229. Chris''s Life


    Juliet


    Concentrating was hard the third time around with everything going on. Louis actually asked for help. I left him on Earth all alone. I went through the list: Sammy was with Ira. Naji was with Marcus. Caleb was with me. Mael and my parents were on their Island… And Chris was on Zoreah, I hoped. Maybe he was why I couldn’t focus. I had this relationship with Chris, but there was no way to make sure he was still alive. Michael was okay but in danger. How could I go into a third timeline and leave them stranded somewhere—everywhere.


    “Mom, it’s ten minutes… Do it and get it over with.”


    “I’m trying.”


    “Maybe when you’re done, Sam and Jessy would’ve sorted out the problem.”


    Caleb was right… Caleb, Chris, Caleb—Chris… The last time I had been this unsettled was the day Caleb and Chris were taken to Zoreah. I was so young and tossed around by life… It was the worst day of my life. Looking back, we couldn’t have done anything to stop it… I let myself go even further back—to school. School? I chuckled. I was actually in high school at one point; I could hardly remember anything that happened so many years ago; it had all faded. Chris and I… In total, our relationship added up to less than two years. It lifted my mood a little. I always wanted to know how it would’ve been if it was only me and him. The two of us. Would we fight about the dishes? Would he get sick of me? A warm smile filled my chest. No, I don’t think so.


    I willed my mind to go to the time before I met Marcus. The only memory I had was of seeing him for the first time; it would be forever ingrained in my heart. He entered the exact same way as the last time. Marcus took his time to get a book, and I sat on the offending chair, waiting. Although all of them have come into my life every time I’ve gone back, it wasn’t the same, and it felt like I’d not seen him for ten years. Michael and I had been so busy traveling… Before I could help myself, I asked, “May I see what you’re reading.”


    The coffee cup stopped halfway to his lips. He thought about it for a second and passed the book to me. I checked the cover and where he was in the book; I made some witty remarks about what I thought the meaning was about. Also, it was totally opposite of his own views, and I smiled when he went into a lecture on how wrong I was. He stopped talking and chuckled, “You’re making fun of me.”


    “Oh, no. I would never dare. You are Marcus Ahmed, and no one should laugh at you.” It was so good to see him, how he was back then, and why I had fallen in love with him.


    “I’m not going to ask how you know who I am, but rather who is your father—how could he allow you to be here—alone.”


    “They say it takes a village to raise kids. As you can see, Joe and Soren’s Father and Soren and my dad think a little different than yours.”


    “Oppressive?”


    “Inbred fascist,” Marcus choked on his sip and had to wipe his mouth, hiding his amusement. “Another thing… If you have time… Look up Liam Farrow when you have a chance… I think you will be really good friends.”


    “Ah, I should’ve guessed.”


    “No, don’t lie. You’ve never met him.”


    “No, but he is as famous as my father.”


    “The brothers, you mean.”


    Marcus cocked an eyebrow, “Liam has a brother?”


    “You don’t know Samuel and Liam are brothers? You’ve never met Samuel, have you… Maybe you should start asking questions… You are here,” I gestured to the bookstore, “For a reason.”


    Marcus broke our eye contact, “I was bred to ask no questions.”


    “I don’t think your mother agrees on that head, but I can see it will take some time for the seed to germinate.”


    I got up and went for the back door, “Juliet, where are you going. You can’t go walking around in the streets unaccompanied. You have to wait for Liam.”


    “Soren. Shut up.” Marcus laughed. I looked back at the sound, and his smile fell, “Good luck, Marcus.”


    I opened the door, “With what?” I didn’t answer him. Thought about going back and kissing him, getting that hit of satisfaction only he could give me… He’d probably kill me.


    I would try to speed this life up a little if it was at all possible. I didn’t want to rush through it, but I couldn’t waste time coddling my parents or caring about things that didn’t matter in the end... Two steps later—I probably should have left a note—how could I let my parents wonder where I was for ten years—cruel. I was so close to the gate, and waiting a week to make my escape was too much. So I kept walking, waited, and left the compound when a car entered.


