Nemesis: Book Four (14 page)

"Sir, I've got great news," he said. "We've got the creature on the run. I need more troops. As many as you can spare."

M
ichael sat
in front of them, yet Bryan knew it wasn't Michael. Hell, everyone had to know it wasn't Michael. Nobody had red eyes. And it wasn't just the pupils, but Michael's eyeballs had turned a bright red, like Bryan imagined the inside of a star looked like.

Michael stayed still, not say anything to any of them. He had walked into the room willingly, not being cajoled or forced, and Wren hustled to get all five in this room. They stood circled around Michael as he sat in a chair, staring straight ahead. His breathing was shallow and he didn't blink. He could have been in a catatonic state for all Bryan knew. He certainly looked like it,.

"Michael," Wren said again, for maybe the fifth time since he got them all in. Michael didn't answer, nor whatever was controlling him. And then, after a few seconds, "He's bigger. It's not just me, is it?"

"No," Glenn said, speaking from Bryan's left side. "It's not just you. He's… growing." The last word was a whisper.

A dull apathy had taken over since Bryan returned from the Ether. A single wish really dominating his mind, a wish to go back and get Thera—that and perhaps a desire to see the friend that now sat in front of him. Yet this thing wasn't his friend. Maybe Michael was inside somewhere, as Bryan had been with Morena, but he certainly wasn't staring at Wren's chest right now.

The apathy centered around the broken pieces inside him. The glass that cut near constantly, cutting so many times that he had no choice but to ignore it, to ignore everything. And yet, here, with this faux Michael right in front of him, he felt…

One of those jagged pieces sliced deep into him, opening a wound that bled fresh, sending bright, searing pain across the whole of his being.

Thera was dead.

And this thing right here? This meant Michael was in danger.

Bryan hadn't helped Thera; he watched as she took steps forward, intent on trying to save them all, and then watched as her neck snapped like a chicken's.

"Whatever she is, Morena, this is something similar," he said, not breaking eye contact with the red-eyed being.

"What do you mean?" Wren asked.

"He's like me now. He's locked inside. He's hearing us, listening, seeing everything around him, but he has no control. Whatever he found on the other side, it's come back with him. It's taken over."

"This isn't some horror movie," his mother whispered.

"No," Bryan said. "This is real. I don't know how it happened over there, and clearly what happened to me was somewhat different than what is happening to him, but the important parts are the same."

"What are you saying?" Wren said.

Bryan could feel Wren's eyes staring at him, could feel the fear baking off the man.

"We have to find a way to… " To what? What the hell had Thera and he done when they were trapped? They waited until Morena left, but that wouldn’t work here. "To get it to leave."

"Hold on," Rita said. "You're saying that this thing in front of us is like the thing that took you?"

"Yes."

"We're not going to do anything about getting it to leave," Rita said. "
We're
going to leave, right now. Thera's dead, and you nearly were too. Wren, I'm sorry, but I'm not putting us at risk any longer. I understand if you can't go, but we have to."

Bryan still didn't look away from Michael.

"What?" Julie said. "We're just going to leave them here?"

"Julie, I love you, honey. But yes. We're leaving. You can stay if you want to, but I don't think you should. You need to come with us. We're too close to this, all of us. Glenn, let's start packing."

"I'm not going anywhere," Bryan said. He felt his father's hand touch his shoulder.

"Bryan, there's nothing we can do. You see that, right? Wren, you see it?"

Bryan looked to Wren, who stood with wide eyes, staring at the whole group.

"You're going to die if you stay here with it," Glenn said. "Because whenever it wakes up from whatever dream it's in right now, it's going to kill you. It's going to kill all of us standing here."

“Bryan, honey, listen to what you're saying," Rita said. "There's nothing for us here."

And that was it, when all the cards lay face up for everyone to see. His mother and everything she wanted, everything she needed, was safe—so take your winnings and fucking leave. Thera, Michael, Michael's dad, all of them were in the past, a life that no longer mattered.

Wren said nothing, but Bryan saw the same feelings in his eyes. That rough glass slicing vulnerable flesh, twisting, rending, and tearing.

Bryan didn't know if Wren had felt, like him, apathetic before this, but he saw that Wren wasn't leaving. Shock may have been draped across his face, shock at what these people were saying to him, but his eyes—wide or not—said they could all jump off the balcony outside. He was staying here with his son.

"Dad?" Bryan said.

"Yeah?"

"I want you and mom to go. I want you to leave. Julie, you can stay if you want, or you can go. But I want you two to go." He didn't look at either of them, didn't look away from Wren, who met his eyes now.

"Leave?"

"Yes."

"We're not leaving you," Rita said, her voice raising to a level nearing hysteria. "We're not going anywhere without you."

