Book 1 of “The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 07: A Crisis and a Change of Heart
The conversation pretty much broke up after the girls finished teasing me about my fear of commitment, both to them and to my role in this whole thing. We got into a more in-depth discussion about our new abilities, although trying to communicate with dear little Anh Ngo was agonizingly slow. Clearly she knew some English words but she simply didn’t trust herself to misspeak in front of me, so I bore with it. Victoria (or Vicky as I’d taken to calling her) was just a cutie, so it made it all worthwhile just to see how seriously she took her role as translator. She’d beam whenever one of us would tell her how well she was doing. I’m not sure how much she picked up herself, but as I said, she seemed to be very intelligent, so I’m guessing it was the majority.
We managed to duplicate some of Cate’s previous experiments and demonstrations. Anh was clearly amazed when she could not only understand me but also when I apparently picked her thoughts out of thin air. Still, she looked like she had expected no less of me.
Vicky was intrigued as well. “You read MINDS?” she asked, clearly excited.
“Not really, Vicky,” I replied with a gentle smile. “Well, actually I do read minds, but only four very specific minds. I can only talk crudely with your Grandma, Patricia, Allison and Shani. It’s nothing like in the movies.” I pitched my voice lower and leaned in, whispering as if telling her a secret. “But you can’t tell anyone, as it’ll create a lot of trouble, no one will believe it, and they’ll call us and your Grandma liars and cheats. I don’t think any of us want that. I doubt it will happen though, because we all know we can’t talk to anyone about this; not to your family or any strangers, nobody but us and your Grandma.”
I hoped I wasn’t piling the guilt on too far, but there really was no way of getting around it. I was afraid of the trouble a misspoken comment could provoke. After that, Cate played with her a bit to help alleviate the tension that I’d created, which helped, but it was still a very hard evening for a girl so young to handle.
It turned out that little Vicky was only eight and was in the third grade at a seaside elementary school. She lived with her parents, along with two sisters, three brothers, a couple cousins and a few other relatives. All in all, it was a pretty large household, which fit into a slightly larger Vietnamese fishing community on the shore. Anh kept the Vietnamese sensibilities strong in the family, but the children were becoming quite Americanized while still maintaining their sense of who they were and where they were from. They were as proud of their heritage as Shani was.
We got to talking again, and the conversation went on until I noticed Vicky standing beside me once again. It occurred to me then that I hadn’t heard from either her or Anh in the past several minutes, but I’d thought that was due to Cate’s playing with her. I had to corrected myself—Cate had been involved in the latest discussion so I realized we’d been talking longer than I’d thought.
As I was considering this, Vicky spoke up.
“‘Scuse me, but Grandma says we need to get me back for school tomorrow. She’s sorry, but says she’ll try to be back tomorrow after school tomorrow.” Surprisingly, little Vicky looked just as stricken at leaving my side as her grandmother did, despite her not being able to detect my supposed energy.
“That’s OK,” I replied, smiling for her. “I’m sorry that we can’t spend time getting to know each other tonight. But don’t worry, there’s always tomorrow.” It was funny, when I gave her that simple smile, her whole face lit up, but I attributed it to Anh having filled her head with tales of friendly spirits in human garb.
The girls and I escorted them out to her nearby, little, used compact car. Both Anh and Vicky made a big deal out of kissing me goodbye, their actions still very formal, almost as if this was an important act in a special ceremony.
When we got back to the restaurant Mom and Dad had finished paying the bill and were waiting for us by the door along with Cate and Henry. We were discussing what was next when Patricia and Henry made their exit … no doubt to have the discussion she’d been putting off. The rest of the women decided they’d accompany us back to our hotel. I tried to subtly dissuade them, but they made it clear that they had no plans to go home. Heck, Allison was still dressed in long white gloves from church this morning, and even she insisted upon accompanying me back to the hotel. No, the way things were going (and probably based on a few things that Shani might have mentioned when they were talking just out of my earshot), they seemed to expect to stay in Cate’s and my room tonight. I hoped my parents would have said something about that, but they were no help at all, merely smiling like Cate at my obvious discomfort.
The French Quarter’s streets were still busy, even after dark on a Sunday night, so it was still a pleasant walk. Everyone was busy discussing details about the issue my father had raised, so they mostly talked amongst themselves, the women moving into little groups to discuss things privately or with my parents or Cate. There always seemed to be someone watching me though, perhaps because they were afraid I’d become morose about all the plans they were making about my future without any input from me. Actually, it was probably more likely that they just felt it was their duty to watch out for me. In either event I knew that I had little choice in the matter, and as a result I had no private time to sulk. It wasn’t all bad, though. What sulking I was able to do was done with several attractive women clustered loosely around me.
