Captain Stellar Read online

Cal trotted upstairs, still trying to process the news from his mom. He didn’t want to leave the only home he had ever known, but he had little choice. The thought of his mom being forever tied to Gary “Punk Rock” Jones through holy matrimony was more than he could handle right now. Covered in piercings and tattoos and dressed like a chill bassist, it surprised Cal that his mom was into someone like Gary. His dad, despite many flaws, had preppy good looks and a traditional career. Gary ran a small recording studio in Edgewater, giving indie artists discounts on recording time and club-hopping to scout bands with the latest sound. Which was pretty cool, but he never pictured that as his mom’s scene. Cal went into denial mode, busying himself with photo editing until dinnertime.

  Chapter 6

  Cal locked up the last of the gates at the construction site. It had been an easy shift to make up for his hangover yesterday, even though it meant working late on a sweltering August Saturday night. He thought of Miller again, wondering if he was in a coma or if he could speak. As much as he tried not to think of the accident, the squeak of Miller’s boots on the ladder rung stuck in his head like a catchy pop song. He wanted to tell his mom, or Jin or even Nessa, but he didn’t want to be fired or worse. Rick made it clear to keep his mouth shut and mind his own business.

  He had always avoided confrontation, even back in high school when a few players on his basketball team called him names after he was outed in Spanish class. Cal learned to keep to himself after that. Starting problems with his boss would not help anything. After his mom’s news, he couldn’t afford to lose this job.

  Cal glanced up at the black sky, trying to clear his head, and noticed the stars. He never appreciated them, even though they were always there. Whenever he was out at night with Jin, the city’s bright lights blocked them. But out here, in the small suburb he called home, the stars were brighter than any artificial light could dream to be.

  As he stood near the fence, his thoughts turned to Jin who could name the constellations with ease. They hadn’t spoken since their fight at the diner, and the silence ate away at Cal. He’d disappointed Jin, more than once, by being late or flippant with studying, careers, their relationship. Although Jin was usually quiet when Cal asked forgiveness, he wasn’t sure he listened. But it never hurt to apologize again.

  So he pulled out his phone, found a pile of pallets outside the desolate construction site, and called.

  “Hello?” Jin answered through a yawn.

  “Oh, good, you’re still up.”

  “Yep.”

  “Finished my shift.”

  “Great.”

  “I’m the last guy here, locking up. The stars are so bright tonight.”

  “Yeah?” Jin’s tone softened.

  “Made me think of you,” Cal paused. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too.” Jin was quiet for a moment. “Took my big exam yesterday.”

  “I’m sure you aced it. You-”

  “It’s been a long day, and…” Jin interrupted, his voice trailing off.

  “Oh.” Cal’s lower lip pouted. Somehow he could never pull off being romantic. A late night phone call to talk about the stars was not the way to Jin’s heart. Or maybe Jin had tired of his boyfriend’s crappy behavior. The thought gnawed at Cal. “Meet me for lunch tomorrow? Somewhere on the north side this time. No suburban diners with racist old homophobes, okay?”

  “Okay.” Jin swallowed a yawn. “Watch for meteors. You should be able to view them where you are. They’re expecting the Perseid showers tonight.”

  “You always know all this cool space stuff.” Cal looked up at the night sky. “But I don’t know if I’ll even recognize a meteor shower. I wish you were here, next to me.”

  “I wish we were together tonight, too,” Jin whispered.

  Cal relaxed his shoulders, relieved that Jin still wanted to spend time with him. “Did you really go to space camp when you were a kid?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. Cal knew Jin loved recounting his space camp days, and hoped maybe they could talk together a little longer.

  “Thought I’d be the first Korean-American in space.” Jin cleared his throat. “But I’m falling asleep in the kitchen. I have to get to bed.”

  “Oh.” Another strike. Not even space camp could keep Jin on the phone. Cal hoped Jin actually was tired. His shoulders tightened again, unsure of where he stood with Jin. “Good night.”

  “Night.”

