Hybrid (49 page)

“I must admit, all of this scares me. I never asked for this, this isn't what I wanted for myself: To be a freak.” He looked over at his trusted friend “I wonder, Jeff, am I still human, do I have the right to love that woman in there, knowing what I am, and what I'm capable of becoming?” he asked his friend. “Will she still be able to love me?”

Jeff approached his friend, placing an arm upon his shoulder, and stared up at the stars, following Erik's gaze. “Two interesting words,” he began, “changed and different. Have you changed? Yes, you're stronger than you were before. You have senses and abilities others don't and you can become a being with metal armor for skin. But from what I understood from Shanda and Alissa, and from what you've just told me, you all have unique abilities. You were all chosen, for a reason.

“You told me that you've had a sixth sense, a unique ability since you were a child—that it set you apart. Shanda too has those gifts, it seems Alissa has those gifts, and you have those gifts, and more. You were given those things for a purpose: to stop a dreadful thing from occurring and you did. But dreadful things occur every day. Why not use those gifts and stop more dreadful things from occurring?” Jeff asked, letting the question hang in the evening air unanswered.

Before Erik could reply, Jeff continued. “So, we both agree that you've changed, but are you different? You still seem like the man I've known. You act like him, your friends seem to think you're the same. Inside, where your heart is, you are Erik Knight. Maybe you have a piece of this Jakor person in there, maybe he's there to guide you, help you cope with your new gifts. If these Espers were as advanced and as wise as the ladies claim, I don't believe that they would enhance an unsuspecting being without giving him some sort of user's manual or instructions. This extra set of memories and intellect is probably your instruction guide to help you cope and understand your abilities, and to use them wisely, which so far you've done.”

Jeff sat next to Erik on the steps. “Changed, yes, but not different. You're still the same man, only better. As far as Shanda goes, she knows what she's getting and accepts it, or she wouldn't be here now.”

“One more thing,” Erik added.

“There's always one more thing with you, isn't there?” Jeff added in mock annoyance.

“The military knows about me. There is more than a healthy curiosity about what I did today and how I did it. They'll be here, probably tomorrow, for a grilling. I don't know how far they'll go, or what they'll do to get what they want. But I don't see it ending with just one meeting. And I don't think they're going to go away.”

“What are you getting at?” Jeff asked intently.

“I got a quick read on the Major who spearheaded the operation today,” Erik began. “His interest was more on the line of ‘Can we use this thing as a weapon? Can we make more of him?’ than it was any relief that the situation here was over. I don't know how far they'll go or who they'll put at risk,” Erik added, knowing that Jeff understood what he meant.

“I'm willing to take that chance. Besides, I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to pick a fight with you,” he answered flatly, swatting at a persistent mosquito. “Look, I don't have metal skin, and unless you plan on changing now, I suggest we no longer provide food for the bugs and go inside. You have two pretty ladies waiting for you inside,” Jeff added as he stood up, heading for the door.

“Jeff,” Erik said quickly as he stood. The older man turned. “Thanks.”

Jeff nodded. “Welcome back, Erik. Let's go enjoy our company.”

Both men went inside and did just that, talking and celebrating until very early the following morning.

* * * *

The gathering finally ended around two o'clock in the morning. Jeff had called several staff over for the celebration. Alissa had spun a fantastic fairy tale of hospital mix-ups with patient records to minimize Erik's hospitalization for the co-workers.

Nobody seemed to care or pay much attention though. They were all just happy to have Erik back where he belonged. Shanda and Margaret spent a great deal of time together with Brianna and actively kept the young girl mute regarding her fathers recent experiences.

Erik sat back and talked with everyone and enjoyed the evening. It had been a while since he felt like he belonged anywhere, but he finally realized home was this small little diner, his tiny apartment, and one-room office. Everything that he needed, he had had all along: friends, family, and people who cared about him.