Glancing at them, I considered the women I’d attracted so far. They covered a wide variety of ages, races, education and experiences. There didn’t seem to be many commonalities other than they all seemed to be quite bright, but I figured that was more likely either dumb luck or their trying extra hard to impress me. Oh, and there weren’t any heavy women yet either. I thought that odd considering just how heavy the residents of New Orleans were, but I simply attributed it to the fact that, so far, I’d only been exposed to busy professional women. Besides, the one black woman I’d pulled in was Jamaican, instead of a New Orleans native.
When we got back to the hotel my parents decided they wanted to continue the discussion, so we opened the connecting doorway between our rooms and everyone wandered back and forth. Natalie had to head home to prepare for work the next day, although she casually announced she would also put in her resignation notice. Most of the discussion was still about future plans—specifically regarding what everyone wanted to do about me, and as nobody was really all that interested in my opinion I pretty much stayed out of it. They sat and continued to hash out details for quite some time, while I tried to focus on issues that didn’t involve multiple women moving in with me.
I think I was starting to doze off as it had been, once again, a very busy day when a cell phone rang, shocking me awake. Cate pulled her phone out while the others continued their quiet conversation.
“Yeah?” she answered informally, figuring it wouldn’t be a stranger given the late hour.
“Oh, hi, Becky!” she responded happily, enthused to get information about the man we’d encountered from our sister.
“Wow! Really? Well, while something like that is never great news, I’m glad they’re finally dealing with it.” She covered the phone and addressed us. “She says that guy is having emergency surgery on his brain as we speak.” As the other discussions halted and we all leaned in, eager to hear more, Cate looked a little unnerved, leaned away from the phone and added, “Here, you’d better talk to Alex. It was his women that figured it out.” As she handed me the phone (and the women started to crowd around me), she smiled an innocent smile that was betrayed by the wicked glint in her eyes. “She wants to know how we knew something was wrong.”
“Uh, hello,” I said hesitantly. “Becky?” I was already dreading questions about new insights and strange women.
“Hey there, hope you’re having a good time,” she greeted me. It’d been a while since we’d spoken. “What’s this about ‘your women’? Does Cate mean her and Mom?” Having made the basic assumption Becky was off and running, so I didn’t feel any pressing need to correct her. “Anyway, getting back on target, the hospital staff is very interested in how you detected his condition. They said it was completely asymptomatic but that there was a sizable tumor about the size of a large plum in the right hemisphere of his brain. They said he might have noticed it sooner if it had been in his left hemisphere. Since it was asymptomatic they’re questioning how I detected it,” she stated, emphasizing how they thought she was there when she had made her ‘discovery’ instead of working in a lab in Illinois.
“Wow, it sounds like we caught it just in time,” I replied, ignoring her implied question. Oh, I knew the subject would come up again, but I was hoping to postpone it as long as possible until I had more of a feel of how much trouble I was in.
“He walked into the emergency room and demanded a brain scan. As a result of what they saw when they finally ran one, they rushed him straight into surgery. It took a bit to organize a team that fast, but they wanted to address it right away. It seems the tumor was impacting areas of the brain around it and was causing them to atrophy. They’re not sure what effects the surgery will have on his cognitive functions, but they are hopeful since it hadn’t yet affected his performance, but every brain surgery is major so they’re closely monitoring him.
“Anyway, how’d you detect it?” she continued. “They said there were no obvious signs.”
Ah, here it is, I thought to myself, the heart of the problem. “Just lucky, I guess. A friend of ours saw him walking funny and thought we should ask him about it.”
“Hmm, is this friend a doctor by any chance? And if so, why couldn’t you use him as a reference? And how’d he notice his walk when the neurologists at the hospital didn’t notice it?” she pressed.
“Boy, you’re just full of questions,” I stalled.
“Yeah, the local doctors grilled me for a while. They seemed to think it was me who saw him on the street and spotted it. I had to bluff my way through and it made me sound like a real idiot, especially since I have no medical training whatsoever. What’s more, I have no actual experience with patients, just lab work and theoretical situations.”
“Ouch,” I commiserated. “Don’t you get any brownie points for spotting it?” I hated putting Becky into a difficult situation.
