Jelly Cooper: Alien (25 page)

He turns to me.

“I couldn’t concentrate on schoolwork or homework, my friends and family started to notice that something was wrong and started to treat me differently; it was all falling apart.”

I reach out and touch
his arm.  “Calm down, it’s OK.”

Travis laughs.  “OK? You think so?  I was
thirteen years old and my life was over.  There I was helping people left right and centre and bit by bit I was growing to be the person who needed help.”

“So what did you do?”

Travis rakes a hand across his face.

“One day, it must have been June or July the weather was so good, I had a vision.  I saw a woman’s
face. She was crying; there were mascara streaks down her cheeks.  I was on my way to a big football match.  I’d been chosen as captain for the very first time and I was buzzing.  When the vision hit me, I was so angry.  One of the most important days of the year and it was being taken away from me.  I had no choice, no say in it; no say in my own life.”

The wind picks up.  It
shakes the window panes in their frames. 

“So
,” Travis whispers, “I ignored it…I pushed the vision to the back of my mind and I went to play football.”  He closes his eyes, his voice thick with disgust.  “We won the game four to one.  I was voted man of the match, had a trophy and everything, and when I got home that evening, I didn’t give the woman in my vision a second thought.”

I know what’s coming and I don’t want to hear it.

“She committed suicide.  Took a bunch of pills right about the time I was being awarded my trophy.”

“I know you’re trying to distract me, Travis; keep me occupied.  It’s OK.  You don’t have to do this.”

He acts like he hasn’t heard me.

“She died because of me;
because I wanted to play
football.
” 

“That’s not true.  She died for some personal reason that we’ll never know.  It wasn’t your fault.  You didn’t
know
that she was going to kill herself.”

“I knew that something b
ad was going to happen, though.”

“Tra
vis, you were thirteen years old.”

He sighs, shaking his head.  “After that, things were different.  I welcomed the visions, the chance to help people…to even the score.  I became the perfect vessel for whatever force was guiding me and
I’ve got a 100% track record.”

He stares at me in that intense way of his. 

I wish he wouldn’t look at me like that. 

“
I had to help you, Jelly: I had no choice.  Just like you had no choice tonight.  What happened wasn’t your fault.  You did everything you could and you saved me and your family.”

But I didn’t save
them
.  I let them die.

“
Travis…I think that I’m going to leave Seabrook.”  I look at him, really see him this time.  “I can’t stay here anymore.”

He reaches out and takes my hand.

“Jelly, I know it hurts, but they wouldn’t want you to leave your family, your home.”

I start to cry. “Travis,
don’t
.  Please.”

With an almighty crash, the back door bursts open.

I leap from my seat, Travis seconds behind me.  Something warm, loud and very
alive
catapults itself into the room and careers into me with the force of a charging rhinoceros. Screeching, Agatha launches herself into my arms, knocking us both off our feet.  Sprawled on the floor, she squeezes me until I can hardly breathe.

“Humphrey
,” Agatha shouts, right in my ear, “HUMPHREY, get in here – she’s HERE.”

Humphrey
staggers into the kitchen, bright red and puffing.  Excited hands drag me to my feet.

“I thought you guys were dead
,” I whisper.  “He told me you were dead.”

Agatha and Humphrey exchange glances.

“It was close.” says Humphrey.

Agatha looks at me with that signature look of hers. 
The one that doesn’t miss much.

I
adore
that look.

“Is he
gone?”

“Yep.
  He’s gone.”  A ripple of fear dims my happy glow.  I look around the kitchen.  “Where’s Rhiannon?”

Agatha winks and I know it’s OK.  “For a chee
rleader, she is one unfit lady.”

“I most certainly am not.”

Rhiannon sways in the doorway, her skin pale, the angry lump on the side of her head already turning purple.

“For your information
,” she says, bristling with indignation, “
I
have a concussion.”

I wrestle myself free of Humphrey and rush over to Rhiannon.

“Hi,” she says, gripping the kitchen counter.

“I have
never
been so glad to see you in my whole life.”

I throw my arms around my
favouritest pompom head in the whole wide world and hug her to me.

“Like, OW!”

“Whatever.”

“No, seriously –
ow!”

“Do you always have to have the last word?”

***
              ***              ***

That’s just about it, for the first instalment.

We sit at the kitchen table, exchanging stories.  I can’t get the grin off my face.  Every time I look at Agatha, or Humphrey, or even Rhiannon, my heart soars.  They’re back from the grave and it’s the best feeling in the world.

“So, your parents are going to be fine?” Agatha asks.

“Yep
.”

“And the Hunter’s really gone?”

“Yep.”

“What are you going to tell them?”  Humphrey, as always, is still worrying, but I laugh at his concerns and brush them aside.  Nothing can bring me down, for I am protected by an impenetrable cloak of smugness
and elation.

“It’ll be fine.  Although I think it’s time for a little mo
re honesty in our relationship.”

“So, it’s really over?”

“Yes, Humphrey,” I sigh with mock exasperation.  “It’s really over.  Things can start to get back to normal around here.”

I glance at Travis and Rhiannon, my grin growing even wider.

“Well, almost normal.  I don’t suppose these two are about to bugger off in a hurry.”

“
Jay!
”

Epilogue

Between you and me, I’m lying, of course.

Things are nowhere near being back to normal and, in my heart of hearts, I know it.  It’s just that I’m not prepared to let it spoil the moment.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a girl can only take so much in one day, you know?

Tonight is a night of celebration.  There’ll be plenty of time to ponder the future tomorrow.

There are more out there, Hunters, maybe on Earth already.  They’ll be coming for me and mine; they could be on their way right now.

With a shrug, I banish all morbid thoughts to the back of my mind.  Let them come, I say.  The
bashrak
had
better learn that threatening those closest to me succeeds in one thing and one thing only: making me angry. 

And
above all else, they don’t want to do that.

In
the immortal words of The Hulk, they won’t like me when I’m angry.