CHAPTER 33: Another awkward conversation
“Kids, I brought home Chinese for dinner,” Adam’s mom announced as she came in the door.
“Thanks! I’m starved, mom,” said Adam as he came into the room. He took the bags from his mom and went to the dining room to set everything out. Even having eaten three jumbo hoagies, five party sized bags of chips, a family sized box of cookies, and two cartons of orange juice just a few hours ago, he felt like his stomach was shrinking.
By the time his mom joined them, Adam’s plate was piled high and his legs were jumping in impatience while he waited. Emily was seated by his left, glaring death at him. Her leg kept kicking Adam in the shin without him even flinching. His father was across from Emily looking between the two with confusion.
“Adam, your school called and left me an odd message. They said they weren’t aware that anything was happening, and they will be issuing an apology to us. Something about needing to check with the legal department. I wanted to ask you if you know why, before I call them tomorrow,” his mom said as she sat down and served herself.
“Of course he knows why,” Emily said, venom dripping from her words. Then she kicked him again, which didn’t stop him from shoveling food into his mouth.
“Emily! Don’t kick your brother!” their mom snapped.
“He got arrested today! Tons of cops! He was taken off in front of the whole school!” Emily shouted.
“WHAT?!” both his parents yelled.
“Yeah! Five cop cars and like 20 policemen were there for it too,” Emily went on.
“Why would they arrest Adam?” his mother asked skeptically. Emily just glared at him, and the silence stretched.
“Did that really happen, Adam?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled in between bites.
“Why didn’t you call us?” demanded his dad, getting uncharacteristically angry.
“I handled it,” answered Adam.
“You handled it how?” threw in his mom.
Adam sighed and finished chewing. Then he looked his mom in the eyes. “It was their mistake. I showed them that and they let me go.”
“That still seems like a big deal. You should have called one of us,” his mom said while watching him.
“Let him go?!,” Emily scoffed. “He instead went with the cops to murder people.”
“That’s hurtful,” Adam said before putting more food into his mouth. “I protected people.”
“Maybe, but then you murdered three people,” Emily pushed.
“I’ve never killed a person,” said Adam.
“I’ve watched the videos. You killed tons.”
“Not one of them was a person.”
“They were all capable of thought and thus people,” insisted Emily.
Adam showed a reaction at that. He slammed his silverware onto the table and turned to his sister. His skin was showing the slightest shade of red as the air around his got warmer. “Maybe on their planet they were people, but here on earth they are below rodents,” he snarled.
“What are you kids talking about?” their mom shouted.
“Mom,” Emily burst into tears. “Adam made me stab a man today. I felt the knife pressed through his stomach.”
His parents didn’t know how to respond. The whole situation seemed absurd, and they figured they were missing something.
“Like I said,” growled Adam, showing more anger in his parents’ presence then they had ever seen before. “It wasn’t a man. It was an elf.”
His parents froze, staring at him.
“You made your sister stab an elf?” his dad asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” he responded.
“Where did you find an elf?” his dad tried following along.
“Market Street. There was a big incident down there.”
“You’re being serious about this?” his dad asked.
“Of course.”
“And why did you make her stab an elf?”
“To keep her safe. She needs to level,” he pointed to the tag above her head. “I told her not to come in the first place, but she was being stubborn and forced us to bring her. When I had the chance, I got her some levels so she could be safer.”
They all sat silently except for Emily’s crying. Eventually his mother addressed him.
“Why were you fighting elves to begin with?” his mom asked.
“Because if I hadn’t, then everyone there would have died,” he answered her, the disgusted scowl on his face taking his mother by surprise.
“You know what else?” demanded Emily. “All that blue paint,” she used air quotes, “that he keeps getting covered in, it’s really blood from people he murders.” Then she rushed out of the room and returned with a tablet, typing into it furiously. A video started playing and she dropped it in front of her parents. They stared, wide eyes as they watched the segment where Brandon was stabbed, and Adam leapt over everyone to fight off the assassins while Ed and Abbey healed him. Then it ended when Adam went off into the swarm of goblins by himself.
Horrified expressions sat on both his parent’s faces as they stared at the now inactive tablet. It took a while to gather their thoughts. Adam went back to eating, just eyeing everyone and waiting for whatever would happen next.
Ten minutes later his mom asked, “What did we just watch?”
“That was the second time we had fought goblins. We were trying to find their base. That was the day before everyone came over here when I was resting,” explained Adam.
