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Chapter 11
“So all I need to believe you,” I concluded, “is for Mum to come and confirm your story. That’s it.”
They exchanged worried glances. I smiled smugly. If Mum owned up to having found me, I would be ready to believe whatever they threw at me. If not, I would keep the status of ‘lunatics’ on their foreheads for the rest of their lives. To be honest, I was more ready to bet on the latter option. And yet … I pushed the thoughts away. Mum would tell me that I was born at the hospital two blocks from my house, that they were crazy and there was no need to worry.
Jasmine sighed. “On one condition,” she said.
“What?”
“When she admits it, you need to stay here, in this house. Like I said, it’s way too dangerous at the moment. And your mum can’t stay when she’s done. OK?”
I really didn’t like the way she say ‘when’ instead of ‘if’.
“Well …” What if she was right? What if I had to stay locked up in this house for the rest of my … no, she was wrong. She had to be. “Fine,” I agreed.
“Suit yourself,” she said. She took out her phone and gave it to me. My hands shook as I dialled Mum’s number.
“How long have I been out, by the way?” I asked as the line went though.
“Just over four hours,” said Zed.
“Oh God, she’ll be worried sick. She’s probably called the police or something,” I muttered. Jasmine and Zed exchanged more worried glances.
“Hello?” answered a voice. It was Mum’s. She sounded like she hadn’t slept for weeks. She had been crying.
“Hi.”
“Who’s this?” she asked. “If it’s you, Julie, I already told you I …”
“It’s me, Mum!” I said.
She paused. “Suzanne?”
“Yes, Mum, it’s me! Listen … yes, I’m fine. Are you OK? You didn’t see any weird men around, did you? Nothing, I was just wondering. Yes, I left the hospital when it was … attacked. I don’t know what happened! Look, Mum, I’m at Jasmine’s house right now, can you meet me there? No, sorry, I can’t come. I’ll tell you when you’re here. I’m fine. Yes, really. I’ll explain everything. OK. Yep.” I gave her Jasmine address. “And don’t bring anyone with you, OK? OK. Bye!” I put the phone down, my hands trembling. Tears filled my eyes. How desperate Mum had sounded! The way she talked to me; she sounded so fragile, like she would shatter into a thousand pieces if someone touched her. Had I caused all this?
I curled up on the sofa, forgetting Jasmine and Zed, forgetting my surroundings. I imagined that I was curled up at home, on my bed, cursing at Bumba or Will for getting me into trouble again. Next to me was my desk, full of books on sci-fi and adventure. I remembered how I had always asked myself if I believed in aliens. A few years ago, I had decided that I did. Maybe not little green people with antlers, but some form of life somewhere else. The countless times I had sat there, wondering what the alien was doing at that very minute. Was it sleeping? Reading? Was it a girl or a boy? A small, fleeting smiled appeared on my face, but it quickly disappeared as I remembered where I and why I was here. Behind me was a window. It looked down on a small roof, which I had often laid down on during summer. When it had got too stuffy in my room, especially at night, I would lie down on the cool tiles and stare at the stars. That was one of the best memories I had of my home.
I opened my eyes a fraction, hoping and hoping and hoping that I would see the small purple walls of my room instead of the polished, white walls of Jasmine’s living room. I didn’t. Instead, I saw Jasmine and Zed, looking at me anxiously.
“What are you looking at?” I snapped. They flinched, and looked away. I curled up again, feeling bad. You’re not the one that locked them up! that voice told me.
Five minutes later, we heard a loud knock on the door. I jumped up straight away.
“Sit down, Suzanne. Mark will bring her here,” Jasmine said coolly. I sat down reluctantly. After another minute, Mum swung the door open. She didn’t even look at the splendour for a second.
As soon as she saw me, her eyes opened wide and, for the second time, she ran towards me and embraced me in hugs and kisses.
“Where have you been?” she asked me after we pulled apart.
“Ask them! ” I told her, looking at Zed and Jasmine. Zed coughed awkwardly.
She squared her shoulder, and looked at them coldly. “What have you two done with my daughter?” she thundered.
“Hello, Ms Levee,” Jasmine said. “I’m going to put a long story short. Due to recent events, we’re telling Suzanne who she is. She wants you to confirm the story, seeing as she doesn’t believe us.”
