Defenders of Earth (Book 2 of the Keepers Trilogy)

Chapter 13

"Callie?"

I've never heard Mom sound so scared. Even when I was little and had to get stitches in my forehead, she was soothing, calm, even though I was bleeding a lot. But now, Mom sounds terrified. And I completely understand. Whatever Callie just said, it wasn't good, judging by how she's curled up and sobbing at our feet.

Callie turns her head to look up at Mom. "Emily..." she whimpers. "E-Emily..." She pushes herself up to sit on the bottom step, her whole body trembling.

Mom crouches in front of her, takes one of her hands. "Tell me what happened," she requests softly.

Callie gulps and wipes her face on her shirt. Takes a deep, shuddering breath. A small sob escapes from her as she catches her breath. "I-I was on m-my planet. In a flashback. And I-"

She hunches her shoulders, burrows her face in her knees, and wails, "My poppa's d-d-dead!"

Mom wraps Callie in her arms, and Callie presses her face into Mom's neck. "He's d-dead, I w-w-watched it, Henri's dead too..."

"Who's Henri?" I ask, kneeling next to Mom, who throws me a filthy look. I wince slightly, realizing how insensitive my question was.

Callie shakes her head against Mom's neck and hunches her shoulders. "A f-friend. He gave me this-is." She pulls away and takes her locket off.

Mom takes it and opens it. "Is this your family?" she asks, holding it out.

Callie nods and points at one of the pictures. "P-Poppa," she says simply.

I look at the picture over Mom's shoulder. Even though I already glanced at them, I never took a good look. The man in the photo stands tall, chin held high. I can see Callie not only in his facial structure, but in his eyes-the dark cast underneath the sheer happiness.

Mom snaps it shut and hands it back to Callie. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she whispers.

Callie leans her head on Mom's shoulder, takes a heaving breath, and cries. Somewhere in her sobs I hear her moan, "I want to go home."

Mom hugs her again, rocks her back and forth. I've never seen Callie so...broken. Vulnerable. It's scary.

About five minutes later, Callie lifts her head and pulls away from Mom. "I'm sorry," she whispers hoarsely, drying her face on her sleeve. "I'm s-sorry. I didn't me-mean to-to break like that."

"It's okay, honey," Mom soothes. "You're okay."

"No, I'm not. I need to be strong, and I can't." She gasps and buries her head in her hands. I realize she's thinking the same thing as me. This is the girl who supposedly can protect Earth from aliens, reduced to bawling on her foster mom's shoulder over her father's death-a father who, as I understand it, betrayed her.

"Simon's coming," she mumbles into her palms. "I don't know when, but he is. At most, it will be three months. But I don't know. I don't know anything!"

She stands up shakily, wiping her palms on her jeans. Her face is red and blotchy, her cheeks still damp. "I need to check something," she mutters, turning to scramble up the stairs. She trips on the third step but still keeps going, climbing a couple stairs on her hands and knees before picking herself up again. 

"What was that?" I ask Mom. "Her passing out-and flickering-what happened?"

"I've no idea," Mom says with a frown. "She never made a mention of it."

Although I witnessed it with my own eyes, I have no idea what happened-nor do I believe it. Was it a flashback? Premonition? Some other crazy time-travel-alien-BS? It's all too hard to believe. There's too much information going on, too many coincidences to be real. I don't want to ask Callie, not because I don't want to be rude-she did (supposedly) watch her father die-but because I've learned that getting answers out of Callie is like teaching a rock to speak. It's damn near impossible, and I'm pretty sure a rock tells more than her. She lied to us the past three months.