Half Breed.
The mist swirled thick and grey, bare centimetres from the ground. It was a night to be spent indoors, behind locked doors and closed curtains. Who knew what might be abroad on such a night.
The man was running blindly, his heart felt as though it were about to explode out of his chest. He stumbled as he glanced back over his shoulder, they were still gaining on him. He was running as fast as he could but they were still gaining on him.
Frightened eyes didn't see the rotten tree-trunk that lay across his path and he stumbled over it, knocking the breath from his lungs as his body impacted with the bone-dry ground.
He groaned, struggling to rise but it was no good. There were faces surrounding him now, faces that pulsated strangely. Hands were reaching down towards him and in his terror he screamed out the name of the only person he had ever really loved.
"Hannah!"
He was awake. His body was dripping wet with sweat and in the half-light inside the caravan he saw that his fingernails were encrusted with dirt.
"Hey man, you okay?" Cade Foster, alien-hunter and so-called twice blessed man shrank back in fear but there was only one face and it was a friendly one.
Eddie, the man who had supported him and believed in him even when nobody else did, the man who had enabled him to tell his story via his internet newspaper - The Paranoid Times.
"I'm fine." But his husky voice shook, betraying him and Eddie shook his head.
"You're drenched. That must have been some nightmare you were having." He handed Cade a blanket which the man wrapped around his shoulders with a grateful smile.
"Thanks."
"Was it the same one?"
It was always the same dream Cade reflected bitterly before nodding a reply to Eddie's question. "They're inside my head," he muttered quietly, "that's what they did when they killed Hannah, they got inside my head."
"You can't let fear stop you." Eddie urged gently. "That's what they want, it to stop you and they won't have to lift a finger."
"I know you're right." Cade ran trembling hands through his hair, "but it's not easy."
"Nothing worthwhile was ever easy. Jesus Cade," Eddie dropped down onto the edge of the bed, "it wasn't exactly easy convincing me but you did it in the end."
"You're just one man."
"And if you can convince one you can convince another and another and pretty soon the whole damn world will believe you."
Cade tried to smile. "I appreciate your optimism."
"One of us has to look on the bright side," Eddie retorted, "otherwise we'd just give up."
"I'm not giving up," a crusader's light blazed in Cade's eyes, "not while I'm still alive."
Eddie smiled, rose and twitched a curtain back. "It's almost dawn."
"I couldn't get back to sleep anyway. So what's for breakfast?"
"Not much," Eddie made a pretence of searching for food. "Sorry."
"It doesn't matter, I'm not hungry."
"Since we're getting up," Eddie remarked slyly as he flicked his computer on. "I'd better fire up the old life-line."
Cade stood up and started searching for a pair of jeans while Eddie's precious computer whirred into life. A sense of foreboding was hanging over him but it was just the nightmare's legacy and a life spent running from both humans and aliens.
"Cade," Eddie sounded strangely excited and the man abandoned the hunt for a shirt to hurry to his friend's side.
"Have a read of that." Eddie folded his arms and stepped back so that Cade could see the monitor. Quick eyes scanned the message and then he turned his startled gaze to meet that of the man beside him.
The email message was virtually identical to Cade's own experiences. The words used were tentative as though Maggie, that was the only name she gave, was unsure that she was doing the right thing. She said that aliens had killed her husband in some sort of experiment in which she herself had been involved and that now she was terrified they were going to come for her son.
"Eddie do you know what this means?" Cade swung round and started to pace the floor of the trailer. "She believes Eddie. She could be an ally and we need one."
"She's in West Virgina, that's like the next state," his face was dark with uncertainty.
"Then that's where I'm going." Cade was relieved that he finally seemed to be getting somewhere. "Eddie, Maggie might be the key, she could help us convince everyone."
"Calm down Cade, this might not be quite what it seems." Eddie cautioned. "Take it slowly okay?"
"Eddie," Cade's eyes were shining. "Stop worrying."
"Hey I'm paranoid, remember? I just think there's something wrong here."
"What?" Cade exclaimed. "Surely we ought to believe what she's saying."
