Starseed (24 page)

She had tucked her real hair beneath a baseball cap. She knew not to scare her mother too much.

“Leave her alone,” Mike said, surprising her. “She likes that boy, Jordyn.”

“I agree,” Paw Paw said. “Leave her alone. Are you happy, Goosy?”

“Yes,” Kaila lied.

She was venturing to another world and could never tell. Her family watched her with concern and love.

“Just let me be,” she said.

At the bus stop, Kaila ripped off the baseball cap, letting her real hair hang loose down her back. No more pretending. This is who she was. An alien hybrid. Anyone questioning her could kiss her ass.

On the bus, as she stood next to the driver and stared at the busload of seated students, everyone went silent. Red rage blazed from Kaila’s head. One word, one taunt, and she’d make them pay. She strode to the back and sat between Melissa and Pia.

“Oh no,” Pia said.

“You said you’d like me no matter what I wore.”

“We do,” Melissa said. “Please don’t forget us.”

For a moment, Kaila’s stony heart yielded. “You’re my friends.”

They were lost, mistrustful puppies. She loved them still, yet pitied them. Earth people suffered deeply, while they inflicted pain.

“I won’t forget you,” Kaila said.

But when she stepped off the bus, she raced to the back of the school. People pointed and stared, but she didn’t care. Melissa and Pia stayed behind.

She fell into Jordyn’s arms.

“You are beautiful,” he said.

“She does look beautiful,” the hive exclaimed.

“If we could delight,” Viktor said. “We would delight.” Kaila realized this was as much as an earthly declaration as she would receive from Viktor.

“I admit,” Echidna said, her perfect black bangs above her black eyes, “that if we could feel joy, I would tell you we experience joy.”

“Oh, shut up,” Kaila said. She threw her arms around Echidna.

“Stop. Now.” Echidna grimaced and pushed Kaila away.

“I’m glad,” Toby announced. He threw his thick arms about Kaila.

“Oh, Toby, you are a darling,” Kaila said, hugging him.

“We understand,” volunteered Antonia, who had her tufted hair held in check by a silver headband, “that this is your way. And so.” Antonia opened her arms. Kaila and Antonia embraced.

“You are the brothers and sisters I never had,” Kaila said.

“That may be true,” Lucius said, always in sunglasses. “But I shall refrain from the group hug.”

“We take you,” Jordyn proclaimed, his golden eyes glowing. “Now that you are with us,” he said, “we need to infuse you.”

The hive formed a circle around Kaila.

“Trust us,” Jordyn said. “We are offering you protection. What happened the other night must never happen again.”

“Human emotion can destroy you,” Viktor said. “But it has benefits.” He licked his lips.

“Though you receive thoughts,” Echidna said, “we will show you methods of receiving and also how to block.”

The hived lifted their eyelids and their eyes blackened. Kaila raised her chin, feeling the rising sun. She looked into their eyes and accepted their gift, feeling knowledge invade and permeate every cell of her body.

Simultaneously, her eyelids opened wide and her eyes went black. She was joining them, accepting them, feeling them, knowing them, absorbing their knowledge, thus unlocking the doors of her dormant powers.

The bell rang.

Kaila felt exultant in the rising sunlight, its rays deflecting off her silver bodysuit. She felt like she had a right and privilege—and the knowledge—to walk amongst the gods.

Jordyn gazed at her with the power of a distant sun.

Nothing will separate us now,
he said with his mind.

Nothing,
she said, gazing at him with black eyes.

Kaila strolled into English in her silver bodysuit. She may as well have walked in stark naked. She stared with defiance at everyone in their seats. They were humbled, for if they dared utter one word, she would silence them. Satisfied, Kaila took her seat.

Melissa poked her back.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m good,” Kaila said.

“Um,” Melissa seemed lost for words. “You gonna have lunch with me and Pia?”

In Melissa, Kaila saw all the loneliness, the insecurity and her dreams. But more so, she felt her friend’s concern. It radiated from her, sure as the sun.

But Kaila could not commit to lunch. She had another place now.

Philip, the guy with the long hair, had his head on his desk. Kaila knew then that he was messed up on Somas, muscle relaxers. She received images of him living in a trailer in the woods.

She saw that his dad raised animals for dog fights. One had its teeth removed, helpless as bait in a vicious dog fight ring, other canines tearing his flesh apart. She saw the boy rooting through his father’s medicine cabinet, stealing the Somas. If she were human, she might have felt sorry for him. Now he was a ridiculous human drugging himself to anesthetize negative emotion.

Brandy Powell passed her desk, did a double take.

“Oh, so you are one of them today?” she twitted, tossing her strawberry hair.

Is my stomach showing as I suck it in?
Kaila heard Brandy’s mind.
Actually, she looks really pretty with those big blues eyes and blonde hair. The silver is weird, but she has a power and she’s really smart. She kind of scares me. Will Derek like her more than me?

Despite hearing Brandy’s insecurities, Kaila was sick of her flip, sarcastic remarks. She lifted her eyelids and stared at Brandy. She envisioned a dart thrown at Brandy’s chest.

“Ouch,” Brandy cried, clutching her chest. Her demeanor swiftly changed. She scurried to her desk, head bowed. Reveling in her new-found power, Kaila knew she had to be prudent.

