I must go

used to lead a normal life. A steady job, and a wonderful wife I loved. She was my soulmate, my Love. We had met six years before, and fallen for each other instantly. It was a beautiful day; the Sun shone, bright and powerful and warm in the skies. I walked between the shades of the trees, the beach stretching its infinite beauty below me. And there she stood, in the waves, barefoot, gazing away at the ocean, as if she had been waiting her entire life for me, standing there. A halo of perfection wrapped her body�s contour. She noticed me, and the purest feeling between two beings struck both of us: Love at first sight. We needed no words; I walked towards her, our eyes locked into each other�s, and we kissed. We kissed and touched and loved for hours, until dusk. We watched the Sun set. Her sweet smell and the fresh sea breeze tenderly caressed my nostrils as her head and her magnificent hazel hair lay on my shoulder. The passion between us burned like a fire, tall and proud. Never again did I let go of my angel�s warm embrace.

And anything else I could wish for. My new job as a lab assistant was both intriguing and challenging, because of Dr. Ruby�s weird works. I didn�t really know what the entire picture looked like just yet, but every day I�d get a little more insight. It became much clearer, and terrifying, one night when I worked late, my wife out of town on a business trip.

I saw and I heard it all. The four men came in, and from Jackie�s scream, I deducted they weren�t exactly friendly. From my position in the laboratory, I saw it. She got on her knees and begged for her life. She didn�t know what they wanted to know. They shot her in cold blood. At that point, I snapped out of it, and realized my life was in danger, too. The brigands opened the door leading into the work area just as the emergency exit swallowed my shadow. The interlocking of the door�s mechanism alerted them of my presence instants before, and they came running after me. Never did I run faster in my life. I swear, I was going so fast it felt like sliding down an abrupt ice-covered surface with skates. I crashed and banged open the final step to the outside. Just before fleeing the workplace, I also saw something else, and when I think of it, it is much more frightening than the four thugs who chased me that night.

Frenzied, I started the car rapidly and drove off faster than I thought was possible for my car to handle. Dr. Ruby, James and Kevin needed to be warned. They were at great danger also. I headed for my employer�s house and reached it insanely quickly. Time was ticking away. He wasn�t nearly as confused as I expected him to be. He seemed to know why this was happening. He just nodded his head, which was between his hands: �No, no, no, they�ve found me...� We then sped towards James and Kevin�s apartment.

James was home, but Kevin wasn�t. Cold sweat ran down my spine and made me shiver. Kevin was on his way back home. We picked him up in a great cloud of dust. Dr. Ruby insisted that I let him drive. As it turned out, he was an excellent driver. That�s when I was propelled into the prophetic vision and passed out cold, on the side of the road, for five minutes. I saw the Future. I saw them killing Kevin and James and then later slaughtering me. All murders the same way: one shot in the head. They told me I lied there for almost five minutes, spasmating at irregular intervals. That was five minutes less, that was five minutes closer to them. I was a weeping child, trembling like a leaf in the wind. I had seen what would occur soon, I had seen the Future. I almost fainted when I recognized the dark road we now fled on. I swear I felt Death�s sweet grip around my neck during those few minutes. Their car possessed a much better engine than mine and they gained on us every second. The vision marched on, like Time, unstoppable and ruthless. I gazed at the stars, had gazed at the stars for the last time, I thought. Dr. Ruby said: �You three jump out of the car. I do not wish to have you killed. I must fight my own past - alone�. The words slipped silently by my lips, an unheard answer to him: �They�ll find us, we�ll get killed... there is no Hope�.

I recognized the location: I died here in my apocalyptic dream. I couldn�t feel my legs anymore. We ran on that dirt road for what seemed an eternity. Dark and uninviting woods surrounded us everywhere. We hopped over an old, rusty fence. Then, my horrifying nightmare plunged deeper in its realization; they did not follow Dr. Ruby, but stopped where we had jumped off to investigate. They believed they saw something leaving the car. James and I jumped down in a deep ditch. Before jumping, I looked down and feared I would kill myself by jumping down from such a high position, but I overcame my fear. Kevin didn�t. He stayed up there, closer to the small dirt road, closer to where they would look. We held our breaths tightly. I believe my heart even stopped beating for a brief instant, as I layed there, immobile and frozen to the bone by fright. It was a warm summer night, a clear and star-filled sky above our heads.

