Chapter 4
Tobias
" Hey guys!" Greg called. He turned to Rachel, who'd just stepped out of the department store next to the arcade.
" Hey Greg," Jake said.
" Hey couz. Rach, Mom says you need to be home in forty-five minutes. She said twenty, but I figured you'd need the extra twenty-five to lug all your new clothes home," Greg smiled. Rachel chuckled.
" Hey, how come you laugh when he makes a joke, but not when I make one?" Marco asked.
" Because he's funny. You're not," Rachel smirked. The rest of us laughed.
" Sorry Marco," Greg smiled. He and Rachel were family, and I had to admit, I had a small, almost insignificant crush on Rachel. Small, almost insignificant, as in hard for me to keep it to myself without Marco joking about it and this girl at school named Darlene from learning and spreading it around school, becoming the latest gossip for the whole town.
" So, you guys heading home? Don't we live in about the same direction from the mall? How's about we all go home together? I mean, it's nine thirty. The nuts are out," Greg said.
" Hear that, Marco? You're family's out and on the run," Rachel joked.
" Rach," Jake warned. Marco's mom died about two years ago, and his dad got real messed up about it. A bit like my family, I guess. The only thing is, he has his dad, who's someone who'd care if Marco just vanished. Me, I'm passed back and forth from my uncle here and my aunt on the other side of the country. My uncle wouldn't care if I died, he's a drunk, and my aunt would find someone else to do everything she wants to have done.
" Sorry, Marco," Rachel said. So we walked out of the mall. There were two ways to get home. The long way, or as Marco calls it, the scenic route, or the short one, the way through the construction site. The construction site was supposed to be another mall, but the project was abandoned. Now, it was the perfect place for homeless people and ax murderers. But it was quicker to get through, and we sure could get home fast, especially with what Rachel had from the department stores.
Obviously, we choose the short way, and took our chances with the ax murderers.
We were about halfway through the construction site when it came. I saw something in the air and pointed.
" Look," I said.
" What?" Jake asked. He sounded distracted, like he'd heard a chain- saw behind us. Right.
" Just look," I said. See, I was seeing a brilliant, blue-white light that scooted across the sky, going fast at first, too fast to be an airplane, then slower and slower. I shook my head.
" I don't know," I said. Jake and I looked at each other. We both knew what we thought is was, but we didn't want to say it. Marco and Rachel would have laughed, we figured.
But Cassie just blurted it right out. " It's a flying saucer!" Greg squinted.
" No way. It's a low-flying airplane or secret government flying... thing... but not a spaceship," he said, in a tone that told me that he wasn't believing a word he was saying.
" We gotta be seeing things," Jake muttered, and I had to agree. Sure, it was late, but if we said we were seeing alien spaceships, it would be like everyone we told would be saying 'Sure. Mind trying on this straight jacket?'
" It's gonna land here," Rachel gasped. No one questioned her, since it was really just a statement of the obvious.
" It's not really a flying saucer," Jake said. He was right. It was about the size of a school bus. The front end was a pod, shaped almost like an egg. Extending from the back of the pod was a long, narrow shaft. There were two crooked, stubby winglike things, and on the end of each wing was a long tube that glowed bright blue on the back end.
It seemed harmless. Harmless, as long as you ignored the mean-looking tail that curved up and forward, coming to a point that looked as sharp as a needle.
" The tail; it's definitely a weapon," Jake said.
" I'll drink to that," Greg muttered. While we were all gaping at the fact that there was a UFO landing right in front of us, it was coming closer. Greg squinted.
" It looks like it's been in a fight," Greg said.
" How can you tell? Maybe it's a design of all alien ship," Marco said.
" Marco, if it's designed, then it shouldn't be sparking or burning," Greg shot back. Neither one had looked at the other during this conversation. I looked where Greg was looking. He was right. This ship had been in a fight.
" If it was in a fight, shouldn't there be, like, debris crashing around here?" Cassie asked.
" Maybe-" Greg's thought was interrupted as the ship landed. I could tell that there was something wrong in there. The landing was a little shaky.
