Chapter Ten
"1...2...3..." Three chest compressions bounced on my rib cage before two cold fingers pinched my nose and air blew into my mouth.
I coughed and spluttered and sat up. "If you'd really wanted to kiss me, you could've just asked. I would've complied."
"Oh thank God, you're alive!" Gavin gave me a large bear hug. "You had me convinced I'd lost you."
I patted his back. "I'm fine now, please stop worrying."
My consolations did little to clam him, and he didn't release his hold on me for several minutes. Though he was doing a good job of hiding it, I saw tears welling in his eyes. Together, the two of us sat on the edge of the water as it lapped back and forth against us. I sat with my legs spread out as opposed to Gavin sitting in his legs and leaning to hug me.
I rotated my head to his, and tried to comfort him with a gift to the lips the ocean's salt had scarred, giving them a rough jagged texture. Many people would find the rought texture unattractive, perhaps even repulsive, but coming from Gavin, it was a pleasant variation.
I found it odd Gavin was more worried than I was about death. I'd never really looked at death as something to avoid. To me, death was always an escape. I didn't know if or what was beyond death, but I felt any cognizant existence would be a welcomed change from the misery my life had been. I'd looked at death as a way to leave Hubert behind, but now that he was gone, I wondered who I'd leave behind.
Not having Jade would sadden me but the real torment would be the absence of Gavin. He was an enigma to me; I hadn't known him as long as 'd known Jade but somehow I'd felt a connection between us similar to the one created between the two prongs of a Jacob's ladder. If, in the horror I imagined only in nightmares were true, then my life would lose its value and my existence would cease; I'd be a cracked and battered egg shell in the compost pile after the yolk had been dropped into a sizzling frying pan. The thought nauseated me.
"What are these things on your arm?" Gavin turned my thin arm over between his thumb and forefinger as we leaned back against each other and the concrete pipe.
Gavin's asking about the cuts was worse than Mrs. Meeley asking about them. How would I explain it to him? I certainly couldn't convince him they were tribal markings or any of the other lies I fed people. He was too smart for that, besides, I couldn't mouth off to him with sincerity if I tried. Letting a sigh escape my lips before I explained, I tried to verbalize my past angst. "They're remnants of my former belief structure." That was the best answer I could come up with, though it was far from the whole answer. Years were too sparse in the short time I had with him.
"I understand it's a tremendous request I have for you, but could you promise to try not to cut yourself anymore?" He asked. "For me?"
I nodded and placed my head on his chest. Though my response was silent, I intended to make it worthwhile. Only for Gavin could I make the commitment to stop draining my sorrows; I'd known I needed to stop but I couldn't do it for myself. I wasn't worth such a change.
"Thank-you," Gavin kissed my forehead. "Now, onto a cheerier topic. Would you like to be amused by the cliched yet popular portrayal of the media?"
"As teenagers of opposing genders sitting alone on a sandy beach, we're perfectly capable of amusing ourselves, but at such a young age, and without a fancy certificate signed by a preacher to hang on a wall, such entertainment would be rather abstruse." I remarked.
"So watching interactive internet television sounds better than other frivolities?" Gavin smiled. "Don't take this personally but I'd prefer not spend the afternoon as the average teenage couple does."
I nodded in approval. "Would you hand me my laptop also?"
Gavin reached with his leg and picked up my laptop bag with his dexterous toes. His handy feet then retrieved his messenger bag. With his personal computer setting in his lap, Gavin found something worth watching. He and I snuggled together together to watch the program.
Interactive internet television was an innovation that came about only when the interplanetary economy became based solely off the internet. Libraries had already converted their books to the internet, and except in rare, isolated areas, they didn't exist as actual buildings so it was only natural for everything else to be online. This television service let the viewers explore different camera angles, behind the scenes shots, or in the case of a documentary, the evidence that supported the claims being made. Being based off the internet,, it could be waqtched from any computer but usually, a three dimensional hologram was the optimum viewing platform.