“Not really. Doctors always want answers. They’re not very good at giving credit; they seem to think it makes them look fallible. If I were you, I’d avoid the hospital for a bit. The doctors are full of questions and the guy and his wife aren’t very likely to be speaking with you right now. The guy will be out of it, and his wife is facing the sudden onset of crippling medical bills.”
“Geez, you just can’t win for losing, huh?” It was amazing just how complicated saving someone’s life could be.
“Nope. Not in today’s world with lawyers around every corner searching for malpractice lawsuits. Anyway, you should be OK. But I’m dying to hear the full story,” she stressed, already guessing there was more to it than just lying to the authorities.
“We’ll explain it when we get back, if then. It’s pretty complicated, but we shouldn’t discuss it over the phone,” I told her.
“Ahh, suddenly all mysterious are we?”
“Yeah, you know me, living the life of mystery and intrigue.” I normally wasn’t very quick with the clever responses when things got awkward.
“The only mystery you’re full of is the mysterious smells coming from your bedroom,” she joked, returning to our old teasing ways. Unlike Cate, both Becky and Melinda teased me more like typical siblings, giving me a hard time about my perceived failings. “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later. I had a long day and I’ve got to get ready for a lot of questions tomorrow. Bye,” she said, finishing off without giving me time to respond to her last statement.
“Bye,” I finished, hanging up and relaying the information to the others. We discussed the implications of this additional knowledge. Soon it was getting late, nearly 11 p.m., when I was suddenly struck with a feeling of dread and then a sudden feeling of being wet, cold, miserable and alone, and a single image of a dark empty road stretched out before me. Reacting quickly I was instantly on my feet.
“Quick, Anh’s in trouble, we’ve got to help her,” I informed everyone, wanting to do something but not quite sure what.
“Whoa, whoa, what the hell?” my father protested, demonstrating he was personally exempt from Mom’s warpath concerning inappropriate language.
“Dad, she’s cold and lonely out on the street. She might have had an accident or something. We’ve got to do something.”
“Surely it is late enough that she’s been home for some time,” he said, glancing at his watch. “She shouldn’t be on the road at this hour.”
“She’s on the road, wet and upset,” I answered with certainty, becoming more agitated with each passing second. “We have to go rescue her now!”
“OK, OK, don’t jump down my throat. I’m just trying to establish a degree of common sense. Are you even sure it’s her and not Patricia?”
“No, I’m sure it’s her. Don’t ask me how, but I'm certain about that. Besides, she’s the only one who lives out in the country.”
“This might sound crazy, but I can feel a general sense of panic, but it’s like a faint sensation in the back of my mind,” Allison mentioned, glancing at Cate as if she could explain what she was feeling.
“Are you feeling anything like that too?” Cate asked Shani, glancing at her inquisitively, her own curiosity piqued.
“Well, she’s right, I can feel a panicky sensation,” Shani admitted. “But whether that’s from Anh, Allison or myself, or is being projected by Alex, I’ve got no idea.”
“Do you even know where she is?” my father asked, ending this unhelpful side discussion.
“No. I don’t,” I stated, realizing just how unprepared I was for a rescue mission.
“Sit down and focus then,” Cate counseled. “Just relax and think about her. Try to feel her out and see if you can pick out her location.” So I sat on the bed, lay back, closed my eyes and tried to relax, despite the panic coursing through me. I began casting about for her when the sharp ring of the hotel phone jolted through me like an electric shock.
“Hello?” answered my father, answering it before anyone else could respond. Reaching across I snatched it out of his hand.
“Yes?” I asked a bit curtly, desperate for more information.
“Alex? Alex, I can’t talk long,” Vicky responded, whispering quietly but urgently. “I just snuck away so I could call. Grandma’s in trouble. She and Daddy had a big fight. It was about you. He threw her out of the house. She’s out in the rain all alone.”
“Can she drive or call a cab?” I asked.
“She doesn’t have a cell phone, Alex. She doesn’t have a purse or anything, and Dad locked the door behind her. You’ve got to help her, Alex.” She was starting to sound a little panicky so I asked her to tell me her address, which helped calm her. I quickly jotted it down.
I was struck by how the panicky Vicky didn’t sound like the awestruck Vicky. Her sentences, while quick and simpler than before, were plain and spoken clearly. Apparently the scare put more emotions to her words.
“Oops, I gotta go. Help her Lãnh…, uh, Alex, please!” and with that she hung up. I briefly wondered what she had started to call me.
