Book 1: Emma Meets the Vanguard
Written by: Darius Pavilionis
Copyright 2008
“Emma, Emma! Come on Honey, time to go!”
Amanda Greene, Emma’s mother, was tired and concerned about driving back home through the forest preserve this late at night although her husband, Peter, did not seem to share this concern. They had been at the Morrison’s pretty much all day and she could see that they were getting tired as well. Leave it up to her to be the one to get everyone moving – again!
It pained her to call her daughter of five since, being an only child, she did not have anyone to play with at home but it was definitely getting late and she did not want to jeopardize their friendship with the Morrison’s by disturbing them any more than they have. Peter had gotten into a heated conversation with Matt Morrison and did not want to concede his point. “I swear I married a pit bull,” she mumbled under her breath.
Down the stairs came a very solemn looking Emma followed closely by Susan and Andrew Morrison. She had her stuffed dog “Shnooby” in tow and she seemed like she was not tired in the least. Ah, childhood! At that age there never seemed to be a shortage of energy! Rounding out the little procession were the Morrison’s family dog Rufus and cat Ginger. The two animals would not leave Emma alone. They seemed to have more affection toward Emma than they did to either of the Morrison’s children. She seemed to have an affinity for animals that bordered on the fantastic. No matter what the animal, in a short amount of time they would befriend her daughter and not want to leave her side. Emma would even be able to get them to do tricks that their owners had struggled with and had abandoned all hope of teaching them. It was probably some sort of compensation for not having any brothers and sisters. Still, it was uncanny.
“I don’t want to go yet, mama!” cried Emma.
“Honey, we have been here for hours and the Morrison’s need their rest. Now if only I could convince your father of that.”
“Coming, coming,” said Emma’s father. “I just wanted to show Matt here the error of his ways but I could do that another time.”
“Yeah, right you really had me on the ropes – not!” replied Matt Morrison.
“Emma, get your coat and shoes on, hurry up now!” said Emma’s mother wearily.
“I don’t want to go. I was having so much fun!” Emma replied as she stomped her foot down.
Oops, she was wrong, Emma was tired after all and the first unmistakable sign of that fatigue had just blossomed before her – CRANKINESS!
“You were being so good up until now. I can see that you are tired. You know how you get when you are tired.”
“Am not! I don’t want to leave! They have a doggie and kitty here and we don’t have anything at home! Why can’t we have a doggie or a kitty cat?”
“Oh, not this again!” sighed Emma’s mother. “You know that animals are very messy. I want to keep a very clean house and there is no place for animals in a house!”
Uh-oh! She said that out loud didn’t she? “No offense, Cindy.”
She could see Cindy Morrison staring at her. Not many people shared her views on cleanliness. Yes, she had to admit it; she was a “neat-freak”. Her husband constantly reminded her of that. It was just that she did not grow up with any pets so she was not inclined to getting one now. Peter, on the other hand, grew up with animals. They had pretty much always had a dog or other animal in the house. In fact, she realized that Emma’s affinity with animals came completely from her father. He had always seemed to befriend animals with ease. Boy, do I feel like the odd-one-out!
“No offense taken” replied Cindy. “In truth, I feel that you’re missing out by not having any four legged companions. It helps teach the kids about a respect for all life, not just human.”
“You might be right but I am too old to change my ways now.”
“Tell you what,” Emma’s father told her, “How about we corner mom about getting a puppy or kitty? This time it will be two against one. How could she say no?”
“Will you really help me to try to talk mommy into getting a doggy?” asked Emma.
“You bet! I think it is about time that we heard the pitter patter of tiny feet in the house again.”
“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” yelled Emma. “Thanks daddy!”
With that, Amanda gave her husband a withering glare that would have made lesser men squirm. As it is, it made some impact since he dropped the subject immediately.
“O.K., then” said Emma’s father. “I think we are all set. Emma, do you need help with that jacket?”
“No! I can do it all by myself! I am not a baby anymore,” said Emma.
“If you are not a baby anymore then what are you?” asked Emma’s father.
“I am big, now,” Emma said proudly.
“Oh, are you? Well, I have to tell you that you should not be in a hurry to grow up. Enjoy being a kid. When you get to be as big as I am, sometimes you wish that you were a kid again. Then reality sets in and you realize that you can’t. So, enjoy it, OK?”
“OK daddy,” Emma replied slowly. “Ah Daddy, will you play with me when we get home?” asked Emma.
