ID + 1 Day

The wind was whirling around her. Sounds coming all around, trying to make it into words, trying to talk to her. But she could understand it not. None of it.

Or was it talking to someone else, to itself, or the other wind that blew harder, chillier, made her shiver?

Then she imagined what it would be saying to her, and then suddenly, it all made sense.

“I told you, she may not understand, she is not ready. Oh, why did someone as great as Tronoraniuz consider her worthy…?”

“I know. How anyone, a mere youngling of 18 can be summoned to the light when sometimes it takes thousands of years for the right candidate to be groomed?”

“So, that’s what I am, just a mere youngling?” she protested to the wind, her face frowning, her words lashing out as if made of ice, her breath as if made of storm wind.

Suddenly everything quieted down, and then one of the winds responded. “Not really. Obviously, not really…”

“Yes… it seems she's so much more. More trouble is what I say..." the other contested

“What do you want from me?” she yelled back at them.

But before they formed words, she lashed out some more. “And don’t give me a crappy answer that nobody can understand! I don’t plan to spend thousands of years or anything else to figure things out. I want an answer, a clear answer right now!”

The winds howled less fiercely, whistling dying down, now like a summer night breeze, refreshing, almost pleasant to Tala’s ears.

“What do you want from yourself?”

She was ready to protest, but the wind swiftly added before she could say anything. “If we want the same thing, then we may travel together. If we do not, then… it was still nice meeting you. So, then, what do you want? If you know the answer to that, you will know half of the answer already.”

“Want… to be fine…”

“But... You’re already fine.”

“Want to have control over my own life. Want enough power so that others can’t hurt me. Or my brother…”

“Well, there you have your answer. Do that. Gain power. We can provide the means for you to get stronger and… smarter… since you really cannot even grasp how ignorant and undeveloped you are right now.”

“Fine. If that is what is going to do it, fine…” Tala said.

“So, then, our paths might align again… And who knows, maybe in a few hundred years, you’ll get to meet us again.”

“In this life or one of the other ones,”

“Be warned, the gate has been opened and the dark things are coming.”

“What dark things?”

“Creatures. You’ll be able to see them. Fight them. The Earth is not their home. Destroy them, and earn your Class. And grow.”

Suddenly, Tala realized she could not breathe anymore. She opened her eyes and saw her brother towering over her, holding a hand over her nose.

Fully annoyed, she slapped his hand away and got herself free to breathe in some much-needed air.

“I’m sorry. I tried shaking you but you were so completely out,” he said defensively.

“Really?”

“Yes. And you were talking while you slept.”

“Yeah? What did I say?”

“Nothing that made sense. It was so weird… So freaky!”

“Shit,” she said and rubbed her head. She remembered everything, even the sensation when her skin shivered when the winds raged with vigor.

No. It was not a dream. Didn’t feel like a dream. It was… something, something I just can not understand.

Maybe that’s how they communicate. What the fuck did I get myself into?

She looked around herself. They were still inside the private jet, flying somewhere over the Pacific. She rubbed her eyes, looking at all the blue water outside.

Her brother went back to the plush beige leather sofa he used as a bed and covered himself again with a thin blanket. He closed his eyes and said, “Could not even sleep how much you were yelling. I thought you were possessed or something.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“No, I’m fine,” she insisted and got up to get something to drink.

A small kitchen had a fully-stocked refrigerator, and she picked a can of orange soda.

After finishing it off, she went for another one.

Turning around to see the inside of the plane better she realized how fast she passed out once they took off.

She realized she needed someone to talk to, someone to bounce off her ideas and thoughts. Her eyes went to her brother, but he seemed not ready to open his eyes again.

I should let him sleep. He was through so much. Besides, he’d have like a million questions, and I do not know if I could answer any of them.

“I’m hungry,” his words reached her. “Like for some real food. I’ve already checked, they only have crackers here. Like, they’ve got like a hundred million dollar plane here, but can’t even get a ball of noodles here?”

“Yeah, I know. Did you try talking to a pilot? Maybe they know where they hold it.”

“No,” he said, covering himself up to his chin. “I would not be surprised if there is no pilot, and we are… like completely screwed up.”

Tala sighed and went to knock on the pilot’s cabin.

A young man in his late twenties opened the door swiftly, smiling at her.

“Yes?” he asked “What can I do for you?”

Over his shoulder, she could see an older guy piloting the plane, turning his head around and greeting her with a smile and a head nod.

“Looking for some food. The kitchen seems to be all empty.”

“We left in a hurry, so no proper meals were brought in, but there should be something to eat in the cabinet next to the bathroom.”

“You mean, not in the kitchen?”

“No. It’s on the other end. I can look it up for you. They always have some sandwiches there.”