More silence. Then, “THAT BOY COULD HAVE DIED!”
“Yes,” said Adam calmly, as if lecturing a child. “And he didn’t. The team learned from it then got stronger.”
“But what if he had?” demanded his dad.
“Doesn’t matter. He didn’t die and everyone got stronger from it. Including him. He is in a much better place now than before.”
“WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN YOU?” screamed his mom.
“Then I wouldn’t be here,” Adam said matter-of-factly. “But it would have taken a lot more than that to stop me.”
Emily smirked at him evilly. Then she grabbed the neck of his hoodie and pulled it down. “It DID happen to him. He was shot in the neck!” His parents gasped.
“How did you know about that?” he asked Emily with curiosity.
“Dumbass,” she snapped. “You were running around without a shirt today. I made Ed tell me. Couldn’t get him to show me the video though.”
“It's a gruesome video,” Adam nodded.
“H-h-how did you get that?” his mother shrieked.
“A policeman shot me in the neck last night.”
“LAST NIGHT?! How are you alive?!”
“I can regenerate. That’s why it’s a lot harder to kill me than Brandon,” Adam answered emotionlessly.
“Is that why the police arrested you today?” brought up his dad.
Adam squirmed in discomfort at that question. “Well, not exactly. Yesterday we finished clearing out the goblin base. It seems someone mind controlled the police to hunt me. It’s been a crazy week. Lots happened. We worked it out today. I was planning on sleeping in tomorrow.”
“Mind control?” his mom asked as she slumped in her seat.
“Yeah, but don’t worry. I helped a detective break it.”
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“Adam, I’m going to be honest. I have no idea how to parent this situation.”
Dissatisfaction filled Emily at him not being yelled at more, so she gave him a kick hard enough that she winced at the pain. Their dad looked at him and asked, “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“Not really. She's only level 4. It feels like a bit of pressure.” That caused Emily to scowl at him harder, so he went back to eating as much as he could.
A cell phone ringing in the kitchen caused their mom to get up. Her shoulders were slumped and there was no energy in the way she walked. When she returned from the kitchen, staring at her cell phone, she placed it on the table and turned the volume up.
“…this young group of heroes threw themselves into danger for no reward other than the thanks of the people they saved. After their arrival on the scene, zero casualties occurred. They even used their prodigious strength to…”
Adam tuned out the news report, though he shook his head when he listened to Tom’s sales pitch.
“My boss saw you on the news and sent me the link. I think we are going to need to delay the end of this conversation.”
“Good idea, mom. Right now I’m famished,” and then Adam proceeded to finish all the food they had gotten. “Is there anything else in the fridge?”
***
“This game is just too gruesome for me,” Adams mom said as she walked behind him through the living room. He was on the floor, sitting against a sofa playing Mortal Kombat. It was past noon, even though he had only been out of bed for half an hour. An empty gallon of orange juice sat next to him with a half-finished family sized box of corn flakes.
Better not watch more of my videos, Adam thought with a smirk, but was smart enough not to say. He just continued to move his controller, ripping up the network player in the matching arena system. His enhanced strength and speed seemed to help him play a little better as he picked up on timing easier and had better reflexes.
“Adam, can you please answer the door?” his mom called from the kitchen after the doorbell rang. He shrugged, put down the controller, letting the other player kill him since there is no pause, and went to the door.
“Hello, darling,” Andrea said as she walked in and planted a kiss on him. He felt very odd about it all. Abbey was who he considered his girlfriend, but Andrea and Alissa claiming it as well felt off to him. Yet as a teenage boy, he could barely keep his excitement suppressed, his hormones running wild at pretty girls wanting to be with him.
“Hello, boss,” Alissa said, making it sound like a tease, as she followed Andrea in. Her kiss was more forceful and stimulating.
Abbey didn’t say anything as she entered. More passion and tenderness came from her kiss, quite a difference from the previous one. Then she took one of his arms and hugged it. A pulse of happiness went out from him, through their connection, and he felt it returned through not just her, but all three of the girls.
Brittney came in next, but to Adam’s surprise, her head was down. She glared a bit at where Abbey was holding on to his arm, but otherwise didn’t even look at Adam. After that quick glance, Brittney blew out a breath like she was trying to brush off what was bothering her, then looked to the living room and walked on by the rest of them.