“It is late and when we get home you will brush your teeth and get right into bed, young lady,” said Emma’s mother.
“Mommy, I am talking to daddy! Will you daddy?”
Peter Greene glanced briefly up at his wife. She had this feeling that she would be overridden even though he knew that he would catch a little bit of hell for it later. She would back down of course. She knew that he felt bad about not being able to spend more time with Emma. They had an arrangement that she would stay home until Emma started first grade and then she would have to find some work. Their financial situation was manageable but only just. Peter was earning just enough to pay all of the bills but nothing was going into saving for their retirement. That would be Amanda’s responsibility. This arrangement was hard on him and every moment he shared with Emma was that much more precious. “Sure, but only a few minutes then it’s off to bed, OK?” he told Emma. She couldn’t help but smile.
“OK, thanks daddy!” replied an ecstatic Emma. “Daddy, can I tell you something in your ear?” asked Emma.
“OK, what did you want to tell me?” asked Emma’s father as he bent down and turned his ear to Emma.
“I love you,” Emma whispered in his ear.
Emma’s father smiled broadly. “Can I tell you something in your ear?” asked Emma’s father.
“OK,” replied Emma.
Emma’s father turned his mouth toward her ear and whispered, “I love you too, honey – very much.” With that Emma gave her daddy a big hug and he returned it in kind.
“What are you two talking about? Are you planning on how you will convince me to let you have a kitty?” Emma’s mother asked jokingly.
“Yeah! We have it all planned out,” said Emma.
“I can’t wait to hear this,” said Emma’s mother holding up her finger, “but at home, not here.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow morning on where to meet for lunch,” interrupted Mrs. Morrison.
“It will probably be the one with that indoor playground again. That’s Emma’s favorite place to eat, but she plays more than eats,” replied Emma’s mother.
“Come on you clucking hens. Don’t you ever stop talking?” said Emma’s father.
“Oh you are going to be so dead later on!” joked Amanda as she looked at the victorious smile on her husband’s face.
“Emma, you all set?” asked Emma’s father.
“I’m ready!” yelled Emma.
“Take care everyone! Emma, say goodbye.”
“Goodbye” Emma said as she waved to her friends.
“Are you sure you’re not tired?” Emma’s father asked her.
“No way, I feel like I can stay awake forever!” exclaimed Emma.
“I think that you will fall asleep as soon as you get into your car seat,” Emma’s mother added.
“No way, just you watch! I will not go to sleep until we talked about my new doggie!” she replied defiantly.
With that Emma took her mother’s hand and walked out the door followed by her father.
In the car, as predicted by her mother, Emma fell into a deep sleep. They had been on the road for about fifteen minutes and were approaching the dreaded expanse of forest that made Amanda Greene so nervous.
“You dote on her you know that?” she said to her husband.
“Hey, what can I say, I love spending time with her. You know you guys are everything to me,” he replied.
“You should go out with your buddies once in a while. I don’t want you to feel that you have to stay home with us.”
“I don’t feel that way at all, besides all of my buddies have disowned me. They say I never call them anymore. You know what, I don’t care. My life is my family and I can’t think of any other place I would want to be than with you guys.”
It was true; he really did spend all of his free time with them and basically did not have any close friends anymore except the Morrison’s. He had told her one time that he envied her, being able to spend all day with Emma while he had to work. Maybe that was why he spoiled her at times, to make up for not being there as much as he wanted to be.
“I hate driving through here during the day but at night it’s a hundred times worse. It looks like we are the only ones on the road,” she said as they entered the dreaded expanse.
“There is nothing to worry about. We will be through it in about ten minutes. I kind of like it. There’s a certain peace to the drive, no one trying to crawl up your exhaust pipe or cutting you off because you’re driving too slow,” mused Emma’s father, “and just look at those stars!”
“Stop the stargazing and just keep your eyes on the road” joked Emma’s mother.
“It’s difficult to do that with such a beautiful and clear night. Will you look at those stars! It has been a long time since I have seen so many stars, especially those four over there. Boy, are they big! They must be planets!”
“Don’t be silly, you could see one or maybe two in one section of sky, not four.”
“Oh yeah, well take a look!”
Emma’s mother leaned over and got a much better look at what her husband had seen. Sure enough, when gaps would appear in the trees she could clearly see four rather large points of light in the sky but there was something strange about them. As she looked they appeared to grow larger.
“That can’t be right!” she told her husband.
“What can’t be right?” replied Emma’s father as he was concentrating on the road in front of him and had not been able to look at the lights for some time.