Mum looked at them, confused for a moment, then her eyes opened wide again. “What?” she gasped.
I looked at her. “Mum? Tell me this isn’t true. They’re just lying, aren’t they?”
I searched hopefully for a sign of the confidence that I always see in her eyes, but saw none.
“Please, sit down,” said Zed. She did, looking dumbstruck.
“But … but why?” she asked shakily. “Why now? She’s too young! I thought we had agreed on sixteen, not fourteen!” I stared at her. Had she really said that? Had I heard her correctly?
“Mum! Just say it to my face: did you find me outside that hotel you used to work for?” I asked her. I still didn’t believe it. She had to say no. She had to smile at me and tell me that this was all a joke, and take me home.
She sighed, putting her head in her hands. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, it’s true.” She looked at me, her eyes filled with tears. “Do you remember when your dad left?” she whispered. I nodded. I remembered only too well: the shouting, screaming, the slamming of the front door, and then the weeks of crying. I had only been five, but I still remembered it as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. “I married him when you were one and a half. I never told him about your true identity; I thought he wouldn’t want to stay with us anymore if I did. Then one night, when you were five, some men attacked our house. They threw grenades at our windows and yelled threats at us if we didn’t give you up. You were sleeping; I don’t think you heard it. I denied you being with us. I told him we had given you back the year before. The idiot believed us, but not after having checked every room.” She frowned. “I never understood exactly how they didn’t find you, but that doesn’t really matter. Anyway, your dad demanded to know what was going on. I told him everything I knew. He said he didn’t want the responsibility of having to look after a princess, and left.”
A moment passed. “Dad left because of me?” I whispered, horrified.
“No, no! Not exactly. He loved you so much, leaving must have been the hardest thing he ever had to do. But … I guess the burden of having to protect a princess was just too much for him. I think what had happened that night must have shaken him a little. Two weeks after he left, I received the news that I was pregnant of Will.” She bowed her head, tears filling her eyes at the memory. “He never got to see his son. Will never got to see his father, either.”
“If he really had loved us, he would never have left,” I insisted. Then I sighed. I had got over Dad leaving long ago, so I tried to ignore that. “And … how did you know? You didn’t find a little note or something, did you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. I had a visit two weeks after I took you in. I hadn’t left work yet. A lady came told me who you were. She explained to me how you got here, and offered me the choice of keeping me and putting my own life in danger or give me back and very possible putting your life in danger. She seemed to trust me. I said I wanted to keep you – Bumba and I had got so attached to your sweet smile – and she left. But she warned me that if ever someone came demanding you back, I was to tell them that I had given you back.” Mum shrugged. “Like I said, she seemed to trust me, but … I don’t know.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know how to react; I didn’t even know if I should react. I looked out of the window. It was getting dark. This had been the worst day of my life; there wasn’t the shadow of a doubt about that.
“It wasn’t that bad,” commented Zed. I looked at him, but didn’t have the energy to ask him how he had done that. I didn’t really care, anyway.
“Suzanne?”
I didn’t answer. Mum shook my shoulder lightly. I pulled away, not meeting her gaze. “Suzanne, I know this is hard for you, but what was I to do? Just give you up and put your life at risk? I did what was best for the both of us,” she explained. I ignored her.
A few moments passed in silence while I took in the fact that my dad had left because of me. That I was responsible for Will never having seen his dad, or for Bumba having grown up without a dad, or for having made Mum cry endlessly for weeks.
I straightened my back, trying not to dwell on it too much. I tried to think that everything was alright now, that I knew the answers to all the answers I had been asking myself, but one more thing didn’t fit.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I said quietly, not looking at any of them. “What does this have anything to do with what you two can do? I mean,” I added, facing Mum. “Jasmine and Zed can read my mind. Jasmine can move so fast, it’s unbelievable – that doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’m … you know.”
They glanced at each other. “That’s one of the main reasons why we let your mum come,” Jasmine said. “We needed to tell you, seeing as both of you haven’t been told this, exactly what place Jasmine’s the princess of.”
I glanced at Mum questioningly. She hadn’t been told where I was the princess of?
“A country with very weird technology?” I randomly guessed.
She shook her head. “No. This is quite normal where we come from, actually.”