"Then you're going to stop saying all the shit you've been saying. You're going to stop telling Wren what needs to happen. You're going to quit trying to save me. You're going to help us bring Michael back." He turned to his mother. "You understand? I'm not leaving him here like this. I'm going to get him back, or I'm going to die trying. If you don't want to help, or if you're afraid of dying, then go."

His mother opened her mouth to say something, but not a word escaped—only tears, welling in her eyes, before a single tear slid down her cheek and rolled past her lips.

Bryan turned to his father. "You too, Dad."

He didn't wait for any responses and didn't look to Julie. He turned back to Wren, a drunk, but the only one standing here with a single bit of steel in his body. "I don't know what to do, but we're going to try something, okay?"

"Okay," Wren said, tears in his eyes too.

B
riten listened
to the conversation around him. He took in the words and played them rapidly through the mind he now possessed. He was trying to gain an understanding of the social dynamics surrounding him, and slowly understanding that Morena probably did nearly the same thing when she arrived. The human's brain revealed that the 'Bryan' had been inhabited at one point too, by Morena.

This world had a lot to understand, both internally and externally. The group around him was arguing, and Briten now believed Morena was on this planet, somewhere, trying to do what they originally planned. Trying to reproduce her species.

And yet, inside him, or inside the two of them, at least as much was going on. Briten controlled the motor skills of the body, but he couldn’t take the same control as Morena over the inner workings of the thing's mind. He, Michael, roamed freely amongst Briten's memories just as Briten did his.

Briten hadn't reached out to him yet, hadn't spoken. He didn't know if the human knew Briten was watching, but if so, he said nothing either.

He couldn't simply eradicate this creature because the neural connections allowing Briten—what was left of him—to survive, would die.

He had so many things to consider, a major one being how he planned on living the rest of his life in this frail body. He didn't want to think about it, though, not right now. He wanted Morena, and yet he felt he needed to understand the creature he inhabited first. Something was different about this one than the others standing around Briten. Something allowed Briten to call him into the Ether. Something, even now, allowed the boy free range in their consciousness.

What are you?
The human asked.

Briten's eyes didn't blink; he gave no indication that anything inside had changed at all, yet the question was there in the open.

The human knew Briten was watching.

And perhaps had been watching him in return.

You're an alien. I know that. But everything else, I'm only able to grasp some of it from inside here,
Michael said.

Alien… Briten smiled internally at the word. He was the stranger here. Not these creatures surrounding him, or the weak body he took control over. He was the outsider.

You're after her, aren't you? Morena? That's her name?

The human wasn't scared, that was clear to Briten. He had been scared before, when he saw the truth of Briten, but with that passed, the boy was genuinely curious.

And he knew Morena's name, knew what Briten wanted. So even if he said he didn't fully understand the things he found in Briten's mind, he understood some. Enough.

Where is she?
Briten said.

Why do you want her?

Briten focused more intensely inside himself. Had anyone outside of The Council ever refused him an answer. What was this creature?

His eyes remained open, staring straight ahead, the red not fading at all, but Briten no longer saw anything outside of his shared head.

He was in the boy's mind, the boy's world.

What is this?
he asked. Briten had never seen a place like this, and he knew it didn't exist, not in the same way that the people surrounding him in the hotel room did, but it was here—the boy had populated this place with it while Briten maneuvered the world outside.

A library,
Michael said.

The walls of the room were massive, stretching up and down for miles. Lining the walls were…

What are those?

They're books
, Michael said.

The human stood in front of one of the walls, looking up to the very top, just below the ceiling line. Briten followed his eyes, but realized the ceiling wasn't any different than the walls. Both were full of those books.

Normally, they couldn't sit like that up there, but I don't think all the rules apply here,
Michael said.
This is your mind.

Briten turned around, marveling at what he saw.

Each one of those are different?

Normally,
Michael said,
though, I just arrived here so I don't know. I started over there.
The boy pointed to the left, down near the floor.
I grabbed one of those and started reading, but… there's an organization here that I don't understand.

Briten kept turning, seeing the infinite number of books around him.

Can you see yourself?

What?

You can see me
, Michael said.
But can you see yourself?

Briten looked down, but didn't see his body. Instead he saw the red of fire, the red of his aura, and nothing else.

That's what I see too,
the human said.
Is that all you see?

Briten remained quiet, studying the piece of his aura within his vision.

The human felt more comfortable because he had spent time in here, allowing his mind to create this place, though Briten’s memories helped fill it. It didn't matter to Briten what part of his aura he could see. This boy was going to start reading these books, going through them one by one, learning everything he could about Briten, and perhaps Morena. Briten didn't have the time, didn't have the inclination to stand here and talk, to go grab a book and see what happened.

