Inhuman

assigned to me in the beginning, sent to uncover all my secrets and knowledge about my strange background.

Too bad there was nothing to tell. Like I had any idea I was some oddity, a rare anomaly among men.

Examining my hand as the droplets of water trickled over my skin, I wriggled my fingers, watching the tendons and muscles bend and flex with the slightest movement. Turning my hand over, I followed the swirls, patterns and lines etched upon my fingertips and palms.

How was I so different? I had the same skin, the same muscles and bones, how could I have a completely foreign genetic blueprint compared to everyone else?

Assuming I was the only one.

It then dawned on me.

My mother knew!

She’d abandoned me in the cave for a reason and this was it! She knew I was ‘different’ because…she was.

I exhaled as I came to the realization. The anger that I carried for her all these years dissipated and was replaced with a mixture of guilt and relief. Pregnant with me, the situation was likely very similar to what I was experiencing. She was most likely an alien too, or whatever I was, carrying the child of a human.

Alien.

I didn’t even believe in that kind of stuff before all of this. It was Agent Evans who used the word first, leaving me to come to no other conclusion except that I was of some extraterrestrial descent.

Closing my eyes, I tried to imagine what my mother looked like. It was impossible. As much as I would’ve liked to picture her to be a raven-haired beauty with bronzed skin and a graceful body, I could envision nothing more than some weird alien creature, all gangly, scaly and green.

I was sure she was beautiful. How could she attract my father if she were some deformed beast?

My father…a human maybe?

I’d never given much thought to him. Maybe he was the alien and my mother was the human. My head began to hurt as I contemplated all the ideas. Somehow, though, I knew that my mother was the one. The one like me.

He could’ve been just a guy she met once or maybe they’d been in love. All I knew is that my grandmother never mentioned anyone but my mother. Grandmother had always been very secretive about finding me in the cave and come to think of it, how did she know it was my mother that left me there? How did she know that my father wasn’t there too?

As the puzzle pieces of my past began to fit together and more pieces came to light, I knew what I had to do.

I need to get to Sedona. I have to talk to grandmother and I have to make her take me to that cave!

The cave. The beginning of my life and the source of all the mysteries in my life.

Why? Why did my mother leave me?

Running my hand over my belly, I knew the answer.

A deep sorrow eclipsed my soul as I realized that my mother was only trying to protect me. It made sense that she would leave me behind; it was the only way to make me anonymous.

Frowning, I contemplated all the scenarios that my mother might have endured. The days leading up to my birth were likely wrought will peril and pain. Now knowing the fierce instinct of protection I had for my own unborn baby, I understood my mother’s decision wholeheartedly.

Warm tears rolled down my face as I faced the truth. I too, was going to have to make a decision. If I gave birth to my baby and kept her, her identity and bloodline would be evident.

How was I going to protect her?

* * *

Thankfully the front desk had a first aid kit. Keanu had requested a band-aid for his blistered heel, which was a lie of course; he needed it for my forehead. He had to change the story a bit to hide the fact that I was in the room too.

He’d originally checked in with his false ID telling the receptionist that he was staying in the room alone for the sole purpose of throwing off the authorities. I didn’t say so but I was certain they were much smarter than that, and by the energy that Keanu was giving off, I was sure he knew that too.

They. Who were they? I intended to find out.

“Keanu.” I mustered up the courage to ask him after we’d gotten back into the car and driven a few miles out of town. “Who are…the men in black?”

Exhaling sharply, he turned his head away from me. His eyes scanned the rolling hills of white moving quickly passed his window. He was silent for a few moments. I wasn’t sure if he was deciding how to tell me or if he should.

Finally, he spoke. His eyes clouded over with a dark hue and his voice was low and monotone. “They are an elite task force designed to find, capture and contain any and all anomalous beings or objects.”

I winced at his words. He spoke them as though he’d been programmed like a soldier…a drone.

“Are they…a part of the government?” I asked though I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to hear anymore.

“Yes…and no.” He replied quickly, not elaborating.

“What are they called?” I fully expected him to respond with one of the usual suspects, Army, CIA, FBI…the big ones.

Again he sighed, obviously uncomfortable with my questions, but eventually he surrendered. “At first, they had no name. Just an anonymous division in the shadows of government.” He switched on the wipers as a few droplets of rain fell onto the windshield. “Their name evolved over time.”

I glanced out the window as I waited for him to explain.

“They are the Majestic 12. Sometimes called Men in Black. They formed from twelve different elite secret societies within the United States. The rumors…are true.” Keanu’s face was white. He looked as though he was fighting back the urge to vomit. He also looked scared.

Instantly curious about all the things I’d heard over the years about UFO’s and conspiracies, I turned to him excitedly. “Roswell. The UFO crash. Is it true?”

Furrowing his brow and giving me a disapproving glance, he uttered with anger in his tone. “Many, many people have died for the secrets kept by the Majestic 12. Don’t you understand how powerful…and evil…they are? They’re all about gaining power, money, and manipulating the public.”

I bristled at his annoyance with my question. Facing myself forward, I pouted and stared out at the highway. I understood fully, thank you very much. The brutality and inhumanity I’d experienced over the last few months was all too fresh in my mind.

Sighing, he reached his free hand to my knee and rubbed it apologetically. “I’m sorry Cassia; I’ve seen a lot of bad things.”

A hot anger tore through me. Slapping his hand off my knee, I turned and glared him down like a cat ready to slash open her prey. “You’ve seen a lot of bad things? I’ve lived through those bad things! How dare you insinuate that I don’t understand how horrible these people are!”

“Cassia, I’m sorry.” His eyes focused back and forth from the road to me as he apologized. “I didn’t mean that you…” He gave up on explaining. I’d huddled myself against the passenger door and was staring vehemently out the window.

After a few minutes of allowing my blood to cool, I asked him without facing him. “If they’re so awful, why do you work for them?”

The silence behind me was unnerving. Again, I didn’t know if he was going to answer me. I hated all the secrecy.

“I…wasn’t given a choice.” His voice was thick with bitterness.

I turned to face him as I asked. “What do you mean?”

His eyes darkened as he gripped the steering wheel tighter, making a squeaking sound as his palms rubbed against the leather.

“I saw something…long ago…when I was fifteen.” He inhaled and exhaled sharply. “Afterwards, I was forced to work for them.”