Tsemara's Sci-Fi Novel (Looking for critique)

[Tsemara]

Chapter Five: The Wild Child

Lucas sat on the couch he had claimed as his bed, bored out of his mind. It had been nearly a week since he and Kelly had arrived at Aunt Darlenes’ house, and he had run out of things to do there. Only one person could be on the computer at a time, so he couldn’t chat with his friends all day. She did not have cable, which meant he missed all his shows. And the only things to read around the house were cookbooks and magazines. Kelly, who had thought to bring something to read, refused to share.

Their parents had called once a day to talk, to tell them they were loved. Kelly, who was incredibly homesick, spoke the longest to them. Lucas reassured them, regularly, that everything was fine.

“What’s wrong dear?” Aunt Darlene asked one morning, before she left for work.

“Uh,” He was not sure how he was going to tell her of his ennui.

Darlene, however, seemed to understand. “I know that being inside all the time is dull. But, how will you two be safe if you’re out in the open?”

“You see how Kelly dresses,” Lucas started. “As long as she stays that way and makes sure no one sees her ears, she’s fine. We’ve done it before.”

Darlene mused over this while rummaging through her purse. “Well, you’re welcome to hike in the hills out back,” Darlene sighed. “But you’ll have to ask your parents if it’s okay for Kelly to go with you. I’d rather you didn’t hike alone. There are snakes and things out there.”

Lucas whooped inwardly at the invitation to do SOMETHING different. He did not mind the thought of snakes, but he wondered what the other “things” were. Now getting the permission for Kelly would be another matter. He still felt bad about the dog prank.

Darlene sighed and stepped out the front door. “Just be sure when you go out, you take Fletcher with you. He’s a lot less hyper when he’s gone for a walk.”
~~~
Lucas was out, not less than ten minutes after his aunt left, walking a very excited golden retriever. Kelly could have felt a little better about this, but she had to make due. Her books were no longer amusing. She had already read them twice each. She did not make a habit of watching television, like her brother did, so that was out of the question. And her parents were at work, so she could not call them.

Oddly enough, she was beginning to feel lonely.
~~~
Unaware of his sister’s depressing state, Lucas walked aimlessly along the dusty path. While he was not fond of hiking through the woods, he was much happier out here that shut inside the house.

Fletcher strained at his leash, urging Lucas to move faster than the teenager wished to go. The excited dog sniffed at everything around them. Trees, bushes, movements, and shadows all captured the short attention span of the retriever.

A particularly large spider web, with a behemoth arachnid to match, caught Lucas’s eye. He marveled at the size, and wondered how such a creature could have existed. They never reached that size at home. Of course, his mother did not allow such things to happen. She removed such pests, by any means available, whenever one was discovered.

During Lucas’s brief period of inattention, Fletcher yanked his leash right out of the boy’s hand. Barking excitedly, the beast ran off into the woods.

“Hey!” Lucas shouted. “Come back here, you stupid dog!”

Fletcher ignored Lucas’s plea and continued to tear through the underbrush. Lucas followed as best he could, trying to ignore the thoughts of all the things he could be getting into his hair or clothing.

There was a yelp of surprise in the trees ahead of him. Lucas feared the dog had run into a poisonous snake or some other predator. However, the yelp, was followed by laughter. Dogs can’t laugh. Can they? The thought of a laughing dog was ridiculous. Someone was with his aunt’s dog.

The laughter, Lucas found when he stepped out from behind a tree, was supplied by a young woman. Lucas judged that she was around his age. She might have been younger. He could not be sure.

The woman was pinned, on her back, to the ground by Fletcher. Her green flannel shirt and baggy black jeans were covered, now, in dirt and dog hair. Her long tousled hair was a fiery reddish color. Freckles stained the bridge of her nose. Her features were vastly different from what he usually saw, making her seem interesting, if not somewhat attractive, at least by Lucas’s standards.

“Get off me, you dumb mutt.” She laughed. The “dumb mutt” in question, continued to shower the girl with slobbery affection.

“I’m really sorry.” Lucas came forward and pulled the dog off the woman. “He got away from me.”

The girl stood and dusted herself casually. “It’s okay. It happens.” She looked at him with a brow raised. “So, who are you?”

Lucas was taken aback. Doesn’t waste time, does she? “Well, I’m Lucas. Uh, I’m visiting my aunt.”

“Well, that explains it, then.” The girl nodded. “I was wondering what you were doing with Fletcher.”

