Visitors: Part 2
The Waiting Game

He stared out into the white expanse of his property, the cold fluff from the sky painting everything white, at least outside.  He looked back at his phone, hoping to hear it ring, and that they were okay...  Nothing.  No sound, no lights, no motion outside except the falling snow.  However, the worst part by far was that he could not do a single thing.  The snowfall was too heavy to find anything in, and since he did not know where they were, all the speed in the world would not help him. He took a deep breath in, and exuded one angered word, the tone full of frustration and worry.

“Fuck.”

He got up, and walked to the kitchen, and prepared himself a few slices of toast.  A few moments passed as the toasted bread popped up, and he spread butter on each slice, then walked to the table and sat down.  His eyes ventured upward, toward the center of his house.

“Mnemon, are there any humanoid lifeforms besides myself in your maximum scan radius?”
“...”
“Mnemon?”
“Patience is required; scanning through the interference takes time.”
“I sincerely hope we have that.”
“I detect four humanoid signals, approximately 500 meters south of this position.”
“Four? We were only expecting tw... I see now.”
“Are you troubled?”

A smirk crossed his face, and he stood up, seemingly proud.

“No, don’t worry about it.  Thank you for your help Mnemon.”

He opened the door, faced the biting cold, and shut it behind him.


He ran through the snow, melting a clear path in it as he run toward the four visitors.  He reached the approximate destination, and looked around, seeing nothing.  He sat on his haunches, and saw a lump in the snow.  He fashioned a snowball and chucked it at the lump, seeing it splat at an angle, like hitting...

“A windshield! Thank the lord!”

Alec quickly traversed the snowy landscape back to his estate to bring back some blankets, as he was sure the occupants of the vehicle were extremely cold.  He sprinted back, pouring heat into the blankets as he had them slung over his shoulder.  He ran his hands along the near frozen exterior of the car, until he felt a handle.  He grabbed hold as best he could, and he felt the cold metal begin to warm in his grip.  It spread to the rest of the door, as he saw the snow and ice melting off it, the metal almost glistening in the dark.  With a simple pull, he opened the door, and saw his guests face to face.  The woman was closest to him was curled up around her abdomen, which was noticeably swollen with child.  She had jet black hair much like his own, as well as deep blue eyes if she ever decided to open them; he loved her so, some of which was derived out of his desire to look “normal”, like her.  For him, his natural green eyes were permanently replaced with seething blood-red ones, carrying a malevolent glow of their own.  She was leaning on the shoulder of the man in the driver’s seat.  He had blonde hair and a very lanky, almost scrawny frame.  He put his hand on the woman’s face, and he was relieved, she was still slightly warm.  Alec kneeled down and pressed his hand against the ground.  Steam began to shoot up from the earth as the snow vaporized.  He lay one of the blankets down on the ground and moved her carefully, picking her up before laying her on the blanket.  He picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

“Unh… hm?”

He turned and saw the male occupant in the car waking up.  The man slowly opened his eyes and peered at Alec.  The first words he uttered were in utter shock.  “What tha!?”
“Jeremy, you’ve awoke.”
“Get your hands off my wife!”
He practically kicked the door on his side off the hinges and came out of the car, Alec had to respond.  He hopped back and picked up the other blanked he had on the ground with his feet and kicked it at Jeremy’s face without as much as a shift in his torso.  The thick blanket hitting him in the face must have brought him back to his senses.  He tore it from his face, and upon seeing Alec, calmed down. “Oh, Alec,” he said in relief “thought you were someone else; my apologies.”
“No apologies necessary, we need to get inside.”
“Agreed.”

