“Come on!” Beck cried as we raced away from our enemy.
Jumping off a small ridge, our feet landed in cold sand, nearly bringing us to a full stop. We pulled our legs up and trudged through the dense soup as fast as we could.
Eventually, I could see the plane bobbing over the ocean waves, waiting to take us home. Subconsciously I sped up, but in the blink of an eye, our only way home went up in flames.
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An Enemy Rising
The violent boom from the explosion blew us back, forcing us to the sand.
As I pushed myself up I panted, “Did they find us!?”
“Vlasov?” Ivan suggested.
We frantically looked around, but I couldn’t see anything through the incoming smoke.
Then, a voice from behind taunted, “My, what a mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
On the ridge behind us, I could see a slender figure moving closer.
“Now the way I see this, you have two options. Come with me, or I leave you to Vlasovs. Your choice.”
Once my eyes finally focused on his slicked back golden hair, pristine suit, and manipulative gaze, I knew exactly who this was.
“Enemy?” Ivan tried in a broken Russian accent.
“Why don’t you ask Comet?” the man replied as he adjusted his pocket square.
Beck and Ivan looked at me as I stared in shock.
“Comet?” Beck whispered.
“This…. This is Gerard Nolen….My dad,” I replied numbly.
Although I didn’t disagree with calling him an enemy.
Beck flicked his head back and forth as Ivan squinted at me.
So, what’s it to be Comet? Vlasovs, or me?” he smirked as he spoke.
“I don’t know which one’s worse…” I mumbled.
As I thought of Beck and Ivan, I realized it wasn’t just my feelings at stake, but their lives.
I squeezed my eyes shut, then nodded.
“Great, now you might want to hurry,” my dad suggested as he started walking away from us.
“Comet?” Beck asked.
I then realized I was the only one still sitting in the sand.
“I’m fine,” I assured as I pushed myself up.
We bolted to the ridge and pulled ourselves up. Were then able to see the little military style plane my dad had arrived in.
Following An Enemy
Quickly we boarded, and silently we took our seats.
A few hours into our torturous flight, Ivan asked, “Comet, father?”
To which my dad answered him in perfect Russian.
Ivan’s eyes widened and he looked to me.
“You speak Russian?” Beck asked.
“I’m fluent in 14 languages and conversational in 26,” he answered confidently.
Then the awkward silence fell once more with the whirr of the engines filling the time.
“Where’d you get the dog?” my dad finally asked.
I looked down and saw Steve wrapped around my feet glaring intensely at my him like he was an enemy.
“He found me,” I answered shortly.
Besides the occasional bathroom break or seatbelt fidgeting, we all remained statuesque, keeping our eyes to the floor until we arrived back in California.
Instead of parting ways at the airport though, my pain was prolonged when the plane landed at my dad’s private airfield.
“This is where Comet would have learned to fly,” he remarked as we slowed on the tarmac. “If only he would have made better choices.”
I gritted my teeth, and tightened my grip on the seat handles.
We were then escorted off the aircraft, to a white limo with blacked out windows.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked as the car started moving.
But there was no answer from the front seat.
Beck looked at me from the corner of his eye and whispered, “Any guesses?”
I shook my head.
The Lair Of The Enemy
After a few minutes, Steve began pacing on the floor. He looked at me, then to the dividing window. Finally, he jumped onto my lap and landed his paw on the window button.
As the black screen fell down, I could see my old home, or more accurately, my old prison.
It’s outer walls still scraped the sky, and it’s main entrance was still a menacing gothic gate. The house itself originally belonged to a wealthy landowner who had this entire mansion designed with a combination of Victorian and Greek styles. I think my dad kept the design to send any enemy running for the hills but honestly, between the columns and the black spires, this thing will always be the ugliest house I’ve ever seen.
After the car dropped us off at the needlessly huge steps, we were led to the foyer and brought through what seemed like miles of hallways on the second floor. Finally, we were corralled into a near empty guest room.
“Now, Comet. I- “
“Excuse me sir,” a small man in a suit interrupted. “You have a phone call. Prague.”
