“Take a seat Benjamin,” Dad said.
The three of us sat in the living room. I was nervous and scared but I didn’t wanna show it. Mom held Dad’s hand, she seemed like she was going to cry.
“Benjamin. No matter what, you’ll always be our son and we will always love you,” Dad said. “There's something that we’ve waited to tell you. Before you were born, your mother and I tried for a long time to have a baby. We tried and tried with no luck. We almost gave up on having children. Then everything changed when you came into our lives. The thing is, you didn’t come to us by normal circumstances at all. It was almost like you were sent to us from God.” He paused and looked at Mom.
I could tell that he was choosing his words carefully.
“Mom and I are not your real parents. Your real mother was a Rasadian, who had been taken as a prisoner by the Top Secret Institute.”
His words echoed through my mind like shattered glass; that was the last thing I wanted to hear. I didn’t know what to say or how to react at that moment.
“We had been working for the T.S.I for some time doing genetic research, until one day we were promoted to ‘Secret Projects',” Dad continued. “We didn’t know exactly what that meant, all we were told was to wait until we were needed. One day we were called into work to assist in patient care. When we arrived at work, we were handed a file and were told to go into a room. Little did we know that our assignment would be to take care of an alien prisoner, who happened to be your mother. We were the doctors assigned to treat her and run medical tests on her. As unusual as this was, these were our orders from the boss. We didn’t find out that she was pregnant until after a few months of taking care of her. When the T.S.I found this out, their plan was to run strenuous tests on you once you were born. You were to be the first Rasadian child born on this planet.”
“So, what happened when I was born?”
“The two of us, along with another doctor, were present when you were born,” Mom said. “When the other doctor left the room, your mother begged us to take you and protect you. She was so afraid that they were going to hurt you, and we were the only ones that she felt she could really trust. We couldn’t refuse because we knew what they were planning to do to you. You were just so innocent and your dad and I couldn’t refuse. We promised your mother that we would take you in our care. She said a few words to you in your native language, and kissed you on the forehead. The last thing that she did before we took you, was name you Ben-ani. It was so hard for her to give you up.”
“We had to come up with a plan to get you out with no one noticing. Mom suggested that we inject your body with a solution that would slow down your heart rate and breathing so that it wouldn’t register on the monitors. So essentially, you would flatline and the monitors would show that you had died, but you really wouldn’t be dead. While we still had time because the doctor had not returned, we decided to quickly put our plan into action. By the time he had come back we reported to him that you had passed away. He insisted that we continue performing tests even though you were already dead. We convinced him that we’d take the tests and samples, record the data collected, and then dispose of your body. So when he left the room, we decided to get specimens from your mother to come up with the necessary data to give to the higher ups. We didn’t have much time because we didn’t know how long the medicine would last or how exactly it would affect you because you were not human and had only been born a few hours. So we worked quickly. Mom then wrapped you in a cover to keep you very warm and gave you oxygen. She placed you in a trash bag as if she intended to discard you in the medical waste bin. She instead placed you under a blanket in the trunk of the car and drove out of the facility.”
“When I left the facility with you in that bag,” Mom said. “I drove until I knew that it would be safe to pull over and get you out of the trunk. I placed you beside me on the passenger seat and carefully drove home. Thankfully there were not many cars on the road because it was the middle of the night. I took you home to Grandpa’s house where we were living at the time.”
“Is my mother still alive?”
“No, I’m so sorry Ben. She passed away shortly after for reasons we still don’t know ‘till this day. I believe she died because they ended up giving her the wrong treatments, and I tried to tell them that but…”
I could tell that Dad was getting angry as he spoke.
“It’s okay hunny,” Mom told him, rubbing his back.
Tears ran down my eyes. I barely had any words to say. I wanted to sob, yell, run. It was too painful thinking about everything.
“And my real father?” I said.
“Your mother told us that he is on your planet,” Dad said. “They were separated when your mother was taken prisoner.”
Mom then added, “There's also a device that was placed in the back of your neck allowing you to look like a human. It’s been there since you were five years old.”
