He knew he was special. His father told him many times. Being told that and knowing it for a fact were two different things, both of which Jakub was well acquainted with. He had the face of a model with blue eyes that looked through people, not at them. He'd inherited his father's magnificent blond hair, which he wore at shoulder length, just like his father. He would glance in the mirror, not to see if his hair was perfect, but simply to admire it. He had the finest clothes and his jewelry was deliriously expensive. Jakub wanted for nothing. He knew the silver spoon in his mouth granted him exclusive privileges and he took advantage of every single one. He was entitled. He knew it and he embraced it.

Jakub did not have a mother, that he knew of. Someone had given birth to him, but he didn't know who his birth mother was. It had never been discussed with his father. He was raised by hired help. The women had been efficient in their work, but not loving. At least not loving to Jakub. He remembered seeing his father and several of his nannies in his father's bed. It didn't make much sense to the young heir. As he grew up and finally reached the milestone of puberty, the company his father kept in his bed started to make sense. It was his governess that occupied his father's bed then. Jakub didn't question either about what they were up to even with the strange sounds coming from the master suite.

Jakub attended the most elite, exclusive all male preparatory boarding school on the planet, where he was top of his class. Everybody that was anybody had graduated from the prestigious Keplera Preparatory Academy. The hand hewn granite blocks of the buildings composing the campus of the academy had been there for generations. Ivy grew on many of the buildings. It was a product of Earth, imported for its hearty nature. Watcher visitors compared the storied campus with Princeton and Harvard of Earth fame. Jakub walked the grounds with his head held high. He was the most prestigious student on campus, and he knew it. His reputation among his friends was irreproachable. His grades were in the top one percent. Jakub was president of his class which included sons of statesmen, business leaders, millionaires and oligarchs.

The problem with this perfect picture was that his father Kibbeth had a streak of anger. He was quick to react to it, often unleashing it on his own son. Jakub had learned the lessons well. He had an almost maniacal approach to every aspect of his life, especially his sex life. His propensity for anger often came out as aggressiveness. His roommate at school, Dominik, was often the target of that vicious aggression as Jakub sexually took what he wanted, despite the protests. Pain was often part of Jakub's exploitation. His roommate suffered the consequences on a regular basis. Dominik took the abuse knowing that to complain about his roommate, the perfect student, would be ostracizable.

Dominik endured the abuse. After some time, he actually came to enjoy the sex and told his roommate. That was the wrong thing to say as Jakub enjoyed dominating and controlling and doing it while inflicting pain. To know his roommate was enjoying what he did infuriated him. Dominik learned to keep his mouth shut as Jakub unleased a round of angry sex Dominik had never experienced before and didn't wish to endure it again. Yes, keeping his enjoyment of being dominated was to remain a secret. At least Jakub had enough sense not to leaves any marks, well any marks that could be seen. Everywhere else was fair game.

Jakub was in the middle of his studies when an unexpected door chime alerted him that someone at his dorm door. Thinking it might be that young freshman he'd had his way with recently, Jakub went to the door with a smile on his face.

Checking the door monitor, Jakub was surprised to see the headmaster of the school. He schooled his expression, then pulled the door open not too fast and not too slow. He opened it like the person he was, with prestige and precision.

"Headmaster," Jakub greeted the man with respect. "What can I do for you?"

"Jakub, I'm afraid I am the bearer of some bad news. Perhaps we should sit down."

"What's the news?" Jakub asked stoically and unmoved. The headmaster sighed.

"I'm afraid news has reached us that your father has died." Jakub didn't move or react to the news at all, so the headmaster continued. "It seems that he was involved in something at the Gemkar Government Building and got caught up in some type of weapons fire." Once again, Jakub didn't react at all to the news. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Jakub. If there is anything I or my staff can do, please let us know." The headmaster observed his student a moment. He assumed the boy was in shock as he didn't move or react to what would be devastating news to anyone else. This non-reaction worried the headmaster.

"Jakub? Will you be okay? Do you need anything? May I call anyone for you?" The questions seemed to revive his young student.

"Thank you, headmaster. I am obviously disturbed by the news but prefer to be alone at the moment. Should I require assistance, I will reach out to your office, sir."

"Very good, Jakub. Once again, I'm very sorry for your loss." The headmaster left his student standing alone in the dorm door, stone faced and unmoving.

