for everyone, including me. I have to leave.”

I was holding my breath. It was going to be just Ben and me. On that massive estate all alone. I ran out of the house. Up the lane to Louis’s place, climbing the stairs two at a time. “Juliet!” I called out. They were all around the TV watching the same thing as us. “Carl got the call! Two days.” I blurted out.

Juliet was sitting with Louis, her legs thrown over his. Clutched in his arms. Since Caleb and Chris had left. Juliet was… docile… Almost depressed. It was scary seeing her like that. She was asleep. I just stood there watching her. I was also losing my best friend. Not knowing when I would ever see her again. I ran up into Louis’s haven of a room. Not being able to deal with Ben and Carl at the house. I heard him come up the stairs. He put Juliet on the bed, pulled me closer, and made me lie down next to her. He left us alone... Louis was a rock… To all of us. He was better with her. They were better. I didn’t know what happened, but they were stronger than ever. I wanted that for myself. I didn’t really have a connection with Ben. A solid one. One where I knew he would do anything to make us work. Put in the effort. I spooned her and pulled her body close to mine. It wasn’t long before Katty came up the stairs.

“Promise me you’ll take her,” Juliet whispered.

“Of course. I will treat her like she was just another addition. She’s family now.” Juliet turned around, scooting closer into my arms. I wrapped around her neck. The cat jumped onto us with her little claws playing with our hair. Neither of us could keep it in. I was glad when a chuckle escaped Juliet. She was still in there somewhere.

“Can I come in?” We heard Carls’s voice from the door. Juliet pulled away. He ended up in between us like he always had. We both laid our heads on each side of his chest, in his arm.

“I’m glad you guys are getting together,” Juliet whispered.

Carl and I were quiet.

“Are you guys getting together?” Juliet lifted herself onto an elbow, peering over him at me. “So that’s how the wind blows… Well, good luck to you, Carl. Took too long, didn’t you.”

“Oh jeez Juliet! Could you not. Not all of us are like you.”

Surrendering, she laid back down on his chest… But, Juliet had nailed the hammer on the head. “You might not be Carl. But Charlene is exactly like me… Maybe you have the wrong idea of her in your head.”

He stiffened and sat up, dropping us. He got off the bed, watching us. His eyes darted from one to the other. We both flashed our eyes at him. “Come on, Carl! She lost her virginity like ages before me. If anyone here is a…”

Charlene covered my mouth with her hand. It was like an egg hit his face. He was asking someone to choose that didn’t like being shoved into a box. That wanted control and to be free to make her own decisions.

“Why do you think we’re such good friends… You don’t see other girls liking us. Because we understand each other…

***

Sita

Interstellar travel wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. It was instant and a simple press of a button. Teleporting from our solar system to another. Inside the Milky way but to another arm and closer to the center. Other systems had been discovered. She would not share all the information with me. And as far as Liv knew, the vampires haven’t gone to another galaxy yet. You had to arrive at an embassy on a remote station in whatever system you were teleporting to… But from there you could go anywhere again. Unfortunately, the vampires had power over that form of transport. The Werewolves and the Riphaths had to differ to trade agreements for technological advantages. That was how I knew Chris would never be going back to Earth. He would never see Juliet again, and that was all I wanted.

Palmyra was more than I could have imagined. Our world was so similar that I felt I had only traveled to a foreign country… One with no plastic and no pollution. One thing was evident. There was no tech in Palmyra. The teleporter I stepped out of was the final form of energy I would encounter. We had beasts and fish. Manipulated the material and food industries for the other two planets in our galaxy.

All the structures in Palmyra were fused with nature. Inside mountains and over rivers. Connected and beautifully finished. Clean and the water pristine. Walking out onto a landing like a helipad gave a vista of the entrance to the city we were currently in. There was a constant three moons around the planet. Making it possible for anytime manifestations. No full moon wolves. All the men were in their manifested state. They wore armor and carried a staff. The colors of the wolves were different. Not everyone was pitch black like me or all those on earth. The armor was made of metal with a goldish color… woven together with leather-type material. Every last detail was thought out with the utmost care.

None of the women were in their werewolf form. Their appearance was all up to a certain standard. Jack and Francis came with me. They were in awe of all of it. An excited Francis and a quiet Jack. It was the four of us escorted by a watcher to Palmyra. Liv didn’t say much unless you asked.

Here at the entrance or… embassy station you had a beautiful view of the City called Caude. The gate was submerged in the water. You could only enter by water. There were many ships in the harbor. Passenger yachts moving in and out the mouth of the city. Surrounded by mountains of grey rock. It created a barrier around the city. Shielded from any attack.

Liv escorted us onto a ferry. As we passed through the gate, it towered above us like a Manhattan skyrise… We were all given identification. A place to stay. Men and women separated not only on the training base but in the city.

I had yet to hear anything about the Riphaths. Liv had told me that it had been hundreds of years since anyone other than a Riphath had set foot on Zoreah. They did not know what was going on there. Trade negotiations with them had ceased. Chris’s mother was the last Riphath to have left Zoreah. Just to get lost on earth during the delivery and die. Her body was found, but never the baby. I felt for Chris and all he had gone through. But we were nowhere near a love-hate relationship… It was all hate, and I would see them all suffer.