Where is she?
Briten said. That's all he cared about right now, finding Morena. She was in trouble, or could be; this human's mind showed that others were after her. Briten needed to get to her, needed to help, even if he only had this body to help with.

The boy pulled a book from the wall.
She's back in my home town. I think.
Michael turned to look at him with the book in his hand.
Either she's in trouble, or we are—my people. I'm not sure which, right now.

Michael took the book and walked across the hardwood floor, sitting down in a plush, oversized couch. This boy was more nonchalant than Briten could imagine being. His wife was in danger, he in a body that barely functioned, and sharing a mind with someone who looked to be nearly a child.

Does none of this matter to you?
he asked the boy. He could have gone back to reality, could have started searching for Morena right now, but Briten remembered parts of when this boy first came to him. He remembered seeing him, seeing all of him, and deciding whether he should die or try to live through this creature. He had chosen to live, and now… depth lived in this kid.

It does,
Michael said, looking up from the cover of the book.
I think I'm finally beginning to see that. It feels like, I don't know, for a long time I lost focus on what was important. It feels like I saw everything the way some zonked out geriatric in an old person's home might see it. But since you came… I think I'm starting to see what matters.

Briten didn't know what Michael was talking about. He could sift through the kid's memories, but there wasn't time to understand it all. He would have to share this home, he supposed—this room of 'books'. Fine, then.

I'll go to her and we can figure this out together, Morena and I,
Briten thought.

M
orena was lucky
.

No other word in any language across the universe could describe how she made it back to the ships with Veral in tow. Luck.

She carried him the whole way, out there in the open for anyone with eyes to see. She tried to hide, of course, but there was only so much hiding one could do carrying another creature through open streets.

No one saw her, or if they did, no one interrupted her mission.

She walked down the tunnel now, Veral still slung over her shoulder, his own aura trying its best to hide from the green swarming around it. He was unconscious because Morena needed him silent and still to get back to this place. She didn't want him unconscious when they all met their fates, though. She wanted him wide awake for that.

She entered the cavern, the machines still doing their work, not stopping because they had a deadline to hit—one imposed by the leader now carrying a knocked out Bynum across the room. The machines moved around her easily, carrying equipment. She paid none of them any mind but went to the open ship. The empty one.

She dropped Veral into it; he landed hard, his body contorting as his face snapped against the metal of the ship. Morena's aura still wrapped around him, and she tightened it, feeding him the energy needed to wake up.

His eyes popped wide open and Morena pulled back her aura.

"We're here," she said.

He turned on his back, trying to scurry away from her, but hitting the side of the ship, stopping his movement.

"There's nowhere to go, Veral. Nowhere but one place." She looked up, though only the ceiling looked back down. "We're going out there, further than any Bynum ever. No coordinates, though, because you didn't give us time to find them."

Tears streamed down his face.

"No, Var. No. No, no, no."

"Stop," Morena said, and her aura sliced down to his mouth, holding it closed. "I told you, and you didn't believe. Now you do. I hope your trip is cold and long, Veral. I hope it's endless." Her aura stretched out, going to the controls inside the ship. She looked on as Veral struggled to scream, struggled to plead, but only his eyes communicated. His mouth was closed tight, though his eyes looked like they might burst from his head at any moment. They bulged and rolled in his skull as he tried desperately to find a way out of the ship closing in on him.

She watched as the outer shield first made its way up the perfect orb, forcing her to pull her aura away. He started screaming then, but his voice was stuck inside. She watched as his yellow aura blasted against the transparent shield, not shaking it in the slightest.

"Goodbye, Veral," she said. His mouth was wide open, veins pulsing out across his face.

The inner shield began growing from the bottom, cutting off Morena's view.

And then it was finished. Veral locked away in a ship, just as she and Briten would be. She told him his fate would be the same and now she had kept that promise. She felt no remorse, not even a single moment of sadness for the creature inside the ship. He sentenced her species to death, because no one in this world would ever hear anything Briten tried to tell them; and sooner or later, Bynimian would cease to exist, all because of the creature now locked away.

One thing still remained to do. She and Briten needed to lie in their own ship, but at least they would do it together. Morena turned and walked to her husband; his eyes were closed and his aura still the dim shade of pink.

She knelt next to him, but that didn't feel close enough. So she climbed into the ship and lay down, her aura, arms, and legs wrapping around him.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so, so sorry."

He said nothing back.

"I love you," she said.

And still only silence from her husband.

Tears came to Morena's eyes just as they had to Veral's, though she didn't scream. She held Briten as she cried, and when she finished, she stood up and went to the ship's controls.