Chapter 5
Kaden came to as if he’d surfaced after a deep dive. He gasped, flailed, then frantically inhaled. It was almost ten in the morning. His head hurt for a moment, then it didn’t. He didn’t want to think about what had happened yesterday. Maybe it hadn’t happened. It had all—
Morning!
Just for a brief moment, very brief, too brief, Kaden had allowed himself to hope that the whole of yesterday had been a dream.
Particularly last night. That voice in his head told him it hadn’t been.
The state of his room told him the same.
His bruises might have gone but the mess left by his struggle with Harris hadn’t.
Why is your cock hard?
Kaden winced. “How do you know that word?”
I know it because you know it. Answer. Why is it hard?
“It just happens.”
And with Joe’s voice in his head, it didn’t take long to un-happen.
What did you do to make that stop?
“I’ll explain later.”
Kaden pushed gingerly to his feet and stretched.
Not an ache anywhere. He pulled on a dressing gown and made his way to the bathroom.
When he stood in front of the toilet, he gulped.
He wasn’t happy about peeing in front of Joe, but he was going to have to do more than that, so he’d just have to get used to it.
He washed his hands and face and when he looked in the mirror, for a split second, saw some vague shimmer in his eyes that made his pulse race as he became aware he wasn’t the only one using his vision.
You’re right. The world looks different now. Even better. I can see it like you do.
Joe’s enthusiasm was hard to cope with. Kaden had to stop thinking about Joe being inside him or he’d go insane. He took a box of Crunchy Nut Flakes from the cupboard, poured out a bowlful, added milk, then sat at his desk to eat.
Ooh, that’s good. Really good. Yum!
That sounded just like him. Kaden wasn’t going to be able to ignore Joe.
He might not have invited him in, but Kaden understood what it was like to feel lonely and desperate, and how that could lead you to do stuff you wouldn’t usually consider.
He’d written about it, seen it. Didn’t mean he was happy to be a victim of it, but he had to deal with what had happened or he’d go mad.
He let out a shaky breath. “It’s my favourite cereal.”
I love it! Do you need to go to work? Are you late? I didn’t know whether to wake you.
“I work from home most of the time.”
Explain what you do.
“I’m a freelance journalist. I write articles for newspapers and magazines.
I’m a ghostwriter as well, helping others write books and I’ve written three books of my own.
Plus, I perform stand-up comedy every few weeks, though that’s more of a hobby.
I’m not trying to make a living at it.” He wondered if he’d ever find anything funny again.
Do you have a family?
Kaden tensed. “Why do I suspect you already know everything about me?”
I want to be your friend. Friends talk about things like family. Please tell me about your family.
Maybe it was easier to pretend Joe didn’t know anything about him, to treat him as an invisible friend. Kaden had one as a child. His name had been Simon. When he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have done, he’d blamed Simon. Simon said I had to… The memory made him smile. Briefly.
“I have a dad who lives about forty miles from here. No brothers or sisters. My mum died when I was fifteen.” The pain in his heart was immediate. As was its disappearance.
You miss her.
“Every day.” Kaden hesitated. “She always said we’d go on a grand adventure together before I left home, but she died before we could. I’m close to my dad. He’s great. Do you have parents?”
Dead.
“I’m sorry. Brothers or sisters?”
Not exactly.
Kaden put his empty bowl and spoon in the sink. He drank a glass of water and put his glass in there as well. “Do you need anything to eat or drink? Are you getting what you need from what I consume?”
Yes.
“Do I need to eat more to sustain you?”
Maybe a little more.
Kaden felt that invisible hand stroking his back.
I know you don’t want me, but everything will be fine. I promise.
How was that possible? He had an alien inside him, one that he might never be able to get rid of. His heart raced, then slowed.
Don’t be mad with me. Think of this as a grand adventure. I’ll protect you. Always. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you from Harris.
Joe sounded upset and that worried Kaden. He wanted Joe to stay upbeat. If Joe got angry, what might he do?
I’m not going to hurt you. I keep telling you that.
Kaden noted the edge to Joe’s voice and backtracked. “Okay.”
As he began to put his bedsit back to rights, he realised that even if he’d reconsidered telling the police about Harris, it was no longer an option.
Kaden showed no signs of being attacked.
No bruises, no cuts. His stuff had been tossed around but nothing was broken.
