Chapter 30
That morning, Ty woke up from his long, long sleep. He felt like never before, but somehow he knew that he was still human, that they hadn’t altered his genes in any way. He still thought like a human being and felt like a human being. The only changes that he experienced were changes in his mind and in his emotions. He was no longer troubled and he no longer had a vendetta against all women in the world. He noticed that he was wearing fresh, clean clothes. He had to get a change of clothes because he’d been underground for many hours and his clothes stunk. Amazingly, he’d been bathed and changed. He got up from the platform and started exploring the lab. He didn’t remember any of it, anything that happened after his death. Just for a few moments, he remembered his brutal beating and he knew why these guys had done this to him. Still, he didn’t feel rancor for them, but he didn’t feel any remorse, either. It was like he’d been reborn, and he felt happy and peaceful. Suddenly, he received a surprise. Victoria walked into the lab with both hands on her back and started walking closer and closer to him. After sleeping on a special, very-comfortable couch in the lab and watching him at the same time, Victoria got up that morning two hours before he did. She’d already taken a shower, gotten a change of clothes, and eaten some breakfast. She was wearing some clothes that Selena had given her, which fit her perfectly because she and Selena had the same body type. Victoria was one of few human women who had perfect-looking and completely-healthy bodies. Her body was as physically perfect as that of a female alien, and that was one of the reasons why Ty was so fascinated with her when they were together, why he would never let her go, and why he was overly possessive when he saw her even talking to another guy. That was one of the events that would usually lead to a brutal beating from him to her. She would talk to another guy, he would become jealous, and unleash all his fury on her. Just like Dr. Sherman had hoped, he was a different man now. No one would recognize him when they noticed the brusque changes in his personality. Some people would even think that they were talking to an alien who looked exactly like him, and not to the real Ty Johnson. They would soon be convinced however that they were wrong, thus the only things that had changed in Ty’s personality were his flaws. The few good qualities that he had before, they still remained there. In fact, they’d become one thousand times stronger.
“Victoria, I thought I’d never see you again. What are you doing here?”
“I heard that Dr. Sherman brought you back to us, so last night I came here to talk to you for a little while and see how you were doing, but you were in a very, very deep sleep and we didn’t get to talk. My classes started almost two and a half hours ago but I haven’t gone to school because I was waiting for you to wake up. Fortunately I finished all my homework before coming over.”
“How have you been?”
They sat down on the couch together. “I can’t lie. I’ve been terrible. I am still doing very well in school, but I am crushed because my brother’s in a mental hospital as a result of what happened, which I’m sure you remember…”
“Yes, I had a flashback just now.”
“Well,” she continued and then gave a sigh, “my brother faced trial for first-degree murder, but the jury declared him innocent by reason of insanity, and well, our friends were convicted of involuntary manslaughter.”
“So he’s very remorseful, huh?”
“William, oh, yes! He can’t stop wishing that he hadn’t laid a hand on you, and what you were putting me through, well, let’s just say that it hit him pretty hard, too. It was just too much for him, two blows straight to the heart in one day. He couldn’t handle it.”
“I’m sorry for everything that’s happened.”
“I am sorry, too, Ty. I didn’t mean for our relationship to end this way. In fact, I didn’t mean for our relationship to end at all. As much as I abhorred you, part of me deep down was still hoping that you would change and that’s why I never broke it off.”
“I had an extremely weird way of showing it,” Ty said, “but I’ve always loved you, Victoria. You are the only woman that I’ve ever loved, and I hope we can still be friends. I hope you don’t kick me out of your life.”
“I won’t. Why do you think that I’m here? If I didn’t care about you I wouldn’t be here with you right now, don’t you think?”
Seth was watching them slightly from afar in the big lab, and they couldn’t see him.
“I’m not in love with you.”
“I’m not in love with you, either, Ty, not anymore.”
“But I still love you. I still care about you a lot, more than you’ll ever know. You occupied a big piece of my heart and I can’t just tear it off me, you know? It’s my heart.”
“I feel the same way about you. Moving on, are you going to school today?”
