90. Oh Crap

Juliet

Louis had left for Washington. He would meet Carl and Kubra there. We have not seen Kubra again since he dropped off Charlene. Carl would move in when they came back. To be closer to Louis.

All three of them and Bertram would be traveling worldwide for some time... It was the trip Marcus was supposed to make. There were a lot of things that Louis needed to finalize.

My mom was busy with Charlene and Miné. They were together the whole day. Louis had left my dad in charge of the compound. He and Jessy got along well.

That meant I was alone. Everyone left me alone because I was in pain. Cranky. Still a bit traumatized. Angry when I woke up every morning in the worst kind of nightmare. My back was killing me. It was challenging to get through the day and every day got worse.

I could at least sleep in my own bed. One morning my patience was done. Sick and tired of being sick and tired. I got up desperate. Desperate people called for desperate measures. I disappeared and left out the big gates that didn’t need to be closed anymore.

Damian was still hanging. It had been days. Still the mascot for the men that thought they could do anything to women anymore.

I was walking to the one place I knew I could get answers. I faced my worst fear with Damian. So I might as well find some more closure for another one.

It wasn’t that far and only took me five minutes to reach the science building. There were no signs, but I knew what it looked like. Lots of glass and windows. Tall up into the sky. Just a few floors.

It took me a while to wait for the doors to open so I could sneak through. I didn’t want anyone to know where I was.

Alone in a corridor or in front of an elevator was easy. I could quickly press a button or open a door and just disappear again. But to get where there were no people was the problem. From what I had seen on the plans in Marcus’s study… I kinda knew where I was going.

The elevator opened to the last floor down into the basement. It was a dark space, open plan, with glass cubicles. I had heard about Rodrigo’s stalls down there, so I wasn’t scared. I had seen his monsters before. If something was going to jump up and hit the glass.

“Thud!”

I swore loudly.

“I thought I would be prepared.”

I flinched at the monster glaring down at me. As I walked through the cubicles, lights went on. It was just one narrow corridor with glass on either side. Each stall had a different monster. The ones we saw on TV were definitely the one I was staring at. I had stopped to stare, having such a good view.

“Juliet?” The voice gave me an instant flashback of him picking me up and sniffing me. Another one of Damian touching my back and hair...

“You’re pregnant.” I spun around, the fear forgotten. The words stunned me into silence for a moment. He didn’t say anything either.

“What? How did that happen?”

He laughed lightly. “Really? You need an anatomy lesson?”

“How do you know? Would you know after only three weeks?”

He snickered and nodded. “I can smell it. As clearly as your cherry lip gloss.” My lips pressed together. I walked over to him. He wasn’t so scary anymore. He seemed different. Not so twitchy as he was back then.

“Can you tell me who the father is?” He actually smiled held out his arm. He ushered me into the back where his lab was.

I got on the steel table.

“I’m going to do a proper exam.”

I nodded.

As a doctor would. He first looked into my ears, nose, and mouth. He felt my glands and took my pulse and all my vitals. Circling to my back.

“This doesn’t look good.”

I shook my head. “It hurts. Couldn’t you have made me bulletproof? Lashing proof. Any proof.”

Walking over to the cabinet on the wall, he opened a glass door with hundreds of tiny bottles lined up perfectly. One thing about Rodrigo. He was painstakingly OCD.

Filling an injection, he asked for my arm. “I want to keep the baby.”

He nodded. “Of course.” I gave him my arm. I didn’t even feel it. He lowered the table flat, so I could lie on my stomach.

“You might be out for a while. Anywhere you need to be.”

“Haha.” I relaxed, closing my eyes.

“If your back is better, I will turn you over and find out who the father is. Best you were not awake for that.”

“Thank You.” It caught him off guard… “What a simple ‘thank you’ too hard to accept.”

“No… I wondered what it was about you. And now I know.”

***

“Juliet.”

I heard Rodrigo call my name, and he softly touched my shoulder. My back wasn’t hurting anymore.

“You’ve been here for an hour. They will worry.”

“No… there is no one to worry... And no one would think that I was here.” I opened my eyes. “I feel… great Rodrigo. How do you know just what to do?” I sat up, swinging my legs off the table.

“I’ve been doing this for two hundred years. If I didn’t know by now. You would have had to call me a quack… Why didn’t you come sooner?”