“The lights are getting larger!”
“You must be hallucinating!”
“Take a look for yourself! They are getting bigger!” she replied.
Emma’s father removed his foot from the accelerator and looked in the sky.
“Wow! They are getting bigger, much bigger! Could they be aircraft? I don’t think we have an airport anywhere close enough for planes to be flying so low.”
Just then they started feeling a deep vibration. At first it was barely noticeable but it seemed to be growing louder. It became so bad that Emma’s father started feeling the vibration in his hands through the steering wheel.
He looked up again and was mesmerized by what he saw. The four points had stopped being points and now seemed more like fighter jets with multicolored running lights that periodically flashed on and off in a strangely hypnotic pattern. He also noticed that one of the “craft” appeared to be running from the other three. Along with that last observation came an even more surprising revelation – they were heading straight for them!
He quickly pushed the accelerator down as far as it would go. His wife, who was captivated by what she saw, did not even notice the increase in speed.
On they raced down the lonely stretch of road. Emma’s father split his time between deep concentration on the road in front of him and gawking at the ever growing images of the four “craft” as they seemed to be chasing them. They had grown considerably in size and it seemed that the chase vehicles were firing upon the lead craft. The lead craft started to bank in an attempt to avoid the other three and that maneuver brought it parallel to them on the driver side of the car. Try as he might, Emma’s father could not out race them. The lead craft then took a direct hit to its rear section and its previously controlled path lost all of its control and it came crashing down in a small lake just ahead of them and to the left.
“Stop the car! Stop the car! Stop the car!”
Those were the only words that came out of Emma’s mother’s mouth in a high pitched shriek that was immediately drowned out by the loud thundering detonation of the lead craft hitting the ground and the water instantly turning into steam and blanketing the surrounding area in an impromptu fog so thick that visibility went to zero faster than the crash of the vehicle.
Their car was tossed about by the shockwaves from the crash and, to his credit, Emma’s father was able to keep the car upright and on the road. He came to a sudden stop on the road at its nearest point to the lake.
Emma was awake and crying in the confusion brought on by such a rude awakening. Her mother just sat still for a few moments trying to absorb what she saw. She then went to the task of trying to comfort her daughter.
“Is everyone alright?” asked Emma’s father.
“What was that loud noise, Daddy?” cried Emma.
“Something crashed not too far away from us, Emma. Don’t be scared, we’re alright,” he said reassuringly.
Their car had come to rest with the driver’s side facing the lake where the craft crashed. Emma’s father tried to start the vehicle but it refused all of his attempts. In fact, nothing worked. There they sat in darkness, late at night, by the side of the road with a dense fog all around them.
“Blasted thing won’t start!” he said in frustration.
“What’s wrong with it?” asked Emma’s mother.
“Don’t know. Nothing works. It looks like the electrical system is shot.”
Just then they noticed an orange glow coming from the lake. It seemed that the fog was lifting. After a few more moments the fog lifted enough for them to see the burning craft sitting in what used to be the lake.
“I am going to see if they need any help” he said as he unbuckled his seat belt.
“Are you crazy?! We don’t know what that thing is and you want to go help?” shrieked Emma’s mother.
“It is just some experimental aircraft, that’s all. If the pilot is injured he’ll need help. I didn’t see him eject so he must still be in there. Besides, it’s not like we are going anywhere ourselves.”
“If it’s an experimental aircraft, why were those other weird looking things attacking it?” she asked him with a panicked look on her face.
“Look, we can’t just sit here and wait.”
“Why not?!” Emma’s mother yelled back to him.
“The man needs help and I am going. I want you two to stay in the car and lock the doors when I leave, O.K.?”
“I can’t talk you out of this can I?”
“Nope.”
“I really did marry a pit bull! Alright, Mr. Stubborn, have it your way. Just be careful!”
“Daddy, don’t go! I have a bad feeling about this!” cried Emma.
Emma’s father turned around and tried to give her the most reassuring smile he could muster under the circumstances. “Emma, Honey, another person out there needs help or he will not be able to go back to his family. We should always try to help others if we can. Wouldn’t you want someone to help me if I were in trouble so that I could come back to you?” he said.
“Yes” Emma said with a quivering lower lip.
“It will be OK. I will be back soon” he said.
“Promise?” asked Emma.
“Promise,” he replied confidently.
“O.K. Daddy.”
“Lock the doors and stay in the car!” And with that last comment, he was out the door and slowly walking to the remnant of the lake.
