Chapter 17
Tumbleweeds bounced across the arid terrain just like you’d see in the movies. Large jagged mountains stood stoic in the background as we neared the heart of Arizona. The hot desert sun had raped the land of any humidity, starving the landscape of lush green plants or trees. There were thick forests high on the mountains where the raindrops could reach the ground before the hot sands could evaporate them upon impact.
Otherwise, the desert was a vampire with an insatiable thirst for water.
Memories of my childhood swarmed my thoughts. The Hopi natives were ingenious with the way they adapted to the searing heat, rather than suffer with its tyrannical hold over the land.
“Which way?” Keanu drove straight along a darkening highway, the sun was just settling behind a large mountain to the west.
Indecision overwhelmed me; it was the first time I felt in charge of my own destiny for many months.
Even in the dark, my instinct was strong here. Pointing my finger south, I trusted the inner guidance that was trying to speak to me. I may not have been born a Hopi Indian, but I grew up as one and I’d inherited their sense of spiritual intuition.
The sun gave one last ray of light in our favor as we turned off the road. I wasn’t sure if we were going to find the cave tonight or even at all, but I knew that we could hide here and even the Majestic 12 and all their deceptions wouldn’t be able to trick their way through the desert.
They were on my turf now.
Noticing a good place to hide, I pointed as I spoke. “Pull in behind that big rock.” A row of free-standing rocks, over ten feet high each, would protect us for the night. Even though it was the desert, which most people believed to be nothing more than big sandbox, it had secrets that only those who knew the land could use to their advantage.
Folding down the bench seat to form a bed, Keanu and I settled down for the night. We tilted our heads to look out the back window. Devoid of any light pollution, we silently watched the stars begin to fill the night sky with sparks of illumination.
“Keanu?” Breaking the silence after several minutes, I felt brave enough to ask a delicate question. “What did you see…that made the Majestic 12 force you to work for them?”
His body tensed as he held me. At first I wasn’t sure he was going to say anything, but then he sighed and it was like the floodgates opened.
“You know how there are people claiming to be abducted by aliens?”
“Yah.” I tried to keep my tone neutral, but the weirdness factor rose dramatically with his question. But, who was I to talk; I didn’t have human DNA, so the likelihood of aliens and abductions were quickly becoming a fact I might have to deal with soon.
“Well, my parents…they believed they were being abducted…often.” He took a deep breath and then continued. “They went to psychiatrists, hypnotists and every crazy and kook that they thought would believe them. Some people claimed to believe them, but only ended up talking my parents into giving them money.” He rolled his eyes, sat up and turned to face me. “So after years of watching them suffer and be mocked by everyone, I decided to help them prove it.”
Intrigued, I perked up. How could he prove it?
He kept his eyes down as he told the story. “One night when I was fifteen, I hid in their closet…with a video camera. I thought if I could catch the aliens in action, people would believe them and…well, give them a little respect.” He shifted as though uncomfortable and continued. “Around 3 am, I saw weird lights appear outside their bedroom window and I filmed it. Their window slid open and I expected to see some little green men or something, but I didn’t.”
Totally engrossed, I leaned in like a child listening to a ghost story around a campfire. “What was it?” I asked, my voice hushed and wispy.
“Men. Dressed in white jumpsuits. They injected my parents with some sort of paralyzing hallucinogen and carried them out of the house where they, I assume, performed illegal experiments on them.” His face was somber.
“Illegal experiments?” I wrinkled up my nose as I imagined all the weird things they might have done to his parents, like the anal probes and genetic experiments I’d read about in tabloid magazines.
He nodded, but didn’t elaborate so I left it alone.
“So anyways, here I was with this footage of these guys coming into the house and stealing my parents for a few hours. Turns out they were the Majestic 12 and they do this crap quite often.” Disgust crept into his voice as he spoke of the secret sect. “I knew these guys were probably pretty powerful so I put the footage directly onto the internet. Turns out, it wasn’t such a good idea. They figured out it was me right away.”
“What did they do?”
“First they took my parents one last time and basically gave them terminal cancer. They died within six months.” Unshed tears glistened in his eyes as he spoke. “Then they took Keila and I haven’t seen her since. I knew she was alive somewhere, they’d prove that to me from time to time, but I never saw her again. They said I’d have to work for them…said I was just bright enough to be an asset to them.”
Turning away from me as tears glided down his cheeks, I saw a side of Keanu I didn’t know existed. This huge, hulking man carried so much pain within him, so much sorrow.
The Majestic 12 hadn’t just stolen my humanity; they’d stolen Keanu’s too. They’d taken a part of him and destroyed it. I may have been an anomaly at a genetic level, but I wasn’t alone when it came to being treated inhuman.
I suddenly understood why this baby was so important to Keanu. He had no family left. This tiny person was his only blood-relative—if she was his, that is.
Taking a deep breath in, I realized I had to tell him. Right now.
“You know, not to be rude but…it looks like the baby has grown a lot over the last couple days…your stomach has almost doubled in size since we left the base.” Keanu tiptoed around the sensitive topic.
Rubbing my belly, I had to agree. According to the last ultrasound, I should only be about twenty weeks, but I looked almost eight months along. Even my belly button was popped out like a fully-cooked turkey at Thanksgiving. At least, from what I’d seen in magazines, I’d never been pregnant before so it was hard to tell what I was ‘supposed’ to look like.
“Keanu.” I inhaled sharply as I prepared to tell him the bad news about the baby. Lowering my eyes, I prepared myself for the worst. “I have to tell you something…about the baby.”
His face turned very serious and he reached for my hand. Conjuring the courage, I fought back tears. What if he left me? What if he didn’t care about us anymore once he found out? Searching my entire soul for the courage to speak the truth, I started to speak.
“I don’t know if…she’s yours.” Tears ran down my face with undeserved shame.
His face paled immediately. “What?”
Trembling, I explained. “When I first arrived at the facility…I…he…” I could barely speak. The horror on Keanu’s face was almost too much for me to bear. Whispering the words through sobs, I finally told him. “Meyers raped me.”
“What!?” Fury possessed him as he suddenly lunged for the sliding door. Exiting the vehicle, he pounded the side of the van with his fist. “Bastard!” He screamed, his anger echoing within the valley.
I had no words for the disgust I felt. Even though I’d been violated and was completely innocent, my insides writhed with guilt.
Looking out the side window, I saw him walk angrily away from the vehicle. My voice was small and weak. “Keanu?”
Peeking my head out of the open sliding door, I felt a panic attack brewing as I realized I couldn’t see him anywhere.
My head down, I walked aimlessly over the bland terrain. With the exception of a few cacti, low-growing brush and a large patch of Yucca plants, I was alone.
“Keanu!” I cried out. Shielding the glaring sun from my eyes, I scanned the desert for any sign of him.
