Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis
Chapter 8

As Joshua walks toward his home with Alexandria by his side, he can’t help but imagine the mangled sight of his Silverado after last night’s ferocious encounter with David. They arrive at the driveway to replace the pickup truck in pristine condition. It doesn’t even have the small scratch on the door that was caused unintentionally by his grandfather with a shovel. His mouth drops open in disbelief while he examines the windshield and then gazes at Alexandria.

She smiles and asks, “Better than...what is that called?...Maaco?”

“Hell, yeah. No shit.”

“So...wanna go for a ride?”

“Ummmm. Would you mind watching a movie here at my place? It’s just been too weird to drive around lately.”

“Good point. Okay.”

Joshua opens the front door of the house and allows Alexandria to enter. He follows her, turns on the lights and closes the door behind him. While offering her a place to sit on the elegant sofa in the living room, he asks politely, “Thirsty?”

Alexandria ponders his question for a moment and decides to take advantage of this opportunity to reveal her secret to him. She feels that now is the perfect time and is willing to trust him wholeheartedly. She grins and replies, “Yeah. I’ll have some water, thanks.”

Joshua returns the grin and walks toward the kitchen to fetch the water. He pours the water into a tall glass and returns to replace Alexandria without her jeans on. He fumbles with the glass at first but regains control. He hands it to her and says, “Ummm...here you go.” She takes the glass and sits back down on the sofa.

“Sit down, Josh. I want to show you something.”

Joshua sits down beside Alexandria and observes her as she places the glass just above her knee. It gets tilted to the point that a drop of water falls and makes contact with her skin. He becomes startled as he watches her skin become scaly. Her feet come together and begin to form what looks like a fish tail. They revert back to normal after a few seconds. Is he dreaming? How is this possible? Alexandria explains, “Now you know everything. Barbara is the creation of my father. Ludwig Frankenstein. You already met David the werewolf. Henry is the invisible man and my aunt is an alien...well, part alien. And I’m a mermaid from Atlantis.”

He touches her leg with his finger; it feels soft to the touch even though a couple seconds ago, there were slimy fish scales instead of her warm skin.

“Does it hurt when that happens?”

“Nah. You can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah...you can trust me, Alex.”

After that, they sit there just staring into each other’s eyes. Joshua then raises his hand slowly and begins to gently caress Alexandria’s cheeks. She closes her eyes and wonders to herself if what she is doing is right or wrong. Can she trust a human? Her mother did so why can’t she?

“Is it true that if a guy kisses a mermaid, he becomes a merman?”

“Not really. A kiss from us allows guys to breathe underwater.”

Just before giving her a kiss, he whispers, “Nice to know I won’t drown.”

Their lips make contact and the burning desire that was buried deep within their bodies can no longer be restrained. They yearningly grasp at each other’s clothes and proceed to remove them until they can feel each other’s nakedness. Alexandria moans with intense pleasure as Joshua sensually explores her entire neck with his lips and tongue. She takes him by the head with both hands and tenderly looks him in the eyes while breathing heavily. He whispers to her softly, “Are you sure?”

“Yes...I am.”

Joshua moves his mouth down her sweaty body and voraciously licks her stomach...then her quivering thighs. He throws her leg over his shoulder with his hand and her back arches upon feeling her entire body getting overwhelmed with electrical pulses of pleasure. She wants to tell him that this is her first time but changes her mind for fear that he will stop what he is doing. It feels too damn good just to ruin it with her virginity nonsense.

Thousands of miles away, David is walking along a hallway inside of the main headquarters of Area 51 while regretting the decision to assist his friend Ludwig Frankenstein. And to think that he actually believed in the slim chance of having a normal life. As long as he carries his burden, he will never be able to live in peace. Such is the fate of all males in the Stubbe family. He enters the main briefing room and spots Dr. Frankenstein intently watching the news on the wall mounted touchscreen monitor. They are reporting on the bizarre and tragic events which occurred last night in New York. David can’t help but say aloud, “Such are the grim consequences of one person’s devious actions.”

Dr. Frankenstein swiftly turns around in reaction to David’s unexpected presence. He then replies assertively, “If you are referring to the deviousness of the one who changed your panic room password, my friend, then you are correct.”

“Not what I meant but never mind. So, what’s the cover story they’re using?”

“The official story is that a grizzly bear escaped the zoo and went into a frenzy. I’ll give it to Major General Avery, he did an impressive job. They even revealed to the public several, obviously Photoshopped, images of the animal during his rampage.”

“Yeah. My rampage, Ludwig. I almost killed Barbara because of it.”

Barbara giggles and mockingly says while approaching him from behind, “You call that almost killing me? Por favor.”