Distance defined Jakub's relationship with his father, who was absent more often than not. When the father was home, the son was always last on the priority list. His father made sure that his son was taken care of, financially. The hired help was no longer necessary with Jakub approaching his eighteenth year. His father would come home on rare occasions always in the company of a beautiful woman. He ignored Jakub and went straight to the father's study. A short time later, the sounds coming from the room, told him his father was enjoying some aggressive sex.

To Kibbeth, his son was a source of pride in social settings and he often boasted of Jakub's academic achievements treating his son like a trophy to be on display for the masses. The praise was on display for everyone but the son. It was these social gatherings where he was able to actually receive praise from his father. Jakub knew his father paraded him around to boost his reputation among his peers, but he still basked in the spotlight.

Jakub knew his father was an important man. People depended on him. People looked up to him. People lived or died because of his father's decisions. The lack of attention from his father drove Jakub to earn his father's attention. Everything he did was with one hundred percent dedicated effort. He desperately wanted his father's approval but that came few times with far too much time in between. Despite all his effort, his father's approval was only doled out on rare occasions and that left Jakub angered and frustrated.

Jakub did admire and love his father without reservation. The news that he had been killed hit Jakub hard. Enormous depression was his first reaction, but that was quickly followed by an all-consuming anger. He was angry that he never got his father's approval of anything he accomplished. He was angry that he never got to tell his father that he was pissed for being ignored. He was irritated about it all.

His roommate Dominik unfortunately chose that moment to come in the dorm. Jakub's anger now had a target and he unleashed it with no mercy. It emerged as sexual violence on Dominik and Jakub held nothing back. Dominik ended up in the critical care unit of the infirmary. No one dared to accuse the perfect Jakub of anything, let alone Dominik, who was conveniently unconscious.

Jakub scoured news articles through the school's interface, which included access to several news networks. Any information concerning his father's death would enlighten Jakub as to what happened. He already had a good idea that it probably involved a certain mutually hated family member. His father had ranted about his brother often enough. Finally, he found what he was looking for. His hunch was right. His damned uncle had been involved along with that boy that was the abomination from Earth everyone was talking about. He knew his father and his brother did not get along and drew the assumption that his uncle had to have something to do with his father's death. Regardless, his father didn't like his brother and, like father like son, Jakub didn't like him either. Something would need to be done. Extracting revenge seemed the best course, now which way to steer?

Jakub accessed the school's coms. His request for a few days away was easily granted to the grieving student. He caught a luxury transport home. A regular transport would have been plebeian. During the brief ride, a plan started to formulate that included capture, torture, suffering and then, finally, a slow painful death. Revenge would not bring his father back. He knew that, but it would make him feel immensely better.

Jakub's home was located in the heart of Gemkar, the capital city. It was in the best part of the city. Wealth oozing from every street corner and every home in the gated neighborhood. His father had a penchant for a lavish lifestyle and their home reflected that taste. The three level mansion was far and above what two people could possibly need, but it was Kibbeth's vast wealth on display for all to see. Jakub's bedroom suite sprawled across the entire third floor. In addition to his luxurious white marble bathroom with rain head glass enclosed shower, he had an extravagant sitting room with a massive monitor for watching entertainment. There was an extensive games room with all the latest interfaces including 3D. His comfortable study had an enormous state of the art interface. To top it all off, Jakub could sit back and relax in his hot tub on the balcony overlooking the capital city skyline.

Jakub used the palm scanner at the front entrance to gain access to his home. More research was to be done. He made his way to his private sanctuary. His own interface was much more robust than the school's. Thanks to his father's military connection, Jakub's interface was military grade, bypassing many firewalls and utilized the military exclusive ultra-high speed connection. He took everything he could find, read it, analyzed it, made notes and moved on to the next discovery.

The proverbial light bulb suddenly went on in Jakub's mind. The aha moment provided him a new direction to be studied. He quickly switched off his user account and accessed his father's. Jakub respected and admired his father. He was a smart man, but Jakub was cunning, cleaver and devious too. He'd hacked into his father's account years ago but never found anything interesting other than some explicit pornography, which the just then teen enjoy immensely. The account had been forgotten and left alone since then, but circumstances had changed. Now, his interest was piqued at reading his father's meticulous notes about the Talons and their undersea battles on Earth. From what he could gather, his father's forces, the Talons, had been defeated at first by some unknown secret weapon the Watchers had. In the final battle over the Watcher Underwater Complex, his father encountered his brother and a young boy named Cameron. Jakub had heard about the boy with a Kelmarian mother and a human father. The boy supposedly had tremendous powers. He also read about the disagreement between his father and his twin brother. The humans, according to his father's notes, had a disregard for planet Earth. Wars raged between different factions resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent people, plus there was always the lingering nuclear threat. Dictators ruled with iron fists and self-imposed rules to keep control of the masses. Religious factions imposed harsh rules often punishable by death. Rabid social conservatism was taking control over females' bodies and ostracizing homosexuals. Rainforests were being clear cut. Oil tankers were wrecking and dumping millions of gallons of oil on the pristine plant. The climate was seriously out of control and on a downward spiral toward total devastation of the planet.

