131. I Think About You

Chris

It was the second day Caleb was going with us out of the city... Since the day before, he had been acting weird. Staring off into space. One moment with a stupid smile on his face. The next, he would be frowning, thinking heavily. Just like at the breakfast table across from me that morning. Humming and happy, and then he would bite his lip nervously… He wasn’t a very bouncy child. But like his mom, when he was excited and on the way to getting what he wanted… Caleb would turn into a total goof.

“What is wrong with you? Did your grandfather give you something?” Caleb blushed. I was shocked. His cheeks were red. He hadn’t blushed… since that girl made a move on him… ah, a girl.

“Who is she?” His lips pressed together, trying not to smile. “Is she pretty?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, kinda…” What did that mean? He held out a hand to me and stretched his pinky out. I tilted my head and stared at it. He pulled my hand closer and made me pinky swear. “Swear you won’t tell my grandfather.”

When I let go, he actually used the word “cool.”

My insides flipped. Butterflies swarming. Remembering that night she was here… My mind was going a million miles per second. Pinky swear and cool. Kinda pretty girl… Like she wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea. Would he fall in love with his own mother? Did she finally make it? Why would she not show herself? That was stupid. I knew why.

“So why are you all happy?” I followed him eagerly, trying to fish out any information from him.

“She’s just… different.”

I instantly thought about Juliet seeing her on top of me at the cabin. Grabbing me around the waist with her legs. She held onto me for a day because I was leaving. I sighed and turned away from him. It was probably nothing. Just my imagination. I could’ve somewhere used the word “cool.” Or did a pinky swear with Selena and Caleb had seen it… And I didn’t want to ask him about it because Ira walked into the room. A flicker of fear played around in my thoughts that Ira would actually kill her... I was also just jealous... If Caleb started sleeping around… I didn’t know what I would do. That would completely change everything. If he embraced the life there. If he wanted to stay. I never had to think about it like that.

I missed Juliet… something fierce. It was Shumaan. It got worse because I was close to just going home… to her. Making it at last. Earth was still my home. Any place but Zoreah. I still had not connected. After fifteen years of it... It was as if I had emigrated to another country... I couldn’t acclimate. Culture shock… Missing real people… Missing my people. Pretending every day. Fake it till you make it for the wrong reasons… For Caleb. Who I thought would’ve wanted to leave with me in a heartbeat?

That morning I waited outside the house to walk out of the city. The day before had gone well, and Caleb was a natural. He found a rhythm in everything he needed to do. Like Juliet, he could train and focus for hours and keep a level head.

Selena was waiting in the street. The tall blond was waving her arms in the air. She and Jamal were still the only ones I gravitated to. Jamal was awake and knew there was more to life... More human than he realized. A Riphath that didn’t want to put on a mask. When I was with Selena, I could let go. She knew everything about me, and I wanted to believe she loved me. As a friend and for who I was.

***

That day it was her and me again on patrols. Jamal was with Caleb. I thought it a good idea to give him some space. For some time… since his birthday, he had been angrier and challenging me a bit. A teenager, regardless of his species. I was okay with bringing him because we were close to the city. Selena and I were sitting under a tree in some shade, taking a little break. Selena was lying in my lap. I was leaning back on my hands, enjoying the cool breeze chewing on a piece of grass. The only “earthly thing” you could do to a piece of straw or whatever it was.

Jamal and Caleb had switched places with us. The previous day we had walked endlessly. Selena was talking about something funny, and we were laughing. She was still the only one in that place that could make the best parts of me come out.

My arms had drifted out from under me, and I fell back into the sand. I knew it… I wanted to freak out. I got the desire to search the air like a maniac and grab onto her.

Selena sat up and laughed at me. “What are you doing, Chris?”

I kept lying down. Eyes closed, hoping that maybe my invisible girl was back. Selena climbed on top of me. My eyes jumped open. I thought about the irony. If Juliet was there, she was seeing it. Over the last six years, Selena had tried again a few times but not like that… Her one hand was in the sand next to my face. The other traveled down my body on her way to my crotch.