Dr. Frankenstein tells David, “I refuse to give up on you, David. Don’t you give up on me.”

David nods and then feels something tugging on his pant leg. He looks down to replace a little girl with bright yellow hair smiling while offering him a Cat in the Hat book. Phoebe says, “You look sad, mister. This’ll make you feel better!”

David’s first reaction is that of puzzlement and, a minute later, his next reaction is a lighthearted chuckle. He takes the book and, while flipping through the pages, says, “Thanks, kid. Nothing like Dr. Seuss to get your mind off of bloodshed and carnage.”

“You’re welcome! My name’s Phoebe!”

Dr. Frankenstein tells him, “Say hello to A.I., David.”

Phoebe’s hair fades to red and she angrily shouts, “My name’s Phoebe! Not A.I.!” She sticks her tongue out at him and sprints out of the room. David glances at Dr. Frankenstein and asks, “Seriously?”

Joshua closes his eyes and allows the steady stream of water remove the thick lather of shampoo. She was a virgin. He knew that as soon as he went inside her. Why didn’t he stop to ask her? Why didn’t she tell him? The answer is quite obvious. They were both possessed by a type of fiery and unrelenting passion which was comparable to that of a raging inferno devouring a forest. He rinses his muscular body one last time before turning off the shower. He then opens the shower curtain and grabs a dry towel. While drying himself, he listens to Brian Gunn’s introduction theme flooding the entire household. It looks like Alexandria has already learned how to use the Apple TV device. He chuckles to himself and mutters, “Oh, God. Here it comes.”

Joshua ties up the long towel around his waist and sees the scruffy image of Brian Gunn on the television screen as he walks down the steps. Alexandria is sitting on the sofa wearing his t-shirt and he decides to sit beside her to watch the clip. As he puts her arm around her, she rests her head on his shoulder.

“I’m Brian Gunn and welcome to the show. As many of you know, a vicious bear broke out of a zoo in New York and terrorized everyone while causing a massive amount of damage. I’m going to show all of you a few pics taken with cell phones that were sent in by some eyewitnesses.”

While a series of flipped cars and chunks of concrete are shown, Brian says sarcastically, “Now. If a bear caused that kind of damage, I’m the captain of the starship Enterprise, folks. What was that, Joe? Really? Okay, everyone...my producer tells me that we have on the line one of the eyewitnesses. His name is Arthur Bilinski and he was actually interviewed by all the major news networks as soon as their reporters arrived on the scene. Arthur? Can you hear me?”

“Hello?”

“Yeah, Arthur. You’re on the air. I’ve been watching the news like a hawk and the strange thing is...they stopped showing your account of those events for some reason.”

“Well, Brian...I’m gonna be honest. I’m homeless and I was a bit tipsy lass night, but I know wuttah saw wan’t a goddamn bear. Dat ting looked like some kinda mutated wolf.”

“Yeah, I remember that you used those same words when you were interviewed on live TV. Once they found out about your state of mind and past conviction of pedophilia, you were simply cut out of the story like they were editing a movie. Right, Arthur?”

“Yup, and lemme tell ya suttin’. I defended dis country when I went ta Vietnam and dis is how I get treated. Just cause I had a few drinks don’t mean I was blind. And da pedophilia ting has nuttin’ ta do widdit. I’m reabiliated so screw ’em.”

“That’s the mainstream media for you. It reminds me of a quote from the movie called Network. ‘And when the twelfth largest company in the world controls the most awesome, goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what crap will be peddled for truth on this network.’ Remember that movie, Arthur?”

“I tink so and it just pisses me off because dat’s how messed up tings are. It’s great dat you have da balls ta stand up ta these turds, Brian.”

“I salute you, sir, for what you did for us in Vietnam. By the way, they did the same exact thing with the Gulf of Tonkin incident. It was proven to be a lie which subsequently dragged us into that meaningless war. What can I say? We’re living in the real Oceania that George Orwell wrote about. In this case, it’s likely the Illuminati’s continuation of the super-soldier experiment that began with the Nazis and are using the American media to sweep the mess under the proverbial rug. We’ll be back after these words.”

Arthur begins to say something to refute Brian’s super-soldier theory but the connection gets abruptly cut off and the Rambo theme is then heard followed by a commercial promoting Brian Gunn’s Illuminati: Past, Present and Future DVD box set. Also available for download from Amazon.com.

Alexandria looks up at Joshua and says, “They cut Arthur off while he was talking.”

Joshua replies tauntingly, “Never mind that. I wanna know how a person gets reabiliated.”

She bursts out laughing and, while punching his stomach, says, “That’s mean.”

