Leech 01 Caleo Page 6

  “Almost thirty-five, I think. We don’t age very fast either.” Then Steve added with excitement, “Well, let’s get going!”

  “Where to?” Caleo asked, standing up and walking to the door.

  “To meet a friend of mine. I want to see if he can help with discovering your power.”

  “So where does he live?”

  “Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Less than a second as a matter of fact.”

  Caleo knew the answer even before he asked it. “So we're not going to drive?” He turned to face Steve and slowly started backing away from him.

  Steve started walking towards Caleo smiling. “Nope.”

  Caleo took another step backward and bumped into the door. “So you want to … with me?”

  “It's not going to hurt … much. You might just like it!” Steve rushed at Caleo.

  Throwing his arm in front of his chest as a reaction to cushion the blow Caleo begged, “Can't we just take the car?”

  “What’s the fun in having a battery like you around if I can’t use you every once in a while?” Steve grabbed Caleo’s arm with his left hand and Caleo yelped at the sting when he felt his energy leaving his body at an alarming rate.

  Now he had to fight for the energy even to talk. And his pleas for Steve to stop came out muffled and soft.

  Then Caleo felt his stomach lurch just before the room around him seemed to fall out of focus. A split second later, as if someone had changed the channel on a TV, his vision came back. He was standing in the middle of a small, white room with a single, torn, blue love seat against a wall in need of a repair job and a new coat of paint.

  4

  Looking around the room Caleo asked, “Where are we?” The love seat with an empty pizza box lying on the cushion was the only sign that the place was even occupied. Are we in some kind of crack house? So help me if we teleported to buy crack, I'm going to call the cops the second I get home.

  Steve cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled down a narrow hallway, “Yo, John! Where are you?”

  Caleo tilted his head as a barely audible voice answered. Great what did I get myself into now?

  Steve looked back at Caleo with an annoyed look on his face. “I brought a friend!”

  There was a loud bang against the wall, followed by the screeching of moving furniture. Soon the sound of the moving furniture was replaced by people running down the hall, away from the room Caleo was in.

  Steve screamed after them, “Yeah, you better get back to work!” A short fat man walked casually out of the same room. Spittle flew from Steve’s mouth as he yelled at the man. “John, what’s going on in there? Why weren’t they at their posts?”

  John's voice was indifferent as he answered, “We were playing cards.”

  “What?!” Steve's face went from red to an almost purple, but John just ignored him and sat down on the couch. “If you have a problem, I suggest you take it up with them, otherwise you can tell me what you need.” He opened the top to the pizza box, saw that it was empty, then looked up to meet Steve’s glare with one his own.

  Caleo took a few steps away from the two men, expecting a fight to break out any moment.

  Instead they just stared each other down for a few minutes before Steve broke and hissed, “I will have to do that.”

  As if someone had flipped a switch, John’s mood changed and he was smiling ear to ear at Steve, who looked like he could explode at any minute. “Good, and while you're at it, could you tell them to pick up after themselves? I am not a maid.” He held out the empty pizza box to Steve.

  Caleo watched in silence as he saw Steve look like he was about to kill this man with his mind, but instead he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He pointed at Caleo and said through gritted teeth, “I need you to help find out his power.”

  A puzzled look fell across the face of the short man.

  Steve didn’t even try to hide the annoyance in his voice. “Well, what’s the problem?”

  “Did you try asking him? He doesn’t look like he's with you unwillingly.”

  “Can you help or not?” Steve snapped, and Caleo backed away.

  “Well, it’s just … shouldn’t he already know?”

  “Assume he doesn’t.”

  “How the hell am I going to find out?”

  Steve leaned in to John and whispered. Caleo couldn’t catch the words, but he could see the horror in John’s eyes as they were said.

  “Caleo, you'll go with Dr. John. I want to be informed the moment something is found. You have my cell number.” Turning his back to John, Steve whispered to Caleo, “Keep your mark hidden. You don’t want anyone to know how weak you are.” Caleo nodded, fear in his eyes.

