Heavenly Returns Read online

  Austin had moved to just a few feet from the front of the line. “Were have you guys been? Celery, it’s almost time for us to board the ride.”

  She flashed him a smile. “Sorry, T just needed some help with something.” Celery put her arm around Austin’s waist and waved good-bye. “See you later alligator.”

  I laughed. “After awhile, crocodile.”

  Austin rolled his eyes. “You guys are crazy.”

  I watched as they disappeared through the giant cavernous opening that led to the entrance of the Cyclops. I’d only been on the ride once and that was enough for me. But Celery loved the feeling of floating inside the gelatinous liquid of the eye. It only took three minutes to swirl around the entire eye but it felt like an hour to me.

  Knowing they’d be off the ride in no time, I headed over to the bathrooms. They continued the circular theme and were shaped like snail shells covered in pearlescent tiles. I stood and watched girls dressed in everything from Princess Leia costumes to Star Trek starship uniforms as they strolled in through the door to check their makeup and gossip with their girlfriends.

  It didn't take long before I heard the distinctive giggle Celery used when she was with a guy she liked. “Oh Austin, you really are funny.” She ran her hands all over his body.

  “You’re sooo hot.”

  He actually blushed when a couple of the girls coming out of the bathroom looked him up and down. “Right, let’s get out of here and head to my place”

  Celery stuck her hand down his pants. “I can't wait that long.”

  Austin stumbled as she pressed him toward the back of the bathroom behind some hedges, right where I was hiding. She wrapped herself around him and kissed him hard. His eyes closed as he gasped. “I’ve always been into you.”

  Celery signaled me as she dove in for another deep kiss. I raced up behind them and pushed Celery aside. Austin’s eyes fluttered opened. A look of confusion crossed his face as I held the ray gun in front of his body. “Taylor? What are you…”

  In a second, a blue cocoon covered his entire body. Celery stood next to him. “It’s too bad the Skater Boy is a traitor. He’s a great kisser.”

  ***

  Celery helped me pull Austin’s blue cocoon into the truth extraction room. A small man with a receding hairline greeted me with a smile. He was the total opposite of Mr. X. He held out his hand. “My name is Mr. Nelson. Nice to meet you, Taylor. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  The tone in his voice revealed he hadn’t heard very many good things about me. I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Nelson. I hope you don’t mind us taking over the room. It’s just that I have a special relationship with Austin, and I feel I would be more effective in extracting the truth I need.”

  “Someone from quite high up told me you were going to need the room.” He held out his arm gesturing toward the facilitator’s chair. “The place is all yours, Taylor. He turned on his heels. “I will leave you to it.”

  Celery dragged Austin’s blue cocoon down the aisle and dropped it in front of the chair. “Boy, that guy sure has an attitude. Don’t think he appreciated being kicked out of his own place.”

  I pushed the reverse button on the ray gun. The blue cocoon melted away, leaving Austin semi-conscious on the floor. “Let’s get this creep into the chair and strap him down. I can’t wait to find out what else he’s been doing for Palmer. By the time I’m done with him, he won’t even know his own name.”

  Celery helped me toss him into the chair and tightened down the straps. “Is it okay if I stay and watch?”

  “Sure, but you have to promise not to punch him out until after I’m done.”

  She plopped down in one of the sphinx chairs. “Fine.” She wiggled into the deep velvet seat cushion. “I’m nice and comfy, let’s get started.”

  I shook Austin by the shoulders. At first his head lay slack against his chest. But then his eyelids popped opened and he straightened his neck. Austin glared at me as he pushed against the restraints. “Where am I? What’s going on?”

  “You’re not going to get away with playing the innocent game with me.” I pulled the devil charm out of my pocket and held it in front of his face. “You recognize this?”

  He swallowed hard. “No, I don’t have any idea where that came from.”

  “That’s interesting, because when I recued you it was hanging around your neck.”

  The laser light slowly descended from the ceiling. It hovered inches above his trendy Skater Boy hair.