Mum frowned, thinking for a moment. “I really don’t see where,” she finally said.
“We’ll let you guess. That should make it a bit more … believable,” said Zed.
We thought, and thought, and thought. I guessed maybe an underground place, but crossed that out as ridiculous. Then I thought maybe somewhere else entirely? I took a cup of coffee to help me think. But where? I thought, sipping. Then an idea crossed my mind …
I gasped. They all looked at me expectantly. Images flashed before my eyes: Zed’s reddening eyes, Jasmine’s super-fast movements, both of their abilities to read my mind, Mark telling me there was more to come …
“You … you’re …” I was trembling so much that the cup of coffee slipped from my hands and shattered into a hundred pieces on the floor. I didn’t hear it break. I didn’t even feel it slipping from my hands. All I saw was Jasmine and Zed’s pale smiles, questioning and yet so knowing. It was impossible. Surely impossible.
“What is it?” Mum asked, worried. I pointed a shaky finger at them.
“They’re … they’re not human!” I whispered hoarsely. My voice had deserted me, replacing itself with a fog of fear.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Mum said. She tried to look normal, but she had gone deathly pale, and her hands were shaking. She looked at them. “She’s just being over-reactive, isn’t she?” she asked. They didn’t answer. Their looks told her everything she needed to know. Her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh my good Lord!” she murmured. She began swooning, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she collapsed slowly onto the sofa.
There was a silent pause while I stared at my mum. I was on my own now. I tore my eyes from her and saw Zed looked at me, smiling insanely. I was shaking so much I felt my very skull moving out of place. He got up slowly, his gaze never leaving mine.
“Now we have you all to ourselves,” he cackled. I thought I was going to join my mum in the realm of the half dead.
Jasmine slapped Zed’s arm. “Don’t do that, Zed! It’s bad enough having to be with aliens; you’ll give her a heart attack playing jokes like that!” she said sternly.
He raised his hands in surrender, grinning. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist doing that.” He looked at me. “I’m really sorry – it was just too tempting.” I didn’t answer. My voice was as knocked out as my mum was at the moment. I stared at them, my eyes wide. Had I spent just about two months with aliens? How was this possible? Wouldn’t I have noticed something? I wanted to knock my head against the wall for having been so stupid. Anyone with red eyes and superpowers surely wasn’t human? I could have put two and two together and figured this out, but instead I was so blinded by the happiness of having friends that I had completely ignored any strange things I had seen about them. I had been so stupid. How were you to know they weren’t human? It’s not exactly the first thing someone would guess!
“I really am sorry. Not for being an alien, of course, but for acting like … well, like an evil alien. If you get what I mean.” He saw my shocked expression and added, “Oh, come on, Suzanne. I know it’s a bit of a shock and everything, but could you stop looking at me like that?”
“Shut up, Zed,” Jasmine said quietly.
“What? It’s not like she’s not one as well!” he exclaimed. My heart skipped a beat as I took in that information. Me? An alien? This was too much. I looked at myself, trying to get a glimpse of any green skin.
“Green skin?” he scoffed. “We don’t have green skin! Our skin colours are the same as any human’s. And there are no antennas either. We look nearly exactly the same, believe it or not.”
“It’s rude to pry on other peoples’ minds,” Jasmine reminded him.
“We might as well, seeing as we actually can,” he muttered. He looked at me again. “Suz, seriously? This is getting a bit creepy.”
My voice came back to me all at once. “Creepy!? I don’t think you know the definition of creepy right now, whatever your alien name is,” I said. “At the moment, creepy is realising that your previous best friends are aliens, and seeing your mum fainted on a sofa next to you. And … and being an alien … I’m not an alien!” I burst in tears, and hid my face behind my hands. “I am not not not an alien! And you can’t change that,” I added in between my sobs.
“We’re not changing anything,” Jasmine said calmly. “We’re simply informing you. And what do you mean, ‘previous best friends’? Aren’t we best friends anymore?”
“No!” I yelled. “And best friends aren’t my biggest problem right now, so leave me alone! Besides, you don’t have any proof that I’m an alien – I don’t have any superpowers!”
“For the moment, I think you have enough proof to believe us. The talents come in a bit later,” said Zed.