Adam watched Brittney go, but frowned at her back, not sure what was up with her. He hoped it wasn’t something that he had done. Amusement came through the connections from both Andrea and Alissa. Abbey’s connection carried sympathy through hers, and a bit of sisterly concern.
“I don’t have to kiss him, do I?” Gracie asked. Adam hadn’t even noticed her. She was so meek and restrained, almost hiding on the other side of the door. The Triple As all started laughing.
“No, no. We’re the General’s Wives, so we are greeting our husband,” Andrea answered with amusement.
“Ok, good. That was weird to watch. It looked like you were all talking without saying anything,” Gracie said as she slipped in the door and closed it.
“Adam has an ability to let us feel what the other feels,” summarized Abbey. “We were using emotions instead of words just now.”
“Like telepathy?” Gracie asked with a bit more interest.
“Yes,” answered Abbey. “The extra emotions feel wonderful.”
“Yeah, it makes us feel very close with boss,” said Alissa.
“That sounds amazing. Is it safe for me to try?” Gracie asked.
“Sure,” answered Abbey.
“It’s not dangerous, right? It won’t control me or make me fall in love?” Gracie asked in a rush, scared to offend them.
“It shouldn’t be dangerous, won’t control you, and he doesn’t control whether you fall in love,” answered Andrea.
“Is this really a good idea,” Adam whispered to Abbey. She just shrugged, so he turned to Gracie and asked if she was ready. She nodded. Back to Abbey he asked, “what should I send?”
“How about your confidence and determination, like when we battled the goblins.”
A thin tendril formed inside of him, and he reached to where Gracie’s inner space should be. The tendril was smaller than with the other girls’ since he didn’t want to overwhelm her or create a more permanent connection. The instant he established the connection a bombardment of her emotions pushed through it. He felt her anxiety and concern, her low self-esteem and doubt. There were so many negative emotions holding her back and flooding into him that he ended up using too much force as he thought about the goblins and pushed his own sense of determination and the confidence that he would overcome them into her.
The blood drained from Gracie’s face as her skin paled, and she stiffened, standing straight upright. Her eyes bulged as she stared into nowhere and her mouth began opening and closing without words forming.
“Did you hurt her?” asked Abbey, who reached out to flash a heal into Gracie.
“No, though it might have been a bit strong. She was so worried about everything that I unintentionally blasted it all away.”
“A-a-amazing,” Gracie suddenly shouted. Exuberance filled her as she looked at the whole group. “That was the most incredible thing in my whole life!” She shouted.
“Uh-oh,” muttered Alissa.
“You just made all my worries seem like they don’t matter,” she heaved breathlessly. “How is it possible to be so sure that you can handle it?”
Adam shrugged, “I don’t know. I was never one to doubt things, I just didn’t care. Once the [System] came something inside me told me with certainty that I would conquer.”
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I can’t believe how much better that made me feel about myself and life,” she gushed then gathered her breath. “And thanks for thinking I’m cute,” she added while blushing.
A shoulder slap from Abbey made him mutter, “I thought girls liked compliments, so I gave her one.” Then he gently closed the connection. Her expression became a little sad, but she seemed fine with it. The burst of confidence would probably give her something to hold on to for a while.
“Emily is in her room, if you want to join her,” he said.
“No thanks. I think I’ll stay here and see what happens. After that, I need some time to think.”
“Ok. What’re you girls doing here anyway?”
“I just wanted to see you, darling,” said Andrea. Alissa nodded.
“School was a mess. Between your arrest and the news videos showing us as heroes, no classes were happening. Everyone wanted to talk to us about joining the Sentinel Army or becoming one of the General’s Wives. Abbey looked like she was going to pull a knife and stab them. It’s a good thing she doesn’t have offensive magic,” Andrea explained further.
Alissa laughed. “Abbey threw a guy. I think he's on the football and wrestling teams, but I don’t know his name. No matter what we said he kept hitting on her, telling her he was as great as you. Then Abbey grabbed him with one hand and threw him over some desks. Everyone backed off after that. It was too funny!”
Abbey looked embarrassed by that. Adam turned a grin on her. “I like strong women,” he said while wagging his eyebrows, and she punched his shoulder before cuddling up to him again.
“It was the same for me. No one believed that I didn’t know you since I was in the videos. Andrea saw my classmates crowding me when she passed by and pulled me out of it,” said Gracie, going back to her quiet way of talking though using more words now.