The atmosphere becomes tense in a matter of seconds as they come to the realization of what occurred here two hours ago on this very sofa. They start speaking at the same time...then an awkward silence. Joshua tells her straightforwardly, “That was your first time.”

This makes Alexandria blush and place both of her hands between her legs. She eventually admits to it my nodding her head once and then gives him a solemn glance. “I should have told you.”

“Do you regret it?”

Alexandria rapidly places the palms of her tender hands on his cheeks and affirmatively replies, “No...I don’t.”

After a long and sensual kiss, Joshua says softly, “My mom’s gonna be gone for two weeks. Spend the night here, Alex?”

“I’d love to. I need to let my dad know, okay?”

“That’s fine. Thanks. I’m changing the channel, if you don’t mind. Brian’s cool but in small doses.”

Being the science fiction fan that he is, Joshua switches over to the Sci-Fi Channel. There seems an interview in progress with the movie director Vincenzo Natali. He did enjoy all of his films so he turns up the volume in order to hear every spoken word.

“The fact that you managed to keep this project under wraps is just incredible, Vincenzo. Not one leak to the media or even a rumor spread throughout the World Wide Web!”

“Yes, yes. It was not easy to keep this a secret, believe me.”

“And you agreed to only allow us to present to the public the very first trailer of your upcoming film.”

“Correct. This is a film based on a well-respected science fiction novel, Harvey. I felt it was only appropriate that the trailer be shown on Sci-Fi Channel.”

“Well, we’re honored Vincenzo. I’m sure the fans are biting their nails right now so let’s get on with it. Here it is. The trailer of the new film directed by Vincenzo Natali...enjoy.”

A green screen showing the approval of the movie trailer for all audiences fades into view. The narrator can now be heard introducing the film.

“Prepare yourself for an explosive science fiction experience. From the visionary director that gave you Cube and Splice, comes a film adaption of a literary masterpiece written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.”

Joshua is on the edge of the sofa amazed at the random and intense scenes being shown. The name of the director appears followed by the narrator’s voice.

“Roadside Picnic.”

Then the actor playing Redrick Schuhart is seen saying, “Kirill! What if you had a full empty?” The other actor replies, “A full empty?”

“Arriving to theaters June 15, 2015.”

In the meantime, Adam is in a state of a profound trance while sitting on his bed and stares closely at the release date of Roadside Picnic when it appears on the screen of his television. With the movements of a remote controlled automaton, he turns off the TV and rigidly stands up straight. After two minutes without making a single movement, he takes his backpack, opens his bedroom door and walks out in a trance-like state. From the sofa in the living room, Adam’s mother notices him walking down the steps in an odd manner and calls to him. “Adam, sweetie? Are you okay?”

Without looking at her, he replies coldly, “Yeah, mom. I’m gonna step out for a few minutes.”

Her reaction is naturally that of a preoccupied mother. She has never heard him speak in such a dispirited fashion...not even when Melanie refused to go out on a date with him. Best to not delve any further into his personal feelings, though. Give him some room to vent his anger alone, by himself, and get used to the growing pains associated with life.

Adam opens the front door and steps outside. Frank Garrison is washing his red Silverado and notices him walking along the sidewalk across the street. His ear-buds are on so there’s no point in calling him. He does notice that Adam is walking a bit differently...as if in a daze. Frank dismisses it as being perhaps a rock band, or news bulletin, that he is listening to and continues with his task.

Melanie Jones is walking along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street while talking on her iPhone. She spots Adam and takes a moment to recall their last conversation. His reaction toward her view of their relationship made her feel bad. “Let me call you back.”

Adam becomes startled at the sight of his beautiful sixteen year old best friend suddenly appearing in front of him. He reads her lips. She is saying something along the lines of “Hey.” She becomes annoyed and then removes his ear-buds with her fingers.

“Hey, Adam. What’s up?”

All he does is stare at her in confusion and nods afterwards. This is not the Adam that she’s been best friends with for all of those years. The person standing in front of her is an empty shell devoid of emotions and with soulless eyes. He puts his ear-buds back on and replies, “I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

While Adam is walking past her, Melanie begins to wonder if he has lost his mind. His life has been one bad experience after another, after all. Getting bullied at school when he was twelve. Having just moved to that area with her family, she really had no friends. That awful memory of the asshole taking his eyeglasses and tossing them into the nearby bushes, while a bit hazy now, still resides in her head. That’s how they first met. She found his glasses and handed them to him while introducing herself. Melanie will never forget that one traumatic event that occurred a few days later, however. Two of the bully’s friends were holding Adam while the bully himself was rubbing his hard penis against the middle of his ass. They were fully clothed but that did not make the scene any less abusive and humiliating.