A paper football hit the back of Kaila’s head. Wade leered at her. In his mind, she detected images of naked women on a computer screen, saw that he imagined doing to her all those things those men did to those women on the Internet. He had her naked, bent over—
gross!

Kaila blocked him. She wanted to thrust a huge pole straight through the middle of his perverted brain but knew better than to start slamming every person in the school. She seethed with pent-up rage.

The fluorescent light above her blew out. All the students in the classroom looked terrified but said nothing. Kaila drummed her fingers on her desk.

I wish Kaila wouldn’t go with them
. She heard Melissa’s thoughts behind her.
Then what will we do? She said she’d help us. I feel sicker every day. So tired. I can’t sleep at night anymore. I’m scared. I’m seeing ghosts. And what about Pia? She’s pregnant! Nobody gay gets pregnant unless they choose it. Why can’t she see what’s happening? I thought she was our friend. I liked her, but she turned on us. God, this hurts. Aren’t there any true people?

Kaila turned around and said, “I will help you. Have patience while I figure out what’s wrong. I won’t forget you.” Melissa looked shocked.

Philip held his head on his arms on his desk. The teacher, Mr. Foret, exploded.

“My god, what’s wrong with you people?” Mr. Foret shouted. “Wake up! Do I need to get a body bag? I’m going to have to call the morgue and tell them you died.”

I used to care
. Kaila heard the teacher’s mind.
But now I don’t give a shit.

Then Kaila heard Philip, who blearily lifted his head.
Everyone on this evil planet is a hater. Every last one of them a hating bastard. This is nothing but a living, breathing never-ending hell.

Amen,
Kaila thought.

At lunch, in her silver jumpsuit, with her real hair exposed, Kaila felt like she had come home to her true identity. The students in the cafeteria gaped. She heard their thoughts.

She is so weird.

I always thought she was an alien just like those other weirdos.

She was trying to hide it, but now it’s out.

I’m kind of scared of her. Hope she doesn’t look at me
.

But Kaila didn’t care. She was different and had talents and abilities that the rest of them didn’t. And if they didn’t like it, they could just stay on this cruddy old rotting rock of a planet where they’d end up killing each other anyway.

She cast a new aura, something beyond the physical, and the earthlings knew it. As she passed, they cleared a path. She wore no emotion on her face. But inside, she boiled. She radiated that:
one false move, one wrong word, and you are dead
. She was done with being trampled on, of not knowing who she was, getting hurt and seeing others hurt.

“Hey,” Pia nudged. “Order up.”

Kaila realized the cafeteria lady had been asking her what kind of smoothie she wanted.

“I want nothing here,” Kaila said. She didn’t want a stupid smoothie. The hive fed on something else. She swiveled her long neck, heard Jordyn telepathically calling.

Coming
, she responded with her mind. She broke from the line and burst through the doors to outside.

The hive stood underneath their far tree. Kaila strode across the field, hearing the students’ thoughts.

OMG. Look at her. Always knew she was bizarre. She’s going to them. She’s one of them.

So let me be an alien
, Kaila thought.
There’s nothing for me here
. She twinged with guilt for leaving Melissa and Pia, but she had to heed her true calling.

But one thing first. She approached the prep tree and stood before Wade Stoops. She stared at him with large eyes. Noting his fear, she felt a ripple of pleasure.

She turned to Brandy Powell and Tara Melancon. They dared not say a word, their stupid mouths hanging open. They sensed her power. It was strong as moon’s gravity crashing ocean waves to shore. There was nothing they could say or do. One wrong word and they had a problem. And they knew it.

She inhaled, breathing in their fear. Instantly, she surged as if she’d grown taller. Still, she hungered for something more.

Kaila pivoted and sauntered to the far oak tree. The hive stood in one line wearing their sunglasses. She approached, the harshness of the earth sun’s rays causing her to squint. She put on her sunglasses. Now she looked like the other members of the hive. Jordyn stood in the middle of the line. As she approached, Echidna, Antonia, and Lucius stepped aside to let her stand next to Jordyn.

Welcome
, they said telepathically.

Thank you,
Kaila said, taking her place. She felt their energies merging.

The hive made a semi-circle about her.

Jordyn said, “We are going to start filling in the gaps. You cannot be one with us till you have all we have.”

They removed their sunglasses. Antonia, Echidna, and Viktor’s eyes started turning.

Kaila wanted to scream,
No mind scans.
But she lifted her eyelids till her eyes were black as theirs beneath her sunglasses.

This is not a mind scan.
She heard them as a group.
No fear. Quiet your mind. Listen. This is a download.

Then an array of mathematics streamed through her mind . . . and vibration, sound. She grew dizzy. All was mathematics and sound. The complexity, beauty, and sheer truth stole her breath. She flowed away from Earth, tunneling through a portal, saw the expanse of the universe, saw that the laws of physics were universal, vast and beautiful, complex yet orderly. She felt as if she’d dropped into a hole in space and glimpsed the eye of God.

She fell to her knees.

Kaila knew she existed in a portal of the universe. She saw sound. How can one see sound, she wondered. And we are all . . . one. She became aware of every cell in her body, every atom vibrating.