Turning to the others, I brought them up to date. “OK, I’ve got an address. That was Vicky. She says Anh’s been thrown out by her son. The vision I have doesn’t show any houses so I’m guessing she’s walking away from the house.”
“Before you go rushing off, who’s going with you?” my father inquired, always the responsible one.
“Going?” I stupidly asked.
“Someone’s got to stay here, in case she or Vicky calls again,” he cautioned. “Who’s going with you?” Looking around I took in the concerned faces surrounding me.
“Well, I’m not really sure…,” I hesitated.
“The two of us are coming,” Shani answered for both her and Allison. “We’re not staying here when one of us is in trouble or when you need us.”
I looked at Cate.
“Relax, Alex. Remember what Anh said today. You know what to do, just trust your judgment,” she advised me. I took a deep calming breath before turning back to her.
“OK, you’re going as well.”
“They won’t be much of a help if there’s a confrontation,” Dad countered.
“Why would there be a—”
“I’m assuming you’re the source of the fight?” he posed.
“Yeah,” I acknowledged disconcertedly.
“So you’ve got to assume there’s a possibility of a confrontation. I think I’d better go with you, which only leaves your mother to stay here to cover us.”
“All of you go, I’ll keep watch here. Just don’t get into any trouble,” insisted my mother.
“OK, that leaves six of us in our little car,” he warned.
“I’ve got my car right outside, Cate can ride with me and you can decide who rides with whom after everything is said and done,” Shani insisted, not questioning the fact that I was the one making all the decisions for everyone.
“Next, what are you going to do?” My father pressed again. “Are you going to try to reason with her son, an adult and probably the head of the family, or are you going to bring her here? And, if you bring her here, does that mean you’re going to be taking care of her?”
I sighed heavily. “Dad, I can’t decide all of that now. We’ve got to help her right away.”
“Just be aware of what’s involved. That’s all. You’re assuming a lot of responsibility here. You were nervous about it when we broached it at dinner, but now you’re facing it directly. If you’re going to accept it, then I want you to be willing to commit to it when the time comes. It’s time to stop being a child now that you have people depending on you.”
It seemed a bit harsh seeing as how I’d only known the people involved for a couple of days, but I took his guidance as I headed out the door. Everyone tumbled out behind me, while Mom called out her wishes for our success. I ran down the hall and down the stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator, and out into the hotel’s parking lot. I didn’t know if anyone else was keeping up, but I got the car unlocked and settled myself, buckling up as they started to drift in. I hadn’t driven the entire way down here, but that was due to my father’s concerns about ‘distracted teenagers’. Well now I was focused. I was concentrating on only one thing, and that was getting to Anh as soon as possible! I was already pulling out by the time Dad finally reached the car, so I stopped just long enough for him to dive in. Luckily Allison already had her smart phone out and was pulling up Google Maps to give us directions.
There was a lot of anxious discussion as I sped through the night. I was lucky I wasn’t stopped—driving through the city so fast—but it was late Sunday evening so the cops weren’t out in force at that hour. I emphasized that Anh wasn’t in any immediate physical danger, just that she was disconcerted and scared. That stopped most of the panicky reactions; well all of them but mine. I felt personally responsible. I had brought all of this upon them. These women looked to me to lead them in this new life, and I’d already gotten Anh kicked out of her home. I had to make this better.
I think the others were discussing options and possibilities, but my mind was so busy racing through my own thoughts that I think they eventually gave up after I stopped responding. Instead I concentrated on the road ahead as I drove as fast as I thought I could safely get away with.
As I drove, I tried to reach out to her, trying to sense where and what direction to go. I could feel she was relieved that I was coming, but was still distressed by the entire event. I felt right making a few turns, but that was probably just wishful thinking on my part. If I was right she was walking rapidly away from the house, probably in our direction, whichever direction that was. It had begun drizzling just after dinner, and had been raining off and on since. No one dared try to turn on the radio since I wanted my mind clear of interference in case I got more messages.
It occurred to me I should have discussed my driving with someone, seeing as I didn’t know how I reacted when I received these telepathic messages. If I got glassy eyed and spaced out, I probably shouldn’t be driving, but I wasn’t about to relinquish my personal responsibility just yet, and I certainly wasn’t going to stop long enough to change drivers. Bringing it up at this point would just worry people and confuse the issue. Right now the issue was crystal clear, I had to get to Anh right away and fix things!