It was the Watcher's belief that humans would bring it all under control. That was where the brothers had vehemently disagreed. Kibbeth wanted to hit the reset button that was the planet harmonizer, which had the capability of wiping the plant clean, humans included. Paulik had control of the harmonizer and steadfastly refused for it to be used.

Then there were some mentions of some power hungry bitch called Bahar. She was poised to take over the supreme council and rule Kelmar as a dictator. His father was to lead her army. Jakub couldn't believe his father would play second fiddle to this deranged bitch. Then he read detailed descriptions of how his father had aggressively had his way with her in bed. Jakub grinned and grimaced at the same time. He was excited to learn he and his father shared a passion for aggressive sex. On the other hand, it was his father. He didn't want to think about his father being naked, let alone in the middle of, well, all that.

As Jakub read the more recent entries, the more concerned he became. He could read the writing on the wall and knew what was coming. How could his father disregard what was right there in front of him? The only thing Jakub could reason was that his father let his rage take over his rational thinking. The evidence was there in his father's words. There were entries where he often ranted about his brother, the government, that abomination that was called Cameron and the general apathy of both the Watchers and the Earthlings. The Supreme Council was being hoodwinked by his brother into believing everything was perfectly fine on planet Earth.

The last entry by his father was about some Supreme Councilman named Radlouf that had to be eliminated at all costs. His father's plans detailed how he would get into the council chambers with a weapon undetected. His father's lucid thoughts had been replaced with a single minded, obsessive goal with no regard for personal safety or … personal survival. Jakub knew there was no way anyone could get away with assassinating a council member from that close and escape unscathed. This undertaking was a suicide mission.

Jakub closed the interface in disgust and glanced around his desk. A picture of him and his father taunted him. Before Jakub knew what happened, he threw the picture against the wall where it smashed and shattered. He was breathing hard and quite literally shaking with rage. Where was his damn roommate when he needed him? The lamp was the next victim of Jakub's fury, along with several decanters of top shelf liquor. With another picture of his father in his hand, poised to be smashed, Jakub finally caught himself. The rage went away almost instantly. He knew it was anger that killed his father. He would not succumb to that. No, it would be careful planning, meticulous research and surveillance that would allow Jakub to exact revenge. Despite his father's mistake in letting his anger cloud reasonable thought, revenge needed to be dealt with carefully and meticulously. It would be exacted for what had been done to his father both in his final moments and all the events that led up to it. Especially the events that led up to it. His uncle might or might not have been personally involved, but that didn't matter to Jakub. Dispensing familial revenge would be personally rewarding. Now all he had to do was arrange for his uncle to come to Kelmar or arrange a way to get to Earth.

Jakub accessed his personal interface and searched through his friends who might have special benefits. One name stood out as having all the connections Jakub needed. He accessed his communication interface.

"Aleksy, hey. It's Jakub. I need to cash in on a favor."

"Well, hello to you too, Jakub. It's been too long. I thought we were supposed to meet, what was it, three weeks ago?"

"Sorry about that. Something came up."

"Something or someone? Don't forget, Jakub. I know you probably better than you know yourself. Now, what can I do for you?"

"With your position in the transport division, is there a way to discretely get me on a ship headed to Earth?"

"Wow, when you cash in, you cash in big. I can probably get you on board, but we'll have to be cunning, devious and scheming to do it. That should be something you are intimately accustomed to my dear roomie. Let me check the schedule and see when our next departure is." Aleksy's appetite for an aggressive sexual romp in the bed just about matched Jakub's. Their year together as roommates at Keplera Preparatory Academy and been a lot of fun.

"The next transport is set for tomorrow morning. I can get you on board, but you'll need to be here early."

"Perfect, I'll be there. What are you doing tonight?" Jakub asked suggestively.

"Ah, ever the cock hound roomie. Pack your bag and come to my place. My shift is over at eight."

"I'll be there."

*    *    *    *    *

Aleksy lived close to the Gemkar Transport Center and gave Jakub a ride in his personal transport. Getting onboard the designated cargo ship had been easy as Aleksy was in charge of shipment manifests and was required to be on board to perform his duties. No one questioned him as he discretely escorted Jakub on board.