“Is this an invitation?” Selena asked. I giggled… “Why are you giggling like a child? No wonder you do not have sex.”

“The last girl beside Juliet that did that….” I glanced at her hand… “I ate.” Selena’s hand stopped moving, right on my stomach. She pushed off me, frustrated and angry. I had wished Selena would keep going. Nothing like jealousy to make Juliet show herself. Maybe I should have… Or perhaps that would’ve given her more reason to think she wasn’t wanted… Maybe she was checking… If Selena and I…

I sat up, pulling my feet under me.

“It’s been fifteen years!”

I didn’t even get up. I felt like Caleb… A stupid smile on my face one moment and the next, worried about her…. It was true... It had been six since she was last there… She didn’t know what had happened… But it had to be her. It had to be that year… It had to be. I kept repeating the words to myself. It really didn’t matter how much temptation I was in. The older I got, the easier it was to stay faithful. I had made a choice. It was my choice. And if I was not going crazy, the only girl that would challenge a king… take over his planet… cross the galaxy for me… was there. I swallowed hard… nervous.

“How long are you going to go on like this?”

We never told Selena what happened that night. I felt terrible about my father doing that to her. My mind was in a daze, not listening. I needed to get away from her, so I got up and walked off.

“Chris!” Selena yelled.

“What!?” I yelled back, irritated. I wanted to be left alone, so I could think about Juliet.

“I asked you a question?”

“I had never given you an ounce of doubt regarding my feelings for you… S- Selena, you and Jamal sleep together every day. That’s a little weird.”

She scoffed. “Your joking! What! Juliet can have a harem, but I can’t have two regulars.”

“No! It’s not that! I don’t care what you do… Why do we have to revisit….” I gestured with my hands between the two of… “us… so often, Selena? You know I’m co…mit… ted….”

She pretended to dry heave. “You really make your race proud.”

I bowed dramatically in front of her.

Selena’s eyes rolled, “How you’re ever going to rule is beyond me.” She mumbled, walking away.

***

Juliet

Standing so close to Chris was surreal. Him leaning against a tree, frustrated with the fight he had with Selena. It was not how I thought my plans would play out. That night Jamal and I had to carry her. I had seen her but not like that… in all her beautiful glory. Golden locks and a pretty face. When I saw Selena lying on his lap. My eyes turned green… I didn’t like anyone that close to him. Chris always pushed me to accept them if they had other people. By the sounds of it, he wasn’t without a lack of women who wanted him. Why did he deny a friend that threw herself at him? After the last time, I was there… I didn’t know what he would do? Even before that… I didn’t know what he did. He could have slept with so many people. Jamal could’ve lied. For three years, the only fear I had was him moving on. I felt like a hypocrite, but that was my life.

I had kicked his arm out from under him to make him fall back. He didn’t even recognize the feeling… It had been too long… He was going to be king. Nevertheless, for fifteen years, he had never cheated. I wanted to show myself. Take him right there in the dirt… Give him an outlet and free him from his commitment… No against the tree… I looked up at the plant type of thing… If you could call it a tree.

He was as handsome as he had always been. His skin was soft and brown. His body was covered in muscles. As if the desert had the opposite effect on him. It was where he belonged. The women were so gorgeous that I felt like a bug. It was supermodel Ville… with big breasts all around. Except for Selena… She was sweet… Not like me. And it did seem that they were attracted to each other. The few times I was in the city were daunting. Everybody was beautiful. His friend Jamal was lovely… But all I wanted was to follow Chris home… get in bed with him, and make him moan like he did that night. Not that we could go to his house. Ira was there.

Dreamily I stared at him, deciding. All he did was space out over the valley. I wanted to put my head on his shoulder, so he knew I was there. Let him feel me. I spun around. “Frak!” Sammy was awake. The crying echoed through the gorge. Chris jerkily pushed off the tree, walking towards the canyon’s edge. I jumped out of the way. I had to be careful, or he would have touched me. How would that go? I was so nervous, telling him we had another kid. Scared he would fight me to leave her… But I wasn’t going to go home without both my children. Even if I never saw him again. All I needed was my birth tattoo. Him to change her back. I also had to face the idea that he might want to stay… Did I really have that little faith in Chris… Or was it more fear… The little bit that had taken root that night in the street had grown and grown.