“Why are you even here?” I asked. Then I thought of the locked front door. “Is this some kind of alien abduction?”
Jasmine laughed at the suggestion. “Of course not! We’re here to protect you, and you’re here because you were sent to Earth after your parents were killed.”
I wiped my tears away. “So, I can go home now, right?” I asked, edging away from them to the end of the sofa. “I mean, unless there’s anything else we need to discuss …”
He looked at me sternly. “Suz, you need to stay here.”
“Uh-huh. And, for how long, exactly?”
They glanced at each other. “A few … weeks? Months?” Jasmine said. The house span around me. Months. Months in a house with non-humans. “And then we need to take you back to Sayrene,” she concluded.
No. No no no no! I couldn’t leave! I didn’t want to leave! I shook my head desperately. “No,” I said. “I can’t. You’re gonna have to choose someone else.” They looked at me bleakly. “I can’t,” I repeated. “I can’t face the responsibility of a whole country, or whatever they have on this other planet.What planet is it, by the way?” I asked. “Mars?”
“Sayrene,” said Jasmine.
“Sayrene. But that’s not in the Solar … oh God,” I said, realising what they meant. “So, you’re like, extra extra-terrestrial?”
“I guess you can put it like that,” Zed said, shrugging.
“But that’s … that’s impossible! I mean, how … why …?” I faltered off, not sure how to finish my question.
Jasmine nodded understandingly. “We know it’s shocking, but you’ll feel better in the morning. We’ll talk more then. Now, I think we should all have an early night.”
“An early night? It’s only nine o’clock, for God’s sake,” grumbled Zed. He stood up all the same, and began stacking the dishes.
“Night?” I whispered, staring ahead. “As in, sleep here?”
She gave me a weird look. “Well, yeah, obviously.”
My breathing quickened again. A night. In this house. With … them. “What about Mum?” I said, suddenly remembering.
“Your mum?” Zed sighed, still stacking the small plates. “She’ll need to stay here, I guess. We can’t take her all the way upstairs. Carrying just you was a struggle.”
“Zed, just leave it. Mark will take care of that,” she told. As if by magic, Mark appeared at the doorway, smiling. I reeled back in shock.
“Mark’s got both hearing and fast movement talents,” Jasmine explained. “It comes in handy when we need him.”
Mark seemed to disappear and then re-appear at the table. I handed him a plate, and discreetly poked his hand quickly to check if he was real. He was.
We walked to the foot of the stairs.
“See you lot tomorrow,” said Zed, unlocking the front door and walking out of the house.
“Where’s he going?” I asked Jasmine.
She gave me a reproachful look. “Zed doesn’t sleep here. He has his own place.”
“Oh, right.”
Jasmine showed me my room, and I walked into my room, shut the door, and leaned against it, closing my eyes. I tried to steady my breathing. I was going to sleep in the same house as two aliens. Three aliens.
I flopped onto my bed after having chosen one of the many silk pyjamas in my cupboard. I had gone for a silvery grey one, with black edges and buttons.
Did I really believe their stories? No, of course not … yes, yes I did. I hated to admit it, but it all fitted in perfectly. But why me? I could name at least a dozen people that would make better princesses than me. I wasn’t the least bit responsible, mature, fair … OK, maybe a little bit, but not enough to rule a whole planet. And I don’t think I was worth killing for. I may be a princess by name and blood, but actually wanting to kill me … that seemed ridiculous.
Well, being a princess might not be all that bad. You get a palace, lots of money, parties … I tried to think of things that would make me want to be a princess, but it didn’t change my mind one bit. I never really was attracted to money. Parties are one of my worst nightmares. Palaces … well, that might be nice. But I always imagined my future house as being a small house in the country – maybe a cottage. But a palace? No, I couldn’t imagine myself in a palace.
Leaving. Leaving Earth. I could not leave. Ever. They’d have to go back and chose someone else; I wasn’t anywhere good enough for the job.
Exhausted, I closed my eyes and made myself comfortable, which wasn’t too difficult. I told myself to forget Jasmine, forget Zed, forget my poor mum downstairs, forget that evil king (whatever his name was), and forget any other crazy things had happened to day. It didn’t really work, but it was a bit comforting. Within a few hours of confused thoughts tiredness overpowered me, and I fell into a deep, deep sleep.