"This ship is bound for the Watcher Complex on Earth. The Complex is underwater, as in under the ocean. That's something like Lake Azure but millions of times bigger. Getting to dry land will be up to you," Aleksy explained. Jakub was left wondering how a body of water could be that big. He knew the history of the Watchers and understood the reason behind being secretive, but the entire Complex, housing over a thousand people, was camouflaged by being under water? That boggled Jakub's mind.

"Is the Watcher Council at the Complex too?" Jakub asked as Aleksy led him to a private cabin.

"As far as I know, all of our people live in the Complex. There are no Kelmarians found anywhere else that I know of. You'll have to forgive me. My knowledge is pretty much limited to getting supplies and personnel from here to there." Alesky opened the cabin door. "Here you are. I'm afraid the accommodations are pretty basic, but it's the best I could do on short notice." Jakub smiled and grabbed Aleksy firmly by the ass bringing them chest to chest.

"And I appreciate your effort. Do you have time for different efforts?" Jakub asked with a leer. Aleksy gulped. The invitation was exactly what Alesky would like to accept, but keeping his job was more important.

"Sorry, there's not much more I'd rather be doing, but I have to work. Besides, I won't be able to sit properly for a week after last night." Jakub considered his options. He ended up dragging Aleksy into the cabin and locking the door.

*    *    *    *    *

Aaron was enjoying his life serving on the Kelmar Supreme Council. He was especially proud of taking Bahar's seat. She was probably spinning in her grave knowing he now held her seat. Aaron served with distinction on the council's security committee. He was loving life living on Lake Azure with his family.

Aaron was in his office at the Gemkar Government Building when a knock came on his door.

"Enter," he called out. A man Aaron did not know came into his office.

"Councilman, I am sorry for the intrusion. I am Special Agent Svoboda with KIS, the Kelmar Investigation Service. I have some disturbing news that concerns a friend of yours." Aaron gestured to the seat in front of his desk. The agent turned and locked the door. That caused Aaron to raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry, sir. What I'm about to tell you is classified at the highest security level." Aaron, secure in his position on the council security committee, nodded for the agent to continue. "I know you are friends with Watcher Council Liaison Paulik." Arron nodded. "This is sensitive information and I ask that it remain that way. This is for your eyes only."

"Understood."

"Council Liaison Paulik's brother, Kibbeth, who was killed in this very Complex, has a son." Arron was shocked at the surprising news. "The son, Jakub, is currently enrolled at Keplera Prepatory Academy, an elite school here in Gemkar and is at the top of his class. From all indications, he is a perfect student, liked by all his friends. There has been no indication of any problems according the Keplera personnel until now." The agent took a deep breath.

"What brought him to our attention was the death of a Gemkar Transport Officer. His body was found on a ship that arrived on Earth this morning. The officer had clearance to be on the ship to verify the cargo, but was not cleared for actual transport to Earth. A preliminary port-mortem on the body resulted in the discovery of DNA from Jakub. Evidence points to the officer being raped repeatedly and then finally strangled."

"My God," exclaimed Aaron.

"Since Jakub's father was killed in this very building while in the presence of his brother, Paulik and the boy from Earth known as Cameron and the fact that Jakub took a transport to Earth … well, you can see our concern for the Council Liaison and Cameron."

"I'll contact Paulik personally and bring him up to date."

"We have additional information from Keplera. Seems Jakub's roommate is in the school's critical care infirmary. He had also been raped by Jakub."

"This kid is out of control," exclaimed Aaron.

"That's an understatement. We have notified The Watcher Security Team to be on the lookout for Jakub and have forwarded all of our intelligence to them. We feel it would be appropriate to discretely notify the council liaison. That is where you become a part of this. We feel you will effectively pass along the urgency of this threat more effectively than one of us from KIS. Jakub is a force to be reckoned with. From what we can tell he is out for revenge and all the evidence points to violence being his method of choice."

*    *    *    *    *

I was walking down the sidewalk on the way home from school with Jevic. It was a beautiful day and we were talking about a senior science project that was due soon when we were contacted by Paulik. He wanted us to meet with him and Joel in their personal quarters at the Watcher Complex as soon as possible. I looked at Jevic and he looked at me. We both shrugged our shoulders wondering what this would be all about. Then we closed our eyes and met the darkness and teleported. We appeared in front of a very worried looking Paulik and Joel.