"Fine. You go out and see her. Just promise me you'll keep your wits about you Foster."
"When have you ever known me not to and Eddie.."
"The quatrains right. I'm way ahead of you man."
Cade was smiling broadly now, his nightmare all but forgotten. Finally he was going to meet someone who would believe every word of the truth.
Belmont, West Virgina was practically a ghost town. The wind whipped down the long thin streets as though begging Cade for a race. The man merely stuck his hands into the pockets of his jacket and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Not an easy task considering he was the only living thing around.
A fine rain blew into his face and Cade sneezed. The cell phone in his pocket was playing up and so it was with a sense of relief that he saw the payphone on the other side of the road.
His hands were cold and it was with difficulty that he dialled the number. "Have you found anything yet?"
"No." Eddie's reply was to the point if nothing else.
"Keep looking. Nostradamus must have foreseen this."
"I'll do my best Cade. Good luck."
"Thanks man."
So that was that. The man replaced the handset and continued on his walk. Turning left down a side-street he came across a row of identical bungalows. Now which one was Maggie's?
Would she be home? He could get in if she wasn't, have a look around but he didn't think she would appreciate it and it was vital that she trust him.
At the front door of number twenty-six he composed himself. He had to stay calm, though it wasn't easy, this woman's story, her experiences, even her fears about her son could lend credence to his own story but he mustn't scare her.
A young boy, around ten-years-old Cade guessed, opened the door and squinted up at him.
"Who are you?" He demanded suspiciously.
"My name's Cade Wilson," he hunkered down so he could look the little boy in the face and handed him one of Eddie's business cards. "I'm from the Paranoid Times. Is your mom in?"
"Mom." The boy hollered over his shoulder and then he turned back to Cade. "I like you," he decided, "my name's Rory."
"Cade." Solemn handshakes were exchanged and an air of trust established.
"What is it Rory?" Cade stood up and met the gentle grey eyes of a woman only a few years older than himself.
"You must be Maggie." Cade held out his hand. "My name's Cade Wilson, I'm from the Paranoid Times."
"You got my email?" She looked relieved. "You believe me?"
Cade nodded, noting the worry lines on her brow and the anxious way in which her eyes flitted from side to side.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course," she flicked her blonde hair away from her face, the same blonde hair sported by Rory, and ushered him inside.
"You came so soon," she marvelled, her hands twisting in the fabric of her dress. "Would you like a drink Mr Wilson?"
"It's Cade and a glass of water would be great."
With the door shut behind him Cade started to relax and he glanced around him as he followed Rory into the lounge. It was a simple house, the house of people who were comfortably off, uncluttered, just being here was calming.
"Your husband was a very lucky man."
"Yes he was." Maggie pressed the tumbler into Cade's hands and attempted a smile. "Would you like to see a picture?"
"Please." Cade stepped up to the mantelpiece on which were displayed a range of family portraits and after glancing at Maggie for permission he picked one up to examine it more closely. It showed a man in his early forties with brilliant blue eyes and a grin that threatened to split his face in two. The boy perched high on his shoulders was Rory.
"I miss him." A plaintive voice said and Maggie put her arms around her son.
"I'd like to hear your story."
The woman suddenly seemed nervous and she bent down to whisper to Rory, " why don't you go upstairs and play." "Will Cade play with me?"
"Not right now honey. Mommy and Mr Wilson have some business to discuss. Now upstairs." Rory sighed heavily but he did as he was told.
Cade smiled, "nice kid." "He's all I have now. Please sit down Mr Wilson."
"Cade," the man insisted huskily. "Are you sure you're ready to talk about what happened to your husband?"
"I've never been more ready." Maggie's sad eyes fell as she dropped gracefully into an arm-chair. Cade seated himself opposite and waited for her to begin.
"Where would you like me to start?" Maggie glanced up anxiously as the brooding stranger opposite took a sip from his glass.
"Tell me about when you first realised what was going on." Cade removed a small rectangular object from his jacket and placed it on the coffee table between them. "Do you mind if I record this?"