I took out my phone, shrugging. “Our history…” I sent Louis a text.

Me {Hi}

Louis {Hi. Make it quick in meet}

I sighed. Sad that he had no time.

Me {I just want to ask you a favor. Will you not read me for a while. I found out something, and I would like to keep it to myself.}

Louis { Sure baby.} He left it there. No reply. Offline.

It felt weird. Louis busy. Too busy for me. It was the first time I felt the nagging in my gut.

“Sure baby…?” That was all I got.

“Trouble in paradise?” Rodrigo glanced over at me.

“I wish… What’s the verdict, doc?”

“Chris.”

My eyes grew twice the size. “What the F-!”

“I know. Impossible right? He is supposed to only be able to have one child.”

“What?”

He nodded… “And here, you guys are defying the laws of nature. Again.”

I chuckled. “I don’t think that’s it… Your concoction must work wonders.”

“It’s a miracle!” We both laughed lightly. Sharing a joke and that moment.

I sat staring at the wall. All the babies that had to die. It just didn’t seem worth it. The fact that Caleb would not have made it… if it wasn’t for them ending up in bottles. The freezer on the other side of the room gave me the willies. I couldn’t even imagine what was in there. Cages with exotic animals were still in the room behind us. Loud noises and sounds were still a constant.

“Still finding it hard, I see.”

“What? Science. Yeah, you could say that. So tell me the deal here?”

“Come see me every month.”

My feet landed on the floor. “Will do, doc.” As I walked out the door, I saw one dark room in the corner of the floor space. A little away from everything.

“What’s in there?”

“Another experiment. But you don’t want to see that one.” There was something in the way his voice pitched. The twitch was back. Either he didn’t like what he created or was lying. But I wasn’t going to push him. Thankful that he was helping me.

“Will I go crazy again?”

“No. That was just because of the time. You’ve crossed that bridge. But now, the change won’t happen when you’re emotional anymore… I hope… It’s just like any other ability. You will have to wait… I still don’t know if you’ll be able to control it, though.”

“Not bad. I can live with that.”

“You have the buttons?”

“No! They weren’t in the safety deposit box… Jabin must have taken them. Can’t you just make more? You lied to Chris and Marcus. Are you lying about anything else?”

“No, I didn’t make them. Michael did that all by himself.” His eyes flickered past me to the darkroom in the corner. My gut made a flip. The twitch was too prominent. A tell.

“Show me!”

He held out a hand. I walked out in front of him down the little corridor that led to the room separate from the rest. The motion sensors picked up our movement. The lights flickered on. I could see into the room. There was nothing there but chains and blood on the floor.

“Well, this is creepy… But I won’t ask… if you tell me you don’t chain up kids as sex slaves.”

He was disgusted by my suggestion. I was relieved that he wasn’t lying about that. “Some friendly information trading, is all?” I asked.

He sighed. I could see he wanted to say, but he didn’t. So he lied… like I always did. “You can say that.”

I didn’t want to push anymore. “Okay. Thanx for the drugs.”

“How do I pay you?” We both snorted and laughed.

“Bye, Juliet.”

Rodrigo helped me get out, walking with me till the sun shone into the foyer. He waved his hand in the air activating the door. Waving again to say goodbye.

It was strangely a good moment. He had a past. A traumatic past. He was forced in so many ways to do so many things that he didn’t want to. Who was I to judge? I was a sucker for a bad boy. Rodrigo didn’t seem so bad anymore. Damian was worse. And I had yet to meet Marcus’s grandfather.

I felt so good. I wanted to enjoy the sun. I haven’t been free in a long time. I didn’t have my veil on, and when I was far away from the science building, I reappeared to see what would happen.

Two military trucks drove past me. Not only did they not stop and whip me. But they actually saluted. Did everyone know who I was? The compound changing so quickly seemed too good to be true. Was it really that easy changing a whole planet?

***

Louis wasn’t at home. There was only one place I wanted to go. It was just down the street. My feet carried me there. I received a lot of stares. But the roads were empty. Only military and their eyes didn’t linger long.

I walked into the supermarket and recognized Soren’s father immediately. He was always friendly with me when I was younger. It seems that it didn’t change. There was a nod of acknowledgment, and I would take it. I waved at him.