Erik had occasionally glanced over to where Richard Pendelton sat, alone in a corner booth, looking as out of place as anyone possibly could. Erik had unfinished business with him, but that would be done later, at the time and place of his choosing. Pendelton had put his daughter at risk, and was willing to sacrifice her life to keep some corporate secrets. Erik would make sure he would pay for that. It was an account that he would settle very soon.

* * * *

Erik lay awake in his bed, staring out into the empty darkness. Erik and Shanda had conducted their own private celebration when they arrived at his apartment, normally he would relish the time sleeping in her arms, but he kept having images of those creatures flashing through his head. Erik realized that if he was having trouble sleeping, his daughter too must be quite uncomfortable in the darkness.

Erik leaned over and gently kissed Shanda who was in a deep sleep next to him. He put on a pair of sweat pants and left the bedroom. He walked into the small living room, his enhanced eyes piercing the veil of darkness. He quietly tiptoed over to his wall safe and opened it. As he opened the door, he was greeted by an almost welcoming purr of the Sentient Staff. He gently grasped the flowing living metal and felt its warmth against his palm. He studied the object carefully for a few moments, listening to the purrs and whines of the metal as he brushed the metallic surface with his fingertips.

“You and I have some things we need to accomplish,” he whispered to the staff, suddenly feeling foolish for addressing the weapon. The staff, however, seemed to comprehend its new owner and hummed with an almost human anticipation.

Erik left his apartment and walked out into the night. He stared up at the stars, wondering if the light from one of them was also shining on some other sentient being somewhere in the vast universe. He took the staff and willed the weapon to elongate. The staff obliged, sighing with satisfaction at being activated. Erik closed his eyes and pictured himself as he was earlier, a great being of silver, with glowing blue fireballs for eyes. He felt a slight tingle throughout his body, and when he opened his eyes, he saw silvery metallic flesh once again replace his frail human skin. He looked up at the nearest tree and easily leapt the thirty feet up to the nearest large limb. He began to move, silently and swiftly, leaping from tree to tree, seemingly the only creature stirring at such a late hour.

* * * *

Brianna Knight sat in her bed with the covers tucked close around her. She was absently squeezing her father's dog tags. The young girl had witnessed the demise of the creatures at the hands of her father, but for some reason still expected to see the inky black Seelak and its huge cat-like companion appear from the darkness to take her away again.

She looked over at her mother who was sleeping soundlessly in the chair in the corner of her room. The more she thought about it, the more agitated she became. After five minutes, she felt the overpowering urge to look out her bedroom window. She silently crept from her bed, and peered out from the locked bay window into the darkness of the night. It didn't take her long to spot the silver being crouched on one of the large limbs of the tree outside her window, guarding her house like some armored sentinel. The silver being looked over at her, and its fiery eyes—eyes that lit up the darkness—winked.

A voice sounded gently in her mind.
Go to sleep, Munchkin; nothing will bother you ever again.

Brianna smiled, her fears whisked away at the sight of her father. “Goodnight, daddy,” she whispered as she climbed back into bed.

Within seconds, her body yielded to the much needed rest and peace of slumber. The Hybrid stood watch for several more minutes, and then leapt into a nearby tree; he had several other children to visit this night.

* * * *

Lisa Reynolds sat in her hospital bed with her parents. She was on her third cup of hot cocoa, and getting no closer to falling asleep. She felt tired, but every time she closed her eyes, the nightmare continued. Her mother was shedding tears as she held her daughter, and her father cursed at his inability to help his only child.

“Momma,” she whispered, “there's a voice inside my head, calling my name. It's calling me over to the window.”

“You're imagining things, honey,” her mother whispered.

“Just like I imagined those creatures,” Lisa replied as she broke from her mother and ran to the window. She gasped, then smiled with delight, whispering to a voice that only she could hear.

Her parents looked at her, and then accompanied her at her hospital bedroom window. On the rooftop of the adjacent building was the same large silver being with glowing eyes that had rescued her from her horrible ordeal and had gently carried her from the cavern into the woods. She remembered his gentle, metallic arms as she faded in and out of consciousness, while he gently carried her from her dark prison.