“How do you know Fletcher?” Lucas realized too late how silly his question sounded. It was obvious that the girl lived in the area. Otherwise, she would not have known the dog’s name.

The girl grinned. “The name’s Jordan. I watch him every once in a while, when his mistress can’t.”

Did she just say mistress? Lucas was taken by surprise by the statement. Just how does one respond to that? He decided to change the subject.

“So, uh, do you hike often?” It was a start. A rather poor one, but it was a conversation starter nonetheless.

Jordan crossed her arms casually. “All the time if I can manage it. I know these wooded hills better than the back of my hand.”

“Oh,” Lucas replied. “Well, then do you know where I can hide someone?”

The red head gave Lucas a shrewd look. Perhaps he had said that wrong. “What do you mean, hide someone?” Jordan shifted her weight and kicked a sturdy looking staff, Lucas had not noticed before, from the ground to her hands. It was a nifty trick. He figured that she had dropped it when Fletcher tackled her. She took a defensive stance, as if she were expecting Lucas to suddenly attack her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that!” He had to resolve this quickly. Otherwise, Lucas was afraid he was going to get smacked upside the head. “My sister is an alien and I’m trying to hide her from the Feds.”

“Yeah right. And I’m - wait.” Jordan stopped in mid sentence. “What?”

Well, that got her attention. Lucas sighed heavily. “I have a sister. Well, she’s ‘adopted’, but still. She’s an alien and I have to hide her from the cops. Otherwise my parents will kill me.”

This caught the girl’s attention. She relaxed her stance a bit, letting one end of her staff rest in the dirt. “What do you mean by, alien? Are we talking illegal or something else?”

So, she believed in aliens. That was a good thing. Lucas shook his head. “Something else, completely. Dad found her on some crashed space ship, when I was a kid. She’s been living with us ever since.”

The girl shifted her weight a bit, thinking quietly. Eventually she looked back at Lucas. Her eyes were an interesting shade of green. “Tell you what. I’ll show you around these parts, if you introduce me to your sister.” She bargained.

Lucas was at a loss on how to respond. It seemed fair enough. But, “How do I know you’re not just some cop?” She looked too young to be on the force, but looks could be deceiving. And if that was the case, he was already in trouble.

For a moment, Jordan looked offended, maybe angry. Her expression changed as she thought about the comment. Suddenly, she began to laugh. Her defensive stance was abandoned. She began to lean of her staff for support. Lucas was slightly confused as to what was so funny.

“Me? A cop?!” She continued to laugh. “No force in the world would hire a delinquent like me.”

“Delinquent?” Lucas could not help but ask.

Jordan had stopped laughing. However she continued to grin, clearly amused. “I spend so much time out here, my grades are the pits. If I spent even a quarter of the time I use hiking to do my homework, I’d be set.”

“That’s a lot of time.” Lucas assumed that she spent a lot of time outside.

“I’ll show you around, just for that, but I still have to meet your sister sometime. Alright?” She held out her hand.