" We should go call someone. This is Letterman material for sure," Marco said. No one moved. It was our first alien ship, and no one wanted to leave while it was here.
" Let's. try and talk to it," Rachel suggested.
" How will they understand us? For that matter, how will we understand them?" Greg asked.
" Everyone speaks English in Star Trek," Cassie chuckled.
" Everyone is a human in makeup in Star Trek," Greg commented.
" Please come out. We won't hurt you," I said soothingly.
[I know.]
Everyone jumped.
" You all heard that, right? I'm not going crazy?" Jake asked.
" You're already crazy, but I heard that," Marco gasped.
" Can you come out?" I asked.
[Yes. Do not be frightened.]
" We won't," I said, truth and trust in every word.
" Speak for yourself," Jake muttered. We giggled nervously. After all, after seeing a UFO and now its inhabitant was coming out. We were already scared by the fact that there might have been an ace murderer in the old site, now we were freaked. Scared? We were beyond scared. Some kind of door formed and opened, allowing the owner of this UFO to come out. Watching it was hypnotic.
Then he appeared.
He looked like a mythological centaur at the first glance. Then you see the blue-tan fur and the face. The face was almost normal (Human normal, anyway) but then you saw the three slits where a person's nose is. And then, there was the mouth issue. He had none. I'm serious. No mouth. Then you get to the eyes. He had two eyes, just like the rest of us. Then he had two more on stalks.
Oh, and, just like the ship, he had a tail. A dangerous looking one. If the tail were separate from him, he'd be able to call himself an alien Grim Reaper, because it was a scythe blade, and I could tell, if he wanted to hurt us, he would be more dangerous than any ax murderer.
" Hello," I said. I bet the others were staring at me, but I wasn't noticing. I wasn't staring at this alien. He was amazing. I was more like gaping in awe.
[Hello.] the alien said. I know, how can an alien with no mouth talk. Think about that. An alien who landed on Earth in a UFO from an obviously superior race technology-wise. Maybe they'd eliminated the need for mouths on their planet. Who knows?
" Hi," we all said together. That was almost funny. An alien says hello, and all we're saying is 'hi.' There's probably some kind of irony there.
Then, the alien staggered. I tried to grab him, and Greg was right behind me, but he slipped from our grasp.
" Great. Our first alien encounter, and we fumble the guy. At least, I think it's a guy," Greg muttered. Then, and my eyes may have been playing tricks on me, since it was late at night, but the alien seemed to smile. It was with the eyes, though. After all, with no mouth, it's a little hard to smile in the human tradition way.
" Look!" Cassie cried, pointing to a burn that covered the alien's right side. " He's hurt," she said, in her want-to-help-but-they-don't- cover-this-topic-in-biology voice. Okay, okay, I know, leave the jokes to Marco.
[I know. I am dying,] he said.
" Can we help? Like, call an ambulance or something?" Marco asked.
" Marco, think for the first time in your life. If we called, what would we say? 'Hi, we just met an alien, and he's hurt bad.' They'd throw us in the nut house," Greg growled. Then he pulled off his jacket and tried to wrap it around the wound.
" Jake, gimme your shirt. We tear it up and bandage his wounds," Greg ordered. Greg happens to be one of those guys who, while he's got a tough exterior, he can be real nice. He's actually my only real friend at school. He wants to be a doctor or a singer, and he'd be good at both. He really wanted to help this alien, and so did I.
[No. I will die. The wound is fatal.]
" NO!" Jake cried. I was surprised no one else heard him outside of the site. " You can't die! You're the first alien ever on Earth!"
[No. I am not the first,] the alien said, and it was almost a sigh of sadness.
" There are others? Like you?" I asked.
[No. Not like me.] Then, a wave of pain swept through me. I was feeling the alien die. It brought tears to my eyes, and with a life of sadness like I'd endured, that's become hard to do.
" Then, what are the like?" Greg asked.
[They are evil. They-] He paused, and this image and these words were burned into my mind forever.