Maggie's body quivered as though she were struggling to stay awake and Cade found himself wondering what the aliens had done to her. "Of course not," she finally answered, "I want my story to be told."
There was an elongated pause and Cade could hear the faint hum of a lawn mower outside.
"It was the tests that first roused my suspicions."
"Tests?"
"Almost every week I found myself having to take Rory to a doctor for tests. I was told they were routine. It was a difficult birth and," her voice faltered, "Rory almost died. They were afraid he would be brain damaged but he's the smartest boy in his class, everybody says so. He's an extraordinary athlete as well." Her eyes were bright with pride. "I told the doctor all this but they insisted on running the tests anyway. Eventually I told Geoff, my husband, that I wasn't going to take Rory to any more sessions. He agreed with me."
"Then what happened?" Cade prompted gently.
"Geoff went to see the doctor to tell him our decision but he said he had a court order and that if we didn't continue with the programme he'd see that Rory was taken away from us."
"The doctor was an alien?"
"I didn't think that at the time and so I tried to tell him that there was nothing wrong with Rory."
"How did he take it?"
"He said I couldn't possibly know what was normal and what was abnormal and I should trust his judgement."
"And did you?"
"No. Then men started coming to the house. Geoff said they were friends of his from work but there was something strange about them. They'd all sit in the den, talking until well after midnight every night but Geoff would never tell me what they discussed."
Cade shifted uneasily in his seat. This woman was so obviously concerned for the safety of her son but she hadn't left this house. Was it possible, he asked himself, that the aliens were watching it? If they were then they would know he was here and it wouldn't take them too much longer to work out who exactly he was. Cade could hear Eddie's voice telling him to leave but despite the risks he was taking he couldn't leave. What this woman knew was too valuable for him to walk away from.
"Something else happened though didn't it?" Her fingers were creasing the pale blue material of her dress and there were frown lines on her face but Cade didn't let her obvious distress derail him from his purpose.
"Then I got sick. Geoff took me to a hospital out of town. I'm sorry but I don't remember the name. I woke up four days later. Geoff told me that I'd been pregnant but that the fertilised egg had embedded itself into one of my fallopian tubes. He told me," she almost broke down, "he told me that the doctor had had no choice but to remove my uterus and that they'd put me on a programme of hormone replacement therapy."
"You believed him?"
"He was my husband." Maggie sounded angry. "Of course I believed him."
"I'm sorry," Cade was quick to apologise, "I didn't mean to suggest.."
"No I'm sorry," she looked him square in the eyes. "You've come all this way to hear my story. I didn't mean to snap."
Maggie fell into silence and Cade waited patiently for her to continue with her story.
"I started to get sick. The doctor told me it was nothing to worry about."
"But you were worried?"
"After about three weeks I told Geoff I was going shopping and went to see my old obgyn. He ran every test imaginable and told me that he had absolutely no idea what I was taking but that I should stop immediately."
Cade nodded, he was sure now that the aliens were behind Maggie's story. If only he could track down the so-called doctor who had prescribed Maggie her course of treatment. "What happened then," he asked, "you say the aliens killed your husband."
"I had no idea they were aliens at first," Maggie hastened to explain herself. "It wasn't until I came across your webpage on Rory's computer that I put two and two together."
Cade frowned, this wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear but he had to let her finish her story.
"I told Geoff what the doctor had said. He told me to go upstairs and pack, just enough for a couple of days. The next moment there was a man at the door. He and Geoff were shouting at each other, I could hear the raised voices but I didn't understand the words. There was a gunshot and then," here her voice broke and she had to stop to choke back the tears, "I went downstairs but the man was gone and there was no sign of Geoff either. I guess the other man must have taken the body away."
"You're sure your husband was killed?"
"That's what the Police said. But I saw Geoff, I saw the hole in his shirt, the blood."
"I'm sorry. Can you remember what the man who came to see your husband looked like?"
"He was tall," Maggie struggled to remember details, "broad, dark skin."
Cade felt his stomach turn to ice, that sounded like Joshua, one of the aliens' elite acolytes who carried out their assassinations.
