ALL NOVEL 215. I Will Come For You
215. I Will Come For You
Juliet
My explosion of words did come out of nowhere; I could still not control my tongue one hundred percent. ‘I always get the better of myself,’ which makes no sense, but I guessed I still had a long way to where I was all grown up. I remembered Marcus saying, ‘It did change everything. How were the last months, not the best we’ve ever had.’ Marcus was right; it had been what we needed and in a way, I was sad our time had to end at all. I felt guilty because I could sit and watch Louis sleep with other people, and yet when it came to Marcus, I lost it. Soren said it was never really about Louis at all, and the hidden meaning behind those words left me wondering… Soren could always call me out on my BS. He would still be that person for me… and maybe Warden.
A gust of warm, aired air hit the side of a tent, sending dust into the space around us. Someone was behind me, and just then, an arm closed around my waist and pulled me close to a body. I reached around and raked my hand through his hair, “Carl!? You’re finally home.”
“Yeah. I’m also not leaving again.”
“No, never! We have to not split up again.”
“Well, that is stupid. You know we’ll have to… Your leg has a patch of snakeskin,” Charlene said.
I sat up, pushing down the sheet covering me, “S—.” She was with us in the bed, and we were finally together again. I threw myself on Carl and kissed him all over his face, took his cheeks in my hands, and kissed him on the lips. “Juliet,” Carl said with a sultry tone. “If I knew I was going to have girls kiss me just because I went off to war, I would’ve gone away a long time ago.”
I caressed his cheeks and took in all of him. He buffed up a lot and had a tan. “Tell me you killed her.”
He shook his head, “Well, then you’re fired.” I looked at Charlene, who came in for a group hug. “Oh, how far and long we’ve traveled together.”
“Our journey’s only begun. We have thousands of years left!” she said, detangling herself from us, and we all sat facing each other. Charlene didn’t notice, or maybe she did, and was hoping one of us would say something. She had been dropping slight hints about things bothering her about the future. Where she was once scared of growing old and leaving us all—she now had to accept she would outlive all of us. “What were you thinking?” she gestured to my leg.
“Thinking? I wasn’t thinking—”
“You going to go crazy again because—” I hit Carl on the shoulder, “Ow! Come, I have a surprise for you.”
“What kind of surprise?” I asked—suspicious.
“We all have a surprise for you… come on,” Charlene pulled me up.
We were in the doctor’s tent, which was not far from everything. It was where the midwife had kept a close eye on us throughout our pregnancies and where my mom would give birth. Carl lifted the tent flap to a smiling Chris outside, waiting for me, “I have a present for you.” I frowned a little, looking at the three faces. “For missing two birthdays… I had to make up for it.” Chris led me somewhere, closing my eyes with one hand, “Don’t look.”
I shook my head, “What can possibly make up for two birthdays! No anniversary presents! One date, months and months ago,” Chris took away his hand, “Oh, Chris… It’s beautiful… How, why?” I flung my arms around his neck.
“Michael and I found a factory that made them, and they are obviously not operational anymore.”
“I love it! Who painted and did all this?”
“Your son.”
Charlene and I jumped up and down and jutted forward. Two porta-potty trailers were standing under one giant tent, covered from the elements. Plants in pots secured the tent on all sides. The men had their own trailer on the other side of the tent, keeping with the customs of Mirach—the two halves were separated by pretty curtains. A stone path was laid from the entrance to where it separated and led in two different directions. I followed the one toward the trailer covered in a lot of squiggles and patterns painted on the exterior. There were only a few steps to climb to open the door. It was enormous and beautiful, like Louis’s bathroom on Earth, with wood finishings and flooring—extractor fans powered by solar—a wash basin/ mirror area, a few stalls on either side. I reluctantly stepped forward and reached out for the tap—it worked. Charlene squealed with delight. I could wash my hands with soap and dry them after with paper towels. “Come, we got to test them.” We used the facilities and were so happy, chatting from one stall to the next. “You should’ve seen Yazen and Imani’s faces when they used them the first time,” Charlene said when she came out of her cubicle. “We even have a bidet in that one. No more period crap to deal with—”
“Literally!” we both laughed, “Was it all Chris’s doing?” she nodded.
