A Hidden Element (6 page)

Laura heard Charlie come in. She turned over and looked at the clock. After midnight. What had he been doing? She tried to sit up but pain raged through her head. The migraines had returned. Her unborn child kicked angrily as if he too felt the pain. She fell back and sighed. Tomorrow she would question Charlie. Tonight she prayed for blessed relief from the pain. It had to be pregnancy related. She made a note to ask the doctor about it at her next checkup. The moonlight shed a soft glow through the sheer curtains. It hurt her eyes.

Ben moaned next to her. She wondered what his dreams held. Fear and terror like hers? She placed her hand on his arm. He moaned again. She pushed her belly into his side, needing to feel safe. She traced her fingers on the scars across his back, the physical evidence of his long ago night of suffering as a sailor in Hawaii. He had almost met his death then by a vengeful pimp who held him hostage and whipped him. And he had been saved by the man who'd watched over both of them in secret—Felix. It was a lifetime ago before he met Laura, when he had been another man.

She had to use Felix's communication belt again, had to know if others still existed there—were coming again like they had so long ago. With her child coming soon, uncertainty about his place in the world—about hers—filled her with growing anxiety. She needed to know her kind still existed in order to feel at peace. If they ever came to Earth and Charlie finally knew his heritage—could he accept it?

She slid from the bed and retrieved a box from her closet, hidden far behind clothes and under books. She sat in the wingback chair near the window and lifted out a wide, long belt of burnished steel. She peeked at Ben to make sure he remained asleep. His slow breaths comforted her as she ran her fingers over the belt's smooth texture. Its silver sheen glinted in the soft moonlight, rippling with iridescence. It changed color from dark gray to light then a deep purple and back to gray as it flexed between her hands with a life of its own.

She put it on and had to loop it on the last hole, her expansive stomach taking up most of the length. She took a deep breath and pressed a series of buttons on the buckle's panel that was the combination she had discovered years ago upon taking the belt from Felix. He'd helped her and Ben survive her twin's attack. Felix had been the only other person, beside her brother, who had been half-Elyon, half-human—like herself. He had died that awful night protecting her when her brother tried to kill her. But he left her one thing behind—his belt. Felix had told her it was a belt to their world. Elyon.

Take me to Elyon
. She closed her eyes and in a whoosh was pulled through time and space. The tick of the wall clock and Ben's breathing left her. An almost unbearable silence filled her every crevice. She opened her eyes. Mist blew across gray rock. Stars twinkled above through racing clouds.

The vapor swirled away to reveal a black building, not square but angled and rounded. A figure stepped from an opening in it and moved toward her. Laura clutched her belly to protect her child, even though her body still sat in the chair back home. Her hands shimmered through her, like an apparition. If she pressed the large green button on the belt her spirit would return to her bedroom.

A tall, white haired man in a gray robe grew closer, his head down. He held a large bag and shuffled one hand about in it. The mist flowed around him as if it were part of him. He looked up and stopped, his hand frozen in the bag. He pulled it out and held it toward her. Laura inhaled sharply. She hadn't seen people here since Charlie was a young child and she had stopped using the belt. She had no need to then.

The man walked closer, his face puzzled.

You're Laura.
His words came to her, clear in her mind.

Stunned, she didn't know how to respond and then the words came to her and she answered back with her own thoughts.
How do you know this?

I saw you the day my brother spoke to you years ago. You were ready to bear a child then, like you are now.

You're my uncle, too?

Yes. My name is Brahm Madroc.

Your brother said your people were coming. I've waited and waited but heard nothing.

I believe he did come.
The man's forehead wrinkled and he looked away.

What do you mean?
The mist blew across the man, obscuring his sad expression.

He, along with Destroyer renegades, stole our people's ship. They could have only gone to one place, Earth, on their own mission. We crushed their Destroyer Uprising years ago, but we couldn't put their cause out completely. They rose again—and we believe are now on Earth. We can't know for sure. The thieves took our only communication belt.

Fear prickled through Laura.
When was this?

Seven years ago. Right after my wife died in a lab accident. We were readying for our mission when it happened.

I'm so sorry.

The man nodded
. We had to start over with limited resources. Our new ship is almost ready.

And you think your brother is here?