"Would you like to stay for lunch?" The woman asked suddenly. "I'm sure Rory would like you too."
"That would be great." Cade pulled his cell phone from his pocket but it was still malfunctioning. "May I borrow your phone?"
"Of course," Maggie handed him her cordless. "I'd better go and check on the food," she excused herself.
"Eddie," Cade queried in a husky whisper, "is this line secure?"
He could hear Eddie's fingers flying over his computer keyboard and then the man's voice sounded clear in his ear. "All clear man."
"Did you get anywhere with the quatrains Eddie. I've got my doubts about this." The man started climbing the stairs, he wanted to check on Rory.
"You may not like it Cade." His friend warned him. "I've been through the files five times."
"Did you find anything?" Cade tried not to let the desperation in his voice seem too obvious.
"Okay man ready? In the west where the sun never sets, a boy of mixed race runs, his legacy is hope, his greatest enemy fear. I'm sorry man, it's the best I've got."
"It might just be enough." Cade muttered as he pushed open the door of Rory's bedroom. "I'll be in touch." Cade turned but his eyes weren't on the boy sitting cross-legged on the carpet but on the west wall of the room on which a huge painted sun was rising over hills and fields.
"Geoff painted that for Rory," Maggie spoke quietly into Cade's ear and the man jumped. "When he was younger he used to get so worried when the sun disappeared that Geoff painted the mural. He told Rory that the sun would never set on him again." Her words seemed to catch in her throat and Cade shivered, Eddie had got it right, now all he had to do was to work out what the rest of the quatrain meant.
"Lunch is ready." Maggie smiled as the boy leapt up and raced to the door but her eyes betrayed her fear.
Cade ran nervous fingers through his hair and then followed the mother and son downstairs. What did the quatrain mean? Cade couldn't forget the mural on the boy's bedroom wall.
The stew was delicious but there was something missing, something Cade couldn't quite put his finger on until Maggie passed him the salt cellar.
"I never use it in cooking," she explained with an apologetic smile. "Geoff was under strict medical orders never to eat it and Rory," she smiled affectionately at her son, "doesn't like the taste."
Cade nodded and turned his attention back to his food. Rory ate slowly, his eyes never leaving the man's face and Cade smiled at him, wondering about him. Somehow this boy was important but he couldn't figure out why or why the aliens were so interested in, as far as he could see, a normal American family. There had to be more to this but somehow he was missing it.
After lunch Cade tried to get some more answers from Maggie, he wanted to track both the doctor who and treated her and her obgyn.
"They both have quite large practices," she told him, "I'll give you their addresses."
Cade nodded his appreciation. "That would be great."
"Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?"
"I booked a room in the motel on the edge of town."
"Could you look after Rory for the night?"
"Why?"
"I'd just feel so much safer knowing he's with you. Please?"
Cade mumbled his assent. Somehow this made Maggie's story sound all the more credible. If she was willing to give her son over to the care of a stranger she must be really desperate.
"Rory," Maggie called to her son who was kicking a football around in the back yard. "Run upstairs and pack a change of clothes. You're going to be spending the night with Mr Wilson."
The boy looked troubled by this but he obediently did as his mother had asked, somehow this bothered Cade, Rory didn't behave like any normal ten-year-old boy would.
"I'd be grateful if you took him now. I need time alone to think. Take the car."
Cade nodded but his eyes were darkly brooding. "No problem."
He took Rory to buy food for the evening ahead and did his best to make it appear that he was the boy's father or uncle. Cade didn't like the way the store owner looked at him but he brazened it out, figuring that if he turned and left he would attract even more suspicion.
His motel room thankfully had a television set and Cade sat Rory down in front of some cartoons while he went out to use the telephone.
"Eddie you were right about the quatrain."
"Great." The man sounded relieved but Cade could feel the disapproval coming down the phone when he told Eddie about Rory.
"Are you mad dude? If the aliens are after Rory they'll take you out as well. You've just made it about a hundred times easier for them."
"He's safer here than at Maggie's," Cade argued stubbornly. "I know what to look out for."