“No, no need to worry. I’ll look it up. And sandwiches could do just fine,” Tala said and turned her back to him.

“Yeah, there are pilots in there. Two of them,” she said as she passed next to her brother.

There were three doors in the plan’s back. One was the master bathroom with a really fancy shower. “I guess it pays off to have money, huh?” she muttered to herself.

The second door was the bedroom with a queen-size bed in there. “Hey, didn’t you see? There is a whole bedroom in here? You dumb ass!”

“Yes,” said the voice behind her, and she turned around to see the young copilot smiling at her. “You both were so passed out after we took off, we did not care to wake you up and ask you if you wanted to go and sleep there.”

“Oh,” Tala said.

“Usually there is a stewardess on board who shows you around and takes care of you, but we left in such a hurry, she could not make it to the airport on time. Sorry,” he said as he opened the third door, opening cabinets left and right.

“No problem.”

“Oh, there it is,” he said as one of the doors proved to be the fridge. It also was fully stuffed. “I do not know how long they’ve been in there,” he said as he picked a few well-wrapped sandwiches out of there.

“I’ll take one unless it’s growing green inside,” Chitto yelled from the couch.

“Well..” The man started to speak, but Tala interrupted him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “He’s just trying to impress you. He ate worse things than spoiled sandwiches, some stuff people would be afraid to even smell it. Don’t worry, it won’t kill him.”

“Okay,” the man said, suddenly not sure how to answer. “I’ll go back to the cockpit then. We’re landing in San Diego in an hour. So… suit yourself.”

After they finished all the sandwiches, they realized that maybe they should have offered some to the pilots.

“Well, they can have crackers,” Tala said and shrugged her shoulders.

“So… are you okay?” Chitto asked her as he sat next to her.

“I think so.”

“What exactly is going on?” he asked. “And why are you not giving me a straight answer?”

“Oh, Chitto, come on!” she protested right away.

“Don’t get angry. That’s not… like you.”

“You’re right. But…the truth is I do not know a whole lot.”

“You do know a whole lot more than I do.”

“True, but… I think if I tell you something and that proves to be wrong, would you forgive me?”

“Okay…”

“Okay, what?”

“Tell me, and then I’ll make up my mind.”

Tala sighed deeply. She knew this moment had to come. She had to give him something, anything. And it had to be as close to the truth as possible. Cost her marks or not.

“Look,” she said, carefully weighing her words, “I think there are aliens…”

After saying it, she stopped and stared at him.

Chitto looked at her, looked through the window, frowned, and answered. “Of course there are aliens. Did you ever think that the whole space was empty?” he asked. “Who’s a dumb ass?”

“No, Chitto, I’m serious,” she said.

“Why are we going to the States?”

“To meet someone who wants to meet me.”

“Is he going to kill you?”

“If he wanted me dead, I don’t think I would be breathing now.”

“Okay… okay. Well, can I meet this alien guy too?”

“I… do not know if he is alien. But… something is weird for sure.”

“I know. You already told me… about your infection,” he said.

Tala did not want to say anything else, just stared at Chitto, hoping that was enough for him, waiting for Chitto to ask her a million other questions and for the system to kick in with the new Penalty. But nothing happened. Other than Chitto going for another drink and Tala deciding that she better hit the can before they land.

The first surprise was that they did not land at a major airport but a small, private plane airport outside the city.

Then, Tala and Chitto were both surprised when the young copilot helped take them to the small Immigration desk where their passports were screened and stamped in less than a minute.

It was early in the morning and hardly anyone was up yet. A cleaning crew, security, and two dark sedans driving away after picking up a few Asian travelers.

“I was told that someone was going to be here to pick you up,” the copilot said, looking at the pickup lane that was empty of any cars.

“Let me make a call,” he said as Tala and Chitto just stared at him with nothing to say.

After seeing the young copilot walking away a few steps and talking something quietly on the telephone, she said. “Maybe I should call Howey.”

“Yeah? You think we could?” Chitto said, thinking about their phones. “Maybe they have Wi-Fi here.”

But the copilot returned swiftly and with a smile said, “The driver is a few minutes away. He should be here shortly. If you want… I can wait with you here.”

“No,” Tala said and waved him goodbye. “We’ll wait for him.”

“Okay,” the man said and added his polished goodby salutation. “You have yourself a nice stay in San Diego and hope to see you soon.”

Tala watched him scurry over the road toward the parking lot, thinking if his car was one of the pickups there.

“I knew it,” she said, watching him climb in the red one.

Chitto suddenly pulled her by the sleeve and jerked her even harder.

“Look, zombie,” he said and Tala followed his extended arm and finger, pointing in the direction of a person that just came out of the delivery van.

She looked hard at the man approaching them and suddenly was not sure if Chitto was right or not.