    I turned and walked backward a few steps, taking in the familiar scene of the compound entrance—the flags—flowers everywhere—green, well-kept grass. I compared it to how it looked in the real world. Much like Louis’s house—destroyed. One thing about Qadir… I paused, thinking again. I should really stop thinking, but I retraced my steps in the opposite direction, went back into the compound, and walked for ten minutes to Qadir’s house… I almost forgot.


    I made my way to his office and hoped I’d not wasted even more time. I had to wait for a servant to open the door and give him any kind of refreshment. She lingered, taking her sweet time making sure every detail was correct... Leave before he goes off to dinner. I checked my watch and looked about the room for something. A pen. Could work… Qadir was busy with some papers, and for a split second, I felt a tinge of regret about what I was about to do. Qadir had been so different in the last two lifetimes—when I wasn’t in his life.


    I appeared in random places in the room, first to get my weapon and then to be in a position where if we needed to fight, we’d have some space. Qadir sat up, intently scanning the room for my flickers, strumming focused fingers on the table.


    “Before I kill you… Will you be so kind as to tell me where Satya is?”


    Qadir’s eyes narrowed with an agitated twitch in his jaw. “You want the stone… You’re on Mirach.”


    I shrugged, “What can you do… Why do you want to go back in time?”


    Qadir quickly looked away. I fixed a puzzled gaze on him. “You’re… in love with Agatha.” Qadir softly clacked his teeth together. I chuckled. My soft laugh increased, “You and Daddy both got stuck on girls.” Qadir’s eyes shot up, and his upper lip pulled, revealing pointy vampiric teeth. “Hey! I get it… Boy, do I get it… Maybe, just maybe, she would’ve loved you if you gave her a bit more time. Six years on Earth in the eighteen hundreds… Coming from En-gannim… After you killed all your brothers… You guys were screwed before you even knew it… How in the world did you fall in love?” Qadir’s expression softened, and he dropped his manifestation, yet reluctant to tell me. “Come on, have you ever told anyone your story?”


    “I broke the cardinal rule… First night… I took off her veil…” He blushed! No, Qadir has a heart? “I… couldn’t sleep with her… Agatha’s eyes… had none of my darkness in them… I didn’t want to… break her.” Qadir pinched the bridge of his nose. “In one moment, she had curbed my lust, changed my wants, my mind…” Qadir looked out the window, “I gave her time… Talked to her. I wanted to know everything about her… And then she got used to me… We were on Earth in the midst of all this… A year later, she—” He smiled, “Initiated our consummation… Another year later, we were pregnant. Neither of us could believe it… Then… Marcus.” Qadir’s features shifted, and his manifestation came back. He stood and walked to the window. “Agatha didn’t like the way I wanted to raise him…” Qadir spun and raised his voice, “The way I was taught to raise a boy! Ahasuerus gave me clear instructions to mold him to take over En-gannim… If Marcus died, I would die the same day… A life for a life… I had Agatha and thought she would listen… One day, I was… training our young tree—she manifested and tried… After I hit her the first time—” He slightly shook his head. “She almost died…”


    I was in tears by this time, swiping away Marcus’s hurt. Agatha’s life.


    “Love is very real… but—” Qadir took a deep breath, “Can die.” His shoulders shook—the corner of his mouth lifted. He was laughing! “Agatha is the strongest, most determined vampire I have ever come across. Patience like you can’t believe. She is everything I’m not!” His hand rested on his heart. I shook my head. He was just like the rest of us. “Must be why I hated you so much… All I see in your eyes is what I saw in hers… So, I won’t tell you… I’m dead already if you made it off Earth… Who are you?”


    I laughed lightly, smiling brightly, “Liam’s daughter.” Qadir laughed out loud. It was beautiful. He was beautiful… “Will you give me a hint?”


    He laughed again, “No! No one should have that much power… It’s why only one female riphath knows where the stone is.” My shoulders dropped; how would I find out where Satya was? Twenty years ago, who would—Bertram! It was worth a try. “You figured out how to find out… Shall we begin? If I kill you, you won’t make it back.”


    Thirty seconds later, Qadir’s head hit the desk, his eyes wide open, and he slid off the edge to the floor. “I’m sorry, I have too much waiting for me.”