"Be careful okay. Don't put protecting this boy over protecting yourself. If the aliens get hold of you we're all toast man."
"I know Eddie."
"Take care Cade."
In his trailer Eddie sat back, hands behind head. He wasn't happy about what Cade had just told him but there was precious little he could do about it anyway. Cade was impulsive but he was a survivor, had proved it over and over again. Worrying about him was therefore pointless but Eddie worried anyway.
Cade took Rory to the park and tried to forget his worries as he played football with a group of the boy's friends. Thankfully no cautious parent had accompanied the boys to the park and so he didn't have to explain himself but Cade failed to notice Belmont's sheriff watching him as he chased Rory across the grass.
Cade Foster, alien-hunter and now baby-sitter, treated Rory to a hamburger and fries at the town's only diner. The other occupants, three middle-aged men, had fallen silent when he entered but had quickly returned to their cups of coffee and earnest discussion when they saw Rory with him.
Cade ordered the food. He wasn't hungry but he knew he should eat. Rory chattered non-stop and Cade was frankly surprised that the boy felt so at ease with him. But when he mentioned the boy's father Rory fell silent and refused to say any more.
"You must be exhausted." Cade muttered. "Best get you to bed."
The child hadn't complained and had curled up in the double bed and fallen asleep the next instant. Cade sleapt in the armchair, thankfully not deeply enough to dream.
On the other side of the town Maggie was busy washing the dishes when she heard a strange thump in the hall. Drying her hands on a tea-towel she left the kitchen and gasped in horror when she saw the same man who had killed her husband.
"Where is he? Where's the boy?"
"Not here," Maggie replied bravely.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
Maggie was shaking with nerves. "I'm not, I swear."
Joshua snorted in derision, levelled his gun at the woman and pulled the trigger.
"Can I go home now?" It was the first thing Rory said when he woke up, eyes full of sleep.
"Don't you want some breakfast first?" Cade asked, arching his back as he stood up.
"No. I want to go home now." That was more like a ten-year-old and Cade smiled.
"All right." Rory dressed in record time and Cade strapped the boy into Maggie's car and took him home.
As he drew near the house he knew that something was wrong. there were people clustered around the door of maggie's house, he was sure he saw Joshua, but of Maggie herself there was no sign.
Cade kept on driving.
"Hey I want to go home." Rory protested.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Cade said, "did you see the people outside your house?"
Rory had gone white. "Are they the people Mom warned me about?"
Cade glanced quickly at the boy. "What do you mean?"
"Mom told me that there were people who wanted to take me away just like they did Dad." A tear crept down Rory's face but it brushed it away with a savage gesture.
"Rory," Cade spoke quietly as he turned the car onto the road that led out of town. "I know your mom believed you'd be safe with me."
"I do too." Rory smiled. "I just would have liked to have said goodbye to Mom first."
"I know," Cade was sympathetic. "But I'm gonna keep you safe." Then he turned his attention back to the road and put his foot on the gas pedal as they left the town behind them.
The man and boy had been driving for just over an hour in complete silence when Cade's cell phone sprang to life. He pulled up behind a screen of trees before answering it.
"Eddie?"
"Hey man. Just checking in on you. Where are you?"
"Out of town with Rory."
"I've got bad news. Maggie's dead. They've already framed you for her murder Cade."
"Christ!"
"They're saying you've kidnapped Rory as well."
"I can get away Eddie, I've got a car."
"Maggie's car? Dude you've got to dump it as soon as possible. Where are you?"
"An hour east of Belmont." Cade's voice shook.
"Okay," Eddie sounded surprisingly calm. "Drive south for another ten miles. Stop, get out and call me."
"I don't want to involve you in this."
"I'm already involved man. I'm going to get you another car."
"How?"
"You leave that to me." Eddie sounded smug. "Be careful okay."
"You bet."
"I love you man."
"I love you too Eddie."
"Another ten miles Cade," Eddie reminded him, "and then dump the car."
"Sure."
"Where are we going?" Rory asked nervously.