The fog was almost entirely gone now and he could easily see the crashed vehicle. It was sunk into the bottom of the lake but there was no mud or water. Everything around the craft was dry. Suddenly a large branch fell not two feet away from him. It hit with such a loud thud that he jumped back, stumbled and fell. The branch was charred in some places and still burning in others. As he was still looking at the branch he was startled by hands that suddenly appeared on his shoulders.
“Whoa! What are you doing here?! Where is Emma?!” he nearly screamed at his wife who was trying to help him up.
“I was worried when the branch came down and you fell. I told Emma to stay in the car and lock the doors.” She said with a worried look.
“Get back there. This is a crash site and who knows what chemicals were spilled. Have you forgotten your condition? Now move, get back to the car!” he yelled at her more out of concern than anything else.
Just then they heard what sounded like gas escaping from the craft and with a loud whooshing sound a small part of it erupted from the main body. Almost as soon as it took off it started to wobble and drop back to earth. To their horror it looked like it would hit their car. “Oh God, Emma!” they both thought simultaneously. As luck would have it, it hit about 20 feet away from the car, farther into the woods. It landed with a loud crunching as it destroyed several trees and came to rest.
Before they could start back to their car and their daughter a question that had not been spoken but was milling around in the backs of their minds was finally answered. The question was: What happened to the craft that were following and shooting at this one? The answer started as a prickly sensation on their skin. It was like having thousands of ants crawling all over their bodies. The low humming sound came next. Finally, they realized that they were no longer alone. They just appeared out of nowhere in a circle around them. There were at least a dozen of them and they were pointing things at them. At first they looked like rifles but as more of the smoke cleared they saw that each one was pointing what looked like their right arm at them. To call them arms would not be completely fair. These arms were large and ended with massive claws and several small tubes extending from the forearms and swept so that they were all pointed forward. The tubes ran all around what would have been their forearms. They were a good foot or two taller than Emma’s father. He stood at six feet six inches so he was definitely not a slouch in the height department. They had differently shaped heads but each had what looked like one mechanical eye that glowed a bluish purple color. They all seemed to be part machine and part organic with each one having mechanical parts in exactly the same locations on their bodies. That is why Emma’s father thought they were soldiers. They were different but their “gear” seemed to be identical.
His wife was gripping his arm so hard that her nails had dug into his flesh and he was bleeding in several spots. He removed her hands with great effort and tried to reassure her that everything would be alright. Before he could try to communicate with these “soldiers’ another “person” showed up. He seemed to be the leader since the others took on a subordinate stance when he approached and parted to let him into the circle without a single word being spoken.
This “leader” was different from the others. He was humanlike with two arms, two legs, and one head. He was just as tall as the others but slender in build. His skin was smooth and purplish in color. His head was smooth as well with two glowing eyes that were deep blue in color. The only other feature on this leader’s face was a small slit where his mouth should have been. He came up to them and regarded them with a certain amount of disgust, at least it seemed like disgust to Emma’s father. He started to make noises that sounded like someone was randomly pounding on individual piano keys. He would start at low tones and jump to high tones with no discernable pattern. It was completely unintelligible to them both.
Just then something caught his attention. He turned to look in the direction of their car and he was horrified by what he saw. Their daughter had gotten out of the car and was slowly walking into the woods where the pod from the craft had landed. As they took a closer look they saw that what they thought was debris had actually opened and a small creature had exited. It was slowly crawling to their daughter. It appeared to be grayish in color with a large head and two large black eyes. It kind of looked like those drawings of the aliens that you see in the tabloids from time to time. It removed something from a case it had strapped to its back. The object was a brightly glowing sphere that sparkled like a thousand diamonds all glued together to form a large ball of light. It did not hurt his eyes to look at the sphere. In fact he could not get over how beautiful it was. He could not take his eyes off of it and it seemed like it was almost calling to him. What snapped him out of his reverie was seeing his daughter close to within a few feet of the creature with her hands outstretched. He then seemed to hear a word in his head and that launched him into action. The word was: “catch”.
He let go of his wife and started running to his daughter. He was yelling something that sounded like “No!” but he could not be sure since all of his attention was focused on Emma. He saw Emma turn in his direction. It was then that he felt a sharp pain rip into his back. The pain seemed to invade his body, completely rendering all of his muscles useless. As he slipped into darkness he saw the little creature toss the sphere into Emma’s still outstretched hands. That was the last thing he saw. The last thing he felt was his body hitting the ground. He hit hard but felt no pain. It was then that oblivion claimed him.