The wind dropped into a deadly silence. One man came around the corner, on the other side of the palisade, searching for us in the darkness. Then, Kevin made a noise. The beginning of the end, just like in my vision. The man drew closer to my friend. They came face to face. But then, we witnessed the eeriest thing. Kevin stared, stared, stared. I don�t know what he did, right there, while I lay motionless below. He never knew himself. He shook his head, and dismissed the bandit with a swift gesture of the hand that shed a pale and supernatural blue light. And, to my entire surprise, the man turned around, went back to his accomplices and they left at once. Kevin came down. He looked just as puzzled as James and me. Without a word, we left this dark pit which could have very easily been our grave. Suddenly, I stopped and collapsed on my knees. Dr. Ruby, I knew now, had gone back to the research facility. That was also the criminals� destination, but I did not fear for him. They would only find a building burnt to the ground and the incinerated remains of his body. Still, I knew too much and witnessed a murder. I also knew I would never see my wife again; we had to flee, we had to leave. There was no turning back. I wept.

We walked relentlessly all night, until dawn. Kevin wasn�t himself anymore. He had changed, I could tell by looking in his pale eyes. The stunt he pulled, the stunt that saved our lives back in those dark woods, was more than just an hypnotic gaze. He mumbled incoherently all night long. Kevin was not like James or me. Something in him was different. Finally, as the Sun began shining brightly on the Earth below, we found an abandoned motel, covered by rust. Vegetation proliferated everywhere. The neon sign hung weakly with one screw above our heads. All the windows were broken. We entered through the ripped door and each found a spot to sleep. We awoke late in the afternoon.

Walking would take us too long, we decided, and would leave us vulnerable if the criminals spotted us. A car, on the other hand, would provide speedy escape and a faster way out of town. We went on looking for a vehicle faster than our legs. We pushed the vegetation aside and it revealed an old, rusty pick- up truck. Kevin, a car fanatic, finally started the engine after much effort. Kevin knew almost everything there was to know about mechanics; his father, in his time, had been a mechanic and young Kevin�s mind had grown surrounded with engines, cars, trucks, screws, bolts, tires, oil changes and so on. His father had died the year before. However, I am still not convinced whether it was Kevin�s high competence in mechanics that started the truck, or his strange, new-found power. We never discussed it. As for James, he just remained with us, muted by the preceding night�s events. As a matter of fact, we were all silent, as if we dreaded being found because of our echoing voices, in this far-out, empty place. My heart felt empty, too.

All day, we rode south, fleeing our likely-destroyed homes. Our nostrils could almost smell the smoke, leaving our houses towards the sky. Not once did we turn back; this ordeal was too heavy on our frail shoulders to allow us such movement. Then, a police car turned on its lights, signaling us to pull over. We did not suspect the extent of our enemies� power. The corrupted policeman opened his door, walked up to my window and pulled out his gun, but Kevin was quicker. I wanted to close my eyes, I wanted to look away, but I could not. I felt cold, hellish air that carried a smell of fire literally cross my body and then the truck�s window. The screams of deadly agony our boiling, would-be killer let out before collapsing on the hard concrete froze the blood in my veins. Kevin had burnt the inside of the man�s body. I turned to him, on my left, and saw his pale blue-filled eyes. He seemed in a trance, a daze. Suddenly, the blue left his eyes and he shot forward, hitting his head hard on the dash. He only regained consciousness many hours later.

James yelled out: �Start the car! Let�s get the hell out of here!� I obeyed his command, and riding again we went, faster than before, leaving behind us a dead cop. It might have been my disturbed mind playing tricks on me, but at some point, I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw blue smoke coming out of the muffler. But then, I blinked and all appeared to be normal again. Kevin opened his eyes and said: �Let�s stop somewhere. We have to eat something. Besides, we�ll need a plane or a boat if we intend to get out of here�.

I was burning to know one thing, or, actually, to see one thing: his eyes. So I asked him: �Look at me.� He turned his head slowly, and I took a good look at him. His eyes were normal again. Only, I realized, Kevin never had blue eyes. Kevin had brown eyes. He must have noticed the dismay in me.