I threw my arms around his neck when we met up with them outside, “This is going to change everything. Thank You!”
“You have a lot of plans; I have to keep up. It took us ages to find a company that rented them out, and we had to go hunting for the best ones. But they were just standing there… so we stole them.”
I laughed, “I think they owe us this much… The service?”
“Oh, it’s nothing; we have a small truck that cleans it out, and then we empty it on Earth… Your giant teleporter has now become a universal sewage removal tank.”
We all laughed... “For this, I will have to thank you properly.”
Chris didn’t need prompting and scooped me up. “Your mom is close to her delivery. The En-gannim doctors say only two weeks or so… We haven’t slept together in months.”
“I know,” I waved at Charlene and Carl, “Are you at least going to talk to me first? Apologize? Hmmm.”
“Oh, no! I got used to the Juliet, who becomes hyper-sexualized to cope with her trauma.”
“You’ve been reading.”
“Maybe.”
The day my mom gave birth, we were still on Mirach. My dad had her in his arms, carrying her through the teleporter. We stood in two lines on either side, ushering them to the tent. Liam looked a little nervous; it was going to be interesting to witness how he handled the delivery. My mom held out her hand to me as they passed us. I quickly fell in step with her, glad she wanted me by her side. Charlene was short on my heels. It felt so strange not to have Louis there; he was always ready to read every one and wouldn’t be able to tell us what my mom or my dad was going through. It was hard for me to accept that he had still not come back, made contact, or at least told us he was okay.
Miriam was faithfully by the midwife’s side. The doctor and Michael were waiting outside for emergencies. Charlene was there, and in her limited medical training, I was sure we had all angles covered. My mom had contractions for hours before my father decided she had no more choice in the matter. I was on one side of my mom and my dad on the other. “I need to sit up,” Mom said after a very strenuous contraction.
“Help her quickly,” Liam clutched under one arm and I the other. My mom didn’t even have to exert herself before we had her on her knees. We shared a concerned glance behind her back. It was different being on this side for a change. I went to work wiping the sweat from her brow, and Liam rubbed her back between contractions. When it was time for the last push, she braced down on both our arms; the baby was caught by the midwife and Miriam, holding a cloth underneath her. He dropped down, with clenched fists screeching his little heart out. My dad took the bundle from Miriam and sat back on his heels. I had not seen Liam cry a lot in all my life, but he was wiping at his eyes. I scooted closer to look at my new brother, “Caleb, come meet your uncle.”
I looked up when the tent flap opened, and Michael pushed through. My gaze flickered past him, “Where is he?”
“We don’t know.”
I hated moments like that, one of the happiest things to ever happen, and then I also had to worry about my own son, who decided it was best to do… what? And we were still constantly worried about Soren in the back of our minds. Not in a good way anymore but in a deep hole full of snakes and evil things waiting for us to fall into kind of way. I disappeared to see if he was there, maybe too shy to show himself. Caleb and Louis were standing right across from me. My breath hitched as I locked eyes with Louis—so many emotions written on both our faces. He took a small step forward. I reappeared immediately, holding myself back, unable to face him, talk to him, or let the moment become about us. I had missed him so much, and I was angry for too many reasons. The way I felt on the compound when he left me alone for months to fend for myself came back in waves when I thought about him.
Liam passed the little baby to me, bringing me back to focus on the good at the moment. I looked up at my dad, questioning if it was okay. He smiled. I took the bundle, and once he was in my arms, I couldn’t hold back the tears for so many reasons. It was too much. I had a brother—a very unhappy one. I turned to my mom and rested him on her chest after she was done with the afterbirth.
The men suddenly surrounded my dad, congratulating him; the Mirach ways pushed aside for a while. It got a bit crowded and I shooed everyone out, giving Louis and Caleb also a chance to make their escape. Then it was only me and my mom left. I shook off all my worries so she could feed the boy in peace. We both stared at him for all that time, “I know you will look after him if something happens to us.”