    I figured if I was going to test outcomes, I might as well try one where Qadir was out of the equation from the start. Ahasuerus couldn’t get past his bones to kill his last son—maybe that was where the problem lay. I looked up at the moon, my only company so late in the dark. There was a breeze for a change in the desert. The cool night air was a balm to my tattered nerves. Everyone had a story. Qadir was a person for a second. What will have to happen to make me lose myself? To go to a dark place and never come back.


    I slowly pushed open the door to the garage. Nevin was sitting on a chair, his head hanging low on his chest, sleeping. I took a good look at the man. He did look a lot like Jessy in a way—well, in seven hundred years. I appeared right in front of him. His fist snapped out, and he tried to move. I had taken hold of the gesture mid-air and was pushing him back in his seat. “I’m Samuel Furrow’s niece. Liam’s daughter.” He relaxed the pushback on my hand and let go entirely. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come back far enough to save Willa… I can help Jessy, who holds a special place in my heart… I killed Qadir.”


    Nevin jumped up and danced a jig right there in the dust.


    I laughed, “Marcus will need all the help he can get. There is no one else besides you and Kubra who can go,” I pointed up towards the sky, “Relay the message.”


    “I guess if you went back in time, it’s true… There is a stone that can do it.”


    “Yes, but it’s not the one around the master’s neck… You don’t maybe know what that one does?”


    “Me? No child… Everything we heard was either coerced out of someone or a theory to be tested.”


    “I see… My uncle has his ways—trial and error.”


    “Seems like you are adopting the thought.”


    I chuckled, “You can say that. May I steal a car from you?”


    “It will be my pleasure,” he gladly bowed and handed me the keys. I got in a car and drove southeast towards Chris. I don’t know how long he and Sita dated before they got married. I only hoped I would be able to kill her, too.


    When I stopped outside the house, unfamiliar people were playing in the yard. “Chris is not living here yet.” It was late again the next day, and instead of waiting inside the house like I wanted to, I went to the school. Nevin was kind enough to give me money and a cushion to sit on so I could drive. People stared at me a lot, but I still had my veil on, and no one did call the police.


    I made a few turns around the school to check if his car was parked. It was there. He had it for so long and I realized I had never asked him what it was with him and that specific vehicle. I stopped in the parking lot and opened the door, waiting. No one had noticed the unfamiliar addition till the end of the day, and with the door open and it being a car no one knew, the police and bomb squad were called. Chris had opened his door while trying to see what the fuss was about, giving me a minute to jump in and wait. He got bored and left.


    Alone yet together, I stared out the window. When I think about how domineering Louis was the first night we met; I can be glad he didn’t take me back to the compound himself. Absentmindedly, I placed my hand on Chris’s leg, rubbing my thumb up and down. He yelped in surprise. I took my hand away. His gaze darted here and there, swearing some filthy words. His fingers opened and closed around the steering wheel. Yeah, I was going to take it further. I reached out and picked his fingers up one by one. By the third, he pulled his hand away from the steering wheel and pressed it against his chest. I wriggled my hand in under his and interlaced our fingers. I yanked and placed our mingled hold on my leg where it belonged. Chris was staring, highly focused on the passenger seat. The car was drifting slowly into oncoming traffic. With my other hand, I pushed his face toward the street. He yanked on the wheel and swerved. Some people don’t know how to drive. Chris stared straight in front of him for the rest of the drive, resigned to the craziness.


    After he parked his car, I let go. He flexed his hand and wiped it on his clothes. “I feel offended.” Hurriedly, he got out, slammed his door, and turned his back. I opened my own door from the inside. Chris heard the noise and turned around. I was invisible again. I think he didn’t move for five minutes, deciding what to do.


    He snapped out of it and scanned the streets and the apartments surrounding us. There was no one home at that time of the day. What did it matter anyway?


    Chris locked the car and headed for his front door. His hand shook as he pushed the key into the lock. He hesitated, slightly opened the door, and squeezed through the least amount of space he would need to get in without allowing the demons entry. He was freaking out! I hunkered down and knocked. Nothing. I kept at it until the door flung open. Mistake!