He always wanted to go to Earth, like our brother, Feo, his twin, who died in a crash there years ago. I assume he made it to Earth. And he knows all about your ways. We've watched Earth for many years through our communication belt. We've studied your culture. Your language. Your needs. Your desires. My brother has all this information now. He'll know how to infiltrate your society.

That sounds sinister.

Yes. His choice to stand with these renegades and do what he did can mean only one thing.

The fear that had prickled now grew to a stabbing frenzy inside her.
What?

He is a Destroyer, too.

Terror shot through Laura at that one word. It's what her brother had been. A remorseless killer with a burning thirst for revenge. A monster with immense powers to destroy.

Brahm,
w
hat's your brother's name?

Adrian.

His face disappeared and moonlight through her bedroom window glowed down.

"Laura, what are you doing?" Ben knelt down, one hand on her belt pressing the button to send her spirit back here, the other on her shoulder. He shook her gently.

"They're coming." She gasped, stunned to be back in her room.

He rubbed her arms to stop her shaking. "When?"

"I don't know. I must go back and find out." She put her hand on her belt, but Ben pulled it away.

"No, Laura. Enough for now. We'll know when they come."

Fear over who would arrive made her quake inside. Were her headaches from this Adrian seeking her out? And for what purpose? When she spoke to him all those years ago through the belt he had been kind and encouraging. He had been nothing like her evil twin. He couldn't be a Destroyer. Brahm had to be wrong. And Adrian and her Elyon father, Feo, were twins, too.

Ben helped her take the belt off and put it away then led her back to bed and lay beside her. "What else did they say?"

She didn't tell him. If she did then she would have to think about it.

"Nothing else," Laura mumbled into his arm. He kissed the back of her neck and held her close, his hand stroking her hair. Pain wormed its way inside her head. Another migraine. Like the ones she had when her twin had once sought her out. Who sought her out now?

She gave into her exhaustion as her body's need for sleep trumped her fears.

The man in her dream chased her through the dark mountain woods.

He looked familiar. Like her twin who once chased her. The man's white hair shone like a spotlight under the full moon. He raced around trees seeking her out. Once when she looked back his yellow eyes glowed with evil. He grinned at her, and in his grin she saw her death.

His pale, naked body rippled with muscles as he moved in fluid motion toward her. He seemed to fly over the mossy forest floor, his feet never landing on earth. She ran faster but her clumsy pregnant body defied her. She stumbled and grabbed onto a tree. She was naked, too, and in her nakedness she felt a deep vulnerability and shame.

Faster she ran.

The mountain trail zigzagged. The heavy growth grabbed at her, slowing her down. She plunged through a creek, slipping on rocks, and peered behind her when she reached the bank. He was gone. If—when—he caught her he would torture her slowly and rip her baby from her body. He would leave her here to die, with her child, in this wilderness. She would be forced to watch her newborn torn apart and eaten by wild beasts. And in this knowing, she would crush her baby's head with a rock before he suffered such a hideous death.

Pain sliced through her. Water gushed between her legs

The baby was coming. Here. Now.

In this ancient, godless wood with the devil chasing her.

She staggered up the bank seeking refuge. She doubled over and fell to her knees.
There
. A curved bush with a den inside. She crawled on pine needles to her sanctuary, scratching her knees and stomach.

She fell on her side and curled up in pain. Daggers ripped through her.

Breathe. Breathe
.

Charlie had come so fast. This one would, too. The pain subsided and she rolled onto her back, praying the killer stayed afar. Moonlight stabbed through the branches, exposing her. She pulled herself further into her wooded cave. A lone owl hooted above, announcing her hideaway. Laura darted her eyes back and forth from tree to tree, but the woods remained empty.

Pain grabbed her harder, tightened across her belly like a giant fist pounding into her. She scrambled in the dirt for a twig, in between gasps and grunts. She bit down hard on a stick, swallowing sour grit. Pressure pushed all around. And such pain. She held her legs up, from underneath, widening the way for her child. She felt his head between her legs, pulsing to get out. Not here. Not now.
Oh God, help me.

Then a laugh cut across her hell. The man strode up the creek bank toward her. His white skin glowed in the black around her. He stopped to watch the intimate scene. She was spread wide open to him, presenting him with her sex that had once spread wide open to Ben in love, presenting him with pleasure. Now her pleasure pushed out against her will. She had nowhere to run. Laura screamed from deep within as her child ripped her with each push.

