The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 20

They all studied Dave for a long minute, Sara's thoughts seeming less focused on their topic as she looked up into the canopy.

"Might want to move over there, Dave."

Laughter erupted as they all noticed the rock that Dave had thrown up into the air falling back down into The Glade, the long streamer of thread following behind it with the same languid and otherworldly pace that staggered the mind. Andrew wasted no time, lifting his hand and pulling another rock out of the tangle of moss and grass that coated the forest floor.

With unseen hands the rock floated up, Dave looking between his son and the levitating rock with wide eyed wonder. Never did Dave think he would see such a thing, and never from his son.

The rock floated up high into the air, and just as it crossed into the tangle of branches and leaves that rested above, Andrew stated, "God, that's weird!"

A moment later they all watched as the rock that Andrew had lifted up also began to fall, though its pace was glacial as it ever so slowly began to pick up speed.

"Why had I never thought to do this before?"

Dave could see in the girls' faces that they were excited by whatever Andrew had discovered, his surprise mirrored in the delicate features of their joyful faces.

"I was trying to get the rock high enough so that we could compare its falling speed with the rock you threw. You know, to prove that time is moving one-thirtieth normal speed here, but I guess I hit the boundary of The Glade. That was kinda scary, because one second it felt like I was holding it, raising it up, and the next it was gone, as if it had never been there."

Andrew was still watching the newly falling rock, a grin spreading across his face as he said, "Let's see what this does."

The very next second, the rock picked up its pace, descending at a normal rate until Andrew used his gift to catch it, slowing it down and floating it to the ground, where it landed with a soft thud.

"Seriously, Andrew... How could you keep this from us?"

The young man's smile faded as his eyes settled on Dave.

With the strength of his anger, Andrew stood, his body seeming to chase after his words as he almost screamed, "How could I keep this from you? You've known about the government monitoring me for years, and profited from it. Never once had you even hinted at any of this to me, and you wonder why I kept secrets from you? Isn't that my job, as your teenage son? Besides, it seems like you and mom have been giving me a crash course for years."

"Andrew!" Karen yelled, her beautiful face marred by emotion.

"It's alright," Dave said, his voice calm as he studied his son. The only sign that Andrew's words had bothered him was a slight flexing as he clenched his jaw.

After a few seconds of the two men studying each other, Dave continued, "I guess we all thought we were protecting each other."

The pain on Andrew's face was understandable to Dave, who had expected as much. But what surprised him was the way Karen and Sara seemed to huddle together, holding each other for comfort. Dave didn't think they were aware of what they were doing, but the conflict in their eyes was undeniable as they looked between Dave and Andrew.

Dave had expected Andrew's anger to arrive a day or two in the future, once he had time to process his parent's involvement in what the government had been doing. There were few things that Andrew valued more than loyalty, and Michelle and he had expected Andrew's anger once he knew the truth of what was going on. They had thought they would reveal everything a few years from then, unless the government forced them into revealing things sooner, but as he looked at his son's fuming face, he shook his head with surprise.

Not only had they been forced to confess themselves sooner, never would they have guessed the circumstances of Andrew's discovery. Or the speed with which he was working through it.

"How were you keeping me safe? Ignorance does nothing but ensure..."

Andrew's voice trailed off as he looked over at Sara and Karen, shock overtaking his face. Turning his eyes back to his father's, Andrew squinted as he asked, "Dr Blake, is he working with the government? Please, tell me he's just a regular asshole, and not a professional one."

Dave looked confused as he responded, "Who?"

The suspicion on Andrew's face was priceless, almost making Dave laugh as he tried to suss out who Andrew was talking about.

"My Physics and Calculus instructor. He's a real douchebag, and had it in for me those first two weeks..." Andrew paused and took a deep breath, giving Dave enough time to notice that whatever had came into his son's mind had him worried. "I don't know why I did it, but he gave me a test that was impossible for anyone to pass. Even with the knowledge necessary, which no pre-junior in college should have, there just wasn't enough time or tools to complete it.