I stroked her hair and his, “With my life… with everything I have… What is his name?”
“Mael… After my grandfather.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t come back in time for you to see him again.”
“I’m too…”
“Your parents are waiting outside.”
My mom looked up at me, “Maybe my mom for now. I’ll see my dad later.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell them.”
A minute later, Cindy’s mother relieved me from my mom’s side. We all waited for the little guy to finish latching. My dad took him to get him cleaned up, and after that, he was passed around in Charlene’s house from arm to arm. “Four babies in one house is going to be interesting,” Charlene said when it was her turn.
“This is one part of our journey I’ll never complain about,” I answered while Charlene handed the bundle to the next person. We went to sit on either side of Carl on the couch, looking at Mael in his arms. He was going to be such a good father. I kissed his cheek, and Charlene did the same. Carl laughed lightly. It was so good to have everyone there; I wanted to stay like that forever; those moments were all I had. The house was absolutely packed with every last person who meant something—had some thread to our lives. Even Ira and Silvanus had come for the big day. When we were all together like that, our house was whole and it felt so right. I looked up to scan the crowd. Samuel and Caleb came in at the door. Caleb looked a little guilty. My gut sank that Louis decided to disappear again. My uncle made his way over and scooped the baby out of Carl’s arms. “I don’t think we’re ever going to run out of babysitters,” Charlene said.
“No… our family will keep growing,” Carl took Charlene’s hand in his and kissed it like he’d done a million times. Thinking back on our high school days, everything Carl did—the way he reacted was always about Charlene. Carl met my eye, “I think it’s time for a family meeting, Jules.”
I took in a deep breath and breathed out. My uncle glanced down and nodded his approval. There were so many decisions to be made, and I had to make them before I left. It was time I did something for myself and the greater good again. I want to do what I want, get out there, and live this extraordinary life I could live, “Not today.”
“No, not today,” Samuel buried his face in the boy’s neck.
The meeting was in Yazen and Iman’s palace’s massive reception hall that catered for gatherings with all the officials from all over Mirach. “First of all, I want to thank Charlene for making this possible; Romero must have thought you were going crazy,” she laughed and nodded. He looked confused. “I asked Charlene to map Mirach with the permission of your parents, so we knew every continent, nook, and cranny of this place. Together with our cartographers, drones, helicopters, Carl, Warden, James, and Jack. The last two months were interesting.” Romero laughed and shook his head.
I raised my hand. It was a cue for Sammy and Miné to come in with a wooden chest between them. “We need a safe place to live. The humans among us want a spot for themselves... Where the species can mix, and all my ruffians can come and set up a home base for all the creatures who feel like they don’t belong… Because Charlene cannot leave… we don’t really have a choice but to make this our home.” Charlene clapped her hands.
“I decided where we will live,” Sammy said so loud the whole hall could hear her. I laughed and patted her on the head. She and Miné walked around the room, showing everyone the island we had found, which was uninhabited and beautiful. It would be a paradise, and I was sure Marcus could design his little heart out and make it the perfect haven for us. “It will be our first interplanetary/intergalactic space station.”
There were cheers and claps from everyone.
“But we will not be living here for free… For their graciousness, we will help Imani and Yazen with tranquilizing and moving those enormous beasts to other islands and helping the dheka relocate to solid land— until we can help them with transport over their… rough seas.”
“ ‘Rough seas’ is an understatement,” Michael complained.
“We also don’t know what the weather will be like all year round… so it will be eventful… I will unfortunately not be here while everyone settles…” I drifted my gaze over to Samuel and waited. It took him a moment to nod. “If you need anything… Liam and Samuel will be there to help. For the foreseeable future, the brothers—who started all this— will be in charge.”
“What about Palmyra and Earth?” Warden asked.
“Yes, while I am away, our queen,” There were a few laughs from the crowd, “Will travel to finally take charge of her lost sheep and, together with Michael and Jade, negotiate the future of the werewolves and Palmyra… For… uhmm… let’s say unity, Michael and Charlene will be governing them until further notice.”
