Human Blend (22 page)

“Why are we on this planet and not our own?”
she contemplated. Julie kept her head down. All this information
was weighing heavily on her.

“It's a long story. I think there is some
kind of conflict on our planet. I don't think it is anything that
you need to concern yourself with,” Marcus told Julie. He placed a
hand on her knee. “Go see Uncle Gregg. He'll be able to explain
things a lot better than I can,” Marcus said, showing rare
compassion.

The door to the office opened, catching
Marcus' attention. Eli had opened the door with his key when he
found it locked. “Why was my door locked?” he asked.

“She did it, ask her.” Marcus smiled and
stood.

“Julie?” Eli said, seeing her distracted
state. He looked back at Marcus when she didn't respond. He
shrugged his shoulders. “What did you do to her?” Eli asked
kneeling down in front of her.

“It's none of your concern, Doctor Elsworth,”
Marcus stated.

Julie came around, “Eli,” she said, noticing
him.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern etching his
face. She didn't reply. She scanned his face with her eyes.

“I'm... I'm gonna go home,” she said,
standing up.

“I'll drive you,” Eli quickly said.

“No... I'll be fine. I really need to be
alone right now,” she explained. She paused in the doorway. “Thanks
Marcus, for...” she left the sentence unfinished and gave a small
laugh. Looking to Eli once more, “Bye,” she said softly and walked
down the hall.

“Well, see ya later,” Marcus said, heading
for the door. His escape was blocked by Eli. “C'mon, Doc, I'm
starving. I gotta get something to eat,” Marcus complained.

“What did you tell her?” Eli demanded to
know.

“My answer is still the same as it was the
last time you asked me,” Marcus replied. “Look, Doc, she is going
to be fine. She just needs time to digest,” he added.

Eli did not stop Marcus again when he left.
He sat down at his desk and thought. Something about the tone of
Julie's voice bothered him.

“Julie...” he whispered.

Julie made the short walk to her apartment at
a leisurely pace. Her mind was swimming with all the new
information that she did not fully understand. She felt lost. She
laughed to herself; she was more confused now, after her talk, than
she had been before. The revelations told were just barely the
beginning, she realized. “I don't belong anywhere,” she mumbled to
herself.

Julie was at her front door when she
remembered that Austin had her key.
Shoot
, she thought.
Julie didn't feel up to seeing him. She just wanted some quiet time
to think.
I'll just tell him I don't feel good and send him
home
, Julie told herself.

She turned the door knob and opened the door.
She was not expecting the surprise that greeted her.

Earlier;

Crushing the cigarette out with his boot, the
man got back into his blue van. “Good life, here I come.” He
laughed. He drove around the back of the building looking for
security cameras. Seeing none, he parked the van next to the
dumpster. The man wore a blue workman's uniform. He grabbed the
crowbar from the back of the van and pried open the back access
door. Once inside the building, he made his way up the steps to the
first level. He knew which apartment was hers. He had been watching
her for weeks, following her from state to state while laughing to
himself at just how easy it was. The man still wanted the element
of surprise, so he walked down to the landlady's door and
knocked.

Mrs. Gosley's door opened slightly. “Hello,”
the man called through the opening. When no reply came, the man
pushed the door open further. He was stunned by the sight that
greeted him.

Mrs. Gosley was tied up in a chair, her head
hung slightly. Next to her lay the body of a woman with blood
pooled around her. “What the...” the man began to say. He stopped
as soon as an all too familiar face came into view.

“I was wondering when you would show your
ugly face, Fred,” so spoke the familiar face.

“Luke, hey man. How's it going?” Fred
laughed. A hand reached out, pulled him into the apartment, and
shut the door. The hand belonged to one of Luke's henchmen.

“I don't know who's worse, you or Laney. Both
of you suck at covering your tracks,” Luke said.

“I wasn't trying to cover, boss. I planned on
surprising you by bringing her back,” Fred said, his voice a bit
shaky.

“I hate surprises,” Luke snarled. “I thought
you were trying to pull a fast one over on me.” Luke laughed. He
walked over and put a hand on Fred's shoulder. “Forgive me, old
pal,” Luke said with a smile. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at
Fred's temple. “So, where is my surprise? Old woman says Laney
doesn't live here,” Luke stated.