“No. I’m planning to take the day off. I need some rest and some time to relax. I was wondering if you could bring me my assignments…Oh, that’s right, I am so, so far behind…”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get caught up in no time. Besides, it’s only been a few days. You are a great student. You’re a very bright man. Most people who know you envy your extraordinary intelligence despite being human.”
“You’re the same way, you know that?”
She laughed.
“That was one of few things we had in common. I think that’s why our relationship didn’t survive, though.”
“Yes, that’s too bad, but oh, well, what can we do? I will be glad to bring you all your missing assignments and I’m sure that when your professors find out that you’re back with us, they’ll be eager to let you make up your work. You know that you were the favorite student of all your professors.”
“Yes, that’s true, and I don’t mean to brag.”
“I know.”
“I affirm it because they’ve told me that countless times. It’s horrible that instead of focusing on my good side and letting it grow and become stronger, I fed my bad side.”
“Yes, but you don’t have to worry about that anymore because after today, you won’t have a bad side.”
“I hope not.”
“Oh, I am one-hundred-percent sure about that. If you can’t take my word for it just ask Dr. Sherman.”
“I will.”
She shook his hand and after a few minutes of silence and looking into one another’s eyes, she said, “Well, I am going to go now. I have to go home and pick up my books, my notebooks, and my mini laptop and then I have to go to school. As soon as my classes are over for today I’ll take some of my time to collect your make-up work and then I will bring it to you. I just have to know where you’re going to be this afternoon, if you’re going to be at your dorm or if you’re going to be here.”
“I am planning to be here. I want to get to know the Sherman family a little better. They gave me one more chance, and I’m very grateful to them. I don’t think I can just say ‘thank you’, walk out of here and go on like this had never happened.”
“That’s sweet, Ty. I have to go now.” They shared a friendly hug. “I will see you this afternoon around four, God willing.”
“I’ll see you later, Victoria.”
Victoria finally walked out of the lab while Seth was still standing there. When Seth got Ty alone, he walked closer to him and started looking him deeply in the eyes to know what he was thinking and how he was feeling. “How are you doing?”
“I’m better than I’ve ever been in my whole life,” Ty replied, “thanks to your father and you.”
“Don’t forget to visit your parents. They’re waiting for you.”
“I know. I’m only going to visit them for a few minutes later tonight because I have a lot of missing assignments to finish. How are you doing in school? I hear you’re still going to school.”
“I practically just started, and I’m only a few months from finishing my career.”
“That’s great. You aliens are so lucky. I’m sure we all wish we could do that.”
Seth laughed. Aliens didn’t like being envied because they strongly felt that if we really wanted to and if we did our best, we could be as good, talented and intelligent as they were, if only we used as much of our brains as they did, which was one hundred percent. He dismissed the subject because he didn’t want to go into a debate over something so small. “So, you want some breakfast?”
“Yes, that would be nice, sure. I’m hungry.”
“What do you want to eat? Tell me and I will have Ethan prepare it for you, anything you want.”
“I want to stay in shape, so I’m just going to have a ham sandwich made with wheat bread, low-fat milk, and some orange juice.”
“I know where you’re coming from.”
“I am aware of that,” replied Ty, smiling.
“Still, you can eat anything you want to without worrying about your weight, as long as you continue to exercise like you’ve been doing. Pretty soon, you won’t have to exercise to maintain a healthy weight, just to keep your heart healthy. Your body’s still changing.”
“I can only imagine.” And it scares me. “Did you have breakfast?”
“No, I haven’t. I was waiting for you to wake up.”
“Wow,” said Ty, “it seems like everyone in this house has stopped doing what they were doing to wait for me to wake up. You’re making me feel like I’m the king of the world.” Ty couldn’t help laughing.
“As a matter of fact, yes, everyone in this house put their activities on hold to wait for you to wake up.”
Ty laughed again. “This is unbelievable.”
“We were worried about you. We wanted to make sure that everything would turn out perfect.”
“Let me guess. Dr. Sherman hasn’t gone to work yet because of me.”
“You guess right.”
“Oh, my God, are you for real?” They walked out of the lab together in a matter of minutes. “It’s all about Ty, isn’t it, Seth? Is Seth your name?”
“Yes and yes.”
Ty couldn’t stop laughing.