“And Zoreah?” Jack asked.
“Chris will be going back with his father, to settle Iku and his wife in the Origin city. The Zoreahians have decided to split the riphaths into two groups. The people who can leave the origin city will be in Shumaan for the summer if we want to go visit their boring bars.”
“Are we welcome?” Jack asked.
“Why? You already decided you want to find a riphath as a wife.”
“Yeah! I Need someone who can teleport and well… I never want to walk again,” we all laughed at Jack, “Chris, make a list.”
“Anything else?” My gaze landed on my uncle, deliberately avoiding Warden’s question about Earth. I didn’t want to think about Jacklin joining our family. At least he’d not asked about leaving, although it was his choice now; the Watchers were no more.
“Have you figured out what the other stone does?” Carl chipped in.
“No comment! Okay, I think that’s it for now.”
The crowd dispersed. There was a lot of work to do, and everyone had something to keep themselves busy with for the next two weeks, which was all I needed. I took in every face as they huddled in small groups, talking. It was a memory that would sustain me for the—well, almost half a century of my life to come. I swallowed the lump in my throat, a mixture of grief and excitement coursing through me. One moment, I was looking forward to what was about to happen, and the next, I thought about Louis. I needed to fix everything, and there was only one way to do it.
The only one in the crowd looking at me was Silvanus. I finally made contact with him, and he sauntered over with a drink in his hand, “What is going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
I couldn’t get even one word out, or my throat closed in around itself, and my eyes pooled with tears. I shook my head slightly, resting my fingers on my mouth, trying to stop myself from bawling. Silvanus put his arm around me, “Let’s go and talk,” he pushed me into a corner of the room far enough from the others. “You did figure out what the other stone does, didn’t you.”
“I thought I did,” I whispered.
“What did you think it can do.”
I finally looked at him, “I thought it was a water and life stone.”
Silvanus nervously reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder, “How do you know it’s not?”
“I went to Earth to test it. Stole it right off Ian’s neck and tried it in the room—while he was drugged.”
Silvanus glanced around us, making sure no one heard me. I nodded and laughed lightly, “Do you understand how scared I was.”
“Thank You. If no one else says it, Juliet. I have always been proud of Chris’s choice… Of you. How you never stop fighting,” I smiled a little at the praise, “However, if we’re safe in that regard, what is wrong?”
“I don’t know what the other stone does. Why it was so important to Ahasuerus, he never let it out of sight. No! Off his person. Then he threw it at me… And I lost it! Tossed it around like some status symbol.” I observed Silvanus for those few seconds I told him. Ira would never tell me, even if he knew. My uncle doesn’t know, and the other two people died with the secret, “Do you know what it could be?”
Silvanus shook his head, “Not even Ira knows. We didn’t even know what the one Brylee wore could do.”
“Could it be the teleportation stone?”
“No… that one is here on Zoreah—somewhere. Only the mother of the next king gets one of those swatches. That is why there were only two in the last five thousand years. The stone is passed down, and only two women know where it is… I guess Chris’s mom made his swatch before she left for Earth.”
“Why make it at all?”
“If you had only one child in five thousand years. Would you not want to be able to save them?”
“Yes, I would. She never got the chance to use it, though.”
“Or thought it best not to have Chris wonder for the rest of his life if he should go back and save her. In your situation where you cannot teleport… it will never go the other way.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Chris asked. We both shook our heads. “You ready to leave? Ira is getting restless.”
“To go and sit down and do nothing,” Silvanus grumbled.
“Hey, if you want to come join us here, you’re more than welcome.”
“Thank You, but no. It is time I think about anything else but war and surviving.”
“What will you think about.”
“I still have not had my child.”
“A little baby, Silvanus. Too cute.” Chris seemed intrigued by all of this, and I figured they would have a lot to talk about if Silvanus suddenly began dating. With Chris leaving, all my husbands were accounted for; none of them would know what I was planning or would be too busy to notice I wasn’t where I was supposed to be; they all thought I was going to look for Louis.