======

Jeremy sat at the table, a steamy bowl of soup in front of him; he dipped his spoon into the liquid, breathing on it lightly as he brought it up to his mouth.  He clamped his mouth down on the spoon, savoring the salty, tangy flavor of the soup.  He looked over to the sofa, his wife curled up around her stomach still under the blanket, still unconscious.  His gaze met Alec’s, focused on the woman as well as he stirred a pot filled with the same liquid as the bowl.  “It’s taken a lot out of her.” Jeremy said offhand.  Alec didn’t avert his gaze. “Hm.”  He moved the pot off the burner, walking over toward the sofa, extending an arm to pat Kaela on the head.  He then walked over toward the fireplace, his back to her.  He leaned over and moved the wood already in the fireplace, then closed his eyes.  A flame erupted inside, and he brought his hand out, returning back to the stove to stir the pot.  He kept his gaze on his sister, when suddenly his eyes went wide.  He began to move his mouth, although nothing truly audible came out.  It was more like a series of indescribable vibrations, each one seemingly carrying a tone and a purpose.  At first Jeremy was baffled by this, when he then barely felt vibrations coming from where his wife lay.  He hadn’t heard it in many years, but there it was, Kiil’lanel, the language of his people.  As he tuned in, the vibrations gained structure and meaning.  Kiil’lanel was more a language of thought than anything else.  The vibrations carried a psychic message, which was interpreted by the receiving person.  It allowed for quick conversations and effortlessly encrypted messages, as it required a Kiil’norian brain to understand it.  Alec walked over to Kaela, who stood up, the top of her head almost reaching his chin as she hugged him as close as she could.  She walked to the table and sat down as Alec prepared a bowl of soup for her.  He laid it in front of her, and gave her a peck on the forehead, then walked off.  Kaela was obviously ravenous, consuming the hot meal at an amazing rate.  Jeremy had her gaze locked on her, and broke the almost uneasy silence.  “I never knew your brother still spoke it.”
“You know him, he is very proud of our people.” She replied happily, still slurping the soup.
“Yeah… why exactly did he leave?”
“Hmm… the colony? Or just now?”
“I meant just now, but now that you mention it, I want to know the other as well.”
“He left now because he has work to do with uhm…”
“Well, what is it?”
“He wasn’t very specific, just said ‘the animal’.”
“Hmm… I don’t like this… not at all.”
“And as for the colony… he said that his place was not among his people any longer, but amongst the lower races.”
“So he abandoned us to roam space.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as ‘abandoned’, but yes, you are essentially correct.”
“For a man who preached unity and the reunification of the Kiil’Norai, he was sure quick to leave.”
“He saw himself unfit to lead us.  He left them in our hands…  And we did well; did we not?”
“The ends do not justify the means Kaela! Your brother, the hand of Jaegrim, left us, left you, his dear sister!  That is something Alec would never do… unless something made him fear for you and the rest of us.”
“...”  She lay down the soup, and stood up, walking towards Jeremy.
“You know it to be true!  He has a dark secret, I can feel it… you know the real reason why.  Alec would never have left us to just roam the stars… he left us to protect you.”
“Yes… I do.”
“Then why?”
“He will show you… soon enough.”

======

Alec sat in a dark room, the only lights coming from the holding tank 20 feet away, and the monitor in front of him.  He turned toward the tank, and muttered “What the hell are you… you are more than the simple creature I created… You discern now, you’re learning.” He looked towards the monitor, seeing a slightly reptilian form rip a man limb from limb, blood soaking the thing’s face.  He paused the video, and looked over the mechanical face of the beast within the tank.  “You hate.”  He stood up, and walked toward the tank, placing his hand on it.  “I see much potential in you Primarch… Much indeed.”  He motioned toward the drones outside the room.  “Bring him to the lower chambers… I have experiments to run.”  The mechanical beings rushed in, four supporting the tank as they were transported in a flash of light.

======

It was sunset when Alecai finally emerged from the chambers below his home.  He saw Jeremy sitting on the couch, watching a movie on the television screen, eating from a bowl of popcorn and drinking one of the sodas Alec had stocked the fridge with.  He called out “Jeremy.”  However, the noise from the TV drowned out his voice.  He moved toward an outlet on the far side of the room, which had the Television and the sound system hooked into it.  He grabbed the frame of the outlet, and closed his eyes.  The noise stopped, and Jeremy turned around quickly, looking at Alec.  He brought his hand away from the outlet, streams of crackling energy connecting his fingertips to the electrical sockets.  “Jeremy, your quarters are the 2nd door on the left side of the hallway, across from my study.”  The energy disappeared from his hands, and the noise resumed, Jeremy still staring at him, his eyes narrowed. “I had no mute button, sorry.”  His guest rolled his eyes and sat back down, continuing to watch.  As he walked out of the room, Jeremy muted the TV and called to him “Kaela found the pool; she said she’d be there.”  He nodded back, and proceeded toward the pool area.  After undressing from his normal clothes and donning a pair of swimming trunks, he showered quickly and made it to the pool area.  Kaela was laying in the 100 ft. by 50 ft. pool, her stomach and her face the only things above the water.  Alec was about to walk around the pool, when he stopped and focused on the water right next to the side of the pool he was on.  He then stepped confidently forth, and landed on top of the water, sending out ripples across the pool.  He walked toward Kaela, and sat on his haunches above her for a short time. “You know, it isn’t really safe for you to be swimming alone, especially in your condition.” Her eyes opened and saw him gazing at her.  “You know I’m not going to drown.” She replied, a chuckle in her voice.  He fell straight down into the water, now standing beside her floating body.  “I know, I just worry about you, you know that.” She stood up and faced her brother, and moved closer to him, an almost sullen look on her face. “Jeremy wanted to know why you left us and the others…”  Alec paused for a moment, looking away from her before he finally spoke. “And what did you tell him?” She laid her head against Alec’s chest. “I told him that you had a dark secret… and that you would show him.”  Alec stood there, now looking intently at his sister, totally silent.  His eyes began to glow and flicker and a snarl crossed his face as his sister moved away from him, a look of fear in her eyes.  He spoke in a voice absolutely devoid of emotion, his eyes alight with fury, “You said… what?”