  Cal ended the call, pleased with himself. Jin wanted to have lunch with him and had made no mention of moving in together. The offer became more attractive, however, given that Gary would soon steal his mom away with a ring and a new home.

  Although moving in with Jin would save him from living with his mom and Gary, he had his reservations. He wasn’t ready for the next step. His mom had married Dominick only for him to leave after 17 years of marriage and Cal knew the divorce burned Valerie. She tried to hide her pain from him, but he knew better. Yet, she trusted Gary with her stitched up heart all over again. She was happy, and she wasn’t letting fear or doubt stop her from saying yes to his proposal. She made it seem easy.

  A bright light streaked across the sky and his flow of thoughts halted. He sat up straight, the old wooden bench creaking under his movement, and craned his neck upward.

  “Is this the meteor shower?” he wondered aloud. Cal stood and took a few steps. Something rustled in a nearby shrub, maybe an opossum or another nocturnal creature, but he ignored it to watch the sky.

  More meteors. Like fire raining down from the heavens instead of water. The streaks of light were quick and dim, gone within seconds as they burned up in the atmosphere. A few of the bright ones were small fireballs with tails that sparkled and glittered as they hurtled toward the earth.

  Cal smiled, standing in the dark. He didn’t often feel important, but this meteor shower seemed to put on a display for his enjoyment alone. Such beautiful lights, precious gifts from a faraway constellation.

  Cal was in awe, his mouth agape, when he felt a sharp sting in the back of his neck. In an instant, everything went black.

  * * *

  Cal woke with a jolt. He opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar room. Cal gasped, trying to catch his breath as he took in the clean white walls reflecting the dim glow of fluorescent ceiling lights. He shifted on a firm futon on the floor, and reached out to tap the ivory tile, ice cold to the touch.

  Where the hell am I? Cal’s head pounded. As he became more alert, his neck seared with pain. He massaged his neck and found tiny bandages. He ripped them off his skin and his fingers slid over fresh, bumpy scabs along his shoulder blades.

  Cal scanned the small eight by eight room. His vision blurred as he searched for a door. He forced himself to a take a few deep breaths, feeling his chest tighten. As the room came into focus, he saw a small white desk and matching chair. He staggered to the desk, seeking any clues about his location. He opened the only drawer and brushed his fingers along the bottom, finding smooth, crisp sheets of paper with “Almighty Labs” and a street address printed at the bottom of the pages. He ripped the top page from its pad and stuffed it into his jeans pocket.

  He touched his right back pocket to check for his phone, but it was gone. Sweat beaded on his forehead, no way to call for help. Cal’s hands began to shake. His eyes darted around the room, no windows. What time was it? He tapped his wrist. His digital watch was still there at least. Four in the afternoon.

  He rubbed the blue tinted watch as he sucked in a few deep breaths. He had to find a way to calm down long enough to get out of this cell. He closed his eyes, picturing Jin’s calm face. The watch had been a gag gift from Jin two years ago to remind him to be on time for their dates. His boyfriend had even shown him how to set an alarm with it. When he asked why the watch was blue, Jin explained while averting his gaze that the color matched Cal’s eyes. It was the first time Cal had seen him blush. The photographer in him wanted to grab his camera and capture that softness in visual for
m forever, but there was no need. Cal had never forgotten how Jin had looked at him right then.

  Cal snapped open his eyes. Four in the afternoon. He had missed lunch with Jin, and now he had no way to call or text him.

  He turned around and found the door. He dashed to open it, but someone had locked it from the outside. Shaking the doorknob a few more times, he squeezed the metal knob in frustration. As his hand tightened, the knob dented. How the hell did I do that? Weak doorknob? Don’t know my own strength?

  Cal tugged where the collar of his shirt was clinging to his sweaty skin. He had to get out. The room felt smaller by the second, as if the walls could close in and crush him at any moment. He hated feeling so helpless. Focus. Think. Cal picked up the desk chair with ease and threw it at the white metal door. It didn’t budge. I’m so damn useless. How the hell do I get out of here?