"Finish your work, Laura. He will be mine."

"N—never," she sobbed.

Rip. Push
.

She spat out the wood and screamed and screamed. Life pulsed violently between her legs. Her skin stretched over her child as he forced his way into the world. Her screams turned to moans. She bit her lip to stop herself from fainting.

Then the pressure disappeared. She cradled her child and pulled him to her chest, bloodied and alive. She wiped the mucus away, her tears spilling onto him. Ben's face. His lungs burst forth with a glorious cry. She placed him to her breast and his little pink mouth grabbed on. His suckling shot deep heat to her core.

"Benny, my little Benny."

Laura tried to stagger up but fell back, her child still connected to her.

"Please, let me save my child." She ran her fingers through the dirt around her, desperate for a rock. She finally clutched one in her hand, the other holding her child tight. His suckling noises spoke of beauty and life in this place of despair. She looked at the rock in her hand and looked at her son's tiny head. Would her killing him be a blessing?

The man sneered, his flattened features stretched across his face, and he moved toward her. She shrank back into her cave.

"He is mine, Laura. Ours."

He knelt before her, his monstrous naked form filling her space. She held her son tighter to her breast.

"Let him live. Please, let him live," she whispered.

The monster pulled her son from her in one swift movement. He chomped down on the umbilical cord with his savage jaws and ripped it in two.

"No!" Laura struggled to stand, but the man shoved her down. Her bloody and wailing baby branded the man's chest with stark streaks. The man's mouth was painted with her blood. Her son's blood.

"He is my son now."

The monster turned and ran through the woods. She crawled on the forest floor after him, praying the evil man would indeed let her child live. She tried to stand but fell. Her sobbing stole her breath. She gasped for air. Death was welcome.

She opened her eyes. Ben's hand closed around her throat. He knelt over her, his eyes burned fierce in hers. Hate filled his face.

"Ben," she sputtered out as he choked her. She flailed about trying to get free.

He pulled her up and slammed her down into the bed over and over. She clawed at his hands.

"Ben, please."

His eyes grew wide. Brute hands fell away. She rolled over and gasped for air, pushing herself up from the bed.

"Laura, Laura," Ben cried into his hands. He raised his face to hers, dazed. "What have I done?"

Laura stared at him in shock and confusion. "I—I don't know." She fell into the corner chair. Ben came to her but she sank deeper in the chair. His hands fell to his sides. His face twisted in torment.

"Ben, you tried to kill me. Our child."

"No. No." He sat heavy on the edge of the bed.

"You choked me." Laura rubbed her neck, her throat so sore. "Water."

Ben got her a drink and handed it to her. She took it with trembling hands, avoiding his touch. She watched him as she drank. He looked sad and terrified at the same time.

"Could a dream make me do something so awful?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"What was your dream?"

"I chased a monster that wanted you. He wanted our baby."

Fear poured over Laura in a cold sweat. "Then what?" It came out a whisper.

"I grabbed him from behind and choked him. But why did I choke you?" Ben reached for her hand. She stared at it then pulled away.

"Maybe it's me. My hormones from pregnancy conflicting with my powers and affecting you."

"But nothing like this happened the last time you were pregnant."

"I'm older now. Maybe my abilities are coming out in strange ways." She desperately wanted to believe that.

"Maybe." Ben didn't look so sure. "I read women can have pregnancy rage. For now, I should sleep in the guest room."

She wanted it to be hormonal rage affecting Ben and not something else. "One more month, Ben."

"Yes, one more month and everything will be normal again."

Laura knew he didn't believe it. He held her tight but she couldn't stop reliving the nightmare from long ago, where another evil man chased her through the woods. Only the man had become real. He had watched her from afar through his mind's eye in his cell. Her twin. And when he escaped and came for her she had two choices—redeem him or kill him. But he killed himself, a tormented man who believed he would never be anything other than a monster.

Now a frighteningly similar man chased her in her dreams again. Was he real, too? She grew faint from holding her breath wishing the idea away and moved into Ben. He kissed her once then left for the guest bedroom as promised. The door click behind him and took his warmth with him.

She stared out the window. The sunrise peeked over the trees, shedding warmth and light to their world in a comforting glow. Only their world now seemed dark. She closed her eyes and hugged her arms to her body. How would they find the light again?