  Steve slapped Caleo on the arm. “Good luck, kid.” Then he vanished.

  Caleo stood in front of a sad-looking John, who was staring at the floor shaking his head.

  Trying to break the silence Caleo said, “What, no puff of smoke?”

  John turned and said flatly, “Follow me.” Then he started towards the door in the corner of the room.

  Caleo had to jog to catch up. “So you’re Dr. John, right?”

  John shook his head, ushering Caleo through the door. “No. My name is John, but I’m no doctor.”

  Caleo stopped right inside and looked around. The room was small with only a computer desk and chair in the corner. A big, glass wall separated the room from the adjoining room, which just had a chair sitting in the middle of it. John opened the door leading into the glass room and pointed to the chair. “Sit in the chair and look straight ahead.”

  Caleo couldn’t help but feel something was wrong as he walked over and sat in the chair. “So why did Steve call you doctor?”

  John walked out of the room and slammed the door shut. “This is probably going to hurt … a lot.” John turned and looked at Caleo. “I’m sorry.”

  “Hey, what are you doing? Let me out of here!” Caleo ran for the door only to find it locked. “This isn't funny!” Caleo frantically pounded on the door, trying to get John’s attention, but he was too interested in something on his computer monitor. John pressed a key on his keyboard and Caleo heard a loud click behind him, but when he turned he saw nothing. Then he heard the click again, this one from above his head, it came again beside him this time. An arrow shot out of a small hole in the wall and imbedded itself deep in Caleo’s leg. He screamed out in pain and fell to the floor, grabbing at the arrow. There was another loud click; Caleo flinched, expecting another arrow, but noticed that the ceiling dropped about eight inches. He panicked and crawled for the glass window as fast as he could. Where he immediately started pounding on it as hard as he could. Still John kept his attention on the computer.

  Click! The ceiling fell another eight inches. This guy isn’t trying to find out what my power is! He’s trying to kill me and take it! He continued to pound on the window, tears streaming down his face, hoping Steve would come to his rescue.

  “Please let me out of here!” Caleo pleaded. “I'll give you anything you want.”

  Another loud click and the ceiling fell another eight inches. There was a groaning noise as the chair in the center of the room splintered into pieces from the pressure of the ceiling pushing down on it. Click! Caleo watched as the last few inches of the window disappeared above the ceiling.

  “Please stop!” Caleo pushed up on the ceiling with his back, using all the strength he could find with the arrow still buried in his leg.

  Click! Caleo’s arms buckled under the weight, sending him face first onto the floor flat on his belly, forcing the arrow deeper into his leg. Click! Caleo closed his eyes. This is it, I'm going to be crushed. Suddenly the pressure of the ceiling receded. Caleo looked up and saw that the ceiling had reversed back into its original position. Thank you, God! Caleo climbed to his feet and hobbled to the door.

  “Help! Someone, help!” Caleo screamed, pounding on the door again.

  There was a loud humming noise and the roof start
ed to glow red.

  “Let me out! I want to go home!” He fell to the floor defeated. “Please, just let me out.” Caleo lay there crying, not bothering to look up at what was coming next.

  A few minutes later he heard John’s chair move and sat up to see John walking toward the door. Caleo climbed back to his feet turned and pounded on the door even harder, screaming for help.

  “Settle down. I was just doing what I was told to do.”

  “You're sick! I thought you were going to kill me!” Caleo screamed, pounding his fist against the glass, blood smearing under his hands as they hit. “You’re a sick and twisted freak!”

  As he reached for the handle of the door, John said in an indifferent tone. “Well, it worked.”

  Caleo backed away from the door, his anger turning to excitement at finding his power. “It worked? So … you know what my power is?”

  John pulled the door open just a crack and walked back over to the computer monitor, Caleo limping right behind him, the arrow still embedded in his leg.

  John pulled an empty computer chair next to his. “Have a seat.”

