Chapter 5
Rayne sat in the basement room, her door locked, the windows shaded and locked, and all the lights on. No corner was left unlit. She sat in one, though, curled into a ball. A knock came from the door, causing her to jump. Zeke and the janitor were the only ones who knew she was there. Slowly, she got up. There was a peep hole in the door, so she looked outside. There stood Zeke, Stokes, Stan, Casey, and Delilah.
"Rayne, come on, let us in," Casey said.
"Only you…first." She pulled open the door, and Casey walked in.
"Is it really you?" she asked. He looked into her eyes. She looked into his. They stared like that for a minute before she smiled.
"Good…" She pulled open the door, and the others walked in. Before Delilah could set foot in the room, she closed the door.
"Rayne, let her in."
"Fuck no!" she exclaimed.
"Why not?" Stan asked.
"Did you actually forget about what happened last time? When we were all in Zeke's basement lab? She was the alien. I'm not risking an alien in my room…"
"Come on, Rayne. You have to…"
"I don't have to do shit, Zeke, alright?" Casey looked at her.
"Rayne, please." She looked away.
"Fuck…fine." She pulled open the door, and let her in. Delilah wasn't there.
"Where the hell did she go?" they asked, looking out. Rayne lifted her eyes up to the ceiling, and slammed the door, locking it.
"What're you doing?" She pointed up.
"She was on the ceiling…" she whispered. They stepped away from the door, and Rayne went to her window. Carefully, she pulled away the curtains, and looked outside. No one in sight for miles. She unlocked the window, quietly, and pushed it open. Climbing up onto a chair, she looked out. No one. She hopped down.
"Stokes, you first." They gave her a boost, and she slid through the window. Then came Stan, followed by Casey. Zeke and Rayne looked at each other.
"You first," he said.
"Oh, no you don't… you first," she said. He shrugged, and slipped out the window. She sighed, and pulled herself out, bringing her wallet with her. Jamming it into her pocket, she closed the windows, and they began to run. Where to, they weren't sure yet. They just needed to get away from the basement room. So, where did they run to? The class room. The English Lit class room.
"How the fuck did Delilah manage to get on the ceiling?" Stan asked.
"She is an alien, Stan. Think about it. There is no real way to know how they 'manage' to do anything," Rayne said, jogging down the steps. She began to rummage through the papers on the teacher's desk.
"What are you doing?" Casey asked.
"I'm trying to find something…anything…that might help…hey! The answers to Friday's test!" she exclaimed.
"Shhh!" Stan hissed.
"Sorry." She looked around, but couldn't find anything.
"Hey, Zeke, you got any?"
"Any what?"
"Scat," Casey stated. He checked all his pockets, coming up with five pens.
"I say we prove our humanity, and save three for them," Rayne said. Zeke nodded, and handed her the first pen.
"You first." She shrugged, pushed in one side of her nose, and sniffed. Pulling it away, she smacked a hand against her forehead.
"Damn!"
"What?"
"What the fuck is in that shit?" she asked, stumbling into the wall.
"The same shit as before, only it's stronger…" Casey sniffed, and then Stokes. Zeke handed Stan another pen, he sniffed, then Zeke. They were all normal.
"Hey! What're you guys doing down there?" a voice called. Their heads snapped up, and Scott stood at the top of the steps. He usually wasn't much of a sight: curly orange hair, green eyes, freckles. However, about a week earlier, he'd gotten a different look. He got his hair straightened, and colored brown. Rayne considered him kinda cute…but she'd never go out with him. He wasn't her type. Sure, he could be sweet and nice, but since he got a change, he'd been a dick. He was so prissy. But, he really liked Rayne. It always made her shiver.
"What's it to you?" Stan called.
"Oh, hey, Stan, guys. What's up?" he asked, jogging down. Zeke held out the pen.
"Sniff this."
"What? Why?"
"We've got aliens on this campus, man, so you better fuckin' sniff it before we shoot you," he said, removing the gun from his shorts.
"No way. I got some from my roommate, and had some about…ten minutes ago…" Zeke shook his head.
"Your roommate?"
"Yea. Davy. Billie's boyfriend." Rayne walked over to Scott, and pushed him onto a table.
"What're you doing?" he asked.
"I want you to stare me in the eyes for a minute." He shrugged, and stared at her. She stared back. The others looked at each other. She finally stepped back and turned around.
"He's normal…"
"Normal?"
"I can see a difference in people's eyes. I stared at Casey, and then Delilah, you know, before, and I could see the difference, so I knew something was wrong with her." The others shrugged.
"Okay." Rayne heard the door behind them begin to open, so she motioned to the tables. They ran over and slid under them, hiding. The teacher walked in, and headed over to his desk. Rayne dropped her head so that her hair covered her face. She lifted her hands, and froze. Her ring was gone! It was a silver band, with an ice-blue stone on it. Lifting her head, her hair parted, and she saw it. On the steps, where the teacher would see it. She pulled herself forward, and peeked out. He had turned to the board, trying to the think. Quickly, she reached out, and snatched it up, pulled back, and started to slide back. Forgetting he was behind her, she slid right into Zeke. He groaned a tiny bit before she clamped her hand over his mouth. He looked at her, and she looked back, then moved in front of him. She was wearing all black, and her hair was dyed black, so, if she was lucky, all the teacher would see was black…as long as he didn't turn on the lights or get a flashlight. Rayne pushed herself back just a little bit, but still covered Zeke. He stared at her, and her hand still sat on his lips. She slowly and carefully pulled her hand of his mouth. Her eyes lowered to her legs, and she dawdled her breathing. His hands landed on hers, and she lifted her eyes to his. A smile faintly appeared on his lips. She smiled back, but wasn't sure why. Then the door opened. She moved her head a little bit, and saw the light appear, and disappear. Casey looked at her, so she motioned for him to check it out. He stuck his head out and looked around. A thumbs up signaled that he was gone, so they slid back out.
"Why did you hit me?" Zeke whispered.
"I didn't mean to. I just dropped my ring, and if he'd seen it, he'd have known we were here." She looked around, taking a quick head count.
"Hey, wait, we're missing someone…"
"Who?" Zeke asked.
"Scott…" They looked around at each other.
"We split up. Stokes and Stan, you two take the east wing of the school…Casey, Zeke, and I will take the west…No matter what happens, DO NOT split up. We find Scott, all of our group or none of our group, got it?" Rayne asked.
"Got it," they replied in unison.
"We meet in the gym in exactly thirty minutes. Do either of you have a watch?" she asked. Stokes and Stan shook their head. Rayne looked at Zeke and Casey.
"Casey, give them your watch…"
"Why?"
"So they can keep time." He took it off and tossed it to them.
"Thirty minutes, alright?"
"Alright."
"Go."
