Bounty Hunter

Chapter 12

"What?!" I exclaim disbelievingly. "You have the power of hypnosis," he says. "Your father is from the planet Argentum. I know because his blood is silver. I didn't mention this earlier because it was irrelevant at the time. But your father is the last of his kind apart from you." "What are you talking about?!" I ask. "You told me that his blood signified him being a part of the alliance!" "And I was telling the truth! It's just that the truth was a little more complicated than you thought. The silver blood isn't something everyone in the alliance has, but when I saw his blood I knew your father had to be part of the alliance because there was only one Argentium alien alive. Argentum was killed off by the Alliance. It was a tiny planet about the size of Pluto so destroying it was very easy and so was stealing all of its resources. Argentiuns possess certain powers, hypnosis being one of them. There was a rumor that an Argentiun had joined the Alliance under the guise of a different race. Your father must have fled once he realized they'd discovered his lie. The alliance killed most of the Argentiuns and stole their blood in order to benefit from its unique properties. Since Argentum's population was so tiny, the ones left alive all decided to commit suicide." "If the argentum were so powerful then why couldn't they try and resist?" "They couldn't resist because they took children and pregnant women hostage," he replies grimly. "That's how the alliance works." "I can't say I'm surprised. That's the way power works. My dad told me he left the alliance to be with my mother," I say agitatedly. "Maybe that was part of the truth," Kai offers. "I have to confront him! He lied to me," I say and my voice rises an octave. Kai grips me by the arms firmly. "Hey look at me!" he commands. I meet his eyes trying to calm my nerves. "You can't confront your father right now. You have to take care of your parents and then we have to leave."

"You're right," I agree regaining my composure. "As soon as this craziness is over I can go back to my normal life," I breathe. Kai claps his hands together then rubs them diabolically. "Ready to start your training?" he asks. "Yeah but how would you know how to hypnotize someone?" I ask suspiciously. "I can't hypnotize anyone. But that doesn't mean I haven't read books or seen other people do it," he explains. "All right then teach me," I say. I sit myself down and he pulls up a seat in front of me. He swings his legs forward on each side of it. "The key to hypnosis is eye contact," he informs me.

I look at him out of the corner of my eye with a slight grimace, my discomfort clearly evident. "You're not making eye contact," he says annoyed. "Yes I am," I protest. "No. You're not," he contradicts. He grabs my chin forcefully and stares into my eyes, bringing our faces closer. My eyes widen in shock at his audacity. "We don't have time for you to feel awkward," he huffs. "I don't feel awkward!" I say defensively. "Yes you do, because you can't even meet my eyes," he says letting go of my chin. I squint my eyes purposefully glaring into his own. "That's more like it," he rumbles with a smirk.

"Don't ever grab me like that again," I say angrily. "All right May. Unless you ask nicely," he jokes. I lick my lips nervously; I hope he can't hear the rate at which my heart just accelerated. "The second step to hypnosis is listening to the person's heartbeat," he says in a lower voice. Is it just me or was that a hint of nervousness I detected in his voice? "I can't hear your heartbeat, that's impossible unless I just happen to have a stethoscope on hand." I scoff. "You can," he assures me confidently. "The third key to hypnosis is using your voice. You have to seduce your victim into believing that you're telling them the absolute truth," he says lowly. "I'm not seducing my parents!" "I don't mean it in that way! Just be convincing," he instructs. "Give me your hand," he says nonchalantly. I offer him my hand charily. He takes my hand and I can feel his fingers grabbing my hand and pressing it to his chest. I hear the sound of a material sliding apart, which I assume to be his armor making way for my hand. "Eye contact," he reminds me sternly. This is the first time I've ever felt his chest without the armor on. Not that I was planning on it! I gulp and look into his green eyes noticing how they're flecked with gold when the light hits. "Why is your heart beating so fast?!" I blurt out with a twinge of accusation. "I'm an alien. My heart beats at a faster rate," he replies quickly. Gizmo's voice beeps alarmingly as if to protest. "I think Gizmo knows you're lying," I say boldly. "Maybe I am," he says equally as bold. "This is good," he says in a deep tone.

His face inches even closer to mine so that our lips are a breadth apart. I stare into his eyes. "You're very convincing." "I'm always convincing," I insist. "Why don't you convince me some more?" he says edging me on. "I should take my hand back now," I offer. I pull my hand away and as the tempo of his pulsating blood fades a new sensation replaces it, with the sound of his thrumming heartbeat. "Listen to the sound of my heartbeat and try to slow it down," he instructs. "How will that help? And What if I stop your heart?" I ask. "You won't," he says confidently. "And once you slow a person's heart rate you're able to put them in a hypnotic state. Hypnosis works best when the receiver is drowsy. Once they're tired you can hypnotize them," he explains. I listen to the sound of his heartbeat and stare into his eyes. "Go to sleep," I order in a sultry voice.

Instead of feeling embarrassed I feel poised to strike. My words spill out convincingly with the utmost confidence. I hear the fast dance of his heartbeat begin to thump at a slower pace. "Go to sleep Kai," I command this time my words emerge without a trace of doubt. His heartbeat slows to the rate of a sleeping person. "Now when you wake up you're going to admit that you're a dunce," I say seductively. Kai's head falls limp and a light snore tears from his throat. "Wake up!" I snap sharply.