"Somewhere safe." Cade told him with a confidence he was far from feeling, driving on.
The boy complained when Cade stopped the car and made him get out.
"What's wrong with this car?" He complained loudly and Cade glanced at him, the last thing he needed was for Rory to start throwing a temper tantrum.
"It's too easy to trace," Cade told him, kneeling down in the dirt so he was looking Rory in the face. "Those men your mom warned you about will be looking for this car. We have to get rid of it." Cade stood and moved forward a little way into the trees. There was a ravine not far from the road. "If I could push the car down there... Rory!" He called out to the boy. "Help me with the car." Together the pair pushed the vehicle into the ravine and watched until it was lying crushed and mangled below them.
Cade realised that he just destroyed his only means of escape but no, he had to trust Eddie.
"If they come looking for us now," he told the boy, "they'll think we're dead and stop looking." But he spoke with far more confidence than he actually felt, at least his cell phone was still working.
"Eddie have you found me a car?"
"Any signs of pursuit?" His friend wanted to know.
"Not yet but it shouldn't be too long now. I've never known the aliens to pass up a chance to find me."
"That twice-blessed man thing, right."
"Eddie don't you start with me. I'm not in the mood."
"Hey relax man. I'm just trying to help."
"I know you are Eddie. I'm sorry."
"They'll be a car with you any minute now. I've got Simon to bring it to you."
"Thanks." Cade was relieved. Simon was one of the avid readers and believers of the Paranoid Times. Eddie said he'd trust him with his life and so Cade did too.
It wasn't too long before the youngster was drawing up alongside him.
"Cade," Simon leapt from the car, a grin plastered across his face. "Your chariot awaits."
"Wonderful."
"It's a hire car. All the papers are in the trunk. I'll report it stolen in a couple of days."
"That's great Simon, I owe you one."
"No, you don't. I owe you one. You opened my eyes Foster." Simon handed the keys to Cade. "Hey cute kid."
"His name's Rory." Cade glanced over at the boy who was sitting slumped against a tree. "He's important somehow."
Simon shrugged and looked at his watch. "You'd better be going Foster."
"Thanks again for the car."
"Don't mention it. See you later alien-hunter."
Simon raised a hand in salute as Cade drove away. The young man had a long walk ahead of him and Cade found himself marvelling at just how quickly Eddie had managed to find him another car. To most people the man came across as being more than a little spaced-out and paranoid but Eddie Nambulous was in fact one of the most on the ball people that Cade knew.
"That man called you alien-hunter." Rory seemed to have woken up and his eyes were fixed speculatively on Cade. "Are you the alien-hunter?"
Cade nodded. "Yes that's me."
"Wow!" The boy's face was alive with excitement.
Cade smiled but he didn't share the boy's enthusiasm. Since discovering the alien presence on earth Cade had been fighting to expose them, all the time on the road, struggling to stay one step ahead of everyone. It was a hard life but one that he had had little choice but to accept.
"So have you really done all that stuff on the website?"
"Yes, I track the aliens and disrupt their plans. I will stop them."
Rory was grinning but then he yawned and Cade glanced over at him. "Get some sleep kid."
The boy closed his eyes and snuggled down on the back seat. He was soon asleep and Cade was frankly surprised. He himself was far too stressed to sleep and so he kept on driving.
What time was it? He'd have to stop soon for food and coffee if nothing else. Was he going to pull over or keep driving all night? Cade shrugged, was that a gas station up ahead?
The tank was full so the man made his way into the small booth-like store. As he gathered his supplies he kept a careful eye on the attendant but the old man seemed barely conscious.
Cade was just about to go to the counter and pay when the bell jangled and Rory pushed his way into the store.
"Cade where'd you go?" That was all that was needed. The attendant's eyes snapped open and Cade slapped a ten dollar bill on the counter and then hustled Rory outside.
"Yeah it was him." The attendant's voice was slow and slurred. "He had the kid with him. Don't worry, he's not going to get very far."
In fact Cade and Rory were barely more than half a mile down the road when the hire car ground to a halt.