Daniel met Ty and Seth in the dining room while they sat down to eat breakfast. They hadn’t asked what they wanted yet, but Ethan was already making it for them. “How are you doing, Mr. Johnson?”
“I’m doing great, Dr. Sherman, and I hope you are, too,” Ty replied, smiling.
“I am. Thank you.”
“How many patient appointments have you missed because of me?”
“Ty, you’re Dad’s patient, and we all care about you. We want nothing but the best for you,” Seth said.
“Actually, I haven’t missed any of my appointments with my patients because I just called my secretary and had her rescheduled all of the appointments I had in the morning time. God willing, those patients are going to see me next week in the early morning, and everything will be perfect, so you don’t have to fuss about that.”
“I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me.”
“Yes, you can, and you can do it by being good to others, not getting in trouble.”
“I promise that I’m going to do just that.”
“It won’t be very hard. Actually what’s going to be hard is being evil. Now you’re the man you were always meant to be and you’ll take advantage of all the gifts that the Creator gave you.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It’s the truth. Well, now that I know that you’re doing very well, I can go to work,” Daniel said.
“Do you mind if I stay here a little while longer and rest? I am not going to school today.”
“Actually, you do have to stay here a little while longer. My men will be watching you. They should be here any minute now. They are going to monitor your progress to make sure that nothing went wrong, make sure that your body now has the ability to heal itself more quickly than others.”
“That’s great. That’s just great.”
“I know, isn’t it?” Dr. Sherman saw two cars entering the gate of the mansion. “Oh, my boys have just arrived.”
“How many are there?”
“It’s only Ethan, Aaron and Alexander.”
“Alexander? I know Alexander.”
“Yes, and I know he’s going to be very happy to see you again. Ok, no more stalling, I am going to go now.” Daniel walked out of the mansion, greeted his boys at the entrance, and a few minutes later, he was gone.
Aaron, Alexander and Ethan entered the mansion and then they found the patient they had to take care of, Ty, in the entertainment room, watching an action movie in DVD. Daniel had told Ty that during the time he would be here, he could do anything he wanted, but at some time in the early afternoon, he had to take a nap so that they could know how Ty was sleeping now, what dreams he was having. The guys sat beside Ty in the sectional sofa.
“How are you doing?” said Alexander.
“Alex, I can’t believe it!” Ty said, shaking Alexander’s hand. “You’re working for Dr. Sherman now! Are you making a lot of money?”
“Oh, yes, we are, but that’s because the government requires that we get paid for what we do, because it’s a big deal to them, but in reality, we’re not doing it for the money. We’re doing it for Dr. Sherman.”
“May I ask you a question, Alexander, and you won’t get offended?”
“Of course, man, you can ask me anything. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are. What I want to ask is if you’re…if you’re still human?”
“I’ll tell you the truth. No, I am not.”
“So you’re no longer human.”
“None of us are,” replied Aaron.
“Oh, that’s just wonderful…”
The guys laughed.
“And I’m not being sarcastic.”
“We know that.”
“Oh, right… you guys...I am not going to lie to you. I’m very afraid. For some reason, even when I know for sure you are all good and sweet and that your intentions with us are the best…it is scary for me to be aware of the fact that I am the only human being in this house.”
The guys laughed again. “Well, you don’t have anything to be afraid of,” Aaron replied. “We’re here to help you, to make sure you’re okay.”
“Yes, Dr. Sherman told me that. He told me that I have to take a nap around one or two o’clock, tops, so you know what’s going on in my mind, kind of like a sleep evaluation like they do at some hospitals…I don’t know…”
“Yes, but what we’re going to do is very different from what those people usually do because we won’t need any machines to check your sleep patterns because we’ll visualize your dreams. It’ll be like we’re connected to you and we’re dreaming the same things you’re dreaming. We reckon that you dream from the moment you fall asleep to the moment you wake up, so much so that most of the time, your dream is not over by the time you wake up,” Aaron explained.
“Oh, yes, I know that better than anyone. Sometimes I dream that I’m going to die in a terrible way, either falling off a building or someone’s following me or something, and when they’re about to catch me, or when I’m about to hit the ground, I wake up, hyperventilating. It is a horrible, terrifying experience. However, last night, I didn’t have any of those usually-recurrent dreams. I didn’t have any nightmares at all as a matter of fact.”
