Ascendance

4

We arrived at this cute little cafe. Normally, I'd be thrilled but instead I was nervous and antsy.
There was a woman with short hair sitting at a table, looking at us. She looks oddly familiar. She's got freckles.

"So this is the one who got away from the aliens." She looked at me. "My name's Karenina, by the way. You must be Erika."

"I guess so." I responded, looking at the glass table.

"Hey, I got your text about the new information." Brendan spoke to the woman.

"Did you?" Karenina asked. "Well, it's not good. I don't know if Erika should be hearing this."

"I can handle it." I told her. She sighs. She takes out two photos from her purse. One is Lydia getting dragged away by the cephalopods and the other is Lydia with a cephalopod in front of her. She looked like she had been beaten. I could feel my nails digging into my palms as I crumpled my fists.

"We believe that they're being held separate from Erika's parents. However, we don't know if it's within the same building or different buildings." Karenina sighed, putting the pictures back. "We also have been made aware of the fact that he is looking for Erika."

"For me?" I raise my brow. "Why?"

"I'm guessing because you escaped his men." Karenina shrugged. "I wouldn't really know what to tell you."

"Do you guys know why my family was taken in the first place?" I asked her, looking at her.

"We still don't have a clear answer for that but we do have some theories. Lydia and Miranda were working on gathering information about the cephalopods for a book. They might have possibly come across something they shouldn't have and that's why they were taken." Karenina looks at her nails.

"But if that was the case, why didn't they just take Lydia and Miranda? It would be way less suspicious that way." Brendan asked Karenina.

"Not sure. Unless they thought that they might have shared something with you guys." Karenina looks at me. "Or just to threaten them into being quiet."

"I guess that would make sense but Lydia never talked about her Agency job. Just school and stuff." I feel like maybe I didn't know my sisters as well as I thought I did.

"She might have done it to protect you." Karenina spoke. "But we don't know either. Anyway, did you guys want something to eat?"

"Sure." Brendan spoke. I nodded. A waiter arrives to take our orders. I end up getting a box of macaroons to snack on later and a grilled chicken sandwich with waffle fries. Brendan ordered a mushroom swiss burger with tater tots and Karenina had the strawberry harvest salad with a slice of cheesecake.

"So what were you doing before all of this?" Karenina asked me.

"I was doing bartending classes at Wake Community College and working at a diner. I probably got fired already." I chuckled. Money was not my biggest concern at the moment.

"Oh. That sounded like it could have been fun." Karenina spoke.

"It was. I probably failed at this point." I take small bites of my sandwich. Damn, I wonder if people are looking for us at all.

"I think they should be more understanding. After all, you were almost kidnapped, or as far as they know, kidnapped." Karenina took a few bites of her salad.

"I hope so." I sighed. And I was just getting to learn more things about mixing things. I shook my head, feeling annoyed. Then I thought of something.

"Wait, Karenina, I have a super weird question, if you can answer it." I look at her.

"Send it my way." Karenina was adding more dressing to her salad.

"Well, can cephalopods possess people?" I asked her.

"They can, actually. Why do you ask?" She asked me.

"Well, when my sisters and I went to the bar last night, there was a guy acting weird to us. And then he turned into one." I told her.

"What happens is that they'll drill holes into the base of someone's skull and attach themselves to the person in question. Then they'll eat away at the brain and replace it with their own until the person dies and they take over their body. The person's body will absorb theirs." Karenina spoke. "So they'd look normal but they're not."

"That explains a lot." I spoke to her, shivering. That sounds like some body horror shit.

"Sounds like some horror movie shit." Brendan was halfway through his burger.

"Right, that's what I was thinking." I said, looking at him. He has bronze-y skin, amber eyes and curly dark brown hair.

"So how did you become an Agent, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked Karenina. She's almost done with her salad.

"I was about your age and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. So I joined because a friend of mine had ties. I started off in the office, filing case reports and doing claims for agents' injuries. Then I showed that I had the skill to become a Field Agent and moved up from there." Karenina then took a drink of her tea.

"Wow, that sounds pretty cool." I responded. Maybe that could be an option for me, if I survive all of this.

"It is." Karenina smiled at me. I swear I feel like I've seen that smile before. I had never met my real parents nor had my parents been able to find anything on them. Maybe she was related to me, somehow.

"And what about you, Brendan?"

"Same thing." He sighed. "My uncle was this branch of the Agency leader at some point, before he passed away during a mission." Ah, nepotism.  Then again, I can't complain too hard. That's how I got my first job which I quit in three months.

The waiter arrived with the check. Brendan tried to pay for our food but Karenina waved him off. We promptly left the Macaroon Kitchen. As Brendan arrived at our hotel, we saw police and unmarked cars. Great, now what?