The Truth after Seven Years Pt. 02

Mike's Story:

Jake, if you're reading this, then I've been gone for seven years. As I mentioned in my note, please don't tell anyone that I am alive. Explaining where I have gone will prove all but impossible. I know as you read this, you will find what I have to say hard to believe, but everything in this story is one hundred percent accurate. Also, how this story is written may seem strange to you, but I will explain why it is so.

You already know the history between your mother, Tuck, and me, so I won't bother going back over it. Suffice to say that when your mother left me for Tuck, I was devastated. To lose your mother to any man would have been catastrophic. But to lose her to a man, I hated more than any other pushed me to the edge of insanity. I went into a very dark place.

I wanted to get revenge on both of them and hurt them worse than they had hurt me. That hatred twisted me in ways that I wasn't even aware of. Ultimately, it caused me to do things that I cannot defend, and I am deeply ashamed of having done them. For the horrible thing I did, I beg you to forgive me. This is the first of the requests that I implore you to grant me. However, if after reading this, you cannot forgive me, I will understand. I will still love you as profoundly as any father can love his son and hope that you still harbor some small love for me.

Although I accept the total blame for my actions, Ashley and Tuck are not blameless. They betrayed me and went out of their way to torment me. Tuck kept on rubbing my face in my devastating loss, and she supported him in this effort at every turn. I think she enjoyed it as much as he did, maybe, because of the divorce settlement. I do not know, and I no longer care. I do have to admit that our divorce battle was not my brightest moment. I should have just let Ashley have the twenty or thirty thousand dollars that she was entitled to. But I wasn't in my right mind. I was filled with total hate for both of them. Yet, despite that, I was still totally in love with your mother. Nevertheless, I yearned for revenge, but what I got was far more than I ever bargained for.

My reason for leaving started about six months before I actually left. In fact, it was the night of that monster storm that knocked the electricity off for about six hours all over town. If you remember, I sent you home to your new wife shortly after the rains started pounding down, and the power went out. Tornado warnings had been issued, and I knew your wife would be frightened. As it turned out, that was also the night that your rented house flooded because of leaks in the roof.

With no electricity, I got out the lanterns and flashlights. Then I poured myself a scotch and settled into my recliner. It was about midnight, and I was still up, sipping on my fifth drink. Yes, I drank too much back then, but once the sun went down, it was the only thing that gave me some peace.

As I sat there listening to a Jazz station on my battery-powered radio, half-dozing, I felt the house shake. At first, I thought maybe it was an earthquake, but that didn't make sense because the shaking only lasted for a second or two. Whatever it was, I decided to ignore it and just continue to doze.

About an hour later, I felt is should go to bed because I wanted to be up early for work as I always did. I was heading for the staircase when I heard something on the front porch. The wind was still blowing pretty good, so I thought perhaps something had been blown down. To my utter shock, I found a woman lying just to the left of the front door. She was cut and bleeding. Also, she was only semi-conscious.

I guess the alcohol had dulled my brain because I only took passing notice of her clothing. She appeared to be wearing an aqua-colored jumpsuit. But my attention was immediately focused on her wounds. She was cut up pretty good, which is why I probably didn't pay too much attention to her appearance. The woman also had a lump on her forehead the size of a golf ball. And because of the limited lighting, I pay much attention to the seemingly strange bronze color to her skin. In the dim light of my flashlight, she appeared to have gray hair. Yet, she seemed to be a young woman.

After helping her into the guest bedroom, I assessed her wounds. At the time, I thought some of them might be serious. In any event, I told her that the cuts needed to be cleaned and bandaged. I motioned what I intended to do and it explained at the same time.

She said, in a strange accent, "I mend."

I didn't recognize the language, but I didn't see how she could tend the cuts by herself if that's what she meant. This mystery woman could barely move. I reexamined her wounds and had to admit that there were only a few on her back, and they were minor. It was just some of the ones on her legs and stomach that seemed severe. Still, it made no sense for her to try and bandage herself.