"For some reason I didn't consider the implications of what I was doing, or even the stupidity of what the teacher was attempting. There was no way he was going to grade it. Even if I failed it, he couldn't enter it into my record, since it was evidence of clear and total bias. He was going to be forced to throw it out, but I arrogantly aced it. Even the graphing parts, which required a calculator and tools to properly plot out the points. Every answer on that test was perfect, and in a third the time it would have normally took... I'm a damn idiot, and if he's working for them, then there's no way they aren't watching me now."

Sara tried to stand, wanting to pull Andrew into her arms, but Dave watched as Karen held her back. Within Karen's eyes, Dave could see understanding, as if the young woman knew how much he wanted to be the one to comfort his despairing child.

"Whoever he is, he's not Military, so I think you're clear on that side."

By that point Dave had already gripped Andrew on the shoulder, his firm grasp drawing Andrew's attention. "How could I have done that, Dad? I'm not normally that dumb."

Dave laughed and shook his head, speaking with a smile, "You like to think you're special, but you're still a teenager. Stupidity and adolescence go hand-in-hand, my boy."

There was a confidence in Dave's voice that seemed to set everyone at ease.

"Besides, he can always disappear if he starts asking the wrong questions to the right people."

Andrew and the girls laughed, not noticing the false tenor to Dave's mock merriment. He meant every word, and now that he knew about what Andrew had done, he was determined to make sure that the test vanished, and that its existence was contained.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up too much, Andrew. Do you have any idea what other boys of your age would do with gifts like these?"

A strange and eerie sounding thud drew their attention to the ground, where the rock that Dave had thrown into the air finally touched down. As they watched, the thread quickly fell on top of it, falling at an expected rate.

"Okay, so why did the rest of it fall like normal once it hit?"

Whatever funk had clouded Andrew's countenance faded away as he smiled, eager for the change of subject, and to share his understanding of the place that surrounded them.

"Let me start by saying we have no idea! But, we noticed that rain, leafs or anything else that falls into this place seems to move at the same speed as the outside world, which is to say a thirtieth of our speed. -"

"That is, until it touches something native to The Glade," Sara declared, excitement dripping from her every word as she took over for Andrew. "It's the craziest thing!"

Andrew was beside himself with bubbly energy as he sorted through his thoughts, Karen watching her partners with a broad smile. It was a strange family, Dave thought, three people he never would have expected to find each other, or to get along, and yet he couldn't help but think that they worked well together.

"Which confirms that my levitation abilities are an extension of me, since that second rock that I floated up there was falling at outside speeds until I touched it with my mind. Not sure how that helps us, but it's interesting nonetheless."

Karen was beaming with pride as she said, "Well, it does explain why you can activate magical devices without touching them. Perhaps you've been using telekinesis since before I showed you the spell?"

Dave was standing right there, and yet as he listened he felt like he was a mile away. Despite everything he had seen, and the outlandish story he had come to believe, he still struggled to accept the truth of what they were discussing. Karen's offhand remark about magical devices being the final straw that broke his disbelief's back.

"No, I don't think that's it," Andrew responded, his eyes switching from left to right as he scanned his memory. "That was different, I think. Telekinesis is such an obvious and strange feeling for me, that had I used it before I would've known."

With an exasperated huff, Dave looked between all of them and stated, "Assuming this time magic stuff works like Andrew says it does-"

"It does!" Sara interjected with a grin.

Dave just looked at her and shook his head, hating himself for smiling at her coy little game. "Then hopefully that gives you enough time to tell me how you came to blow up that wolf with one of my grenades."

Andrew raised an eyebrow and smiled as he asked, "One of? Seems like I need to start digging around the house some more..."

Despite the humor that they all found in that moment, a seriousness came over the younger group as they huddled up and whispered amongst themselves. After a short time, Andrew emerged and declared, "There are certain aspects of this story we need to keep secret. No matter how I tell it, you'll know that there are others like us out there, so I won't try and hide that, but I will do everything I can to keep their identities from you."