Lisa took this opportunity to thank her chrome-plated knight, and giggled as he bowed flamboyantly then brought his staff up in a kind of salute. The two talked for several minutes, mystifying both parents.

“Goodbye, Mr. Knight,” Lisa whispered.

The silver being turned and leapt from the rooftop into a nearby tree, and the Reynolds family watched with fascination as he vanished into the dark night.

Andrea Reynolds looked at her daughter carefully, the terror seemed to have vanished from her face. She actually was laughing as she made her way back to her bed. “What did it say to you, dear, what did you say to it?”

“He came by to check up on me, to make sure I would be all right. He said he knew that I was probably still scared. He said that his daughter was.”

“His daughter?” Andrea asked, shocked. “Child, do you actually know who that was?”

“Yes,” Lisa answered. “His name is Erik, Erik Knight. He's the one who came and got all of us yesterday. His daughter goes to school with me.”

Lisa's parents looked at each other in total disbelief, staring out at the window, and then back at their daughter.

* * * *

Richard Pendelton sat behind his desk, draining his second bottle of scotch. He glared up at the fancy gold inlaid clock upon his wall: 3:45 a.m.

He knew he should be tired, yet somehow he felt an unusual exhilaration. His men had pulled it off. They successfully covered their tracks pertaining to the Hopedale mining operation. The cost had been high, but his stepdaughter was home safe, rescued by her father. That, too, was unexpected. Erik Knight had survived, somehow transformed into some type of inhuman super being.

Pendelton knew deep down, from their brief eye contact at Madame's, that Knight knew he was responsible for the tragic incidents of the past several days. To Richard's advantage, all of the potential evidence had been obliterated or buried beneath thousands of tons of rock and earth, never to be uncovered again. The only evidence that Knight had was anecdotal, nothing concrete that his lawyers couldn't shred in a court of law. He knew, however, that Knight was far from stupid, and that the man was a vengeful sort. Knight would be coming for him. It wasn't so much a matter of
if
in Pendleton's mind, as a matter of
when
.

But that was another worry for another time. It was somehow comforting to have Knight still alive, a foil in which to continually match his wits and skill against. It had been almost too easy to destroy the man years ago. It would be far more challenging to accomplish the same task again, for Erik Knight was the ultimate loose end, and Richard Pendelton hated loose ends.

Richard had taken several phone calls from his associates regarding his company's current position throughout the early morning; all outstanding loose ends had been cut and any potential liabilities had been removed.

He finished off the dregs of his last glass of scotch and swirled the ice cubes around the glass. “To success,” he whispered as he drained the last bit of liquid and crushed the liquor soaked ice cubes with his teeth.
And to getting away with murder,
he added in his thoughts as he swallowed the crushed ice.

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Epilogue

Six weeks had passed since the dramatic climax of events in the sleepy suburb of Hopedale.

The military had done an excellent job of squelching any further outside media regarding the unorthodox occurrences. All photographs of the Esper-Human Hybrid and Seelak encounter were confiscated for official government security reasons, leaving behind several furious press photographers and reporters. There were several small carefully planted stories pertaining to the incidents in the larger metropolitan papers such as the
Boston Globe
, but each story related the events and occurrences in humanistic terms, ignoring the actual facts.

People who actually witnessed the encounter rarely spoke of it. The parents of the children who were abducted were paid substantial amounts of cash from the government to say nothing. The Reynolds, who had no need of money, were compensated by receiving lucrative government contracts to the family's business enterprises. The Pendletons also benefited greatly by saying nothing more of their daughter's abduction. Two of the families had placed their homes on the market with the intentions of moving as far away from Hopedale as possible and starting over again with their new federally funded nest egg.

Erik Knight continued his small agency, operating out of Madame's Restaurant, and continued to fret over his finances. His relationship with Shanda intensified. An inseparable bond had formed between the two, which Erik planned to cement with a diamond.