Chapter 2 – The Stranger
Images flashed before her eyes, places she had never seen before. Some of them were beautiful places and others – frightening! There were people in them too. Wait, not really people, but animals that looked like people. There were bears and mice. She also saw dragons and birds. It all flashed by so fast that she didn’t have time to see them clearly.
All this started when that strange, little man threw her that beautiful, shiny ball. She remembers that it hurt her when she caught it. It was like a hundred needles had stabbed her hands but that wasn’t the worst part. Her hands then seemed to catch fire and the fire spread up her arms and into her head. It then raced down her body to the tips of her toes. It hurt so bad! She yelled for her mommy and daddy to help her but they never came. They always came to help her when she was hurt except for now. Where are they?
Luckily the initial pain stopped after a while. That was when the picture show started. It was slower at first then it picked up speed and now it was racing by. The faster it went the more her head hurt. There was sound too. It was like allot of people were all yelling at the same time right in her ear. It got so bad that she started to scream. At least she thought that she was screaming. With all of the noise she couldn’t be sure.
It was hurting real bad now. “Mommy! Daddy! Help me!” That’s what she was screaming, over and over again. Where was mommy? Why wasn’t daddy coming to help her like he always did when he was home? It was then that she felt herself start to slip. The pain got so bad that she started to shut down. She saw this large black hole below her. It looked like a place where all of this noise and pain and the flashing pictures could not follow her. It was also calling to her. It kept calling her name over and over again and it was getting louder. Wait, it wasn’t the hole calling to her, it was someone else.
“Emma! Emma!” it shouted again.
“Mommy? Daddy? Is that you?” yelled Emma as loud as she could.
“No, I am not your mommy or daddy,” it replied.
There is someone there!
“Who are you?” asked Emma.
“I am a friend. I have been trying to find you for a long time,” replied the voice.
“Help me, please!” shrieked Emma. “I’m lost and it hurts so bad. I keep getting closer and closer to a big black hole. Is that where you are?”
“No! I am not in the black hole. Please, do not go into the hole! It is a very bad place! Do not go into the black hole!” yelled the voice. “You have to follow my voice. Come to where you hear my voice.”
“How do I do that?” she cried.
“You have to think real hard about being here where my voice is. Think real hard. You have to do this, Emma! It is very important. Follow my voice!”
“OK, I’ll try,” she yelled back.
“I know you can do it. I believe in you Emma! You have done very well up to now. Just a little more and all of this will be over, the pain will end,” replied the voice.
She didn’t know if she could trust the voice. Her mommy and daddy had always told her not to talk to strangers much less to go with a stranger somewhere but it hurt real bad here. She wanted it to stop. The voice said it would stop if she went to where the voice was. Therefore Emma thought real hard about being where the voice was. Slowly, she started moving away from the hole. It was very hard and she slipped a couple times and almost fell back into the now scary hole but the voice kept on talking. It kept guiding her away from the hole. Farther and farther she went. Eventually the hole was the size of a quarter. At that point she saw a beautiful blue door in front of her. The closer she got to it the bigger it became.
“You are doing very well, Emma. I am very proud of you! You just need to come a little further and the pain will end. Do you see the blue door?”
“Yes, I see it,” she replied.
“I need you to go through that door,” said the voice.
“I’m trying but I’m so tired! I don’t know if I can do it!”
“You have to try real hard now, Emma! Think real hard about flying through that door! Do it, Emma! Do it now! I promise the pain will end if you go through that door!” yelled the voice.
Emma looked behind her and the black hole that she left behind looked like it was racing right toward her. Where before it was the size of a quarter it was now as big as her house. She turned back to the door, squeezed her eyes shut, and thought so hard about flying through the door that her head exploded in pain and she screamed.
She was till screaming when she opened her eyes and bolted upright in the bed. Someone was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her, someone very big. She then felt massive arms hugging her. She felt comforting warmth coming from those arms that spread throughout her body. After a while, her screams subsided. It was then that she heard the voice again. “It is alright now. You did it. I am so proud of you. You made it. The pain has stopped. You will be alright now,” purred the voice. “I need to call the doctor now. They want to take a good look at you to make sure you are alright.”
It was the voice that told her to go through the blue door. She tried to look at it but her eyes weren’t working too well, yet. Everything was blurry. It looked like it was wearing robes with the hood pulled over its face.