"Thank goodness you're both here safe," Paulik said as he hugged us both. Joel had an anxious look on his face.

"What is going on?" I asked. "You're scaring me."

"Come sit down and we'll fill you in," Paulik said. We sat together on the couch. There were already refreshments on the table and I grabbed a Dr Pepper. Everybody that knows me knows it's my favorite.

"Alright, spill," Jevic said as he watched me drain half the can of soda. I looked at him, grinned then burped.

"Sorry, I was thirsty," I said quietly with a smirk on my face.

"Boys, we have a problem," Joel started. That got our attention. "It seems that Kibbeth has a son no one knew about." Jevic gasped. "And it seems this boy is out for revenge for the killing of his father."

"Why should we be worried about that? We had nothing to do with it," I questioned. "Kibbeth got himself killed trying to assassinate Councilman Radlouf. End of Kibbeth. End of story. How in the hell can somebody be out for revenge over that?"

"Calm yourself, Cameron," Paulik said gently. I took a deep breath.

"Jakub, that is his name, is about the same age as you two. He's made his way here to Earth and is currently thought to be in the Complex."

"What?" shrieked Jevic as he stood up.

"Calm yourself, son," Paulik said. "We have this under control." Jevic slowly sat down but you could see the concern written all over his face. That same concern was on my face too.

"How did he get here?" I asked.

"Let's start at the beginning of this story. That way you'll understand Jakub's motivation and our explanation should answer all your questions too," explained Joel. We both nodded. "Jakub is enrolled in the most prestigious preparatory school on Kelmar. He's an excellent student and top of his class. He is well respected and liked by his peers. All appearances show he is the perfect student. The problem with Jakub is the evil streak that he got from his father. He likes to, ah, how do I say this without upsetting you both?"

"Just say it," I told Joel.

"He sexually assaults people. He raped his roommate putting him in intensive care and he raped a Gemkar Transport Officer before strangling him to death. His body was found on a transport ship that got here this morning."

"Jesus," I exclaimed.

"There's more. The Kelmar Investigative Service believes that he holds Paulik and you, Cameron, responsible for his father's death. We all know that's not true however, we have basically been at war with the Talons and by association, with Kibbeth for years. Kibbeth threatened to kill Jevic. He tried to get his forces to kill his brother. He knew of and agreed with Bahar's obsession with killing Cameron. Plus, he colluded with Bahar to overthrow the supreme council and establish a dictatorship. His son knows all this. The KIS searched Jakub's home and did a thorough forensic analysis of his personal interface. That revealed the last pages Jakub was looking at. He was reading his father's personal journal. The last page Jakub accessed was Kibbeth's plan to exact revenge on his brother and Cameron by assassinating Councilman Radlouf."

"This isn't good. So, you believe he is here? Right here in the Complex?" Jevic asked urgently.

"We have the entire security team searching. Every officer is on high alert. He can't hide forever. We just need you two to be vigilant until we do find him."

"We should be fine at home?" I asked. Paulik and Joel looked at each other. That wasn't a good sign.

"To be perfectly honest, until we've caught him, I wouldn't rule out that he has left the Complex and is somewhere on Earth," Joel explained.

"That's a mighty big area for a killer to be on the loose," I said.

"True, but on the plus side, he knows nobody. He's never been on Earth before and he's never even seen a human. Earth technology is still in its infancy compared to ours and that will confuse Jakub. He won't know how to get the basics like food and shelter. I almost feel sorry for him. I said almost! We can't forget that he's killed and he wants to kill again. We'll continue our search and I've added extra people to help keep tabs on human news and social media. Don't worry boys. We'll find him."

The thought that Kibbeth had a kid and that kid was out to kill me was so unthinkable that I found it hard to believe. Then they find someone dead because of this kid just trying to get to Earth. I glanced at Jevic. I could see similar thoughts spinning in his mind too. To quote Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter, I guess it was time for constant vigilance. We didn't know this kid and he didn't know us. There was no way for him to teleport to us. Plus, he had no idea where we lived. I came to the conclusion that we shouldn't be worried. We'd probably never see this kid.