“Luke... man... I have all the info, I swear.
She lives here,” Fred said anxiously. Luke pushed him to the floor
in front of Mrs. Gosley.

“Let's hear it,” Luke ordered.

“She's using the name Julie Miller. She even
changed her hair to blond. She's in apartment 109. She works at the
hospital. I came here to get the key. I was going to be waiting for
her when she came home,” Fred rattled off the information.

Mrs. Gosley moaned when she heard Julie's
name mentioned. Luke pulled the older woman's head up by her hair.
“Guess that name rings a bell,” he sneered.

“Trouble,” Mrs. Gosley mumbled, making Luke
grin.

Letting Mrs. Gosley's head hang once more,
Luke stepped over the other woman's body to get to the key board
hanging on the wall. He took the keys to apartment 109. “Let's go
wait for my surprise,” he said. “Chase, be sure and thank the old
woman properly,” he addressed one of the other men in the room.
Luke headed for the door. The other henchmen yanked Fred up by his
arm and followed Luke down the hall.

Luke unlocked apartment 109. Pushing the door
open with his foot, he looked inside. “She's spending my money, I
see,” Luke said, looking at the big screen television and stereo.
At this point, Chase had rejoined the group as all five men entered
the apartment.

Luke did a quick walk through of the place.
“So, what time are we expecting her?” he asked Fred when he had
returned.

“She's off at six,” Fred answered.

“So, we have a half an hour.” Luke checked
his watch. It was at that moment that the sound of a key in the
lock could be heard. Guns were readied as everyone pulled back away
from sight. The door opened.

Austin was singing along to a song playing on
his iPod. He carried a bag a groceries; he planned to make a
special dinner for Julie. Austin had taken a few steps in before he
noticed he was not alone.

“Who the hell are you guys?” He frowned. It
was then that he noticed the guns. Someone stepped behind him and
put one to his head.

“I might ask you the same question,” Luke
responded.

“That'd be Austin,” Fred answered. “Laney
went and got herself a boy toy.” he chuckled.

“What are you talking about? There is no
Laney here,” Austin scowled, although his heart was racing. He had
a sinking feeling that these were the same men Julie was running
from.

Luke slammed the butt of his gun down on
Austin's shoulder, causing him to drop to his knees, spilling the
bag of groceries. Austin cried out in pain as the hurt traveled
down his arm, leaving a numbness behind. The pain was not
long-lasting. Before he could register that fact, Luke placed his
foot on his back, pinning him to the floor. “She'll never learn,”
Luke huffed. “Get something to tie him up with,” he ordered.

Austin lifted his head up to get a better
look at who these men were. He recognized one of them. “You're the
guy from the hotel,” he accused.

“That's right, Romeo,” Fred chuckled. “Looks
like your hot romance has come to an end,” he added. Fred was glad
that at least Austin's interference would take him out of target
range for Luke's ire.

The moment Austin felt the pressure released
from his back, he was hoisted up onto his feet. Thrust into a
kitchen chair, his arms were pulled behind him and bound. “Who are
you people?” Austin asked.

“Your worst nightmare,” Luke leered in his
face.

“Want me to mark him up, boss?” Chase asked,
cracking his knuckles.

“Not yet. I want her to watch,” Luke
said.

Luke picked up Austin's wallet which had
fallen out of his pocket and onto the floor. He took the cash
inside of it and looked at the driver's license. “Austin Dorsett,
age eighteen,” Luke said, and laughed. “You're too young for her,”
he said, tossing the wallet onto the sofa.

“I'm telling you, you guys have made a
mistake!” Austin pleaded. Luke grabbed Austin's chin.

“The only thing I wanna hear from you, pretty
boy, is where is my money and where is my girl?” Luke snarled.

“She's not your girl,” Austin replied without
thinking.

Luke raised his gun and placed the barrel of
it on Austin's lips. “Wanna say it again, boy?” Luke challenged.
Austin kept quiet this time. “Thought not,” Luke grinned. “Give him
a few bruises, but keep him conscious,” Luke told Chase, reversing
his earlier decision.

Chase smiled from ear to ear. He stood in
front of Austin and prepared to follow orders. With a crooked
smirk, Chase reared back his fist and slammed it into Austin's
jaw.