    My pranking continued over the next few days while I squatted in his house to get all my ducks in a row. While he was at work, I had a lot of extra days to chill. They were suddenly heaven-sent to figure out how to make this life yield optimal return on my investment and still make it all about us. Would Michael come for me? What chaos must there be between Earth, En-gannim, and all the men involved? I liked that I was still able to create some drama. One thing I needed was a plate; Warden would have one and be close in a van somewhere... Did I want to see Warden? He didn’t know who I was. Why had he not come to drug me? “Michael, I don’t know what you’re doing!? You suck at your job.”


    Chris walked into the house every afternoon, freaked out about the loud TV, his kitchen in a mess, and the bed he so carefully made in disarray. At night, I didn’t even bother and made myself comfortable next to him. The first night I spooned him in his sleep, the neighbors came to ask him why he was screaming at two in the morning. After the third day, he gave up his lease, too embarrassed to call the police. I laughed for the rest of the night.


    By then, I had found Warden, stolen a vial and a plate, and was busy programming in coordinates to The Tower. Before I could kidnap my husband, I needed to do one thing first.


    When Chris left for work, I traveled and came out where I wanted to be and made my way up to Ahasuerus’s office. Jabin was there, and I was the topic of discussion; I felt important; I had made it up the food chain. Footage of me killing Qadir was playing in the air. “Oh, shoot. He already knows…” On another rendering, my father’s deplorable upbringing was continuing. They were looking for me; Samuel, Michael, and my parents were being questioned on the farm by Raas. It was a big mess, but really, what else was I supposed to do. I could juggle only so many threads. Ahasuerus was deciding if he should bring Marcus back or leave him there. He was in charge of the compound all of a sudden and wholly out of his depth. Marcus didn’t even know about En-gannim yet.


    Jabin stopped the tubes, got orders, and left the office. I stood next to the old man—appeared and grabbed the chain around his neck. His hand clasped lightning-fast around my wrist. I had gotten it done, and it was in my grasp. He wanted to make a move, so I disappeared. “You have no idea what you just did.”


    On the other side of the room, I took off my veil and chucked it on the floor, “Why do you think I’m here. What does it do?” His dark eyes blinked a few times; the spirals grew and shrank as he sat down. He wanted to say something— “Let’s not waste each other’s time. I know it’s not a waterstone? I tested in fertile soil.” He dropped his manifestation, walked over to the couches, and sat there, thinking. “Is it an ability stone?” Again nothing. “What could be so important that you would give ours away to Brylee and keep this one.” I held it up in my fingers, examining it. I had looked at it so many times but couldn’t figure it out.


    “It’s neither.”


    Intrigued, I stepped closer and sat opposite him, “You know I’m in a room on Mirach, so just tell me...”


    His eyes came up and met mine, “I thought maybe a swatch.”


    “I’m not that stupid…”


    “Too permanent?”


    “It will be, but first, I want to try and save the destruction of everything. I stuffed up, and you died, and this was the only way I could talk to you again… You never do get to bottle it, you know.”


    “I would have if I didn’t die. Seems Hessien was the wrong choice.”


    “Avrio was even worse. He died in one day. Hessien at least made it to Zoreah.”


    “Then who?”


    “A little boy on Earth. Who fell in love with the wrong girl and couldn’t send her away to a tower and lock her up.”


    “Aaa, you know about Jacklin… So she does benefit me in the end.”


    “Benefit?! She slept with your nephew.” His manifestation was rapid, “I thought you were impenetrable. Learning that you fell in love with a woman was actually a disappointment.”


    “Weaknesses should be mastered… I was never in love with her, like Earth calls it. We never even spoke to each other… It was not love but… a lust I could not control… In my old age… our creature side gets stronger the older we get…”Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    “I wish you would tell me how Marcus and I get over our jealousy because it seems impossible… If you say, it will only get worse… I don’t know.”


    “It only means what you’re fighting for is not important enough… It is why I sent Jacklin away… She was interfering with my—”


    “Concentration,” he chuckled, “I don’t have anything to fight for.”


    “Then you’ve answered your own questions.”


    “I should not master it at all but accept it… or send it to another planet? It caused everything.”


    “That is why I am where I am, and you are where you are.”


    “No, you’re dead, remember.”


    He dropped his manifestation again, and his head hung in defeat, “Why did you kill Qadir?”