“I think the reason why you couldn’t stop dreaming about your own horrible death was because you were destined to die very early in your life. When did you start having these dreams?” Ethan said.
“I’ve been having them for about a year now.”
“You see that?” said Alex. “There you go. Death was coming your way and you couldn’t stop dreaming about it.”
“However, I never dreamed about anyone beating me to death.”
“Ah, that’s because you were receiving the message that death was coming, but your mind didn’t let you know exactly how you were going to die. Your death was horrible and unexpected, but hey, you’re back,” Alexander got up, “and I think that’s worth celebrating.” He went to the kitchen. He wanted to make an apple pie. When Alex prepared a dish, he would actually do it from scratch, and very quickly, too.
“Oh, come on, guys,” said Ty.
Aaron and Ethan patted him on the shoulder.
“This morning everybody stopped doing what they were doing just to wait for me to wake up. I was the only thing on their minds, and you’re going to make me feel this way again?”
“I never thought it would bother anybody to be the center of attention, the center of other people’s universe,” commented Aaron, laughing. He knew what Ty meant, but he wanted to toy with his mind a little and at the same time let him know how wonderful it was to be the center of other people’s universe.
“No, it doesn’t bother me, eh…”
“My name is Aaron, Aaron Everhart.” Aaron was Nurse Everhart’s younger brother. Nurse Everhart’s parents had him during the experiment that took place when Mark and Matt Manning were only hours from being released from TOTS. Nurse Everhart’s father was an alien and he’d been on TOTS for quite some time, but for some reason, Nurse Everhart was born human without anyone having to mess with her parents’ genes to make that happen. Aaron shook Ty’s hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Same goes to you, my friend,” replied Ty. “Aaron. Wow, you’re extraordinarily handsome. You all are.”
“Do we have to take you to the nearest mirror?” Aaron snapped. “I’m more than ready to do that.”
Ty laughed. “I know you aliens hate being envied because you think that we don’t have anything to envy you for…”
“You don’t have anything to envy us for,” Aaron reaffirmed.
“But we just can’t help it, especially me.”
“It wouldn’t have bothered me if it had been just a compliment. Nonetheless, I know it wasn’t. It won’t be long until you are just like us, until the only thing that we won’t have in common is our physical appearance and our real anatomy. Everything else is going to be exactly the same, so I don’t fuss.” Aaron sat back in the sofa, and took his shoes off and placed his feet on the coffee table.
“I like this conversation, Aaron. Can you tell me the secret to have the same abilities that you guys do?” said Ty, smiling.
Aaron smiled back. “All you have to do is use your whole brain instead of just ten percent of it.”
“And how do we do that?”
Aaron smiled again. “Do you really want me to tell you?”
Aaron and Ty conversed for a little while longer and Aaron told Ty what he wanted to know. He thought the secret to supernatural power while still remaining human was simple, but it was actually earth-shattering, something that Ty couldn’t handle. Ty could easily become famous by releasing all of this information in the form of a book, but right now, he just didn’t have the mind to even contemplate doing that. He didn’t know what to do with that so he just set it aside for a while, until he could figure something out so that this would benefit other humans and not benefit him personally, generating lots of cash for him. This information was priceless. It was thirty minutes past eleven now, and Alex set the apple pie on the coffee table just in case Ty wanted to share it with them while watching TV instead of just eating it in one of a few dining rooms in the mansion. Alex looked Ty in the eyes and instantly learned that he was worried about something.
“Is something wrong, Ty?”
“It’s not a big deal, you know?” said Aaron, smiling.
“To me it is, Aaron, and to mankind as a whole.”
Aaron laughed.
“What is going on?” asked Alex, looking both Ty and Aaron in the eyes.
Nothing could wipe Aaron’s smile off his face.
“Hey, Ty, do you mind going to the kitchen and making us some lemonade? It could be coffee, but you can’t have any because you have to take a nap within an hour and a half exactly. I’d like to be alone with Aaron for a few minutes.”
“Sure,” said Ty and got up. “No problem.” Ty got out of the entertainment room and walked the hallways to the gigantic kitchen. Ethan was in his room in the mansion reading a horror novel that he’d just gotten in the mail after ordering it online.