"I don't think so. You can barely move. I'll do it."

"Nay, I mend," she shook her head.

"You can't do it," I replied with exasperation. "Look, if you don't want me to do it, I'll take you to a hospital or call a doctor."

"Nay doctor," she said as she shook her head. "Please, nay doctor."

"Okay, I understand," I said even though I didn't. "You don't want me to help you, and you don't want a doctor to help. What are we going to do?" I also pointed to her bleeding cuts and raised hands and shrugged my shoulders to indicate my confusion at her refusal.

"Need tool," she said pleading.

"What tool?" I asked, totally perplexed.

She pointed through the window out the front of the house. "Tool there."

"You want me to go out there?" I pointed out the same window she had indicated. "You want me to go out in the rain? I won't be able to find anything in the dark."

Even before I finished objecting, she reached into her pocket and pulled out something the shape of a woman's compact. "This tool help," The mystery woman offered it to me.

I took the object and realized it had a red light running from the center of the device out toward the edge. The direction that the lights flowed was toward that front window. I figured it must be some kind of GPS, but I had never seen anything like it.

"Please, find tool," she was pleading now. "Blue, find blue."

The woman began to lose consciousness at that point, but the pleading in her eyes penetrated deep within me. Yet, despite her protestations to the contrary, I decided to call for an ambulance instead. But my cell phone provided no service. I would learn in the morning that several cell towers had been damaged by the storm. Next, I picked up the landline, but it was also useless.

I was about to load her into my truck and haul her to the hospital. But a thought suddenly struck me. What if there were other injured people out there? She didn't appear to be in imminent danger, so put towels over the worst wounds to stem the bleeding and tucked a blanket around her. Taking her device, I headed out.

The wind was dying down by this point, and the rain had turned to a light drizzle. I let the device guide me. It led me down the drive, out the front gate, to the main road. I turned left and traveled for less than a couple of minutes before I could barely see something smoldering off the road about five hundred feet off the road. In truth, if I hadn't had the GPS, I would have missed it completely. At first, I thought maybe a small airplane had crashed. But the debris field was too small even for a single-engine plane. It must have been a car crash.

When I got closer, it didn't seem like fires were burning, it was more like the debris was evaporating in shimmering red light. Of course, I had had the better part of five stiff drinks, so I took everything I saw with a grain of salt. In truth, I probably shouldn't have been driving in my condition.

As I got out of the truck, the "fires" began to die out. Still, there was the shell of something. I assumed it was, perhaps, a car. And from the size, I thought it was probably a sports car. But I wasn't there to check out the wreckage. I was looking for survivors and her "blue tool." I quickly combed the area for any other survivor of this crash. From the vehicle's size, I knew there could only be one other potential victim.

After a quick search, I was convinced there was no one else. Then I turned my attention to finding the "tool." It only took about a minute of hunting when I saw the first blue object. It seemed to be glowing, but when I picked it up, whatever lighting there was disappeared. It was roughly the size and shape of a baseball. Then I saw another blue object. This one had the dimensions similar to a hard-bound dictionary. A few feet away was another, the size of a small paperback book. The fourth blue object, I found, looked like a laptop computer. The fifth and final one was about the size of a golf ball. With all of them, the blue light faded as soon as I touched them. I gathered up all five and took one last look around before heading back to the house.

When I entered the bedroom, where I had left the woman, she was awake. However, she looked considerably weaker. And the towels I had placed on her showed a considerable amount of blood. I showed her the five objects I had found. "This is what I found, but I think I should take you to the hospital."

"Nay," she said with a weak but panicked voice. Then she pointed to the object about the size of a golf ball. I handed it to her. She twisted for a few times, and it flashed green, once. When the ball went dark, my mysterious guest put it to her mouth and swallowed the liquid that had started oozing from a small opening. After a few minutes, her wounds stopped bleeding. Then she smeared some of the yellow fluid on her injuries directly, and they seemed to close slightly. In five minutes, she appeared much revived, and even the lump on her forehead had gone down considerably. I wasn't sure what I should do, but at least the bleeding had stopped.