Chris was peering down into the valley and listening. Sammy had stopped. It wasn’t a continuous noise. It was a short burst and sounded more like a tantrum. Relieved, I walked away, but it was hard. I wanted to stay with Chris for a little while… follow him and watch him like I always did. Michael was in the back of my mind. The city was far away, and they could teleport. I had to walk to get food, steal something and head back to the cave every time I left. Finding anything for Michael to eat was the most difficult. They didn’t waste and didn’t eat every day, just like vampires.

We would have traveled back already if they didn’t catch us so unexpectedly. We had come, and the problem was we were on the wrong side of the city when they started settling. That day we had to get out and hide. Ira told me that he would kill me… If the Riphaths found us, they would think we stole Sammy. If I manifested, they would kill me on the spot. Going all the way around the city at night wasn’t an option. There were guards everywhere, and the teleporter was at the other end... They were still settling, and I was still deciding what I wanted to do.

***

Caleb

Doing rounds were tedious. All we did, was walk back and forth the length of a space assigned to us. Met in the middle and had to walk it quickly, so there was enough surveillance. Because I hadn’t manifested yet, Jamal and my dad was indulging me. They could do what took me hours in seconds. I reached the valley entrance. I glanced up at my dad. He was high up above me, staring down into the gorge. He had heard it too. A child crying. He and Selena would check it out soon. I thought about the girl yesterday. I needed to either help her or break my promise.

I flattened myself under the ridge that ran the valley’s length. Chris couldn’t see me, so I took a deep breath and moved quickly. When I was out of sight, I ran as fast as possible. I searched for a place where a woman and a baby would hide, wondering why they would need to? Kids were so protected that the whole situation made me anxious and worried. Something I wasn’t used to.

I heard talking. A man’s voice and a child. He was friendly and placated her. Gave her things and told her that her mom would be there soon. I was relieved and right. It wasn’t something dodgy. They had not stolen someone. And even if a child was missing, the city would’ve known immediately.

I cleared my throat and lifted my hands in the air. The weirdest-looking person I had ever seen spun around and reached for an object by his side. Pointing it at me. It took a moment, but he lowered it again, putting it back into a leather protector. I had no idea what it was.

“Where is the girl? With the blue eyes?”

“Stealing food.”

“Why are you here, hiding? Who are you? What is all that.” I gestured to all of him. His eyes cast down at his arms, and he lifted his shirt. Like he was proud of it. There were markings everywhere over his skin. Black and up till his ears.

I scratched my head… “What are you? Where are you from? What are you doing with a Riphath child?”

The weird man’s brows furrowed. He said nothing, and I thought maybe he couldn’t understand me. “You got to get out of here.” I tried to show him with my hands. “The protectors heard her.” I pointed to the little girl sitting and playing with something square and running pictures on it. Her gaze was locked like she was in a trance. The man’s eyes traveled from mine to her.

“It’s a phone. An I-phone. With YouTube… Well, downloads… But her battery is on like thirty percent… It’s just for emergencies….”

I had no idea what he was talking about…

“Where can we go? We need to hide… We traveled here by mistake. We’re from another world.”

I didn’t know what was going on. Were there other planets with Riphath’s on? And why was she not in her human form?

“Tell your… friend to use her ability and hide the three of you. Meet me at the gate….”

He cut me off. “We are here because the baby doesn’t want to disappear with her. There’s no place else we can go.”

I tried to think of how I could hide them? Where would I hide them?

“The most important is food. If we can just get some, it would go a lot better. She has to leave the whole time. She is in danger every time… I don’t like it. I can’t go anywhere like this….” He gestured to all of his person.

“Well, that I can help you with… I can’t come out at night. She will have to sneak in and meet me on the other side. I will wait around.” The man nodded.

“I gotta go. I’ll try to stop them.” I dashed out of there, hoping I could still stop Chris and Selena.

***