�What�s wrong?�, he said nervously.

�What is your eye color?�, I asked.

�Brown.�, he answered.

�How can someone�s eyes change color?�

�What do you mean?�, he said increduously.

�Your eyes are blue. You have blue eyes.�

He turned to James, who confirmed what I was saying with a quick, worried nod. The data! The data from the energy matrix, that scared me so much before I left the laboratory! It hit me like the punch I gave the driving wheel. Dr. Ruby�s research had been taken to the next step: the results were those of a test ran on the human brain. Kevin�s brain. It is common knowledge that humans only naturally use approximately ten percent of their brain�s power. Dr. Ruby worked on a way to unleash the remainder of the brain�s capacities, and he had succeeded!

Along with that realization came another one: those men weren�t criminals, but government agents. The possibilities were infinite, and among them, a use for war. Dr. Ruby once told me he used to be a secret agent himself for our country. They knew all along and they simply waited for him to complete the research. Which also implied there was a price on our head. Which also implied that Dr. Ruby never made it alive to his laboratory in order to destroy the data. Dr. Ruby wanted to use his findings to promote world peace, but the government had other plans.

I explained the situation to Kevin and James, who said: �Well, I�m not sure if I understand what you�re saying, but what happened to that cop sure makes me believe it.� Kevin pointed at a small restaurant and suggested that I stopped there. We set foot in the small, dirty, worn-out building.

Kevin sat down and shut his eyes. I could not see it, but I imagined his mind, travelling in the vast white plains of the fearsome unknown. But he was strong, very strong; it was easy for me to surmise how near the deep pit of madness was to him. He used every parcel of resistance he could offer to control the flux of energy and power that ran in his spirit. He was sweating. He opened his eyes. He smiled and turned to me: �I�ve found a boat. That should do.�

�Yes.�

�Good. Then tomorrow we leave.�

A waitress interrupted: �Do you gentlemen want anything?�

I called Helena, my wife, from a public phone in a dark corner of the fast-food joint. The phone rang several times. She answered: �Hello?�

�It�s me.�, I said.

�Oh, hi!�

My throat was dry and I could hardly hold back the tears.

�Helena, my dear Helena...�

�You don�t sound like yourself. Is something wrong?�

�I... I... I must go. I can�t stay here, I must leave and go far, far away...�

�But...�

A tear dripped from the corner of my eye.

�Don�t ask, I must go. Please, please, please forgive me. I Love you, now and always�

She was weeping.

�Wherever you go, no matter what, I will look for you and I shall not rest until we�re together again...�

�Au revoir�, I said in a melancholic voice, �Au revoir, Helena�

I hung up the phone and went outside, where Kevin and James waited for me in our good-fortune vehicle.

We rode fast again, relaying one another driving. Kevin, when he wasn�t behind the driving wheel, gave us directions as to where to go. I sat by the window, in the passenger seat, and looked up at the sky. Many stars shined brightly above, but everything inside of me felt dark and cold. James kept our spirits high and sane with his jokes and relentless good moods. The adventure thrilled him; he was leaving nothing behind; but I was leaving my precious Love, and Kevin wished none of this had occured.

We entered a low-population sea town, where unemployment was high and the main career possibility was to be a fisherman. The wind blew random trash in circles and the deserted streets weren�t comforting. James was driving. I asked Kevin where we would go, once on the boat. �Sail south. Close your eyes and I�ll show you�, he answered.

Unsure of what to expect, I shut my eyes. He put an image directly in my visual cortex. The beauty of the place struck me hard; a tropical paradise appeared in my mind�s eye. The Sun shone magnificently, the ocean washed its clear water tenderly upon the shore and the palm trees oscillated lightly in the warm wind. �There you will find everything you need to lead the most peaceful existence�, he said. �You? That EXCLUDES you, doesn�t it?�, James blurted out.

Kevin motioned his finger to a �keep quiet� position. He did it so elegantly, so authoritatively (and perhaps with something else) that the thought literally escaped our minds. We did not bring it up again.