"Much thanks," she said as she bowed slightly to me from her sitting position. Then the woman said wearily, "must rest."

I nodded and repositioned the blankets to settle her into the bed. She smiled at me and fell asleep immediately. I closed the door and slept on the couch that night in case she needed anything. Despite the few hours of sleep, I was up at five. I poked my head in the bedroom, and my mysterious guest was still asleep. I left her there and started my day. A half-hour later, I got a call from you, Jake. A leak in the roof of the house you and his wife were renting had flooded the living room and one bedroom. I told you to not bother coming in and to take care of the damage. I asked if you needed any help, but you didn't, so I went about my usual chores.

I popped back to the house every hour or so, just to check on her, and she was still sound asleep. However, when I returned to make myself some lunch, I found my mystery guest sitting in the den flicking through the television stations.

She wasn't wearing her jumpsuit anymore. She had found one of the dresses Ashley had left behind. They both were about the same size, and I had to admit my surprise guest looked pretty good in the outfit. She wasn't nearly as beautiful as Ashley, but still very easy on the eyes.

Her hair that appeared to be silver last night was merely blonde today. The strange bronze color of her skin last night was now just a deep tan. That's what five drinks will do to you. However, then the most surprising thing happened.

My guest turned with a start as soon as she became aware of my presence, and she smiled.

"You're looking much better today," I said, returning the smile, believing that my words wouldn't mean anything to her.

"Yes, I am," she responded. "Thank you for taking such good care of me last night. I was banged up pretty good."

"You can speak," I said with shock. "Last night, you could barely say a few words, and I wasn't sure how much you understood."

"I think that was caused by the blow to my head," she said, gently touching her forehead. "I was pretty out of it."

"My name is Mike Stanton," I introduced myself and extended my hand.

"I'm Leandra Forth," she responded, reaching out to me tentatively.

Her hand was warm, but there was a small charge of electricity that passed between us. Leandra must have felt it because she withdrew her hand quickly, but her smile widened.

"Sorry," I apologized, "that must have been static electricity.

"Look, I was about to make myself some lunch," I said as I motioned toward the kitchen. "Can I make you something to eat?"

She smiled and nodded. I have to admit that her presence lifted my spirits for the first time in a year and a half. I didn't realize how much I missed having female companionship, even if it was only for today.

"So, what happened to you?" I finally asked as we sat at the kitchen table, eating our sandwiches and fruit.

"I was driving to New York when I must have hit a puddle of water on the road," Leandra explained slowly. "I lost control, and my car rolled over several times, but I was able to get myself out. I crawled away, and then my car exploded. I don't imagine there is much left of it."

"No, it's just a burnt-out shell now," I confirmed.

"What was it with all those blue things?" I asked. "You seemed almost panicked about them. You were most insistent that I go and find them. And you didn't want me to call a doctor or an ambulance or anything. Then you healed yourself. How did you do that?"

"I'm sorry," Leandra apologized. "I wasn't thinking clearly last night. It was very kind of you to go looking for my things. There is nothing really very special about them. It's just that they were given to me by my supervisor. They were made especially for me. And as for healing myself, all I did was take an antibiotic and put some of it on my cuts. As you can see, the wounds have just scabbed over."

Leandra held her arm out, and I could see several scabbed over wounds. Then she pushed out one of her legs, and I saw the same scabbing. Last night, those wounds looked much worse than they did now in the light of day. But, then again, I'd had quite a bit to drink.

"I wasn't injured all that seriously," she continued to explain. "It looked worse than it was. I was very fortunate. I think the blow to my head was the most serious injury. When we've finished eating, I'll show you what I made you go out in the storm to get. I'm really sorry because they aren't anything that special."

The first object was my guest showed me was the "GPS" that I had used the previous night.

"You already know about this one," she said with a grin. "I always forget where I park my car. With this, I never have to worry about finding it."