  “Welcome to the Temple of Truth facilitator room.” I gave him my best Cheshire Cat grin. “Remember, you can’t lie here.”

  He looked around the enormous space taking in the Pharaoh murals. “So this is the place I’ve heard about. Doesn’t Mr. X extract the truth? Why are you here?”

  “I'm going to be your facilitator. I'm the one who discovered you’re a traitor, so I will be the one that finds out what you’ve been doing for Palmer.”

  He pushed against his restraints. “Taylor, I don't know what you're talking about. You know how grateful I was when you helped me escape. Why would I work for him? He tortured me just like you’re trying to now. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

  The pleading sound in his voice almost made me believe him—almost. “Austin, please stop playing games. You’re busted.”

  Celery aimed her ray gun at Austin’s head. “Yeah, Skater Dude. Stop the BS and tell us what we want to know.”

  His shoulders tightened against the back of the chair. “Come on, you guys know me. I’m totally harmless. I’ve been set up.”

  The strained sound of his voice gave him away.

  The light beam shot down and burned the top of the spikes off his hair. The smell of burning hair filled the air. I held back the urge to gag.

  Celery ignored the putrid smell. “The light beam only hits you when you lie, Skater Boy. Stop screwing around.”

  I stood over him. “I can aim the beam much lower. Better start telling the truth.”

  Austin instinctively covered his crotch. "All right. I’ll confess. Palmer tortured me for so long I just couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't die again so there was only one way out. He said he would stop if I played along and helped him trap you. What was I supposed to do?”

  The light beam retracted from his head a few inches. He’d told the truth. “So how are you supposed to trap me? What’s Palmer’s big plan?”

  “I’ll tell you if we can make a deal. I want to be deprogrammed. I’m tired of being Palmer’s puppet. I hate hurting people who used to be my friends.”

  Interesting, the light moved slightly forward. Something he said wasn’t the truth. “Oh, you’ll be deprogrammed. That is going to happen automatically. But I don’t make deals with traitors. If you truly cared about us you would have refused to help Palmer.”

  A tremor shook the ground. I had to hold on to the extraction chair to keep from falling over. “Look what you’ve done! We finally were restoring Heaven and you have to destroy the humidity machine. Why did Palmer make you do it?”

  He pointed to my mask. “I think it would be obvious. His men were slowing down as they aged. So to meet the invasion deadline he had me blow it up.”

  There was something so matter-of-fact in the way he said it, I wanted to punch him in the face. “I have a feeling that wasn’t your only mission. What else do he want you to do?”

  Austin hung his head. “After I destroyed the machine I was supposed to destroy the rest of Mr. X’s lab. So he wouldn't be able to invent anything else.”

  Of course Palmer would want that. Mr. X gave my father a huge advantage over him. “Anything else?”

  He turned his head away from me. ”My final mission was to kidnap you.”

  What was Palmer’s obsession with me? I was my father’s daughter so rivals would think I was his most precious possession. But there seemed to be a deeper reason. “So you kidnap me and hand me over to Palmer, then what's he going to do with me? I'm a
lready dead so you can't kill me. Is it all just because of the rivalry between him and my father?”

  He shifted uncomfortably underneath the restraints. “He wouldn’t tell me his reason. But there’s something about you that’s special. Palmer said you have a power that no one else has.”

  Ugh. There goes the special word again. I was a hybrid, part alien and a human. So far I didn’t have any unique powers. I couldn’t even read minds very well. “Well, I have no idea what it is. Unless it’s being a killer ass facilitator. ”I reached over and gave Celery a high-five.

  Austin glared at me. “I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. When Palmer realizes I won't be delivering you tonight as planned, he’ll send someone far worse than me. And I guarantee you won’t see them coming.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Key

  I breathed in the cool air that drifted across the lake. No need to wear my mask until the humidity machine was fixed. Mr. X worked like a madman to rebuild the machine but he was hampered by a series of nasty tremors. Plus he continued to encounter undesirable side effects for the Katran.