The arms disappeared as the figure rose up off of the bed. She was too weak to stop it but had enough strength to say, “Don’t go.”
The figure turned around to face her. “I will be here for as long as you need me,” it replied.
“You promise?” she croaked.
“I promise,” the figure replied.
She then saw it move to a door and open it. It definitely was very big. The figure said something Emma couldn’t quite hear and in came a man and a woman dressed in white. They said things to her she couldn’t quite understand. They then called in other people and they brought in allot of machines. They laid her back down on the bed and started to poke and prod her. When they were done they all left except for the large dark figure. True to his word, he had stayed.
She could barely keep her eyes open. That nightmare really tired her out!
“You need to rest now. You have been through a lot,” said the stranger in that calm, reassuring voice.
“Where is my mommy and daddy?” she asked suddenly, looking around the room.
“We will talk more when you have rested,” the tall stranger replied. “I promise that I will answer all of your questions then.”
“I’m scared. Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?” she whispered unable to keep her eyes open anymore..
“Of course, I will stay as long as you want.” With that, the stranger pulled up the largest chair in the room and slowly sank into it. Emma heard the chair protest under the stranger weight. As she slowly drifted off to sleep she heard herself say, “Thank you.” Mercifully, her sleep was without dreams of any kind.
Chapter 3 - Recovery
Emma was still surprised that she didn’t cry more when she found out that her parents were dead or that she had been asleep for over five years. It was like the pain just jumped over the crying and landed right on top of her heart, crushing it as it landed. Some of the doctors called it denial. They had it wrong but she didn’t care what they called it, it hurt just the same. The aching pain that she had felt in her heart had subsided over the past year into a dull throb. It was her constant companion and eventually she had gotten somewhat used to it, it was the only thing she had left of her parents.
She did have distractions from the pain, though she did not consider them very pleasant. Every day from the time that she had woken up had consisted of some sort of needle, scan or hours of reading and homework. She never really had much time alone. She resented it then but now that she thought about it, it was actually a very good thing. The distractions had kept her from thinking too much about her parents. It must have been the Stranger’s doing.
She found out that the Stranger’s name was Tobok and she only got that out of him after badgering him to know his name since she got tired of calling him “Hey, You!”. He always wore the same brown/green robes with the hood pulled over his head. He never showed her what he looked like, said it was very “secret stuff”. He did look quite scary but his demeanor was just the opposite. He was very kind and an excellent listener and was the only one who did not want anything from her. He would sit for hours letting her talk out her problems and frustrations and he even played dolls with her. What a sight that was – small dolls in big hands. He would visit her every day so she never fully felt the loneliness that hovered around her like some evil spirit. Yet, she seemed to think that there was a deeper purpose to his visits. It was almost like he was observing her. What he was watching for she didn’t know but it seemed like he was waiting for something to happen.
She was moved to a more spacious living area. There was a large bedroom and living room. She was allowed to watch some television but only for two hours a day and only programs specifically selected for her. There was also a large kitchen where she ate her meals and she also had a bathroom all to herself. It was all made up to look like a regular house to make her feel more at ease. To her, it just reminded her of the family she had lost.
She was never allowed outside the living area except for the tests. They never seemed to tire of testing her. She could have gotten used to that except for the way that the doctors and nurses treated her. It was like she was covered in big, festering boils that could erupt at any moment and cover them in a slimy ooze. What was worse was the nick name they had given her - “The Freak”. She was not called that to her face, probably because they were so afraid of her, but she did hear them whisper it to one another when they thought she was asleep. This reminded her of a boy in her pre-school class, Tommy Whitman, who everyone picked on. Even Emma participated in some of the ridicule. His nick-name was “Junky” because he was dirty all the time and smelled bad. She didn’t think anything about it at the time but now she felt an ever increasing need to find him and apologize for all of the pain that she had caused him – that is if she ever got out of here.
School, initially, was just as bad as the testing. In fact, with all of the testing going on she had hoped that everyone would have forgotten about sending her to school. She remembered that she had not really liked school before all of this happened. Her hopes were dashed when only two weeks after her awakening a rather stern looking woman with large glasses that covered most of her face had paid her a visit carrying a stack of books that was at least two feet thick. At first she protested as she told them she was never one of the best students but, after a short while she found that she looked forward to the daily tutoring sessions. In fact, she seemed to crave it. She remembered everything that she was taught or what she read on her own. She quickly absorbed everything that the first tutor could teach her and a succession of others marched into and out of her life over the next twelve months. Her tutors called her very intuitive and the word “genius” was used a few times as well. There were other words that were used almost as often such as; eerie and creepy.