  Not falling for that again. Caleo stood behind the chair leaning on it for support. “I think I'll stand.”

  “This one is not a trick.” John smiled up at Caleo, but he must have seen the look of distaste on Caleo’s face, so he went on. “Okay. Watch the video and tell me what you see.” He pressed the play button.

  The video started and Caleo watched in horror as he saw himself being compressed, then he saw himself curled up in front of the door crying. The video abruptly stopped.

  “Did you see anything?”

  Irritated, Caleo looked at him to see if he was joking. “No.”

  “Although your power couldn't save you in this situation, it still tried. Look here,” he said, dragging the scroll bar on the monitor towards the end of the video where Caleo was crying in front of the door. He then played it again.

  Excitement almost visible in his voice, John pointed at the screen. “Did you see it?”

  Caleo shook his head and John rewound it again. As he played it again he pointed to the screen again. “You see?! Look at your mouth!” Caleo leaned in and saw his breath floating from his mouth like a puff of smoke.

  “Is that it?” Caleo looked up at John like he had lost his mind. "I can make fog with my breath." Disappointed, Caleo looked back at the deathly room. “I can see my breath? Anyone can do that! It happens all the time when it’s cold out.”

  Caleo could tell by John’s voice that he was excited. “No. That room was over two hundred degrees! You should have been burned, or at least hot, but you didn’t even break a sweat. You, my boy, can cool the temperature around you! It’s very original! Not too many people can do that. Yeah, I've seen the reverse, but never your gift. I would like to test you further. Now that we know what it is, I would like to put a thermal camera on you and try again.”

  “I don’t think so.” Caleo hobbled backwards towards the exit, taking the chair with him to keep his balance. “Shouldn’t we call Steve?”

  John turned his chair to face Caleo; his face wore a grim expression. “Well … how well do you know Steve?”

  Caleo went to raise an eyebrow at the question, but was reminded of the bruised eye by a stab of pain. “Why?”

  “Just saying, watch your back around him. He'll only want you around if your power can be used for something. If not, he'll recycle your energy for someone who can.” John's voice took on a serious tone as scratched his head and continued, “And keeping your body cool isn’t very useful to anyone but yourself. Sorry, but I think you’re a dud as far as Steve would be concerned. I would like to tell him, with your permission, that I haven’t found anything yet and we can try again later. That way he'll keep you around.”

  “You want me to lie to Steve? He saved my life,” Caleo complained, not liking the idea at all.

  “I’m sure he did, but that was when he thought he could use you in this army of his.” John took a step towards Caleo.

  Caleo struggled to fight back the tears that blurred his vision. “And just what makes you so damn useful?”

  John walked up and wrapped one arm around Caleo and embraced him. A second later there was a sharp pain in Caleo’s leg and he looked down to see John tossing the arrow to the floor. Blood oozed from the wound. “I wish I wasn’t. Then I could have just gone home. Instead, I’m stuck here.” John patted Caleo on the back reassuringly.

  Caleo was unable to hold back the tears any longer and they streamed down his face. “So what am I supposed to do? Just go around life waiting to get killed by a Leech?”

  John stepped back, holding onto Caleo’s shoulder. “No. You can run. Once you get home, run. Get as far away as you can. Find a place and fall off the radar, the more remote the better.” John took another step back and cupped Caleo’s face in his hands.

  Caleo felt the sharp sting under John’s left hand and his energy being drained. Panicked, Caleo pushed him away, stood up and walked to the other end of the room where he paced back and forth, trying to sort through his thoughts. “Where’s the bathroom?” He wiped the tears from his face with the bottom of his shirt.

  John appeared to think about it for a few seconds before he answered. “It’s down the main hall, third door on the left. Just don’t go outside. They have orders to kill anyone in the yard.”

  Kill anyone in the yard! What kind of place is this? Caleo nodded and left the room.

  Third door on the left, Caleo thought, walking down the hall. One. Two, Three. The door was closed, so he knocked softy; when no one answered he opened the door and walked in.