Lucas shrugged. “Okay, sure.” He stepped forward, took her hand in his, and shook on it.
~~~
Kelly was napping by the time Lucas had arrived back at their aunt’s house. She had wasted some of her time by watching cartoons on the Internet. The rest she had spent watching a car that was parked across the street. Two men had been sitting in it, chatting back and forth with each other. They did not look like they were there to visit anyone in the neighborhood. The men just sat, in the car, for hours. She had not noticed that she had fallen asleep until the sound of the door being closed and muffled barking startled her out of her revere.

“Anyone home?” Lucas had called into the silent home
Kelly stretched. Having fallen asleep in an awkward position, she was rather sore. “I’m here,” she yawned. She glanced out the window curtains, before going to meet her brother. The car was still there. She was more than a little unnerved.

Kelly met her brother in the dining room. He was slightly dusty and had bits and pieces of foliage stuck in his hair. His appearance was a bit surprising, seeing that he was never known to indulge in the “great outdoors”. Her mind went blank momentarily, unable to get past what looked to be a cobweb in his hair.

“Hey, Kelly, guess what?” Lucas grinned.

Shaken out of her stupor, Kelly answered, “I don’t know. What?”

“I met someone, while I was walking the dog, out in the forest.” He stated, matter-of-factly. “She says she’s like to meet you.”

A number of things went through her mind at that comment. The forest was some place she never would have seen her brother. This girl would like to meet her, Kelly. First of all, what kind of girl would WANT to speak to Lucas? And was she a cop? That brought her attention back to the car parked outside.

“Lucas, I saw something really weird.” She stated.

Her brother looked a bit confused. True, she did say something a little off track, but it was important.

She grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the window she was spying from. Kelly peered through the curtains she had been hiding behind. As before, the car was still parked where it was before.

“Kelly? What are we-” Lucas’s question was cut off as she shushed him.

“They’ve been out there all day.” She whispered. “I think it’s a stake out.”

Lucas put his hand between his little sister’s ears, which were cupped forward, trying to pick up some sound he could not hear. He was sure that she was being paranoid, but then who would want to sit in their car all day?

“Don’t worry about it, Kelly. I’m sure you’re just imagining things.” Lucas grinned, reassuringly.

“I am not! Those guys have been out there all day!” Kelly protested.

Perhaps they had. And maybe they had not. Lucas had noticed creases in his sister’s cheeks. She must have woken up recently. So there was no way to tell whether or not they truly had been there all day.

“Okay, so maybe they have.” Lucas shrugged. “But worrying about it is not going to help anything.” He changed the subject, suddenly. “So, what do you say? Would you like to meet her?”

Kelly’s thoughts reverted back to the forest, and to the cobweb in her brother’s hair. The only wilderness she had ever encountered was the backyard, and the cottage the Wyld family occasionally went to. Of course, she did enjoy being out by the lake. But this was another matter. The thought of venturing into the unknown was intimidating, and yet, very intriguing. And meeting someone new might be good. But she had no idea what the wilderness beyond her aunts’ backyard would hold. She, to her knowledge at least, was not built for hiking.

Having nothing witty to reply with, she answered, “You have cobwebs in your hair.”

“What?! Where?!” Lucas’s demeanor was broken. Kelly could not help but smile as he frantically ran his hands through his hair, trying to get the sticky substance out.
~~~
Over the next few days, Lucas took Fletcher out for a walk, in hopes of meeting up with the hiker girl. When she did not appear, he began to wonder if she forgot about the agreement. His demeanor seemed to change from semi-bored to depressed. Because of this, Kelly poked fun at him. All the while, there was an increase of suspicious looking people wandering about the neighborhood.

One day, over breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Lucas and Kelly ate their cold cereal quietly. Aunt Darlene went rushing about, worrying about being late for work. Being the only person standing, Darlene answered the door. Lucas though nothing of the interruption and continued to eat. Kelly, on the other hand, mumbled something about ‘them’ and looked ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.

“It’s a bit early to come calling, my dear.” Lucas heard his aunt scold someone.

“Sorry,” a female replied. To Lucas, she sounded familiar. “I was going to go on a hike, and I wanted to know if Lucas wanted to come.”

“Oh. You’ve met my nephew.” Darlene was heard saying.

“Yeah, a couple days ago, while he was walking your dog.”

The hiker chick! Lucas had a momentary brain fart and could not remember her name. He missed what they said next, attempting to remember her name. His attention was grabbed when Darlene returned to the dining room. She looked nervously at Kelly, ready to usher the young woman out of the room.

Lucas put a stop to that notion. “It’s alright, Aunt Darlene. She knows about Kelly.”

His aunt looked flustered at the statement. Was he not supposed to have told her? Was she not to be trusted?

Darlene sighed and shook her head. She was going to be late if she tarried here any longer. “I’ll let her in, if you think your parents will be alright with it.”

The siblings looked at each other. The look in Kelly’s eye told her brother that she did not think their parents would be “alright with it”. However before she could say anything, Lucas turned back to his aunt. “I’m sure they’ll be okay with it.”

The woman sighed and left the room. When Lucas turned back to where his sister was sitting, she was already out of the room. Her bowl was dumped, unceremoniously, in the sink. If anyone came in, it would have looked like Darlene was a particularly sloppy eater.

Lucas dumped the last dredges of his cereal down the drain. He rinsed both his and his sisters’ bowls out and placed them in the dishwasher for later. Lucas wiped his hands on his pants as he went to greet the hiker girl in the living room.

Darlene had left the teenagers to their own devices, worried that she would be late for work. Apparently she trusted them not to do anything foolish, without adult supervision.

“Hey there,” the girl rose from the couch to greet Lucas as he entered.

“Hi! Uh…” Lucas still could not remember her name. It began with a ‘J’. That much, Lucas knew.

“Jordan.” She finished for him.

Lucas mentally kicked himself. She remembered his name. Why didn’t he remember hers?

“So, um, would you like to meet my sister?” Lucas inquired.

Jordan grinned. “That was part of the bargain, but I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a hike.”