�Here�, Kevin simply whispered. He was troubled, I could tell, but I kept silent. The boat looked recent enough. James and I embarked on it, but Kevin stayed behind, as he had in the woods. James was eager to leave: �Come on, get in, let�s ride!�, he said, as he started the boat�s powerful engine. Then Kevin stared at us. His eyes were brown and filled with a great sadness. He smiled faintly, and I knew that this was the last time I would ever see him. James knew, too. �Goodbye my friends, goodbye!�, he told us.

Just then, three black cars appeared out of nowhere, speeding towards us. Kevin turned around and faced them. James drove off. I looked back: Kevin raised his hands to the sky, and the air behind the boat, right ahead of me, thickened, to form a shield of pure energy, against which the hundreds of bullets proved powerless. He was also making our boat go much faster than elementary physics laws usually permitted. Kevin�s brave sacrifice saved both of us from a certain death. His soul was pouring so much energy that when we were out of the guns� range, he fell on his knees, completely drained. At the same time, they diverted their fire to shoot him instead, but to no avail. He had given his life to protect ours. But, before his body, now an empty shell, tipped into the water, a white flash, an explosion, blew away our pursuers.

James and I went on for weeks, fighting storms and relaxing on the better days. One day, we were sailing, having run out of gas a long time before, in a cloud of fog. And then, in all of its beauty, our new home emerged from the darkness. It was just like Kevin had shown me. A paradise, a peaceful refuge amidst the tormented sea, heartbreakingly perfect. We hugged briefly and celebrated; there was a bottle of wine we had kept all along and we popped it open. We drank it real fast and got drunk. That was a mistake for James. My vision was impaired by the alcohol and I didn�t notice, until it was too late, James, dangerously standing on the ramp. Before I could react, the water swallowed him. I wasn�t a very good swimmer, and drunk, there was absolutely nothing I could do.

But that was no accident. Later, I found a note in the cabin, inside, that James wrote: �Well, buddy, we�ve made it! By now, I should be dead, and you should have a new home. But cry not, for it is what I wanted. I seemed happy and playful, but, inside, I was always empty. I could not have sustained this much longer, and I did not wish to darken your new life with my dark companionship. So, here, at the end of our trip, I must go. I�ll be waiting, out there, with Kevin, for you. James.�

He died the way he wanted to die. That made me happy. I smiled, as a tear ran down my cheek. I was alone and my own life didn�t have much of a purpose. But the ashes of my Love for Helena remained warm still, and the Hope of seeing her again kept me from jumping, too.

I built a house, I fed myself, I thought of Helena -- kept myself alive for many years that way. I was even able to make an alcoholized drink, with a taste similar to coffee, and another one with raspberries. I carved a pipe in wood so I could enjoy the naturally growing herbs of the island. I even divided my house in rooms; a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room. Life flowed by, monotonous and sunny.

One day, many, many years after my arrival, just after bathing in the sea, I walked in my bedroom and smelled a sweet, familiar perfume, but the room was empty. My mind, I thought, playing tricks on me again. Then, I detected a presence behind me. I turned around, and there she was, magnificent and young and perfect as before. She wore a beautiful dress and smiled. We held and wept for hours. Helena had found me. We made Love with such passion and desire that day, that night, the day after -- the fire of our Love ignited again, taller and prouder and brighter and warmer than ever before.

I looked in her tender green eyes, and asked: �Helena, will you marry me again?� �Oh, I missed you so much, I could not lose you again...all those years�, she said softly. I interrupted: �Let�s not talk of such things, oh, my Love. We are here, united again and forever� �Yes, I wish to be your wife, once again, so many years later�

She kissed me with her soft lips. So many years had gone by, but there was no gap between us; we were as close as when I had left. There was so much to tell one another, and now, we had all eternity ahead of us.

Today I heard Dr. Ruby�s findings were leaked to other nations. Everyone can make use of their full brain�s capacity. �Humanity�s greatest discovery�, some said. �A new era begins�, others claimed. But such a great power unleashed on Earth, among humans, could only result in a catastrophic situation. And tonight I am outside, alone, as I watch the beautiful fireworks across the sea. But they�re no common fireworks; they are the fireworks of the end of the world. Helena is inside; she is finishing cooking the dinner. I�d better go. I wouldn�t want it to get cold.