Austin's head bent backwards with the impact.
The pain radiated through his face and momentarily put him in a
dazed state. The numbness just began to settle in when the next
blow hit him in the eye. Austin felt his eye puff and swell shut.
He could do nothing to defend himself, as his hands were bound
tightly behind him. The pain in his jaw seemed to dissipate as the
numbness in his cheek and eye took forefront. Austin was surprised
when less than a moment later he was able to open the eye that had
swelled shut. He looked up at his abuser and noticed a confounded
look upon his face.

Austin remembered back to a few days ago when
he had been working on fixing a machine in the laundromat and had
sliced his finger. Instead of bleeding, he had watched in amazement
as his finger closed up without a trace of the injury. He had
figured back then that lack of sleep had caused him to hallucinate.
Now, as the pain from the beating had completely subsided, he
realized that something strange was going on. Noticing the look
upon Chase's face, the man had noticed it too. “Hey, he's just
like...” Chase's sentence was unfinished as the apartment door
began to open once more. Instinctively, everyone turned with guns
drawn, aimed at the intruder.

Julie was not expecting the greeting she
received as she opened her apartment door. She froze in fear as she
saw men, some of whom she recognized, standing near Austin, who was
bound to a chair. Her breathing quickened as she realized her worst
fear had come true. They had found her and now Austin was in
danger. Her blood ran cold at the next sound she heard.

“Welcome home, sweetheart,” Luke said,
appearing from around the partially opened door.

Julie held onto the door frame as her legs
began to weaken.
No, no, no. This can't be happening... not
again... not Austin
, she thought.

Luke reached for her and pulled her inside
the apartment, slamming the door. He pinned her against the wall.
“Did you miss me?” Luke laughed.

“Get your hands off of her!” Austin
yelled.

“Chase, what the hell? Didn't I tell you to
mark him up?” Luke scolded.

“Yeah, but boss...” Chase began to say, but
Julie interrupted.

“No, Luke, please. I'm... sorry... I'll go
back with you, I promise... no more running away... just please,
please!” Julie begged.

“Laney, Laney, Laney... what am I gonna do
with you?” Luke said, brushing a strand of blonde hair back. “Did
you really think that changing your hair... your name... was going
to keep me from finding you?” Luke asked, his voice soft. Julie
began to shake; she knew what was going to happen when he used that
tone of voice. “Did you?” he yelled as he grabbed her and propelled
her across the room.

“Julie!” Austin yelled.

She slammed into the television, knocking it
off the stand and shattering the screen. One of the pieces had
sliced her arm, but it healed immediately.

“See, that's what I'm talking about...
he
did the same thing,” Chase said. All eyes turned to
Austin. Austin had watched as Julie's arm healed as quickly as his
own injuries had.

Austin and Julie locked eyes.
Marcus said
he didn't have any abilities
, she thought.

What is going on
? Austin pondered
himself.

“You telling me he fixed himself, too?” Luke
asked Chase.

“I saw it with my own eyes. Joey saw it,
too,” Chase confirmed. Joey, one of the other henchmen behind
Austin, nodded in agreement.

“Let's be sure of it,” Luke said, raising his
gun and pointing it at Austin.

“No!” Julie shouted, running over to Luke.
She was too late; the bullet hit Austin right in the chest. Austin
arched his back from the impact and pain that followed. After a few
seconds, the pain went away. The bullet proceeded to slip out of
the hole it made in his shirt and onto the floor.

Julie had grabbed Luke's arm after the gun
had fired, and was still holding it and she watched Austin heal
himself.

Austin was breathing heavily, but was just as
amazed as everyone else when the bullet fell to the floor.

“Another one,” Luke laughed. “Oh, this is too
good to be true,” he said, walking over to Austin. “You do numbers,
too, boy?” Luke interrogated.

“What?” Austin asked, still stunned by the
events unfolding.

“Numbers, numbers... do you see numbers like
her, too?” He asked again, more firmly. Julie was shaking her head
from side to side as Austin looked to her for help. His mind
drifted back to the carnival. He had seen the numbers. That's how
he won so many prizes; he had seen numbers. He again chalked it up
to not much sleep.