After a while she didn’t care anymore. In fact, she took to seizing any opportunity at all to annoy her jailers. She noticed that the most annoying thing she could do was to keep asking the questions that no one, not even Tobok, wanted to answer:
What happened to her on that deserted road?
How did her parents die?
What do they intend to do with her?
Who the heck were the people holding her?
Their faces would redden with anger and they would make all kinds of excuses to leave the room when the questions started to fly. This had also gotten her out of some exceedingly uncomfortable tests.
These small victories made up for many things but what they could not do is ease the foreboding that she always felt when it came time for her to go to bed. Sleep was still something that she did not look forward to. Usually she would stay up well past her appointed bedtime. It wasn’t that she was afraid to sleep as much as she was afraid of the dreams. Well, maybe calling them dreams wasn’t right. Nightmares, that’s what they were, nightmares. There was one in particular that she dreaded and it seemed that she had it every single night. Emma would see the big gray head with the huge black eyes and the beautiful, sparkling ball of light. She would also see her mommy and daddy surrounded by people with glowing eyes. Her daddy would look and start to run at her yelling something. Then a bright blue flash would explode behind him and he would fall down to the ground still looking right at her. Standing behind him was a tall thin man with bright blue glowing eyes and those eyes were also staring right at her. No one came anymore when she screamed and she would always find herself sitting bolt upright in bed covered in a cold sweat.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Emma started to notice some strange things about herself. It was very subtle at first, a feeling that someone was in her room before she ever opened her eyes in the morning to knowing exactly who these people were and exactly where in the room they were standing. She also started having a feeling like she was being watched all of the time, like a tickling in her brain. This too changed to a strong sense of individuals in her mind, individuals who were watching her. If she concentrated on each presence she was able to recognize who that person was. The range of this ability just kept expanding. For example, she would know when someone came to her door and would invite them in by name before they ever knocked. Emma also found spots in her living area where the individuals who were watching her could not see her. She would have fun with this and stay “hidden” until they sent someone in to make sure she was still there. After each one of these stunts, Emma would come back to her room from another testing session and she would notice that it was harder and harder to find a spot where she would not have that sense of being watched but no matter how many times this would happen she would always find some nook or cranny that would allow her to hide from the watchers. That became her other means of amusement at the expense of her captors.
She had to admit, though, it was real hard to put Tobok into the same group as the others. First, he looked so different; tall, stocky, and always with those robes and the hood drawn over his face. Second, he did not really interact with the others. He would bow deeply to them in greeting and sometimes talked with one or another doctor or nurse but their conversations would be very short. Lastly, he was the only one who ever visited her and talked to her like a real person and not some lab animal. She actually found herself looking forward to his daily visits. Sometimes they were short while other times he stayed for hours. She often wondered if he visited because it was his job or did he come here because he wanted to? It didn’t really bother her at first, she was just glad for the company but the more she came to depend on those visits the stronger the urge became to know for sure. She decided to broach the subject with him during his next visit.
As usual, she felt his familiar presence at the door at precisely 4:00pm. That was the other thing about him, he felt different from the others. The others had their differences but they also had this basic element in common. That element was missing in Tobok. Maybe she could get him to explain that too. Nah, that would be pushing it. She had to stay focused otherwise she would not be able to summon the courage required to accomplish her goal.
“Come in, Tobok!”
Tobok opened the door and came sweeping into the room. “Good evening, Emma, and how was your day?” he replied in a cheerful voice.
“Oh, you know, the usual: testing, studying, testing. Oh, and some more testing.” she said with a slight edge to her voice.
“I am sorry to hear that. Was it a particularly hard day?” he asked her with genuine interest.
“Oh, it was just a build up of stuff from the whole week. How was your day?”
Tobok took his usual large, overstuffed chair by the coffee table in the living room. “Well, I ended up having a hard day myself.”
“Oh, really? What happened?” she asked, sensing an opportunity coming up.
“I do not want to bore you with my problems,” he replied as he stretched in the chair. The chair answered him with creaks and groans as it struggled under his weight.
“Well, that is what friends do, listen to each other’s problems, right?”
He stared at her for a moment, like he just noticed something. “What do you really want to ask me, Emma?”
Emma was taken aback. He just never ceased to amaze her! “You can ask me anything, Emma. I will answer what I can and let you know what I cannot, you already know that. So, please, go ahead and ask your question.”