“Oh,” he remarked before looking back into the room. “Our conversation will have to wait.”
With that, he left, shutting the door behind him.
“Ok Comet,” Beck began. “What’s going on?”
I rubbed the back of my neck and moved around a bed that was imposing on the middle of the room.
“Its nothing. Really,” I answered.
Sure, seeing my dad makes me feel smaller than a speck of dust, but I really didn’t think that was a good explanation of why I had been so quiet.
“You’ve looked like you wanted to hurl since the flight took off,” Beck pressed. “I know you don’t have the best relationship with your dad, but what happened? Why do you look like you want to pass out at the sight of him?!”
The Old Enemy
I stared at the floor just as Steve started rubbing against my leg.
Taking a deep breath, I answered, “Have you ever wondered if you were good enough? Have…. Have you ever wondered if you were just useless?”
Beck thought a minute, then replied, “Every once in a while, sure.”
“No, I mean like a leach in your mind sucking all ambition, all imagination away from you. A voice in your head that never stops telling you you’re a failure.”
“Comet…” Beck attempted.
“My father always told me, the only way I could ever be good enough, was if I became like him. Anytime I fell short of the standards he set, he’d tell me how worthless I was. How, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have survived this long.”
As the words fell from my mouth, I couldn’t look at him. I’d never told anyone about my childhood before, because really, it couldn’t have been that bad. My father always gave me food and a roof over my head. I mean, what more could I have asked for? At least that’s what I told myself growing up.
I continued, “When he sent me to college, that was the longest I had ever been away from him, and it felt…. great. Like I was free. Then when I met you, Beck, I was beginning to feel like a real person and not just the robot my father had always wanted me to be. That’s why, after you left, I told my dad that I was dropping out of college, and that I wouldn’t take his orders anymore.”
“What… What did he say?” Beck asked.
“He exploded. I’d never seen him so mad. He told me I’d never amount to anything, and that I’d be crawling back in less than a year. Eventually, I just ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could. Then, I found my little apartment where I started going from one job to another trying to survive.”
I pet Steve’s head, then patted the bed so he’d lie down.
Running From The Enemy
“I know, I know it’s not a big deal, but…. but I just…. Being here brings back all those memories. I just- “
“Leave?” Ivan suggested.
We looked at him a bit startled, then Beck added, “That sounds like a good idea.”
I was a bit shocked by their response. I assumed they’d just laugh at me for being a wimp, or tell me to suck it up, but they didn’t.
Taking a breath of relief, I nodded.
Quickly, we made our way out of the room, and started down the hall.
Seconds later, my dad’s voice boomed from behind, “And where do you think you’re going?”
Adrenaline surged through my body and my feet started moving uncontrollably. Before I knew what I was doing, I was flying over the marble floors, dodging artwork and columns, then jumping through railings. Even though I left a while ago, I still remembered every inch of this place.
Finally, I glanced back, and realized I was running alone. Steve hadn’t even followed me. I didn’t dare go back though for fear I might run into… Him.
My heart was pounding out of my chest and I could hardly breathe by the time I reached the foyer. Normally I would have run straight out the door. Realizing the others weren’t there though, stopped me. I couldn’t just abandon them.
So, I darted through the white pillars, and jumped into a hidden storage closet I had found when I was little.
I shimmied to the back of the cramped little room, and leaned against the wall to catch my breath. As I did though, the room started moving and I lost my balance. Causing me to fall right through a secret door where the wall was supposed to be.
The Enemy’s Office
I shook my head, then felt around the floor hoping I might find a clue as to what was going on. Thinking about it now, there must’ve been a sensor somewhere, because when I moved my hand forward, the small room ahead of me was lit up by walls covered in computer screens. Their desktop patterns glowed as I cautiously, I moved forward, and shifted the mouse by the chair.
Hundreds of files appeared lining each desktop with cryptic names like “Pharaoh”, “Anarchy”, and “Enemy”. What caught my eye though, was a file with my name. I clicked it, and every screen around me was filled with opening documents, data lines, and images from my childhood.
I thought it might be some sort of digital album or something, then the documents stopped popping up.