[They have come to destroy you.]
" Hey guys!" Greg called. He turned to Rachel, who'd just stepped out of the department store next to the arcade.
" Hey Greg," Jake said.
" Hey couz. Rach, Mom says you need to be home in forty-five minutes. She said twenty, but I figured you'd need the extra twenty-five to lug all your new clothes home," Greg smiled. Rachel chuckled.
" Hey, how come you laugh when he makes a joke, but not when I make one?" Marco asked.
" Because he's funny. You're not," Rachel smirked. The rest of us laughed.
" Sorry Marco," Greg smiled. He and Rachel were family, and I had to admit, I had a small, almost insignificant crush on Rachel. Small, almost insignificant, as in hard for me to keep it to myself without Marco joking about it and this girl at school named Darlene from learning and spreading it around school, becoming the latest gossip for the whole town.
" So, you guys heading home? Don't we live in about the same direction from the mall? How's about we all go home together? I mean, it's nine thirty. The nuts are out," Greg said.
" Hear that, Marco? You're family's out and on the run," Rachel joked.
" Rach," Jake warned. Marco's mom died about two years ago, and his dad got real messed up about it. A bit like my family, I guess. The only thing is, he has his dad, who's someone who'd care if Marco just vanished. Me, I'm passed back and forth from my uncle here and my aunt on the other side of the country. My uncle wouldn't care if I died, he's a drunk, and my aunt would find someone else to do everything she wants to have done.
" Sorry, Marco," Rachel said. So we walked out of the mall. There were two ways to get home. The long way, or as Marco calls it, the scenic route, or the short one, the way through the construction site. The construction site was supposed to be another mall, but the project was abandoned. Now, it was the perfect place for homeless people and ax murderers. But it was quicker to get through, and we sure could get home fast, especially with what Rachel had from the department stores.
Obviously, we choose the short way, and took our chances with the ax murderers.
We were about halfway through the construction site when it came. I saw something in the air and pointed.
" Look," I said.
" What?" Jake asked. He sounded distracted, like he'd heard a chain- saw behind us. Right.
" Just look," I said. See, I was seeing a brilliant, blue-white light that scooted across the sky, going fast at first, too fast to be an airplane, then slower and slower. I shook my head.
" I don't know," I said. Jake and I looked at each other. We both knew what we thought is was, but we didn't want to say it. Marco and Rachel would have laughed, we figured.
But Cassie just blurted it right out. " It's a flying saucer!" Greg squinted.
" No way. It's a low-flying airplane or secret government flying... thing... but not a spaceship," he said, in a tone that told me that he wasn't believing a word he was saying.
" We gotta be seeing things," Jake muttered, and I had to agree. Sure, it was late, but if we said we were seeing alien spaceships, it would be like everyone we told would be saying 'Sure. Mind trying on this straight jacket?'
" It's gonna land here," Rachel gasped. No one questioned her, since it was really just a statement of the obvious.
" It's not really a flying saucer," Jake said. He was right. It was about the size of a school bus. The front end was a pod, shaped almost like an egg. Extending from the back of the pod was a long, narrow shaft. There were two crooked, stubby winglike things, and on the end of each wing was a long tube that glowed bright blue on the back end.
It seemed harmless. Harmless, as long as you ignored the mean-looking tail that curved up and forward, coming to a point that looked as sharp as a needle.
" The tail; it's definitely a weapon," Jake said.
" I'll drink to that," Greg muttered. While we were all gaping at the fact that there was a UFO landing right in front of us, it was coming closer. Greg squinted.
" It looks like it's been in a fight," Greg said.
" How can you tell? Maybe it's a design of all alien ship," Marco said.
" Marco, if it's designed, then it shouldn't be sparking or burning," Greg shot back. Neither one had looked at the other during this conversation. I looked where Greg was looking. He was right. This ship had been in a fight.
" If it was in a fight, shouldn't there be, like, debris crashing around here?" Cassie asked.
" Maybe-" Greg's thought was interrupted as the ship landed. I could tell that there was something wrong in there. The landing was a little shaky.