The following day was time for me to leave on the secret mission I had assigned to myself. I was going on my walkabout; it would last a little longer than the usual one humans underwent. One thing would stay the same; when I got back, I hoped to be all grown up, and we could make a more informed decision about the future. I had told my uncle to cut the teleportation entirely from Earth. Jade had done the same thing on her side because, for two weeks, we wanted no interruptions or scares. Even if Jacklin could piggyback like Louis was doing, she would have to wait. It meant Louis would be stuck on Earth for some time. I hoped he’d be able to cope. It also didn’t matter anymore if Earth made it or not; I would fix everything.
My first and only responsibility was Louis—anyway. I needed to save him more than anyone else. I could catch him, put him in jail, and force the cure down his throat. I guessed because Louis and I got the wonky version of that stuff that we were worse off than the rest. Rodrigo had told me he cured the skin and worked on the side effects, but I didn’t know how to fix Louis and me. We also didn’t have time to figure it out, so my trip would solve more than one problem.
After hearing everything my husbands said when they were talking outside Marcus’s house, I no longer had a choice but to choose. Why? Because I had heard the words I thought Louis would never say, he was sick of it all, and that is why he left. If I went to Louis, I would not be coming back; I would leave it all behind. Michael had asked me to not let Louis decide. He knew, and I knew Louis would ask me to choose. If I could find him at all. Michael had not stopped looking, and it’s been months. I didn’t think I would be able to convince Louis to stay, neither did I want to. He left and, in doing that, forced me to make the choice. How I made it was now a personal matter.
The men were not going to follow the hierarchy anymore. I would have to manage them all—alone. Marcus was nowhere near submitting under me. He’d not even come back after I left his island. I only saw him the day my mom gave birth and for the meeting to find out what we were planning on a large scale. If we went back and I was in control above him at the Tower, I scoffed, walking out of the teleporter. Michael… was the biggest problem. Romero and I talked a lot about the brandings, and knowing Michael had the authority to push someone out if they were a—liability was unthinkable. Push Louis off my person! The thought sent me reeling of losing him after all. It was one truth Michael should never know about.
The teleporter wasn’t far from Romero’s home, and even before I got close to the door, Carl stepped out. I ran to him and threw my legs around him and kissed him all over his face, “Juliet!? Again.” He stepped away from the door when I didn’t want to get off. “What has gotten into you. Never in all the years we’ve been friends have you kissed me like this… It’s like you’re saying goodbye or something.”
I jumped off him, and it was only then that he took in my clothes and the backpack on my shoulders, “You’ve grown up, Carl.”
“I can say the same.”
Charlene stepped out of the house, and she took his hand quickly, glancing up and down my body, a slight frown formed between her brows. Guess we all grew up a lot, “So, I’m going to the Dark City. If you two want to consummate this and relieve Carl of his virginity. We can take the journey together.”
“Geez, Juliet. How do you know everything and what the problem is.” Carl turned bright red. Charlene’s eyes met mine, and for a moment, she thought about it and then snickered. She had not put two and two together. She kissed his hand.
“Please! I was still one at eighteen. If it wasn’t for Chris. I probably wouldn’t have done it till… I don’t know. You have a way bigger excuse than any of us, pining away for a woman all that time. Sooo romantic.”
“No! Absolutely not!” Romero’s voice boomed from the door.
I didn’t know he’d be there. It might be better this way, “I am going. Right now! And you cannot stop me! You might fool your little princess here. Mrs. Spoilt, I’ll call her. But not me.” Romero halted and looked from Charlene to me. “Yes, Sir. I am a reader. All I do is read. And I have all the information now… And I’m getting rather sick of it that every planet is so tight-fisted with all their secrets. It took me months of non-stop studying to figure it out.” Romero conceded, and it was one obstacle out of the way, “The question is, am I going alone or what? Where do you two stand?” I gestured between Carl and Charlene.