Lifting up the tarp in the back, I walked through. Soren glanced up quickly but went on with his work. It took him a second to realize who it was. His gaze slowly came up to mine. We stood there for the longest time, just staring at each other.

“My mom and sister actually went for the information sessions a few days in a row. No one here can believe it. Is it really true, Julie?”

“I haven’t been off the planet, so how would I know. When I go, I’ll tell you. But Marcus has to be somewhere, right? What has your family decided? Are you going back? Maybe you can let me know….”

“It’s chaos. I think Liam alone has killed a few guys. Knowing them from long ago. He kind of knew where and who to check up on. We see Louis on the news.”

I had nothing to say about Louis.

“My sister wants to go back. My father also wants to. They can’t see how this will play out. How it would work. Us and the humans together? I heard that the first manifestations will be broadcast today.”

“Werewolves?” Soren nodded slowly.

“I’m pregnant again. Don’t tell anyone. I’m keeping it a secret for a while. I just needed to get it out of my system.”

His eyes cast down to the counter. His hands went back to being busy. “Congratulations. Is it Louis or Marcus’s?”

“Neither.”

Soren’s head jerked up.

I laughed at him and at myself. “Should I have some guilt because I love more than one person? I just don’t fight the fact that I have multiple partners… anymore. None of them judge me… They made their choice.”

He didn’t move… I felt uncomfortable at the penalty written on his features. I had to turn away from him for a moment. Give my eyes a rest. They traveled to the other side of the store where our couches were and then back at Soren.

“It is an alien that would not be manifesting on the TV today… Soren, I think there are so many species out there. But not all of them are half-human. Maybe here in the Milky Way... I don’t know. It’s a guess.”

“But the baby’s father is?”

I chuckled. “The only other species I’ve seen are weird bird-like aliens? And no, not even I would go there.”

He laughed. “Are you going stand there the whole day? Or will you read?”

“Do you want to go buy me some sweets…? I don’t have money.” I felt terrible for asking… I actually just wanted to spend time with someone that wanted to spend time with me. A smile played at the side of his mouth. He thought about it. Hesitated.

“I’d rather not. If that’s okay.”

I drew in a slow breath… That hurt. I didn’t know why? Maybe because he wasn’t explaining… Perhaps because I just went through something and needed someone to talk to… Or because he didn’t want to spend time with me… I didn’t want to ask.

The feeling that I was being dumped as a friend made me bite back tears. Were he and his family angry at me? I had thought that the compound changing was a good thing. But maybe not everyone felt like that.

Chris giving me the letter and how I felt washed through me. I swallowed hard and bobbed my head, trying to keep it together. I just wanted to get out of there. He was so different than what he was two weeks ago. I spun on my heels and stepped out. I heard him swearing under his breath. But that was expected, right. He still had his own feelings to deal with.

Head down, I almost bumped into someone. My eyes slowly lifted. It was the sweets shop guy. “Joe?” If he was going to say something nasty, I would lose it. His hand raised and he held out a packet to me.

Shakely, I took it. “Thank You.”

“I am the one that should be saying thank you, Juliet… I might be here as a prisoner. But now my kids will be able to leave. Out from under Qadir…. And that’s your favorite.”

I nodded, trying not to cry.

“You know… we never knew what you looked like… Until we went to the auction.” I spun around.

Joe’s gaze traveled to Soren’s father, that stood closer. “Soren was there that night, Juliet.”

My head snapped to the tarp.

“What?”

“He tried… I even placed a bid…”

I shook my head… “Do you even know how much pain… could have been prevented if I had ended up with Soren? My whole story would have been different.”

“Lucius's father was just too rich.”

I felt hazy… the last four years of my life flashed before my eyes. Having Caleb and losing him. In a daze, I turned away from them. My bag of sweets hanging by my side.

“Not a breakup. A confession... A regret.”

I walked slowly out into the street. Instead of Kubra being there to watch me, it was Jessy. He nudged with his head up the road.

My dad was walking down towards me. When he saw me, he knew. He held out his arms. “It’s because I have no daddy issues, isn’t it.” My dad snorted and picked me up so I could be at eye level with him.

“That and your big heart Julie.” He put me down.

“Did you know?”

His eyes darted to the supermarket. He nodded. “We all tried to put money together. There just wasn't enough. I could’ve asked Marcus. But Julie, things worked out the way they should have worked out… Marcus was so in love with you.”