" We should go call someone. This is Letterman material for sure," Marco said. No one moved. It was our first alien ship, and no one wanted to leave while it was here.
" Let's. try and talk to it," Rachel suggested.
" How will they understand us? For that matter, how will we understand them?" Greg asked.
" Everyone speaks English in Star Trek," Cassie chuckled.
" Everyone is a human in makeup in Star Trek," Greg commented.
" Please come out. We won't hurt you," I said soothingly.
[I know.]
Everyone jumped.
" You all heard that, right? I'm not going crazy?" Jake asked.
" You're already crazy, but I heard that," Marco gasped.
" Can you come out?" I asked.
[Yes. Do not be frightened.]
" We won't," I said, truth and trust in every word.
" Speak for yourself," Jake muttered. We giggled nervously. After all, after seeing a UFO and now its inhabitant was coming out. We were already scared by the fact that there might have been an ace murderer in the old site, now we were freaked. Scared? We were beyond scared. Some kind of door formed and opened, allowing the owner of this UFO to come out. Watching it was hypnotic.
Then he appeared.
He looked like a mythological centaur at the first glance. Then you see the blue-tan fur and the face. The face was almost normal (Human normal, anyway) but then you saw the three slits where a person's nose is. And then, there was the mouth issue. He had none. I'm serious. No mouth. Then you get to the eyes. He had two eyes, just like the rest of us. Then he had two more on stalks.
Oh, and, just like the ship, he had a tail. A dangerous looking one. If the tail were separate from him, he'd be able to call himself an alien Grim Reaper, because it was a scythe blade, and I could tell, if he wanted to hurt us, he would be more dangerous than any ax murderer.
" Hello," I said. I bet the others were staring at me, but I wasn't noticing. I wasn't staring at this alien. He was amazing. I was more like gaping in awe.
[Hello.] the alien said. I know, how can an alien with no mouth talk. Think about that. An alien who landed on Earth in a UFO from an obviously superior race technology-wise. Maybe they'd eliminated the need for mouths on their planet. Who knows?
" Hi," we all said together. That was almost funny. An alien says hello, and all we're saying is 'hi.' There's probably some kind of irony there.
Then, the alien staggered. I tried to grab him, and Greg was right behind me, but he slipped from our grasp.
" Great. Our first alien encounter, and we fumble the guy. At least, I think it's a guy," Greg muttered. Then, and my eyes may have been playing tricks on me, since it was late at night, but the alien seemed to smile. It was with the eyes, though. After all, with no mouth, it's a little hard to smile in the human tradition way.
" Look!" Cassie cried, pointing to a burn that covered the alien's right side. " He's hurt," she said, in her want-to-help-but-they-don't- cover-this-topic-in-biology voice. Okay, okay, I know, leave the jokes to Marco.
[I know. I am dying,] he said.
" Can we help? Like, call an ambulance or something?" Marco asked.
" Marco, think for the first time in your life. If we called, what would we say? 'Hi, we just met an alien, and he's hurt bad.' They'd throw us in the nut house," Greg growled. Then he pulled off his jacket and tried to wrap it around the wound.
" Jake, gimme your shirt. We tear it up and bandage his wounds," Greg ordered. Greg happens to be one of those guys who, while he's got a tough exterior, he can be real nice. He's actually my only real friend at school. He wants to be a doctor or a singer, and he'd be good at both. He really wanted to help this alien, and so did I.
[No. I will die. The wound is fatal.]
" NO!" Jake cried. I was surprised no one else heard him outside of the site. " You can't die! You're the first alien ever on Earth!"
[No. I am not the first,] the alien said, and it was almost a sigh of sadness.
" There are others? Like you?" I asked.
[No. Not like me.] Then, a wave of pain swept through me. I was feeling the alien die. It brought tears to my eyes, and with a life of sadness like I'd endured, that's become hard to do.
" Then, what are the like?" Greg asked.
[They are evil. They-] He paused, and this image and these words were burned into my mind forever.
[They have come to destroy you.]