“Honestly. I’m not ready to turn into an alien monster and tear things apart. The guys are kinda happy that we won’t be sleeping together anytime soon anyway.”
I nodded, “And?”
“I just got home. The journey is grueling. I’m human. I’ll slow you down.” I pouted, “No, Jules. It won’t work. Why didn’t you ask one of your husbands to come.” I quickly met Romero’s eye, “Oh… I see. Secrets. They don’t know… You know what? You blame everyone for lying and keeping secrets, and then you do exactly the same thing. I’ve never met anyone who lies as much as you.”
I ignored that jab of truth, “Well, you two can’t come,” I gestured between Romero and Charlene, “I’m taking a plate. If I’m near death. I’ll ask for help.”
“Are you sure,” Charlene asked, “It’s very far. It’s rough for days on end. Scary as hell.”
“If the dheka needs to do it to have sex... My purpose must make it even more worth it.”
“We have our parents with us,” Romero tried one last time, “Children never go alone. Miriam lost her mate on the journey. You have no idea where you are going.”
“I do. Like I said, I read a lot… The question is…” I looked deep into Romero’s eyes and waited. There were so many reasons I could be going to their sacred grounds; I didn’t think he knew exactly why.
His eyes rounded when it finally sunk in, “Juliet… I…”
“You know, if I need to do this, I have no other choice.”
He looked at Charlene, and the same pain I felt flickered over his features. It was either this, or he might lose her forever. After a moment, Romero smiled. I guessed that was his answer, “We can send you in a ball,” Charlene said.
“No!” Romero and I said at the same time.
Charlene laughed a little at our inside information circle, “Well, I’ll miss you after you’re dead.”
“Oh wow, thx.”
“You packed sufficiently,” Charlene asked.
“I… was cruelly made aware of how long I could go without food—and still survive… The valley will be my goal.” I lifted the plate and shook it in the air, “If all else fails, I’ll send for takeout.”
“You really going right now?”
“Yes. And don’t tell anyone.” I glanced over to Jessy. He was pleading. Almost desperately. I laughed. He had me wrapped around his pinky, “I’m sorry. Nothing would’ve been better, but it will give it away if you suddenly disappear… I have to leave someone in charge, and for the next two weeks, you will have the biggest responsibility out of everyone.” I took off the stone and tied it around Charlene’s neck, “It’s time I go get back what’s mine… You’ll need this when you go get your werewolves back.”
“You mean, you’re going to get back what is mine. This one is for En-gannim.” A wry smile formed on my lips. All of us were growing up. Luckily, the sky darkened around us, “Where are you going?” Iku asked, floating over. He saw the stone around Charlene’s neck. “Don’t tell me… Juliet no. Why? I don’t think I can let you do this.”
“Soren knows what the other stone does.” And right there, I was lying again. And even if there was the slightest chance that Jacklin knew—I needed to go even more. Iku’s features turned even darker, and so did the air around us. It was my proof he thought it was a water and life stone; I sighed with relief, “Well then. All I can say is… Do you want company?”
“No… Enjoy the time with your wife. You guys should be on Zoreah already.”
“Thank You. And good—”
“NO!” The three of us said in unison. I didn’t need any jinx on me for what was about to come. The last thing I wanted to think about was my bad luck.
Iku laughed, “Very well.”
I grabbed the two straps of the backpack over my shoulders, didn’t look back up, and turned around. I was a few steps in when, “It’s the other way,” the three behind me said.
I looked up and saw I had the moons wrong. I laughed and course-corrected, “Let’s not tell anyone about this.” I turned when I thought about something; walking backward, I asked, “If you and your wife slept together in that chamber, how could you survive so far apart? How do you live so long, and how did the itoqure defeat you?”
“I’ll tell you when you get back.”
“I thought all you did was read,” Romero quipped.
I waved my hand nonchalantly in the air and moved ahead one step at a time. I glanced back before I went over a large dune, taking in the scene as they waited for me to disappear. I would not see them for so long and I needed memories like that to keep me pushing through; I will come for you, Louis.