I received another feeling of alarm, but instantly recognized it was from Patricia. It was easy to distinguish because mine was a calm panic, whereas hers was a more complete panic, clearly separate from my own state of mind. I guess I inadvertently sent out my emotional response unconsciously, and Patricia had picked it up. I tried to send some calm reassurance back at her, which helped relax me too, though I had no idea whether it reached her or not.
“Patricia’s worried,” I informed Allison. “Give her a call and let her know what’s happening.” She did, and they had a short discussion before she ended the call and turned to me.
“She’d already called the hotel and spoke to your mother. She also said she got your ‘message’, and that it made her feel much calmer about the whole thing, knowing that you were handling it.” I nodded in acknowledgment, but didn’t bother discussing it, as I was trying to imagine what we faced.
Allison kept me going, supplying me with gum so I wouldn’t grind my teeth too much, talking me through the directions, keeping me informed of the remaining miles and estimated arrival time.
I careened around a few corners but nobody complained, instead just hanging onto the safety straps above the doors. I’d insisted everyone fasten their seatbelts when we started. No one had yet developed any powers of clairvoyance or telekinesis, so I’d be on my own if I encountered any troubles.
Allison was also handling phone calls. Cate called just to check up on our current status so Allison relayed what we knew. Mom called part way there to check in and to relay that she hadn’t heard back from Vicky. Chances were that she’d been caught using the phone by her parents. I briefly got angry at Victoria for causing this conflict, but I couldn’t keep that going. She was only a kid, and asking kids to keep secrets just wasn’t fair. Besides, her parents probably already let her have it for being involved and for being silent about it as well. I wondered whether I’d have to rescue her as well. Then I began imagining the difficulties involved in trying to take a little girl away from her parents. No, I knew we had no choice there. If Anh wanted to come with us that was one thing. However, if she chose to abandon us for her home and family after some tears, then we’d just have to buck up and accept it. Until then she was my responsibility. She had expressly put herself, her entire future, into my hands. Of course, dealing with Anh without Vicky there to translate was going to be a major hurdle!
Allison had relayed our information to Patricia, letting her know how little we knew but emphasizing that Anh wasn’t injured, just scared and alone. Patricia handled the phone tree from there. That seemed to halt the panicky messages I was getting. Now I just felt my own panic and worry, which seemed to be enough for all of us.
Nearing her location I slowed down significantly. It was rural, dark and tree lined; the heavy scent of water in the night air. The headlights didn’t help much as we rounded blind curves in the poorly paved road. Just as I came around one particular curve I felt a sense of relief and immediately hit the brakes. I almost panicked again, remembering that Shani had been speeding to keep up with me as I rushed throughout the trip here. I expected to feel a crush and the tiny tinkling of broken glass, but it failed to materialize. I felt a giggle in my head, a relief in itself, along with the sense of not being there yet, so resumed driving until I found her standing almost in the middle of the road.
Jumping out of the car, I rushed to her and lifted her off her feet, hugging her tightly to me. She felt good and safe in my arms. Hearing motion behind me I was suddenly reminded that we were sitting in the middle of traffic, as little of it as there was. I carried Anh still clutching me back to the car. Allison took over from me, moving her into the back seat with her, while shoving my father into the front seat beside me. They were clucking at her, making no sense at all, when I turned and looked her in the eyes.
“Where to?” I asked slowly, enunciating carefully. I still had no idea just how much English she knew.
“I need t’ings,” she stated plainly in broken English with a heavy accent. “Either t’night or ‘morrow. ‘Spect fight,” she warned.
Looking her in the eyes I answered, “Expect a fight then,” as I started the car again. Cate ran up to the window and asked what was happening, so I said that Anh was safe and that we were headed to the house to get her things. I could tell from Cate’s expression that she expected there to be trouble, but I was still hoping we could handle this amicably. As she ran back to Shani’s car I started driving towards Anh’s house.
I didn’t even ask her where she was planning to go. I figured that was her choice. She’d decided she didn’t want to stay at home. Anything further was her choice, but it was my responsibility to give her that choice. In that, my own choice was significantly narrowed to only a few simple options.
“Maybe I’d better go—” my father started as I came to a stop in front of her house.
“No, Dad, you can come in to back me up, but you’ll stay in the background. This is my responsibility and it’s an issue between her son and me. You didn’t start this, so I don’t expect you to finish my fight for me.”
“I’m just hoping it won’t be a fight,” he stated flatly.
“So am I, Dad” I answered. “So am I.”
To Be Continued
"An Unknown Attraction", and the sequel, "Trying To Be Normal", are available at:
smashwords.com.
Posting every Tuesday and Thursday.