*    *    *    *    *

Jakub slid into another storage locker using one of his special powers. He had to get out of this Complex. He'd just barely missed being seen by another security officer. There was nowhere to hide. He was unfamiliar with the Complex and had no idea where to even begin his search for his uncle. He should have thought this through before coming to Earth. He needed time to regroup and he needed to do that somewhere else. The planet's surface would be best where he could make more solid plans to exact his revenge. He looked around the locker and noticed several rolled up documents. Curiosity got the better of him. He unrolled one paper and found a map of Earth. It took a minute to understand what was going on, but Jakub was smart and finally figured it out. Locating where he was currently was impossible from looking at the map. He'd just have to teleport to some place on the planet. Where didn't matter. He chuckled to himself, closed his eyes and pointed his finger randomly on the map. He opened his eyes to see his finger landed on Key West, Florida. His coms watch only provided basic information but not access to the Watcher interface. The only way to do that was to register his presence here on Earth and he wasn't about to do that. The result of no interface meant he had no way to look up Key West to determine exactly where to teleport. He needed a clearly definable location. Without that, he could teleport himself inside a wall and be instantly killed. That was not an option. If he knew someone, he could teleport directly to that person, but he knew no one on the planet.

Looking around the storage locker some more, Jakub came across a magazine featuring an article about an actor. He was popular movie star with many accolades. The article covered a lot of personal information about him.

"That should be enough," Jakub said to himself. He closed his eyes, entered the darkness then teleported himself directly in front of Timothee Chalamet who immediately jumped to his feet.

"Who are you and where did you come from?" Timothee demanded.

"Where am I?" Jakub asked.

"You're in my fucking apartment!" Timothee yelled.

"Where is your fucking apartment?" Jakub yelled back.

"It's the fucking penthouse, asshole."

"I can see you're having a hard time with this. Where on the fucking planet are we?"

"Upper East Side. Now who the fuck are you?"

"Forgive me. My name is Jakub. We are in the Upper East Side of what?"

"New York City!" Timothee reached for his cell phone. Jakub looked at the device and wondered what it was. "I need security in my apartment. I have an intruder!" That he understood and Jakub decided it was definitely time to make a hasty departure.

"I'll just be leaving now. Where is the exit?" Timothee pointed to the apartment door. "Thank you. Have a nice day." Jakub looked at the door and wondered how it worked, then he remembered his Earth history lessons. Grabbing the doorknob, he opened the exit.

Jakub made his way down the hall. He came across a place with double metal doors. These doors were different from all the other doors. There was no obvious way to open them. As he stood there wondering about the difference, there was a chime. Then the doors suddenly whooshed open. A woman and small child stepped out and started down the hall. Jakub made a rash decision and darted into the room just before the doors whooshed back closed. He found himself in a small room with a lot of buttons beside the door. Suddenly, the room started to move. Fascinated, Jakub watched the numbers on the display screen count down while at the same time sensing a downward movement of the room.

"This must be some type of turbo lift," he thought to himself. "But it sure is slow." He reached forward and pushed the button labeled 'G' just as the room suddenly came to a stop. The doors whooshed open and two teen girls walked in. One of them turned and pushed the 'G' button as well. They both looked at Jakub, whispered to each other and then giggled. The room suddenly started down. There were more glances and whispers from the girls and even more giggles. Finally, the room came to a stop and the doors whooshed open. Jakub made a hasty exit to more sounds of giggling teen girls. With the full intent of putting as much distance between him and the 'giggle girls,' Jakub quickly made his way across what could only be an atrium and exited to the outside.

The first thing Jakub noticed was the smell. The air literally stank. It was a pungent, acrid smell. He pulled his shirt up to cover his nose and mouth. He was surrounded by humans who all seemed to be in a hurry, going in different directions, but miraculously dodging each other. Then there was the noise. This city was incredibly loud. Then he noticed the transports. They all ran on the ground on tires and belched fumes. That accounted for most of the smell, but something smelled rotten. Then he noticed the lines of black bins along the edge of the concrete apron. They really stank. The transports honked and other blue and white transports had flashing blue lights and had warning sirens screaming loudly as they careened down the pavement. A large red transport came screaming down the pavement making all kinds of noise. As it zoomed by, he read the sign on the door, Fire Department. He guessed that made sense. To control a fire, you needed to be there quickly. A large vehicle with strange whirling blades crossed overhead making even more noise.

"What the fuck did I get myself into?" he asked himself. Jakub headed down the concrete apron, dodging humans along the way and soon saw a sign for a hotel. That would work. He went through the funny manual doors. At least the noise was reduced and the air smelled better. He saw a lady behind the desk and headed over.

"I need a room for the night, please."

"Do you have a reservation, sir?" the polite lady behind the desk asked.

"No, I do not. Does that present a problem?"

"Not at all sir. I'll just need your driver's license and a credit card. What type room do you need?"

"My what kind of license and what kind of card?" asked a confused Jakub.