And now, years later, she’s the one that’s hurting him. It’s just that she feels so guilty for not helping him that day. A real friend would have stopped them, but she was scared. Scared of violence and scared of losing her only friend. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. No...he deserves to be to with someone that will truly defend and love him. Maybe he’ll calm down later. Just let him walk it off.

After about twenty minutes of walking down Bishop Boulevard, Adam stops and turns completely around to face the oncoming traffic. He sticks out his thumb, like any typical hitchhiker would, and the vehicles zoom past him one after the other. A black Chevrolet van pulls over and the side door slides open to reveal Rikki Hillman dressed in professional business attire.

“Get in, Adam.”

Without the slightest hint of any sort of hesitation, he steps inside of the van and Rikki pushes the door until it closes. The vehicle moves onward and merges with the traffic. She sits next to him and, while taking his backpack, gives him a command by saying, “Give me your cell phone.”

Adam hands Rikki the smart-phone as requested and she passes it to the technician behind her. As she stuffs the backpack with various shirts and posters, she says, “You’re going to hang these posters on your bedroom walls and begin wearing those shirts.”

She gently places a device of some kind into the backpack, hands him a thumb drive and says, “Once you execute the program on that drive, your computer will be completely be wiped and given new data. Finished with the phone?”

The technician gives it to her and replies, “Done.”

Rikki shows him the icon on the screen and explains to him, “The target is the Regal Commerce Center Stadium movie theater and you will execute tomorrow evening. This app is designed to look legitimate. Once accessed, you will enter the detonation password which is 112219639112001.”

While Adam takes his smart-phone, the van slows down and comes to a stop further down Bishop Boulevard. Rikki pulls the door open and tells him, “Get out.”

He steps out and he hears the door close behind him. The van drives away into the distance and then he proceeds to walk back home in the same robotic manner as before.

Meanwhile, back at Area 51, Henry is sitting down on a chair at one of the tables in the cafeteria stirring his coffee with a spoon. He is contemplating on his brief encounter with Eleanor and her granddaughter, Dawn. What if the outbreak happens? Should he try to rescue them? Barbara sits down across from him and says, “Hey, you. How did it go?”

Henry shrugs his shoulders and remorsefully says, “Eleanor’s still alive and well. I shouldn’t have went there, you know?”

“I hear ya, Henry. At least you got to see her, right?”

They both become distracted by Dr. Frankenstein speaking loudly into his cell phone. He says, “Fine. Just remember what happened to David, konfect. I want you both to exercise extreme caution if you decide to travel around the city. Understood? Goodbye and I love you.”

Those words make Barbara’s mouth form a warm smile. The last time she heard someone express love towards her was when her parents were alive. She’ll never forget when their home was invaded by burglars while her whole family was still inside. She was only eight years old at the time. Her mother was in her bedroom playing a game of Monopoly when a huge commotion was heard downstairs. Her mother instinctively hid her in the treasure chest filled with dolls and teddy bears. She knew, for some reason, that the burglars would not have a lot of time on their hands and would ignore the girlish toys inside of the large chest. That’s when she heard her whisper, “Te amo, mi corazon. Do not move at all.”

After a series of grunts and screams, she heard two gunshots that claimed the lives of both of her parents. It felt as if her heart was ripped from her chest and salt was then poured over the fresh wound. The thundering sound of footsteps climbing the stairs were heard and she covered her mouth to avoid screaming. The lid of the treasure chest opened and after feeling the killer’s hands fumbling with a few dolls, he cursed and slammed it shut. The fact that she survived the harrowing ordeal was a miracle...but sometimes she feels like she should have died as well on that day.

Dr. Frankenstein glances at them both and says enviously, “You are both fortunate to not have children of your own. Stress gives you white hair similar to mine.”

Phoebe is suddenly heard shouting merrily, “You need to be happy like me, Luwig! Then your hair will turn yellow!”

Everyone in the nearby area laughs and Dr. Frankenstein pats her head while he says amusingly, “If only it were that simple, child.”

Sajjad uses his inhaler and asks, “Would you like for me to keep an eye on your daughter, doctor?”

“Yes, thank you, Sajjad. That may be wise given the circumstances. Indrid can accompany you.”

Indrid nods at Sajjad and they both proceed to make their way to the hangar. Dr. Frankenstein strokes his goatee as he contemplatively watches them walk away. StarSun wouldn’t dare risk the life of Diana Garrison’s son...or would they? When it comes to corporate greed, those vultures would kill their own mothers for a nickel. Better to be safe than sorry.

Adam attaches the final poster on his bedroom wall and takes a step back to observe the fruits of his labor. The image is of Uncle Sam with the head of Baphomet and children getting shredded to ribbons by shrapnel around him. His cell phone rings but he ignores it.