Departure

Elijah

"Elijah?" My mom's soft voice interrupted my thoughts.

I didn't respond. How could I? The life I had known had just been ripped away from me. I knew the humans weren't perfect but I had always thought they were better than the Extorians. How had I been so wrong?

"Elijah can you answer me?" She reached out for my shoulders and this time I didn't flinch away.

I welcomed her touch, I welcomed the smell of her, I welcomed the comfort that always followed. I missed her. I felt my eyes tear up as I breathed her in. It had been nearly seven years since I had received comfort from my mom.

"I miss you mom." I whispered into her neck.

It was a bit odd hugging my mom because I was a full grown man, and a tall one at that and my mom was the same height as me.

"I miss you too Elijah." She whispered into my hair as it was swept across my face.

"I miss dad." I pulled away from her.

I had always blamed my mom for the death of my dad but maybe I should try and see it from her point of view. She was a young woman surrounded by her kind who wouldn't respond to her so she ran away. And then she fell in love and never wanted to leave. She had a child with the love of her life and her twin brother finds her and assumes she was kidnapped so he stages an attack on her lover's peaceful people and in turn kills her husband. Right in front of her.

"I miss your dad too." she brushed my hair.

I hugged her again because I was desperate for any type of comfort.

"Are you going to kill Lorelei?" I asked.

She was quiet for a minute as she contemplated.

"I don't think so. She isn't as rebellious as she was as a teenager. She might make a good queen." My mom sighed.

"But doesn't it have to be royalty?"

"Oh please, that's only the case with the humans. Us royals can choose whoever we want to marry. In fact, my father, the last true Highest Order, was a peasant before my mom fell in love with him."

"You guys have classes?"

"Oh sure we do. They always form in society. It's just the way us intelligences work."

"Mom?"

"Yes son?"

"Why can't we just work together with some of the humans. My friends-"

"Your friends are the government Elijah. I hate to break it to you but they are the ones who made the decisions to attack our base." Alexandra reached out for me.

"But Alivia would never do that. She is a good person and wouldn't do that to innocent people."

"Look around you Elijah. Your supposed 'good people' sent this biological weapon to us. And let's not forget the bomb that your people sent to us. Half of the people here lost someone that day, Elijah. The humans twist their side of the story until it seems like the right one."

"But you sent the bioweapon." I tried to reconcile for the humans.

"Your people brought that upon themselves. They interfered with our labs and they paid the price. Open your eyes babe, this is the lies of the humans. They hurt us beyond repair and we are just barely scraping by."

I put my hand on my temple, suddenly dizzy.

"I want to see Lorelei." I told my mom.

"Of course."