It was Dave's turn to drop a surprise on the young group, and he was not above admitting how much satisfaction he got as he said it.

"If you're worried about Tani'm, don't be. If you think we were able to setup this base without the local tribe knowing about it, you're mistaken. The tribal elder made it clear that the forest was to be respected, and if we upset the balance, then we could expect a visit from her."

Andrew and Sara smiled, informing Dave that she was who they were trying to protect, but in Karen he saw something different. She was proud of the woman, and yet worried about Dave's knowledge of her.

"To be honest, Michelle and I just thought it was the locals talking big. Figured she was some ghost story they told their kids around the fire at night. If you disrespect the forest, Tani'm will steal you away."

After the relief settled across Andrew and Sara, Karen stated, "She's no story, and it would be wise to heed their warning. She may have struggled against a dire-wolf, but when she's finished with you and your men, it would be as if the forest had never seen your like before."

Somehow, Dave always knew when someone was boasting artificially, whether they were warlords or merchants, and every time his instincts had led him in the right direction. Karen was not lying, her words were a pointed attempt to save him from discovering just how dangerous Tani'm was. Further, he expected that had anything ever happened, he would have faced far more than just that single woman, and would have found Karen, Sara and perhaps even his son fighting at her side.

"Hopefully, she'll warn us if anything like that should ever happen, before we get on her bad side, but for now we're keeping things pretty light and unobtrusive. Now, about the wolf?"

Again they looked at each other, though Dave noticed how Andrew and Sara were really looking at Karen, seeming to gauge the older woman's desires when it came to how they should tell the story. With a bit of reluctance, Karen looked towards Dave and nodded, giving Andrew the okay to tell the full story.

It took almost all of the time they had remaining, more than twenty minutes, for Andrew to tell the long series of events. From Karen being drawn out into the forest and finding Tani'm near death, to the latest battle where Andrew had barely managed to mortally wound the beast, only for it to vanish while Sara and Andrew lay unconscious beneath their magical barrier.

Throughout the story Dave asked questions, trying to poke holes in the fantastical tale that they wove, much of it from Sara, who had been there for most of the battles. By the time they concluded, Dave looked haggard, his head spinning from all the wondrous and mystical events that he was forced to try and understand. He looked at Karen with a new found respect, because if the story was to be believed, she might be the most powerful among them.

There was only one thing that seemed strange to Dave, who could tell from the way the pieces of the story fit together that something, or someone, was missing. It seemed to him that there were parts of the battle which remained unexplained, damage the wolf had taken which seemed to come out of nowhere, but accounted for much of the creatures diminishing strength. Tani'm must not be the only of their kind out there, and while he did not understand their reluctance to include that person in their story, he respected their decision to protect one of their own.

By the end, he came to understand why they felt that the wolf would be too much for traditional methods. Especially after hearing about Tani'm's original battle with the wolf, and the dozen hunters who had almost entirely been wiped out. Their tactics were solid, and if not for the poor execution of their ambush, it could have worked. Sgt Laurence had already learned of the men who had returned from the forest, and their rambling utterances of carnage and defeat. From the reports Dave had seen, the men appeared to have been to war, the telltale signs of PTSD seeming far too familiar and under explained by an encounter with a bear.

As much as Dave wanted to dismiss what he had heard, too many of the pieces fit with the things he had already learned. His son, and his growing harem, had been far too cavalier in their planning, and risked more than they knew by their actions.

"Wow," Dave began. "That's one hell of a story."

Checking his watch, he shook his head, still finding it difficult not to think that he was dangerously late reporting in with Sam. No matter what they said, he knew that he would leave that place and find himself entering an investigation for having abandoned his post. Sure, the military may have bent over backwards to get that post setup, but their leniency was not unlimited.

His head was still swimming with the details of their tale as he turned his attention back to his hosts, finding the young family looking at him with a mixture of expectation and apprehension. Andrew was nervous, Dave could tell, that perhaps he would not believe him, or would disapprove of what the young man had been doing. He was right to worry, Dave didn't approve, but perhaps not in the way that Andrew feared.