“Well,” He had to ponder over the offer. He didn’t care about being outside, but… “Do you mind if Kelly came to?”

Jordan frowned. Not an angry frown, but she thought for a bit before answering. “But isn’t she er… different? How is she supposed to be able to walk around outside?”

For some reason, her question made him grin. “We’ve got our ways.” He excused himself to check on Kelly. The guest room door was closed, and he knew better than to barge in. His knock was answered by a hushed; “what?”

“There’s someone who’d like to meet you, in the living room.” Lucas explained. “She was wondering if you’d like to go on a hike, too.”

The door opened up a crack. “Lucas! What if she’s a cop?!” Kelly hissed. “We’re dead if Mom and Dad find out!”

This was not going the way Lucas wanted. However, “Kelly, what about your book store friends?”

“No one’s going to believe a bunch of comic book junkies, and you leave them out of this!” She shot back, pointing a finger at him through the crack.

“And no one is going to believe a delinquent nature junkie.” Lucas responded, grabbing her finger, playfully.

Kelly sighed, but said nothing, and pulled her finger away.

“So, are you going to meet her?” He asked as she closed the door.

He listened as she shuffled through something, behind the closed door. “I’ll be out in a bit. But if she’s a cop, and we get caught, I’m going to KILL you, Lucas.”

Lucas left her to his own devices, to return to the living room. Jordan was still there. She sat on the couch, adjusting her boots. “She’s getting dressed. She’ll be out in a little bit.”

"Great!” Jordan smiled.

There was an awkward silence following.

Jordan attempted to break the sudden, uncomfortable quiet with a “So…” But she seemed to run out of things to say after that. Lucas could not help but stare at the freckled girl.

“Is she weird looking?” The girl looked like she expected him to get annoyed with the question.

Lucas was taken by surprise, instead. Whatever he thought she was going to say, this was not it. He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Seeing that he didn’t snap at her, she looked at him seriously. “Is she weird looking? You know, does she have tentacles, or extra arms, or a zillion eyes, or something like that?”

As Lucas thought about the question, Kelly, quietly, entered the room. He turned his gaze to his sister, clad in a hooded jacket, and could not help but laugh. The thought of tentacles or extra arms on her was absolutely hilarious. Well, at least it was, to him.

Even under her concealing outfit, Kelly looked flustered. “What?” she asked, uncomfortably.

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” Lucas smiled. He ushered his sister further into the room, as Jordan stood.

“Kelly,” he began. “This is Jordan.”

The redhead offered her hand with a casual, “Hey.”

“Jordan,” Lucas continued. “This is my sister Kelly.”

Kelly, in turn, took the offered hand. Shyly, she mumbled a polite ‘hello’ in response.

Fur, was the first thing Jordan noticed. The claws were almost an afterthought. Although she hid it well, the hiker’s excitement was nearly tangible. By touch, she studied the structure, completely fascinated. Neither of the girls noticed that while they were playing with Kelly’s fingers, Lucas had pulled down Kelly’s hood.
~~~
“Hey!” Kelly played right into Lucas’s trap. She yanked her hands from Jordan’s grasp and hastily attempted to adjust her hood back over her head. The latter’s gaze was drawn to Kelly’s facial features by the action. Lucas chuckled when the started hiker jumped.

Kelly misinterpreted the action, and felt incredibly self-conscious. It was one thing when family gaped. It was another when strangers, not involved with costumed events, stared as well. She pulled the hood as low as she could and turned to leave the room. A firm, but gentle hand stopped Kelly, however.

“Wait,” Jordan apologized. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Yeah, right, Kelly thought bitterly.

“Honestly. I thought your brother was literally pulling my leg.” Jordan smiled, “I was almost afraid that I’d have to hit him.”

Kelly paused for a moment to compare Jordan to her brother. There was a height difference of a few inches, at least, with Lucas the taller. Though, the hiker looked more physically fit than the boy. If Kelly was to make any bets, she would say that Lucas would probably come out worse. However, as far as Kelly knew, Lucas never hit a girl, not even her. One sided. That’s what it would be. He would get his butt kicked. Just like with that shrimpy cop lady.

“Can I see?” Jordan inquired.

Kelly glanced at Lucas, who nodded. She inhaled deeply, and let it out slowly. “Okay, fine,” Kelly replied. “But not in here. We need to go somewhere else, where there aren’t as many windows.” She was sure she heard Lucas whisper the word, ‘paranoid’ when she led them to the bathroom.
~~~
Lucas thought the bathroom was a good idea, but a little tight for three. Although he knew what his sister looked like, under the jacket, he had the impression that she wanted him to be there.