  With the way Heaven was deteriorating who knew how long the lake house would last. I hoped forever, but just in case, I wanted to see it one last time. Plus, I promised Gram I would close up the cottage just like she always did every fall.

  I adjusted my two earpieces before I got to work. One, my direct link to my father, the other to Palmer’s voice. I’d clicked that one off. The lake house had always been my safe place. The last person I wanted to invade it was Palmer.

  Walking over to the hammock, I unhooked each side from the maple trees. Then I folded it in half, then in quarters, and tucked the hammock under my arm. The fringe tickled my skin as I took it to the tool shed and tucked it up on the top shelf. I patted the fabric like a dog’s head. “Hope to see you next season.” Next on the list was covering all the furniture in sheets. A custom so old Gram couldn't tell me how many generations in her family went through the routine every fall. Once I had all the sheets in place, the living room looked like it was ready for its own funeral.

  Grabbing the last couple of sheets I headed for Gram’s bedroom. I tossed one over her bed, another over her vanity, and another over her reading chair. I saved the last for her armoire. I tried to toss the sheet over the top, but it snapped on one of the doors and popped open. There wasn’t much left inside as Gramps had packed all of Gram’s dresses before she went back to Senior Heaven. Three pretty floral dresses still hung on the rod. They were the ones Gram wanted me to keep. I’d left them at the lake house knowing I’d never wear them. I so wasn’t a girly girl.

  I ran my hand along the top shelf to make sure I hadn’t missed anything and hit a small box wedged in the back. Maybe it was a box of Gramps’s love letters. I pulled the box down and put it on the vanity. When I took off the lid, instead of the love letters I expected, the box was crammed full of pretty little floral handkerchiefs.

  I picked thought the handkerchiefs admiring all the little embroidered flowers when a couple of photos fell to the floor. Goose bumps formed on my arms when I realized they were pictures of my mom and Father. How did they get here? I sat down on the bed and ran my finger along the photo of my mother’s smiling face. She looked so happy. I’d never seen her smile like that in my life. Father must have taken the picture. It was her special smile for him—the man she truly loved.

  The other two pictures were of them as a couple, their arms wrapped around each other laughing. My mother, with her light blond hair and pale blue eyes, contrasted nicely with Father’s auburn hair and piercing hazel eyes—the perfect example of opposites attracting. That didn’t even cover the fact that one was human and the other an alien. I looked so much like Father but I had my mother’s smile. I never realized it until now. If only I could find a way for my mother to be the happy person in the picture again. Then we’d have the mother-daughter relationship I had always dreamed of.

  The clock chimed six. Time for me to finish up and head off to have dinner with Father. I clicked Palmer’s earpiece to check and see if the new engine on the mothership was ready. I always liked keeping Father updated. At first just static filled the line. Man, this guy goes to the bathroom a lot. Then his thoughts began to come through. One of his men’s voices filled my earpiece. I’d heard it before—Palmer’s right-hand man. “Sir, despite how angry you are that Austin was captured, he did his job. With the humidity machine disabled we were able to get the ship timeline back on track.”

  Palmer voice sounded strained. “True, but he didn’t bring me Taylor. You know how vital possession of her is.”

  Why did he want me so badly? He said I was the key, but to what?

  “Sir, all is not lost. There is still time to apprehend her. I know just the person to do the job.”

  So Austin was right. Palmer would never give up trying to capture me.

  “I need her blood, you know that. This man better deliver.”

  My arms prickled. Was Palmer some kind of vampire?

  “He will, sir. Trust me. May I ask what you plan to do with the blood once you drain her body?”

  My head spun. He was going to drain my blood? But I was dead. I didn’t have any blood left to give, did I? A powerful pain shot through my skull. Then I heard Palmer’s voice. “Your blood is special. A mix of human and Katran. It is what will truly restore Heaven. “

  What the heck? Palmer snuck inside my mind? My whole body broke out in a sweat like I’d caught a fever.