"So far your antics have caused nothing more than a headache for some of my men, as they scrambled to clean up your mess."

Andrew looked relieved, until Dave continued, his eyes casting across them as he spoke, "I can't say I approve of this situation, but considering how little I understand about the strange forces that are at play, it's difficult to know how much of that to place at your feet. If your assertion that your presence is what drew that creature out of hiding is accurate, then we must be prepared for the next attack."

There was a palpable tension in the air as the small family studied Dave, Andrew standing between his father and the girls as if he was attempting to shelter them from being taken away. Dave would have found it cute, if it hadn't stood as evidence of the weird bond that seemed to hold them all together.

As he watched, Dave thought back on that evening those few weeks back, when Sara had first entered their lives. How inseparable they had been, and how adorable and yet confounded Dave and Michelle had found their affections. There was nothing about Sara that they found offensive, but it was clear to them how outclassed Andrew was by the beautiful and athletic woman who had fallen in love with their son. It never really made sense to Dave until that moment, their tale giving light to the mystery that had surrounded Andrew.

"You can't keep putting yourselves in harm's way."

While it was a simple request, Dave anticipated his son's reaction, continuing the moment the young man looked frustrated. "Obviously, if something is threatening our family, we'll deal with it, but anything short of that you need to keep out of it."

His son was not the only one who liked to bury messages within declarations, the perfectly chosen words understood by Andrew and the girls the moment he said them. Sara audibly squeed, while Karen smiled and Andrew stood tall, a smile spreading across his small but statuesque face. Not for the first time, Dave realized that if Andrew was just half-a-foot taller, he could be a striking man.

"Thank you, Dad."

Dave gripped his son's shoulder, and pulled him away from Karen and Sara. "We need a moment, ladies."

The two women watched them leave, both of them held in an affectionate embrace as they whispered back and forth.

"Listen, Andrew... This is all very very odd, and I... Well, son, I'm struggling to know what to do here."

Honesty, Dave decided, was likely the best tact to use, since Michelle wasn't there to help guide him.

"Damn, I wish your mother was here, she'd know what to say... or do."

Andrew laughed, and asked, "Would she? Would anyone?"

Dave joined into Andrew's laugh with a deep rumble of his own, his son's relief a palpable tonic that seemed to ease his own worry.

"Probably not, if I'm being honest, but at least I wouldn't be alone here."

As Andrew turned his head, the two men circling around the far end of the pond, Dave felt like Andrew was a much taller, older man than he had been just a week before. Whether it was recent events influencing Dave's perception, or the magical place they were in, Dave was not certain. But, as they locked eyes, Andrew said, "You're not alone. I've always been here with you. Even when I didn't want to be locked into your parental gaze, I always valued it in the end, because I knew that if you were coming down on me, it was because I did something stupid. This has always been a team effort, even if my position on the field has traditionally been a defensive one."

It was rare for Andrew to use sports metaphors, and Dave appreciated it all the more for the effort Andrew was making.

"I meant what I said, Andrew. The last time we even came close to anything as mysterious as what is going on here was right before you were born, and I almost lost your mother to it. We can't go through that with you. If something comes up, contact your mother or me, and we'll all work together as a family to figure it out."

Andrew took a deep breath, and held his father's gaze, his great mind thinking in broad strokes as he decided what he wanted to say.

"How would you have fought the wolf?"

In that brief pause, while Andrew considered his next words, Dave noticed the sentiment of Andrew's question. He did not sense any defensiveness, but rather an eager yearning for understanding.

"Ever since that last battle, I've been killing myself trying to figure out what I should've done... Sara almost died, Dad, and I would've been powerless to stop it."

No matter how much Andrew had changed, the boy he had raised was still in there, and part of Dave loved being needed by him. For some reason, he had never grown tired of taking care of his child, and hoped he never would.