MESSIAH

Discovering

Chapter 8

"I don't believe it. I refuse to admit that one of the most important people in my life would be capable of such things."

"You have to," Carl Marquez tells me. Remember that nameless asshole that I first met at my locker? I know his name now and it hasn't changed what I feel towards him one bit. Although I know we'll have to work on this together and I have to learn to tolerate him.

"Let's say this is true, if the government is using him for this 'skill', you can say, it has to be for something bigger that they're planning, right?"

"That's what we will have to figure out, together. Without anyone else."

"You know I have to tell Aaron and he doesn't hide anything from Layla, but..."

"And Layla doesn't hide anything from her mom and she doesn't keep stuff from her husband, and when is it going to end Sam? When it's all over the news? Aaron at the most and that's all. No one else can know. You have to grow up at some point and understand the gravity of the situation here."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

I knew he was right, but that wasn't what I meant. I meant for Aaron's ears and only Aaron's. He had Nathan's best interest at heart just as much as I did. However, just because I know how he interpreted my words does not mean that I was going to let him speak to me like that.

"Look, Carl. You have come to me with valuable information and for now, I'm going to believe it. But, if you ever speak to me like that again, I swear I won't wait for an apology or for you to say something worse. I'll fucking smack the teeth out of your mouth."

He raises his hands up in surrender and continues typing something on his computer. I think I notice a slight smirk on his face, but it quickly fades when he focuses on his work.

"What are you doing?" I say still spitting the words at him. My anger has not completely been suppressed.

"I'm cracking into government systems. I need you to fully be on this and for that to happen, you must trust me. I'm going to show you what made me believe."

I take a deep breath. Carl was about to show me something that would completely alter my relationship with Nathan especially without him being the one to show me the truth. If this is true, his reasons for cutting off our friendship could not be more right. He was trying to protect Aaron and I from something so much bigger.

"I've got it."

He plays a video and passes me an earbud so no one else in the house could possibly hear a thing.

Chills go through my spine at the sound of everything happening in the video.

I silently gasp when I see Nathan perform the 'skill' Carl said he had.

The words said right after are what scare me the most.

My fingers trembling like they've never had, I pull out the earbud and stare blankly at the computer screen where the video has ended.

"I'm sorry you had to see that without knowing Nathan's side to the story, but I needed you to believe it. I need your help."

"What do I have to do?"

***

I go up the stairs to the front door of Jason's house.

"How can I help you?" his dad says confused. We might have been friends for a long time and have been in the same classes all of high school, but his parents never met me and I had never been to his house before today.