Kelly removed her jacket, revealing her arms and a simple black tank top. Her tail was pulled from her baggy jeans, where it twitched nervously. She looked very similar to the time she had to show Aunt Darlene what she looked like.

As Darlene had, Jordan traced the stripes. She was a little more wary of the tail and ears, but was captivated, nonetheless. “This, she, you, are amazing! You’re really an alien?!” The excitement in her voice refused to be contained.

“As far as we know,” Lucas answered, with a slight shrug. “I barely remember when she came. But she’s from ‘out there’ alright.”

The ordeal lasted at least twenty minutes before Jordan’s brain snapped back into hiking mode. Neither of the Wylds knew how it had happened, but the madly grinning Jordan had dragged them out into the woods. Kelly had managed to put her jacket back on, thankfully.

Jordan chattered on about different things in the surrounding environment. Neither of the Wylds paid too much attention, focused on other things. Lucas watched his sister. Shadows, off the beaten path distracted Kelly. She paused for a moment, studying the movements of a lizard sunning itself on a rock.

Lucas watched as Kelly attempted to grab the reptile. The lizard leapt out of harms way with more agility than he thought it would possess. Kelly had jumped, obviously thinking the same thing. Jordan, who had noticed she was no longer being followed, had also paused to watch. She chuckled at the reaction of her companions.

“It’s better that you didn’t catch it. They bite,” Jordan grinned.

Kelly’s eyes widened. “Are they poisonous?”

“Nah.” Jordan shrugged. “But they hurt for a bit. Come on. There’s some place I want to show you.”

Jordan pointed things out, like poison ivy, gopher holes, and a hornet’s nest to the Wylds. She poked at different tracks with her fingers. Apparently none of them were fresh. Lucas couldn’t tell. They eventually followed a decent sized stream with an assortment of fish. Jordan claimed the place she was taking them to was upstream.

Lucas noticed how Kelly paused to watch the little creatures swim against the current. She looked, almost, hungrily at them, like she wanted to grab them out of the water with her bare hand. Jordan, who had gone ahead shouted at them. “Hey guys! We’re here!”

Jordan stood on a boulder off the shore. The boulder itself was in a pool of clear water that was slightly bigger, but not as deep as his neighbors’ pool. He had never been invited over, but his ordeal on the roof with his sister gave him a good idea of how big it was.

The pool was fed by a stream of water that was probably no wider than his shoulders. It bubbled cheerfully over moss covered stones. It was a nice place. Lucas could see why Jordan was so proud of it. He noticed scorched patch of ground that was surrounded by a ring of rocks. Someone had set up camp at some point.

He watched as Kelly hopped out to the rock where Jordan was standing. The redhead pointed out different fish and what types of seasonings they went well with. Jordan leapt effortlessly to another stone allowing Kelly to sit on her heels. She crouched low, watching the fish go by. Even hidden below the cowl of her jacket hood, Lucas could see a mischievous glint in her eye. Grinning, he watched her attempt to grab the slippery creatures as they swam by. His sister looked completely at home, or at least, at ease.

“Hey Lucas,” Jordan began. He had not noticed when she had moved to a location under the cover of the trees. She motioned for him to step away from his sister. It was not far. He was within calling distance if either of the siblings needed each other. The redhead looked uncomfortable, like she was going to say something she did not want Kelly to hear.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked.

Jordan glanced at Kelly before speaking. Lucas could see a touch of concerned curiosity on her face when she faced him again. “Does she, erm, Kelly have any crazy, super powers?”

Lucas could not believe what he had heard. His first instinct was to demand who told her that. But it was foolish to do so. The only people he could think of that would know anything out of the ordinary was himself, and his aunt. Okay, maybe not his aunt. He had kept his thoughts to himself after Kelly had revealed her dream to him all those days ago. His thoughts strayed to the officers that had arrived back home. But they wouldn’t have said anything that would worry civilians. Or would they? It was too ridiculous to even ponder. Did Jordan figure it out? No, how could she. In the little time spent with the siblings, Kelly had done nothing out of the ordinary.

Perhaps, if Jordan could believe in aliens, then she would also believe in super powers? If that was the case, what else did she believe in? Lucas took a moment to compose his stance. Even though the thoughts that had just assaulted him took no more than a handful of seconds to sort through, he could not help but feel like he had betrayed something to her.

“Why do you ask?”

Jordan frowned, as if irritated by something. “Because, there have been people asking around about a creature.”