    “He’s mean to Marcus, and this time, I won’t be there for him. It’s time you bring him back. Once you do, all your plans fall into place.”


    “I see.”


    “I am taking Chris back to Zoreah and will see you there, I suppose.”


    “Juliet!” I turned before I stepped through the door. He held out his hand.


    I walked over and placed it down, “You not going to tell me?”


    “It separates the creatures… separates the species… When we won the war against Iku and his army at a significant cost… The rest of us decided to divide the planets. The four planets.


    We were so powerful back then; it was easy to travel, and we literally drew four squares in the sand on Mirach, and each one chose where he wanted to go. After that, the stone was used to take away whatever you didn’t want to be.


    “And later, the vamps got greedy because they couldn’t teleport anymore.”


    “Yes. And no. We were advancing and growing… It was for the—”


    “Future!” I scoffed, “Can the stone give it back?” he shook his head, “Oh, I see… But then, why is it so important?” He didn’t answer me, giving me a minute. “Oh, it can take away even more until there is nothing left… Earth… Why would any of the ittoqure choose to be human?”


    Ahasuerus pointedly met my eye, waiting… “Some didn’t agree… You lied and said Earth would be for those who wanted to stay ittoqure, and then… you used the stone to punish them.”


    A proud smile formed on his lips, “Yes, so you see, anyone can win a war like that. If you take away the creature, what is left?”


    “Useless humans… How do you activate it?” He was quiet again, waiting for me to figure it out. “Ooohhhh, water. It’s how you confused them in the first place. You altered the history books to make it so no one would know… Guess you have to ingest it… Also, why no one could figure it out.” I sighed heavily—then stood suddenly. “The branding brings it full circle. So if Chris had done it to me... We would be both… I would’ve been a riphath and vampire… Argh, Ira!”


    “What I can guess is that Ira didn’t want Chris to be half-vampire.”


    “Makes sense the man is all for peace.”


    Ahasuerus actually shuddered. I laughed. He laughed as well and looked up, “Have you figured out what will save us all?”


    “No. My lust for getting what I want outweighs all the outcomes. I don’t even know why I’m still trying. Our problems don’t stop.”


    “Well, it must be horrible if you want to fix it.”


    “It is… You’re right… I have to remember I have a lot to fight for…”


    “Time will do that; distort and take away just as much as it can give and heal.”


    “Balance.”


    He nodded, “How will you get Chris home.”


    “I’m going to drug him and carry him.”


    “Good luck. I hope I’ll see you again.”


    “Ahasuerus… Take care of him. Marcus… is not like us… He has much more of Agahta’s blood in him than his fathers or yours… If you force him into your ideas… he will do it… but he will slowly die inside, never be motivated, and the next generations will be nothing,” the man considered it and nodded. At the door, I stopped, “Hey, do you know how En-gannim might suffer a blackout?”


    Ahasuerus hurriedly stood, “I must have been deranged with anger.”


    “What did you do?”


    “I haven’t done it yet, and now I can’t tell you when I gave it to her.”


    “If you say Jacklin— I can’t get the image of her and Louis sleeping together out of my mind. It’s been twenty years.”


    “Yes, Jacklin. There is a device that renders the powers forcefully taken obsolete.”


    “Why would you give to her if you knew about her and Louis?”


    “I obviously didn’t… Your uncle seems to be running a tight ship down there.”


    “If I ever see her, she will end up in pieces.”


    He turned and walked to his table, “I’m not there, so does it really matter. You’ll be doing me a favor, it seems. If I was so senile as to give it all up because of one little girl.”


    “Qadir branded Agatha; it didn’t work…” Ahasuerus put both hands on the table, taking a second to digest the news. “You have your harem and yet you still don’t get it.”


    “Well, if you do decide to make it permanent. Come for tea and tell me so we don’t waste another life.”


    “I won’t have to… I’ll just take you to a room.”


    He flicked four fingers at me, laughing.


