FUTURITY

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE Pt 1

Something was sticking in his arm. Sleepily, Jason tried to brush it away, but the object didn't budge, and his forearm stung. He stopped and opened his eyes.

It was an IV. A monitor beeped rhythmically beside his head, and clear liquid dripped into the tube that ran into his arm. Two well-dressed men were in the room—a hospital room, probably. One man with full features, large brown eyes, chiseled jaw, and thinning hairline sat beside the bed. His eyes studied Jason with a hard gaze.

"How do you feel, Jason? You have been out of it for twelve hours, but the doctor says you're going to be okay."

"I feel a little achy, but I'm fine. I think. Who are you?"

"I'm Agent Brown from the FBI." The agent took out his badge and showed it to Jason.

Jason blinked. "You're from the—what?"

The man took out a notepad and said, "The FBI. Now, what happened to you? Why were you jumping in front of trucks?"

After Jason gave his story of the previous night, Agent Brown lowered his notepad. "That explains a lot." He signaled to the other man, who nodded and left. "Agent Fischer will notify Animal Services about the dog."

Agent Brown leaned forward and looked into Jason's eyes.

"Jason, I need to tell you something. You were lucky. Your only injuries are some nasty bruises, scratches, and a slight concussion. But when the paramedics brought you in, the doc found some kind of growth in your chest cavity."

"Growth? Like cancer?"

"From their tests, they don't think it is. They think it is an unknown, extra body organ of some kind. They've never seen anything like it, here." Agent Brown cleared his throat and said, "We'll be taking you to a secure facility. We would like to have one of our specialists examine you to try to figure out exactly what we are dealing with."

Agent Brown stopped and looked at him. "We've found multiple people with the same extra organ in the past few months. You're not the only one who is dealing with this. We've got the whole medical field looking for this type of situation and have asked them to notify us if they do find something. We need to know if this is dangerous or not."

Agent Brown glanced at his watch. "We'll leave in twenty minutes."

"What about my uncle and aunt?"

"We talked to them by phone and have the permission we needed for this since you are a minor. We'll fill your family in when they arrive. I'll have some men waiting for them." Agent Brown stood up. "Excuse me while I make some calls."

He walked toward the door, then stopped and turned back. "I know this is crazy stuff. But everything is going to work out."

Fischer reappeared and stood in the doorway. Agent Brown glanced at him, then said to Jason, "Agent Fischer will be waiting outside the door if you need anything, but I'll be back shortly with some clean clothes for you." And then he left.

After a nurse came in, took out his IV, and exited, Jason noticed his phone and wallet were on the table next to his bed. He picked up his phone and found two voice messages. He listened to the first one.

"Hey,Jason, it's me, Kiera. I'm just calling to ask how you're doing. I hope you'redoing okay." 

Kiera's voice faded in Jason's ears. His mind wandered to a memory from the day he left Albuquerque. Kiera had walked beside him to the airport security line, her blue knee-length dress swishing as she moved. Her long brown hair jerked with each step. Her blue eyes brimmed with tears, and she'd tried to smile.

He hugged her good-bye. "See you, Jason," she had said softly in his ear. "It's going to be okay. You'll see."

Jason switched back to reality, and Kiera's message was still playing. "I know you probably don't want to talk to me. The only person you talk to is Shane nowadays. But please contact me. You're not alone."

The message ended. Hearing Kiera's voice made him want to talk to her right then. But he needed to wait. The FBI would come and get him soon.

The last message came on. It was Aunt Debbie. "Jason, I just want to let you know we're coming. The hospital notified me."

Her voice thickened. "I'm sorry we haven't been there for you, Jason. We'll see you soon."

Putting down the phone, he sighed and rubbed his temples, the frequent headache throbbing inside his skull. A flash of yellow and a snarl reverberated in his thoughts. He grimaced and forced himself to push the painful images down. From the sound of it, Aunt Debbie must have left that message before the FBI contacted them. A hope that his headaches and this weird body organ were connected and perfectly explainable began to trickle in. Maybe everything was going to be alright.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Jason got to his feet. "Come in."

The door opened, and Agent Brown's confident face looked in. "We're leaving in ten. Got some clothes for you." He handed Jason a pair of jeans, a shirt, socks, shoes, and a hoodie—even clean underwear. Then the agent left and closed the door behind him.

Jason hurriedly dressed, putting his wallet and phone in the pockets of his jeans. Minutes later, the door opened again. Jason stepped back, startled at the sudden entry. A nurse rushed in and closed the door behind her with a soft click. She pulled her damp black hair out of her dark eyes and stepped forward. She smiled, keeping a hand behind her back. He read her name tag: Ericka.

"Are you ready?" she said in a soft voice.

Jason nodded, wondering if there had been a misunderstanding.

Coolly, Ericka pulled a gun into view and aimed it at his chest.

Jason's heart instantly beat faster.

"If you make a sound, I'll kill you." Stepping forward, she pushed the gun against him. "Get under the bed."