"Dammit!" Cade swore and hit the steering wheel in a sudden outburst of temper. Now he and Rory would have to travel on foot. They had been driving for miles and it would soon be dark although with any luck they were close to the state border and a reasonable amount of safety.
Was it possible that someone had tampered with the car while he was busy elsewhere? It was, he realised with a sinking heart, entirely possible and then he remembered how the store attendant had come alert at the sight of Rory and his heart sank even further. Somehow they'd known which way he would go. But who was on his trail? Was it just the Police or aliens or possibly both?
"Rory," Cade shook the boy awake, "we've got to go."
"We are going."
"The car won't start. We've got to get under some cover." The woods were just under a mile away now, they would have to spend the night in them and continue on in the morning. There was no way a ten-year-old boy could walk all night.
Cade flipped open his cell phone, it was still working thank God.
"Eddie, I'm in big trouble."
The editor of the Paranoid Times sat and listened while Cade told him everything that had happened.
"You've got to get to me as soon as possible," he told Cade urgently, "there's no other way."
"No. I'd lead the aliens right to you. It's too dangerous."
"Not if you're quick man, we could be miles away by morning."
"I can't take Rory trekking through the woods in the dark."
"So what are you going to do? They've closed all the roads, there are cops all over the state looking for you."
"I'll be okay, I'll.."
He'd been cut off. "Oh man!" Eddie tore his headset off and threw it across the trailer. Cade was always doing this to him and it was really starting to piss him off.
"Eddie? Eddie?" Cade pushed the phone back into his pocket with a snarl of disgust. "Looks like I'm on my own after all. Rory," he called to the boy who was standing in the road, "come on we've got to get to the woods."
He held out a hand but before Rory had had time to react a patrol car appeared and four cops tumbled out.
"Rory," it was Belmont's sheriff, "get in the car."
Feeling dazed Cade watched as the boy did as he was told and then his attention returned to the cops who were swaggering ominously towards him.
"So," the sheriff and his men grouped themselves around Cade, "we've finally caught you. Not only," the voice was beginning to rise and Cade glanced around desperately, "do you murder an innocent woman but then you kidnap her boy as well."
"I didn't do it," his voice husky with fear, "I swear to you I was trying to help Maggie."
"Yeah you helped her all right," the youngest cop took a menacing step forward, "you helped her into an early grave. Did you kill her husband as well?"
"No!"
"I reckon he did," one of the other cops made a move. "I reckon he killed them both."
Cade looked at the angry faces that surrounded him, they were never going to believe him. He considered making a run for it but it was already too late.
The first punch knocked him down and as a well placed kick brought a groan from Cade's lips he did his best to protect himself. But the rain of blows didn't stop and eventually, mercifully Cade Foster lost consciousness.
It hurt to breathe, that was his first thought but others soon followed. What time was it? How long had he been in this cell? Where was Rory?
That thought gave Cade enough incentive to clamber stiffly to his feet and stagger over to the door.
"Hey! Hey is anybody out there?" He banged on the bars as hard as his bruised arms could bear. "I want to talk to somebody."
A deputy appeared at the door. "What do you want?"
"I want to know where the boy is. Where's Rory?"
"He's at the hospital." There was a pause. "They're checking him over, making sure you didn't do anything to him you sick son of a bitch."
"Have you got a guard on him?"
"What're you talking about? 'Course there's no guard, we got him away from you. 'Ain't nobody else gonna hurt him."
"You're wrong." Cade leant his bruised and swollen face against the bars of the tiny cell. "There are men looking for him, men who will kill him when they find him."
"Are you mad or just stupid?" The deputy raised his voice. "Rory's not in danger, least not anymore. His uncle's coming to pick him up."
Uncle? Maggie hadn't mentioned an uncle and suddenly Cade was very afraid.
"Please you have to let me out of here. I'm the only one who can protect him."
"You'd better shut up or you'll be the one who needs protecting." The deputy turned and left and Cade howled in frustration.
The aliens would pick the boy up and then come for him. He had to do something. That lock looked pretty simple and if there was only one deputy out in the office he would soon be on his way. Cade groped in his pockets for a piece of wire. he was lucky that the cops had slung him into the cell without feeling the need to search him first.