Alexander sat beside Aaron. “You told him something that he can’t handle and now he’s on edge—again. I’d like to know what you told him.”
“It was no biggie like I told him. I just told him the secret to supernatural power.”
“Oh…”
“He thinks it’s oh such a big deal and something out of this world because he thinks that this is going to lead humans to be as powerful as God is.”
“He doesn’t know that no matter what we do, we will never be as powerful as God, not even us, much less them. Did you tell him that?”
“I’m afraid he didn’t quite give me a chance.”
“Well, we are just going to have to prove to him that things are not going to be quite like he imagines. The process of reforming his mind and making it stronger is still not complete. That’s more than obvious. We have to be careful not to tell him things that will impact him.”
“It’s too late. I’ve already messed up.”
“No, don’t do that to yourself. I know we make mistakes, too, but you didn’t make a mistake. You didn’t mess up. You know why? It’s because his mind is going to become stronger. By tonight at midnight, he’ll be able to handle any news, anything he’s told, and nothing will shock him. What you just told him, he’ll start to see things the way they really are. He’s not going to get any ridiculous ideas anymore. Within a few years, we’re going to get all humans to have the supernatural power they’ve always wanted, and they’re going to be able to do things that they can’t even imagine or contemplate today. I think they deserve it, although many humans are evil, but soon, that’s going to change also.”
“Ok,” said Aaron. “I am just going to wait and see what happens.”
“It’ll only take a few more hours and he’ll figure everything out, I promise. He will decide not to do anything with the information that he’s been given just yet. In due time, he’ll know what to do because the day will come that humanity will discover this secret, and he’ll be the one to reveal it, just not right now, so we don’t have to worry about that right now. Let’s just do what Dr. Sherman instructed us to do, keep an eye on his dreams, make sure his mind is better and better by the minute, and then we’ll just sit here and see what happens next, ok? You did nothing wrong.” Alex patted Aaron on the back. “He would’ve found this out anyway, through anyone else. You weren’t the only one who could’ve told him. No secret ever remains hidden on this earth. Secrets always come out, and the biggest ones, the ones that change people’s lives forever, those are the ones that come out more quickly and causing an even bigger impact, ok?”
“All right,” Aaron said. Suddenly he got an idea. “Hey, why don’t we tell Dr. Sherman what just happened? He doesn’t mind us interrupting him. He’s always here for us. We could ask him for help, ask him for some advice. He always knows what to do.”
“If you think that’s the best thing we could do.”
“He always solves our problems.”
“Yes, you’re right. He always helps us when we’re stuck, and the only reason we’re stuck right now is because we’re worried, just like he is. We worry that this could fall into the wrong hands.”
“That’s correct, unfortunately.”
“Go outside, call Dr. Sherman so that Ty can’t hear you because he’s trying to get all this off his mind just for a few days as we speak, and tell him what’s going on. You revealed something that only we, aliens knew, and you revealed it to a human being whose mind is still adjusting to his new reality, so go ahead and do this while I entertain him. Go,” Alex said.
Aaron got up from the sectional and walked several steps and several hallways to the front door of the mansion, cell phone in hand, while Alex just sat there, cool and relaxed, like nothing had ever happened. Just in time, Ty got to the entertainment room with three big glasses of iced lemonade in both hands and a knife in the belt of his pants to cut the pie into pieces because it hadn’t been cut up just yet. It was still there, warm, fresh, delicious, and it seemed to be alive. Very carefully, Ty set everything up on the coffee table. Then, he asked, “Where’s Aaron?”
“He had to go outside for a minute. He’ll be right back.”
“Oh… what’s he doing, smoking a cigarette?” Ty asked and laughed. “I’m just kidding. I know you guys don’t smoke. You don’t like that stuff. You hate cigarettes, you hate alcohol, you hate drugs—it is so not cool.”
“That’s right. Aaron’s making a phone call.”
“Oh, ok.” Ty had no idea that the phone call was about him, so he opted not to ask any more questions. He thought that it was something personal and he didn’t want to get into it. He sat down right beside Alex. “So, let’s cut us a piece of pie, shall we? Oh, it smells awesome!”
“I love cooking, but what I love