"Driver's license and a valid credit card, please."

"I'm afraid I don't have either one. I do have my wrist com."

"I'll need some type of identification." Jakub remembered his school identification that hung around his neck. He pulled it out from under his shirt.

"Will this do?" The ID had his picture, name, birthday, citizen number along with the school name and logo. The lady behind the desk looked closely then finally nodded.

"Yes, that's fine. I'll just need to you authorize your Apple Pay and scan your smartwatch on the credit card machine." Jakub pulled up his bank account information on his wrist com and held it up to the machine. The machine made an ugly noise.

"Sorry sir, that didn't work. Would you like to try a different method of payment? It's three hundred plus tax for the night." Jakub was frustrated now and his anger was starting to show.

"What the fuck is wrong with your device? I have millions of credits in my account."

"There's no reason to use profanity, sir. I'm sure there's just a problem with the device. Try your smartwatch on this other device." He held his wrist com up to the other credit card reader and it too made an ugly noise. "I'm sorry, sir. Perhaps you need to check with your bank. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are other people in line waiting to check in."

"You know what, fuck you and fuck your machine!" Jakub spun around to leave and received a dozen frowns from other people in the lobby. "Fuck all of you too!" he screamed at them, then he stormed out of the door onto the concrete apron. He was furious. These humans and their backassward technology were proving difficult to deal with.

Jakub took a deep breath of stinky air and tried to calm down. He needed a place to regroup and if someone had to die to make that happen, then so be it.

*    *    *    *    *

Jevic and I teleported home just as mom called out for dinner. We looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing not to make my parents aware of the danger we were in.

"Coming mom!" I called out.

"Everything needs to appear normal. I don't think we have anything to worry about here. There's no way I can think of that this guy could find us here. I'm pretty sure we're safe," I said to Jevic.

"We're safe, but I'll feel better when dad and Joel have this guy under arrest."

"I agree. Let's go." We made our way downstairs for supper where we had a 'normal' conversation with my parents. Discussions of school, homework, friends and weekend plans were covered. Supper was wrapped up with a serving of homemade apple pie alamode. Yummy.

Our new home was perfect for us all. We'd moved here after Paulik talked with my folks and explained my heritage along with a minimal explanation of my powers. Then he got dad a job at an internet consulting company making tons of money. I had no idea that dad was so tech savvy. With a generous income, mom and dad bought a new house.

The ground floor had my parents suite, the family room, the kitchen and a three car garage. What Jevic and I loved the most was the kitchen. It's best described as a chef's kitchen with a huge island, double ovens and a six burner stove. My mom had learned her way around it very well and was constantly trying new recipes on us.

Jevic and I had our own second floor suite. It was huge. We had a king bed and twin study desks complete with robust Kelmarian interfaces. The units were linked to the main server at the Watcher Complex and took full advantage of the superior technology. In comparison to a top of the line computer from Best Buy, our interfaces screamed with enough speed to leave the Best Buy models in the dust. Plus, we had access to databases of information not available to humans. And, of course, the gaming was top notch with Earth based games in addition to games exclusive to Kelmarians.

We also retained our wrist coms, discreetly designed to look like a smartwatch. The wrist coms were much more than a communication device. They could be used to access the interface, access our finances and even act as a location beacon if someone was trying to find us. Both Jevic and I were on the fence about the bonus of that particular feature.

It also gave us instant access to our friends who lived at the Watcher Complex and Scott and Brandon, who lived just down the street. They had wrist coms too. Speaking of Scott and Brandon, my wrist com notified me of an incoming call from them.

"Hey guys! What's up?"

"Cameron, we've heard some disturbing news from the Complex about some guy from Kelmar that the security team is looking for. Does this have anything to do with us?" Scott asked. Jevic raised an eyebrow as he heard the question. He nodded for me to go ahead.

"Hello to you too," I said mockingly. "Yeah, you got it right. It does kinda have something to do with us. You remember our friend Kibbeth?"

"Paulik's twin brother? Yeah, we remember that asshole," Brandon said.

"He is dead, you know?" I pointed out, hoping for some respect for the dead, even if it was Kibbeth.

"If I could bring him back to life, I'd kill him again, several times, and I'd still hate him. You do remember he locked us up, naked, not once, but twice?" Brandon said without any remorse.

"I remember. Anyway, it seems he had a son nobody knew about."

"Really? And that's who Joel and his team are searching for?" asked Scott.

"Yes. It's thought that he's here to avenge his father's death." There was a pause of the other end.