“How can you say that, dad? I’m half monster. Have three tattoos on me that I didn’t choose. Life-binding tattoos. A child somewhere…” I took a deep breath to steady myself.

“I’m…” I wanted to tell him I was pregnant. I really wanted to. But it seemed like there was already too much going on. So I lied. “I’m probably the reason Michael was taken. Uncle Sam.”

“Even with all these reasons Julie. What would Qadir not have done to the humans? To this planet. Another En-gannim just much worse. I fought and got sentenced for what you accomplished in four years. You have saved so many people. Will save many more…”

“But it wasn’t really me, was it. Only because of me.” I stepped past him and kept walking. I needed air.

***

After that day… my depression set in and took on a whole new meaning.

I had wondered how long it would take. All the turmoil was over. I was alone and had nothing but time. I woke up and parked on a deck chair, under the sorrow tree. Letting all the things that happened out. Writing in a journal again. Embracing my half-human side.

I sat there from morning to night. Staring out into the sky. Thinking about Chris and our love that was written on the stars. Wondering if he was missing me at all. I read through all his letters that Louis had kept when we came. Studying the swatch. Holding it.

Everyone was apprehensive and came to sit with me for periods. Trying to talk to me. But I had nothing left. So they left me when I didn’t say anything.

***

One morning I was left alone at the house. My gaze fell on the front gate. There was a woman in the doorway. All the women still wore their veils and I wondered if the change really meant anything. There were four guards with her… it seemed strange.

I didn’t really know what to do. She came in seeing that I wasn’t going to get up. The guards didn’t follow and stayed standing outside the gate.

My own guardian angel hovering somewhere. She came and laid down on the deck chair next to me. I thought it even stranger… Who was she? She slowly took her veil off. My eyes drifted to her hands moving over her head. An older woman. Older than my mom even. She had dark skin like Mar…cus. My legs swung around off the deck chair. I gaped at her.

Long black hair. Beautiful dark eyes and that middle eastern nose. “Agatha?”

She nodded. My arms sprung around her neck. I hugged her so tightly.

She didn’t push me away or make me feel awkward. She pulled me into her holding me like a mother would. “I am so sorry. About everything.” She shook her head against me. “Louis isn’t here. He told me he went to see you.” She patted my shoulder. I wasn’t able to let go of her.

Why did my father not give Marcus another option of paying for Soren to take me as a wife? He fought and fought my dad not to brand me. Not once did he give him the option of finding me someone on the compound who would love me. How many times did I suggest it? It was why I went out that day. Marcus said there was no one else. Told me all the families were like that. He just didn’t want to find someone. Or he didn’t want me with Soren.

I slowly let my arms fall off her and turned around to lie back down onto the chair. She was watching me with interest. Picked up my journal.

I knew she couldn’t read or write. Or could she? “Can you read? Because that’s some pretty personal thoughts.” She smiled and shook her head. Her fingers softly swept over the pages.

“I can teach you to read. You will get in like a week. It’s straightforward.” Agatha shook her head and pointed to the sky. My stomach dropped.

“Is everybody going to leave?”

She shrugged.

“I guess all the criminals would stay. But the kids would go back. It was strange that any women would want to put themselves under that authority.”

She pointed at me with her index finger. Her hands gestured to over her head in a circle. I snorted. “Me? Queen? Nah, that would be the day. How many men would we have to kill to change the planet then?”

She shrugged again.

My eyes drift to the sky. “Marcus always believed in providence. That what would be would be. I have four husbands. But none of them are here. All of them treat me…so… well. I sometimes don’t understand it… Two are somewhere out there. One is fighting for the human-alien relationship. The other is locked up somewhere… because of me or... I don’t want to say it…”

Agatha reached out and took my hand, examining the ring on my finger. “Louis.” She smiled.

“You are catching me on a terrible day. I’m not myself. I am finding it very hard to keep my eyes on the prize… like Marcus would say. I’m supposed to be his prize. We haven’t even consummated our relationship.”

“I have a child that I would never see again.” The darkness took hold of me, and the feelings were too much. I had no hope. There was a constant pit in my stomach that nothing wanted to fill.

“If you see Marcus… tell him I’m fine. Don’t let him worry.” Her eyes were on me. She was worried about me. Squeezing my hand.

***