Much as he’d suspected that he wouldn’t go to the police, it irked him now that he couldn’t.
He didn’t want Harris to get away with what he’d done.
Kaden found it impossible to keep his mind blank. Joe might not want to hurt him, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. He was still thinking about eggs, incubating eggs, babies eating him alive from the inside out, or maybe the outside… That movie with John Hurt where…
For fuck’s sake, I can’t lay eggs!
“You swore!”
Because you do. I can’t be much different to you until I leave you or until I meet other people.
Kaden took a deep breath. “This morning, I have to go to see a client I’m ghostwriting for.”
Okay.
Kaden’s head was spinning. Bad enough that Joe was hitchhiking inside him but him being able to listen in to every thought was somehow worse, even if he said he’d try not to. The only way Kaden was going to be able to cope was pretending he wasn’t there.
That resolve lasted until Kaden walked outside.
Oh. Ooh. Ooooh! So much colour. The sky… The buildings… The ground. So pretty.
“Not like this on your planet?”
Everything is white or black and a thousand shades in between. It’s stark and cold, not warm like this.
It was April, and not that warm. Maybe that wasn’t what Joe meant.
It wasn’t.
Kaden used the tunnel under the road to get to the Tube and saw three familiar guys coming towards him.
He’d had a run-in with them before. They’d taken his wallet a month ago, stripped it of thirty quid in cash and thrown it back at him.
He’d not gone to the police because he knew that wouldn’t have ended well for him.
His heart rate increased. He tightened his hold on the straps of his backpack that held his precious laptop and kept walking, deliberately not meeting the gaze of any of them.
When they passed and nothing happened, Kaden felt a surge of relief until the hard kick at the back of his knee sent him sprawling. He was shocked when he pushed straight back to his feet, amazed there was no pain. Joe?
He heard the three laughing and had no intention of turning round to face them, but he did.
Joe’s doing again? A moment later—less than a moment—too short a time for Kaden to have actually done anything, all three of them had bloody noses and Kaden’s hand hurt.
Then it didn’t hurt. Oh God. What did you do?
The three looked at him in shock, then bolted in the opposite direction.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Kaden said.
I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.
Kaden sighed. Now they were really going to hurt him.
No, they’re not.
Despite everything, inside Kaden, a little flicker of hope began to grow. Maybe this would be okay. It felt as though his shoulders were being massaged and the sensation was nice.
See! I can make you feel good.
By the time Kaden rang the bell at Alistair Bridger’s house, a smart Georgian terrace in Notting Hill, he felt exhausted.
Joe’s questions had been endless. Why? How?
When? Who? What? Kaden had tried to answer and mostly could.
Joe admired everything, wanted to see everything.
Kaden had thought they’d never get here.
The white-haired, sixty-three-year-old answered the door with a smile. “Good morning, Kaden.”
“Morning, Alistair.”
“Come on in. Coffee is brewing.”
Kaden followed him through to the kitchen where they worked.
The work on the book was almost done and Kaden was going to miss seeing Alistair who’d had a fascinating life.
In 1973, well before Kaden was born, Alistair had left his home and gone off to explore the world with two travel companions he’d found via an advertisement in the Times newspaper.
The three men travelled through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, various countries in the Far East, then Australia, Tasmania and finally, New Zealand.
His companions had stayed on in New Zealand and Alistair had come back to the UK.
Elsie, Alistair’s golden retriever didn’t come over to Kaden for a stroke as she usually did. She wagged her tail but stayed in her bed. Because she sensed Joe? Kaden was unsure whether to go over to her or not, but since she was wagging her tail, he bent down and gave her a tickle.
“Morning, Elsie.”
“She’s tired this morning,” Alistair said.
Kaden heard Joe huff in his head. What is this?
A dog. A pet. Don’t talk to me.
His fingers prickled as he stroked the dog. Is Joe stroking her too? Elsie made a contented sound and Joe echoed it. When Elsie rolled onto her back so she could have her tummy rubbed, Joe laughed. Kaden pushed to his feet and went to sit at the kitchen table.
Alistair put Kaden’s coffee next to a pile of paper. Kaden took out his laptop and set it next to Alistair’s.
“I’ve read through the final chapters,” Alistair said. “I made a few adjustments but it reads very well. Thank you, Kaden. You’ve done an excellent job, but then I shouldn’t have expected anything less. You’ve already made a name for yourself with Run With The Wind.”