The group headed to the living room, but another ring at the doorbell forced Adam to detach Abbey as he went to answer it. Only halfway opened, Carlos pushed his way through.
“Sup,” he said, walking past Adam and into the living room with the girls. Lamar also greeted him and then headed into the living room. Nick stopped in front of him holding quite a few deli bags, with William following behind.
“Hi, Adam. Seems like we all came to hang out. I assumed the girls were headed here too. School was rough. It might be worth taking more time off to let things settle. Everyone wanted to know more about you, us, and joining the army. I think everyone was watching the videos from the website. Anyway, I brought lunch. I’ll take them to the kitchen.”
“And you, Meat Shield?” Adam asked William.
William refused to meet Adam’s eyes and shuffled his feet. He mumbled, “My class all wanted to know how to join and fight invaders. I couldn’t keep up with it so I left my class and follow Carlos when they went to his car. After some time to think about it, you’re right. We need to stop the invaders.”
Without looking up, William nodded to himself and followed the others.
As Adam closed the door, a new hand shoved through to stop him. Tom, Lucas, and Ed were there.
“School too much for you too?” Adam asked.
“What? School? Who cares about that?” responded Tom, with Lucas nodding behind him. “Aliens are trying to take our homes and kill us. Why would we waste our time in school?”
“Ok, I see your point,” said Adam. “What are you doing here then?”
“After my great interview, we had to overhaul the website to handle all the requests. Brandy-boy and Elias spent all night helping Ed with it at my house. Lucas crashed there too so he wouldn’t have to put up with his dad’s crap at getting his rusty pick-up wrecked. My parents weren’t pleased, but they’re good people so I talked them into it. Then we dropped Brandon and Elias at the warehouse to work on the crystal. Randall and Joseph went with them for protection.”
“Good idea. I think there's a lot more to the crystal and that space than we know,” said Adam.
“I’d hope so,” laughed Lucas. “It’s a whole other dimension. There better be more to it.”
The four went to the living room, where everyone had made themselves at home. Carlos and Lamar were playing Mortal Kombat, while the girls were giggling and chatting. Emily had come downstairs at the noise and was hugging Gracie, with William sitting upright next to them, while glaring at Adam when he entered. Ed rushed to an empty seat, hugged his laptop, tilted his head back and almost immediately fell asleep. The girls made room for Adam to sit on a sofa with them, this time with Andrea and Abbey holding his hands, and Alissa sitting on the floor in front, resting her elbow on his thigh.
After a bit of time, Adam’s mom entered the room and looked at all the people.
“Why aren’t you all at school?” she asked, unsure if she needed to be strict mom or accommodating mom.
“They let us out on good behavior. Saving the town got us a merit badge,” said Tom sarcastically, earning him a head slap from Lucas.
“There was too much commotion because of what your bully of a son made us do yesterday,” said Nick, also joking.
“Yeah, you should punish him,” announced Carlos, earning laughs.
“Isn’t that the wives’ job?” Tom quipped, earning him another slap.
“What would the punishment even be,” wondered Carlos out loud.
“No murdering for a month,” Emily spoke with venom in her words.
“Emily!” chided Gracie, causing Emily to look shocked.
“You were the most upset at it!” she pointed out defensively.
“Yes, but now I understand why. He only wants us to stay safe,” Gracie said calmly, and without meekness.
“How did he get to you too? You were the most scared of him!” Emily stood up and stormed out of the room. His mom sighed, and Adam was sure she wanted to follow.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Clemens,” said Nick, changing the mood. “I brought food for everyone. There are hoagies stacked in the kitchen.”
“Thank you, Nick,” she said.
“I’m not sure one fridge is enough for us and the boss,” Tom joked.
Adam lifted his large box of corn flakes. “Don’t worry, I’m still working on breakfast.”
“Anyway, Adam, is anyone else going to be joining you?” his mother asked, once more looking around the full room.
“Actually, yes, mom. The police are on their way,” Adam said, which caused everyone to stiffen.
“Why are the police coming?” she asked with concern.
“No idea. Detective Baker, the guy from yesterday, texted me to see if you and dad were at home with me.”
“Is this going to be trouble,” she asked.
“If it is, I’ll handle it,” Adam said absently, surprised at how the atmosphere in the room got serious. “Not like that,” he added, waving everyone off so they could calm down. “Unless I have to.”