"Since Christmas of last year, the number of people declared missing has grown exponentially. Surprisingly, the number of ppeople claiming extra-terrestrial intervention has also grown. Is there a connection? Our research seems to confirm the possibility.
"From those we've interviewed, we've come to the realization that one out of every twelve families who filed a missing persons report believe their loved ones were taken by beings not of this Earth. If the figures sound a little low, the number of people who admitted the possibility of alien abduction in November of last year was one out of every 257. Somehow the numbers seem a little off. For a complete list and details of the surveys, see the provided statistics." An invitation to examine the surveys popped up in the lower left portion of the screen. "as of that weren't enough, a third of those surveyed admitted a fear of governmental intervention if the information leaked. Disturbing? There's more still.
"Critics of conspiracy theorists claim that anyone can become an expert when under the influence of the hypnotic power of suggestion or the suple texture of fresh cash in hand, but for them, we go to the common people for answers. As tempting as it might be to hire a writer to give us a scenario that could make us a profit, the truth is stranger than fiction.
"From cities as far apart as Moscow and Montreal, the testimonies are the same. People all describe erect tripedal insect-like creatures with three arms and standing about five feet tall; some claim they resemble snowmen. These creatures seem to have a black leathery skin, though sightings have been seen of similar creatures with an orange eggshell-like covering. We know that if these creatures exist, they're indeed sentient; they fly around in wire ornothopters or spacecraft similar to the archaic Boeing passenger jets of days passed.
"The first documented case we have of these things comes from an audio recording we almost discarded. At first, we assumed it to be just qanother hoax but how often do hoaxes have the support of entire police forces, backwoods hunters, store employees, and other segments of concrete proof? Not many.
"The beauty of this recoding isn't necessarily in the support it has, but in the story it tells. Almost as if to rebuke another critic's cliche, the recording speaks of the aliens and the conspiracies. Combined, those two parts make for an overwhelming display of irony, yet the evidence behind it makes it irrefutable."
My stomach was slowly churning, but my agony could only be exacerbated.
"The holy grail of otherworldlyess even offers to name the creatures. Sir Harold McLeod, the world-renowned, self-proclaimed telepathic mind reader who abandoned his fame and riches for the desolate life of a hermit he'd found near Glenwood, North Dakota, was the one who actually named the creatures. He claimed to have spent a lot of time with the creatures and that in our confining linguistic muscle twitches, the creatures are called Catrions."
Gavin clicked on the link to pause the show and listen to the recoding. Though it had seemed impossible, I grew sicker but managed to hide my fear beneath the guise I'd perfected over the years. While the audio file I'd created played, the memories of the event acted like the film that went with it. Hubert's face melted before my eyes, then the man who was speaking on the computer ran stark naked from the woods. It was all unfolding just as it had that cold Christmas Eve. When I knew it was coming, I realized I had to stop Gavin from listening to the recording.
"Can we go back to the original program? This is boring" I kissed his neck. "Please?"
Gavin gave my request a moment's thought, during which, I planted another kiss. Relief was mine thanks to the mastery of my affections over his male existence. He was a slave to my power and with the slightest twitch, I could change his thoughts and actions to my every whim.
"Since the Catrions had been named, they'd been spreading from North Dakota outwards until they'd been seem across the Great Plains of North America and into Mexico. Sightings have also occurred in Europe, Australia, parts of Asia, and along the equator. These sightings weren't like the once mythic Sasquatch; they were accompanied by abductions. According to our statistics, the Catrions have taken hundreds, if not thousands, of people without the hope of return. Recent trends seem to indicate the Catrions have a preference on who they take,; they seem to want females under the age of thirty-five, particularly those who could be expecting.
"What this means, we can't be certain. Technically, we don't even know the alleged Catrions are behind the disappearances; the federal government doesn't even acknowledge their existence. All we know if these things are true, is that the world, but especially young and possibly pregnant females, should be cautious."
"Sounds fake to me." Gavin mumbled.
"I don't know," I didn't pause for dramatic effect, but because the content of the program was beginning to sink in. "Some of it had validity."
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