It seemed to take an urge to trip the lock but eventually it clicked open and Cade pushed the door wide. He was going to have to attack the cop but considering the way he and his friends had laid into him he wasn't going to lose too much sleep over it.
He eased himself through a gap in the door, the cop's gun was lying on a table close by and Cade's hand closed around it. Silently he crept up behind the deputy and as he turned to look up into Cade's eyes Cade brought the butt of the pistol down as hard as he could on the deputy's skull.
He dropped the gun and dived for the door, he didn't know how long he'd have before it was discovered he had escaped. And he had to find time to contact Eddie.
Thankfully the hospital was only a couple of blocks away and despite the attention he would attract Cade ran all the way there.
"Where's Rory? Where's the boy the cops brought in last night?" He demanded as soon as he could draw breath.
The woman at the front desk eyed him as though he was mad but she did at least answer his question.
"He's gone. His uncle came to pick him up."
"When? How long ago dammit?"
"Five, ten minutes," the woman glowered at Cade, "you really should mind your manners young man."
But Cade was gone, he found the car park and unbelievingly he saw Rory standing on the far side.
"Rory!" He cried out and began racing towards the boy.
"Don't come any closer." That was Joshua's voice and Cade slowed when he saw the gun the acolyte had trained on his chest.
"What are you doing? What possible interest could you have in a ten-year-old boy."
"You haven't worked it out yet?" Joshua sounded genuinely surprised. "He's only half-human."
Now all the pieces fell into place, the meaning of the quatrain, Rory's dislike of salt, his father's reported avoidance of it and the disappearance of Geoff's body after he was killed.
"Rory," Cade called out, struggling to stop his voice from shaking, "run. Now!"
The boy turned, confused and Cade started toward him but it was too late. Rory was stumbling back, a perfect round hole in his chest. As the body impacted with the ground it convulsed and then the boy's fragile form lay still.
"Why?" Cade howled in frustration. "Why Joshua? He was just a boy."
"He was an experiment," the acolyte murmured stepping closer to Cade, "an experiment that went wrong and had to be terminated." The brown eyes softened. "You want me to explain? The Assembly decided to try fusing our DNA with yours. We had hopes that it would produce a more tractable human, one.."
"That you can enslave more easily." Cade spat.
"It didn't work. Rory was too smart, too strong and," Joshua admitted with a faint smile, "too human."
"So they sent you to kill him?"
"Rory was just an experiment, we controlled his life, his father. I shot Geoff myself because he was beginning to lose sight of what we were trying to do."
"You killed Maggie as well?"
"She was an obstacle and was doing far too good a job of protecting her son."
"Are there others?" Joshua declined to answer. "Are there others? Other children like Rory?"
"If there were," the alien replied, "they would pose a great threat to our plans. If Rory had been allowed to grow up he would have used his superior powers of mind and body to aid humanity. Your race has too much nobility of spirit for us to overcome it through mere genetic engineering."
Cade bowed his head, defeated. "What about me?"
"Subject 117," Joshua spoke almost scornfully, "you'll survive this time. But next time it may not be me they send and I won't be able to help you."
Joshua turned to leave and Cade fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands. He knew he couldn't stay here for long, that the cops even now might be searching for him. His cell phone was crushed beyond repair and he looked instead for a payphone.
"Cade? Where are you man?"
"Can you come and pick me up?"
"Sure. Where are you?" Eddie was worried, he didn't like the doubt he could hear in Cade's voice.
"In Belmont. In the hospital car park."
"I'll be on the corner of Washington Avenue in fifteen minutes. Are you okay man?"
"Rory's dead Eddie. I tried but I couldn't protect him. He was half-alien - he was our proof."
"Relax man. I'll come get you."
I left Belmont with a heavy heart, I had failed. But perhaps Joshua's words hinted at the existence of more children like Rory, half-human, half-alien, a key to our salvation. There is still hope and so I will continue on my journey to stop the first wave.
The End