    ***


    Chris


    Am I losing my mind? I was losing my mind. It had to happen sooner or later; someone who could check out as much as me had to lose touch with reality at some point. I was too scared to go home. I still had so many days left on my lease. The thing was, my ghost was not malevolent. It was untidy… a downright slob—mischievous. Seemed more like a child than an adult or a white-gowned woman—carrying her head in one arm. I hesitated to reach out and pull the handle down on the front door. It had been the most harrowing week since the car when I felt like someone was literally touching me. At night, someone draped themselves over me—with legs and arms… Slowly, I pushed open the door, listening and waiting. No strange noises yet… “Hmmm.” What would they have in store for me today?


    “Chris.” I took an involuntary step back, closed the door, and wanted to leave, get in my car, and never come back... I was already off the deep end and not in the process of going insane—already admittable. I was hearing voices. The door opened behind me, and I stopped walking. If it was a ghost, would they be able to open a door? Well, it could turn off the water while I took a shower. So yes. The door didn’t close again. I quickly turned and paused. It was the merest child. She’s not even in high school. “You?” She laughed and called me in with four fingers together. I could take her if it came down to a fight. Cautiously, I stepped forward and promised myself I was not going to ask inane questions. I would wait... I closed the door behind me and hesitantly turned into the living room. She was on one of the couches, waiting. “I’m not a ghost… My name is Juliet… I am your wife from the future. Here to save you… in a way… Well, us…”


    “That’s not funny.”


    “No, it is… From my point of view, anyway… I guess you must be freaking out. Unfortunately, with you—blurting things out—seems to be the only way I can talk to you.”


    “Blurt away.”


    I made her laugh, “Funny…” She held out her hand; in her palm lay a little black tube-like thing. I dared to walk further into the room and sat down next to her. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?”


    “No.”


    “What is that?”


    “Drugs… Have you ever felt you don’t belong?”


    “Everyday… Is that my little red pill?”


    “Yes… It’s your choice.”


    I picked it up, and she showed me how to use it, “All I do is stab myself in the neck?”


    “Yes, and believe me, it’s worth every cent.” I lifted my hand. She halted me, “No one you want to say goodbye to.”


    I shook my head, “I have no one.”


    She let her fingers slide off my arm, and I stabbed myself, “I’m trusting you. I don’t know why.”


    Juliet blurred a little. I folded in two, and she caught me in her arms. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” I didn’t know why, but I believed her.


    The next time I opened my eyes, I was not in my apartment. I slowly sat up, giving myself time to adjust to… what was it? A hut? A house? The entrance only had a curtain for a door. The window was an open hole in the wall. The bed was comfortable. I rubbed a hand over a heavy pelt draped over me. It was so quiet. All you could hear was a gentle gush of wind every now and then. Juliet’s voice in a whisper came through the window, “He will. I promise. Just put it in the room and let nature take its course.”


    “I don’t trust you,” a man said.


    “Yes, I know you don’t, but it’s not about me or you.”


    “Fine.”


    “Toss it in the window, and let’s see some sport,” another voice said.


    “How childish.”


    “Oh please, like Silvanus wouldn’t like to have some fun.”


    “I would, Ira. Let’s do it.”


    I tilted my head in anticipation. My heart was racing. “He’s awake. One Two…” I jumped out of the covers and off the bed. What came through the window was so unexpected and foreign—I couldn’t move—I froze—sad to say, but I did. If it was going to eat me, I was going to die.


    “I thought you wouldn’t kill me.”


    “Just give it one—” she couldn’t finish her sentence. I was biting into the thing and didn’t care that it was still alive. Its tentacles were slithering around my face, frantically grabbing my neck and squeezing. I buried my mouth deeper into its flesh and sucked and ripped out chunks swallowing too large pieces in succession. The tastes and blood satisfied every craving I had ever had, filled my senses, and pushed me over a line I never thought I would cross. It smelled so good. I felt free as I licked the slimy residue off its skin and quenched my thirst, draining every last drop. My new hands and nails were strange, yet my changes didn’t compute; I was too engrossed in my meal. After the satisfaction kicked in, I dropped down to the ground, drifting my gaze over to the window. Three pairs of eyes were smiling down at me; I joined them, licking off my furry fingers.