  A shout of rage echoed as he bashed his arms against the door with all his might. Cal collapsed on the aluminum door. He had knocked it off its hinges with one angry push. One small victory. Not trapped in that cell anymore.

  Pushing himself up from the door, Cal shivered. Bruises bloomed along his muscled arms, but his bones were unharmed. Strong enough to crush a doorknob and knock down a door? There wasn’t time to analyze the day’s strangeness. He didn’t feel any stronger than he had yesterday, yet he was sitting on a door he had knocked over with one push.

  His mind raced with possibilities, keeping in time with the rapid beat of his heart. Was it the meteor shower from last night? It was the last thing he had seen before it all went black. But how did I get here? If someone brought him here, they’d be back to check on him soon. Cal gulped. Maybe they were on their way to me right now.

  He climbed off the door, bracing himself with the wall. There was a pounding in his ears, anger at whoever had locked him up building rapidly inside him. He stared down the dim narrow hallway, the lights flickering like fireflies. Cal’s stomach tied into knots as he picked up the pace. The last thing he wanted to do was bump into whoever had captured him.

  The hallway widened and led to an enormous empty warehouse. The ceilings were higher than a cathedral’s. His footsteps made small echoes with each thud of his shoe. There were rows of large unopened boxes stacked along the length of it. An ordinary warehouse. He had expected something more sinister than stacks of cardboard boxes.

  Cal scanned the walls of the warehouse. His face lit up when he spotted an open door at the opposite end of the large storage area. Maybe someone waited on the other side, maybe it was a trap, but Cal was ready to escape. He took in a deep breath and sprinted. As he ran, his feet lifted right off the ground. He jerked and stomped his work boots to land on the gray concrete.

  “What the hell?” Cal scratched his head. He ran again. Within seconds, Cal was in the air, flying toward the high ceiling of the warehouse.

  “How do I get down?” Cal panicked. Never a big fan of heights, he tried to picture a soft, easy landing in his mind. As he floated downward, he started to overthink how he would land. Will I land on my feet? Or will I just fall flat on my face? With all the questions rushing in his head, he lost his concentration, hitting the ground on his back.

  “Shit!” Cal rubbed his sore back. “Did I fly?” He wondered if this was a lucid dream. The pain in his back was real, but he pinched his arm anyway.

  The sound of shuffling from the nearby boxes broke the unsettling silence of the warehouse and he stood with a jolt. “Who’s there?” he called. The fear in his voice betrayed his brave stance.

  “Please don’t go. We need to talk to you,” a woman said. She was hiding behind a few tall boxes.

  “We?” Cal wondered aloud. Who else was hiding in the warehouse? Did they have something to do with his capture? “I’m not staying here in this crazy place!” Cal had no time to find out what the woman wanted, and he didn’t care. He had to go home, call Jin, and act like none of this had ever happened.

  Cal ran to the open door of the warehouse but couldn’t help glancing back. Was she in danger, too? Another captive who needed his help? He pushed those thoughts away to focus on whatever could await him outside, without distractions. Cal needed to get out of here. He couldn’t take any chances right now. His escape was only a few steps away.

  * * *

  “Let him go,” Fernando whispered.

  Margo had tears in her eyes. “But you saw what he can do. He broke out of that cell with nothing but his body. And he can fly.” Margo wiped away her tears. “He could have been the one to stop him. And you let him go.” She shoved her brother.

  “Don’t worry. He’ll return to us,” Fernando reassured her, disregarding her anger because he knew she was as afraid as that young man. He could understand why he was so desperate to escape. But Fernando had not expected to find someone as tall and strong, and with such bright blue eyes, as the new captive.

  After hearing the loud crash from one of the holding cells earlier, they had rushed into the warehouse. Fernando liked the vastness and privacy of the warehouse. It had become his hangout with Margo, a place to take a break after fulfilling their duties for the day. Finding a scared and handsome man flying - and falling - through it was not common, though.

  “How do you know?” she sniffled.

  “When he is not so scared he will want answers, just like we did. He will find us.” Fernando stared at the open warehouse door as if he could somehow summon the mysterious man with his gaze. He had his doubts, but he could never let Margo know that. They had to believe they could break free.

