Fixing Things (The Chosen, Act 1, Part 6)

_{By ulleo on pixabay.com}

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Act 1:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

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June 12th, 2166

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”Again!”, Xeraias screamed. ”Try again!” Joel shook his head, his gaze lowered to the ground.

”It hasn’t worked the last fifty times, I don’t think it will work now”, he said. Xeraias growled.

”It has to work. None of the abilities you promised me has manifested itself so far. I’ve been patient with you, have brought you to my home, introduced you to my family. I believed your silly story about me being the chosen one. And now you tell me, that you were wrong? You used to be so sure.”

”I used to be sure about it, yes”, Joel agreed. ”But it seems I was wrong. Even though that still doesn’t explain the power you seemed to have over me when we first met. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe fear made me reveal my mission. Maybe it was something else. I don’t know. I’m sorry. Can we now please stop this silly exercise?”

”We will continue, or I will kill you”, Xeraias snapped at him. Joel sighed, lifted his hand and threw another small rock at Xeraias, who was promptly hit in the face by it. By now, his face was covered in tiny cuts and bruises from all the stones he had not been able to telekinetically stop in mid-air.

”Oh for fuck’s sake”, the hybrid exclaimed. ”Why doesn’t this work? I need it to work. I need it to work by tomorrow.” Joel raised a brow.

”Why tomorrow?” He asked. ”You gave me six months, there’s still one month left.”

”That’s not the point.”

”Is it that Mia believes you’ll get a promotion when the time is over?” The question was met with the sound of grinding teeth.

”That is a problem too”, Xeraias said, ”but not the man one. No, I have an appointment tonight. A very important one. And I need this ability to work, or I might not make it home.” Startled, Joel looked the hybrid directly into his misshapen eyes, which he usually avoided.

”What are you going to do?” He asked.

”I’ll try to get out. Mia is going to give birth soon. I can’t risk her and the child any longer. I need to stop selling these drugs.”

”And you realized this just now?” Joel couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

”It wasn’t the right time. But this night, I have the opportunity to take out the leaders. They’re the ones who’d kill my family if I tried to get out, so I need to get rid of them to achieve my freedom.” _@suesa

”There’s no less … violent option?” Joel suggested. The hybrid shook his head. ”Do you expect me to come with you?” Xeraias seemed to be genuinely surprised by that offer.

”I know you can fight”, he said, ”but I don’t think you want to get involved here. So far, they have no idea you even exist. You should keep it that way, or you’ll die.”

”In less than a month, you’ll kill me anyway”, the human pointed out.

”Mia would be devastated. She has already asked me if you can stick around and serve as a babysitter.”

That information was new to Joel. Mia had been friendly towards him these past months, so much had been true, but she hadn’t given him the impression that she wanted him to stick around longer than initially announced.

”I’m surprised to hear this”, he told Xeraias. ”When did she tell you that?”

”A month ago, or so. She caught me off-guard too, but it gave me the idea for what I’ll now ask from you.”

”Which is?”

”If my plan goes wrong and I die tonight, I want you to take care of her. Her and my baby.”

Joel still doubted heavily that the child was the hybrid’s baby. But did that really matter here? He had just been given the unexpected opportunity to live longer. Maybe even find the real chosen one. It was more than unlikely that Xeraias would survive the nightly encounter.

”I’ll do it”, he said. ”I’ll take care of them.”

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Night from June 12th to 13th, 2166

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The door whined upon entry, and the floorboards seemed to scream. It seemed like the location had been specially chosen to make a stealthy arrival utterly impossible, which gave Xeraias an uneasy feeling. Had previous meetings occurred in similar places? He didn’t feel like they had, but he might just not have paid much attention to it.

Xeraias slowly moved through the seemingly empty building, following the instructions he had been given. Left, left, first door to the right. He opened it. This door too could have used some oil, decades ago.

The room was empty.

”Hello?” Xeraias called out, feeling slightly uneasy. Then he checked the time. He wasn’t particularly early. He shuffled around awkwardly until he heard the floorboards announce another visitor.”*

”Finally”, Xeraias said, as the door started opening. ”I already thought you wouldn’t …”

He stopped in the middle of his sentence. Confusion flooded his body, followed by anger. ”What are you doing here?” He asked, upon recognizing the person who had just stepped into the room. Then he noticed the gun. ”You wouldn’t dare”, he said.

It was Xeraias’ last words.

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Early morning hours, June 13th, 2166

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Joel woke up before the sun had started to rise. His body felt drained, and he remembered having a hard time falling asleep. There couldn’t have been many hours in which his body had gotten its rest. With a loud moan, he stretched and then started to wonder if Xeraias had returned yet. Despite everything that had happened, he was worried about the hybrid.

As if summoned by his thoughts, there was a knock on the front door, which made him flinch. Another knock, louder this time, followed. His eyes darted over to the bedroom where Mia was sleeping in. He didn’t want her to wake up, so he hurried to the door and opened.

In front of him stood a police officer.

*”Does Xeraias Sherin live here?” The officer asked. Joel hadn’t known the hybrid’s last name, but that barely mattered at this point.

”Yes, he does. Did something happen?”

”His body has been found, dropped off in front of the police station, about 2 hours ago. We have some questions to his wife. And now you too, it seems.”

Joel closed his eyes for a moment.

”Of course, come in. I’ll wake Mia.”

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