  “Yes, I am. Your Katran powers are growing. You can receive thoughts now.”

  “Get out of my head!” I tossed the earpiece on the floor.

  He chuckled in my head. “You can’t get rid of me so easily, my dear. Aren’t you the least bit curious what I will do with your blood?”

  “But I don't have any, I’m dead.”

  “Of that you are mistaken. We Katran have great powers.”

  “Okay, say you can. What are you going to do with it?”

  “Dump it down a drain so your father can’t use it.”

  “What? My father wouldn't hurt me.”

  “I would be afraid of him if I were you. As a last resort to save his people he will bleed you dry himself.”

  ***

  Sabrina touched down in front of the palace. I hadn’t said a word the whole trip. My mind still reeled from Palmer’s words. He had to be messing with my head. No way would my father do such a thing to me.

  Sabrina tucked her wings back, then reached out and touched my face. “Don't let evil torment your mind.”

  “But that’s the problem. I can still feel him inside my head.” I gripped my temples like I could rip him out of my skull. “What am I doing here? I can’t go near Father now.”

  She gently pulled my hands off my face. “You can have dinner with your father as planned.”

  Was she crazy? “Everything I say Palmer will know.”

  She stared deeply into my eyes. “Do you trust me?”

  I nodded, which sent another tinge of pain to my temples.

  “I am your guardian am I not?”

  “Yes, you are. The best in Heaven.”

  Sabrina laughed. “Thanks, but I doubt that. There are thousands of us.” She held out her hands. “I believe I can stop Palmer from reading your mind. Will you let me try?”

  “Please!”

  Sabrina put her hands on my forehead and took a deep breath. “You should be able to feel him leaving your mind. Let me know if you do, okay?”

  I nodded and closed my eyes. At first all I just felt the warmth of her skin on my forehead. The heat quickly spread across the top of my head. Then I heard Palmer’s voice.

  “You won't be free of me for long.”

  My head spun even with my eyes closed. I leaned against Sabrina to keep from falling down. Her sweet voice called out to me. “Hold on, Taylor, just a bit longer.” The heat stopped and Sabrina pulled her hands back. “Do you feel him anymore?”

  I opened my e
yes and stared into her beautiful doll-like face. “You’re right. I felt him leave.” I wrapped my arms around her. The soft down of her wing feathers encompassed me like an angora blanket. “Thank you.”

  She tucked back her wings and let me go. “You’re welcome. Now go to your father.”

  I watched Sabrina stretch her wings getting ready for flight. So she had special powers hidden up her billowy sleeves. I wondered what else she could do.

  Sabrina took off but hovered near me for a moment. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Then she beat her wings hard and disappeared behind the palace spires.

  I better book it to the dining room fast. Father hated when I arrived late. By the time I made it through the dining room door, he’d already taken his seat at the head of the table. “My daughter, you are late.”

  “I was a bit preoccupied with something, Father.”

  “What is wrong? What caused your delay?”

  So he was finally letting me talk first. “Something happened when I visited the lake house. I listened to Palmer with the earpiece and somehow he entered my mind.”

  His shoulders tightened. “So you have finally gained the power to transfer thought.”

  I pulled out my chair and sat down. “Yes, although it came as a huge surprise to me. I don’t know how you get used to somebody talking to you inside your brain. It’s super scary.”

  “I’m sure it can be quite startling when you are not prepared for it. I will teach you how to control who enters your brain.”

  I lean back in the chair. “I sure hope so, because it’s not fair to rely on Sabrina to kick him out of my mind.”

  The cherubs came flying through the door carrying big silver trays laden down with my favorite foods. An especially chubby cherub placed a plate overflowing with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, and cranberry sauce down in front of me. Nothing screamed comfort food more than a Thanksgiving dinner. I breathed in deeply. The aroma of the gravy soothed my nerves.

  Father picked at his plate. "I'm sorry that you had to have that evil man inside your mind. I'm also sorry about what he said to you. It must have scared you.”