    Abruptly, I turned around. Where? I was not in the hut anymore. Creatures were walking past me—talking. How can they be talking? I fell back and stopped my fall with outstretched arms behind me. My eyes jumped around to the scenery… Some were trading one thing for another. Others were washing clothes at a river, and human kids playing in the water. I shook my head. Maybe what I ate had some acid in it. A moment later, I was in the water, washing off the blood on my hands.


    “He’s over here.” I turned around to see the biggest things of them all. He towered over me at the edge of the water. In a split second, he turned into a human. I gaped. Another one of them landed with Juliet in his arms—out of thin air. She could disappear, stalk me invisibly… What are they? He put her down and smiled at me, “Chris.”


    “Yes.”


    “I am your father.”


    Juliet hit Silvanus with a flat hand in the stomach, “What did I tell you.”


    “Yes, it was very entertaining. Thank you for bringing him back.”


    “We should put a leash on him. He has his grandfather’s gift,” Juliet commented. “Don’t want him to end up somewhere out there,” she gestured to the place. Me? Do what? The other thing also became human and stared at Juliet. My gift must be special. I took in his features and had to blink. It was not a lie. He was my father.


    I walked out of the water and towered over the three of them. Couldn’t understand how someone so small could turn into something so big. Then I figured I had turned into something so big because I was very far off the ground. I touched my face and looked at my paws and my feet. Saw I had a tail and tried to get a look at it. I ended up circling myself and had to stop realizing I was acting like a dog. Juliet was laughing. “Am I going to stay like this?”


    “You could, or your Father can take it away for a little bit.”


    “No… I think I want to be here for this.”


    “Yes! Don’t check out again… And don’t worry. You can learn to control it and use it and do whatever you want.”


    I smiled at her. She was so small. And young. “How did I get here?”


    “I carried you.”


    “You! Bah! I would like to see that.”


    She obliged and came over. I took a step back. A natural impulse to flee. She laughed again. Silvanus also laughed. Juliet cautiously lifted two hands and approached me. I let her. She put one arm under my hairy legs and one behind my back. With supernatural strength, she lifted my feet out from under me. I looked down at the ground. I didn’t fit, so I rolled out of her arms. “Not my fault. You’re too big... I did get you. So don’t mess with me.”


    I shook my head, “I won’t,” Juliet turned around and ran, “Where are you going.” She ran even faster. For some apparent reason, I could follow her and ended up next to her. She kept going, and I moved again and was next to her.


    “Pretty cool? Right!”


    “Yes,” I said, landing next to her again. Ira and Silvanus were watching from down the road, and so were all the other things in the street. Well, road. Sandy dirt road. Juliet didn’t stop running and went into a house. I followed and rounded the corner. She was not human anymore and was finishing what I had started. “Is there anything left? Could I get you one?”


    Juliet looked up. My eyes widened, and I took another step back. She was not what I was. Demonic. Blood-covered teeth. Her hairline was so far back; her skin taught and ash. Will she crumble? “No. They are scarce. It took us three days to… uhmm… negotiate for this one… I am a vampire.”


    “Oh,” I sat, and my weird paws turned to regular hands. “You kinda look like one if they were real.”


    “No, this,” she gestured to her face, “is genetically modified. Maybe I should’ve said, ‘I was a vampire.’”


    Silvanus and Ira were in the room in a flash. Something I would have to get used to. Teleportation was suddenly a thing. “Are you really my wife?”


    Juliet stopped eating and wiped her mouth on a sleeve. For the first time, I noticed her clothes. A long-sleeved polo shirt with another short-sleeved floral one over it. It wasn’t very flattering. The two shirts were tucked into a long black skirt that hung in layers. Juliet looked up at Ira. “It depends on your father… Whether he’s willing to let me stay? Or, maybe you could send us to the Origin City.”


    “So he doesn’t know you? You’re not some child bride promised to me in some weird cultural setting,” I gestured to her clothes.


    “Good guess, but no. I really am from the future, and it’s bleak, and I’m trying to save us all.” Ira and Silvanus wanted to say something, so she cut them off, “He hates being treated like a child. Trust me; only the truth will satisfy him. And if you let him make his own decisions… Or we can try it your way again, Ira.” The man pouted unhappily but nodded. I was smiling down at her, “I do become prettier if that’s the problem.” She looked down at her chest. “Although I never fill out in the way I hoped… You do enjoy it when I’m pregnant, though.”


