The Venerate Order

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Strafe

When I woke up, my body felt unusually warm. That seemed strange since it was cloudy and rainy outside and the heater near me wasn't turned on. I remembered I had felt this same type of warmth when I found myself on the battlefield.

My head was pounding; it was the same pain I had felt when I got blasted by that light in the cave. I rolled over to see Yessa sound asleep; I nudged her but she grunted back and put a pillow over her head. You need to get a better bed, Yessa, I'm a wreck!

My body felt completely different, like I had been working out. I was sore all over but felt ripped. I even flexed and couldn't believe how buff I looked. Before I could ponder it further my telecrom began to ring, so I touched the side of my head and saw it was my mom, "Hi honey!"

"Hi mom," I yawned.

"I was going to invite you to eat breakfast with me, are you at Yessa's? You weren't supposed to leave the house last night," she lectured.

"I'm a 23-year-old man, mom..." I grumbled.

"Yeah, more like a 23-year-old, lucky to be alive and breathing son of mine! If you don't get back here, you're gonna have two lumps on your head boy!" she jokingly retorted.

My mom and I would kiddingly jab at each other once and a while, after all, it was my job as a son to raise her blood pressure.

"Alright, you win. I'll be back soon," I told her.

"You have a guest here waiting for you, so don't be late!"

"Guest? Who?" I asked.

"Someone who's very interested to talk to you. Get your ass back here! Love ya!" she told me before she hung up.

I got out of bed and ran as quickly as I could to my mom's house. I noticed an older looking vehicle in the driveway, one that still used wheels. Most elderly people still drove cars like that. I walked through the front door and was surprised to see who was eating pancakes with my mom, "Professor Sighter!?"

"Hey, Strafe! How's it going there?" he asked, "The Mayor got a hold of me when he heard your story. He asked me to stop by and pick you up on the way to the hospital. But, I must say your mother has made an excellent breakfast. Join us."

After breakfast, we decided to get going. When we got into his car he said, "I always knew you were a rebel! When the rumor was going around that you'd even cheated death - something about your experiments – using a catapult, no less. I felt intrigued to hear your story. Please tell it to me in your own words."

Professor Sighter was a kind, gentle old man. When I took his ancient art class as an elective, he really made an impact on me.

I remember my first impression was, "Here's a doddering old fellow." He was bald on top, but the hair of his white beard grew down to the middle of his chest. Whenever I saw him, he was always wearing his white coat, thick-rimmed glasses, and his talisman he told me he had found while on an expedition in Italy when he was young.

I often volunteered to help students taking his class with their studies. He would bring in finds that were beautiful works of art. Although we didn't keep in contact as often as we did back when I was in college, he was still a close friend.

I told him everything that had happened the day before, about the cave, the sword, everything. He was very intrigued, especially since the cave I described didn't match any of the known ancient societies that had inhabited California. This find, Sighter thought, could possibly predate anything on record in America and might even be of alien origin. After ten minutes or so, we arrived back at the hospital.