It was not how she had it planned but since he was sitting there waiting she might as well just go for it.
“O.K., why do you keep coming in here? Why would you want to spend any time with “The Freak”? Is it part of your job? Have you been ordered to try and get close to the lab animal?” There she got it out! She then noticed that tears had welled up in her eyes. She didn’t realize that it had gotten that bad already and she was terrified at what she was sure was going to be his answer.
Tobok did not do anything at first. He seemed to be in a trance but she felt that it was different from his usual silence. That silence was a result of him deciding not only what but how to say what he wanted to say. She knew it well because he always did it when she hit him with her barrage of usual questions. This one, though, was deeper, like he really did not know the answer to her questions. It was as if he had never really thought about it before now.
Finally he looked back at her and said in a far away voice, “I am not sure. I had not realized that I have been spending that much time with you. I guess that, at first, I thought that you needed a friend, then I realized that I liked spending time with you. Actually, the reason why I ended up having such a hard day was that my bosses called. It seems that they are very unhappy with me because they think I am spending too much time with you. My orders were to only observe you, no contact.”
This was not what Emma had expected. “Wow, that’s great!” she said, relief washing over her. “Ah, not the part about you getting yelled at, though,” she added quickly. She then realized something, “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” asked Tobok.
“Disobey your orders. Why did you do it?”
“Well, I was never one to completely follow the rules. I was always getting into trouble with people who gave orders and they expected you to follow them without question. Do not get me wrong, it used to be allot worse.”
“What used to be allot worse?” she asked.
“Never you mind,” he shot back cheerfully.
“I hope that you didn’t get into too much trouble on my account.”
“Do not worry about that, I can handle them. Does that answer all of your questions?”
“Well it did but you made me think of another one. You said that your orders are to observe me. What are you looking for?” she asked.
“Well, you were badly injured and have been in a coma for over five years. You then woke up from the coma not showing any of the usual after effects. It was like you woke up from a short nap. Something was done to you and whatever it was, it has changed you. I am here to make sure that none of those changes harm you or anyone else in anyway.”
“How is it going so far?” she asked nervously.
“Quite well, you are a very healthy girl,” he replied cheerfully as he tousled her hair.
“You mean a very healthy freak, don’t you?”
“What happened to you made you different, not a freak. Anyone who calls you that is just expressing their ignorance. Do not take them to heart. You are a very special person. Now I have a question – Is there anything that you want to tell me?”
Emma looked down at the floor, “You know about it don’t you?”
He put his hand under her chin and brought her head up so that she was looking at him again. “Yes, I know. It is a little difficult not to know with all of the hiding games you have been playing with security. I guess that this has been going on for a while since you do not even realize that you are inviting me in before I knock on your door.”
Emma turned beet red, “I wanted to tell you at first but I was afraid to and then I just got used to it.”
“It is alright, but I need you to tell me now if you have noticed anything else that was odd, anything at all.”
“Well, I did cut my hand real bad the last time I hid from the cameras. It scared me but when I looked at it, it just stopped bleeding and the skin knitted up right before my eyes.”
“That is definitely what I would call odd,” Tobok replied gravely, “anything else?”
“Yeah, one more thing, when I look at something for a long time I can get it to catch fire,” she replied as seriously as she could.
“You can do that?” asked an incredulous Tobok.
Emma tried very hard to keep a straight face but it was just too much. She burst out laughing and saw Tobok visibly relax.
“That was not funny,” he told her. She was sure that he was smiling under that hood somewhere.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that you were so serious about it.”
“Make no mistake, this is a serious matter but laughter is a good way to put things back into their proper perspective,” he said as he patted her on the head. “Thank you for that.”
“You know, you’re the only one who would react that way. I think that anyone else would have called security, pumped me full of drugs and strapped me to my bed. Why is that?” she asked genuinely wanting to know.
“Maybe one day I will be able to let you know. For your sake I hope that day will never come.”
“Whoa, that sounded ominous!” she replied with a giggle. Her mood soon changed when he did not answer her giggle with one of his own. What wasn’t he telling her?
“OK then, why don’t we get on to some really important stuff?” she asked quickly in the hopes of lifting the general mood.
Tobok leaned in and asked, “OK and what would that be?”
“Do you want to be Kenny or one of the princesses?” she asked while holding out a boy doll in one hand and a beautifully dressed girl doll in the other hand.
Tobok just sighed heavily.