    “No!” Ira exclaimed.


    Juliet looked at me, shook her head, and twirled a finger next to her head.


    “So, how old are you?”


    “I am… well, let’s see. You slept with me when I was seventeen.” I stood up to say I would never. She laughed and said she was eighteen. It didn’t make me feel better. “Then we had two kids… I am twenty-four… then ten years each— that’s forty-four, and when you’ll be able to get over the line, I would be forty-nine… Yeah.”


    “I’m only twenty-four.”


    “I know,” she flashed her eyebrows at me. “In the real world, you’re forty-seven-ish.”


    “How old are you guys?”


    “Well… I am three thousand… Silvanus is five hundred and something.”


    “Three thousand years old?” Ira nodded.


    “I will live for?”


    “Five thousand. If you go to the city with her. You guys will never die.”


    I fell back on the bed, “I could do with a drink.”


    “Not allowed to get drunk here,” Juliet said with a note of sadness. “Or smoke.”


    “Seems like you’re sacrificing a lot for me.”


    “I always have… That will never change. You make it up to me in the end.”


    “How?”


    “Well, you swatched me.”


    “Swatched you? I’m not even going to ask.”


    “No. Don’t. This isn’t real, anyway… Only a dream…”


    “I wish it was real,” I said, staring at the roof.


    “You could go to Earth for one more year, and when you come back, I’ll be nineteen… We could speed this along in a weird way… Five here is one on Earth.” I sat up, taking her very seriously. “You just can’t fall in love with anyone… And have to stay celibate. Or else I’ll cut off,” she gestured to my crotch. I cupped myself, and they laughed. “Is that what you want to do.”


    “You’ll wait five years for me.”


    “In a heartbeat,” she smiled and bit her bottom lip.


    “What will I do?”


    “Oh, you’ll have to study and train. It will go by in a flash. I will give you three names and a plate, and yeah, after that, you’ll want to come home. Zoreah is the best of all the planets, after all. And if Marcus takes over, it will be the safest place anyway… “I will use this time to find the real water and life stone and give Zoreah back what the vamps stole.”


    Ira was animated and came over to me, “You have to go, Chris. Come do it for your people.”


    “My people?”


    “Oh, you are the next king here.”


    “King?”


    “Yes, like in ruler,” she pointed at Ira, “Protections,” Juliet pointed at Silvanus, “And generals,” she pointed at me, “I’ll send him with you if you’re scared.”


    “Scared? Hmmpf.”


    She laughed. “No, Silvanus will enjoy the fighting and grilling you through your training. Earth will help… The big guy likes going to foreign places.”


    I realized I was not on Earth, so I stood up and walked outside. It wasn’t much, but there were so many people and things. A woman walked past me; I jolted when I took a good look at her. “Stunning.” Juliet hit me behind the head. I blushed and looked guiltily down at her. “It’s okay. All they want to do is sleep with you anyway.” I groaned. “I’ll make up for that too… I know you’re still—”


    I placed my hand over her mouth. “Leave me some dignity, would you.”


    “Nothing to be ashamed of. There is a planet out there with a king on who is a five-hundred-year-old virgin waiting for one of my friends… ” she sighed heavily, “Your father, on the other hand, is a whore.” Juliet turned to Silvanus. “You want to have some more fun?”


    “Juliet!” Ira’s voice resounded.


    “It’s not real Ira… When the time comes, I’ll make better decisions.”


    “What did you mean ten years, ten years?”


    “In the real world, you share me with three other men.”


    “What?! And gave up that,” I pointed to another absolutely gorgeous woman whose gaze seductively drifted up and down my body in the most sultry way.


    Juliet hit me again. I giggled. My life was strange. A forty-something wife in the body of a thirteen-year-old. A jealous one. I smiled. “Your father even had to drug you to try and make you sleep with one.”


    I spun around to the man, “How can I trust you?”


    Ira laughed, “I must have been desperate.”


    “He was. And don’t blame him; our lives were like that. Is like that… We all had parents who were too old and not all there,” Juliet put two fingers against her skull and blew her brains out. “If you know what I mean.”


    “Well, it gets really boring after the first two hundred years.”