On the main screen, a single 3D rendering of me appeared. I read it’s title, and the details around it. Then my heart stopped.
I stumbled back and fell to the floor, tasting the cement. Pushing myself back to my feet, I bolted out of the room, only to find my father, and Beck with Ivan and Steve.
They stared at me as the sweat started forming over my trembling skin.
“Comet?” my dad called.
His voice sent chills down my spine and sent just enough adrenaline to my legs to send me soaring out the front door.
I ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could. Making my way through the gothic gate, past the woods, and to the ocean cliff side before I couldn’t move another step.
The Truth From The Enemy
As I crouched over, catching my breath, I tried to process what I had just seen. That screen, my life… everything had all been a lie.
“Comet,” my father began as he approached.
I looked up at him, still catching my breath.
“When were you going to tell me?” I questioned.
“What did I possibly need to tell you?” he threw back.
I stood straight up and shouted, “When were you going to tell me I’m your clone!”
My blood pulsed through my veins and my entire body burned at the sheer sight of my new enemy.
My father rolled his eyes and continued, “Ideally, never.”
I stepped back as my heart dropped. I thought maybe, just maybe that screen had nothing to do with me, but he didn’t even try to hide it. No excuses, no nothing.
He smiled and continued, “At least now you know why I was so upset you decided to leave. I mean honestly, my own creation was starting to rebel? How ridiculous.”
“So that’s why you kept telling me I’d never survive,” I finally added. “You were trying to trick me into coming back.”
“Oh, I didn’t stop there. I even tried to show you how big of a failure you are.”
My blood began running cold as I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that you can’t hold down a job? Do you really think rent just grew exorbitantly by accident? You really think you just happened to come across all of these enemies and obstacles? The dog wasn’t me, but the kidnapping, the gangs, the exploding boat and fumigated office building? You’ve falling for my traps every time and you had no clue who was really causing them!”
“But how?” Beck asked as he and Ivan came from the woods with Steve.
“I’m an important person,” my dad answered as he rolled his eyes. “You’ve been told of the families, right?”
The Chairman
“The families in every country trying to act like dictators?” Beck answered.
“Well, you could put it like that. I’m their chairman.”
Beck’s mouth dropped and even Ivan flinched at the sentence.
“You’re… you’re their chairman?” Beck stammered.
“Yes. You see, these people don’t exactly work well together, so when I came about as the 12th family head, they voted to make me their chairman,” he explained.
“I still don’t understand,” I interjected. “You always told me I’d be a failure if I didn’t follow in your footsteps. You told me I’d never amount to anything unless I became like you. Why? Why make a clone only to turn me into you?”
He gave me a grimacing smile and answered, “I realized the best way to keep my legacy alive, was if I simply never died. But, mortality being what it is, I decided cloning would be the easiest solution.”
He came inches from my face and added, “You see Comet, you are nothing without me. You can never be truly happy, unless you follow my example and give up on the pitiful idea that you could ever turn out different than what you see right in front of you.”
“Comet!” Beck called. “Don’t listen to him! You’re nothing like him!”
My father turned to Beck and threatened, “Beck Thorn? Aren’t you supposed to be dead? I suppose the family your brother is with would love to hear of your resurrection.”
Beck stepped back, and looked at me helplessly.
“You know what?” my father continued. “Being the loving father that I am, I’ll give you a choice, Comet. Come back with me, and follow your design, or go with them, and see just how much havoc I can wreak on your sorry excuse for a life.”
Steve began growling as my eyes darted between my options. I started moving back as my father got closer, then Beck came forward, and Steve with Ivan. I could feel my heel balance on the edge of the cliff, and I realized there was a third option. As the wind rustled through my hair, and my options moved in on me, I gave into gravity, and leaned off the cliff.
Thank You!
Thank you for reading this installment of The Adventures Of Comet And Steve! If you missed the last chapter in this adventure, you can find it here. I post every other Tuesday so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! I also publish lifestyle posts on my adventures through adulthood on this very blog. This is one of my favorite posts!
P.S. What was your favorite part of this post? Will Comet survive this new enemy? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think!