The Medium Kid

Chapter 57

Alfie's backed away. He had viewed the man in the mask as an enemy. 'Salix' had worked for Ronnie Birch and played a part in taking him underground to a place that only wanted to hurt him. Alfie couldn't believe he was staring at his father.

"I don't- you- I- what?" he stuttered, moving away until his back pressed against the cold wall. "Why?" Tom pulled off the mask and Alfie gripped the paint, trying to stay on his feet.

"Alfie," Tom said carefully, "it's okay-"

"Okay?" Alfie yelled and his voice echoed. "What are you doing working for Ronnie? Did you tell him that I was the one who could do what Koda could do?"

"Yes, but-"

"No, no, no!" Alfie shook his head, diverting his eyes to Enya. He didn't know if she was dead or alive, or somewhere in between. "You can't have done this to me, you can't!"

"I'm on your side," Tom said in a calm tone. "Let me explain while we have the time."

Alfie couldn't look his parent in the eyes. Seeing Tom validated that Alfie wasn't imagining him. "Fine. Tell me what the hell is going on."

Tom sat on the couch and Alfie hesitantly sat on the opposite end, keeping a clear distance. "So, I'll start off by telling you my job. I work for the SCS. Do you know what that stands for?"

Alfie shook his head.

"It stands for the Special Covert Service, and I've been working for the SCS for almost ten years now. It's not a secret that it exists, but the information and actions we take are often heavily classified. Your mother doesn't know because it's safer that way, which is why you don't know either. I trust my family to keep it a secret, but others don't, and I work undercover a lot of the time, so my face and name must be unfamiliar." Alfie's mouth had slowly propped open as he listened. "I've known about what's been going on down here for almost half a year. We've been trying to shut it down but it's a slow process. I've had to build trust in those who actually work here for me to be able to get the correct information."

Alfie looked at Ronnie who was already watching him with cautious eyes, but his father continued.

"As you know, the afterlife is one of life's biggest mysteries, and it's also no secret that people are trying to figure out what happens without accidentally killing themselves, but this organisation has taken an illegal route, and it has to be shut down. I took the case when I knew what it was about because a few months ago, Enya arrived in that state." Tom looked over to the body on the table. He grimaced. "And then Koda came into your life and I already knew who he was because of Enya turning up here, which is why I've been a little off when around Koda. It was horrible for me to pretend that his mother wasn't where he thought she was, and it was horrible for me to pretend like I didn't know who had taken her from his life."

Alfie's head spun like the room itself turned. He leaned back against the couch and breathed in as far as his lungs would let him. "Why did you tell them that I had Koda's gift?" Alfie asked.

"Because they had their eyes on you already and planned to take you from your home. I worried that they would kill your mother like they killed Enya when they tried to take Koda. Ronnie and I came up with a plan to get you here like this, so I could keep an eye on you and make sure Molly was safe too." Tom reached forwards and gently moved Alfie's head to the side. "Fran hit you pretty hard." A small bruise formed under his cheekbone. "Don't worry, she'll be one of the first to get arrested when this gets shut down."

"They tried to take Koda?" Alfie asked, starting to relax in his father's presence.

"Yes, but it didn't go as planned." Tom's hand moved to his son's shoulder. "Everyone here thinks you're Koda, and that Alfie is still doing his everyday stuff and has no idea about this. There are no plans to capture you, not now that they think they have Koda."