“So the bone in my neck that keeps sticking out…”
“...is not a bone,” Dad said.
“Then what is it…, what about the back pain?”
“You’ve never had Degenerative Disk Disease… It’s all because your bones haven’t been able to develop properly. As you grow up while in this human form, your real form is being delayed. That’s why you are always in so much pain.”
“Is there a way I can get this thing out of my neck?”
“Yes. Dr. Clyde can do it. We can call him if you would like.”
With all of the information that had just been thrown at me, I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do. How would my life be after that? Would I be able to see my friends again? Could I be able to see Marley again? Would I ever be able to live a normal life?
~~~
I contemplated my options for a few days. I finally came to the conclusion that I wanted Dr. Clyde to remove the device from my neck. I didn’t know what to expect when he arrived. I heard the doorbell ring, and immediately, I felt a knot in my stomach. The first thing that I noticed when he walked in the house was that he was carrying a small suitcase with him. Dad led him to the kitchen and Mom and I followed behind.
I sat at the kitchen table. Mom and Dad closed all of the windows of the house and double checked all of the doors to make sure they were locked. I was having second thoughts about wanting the device out of my neck at that moment.
“I now see why you couldn’t remember the bone you had replaced in my neck that one time I had asked….” I said.
Dr. Clyde nodded. “You were my first patient and Rasadian I had ever met. I had never seen a child Rasadian before and when we met you, I was so amazed.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How many other Rasadians did you give these devices to?”
“Well, just you and one other.”
“Was her name Kayla?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“It’s a long story.”
He nodded and took out the tweezers from his medical bag along with a surgical knife. He explained that he would have to make a small cut in the back of my neck and then he would gently pull out the device.
“When your parents came to me for help, I knew I couldn’t say no. I was aware of how they had struggled for a long time to conceive a child and even though you weren’t a human, they would do anything to protect you,” he explained.
“Your mother and I knew Dr. Clyde was the only person that we could trust to create this device for you,” Dad said. “I had worked with him on a few projects like these at work, and I knew that he could get it done. It took Clyde four years to perfect the device.”
“How did you create the shapeshifting device?” I asked.
“It was made with a blue jewel placed in the middle of a small circular disk. This blue gem could be programmed and implanted at the base of the neck near the brainstem. Once I was able to surgically implant the device in your neck, I was then able to change your DNA to that of a human temporarily. I programmed it for you to look like your parents. Unfortunately, as you grew taller, the device moved and that is what has been causing your pain over the years. Another side effect has been that your Rasadian bones and body have not been able to develop properly due to you staying in this human form for so long. So in essence, over the years your DNA has been trying to return to its original form. It's as if your DNA and the DNA that I programmed inside of the jewel is fighting against each other and keeping it captive. Your actual DNA has always been inside of you, fighting to come out.”
“That sounds very complicated. So what you are saying is I am half Rasadian and half human now?” I said.
“In a sense. As soon as I remove the device, your DNA will completely return to Rasadian.”
“What about the speech classes I had to take with Mrs. Clyde?”
“Well, you needed help with your speech. Lisps are common in Rasadians who try to learn English.”
“So when you take this thing out, other than my DNA returning to Rasadian, what will happen?”
“You won’t look human any longer. It will be as if nothing ever happened.”
Shortly after Dr. Clyde explained everything, he began the procedure to remove the device, and just like that, it was done. The whole thing took about 30 minutes. He put in seven stitches to close my wound.
As he was putting the device in a small bag, I looked at it. I had only been looking at it for about 10 seconds before my head and whole body started hurting.
As I tried to stand up from the chair, I became dizzy. Every single part of my body felt as if it was being stabbed with one hundred knives all at once.
“AHHHH!” I yelled and grabbed my head falling to the floor. My head felt like it was about to explode! I couldn’t see anything! My eyes felt like they were poking out of my skull! My ears began ringing and my tongue turned numb!
“Are you okay Benjamin?!” I heard Mom say.
“Benjamin!” Dad said.
Their voices began to fade out further and further away. Then it was complete darkness.
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