  Chapter 7

  After walking through desolate streets for hours upon escaping the warehouse, he found a cab which offered a long ride to Lincoln Park. Cal rang the doorbell at Jin’s apartment one last time after several attempts, but he wasn’t home. He checked his watch again and found it was well after five. Jin, patient but not foolish, would not be waiting at their favorite ramen place for lunch.

  Cal groaned, startling a few passersby. He glanced at his boots, not meaning to disturb anyone else’s day despite it becoming one of the worst of his life. It was ranking a close third after coming out to his dad and his parents’ announcement of their divorce. He unconsciously reached for his phone.

  He didn’t realize how much he could love or need an inanimate object until now when he didn’t have it. The phone had become an extension of his body and without it, he felt incomplete. A small piece of technology that appeared useless from an outside perspective but to Cal, it was like losing a personal assistant. He had grown so dependent on it, he was unsure how to contact someone to help him.

  But wishing for his phone to reappear would not make it so, and Cal needed to figure out how to find one of his friends now. As an occupational therapist, his mom’s schedule was unpredictable with home health patients on Sunday, so there was no way to pinpoint her location. Nessa was the only other person whose routine he knew well. He looked for another cab and headed south to the University of Chicago. Cal hoped she was studying at her favorite library on campus; any time he asked if she was free to meet up, she usually mentioned being there.

  She had always been the studious one in their friendship, dragging him to local bookshops and author events. She had aced every exam in high school and whenever they studied together, Cal’s scores had improved. He needed to find Nessa. She never let him down when he needed help.

  Cal paid and tipped the cab driver, despite his dwindling cash. It felt odd that whoever had stolen his phone had neglected to take his wallet. He re-opened the wallet to double check his ID was there and found extra bills inside. Who takes a phone but gives cash in return?

  He jumped as the cab burned rubber on the pavement, speeding away. Rubbing sweaty palms together, he tried to focus on finding a campus directory.

  After a helpful group of freshmen on an orientation visit pointed out the library using their new map, Cal made it. He entered the quiet building, shutting the heavy door carefully behind him and was greeted by computers and
stacks of books. Even though Cal was not an avid reader, the familiar smell of the library was like a warm hug. There was something about mildew and yellowed pages that reminded him of wisdom and safety. He scanned the patrons, looking for Nessa’s bright pink purse which had become her trademark. When he glimpsed the rose colored fabric, he put on a brave face and approached her.

  Nessa was hard at work, law books sprawled out in a chaotic pile on the table. She was taking notes on her laptop, pausing every so often to tab a page and highlight passages. He had always admired her ability to focus on whatever task was at hand. A parade of children could run past her, but she would pay it no mind.

  “Nessa?”

  “Cal? What are you doing here?” She stood, her arms open to offer a hug.

  He accepted her embrace, comforted during a day of mass confusion. “I, uh, wanted to see you.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Your skin’s so pale, and you kinda stink. What’s going on?”

  He knew that Nessa remembered his habit of skipped showers as a teen whenever he overslept, but he also knew he looked like a disaster. His work uniform was soaked in sweat, his hands shivered, his eyes were bloodshot, and his arms were bruised.

  “Can we talk somewhere else?” He eyed the other patrons, who had craned their necks to find the person causing a disruption.

  Nessa picked up her laptop and papers as she directed Cal to a private study room.

  “Ok, spill,” she said as she closed the door.

  “This morning, I woke up in a cell that led to this big warehouse on the south side. I found something that said it was a lab. I’ve never seen the place before,” Cal began, speaking quickly. “I was working late last night and after my shift I watched this meteor shower. And then something knocked me out, maybe a meteorite. But next thing I know, I’m awake in this room and it was cold and white and-”

  “Wait, back it up.”

  “They stole my phone. I have cash in my wallet that wasn’t there before, and I took this.” He handed her the Almighty Labs stationery. It wasn’t much evidence of his surreal situation, but he hoped it would be enough. He needed someone to believe him so he could stop feeling alone in this waking nightmare.