The dictionary sized blue object turned out to be a box of cosmetics, or that's what it looked like to me. The blue item that was the size of a small paperback turned out to be a smartphone. The baseball was a container for small candies. Leandra offered me some, and I took one. I couldn't quite place the taste, but it was sweet and delicious. It must have been full of sugar because I suddenly could feel a surge of energy.

Leandra explained more about the particular medicine she had taken the night before. Apparently, it was new and had been developed by the company she worked for. The medication was currently in clinical trials, and Leandra was the senior chemist on the team that had created it. The ball with the medicine, she explained, was a new delivery system. Inside the ball was coiled tubing, and when activated, it would force the liquid out.

I offered to have what was left of her car towed away, but she said that her insurance company would want to examine it first. Leandra explained that she had already called them, and they promised to send someone down.

"If you can recommend a good hotel or motel," Leandra said as she sat down wearily, "I'll leave you in peace."

Aside from the fact that I enjoyed having the company, Leandra still looked like she was quite weak. So, I offered to let her stay.

"Look, you don't seem to be one hundred percent," I said cautiously. "You're more than welcome to stay here for however long it takes to get your strength back. You'd have your own room and your own bathroom. It would be no trouble because I'm mostly out working, so you'd have the house to yourself."

"That would be a terrible imposition," she protested. "I can rest in a hotel until I'm well enough to head on to New York. But I would like to take you to dinner as a thank you. And perhaps you could spare some time to show me around the area."

"Nonsense," I waved my hand and smiled. "I won't hear of it. Until you're well enough to go out, you'll stay here. I'm not a bad cook. Besides, it will be nice to have the company."

Leandra smiled at me and agreed to stay. I have to admit that I was less consumed with my loneliness and hatred. But it only took less than a day before Leandra seemed to sense my deep unhappiness. Of course, it would have been obvious to a blind man how lonely and filled with hate I was. Anyway, little by little, she was able to coax the story from me. I ended by telling her, despite everything that Ashley had put me through, I still loved her and would take her back in a heartbeat.

Leandra had a curious expression on her face when I finished. She seemed to be studying me.

"The emotion of Love," Leandra said with a sigh. "It's ninety-six percent chemical. It's a chemical reaction that is triggered mostly in the brain, but also through the rest of the body. If you can create the correct chemical balance in the person you desire, you can make them fall in love with you."

I must have been looking at Leandra like she had two heads because she blushed. "That's just a theory I have," she said quickly. "I've been studying the idea at work and believe it has great potential."

"But to say that love is ninety-six percent chemical?" I questioned.

She blushed a more vibrant red. "I was perhaps putting too much emphasis on my preliminary data. I've worked on this theory for some time."

"Well, if you can ever discover a way to do that," I laughed, "you'll make a fortune."

The next several days were lovely. I was going to miss Leandra when she left. I knew that I'd go back to obsessing about Ashley and hating both her and Tuck. I also knew that there was nothing I could do about it. Still, I continued to try to come up with some way to get revenge on both of them.

Two days before Leandra was supposed to leave, I had a Cattlemen's Association board meeting in town. I told her that I'd be back about five that afternoon, and if she liked, I'd take her out to dinner. It would be a sort of farewell dinner. I explained that I wouldn't be able to do it the night before she left because I had to prepare the payroll and meet with the accountants. She seemed sad when I mentioned about her going. At the time, I thought I just imagined that.

On the way to town, I got a call to tell me that the air conditioning was broken at the Association offices. They had decided to reschedule the meeting. So, I turned around and headed back to the ranch. When I arrived back, I went into the house to get changed into my work clothes. But I heard a strange noise coming from somewhere in the house. It was a low, humming sound.

I traced the noise to Leandra's room, and her door was ajar. Without thinking, I pushed it open and was stunned by what I saw.

The fact that Leandra was standing naked in the middle of the room would have been stunning in and of itself. But her appearance had altered dramatically and was continuing to change. She was holding up the blue object that I had taken to be a cellphone. A pale green light was emanating from the device, and Leandra was running it up and down her body.