"How does one avenge a person stupid enough to try an assignation in front of fifty witnesses and a dozen armed guards?"

"Apparently his blame is far reaching, as his quest for revenge."

"And just who is he intending to exact this revenge on?" Scott asked.

"That would be Paulik," I said quietly.

"And who else?"

"Cameron. He's after Cameron," Jevic chimed in.

"Good God!" Scott and Brandon exclaimed at the same time. "This is so not a good thing, Cameron," Brandon said.

"I know. I know. But this guy has never been to Earth before. He knows nobody here and he's never had any interaction with a human. The technology difference will be almost impossible for him. He caught a transport from Kelmar to the Complex and you know as well as I do you can't teleport anywhere you're not familiar with or to someone you don't know."

"I hate to point this out oh great tingling one, but Jevic is a target by association. And, Cameron, we are too. Anybody with half a brain can read your story and know all about us, including Shane and Malik. This is very concerning."

"He doesn't know any of us personally, so teleportation is out of the question. So I'm reasonably sure we're perfectly safe."

"Said Captain Smith to the crew of the Titanic," Scott said sarcastically.

"Cameron, we have to get together to make sure everybody is aware of the potential danger," suggested Brandon. "We need a plan in case things go wonky and we need a safe place to go in case it does. These are important steps we need to take to ensure our safety."

"I agree," said Jevic.

"Okay, let's plan to get together at lunch tomorrow. We'll make plans then. I'll be sure to let Shane and Malik know too," I said.

"Sounds good. In the meantime, we just keep a watch out for this guy? I've got a picture of him I got off the Watcher interface," Scott said.

"Yes, let's make sure we're all familiar with what he looks like. See you guys tomorrow."

*    *    *    *    *

Jakub woke up and was momentarily confused. Reality slapped him across the face as his nostrils were assaulted with an odor that could only originate from someone seriously overdue for a shower. He sat up on the very uncomfortable cot he'd been sleeping on. Finding the homeless shelter had been a stroke of luck. No ID required and no credits necessary. It even came with a hot meal. While it was free, it had to be shared with some questionable humans, most of which had a pungent odor and less than suitable attire. The food was filling, but it left much to be desired to a palate that was used to a more refined cuisine.

Still, Jakub counted himself lucky, if one believed in such rubbish. No one had to be killed and that was a plus, despite having to 'wrap up' the loose end that was Aleksy. It still bothered him. It had been very personal and Jakub hadn't expected that. As he tightened his hands around his throat, at first Aleksy's expression was confusion. As he started to struggle for air, the expression turned to terror. Aleksy's grip on his forearms was strong as he fought for his life. The grip would probably leave temporary physical bruises, but it would leave permanent bruises on Jakub's heart. He watched from a foot away as the light slowly went out in Alesky's eyes. Once the boy was dead, the empty eyes continued to stare at Jakub. Alesky's blue eyed vacant stare frightened him. It was a death stare that reflected accusation. It was a stare that would haunt Jakub's dreams. He'd taken a life and it didn't sit well. He kept seeing the expression of terror on Alesky's face just before he died. He kept feeling Alesky's hands gripping his forearms. The whole experience was horrific and Jakub didn't ever want to do that again. It played over and over in his mind. It almost made him physically sick. An unexpected feeling of remorse washed over him, but once he caused Alesky's death, there was no undoing it. There was no taking it back. It was permanent.

He felt weak. His father had killed without hesitation. He should be able to do the same thing, but the guilt had already started eating away and showed no sign of being sated.

"Okay, gentlemen! You know the drill! Everybody has to leave. There's a soup kitchen a half block away. You're welcome to come back tonight. We open at four. Have a rewarding day!" the man on the shelter staff called out. Jakub was tempted to make him go away permanently but let the feeling pass. He got up from his cot, got dressed and headed for the exit. He had to get these thoughts out of his mind. The memory had to be squashed. An unexpected anger reared its head that slowly buried the memories of killing Alesky. The surprising arrival of the anger turned its target to Jakub himself. The anger centered on his weakness. Centered on his inability to be like his father. Centered on his remorse for killing a friend. The anger suddenly dissipated as he walked out of the shelter onto the stinky concrete apron. Anger was replaced with frustration for his current predicament. Frustration slowly changed to determination. Jakub would exact his revenge if it killed him.


On to Chapter Twenty-One
"Sherlock"
Back to The Epilogue
"The Epilogue for Part Two"
Chapter Index

Jevic's Story Page

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Email me at jevic@tarheelwriter.com