  Caleo cringed as he looked around the bathroom at the broken mirror, the cracked, stained tub, and the sticky mess on and under the toilet. “It’s a good thing I only have to pee.” When he finished, Caleo walked to the sink. Does this even work; is it even worth trying? Caleo cocked his head to the side as a familiar female voice through the wall caught his attention. He tried to place a face to the voice, but no matter how hard he tried he came up blank. Carefully following the voice down the hall he came to a staircase that spiraled up into the ceiling. He slowly climbed up the stairs, trying not to make a noise.

  “I hear something.” The sound of the female voice stopped Caleo dead in his tracks.

  “Don’t play like that, I don’t have much more time before I have to go drop off the kid so we can get ready for tomorrow.”

  Caleo heard Steve’s voice and curiosity over took him; he cautiously peeked over the edge of the stairs. There was a large room with a king sized, wood framed canopy bed in the corner and a large mirrored dresser against the far wall. The walls were covered with thick red and purple curtains that hung from ceiling to floor. Movement from the bed caught his eye and he focused on it, seeing Steve lying naked on the bed half covered by the sheets, but alone. Caleo searched the room trying to find the source of the familiar voice he had just heard from the bottom of the stairs, but now the voice was silent.

  Who is he talking to? I don’t see anyone else in the room. Caleo sat down on the stairs. Someone maybe hiding. But why?

  Steve’s voice startled Caleo, “Just come back to bed, I got to go deal with the kid soon.”

  Caleo peeked back over the edge of the floor to see who this mystery woman was. “Why are you even worried about this guy? He’s a wimp, just kill him and be done with it.”

  Caleo followed the direction of her voice with his eyes. Where is she? I still don’t see anyone. What is she the invisible woman or something? Caleo felt a pit form in his stomach as the realization hit him. She’s not dead, he lied! He saw movement by a small vanity as a brush floated into the air seemingly on its own. Caleo slowly crawled down a few steps and sat, trying to collect himself.

  Rage filled him as all the trust that Steve had just built with him came crashing down. I can’t believe that was all staged. I’m so stupid; Caleo noticed his breath showing in the air in front of his face. Stupid power!
What good is this? He huffed a puff of air and watched it dissipate like cigarette smoke. I just want to go home.

  “Baby, its freezing,” the invisible woman in the room above said.

  “Get over here I'll warm you up.”

  The invisible woman laughed and Caleo tracked the sound of footsteps. “I think I’m going to check the air.”

  Caleo panicked and took off running down the hall and into John’s office. He looked around, gasping for air, not seeing John anywhere. Caleo turned to the sound of a toilet being flushed just in time to see John emerging from a door on the far side of the room.

  “Did you find it okay? Oh my, what’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost,” John said, flipping off the computer monitors as he passed by. “So I see you have found a use for your power after all.” John smiled then blew out his breath to show how cold it was as he rubbed his arms for warmth.

  Still trying to catch his breath Caleo snapped, “What, my power is air conditioning? I thought you said third door on the left.” Caleo pointed to the open door that John just came from, a toilet clearly visible inside.

  Laughing, John shook. “Oh, you meant the closest bathroom? I’m sorry. You’re going to have to be more specific next time.”

  Caleo rolled his eyes, knowing that John had set him up all along to find Steve. But why would he want me to find Steve? He stood there biting his lip for a moment as he thought it over. He wants me to run, maybe he does care. He turned to John. “John, you want out, right?” Caleo paused, staring into his eyes, looking for any clue as to how John was truly feeling. When John just stood there staring at Caleo and revealing nothing, Caleo continued, “You were right. I need to get out. He’s not who I thought he was. Everything is just … ”

  “I’m listening,” John said, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

  But before Caleo could say anything John’s phone rang and he answered it, holding up his pointer finger to Caleo, silently asking him to hold on. “Hello? Yeah I tested him, but we haven’t found anything yet. I’d like to run a few more ... Okay, we'll meet you there.” John hung up the phone.